West Side Spirit - July 30, 2020 by West Side Spirit

The local paper for the Upper West Side VERIFYING VALUABLE VACCINES ◄ P.2

THE FUTURE OF COMPOSTING

ENVIRONMENT Melanie Horn walks Toki in Central Park. Photos courtesy of Elisabeth Rasmussen and Melanie Horn

THE CANINE CONNECTION PETS

A chance meeting in an Upper East Side dog park creates new bonds BY ALICE TECOTZKY

One spring afternoon, Elisabeth Rasmussen was sitting in a dog park on the Upper East Side, finishing one of the phone meetings that have become too commonplace, when, suddenly, she saw someone walking toward her with Phoenix, her dog. Astonished, Rasmussen began to approach the woman, but stopped when she realized that Phoenix, whom she adopted in February, was sitting right next to her. Yet Rasmussen was not seeing double; there truly was a Phoenix look-alike strolling excitedly over to the bench she had been sitting on. And not only that, but Phoenix

and Toki, the doppelganger, seemed to recognize each other. “Up until that point, Toki was extremely shy, she wouldn’t approach other dogs, her tail was often pretty down in the dog park,” explained Melanie Horn, Toki’s owner since early March. “When she saw Phoenix, immediately her tail was up and wagging, she was jumping around. I had never seen her that excited.” Convinced that Phoenix and Toki were not meeting but indeed reuniting, Rasmussen and Horn began talking, and the two discovered that they had both adopted their dogs from Bideawee, a New York-based no-kill pet welfare organization. Phoenix and Toki are not, the women discovered, two old, bizarrely identical pals— they’re brother and sister.

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Program squeaks through budget cuts due to efforts by UWS resident Anna Sacks and Council Member Keith Powers BY SAMI ROBERTS

On July 1, the results of New York City’s fiscal budget

meeting were in. Many New Yorkers were involved and interested, likely more than ever before, in how the city would be spending its money. One program that squeaked out from under the guillotine was the budget for city composting programs. Pre-pandemic, composting in New York City meant a few different things. Some neighborhoods were eligible for

Anna Sacks is known online as “The Trash Walker” for saving items from people’s garbage collections. Photo: Sami Roberts

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INSIDE We really need the council as a whole to understand the role of recycling and composting in a major city, and to view our city as being required to be a leader in this country around it.” Council Member Keith Powers brown bins for food scrap collection, for individual homes and apartments to be picked up by the city. For homes without brown bin collection service — a program for which participation is voluntary depending on the landlord or homeowner — residents can take their food scraps to drop off locations set up by communities or GrowNYC, often located at farmers’ markets each week. When the pandemic took hold in New York, composting of any kind (except composting within your home, if you are so brave), was COVID-canceled. Anna Sacks, an Upper West Side resident, was one of the forces behind the budget fight who prevented composting in the city from being eliminated altogether. Sacks has become well-known online as “The Trash Walker,” making it her personal hobby to go through peoples’ trash collections and save items that are in good condition from going to landfills. “A third of all of New York City’s residential waste con-

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CB 7 COMMITTEE PROPOSES TO BAN SMOKING ALONG PARK EDGES A unanimous vote in a time of COVID concerns. p. 3

COVID CLEANING

A collector declutters and discovers wonders in the junk drawer. p. 6

WORD ON THE STREET

Over the last few months, readers have sent us poems they’ve written. A selection. p. 13

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VERIFYING VALUABLE VACCINES HEALTH

Several products are already in testing around the world. How will the public react? BY CAROL ANN RINZLER

Suppose they made a vaccine and no one would take it? A raft of recent polls show that’s not impossible. In fact, if Operation Warp Speed program does produce a COVID19 vaccine this fall, as many as 50 percent of Americans say they would just say, No. To some extent, the refuseniks are simply anti-vax people. Others believe President Trump’s assertion that the virus will eventually go away on its own. But there is also a sizable number of Americans who think things are moving too fast. Ordinarily, creating a new vaccine can take anywhere from the fastest ever five

years for Ebola to 20 years for polio, and probably never for the common cold because it would take 300 vaccines to protect you against the estimated 300 viruses making you sneeze. Don’t hold your breath. That being said, there are three basic types of vaccines: Live, inactivated, and genetically engineered. The first uses a weakened (aka attenuated) virus to trigger the production of antibodies without making you sick. The measles, mumps, rubella, smallpox, and chickenpox vaccines are all live vaccines. The second kind of vaccine uses killed viruses, again to provoke an immune reaction without illness. Inactivated vaccines such as those for the for flu, hepatitis A, and rabies are weaker than live vaccines, so they usually require booster shots every few years. Genetically engineered vaccines, the newest potential protectors, deliver viruses

whose genes have been altered so that the part that enable the microbe to break into body cells and reproduce themselves doesn’t work. To date, no such vaccines have been approved for human use but that may change. As Dr. Vanessa Raabe, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at NYU Langone’s Vaccine Center notes, several products are already in trials around the world.

Test for Safety And that’s important. Whether live, inactivated, or genetically modified, to be licensed in the United States, a vaccine must go through three phases of testing. Phase I is the simple safety trial in which the vaccine is administered to a small group of people to make sure it does not produce immediate serious adverse effects. Phase II expands the group to several hundred or more volunteers,

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a coronavirus (COVID-19) brieﬁng at the White House on April 22, 2020. Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead.

again to test for safety but also to see if the vaccine actually works against the disease. Phase III is where things get really serious with tests on thousands of people of all ages and ethnicities. Finally,

in Phase IV, the vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). From start to finish, this usually takes four or more years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has convinced politi-

cians and drug companies to speed things up. As of midJuly, there were more than 100 vaccines in testing here and abroad. On Monday, the National Institutes of Health began Phase III testing of one experimental vaccine with 30,000 volunteers. Another two, one from Oxford University and one from researchers in Wuhan, China have proven sufficiently safe and effective to move into Phase III. If one of these or any of the others show promise, the Mayo Clinic notes that it will take time to produce enough to reach the public and then to administer them. At that point, the first order of business will be to decide who gets a dose of what will be an obviously limited supply. Right now, there are three expert panels, from The National Academy of Medicine, the CDC and Operation Warp Speed, vying to make that decision, a situation that predicts messy arguments ahead. After which, whoever wins will have to face the real question: Will the chosen few say, Yes.

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CB 7 COMMITTEE PROPOSES TO BAN SMOKING ALONG PARK EDGES COMMUNITY

A unanimous vote in a time of COVID concerns BY SAMI ROBERTS

On Monday evening, July 20, the Community Board 7 Parks and Environment Committee for the Upper West Side met to discuss an issue that had been brought to their attention: smoking along the edges of parks. In 2002, in legislation authored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, called the Smoke-Free Air Act, smoking was banned in all park spaces to allow for cleaner, healthier air for nonsmokers in parks. After receiving pushback on the original legislation to ban smoking in all parkland, an amendment allowed smoking along the edges of parks.

Recently, Upper West Side resident Janice Horowitz brought up concerns about the amount of smoking along these park edges. “The dangers of secondhand smoke are old. It is a given,” said Horowitz, a former health reporter for Time magazine. In a time of COVID, she said, “It’s as simple as this: in order to smoke, the smoker has to, by definition, remove his or her mask.” Horowitz highlighted a second consequence of the smoking. “Second-hand smoke renders the lungs of the nonsmoker more vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections,” she said. “So, you’re more vulnerable to pneumonia. You’re more vulnerable to the flu. If you’re a nonsmoker and exposed to secondhand smoke now, it means you’re more vulnerable to COVID.” Other committee members and members of the public agreed with Horowitz’s con-

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cerns. Ken Chaya said, “I hope everyone is staying healthy, and I’m trying to stay healthy too. Smoking interferes with that.”

Issue of Enforcement Brewer attended the meeting and talked about her experience proposing the original legislation for the Smoke-Free Air Act. “Mayor Bloomberg was supportive [of the act], a lot of smokers objected [to] it,” Brewer said. “I hate smoking. The less the better. I would be happy if we could get rid of it.” One of the concerns was the issue of enforcement. It was not clear to the committee which department the enforcement would fall to — the Department of Parks and Recreation, NYPD or others. A few community members suggested that simply adding more signage around the park would be enough to communicate the message to most people, with a

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CB 7 Zoom meeting of the Parks and Environment committee. Photo: Sami Roberts

few expected outliers. The conversation then turned to the topic of marijuana. There was a debate as to where and how to classify marijuana, which is not yet legal in New York, in this legislation. After much back and forth, the committee agreed that the purpose of the proposed smoking ban was not to pass judgment on the substance itself, but to eliminate the actual smoke being emitted and prevent park visitors from removing their masks. “I don’t think we should be

making law based on what some people find offensive – based on what people’s idiosyncrasies are,” committee member Ken Coughlin said. “Currently as it stands with any substance, when it says, ‘no smoking,’” said Matt Genrich, the District Park Manager, “It’s no smoking of any substance in a park.” As a resolution, the committee voted twice: once with the language that excluded two paragraphs regarding marijuana and other smoking substances, and once with the

paragraphs included. In both votes, the proposal to ban smoking in all park spaces passed unanimously. CB 7 is scheduled to recommend this proposal to the City Council in September. But Klari Neuwelt, the committee co-chairperson who led the discussion, suggested that perhaps they could recommend it sooner due to the urgency of the COVID-related health risk. Horowitz said she felt like a resident whose voice had been heard. “Local politics rocks,” she said.

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Useful Contacts

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COVID CLEANING HOME

A collector declutters and discovers wonders in the junk drawer BY BETHANY KANDEL

Behold the wonder of the junk drawer. Like many people around the world, I used my quarantine shelter-inside time to clean my closets, drawers and file cabinets of clutter. After all, they’ve been overstocked and overlooked for years. It was a chore that was too overwhelming. Until recently. Being stuck in my small apartment for four-plus months with little to do (most of my freelance writing work has dried up), I had lots of time on my hands. You can only bake so many banana breads, do so many puzzles and Zoom for so many hours. So, I began to tackle the insurmountable task of discarding and organizing my stuff. The fun began when I started finding decades’ worth of history, making the process not only nostalgic but even slightly lucrative. File cabinet number one housed dozens of fold-out maps (remember them?) from past vacations. As I tossed, I armchair-traveled up and down both coasts, from Maine to Florida and throughout California. I meandered through Rome, Paris, London and Venice. I found bank deposit slips since 2004 and receipts de-

One of the many trash bags and piles of old college brochures that were thown out. Photos: Bethany Kandel

tailing my CVS purchases since the last century. There were holiday photo cards from people I don’t remember. I uncovered phone directories from my two sons’ elementary schools (they are now 25 and 30) and a wellworn list of babysitters (who are probably now hiring ones for their own kids). There was a scribbled IOU from a mom who still owes me hundreds of dollars from an after school class 18 years ago, with the words: “More to come!” It never came. (If you’re reading this Alisa, you know you still owe me.)

Collector’s Item?

menus for once favorite Upper West Side restaurants: Artie’s, Savann, Miss Ellie’s and other spots that still make my mouth water remembering the great dishes I once ordered. The treasures continued: a lifetime certificate for one free annual seat for my son at Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus in honor of their 125th birthday (too bad; they’re now out of business); my kids’ first bank books (for closed accounts); an arm’slength of prize tickets from Lazer Tag (long shuttered); and a NYC subway map with the World Trade Center still on it (a collector’s item perhaps?).

The kitchen junk drawer spewed stacks of take-out CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020

Voices

INCIDENT ON 23RD STREET

VIEWPOINT

BY HARMON RANGELL

The brownstone buildings that lined Chelsea’s 23rd Street were all about the same. They were five story buildings. Elevators were required at six stories, so these were all walk-ups. The retail stores at street level were the same dimensions as the buildings - twenty feet wide and fifty feet deep. My typewriter shop was the same as the others. My desk, at the back corner, had a view of all that went on. Framed in the window was the façade of Saint Vincent de Paul, the church across the street. I would sometimes think that it was a Parisian scene rather than New York. I was alone that afternoon when two men walked in. The first was short and wiry, sporting a big smile and a pencil thin mustache under a fedora hat. He seemed, at first glance, friendly and selfassured. Getting up from my desk to greet him I noticed that the second man, who looked like a linebacker, had positioned himself in the doorway - and there he stayed. I tried not to pay too much attention to the fellow blocking the door whose bulk caused me to inwardly name him “No Neck.” Approaching Fedora Hat, I asked how I could help him. He had moved towards a display of the then new electronic portable typewriters. “Tell me about this one.” He was pointing to a new Smith Corona model that sold for $399.00. I had hardly begun to speak when he said,

Photo: Harmon Rangell

“Looks good. I’ll take it.” “That was too easy,” I thought as we walked back to my desk to write up the sale. As I looked outward, there was No Neck still in the doorway. Fedora Hat sat at my desk as I wrote the invoice and he handed me a credit card. Card readers of any type did not exist and so I imprinted the card on a sales receipt. The phone rang and the person on the other end asked for the pertinent information. I responded with the card number, expiration date, dollar amount, etc. “Just answer yes or no to my questions,” the voice on the telephone said, and then proceeded to tell me that the card had been stolen at gunpoint some thirty minutes before. “I’m calling the police as we speak,” the voice continued, asking me to try and keep them there as long as possible. So there I sat. Fedora Hat, only a few feet from me very likely had a pistol in his belt. And No Neck, expressionless, was still blocking the door. I looked up and smiled as easily as I could. My intent was to get them out of my store as quickly and safely as possible, not keep them there as I had been asked to do. “I bet your last payment has crossed in the mail,” I said as casually as I could while telling him that the sale had not been approved. It was almost as if there

was a relief on his face. Fedora Hat obviously knew that the card was now worthless, and he also knew that I knew it as well. I wondered what would come next. Would the police come barging through the door, encountering No Neck at any moment? Was I in any immediate danger? Fedora Hat walked away from my desk. He reached into his pocket as I watched nervously, but his hand came out holding the credit card. With a big smile he flipped it back onto my desk. “Here kid,” he said. “You might as well make the fifty bucks !” The banks gave a fifty dollar reward to any merchant who recovered a stolen card, and he obviously knew it. The two men walked out together. Turning right and heading for Sixth Avenue, they were immediately lost in the crowded sidewalk. About ten minutes later a cop came running in. I walked out onto the street with him and pointed east, towards Sixth. “They went thataway,” I said and went back into my shop. A fifty dollar check arrived a few weeks later. Harmon Rangell, has been married to the same good woman for 58 years. He is a father, grandfather, retired businessman, writer, part time musician, and self-described “Pool Room Junkie.” His novel “Jake’s Tale” is available at Amazon.com.

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Inaction is not an option. Complete the 2020 Census to shape the next ten years for your community. The power to change your community is in your hands. We can help inform funding every year for the next ten years for public services like healthcare, childcare programs, public transportation, schools, and job assistance. And our responses determine how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. But time is running out, so complete the census today online, by phone, or by mail.

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COVID CLEANING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

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Another file cabinet revealed a sticky Dunkin Donuts card with 77 cents remaining. And the best discovery - two unused $25 Zabar’s gift certificates from a 2005 P.S. 166 school auction. The store happily honored them without blinking at the date. Day after day I filled garbage bags with movie stubs, clipped recipes, expired coupons, yellowed articles and cookie fortunes predicting my successful future. Out went a collection of parenting magazines from the ‘90s, my old Boarders and Blockbuster membership cards and gift certificates for departed neighborhood stores (Alphabets, Granny Made and the original Shakespeare books). Then the tooth fairy showed up. Tucked away in a dresser drawer was a note she once wrote complimenting my son on the good job he had done brushing, and eight stillcrisp dollar bills. (Yes, I gave them to my grown son.) I still have a few shelves and a closet to deal with, but I now have a clean desk I can actually use and files that are organized and accessible. Sorry Marie Kondo, I didn’t thank the clutter for its service, but most of the things I discarded did not spark joy. The whole process was definitely freeing and at least some good came from being stuck inside. I can’t say I’ve reformed from a saver to a purger, but I’m on the way to recovery. Bethany Kandel is an Upper West Side journalist and author. Follow her on Instagram @Awaywithbethany

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR STUFF There are many benefits of cleaning out your cutter, including getting things into the hands of people who want or need them and keeping useful item out of landfills. I believe in donating rather than throwing out. In the process, you’re helping both your community and the earth by recycling, reusing and repurposing. But in these strange times, it can be difficult to find a new home for your castoffs. Check if your local thrift shop or Goodwill currently welcomes donations and if they’re doing pickups. Libraries will soon reopen and many accept used books. Churches and synagogues may accept clothing. If it’s hard to part with something, take photos first. What else can you do with your unwanted stuff? ■ Offer items for free or a small fee on Craigslist, Nextdoor or Facebook’s “Buy Nothing Project” and offer contactless pickup. ■ Offer to swap with a friend. ■ Leave outside on a stoop in a “FREE” box. If retrieving an item, do a thorough cleaning once you get it home. ■ Prepare packages of items your neighbors might like. I’ve packaged craft supplies and left them for those with young kids in the lobby of my building with a sign that says “From a virus-free home.” People have also been leaving books, games and puzzles near the mailboxes so others can enjoy.

Letter from the Tooth Fairy.

Your neighborhood news source WestSideSpirit.com

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NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST

CANINE CONNECTION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“It was a really sweet moment,” Rasmussen reflected. “It was special, it was magical.” That magic extended beyond the canine connection and into the human world, for Rasmussen and Horn have since developed a strong friendship and supported one another through the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. When Rasmussen, who is from Norway, discovered her family was no longer visiting, she found comfort not only in Phoenix, but in Horn; when she underwent surgery, Horn was the one to send her flowers. “It has been such a gift that during this time of uncertainty and isolation I was able to meet a really beautiful, strong, amazing woman,” Horn said. “I wouldn’t have been able to meet her without the dogs and that very serendipitous moment when we were in the park at the same time.”

“Foster Fail” “It’s a really beautiful story of bonding and connection, both animal and human,” Rasmussen added. Employees at Bideawee are acutely aware of the importance of animal-human connections, particularly during a moment that is defined by isolation. Since the onset of the pandemic, Bideawee has put as many of their animals — they care for dogs and cats — into foster care as possible; according to Melissa Treuman, director of communications, the foster program grew by over 100%. The organization is already seeing some foster owners choosing to permanently adopt their once-temporary pets, a decision that is lovingly known as a “foster fail” in the animal welfare community. Yet overall adoptions have dipped during COVID-19, likely due to the necessary changes made to Bideawee’s operations. “I think it’s a good thing that, in terms of adopting, you

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Rasmussen with Phoenix. Photos courtesy of Elisabeth Rasmussen and Melanie Horn

haven’t seen the kind of increase that you’ve seen with fostering,” said Treuman. “At some point, God willing, things are going to normalize, and adoption should never be a knee-jerk decision. These animals are your family ... so while you may suddenly find yourself with a lot of time on your hands during the pandemic, you have to imagine what’s going to happen when that changes.” Though Rasmussen and Horn both adopted animals before the coronavirus pandemic became all-consuming, each found that having a dog — both of whom are, according to Rasmussen, “gentle, playful, kind, and snuggly” — made the quarantine far more bearable. “I definitely found that having a furry companion helped me through ... the lockdown and being isolated in my apartment,” said Horn. “It was great timing because ... I got a lot of bonding time with [Toki], but it was also a great way to interact with other

people in the city at a social distance, and I’m so grateful I was able to meet Elisabeth.” Treuman articulated a similar sentiment. “Animal companionship and the joy that it brings,” she said, “is something that someone of any age, gender, race can benefit from, and we see that in terms of who adopts from us.” Rasmussen and Horn plan to continue furthering that very companionship, not only between themselves, but between the dogs, too. In another random, heartening development in Toki and Phoenix’s story, Rasmussen and Horn were contacted by another dog owner on Long Island who fortuitously happened to see a video of the two puppies meeting. There is, it seems, another sibling — a sister whose name was Eliza but has since been changed to Willow — and the three owners have plans to meet up on the beach in August. The puppies will, of course, be joining them for the adventure.

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Peggy Rey and Wilfredo Salaman. Photos: Emily Higginbotham

PANDEMIC ROOMMATES COMMUNITY

How a former healthcare provider and a homeless aspiring rapper formed an unlikely friendship because of coronavirus BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

Peggy Rey says not many people understand her friendship with Wilfredo Salaman. Rey is a 76-year-old former childcare provider. Salaman is a 35-year-old aspiring rapper from Puerto Rico, who first met Rey while he was homeless, living under scaffolding outside her building. And for the last three months the two have been living together in Rey’s studio apartment in Chelsea. Their cohabitation is peculiar, Rey admits, and it is a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. In December 2019, Salaman, who Rey calls “Will,” had found some stability after a setback. Throughout his adult life, he has experienced

homelessness intermittently. Born in the Bronx, Salaman grew up in Puerto Rico. In 2013, Salaman decided to move to New York in pursuit of his dream of working in the entertainment industry, first sparked by family members who were salsa singers on the island. “I came here homeless straight from the plane,” said Salaman. “I started in the shelter system and worked my way out of the streets.” He spent a couple of years in Illinois, but after losing work there, he returned to the city resolved to follow his dreams. But still, he had no place to stay, and spent a few months on the streets. It was at this time that he met Rey, who would give him some money to help her take heavy packages up to her apart-

ment. She noted how excited Salaman was when a pair of police officers from the 10th precinct helped Salaman get back on his feet with a fresh hair cut, food, a new suit, and help in landing a job at a local coffee shop. He was able to find housing and was off the streets. It was a feel-good story that was featured in the Daily News and amNY.

“It Was Horrible, Horrible” But along came the coronavirus, and it knocked away Salaman’s progress. He was laid off from his job and began to have troubles with his landlord. So he gave Rey a call. When she heard from Salaman, Rey was also in need. She is diabetic, and at high risk for the coronavirus, and feared leaving her apartment. Rey started taking her dog, Lico-

He’s the nicest person I think I’ve ever met. He’s so honest. He’s so respectful.” Peggy Rey Licorice snoozing at the foot of the bed.

JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020

helped run her errands and pitch in around the apartment. She would cook his meals. So far, it’s been working pretty well. “He’s the nicest person I think I’ve ever met. He’s so honest. He’s so respectful,” said Rey. “And he’s so clean. He must brush his teeth five times a day.” Salaman said it was to maintain his bright smile. “She’s a great lady. She’s very caregiving, very loving,” said Salaman. “She’s a great friend to me.”

She’s a great lady. She’s very caregiving, very loving. She’s a great friend to me.” Wilfredo Salaman

A Lifelong Bond

Close quarters in Chelsea.

and it’s also where she sleeps. The room is cramped but homey, decorated with photos of Rey’s family. Her dog, Licorice, slept at the foot of the bed as Rey and Salaman talked about what it was like

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to go from being friendly acquaintances to roommates in close quarters during a global pandemic. In their agreement, Rey said Salaman could stay with her if he would walk Licorice,

gether such as the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “George Lopez Show” and “Two and A Half Men.” He’s played new music for her, taught her about celebrities and rules of basketball. He’s also taught her something perhaps even more enduring about society’s perception of people experiencing homelessness. She said in the past she’s been somewhat resentful of the people who would sleep outside her building, but after building this unlikely friendship with Salaman, Rey said she’s trying to be more receptive and engage them in conversation. As for the future of their living arrangement, Salaman said he will move on when he’s able to find a new job and get back on his feet. Rey said the two now have a lifelong bond that is wholly due to the pandemic. “I’m going to hate to see him leave,” she said. “I told him he moves on with his life and he hits bumpy roads or anything he always can always come back here. Always.”

you You’d something

like us to

look

into

16th Street. It’s the bed that Salaman sleeps on, but also where the two typically eat their meals and watch television. Above them is a wooden loft built into the apartment, which Rey calls the “upstairs”

Like any roommates, they’ve had their quibbles. Rey said Salaman can be stubborn, and Salaman said Rey likes things done in a very particular way — even the way he folds his clothes. “He gets mad at me every once in a while because everything’s my way,” said Rey. But they’ve found some levity together during the quarantine as Salaman has shared his interest in culture with her. They watch his favorite television shows to-

have

rice, up to the roof for walks so that she didn’t have to expose herself to the public. “I was in such a knot inside. I was quarantined in my apartment. I didn’t see anybody or talk to anybody. It was horrible, horrible,” said Rey about the initial months of the pandemic. “My neighbor came home one day and I was sitting on the steps out in the hall, just hysterical crying. I had to release how I felt right inside. I don’t want to be here by myself. And it was shortly after that that Will and I reached an agreement for him to stay here. It’s made all the difference.” During a sultry Sunday afternoon, Rey and Salaman sat side-by-side on a bed in the studio apartment on West

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JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020

CHASHAMA AT 25 CULTURE

creativity.”

Art as the lifeblood of NYC’s culture: a talk with founder Anita Durst about creating platforms for artists in empty commercial spaces BY AHAD SANWARI

As an organization, Chashama is a platform for artists, performers, and innovators to display their creative output through performances in rented property spaces. But as an institution, Chashama represents the “New York dream,” the artist’s passion to take their ideas and their work to the big city stage and have the opportunity to showcase, communicate, and inspire. Through window performances, installations, workshops, street shows, operas, even its very own annual gala, Chashama gives artists the opportunity to bring their voices to the masses. From the emotional to the insane, Chashama’s done it all. It’s even delved into social work with its “Space to Connect” program. And now, as it celebrates 25 years, Founder and Artistic Director Anita Durst reflects on where art and Chashama have come and how it strives toward its goal to “feel the possibility of

How did you come to create Chashama?

I was in a theater company called Dar a Luz, I was a founding member with Reza Abdoh. He would have me go out and ﬁnd him spaces to do his theater work. Of his theater, people would either hate it or they’d see it and it’d change their lives. It was very fast and angry and poetic and beautiful and ugly, all the things in life that would aﬀect you mushed into one hour. When Reza died, I wanted to continue his energy. I wanted other people to feel the things that he taught me about the power of creativity. So, I started Chashama in his memory.

One question that I had was around the word “chashama” itself. The word doesn’t really have a ﬁxed deﬁnition, it means different things in different languages. For example, as a Hindi speaker, it’s the colloquial word I’d use for “eyeglasses.” What are your thoughts on it?

When we started Chashama, we were sitting in my grandfather’s library. And he had a very large dictionary. And we saw the word “chashama” in this big dictionary and it said “shame.” So we were going to be the theater of shame. But then we also found out it has many other meetings in diﬀerent languages. In Farsi, it means “spring outlet,” and that’s Reza’s native language. But we have grown to have our own meaning for it, which is to have “vision.”

What is the process like for creating an art installation or performance, especially when it comes to acquiring the space for the performance?

Chashama Founder and Artistic Director Anita Durst.

For the past 25 years, property owners will approach us and oﬀer us space, or we will occasionally search out space. When we work with a property owner, they donate the space to us. We start with a threemonth letter of agreement and then we go month-to-month. We give a ﬁve million dollar general liability insurance and then good management. And then we’ll tackle the electric work, we’ll paint, we’ll

“Enliven New York” by Sir Shadow. Photos: Chashama make the space ready for the artists. And then what we do is we’ll look through the many artists that apply directly to us and ﬁnd out which artist matches the space best.

What are some highlights that have stood out to you over these 25 years?

In the past 25 years, we have worked with probably over 30,000 artists. One of the very ﬁrst artists we ever worked with was Sir Shadow. He does these single line drawings of musicians and he does poetry, and we’re still working with him today. That is something I’m very proud of. He is also having an exhibition with us currently at 21 Greenwich Avenue. We used to have many buildings on 42nd Street. And we produced something called “Happy Hour” with clown troops on the street. And you could hear the laughter as you walked by on the street. That’s something that we put a lot of energy into. I truly enjoyed the ninja clowns. That was a piece where anybody from the street could come in, and we would engage them with noodle ﬁghts, and they fought the leader and played pretend football. It really allowed anybody who walked by on 42nd Street to come in and experience theater and the world of pretend. We have done hundreds and hundreds of window performances. We had a girl who would sit on the street and you’d walk by and you could call her up on the phone and then she would give you therapy

right there on the street. We’ve helped launch the careers of many directors and theater writers, like Adam Rapp. People come here with a dream and we help facilitate that dream.

And how have you seen art evolve over these last 25 years?

I see the drive of the artist continue to remain the same. They’re always wanting space in New York, they’re always wanting to make art. The way I’ve seen it change is that art has become more a part of the New York vocabulary, where it is now in lobbies, and you will walk into parks and you will see art happening, and you will walk down the avenue and you’ll see art. You can see it everywhere in New York, as opposed to before when it was mostly just behind the wall.

How do you think that a society like ours that’s been going through this pandemic could be affected by the art that Chashama gives its platform to?

I see Chashama being a great catalyst. With all these empty storefronts, we would be able to be a bridge between the property owner, the artist, and the small businesses. We could help re-ignite the economy of New York and bring it back more through the mom and pop shops. Right now, there’s a lot of negative energy with boarded up storefronts. We could take that negative energy and create a positive energy instead.

And have you been able to work during this time?

Yes, we have reopened our workspaces for 150 artists about two weeks ago. And in our storefront windows, we have put live performance artists. We have a space with a DOT Plaza where we have put up a new installation as well.

What’s the plan with Chashama going forward? Where do you see yourself 25 years in the future?

As we grow, while I do love the arts and working with the arts, I would like for us to work more with small businesses. I think that this could be a really good platform for helping small businesses grow. I see us being nationwide. We’ve already launched something like this in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and we’re talking to people in Detroit. So I see it happening on a much larger scale throughout the world and the country.

And what do you do in your downtime, when you’re not working on Chashama?

Well, I just was in a horror ﬁlm called “Party Doll,” which was a lot of fun. I haven’t acted in many years, and I played the ghost in the ﬁlm. And I love to dance, but I mostly just dance by myself. An hour or two in the morning, just moving around.

You can check out some of Chashama’s newest exhibitions at chashama.org/events/.

JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020 SMALL LOSSES AND SMALL GAINS BY ZENAIDE

Stressful Covid days Move so slowly Yet suddenly it’s six PM And nothing accomplished. How queer is that Why bother going out And playing chess With too many maskless pieces Moving on the sidewalks. But guilt for not taking Care of my body Sent me into the streets To get my heart pumping. Living near the East River Only ventured eastward Seeking the safety of Less congested streets. Decided this day To risk adventure And travel westward to To see what might be happening. Second and Third had changed. Large rectangles of curbside roadways Are cordoned off with Fences or ropes Some, with canvas canopies Or huge umbrellas To shade the sun Outﬁtted with Sparsely spaced Tables and chairs. Now one may eat Next to whizzing cars. I sized up a few places Where it might feel safe To sit and have lunch. None passed muster. Turned back by Another route Wondering about what My kitchen held for lunch. Then, right there, Luke’s Lobster appeared And the roadway seating Had lots of safe space. Light bulb went on Sat at a table Took out my phone, Ordered a lobster roll. Five minutes later It started to drizzle No large umbrella or canopy. Damn. Five minutes after that It began to pour, My bagged order arrived, No shelter in sight. Requested a large trash bag, Made a face hole And dryly walked home With my dry lobster roll. Zenaide, a textile artist and writer, lives on the East Side.

The Spirit|Westsider westsidespirit.com

WORD ON THE STREET

POETRY

Over the last few months, readers have sent us poems they’ve written. A selection: WHEN THE SKY IS FALLING

MAY 27TH - 100,000 +

BY JANE SESKIN

BY ADA STRAUSBERG

ONLY FOUR WEEKS LATER 125,000 + BY ADA STRAUSBERG

I must ﬁrst take a breath, then visualize someone who loves me, inhaling hope yet knowing there are things I won’t be able to control.

Today we reached that dreaded mark

It’s just four weeks

The number so awful and stark

And we reached another peak

Across this land, no state is spared

The death rates up a quarter

I can still eat books, music and art and have conversations with my community, where I tell them I am grateful for their presence in my life and then lift up my arms to sing and dance and laugh, to make the noises that afﬁrm my stable presence in this world that has become so perilous.

A person lived and someone cared

Caused by this mortal mortar.

No, not just a number or name

Almost 10 million ‘cross the globe

Each an extinguished life and ﬂame:

Imagine if each time a strobe

Someone’s child, sister, mother

We’d all be truly blinded

Father, daughter, son and brother

Can’t we all be civic minded?

I see silence now as a welcome friend as I look for and notate a daily moment of joy, yet continue to push back and thru emotional discomfort, knowing I will not die from allowing the feelings of anger, sadness and loss to wash over my skin.

Grandparent, uncle or an aunt

How much longer can people deny it?

Cousin, friend, lover, Makes me rant

How much longer some folks defy it?

I will welcome the dreams where I step on a rainbow, extend my hand, open my heart and give away ﬂowers and kindness - for I know that even though the sky is falling, my body vibrates with this gift of being alive. PLEASE REMEMBER BY JANE SESKIN

There’s someone’s husband, someone’s wife, Endangering others by “I don’t care” Those who gave to save another’s life.

Can’t you see it’s everywhere?

Remember them by doing good

The window is closing we are told

Even just doing what you should.

Now’s not the time to be falsely bold

Know how deadly is this disease

Ada Mark Strausberg was born and bred in NYC, and lives on the Upper West Side.

They’d ask of you, so won’t you please.

IF YOU LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, YOU MAY SEE THE SUN BY ELIZABETH HALLER-WALSH

you are not alone.

If you look out the window, you may see the sun

Everyone you’ve loved and who’s loved you

Trees, bushes and plants may be sprouting out, one by one

over the years is now with you at this difﬁcult time.

Blossoming bushes, and ﬂowers of various shapes, colors, and styles

You walk with all, the memories strong and you are safe.

As the weather changes, leaves and petals dance, descending to the ground

Jane Seskin, LCSW is a psychotherapist and author of poetry and personal essays in national magazines and journals. Her most recent book is “Older, Wiser, Shorter: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class.”

The gift of rain nourishes the earth, alerting buds to nature’s call Showering sprinkles of water, create patterns as each fall

Timing dictates their debut, as spring and summer last only a short while

Waiting for the seasons change, until it’s time for another go around Elizabeth Haller-Walsh is the author of “Haggadah of the Heart.”

JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020

The Spirit|Westsider westsidespirit.com

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST COMPOSTING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

June 11, 2020

June 17, 2020

LEARNING TO LIVE AFTER COVID-19 HEALTH

Rehabilitation is crucial for those recovering from coronavirus BY CAROL ANN RINZLER

When it comes to medical jargon, these past three months have certainly expanded the list, starting with the microbe SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) and COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the illness it causes. Here are two entries more for the lexicon: PICS and PICS-F. The first stands for post intensive care syndrome; the second for the effects of PICs on a patient’s family. As every medical professional knows, spending time in an intensive care unit (ICU) can leave a patient with both physical and emotional problems. Add a ventilator and the problems multiply. E if th ti t i

Steven Flanagan, medical director of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Health. Photo courtesy of NYU Langone Health

lem after a relatively long time lying motionless in bed is likely to be weakened muscles. That means patients will have to repeat the childhood experience of learning how to walk without toppling over while having a hard time catching their breath because time on a ventilator can leave a person gasping if he tries to walk quickly. Manhattan Democratic district leader Louise Dankberg

fects on memory and thinking. To which Joshua Morganstein, MD, chair of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters, adds appropriate stress and anxiety which, he says, will likely resolve over time. Back at the walking and breathing stage, reclaiming one’s “normal” requires exercise, physiotherapy, occupational therapy symptom

March 21, 2020

June 3, 2020

The Political Side

THE VITAMIN D QUESTION SCIENCE

New studies report a correlation between COVID19 death rates and D deﬁciency BY MICHAEL ORESKES

Why has New York City been slammed so hard by COVID-19? There are almost as many theories as lights gone dark on Broadway. But one obvious factor does not seem to draw the same blame as our crowds, our subways, our leadership or our location at the crossroads of the world. Which is odd, since New York doctors all know about it. Vitamin D deficiency is, well, epidemic among New Yorkers. And in just the past few days three separate studies, from the US, the UK and Indonesia, have reported a strong correlation between death rates from COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency. “Our analysis shows that it might be as high as cutting the mortality rate in half,” Professor Vadim Backman of

vent a patient from contracting the virus, but it may reduce complications and prevent death in those who are infected.” The strong correlation does not prove causation, of course, and the researchers recommended further studies. But health professionals say there is no reason to wait to reduce the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, which has been well known for years. “Vitamin D is typically much lower in New Yorkers,” said Dr. Eric Ascher, who has offices in Chelsea and on East 76th Street, around the corner from Lenox Hill Hospital Northwell Health, where he is affiliated. “Buildings are so high, everybody’s working indoors.” Vitamin D deficiency is so prevalent here that Ascher says, “I’m more shocked when a patient has a normal vitamin D level.” Ascher says he regularly prescribes vitamin D supplements and urges patients to consume dairy products and get more sun.

Public Health Actions A vitamin deficiency may seem trivial against the dra

Hopes for an end to the lockdown have rested heavily on a scientific or medical breakthrough. A vaccine or effective treatment will be welcome. But increasingly experts are pointing to the importance of basic public health actions. They say these can both reduce the spread of the coronavirus, through testing, tracing and sanitary measures, and the severity of COVID-19, by reducing conditions that make patients more vulnerable. “We are only as healthy as our most challenged residents,” said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene. “It is inevitable that we are going to have a second wave and so we need to not only prepare for that but really look toward seeing this as an opportunity to re-imagine what it means to live in a world where we support people’s total health.” This involves everything from improving overcrowded housing to alleviating concentrations of chronic disease in communities of color, she said. S l h i di i

March 5, 2020

March 13, 2020

THE PASSION OF ST. BERNARD’S Forty Years at the Blackboard

EDUCATION

Parents, alumni and donors at a private Manhattan boys’ school are in an uproar over the planned departure of the beloved longtime headmaster BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

It was a fleeting moment the “Old Boys” will never forget. At least 200 all-male alumni of St. Bernard’s School on the Upper East Side descended on East 98th Street on Jan. 16 for a joyous event known as the Old Boys Dinner. From all over the country and all over the world, they come to Carnegie Hill on the third Thursday of every January to exult in a tradition dating to 1916 – and featuring a healthy dose of wine, liquor and camaraderie. But before the bonding, networking and singing of the “Old Boys’ Song” got underway that evening, the former classmates – as young as 21, as old as 90 – would hear from Stuart H. Johnson III, the headmaster they all seemed to revere. His very first words brought a gasp and nervous laughter, followed by a loud ovation: “It’s a great opportunity to be able to preside at your own funeral,” Johnson said, according to separate accounts from three Old Boys in attendance. “Graceful gallows humor,” is how one witness described the episode in the school’s first-floor auditorium. “Funereal words spoken in funereal times,” another said. “A cri de coeur, a cry from the heart, to everybody in that room,” a third offered. All three requested anonymity. If the Old Boys’ English usage seems particularly eloquent, it’s because St. Bernard’s has taught them very well indeed. And it may sound corny, but as they belted out h i “Si f fi

A sea change is coming to St. Bernard’s, an elite, private school that currently enrolls 365 boys, from kindergarten through ninth grade, who stand out in their navy blue blazers, Oxford shirts and khaki trousers. Founded in 1904, the school boasts an enviable record of placing its graduates in top private day and boarding schools. Since 1985, with Johnson at the helm, the school’s character, prestige, and pedagogical excellence has been enhanced, while its diversity has been boosted – students hail from 52 countries, Armenia to Vietnam, and speak 24

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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sists of stuff that can be composted. That’s a major chunk of it,” she said. “And right now, what we’re doing is throwing out that material. What we’re producing is not actually trash, what we’re producing is waste, but this waste could be used in other ways.” Sacks is a senior associate at Think Zero, an environmental consulting company located in Tribeca, and with the company in support of her, she created the Save Our Compost petition. It received over 21,000 signatures. She used that data in her testimony at the budget hearing and in her emails to council members to show that composting is important to New Yorkers, and that it deserved funding. One of those in the fight was Council Member Keith Powers, who co-created the CORE Act (Community Organics and Recycling Empowerment Act), which, as described on the City Council website, is “legislation that would allow for the recycling of organic and inorganic recyclables not collected at the curb at mandated, proper disposal sites.” Powers described this as a “baseline” for New York City to move forward with organics and recycling, should the composting budget be removed altogether. By holding a town hall, which he said had about 1,000 people in attendance, and initiating his own petition, and introducing the CORE Act, he fought for the budget from the political side. “The nitty-gritty of this happened as we were fighting with the mayor over parts of the budget, and which areas we need to restore, which areas were also going to get cut,” he said. “We were not going to be able to get everything we wanted this year because of the fiscal constraints, but it was a program that I fought very hard to save, because I knew if we didn’t save this part of it, there would be absolutely no composting in the next year.” The composting budget was saved — partly. Sacks’ goal was to keep the approximate budget of $7 million (the previous funding amount for

City Council Member Keith Powers co-created the CORE Act (Community Organics and Recycling Empowerment Act). Photo: John McCarten / New York City Council

the programs), though the budget landed on $2.86 million. Upon learning of the new number, Sacks had mixed emotions. She said that $7 million seems like a lot, but then she put it in perspective. “In the context of an $88 billion budget, it’s not that much,” she said. “New York City spending $2.86 million on its entire composting system, when we spend over $300, if not $400 million exporting our trash every year … to me, it’s not right.” Sacks has an idea for the city to even out this gap. “On the Upper West Side, we have three days a week of trash and one day a week of recycling,” she said. “What I think New York City should be doing and thinking about, is doing one day a week for trash, one day a week for recycling, and one day a week for organics, and make organics mandatory.” Powers agreed with the premise. “Ultimately, we want to find a better balance,” he said. “We want New Yorkers to be doing more of recycling and composting to create a higher demand for the pickup.”

Next Goal Though the composting budget was at risk of being removed from the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, Powers points out that sending all the organic waste that the city produces to landfills costs more in the long term through the cost of tipping waste into landfills. “The reason composting is

good, is you get to do environmental good around sustainability,” he said, “but you also get to reduce the cost of tipping waste, which does save the city money over time. So, you know, we’d be costing us more money in the long run and also not be doing our role as the largest city in the United States to be leaders around environmental issues.” Though hoping for more of the budget to be restored, Sacks acknowledged that this was a victory for composting. Her next goal is to address the discretionary funding from individual council members and try to get that directed toward composting programs. After that, she said they will work with community boards to prepare for next year’s budget hearing. “It’s tough because composting isn’t seen as a priority,” she said. Powers also continues to look ahead. “Ultimately, it just can’t be a few City Council members who are fighting for this every year. We really need the council as a whole to understand the role of recycling and composting in a major city, and to view our city as being required to be a leader in this country around it,” he said. “We desperately need to make sure New Yorkers know what it is, aren’t afraid to do it, and have a convenient way to do it.” A link to the list of open drop-off sites is provided by Sacks on the Save Our Compost Instagram page, @saveourcompost.

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AFTER NYC WENT INTO CULTURE SHOCK, SHE HAD TO PICK UP ITS PIECES CULTURE

Commissioner of the Mayor’s Ofﬁce of Media and Entertainment on keeping the arts alive during the shutdown BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Before COVID hit, there were 80 TV shows and 300 films being made in the city annually. That is just one of many staggering statistics involving all the arts and entertainment that were put on pause in New York City due to the pandemic. “Shortly after the order, it started to become apparent that this may not be a couple of weeks, so how do we support these industries through an indefinite time period? In the creative sector, many businesses live by the day-to-day opening,” explained Anne del Casti-

llo. Part of her multifaceted role as the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment now includes providing guidance and assistance to all our cultural treasures that are struggling during this uncertain time. The Stuyvesant Town native attributes her deep-rooted love of arts, culture, and entertainment to her Manhattan roots. “From a very young age, I was hanging out on St. Mark’s, going to the Keith Haring pop-up shop and Tower Records,” she fondly recalled. “If you grew up anywhere else, that might not happen.” In an ongoing effort to keep the arts in the hearts of New Yorkers during this time of COVID-19, her office launched Virtual NYC Curator Collections in partnership with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and NYC & Company. Through this initiative, the city’s artistic leaders from places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, BAM, Summerstage, and the Apollo Theater handpick local cultural experiences that can be accessed virtually.

Explain what MOME does.

We started out primarily as ﬁlm and television production and then we took over the operations of NYC Media, which is the city’s municipal broadcast radio and television network. And then about four years ago, our portfolio was expanded to include support for theater, music, advertising, publishing, digital content, and shortly after, when the mayor established the oﬃce of nightlife, he put that under us as well. What I think that speaks to is the way that the city truly values the creative sectors of New York and understands the interplay of all of those industries and its connection to nightlife, where a lot of our major cultural movements were born.

Commissioner Anne del Castillo at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019.

You started in 2014 as their director of legal affairs. What does your role as commissioner entail? I started at the agency as general

YOUR 15 MINUTES

Check out our website to read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes”.

Celebrating the Sesame Street block co-naming on 63rd and Broadway. Photos: NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment counsel and then moved into the role of chief operating officer before I was appointed last year as commissioner. My role pre-COVID was understanding the needs of the industries that we serve, so meeting with every stakeholder from media organizations to studios to unions to labels. Ensuring access and opportunities for New Yorkers and that runs the gamut from making sure that they have access to performances and jobs and also, if they’re small business, to growth opportunities. I come from a nonprofit arts administration background in film and television, so I came with some knowledge. But when you really delve into New York City’s creative and cultural scene, it is really rich and diverse and I consider it a blessing to be able to learn about all of the many different facets that make up our creative sectors.

The Made in NY logo we see around the city is connected to your ofﬁce.

It was a program that was started to highlight film and television production here. We really wanted to raise the profile of film and television production in New York City. Those that spend 75 percent of their budget on below the line costs or 75 percent of their shooting days in New York City are eligible for the mark. It’s been a really great way to showcase the incredible productions that are made here. Since then, it’s been expanded to include digital media.

Describe what work was like in March after we went into lockdown.

When I look back on it, it’s incredible to think of the compressed

time frame in which everything happened. Productions were already starting to slow down, and at the time, we thought we were going to maybe shut down for a couple of weeks …We tried to access the impact so we could inform and make recommendations for stimulus packages and grant programs. We were literally on the phone around the clock with the various industry sectors that we serve and then doing surveys and town hall meetings.

What have conversations been like about Broadway and theaters reopening?

Broadway has determined on its own that it’s not opening until 2021. And then there are other theaters that are trying to ﬁgure out what they can do because the smaller companies cannot survive until then. We know that people are really suﬀering right now. They need to get back to work in some way. So we’re talking to them to try to understand are there streaming performances they can do? Are there small pop-up public space performances they can do? How can the city facilitate that? Is there a place for that in some of our public spaces? So those are some of the things that we are trying to get our heads around and get up quickly. Because every day that they are closed, we really risk losing some of our city’s treasures.

more visible leadership role in the industry of music, theater, and ﬁlm and TV production. In the time of the pandemic, we have seen a lot of creativity as well. Music for the Soul was a partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals and AFM Local 802 where we had free musical performances by New York-based musicians during lunchtime that were streamed on the Health + Hospitals Facebook page so that our healthcare workers could just get a little bit of a break and inspiration. And that did really well and we actually ended up having some really big names sign up to participate.

I saw you did the Sesame Street block co-naming on 63rd and Broadway. That’s so cute!

Ironically, my first official job was for Sesame Workshop as an executive assistant. I was there for their 25th anniversary; I actually have the watch that employees got. When we went to do the 50th anniversary street naming, which I think was my first official event as commissioner, I went up into the offices, and the guard at the desk was the same guy who was there when I worked there. It was so crazy. It really came full circle. It had so much meaning because I was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the place where I got my start. www.nycgo.com/virtual-nyc/curator-collections

What are some initiatives you’ve worked on that you’re most proud of?

We launched the Women’s Fund, which supports women creatives who are at a point in their careers where they can move on to be showrunners, producers, and really take a much

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Level: Medium

N W L U E C B M C P N Q X G A

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U Y Q D N T C A I M N C E E B

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X L M Y H E R E T A H A L Y R

P A Y W S A V S P T G U H T Y

G K V C N G U V Q E M I O A C

U E C A H X Z Y O S P X H J W

A D T Q N E C T A R I N E F Q

V E L U I U E X A P R I C O T

15 words are listed below. They may go across, up and down or diagonally in the puzzle. Circle each one as you ﬁnd it.

A O B M R R N G R A P E S O O

Apple Apricot Banana Blackberry Damson Date Grapes Guava Lychee Melon Nectarine Plums Pomegranate Quince

ANSWERS E

A N G A R O O

H O

40 35

33 24 20

S 17

T E

12 4

E 6

O N 7

T E Y

Y A R

N O N

G A

A G

W H

A N G U 22

O D

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31 25

E 38

N G

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X L M Y H E R E T A H A L Y R

P A Y W S A V S P T G U H T Y

G K V C N G U V Q E M I O A C

U E C A H X Z Y O S P X H J W

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V E L U I U E X A P R I C O T

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8 4

2 3 1

9 8

3 1

6 7

9 5

5 7 9 2 6 4 8 3 1

7 9 8 6 4 3 2 1 5

6 1 5 7 9 2 4 8 3

4 2 3 8 5 1 7 9 6

3 6 2 5 7 9 1 4 8

1 8 7 4 3 6 5 2 9

9 5 4 1 2 8 3 6 7

25 Part of APB 26 Liotta or Charles 27 Races 28 Lost time 29 “Haven’t Met You ___” (Michael Buble) 32 Put in the lineup 33 Supportive 35 Fair amount 36 Say “One club,” for example 37 Act like a library 38 Bouquet extra 39 Puts to work 41 Performance part 42 When doubled, affected 44 Come to nothing 45 Drops outside

K T N W Y J O F A S P A U O L

A K I U Z E C G E D Q R W P R

J X E L P F U A L D Z A B A B

I M A I S V E N E C D B N B E

WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor

U Y Q D N T C A I M N C E E B

Down 1 Heavy partner 2 Knock one’s socks off 3 Year quartet 4 “...___ dust shalt thou return” 5 Burns or Byron 6 Bottom of some scales 7 Hair retainer 8 Move a little 9 Stalk, as prey 10 Breakfast choice 16 Supply in a loft 18 Score marker in cribbage 20 Go downhill, maybe 21 It may be in the ring 22 Got the medal 23 Road boor

B Z R D F O A E N U O O X L K

46 Roughly half of the world’s population 47 Prepare pears 48 Dessert from an oven 49 “This ___ up” 50 Units used to measure carloads 51 Tailor

D M E L O N S S L A Q P J V C

4 2

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Across 1 Cat Stevens “Morning ___ Broken” 4 Topping 8 Cyndi Lauper’s “___ Bop” 11 Be liable to garnishment 12 “And Then There Were ___”: Christie 13 Harbour workhorse 14 Drink “for two” 15 Kind of ring 17 Dalmatian’s marking 19 The ‘’A’’ in BA 20 Ghillie or wingtip 22 “___ me?” 24 Aussie animal 27 Like “Deck the Halls” apparel 30 “___ up to you” 31 Dan Fogelberg “The ___ of Love” 33 Go by space shuttle 34 Coin hole 35 Fledgling pilot’s challenge 38 Peat or oil 40 Functions 43 Un-even?

8 1

33 35

8 5

E W

3 1

1 4

O N

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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.

M E

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

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