downtown

Ed koch
takes
on the
‘Basterds,’
p. 26

®
VOLUME 22, NUMBER 16
express THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Vendors beware. Official W.T.C. souvenirs

for sale at new museum
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
The vendors who circle the World Trade
Center site hawking disaster-themed souve-
nirs are getting some competition.
Joe Daniels, president of the National
September 11 Memorial & Museum, fre-
quently walked past the vendors on his way
to work and noticed that tourists who stopped
to gape at the photo flipbooks also asked the
vendors about the future of the site, and they
didn’t always get accurate answers.
“I wanted us to provide a more authentic
experience,” Daniels said Wednesday morn-
ing, standing inside the newly opened 9/11
Memorial Preview Site on Vesey St.
The 3,000-square-foot preview site, in a
former camera shop near Church St., is equal
parts museum, visitors’ center and souvenir
shop. A photo timeline around the perimeter
traces events from the 1993 bombing to the
projected opening of the 9/11 memorial on
Sept. 11, 2011. Interactive kiosks allow visi-
tors to see live footage from the construction
site — they can print a time-stamped version
and take it home in a commemorative folio for
$4.95 — and to learn about the victims and
the artifacts the future museum will hold. They
can also share their memories of the day and
learn about community service initiatives.
About half the space at the preview site is
devoted to memorabilia, including $18 Twin
Towers T-shirts, $3 F.D.N.Y. key chains and
$8.95 photo brochures that are less sen-
sational than those the vendors sell on the
street for about the same price.
All the proceeds from the preview site
merchandise will help build the future 9/11
memorial and museum, but selling sou-
venirs commemorating an event in which
nearly 3,000 people were killed can still be
a touchy subject.
A 39-year-old woman who handled
human remains after 9/11 said she was sur-
prised to see so much space at the preview
site devoted to souvenirs.
“There’s a demand for it,” the woman said
with resignation.
The woman, who did not want her name
printed, fought back tears as she described
her memories from the aftermath of 9/11,
brought to the surface by the photos and
videos at the preview site. “People need to
remember,” she said.
Of the souvenirs for sale, the woman
Continued on page 5

Downtown Express photos by Jefferson Siegel

Council Race
We take a look at three of the five Democratic City Council candidates running in
the Sept. 15 primary in this week’s issue: from left, Margaret Chin, Councilmember
Alan Gerson and Pete Gleason. Next week, we’ll profile the other two Council hope-
fuls in the Downtown race, Arthur Gregory and PJ Kim.
Downtown Express photo by Lorenzo Ciniglio
COVERAGE BEGINS ON PAGE 3 Souvenirs on sale at the new 9/11 Memorial Preview Site on Vesey St.
2 August 28 - September 3, 2009
U NDER
NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-21
Mixed Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
c over
EDITORIAL PAGES . . . . . . . . . . . .22-23
FERRER FLAP
YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Freddy Ferrer is sticking with his endorsement of Pete
Gleason in the First District City Council race, despite some
flyer shenanigans that upset him.
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-30 Ferrer, former Bronx borough president and the
Democratic nominee for mayor in ’05, announced his sup-
port of Gleason earlier this month. But Ferrer also endorsed
Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29-30 some Democratic district leaders who are supporting incum-
bent Councilmember Alan Gerson, including Ferrer’s long-
time friends John Quinn and Alice Cancel, who represent
CLASSIFIEDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 the East Side of Lower Manhattan.
The trouble started when Ferrer saw a flyer that touted
not only his endorsement of Gleason but also his purported
endorsement of Quinn and Cancel’s opponents, Norma
Ramirez and David Diaz, who are Gleason supporters.
SEND YOUR “I was displeased, to say the least,” Ferrer told
UnderCover.
Letter Ferrer said Gleason told him he was not responsible for
the flyers and he would have Ramirez and Diaz get them off
to the Editor the streets immediately.
“I thought that was the right way to handle it,” Ferrer
NEWS@DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.COM said, and he still supports Gleason.
But the flyer issues may not be over yet — we hear
145 SIXTH AVENUE, NYC, NY 10013 there’s another flyer circulating that claims the Downtown
Independent Democrats endorsed both Gleason and district
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER leader candidate Paul Newell. While the Gleason part is
FOR CONFIRMATION PURPOSES ONLY true, D.I.D. did not endorse Newell, who was not even run-
ning yet when they made their decision.
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downtown express
RECESSION PRODUCT
The failure of miniMasters and other children’s programs
in Tribeca have not dissuaded Elisa Chen, 33, from launch-
ing her new parent-child center called Body & Mind Builders
at 78 Reade St. next month.
Chen is well aware of the recession — she worked in
finance before getting laid off last year — and plans to
offer discounts to get families to enroll. The idea behind
the parent-child combinations is to allow parents to get in a
pilates workout, for example, while their toddlers are learn-
ing Mandarin.
Chen, who lives in the Financial District, thought up
Body & Mind Builders after seeing that P.S. 89 did not give
as much homework or do as much test prep as she expected,
and she wanted supplementary classes for her son, who is
entering fifth grade.
She also had another motivation for starting her own
business rather than looking for a new finance job.
“My husband works in finance,” she said, and because of
the downturn, “I had no desire for both of us to be in this
industry.”
DISAPPEARING TOWERS
Most of the World Trade Center fence along Vesey St.
is now a blank blue wall after the Port Authority removed
all images related to Silverstein Properties, its nemesis in
an ongoing financing battle. Photos of work at the Port’s
Freedom Tower, One W.T.C., remain, along with close-ups
of steel workers, but images showing the full site plan with
Silverstein’s Church St. towers have disappeared, along with
those that showed the towers’ shops.
Candace McAdams, Port spokesperson, said the disap-
pearing renderings are “not at all” related to the dispute with
Silverstein. The Port is just switching the old images with
some new ones to continue showing the latest progress on
the site, she said.
SURVEY SAYS…
Gee, we hope it wasn’t anything we wrote.
A new Quinnipiac University poll says that most New
York City voters think World Trade Center development is
going “very” or “somewhat badly” (53 percent), and even
more Manhattanites, 63 percent, are pessimistic about the
situation.
By a 2-1 margin, most city voters have little faith in the
Port Authority’s ability to finish the first part of the memorial
by Sept. 11, 2011 or open the Freedom Tower by December
2013. Maybe because the projected opening of the transit
hub has been pushed back until June, 2014, optimism is
almost 50-50 about finishing that one on time.
It crossed our minds that perhaps W.T.C. developer Larry
Silverstein paid for this poll to embarrass the Port, but
Quinipiac does its surveys on its own. Quinnipiac has been
polling on W.T.C. issues for about seven years and has never
found as much pessimism about progress there.
“Do New Yorkers believe anything the Port Authority
tells them,” Maurice Carroll, Quinnipiac’s director, asked in
a statement. “The answer is ‘no.’”
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downtown express
Council Candidates: Where Do They Stand?
This week we look at three of the five Democratic candidates in the First City Council District primary, Sept. 15. The district includes
all of Manhattan south of Canal St., Chinatown, Soho and parts of the Village and Lower East Side. Next week we’ll focus on PJ Kim and Arthur Gregory.
Pete Gleason
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
City Council candidate
Pete Gleason is so concerned
about the long-delayed 9/11
memorial at the World
Trade Center site that he
thinks most other work on
the site should wait until the
memorial is complete.
Gleason, 46, said he is
frustrated by the inaction
of the Port Authority, which
owns the site, and the
incumbent Councilmember
Alan Gerson. The lack of
even a temporary memorial
at the Trade Center site “is a Downtown Express photo
disgrace,” Gleason said dur- by Jefferson Siegel
ing a 45-minute interview
last week with editors and reporters of Downtown Express.
To expedite the memorial construction, Gleason suggested
delaying the building of towers along Church St. Developer
Silverstein Properties has begun building Tower 4 but would
need public subsidies to finish it and to start the other two tow-
ers. Gleason opposes granting those subsidies.
“That can be a vacant spot while the memorial is being built,”
Gleason said of the sites for the three Church St. towers. “The
locations you’re talking about can be used as construction stag-
ing areas for building this memorial…. The first and foremost
thing that should be built is the memorial.”
Gleason’s hesitancy to spend public money on private office
towers is similar to the Port Authority’s position in the dispute
with Silverstein. But Gleason made it clear that he’s no friend of
the Port Authority: Gleason also repeated his called for the Port
to be disbanded, saying, “It should get out of Dodge.”
The City Council has little control over the Port Authority,
a bi-state agency created by Congress and controlled by two
governors. When Gleason was asked how he would effect the
changes he proposed, he said he would “shine a light on the
project” to provide transparency, but he did not go into specifics.
Gleason said he could not recall ever asking an official at the Port
Authority or the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. about
W.T.C. rebuilding or demolishing the former Deutsche Bank
building at public meetings over the past six years.
Gleason has also made education a central issue of his cam-
paign, criticizing Gerson for not solving the overcrowding prob-
lem during his eight years in office. Gleason repeated that criticism
during the interview last week, saying Gerson’s efforts to bring
new school seats to the neighborhood are too little too late.
If elected, Gleason committed to opening another elementary
school to Downtown. But he was not familiar with the two K-8
schools already in the pipeline — the Spruce Street School and
P.S./I.S. 276 in Battery Park City — which are opening with just
kindergarten classes this fall.
Asked about the schools, Gleason said, “There’s one a little
east of Tribeca and there’s another one in Battery Park City…. I
understand one is a middle school.”
Gleason acknowledged that he didn’t know the specifics
on many issues and had not formed an opinion on how to
zone the schools.
“I’m out on the street,” he said. “I’m not in rooms having
meetings…. A lot of people are expecting me to do the job
before I’m elected, and you know what, that’s not the way
Continued on page 6
August 28 - September 3, 2009
Margaret Chin
BY JOSH ROGERS
If Margaret Chin were
at a poker table, she
might be the type to go
“all-in” a lot. Her style
is to hold to her position
and risk the offer on the
table, trying to convince
the other player to back
down and fold.
Chin, 56, said ulti-
mately the community
can get more amenities
like affordable housing
and more school space if
it holds out before mak-
ing a deal. Downtown Express photo
When it comes to by Jefferson Siegel
the Seward Park Urban
Renewal Area, which has remained mostly undeveloped
for 40 years, she said she would insist that any new
development include a school and that 100 percent of
the apartments built there would be set aside for moder-
ate and low income people.
Asked if she might accept some market rate housing
there if the sites continued to languish, she said: “That’s
down the line but we got to start with the premise that
this is the kind of housing we need. If we start saying
‘oh market rate and then do subsidized [housing] or the
financing doesn’t work’ – that’s B.S.”
In an interview with Downtown Express last week,
Chin said there are many non-profit developers who
often get shut out of the process because the city looks
for the highest bidder.
Chin, who is running for the City Council fulltime,
until recently was the deputy executive director of Asian
Americans for Equality, a non-profit advocacy group
which has developed affordable housing in Chinatown
and the Lower East Side.
Some residents near Seward Park oppose any more
affordable housing in the area and many of them are also
strong supporters of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Chin said it won’t be hard talking with Silver about
Seward Park. “I am going to,” she said with a smile. “I
can work with him.”
Similar to her Seward Park position, Chin said she
did not like the agreement 20 years ago to build P.S. 234
in Tribeca because it included a high-rise private office
tower and she would have said no to the deal a few years
ago to build the Spruce Street School, because it came
with a condo tower.
“An 80-story tower luxury building in exchange for
just a school? I mean the havoc that’s created there with
the traffic congestion,” she said. “And who is going to
be living there? Is it going to be filled up? It’s a big
question.”
Chin was careful not to say she would have let the school
idea die, just that she thought the community could have
gotten a lower tower, some affordable housing and the
school if it held out for more.
Councilmember Alan Gerson, one of Chin’s opponents,
said affordable housing at the Spruce St. site was not pos-
sible because the developer could have built the tower as
Continued on page 6
3
Alan Gerson
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
City Councilmember
Alan Gerson started a
recent interview by para-
phrasing former Mayor
Ed Koch.
“For a legislator to real-
ly have completed anything
of major significance,”
Gerson said, “you really do
need three terms.”
Gerson is hoping that,
like Koch, he will win a
third term in office to fin-
ish his agenda. But first,
Gerson, 51, has to take
on four challengers in Downtown Express file photo
the Democratic primary by Elisabeth Robert
Sept. 15.
In a wide-ranging interview with Downtown Express edi-
tors and reporters this week, Gerson talked about the race
and his hopes for the next four years.
On the oft-delayed World Trade Center site, Gerson
made several promises, including that the memorial would
open by the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 with permanent
pedestrian access. Gerson also committed to putting a bus
management plan in place and resolving the uncertainties
about the performing arts center.
Although the City Council has little control over most of
those rebuilding issues, Gerson said he would use his “bully
pulpit” to make good on the commitments, and his constitu-
ents should hold him accountable. But if that’s so, Gerson
was asked, then shouldn’t he be held accountable for the
delays at the Trade Center site over the past eight years?
“No,” Gerson said, “for two reasons.” First, he had less
influence in the past because of the high-powered politics
of the site. The delays over the past eight years were often
related to insurance and governance disputes, not actual
construction issues, he said. Second, Gerson said he had less
experience in the past.
Gerson did not promise to resolve the current dispute
over office tower financing between W.T.C. developer
Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority, which owns
the site. Gerson thinks Silverstein and the Port Authority
both need to put more money into the project.
In addition to the World Trade Center, Gerson rounded
out his third-term agenda by committing to: open the new
park on Governors Island and begin work on a science con-
ference center there; get a new K-8 school approved for North
Tribeca and Soho; and open a law-and-justice-themed high
school in the Civic Center (he said New York Law School and
all of the district attorney candidates are supportive).
During the interview, Gerson acknowledged for the first
time that disorganization is a problem for his office. This fall,
whether he wins the primary or not, Gerson plans to hire a
consultant at his own expense to review his office’s technology
and personnel, and he said he would make the results public.
“I’m always trying to do better,” Gerson said.
He also acknowledged that communication has been a
problem during the past eight years.
“Sometimes, people were not fully aware of everything
we were doing,” Gerson said. “Because we got so caught up
in the doing of it, we neglected the communication of it. And
Continued on page 6
4 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

POLICE BLOTTER
CAREER P A C E U N I V E R S I T Y
Seaport murder
Police on Wednesday were still seeking
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downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 5

New W.T.C. memorial space opens

Continued from page 1

added, “This doesn’t bother me as much as people at the site

selling photos.”
Lower Manhattan residents have long lambasted the
street vendors who sell 9/11 material. Vending is prohibited
on the blocks around the World Trade Center site, but many
of those who carry their wares are protected under the First
Amendment.
“I think it’s a disgrace,” said Paul Sipos, a Community
Board 1 member, of the lurid booklets the vendors sell.
“That’s one of the reasons I don’t go down there.”
Sipos had not seen the merchandise the preview site is
selling, so he couldn’t say if it was more appropriate.
Miguel, 32, who sells 9/11 photo booklets on Church St.,
defended his trade Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the
preview site’s opening ceremony. He carried his booklets in
a black messenger bag and moved quickly along the street,
because he said people from the museum had been stopping
him and scaring away his customers for the past week.
“We were here first,” said Miguel, who did not give his
last name. “We’re just trying to make a living…. The big fish
always eat the little fish.”
Miguel said the police know him and the other 10 or
so vendors who work the area around the site. The police
sometimes tell him to keep moving, but they don’t disrupt his
business, he said. Miguel said he and the other vendors keep
an eye on the area, calling 911 if they see suspicious behavior
or people who need medical attention.
Michelle Breslauer, spokesperson for the 9/11 memorial
foundation, said there was no organized effort to displace
the street vendors.
The souvenirs at the preview site range in price from
50-cent postcards to a $75 coffee-table book. T-shirts and
bags designed for the memorial foundation bear slogans “In
Darkness We Shine Brightest” and “United in Hope.” The
F.D.N.Y. and N.Y.P.D. memorabilia was most popular on the
first day, a cashier said.
John Cartier, 41, whose brother James was killed on 9/11
while doing electrical work in the South Tower, said the sou-
venirs are fine because their sale will help build the memorial
and museum.
“But if we could do this all without money…,” he trailed off.
Cartier donated his brother’s Harley Davidson motorcycle
to the memorial foundation, and it sits in the window draw-
ing visitors inside.
Many of the tourists who visited the preview site
Wednesday, the first day it was officially open, were glad to
have found a place to get information, not just souvenirs.
Przemek Lukasik, 19, who was visiting from Poland, said
the preview center was helpful because after walking around the
fenced-off construction, “I just wanted to see what is inside.”
The preview site, funded with a $1 million grant from the
Downtown Express photos by Lorenzo Ciniglio
Starr International Foundation, is free to enter. It is separate
from the Tribute WTC Visitor Center on Liberty St., which A motorcycle owned by an electrician killed on 9/11 has become a memorial and is now on display at the new
opened in 2006 and charges adults $10 admission. Tribute Memorial Preview location.
co-founders Jennifer Adams and Lee Ielpi attended the pre-
view site’s opening Wednesday and said afterward that they site. Daniels, president of the memorial foundation, said only World Trade Center construction progress with stories from
did not view it as competition. that Tribute’s programs “are incredibly important.” survivors, victims’ relatives and recovery workers.
While the Tribute Center focuses on the past, the preview Adams said Tribute is talking to the foundation about Monica Iken, a memorial foundation board member
site focuses on the future, so the two complement each other, how to share programming and content. whose husband was killed on 9/11, said the opening of the
Ielpi said, echoing similar comments by the foundation’s One thing the preview site has that Tribute does not preview center made her feel that the construction of the
Daniels. Tribute also runs tours led by local residents and is a recording booth where visitors can tape three-minute memorial was real.
relatives of victims. versions of their 9/11 stories, some of which will be incor- “You realize that it’s going to happen,” she said.
Adams said that while Tribute served more than 500,000 porated into the future museum. StoryCorps will also work
people last year, there are still many more tourists looking for with the memorial foundation to use the booth for longer Julie@DowntownExpress.com
information and a place to share their thoughts. The preview interviews.
center will be especially good for those who are just passing The preview space quickly filled with tourists after an The preview site (212-267-2047, national911memorial.
through and do not have an hour or two to spend at the opening ceremony on Wednesday. The dozens of people who org) is at 20 Vesey St. between Broadway and Church Sts.
Tribute Center, Adams said. milled around kept their voices hushed and often left wiping and is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday through
It is unclear what will happen to the Tribute Center once their eyes. Many stood at the back watching a four-minute Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to
the 9/11 memorial and museum open at the Trade Center video clip from Project Rebirth, which combines footage of 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
6 August 28 - September 3, 2009
Council Candidates: Where Do They Stand?
Alan Gerson
Continued from page 3
communication is important.”
It took Gerson a long time to make his
points. Forty minutes into a nearly two-hour
interview with Downtown Express, Gerson
said he had just given the short version of
his accomplishments and goals and would be
happy to “go through the long version.” In a
lengthy conclusion an hour later, Gerson rat-
tled off a dozen programs as varied as home-
less youth services, a South Street Seaport
design charette and a Chinatown school sci-
ence center with a space simulator.
Earlier, Gerson focused on the parts of
his record he is most proud of, including his
advocacy for an affordable housing fund that
has preserved units in Chinatown and on
the Lower East Side with L.M.D.C. money.
Gerson also highlighted the 2004 agreement
he secured from the city to build a new
K-8 school on the East Side, an annex for
P.S. 234 and Manhattan Youth’s Downtown
Community Center, in exchange for two
new residential towers at sites 5B and 5C
in Tribeca. Gerson called that deal “pains-
taking” and said he had “a few shouting
matches” with former Dep. Mayor Daniel
Doctoroff before it was signed.
Gerson speaks with great familiarity,
but not always clarity, on many of the dis-
trict’s complex issues. On congestion pric-
ing, the mayor’s failed plan to charge a fee
to drivers entering Lower Manhattan and
Margaret Chin
Continued from page 3
of right” within existing zoning law, so the
community had no leverage.
Chin also wants to see affordable hous-
ing, schools and more open space built at the
World Trade Center, but she seemed ready to
accept that the plans are not likely to change
at this point.
“This is what we can hope for,” she said.
Chin, who lost to Gerson in 2001 and
also ran for Council in 1991 and 1993, said
she is confident she’ll be successful this
time. This is the first time she is the only
woman and the only Chinese person in the
race. In 2001, she came in fourth in a seven-
candidate race, but she got the most votes
in Chinatown despite running against two
Chinese opponents.
She wants to continue her fight to build
and preserve more affordable housing, pro-
tect tenants, increase traffic safety, but she
also fights for quality of life issues such as
noise complaints and fixing street lights.
She uses her campaign office on Saturdays
to help solve people’s problems and plans to
continue that kind of service if she wins.
“I would have an office that would be
open in the evenings, on weekends, provide
different languages, and people could come
Councilmember Alan Gerson, left, Pete Gleason and Margaret Chin at a candidates’ forum organized by Downtown Express and
The Villager last week. Audio and video recordings of the forum are available at downtownexpress.com.
Midtown, Gerson gave more explanation
of his position.
Gerson has his own plan for congestion
pricing, which would target the minority of
drivers who are using Lower Manhattan as
a cut-through route. He also wants to focus
the fees on single drivers during rush hour.
But if it came down to either the mayor’s
plan or nothing, “I would vote for congestion
pricing,” Gerson said. Last week, during the
“lightning round” of a debate sponsored by
Downtown Express, Gerson said he would
in and get help,” she said.
Chin, who speaks three Chinese dialects,
said Gerson has not done well with con-
stituent services. She also criticized Gerson
for not holding the required number of
hearings of the Council’s Lower Manhattan
Redevelopment Committee.
Gerson said there have been times this
year in which different parties in the W.T.C.
talks have asked him to postpone a meeting
so as not to jeopardize a sensitive point in
the negotiations, but he planned to make up
the missed meetings in the coming months.
But Gotham Gazette reported earlier this
year that the problem is not new and that
Gerson did not hold the required number of
hearings over the last three years.
Chin also wants to continue to promote
voter registration and involvement, some-
thing she has worked on for many years with
AAFE.
The First Council District is one of the
most economically diverse in the city and
Chin wants to hold regular meetings with
neighborhood leaders.
“I want to get the neighborhoods in
District 1 working together,” she said. “Yes
there is rich and poor but we can coexist and
work together.”
Josh@DowntownExpress.com
not support congestion pricing on most
drivers.
While acknowledging a few shortcomings
during this week’s interview, Gerson said his
office has achieved results.
“We have prioritized real pressing human
needs,” he said, referring to tenants facing
eviction and seniors with medical issues.
Gerson also defended his vote to extend
term limits for the mayor and other city
officials, including himself, a decision his
opponents have criticized.
Pete Gleason
Continued from page 3
it works.”
Gleason said his campaign was focused on
bringing problems to light, and once he was
elected he would focus on solutions.
“Once you get into the position, you
either do the job or you don’t do the job,”
Gleason said.
Returning to the topic of schools, Gleason
added that to prevent overcrowding in the
future, he would support a trigger law forcing
all residential developers to set aside resources
for infrastructure, including schools. Several
sitting councilmembers, including Gerson, have
raised the idea previously, but it would require a
revision to the city charter or the Dept. of City
Planning’s signoff.
Gleason also raised the issue of street vend-
ing, which has been a contentious one particu-
larly in Soho, where many of the vendors sell
goods protected under the First Amendment.
Gleason said the government should not wade
into the murky question of how to define art,
but the government also has to prevent vendors
from unsafely cluttering the sidewalks. After
some prodding, Gleason said that if elected, he
would limit the number of vendors per block.
Asked if he supported Gerson’s multi-
pronged vendor legislation, which would do
downtown express
Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel
Unlike Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Gerson
did not cite the poor economy as the reason
for his vote. Rather, Gerson said he tried to
return the question of term limits to voters
for a referendum, as it should have been, but
once that failed, he wanted to give voters as
many choices on the ballot as possible.
“It was a terrible position,” he said of the
choice he had to make.
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
something similar, Gleason said he had not
read it. But he criticized Gerson for not having
passed any components of the legislation.
“What I don’t support is [Gerson’s] inability
to effectuate change,” Gleason said.
Gerson said in a subsequent interview that
the Police Dept. recently signed off on one of
his vending bills, which would redefine how to
measure sidewalk width, making the current
rules easier to enforce.
Gleason appeared more familiar with bank-
rupt developer General Growth Properties’
now-defunct plan for South Street Seaport,
which included a 500-foot tower and the move
of the historic Tin Building. Gleason opposes
G.G.P.’s plan but did not offer an alternative.
He said an open 9/11 memorial would bring in
tourists who would help small businesses across
Lower Manhattan, including in the Seaport.
As a final question, Gleason was asked if
he’d ever made a decision in his professional
career as a lawyer, firefighter and police officer
that he wished he could change, and what he
had learned from it.
“No,” Gleason said. He then added, “We’ve
all made mistakes…. When you work in the
emergency service, things happen. It’s a danger-
ous job. Sometimes there’s things outside your
control that happen.”
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
downtown express
Neighbors go postal over threatened station closings
BY ALBERT AMATEAU
Village neighbors, postal union representa-
tives and elected officials rallied in front of the
West Village post office last week to protest the
U.S. Postal Service’s plan to close the station
in October.
The full-service post office at 527 Hudson
St. is one of five stations in Manhattan, includ-
ing the Pitt St. post office next to the Seward
Park Co-op on the Lower East Side, and 14
total in all five boroughs proposed for closing
because of decreased mail volume and a corre-
sponding decline in revenue for U.S.P.S.
It is the second time in two years that the
West Village station has been threatened. In
2007 the full-service post office was scheduled
for conversion to an automated center that
would not be able to issue postal money orders.
After protests led by elected officials, full ser-
vice remained with automatic machines added.
About a year ago, the station was closed for
several months for a $250,000 renovation.
Congressmember
Jerrold Nadler said the
privatization of the U.S.
Postal Service a decade
ago into a private public-
benefit organization that
receives no subsidy from
federal tax funds was
a big mistake.
Congressmember Jerrold Nadler and
Clarence Wall, executive vice president of the
postal workers union in the New York metro
area, told the Aug. 20 rally at the Hudson St.
post office that the union believes there is no
economic justification for closing the station.
“I’m not convinced that these closures
would create real relief from the Postal Service’s
budget crisis,” said Nadler, adding, “As far as I
can see, the cuts are akin to moving furniture
around on the Titanic.”
Nadler announced that he was sponsoring
two bills in Congress. The intention of one bill
would be to save U.S.P.S. $3.5 billion per year
in operating expenses. The other bill would
require U.S.P.S. to fully justify station closings
and service consolidations, and would require
hearings and a public assessment of the need
for a station closure or consolidation.
Wall said that if it were not for $2 billion
that Congress last year forced U.S.P.S. to
prepay into its employee health insurance, the
Postal Service would have shown a surplus
this year.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
whose district includes the West Village, told
the rally that revenues alone couldn’t measure
the importance of local post offices.
August 28 - September 3, 2009 7
“Local post offices keep us in touch with
our friends and families,” she said. “Can you
imagine what Christmas would be like without
a post office near where people live? They are a
necessity. A post office is like a community cen-
ter where people meet their neighbors. Closing
post offices needs to be done with a scalpel, not
a machete,” Quinn said.
State Senator Tom Duane, whose district
includes the West Village, Assemblymember
Linda Rosenthal, representing Clinton and
the Upper West Side, and State Senator
Daniel Squadron, whose district includes
the Lower East Side and most of the East
Village, also spoke at the rally. Staff members
for Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and
Richard Gottfried were also at the rally.
Nadler said the privatization of the U.S.
Postal Service a decade ago into a private
public-benefit organization that receives no
subsidy from federal tax funds was a big
mistake.
“Mail service is a public good. It’s as old
as the United States — started by Benjamin
Franklin,” he said, adding, “It was an illusion
to believe that the Postal Service could sustain
itself.” He acknowledged, however, that there
does not appear to be support in Congress to
reverse the privatization. “That may change if
there are many more station closings,” he said.
At the end of last month, representa-
tives from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Downtown Express photo by Monica Schipper
Office led a rally in front of the Pitt St. post Residents say saving local post offices, like the Hudson St. station, above, as well
office protesting the station’s planned closing. as the Pitt St. station, is a priority.
The Pitt St. station, at 185 Clinton St., leases it
premises from the Seward Park Co-op.
The West Village station in July began
distributing questionnaires to its patrons as
part of the review of the potential closing. But
many Villagers felt the questions were rigged
to show that the nearby post office at 201
Varick St. could serve West Village residents.
Steve Gould, a staff member of Visiting
Neighbors, which serves elderly Village resi- food. fun. sand.
dents, said the organization has many clients in
the West Village who are older than 80. LONG ISLAND CITY
“They can’t be asked to walk to Varick St., SUN 9/13 • 1PM SAT 9/26 • 1PM-3AM (free bef. 6pm)
more than seven blocks further away,” he said
at the Aug. 20 rally. MARTINEZ VEGA RECORDS:
Harry Malakoff, a real estate broker and W. BROTHERS "GET TOGETHER"
12th St. resident, recalled that when he was W/LOUIE VEGA
a college student 40 years ago, his political-
science professor told the class that one of the SOUTH STREET SEAPORT
duties of a congressmember was to make sure FRI 9/4 • 4PM-3AM SAT • 6PM-10PM
the district had a post office.
Albert Bennett, a Morton St. resident and
MELTING POT GLOBAL: NICKY SIANO
member of his block association, said the West PARADISE SAT • 10PM-3AM
Village station is necessary for the association UNDER VICTOR FRANCO
to send its monthly newsletter to residents.
“Closing the station would be the death of
THE STARS
the Morton St. Block Association,” he said.
Jo Hamilton, chairperson of Community
GOVERNORS ISLAND
Board 2, said, “We fought the battle two SUN 8/23 • 2PM-12PM SAT. 8/29 • 8PM
years ago to save the West Village post office.
Community Board 2 is very, very strongly
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A U.S.P.S. spokesperson said none of the
ASHER ROTH
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Fiterman demo delayed briefly,
after violations
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
A series of safety violations at Fiterman
Hall stopped work on the demolition site
twice in the past month.
The Dept. of Buildings issued violations
Aug. 8 for piled-up debris and Aug. 3 for
falling sparks, a standpipe problem and
cigarette butts found on the no-smoking
site. A few stop work orders were issued
but most of the work was able to resume
within several days.
The violations at first appeared remi-
niscent of the dangerous conditions at the
former Deutsche Bank building prior to
the fatal 2007 fire there. Both buildings
were damaged on 9/11 and they sit on
either side of the Trade Center site.
“It does give a moment’s pause,” said
Rob Spencer, director of media services
at the Organization of Staff Analysts
union, and one of the closest watchdogs
of the Fiterman and Deutsche projects.
The cigarette butts found at Fiterman,
in particular, are “not encouraging,”
Spencer said.
Richard Dalessio, Fiterman project
manager for the Dormitory Authority of
the State of New York, said the project is
safe and the violations reflect the intense
scrutiny of the project by the government
regulators, including the Buildings Dept.,
which visits the site daily.
“The fact that violations were issued is
a good thing,” Dalessio said. “It shows that
the process is working.”
Fiterman Hall, a Borough of Manhattan
Community College classroom building,
and the Deutsche Bank building both
needed to be cleaned and demolished after
9/11. The 2007 fire at the Deutsche Bank
building, sparked by a worker’s discarded
cigarette, was made more dangerous by the
flammable debris in the building, a broken
standpipe and the fact that the building
was being cleaned and demolished simul-
taneously.
Since the fire, abatement and demoli-
tion projects, including Fiterman, have
been subject to much stricter oversight to
West Thames playground meet
Residents will be able to discuss plans for
the West Thames Park construction with the
park’s project team this weekend, as part of
a daylong event held in the current park.
Officials from the Community Board 1
Battery Park City Working Group and the
state Dept. of Transportation’s Route 9A
project team will be available for questions
in the park at W. Thames and West Sts.
on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain
Read the Archives
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com
downtown express
make them safe.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver,
who convened a taskforce to monitor the
Fiterman project, said in a statement that
he would continue working with D.O.B. to
ensure the site’s safety.
“I am pleased that there has been no
recurrence of these violations nor have any
new violations been issued,” Silver said
this week..
Fiterman was entirely decontaminated
before demolition began, which means
that there is very little flammable material
in the building. The excessive debris vio-
lation referred to accumulated concrete,
Dalessio said, and he is working with sub-
contractor Waldorf Exteriors on keeping
the floors clean.
The Aug. 3 standpipe violation came dur-
ing a routine test after the pipe was cut and
capped at a lower floor, so an upper floor
could be demolished. The pipe did not hold
air pressure, and workers discovered a worn
rubber gasket was responsible for the leak.
They replaced the gasket and the standpipe
passed a test the next day, Dalessio said.
The sparks, also noticed Aug. 3, are a
natural part of demolition work, as torches
cut the building’s steel beams, but workers
are now using fire-retardant blankets to
prevent the sparks from falling to lower
levels, Dalessio said.
After fi nding the cigarette butts,
Dalessio said he reemphasized to the
workers that smoking is not allowed on the
site. He said he had no hesitations about
Waldorf’s fitness for the job. The same
company also demolished 99 Church St.
nearby. A Waldorf manager did not return
a call for comment.
Workers started demolishing Fiterman
Hall in July, and the 15-story building
has since lost its roof structures and its
top two-and-a-half floors. Dalessio expects
the building to be down by the end
of November. Workers will then begin
rebuilding it a week later, he said.
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
or shine. The park’s design has received
overwhelming support from Community
Board 1.
Construction is expected to begin in
October and the playground will be closed
until about May, when the project is sched-
uled to be finished. Half the dog run will be
able to remain open. There will be another
question-and-answer meeting in the park on
September 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 9

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Gerson says bike lane sped through without input

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Charging the Grand St. bicycle lane is endangering
both seniors’ safety and stores’ survival, Chinatown
residents and merchants joined Councilmember Alan
Gerson at Mott and Grand Sts. last Friday, calling for
modifications to the new-style lane. Gerson also said
the Department of Transportation must do more com-
munity outreach and consultation before installing new
bike lanes.
According to Gerson and Project Open Door, which
provides social services at 168 Grand St. for Chinatown
seniors, about two months ago a senior was knocked
unconscious on Grand St. by a cyclist who didn’t stop
for a red light.
On the other hand, the lane’s critics also contend it is
underused. One local merchant claimed he had stood at the
intersection for two hours but seen only five bikes go by on
the bike lane. Yet right as he said this, one bicycle was pass-
ing by and within 30 seconds, another two came along.
Gerson said the seniors dislike that the parking lane
on the street’s south side has been moved several feet out
into the street to create a protected bike lane by the curb.
Having the parking by the curb provided a protected area
for seniors, he said.
Gerson accused D.O.T. of “pitting local residents
against bicyclists — and this is so unnecessary,” adding,
“There’s no question there’s been an increase in crashes
between people and bikes since the lane came in.”
The lane should detour onto Kenmare St. between
Lafayette St. and Bowery, as proposed by the Little Italy
Merchants Association,” Gerson said.
However, the councilmember was challenged at the
press conference by several young bike-friendly jour-
nalists, one of whom was reporting for Streetsblog.
Downtown Express photo by Lincoln Anderson
During a press conference at Mott and Grand Sts. at
which critics of the new bike lane said it is underused,
a number of cyclists passed by, including the woman
above. A motorized hand truck, at left, was also using
the lane, easing sidewalk congestion.
Caroline Samponaro, director of bicycle advocacy for
Transportation Alternatives, also pulled up on her bike
and debated the councilmember. The pro-bike bloggers
and Samponaro said that, according to D.O.T., accidents
have decreased on the street by 30 percent since the pro-
tected lane’s installation.
Samponaro added that she had attended four Community
Board 3 meetings at which the bike lane had been discussed
prior to its implementation, and that residents’ and mer-
chants’ suggestions had been incorporated into the design.
She demanded to know why Gerson didn’t think the com-
munity board process was a sufficient community process.
“The community board supports this project,” she
stated.
Gerson countered, “They support it with modifica-
tions.” He said he intends to introduce a bill to require
greater community involvement before any streetscape
changes, such as adding bike lanes — or “what happened
on Broadway with the bump-outs and the Rutgers St. con-
figuration.”
Gerson said the bill would require “adequate notice,
a comment period and a post-implementation review
period.”
Afterward Samponaro said of Gerson, “He should
be called out for using community process as a front.
Ultimately, this is a safer street because of what they’ve
done here.”
Grand St. in Chinatown and Little Italy has traditionally
been a “market street,” Gerson noted. After the press con-
ference, a Little Italy merchant who didn’t give his name
said he supports the bike lane, but changes are needed to
help local merchants. Noting that the parked cars in the
buffer lane currently can stay there 18 hours a day, he said
there should be a two-hour limit. Also, parking should be
allowed on Grand St.’s north side at night instead of having
no parking there, he said.
“You can’t ‘X’ cars out of the city,” he said. “You need
cars for people to come in.”
The lane traverses C.B. 2 as well as C.B. 3. Jo Hamilton,
C.B. 2 chairperson, said she looks forward to having a dia-
logue with Gerson about the issue.
“In general, Community Board 2 has been very support-
ive of D.O.T.’s efforts to create a safe biking culture in the
city,” she said.

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12 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

Front St. restaurants say recession missed this block

BY HELAINA N. HOVITZ
It’s not just happy hour that’s keeping
proprietors and customers of the Front St.
restaurants smiling.
Eateries in Lower Manhattan have
been suffering ever since the Sept.11
attack, and coupled with the more recent
problem of various construction projects
driving business away, the recession was
the final blow that caused many small
businesses to close up shop for good.
But paradoxically, many of the relatively
new restaurants on Front St. between
Peck Slip and Beekman St. say business
is great.
Almost every restaurant on the cobble-
stone Seaport street is nearly packed by
8 p.m., and while patrons may have to
hang at the bar for a few minutes on a
particularly busy night, there’s almost
never a wait. Weekends bring crowds in
their evening best to special events or pri-
vate parties, and as the crowds spill out
onto the sidewalk, a passerby would think
they had stumbled upon some sort of chic
communal block party.
The Peck Slip proprietors attribute
their success to the fact that their restau-
rants are less expensive and more casual.
Many emphasize that their fare is top qual-
ity and that their tables are kid friendly.
Whatever the reason, customers come out
on top each week while restaurants all over Downtown Express photos by Elisabeth Robert
the city are going bankrupt. Il Brigante is one of several restaurants on Front St. that is reporting that business is up. Below, Josefa Rubio and Maria
Adin Buhalis, who has lived on Front Domingez enjoy wine bar Bin 220, which is also doing well.
St. for two years and on Water St. for 10,
says that the neighborhood has become “We have exclusive rights on the lease
the new Soho. to be the only wood burning pizza restau-
“It used to be all bugs and bums walk- rant on the block. We’re doing very well,”
ing around,” he said as he ordered cheese says Berti as he knocks on the wooden
at Barbarini. “Now there are places like table.
this, which remind me of LA…stylish, Il Brigante serves traditional Italian
with good food.” fare to Wall St. regulars for lunch and
ONDA, a Latin/South American res- neighborhood regulars for dinner. Because
taurant, has a live band playing Spanish they also deliver, the restaurant even saw
music and the atmosphere of a trendy des- an increase of 20 percent this past winter,
tination spot, but it also attracts families. which Berti attributes to the fact that
“The kids love the cheesy bread sticks “many people don’t go to the steakhouse
and fries,” said Alessandro Passante, gen- anymore because its so expensive.”
eral manager and partner. He said they Children are invited to stand over the
don’t get many tourists, but the locals counter and help make their pizza. “The
come back again and again. chef is like a big kid, so they make a mess
Passante and his partners had already together,” laughs Berti.
invested their money in the restaurant Surprisingly, the summer months have
before the recession hit. He said they had been a bit slower, but Berti attributes
a slow start when they opened in January, this to the fact that many regulars are on
but have seen a 35 percent increase since vacation.
the weather began warming up in May. Calli Lerner and Sandy Tedesco, who
Passante is unconcerned about the near- live nearby in Southbridge Towers, opened
ing winter months, because he feels that cozy and casual Bin 220 three years ago left on the block. We looked at each on the block affected by the recession.
they have established a strong rapport with and say business has always been good. other and said, ‘let’s take a chance on Diane Honeywell, general manager, says
their customers. “I trust that it will be a Unlike many wine bars, which can feel this.” Plus, ”we got a good deal from the that they lost 10 percent of their clientele
decent winter, and the regulars will be in,” pretentious and intimidating, the wine list landlord.” when the recession hit because many of
he says. “We just have to keep building the is split up into two clear, reader-friendly Wall Streeters order lunch and dinner their customers had corporate accounts and
reputation of a fun place where anything sections, “wines Calli likes and the wines regularly and still continue to book the were not allowed to use them anymore.
can happen on a given night.” Sandy likes.” room in the back for their private events. So what’s the secret to staying a cut
Il Brigante opened in February 2007, ”We all opened around the same time, As “gourmet aficionado’” Jesse Torres above the rest?
when the area was just picking up. so we all help each other out,” Calli said eagerly cut off slabs of cheese and salami “Our restaurants depend on their
“The neighborhood was lacking good of the other restaurants on the block. for tasting, he said actress Eva Mendes neighbors, so the customers are loyal.
restaurants,” said Nicolas Berti, Brigante’s Claudio Marini, co-owner of Barbarini, loved his dinner at the restaurant the When given a choice, they’ll come back
general manager. “The restaurants on explained why he opened five months ago week before. “She was raving about how here,” says Sandy Tedesco of Bin 220.
Fulton St. don’t need to have good fare in the middle of a recession. gorgeous it was,” he said. “I guess we’re doing something right….
because tourists don’t come back.” “The market space was the last space Nelson Blue seems to be the only place Maybe we’re just lucky.”
downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 13

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14 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

Move now, buy later, condo building owners say

BY CHELSEA-LYN RUDDER
In an effort to generate short-term cash
flow in otherwise vacant apartments, devel-
opers are attracting new attention to several
Lower Manhattan buildings by telling ten-
ants that they can rent now and buy later.
Ellen Sharon, a 37-year-old Financial District
resident who is thinking about buying an apart-
ment, said she might be interested in a rent-to-
own program in the future. “Considering the
market, it is best to learn as much as possible
about all of the options,” she said.
A producer and project manager in the
entertainment industry, Sharon moved into
a rental building with her husband a few
months ago. She likes that the rent-to-own
programs allow the opportunity to get to
know the atmosphere of a building before
making a full commitment.
Prospective buyers at 75 Wall St. have
the chance to try out their luxury apart-
ments before they buy and apply the first 12
months of rent toward the purchase price of
a condo in the posh building.
Bill Robertson, the broker in charge of 75
Wall St.’s program, said that only half of the
300 apartments in the building have been
sold. He approached the building’s devel-
oper, The Hakimian Organization, about
instituting the rent-to-own program, which
will allow buyers to test drive the condo
before fully committing.
“This is really a good idea for those
who thought they could not afford to buy
and were waiting,” said Robertson. Those
who decide to invest in an apartment essen-
tially live rent-free for a year. To sweeten the
deal, 75 Wall St. is a part of the 421-G tax
abatement plan. The tax program is specifi-
cally for Lower Manhattan, which allows for
effectively zero tax payments for the first
nine years after the purchase of the condo.
Like many buildings in Lower Manhattan
with similar amenities, one-bedroom apart-
ments at 75 Wall start at about $1 million.
The rent on a one bedroom, works out to
about $4,000 per month.
Other condominium buildings in Lower
Manhattan, including 99 John St., are also
utilizing rent-to-own programs in light of the
economic climate.
“If you are looking at a million-dollar
apartment, renting for one year is not that
meaningful,” said Sharon, the Financial
District resident. “If there was an option
to rent for two or three years then the rent
would accumulate and become a decent
down payment.” Rent-to-own programs
that only allow potential buyers to rent for
one year cater to those who can afford the
apartment under traditional circumstances.
The incentive lies in the opportunity to have
additional time to commit to the purchase
while actually living in the apartment.
While Sharon sees some perks in a rent-
to-own agreement she expressed some con-
cerns. “I think I would prefer to buy in a
building where the majority of people who
Ellen Sharon, a Financial District resident,
said she would consider moving into a
condo with a rent-to-own program.
lived there owned their apartment,” she said.
“Tenants will care differently for the com-
mon areas of the building. The owners will
consider it their own and are more likely to
take better care of the spaces. On the other
hand if a developer would consider extend-
ing the rental period beyond one year I might
be very interested in rent to own.”
Rent-to-own was last seen in New York
City with some regularity in the late ’80s
and early ‘90s. Those who stand to benefit
include recent immigrants, who might not
have an established credit history in this
country, and self-employed individuals with
earnings that fluctuate.
Aysaac Allen, the founder and president
of Aysaac.com, an online real estate maga-
zine, said buyers and owners both benefit
from rent to own.
“These programs can be beneficial for buy-
ers who need to stay within a certain budget,
and for those who for one reason or another
can not get a loan from a conventional insti-
tution,” he said. “The developer widens the
market by bringing in temporary renters who
are likely to buy into the program.”
Rent-to-own agreements provide a win-
dow of time for consumers to establish credit
worthiness and to save for a down payment.
Their rental payments generate immediate
income for the owner of the development.
Rent-to-own can even be a good option for
those who have the money to buy now.
“Considering the current market you could
utilize that money and purchase another apart-
ment as an investment property, while living in
the rent-to-ownapartment,” Allen said.
Seventy-five Wall’s rent-to-own program
was established to encourage sales, but that
will not prevent the developer from renting to
those who do not initially express an interest in
buying an apartment. Everyone who signs up
for the program will be given a 14-month lease,
with a fixed price for the home in the contract.
By month nine, the tenant is expected to indi-
cate if he or she will purchase the home. The
developer will automatically lower the purchase
price indicated in the lease by 5% but is open to
further negotiations if the buyer insists upon a
lower price. As for those who would like to con-
tinue to rent after the initial lease is up. Broker,
Bill Robertson said, “That will depend upon
what is going on in the market at that time.”

PACKER
Open Houses
Fall 2009
Packer cordially invites you to attend an Open House for the 2010-2011
academic school year, on one of the following mornings:
Upper School - Grades 9-12 Middle School - Grades 5-
Tuesday, October 6th 8
Tuesday, October 13th Thursday, October 8th
Thursday, October 15th Thursday, November 22nd
Wednesday, October 21st
(6:30pm)*

Wednesday, October 28th

(6:30pm)*
Tuesday, November
10th
At each Open House, you will have an opportunity to tour the school, and meet with
Packer faculty, administrators, and current students. Open Houses are held from 8:45-
11:00 a.m. To attend, please call us in the Admissions Office at (718) 250-0385 or e-
mail kcrowley@packer.edu
*Please note the Open Houses on Wednesday, October 21 st and 28 th will take place from 6:30-8:30pm.
______________________________________________________________________________

Preschool & Lower School - PreK 3/4's – Grade 4

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - Pre-Kindergarten
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - Pre-Kindergarten
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 – Kindergarten
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 - Kindergarten
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - First - Fourth Grade
At each Open House, you will have an opportunity to tour the school and meet with
Packer faculty and administrators. Open Houses begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. To
attend, please call us in the Admissions Office at (718) 250-0254 or e-mail
ymenard@packer.edu
______________________________________________________________________________
THE PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
170 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
www.packer.edu
downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 15

Feds detain photographer

Homeland Security officers detained a
photographer for six hours last week after he
refused to explain why he was shooting video
of the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza.
Officers asked Randall Thomas, a
43-year-old professional photographer,
why he was panning up and down the
building with his handheld video camera,
to which he responded “none of your
business,” before responding a second
time with profanity. He was asked to
give up the camera and memory card,
and detained in a holding cell six hours
at the Downtown location as officers
obtained search warrants for the devices.
He was accused of videotaping security
countermeasures, according to the Dept.
of Homeland Security, and received three
tickets—for disorderly conduct, failure
to comply with directions and impeding
duties of a federal officer.
“I’m a bit distraught that they would
do that, that they would take it as far as
they did,” said Thomas, who said he was
operating within his First Amendment
rights. He said he was “not photograph-
ing anything in particular,” having been
out that day to promote his wedding
photography.
Thomas said authorities have stopped
him before while he is working, though
when he explains that he understands his
rights, they often leave him alone. He
was previously arrested for taking a still
photograph of the same building, though
he has yet to hear the outcome of his “not
guilty” plea.
Value
ion • Best
“There are certain things that the press
t Instruct
Exper
cannot do when it comes to national
security, and filming federal buildings
thentic Facilities •
is one of them,” said Luis Martinez, a Au
spokesperson for the Dept. of Homeland
Security. While federally outlined rules
about permission and usage can be vague,
Martinez likened the situation to pho-
tographing Port Authority property. He
said the organization often posts signs
outside the tunnels under their control
that prohibit photography, with the threat
of fines and arrest clearly visible.
The investigation is still ongoing,
Martinez said. When Thomas left at 9
p.m. that night, his equipment was not
returned to him.
— Jared T. Miller

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16 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

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downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 17

Neighbors say Seaport crossings are not safe

BY HELAINA N. HOVITZ
Looking both ways before you cross the street does not
help much if you’re trying to cross Gold St.
Five-year-old Samara Glazer always pulls her mother Irene
a little bit ahead of her when they walk out of their 77 Fulton
St. building. Irene now holds on tighter when they get to the
corner of Gold crossing over to Ann St.
“I try to hold her back, because the cars just zip around,”
she said. “What they’re doing is disgusting. Nobody abides by
the stop sign at Fulton St. and Gold St., either, and the way the
fence and the blockades are set up, you’re right at the edge of
the traffic by the time you get to the stop sign anyway. If you’re
not looking, you’re dead.”
Downtown residents, workers, and tourists sometimes look
shaken after they try to cross Gold St., either at Ann or at
Fulton St. The new traffic pattern created by the DeLury Park
construction has cars careening around turns. There is no traf-
fic signal and residents say the stop sign is difficult to see.
Gold at Ann St. had been a two-way street, divided by
the original DeLury Park, which has been torn up and is now
under construction. Once this construction began, it was
changed to a one-way street. In recent weeks it has once again
been made two-way, and the way the construction blockades
are arranged blocks views of the cars zipping along from
Fulton St. toward Gold and Ann Sts. There is a part-time
traffic agent near the intersection, but he sometimes stares at
the ground and does not always notice people trying to cross
Downtown Express photos by Jefferson Siegel
the street.
The city Dept. of Transportation declined to comment. Residents say crossing at Fulton, Gold and Ann Sts. has gotten more hazardous in recent weeks with the nearby
Lucy D’Ippolito, 92, who’s lived at Southbridge Towers for construction.
30 years, said she is scared of crossing the street by herself.
“When I had to go across the street to the hospital last
week, I was shaking, I was already in bad shape, and those cars
speed around that corner like crazy,” she said. “Sometimes I
think it’s a miracle that I make it across. When I get across the
street, I say, ‘Thank you God.’”
Technically one of the problem areas is no longer a
crosswalk, but many Southbridge residents still cross there
because it used to be an official crosswalk and it leads right
into the complex.
Arthur Gregory, a City Council candidate who lives near-
by, said “a lot of people on walkers and canes like me have
a hard time….I’m younger though. When people cross the
street, we have to put our hands up to act as traffic cops….
“The stop sign is in a position where it’s not where a
normal stop sign would be, even I went through it the first
couple of times…if you don’t spot it out of the corner of your
eye, you don’t see it…you’re used to signs being where they
are supposed to be.”
Erik Ayala, 28, who lives at 77 Fulton St. with his wife
and their son Lucien, thinks a blinking light would be a bet-
ter option than a stop sign.
He and his wife are expecting another baby in October, and
they’re worried about his safety. “When you push a stroller, the
stroller goes out first,” he said. “With those cars zipping around
like that, anything could happen.”

We have
Downtown We Know Our Community

Covered Like No One Else

18 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

CELEBRATE
Lucie, 101, B.M.C.C. jazzman
THE HIGH HOLY DAYS EXPERIENCE who played with the greats
A Joyous, Music-Filled, Spiritual Celebration
THE SHUL OF NEW YORK
WITH
OBITUARY
A Synagogue for Spiritual Judaism
BY JARED T. MILLER
Rabbi Burt Aaron Siegel Lawrence Lucie, a guitarist who played
with many of the legends of jazz and taught
music for several decades at Downtown’s
Borough of Manhattan Community College,
died last Friday at the age of 101.
He was living at the Kateri Residence, a
nursing home on the Upper West Side, at the
time of his death.
a diverse and inclusive congregation Born in Emporia, Virginia on December
word about him, and for someone [who’s
been] in the business for so long, that’s not
something to be taken lightly.”
Lucie had been on B.M.C.C.’s faculty for 30
years until he retired a few years ago at the age
of 97. Throughout his career he became known
for his skills as a rhythm guitarist, holding a
steady beat rather than stealing the spotlight
with soloing. Most recently, Lucie performed
solo shows at Arturo’s, a Greenwich Village
restaurant that offered him a regular slot on
Sundays until he left in 2005.
“He was just a wonderful man,” said Lisa

Celebrating our 10th Anniversary year 18, 1907, Lucie began his jazz career at age
19 when he moved to New York to study
banjo at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory.
Join us at the historic
One of his first gigs was with Duke Ellington,
Angel Orensanz Foundation filling in for the jazz legend’s banjo player
(the oldest synagogue still standing in New York City) for a week at the Cotton Club, according
172 Norfolk Street, south of Houston Street, in the Lower East Side to The New York Times. Ellington hired
him as a temporary replacement, though
Seating is limited - secure your tickets in advance he quickly became renowned for his guitar
ROSH HASHANA YOM KIPPUR playing as swing bands began to incorporate
Friday Sept. 18th 7pm Sunday Sept. 27th 7pm the instrument into the music of the day. He
Saturday Sept. 19th 10am Monday Sept. 28th 10am until sundown went on to play with several other greats:
3:30 Yiskor
CHILDREN’S SERVICES Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he played
12:30 BOTH HOLIDAYS guitar for Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson
For tickets, directions and other information and Coleman Hawkins. He also played with
jazz greats Billie Holliday, Jelly Roll Morton
www.theshulofnewyork.org and Louis Armstrong, and was Armstrong’s
Email - board@theshulofnewyork.org best man at one of his weddings.
questions ? 212 475 8763 “He was a wonderful gem of a person,
absolutely,” Laurence Wilson, who chaired
the B.M.C.C.’s music department during
l Lucie’s tenure there, said in a phone inter-
ita
Dig port view. “I’ve never heard anyone say a bad
s s
Pa otos
Ph
Giunta, co-owner of Arturo’s and daughter
of the restaurant’s namesake founder. When
asked how she felt about Lucie ending his
career at Arturo’s, she commented simply,
“We’re very blessed.”
Lucie was married to Nora Lee King,
a jazz guitarist and singer with whom he
recorded later in his career. The couple also
had a show on public-access cable television
in New York City for a number of years. In
the 1980s the two opened Toy Records, a
record label for which they recorded several
easy listening albums.
Though no information about any survi-
vors was available, Lucie and his wife did
not have children.
She died in the 1990s.
On Lucie’s 100th birthday, Lucie told a
New York Times reporter the advice that he
said accounted for his longevity and success
in jazz: “I didn’t have but one woman at a
time. I didn’t drink a lot of whiskey. I did
what my father told me to do.”

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20 August 28 - September 3, 2009
&
MIXED USE
BY PATRICK HEDLUND
43 MACDOUGAL SQUATTERS
As the city begins to take action on an
abandoned Soho property that has been left
to deteriorate for decades on MacDougal
St., squatters and vandals have allegedly
returned despite efforts to prevent access to
three-story structure.
The property, at 43 MacDougal St. at
the corner of King St. in the Charlton-King-
Vandam Historic District, had been left to
rot for years before the city finally began
fining the owners and pursued a lawsuit to
compel them to make repairs.
The city responded by boarding up the
building’s broken windows and installing
scaffolding around the structure, but the lat-
ter apparently has only helped squatters set
up camp inside the hollowed-out townhouse.
“The sidewalk shed, which was built
one year ago by the Department of Housing
Preservation to protect passersby, has allowed
ease of access for squatters and vandals
into and out of the building,” read a letter
from Andrew Berman, executive director
of the Greenwich Village Society of Historic
Preservation, to several city agencies. He
explained in a separate note that the squatters
— who neighbors and G.V.S.H.P. staff have
seen living inside the property — face “very
real health and safety dangers, including the
very real possibility of accidental fires.”
Additionally, new graffiti recently appeared
near the building’s third-floor fire escape,
and a pool of water has built up on the roof
that could cause structural damage.
“I was grateful to learn in June that the
Landmarks Preservation Commission had
finally begun initiating a Demolition by
Neglect case against the building’s owners,”
Berman added in his letter, describing the
action taken by L.PC. that includes levying
substantial fines against the owners, site
visits, evaluation and a lengthy legal process.
“However, the beginning stages of this pro-
cess have been slow,” Berman added, “and
we are concerned that the building will con-
tinue to deteriorate and pose an increasing
health and safety threat to neighbors while
we wait for the case to take shape.”
Fogerty at the Seaport
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Fogerty
will perform a free concert at South Street
Seaport next Wednesday, in support of his
new album that hit stores this weekend.
The former lead singer of Creedence
Clearwater Revival will perform songs from
“The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again” at
Pier 17 on Sept. 2. The concert is scheduled
Read the Archives
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com
downtown express
CHAIN GANGS
For customers looking to grab a quick
bite at Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway or
McDonald’s, the Financial District is not
a neighborhood to indulge their fast-food
lust.
According to the Center for an Urban
Future’s “Return of the Chains” report, an
analysis of the spread of national retailers
throughout the city, Lower Manhattan’s
10006 zip code counts only seven chain
stores, ranking it the third-lowest for such
retailers in Manhattan.
However, Downtown’s 10038 zip code
contains 80 chains, ranking it 17th citywide
for the amount of national retailers.
The 10012 zip code covering the Village
and Soho came in at No. 12 citywide with
94 chain stores, while the East Village’s
10003 took third overall with 151 chains.
Dunkin’ Donuts had the most outlets
of all chains citywide with 429 (up from
341 last year) and Subway came in second
with a staggering 361 locations, outdoing
McDonald’s 258.
VESUVIO 2.0
The next chapter in the Vesuvio Bakery
saga is probably the best Soho preservation-
ists could have asked for: Another bakery
committed to continuing the diminutive
Prince St. store’s legacy will take over at the
landmark location.
The eco-friendly Birdbath bakery, which
has two locations in the Village, recently
negotiated to lease the nearly 90-year-old
Vesuvio space after a series of unrelated
reopenings failed and the store stayed empty
for more than a year.
The new bakery will debut in October,
according to New York magazine, which
interviewed Birdbath proprietor Maury
Rubin on the planned move.
“It’s an heirloom, it’s a treasure, it
means the world,” he told the magazine.
“That I have a chance to have my bakery
be in it is a gift.”
Rubin will reportedly remove Vesuvio’s
historic, coal-burning ovens to ease the
landlord’s fire concerns, but otherwise plans
to keep as much of the old shop intact as
possible — one of the main reasons he was
chosen as the next tenant.
The bakery was owned and operated by
the “Mayor of Greenwich Village,” Tony
Dapolito, until his death in 2003.
to begin at 7 p.m.
The new album features several of
Fogerty’s favorite classic songs as well
as a single of his own, “When Will I Be
Loved.” His album includes John Denver’s
“Back Home Again” among other covers,
and Bruce Springsteen sings on one of the
tracks.
downtown express
Copters take flak at a hearing
BY ALBERT AMATEAU
Anti-noise and air-traffic safety advo-
cates joined elected officials at a Tuesday
hearing by the City Council Transportation
Committee on improving air safety following
the Aug. 8 helicopter crash with a private
airplane over the Hudson River in which
nine people were killed.
The crash involving a sightseeing helicopter
from the W. 30th St. heliport in Hudson River
Park provoked repeated demands Tuesday
for banning such tourist flights, and inspired
more demands for closer Federal Aviation
Administration control over chopper and pri-
vate planes flying beneath 1,100 feet.
Manhattan Borough President Scott
Stringer proposed separate altitudes —
1,100 feet for small planes and 500 feet
for helicopters — which prompted boos
and jeers from audience members long con-
cerned about helicopter noise.
Stringer, however, also proposed a morato-
rium on sightseeing flights.
Assemblymember Richard Gottfried sub-
mitted a statement that said, in part, “We do not
need sightseeing helicopter rides. … [W]hatever
sightseers spend on a helicopter ride they would
eagerly spend on some other activity.”
Under the settlement of a 2008 lawsuit
by Friends of Hudson River Park, sightseeing
August 28 - September 3, 2009 21
flights from the 30th St. heliport will cease as of ted a statement calling on the F.A.A. to use its low-altitude aircraft aware of each other.
April 1, 2010, and the number of tourist flights authority to control airspace below 1,100 feet. Joy Held, president of the Helicopter Noise
from W. 30th St. was reduced to 25,000 flights Nadler repeated his demand that small air- Coalition, said sightseeing copters are “utterly
in the year that ended May 31 and to 12,500 for craft must install a Traffic Collision Avoidance unnecessary, dangerous, noisy, a serious security
the coming year. Matthew Washington, Friends System and a Mode C transponder, which make risk and they cause pollution.”
deputy director, told the committee the lawsuit
was filed to eliminate the noise that disturbs
park users.
“While our suit was not based on specific air-
traffic concerns, we hope these efforts will aid in
a reduction of potential dangers,” he said.
Who knew Sunday
Ken Paskar, a Lower East Side resident
and a general aviation pilot for 30 years, told
could be like this?
the committee that the F.A.A. has rules for
flights at all altitudes, but at 1,100 feet and
below, the agency does not require private
pilots or helicopter pilots to file flight plans
or be in radio contact with flight control-
lers. The “see and avoid” rule governs low-
altitude air traffic.
Paskar, a volunteer representative with the
F.A.A. Safety Team but testifying as a private
citizen, said rules for the Hudson River cor-
ridor could be improved. He noted that in the
Washington, D.C., area the F.A.A. requires
general aviation pilots to take a course on “see
and avoid” rules. Paskar said a similar course
should be required of pilots flying the Hudson
River corridor.
Trinity Church
Broadway and Wall Street
Congressmember Jerrold Nadler submit-
s7ORSHIPSERVICESATAMANDAM
s0ROFESSIONALCHILDCARE
s!DULTSCLASSATAM
4HE'OSPELTimes, Journal & You
s#HILDRENSCLASSATAM
-ORNING'LORIES
s#OFFEEHOURANDCOMMUNITYIN4RINITYS
HISTORICCHURCHYARD
&ORMOREINFORMATION
trinitywallstreet.orgOR 212.602.0800
Downtown Express photo by JB Nicholas
an Episcopal parish
N.Y.P.D. scuba divers and harbor unit officers recovering a body from the Hudson in the city of New York
River after the fatal midair collision on Aug. 8.

BACK TO SCHOOL!
Battery Park City Day Nursery bagels call about
hand-rolled to

catering
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22 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

EDITORIAL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PUBLISHER & EDITOR
John W. Sutter
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Josh Rogers
Safer demolitions McCourt memories 12th St. seem to be dying.
Now he is going to be tough on the
M.T.A., just after a ceiling on the 181st
For many of us, the vivid memories of the 9/11 To The Editor: St. I.R.T. station collapses. Has he been
ARTS EDITOR
Scott Stiffler attack will always be there. As we approach the Re “My brother Frank: The teacher who dong anything regarding the M.T.A. dur-
eight-year anniversary, there are also still physical walked beside me” (Downtown Notebook ing his reign?
REPORTERS reminders of the tragedy hovering over the World by Alphie McCourt, Aug. 21 - 27): Please, I need help, I just have a gradu-
Albert Amateau
Lincoln Anderson Trade Center. The two remaining buildings that Alphie, thank you for writing something ate degree. Anyone out there?
Patrick Hedlund were damaged on that day — the former Deutsche so real. Thank you for bringing us into the
Julie Shapiro Bank building and the City University of New room with you and into your thoughts and Pamela L. La Bonne
SR. V.P. OF SALES AND York’s Fiterman Hall — are literally the biggest memories around Frank. It is these things
MARKETING reminders. that are of real value. I breathe a deep
Francesco Regini Demolition of Fiterman began about a month breath of fresh air. It is such a pleasure to POSTED
ago and deconstruction at the trouble-plagued be free of cloying sentimentality. ON DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.COM
SR. MARKETING CONSULTANT
Jason Sherwood Deutsche Bank building could finally be resuming
next month. Since two firefighters were killed bat- Marta Szabo “Gleason spars with Gerson at candi-
ADVERTISING SALES tling a blaze at the Deutsche Bank building more dates’ forum” (News article, posted August
Allison Greaker
Julio Tumbaco than two years ago, we’ve learned to be skeptical 18)
about any claims about bringing this dangerous
Danielle Zupanovich
hulk down. But we’re pleased that preparatory City problems Having attended the August 17 debate,
RETAIL AD MANAGER
Colin Gregory demolition work began this week. I commend the Downtown Express and
More important, some of the long-overdue To The Editor: The Villager for having convened and man-
OFFICE MANAGER safety improvements for demolition and construc- Would someone please explain to me aged such an orderly forum. That said,
David Jaffe
tion projects appear to be working effectively, but how Mayor Bloomberg creates these oxy- as a voter, I found the questions very
ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR more needs to be done. There was, of course, no moronic catchy titles for himself? disappointing, playing more to headlines
Troy Masters need to wait for the tragic deaths of Firefighters First, he is the “Education Mayor” and soundbites than substance. With so
ART DIRECTOR Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino, Jr. to begin — for kids without schools. Then, he is many new candidates of such variety in
Mark Hasselberger taking safety more seriously — we and community The “Good-For-Business Mayor” — and experience, I was hopeful that the modera-
GRAPHIC DESIGNER leaders warned about safety problems before the I just see more and more empty store tors would query far more about HOW a
Jamie Paakkonen deadly fire — but any time safety is increased, it windows. candidate would set about ensuring their
DISTRIBUTION & CIRCULATION potentially saves lives. What about that plant-a-million-trees platform’s success. Additionally the “bullet
Cheryl Williamson There were many preventable reasons for the for PlaNYC? Guess what? I just noticed rounds” requiring one word answers were
firefighters’ deaths, but at the top of the list was today that no one in his administration no help at all. I look forward to better ques-
CONTRIBUTORS
Frank R. Angelino the broken standpipe that was never inspected or seems to know that once the trees are tions, next time.
Wickham Boyle repaired. Firefighters were sent into a “death trap” planted they need watering. The trees on
Tim Lavin without a water source, according to Manhattan Eighth Ave. in my neighborhood around Council District 1 Voter
David Stanke District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is still
Jerry Tallmer investigating the case.
PHOTOGRAPHERS At Fiterman Hall, work was stopped a few IRA BLUTREICH
Lorenzo Ciniglio weeks ago when the standpipe failed a test. That’s
Milo Hess how things are supposed to work. As a building
Corky Lee is being dismantled, the standpipe must be cut
Elisabeth Robert repeatedly and, in turn, tested repeatedly.
Jefferson Siegel
More troubling are the cigarette butts recently
found at Fiterman. Smoking was prohibited at the
Published by Deutsche Bank building because of the flammable
COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC materials, but workers typically smoked there and
145 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10013 a cigarette started the blaze, according to investiga-
Phone: (212) 229-1890 tors. Fiterman no longer has flammable materials
Fax: (212) 229-2790 needed for the abatement of toxic materials because
On-line: www.downtownexpress.com demolition did not begin until the abatement in the
E-mail: news@downtownexpress.com building was finished — another post-Deutsche
reform. Smoking may not be as hazardous there as It would be funny — if it wasn’t so sad.
Gay City
NEWS
TM

it was a few months ago, but it is still dangerous

and is prohibited for a reason. Last year, inspectors
found cigarette butts at the Deutsche Bank build-
Downtown Express is published every week by
Community Media LLC, 145 Sixth Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890. The entire
ing, and one of our photographers got a photo of
a construction worker smoking while working on
SEND YOUR
contents of the newspaper, including advertising,
One World Trade Center, even though smoking is

Letter to the Editor

are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced
without the express permission of the publisher -
© 2009 Community Media LLC.
prohibited throughout the site.
If no-smoking rules are flouted at high-profile
PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
The Publisher shall not be liable for slight sites at and near the W.T.C. where inspectors are
changes or typographical errors that do not
lessen the value of an advertisement. The on site, it seems likely that there are more viola- NEWS@DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.COM
publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions
tions elsewhere around the city.
in connection with an advertisement is strictly
limited to publication of the advertisement in any
subsequent issue.
Building safety appears to be getting better, 145 SIXTH AVENUE, NYC, NY 10013
but clearly more vigilance and enforcement are
Member of the
New York Press needed. Construction work is dangerous enough.
Association Lax enforcement only increases the risks.
Member of the
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER
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Newspaper FOR CONFIRMATION PURPOSES ONLY
Association

© 2009 Community Media, LLC

downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 23

TALKING POINT
What’s the matter with Downtown’s candidates?
BY CHARLES KOMANOFF
Downtown is closer to Kansas than you think.
And judging from the campaign for the City Council
seat held by Alan Gerson, it’s about to get even closer.
The surprise bestseller of 2004 was “What’s The
Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart
of America.” The book explained how the U.S. heartland
forsook its populist roots and became a red-state strong-
hold. According to author Thomas Frank, the Republican
Party used hot-button “social issues” like abortion and gay
rights to build electoral majorities for economic policies
that enriched the country-club set at the expense of work-
ing families.
Something similar seems to be happening in the
Democratic primary race in the First Council District, albe-
it with a different set of issues. For the most part, incum-
bent Gerson and his rivals are defending a transportation
status quo that privileges a relative handful of drivers at
everyone’s expense. None of the candidates are clamoring
for new policies that would make Lower Manhattan — and
all of New York City — a better place to live and work.
Take traffic pricing. At the Downtown Express candi-
dates forum on Aug. 17, only two candidates Margaret
Chin and PJ Kim evinced any appetite for asking drivers
to offset even a fraction of the cost of the traffic delays
they cause, via a toll. Gerson and Pete Gleason denigrated
the idea and sealed their opposition with a handshake.
(Gerson later told the Downtown Express that he
might support a toll on through-traffic an empty gesture
since it would exempt most vehicle trips and might be
impossible to administer in any event. Residential exemp-
tions, as required by another candidate, Arthur Gregory,
would fatally undermine traffic pricing as well.)
Traffic pricing is central to reducing gridlock, and enthu-
siasm for it should be a given for any Downtown legislator.
The city’s worst traffic congestion occurs here, yet our
network of subways, buses and sidewalks is resilient and
efficient. Just 21 percent of Council District 1 households
own a car, and many of these are driven only on weekends
or other special occasions. It’s hard to imagine a traffic toll
that wouldn’t benefit the vast majority of Downtowners.
Traffic pricing would benefit most
Downtowners, yet the Council
hopefuls care more about the few
who own cars.
It gets worse. Not a single Council candidate spoke
up for the Grand St. bike lane, whose innovative design
provides a safe cycling connection between Hudson
Square and the Lower East Side and has reduced traffic
injuries nearly 30 percent, according to the N.Y.C. Dept.
of Transportation. And no candidate has reproached
Councilmember Gerson for his demagogic attacks on the
D.O.T., such as branding it a “Department of Tyranny”
for striving to undo decades of Robert Moses policies
that have made our streets inhospitable to everything but
cars.
Instead, the contenders demanded “more community
consultation” — i.e., doing nothing — ignoring the fact
that D.O.T. had secured Community Board 2’s near-
unanimous approval for the lane. Only Kim cautioned
against “demonizing cyclists” — in a Council district
whose short distances and quirky streets make it ideal
for cycling, and whose chronic gridlock makes bicycling a
rare “positive externality” — a private action that confers
public benefits.
What’s going on here? Is a bum roll of the dice to
blame, or is something deeper at work?
Probably some of each. What Frank’s “Kansas” book
taught us is that most politicians will push whatever cul-
tural buttons will get them elected. In the heartland, it’s
“partial-birth” abortion and same-sex marriage. Here, in
the first Council District, evidently it’s Americans’ right to
drive anywhere, anytime, and pay nothing for the damage.
And, for good measure, to turn up one’s nose at bicycle-
riders — as if “those cyclists” couldn’t be “us cyclists” too,
with the right street configuration.
Is Lower Manhattan, like Kansas, fated to vote against
its self-interest? Let’s hope not.
While it’s too late to put an avowed transportation
reformer on the ballot, it’s not too late to let the candi-
dates know where you stand. Use these final weeks to tell
Councilmember Gerson and his rivals that you want traf-
fic pricing and safe bicycle lanes. Tell them that on Sept.
15 you intend to pull the lever for the candidate who will
help, not hinder, the movement to repurpose our streets
to broader, gentler uses.
Charles Komanoff, a Tribeca resident since 1994, is
working with labor lawyer Ted Kheel to advance traffic
pricing and free transit.

RIPPED FROM OUR HEADLINES

City Council
Race Turns
Nasty
BY JERE HESTER
Sept 2, 1991
The City Council open primary between
Kathryn Freed and Margaret Chin got nasty
with the brief, surprise entry of Mee Ying
Chan into the race. After Chan was beaten
up by a homeless person, she claimed that
Chin was responsible, but the Manhattan
district attorney’s office said it was a com-
mon street mugging without political
motives. Chin’s campaign manager, Chris
Kui, said Chan, who dropped out of the
race, was put up to run by Freed -- a charge
that Freed denied.
In the same issue, the Express endorsed
Freed (under a former publisher and edi-
tor-in-chief, Robert Trentlyon). The paper
did not criticize Chin and praised her
voter registration and advocacy efforts,
but said Freed had the superior record of
accomplishments. Freed went on to win
the primary and general election.
Vendors Come Early
BY GLENN THRUSH
canopied retail carts rolled right into City
Hall Park. The plan was a stepchild of a 1991
agreement between New York State and the
AND MATT HAWKINS Fifth Ave. Association, which made it illegal
for disabled vets to sell their wares in parts of
August 31, 1992 Midtown. The city promised to find the 176
vendors a new home, but after a year Gov.
Less than a month after Community Board Cuomo was fed up that no action was taken,
1 nixed the proposal to find a Downtown and threatened to send them back Uptown if
home for disabled veteran vendors, four Mayor Dinkins didn’t act soon. The plan was
passed over to the city activists who opposed
commercialization of city parkland.
Once the vendors moved in, local busi-
ness owners didn’t foresee a problem, but
C.B. 1 District Manager Paul Goldstein
disapproved, and said he had never before
seen the city move so fast on an issue. The
city planned to place the vendors next to the
fountain, which Goldstein resented.
“It’s the worst place in the park to put
these guys. It shows a total disregard for
the community and our opinions,” he said.
Still, the city felt that the vendors had every
right to sit peacefully under their tents, and
were much more favorable incumbents than
the illegal vendors in Battery Park. The city
considered moving the plan to other parks
as well, but Parks Concessions Director Matt
McElroy said, “Before we decide on other
locations, we need a few weeks to look at the
operation in City Hall Park to iron out any
glitches that might develop there.”
The vendors got a slow start, and longed
for their places at the center of the action,
anticipating they would only be successful on
Thursdays and Fridays. Still, they were the
lucky few — at the time of the article, only
four of the 176 disabled veteran vendors had
been allotted a space to sell their wares.
— Prepared
by Helaina N. Hovitz
24
ARTS +GAMES This project, designed by an art specialist
for school age children, includes clay, painting and jewelry
design. Free. Thursdays, through Oct 29, 3:30-5:30pm. Nel-
son A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City (access: Chambers).
Call 212-267-9700, or visit bpcparks.org.
BEGINNER TENNIS LESSONS Group sessions with an
experienced instructor will emphasize the fundamentals of
the game of tennis. Lessons are held for beginner kids ages
6-12 and beginner teens/adults over 13. Community Center
at Stuyvesant High School, 345 Chambers St. To register, call
646-210-4292. Visit ccshs.org.
CHILDREN’S BASKETBALL Children can play with adjust-
able height hoops, and participate in fun drills to improve
their skills. Free. Mon and Fri through Oct 30 (except holiday
weekends), 3:30-4:30pm for 5-6 year olds; 4:30-5:30pm for 7
& older. Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City (access:
Chambers Street). Call 212-267-9700, or visit bpcparks.org.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS (CMA) Explore
painting, collage, and sculpture through self-guided art proj-
ects. Open art stations are ongoing throughout the afternoon,
giving children the opportunity to experiment with materials
such as paint, clay, fabric, paper, and found objects. Admis-
sion $10. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm; Thurs, 12-6pm. Children’s
Museum of the Arts, 182 Lafayette Stret. Call 212- 274-0986
or visit cmany.org.
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DOWNTOWN SUMMER DAY CAMP Enjoy the same
enriching activities that country day camps offer without
the stress of traveling out of the city every day on a bus. The
camp combines a daily program with special events to give
children an exciting and varied camp experience. Kids K-6th
grade. For rates and to register, go to downtowndaycamp.
com or call 212-766-1104, x250.
GLOBAL STORY HOUR Through weekly stories, partici-
pants learn about new countries and cultures, participate in
interactive activities, and learn how to make a difference.
Every Fri at 3:30pm. Action Center to End World Hunger,
6 River Terr, Battery Park City. Call 212-537-0511 or visit
actioncenter.org.
KIDS STORYTIME Storyteller Yvonne Brooks leads a sto-
rytime with arts and crafts for kids ages 3-7, every Sat at
12pm in the children’s section. Baby storytime with story-
teller Stewart Dawes takes place on Fri at 4:00pm for ages
younger than 2. McNally Jackson Booksellers, 52 Prince St,
(between Lafayette and Mulberry). Call 212-274-1160 or visit
mcnallyjackson.com.
KIDS PROGRAMS Put your children’s energy to good use
through art, basketball, chess, cycling, exploration, garden-
ing, and music among other activities. Days, materials fees,
and park locations vary. Battery Park City Parks Conservancy,
Two South End Ave. Call 212-262-9700 or visit bcparks.org.
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ACTIVITIES
MOVIES FOR KIDS AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF
THE AMERICAN INDIAN Special screenings for the kids
are shown through Aug 30 at 10:30 and 11:45am, daily. Films
include “The Legend of Quillwork Girl and her Seven Star
Brothers” and “Letter from an Apache.” National Museum of
the American Indian, One Bowling Green. Call 212-514-3700
or visit nmai.si.edu.
PLAYDATE AND NEW PARENT DROP IN The Playdate
“Drop-In” is a great place to bring toddlers. While the chil-
dren play together, parents can socialize in the Parenting
Center. The New Parent “Drop-In” gives new parents the
chance to discuss their concerns and ask questions. Topics
include feeding, sleeping, creating support networks. Punch
card for 10 sessions is $100. Summer Special: $90 punch
card if purchased before Aug 31. Playdate Drop-Ins are Mon
& Thurs, 10-11:30am and Tues 3-4:30pm. New Parent Drop-
Ins are Mon 1:30-3:30pm. Educational Alliance Downtown
Parenting Center,197 East Broadway (between Jefferson &
Clinton St). Visit edalliance.org.
TEEN PROGRAMS Save teenagers from the boredom
blues through classes on art, babysitter training, CPR, and
environmental activism. Days, materials fees, and park loca-
tions vary. Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, Two South
End Ave. For more information call, 212-262-9700 or visit
bcparks.org.
PRESCHOOL PLAY AND ART Join other toddlers, par-
ents and caregivers for interactive play on a grassy lawn.
Toys, books and equipment provided. Free. Mon, Tue and
Wed, through Oct 27 (except Sept 7 and Oct 12) 10am- 12pm.
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park. Call 212-267-9700 or visit bpc-
parks.org.
SUMMER ART COLONIES The Children’s Museum of the
Arts will run a Summer Art Colony on Governors Island and
the CMA facility at 182 Lafayette Street in Soho for chil-
dren ages 6 to 14. The two-week day camp sessions, led
by professional artists, will run though September 4. CMA’s
Summer Art Colonies allow children to spend their summers
exploring nearly every art form in the fine, performing and
downtown express
both the children and their parents. $210 for 4 forty-minute
sessions; pre-registration required. Mon or Wed, from Sept
14. 9:30am to 10:10am – 6 to 12 months old. 10:20am to
11:00am – 15 months to 2 years old. 11:10am to 11:50am – 2
years old and up. 12 to 12:4pm – mixed ages. BPCPC Meeting
Room at The Verdesian. Enter at door north of main entrance
(access: Murray St or Warren St). Call 212-267-9700 or visit
bpcparks.org.
STORYTIME AT BABYLICIOUS Children ages 3 to 4 are
welcome to participate in free storytime with songs, stories
and lots of fun. Free. Every Tue, 9:30am. At Babylicious, 51
Hudson St (between Duane and Jay St). Call 212-406-7440,
or visit babyliciousnyc.com.
TOUR DE PARC Tricyclists, bicyclists and scooter riders 9
years old and younger show their pedal power in a cycling
tour of the parks. Helmets required. Sept 19, 10am. Espla-
nade Plaza. Call 212-267-9700 ext 348,or visit bpcparks.org.
TODDLER PLAY GROUP Story time, play time and fun edu-
cational activities are all part of the Community Toddler Play
Group for parents with their children. Foster your toddler’s
imagination through history, science and maritime-themed
activities using interactive materials and engaging book
readings.$7 per child, free to family members, Every Wed,
1-2:30pm, South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street.
Call 212-748-8786 or visit southstreetseaportmuseum.org.
TEEN ENTREPRENEUR BOOT CAMP This program gives
teens the exciting learning experience that they need to suc-
ceed later in life. For more information, visit teenentrepre-
neurbootcamp.org.
TEEN VOLLEYBALL All teens are welcome and no previ-
ous experience necessary; referee/scorekeeper and ball pro-
vided. Presented by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.
Sat, 4:30-6:30pm. Community Center at Stuyvesant High
School, 345 Chambers Street. Call 646-210-4292.
YOUNG SPROUTS GARDENING This gardening program
is for children 3-5 years old. It includes simple gardening
projects appropriate for preschoolers. Free. Tue, through Oct
27. 3:15-3:45pm. Space limited-first come, first served. The
Children’s Garden, Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park
City (access: Chambers St). Call 212-267-9700 ext 348 or
visit bpcparks.org.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR EVENT IN THE DOWN-
TOWN EXPRESS KIDS LISTINGS? Listings requests may
be e-mailed to listingseditor@gmail.com. Please provide the
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cmany.org. cas, New York, NY 10013-1548. Requests must be received
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26 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

Rooftop Films presents P-Star, under starry sky

2009 Tribeca Film Festival flick gets Brooklyn premiere
BY ELENA MANCINI
P-Star Rising is the story of a second
chance that emerged from a Harlem hous-
ing shelter, “a rose in concrete,” as director
Gabriel Noble refers to the character and
talent of child rapper P-Star (on which his
feature documentary is based).
When Noble met Priscilla “P-Star” Diaz
and her father/manager/former hip-hop
hopeful Jesse Diaz at a rapper debut dance
party in NYC, he knew immediately that
P-Star was not just a kid with a lot of spunk
— she had a story that was worth telling.
At the time, she was all of nine years old.
What struck Noble about P-Star (apart from
her tender age and the fact that she was out
at a party past midnight on a school night)
was “the aggressiveness of her flow, charis-
ma, her street smarts and her fire.” As Noble
describes it, he wanted to learn “where
that cadence was coming from.” Coupled
with P-Star’s precociousness and passion for
performing was also the consciousness of
wanting to bring forward the dream that had
seemingly eluded her father.
Five years have passed since Noble’s first
encounter with the Diaz family. During that
five year period, Noble (with the help of pro-
ducer Marjhan Tehrani) has spent four years
getting to know the family intimately and film-
ing them for this tour-de-force feature docu-
mentary. The process of filming brought Noble
and the Diaz to form a close bond. Noble
described it as feeling like a member of their
family. The comfortable rapport between the
director and the family certainly comes across
in watching the documentary. All of the family
P-Star dancing in foreground, looming large in background
members seemed at ease playing themselves.
Their interactions with one another appeared
natural and candid throughout. This sense also
remained strong in moments that highlighted
character weaknesses, poor judgment, disap-
pointments and defeats.
Particularly noteworthy in this regard
was Jesse Diaz. Armed with scant resources
and cast in an emotionally challenging famil-
ial situation, this single father did not have
an easy time at bringing up two young
daughters who longed for their absentee,
crack-addled mother. Jesse’s parenting style
Photo courtesy of Rooftop Films & the filmmaker
might be unorthodox, but his straight talk
and refusal to whitewash his checkered past
for their benefit is a testament to his love and
unwavering devotion.
As much as the story depicts the perks
and pitfalls of launching and managing a
career in the New York City hip-hop scene,
it’s even more a story about a family’s strug-
gles to fulfill a dream without present for
one another and sticking together. The Diaz
family brings its both its love for one another
and its baggage to the well documented risks
and gains of child stardom. It learns many
FILM
P-STAR RISING
2009; 83 minutes; feature documentary
Directed by Gabriel Noble
Free; Thursday, September 3 (rain date,
September 10) Live 8:30 p.m. music perfor-
mance by P-Star; 9:00 p.m. screening, fol-
lowed by Q&A with the filmmaker
At the lawn of Ft Greene Park, North Portland
and Myrtle Avenue, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn (G
train to Fulton)
For information, www.rooftopfilms.com
lessons along the way.
P-Star must learn to temper her pluck
and talent with her need to just be a kid.
Jesse must come to accept that despite his
commitment to confronting the pressures
and responsibilities that come with dual role
of manager/father, the intervention of hum-
bling realities cannot be prevented. Solsky
must learn the importance of self-expression
in a shadow role. While this is in many ways
a distinctly New York story, its disarming
authenticity and emotional rawness give
it universal appeal. Noble, whose future
projects include a documentary on gypsy
children in Romania, tells P-Star’s story with
sensitivity and respect.

killed. The heroine is a Jewish woman, Shosanna Dreyfus Of course, “District 9” cost a lot more to make because of the

KOCH (Melanie Laurent), who does us all proud. A fictional

finale involves an apparently successful effort to kill Hitler,
Bormann, Goering and Goebbels at a French theater. The
film at that point becomes a rollicking musical without
technology involved.
A spaceship, unable to move from its position in the sky,
appears over Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1980s. The
alien craft is invaded by members of the South African

ON FILM
“INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS” (+)
I thought this flick was based on some historical facts. It
is not. It’s a spoof. If you view it as such and don’t get super-
sensitive thinking one should be extremely careful when
engaging in a spoof that involves elements of the Holocaust,
you will enjoy this film.
Interestingly, Brad Pitt’s performance does little to height-
en the enjoyment. He portrays Lt. Aldo Raine, a Tennessee
hillbilly in charge of eight Jews. The performance of
Christoph Waltz, playing the Nazi Gestapo figure Col. Hans
Landa, is the highlight of the film. His ability to convey
courtliness and sympathy and then go to commit the cruelest
of horrors is simply superb.
The plot is simple. The U.S. Army authorizes Lt. Raine
(Brad Pitt) to take eight Jews with him, parachute into
Germany and then simply kill Nazis. He states that each of
them owes him 100 Nazi scalps before they are through with
their campaign. They proceed to kill their share of Nazis and
literally scalp them.
The Jew hunter, Col. Hans Landa, pursues Jews in occu-
pied France. There is an enormously touching scene show-
ing a French farmer giving up the Jews he had hidden in his
house out of fear that he and his three daughters would be
the music. All I could do was hum “Springtime for Hitler,”
which I liked immensely.
Quentin Tarantino, writer and director, did it again.
PT said: “I didn’t really enjoy the film, although it was
very well produced and quite realistic except for the outra-
geous bits: Brad Pitt as a hillbilly, Jewish soldiers trying to
pass themselves off as Italian filmmakers, and other unreal-
istic flights of the filmmaker’s fancy. I just couldn’t reconcile
the serious parts of the film such as the giving up of the hid-
den Jews with the comedic elements.”
1 hour, 52 minutes; Rated R.
At the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 (850 Broadway).
For screening times, call 1-800-326-3264 x628. For the Box
Office, 212-253-6266. Also at, among other places, Chelsea
Clearview Cinema (260 West 23rd Street). For screening
times, call 212-777-3456 x597. For the Box Office, call 212-
691-5519.
“DISTRICT 9” (-)
This horror/sci-fi film received kudos from the critics,
some giving it four stars. Ridiculous. Stay away.
The picture reminded me of the serials or chapters that I
watched as a child every Saturday afternoon. For one dime I
saw two films and also received a free soda and a comic book.
military and police force who find a million or so creatures
onboard that look like insects and to some like crustaceans.
The extraterrestrials are initially treated humanely and
placed in a refugee camp known as District 9. Relations
deteriorate and they are soon viewed as social outcasts and
referred to as prawns, a slur. In an apparent allegory, the
treatment toward the aliens by the blacks and whites of
South Africa, with their history of Apartheid, becomes bru-
tal. A war is declared to get rid of them and they are moved
to an undesirable slum area.
I frankly thought it was all ridiculous, particularly so when
an attempt to add a “buddy” component was introduced. One
of the aliens, Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope), tries to help
Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who was in charge of the aliens’ care.
After accidentally becoming infected, Wilkus starts to turn into
an alien and Johnson promises to cure him.
I repeat. Stay away. This movie is an enormous waste of
time and they don’t hand out free sodas or comic books.
1 hour, 53 minutes; Rated R .
At the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 (850 Broadway).
For screening times, call 1-800-326-3264 x628. For the Box
Office, 212-253-6266. Also at, among other places, Chelsea
Clearview Cinema (260 West 23rd Street). For screening
times, call 212-777-3456 x597. For the Box Office, call 212-
691-5519.
downtown express August 28 - September 3, 2009 27

Last call for FringeNYC

Two to see, one to miss
13th Annual New York International Fringe
THEATER Festival.
Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor’s
REVIEWS brilliant script, the stellar performances of
the three cast members and Tom Gualtieri’s
tight direction create a top-notch bio-drama
HIS GREATNESS about one of America’s most celebrated,
Written by Daniel MacIvor controversial theater icons.
Directed by Tom Gualtieri “His Greatness” is not officially about
Williams. The Broadway/Hollywood legend’s
A 2009 New York International Fringe Festival name and play titles are never mentioned,
presentation and the lead character is simply called
The Playwright (Peter Goldfarb). However,
Presented by Adam Blanshay and Lyric Daniel MacIvor covers all the notorious ter-
Productions, in association with The Present ritory about Williams’s private life — from
Company his alleged problems with alcohol and drugs
to his failed attempts at writing in his later
At the Cherry Lane Theater (38 Commerce years.
Street) The story takes place in a Vancouver hotel
room circa 1980, as The Playwright prepares
Aug 27, at 3:45 p.m.; Aug 29, at Noon
for the opening of a new, updated version of
For tickets ($15), visit www.fringenyc.org or an old play. “His Greatness” focuses on the
call 866-468-7619. complicated symbiotic relationship between
the writer and his high-strung, devoted
Visit www.HisGreatnessPlay.com assistant/lover (played with aplomb by Dan
Domingues). Troubles abound when a cal-
BY SCOTT HARRAH culating hustler (the superb Michael Busillo)
This provocative show, based on a true is hired to escort the old man to the gala
story about “two days in the last years of opening.
the life of playwright Tennessee Williams,”
Photo by Neilson Barnard
is one of the undisputed highlights of the Continued on page 28
Tennessee Williams, sorta, center, in “His Greatness”

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28
Last call for FringeNYC
Continued from page 27
Goldfarb is first-rate as The Playwright — playing him
as a lovable yet sad person on a path of self-destruction.
Dan Domingues is totally incandescent as The Assistant.
He brings down the house with his manic mannerisms as he
delivers MacIvor’s beautifully written dialogue. When The
Playwright complains about pain in his soul, The Assistant
quips, “That’s not your soul — it’s your hangover.” The
Assistant is the only one who can get The Playwright out
of bed and keep him sober enough to get through a radio
interview and the opening of the play. Domingues portrays
The Assistant as a compassionate but frustrated man who
tries desperately to help the egotistical, deluded author over-
come his battle with alcoholism and drug addiction so he can
maintain both his career and dignity.
“His Greatness” doesn’t solely rely on the sordid
aspects of Williams and his personal problems. There’s
also great detail on why critics were so fascinated with
his female characters, and what he really thought of such
theatrical peers as Arthur Miller. Ultimately, however, “His
Greatness” is a portrait of a once-great writer’s decline and
why so many people turned on him in the end — showing
exactly why the real life of Tennessee Williams was every
bit as tragic as his plays.
SCATTERED LIVES
Written, directed and choreographed by Yoshihisa Kuwayama
A 2009 New York International Fringe Festival presentation
A presentation of Samurai Sword Soul, in association with The
Present Company
At the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, third floor
Aug 28, 9:30 p.m.; Aug 29, 4:30 p.m.
For tickets ($15), visit www.fringenyc.org or
call 866-468-7619.
Visit www.HisGreatnessPlay.com
BY SCOTT STIFFLER
They drink! They fight! They repeat that process all day
and all night!
Occasionally, the good, bad and conflicted Samurai pause
long enough to experience fleeting moments of moral and
philosophical clarity amidst the relentless bloodshed and
power grabs. In the end, only a disembodied spirit and the
drunken shell of a former great fighter remain to survey the
damage and vow that their swords will only be used improve
life rather than reign destruction upon the land.
Photo by Motoyuki Ishibashi
The Samurai storytellers of “Scattered Lives”
August 28 - September 3, 2009
The hardworking, but doomed cast, of “Union Squared”
That’s the fascinatingly complex moral drawn at the end
of the simple story to be found in Samurai Sword Soul’s pro-
duction of “Scattered Lives” — a fine example of minimalist
technique made to serve the telling of an epic tale.
The bare, black box stage is filled only with three musi-
cians, a nine-member cast and their swords. They swords
aren’t real, though; but the well-constructed props glisten
with deadly implications and the resulting sound when blade
meets blade, although not that of metal, lets you know in no
uncertain terms that a battle is taking place.
The fight choreography, by writer/director Yoshihisa
Kuwayama, is relentless, imaginative and effective in its impli-
cation of drawn blood and death (of which there is much!).
But along with all the violence you’d expect from a
Samauri tale comes a thoughtful plot which sees two war-
ring factions duel to the death and a drunken clown achieve
redemption. By the time the rival clan has been permanently
dispatched in a climactic battle, only the reformed drunk and
the ghost of the good-guy master remain on stage to con-
template the way of the warrior and the responsibility that
comes with the power to take a life with relative ease. That’s
the unique, unexpected ingredient which makes “Scattered
Lives” more than just a series of violent encounters.
UNION SQUARED
Written by David S. Singer
Directed by Diana Basmajian
A 2009 New York International Fringe Festival production of the
Present Company
At The Players Theatre (115 MacDougal Street)
For tickets ($15), visit www.fringenyc.org or call
(866) 468-7619. Visit www.UnionSquaredTheComedy.com
Aug 26, 3:15 p.m.; Aug 27, 10:15 p.m.; Aug 30, 1:15 p.m.
BY SCOTT HARRAH
Everything about David S. Singer’s Fringe Festival pro-
duction of “Union Squared” reeks of mediocrity — from
the half-baked, formulaic “romantic comedy” plot to the
downtown express
Photo by Aaron Epstein
one-dimensional characters (all of whom are absurd ste-
reotypes).
This tale of “sex, money and massage therapy” has all
the elements of a traditional comedy of errors, but ulti-
mately falls flat due to trite dialogue, silly plot twists, and
uneven performances from the cast.
Spoiled Wall Street stockbroker Brad (Levi Sochet)
must deal with his meddling Jewish mother, Sophie (Anita
Keal), when she informs him he’s going to inherit several
million dollars that his late father socked away illegally
in a Swiss bank account. Trouble arises when we learn
that Brad is cheating on his devoted wife Rachel (Annie
Meisels) with sexy blonde massage therapist, Shannon
(Carlina Ferrari).
As Sophie, Anita Keal does her best to bring badly
needed depth to the character; a warmhearted woman
who wants the best for her son — and nothing to do with
the money his father made through unethical business
practices. The problem is, as written by playwright David
S. Singer, Sophie is a mere caricature of every Jewish
mother; but not in a positive way. From her endless use
of Yiddish words to her exaggerated mannerisms, she
comes across as a cartoon rather than a believable lead
character.
Levi Sochet is totally miscast in the role of Brad. He
has zero chemistry with the rest of the actors, and is far
from plausible as a greedy, oversexed, unfaithful husband.
It’s a shame that Sochet’s comic timing is so off — because
Meisels as Rachel and Ferrari as Brad’s mistress Shannon
are far more competent actors. Unfortunately, the playwright
has written their characters as oversimplified ethnic clichés.
Rachel is a nagging Jewish-American princess wife, and
Shannon is an Irish-American with a drinking problem.
Director Diana Basmajian fails to make the cast gel as
a cohesive unit. Even with more rehearsal time and better
casting, it would likely be impossible to add much to this
flimsily-written play. Nothing in the hackneyed narrative is
original. Everything about the show — from the opening
when Brad learns about his father’s secret Swiss cash stash
to the unfolding, unfunny marital infidelities of the couple
— is predictable. “Union Squared” tries to be an intelligent
adult comedy, but is in fact nothing but an amateurish
string of moments about uninteresting people and their
supposedly humorous daily lives.
downtown express
CLASSES
INTRODUCTORY ART WORK-
SHOPS Are you thinking about taking
an art class, but not sure what you want?
Come to these art workshops and try out
a class before committing to a full course.
Class subjects include pottery, cartoon-
ing, drawing and photographs. $15 per
workshop. The Educational Alliance Art
School, 197 East Broadway. Call 212-
780-2300, x428; or, visit edalliance.org/
artschool.
DANCE AND PILATES Ballet, jazz,
tango, hip-hop, and modern dance class-
es are offered for all levels. $16/class,
discounts available. Ongoing. Dance New
Amsterdam, 280 Broadway (entrance at
53 Chambers St) 2nd Floor. Call 212-279-
4200, or visit dnadance.org.
TABLE TENNIS TRAINING PRO-
GRAM Table tennis training is offered
for players of all ages and skill levels. It’s
a great opportunity for all to come togeth-
er, enjoy the sport, and build new friend-
ships. Mon-Fri, 10am to 1pm, $100 a year
for ages 6-15 and 50 and older; $200 for
others. American Asian Cultural Center of
Tribeca, 384 Broadway, lower level. Call
646-772-2922.
N E W B E GHALF0AGE!DPDF0-
INNINGS CHAIR
YOGA Trinity Church’s seniors group FREE HEARING SCREENINGS AT THE
meets for one hour of gentle yoga while
seated. 10-11am. Ongoing. Trinity Church,
Broadway at Wall Street. Call 212-602-
0747, or visit trinitywallstreet.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR FIRST-TIME
MOTHERS Join parenting experts Drs.
Ann Chandler and Nancy Carroll-Freeman
and new mothers to voice your thoughts
and feelings and find support and encour-
agement. $25 per group. Every Thurs,10-
11am. Tribeca Pediatrics, 46 Warren
Street. Call 212-219-9984.
EVENTS
HARMONY ON THE HUDSON: THE
FAMILY MUSIC FESTIVAL AT BAT-
TERY PARK CITY. Participants will
enjoy music, food, games and art activi-
ties. Free. Sept 13, 1-6pm. Robert F. Wag-
ner Jr. Park, (access: Battery Place). Call
212-267-9700 or visit bpcparks.org.
SUNSET JAM ON THE HUDSON Par-
ticipants will improvise on African, Latin
and Caribbean rhythms in a drumming
circle led by master drummers. Instru-
ments provided, or bring your own. Every
Friday, through Aug 28, 6:30-8:30pm. Rob-
ert F. Wagner, Jr. Park. Call 212-267-9700,
or visit bpcparks.org.
August 28 - September 3, 2009 29
THE LISTINGS
LEAGUE FOR THE HARD OF HEAR- MARINE ECOLOGY ABOARD 1885 ÇAISE The exhibit examines the life, MUSIC
ING Every Wed, 12 –2pm, and every SCHOONER PIONEER Learn about work, and legacy of this enthralling,
Thurs 4-6pm. Call or email to schedule the creatures that inhabit the local often controversial, literary figure. CLARK/HUDSON MOHAWKE AND
an appointment. 50 Broadway, 6th Fl. Call harbor estuary, harbor water quality, Through Aug 30. $12 adults, $10 MORE To celebrate its twentieth year,
917-305-7766, or visit appointments@llh. and what is being done to maintain seniors, $7 students, children under Warp Records and Warp Films is bringing
org. this valuable ecosystem. $30 adults / 12 free. Museum of Jewish Heritage, together artists to create unique perfor-
$25 students & seniors / $20 children 36 Battery Place. Call 646-437-4202,or mances. Free. Sept 5, 8pm. World Finan-
PUBLIC SAILS ABOARD 1885 SCHOO- 12 and under / Members receive a $5 visit mjhnyc.org. cial Center Winter Garden, 200 Vesey
NER PIONEER Enjoy spectacular views discount. South Street Seaport, Pier 16 Street. Visit worldfinancialcenter.com.
of the New York Harbor from the deck of (Programs Afloat). Call 212-748-8786, WOMEN OF WALL STREET This
the historic ship. Tues-Fri: 3-5pm, 4-6pm or visit southstreetseaportmuseum. exhibition showcases notable women SUMMER SOUNDS AT TRINITY-YES-
and 7-9pm. Sat-Sun: 1-3pm, 4-6pm, org. in the world of finance and Wall Street. TERDAY AND TODAY BAND A tribute
7-9pm. Prices: 4-6pm and 7-9pm sails: Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall
Adults $35, Student/Seniors $30. Chil- WOMAN OF LETTERS: IRÈNE St. Call 212-908-4110, or visit finan- Listings
dren 12 and under, $25. 1-3pm and 3-5pm NÉMIROVSKY AND SUITE FRAN- cialhistory.org. continued on page 30
sails: Adults $25, Student/Seniors $20,
Children 12 and under $15. Members
receive $5 discount. Reservations sug-
gested. South Street Seaport. Pier 16.
Call 212-748-8786, or visit southstree-
tseaportmuseum.org.
EXHIBITS
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK Visit
Manhattan’s oldest surviving building,
54 Pearl Street which has witnessed
nearly 300 years of the city’s history.
Ongoing. $4, $3 seniors and children
under 18, and free to children under
six. Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl
Street. Call 212-425-1776, or visit
frauncestavernmuseum.com.
30 August 28 - September 3, 2009 downtown express

THE LISTINGS
DOWNTOWN DIALOGUE Listings
continued from page 29
1625: DUTCH NEW YORK Walk
along the shoreline of 1625 as the tour
visits sites – and some extant remains
TOUR This unique Lower East Side
walking tour explores love at the turn
of the century. $15 ($12 for students
CANYON OF HEROES to the music of the legendary Beatles will
– of the original Dutch settlement of
New Amsterdam, now New York. Visit
and seniors) Sept 6, 2pm. The walking
tour will begin at the Eldridge Street
BY LIZ BERGER be a treat for the listeners at the Trinity architectural digs, Stone Street, the Synagogue at 12 Eldridge St, between
Church. Free. Aug 26, 12:30 and 2:30pm. shortest lane in Manhattan, the edge Canal and Division Sts. Call 212-219-
Trinity Church Broadway at Wall Street. of Fort Amsterdam, and more. $20; 0888 or visit eldridgestreet.org.

I
n Lower Manhattan, we can walk and chew gum at the same time, a fact that helps
Call 212-602-0800, or visit trinitywall- $15 seniors and students. Sept 5. Runs
make the mile-long stroll up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes a mobile street.org. approx. 90 mins. Meet at One Bowling
history lesson. Because embedded in the sidewalk along this route are more than Green, on steps of National Museum
200 black granite strips that tell the story—in chronological order—of each ticker-tape SUPERFROG A Los Angeles band with of the American Indian. Call 646-573- MUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE
parade the city has held. an original, yet sought after, sound. $10. 9509. STREET These guided tours, led by
When we glance down to read the names of recipients etched into the strips, a Aug 27, 7:30. Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan historian-trained docents tell the story
popular history of the United States, and a time line for Lower Manhattan, begins to St (between Bleecker and W 3rd St). Visit SOHO ARTS WALK Experience of the 1887 landmark synagogue, and
sullivanhallnyc.com. SoHo’s art scene like never before illuminate the experience of the East
emerge—20 feet at a time.
with a walk down famous cobblestone European Jewish immigrants who set-
Some of the names, titles and events inscribed in the Canyon of Heroes remain iconic BADFISH A concert of from the sublime streets that were once the stomping tled on the LES in the late 19th century.
to this day. Some have grown obscure, and the significance of still others has changed tribute band (with special guests). The grounds of such greats as Andy Warhol Sun.-Thurs, 10am-4pm. $10 adults,
since the crowds gathered and the ticker-tape floated to the street. Beach will open at noon and concertgoers and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Free admis- $8 seniors, $6 children. Museum at
Yet every citation for this distinctive New York honor offers a snapshot of the city are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy sion into galleries. The third Thursday Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge St. Call
once upon a time. It’s hard to believe, for example, that Richard Nixon was once an the sun, food, drink, and all the amenities of every month, through September. 212-219-0888, or visit eldridgestreet.
American hero, but indeed he was, in 1960, when he made his way up Broadway with The Beach has to offer. $30.Aug 29, 4pm Visit sohoartswalk.com. org.
doors, 6pm show. The Beach at Gover-
President Eisenhower.
nor’s Island. Visit thebeachconcerts.com. GANGSTER, WRITER, RABBI Par- LISTINGS REQUESTS for the Down-
Who gets a ticker-tape parade? There are no set criteria, but there are certain themes. ticipants of this Lower East Side Walk- town Express may be mailed to Listings
Triumph against all odds has often been rewarded—from 23-year old Van Cliburn’s 1958 ing Tour will learn about the common Editor at 145 Avenue of the Americas,
victory at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Cold War Moscow to the Amazing TOURS ground between gangster Jack Zelig, New York, NY 10013-1548 or e-mailed
Mets of 1969. A World Series win in general will do it, as with the Mets of 1986 and the writer Sholem Aleichem & rabbi Jacob to listingseditor@gmail.com. Please
Yankees of 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW Joseph. Aug 23, 11am.The walking include listings in the subject line of
Sports heroes abound, such as Althea Gibson, 1957 Wimbledon women’s tennis YORK TOUR Visitors will be able to tour will begin at the Eldridge Street the e-mail and provide the date, time,
tour the Fed’s gold vault and learn about Synagogue (12 Eldridge St, between location, price and a description of the
champion. So do war heroes like General John J. Pershing in 1919 and General Dwight
the Federal Reserve’s central banking Canal and Division). Call 212-219-0888 event. Information must be received
Eisenhower in 1945. There are leaders like Winston Churchill in 1946 and Nelson Man- functions. Free. Federal Reserve Bank or visit eldridgestreet.org. two weeks before the event is to be
dela in 1990, and heads of state like David Ben-Gurion in 1951. There is also plenty of of NY, 33 Liberty Street. Call 212-720- published. Questions? Call 646-452-
royalty, from Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in 1957, to King Baudouin I of Belgium in 6130, or visit newyorkfed.org. LOVE AND COURTSHIP WALKING 2507.
1959, to Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1954 and 1963.
The successful conclusion to an extraordinary journey has often been celebrated.
Former President Theodore Roosevelt got a parade after his 1910 African safari. The
Apollo 11 astronauts got one after their return from the moon in 1969, and the Ameri-
can hostages in Tehran were cheered after their release in 1981. Do you use uppers?
Ambitious and courageous undertakings—no matter the resolution—have also been
commemorated, like Ruth Elder’s 1927 attempt to become the first woman to fly across
the Atlantic (she crashed in the Azores) and Genevieve de Galard-Terraube’s refusal—as The Substance Use Research Center at Columbia University
“the angel of Dien Bien Phu”—to leave wounded French soldiers in Vietnam.
One of my favorite parades was the 1984 salute to the more than 200 American medal needs non-treatment seeking STIMULANT USERS (includes Meth,
winners in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The commemorative strip is in front of St. Cocaine, Ecstasy, stimulant pills, or others) age 21 – 45 to participate
Paul’s Chapel, between Fulton and Vesey. I was a marshal, escorting the Men’s Water in residential studies evaluating drug effects. Live on a research unit
at the NYS Psychiatric Institute for 22 days.
Polo team and their gold medals up Broadway to City Hall. More than 2 million people
came to Lower Manhattan that day to welcome the athletes, led by gymnast Mary Lou You can earn approximately $1479.
Retton
The Canyon of Heroes was born in 1886 amid festivities for the unveiling of the Stat- For more information (212) 543-6743.
ue of Liberty. The parade during that extravaganza was marred by gray skies and drizzle,
but office boys brightened the celebration when they dumped huge bins of ticker-tape
out the windows of Broadway brokerage houses.
The latest parade celebrated the New York Giants’ stunning 2008 Super Bowl win,
this time with tons of paper supplied in advance. But the volume of confetti for that
one was low—36.5 tons, according to the New York Times— compared with 5,438 tons
tossed in the 1945 celebration of victory over Japan.
Joe Timpone, senior vice president for operations at the Downtown Alliance, says
part of the reason is windows in newer buildings that often don’t open, and building
owners who reduced access to rooftops and ledges after 9/11. HAIR U COLOR U TREATMENTS U STYLING
Though ticker-tape is gone in the computer age, I always look forward to a ticker- CHILDREN’S CUTS U THOUGHTFUL GIFTS
tape parade, a chance to wave from a window or lamp post or street corner and to wit-
JAPANESE STRAIGHTENING
ness and celebrate the hopes and aspirations of our nation in a signature Lower Manhat-
tan way. Who knows who’s next?
   
 !  " #   $
%    
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- Liz Berger is President of the Downtown Alliance    )   * ) +  , (       - - -)          )  
.   $  %   ( / *  0  ! 1  $  %'
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! 4 1 # $ %  3 / 3   0   ! 1 # $ %  5 / 6   0   1  $ %    / 6
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