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Transcript of Downtown Express
JULY 14 – JULY 27, 2016VOLUME 29, NUMBER 14
1 Me trotech • N Yc 11201 • copYright © 2016 N Yc coMMuNit Y Media , LLc
Technically, the board of the unbuilt perfor-mance space is merely expressing its appreciation to a generous patron, but the long-anticipated Downtown theater complex is now set to be named the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, after the billionaire pledged $75 million to the project.
Perelman said he hopes the eponymous pre-forming arts center will be a symbol of Downtown’s resiliency.
“My hope and expectation is that the PAC will be more than a performance venue,” said Perelman. “It will represent the vitality and energy that has emerged in response to the tragedy of 9/11, and it will be a constant reminder of resil-ience and healing through artistic expression and community.”
Until now, the long-stalled project had been more a symbol of the difficulties faced when trying to rebuild on the World Trade Center site.
The preforming arts center was promised in the original 2002 master plan for the new WTC campus, but has yet to even break ground, because the site is occupied by a temporary PATH train station that had to remain in operation while the gigantic, $4-billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub was under construction. The extravagant concourse — nicknamed the Oculus for its long skylight, and the Stegosaurus for its spiny, skeletal look — was originally projected to open in 2009, but repeated delays put off its completion until this year. The temporary PATH station only closed last month, and no date has yet been set for its demolition.
As recently as last year, the center’s president and director Maggie Boepple said that the space
pERELMaN pac Continued on page 27
PAC@WTC sells naming rights
BY cOLIN MIXSONThe city says it will study ways
to make a deadly Battery Park City intersection safer after a cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run run driver last month.
Upper West Side resident Olga Cook was fatally struck by an allegedly intoxicated driver on the Hudson River Greenway at Chambers St. on June 11, leading Community Board 1 to call on the city’s Department of Transportation to install better signaling at the intersection, which is notorious among locals.
Cook was an avid cyclist and triathlete, who cycled along the greenway bike path as part of her daily training regimen. That some-one so accustomed to cycling in that area could be struck by a driver highlights how dangerous that intersection truly is, according to her husband.
“If it could happen to her, it could happen to anybody,” said Travis Maclean. “She is the most intelligent woman I ever met.”
Cook was heading northbound on the greenway — which paral-
In memoriamAfter hit-and-run death in BPC, city DOT aiming to make greenway crossing safer
Photo by Colin Mixson
Travis Maclean stands beside the memorial to his wife Olga Cook on a light pole on the Hudson River Greenway near where she was struck and killed by hit-and-run driver while she cycled across the greenway’s notorious intersection with Chambers St. on June 11.
cROSSINg Continued on page 10
also in this issue:
U.S. Supreme Court ruling could mean new trial for
disgraced pol Shelly Silver
See page 4
city tightens reins on cranes — p. 5
Downtown’s July Fourth pics — p. 2
July Seaport Report — p. 6
co-op backs off dog regs — p. 13
2 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 3DowntownExpress.com
Downtown celebrated the July Fourth weekend as only New York’s oldest neighborhood can, with a host of events celebrating the rich revolutionary history that actually took place here.
From Bowling Green, where patri-ots toppled the statue of King George III five days after the Declaration of Independence was signed, to Federal Hall, which served as our new nation’s first seat of government, Downtown marked America’s independence with more than just barbecues and mattress sales.
The festivities ranged from educa-tional historical reenactments and a 50-round salute by the oldest active military unit in the state, to a parade through Downtown from Battery Park City to Bowling Green to raise a colo-nial-era U.S. flag.
Downtown celebrated its own revolutionary history on July 4
Photos by Milo Hess
The 2nd-annual Lower Manhattan Independence Day Parade (above) kicked off the holiday weekend on July 2, marching from the Irish Hunger memorial in Battery Park City down to Bowling Green for a a flag-raising ceremony (right).
National Park Service
Historical reenactor Jack Sherry portrayed founding Father Ben Franklin at Federal Hall on July 4.
Photo by Franz Lino
The Veteran Corps of Artillery, formed in 1791 and the oldest active military unit in New York state, led a 50-round Salute to the Nation with a battery of four 75mm pack howitzers at Castle Clinton on July 4.
Photo by Tequila Minsky
Councilmember Margaret Chin, the first Asian-American woman to be elected to the Council, was one of the recipients of the Lower Manhattan Historical Society’s Alexander Hamilton Immigrant Achievement Award on July 3.
Sable Soldiers OAR NY and 26th USCT
Historical reenactors portraying African-American soldiers from the Revolution to the Civil War conducted educational programs at Downtown’s African Burial Ground to mark the official end of slavery in New York State on the Fourth of July in 1827.
2 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 3DowntownExpress.com
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BY MaRY REINHOLZ Disgraced former Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver could get a new trial in the wake of a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 2014 conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on similar charges, according to legal experts.
Silver, a lifelong Lower East Side res-ident who represented the 65th district in the Assembly for 39 years, was sen-tenced in May to 12 years in prison for accepting around $5 million in bribes and kickbacks in two schemes involving his outside work as a private attorney.
McDonnell and his wife had been convicted for accepting $165,000 and lavish gifts from a wealthy Virginia businessman in exchange for promoting his dietary supplement.
But in a June 27 decision written by John Roberts, the Supreme Court’s chief justice, the high court said that McDonnells’s conduct did not rise to the narrow definition of what consti-tutes a corrupt official act.
“There is no doubt that this case is distasteful; it may be worse than that,” Roberts opined. “But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes and ball gowns. It is instead with the broader implications of the govern-ment’s boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute.”
Roberts wrote in his opinion that government prosecutors overreach when they find illegal quid pro quos in routine activities by elected officials for their benefactors.
“In the government’s view, nearly anything a public official accepts — from a campaign contribution to lunch — counts as a quid; and nearly every-thing a public official does — from arranging a meeting to inviting a guest to an event — counts as a quo,” Roberts said. “But conscientious public officials arrange meetings for constituents, con-tact other officials on their behalf and include them in events all the time.”
Gerald B. Lefcourt, a prominent Manhattan criminal defense lawyer, won a 1993 acquittal on appeal for oust-ed New York State Assembly Speaker Melvin Miller. Miller had been convict-ed on eight out of nine felony charges for cheating clients at his law firm out of real estate investments. Lefcourt said that Silver has “a shot” at exoneration by a higher court.
Lefcourt said that while Silver’s case was “factually different” from the McDonnells’, the Supreme Court had ruled that “all these things that legis-lators do are not in and of themselves wrong, and there has to be an official connection to a quid pro quo, such as money and gifts.”
The attorney noted that Silver, a lib-eral Democrat and fixture in the state Legislature for 40 years, had steered $500,000 in two state grants to a can-cer doctor in exchange for referral of patients to a Downtown personal injury law firm that employed the powerful pol as a part-time attorney.
“But I don’t know if the jury was told what an official act is and how they should consider it,” he said. “According to the Supreme Court [decision], juries have to be told that official acts are not enough: There has to be a substantial connection to a quid pro quo. And the doctor said there was no quid pro quo.”
Veteran Brooklyn Assemblymember Joseph Lentol, a former Kings County prosecutor, chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Codes, which reviews and evaluates all the state’s criminal justice legislation. He said he was “opti-mistic” that Silver, a longtime former colleague, had a chance at vindication as a result of the SCOTUS decision.
Lentol also noted, in a telephone interview, that the prosecution’s “star witness” against Silver, the aforemen-tioned cancer doctor, had said at trial that he didn’t regard the $500,000 in state grants he received with Silver’s help as a quid pro quo and that “he didn’t expect a grant.”
“This was his testimony and it was central to Silver’s conviction,” Lentol said. “The federal statutes are so vague on honest-services fraud that the pros-ecutors were able to get a conviction. That was probably true in Virginia. The Supreme Court was itching to put pros-ecutors in their place.”
Lentol said it was “striking” that the court’s decision was unanimous.
Silver’s quid pro quo case and that of former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos were prosecuted by the office of Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. While some media pundits character-ized the SCOTUS decision as a body blow to Bharara’s wide-ranging corrup-tion probes, his media team claimed the
court’s ruling in the McDonnell case would not jeopardize the government’s cases against the two fallen New York lawmakers.
“While we are reviewing the McDonnell decision, the official actions that led to the convictions of Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos fall squarely within the definition set forth by the Supreme Court today,” read a terse state-ment issued by spokesperson Nick Biase at the U.S. Department of Justice, the umbrella agency for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District.
For her part, Susan Lerner, executive director for good-government group Common Cause New York, denounced the court ruling.
“The Supreme Court lives in a fan-tasyland that defies the commonsense understanding of two New York juries,” Lerner said in a press release. “The ruling in McDonnell v. United States could have dramatic effects on New Yorkers and their government. By con-firming that a pay-to-play culture is an inherent part of day-to-day politics, the Supreme Court has opened the floodgates for special-interest groups to influence politicians at the expense of American democracy. The decision could also affect the cases surrounding Dean Skelos and Shelly Silver, as well as the ability of federal prosecutors to target and eliminate corruption in gov-ernment.”
U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni
ordered Silver to begin his sentence July 1 but postponed that date to late August because of the McDonnell case before the Supreme Court. Joel Cohen, one of the Silver’s lawyers, told The Villager that he and co-counsel Stephen Molo would be filing a brief before Caproni this month, arguing that Silver should remain free on bail while they appeal his conviction.
“The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today in the McDonnell case makes clear that the federal government has gone too far in prosecuting state officials for conduct that is part of the everyday functioning of those in elected office,” Cohen and Molo said in a joint statement. “The McDonnell decision will be central to Mr. Silver’s appeal.”
Robert Gage, one of the attorneys for former Majority Leader Skelos, a Republican, did not return a call for comment. Skelos was sentenced to five years behind bars for using his influence to get jobs for his son, Adam, in compa-nies with business before the state.
Adam was sentenced to six-and-one-half years of jail time by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood nine days after Silver’s sentencing in May. An appellate lawyer for the elder Skelos argued that he should remain free on bail, pend-ing an appeal, citing similarities to the McDonnell case, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Silver liningSupreme Court’s exoneration of former Virginia governor may
lead to a new trial for convicted former Assembly Speaker
Associated Press / Seth Wenig
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison on May 3 for his conviction last November on seven counts of corruption, including extortion, honest-services fraud and money laundering. But a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month may give him a Get Out of Jail Free card.
SILVER Continued on page 17
4 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 5DowntownExpress.com
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BY cOLIN MIXSONThe city took the first steps towards
tightening regulations of construction cranes and their operators on June 30, implementing several measures designed to prevent collapses like the one that claimed the life of a man in Tribeca earlier this year.
The action by the Department of Buildings follows the recommenda-tions of a crane-safety panel set up in the wake of the Feb. 5 toppling of a crawler crane on Worth St.
When the Crane Safety Technical Working Group reported its find-ings last month, Community Board 1 called on the city to move swiftly to implement the proposed regulations before they could be diluted by push-back from the construction industry.
“I’m very pleased that DOB has acted so quickly to adopt some of the recommendations from the working group,” said Jeff Ehrlich, a member of the board’s Tribeca Committee who lives on Chambers St.
The new regulations were put into effect at the end of June by order of Department of Buildings Commissioner
Rick Chandler, and may be tweaked and refined over the coming weeks as they’re written into the city’s construc-tion code, according to a spokesman for the agency.
The new rules include:• Requiring mobile cranes to be fit-
ted with wind measuring devices, called anemometers, which record real-time wind readings.
• Requiring contractors to hire “on-site lift coordinators” with the authority to shutdown crane operations in the event of unsafe conditions.
• Restricting mobile crane opera-tions whenever winds exceed 30-miles per hour.
• Requiring crane operators to secure cranes when not in use as per a specified “wind-action plan,” which includes retracted, jackknifed, and laid-down positions.
These regulations are in addition to emergency measures taken imme-diately after February’s crane collapse, which included banning mobile cranes rated for 20-mph wind gusts or less
City clamps down on cranes with new safety regulations
File photo by Milo Hess
The falling crane killed one person and crushed several cars parked along Worth St. on Feb. 5, prompting new regulations from the city.cRaNES Continued on page 14
6 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 7DowntownExpress.com
BY JaNEL BLaDOwMid-summer madness is on! So
much happening, so just stop and enjoy a moment down by the East River.
FUN, FILMS & POKEMAN… Movie night at Animation Nights New York had its “July Pictures!” Wednesday night, short animated films from around the world, from “Daphane or the Lovely Specimen” by Sebastien Lauderback to “Tale” by Attila Betoti. As an added bonus for all Pokemon Go trainers — lure modules were dropped before and after the films. So the Pokemon Go chaos that has gripped the city and coun-try this week also hit our little ’hood. You may want to mark your calendar to make the August event. The films are free, the location is great — 180 Maiden Ln. — and refreshments are offered. Check the site for the next screening: animation-nights.blogspot.com.
A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM… On a steamy Friday evening in June (the 10th to be exact) The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra gave what’s becom-ing their annual neighborhood con-cert. The South Street Seaport Museum Gallery on Water Street was alight and rollicking with tunes. A special per-formance by tenor Glenn Seven Allen (called an “Edwardian matinee idol” by Opera News) wowed the capacity crowd of neighbors and KCO support-ers. Orchestra conductor and founder
— and our neighbor — Gary Fagin, designed the program as a celebration of U.S. National Parks and in memory of SSSM founder Peter Stanford. For those of us who love NYC history, he extolled the book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, by Eric Sanderson and Markley Boyer. Worth the read!
MUSEUM MONEY… Speaking of the South Street Seaport Museum, we’re sending out super kudos to the powers that be! Just this week, the museum received $3.5-million in capi-tal funding for the upcoming year, in the form of grants from the city’s the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Mayor’s Office, Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Margaret Chin. The funds are going help make the museum’s flagship Wavertree acces-sible to visitors with disabilities when it returns later this summer. “The piers in lower Manhattan are where New York City began, as a trading hub and center of commerce,” said Brewer. “I’m happy to have had a part in making the Seaport Museum’s ships accessible once again.”
SIGN OF THINGS TO COME... Neighbors excitedly stood outside the Bridge Café at 279 Water St. last week when its iconic neon sign was lit up for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. In fact, both signs — the logo with the outline of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the café’s name — are now again glowing red. Work continues inside the 222-year-old building, and there’s no word yet on when it’s reopening, but the neighbors are anxiously standing by! We’ll keep you posted.
AHOY SAILORS… Beginning this month and through August, kids can got to camp — at sea! The SSSM launches Seafarers Camp — week-long sail camps aboard the schooner Lettie G. Howard. Kids grades 7–12 become crew-in-training as they work together to learn how to sail a tall ship,. Built in 1893 as a commercial fishing vessel, Lettie, one of the last of her kind, is now a U.S. Coast Guard-certified sailing-school vessel. For more info or to reg-ister, go to southstreetseaportmuseum.org/seafarers-camp or email [email protected].
ROMANCE OF THE SEA… And for those of us grown-ups who just love to be aboard a sailing ship, enjoy a sail aboard the 1885 schooner Pioneer. Available Thursdays though Sundays
through October, she sails from Pier 16 and lets you experience New York Harbor and Manhattan’s skyline from their most majestic viewpoint — the sea. Bring a picnic, and a bottle of wine! Celebrate a birthday or just unwind in the silence. Sail times, tickets are at southstreetseaportmuseum.org/visit/street-of-ships/pioneer, and for charter options, email [email protected].
SOS… Could now mean, save our street! Peck Slip School is only one-year old and already administrators say it’s too small to handle all its students. The 6,100-square-foot rooftop gymatorium (a gym-and-auditorium combo) isn’t big enough for all the 270 students to get in their playtime. And when the school adds fourth and fifth graders, the student body will more than triple. Principal Maggie Siena petitioned Community Board 1 earlier this month to shut down Peck Slip between Pearl and Water Sts. all day, five days a week during the
school year to accommodate additional recess space. This is a huge concern for Seaport residents and businesses. With only two streets out — Beekman and Peck Slip — and just one in —Dover St. — traffic in the area is already terrible. The parking lot across the street isn’t going anywhere soon and its primary entrance/exit is across from the school. If the street shuts, then already-tied-up Pearl St. will become an even worse traffic jam during rush hours — not to mention all the parents dropping off and picking up students in their SUVs at Blue School on Water St. But the big-gest concern was rightly expressed by Front St. resident and member of the Old Seaport Alliance Neil Mossberg at both the Seaport Committee and full CB1 meeting: this will greatly impact Seaport businesses and restaurants,
Photo by Janel Bladow
Tenor Glenn Seven Allen joined the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra for a fun night at the South Street Seaport Museum gallery.
Photo by Janel Bladow
Signs of life at the Bridge Cafe when its iconic neon sign was lit for the first time since Hurricane Sandy.
South Street Seaport Museum
At the South Street Seaport Museum’s Seafarers Camp, kids grades 7–12 learn how to sail a tall ship aboard the schooner Lettie G. Howard.
SEapORt REpORt Continued on page 10
6 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 7DowntownExpress.com
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BY cOLIN MIXSONA new rule mandating that cyclists dismount as
they pass Battery Park City’s North Cove Marina is pitting pedalers against pedestrians.
Pedestrians praised the Battery Park City Authority for instituting the new policy for the dock-side stretch that connects the north and south ends of the water-front esplanade, saying that it will help prevent their untimely deaths at the hands of reckless pedal push-ers.
“It’s a great rule,” said Upper East Sider Curtis Sumpter, a pedestrian Downtown Express found strolling along the esplanade. “Cyclists act like they’re not as damaging as cars. If one hits you, you’re gonna find out they are.”
But — surprise, surprise — cyclists say the new rule is a nonsense solution to a non-existent problem.
“I’ve never seen an issue with people biking into pedestrians,” said lifelong Gateway resident Olivia Goodkind, 19, who frequently bikes along the espla-nade. “It seems a little pointless, to be honest.”
The dismount policy came with new signs installed around the marina instructing bikers to get off and walk, along with directions for Brookfield security guards to yell at any cyclist they see flouting the new rule.
But aside from the signage and a few harsh words,
the new rule doesn’t have a lot of teeth, and it’s not uncommon to see cyclists simply ignoring the new policy, according to Goodkind.
“I notice everyone bikes through,” she said.The authority instituted the new policy after bring-
ing the issue of bike safety to Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee last month, where board members and authority liaison Nick Sbordone agreed to create a working group of community members to propose new rules to increase safety along the espla-nade.
Then-committee chair Anthony Notaro praised the authority’s forward thinking in bringing the issue to the community board and agreeing to work with locals to institute smart policies.
“Community Board 1 and its BPC Committee have long advocated for a thoughtful review of the area and then execution of a clear plan to address the issues of safety and sustainability,” he said. “We look forward to working with the BPCA and all stakeholders in this important effort.”
But the working group has yet to meet, and the dismount policy came without any community engage-ment — a fact that angers some locals and furthers the authority’s reputation as a heavy-handed panel of
Dismount dispute
Photo by Milo Hess
The Battery Park City Authority’s new rule requiring cyclists on the esplanade to dismount and walk their bikes past the North Cove Marina has had mixed results, with some (foreground) obeying the rule, and others (background) ignoring it.
Anti-bike rule at BPC marina sparks controversy
DISMOUNt Continued on page 27
8 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 9DowntownExpress.com
Well-heeleD CRooKsA dastardly couple snatched $1,850
worth of snazzy designer shoes from a Greene St. retailer on July 6.
The victim told police he saw the duo, a man and a woman, waltz into the store between Spring and Prince Sts. at 6 p.m., when they proceeded to stuff a brown paper bag full of Jimmy Choo kicks.
RuBBeD WRonG WaYSome scoundrel stole a man’s wallet
while he was enjoying a massage at a Broome St. spa on July 5.
The victim told police he had placed his wallet in one of his shoes and had laid down for a nice, long massage at the parlor between Sullivan and Thompson Sts. at 9:30 p.m. When his hour of bliss was over, the man realized his shoes were empty and his wallet was gone, cops said.
DaPPeR DateA stylish thief picked out a new
wardrobe for himself from a Broadway retailer on July 8, and then left with his ladyfriend without paying, police say.
The victim told police that he spot-ted the duo inside the store between E. Houston and Prince Sts. at 3:30 p.m., when he saw the couple grab $1,515 worth of fancy threads and flee.
BaD MealA sticky-fingered thief ripped off two
employees of a Broome St. restaurant on July 6, according to cops.
The victims told police that they left their personal items inside the stockroom of the eatery located between Sullivan and Thompson Sts. at 8:07 p.m., and returned later to find $860 worth of stuff missing, including a $340 pair of sun-glasses and $150 worth of clothes.
GRanD theFt autoA thief drove off with a man’s Audi
that he parked along Thomas St. on July 5.
The victim told police he left his $60,000 Audi S5 Coupe at Church St. and Broadway at 9 p.m., and returned later to find an empty spot where his car had been.
CRotCh RoCKet CRooKA crook rode away with a man’s
Ducati motorcycle that he left parked along Charlton St. on July 6.
The victim told police that he left his $15,000 sports bike near Greenwich St. at 4:30 p.m., and returned at 11:45 that evening to find he was short one Italian speedster.
unhaPPY houRA thief filched a woman’s wallet
from her purse while she was making merry at a West Broadway watering hole on July 9.
The victim told police she was enjoy-ing a few morning libations at the bar between Watts and Grand Sts. at 10:30 a.m., and realized a few hours later that her purse had been pilfered. She later got a call from her bank notifying her of two bogus charges on her card totaling $20, cops said.
teen teRRoRsTwo pint-sized crooks swiped a cell-
phone from a man’s hands while he was using it on State St. on July 10.
The victim told police that he was yapping on his iPhone near Battery Pl., when the teen terrors ran up, snagged it, and fled.
DoWntoWn BeatDoWnA 35-year-old man was arrested
for allegedly beating and robbing a man on Nassau St. on July 9, police say.
The victim told police he was near Liberty St. at 2:50 p.m., when a man allegedly slugged him the face and then assailed him with a flurry of kicks, before grabbing his $200 glasses and $25 calculator.
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some of which are just bouncing back from Hurricane Sandy and others that just started up. Both residents and biz owners should be vocally concerned!
SO HIGH… So China Oceanwide Holidings, the buyer of 80 South Street from Howard Hughes Corp. includ-ing the air rights, has colossal plans for the block just south of the Seaport. Their rendering of the planned supertall building shows it at 1,400 feet tall! It will have the highest rooftop in lower Manhattan. Just so you know: that’s 50 feet above the roof of 1 WTC, currently the western hemisphere’s tallest build-ing, counting its spire, at1776 feet.
WOOF... Surf’s up! The tails were wagging in Peck Slip Park on June 18 for the biggest, baddest “Strut, Swagger and Slobber Bully Beach Party” ever! More than 100 bulldogs and other breeds and their 250-plus two-legged partners turned out for a super-suc-cessful fund-raiser that benefited both Mid-Atlantic and Bumper bulldog rescues. The event’s founder, James Goubeaux, wants to thank everyone for the great time, with special shout outs to Howard Hughes Corp,, The Salty Paw, Seaport Animal Hospitals, Old Seaport Alliance, Greatest American Dog Trainer’s Team, and Conni Freestone for her photography of this and all Strut events. The event started because of Goubeaux’s dog Oliver, who has 25,000 followers on Instagram (at Bullobster) and more than 10,000 fans on Facebook (at Oliver The Bulldog).
A family of six of his biggest Facebook fans even came all the way from the Philippines to join the party. “They came the farthest,” said Goubeaux. “I just shake my head.”
OH RATS... Walking around the neighborhood at night is like taking a nocturnal stroll through a safari park. Only you won’t see lions and tigers — but oh my! The rats! From Brooklyn Bridge south … I’d say past Fulton St., but I’m sure the infestation goes to the tip of Battery Park, the critters are stirring by the hundreds. While watch-ing a pack romping through restaurant garbage earlier this week, a neighbor said “That’s nothing!” and explained how the stench from dead rats near Fulton St. is overpowering, thanks to the many bait boxes everywhere. It’s almost scary.
Photo by Janel Bladow
This family came all the way from the Philippines to the “Strut, Swagger and Slobber Bully Beach Party” to meet host James Goubeaux’s bulldog Oliver.
SEapORt REpORt Continued from page 6
Voting wi th your fee tOur roving shutterbug, Milo Hess, spied these 2016-election-themed socks at Tribeca’s Kings Pharmacy at 5 Hudson St. offering folks a chance to either dis-play their allegiance to the presumptive GOP or Dem nominee — or maybe just enjoy shoving the other one’s face into their smelly shoes.
Photo by Milo Hess
lels the West Side Highway — at 7:52 p.m. on June 11 when, as she crossed Chambers St., a driver heading south-bound on the West Side Highway turned right and slammed into her. As Cook lay bleeding on the street, the driver fled, only to be spotted three blocks away by an off-duty MTA police officer, who promptly arrested the suspect.
Cook was pronounced dead little more than a half hour later at Bellevue Hospital.
The light pole nearest the accident is now covered with a shrine of stuffed animals, love letters, and bouquets of fresh sunflowers — Cook’s favorite — which are replaced daily by her family as well as by a nearby Chamber St. resi-dent who has taken it upon herself to honor a woman she never met, in part because she feels Cook’s death repre-sents the danger faced by everyone at that infamous intersection.
“I just feel like it could have been me,”
said Rossella Livraga. “It could have been my son. It could have been anybody.”
Even before Cook’s death, the inter-section at Chambers Street and the West Side Highway had a notorious reputation, according to Livraga.
“That intersection is dreadful,” she said. “I’m scared every time I cross.”
Already this year, there have been one bicycle injury and one pedestrian inju-ry, in addition to four motorist injuries there, according to Brian Zumhagen, a spokesman for the bike-advocacy organi-zation Transportation Alternatives.
Transportation Alternatives has made several recommendations to improve safety at the intersection, rang-ing from changes to signaling so that cyclists going straight on the greenway and drivers making turns have separate signal phases, to raising the greenway where it crosses Chambers St. to a higher grade than the road — like a speed bump — so cars are forced to slow down, Zumhagen said.
Community Board 1 passed a resolu-
tion last month calling on the Department of Transportation to install right-hand turn signals for southbound traffic at all intersections along the West Side Highway between N. Moore and Liberty Sts.
Now the city’s transportation agen-cy says it will conduct a study of the intersection which it expects to com-plete before summer’s out, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation. She said that a phased turn signal is among the safety improvements the agency is contem-plating.
That Cook’s tragic death may be the catalyst that will finally compel the city to make improvements is small comfort to her mourning husband, however.
“If you met her you never forgot her,” said Maclean as he added fresh sunflow-ers to the makeshift shrine.
Battery Park City residents don’t plan to let the DOT forget her, and they’re hoping that a safer Chambers St. intersection will one day be a more permanent memorial.
Photo courtesy of Travis Maclean
Upper West Side resident Olga Cook was struck and killed last month by an allegedly intoxicated driver while biking across Chamber St. along the Hudson River Greenway, which parallels the West Side Highway. Her death has spurred renewed interest in improving safety at the notorious intersection.
cROSSINg Continued from page 1
10 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 11DowntownExpress.com
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12 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 13DowntownExpress.com
Brookfield is for the birdsBY tEQUILa MINSKY
Dozens of blue, bird-like shapes are soaring above the palm trees of the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, but you have to pay attention to see what makes them special.
In the hustle and bustle of the atrium, one might not notice at first that their wings are in motion — all at different speeds and intervals — unless you really take time to look, like 6-year-old Malak Ali did as she cuddled with her mother and sister on a bench far below.
“How are they moving?” she asked her mom, pointing up at them.
The answer is in the name of the art installation commissioned by Arts Brookfield from Toronto-based art col-lective Studio F Minus — it’s called “#Air Pressure.”
Each of the more than 175 inflatable birds — fashioned in various shades of royal, cobalt, and sky blue — is con-nected via a translucent plastic tube to separate, tiny fans above the complex
kinetic sculpture, which are switched on and off individually at different intervals by timers. The periodic change in air pressure makes each bird slowly flap its wings.
Claddis Arrington watched the two-day installation over June 25–26 and marveled at the engineering as well as the artistry. He returned to the Winter Garden last weekend to enjoy the smooth, naturalistic motion of the birds, saying that it reminded him of watching gulls at the sea-shore.
“This is like looking at the ocean,” Arrington said. “It’s kind of soothing — very peaceful.”
Studio F Minus said that #Air Pressure also has an ecological message.
“Inflatable sculptures depend on constant airflow to maintain their form and structure,” said the art collective on its website. “This relationship paral-lels our own dependence on clean air.”
The installation will be up until Sept. 12.
Photo by Tequila Minsky
The kinetic sculpture “#Air Pressure” will be up at Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden until Sept. 12.
Wednesday is game day Downtown for the next month.
The Downtown Alliance kicked off its 3rd-annual “Game On!” block party series on July 13 with games, drinks and music taking over the intersec-tion of Coenties Slip and Water St. and extending up Coenties Alley to Stone St.
“Game On! is a great reason to get outside and celebrate summer,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin. “We encourage every-one to come out, meet new friends, play a few games and just have fun Downtown.”
Games and activities on offer range from the low key — such as shuffle-board, ping pong and cornhole — to the decidedly more intense, with instructors from CompleteBody gym hosting two free workouts using the TRX suspen-sion training system at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
New York City Football Club will host a Kick Tunnel, where folks can pit their soccer skills against the club’s pro-fessional staff.
After 5 p.m., the fun takes on a differ-
ent tone, with two outdoor beer gardens opening up as DJs spinning tunes at the corner of Pearl St. and Coenties Slip.
The event runs for four consecutive Wednesdays: July 13, July 20, July 27 and Aug. 3, from 12–8 p.m. Rain dates are on Aug. 10 and 17.
Get your ‘Game On!’
Downtown Alliance
The 3rd-annual Game On! block party series kicked off on Wednesday, July 13 with games, drinks and music at the intersection of Coenties Slip and Water St. and extending up Coenties Alley to Stone St. The event runs for four consecutive Wednesdays: July 13, July 20, July 27 and August 3, from 12-8 p.m., featuring 1) shuffleboard, 2) cornhole, 3) La Dama beer garden, 4) arcade basketball, 5) DJ booth, 6) bocce ball, 7) cornhole, 8) foosball, 9) Le Pain Quotidien beer garden, 10) ping pong, and 11) soccer kick tunnel.
Downtown Alliance hosts series of block parties, Wednesdays in Fidi
Photo by Joseph M. Calisi
Downtowners turned out July 13 for the first of four Wednesday block parties, enjoying such activities as (right) ping ping and (above) a soccer “kick tunnel.”
12 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 13DowntownExpress.com
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BY cOLIN MIXSONA pack of rabid Southbridge Towers
dog owners successfully opposed new rules proposed by the co-op’s board that would require residents to register their pooches or face eviction.
The pet-loving shareholders — who turned out in force at the co-op board’s open meeting Thursday where a vote on the proposal was expect-ed — argued that the rules would unfairly burden dog-owning residents because of the actions of dog own-ers from neighboring buildings, who’s canines chronically relieve themselves in the green spaces of the Southbridge complex, according to the opposition’s alpha male.
“It was basically punishing peo-ple who live at the building for the actions of people who don’t live here,” said 32-year Southbridge resident Paul Hovitz, owner of Gucci the shih tzu.
In lieu of pushing through the pro-posed rules, the co-op will instead con-vene a panel composed of five residents in favor of and five residents opposed
to the new dog regulations in order to draft a more balanced approach to keeping Southbridge poop free, accord-ing to one board member, who’ll be chairing the new committee.
“The board is taking the advice of some of the people that spoke last night and we’re setting up a committee that’s going to be made up of five pro and five anti people and we’re going to try and come up with a sensible regulation,” said 21-year Southbridge resident John Fratta.
The proposed rules for dogs began circulating among Southbridge resi-dents in June, and would have man-dated a biennial registration of pets with the co-op, a limit to the amount of and maximum size of dogs allowed per residence, and sanctions against pooch owners who failed to clean up after their best friends.
Failure to adhere to those regula-tions would have resulted in fines and
Co-op’s pooch-papers proposal postponed
Southbridge Towers resident — and proud owner of Gucci the shih tzu — Paul Hovitz led the successful opposition to a rule proposed by the co-op’s board to require dog owners to register their pets or face fines and eviction.
pOOcHES Continued on page 18
14 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 15DowntownExpress.com
Black Lives Matter protestors on the march Hundreds rallied across the city over the weekend to protest police shootings of black men
BY LaUREN VESpOLIFrom City Hall to Times Square,
hundreds of Black Lives Matter protes-tors took to the streets over the weekend to protest recent police shootings of African-American men: Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota; and Delrawn Small in Brooklyn.
Sterling was fatally shot while offi-cers had him pinned to the ground, while Castile was shot while he was reaching for his wallet during a traffic stop. Small was shot by an off-duty cop during a traffic dispute in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The weekend of protests and march-es kicked off on a rainy Friday evening—the day after snipers killed five police and wounded several others during sim-ilar protests in Dallas. A small group began gathering at the southeast corner of Union Square around 6 p.m. for a rally calling for justice for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, organized by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and the NYC Revolution Club, according to the Stop Mass Incarceration Network’s Facebook page.
A series of speakers addressed attendees from the center of the grow-ing crowd, calling for love and respect, in between intermittent chants of “Black lives matter.”
“It’s not a black and white thing, we just need equality,” said a speaker who identified herself as Kynt Pariah. “We’ve got to keep fighting.”
“You can do more to help us and support us than appropriate our cul-ture,” another protestor said, speaking on what white people could do in the wake of the violence.
“For me as a black woman talk-ing to black people, we need to love and respect each other,” said another woman into the microphone as she began to cry. “To all the white people who think black people are violent, that’s not the truth.”
While speakers expressed outrage and frustration about the many police shootings of African-Americans, the events in Dallas seemed to weigh on everyone’s mind, as some of the pro-testors urged the group to obey police orders to stay off the street.
The police had set up barricades sur-rounding the southeast corner of Union Square, and officers gathered to keep watch as the crowd swelled, reaching
close to 300 at its peak. At about 7:30pm, the protestors
began marching, with one group head-ing to the Williamsburg Bridge, and the other headed for Grand Central Station in midtown while chanting “Black lives matter” and “No justice, no peace.”
After walking up Second Avenue to 23rd St. and back down Third Avenue, the group returned to Union Square by around 8pm before head-
ing west on 14th St. and up through Chelsea on 7th Avenue. More police gathered as the group approached Times Square, but the marchers moved east, obeying police requests to stay on the sidewalk, and arrived at Grand Central Station shortly before 9 p.m. Beneath the clock tower, pro-testors raised their fists in solidarity during a moment of silence, before heading up the escalators into the MetLife building, and moving west on 45th Stt. The protestors began to disperse after 9 p.m.
There were no arrests during Friday’s demonstrations, but about 20 protestors were arrested among the hundreds that gathered for protests on Saturday night, Gothamist reported. Black Lives Matter NYC had posted on their Facebook page earlier in the day calling for a march to demand justice for Delrawn Small, in partner-ship with a group called “NYC Shut it Down: The Grand Central Crew.” While some groups marched across the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn, another started at City Hall, marching up Broadway to Union Square, with smaller groups breaking off and some stopping traffic on the FDR Drive. Delrawn Small’s nephew Zayanahla Vines led the protest, according to Gothamist.
New surveillance video of Small’s shooting was released exclusively to The New York Post on Friday, show-ing Small walking toward police officer Wayne Isaacs’s car when Isaacs opened fire. This footage contradicted an earlier report published in the Post, in which a witness claimed he had video footage of Small punching the police officer through the window.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds more protestors marched from Times Square down Broadway to Union Square, amNewYork reported, where they conducted a sit-in in the park. No arrests were reported.
Photo by Lauren Vespoli
Demonstrators protesting recent police shootings of black men marched in places across Manhattan Friday evening, including Chelsea, Union Square, Times Square, and Grand Central Station.
from operating on public streets, and increasing fines related to “failure to safeguard cranes” from $4,800 to $10,000, both of which will remain in effect.
Furthermore, the now-mandated on-site lift coordinators will be accountable to unannounced inspections, during which city sleuths will check recorded wind readings at work sites and com-
pare them to the actions of the lift coordinators to ensure operations were shutdown in accordance with the com-missioner’s mandate.
A spokesman for the city stressed that additional regulations will like-ly follow, and that the new rules announced last month comprise mea-sures that the building’s department felt could be implemented without new legislation by the Council, and
which were simple enough to be implemented quickly.
“We will have additional actions to announce in terms of enacting the rec-ommendations that the working group has already made,” said DOB spokes-man Joe Soldevere, “but as the commis-sioner said, these regulations are solid, sensible and do-able.”
Bruce Ehrmann, another member of CB 1’s Tribeca Committee, expressed
concern over the new regulation’s maximum wind-speed, despite prais-ing the city as “basically doing the right thing.”
“I’m uncomfortable with a 30-miles-per-hour wind threshold,” said Erhmann. “I’m not an engineer, I’m basing that on terror — on the terror of living on a block where a crane crash destroyed two blocks and killed someone. That’s all — pure viscera.”
cRaNES Continued from page 5
14 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 15DowntownExpress.com
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EDITOR IAL
BY LENORE SKENaZYYou can tell a person’s age by his
teeth.No, not by whether they’re missing
or yellowed (or, if they’re really old, wooden!). They key is what the teeth are sinking into. “Generation Z” — the folks born after 1995 — have already established different eating patterns from the rest of us.
At least, so said an article I was reading in Nation’s Restaurant News. (Yes, I love reading trade magazines!) Fascinated, I called up the editor to ask, first of all, what new food trends are coming down the pike? And second of all, ye gads — does the generation born after 1995 really have a name already?
The answer to the second question is apparently yes. And the answer to the first, according to editor Sarah E. Lockyer, is that Gen Z is even more Millennial than the Millennials.
“We always believed that Millennials were the first digital natives,” she says. “But they really weren’t. They weren’t born with a phone in their hand. They got them at 10 or 12.”
That makes them practically ptero-dactyls compared to the Zs. The newest kids on the block want to eat what they see on social media, and they want to put on social media whatever they eat.
That isn’t news. Food porn is pos-sibly more popular than good, old-fash-ioned porn porn. What is news is how the restaurants are responding. Take, for instance, Taco Bell.
“Taco Bell used to be food that you ate at 2 am,” says Lockyer. “You really didn’t think about it. And while that still
happens today, now you can go on the Taco Bell app and you can add guaca-mole and take off sour cream and add extra cheese. It’s very mobile friendly. You order on your phone, you pay on your phone, you go pick it up.”
Restaurants that are completely interactive are the ones that are going to win, she says.
So are the ones that allow you to, in the words of an ancient Burger King jingle, “Have it your way.” Even McDonald’s is jumping on that trend. My husband went to the tricked-out Mickey D’s near Bloomingdale’s and ordered from a kiosk rather than a human at the counter. He was served a giant, juicy burger slathered in chipotle mayo that made the Big Mac look like the meat equivalent of a flip phone.
Maybe even a landline.Burgers themselves are still cool, but
Gen Z is not eating as many of them as their elders. The Zs prefer chicken, pizza, and food that is ostensibly “clean” — a word that is both holy and amor-phous. Ask me, it roughly translates to “$1 extra.”
YPulse, a New York market research firm specializing in young people, calls this trend the “healthifying” of fast food. Young folks aren’t rejecting milk shakes or cheeseburgers, they just want them organic, or locally sourced, or some-thing more “pure” (i.e., labor intensive)
like that. So “clean food,” light-colored, osten-
tatiously healthful restaurants are win-ning out, as are places that feel commu-nal: You walk in and sit at a big table with people you don’t know. Maybe you don’t actually strike up a conversa-tion, but at least you feel like you aren’t alone. (Except if everyone else is having a great time and you’re poking at your oatmeal.)
Communal tables are popular with older folks, too, particularly those folks willing to forgo a couple of car pay-ments to afford a cup of soup at Le Pain Quotidien. But for young people, communal eating is not a new concept, it is just the way they expect to eat: in groups and sharing food.
And then comes the sharing of the experience of the sharing of the food. Everything is documented to the point where showing friends what you ate is almost like showing them your closet or (I’m dating myself again) your book-shelf.
So if you wonder who the Gen Z kids are and what are they bringing to the table (as it were), it is: organic ingredi-ents, hyper-customized entrees, lots of sharing each other’s food without getting (visibly) annoyed about it, and phones busy every step of the way, from finding the restaurant to videoing the very last drop of Sriracha dipping sauce.
This generation may still be too young to earn a living. But the way they’re going, they better start soon.
Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and author, and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids.
Posted ToteaMinG uP FoR tunnel to toWeRs: CB1 to FoRM a teaM FoR 5K (June 30)
I find that I must deviate from the brouhaha surrounding Tunnel to Towers. The event brings home what is becoming, too slowly, an awareness that unelected bodies are making decisions for the rest of us. The Brexit vote, the politically controlled Battery Park City Authority, and our local Community Board are the current offenders. I, and know that I am not alone, do not want Tunnel to Towers in my BPC neighbor-hood, closing down residents’ activi-ties for an entire Sunday and becom-
ing more pretentious every year. This whole event is the political inspiration of a few opportunists.
Yes, I guess they fund an occa-sional Terribly Impressive charity need, but their cover is not convinc-ing. They can move to Broadway or Church Street, less residential settings, for their annual event. The knee-jerk voting of Community Board One is not appreciated.
Dolores D’Agostino
Dolores,You actually are alone in your think-
ing. CB1 does not “knee jerk” vote. But the neighborhood is not alone in
acknowledging your knee jerk curmud-geon letters – this one in particular not being just disrespectful of those who gave their lives to help those in our community, but also to hurtful to a group that now welcomes community participation.
If you were here for 9/11, and wished to have an appropriate cer-emony that welcomes residents: you would join in the walk rather than try-ing to bad mouth it.
I find sadness and a lack of com-munity feeling in your reaction.
BPC Neighbor
What’s on the menu for Generation Z
pOStED Continued on page 17
16 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 17DowntownExpress.com
WtC sPheRe set to Move to liBeRtY PaRK (June 30)
The Sphere should be placed where it should have been put from the very beginning; between the two pool “footprints” of the twin towers on the grounds of the memorial. The Sphere was the central focal point of the WTC plaza. How many of us who worked down there sat around the Sphere and the fountain eating lunch each summer day?
That is why I find the memorial so cold. It gives no true reminder of how wonderful that plaza was. I can’t believe there was even any question about plac-ing the Sphere where it had stood pre-9/11.
Artie Van WhyA 9/11 survivor
The Sphere was the centerpiece of the WTC as well as the WTC Plaza. The Survivor Tree was rescued from the ashes of the WTC, nursed and restored to health. It was placed in a prominent place near the South pool and is a great gathering place for the masses. The Sphere as it is, deserves the same respect and treatment given the Survivor Tree and again placed In a central location as suggested, between the fountains. It is, after all, a “survivor.”
Rudolf Hohenfeld
I am happy with the Sphere at the Battery. I was at work in #2 WTC on 9/11, helped evacuate co-workers
and have lived in this neighborhood for 34 years. I have a stake here. The Battery accepted the Sphere early on and allowed us to have a place for remembering long before the Memorial site was developed. I know it was to be temporary, but having it there allows people to see it who might not otherwise go to the Memorial and Museum. How crowded with hardscape should Liberty Park be?
Maryanne P. Braverman
Observe how park goers in Battery Park interact w/ the Sphere. Of the thousands of people who pass through the park every day, tremendously few even notice the Sphere. Almost all are shuttling between Castle Clinton and the tour boat lines, or hovering around Pier A.
Within Battery Park, the Sphere essentially is an anonymous entity. To the ever-diminishing counts of people who had pre-9/11 familiarity with it, it sits largely unknown — with it’s con-text lost.
To me, it seems that Battery Park was an adequate place to store the Sphere, during post-9/11 cleanup and construction. Upon further reflection, it would have been more appropriate to temp store in Zucotti Park, or perhaps the WFC North Cove. I say this because the WTC site seems to have been inten-tionally made antiseptic of any genuine reflection of the World Trade Center. The intense opposition to restoring the Sphere to a place between the foun-tains seems to (sadly) bear this out. As such, a home in the new Liberty Park seems to be as close to home as the
Sphere can hope to get.Anonymous
As a BPC resident and former 9/11 refugee, I find this insensitive and cold-hearted. Is it not enough that I have to push through hoards of tourists to get to the subway every morning? Is it not enough that the image of the tow-ers falling replays in my head every time I walk past the reflecting pools? Is it not enough that I have to watch laughing children wearing commemora-tive 9/11 hoodies walking around my neighborhood? I’m tired of these upset-ting reminders of that day being shoved down my throat. I don’t need these offensive reminders to remember what happened. I can’t wait for the day that I can walk out of my building and not be instantly reminded of what my family went through. But, sadly, it doesn’t look like that day will ever come.
Evan Coleman
Your feelings are understandable, but of course, such a day will never come. The WTC site (I’ll never refer to it as “Ground Zero”) has been for-ever branded a must-see curiosity, tourist attraction. And this rebrand-ing is all completely intentional (over-involvement of survivor families, Gov. Pataki over-ruling rebuild plans strongly favored by the public).
As for those of us who live/work here — Best to move to another neigh-borhood, if you wish to escape the ongo-ing reminders of 9/11. Sadly, it is forev-er a business / selfie opportunity, for too many (starting with the Museum).
Anonymous
tuninG out: hoRnBloWeR Mutes MusiC at PieR 15
aFteR loCals CoMPlain, CitY DeManDs (June 30)
Is there nothing people won’t com-plain about? I am at Pier 15 frequently and have NO issues with the music from the boats and NEVER have to raise my voice when speaking to others or on the phone. I applaud Hornblower for seeking to work with “the community” but I bet “the community” is nothing more than a couple of “LOUD” whiners. LOL!
FiDi Resident
It isn’t “whiners,” and LOL is passé. Same problem with cruise ships in Portland, Maine, that are as loud as they are insanely huge and like city blocks, but unfortunately, nothing is being done there as yet to stop it. There are also all types of music that could be played – probably the most reasonable is old jazz.
Jake
I just wish my neighbor would keep his bloody dog inside instead of letting it run around outdoors at all hours of the day and night barking on a continual basis. The 311 reports have not quieted it down.
As for the music on the ships, well, I don’t know, but I do know that not all jazz is calming. I think the best is to just keep music off until they are out to sea (or river, as the case may be).
p.s. I like the math tests. Makes me glad I was a math major in college.
Stephen
pOStED Continued from page 16
Judge Wood acknowledged in court that Skelos might have grounds for an appeal, noting, “There is a danger that the jury decided the case based on a rationale that may be rejected by the Supreme Court.”
In 2014, husband-and-wife Bob and Maureen McDonnell were indicted on 14 different counts related to accepting gifts from Jonnie Williams, a CEO of a corporation with business before the state of Virginia. In return for accepting vacations, loans and designer watches and apparel, Governor McDonnell pro-moted Williams’s dietary supplement, Anatabloc, hosting events for him and encouraging state and private universi-ties to conduct research on the supple-ment, which Williams hoped could be listed as a pharmaceutical.
After a trial in the Eastern District
of Virginia, Bob McDonnell was con-victed of honest-services wire fraud, along with extortion and obtaining property — both “under color of offi-cial right,” meaning the “coercive ele-ment” was not specific steps he took but simply the fact that he held politi-cal office.
McDonnell appealed the decision. But in July 2015, the Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. McDonnell again appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in August 2015 the Supreme Court ordered that McDonnell remain free pending its decision. The court agreed to take the case in January 2016.
Brent Ferguson is counsel with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, where he works on its Money in Politics team. He said that the SCOTUS ruling “interprets the bribery
statutes more narrowly than the govern-ment but it doesn’t change the laws. It left the statutes in place.”
Others said that while the high court’s decision opens the door to charges being dropped or overturned entirely in quid pro quo cases across the country, it leaves plenty of room for prosecutors to ferret out public corrup-tion — and McDonnell could be tried again.
Ferguson said the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, while not a party in the McDonnell case, filed an amicus curiae brief — an informational paper — with the court because it was con-cerned when the ex-governor tried to invoke the First Amendment to justify benefactors “buying access to public figures.”
“The First Amendment protects ingratiation,” he said. “It doesn’t protect corruption.”
SILVER Continued from page 4
Associated Press / Andrew Harnik
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell saw his bribery conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 in a unanimous decision that could lead to a new trial for former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was convicted on similar charges last year.
18 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 19DowntownExpress.com
THE NEW SOUND OFBROOKLYN
The Community News Group is proud to introduce BROOKLYN PAPER RADIO. Join Brooklyn Paper Editor-in-Chief Vince DiMiceli and the New York Daily News’ Gersh Kuntz man every Thursday at 4:45 for an hour of talk on topics Brooklynites hold dear.
Each show will feature in-studio guests and call-out segments, and can be listened to live or played anytime at your convenience.
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LISTEN EVERY THURSDAY AT 4:45PM ON BrooklynPaper.com/radio
Dates: Thurs., July 14–Wed., July 20alteRnate siDe PaRKinG
Rules in eFFeCt all WeeK Vive la France! A Bastille Day
celebration will close West Broadway between Walker and White Sts. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday. Follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam and check the website www.GridlockSam.com for more info as the summer holidays and parades continue.
The Community Board 1 Summer Block Party will close Warren St. between Broadway and Church St. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.
The McBurney YMCA Sixth Avenue Festival will close Sixth Ave. between 14th and 23rd Sts. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, which means slow traffic on Sixth Ave. heading up to 14th St.
Closures continue on the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, where one tube is closed nightly from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. During those closures, one lane will be open in each direction in the remaining tube.
In the Lincoln Tunnel, one tube will close from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. This will cause delays and send Manhattan-bound traffic down to the Holland Tunnel.
In the Holland Tunnel, one New York-bound lane and one New Jersey-bound lane will close from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday, slowing inbound traffic. Expect delays into Canal St.
Both Thames St. between Greenwich
St. and Trinity Pl., and Fletcher St. between Front and South Sts. will be closed each day this week.
Reminder: the Stone Street Pedestrian Mall will close Stone St. between Hanover Sq. and Broad St., and Mill Ln. between Stone and South William Sts. from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day this week.
From the mailbag:Dear Transit Sam,Are the electric bikes that are used
by the NYC deliverymen legal for use in Manhattan? I used to see them everywhere. If they are legal must they obey the traffic regulations such as stop lights, traffic directions and being not allowed to drive on the sidewalk?
Bret, Manhattan Dear Bret,No, electric bikes have been officially
illegal in NYC since 2004. They fall into a unique class because both pedals and a small electric motor power them, so technically they’re not considered bicy-cles (only human powered bikes are). As the law stands, they can’t be regis-tered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is key.
Only registered engine-powered vehicles are allowed on roads. Unless the law changes there’s no way to make them legal. Using them on city streets and sidewalks is illegal and riders can be fined up to $500 for using them.
Transit Sam
eviction — the latter of which was con-sidered to be a particularly onerous and expensive proposition on the part of shareholders, according to one resident dog owner.
“You might think now it won’t cost anything, but it could be very expen-sive,” said Liz York of the prospect of eviction proceedings. “So whether or not they have a dog, this is not a good way for us to be handling this situa-tion.”
Thursday’s meeting was overwhelm-ingly attended by dog owners — or, at least, dog lovers — who “lambasted” the board, according to Hovitz.
“The room was packed,” he said. “One person spoke in favor of the poli-cy, and everybody else lambasted it and lambasted the board for initiating this.”
And the one gentleman who did speak in favor of the rules was quickly shouted down by the furious dog own-ers.
“The one person who spoke in favor of the regs was hissed and yelled at,” said Fratta.
But the turnout, or lack there of, among residents in favor of the rules had less to do with the proposals dearth of support, and more to do with the intimidation factor posed by the rabid pooch fans, according to Fratta.
“This is such a hot topic — and a very controversial one, especially for people who have dogs — that people in favor of the regulations would be intimi-dated to come to the meeting,” Fratta said. “The fact it was only dog-friendly people there doesn’t really mean any-thing.”
pOOcHES Continued from page 13
18 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 19DowntownExpress.com
The public is well edu-cated about the dangers of driving while impaired by medication, alcohol or ille-gal drugs. But drivers may not be aware that driving while tired can be just as dangerous.
Driving when tired can be a fatal mistake. Just as alco-hol or drugs can slow down reaction time, impair judg-ment and increase the risk of accident, so, too, can be-ing tired behind the wheel. Drowsy driving is report-edly what caused the fatal crash in June 2014 between a limousine and a Walmart truck that ended the life of
comic James McNair and seriously injured fellow co-median Tracy Morgan. The driver, Kevin Roper, was go-ing 20 miles over the speed limit and was almost at his drive time limit, according to preliminary reports by the National Transporta-tion Safety Board.
According to the U.S. National Highway Traf-fic Safety Administration, about 100,000 car crashes in the United States each year occur as the result of an overly tired driver. Various studies demonstrate that drivers who have remained awake for 18 hours prior to
driving mimic the driving performance of intoxicated motorists. In fact, drowsy driving can be confused with driving with a high blood alcohol content.
Sleepiness can arise rela-tively quickly, and accord-ing to Thomas Balkin, PhD, director of the behavioral biology program at the Wal-ter Reed Army Institute of Research and a leading ex-pert on sleep and fatigue, it’s difficult for drivers to assess just how sleepy they are.
“Sleepiness affects the part of the brain respon-sible for judgment and self-awareness,” he says.
“When you’ve reached the stage where you are fight-ing sleep, the effect of any method of reviving yourself can be very short-lived.”
Furthermore, people do not have to be in a deep sleep to actually be asleep behind the wheel. Micro-sleeps occur when certain brain cells temporarily shut down for a few seconds. A person is not completely asleep but in a sort of fog as if they are asleep.
When sleepiness sets in, the best course of action is to pull off the road. Opening the window, turning on the radio or blasting cold air is,
at best, only a temporary solution. If driving with passengers and feelings of sleepiness appear, hand the keys over to a passenger and have them take over driv-ing, if possible. Otherwise, a short nap and a cup of coffee can be used in combination to increase alertness.
It’s also a good idea to avoid beginning a long road trip in mid-afternoon around the hours of two or three o’clock. While alertness generally dips in the evening hours, due to the circadian rhythm, alertness also dips in the late afternoon, prompting
drowsiness. A 2010 study by the American Auto-mobile Association Foun-dation for Traffic Safety found that as many drivers reported falling asleep at the wheel in the afternoon hours as reported falling asleep late at night. Driv-ing in a warm, quiet car also may spur drowsiness, as would driving after a heavy meal.
Driving tired is just as dangerous as other im-paired driving. Slow reac-tion times and unaware-ness of surroundings can contribute to accidents that are otherwise avoidable.
DROWSY DRIVING CAN BE AS DANGEROUS AS DRIVING IMPAIREDADVERTORIAL
20 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com
BY SCOTT STIFFLERWhat began on September 8, 1966
as a five-year mission to seek out new worlds and ways of being, “Star Trek” didn’t even make it past season three as a network television series. By then, though, creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a culturally diverse 23rd cen-tury starship crew united in the name of interstellar exploration had so firmly taken root, fan devotion would inspire five additional TV shows and 13 feature films — with more of both on the way.
The far-reaching franchise’s first incarnation may be approaching the age of AARP eligibility, but your career as a fresh and eager cadet is just beginning — when you strive for high achievement on the aptitude tests that propel “Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience” from a drool-inducing collection of glass-enclosed memorabilia to a hands-on, destination event.
The exhibition, on view at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
through October 31, beams down to our planet at a highly illogical point in the space-time continuum. Yes, we’ve yet to evolve from a savage state of preju-dice, poverty, and petty conflict; and yet, our 21st century existence is brimming with ho-hum tech that was strictly the stuff of science fiction when the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 introduced us to phrases like “warp speed” and “beam me up.” Those blue and red velour shirts worn by Mr. Spock and quick-to-perish security officers may not have survived the 1960s as must-haves of the well-equipped everyman, but “Trek” has oth-erwise proven itself to be impressively predictive — influential, even — in the creation of 3D replicative printing, voice recognition, handheld touchpads, and virtual reality.
The enduring influence of a show made in the past and set in the future has a way of asserting itself throughout your “Academy Experience,” imbuing this self-guided stroll through all things
“Star Trek” with a gee-whiz awareness that sinks in the moment you realize the person next to you is taking selfies and posting them on social media, using a cellphone whose multitasking abilities put Captain Kirk’s flip phone communi-cator to shame.
Cleverly designed as a 26th-century visit to Starfleet Career Day, you enter the 12,000 square foot tented pavil-ion on Pier 86 and begin by taking a Recruitment Quiz. Answering questions such as what hostile species concerns you the most and what Vulcan trait you admire lay the groundwork for determin-ing what specialty you’ll be assigned — when, just prior to exit, you turn in the watch-like device that has been tracking your journey through nine interactive zones designed to assess language, medi-cal, navigation, engineering, command, and science skills. Those results are dis-played on a computer panel (yes, in full view of the other cadets), and can also be sent via an email containing your official
recruitment certificate, a personnel file, a “species selfie,” and a transporter video (which depicts you in the process of, as Dr. McCoy testily put it, having your “atoms scattered back and forth across space”).
Among the interactive opportunities: taking the readings of a patient laid out on a Medical Tricorder table; commu-nicating in Klingon; and phaser train-ing. Enormous fun though it may be, you’ll have to wait five minutes before attempting to best your firing range score, so that others can have their turn. Fans of the original series might be a bit disappointed with this particular zone, though, as the phaser in your grip is of “Next Generation” variety.
But why quibble? The exhibition even has two Tribbles — along with other props and costumes on loan from a German collector (including a Vulcan ear mold, and an original series tricorder
Your Next Away Mission: ‘Trek’ to the Intrepid
‘Academy Experience’ primes cadets for Starfleet careers
TREK continued on p. 21
Photo courtesy Intrepid staff
Downtown Express arts editor Scott Stiffler, loving the power that comes with the Captain’s chair — a logical reaction, for those visiting this mostly accurate recreation of the bridge from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
© Erika Kapin Photography
Before officially entering the exhibition, a quiz sets the stage for a series of aptitude tests that will determine your focus as a Starfleet cadet.
July 14 - July 27, 2016 21DowntownExpress.com
and communicator). As for those still pining for a different model of phaser than the one at the firing range, they need only walk a few steps away — where a display case contains a Plasma Pistol made for “Star Trek: Enterprise,” a Type II Phaser from “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,” and a Phaser Pistol from 2009’s big screen reboot.
Treasures of similar rarity are found throughout, as the multi-room exhibi-tion contains a combination of interac-tive zones and displays of memorabilia (including Captain Picard’s Robin Hood getup from Season 4’s “Qpid” episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”).
A series of wall panels, whose themes include “Clashing Cultures” and “Alien Anatomy 101,” are extremely informa-tive; but those who find themselves squinting at small type are advised to swallow their pride and bring a pair of reading glasses — an embarrassing but necessary conceit that, as every good cadet knows, helped James T. Kirk see things more clearly at a crucial moment in 1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
Sacrificing ego for the sake of your ship may be a hallmark of good leader-ship, but it won’t help the Enterprise emerge unscathed from the designed-to-end-in-doom Kobayashi Maru test — which you’ll take at the exhibition’s crown jewel: a showroom-new bridge that’s a faithful recreation of the “Next Generation” original — except for slight variations in design, which allow up to six cadets to take the test at once. Viewscreen updates from various crew members and prompts requiring a series of fight-or-flight decisions make this moment in time the closest any of us will ever get to serving with the United Federation of Planets.
After your test, a stolen moment in the Captain’s chair goes a long way toward exiting this “Academy Experience” with your pride, and hope for the future, intact. Sitting at this iconic center of command with a full complement of Starfleet tech at your fingertips, and spouting instructions like “Engage!” and “Make it so!” as if these things might actually happen, you won’t want to leave. But if you must, there’s only one way to go: Boldly.
“Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience” is on view through Oct. 31, at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (W. 46th St. & 12th Ave.). Open Sun.–Thurs., 10am–8pm and Fri.–Sat., 10am–9pm. Last entry, one hour prior to clos-
ing. Tickets are $25 ($18 for children, $23 for seniors, free for children 4 and under. Discounts for museum members and groups of 15 or more. For group sales, call 646-381-5010. Otherwise, visit intrepidmuseum.org/Startrek.aspx.
TREK continued from p. 20
© Erika Kapin Photography
At the June 30 press preview, George Takei (aka helmsman Hikaru Sulu in “Star Trek: The Original Series”) ponders a new career with Starfleet Medical.
© Erika Kapin Photography
The Engineering “Hall of Fame” is among several wall hangings that give cadets a primer on Starfleet history.
© Erika Kapin Photography
Now a classic, this Starfleet uniform from 1979’s “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was widely panned by fans at the time.
© Erika Kapin Photography
This hallway timeline charts the franchise’s 50-year history — once inside the exhibition, though, it’s as if you’ve entered a 26th century version of Starfleet Academy.
22 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com
Theater for the New City • 155 1st Avenue at E. 10th St.Reservations & Info (212) 254-1109
For more info, please visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net
The Elephant PenWritten by: Etienne Lepage
Directed by Lissa Moira“A mental game of predator and prey”
July 7th - July 17thThurs.- Sat. 8:00 P.M.
Sun. at 3:00 P.M.$18.00
TNC’s Street Theater
Election Selection or You Bet!
Written and Directed by: Crystal Field
Music Composed by: Joseph Vernon Banks
August 6th - September 18thOpens right here on 10th Street
on August 6th at 2:00 PMAll performance locations and times
are available Online!
A creative menu brought to you by Chef Franco Barrio with locally sourced produce serving New York style food in the heart of the West Village.
(212) 989-3155 | thebespokekitchen.com615 ½ Hudson St, New York, New York 10014
BY SCOTT STIFFLER
LESLIE ODOM JR. IN CONCERTHaving just completed his run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre as understandably bitter odd
man out Aaron Burr — with a legion of fans and a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical to show for it — the charismatic and not entirely unattractive Leslie Odom Jr. claims his rightful place as a main attraction, by turning The McKittrick Hotel’s Manderley Bar into the room where it happens. This strictly limited concert residency features material from Odom’s self-titled 10-track debut solo album, which fi nds him applying to jazz and musical theater classics the same knack for navigation and nuance he brought to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rat-a-tat-tat “Hamilton” lyrics.
Smartly surrounding himself with high-caliber talent given ample room to shine, the sharp arrangements and deft instrumental execution of such tunes as “I Know That You Know” and “Look for the Silver Lining” serve to heighten the effect of Odom’s engaging and textured vocals, while providing him with a welcome new forum for grafting his contemporary sensibili-ties onto source material from days gone by. In keeping with that spirit, don’t be surprised if a selection from his recent Broadway gig makes it into the setlist, alongside throwback interpreta-tions of today’s pop hits and a collaboration or two with special, unannounced guests.
Thursday, July 14, 21, 28 at the Manderley Bar (inside the McKittrick Hotel; 542 W. 27th St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.). Doors open at 11pm, show at 11:30pm. Tickets ($45) at events.mckit-trickhotel.com/lesliemanderley.
SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOTWide swaths of concrete are to this troupe’s annual outdoor pro-
ductions as ice fl oes are to the polar bear — rapidly disappearing territory upon which survival depends. Undaunted by 2014’s loss of the Ludlow & Broome location that served as its home for two decades, The Drilling Company’s “Shakespeare in the Parking Lot” program marks season number two in a space behind The Clemente.
Performed with grace and grit amidst all of the audible distractions and unplanned inter-actions the city can throw at them, director Kathy Curtiss’ adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” tells the tale of forest magic and mistaken identity by casting its classic characters as outrageously garbed artists prone to playing tricks; upscale urbanites whose money can’t buy them love; and tech sector workers who long to create. During a post-solstice visit to the Lower
Just Do Art
Having just completed his run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre as understandably bitter odd man out Aaron Burr — with a legion of fans and a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical to show for it — the charismatic and not entirely unattractive Leslie Odom Jr. claims his rightful place as a main attraction, by turning The McKittrick Hotel’s Manderley Bar into the room where it happens. This strictly limited concert residency features material from Odom’s self-titled 10-track debut solo album, which fi nds him applying to jazz and musical theater classics the same knack for navigation and nuance he brought to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rat-a-tat-tat “Hamilton” lyrics.
Smartly surrounding himself with high-caliber talent given ample room to shine, the sharp arrangements and deft instrumental execution of such tunes as “I Know That You Know” and “Look for the Silver Lining” serve to heighten the effect of Odom’s engaging and textured vocals, while providing him with a welcome new forum for grafting his contemporary sensibili-ties onto source material from days gone by. In keeping with that spirit, don’t be surprised if a selection from his recent Broadway gig makes it into the setlist, alongside throwback interpreta-tions of today’s pop hits and a collaboration or two with special, unannounced guests.
Thursday, July 14, 21, 28 at the Manderley Bar (inside the McKittrick Hotel; 542 W. 27th St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.). Doors open at 11pm, show at 11:30pm. Tickets ($45) at events.mckit-
SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOTWide swaths of concrete are to this troupe’s annual outdoor pro-
ductions as ice fl oes are to the polar bear — rapidly disappearing territory upon which survival depends. Undaunted by 2014’s loss of the Ludlow & Broome location that served as its home for two decades, The Drilling Company’s “Shakespeare in the Parking Lot” program marks season number two
Performed with grace and grit amidst all of the audible distractions and unplanned inter-actions the city can throw at them, director Kathy Curtiss’ adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” tells the tale of forest magic and mistaken identity by casting its classic
Courtesy McKittrick Hotel
Young, scrappy and hungry, Leslie Odom Jr. isn’t resting on his “Hamilton” laurels. See him in concert at The McKittrick Hotel, Thursdays in July.JUST DO ART continued on p. 25
22 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com July 14 - July 27, 2016 23DowntownExpress.com
24 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com
BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN
GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE: TRY TO ALTAR EVERYTHING
Born in 1950 in Manchester, England, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge has lived many incarnations. Known as a “mail art” provocateur, “avant-garde anti-hero,” and the “godfather of industrial music” (having front-ed Throbbing Gristle and, later, the post-punk band Psychic TV), s/he has recently gained increasing atten-tion for the Pandrogeny Project (captured for larger audiences in the moving 2012 documentary “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye”).
The Pandrogeny Project was sparked by Breyer P-Orridge’s and h/er late wife Lady Jaye’s desire to unite as a single entity. Spanning several years, this endeavor involved surgical body modification to help both spouses to physically resemble one another. Breyer P-Orridge continued this quest even after Lady Jaye’s tragic death in 2007. Throughout Breyer P-Orridge’s career, the explo-ration of the meaning and substance of identity have been at the core of h/er oeuvre — which by now spans nearly five decades. The same is true for this exhibition. Curated by Beth Citron, it features a selection of paint-
ings, sculptures, and installations. Revealing how Hindu mythology and Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley have signifi-cantly impacted Breyer P-Orridge’s work, it points at the fact that both “Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Nepal itself have long shirked the confines of ‘either/or.’ ”
In Nepal, where many people identify as Hindu and Buddhist at the same time, hybrid traditions are com-mon. Genesis and Lady Jaye’s Pandrogeny Project, and their drive for an elective and creative gender identity might have signified a hybrid of a different nature, but it also required a strong notion of spiritual openness. Furthermore, much of Breyer P-Orridge’s artistic prac-tice is rooted in devotion and ritual. Incorporating new works produced in Nepal, “Try to Altar Everything” will also give visitors opportunities to personally interact with the artist and engage with the provocative themes of self-expression and devotion.
Through Aug. 1 at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 W. 17th St., btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.). Hours: Mon. & Thurs., 11am–5pm; Wed., 11am–9pm; Fri., 11am–10pm; Sat./Sun., 11am–6pm. Admission: $15 ($10 students/seniors, free for active duty military personnel & children 12 and under). Call 212-620-5000 or visit rubinmuseum.org.
SCOTT NEDRELOW: POLYFOCALBy embracing a variety of media, such as video, pho-
tography, and painting, the Brooklyn-based Nedrelow explores the technologies and materials of contem-porary digital imaging. While his practice has been described as post-photographic, there remains a clear consciousness of traditional photographic concerns, in particular in regard to light.
Nedrelow is keenly interested in both light in itself and our changing relationship to it, pointing indirectly to the fact that digital technology and displays impact our eyes in new ways on a daily basis. His ponderings along these lines are very well executed and exude a subtle elegance, as well as fierce intelligence. In this exhibition for example, several new videos will be featured and displayed on Ultra High-Definition TV screens. They belong to Nedrelow’s ongoing “Viewfinder Sculptures” series, in which the frame of the TV is transformed into a camera viewfinder that shows what is directly behind the object. Meanwhile, in another group of signature works entitled “Afterlight,” Nedrelow extracts CMYK inkjet pigments from their commercial cartridges before
Buhmann on ArtGenesis Breyer P-Orridge and Scott Nedrelow
Courtesy Invisible-Exports
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: “Kali in Flames” (Mixed media, 1986, 20 x 25 in.).
Photograph by David DeArmas, courtesy Invisible-Exports
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: “Shoe Horn” (9 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.).
BUHMANN continued on p. 25
July 14 - July 27, 2016 25DowntownExpress.com
East Side (aka Shakespeare’s magic forest), all involved must sort through spells, misunderstandings, and sub-conscious desires.
Free. Through July 24, Thurs.–Sun. at 8pm, in the parking lot behind The Clemente (114 Norfolk St., btw. Delancey & Rivington Sts.). Audiences are welcome to bring their own chairs (otherwise, blan-kets will be provided). Following “Midsummer,” July 28–Aug. 4 sees “The Merchant of Venice” at the same location. For more info, includ-ing productions in Bryant Park, visit shakespeareintheparkinglot.com.
NEW OHIO THEATRE’S ICE FACTORY 2016
As brisk and biting as its name implies, this annual summer festival of new work occupies the polar opposite
end of the risk-averse spectrum. Through July 16, “The Annotated History of the American Muskrat” is Foxy Henriques and Circuit Theatre’s music video, dance, PowerPoint, and snack-filled handling of gloriously Hatter-mad Boston-based playwright John Kuntz’s patchwork quilt exploration of our national identity — as told through the struggle of eight people tasked with giving a presentation about the titular native North American rodent. July 20–23, the title of performance ensemble Hook & Eye’s “She-She-She” references the 1930s women’s forest work camps championed by Eleanor Roosevelt as a response to the Civilian Conservation Corps. “Bear Mountain on a serving platter” (via visual and scenic design by Susan Zeeman Rogers) is the production value promise of this queer women’s love story, which employs the poetry of civil rights activist Pauli Murray to tell its epoch-spanning explo-ration of gender, memory, and history.
July 27–30, live event collective
Piehole’s new collaborative effort sticks the landing in a traditional theater, hav-ing launched past productions in hotel rooms and galleries. Taking place in an abandoned ski shop located at the very center of our universe, “Ski End” finds a group of adults swimming in a swirling cosmic cycle of nostalgia, delusion, and every element of the titular sport. Aug. 3–6, Eliza Bent’s Bentertainment pro-duction entity furthers the playwright/author’s penchant for wordplay and phi-losophy with “On a Clear Day I Can See to Elba” — in which a man and a woman work on their romantic rela-tionship while struggling to retain their own identity. Generous portions of wine, puns, and the music of Queen help the process along. The festival concludes Aug. 10–13, with “Our Voices Project,” from playwright Charles Mee and the multicultural Our Voices theater com-pany. Sign language, music, and dance are deployed to probe the inner life of James Castle — who created over 20,000
works of art, despite the fact that he was born deaf and never learned to read, write, sign or speak.
Through Aug. 13, at the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher St., btw. Washington & Greenwich Sts.). All per-formances at 7pm. For tickets ($18; $15 for students, seniors), call 866-811-411 or visit newohiotheatre.org.
Photo by Remy
Titania and her Fairy ensemble with Oberon, from Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Courtesy New Ohio Theatre
“The Annotated History of the American Muskrat” plays through July 16, then the Ice Factory Festival continues through Aug. 13.
Courtesy New Ohio Theatre
A pro shop at the center of the universe is the setting for “Ski End,” July 27–30 at New Ohio Theatre’s Ice Factory Festival.
JUST DO ART continued from p. 22
airbrushing them manually onto his support of choice: freestanding coils of “premium luster” Epson photo paper.
These stunning works are characterized by very subtle coloring, which is revealed best when viewed from a distance; when inspected up close, the ink becomes almost imperceptible. Lastly, providing this exhibition with its title, Nedrelow’s “Polyfocal” paint-ings are made of paper, reconfigured into many cone-like shapes, and sprayed with ink from all sides.
No matter how different in appearance, all of Nedrelow’s works exploit their materials’ ability to rep-resent something photographic while denying the use of the photographic processes associated with them.
Through July 31 at KANSAS (210 Rivington St., btw. Ridge & Pitt Sts.). Hours: Wed.–Sun., 12–6pm and by appointment. Call 646-559-1423 or visit kansasgallery.com.
BUHMANN continued from p. 24
Courtesy the artist & KANSAS
Installation view of Scott Nedrelow’s “Polyfocal” includes, at right, 2016’s “Viewfinder Sculpture (31 Blue Jay).”
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could be open as soon as 2018, but now PAC officials only hope to break ground by then, with the opening pushed back until 2020.
The PAC@WTC has also faced problems with funding.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation — formed after the 9/11 attacks to allocate federal money to rebuild Downtown — originally promised $400 mil-lion for the project, but later cut the funding to half that amount, forcing the center’s board to seek private donations like the one pledged by Perelman last month.
“All of us at the PAC are profound-ly grateful to Ronald for his extraor-dinary support of this project,” said Boepple. “We share a vision of a PAC that is both a birthplace for the finest in the contemporary performing arts and a vital hub for all members of the Downtown community. We look forward to his partnership and guid-ance as the PAC takes shape in the years ahead.”
Last November, the center’s board tapped Brooklyn-based architecture
firm REX to design the complex after dropping starchitect Frank Gehry from the project in 2014. The new design will feature three separate the-aters with flexible layouts, which can be combined to create different con-figurations within the space, accord-ing to the board.
When it finally is complete, the PAC is expected to produce and pre-miere works of theater, dance, music, musical theater, opera, and film, as well as productions that cross mul-tiple disciplines.
Associated Press / Evan Agostini
Ronald Perelman has donated $75 million to build the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, which is now set to bear his name.
pERELMaN pac Continued from page 1
Albany appointees out of touch with the community it governs.
“I thought there was going to be a pro-cess and [the working group is] not even going to meet for another month” said bike rider and Washington St. resident Ester Regelson. “I get the impression they make these decisions without consulting the community all the time.”
There are three main north-south bike routes on Lower Manhattan’s west side. They include a path on Fifth Avenue, the Hudson River Greenway, and the Battery Park City Esplanade.
But with heavy traffic along Church Street, the only uninterrupted north-bound route west of Broadway, and the massive amount of pedestrians on the narrow greenway — where a cyclist was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing Chambers St. last month — the esplanade is by far the safest route for locals who rely on their bikes to get around, according to Regelson.
“The awful gauntlet on Church St. is horribly unsafe and there are way more people on the greenway and in larger crowds than around the mari-na,” she said. “Now we have to dis-
mount, which is a huge inconvenience. To have to get off and walk a bike, it’s like getting out and pushing your car, or walking barefoot — if you have wheels and you’re using your legs, your vehicle is useless.”
— with Jane Argodale
DISMOUNt Continued from page 8
Photo by Milo Hess
The Battery Park City Authority unilaterally imposed its new cyclist-dismount rule at the North Cove Marina just days after promising Community Board 1 to work with a working group of BPC residents to formulate bike-safety policies, irking some locals.
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28 July 14 - July 27, 2016 DowntownExpress.com