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BY JOHN BAYLES

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has longbeen a proponent of tougher gun con-

trol laws. In the wake of the shootingspree in Tucson, Arizona on January 8,the mayor has amplified his positionand is now directing his advocacy, andanger, at Washington.

On Monday Martin Luther KingIII, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Meninoand others, including a slew of fam-ily members who lost loved ones inthe Columbine shooting of 1999, theVirgina Tech shooting of 2007, aswell as the Tucson tragedy, joinedBloomberg at City Hall. Their purposewas to announce a national campaign

to try and convince Congress to taketwo common sense steps towardsolving a broken background check

system.Part one of the campaign urgesCongress to ensure that all names ofpeople prohibited from buying gunsare in the background check system.The second part of the campaign seeksto close what some consider loopholesin gun control law, specifically the factcertain gun purchases, such as thoseoccurring online or at gun shows,do not currently require backgroundchecks.

The time has clearly come to finallyfulfill the intent of the common sense

gun law passed after the 1968 assas-sinations of Martin Luther King, Jr.and Bobby Kennedy, by creating a

loophole-free background check sys-tem for the sale of firearms, saidMayor Bloomberg.

Both Mayor Bloomberg and MayorMenino have been the leading voicesbehind the group Mayors Against IllegalGuns. The group has swelled from 15mayors when it was formed in 2006to 550 mayors today. It has launcheda new website, www.fixgunchecks.org,where the public can sign a petition infavor of the campaign.

Downtown Express photo by J.B. Nicholas

Mayor Bloomberg was joined by Martin Luther King III on Monday to announce a new campaign to push Congressto pass tougher gun control laws.

BY ALINE REYNOLDS

Affordable housing andother protections avail-able to low-income tenantsDowntown and citywidemight disappear, if the staterent regulation law expiresin June.

State Assemblymembers

representing four of thefive boroughs held a hear-ing at 250 Broadway lastThursday, where several cityhousing advocacy groupsand tenants testified aboutthe importance of renew-ing the Emergency TenantProtection Act, which

applies to all buildings builtin New York City before1974. They are also lobby-ing for passage of the omni-bus bill, which would makethe E.T.P.A. effective in allcity buildings.

Brooklyn AssemblyMember and Housing

Committee Chair VitoLopez, who led the hearing,said there is a major battlegoing on between landlordsseeking to deregulate therents in their buildings, andtenants who are being driv-en out of their homes due toescalating rents.

BY LESLEY SUSSMAN

A long and bitter 43-yearstalemate over future devel-opment of a 7-acre par-cel of land at the foot ofthe Williamsburg Bridgecame to a successful con-

clusion this Monday whenCommunity Board 3s LandUse, Zoning, Public andPrivate Housing Committeevoted almost unanimouslyto approve a set of generalguidelines that would pavethe way for action on thelong-dormant Seward ParkUrban Renewal Area, orSPURA.

The historic 20-to-1 vote

marked the end of two yearsof contentious debate overdetails of the general guide-lines by members of thecommittee. The approval ofthe guidelines signaled tothe Bloomberg administra-

tion that area residents andstakeholders have finallyreached some kind of con-sensus and are now readyto get down to details aboutthe sites development.

Tuesday night, the mea-sure went before C.B. 3sfull board at its monthlymeeting, which was expect-ed to second the commit-tees vote, giving the boards

Memo to Albany:

Renew and reformrent regulations

In historic vote,C.B. 3 O.K.s SPURAredevelop guidelinesMayor pressures Congress

for tougher gun control

Continued onpage 16

Continued onpage 20Continued onpage 16

downtown express VOLUME 23, NUMBER 37 THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2011

YOGIS

OF INDIA

AND NEPAL,

P. 27


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January 26 - February 1, 20112 downtown express

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

A place to listen and ponderA man sat last Sunday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City.

The buildings third floor currently houses the exhibit Voices of Liberty, which

features audio recordings from Holocaust survivors, refugees and others who

have fled to the shores of the United States. Visit www.mjhnyc.org to learnmore about the exhibit.

M1-5 Lounge52 Walker Street Between Church and Broadway New York, NY 10013

Pittsburgh SteelersVs. Green Bay PackersSunday Feb 6th 2011


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downtown express January 26 - February 1, 2011 3

PHONY 9/11 COINS

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and U.S.Representative Jerrold Nadler are callingon the Federal Trade Commission to imme-diately shut down the National CollectorsMint, which is selling fake September 11commemorative coins.

The company, which has a history offraud, is offering a new 10th anniversary9/11 coin that they falsely claim has beenauthorized by the government and made

with silver from the ashes at Ground Zero.National Collectors Mint has no shame.By deceiving consumers into buying theseworthless 9/11 commemorative coins, thiscompany is preying on the memories of thattragic day, generating millions in profits, anddiverting potential funds to finance the 9/11Memorial at Ground Zero, said Schumer ina statement.

In July 2010, Schumer and Nadler passeda law to create an official 9/11 medal thatwould raise funds for the National 9/11Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero.Under a matching program, $10 would be

donated to the memorial for each coin sold.Every dollar spent on the phony coins,the politicians say, is two dollars that could

have gone toward the memorial.We must act now and act with force

to make it crystal clear that we will nottolerate 9/11 scams, and will prosecuteswindlers to the fullest extent of the law,said Nadler.

P.E.P. OKAYS GREEN MOVE

TO 26 BROADWAY

The Panel for Educational Policy decid-ed to grant the vacant classroom space

on the first two floors of 26 Broadwayto the Richard R. Green School, a highschool currently located on the UpperEast Side.

The vote, held last Wednesday, was unan-imously in favor of Richard R. Greeneas opposed to a second Millennium HighSchool, which Downtown parents were lob-bying for.

Councilmember Margaret Chin, who wasbacking the parents in their wish for a newMillennium to be sited at 26 Broadway,said the vote denies access to 400 publicschool students to the top-notch education

Millennium is known for. The high schoolsselective program, she said, is in high demandamong the Downtown community.

The main campus, at 75 Broadway, hasbeen forced to accept more students thanit can handle for years, she said, and hasworked hard to raise funds to be able toexpand.

The D.O.E. has repeatedly underes-timated the influx of families into LowerManhattan and has failed to provide ade-quate space to serve Downtown students.

State Senator Daniel Squadron wasequally disappointed by the outcome of the

P.E.P. vote.Its disappointing, he said, that theD.O.E. decided against allowing Millenniumto expand into 26 Broadway, when therewere options that would have allowed a solu-tion for both schools.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver calledthe decision a slap in the face to LowerManhattan families.

My School Overcrowding Task Force,he said, helped convince the D.O.E. to leasethat space with the understanding that itwould be used to serve Downtown families.I will continue to press the D.O.E to open

new classroom space in Lower Manhattanand I will continue to fight for MillenniumHigh School.

DOWNTOWNDIGESTNEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9, 12-21

EDITORIAL PAGES . 10-11

YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-27

CLASSIFIEDS. . . . . . . . . . . 26

C.B. 1

MEETINGSC.B.1s meeting schedule for February

was not updated in time for this publica-

tion.

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Blow your Mind

Police arrested two men in the early hours of Thurs.,Jan. 20 and charged them with running a 24-hour cocaineand marijuana business catering to New York Universitystudents, patrons of East Village and Lower East Side barsand Tribeca residents.

The arrests were the result of a three-month NYPDinvestigation and sting operation that was uncovered when acourt employee told police he found business cards offeringcocaine and marijuana for sale that were tucked in the pagesof The Village Voice in a box in front of an N.Y.U. dorm onThird Ave. at E. 10th St.

The drug pushing cards had also been shoved under theapartment doors of Independence Plaza in Tribeca, accord-ing to the complaint.

The defendants, Thomas Zenon, 49 and Miguel Guzman,43 were arraigned on Fri., Jan. 21, and were being held inlieu of $1 million bond or $750,000 cash bail, according tothe office of Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.

Undercover police had made 12 buys from Zenon andGuzman between October 19 and Jan. 20, including two$1,110 buys of more than a half ounce of cocaine, accordingto the complaint. Both suspects had previously served time forfederal drug convictions, according to sources. Guzman, identi-fied as a former Ohio State football player in a Daily News item,was carrying 16 grams of cocaine, more that $1,600 and fourcell phones when he was arrested. Zenon had more than $600on him and a stash of 20 bags of marijuana inside a coffee ther-mos in his car when he was arrested, the complaint says.

One N.Y.U. student told the Daily News that one of thesuspects offered him cocaine outside the 10th St. dorm andhanded him a card with a cell phone number and the words,Blow your Mind.

Construction fatalityPolice found a man lying on the ground unconscious next

to Gouverneur Hospital, 227 Madison St. across from theAlfred E. Smith Houses around 11:26 p.m. Wed. Jan. 19.An Emergency Medical Service team declared the victim,Richard Smith, 46, of Long Island, employed by a roofingcontractor working on the hospital, dead at the scene. Thevictim apparently fell to his death and there was no criminal-

ity involved in the incident, police said.

Subway sleepersA man who got on an E train at Roosevelt Ave. in Queens

at 4:30 a.m. Sat. Jan. 15 fell asleep, missed his stop and wokeup at Canal St. to discover that his right front pocket hadbeen cut and his iPod stolen. The victim didnt report the

theft to police until he was notified that a suspect carrying

his iPod had been arrested at Stillwell Ave. in Brooklyn.A man who got on a Manhattan bound A train at Beach60th St. in Far Rockaway around 9:30 a.m. Fri., Jan. 21 fellasleep until he reached his destination at Fulton and NassauSts. and discovered that his wallet had been stolen from hisrear pocket, police said.

Protests FBI actionsA group calling itself the New York Committee to stop

FBI Repression held a demonstration on Tuesday eveningJan. 25 in front of Federal Bureau of Investigation officesin Lower Manhattan protesting a Chicago grand juryssubpoenas issued to 14 people including Arab-Americans,

Palestinian solidarity activists and three Minneapolis womensupporting the Muslim targets of the investigation.The group gathered on Broadway in front of 26 Federal

Plaza at 4:30 p.m. and marched to the Justice Departmentoffices at 1 St. Andrews Plaza on the east side of Foley Sq.The group said the subpoenas were an attempt to criminalizesolidarity with the Palestinian people and promised to con-tinue working for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. The subpoenaswere issued in December demanding testimony in Chicagoon Jan. 25 regarding an FBI criminal investigation. The 14activists have signed a letter pledging to invoke the FifthAmendment and refusing to testify before the grand jury.

Soho bar bashA man visiting from Peoria, Ill., was in Sway, the bar at

305 Spring St. between Greenwich and Hudson Sts. duringthe early hours of Sun., Jan. 23 when a woman hit him inthe face with a drinking glass, police said. The woman, CaseyTatum, 24, was arrested and charged with assault.

Chambers St. bashA Brooklyn man, 33, got into a argument with a man

and a woman in front of 125 Chambers St. around 4:50 p.m.Fri., Jan. 21 when the man threw him to the ground and thewoman hit him repeatedly with her aluminum walking cane,police said. Omar Shaheed, 27, and Nafeesah Shaheed, 58,

were arrested and charged with assault. Police did not sayhow the suspects were related.

Arrest in burglary seriesPolice on Thurs., Jan. 6 arrested a suspect in connection

with a series of 13 Lower East Side and Chinatown burglar-ies and home invasions between Oct. 12 and Nov. 15. But

the suspect, Irving Walker, 31, was not the Irving Walker, 41,which police thought they were looking for in November.

The innocent suspect, whose name and former Bronx addresswas included in the NYPD call for help issued to the media, hadmoved away a decade ago and was in a doctors office in VirginiaBeach, Va. during one of the incidents. Although he received aletter from a detective that he was no longer a suspect, he said

he is afraid to visit his old Bronx neighborhood where residentsmight not know that he was cleared in the case.A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney

said the Irving Walker who was arrested Jan. 6, has admit-ted being involved in three of the robberies. An accompliceis believed to have been involved in all 13 burglaries onMadison, Catherine, Eldridge, Forsyth, Monroe and HenrySts. and East Broadway during the four-week period lastautumn.

Bag theft at marinaA woman left her bag with a coworker at the marina at

86 South St. in the South St. Seaport Museum at 10:45 a.m.

Sun. Jan. 23 and returned a minute later, but the coworkerhad put it aside and was unable to find it, police said.

Shop theftsA man and a woman entered the Marc Jacobs boutique

at 163 Mercer St., around 2 p.m. Fri., Jan. 21, and walkedaround for a while until the man grabbed a handbag valuedat $1,295 off a manikin and passed it to the woman who putit in her bag. The couple then left, undetected, police said.

A Gap Store employee at the 11 Fulton St. branch spotted awoman on the surveillance camera removing several jeans andshirts with a total value of $1,310 from a display shelf at 3:06p.m. Sun. Jan. 23 and putting them in her bag. She managed to

get past the search scanner, which did not go off, and left beforesecurity could challenge her, police said. The whole incidenttook less than a minute, the employee told police.

Security agents at J & R Music, 23 Park Row, stopped aman who was buying two iPads with a total value of $1,228using two credit cards at 4:47 p.m. Sun., Jan. 23 when theynotice something odd about the cards. The credit cards wereregistered to someone with an Asian name and the suspect wasAfrican-American. The suspect, Kenny Henry, 45, was found tohave three other fraudulent credit cards, police said.

Monkeys fireA fire in the Three Monkeys, a restaurant on the ground

floor of 99 Rivington St. brought firefighters to the place atthe corner of Ludlow St. at 8:11 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 20, anFDNY spokesperson said. The fire was under control in ahalf hour and the cause was under investigation.

Drumsticks menacePolice arrested Jessie Sloan, 27, shortly before 4 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 4, in front of 853 Broadway between 13th and 14thSts. and charged him with assault with a weapon, resistingarrest and possession of marijuana. Police said the defen-dant, a Queens resident, was trying to hit a man with a pairof drumsticks. Officers said Sloan swung his fists at themwhen they were making the arrest. The suspect, described

as drunk and stoned, was in possession of a small bag ofmarijuana when he was arrested, police said.

Cycle rulesSixth Precinct police are issuing warnings to bicycle riders

to obey the rules. Except for riders under the age of 12 on bikeswith wheels less than 26 inches in diameter, cyclists must rideon the street, in the direction of vehicular traffic, and not onsidewalks. Yielding to pedestrians is also the rule. Cyclists mustalso obey all traffic signals, pavement markings and must usemarked bicycle lanes or bike paths when available.

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POLICE BLOTTER


5/28


BY ALINE REYNOLDS

A new tech application launching next month will allowpeople worldwide to listen to first-hand accounts of 9/11

survivors and to record their own stories recalling the eventsof the day.The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum has partnered

with Broadcastr, a Brooklyn-based start-up, to create a digi-tal map interface of oral accounts that will be available as anapp for Smartphones.

The recordings include memories, testimonies and trib-utes from first responders, nearby residents and anyone elsewho wishes to retell their experiences from 9/11.

The application will categorize the audio entries accord-ing to location and a map will be displayed with icons iden-tifying each recording. A recording of a victims account ofwhat it was like visiting the 9/11 family assistance center atPier 94, for example, will be tagged at the pier, where the

center was once located.The recordings are being provided to Broadcastr by the9/11 Memorial and Museum, who has been amassing acollection that will ultimately be an exhibit at the museum.Currently visitors to the museums preview site can sit in anaudio booth and listen to the recordings or record their ownstories.

You slowly start to see that its not just a LowerManhattan story its a New York story, its all over, saidJenny Pachucki, an oral historian at the 9/11 Memorialwho is part of a team that selects and approves the audioentries.

The application is slated to launch on Tuesday, February8, with approximately 30 9/11 entries. It will be available

on iPhones and Androids, but not on Blackberries. iPadsand Android tablets will also offer the application in a fewmonths time. Registering on Broadcastr.com to file an audioentry is free of charge.

Home recordings are meant to be user-friendly, accord-ing to Broadcastr founder and president Scott Lindenbaum,and can be done using standard computer or Smartphonemicrophones.

The Broadcastr audio files will also be organizedby subject, and can be accompanied by photographs.Someone reflecting on a family members 9/11 experi-ence escaping the falling Twin Towers, for example,might file the clip under keywords and phrases such asfamily and 9/11 survivor. The contributor might also

snap a photo of the family member in front of the WorldTrade Center site, and upload it onto the applicationalong with the audio.

The goal, Lindenbaum explained, is to show how socialmedia can be used to document history, and how it isntmerely an ephemeral means of communication dominatedby Twitter. He hopes to turn the service into a tool thatcreate[s] meaningful interactions between people acrossgreat distances.

Like Twitter and Facebook, Lindenbaum hopes thatBroadcastr will eventually become popular enough to appearas auxiliary features on companies and media outlets web-sites.

The program, Lindenbaum said, wont single out the

tech-savvy, film buffs, or YouTube gurus. Instead, it willbe meant for everyone.Were really excited to get our content out there, and to

be able to tell some of the stories in the meantime before themuseum is actually open [in 2012], said Pachucki.

Broadcastr only collects and disseminates the storiesin audio format recording oral accounts, Lindenbaumexplained, is less intimidating than video or blogging forthose who are timid to tell their stories to begin with.

The memorials oral historians invite some participantsto their offices and visit others at their homes to performthe recordings. Some participants break down as theyrecall the day, and others decline to do the interviews alto-gether, fearing the emotional impact. Some of the toughest

recordings, Pachucki said, are those in which the personreflects upon loved ones they lost on 9/11.

Its really hard for a lot of people, said Pachucki. Itssurprising how raw the emotion still i s for them.

Joe Daniels, the memorials president, expressed his sup-port of the project in a statement, saying that the Broadcastrapplication allows people around the world to connect toa place that will continue to inspire thousands of stories ofhope and compassion.

The memorials mission, in part, he said, is to educate

future generations about the 9/11 events that foreverchanged the world. By sharing our collection of stories, weare supporting our educational mission and shaping historythrough memory, he said.

Pachucki and her colleagues are confident that Broadcastrwill serve as a supplement, rather than a substitute, to theservices provided by the future museum.

Its not replacing the authentic site, [which involves]seeing the artifacts, and delving in some of the visual aspectsof the story, she said.

The service, she noted, will allow those who dont havethe time or means to visit the museum to experience it insome way.

Broadcastr and the memorial team plan to co-host panel

discussions and other events at the W.T.C. site and nation-wide, which would perhaps involve collecting stories as wego, Lindenbaum said.

The Broadcastr team is also visiting the constructionzone to record workers perspectives on what its like torebuild the W.T.C. Itll give a little behind-the-scenes feelof, how did this thing get there and who put it there, saidLindenbaum.

Currently, there are a dozen audio posts on the privatebeta version of the application, located at Broadcastr.com.The site is accepting 100 new users per day between nowand its launch. The companys goal, Lindenbaum said, is toedit and upload 20 new items every month prior to the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.

App brings 9/11 voices to life and to your phone

Photo courtesy of Broadcastr

Broadcastr founders Scott Lindenbaum (left) and

Andy Hunter have partnered with the National 9/11Memorial and Museum to create a new app for

Smartphones.

First-hand accountfrom a first responderMichael Moran, a 9/11 first-responder firefighter, is one

of approximately 500 people who have recorded their 9/11stories that will be used and distributed by the National 9/11Memorial and Museum.

Moran is one of a dozen individuals who have partici-pated in Broadcastr thus far.

Morans patience and professionalism was tested on 9/11.A member of Ladder Company 3 at the time, he remembersthe desperate screams of a fellow firefighter on the radio as he

struggled to free himself from a burning truck that day.Moran and his crew were ordered to sit tight for severalhours at the firehouse, according to a bosss orders, beforehurrying to the World Trade Center site to search for survi-vors. During the wait time, Moran didnt know if his brother,Rescue Battalion Chief John Moran, was dead or alive.

He later found out that John had died while on duty.What follows is Morans account from that day, in his

own words, provided by Broadcastr:

My name is Michael Moran. Im a member of LadderCompany 3 [on East 13th Street].

The first tower falls, and I remember knowing at thatpoint at least a good portion of my firehouse was probably

wiped out, because I knew Ladder 3 was there.So, I remember they turned the radio onto the Manhattanchannel and there was a guy screaming into the radio that hewas trapped in a fire truck and he was burning. And our guyscouldnt listen to it and walked away. And then somewhere inthere it came over that if you were assigned to a Manhattanfirehouse thats where you were supposed to report to. Likethey wanted Manhattan firemen to go to their houses.

By the time we got to my firehouse we had a city bus infront of quarters and I had time to get my gear on and wegot on the bus. Were just starting to pull away and the Chiefcame out and hit the glass and said Hang on guys, come off.He goes, Were ordered to wait here for one hour. And likethe hour comes and goes, alright were gonna go, and Chiefs

like, Listen were being told to wait, told to wait.And it was starting to really kind of get heated, like guyswerent happy about staying. And we were ready to go, andhe called everybody up into the office. And at this point Iknew, like when I walked in and I saw my Lieutenant at thetime, and I said, How bad is it? and he goes, Its as bad asyou can imagine, so far, but we dont know who was off-dutywhos down there, but as far as we know 3 is gone.

So thats when I kind of started asking, You didnt hearanything from my brother, did you? What do you No, no.And Im asking the Chief, thinking maybe the chiefs wouldget so they call everybody up into the office, and the Chiefis saying, listen, you guys are getting mad, listen, you guys areon duty. You know, you guys are working. You know, you are

ordered to stay here. You signed into the book, anybody thatleaves here is gonna be [Absent Without Official Leave], isgonna get charges. He goes, I cant haveI cant have this.

So he looks around and he says, Listen, I know theresone guy here, Mike thinks his brothers missing. Ill turnaround and let Mike sneak out of here. Im shocked thathe said that. Everyone kind of looked at me, and he goes,Mike, what do you want to do? And I dont know why I saidit or where it came from, but I just said, Chief, my brotherwould want me to act like a professional. So if you say wereordered to stay here, then Im gonna have to stay hereAfterwards he told me that he appreciated that I said thatbecause that shut everybody else up.


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7/28


Non-artist residents feel like criminals in Soho, lawyer saysBY ALINE REYNOLDS

Two of the citys trendiest neighborhoodshave an outdated regulation in their zoninglaw that some loft residents want the city todo away with.

Other area residents, however, might bedisplaced if the regulation is abolished.

The artist certification for residents ofSoho and Noho, established in the early1970s, when artists began populating thearea, requires at least one member of house-holds to be a creative artist. They mustprove their status in an application to thecitys Department of Cultural Affairs.

Soho and Nohos special zoning allowsfor residential use in artists joint work-living quarters in keeping with the neigh-borhoods traditional light-manufacturingcharacter.

Section 12-10 of the New York CityZoning Resolution refers to housing in Sohoand Noho as arranged and designed for usebynot more than four nonrelated artists,including adequate working space reservedfor the artist

The rule is a stopgap measure designedto appease both artists and building ownerswho did not want the violations for illegaloccupancy, according to Margaret Baisley, aSoho-based real estate lawyer who stronglyopposes the zoning laws artist-in-residence

provision.Residents who apply for artist certificationmust submit a professional fine arts rsum,

two letters of recommendation and othermaterial that demonstrates at least five years ofcommitment to a particular fine-art genre.

Successful applicants are permitted to havecommercial jobs in the arts, or side jobs inother fields, but must exhibit a professional,noncommercial involvement in the creativearts, according to the application. Interpretiveartists, such as musicians, actors and dancers,are generally ineligible for certification. D.C.A.claims not to aesthetically judge the appli-cants artwork. A D.C.A. spokesperson did notrespond to questions by press time.

In 2009, the city rejected half the artist-certification applications it received.

The administration has recently steppedup enforcement of the law, which it ignoredfor several years, according to Baisley. TheDepartment of Buildings now denies cer-tificates of occupancy for buildings untileach residential unit has an artist certificate.D.O.B. also requires proof of certificate forSoho and Noho loft occupants who apply torenovate their spaces.

Nevertheless, many residents violate therules, and occupy their lofts illegally, accord-ing to various sources.

Baisley said only about 20 to 30 of herSoho clients per year make the effort tocomply with the zoning rules. About half ofthem get approved, while the other half get

denied. Several others sell their lofts ratherthan bother hunting down artist tenants tooccupy them.

Baisley helps her clients avoid fines andappointments at the agencys administra-tive court by gathering together every bitof evidence attesting that they are, indeed,

creative artists.One attorney she represented didnt wantthe stigma of living illegally in Soho, so she

moved elsewhere.We dont think you should make criminals

of people who want to come into this area,Baisley said. The Buildings Department, she

continued, should focus on collapsing cranes

Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

Attorney Margaret Baisley thinks the artist-certification requirement for Soho and

Noho residents should be lifted.

Continued on page 19


8/28


Manhattan Youth lets kids play their wayBY MICHAEL MANDELKERN

This past Monday, on a frigid after-noon, Manhattan Youth debuted its indoorImagination Playground, a trial programwith potential to expand this year.

Parents and babysitters brought curioustoddlers and kids, ages two through five, tothe lower level of the Downtown CommunityCenter. The children instantly latched ontobright blue foam blocks, creating structuresand forms on their own.

I want to build it high, said one child ashe connected two blocks with a long, bend-able cylinder.

Wheels, said another kid as he graspeda circular piece.

The room was full of giggles as more chil-dren entered the space. Manhattan Youthemployees kept a watchful eye and parentslooked on, but the kids were the ones incharge.

Its not, Oh no, [a block] should gothere, said Alex Roche, director of theDowntown Community Center. Kids usethe space for their own imagination, saidRoche. They make what they want to.

One child tried to put together two piecesthat at first seemed not to fit.

Uh oh, he said.He eventually connected the pieces and

built a structure without any help from theadults.

Children worked together to build com-plex arrangements, some crawling to find

pieces while others dashed across the roomto drape their creations with blankets andscarves. Others worked more independently.

Up, down, said one kid as he liftedwhat would appear to an adult to be a dumb-bell, but to a child could be anything.

The first Imagination Playground atBurling Slip in the Seaport that opened overthe summer inspired Roche to bring themodel to Manhattan Youth. He found themoveable objects, without anything fastenedto the floor, to be a great concept.

Roche recently ordered the equipmentfrom Imagination Playground, a non-profitand architecture firm partnership foundedby architect David Rockwell, who designedthe Burling Slip model. The organizationsgoal is to constantly reconfigure their envi-ronment and to design [childrens] owncourse of play, according to the organiza-tions website.

The materials are sold in a box set onwheels and include various shapes, such asfoam noodles and floor mats, some withholes in them that can be connected togeth-er.

The new Manhattan Youth program justgot underway, and fittingly, as the winterweather makes playing in the park andoutdoors unpleasant and harsh. But Rocheplans to expand the hours beyond the cur-rent 12:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Monday-through-Friday timeframe.

This is the first day. We just opened the

door and there are already people walkingin, said Roche as he introduced the newprogram on January 24. He said parentshave expressed interest in the ImaginationPlayground, and that he anticipates a contin-ued strong turnout.

Were always trying to foster creativity,even at a young age, said Roche.

Many of Manhattan Youths activities,such as the Friday night program gearedtowards children ages nine through 14,appeal to youths ages five and over, butRoche senses a growing need for programsaimed at younger children.

The new class is currently geared towardspre-kindergarten children, because some of

them are not yet in school and many pre-school programs end by the late morning.But Roche plans on opening the facility toolder children later in the year and bringingthe equipment outside once the temperaturerises to an appropriate level.

The Imagination Playground is openexclusively to Manhattan Youth members,but nonmembers can purchase a day guestpass for $25 that gives them access thereand to other Downtown Community Centerprograms.

For more information on the ImaginationPlayground log on to www.imaginationplay-ground.org or call Manhattan Youth for spe-cific program queries at 212.766.1104.

Assemblyman Shelly Silver

I you need assistance, please contact my ofce at

(212) 312-1420 or email [email protected].

Fighting to make

Lower Manhattan

the greatest place

to live, work, and

raise a amily.

Photo courtesy of Imagination Playground

A child plays with the moveable parts that are the basis for the Imagination

Playground model.

BY ALINE REYNOLDS

Demonstrators congregated on the stepsof Tweed Courthouse last Friday to protestmayoral control of public schools and tolobby for hefty reforms to the city system.

Several protestors held up banners, eachlisting one of ten education reforms the

group is asking the D.O.E. to implementimmediately.Among the proposals the protestors

highlighted were equitable funding for allschools, a halt to the proliferation of charterschools; an end to school closure; and a pushfor smaller class sizes.

John Yanno, a teacher at John JayHigh School and a member of GrassrootsEducation Movement NYC, bemoaned theshortage in funding for his school and theco-location of Millennium Brooklyn in thebuilding. Seniors at John Jay have huge holesin their schedules, he said.

They literally spend their afternoonshanging out in the bathroom or hallway,cause they have nowhere to go, saidYanno.

Muba YaroFulan, a public school par-ent and a member of Coalition for PublicEducation, accused the D.O.E. for failing

its students by not offering them qualityclassroom education or a sufficient num-ber of after-school programs; and for shut-ting parents out of the decision-makingprocess.

Money is being spent more towardsthe prison system than educating our 1.1million students, she told the crowd. Shealso mentioned Blacks controversial birthcontrol joke from the January 13 SchoolOvercrowding Task Force meeting held at250 Broadway.

Protestors want large-scaleeducation reforms



9/28


C.B. 1 committee talks dirty phone booths and dirty streetsBY ALINE REYNOLDS

A pair of phone booths on WarrenStreet in Tribeca has been giving ShimonZlotnikovs nightmares since the mid-2000s.In the coming months, his wish to have themremoved might finally come true.

Zlotnikov, 35, said he spends his morn-ings cleaning up the litter-trashed boothsin front of his business, Shimmies NewYork, a retail outlet at 28 Warren Streethe runs with his family, which owns thefive-story commercial building. The pay-phones, which stand side-by-side, pose amajor safety concern, said Zlotnikov at lastThursdays Community Board 1 Quality ofLife Committee meeting. He said the boothshave become an evening hub for drug usersand binge drinkers.

Then theres the issue of people uri-nating, defecating and having sex, addedZlotnikov.

The booths do not have lights and areonly partially cloaked by metal. Visitors ofthe yoga studio above Shimmies are afraidto leave the building at night, Zlotnikovreported, for fear of being mugged by a per-petrator lurking in the booths.

To compound matters, the payphoneshave been without a dial tone for four or fiveyears. These things were really, really gooda couple of years ago, when not too manypeople had cell phones, Zlotnikov said ofthe payphones. I dont see the usefulness of

a phone that doesnt work.He has complained about the booths

previously, but said that the parties involvedkept on passing the buck, and that nothingwas accomplished.

City law requires that pay phone boothsbe removed from their locations after threemonths of malfunction, and that the com-panys franchise license be revoked after sixmonths, according to Zlotnikov.

These guys fix it just in time for thatthree-month mark, and [the problem] startsall over again, Zlotnikov said. He spottedVerizon workers fixing the problem at 4:30a.m. last Wednesday, the day before the C.B.1 meeting.

Were happy to look into the situationand help resolve any issues in regard to thesephones, said John Bonomo, a spokesper-son for Verizon. He wasnt able to confirmZlotnikovs account of the pay phone prob-lems by press time.

To Zlotnikovs relief, Allen Chapman,director of payphones for Titan, the transitadvertising company responsible for oper-ating and maintaining the Warren Streetbooths, said the company is open to movingthe payphones, so long as they locate anotherDowntown site where they can be placed.

To relocate a problem phone [booth],it would have to stay within the commu-nity board [district], and meet all the sit-ing guidelines, explained Patrick Fergus,

the payphone coordinator for the citysDepartment of Information Technology andTelecommunications, the agency in charge ofsupervising phone booth installations.

The D.I.T.T. would also require the per-mission of the landlord whose building willface the telephone booth, along with a letterfrom the First Precinct commanding officerconfirming that the booths are a public nui-sance and a haven for ill egal activity.

There are currently 300 phone boothsin C.B. 1, half the number the district oncehad, according to Fergus. He said he hopesto see more police presence in the area todeter illegal activity in booths Downtownand citywide.

Zlotnikov said he and Chapman are onthe same page now, and that he looks for-

trinitywallstreet.org

the |trinity choir

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2011, 7:30pm

Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street

Music from the Sarum RiteGeorge Steel, Guest Conductor

The Trinity Choir performs sacred music of the Pre-Reformation English Church, from the t ime of

early Tudor monarchs. Rarely per formed today, this gorgeous music is some of the most exquisite of any age.

Trinity is pleased to welcome to the podium for this performance George Steel, General Manager and

Artistic Director of New York City Opera and founder of the Vox Vocal Ensemble.

Preview same day at 1pm.

Ticket Prices$20 General Admission$10 Student/Senior

Ticket Salestrinitywallstreet.org/ticketsTrinity Church Gift Shop212.866.0468

The Most Beautiful Music

Youve NeverHeard

Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

Robin Forst from the L.M.C.C.C. updates the C.B. 1 Quality of Life Committee last

Thursday on the neighborhoods construction projects.



10/28


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LETTERS TO THE EDITORSeward Park success

After more than four decades of frustrating inactionat the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, Tuesday nightsvote at Community Board 3s Land Use Committee, at last,smashed through the inertia.

Finally, this long-vacant eyesore of dirt can be redevelopedwith new housing and community amenities, and put backon the tax rolls, generating jobs and revenue for the city.

Of course, the boards passing the guidelines is just thefirst step; the Bloomberg administration next will refine theplan all the while, hewing to C.B. 3s guidelines an envi-ronmental impact statement (E.I.S.) will be done; requestsfor proposals (R.F.P.s) will be issued to developers.

Mondays vote was the result of hard work and manyhours logged over two years by C.B. 3 members, residentsand stakeholders. From the outset, committee chairpersonDavid McWater said he intended to make this process inclu-sive, so that all stakeholders felt invested in the process. Sooften before, efforts to redevelop SPURA had crashed andburned. The disconnect between advocates for affordablehousing, on one hand, and co-op owners who feel the areaalready has enough affordable housing, on the other, lockedthe site in limbo for generations.

McWater and Dominic Pisciotta, C.B. 3s chairperson,made sure that everyone was on board. The nearly unani-mous 20-to-1 vote is a testament to the process. The loneNo vote was by Damaris Reyes, executive director of GoodOld Lower East Side, who to the end fought for more afford-able housing. In a constantly gentrifying Lower East Side,one cant criticize her or G.O.L.E.S. for advocating for theirbelief that more affordable housing is sorely needed.

Yet, we feel the approved guidelines are the right compro-mise. Fifty percent of the housing will be market rate, whichwill, in turn, subsidize moderate- and low-income housing,including for seniors. Forty percent of SPURA will haveretail and commercial uses but no big-boxes, other thanpossibly a large movie theater.

This new housing and its population, coupled withretail and commercial uses, will revitalize this part of theLower East Side, which has basically been offline forthe past 40 years, and is currently used as a massiveopen-air parking lot. This fact was recognized by the newco-op residents group SHARE, which strongly supportedthe guidelines and played an important advocacy role.C.B. 3 and its leadership deserve immense credit for defyingthe naysayers and pulling this off. For McWater, this is his sec-ond coup, having spearheaded the East Village / Lower EastSide rezoning a few years ago that capped building heightsand eliminated the bonus that allows monster-sized dorms.

Plaudits are also due to the Bloomberg administration,who believed in C.B. 3 and nurtured and facilitated thisplanning process.

Our elected officials helped the process. Notably,Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver quickly came out insupport of the guidelines in fact, he issued his e-mailblast support statement two hours before the committeeeven voted! Similarly, state Senator Daniel Squadron,Councilmember Margaret Chin, and CongressmemberNydia Velzquezs support was also appreciated.

But Silvers endorsement was key. With his voter baseon Grand St., where he lives, and as the states second mostpowerful elected official, he has always had the power tomake or break any SPURA proposal. Were grateful he wasable to balance all the competing interests and endorse thisplan wholeheartedly.

Were grateful to C.B. 3 for leading this model process,and to community members and stakeholders for coalescingbehind the effort. And we thank our elected officials for theirleadership and for recognizing, finally, that the timing is right,and that this is a very good plan the best plan attainable that we can expect for this long-fraught site.

Bike lanes:

Use and abuse

To The Editor:Re Critics cant roll back the progress

on bike lanes (talking point, by BarbaraRoss, Jan. 6):

I believe Barbara Ross makes sane, bal-anced, measured points. It isnt bike lanesthat are the problem regarding trafficsafety. Its the way people pedestriansand cyclists use or misuse the lanes.

I really dont feel very safe whencycling in these bike lanes. Some of myfear is from my fellow cyclists who abusetheir privileges. Same with pedestriansand dog walkers who abuse the bikelanes. The other fear is at intersectionswhere motorists turn from my blind side.

As long as motorists, cyclists, pedes-trians et al. act selfishly, aggressively,abusively, New York City will remain avery, very dangerous place.

Michael Gottlieb

The bicycle thief

To The Editor:A couple of weeks ago I was riding my

bicycle down Ridge St., and to my left Isaw somebody walking a bike that lookedjust like my gray, European, adult tricycle which I refer to as my mini-pedicab that I had parked on my street corner. Ilooked right to the spot where its usuallychained up and it was missing. I ran afterthe man and asked him what he was doingwith my pedicab. He was startled andtold me that someone just sold it to him,claiming it was his bike to give away.

I told him that didnt sound like afeasible story since he was a holding ahacksaw in one hand and the metal tubeof the bicycle around which the lock hadbeen fastened was sawed i n half. We wentback and forth, he insisting that he didnot steal it and I insisting that he did.Going nowhere with this, I asked him toreturn the pedicab, and luckily he did notresist and gave it right back to me.

Then he shocked me again, now offer-ing to buy the bike from me for $100,which he supposedly had paid the otherguy, the real culprit of the crime. It feltabsurd to even contemplate his offer, butI had been torn on what to do with thepedicab for a while.

It was too small to be used as a full-size pedicab but too large to fit in myapartment. I didnt feel right to leave it onthe corner and take up a parking space foranother bicycle, but I felt sad thinking ofit being given away.

I took one more look at the guy andstarted to soften. He was an older man,telling me he wanted to fix it up to drivehis family around the neighborhood. Isuspected he could be lying again, but I

told him I would consider it and get backto him. He helped me get the mini-pedi-cab chained up again, advising me whereto place the locks to stop the next personfrom sawing them off again. He gave mehis cell phone number, and I thought thatwasnt the greatest move since he justgave me a way to contact him if I decidedto press charges later. So I assumed it wasa fake number.

A couple of weeks later I decided itwas time to give up the bike and if theguy was willing to take $150 I was readyto give it to him. Yes, it was crazy to evencontemplate selling it to the thief. But Ididnt see any really positive outcome tocalling the police to report the incident,and I had nowhere to store it and didnthave the skills to fix it where the tubehad been sawed through to sell it for ahigher price.

So I gave him a call and the deal wasdone. He agreed to pay $150 and wasgoing to give me another bike he doesntuse anymore, which I was going to giveaway to somebody in need of a bike. Ihoped that I would one day see my pedi-cab all spiffed up, with a family in tow,cycling through my neighborhood. Thatwould make it all worthwhile to me. Onemore cyclist on the road is never a badthing in my world.

Barbara Ross

Dead on arrival

To the Editor:Just how many of Governor Cuomos

proposed budget, regulatory and goodgovernment reforms may be dead on arriv-al once reaching downtown Manhattansown New York State Assembly DemocraticSpeaker Sheldon Silvers desk?

With 100 of 150 votes in the Assembly,Silver is in the drivers seat. Silver con-trols his own members via lulus forchairing committees, passage of legisla-tion, pork barrel member item earmark-ing, office budgets, staffing and mailingsalong with renewal of gerrymanderingdistrict boundaries every ten years afterreapportionment.

Republican State Senate majority lead-er Dean Skalos has similar powers, butonly controls his chamber by one vote. With Silvers overwhelming majority, hecan let many members off the hook whencontroversial bills come up for a voteand stop whatever he desires. Successfulimplementation of Governor Cuomosagenda is clearly dependent upon thecooperation of both Silver and Skelos.They both along with Cuomo make upAlbanys infamous Three Men In theBackroom who run the show.

Sincerely,

Larry PennerGreat Neck


11/28


DOWNTOWN NOTEBOOK

New York and Curaao: The Dutch ConnectionBY TERESE LOEB KREUZER

Cunards new ship, Queen Elizabeth, left New YorkCity on January 13, she headed to Fort Lauderdale,Fla., and from there to Curaao, a small island in theCaribbean, where she arrived on January 19. The trip of1,945 miles was commonly made in the 17th century;both Manhattan and Curaao were once governed by theDutch West India Company.

In 1624, the Dutch settled on Governors Island inNew York harbor, moving to Manhattan in 1625. In1626, Peter Minuit made his famous real estate pur-chase buying Manhattan from the native Leni LenapeIndians for around $24. Eight years later, in 1634, theDutch arrived in Curaao, previously occupied by theSpanish, and kicked them out. With some interludes,Curaao has been governed by the Netherlands or affili-ated with it ever since.

In Curaao, the Dutch legacy is obvious evenmore than it is in New York City. Both sides of St. AnnaBay, the deep harbor that bisects Curaaos capital, Willemstad, are lined with brightly painted buildingsin the Dutch colonial style. Many of them date fromthe early 18th century. In fact, Willemstad is one ofsix UNESCO (United Nations Educational ScientificCultural Organization) World Heritage sites in theCaribbean, with 765 buildings that have been declarednational monuments.

But though New York City has buried and over-written much of its Dutch past, it still exists in waysthat Willemstad makes evident. Both cities were foundedfor commercial reasons and owe their existence to theirdeep, natural harbors. The Dutch were interested intrade, not in ideology either political or religious.Both New York City and Curaao are cosmopolitan andmulti-ethnic, and were from the beginning. Shortly afterthe Dutch erected Fort Amsterdam at the foot of the oldIndian trail that New Yorkers now call Broadway, 18languages were spoken in their little colony. Similarly,Willemstad, which now has a population of 135,000, ishome to people of 55 nationalities.

At one time, one man governed both Curaao andNieuw Amsterdam and the land stretching north and southof it, which the Dutch called Nieuw-Nederland (NewNetherland). Peter Stuyvesant, born at Scherpenzeel,Friesland in 1610, arrived in Curaao in 1638 as theDutch West India Companys chief commercial officer.In 1643, he was appointed Curaaos governor. Hisbosses back in the Netherlands instructed him to evictthe Spanish from St. Martin, which he attempted to doin 1644. He was unsuccessful and lost his right leg in thebattle. He went back to the Netherlands to recuperateand married a woman named Judith Bayard while he wasthere (hence the name Bayard Street in Chinatown).On December 25, 1646, they sailed for America, landingin Nieuw Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. Stuyvesant wasnow Director General of the New Netherland colony,where he had a lot on his hands: skirmishes with theIndians and the English and an obstreperous populationin the colony. Stuyvesant, the son of a Calvinist minister,did not approve of their boisterous way of life. He wasan effective governor in many ways, but definitely notpopular.

One of the things he had in mind was to encouragetrade between Curaao and New Netherland. The north-ern colony could provide food for the arid Caribbeanisland in exchange for horses, salt and slaves. Between1640 and 1795, the Dutch sold an estimated 90,000Africans as slaves in Curaao. Peter Stuyvesant himselfhad a slave camp in Curaao. At Kura Hulanda in theOtrobonda neighborhood of Willemstad is a museum

recording what happened.Stuyvesants trade plan didnt work. Both Curaao and

the merchants of New Netherland found it more profit-able to trade with their neighbors sometimes illicitly than to haul goods back and forth for thousands ofmiles each way. Nevertheless, the African Burial Groundnear Foley Square in Lower Manhattan is a testament tothe slave labor that helped build New York City.

Stuyvesant himself prospered in Nieuw Amsterdam.He bought a 300-acre farm north of the city wall andalso had a town house with gardens near what is nowWhitehall Street. His two sons were both born in Nieuw

Amsterdam.However, in September 1664, four English warships

arrived in Nieuw Amsterdam harbor. The English king,Charles II, wanted to give the colony to his brother,James, the Duke of York. Stuyvesant wanted to fight.The colonists didnt. On September 7, 1664, Stuyvesantconceded to the English and the city became New York.

Stuyvesant and his family went back to the Netherlands,but they returned to America in 1668. The formerDirector General retired to his farm and died there inFebruary 1672. He was buried in what is now St. MarksChurch in the Bowery.

Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Willemstad, the capital of Curacao and of the Netherlands Antilles was settled by the Dutch in the 17th century,

shortly after they founded Nieuw Amsterdam (later New York City). At one time, Peter Stuyvesant was governorof both colonies.

Willemstad is one of six UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Caribbean.


12/28


BY ALBERT AMATEAU

Real estate developers and brokers whowere expecting a bonanza of opportuni-ties when the estate of William Gottliebbegan selling some of the 185 properties itowns, mostly in Greenwich Village and theMeatpacking District, were disappointedearlier this month.

While Neil Bender, heir of the holdingsaccumulated by his uncle Bill Gottlieb, con-firmed the December sale of 79 Horatio St.,just south of the Meatpacking District, andthe posting for sale of 104 E. 10th St., nearSt. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery, the estatewill not be putting any other properties onthe block.

In fact, Bender intends to renew thecompanys long-held policy of buying andholding onto select properties.

We are not selling any more properties,Gregg Sullivan, a spokesperson for Bender,said last week. Were disposing of twoproperties that do not fit in with the com-panys development and growth plan, andwe anticipate the addition of significant andstrategic properties to our portfolio in 2011and beyond, Sullivan said.

Both 79 Horatio St., which fetched lessthan $7 million at the end of last year, and104 E. 10th St., currently listed for saleby Halstead Property for $6 million, areprotected by the New York City LandmarksPreservation Commissions historic districtdesignations. The five-story walkup onHoratio St., a block from the High Line,is within the Greenwich Village HistoricDistrict. The three-story townhouse at 104E. 10th St. is part of an extension of the St.Marks Historic District. The East Villagebuilding dates from 1879 when it was builtfor Rutherford Stuyvesant, a descendant ofPeter Stuyvesant, along with the adjacent102 E. 10th St.

The 1870 Horatio St. building, nowowned by an undisclosed purchaser, was for-merly held by the Gottlieb estate in partner-ship with Vicky Gabay, whose husband, Don,was an old high school and college friend ofBill Gottliebs. Don Gabay and Gottliebbought the building together in 1969 for areputed $68,000. It was the only partnershipproperty in the Gottlieb portfolio, and afterBill died in 1999 it passed to Vicky Gabayand Mollie Bender, Gottliebs sister.

But Mollie Bender and the Gabays hada falling out over management of the build-ing. When Mollie died in 2007, the disputecontinued between Vicky Gabay and Molliesheirs her husband, Irving Bender, and herson, Neil.

In 2008, there was a court-ordered auc-tion of the Horatio St. property to settle thedispute. Neil Bender bested Gabay with a$7.4 million bid, but had to give her half themoney under the conditions of the court-ordered auction.

Another complication arose after Molliedied. Her daughter, Cheryl Dier, who wascut out of any interest in the real estateempire, filed suit in Surrogates Court inManhattan, challenging Neil Benders fitness

to run the Gottlieb real estate holdings. Thesurrogate ruled that there was no evidencethat Neil was not able to handle the estate,and an appellate court upheld that decisionlast May.

Cary Tamarkin, who has developed sev-eral buildings adjacent to Gottlieb propertiesover the years, said he was still hoping tojoin the market for any other Gottlieb prop-erty that came online.

That would be really big news when ithappens, Tamarkin said.

Gottlieb and his heirs have earned thereputation of preservationists by benignneglect, by acquiring and holding low-rise,old buildings in gentrified historic areas andmaking little or no improvements to them.

Among the holdings of special interest topreservation advocates is the 1831 triangu-lar brick building, the Northern Dispensary,at 165 Waverly Place, near the intersectionof Grove and Christopher Sts. The build-ing, where Edgar Allan Poe was reputed tohave visited for medical treatment, has arestrictive covenant in its deed limiting theproperty to medical use. It was last used asa dental facility by Catholic Charities buthas been vacant since Gottlieb acquired itfrom the New York Catholic Archdiocesein 1998.

In a first, Gottlieb Co. sellsa building, markets another

We are not selling anymore properties. Were

disposing of two properties

that do not fit in with the

companys development

and growth plan.

Gregg Sullivan

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13/28


BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER

WINTER GARDEN SILENT FILM

FESTIVAL: From February 2 throughFebruary 4, film buffs will have a treat atthe World Financial Centers Winter Gardenwith three evenings of silent films featuringseveral of the masters of early filmmak-ing: Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, RoscoeFatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin andDouglas Fairbanks. The Alloy Orchestra, athree-man musical ensemble, will accom-pany the films.

The festival opens on February 2 withthree slapstick films including, One Week,with Buster Keaton about a newly mar-

ried couple and their misadventures, BackStage, with Arbuckle and Keaton as stage-hands who end up as performers when thereal performers go on strike, and EasyStreet with Chaplin as a homeless trampwho becomes a policeman.

Harold Lloyds last silent feature,Speedy, from 1928, will be screened onFebruary 3. The plot concerns a horse-drawntrolley car belonging to an old man namedPop Dillon, a villainous syndicate of rob-ber barons who want to take over the trolleyroute, a beautiful damsel (Dillons grand-daughter), and the young ladys boyfriend,played by Harold Lloyd. To save the trolleyroute, the trolley must be kept on the tracks

for a certain number of hours per day. Thesyndicate does all it can to prevent this, butLloyd saves the day by driving the trolley atbreakneck speed through Lower Manhattan,past Bowling Green, the U.S. Custom House(now the National Museum of the AmericanIndian), and the stunning Produce Exchange,a red brick building that was torn down in

1957 and replaced by 2 Broadway.The festival concludes on February 4

with the 1926 film The Black Pirate, withDouglas Fairbanks an adventure filmabout murder and revenge. Fairbanks wrotethe script and helped to finance the film,which was shot in two-tone Technicolor.

All of the screenings are free and startat 7 p.m.

VALENTINE-MAKING WORKSHOP:After the success of its wreath-making work-shop just before Christmas, the BatteryPark City Parks Conservancy is offering aGreen Valentine Workshop on Saturday,February 5 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. TheConservancy will supply recycled materialssuch as salvaged paper samples, old mapsand postcards, cancelled postage stamps,dried flowers and bits of fabric and ribbons.

Participants are urged to bring some-thing of their own to make their valentinesmore personal. The Conservancy suggeststicket stubs, matchbook covers, photo-graphs and fabric remnants or anythingthat is resonant and meaningful.

The holiday wreath-making workshopwas striking for several reasons. For onething, there were people of all ages from

toddlers to grannies. Also, unlike store-bought wreaths, the wreaths were expres-sive and personal. They were adorned withelements that spoke to those who madethem and to those who would receive them.The valentine workshop is likely to beequally satisfying.

The workshop, which will be held at 75

Battery Place, is free, but pre-registration isrequired. Space is limited. Call (212) 267-9700, ext. 348 or 366 to register.

YEAR OF THE RABBIT: There has beenquite a lot of confusion recently about astro-logical signs commonly used in the West,with some news reports asserting that shiftsin the Earths axis have altered the Zodiacsufficiently and put people who thought theywere born under one sign under the influ-ence of another. Chinese astrologers, whosesystem is based on different calculations,have remained aloof from this discussion.According to the Chinese system, 2011 isthe Year of the Rabbit, and it begins onFebruary 3.

There are two Chinese restaurants inBattery Park City where residents can cel-ebrate without having to leave the neighbor-hood. Liberty View restaurant is at 21 SouthEnd Avenue facing South Cove, and AuMandarin is at 2 World Financial Center.

However, Chinatown is not very far fromBattery Park City. Its a brisk 30-minutewalk, or one can take the free DowntownAlliance Connection bus to the last stop atWater Street and Fulton and then catch theM15 bus heading north.


14/28


Downtown Express photos by Tequilla Minsky

During the Chinese New year it is tradition to hand out money in red envelopes like the one above.

Perhaps the most recognizable feature of the Chinese New Year parade is the hang-

ing dragon. The one above is currently hanging inside MOCA.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prepping for the

Year of the RabbitOn February 3 between 11 a.m. and 3:30p.m., there will be firecrackers and culturalperformances in Roosevelt Park betweenGrand and Hester Streets, and lion, dragonand unicorn dance troupes strutting up anddown Chinatowns major streets. On Sunday,February 6, an elaborate parade with floats,dancers, musicians and acrobats will marchthrough Chinatown.

For more insight into these festivities andtheir history, visit the Museum of Chinesein America (MOCA) at 215 Centre Street

(one block north of Canal Street). Themuseum offers one-and-a-half hour walk-ing tours on Saturday, January 29, Sunday,January 30 and Saturday, February 5 from1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The tours introducevisitors to holiday traditions and point outhow the neighborhood prepares for thelunar new year holiday. Advance reserva-tions are required. Call 212-619-4785 orsend an email to [email protected] more information. The museums websiteis http://www.mocanyc.org/


15/28



16/28


Strengthening rent regulation laws is

a must, according to Manhattan LegalServices, an organization based in LowerManhattan that offers legal services for low-income Manhattan tenants. Available rent-stabilized housing is becoming more andmore scarce, causing low-income residentsto live in households of three or more andsave on basic necessities such as food to beable to afford escalating rents.

Under the current law, owners of rent-stabilized apartments must submit docu-mentation each year to the New York StateHomes and Community Renewal agency.Tenants are entitled to lease renewals with

succession rights to family members, andthey can report complaints about landlordharassment, rent overcharges and poor livingconditions to the agency.

If a tenants rent exceeds $2,000 permonth, and the household income exceeds$175,000 for two consecutive years, the land-lord can be granted high-rent/high-incomedecontrol, per state approval. The statevacancy decontrol law, meanwhile, enableslandlords to permanently take vacant apart-ments out of rent regulation. They can alsodeny new, free-market tenants lease renewalstheir predecessors had received when that

same apartment was rent-stabilized.Both forms of rent decontrol often cause

low-income tenants to vacate their apart-ments, because they cant afford to pay thehigher rents. But landlords can quickly findother tenants willing to pay market rates tooccupy the units, leading to a loss of afford-able housing and low vacancy rates.

The state law allows cities of one mil-lion people or more that have vacancy ratesof five percent or less to declare a housingemergency, allowing municipalities such asNYC to implement the E.T.P.A. According tothe 2008 NYC Housing and Vacancy survey,

the vacancy rate for regulated apartmentsin Lower Manhattan up to 14th street wasone percent, plus or minus 1.2 percent. Thevacancy rate for unregulated apartments was

4.7 percent, plus or minus 2.7 percent.Community Board 1 drafted a resolution

at an affordable housing task force meetingMonday evening that calls for GovernorAndrew Cuomo to renew and strengthen the

states rent stabilization laws. It also asksto enforce stabilized housing through law,rather than give owners tax reductions thatlimit the life of stabilized units.

Some vacant rental units at IndependencePlaza North in Tribeca, for example, might

become market-rate, since the owners taxbenefits have expired, and the building nolonger has Mitchell-Lama status, accordingto Karren Stamm, a Downtown attorneywho represents I.P.N. tenants in court. Thetenants, however, are legally disputing thisclaim.

The Mitchell-Lama program was foundedin the 1950s to generate low and moderate-income housing in exchange for low-interestmortgage loans. Mitchell-Lama rentals builtafter 1973 can automatically become mar-ket-rate under the current law.

The C.B.1 resolution also encourages the

stabilization of newly created rental resi-dences, including lofts.

Stamm noted that tenants in some LowerManhattan loft buildings could incur deregu-

lated rents were the rent deregulation andloft laws to both expire.

If theres no law, people whose lofts havenot been legalized will not be okay, she said.Dwellings that have not yet been legalizedfor residential use are run by loft boards,which typically stabilize the rents. However,many of the buildings need to be re-filed inorder to qualify for loft law protections. Thelaw, which was renewed last summer, needsto be renewed every three years in order forloft tenants to avoid fluctuating rents andother forms of security.

The current law also provides tax incen-

tives to building owners to convert severalthousand Downtown office units into resi-dential space.

Citywide housing advocates are fightingfor the passage of the new bill, which wouldrepeal the state vacancy decontrol law. Thebill would also replace permanent rent hikesto cover the cost of renovations with tem-porary surcharges, and do away with theUrstadt law, which prevents cities from pass-ing more stringent rent regulation laws thanthose of the state.

Owners are not required to get approvalfrom H.C.R. to raise the rents of vacant

apartments. And, though owners must sub-mit applications for major capital improve-ments, their claims arent generally verified.

Owners who take apartments out ofrent regulation are not penalized for fail-ing to file the rent decontrol paperwork.Michael Skrebutenas, president of the Officeof Housing Preservation at the NY StateHomes and Community Renewal, refers to itas an honor system.

The Assembly Members and witnesses atthe hearing noted that this lack of oversightpermits landlords to improperly deregulateapartments. It also gives them a motive to

force tenants out of their homes.It has become easier and easier to reach

the magic number of $2,000 in monthlyrent payments, according to Steven Banks,attorney-in-chief of the Legal Aid Societywho testified at the hearing.

Once a landlord empties an apartment,he can take advantage of lax oversight andopportunities in the law to significantlyraise rents, he said.

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal ofUpper Manhattan, decried the honor system.Isnt there a better way to ensure that thegovernment can oversee whether that process

has been carried out properly? she asked.Maggie Russell-Ciardi, executive direc-

tor of Tenants and Neighbors, the largesttenants union in NY State, said that land-lords make unnecessary renovations, inflaterenovation costs or get state approval forcapital improvements they never make.

With protection by the vacancy decon-trol law, landlords also take advantage ofthe system by [doing] everything theycan think of to get tenants to vacate theirapartments from turning off the heatand hot water, to taking tenants to court on

frivolous charges, to other forms of tenantharassment, according to Russell-Ciardi.Once landlords raise the rents and deregu-late the apartments, she said tenants are

left without legal or other recourse to holdthe owners accountable for their unlawfulactions.

Tenants in unregulated apartments oftenstay quiet about escalating rents, she said,for fear of landlord retaliation. They canno longer speak up about problems in theirbuilding, or try to organize without fear ofthe landlord raising their rent or refusing torenew their lease, she said.

Were the E.P.T.A. to expire, elderly anddisabled New Yorkers could also face evic-tion and homelessness, since they are onlyexempt from rent increases in rent-regulat-

ed apartments, according to Banks.Some have been evicted even with

E.P.T.A. protections. In Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village on the East Side, forexample, Tishman Speyer, who bought theproperty from MetLife in 2006, displacedmany poor and elderly rent-stabilized ten-ants by exploiting legal loopholes in thecurrent laws.

The landlord used the current, weak-ened rent laws to bring eviction proceed-ings based on slender reeds of evidence,according to Steven Newmark, a memberof the board of directors of the Stuyvesant

Town/Peter Cooper Village TenantsAssociation.

In a written statement, Assembly SpeakerSheldon Silver reinstated his commitmentto ensuring the Assemblys passage of thelaw, which, he said, will help protect work-ing families from being priced out of theirhomes and communities.

Alleviating the pressure on familiesstruggling with housing costs, he said, is atop priority for him. Without rent regula-tion to prevent rapidly rising housing costs,only the wealthy will be able to afford tolive in New York City.

Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, amember of the Housing Committee, saidthat sustaining and strengthening the rentregulation laws is a crucial part of maintain-ing a society that values the working- andmiddle-classes.

Weve seen the destruction large land-lords and real estate speculators cause whenthey are allowed to treat the basic necessityof housing as a commodity to be boughtand sold at whatever price they can extractfrom tenants in one of Americas tightestmarkets, he said.

Lopez pointed out that, while he and his

fellow Assemblymembers in favor of thelaw can fast-track it through the Assembly,securing the bills passage through theRepublican-dominated Senate might provedifficult.

Stamm said that we might be seeing morehousing decisions made by the State Courtof Appeals about tenant-landlord cases, suchas the Stuy-Town / Peter Cooper Villagedecision, that could beneficially affect broadnumbers of people. The courts have steppedin where legislative has not, she said, torevive the spirit of rent stabilization.

Albany pressed to renew and reform rent regulationsContinued from page 1

It has become easier and

easier to reach the magic

number of $2,000 in

monthly rent payments Steven Banks,

Legal Aid Society

If we want to create a nonviolent soci-ety, we must enforce our public safety lawsto keep the angry and dangerous few fromdestroying the peace and harmony of themany, said King III.

Also joining Bloomberg on Monday was

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldestdaughter of Robert F. Kennedy. She pointed

to the statistic that 34 people lose their liveseveryday to a gun and said though each per-son may not be a senator or a president, eachlife is a future cut short, a life of accomplish-ments left undone, and a family torn apart.

We owe a duty to each victim to maketheir life, and their sacrifice, a part of thenational movement to fix our gun back-ground check system so it is thorough, com-

plete and comprehensive, said KennedyTownsend.

Gun controlContinued from page 1

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d t 17


17/28


Manhattan Youth Hoops:Nets top Celts

Having lost to the Celtics by one basketthe week before, the Nets were anxious fora rematch, and brought their A-game to I.S.89 last Friday.

Tyler Rohan won the jump ball andtipped it to Jack McGreevy, who passed it toCoby Caraballo under the basket to put theNets on the board. Caraballo stole the ballon the next play, going coast-to-coast andlaying it in. The Celtics battled to get andkeep the ball, but the Nets full-court press

kept the action at one end.A rebound by Jacob Lawrence-Kreiss was

passed to Caraballo for his third consecutivebasket. McGreevys next drive brought thescore 8-0 for the Nets. Truman Dunns shotfrom the key gave the Celtics two points,but Lawrence-Kreiss answered soon after tomake it 10-2.

Niall Gallagher, who was out of town forthe first game, made his presence knownwith a rebound, which he passed to Rohan,who laid it up and in. McGreevy was fouledin the act of shooting, making the score15-2. Caraballo scored again, then Dunn

stepped up with good defensive plays, a stealand a basket to make the score 17-4.

Ian OConnor kept things alive offen-sively for the Celtics with good passing. Hestole the ball and passed to Dunn for histhird field goal, making it 17-6 at the end ofthe first quarter.

Gallagher got things started for the Netsin the second quarter with a steal and passto teammate Jake Cook, who scored. Dunnimmediately scored for the Celtics, bringingthe score 19-8. Oliver Brown persevered forthe Nets, setting himself up under the bas-ket and drawing fouls. Zach Dorf grabbed

a couple of rebounds for the Celtics, andOConnors shot bounced into Dunns handsagain for a 19-10 score, but Lawrence-Kreiss basket for the Nets made it 21-10.Sasha Sanon scored seconds later for the

Celts, making it 21-12.But it was Gallagher who came through

for the Nets, followed by a nice driveby Caraballo that made the score 25-12.Gallaghers three-point beauty widened thegap further, and teammate Lawrence-Kreissfollowed that up with a good pass to Brownto make it 30-12. As the clock wound down,Sanon was fouled and added one for theCelts for a 30-13 score.

Gallagher scored at the top of thethird quarter, making it 32-13. KeithRubensteins consistent ability to grabrebounds for his team, and the hard-

working Noah Bootz helped the Celticsstay in the game. Teammate OConnor wasfouled and sank a free throw, and followedthat up with a nice offensive passing drillwith Sanon that ended up in a basket forOConnor, and a 32-16 score.

Rohan passed to McGreevy for a Netsfield goal, and seconds later passed it toBrown for another, making it 34-16. Brownscored again, and McGreevy followed withanother. Dunn answered with a nice driveand layup, but McGreevy was hot, scoringhis fifth basket as time ran out on the thirdquarter.

Down 44-18, the Celtics fought back,with their star center Carson, who was play-ing the game of his career at his school, andDunn, who scored his fifth basket. But theNets wouldnt give.

Rohan stole the ball, passed to Caraballo,who found Brown waiting under the basketand made the score 46-20. Caraballo turnedover the next Celtics possession, passingagain to Brown to make it 48-20.

Sanon had another great drive, end-ing with a layup to make it 48-22, butMcGreevys three-pointer made it 51-22.Gallagher scored his 10th and 11th points

for the Nets, followed by Caraballos fifthbasket as the quarter wound down.

With two seconds on the clock, Cooksank a three-pointer for the Nets, bringingthe final score to Nets 58 - Celtics 24.

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18/28


Committee updated on construction projects

ward to seeing the booths moved as soon as

possible.

UNDERUTILIZED ENFORCEMENT

A representative from a citywide traf-fic and sanitation enforcement unit of theNew York Police Department said his teamfeels held back from being able to do theirjobs.

James Huntley, president of theCommunications Workers of AmericaLocal 1182, believes his agents arentbeing properly utilized. The crew, he said,feels handcuffed from performing theirday-to-day duties, which include catching

illegal pedestrian, driver and biker activity.He asked the Quality of Life committeeto contact Police Commissioner RaymondKelly to recommend that he more fre-quently assign the traffic agents to catchviolators.

Huntley introduced himself to the com-mittee and explained the functions of theC.W.A., founded in 1968. Approximately70 agents patrol the C.B. 1 area in themornings and evenings.

Agents ensure that vehicles come to astandstill while pedestrians enter intersec-tions or are at crosswalks, and can issue

violations to drivers that disobey the law.

We make sure that our agents are mindfuland sensitive to the needs of the commu-nity, Huntley told the committee.

C.W.A. Local 1182 assis ts in emergency

situations, such as when a pedestrian ishit by a car. The agents also tow derelictvehicles parked in front of hydrants andother illegal spots, issue summonses toexcessively large trucks and direct trafficnear construction projects.

Committee member Diane Lapson, wholives in Tribeca, told Huntley that ownersnot curbing their dogs is a major problemon West Street, in particular, and that shenever sees the perpetrators caught. Ifsomeone talks to these people, she said,maybe theyd think twice about it.

Huntley said that failing to curb ones

dog is indeed a violation, and that enforce-ment agents are on the lookout for viola-tors.

The C.W.A. recently met withTransportation Alternatives, a citywidebike advocacy group, to discuss stricterlaw enforcement on cyclists that bike onsidewalks and run red lights and stopsigns. The unit has also been in discussionswith Transportation Alternatives and cityDeputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, aboutmandatory insurance and licensing for bik-ers. The requirements, Huntley said, wouldkeep the public in safety mode, and make

the cyclists responsible for their actions.

They would also prove useful, he said, fordocumenting car-bike collisions.

Marva Craig and other committee mem-bers agreed that licensing bikes could be

a deterrent of these and other bike viola-tions.

His agents can catch speedy bikersbefore they enter City Hall Park, Huntleysaid, but have no control over their actionsin the park, which is operated and policedby the city Parks Department.

L.M.C.C.C. UPDATE

Downtown projects are forging aheadas planned, barring inclement weather,according to Robin Forst, director of com-munity relations at the Lower ManhattanConstruction Command Center, who pro-

vided a construction update to the com-mittee.

A host of construction trucks hauledaway pieces of the tower crane from theformer Deutsche Bank building at 130Liberty this week and last week. The toweris scheduled for demolition by the end ofJanuary, but wind and snow might delaythe process, according to a spokespersonfor the Lower Manhattan DevelopmentCorporation, the city-state agency thatowns the property.

Starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Broadwayat Fulton Street will be shut down to one

moving lane of traffic to make way for

a tower crane that will be used to exca-vate the site for the Fulton Street TransitCenter. As a result, Forst said, all pedestri-an traffic on the east side of Broadway will

be diverted to the west side of Broadway,between John and Dey Streets, and toFulton Street.

Traffic enforcement agents will be man-ning the effected streets throughout theweekend.

Broadway at Fulton Street, according toForst, will also be shut down until 10 a.m.Sunday, and traffic will be diverted to AnnStreet.

The sidewalk shed construction at 180Broadway, erected to protect the construc-tion project there, is now complete. The24-story building construction project at the

site, the future home of a Pace Universitydormitory, will be presented to the C.B. 1Financial District Committee meeting inMarch. The project is slated for completionin 2013.

Chambers and Hudson streets, mean-while, are moving ahead as planned. Thecity began the $24.5 million overhaul ofChambers Street, between West Street andBroadway, last summer, which entails replac-ing a water main, updating outdated utili-ties and rebuilding the roadway, curbs andsidewalks. New traffic signals and shrub-bery will also be installed, according to the

L.M.C.C.C.s website.

OPEN HOUSES

Continued from page 9

YaroFulan also called for an end to may-oral control, which she referred to as dicta-torship behavior.

We want our children to know,

YaroFulan said, that well continue tofight and not fail to fight for them until the end, cause they deserve whatsrightfully theirs.

P.S. 364 third grader Martha Eckl-Lindenberg read aloud a letter she andLisa Donlan, president of the District OneCommunity Education Council, wrote tonew D.O.E. Chancellor Cathie Black tothe crowd, saying, New York City publicschool students, parents and teachers cor-dially invite you to hear our objections tothe D.O.E.s disastrous policies that aredestroying our schools. Come to hear our

Real Reforms that can actually improvelearning in our schools!

Eckl-Lindenberg hand-delivered theletter to Cathie Blacks office at TweedCourthouse during the demonstration lastThursday evening.

A D.O.E. spokesperson confirmedTuesday evening that Black is not plan-ning on attending the rally.

Donlan was disappointed to hear thenews. Overcrowding, she said, is becom-ing a big problem in public schools on theLower East Side.

Were seeing the highest increase inkindergarten for the last two years, withno attention to change that, she said.The students, she said, are moving up ingrades without sufficient classroom spaceto accommodate them.

Donlan said that the D.O.E. has made

no strides to promote integration in a gen-trifying neighborhood such as theirs.

Girls Prep, a charter school which willmove into classroom space that is cur-rently occupied by Ross Global Academy,a failing charter school set to close thisyear.

Such charters, she said, are low-per-forming, and admit few and homelessspecial need students. I dont understandwhy the D.O.E. is selecting to give moreresources to [Charter Prep,] a school thatisnt proving itself by accountability mea-sures, and not serving the highest-need

students.Leonie Haimson, executive director of

Class Size Matters, said the D.O.E. is doingeverything they can to undermine the healthof neighborhood public schools and replacethem with charter schools.

The fact that there are several closingschools on the list which, for years, parentsand teachers complained bitterly about isdirectly attributable to their failed leader-ship, she said. Closing schools, she added,will just lead to more instability in theirlives.

Black refuses requestContinued from page 8

downtown express January 26 February 1 2011 19

8/7/201

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS 1-26-11

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