DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, JULY 30,2015

VOLUME 28, NUMBER 4 JULY 30-AUGUST 12, 2015

1 METROTECH • NYC 11201 • COPYRIGHT © 2015 NYC COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

It has been almost 14 years since Sept. 11, eight years since Community Board 1 approved a design, nine months since it cham-

pioned a “simplified” plan and now it’ll be another two years for the plaza area to be complete at Peck Slip, between South and Water Sts.

If construction begins on the half-acre Peck Slip Plaza next spring, then it will be finished spring 2017, said Lawrence Mauro, program man-ager for Lower Manhattan projects for

the city’s Parks Dept.“Now the Peck Slip school will

open in September and then there’ll be another construction project right there for the kids,” said Catherine McVay Hughes, C.B. 1 chairperson.

Part of the delay, Mauro told the board’s Seaport Committee at their Tues., July 23 meeting, was that city approvals for the bidding process is taking about a year.

But the most recent delay was not the only news the community board cared about. Members want less, not

more when it came to Peck Slip, with many saying it is fine in its current state. The design for the South Street Seaport Historic District that was approved in 2007 included more trees and decoration that were supposed to evoke ship’s ribs, but that many refer to as whalebones.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, or L.M.D.C., which is funding the project to the tune of $4 million, met with Mauro about Peck

In a switch, city nixes park cuts backed by neighbors

Continued on page 6

B.P.C.’S PARK LEADER

IS BEING FORCED OUT,SOURCES SAY

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC AND JOSH ROGERS

It appears that Tessa Huxley, who has been in charge of Battery Park City’s frequently praised parks for nearly three decades, is being

forced out as executive director of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.

Speculation that Huxley, who has been helming the conservancy since 1988, is being fired began on Monday with a New York Post arti-cle citing unnamed sources.

Two sources — Vince McGowan, Huxley’s number two person from 1999 to 2012, and a person speak-ing on the condition of anonymity — confirmed that they’ve heard from multiple sources that she is being forced out.

Dennis Mehiel, the Battery Park City Authority’s chairperson, told reporters Wed., July 29 that Huxley, 62, is “headed toward retirement,” and that she can speak for herself. She is serving jury duty this week and could not be reached for comment.

“She’s a straight shooter,” said the source, who said he heard from authority people about Huxley’s apparent ouster prior to the July 27 Post article. “She says ‘this is the problem and this is what needs to be done,’ and they don’t want to hear it. When they say jump, they want you to say how high.”

The state authority, which over-sees the parks conservancy, is run by appointees of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a former neighborhood resident.

McGowan, the former B.P.C. Parks Conservancy executive, said “there’s always been tension between the political appointees

Continued on page 12

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

Hot Night, White Picnic Thousands of elegantly dressed people walked through Tribeca Tuesday night for the “Diner en blanc” on Pier 26, the secret location this time for the event where guests are required to wear white.

2 July 30-August 12, 2015 July 30-August 12, 2015 3DowntownExpress.comDowntownExpress.com

BY L INCOLN ANDERSONGigi Li withdrew as a candidate for Democratic

district leader in the 65th Assembly District, Part C, on Wednesday amid allegations by the opposi-tion of fraudulent ballot petitions.

The Lo-Down first reported the news, includ-ing a resignation statement from Li, in which she acknowledged that she did not garner the required minimum amount of 500 signatures to get on the ballot.

However, her statement added, “I want to be clear that the accusations of fraud are false and played no role in my withdrawal.”

Li said while she was disappointed at not being able to run for district leader, she looks forward to continuing to serve as chairperson of Community Board 3. She was elected in June to a fourth one-year term leading the East Village/Lower East Side board.

Last week, two supporters of incumbent District Leader Jenifer Rajkumar who are both Democratic County Committee members — Georgette Fleischer and Lora Tenenbaum — filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court charging that Li’s petitions were “permeated with fraud.”

Fleischer and Tenenbaum are members of the Downtown Independent Democrats Club, Rajkumar’s home club.

They were represented in the lawsuit by elec-tion attorney Martin Connor, the former Lower

Manhattan state senator who is feared for his track record of knocking candidates off the ballot.

On Tuesday, amid Connor’s challenge of Li’s petitions, the Board of Elections had determined that she only had

477 valid signatures — short of the required amount.The Part C district is divided geographically to

include Battery Park City, FiDi and parts of the Lower East Side.

One of the lawsuit’s main charges is that many of Li’s petition signatures were collected by under-age individuals — in this case, students from a local prep school. It would have been O.K. if the signings were actually observed by a “subscribing witness,” who technically must be a registered Democrat, and thus 18 years or older, Sean Sweeney, a leading member of D.I.D. explained.

D.I.D. members say they observed the youths collecting the signatures at two locations — 189 Allen St., a public-housing development, and Battery Park City — without the presence of a registered Democrat.

“They questioned them,” Sweeney said, “and we have 360-degree, panoramic photographic evi-dence, showing there was no registered Democrat within 30 feet of them.”

A subscribing witness even can be blind, Sweeney said, “because they can hear it” — but they have to be there.

One subscribing witness for the signatures collected by the teens was Yume Kitasei, chief of staff to City Councilmember Margaret Chin, who defeated Rajkumar two years ago in a Council

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AL CAPONE & THE SEAPORT

What do Al Capone and Geraldo Rivera have to do with the Tin and New Market buildings? No, this isn’t the start to a bad joke, but rather what led to a moment of levity in a discussion that is anything but.

Rich Cote, of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, went before Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee at their July meeting to give an update on the removal of the cooler sections of both Seaport buildings.

Not much has changed since his last presentation, but Cote did say that they are looking for a historical preservation architect to work as a liaison between the agency and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, review the removal plan

and then opine about whether the proper protections are in place in case there are any historical elements left — such as the Tin Building’s original exterior cast iron.

“They never told us that they thought there would be any tin left,” said Michael Levine, C.B 1’s planning consultant.

Cote replied, “I’m looking forward to seeing what’s behind that wall. It’s kind of like Geraldo and the safe.”

For those too young or without long memories, Rivera infamously hosted a live special that purported to find Capone’s buried treasure. For several hours, the site was evacuated — and all that was found was broken bottles. Let’s hope the preservation architect has more luck.

PLAYMATE CUTBACKSHas the shine already rubbed off of

Imagination Playground? Five years ago, the playground in the Seaport opened to much fanfare and the uttering of Bloomberg buzzwords such as “pri-vate-public partnership.”

The private bit seems to have gone first as David Rockwell — the famous architect who designed the playground at no cost — is no longer helping with funding.

At Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee meeting on Tues., July 21 — the last meeting at 49 Chambers St. before the board moves its offices to the Municipal Building — Catherine McVay Hughes, C.B. 1 chairperson, had a laundry list from neighborhood parents about what needed to be fixed at the play-ground: the mast and pulley system, the water faucets, the sand slide, more sand for the box and concerns about rot under much of the wooden planks.

Lawrence Mauro of the Parks Dept. said that the decking is fine but “there are issues with rot in the supports under-

neath” and the city would soon be doing a thorough check.

Hughes also asked if there was still a person to help facilitate play with the blocks — what we at UnderCover once dubbed professional playmates — albeit G rated. Mauro said the playground is being staffed, but “not to the level that I think anyone would like.” He has submitted for funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, but wasn’t optimistic.

But word on the street, or at least in the park on the day we checked, is that folks were pretty happy with the park now.

Downtown Express photo by Mia Rupani

Imagination Playground

Facing fraud suit, Gigi Li withdraws from race

Downtown Express file photo

Gigi Li.



BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC Tiffany Murdaugh pleaded not

guilty last week in a hit and run case that shook the Lower Manhattan com-munity and left a woman seriously injured.

On Wed., July 22, Assistant District Attorney Philip J. Gary asked Judge Gregory Carro in criminal court at 100 Centre St. to increase bail to $100,000 because of the defendant’s “depraved actions.” Murdaugh, 34, is currently out on bail.

Video from the incident clearly depicts Murdaugh’s car going onto the sidewalk and “pedestrians jumping into the middle of Beekman St.” to avoid it, said Gary. Saying that she was going 20 to 25 miles per hour on the street, Gary said the video also shows a mother of two, who was on her way to Spruce Street School, pushing her children into the street to avoid the car.

Gary also focused on the victim, who he did not mention by name, but is Heather Hensl, 37, a mother of two who was on her way to work when she was struck at around 8 a.m. on April 13. She was thrown into the air and

suffered a laceration to her head and could not walk for months, he said. She has just started to walk again without the aid of crutches, but will suffer the effects of the incident for the rest of her life, said Gary.

After leaving the scene at Beekman St., Gary said Murdaugh then went over the Brooklyn Bridge and got into another accident in Crown Heights. Her car rear ended another car. When the other driver got out, Murdaugh fled the scene, leaving her car there, said Gary.

Murdaugh did not answer Downtown Express questions as she left the courthouse. She appeared to be crying after she left and her family shielded her.

A Legal Aid lawyer filled in for Lamar Miller, also of Legal Aid, who had been handling Murdaugh’s case. He said all these facts were presented when bail was first set. He also said that Murdaugh just completed a three-year training program and is part of the Cement Mason’s Union. Originally thought to be a New Jersey resident, Murdaugh resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her family sat in the

court to support to her.While Judge Carro did note the

price — $35,000 — of the car, a 2013 Dodge Challenger, he denied the increase in bail. He did say, however, that Murdaugh was to hire a private attorney by her next appearance in court on Aug. 11.

Hensl, who works as a physician assistant at New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, was wor-ried at one point that the investigation would be dropped. After identifying Murdaugh as the owner of the car, police initially said she would only be charged with a misdemeanor if they were able to prove she was driving. Spruce Street School parents and the community were outraged that the incident happened during morning drop-off and pushed for an arrest.

Murdaugh was arrested on May 19 after admitting to a detective at the First Precinct that she was driving the car, according to the complaint from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.’s office. She has been charged with assault in the first degree and second degree — both felonies — reckless endangerment in the first

degree and leaving the scene of the incident without reporting.

Vance, in a statement, called Murdaugh’s alleged actions “egre-gious….There is no place for this type of recklessness in New York City.”

DRIVER ARRESTED IN CANAL DEATH

A dump truck fatally hit an 83-year-old man while he was crossing Canal St. near the Manhattan Bridge on Fri., July 17, police say.

Police were called to the scene at around 1 p.m. in Chinatown and the man, Ka Chor Yau, was taken to Lower Manhattan Hospital, where he was pro-nounced dead on arrival.

Police say the man was in the middle of the intersection when the truck, which was coming from the Manhattan Bridge, was traveling west and struck him.

The driver, a 24-year-old man, was taken into custody at the scene. Maykel Felix-Tejada was later arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed oper-ation of a vehicle, according to police.

MAN DIES IN FIDIA 20-year-old man was found

unconscious on a sidewalk in the Financial District on Sun., July 12 and was taken to Lower Manhattan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police say.

Police were called to the front of 20 West St. at 10:45 p.m. and found the man lying face down on the sidewalk unconscious, unresponsive and with numerous abrasions to his body. Police identified the man as Pablo Polanco, a resident of Washington Heights.

Police say the investigation is ongo-ing. On July 29, the Medical Examiner said the cause of death has yet to be determined.

SHOPLIFTING GANG

HURTS WORKERIn Soho, a team of shoplifters got

rough with an employee, grabbing and shoving him to the ground after they stole

$23,650 worth of hand bags, police say.The four men entered Celine at 67

Wooster St. on Sat., July 18 at 2 p.m. and snatched the six pricey purses, the male employee, 20, told police. On their way out, the men got physical with the employee, who had visible red marks on his shoulder and left arm, police say. The men then fled.

THIEF TARGETS STROLLERIt is a mother’s bad dream — shopping

with your child and your wallet is grabbed from the stroller.

On Fri., July 24, that is exactly what happened to a Financial District mom as she shopped at the Tribeca Whole Foods at 270 Greenwich St. at 11 a.m., police say. The woman, 39, told police that around $300 worth of unauthorized purchases had been made on one of her cards. She had cancelled the other two cards in time.

ROBBERY SUSPECTS

The N.Y.P.D is asking for the pub-lic’s assistance in locating two suspects wanted in a South St. robbery Sunday.

Police say the victim, a 37-year-old man, was sitting on a bench at Catherine Slip and South St. at 2:20 p.m. July 26, when another man snatched his cell-phone from his hand and began to flee, police say.

The victim attempted to chase the suspect when a second man struck him from behind and shoved him to the ground, police say. Both suspects then fled the location on foot.

Police have released photos of the suspects and want people with informa-tion about the crime to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS, or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

VICTIM ARRESTEDA Financial District resident got an

unwelcome surprise when he took a cab home early Sunday morning — not only was his wallet missing, he was then arrested after reporting the crime.

The 31-year-old went to the First Precinct on Sun., July 26 to report his $750 iPhone 6 and $300 Montblanc wallet with credit cards stolen, police say. He was promptly arrested for theft of service because he was unable to pay for his cab to Broad and Water Sts. at 5:30 a.m., police say.

Then, after he was released, the man discovered there had been unau-thorized charges on his credit cards.

STEAL SOME, PAY FOR OTHERS

A Soho shoplifter tried to a differ-ent tactic to stealing — paying for two items while trying to get away with a backpack full of stuff.

The plan didn’t work. At the Sephora at 555 Broadway, a loss prevention guard observed the suspect loading her backpack on Thurs., July 23 at around 7 p.m., police say. After she paid and left the store, the 24-year-old Lower East Side woman was arrested.

Inside the bag, were 33 lipsticks val-ued at $1,186, six facial products worth

$435, two setting powders worth $74 and other items for a total of $2,378, police say.

2 BIKE THEFTS

A student who double locked and chained his $3,100 Felt bicycle did so to no avail — both the bike and chains were stolen.

The man, 30, chained his bike to a fence at around 1 p.m. at South End Ave. and Liberty St. in Battery Park City on Fri., July 24 and went to class, according to police. When he returned at 5 p.m., the expensive bike as well as a $100 lock and chain combo and a $60 lock and chain combo were gone. The theft was near a culinary school, but police did not identify the location student’s class.

The next evening, in a separate bike snatching incident at 9:15 p.m. Sat., July 25, a man who left his CitiBike unlocked and unattended in front of the 55 Fulton Market on Fulton St. at 9:15 p.m. came back 30 minutes later to find it stolen, police say. CitiBikes are now valued at $1,300.

DINNER’S ON THE VICTIMA thief who stole from a woman

hanging out at Fraunces Tavern treated himself or herself to a fancy dinner and cab ride.

On Tues., July 14, a woman, 38, was sitting at the bar at the famed historical tavern at 54 Pearl St. in the Financial District at 7:40 p.m. when someone stole her wallet, which had credit cards, gift cards for J. Crew, Sephora and Whole Foods, $300 and a $200 makeup bag — for a total of $790. The thief did not waste a minute, using the woman’s cards to have a $705 meal at Red Stixs, a restaurant on 216 E. 49 St., and take a $25.81 cab ride, police say.

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Beekman St. hit & run suspect pleads not guilty

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

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Photos of suspects in a July 26 robbery on South St.

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC The Temple Court at 5 Beekman St.

is now expected to open early next year.The hotel, originally slated to open

this year on Oct. 31, is now planning to open Feb. 1, 2016, the hotel’s managing director Rob Andrews told Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee at their Tues., July 21 meeting.

There have been multiple reasons for the delay, including the complex nature of the landmark building, which was built in the early 1880s and has a tall interior atrium.

The main entrance for the 287-room hotel will be at 115 Nassau St. with a sep-arate entry for the residences next door, he said. Two retail spaces, which have yet to be confirmed, will be located in each lobby, said Andrews.

While the hotel won’t open until early next year, people can start booking a room at the beginning of August, he said. The two restaurants — one by Tom Colicchio and another by Keith McNally — when open when the hotel does.

Andrews said people could start mov-ing into the Beekman Residences in the second quarter of next year.

The 68 luxury residences, which start on the 17th floor of the 51-story

tower, include 20 one-bedrooms, 38 two-bedrooms, eight three-bedrooms and two full-floor penthouses, accord-ing to a press release. One of the pent-houses was listed for over $15 million, according to the release.

Another entrance will be on 5 Beekman St., which will be available for guests to use if they so chose. Everything else — such as trash, deliveries and mov-ing furniture in and out for residents — will take place on Theatre Alley, said Andrews. Five Beekman almost covers the whole of Theatre Alley, he said.

“Talking about Theatre Alley, right now it’s in pretty bad shape,” said Catherine McVay Hughes, C.B. 1 chairperson. She wanted to know if the Beekman could improve its lighting and general condition.

Andrews said he would take that back to the owners and stressed that they want-ed to make it safe and lit for their employ-ees, who will also be using that entrance.

“That’s a top priority for this commu-nity to make sure that that particular alley-way is safe for everybody,” said Hughes.

In addition to alley concerns, near-by residents who have had to put up with construction since 2013 expressed some

‘The Beekman’ to open in Feb.



Slip in January. The corporation, which operates now with a skeletal staff, was formed to manage Lower Manhattan’s recovery after Sept. 11 and is federally funded.

The city plans to proceed even if it means pay-ing for elements the community board no longer wants.

“The decision coming out of that meeting was that the funding was truly in jeopardy if we did not move,” explained Mauro. “That we would bid the project, see how the bids came in and if the bids were over then we would discuss editing elements of the project out, but only then.”

This did not site well with some community board members.

Jason Friedman, a committee member and an architect, said that 2007 design had an “air of it not suiting the community.” He and other neighbors felt there was a need for more open space, and that cluttering the area up with modern elements did not fit the historic district.

Friedman had presented to the committee back in October when they had voted to approve a scaled back plan.

“This was heavily influenced by the funder — L.M.D.C.,” said Mauro.

David Emil, president of the L.M.D.C., said in a phone interview this week that he hopes a “modi-fied version will meet everyone’s concerns.”

“L.M.D.C. is in its final phases and is anxious to proceed,” said Emil, who no longer collects a salary from the corporation.

Friedman said, “The biggest takeaway I think I remember was we kind of like [Peck Slip] just the way it is. The priorities of the community might be to lose money on the park and have them just not spend all the money they’ve allocated and just give it up ‘cause it’s a better solution.”

Hughes and Marco Pasanella, the committee’s chairperson, were also at the meeting with the L.M.D.C.

“I think everyone is conscious of what had gone on here and what the community’s wishes were,” said Pasanella.

Friedman said he was “shocked” that things were proceeding even though “we expressed a community a desire that we didn’t like that park.”

“The shock now is the delay and particularly when [13] and a half years after 9/11 to be still be spending L.M.D.C. money,” said Pasanella.

Paul Hovitz, another C.B. 1 member, asked Mauro what would happen if the city lost the fund-ing for the project.

Peck Slip would remain as it is now, he said.“Which is what exactly what we said we want-

ed,” said Hovitz.Pasanella said editing the plan is still on the

table.Hughes concurred, saying, “For example, one

feature that this community was vehement against was the whalebones in the park — an example of something that could be edited out.”

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICThe new design for 2 World Trade Center has been

splashed everywhere in the press, but Community Board 1 was the first to get a public presentation.

Members of the board’s Planning Committee applauded at the end of the presentation Mon., July 13. “Wow” and “that’s exciting” were heard as Dara McQuillan, spokesperson for Silverstein Properties, explained that the design was about to be presented.

“Two World Trade Center really is the last piece of the puzzle for our organization. We’ve been at this as long as many of you have — for 14 years,” said McQuillan. “It was always a bit of a question mark because we didn’t have the financing…Two World Trade Center couldn’t get building unless we had a tenant. And we needed a big tenant.”

That “phenomenal tenant,” as McQuillan put it, is Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and News Corp., which has inked a letter of intent with Silverstein, the developer of 2, 3, 4 & 7 W.T.C.

James Murdoch, who is likely to take over for his father, had approached Bjarke Ingels, a 40-year-old Danish architect, and his eponymous group, last September about a new headquarters, said Ute Rinnebach, project manager for the Bjarke Ingels Group, also known as BIG.

Fox was looking for floors that were large enough for newsrooms and studios and also wanted to increase connectivity between departments and employees, said Rinnebach. What Fox did not want is a tower, which is what it has right now at 6th Ave. in Midtown, she said.

In addition to specific requirements, time was a factor as Fox was looking to move by 2020 when their lease runs out. BIG looked all over Manhattan and had 11 sites to analyze, she said.

“At the end, somehow there was a site available and the foundations [were] already in place,” said Rinnebach, referring to 2 W.T.C.

There was already a design for Two, created by Norman Foster, which had four diamond shapes at the tower’s top.

In January, BIG started thinking about the design and Rinnebach said that they had to figure out how to

build on top of the existing foundations.Other things BIG also took into consider-

ation were how the design would fit in with the other towers and Daniel Libeskind’s master plan, which had included the “wedge of light.” In 2003, Libeskind unveiled the idea of a “Wedge of Light” plaza, which would create a lighting effect on Sept. 11 to coincide with when the first plane hit.

Rinnebach said the new design was presented to both Libeskind and David Childs, who designed 1 and 7 W.T. C., and they both loved it.

The keystone idea of the design was how to bring together the modern, contemporary towers of the Financial District and the smaller historic buildings of Tribeca, she said, to create something that incorporates the best of both worlds.

The design is seven stacked boxes that get small-er the higher the tower climbs. Rinnebach said that the silhouette of the building changes — large at the bottom, slender at the top.

Fox will occupy about half of the tower on its lower levels and the upper portion will be filled with other tenants. There will be four levels of retail and Fox will have a studio on the ground floor, she said. Gorgeous terraces populated with plant life as well as amenities such as a basketball courts and gyms will not be open to the public, she said.

While the Fox move is not yet set in stone, all signs point to the deal happening.

“We’re optimistic that this is the beginning of the end of the World Trade Center project,” said McQuillan.

2 W.T.C. to be gets raves from Community Board 1

Image by BIG

Rendering of the view from Tribeca of 2 World Trade Center, right, and 1 W.T.C.

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Downtown Exp May A 2015:Layout 1 5/20/15 12:51 PM Page 1

Peck Slip Plaza plan proceeds despite opposition

The plaza’s east end.

Downtown Express photos by Mia Rupani

The west end of Peck Slip Plaza.

Continued from page 1


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Rooftop Films and Arts Brookfield will be co-presenting free movie screenings on the waterfront plaza at 200 Vesey St. this weekend. Live musical performances will precede each of the films in Battery Park City.

On Fri., July 31, Rooftop films will show a sneak preview of environmental film “Racing Extinction” which will debut worldwide on the Discovery Channel to 220 countries later this year.

Rooftop Films will be screening the 1984 Academy Award-winning Talking Heads docu-mentary “Stop Making Sense” on Sat., Aug. 1 at the plaza near the Winter Garden. The film fol-lows The Talking Heads during their three-day concert at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

Aug. 1 also kicks off the Summer Streets celebration, inviting New Yorkers of all ages to play, run, walk and bike on car-free streets from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Summer Streets will open 6.9 miles of Lafayette St. and Park Ave., connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. Food and a number of free activities will be offered at each of the five rest stops along the route. Activities include a 270-foot water slide at Foley Square, yoga classes, children’s workshops and more.

Summer Streets will also run Sat., Aug. 8 and 15. The sixth annual Lower Manhattan

Community Day will take place on Governors Island on Aug. 1. Councilmember Margaret Chin leads the event on a free ferry ride at the Battery Maritime Building, 10 South St., at 10 a.m.

Grammy nominated wind quintet Imani Winds

will be performing a free concert at Nolan Park on Governors Island Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be rescheduled to Sunday.

WEEKEND OF AUG. 7Join other poetry lovers at the Poets House

Showcase for readings, conversation and celebration on Aug. 8.

This free exhibition at the Poets House at 10 River Terrace will run the entire day and includes all of the new poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the U.S. in a single year by more than 650 com-mercial, university and independent presses.

Ultimate Frisbee will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Battery Park City ball fields on Aug. 8 and all skill levels are invited to join in on the fun and fitness. Discs will be provided for this free outdoor event.

Organizer Art Kibbutz is inviting people to be a part of the Shmita Artfest on Sun., Aug. 9 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Nolan Park on Governors Island.

Shmita Artfest is an interactive experience where Jewish learning, environmental activism, art, explo-ration and spirituality come together. This event will include art installations, hands-on workshops, picnics and more, plus a series of guest speakers.

— MIA RUPANI

Summer Streets and other Downtown weekend events

Downtown Express file photo by Jefferson Siegel

The first Summer Streets event in 2008.


Thurs., July 30 – Wed., Aug. 5ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE IN EFFECT ALL

WEEKMajor weekend street closures

ahead! The D.O.T.’s Summer Streets program will close Centre St. between the Brooklyn Bridge and Foley Square, Lafayette St. between Foley Square and Astor Pl., and Union Square East between 15th and 17th Sts. as well as Park Ave. from 17th St. all the way up to E. 72nd St. 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The following crosstown streets will remain open to cars: Chambers, Reade, Worth, Canal, Broome, and Houston Sts. This event will repeat the next two Saturdays, Aug. 8 and 15.

The D.O.T. Summer Streets pro-gram will also make some changes in Brooklyn Bridge traffic. Next week-end all Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge will be detoured at the Centre St./North Chambers St. exit midnight to 6 p.m. Saturday. Manhattan-bound traffic will take the F.D.R. Drive or the Park Row

South exit instead. For the rest of the week, all Manhattan-bound lanes will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday nights. Drivers will instead take the Battery Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge, mak-ing for slowdowns on West St. and Canal St., respectively.

The Seaport Community Coalition Summer Seaport Festival will close Water St. between Fulton and Broad Sts. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. The Stone St. pedestrian mall will close Stone St. between Broad St. and Hanover Sq., and Mill Ln. between South William and Stone Sts. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day this week.

In the Lincoln Tunnel, one tube will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday morning. In the remain-ing open tube, traffic will be main-tained in both directions. This slow-down will 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 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday, slowing

inbound traffic. Expect delays into Canal St.

On West St./Route 9A, one south-bound lane will be closed from Vesey to West Thames Sts. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

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contemplating to split our residence stay between Miami in the winter and spring and New York City in the summer and fall, about six months in each location. Currently, I possess a New York State driver’s license and registration. If I change them to the state of Florida, would I need to do something documentation-wise when coming for six months stay to New York and driving?

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Dear Arkadiy,

If you have a Florida license you can still drive in New York State with

no trouble, as long as your perma-nent residence is in Florida too.

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Confused about ever-changing traffic and parking regulations? Need driving tips or help navigating around Lower Manhattan? You can always e-mail me at [email protected] or write to Transit Sam, 322 Eighth Ave. Fifth Floor New York, NY 10001. And of course, be sure to follow me on Twitter @Gridlocksam.

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BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Last Friday, Paul the Pigeon Man was stoic. Larry the Birdman was bereft. They missed seeing their friends in Washington Square Park.

If it seems there are a lot less pigeons in Washington Square Park, it’s because there are.

Earlier last week, on Tuesday afternoon, birdnappers were reportedly out in force on the park’s far west side. In an orchestrated maneuver taking just minutes, the peaceful pigeons were lured to a spot near the Washington Place park entrance, where they were cap-tured by net — they netted three batches — and then whisked away in a van.

Larry the Birdman was near the foun-tain and missed the abduction of possibly more than 200 birds.

“It happened so fast,” he said. “It was a silver-colored van.”

One member of the cadre who hang out on the park’s western side near the Holley monument said, “We know these birds and some of us have relationships with individual birds.”

Doris Deither, a Community Board 2 member, is among the F.O.B. (Friends of the Birds). She said the pigeon she calls Opal likes her and comes to her as she walks assisted by a walker. Deither said, thankfully, “her bird” is still in the park.

“But they got two of William’s birds,” she said, explaining that William cares for pigeons that are injured.

Seven years ago, the New York Post wrote about “pigeon netting,” the black-market act of snatching pigeons off the streets and selling them for $5 and $10 each, mostly to legal, out-of-state (frequently Pennsylvania) pigeon shoots.

It was believed that the purloined Washington Square pigeons were destined for a similar fate. Diether said word was that the van had New Jersey license plates.

Saturday afternoon at the Holley bust,

a memorial service was held for the avian abductees organized by Tina Trachtenberg,

an artist and animal advocate. She cre-ates the felt pigeons at Washington

Square.Days later, flowers marked

the memorial site and a weath-ered sign read: “This park is a safe

haven for many animals. Today we mourn the tragic death of 200-300

resident pigeons. We loved and cher-ished their magical presence. They will be deeply missed.”

By Tuesday, flowers and sign were gone.Joyce Friedman the New York City

coordinator at The Humane Society of the United States, read on social media about the memorial and came to the park to learn more.

“I reported it to the N.Y.P.D. Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad,” she said. “We can’t give out any more detailed information, because now it’s an ongoing investigation.”

She reiterated that the investigating officers take it seriously, also mentioning that the same sort of birdnappings took place a couple months ago on the Upper West Side and are also under investigation.

For four days, Tuesday through Friday, security at the Parks Department office at Washington Square Park, the bicycle police on patrol and police in a van watching on Sunday morning were totally unaware of the birdnapping. As of this Tuesday, not all the local patrolling police or Parks employees were aware of the nefarious netting.

However, on Tuesday, Parks spokes-person Crystal Howard warned the pigeon pluckers to beware.

“Don’t steal our animals!” she said in a phone interview. “Pigeons are core to the character of New York City, and it is illegal and dangerous to remove animals from New York City parks.”

Friedman also emphasized that bird-napping is illegal.

“If you see someone doing it, take

a picture of the license plate,” she said. “Then call 911. If you become aware afterward, report it by calling 311.”

Early Sunday evening, Haley, a friend of Larry, swung by the park to see if he was all right.

Larry now sits on his usual bench, but

no longer bedecked with birds, keeping a vigilant eye on the park’s Washington Place entrance to see if there are any more lurking vans.

“There are surveillance cameras,” he said, hoping they would have caught useful information to bust the birdnappers.

A feathery felony in park as perps net 200 pigeons

Downtown Express photos by Tequila Minsky

Paul the Pigeon Man feeding birdseed to some of his friends fortunate to have evaded the birdnappers’ net.

Phew! Some of the lucky survivors, thanking their tail feathers they weren’t scooped up by the birdnappers.

and the staff.”The neighborhood’s lush parks are

often cited by residents as the area’s best quality.

McGowan, who said he hasn’t spo-ken directly with Huxley about the change, said she always made sure everyone would “start every day with the idea of maintaining the consistency of the quality of life Downtown….

“She’s singularly responsible for getting the authority to adopt the sus-tainable policy for the maintenance of the neighborhood,” McGowan said, referring to the authority’s green guide-lines, which were adopted almost 20 years ago.

During the two-hour Battery Park City Authority meeting Wednesday, there was no mention of Huxley, who was not present. In an unusual move, a Parks Enforcement Patrol officer was assigned to the meeting.

Talking to reporters afterwards, Mehiel, B.P.C.A.’s chairperson, said he “didn’t want to set the precedent to talk about personnel matters.”

He had praise for Huxley, saying,

“She’s wonderful. She’s done a great job.”A handful of Battery Park City

community members attended the authority’s midday meeting, which was closed to the public for about an hour for an executive session. They made posters with slogans such as “Tessa Matters” and “First the mari-na, next the gardens?” The signs never got a chance to be displayed.

Rosalie Joseph was at the author-ity’s meeting and also spoke during Community Board 1’s monthly meeting on Tues., July 28.

“As you’re aware, the commu-nity has been at battle with the Battery Park City Authority to pro-tect our community and its assets,” said Joseph, who has been living at Gateway Plaza for 26 years and has been an active leader in the com-munity.

“We find ourselves in another crisis,” she added. “Clearly she has been forced out. Speaking to many residents today who are outraged due to Battery Park City Authority’s current behavior we have lost trust.”

Joseph asked the board to “request that the authority explain, for the

community, to the community the future of the Parks Conversancy as well as the reasons for Tessa’ departure.”

Paula Galloway, who runs the Battery Park City Dog Association, said that Huxley had been instru-mental in keeping the neighborhood beautiful and noted her help after Sept. 11 and Superstorm Sandy.

“This is very reminiscent of what happened with Michael Fortenbaugh — you do a great job, you’re fantas-tic and then you get canned and we want to know why,” said Galloway. “[B.P.C.A. officials] just don’t explain anything.”

In January, Fortenbaugh was oust-ed as the operator of North Cove Marina when the authority chose Brookfield Office Properties and its partner Island Global Yachting. Many within the community were unhappy with that decision.

Justine Cuccia, C.B. 1 public member and Battery Park City resi-dent, said the authority had cut back community access to the ballfields. The B.P.C.A. opened up the permit-

ting process for the fields and many feared local leagues would lose time.

“I think this is another sign and indication of the Battery Park City Authority’s high-handedness and taking control over Battery Park City in a way that has no concern and no respect for the wishes of the resi-dents,” she said.

Anthony Notaro, Community Board 1’s B.P.C. Committee chair-person, said the situation is “very troubling” because of “the fact that the authority again is not only not transparent but forcing someone out.”

C.B. 1 passed a resolution ask-ing that the B.P.C.A. explain to the community their rationale for such a drastic change of leadership.

For his part, McGowan thinks the authority should close since all of the neighborhood’s sites have been developed.

“The original law had it right,” he said. “The authority was supposed to build it, but the conservancy was supposed to run it.”

Tessa Huxley, park leader, looks to be outContinued from page 1

Downtown Express file photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Tessa Huxley, executive director of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, in 2013 with Vince McGowan, when it was announced he was leaving the conservancy.

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New park opening soon at old St. Vincent’s siteBY L INCOLN ANDERSON

The new park at the former “St. Vincent’s Triangle” — at Seventh Ave. South, Greenwich Ave. and W. 12th St. — is rapidly nearing com-pletion. It will include a lawn, wooden benches, movable tables and chairs and “interactive water jets” for kids to play in.

The site will also eventually include a trellis-like AIDS memorial at its western angle, which reportedly will be completed by the end of the year.

The park is being built and will be main-tained by Rudin Management, which is also constructing the Greenwich Lane luxury residential development on the former St. Vincent’s Hospital main campus.

“The park will open soon,” John J. Gilbert III, chief operating officer and executive vice pres-ident of Rudin Management, told The Villager. “We are waiting for final approvals from the city and then we will have a brand-new open space for the public to enjoy. We are very excited to be so close.”

Rich Caccappolo, chairperson of the Community Board 2 Parks Committee concurred, “It looks close to being open. It looks great.”

Caccappolo said that last Sunday he was told by someone at the site that the new greensward could be open in one to two weeks.

As for the park’s name, it will be unveiled soon. The inspiration for having an AIDS memorial at

the site was the pivotal role that St. Vincent’s played in treating early victims of the devastating epidemic.

In 2010, after 161 years of operation, the his-toric but bankrupt Catholic hospital closed, $1 billion in debt.

Downtown Express photos by Lincoln Anderson

An overview shot of the new park taken from a W. 12th St. balcony of Lenox Health Greenwich Village, above. Work being done on the emerging park viewed from the corner of W. 12th St. and Seventh Ave. South, at right

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Li drops out of race

primary. The accusation, thus, was that Kitasei did not actually witness the sig-natures, yet signed them at some later point, which would constitute fraud.

Sweeney said, if need be, they were willing to subpoena the young students to make them produce their birth certificates in court.

Chin had endorsed Li, who is widely considered to be the coun-cilmember’s protégé. Like Rajkumar, Li is thought to have her eyes on the Assembly seat of scandal-scarred former Speaker Sheldon Silver, who — according to political word on the street — is not expected to run for re-election if he is exonerated.

Other subscribing witnesses for Li included two former Chin staffers, Persephone Tan and Matt Viggiano, as well as Susan Stetzer,

the district manager of C.B. 3 — but no fraud is alleged in their cases.

“A lot of people say it’s a conflict of interest,” Sweeney said of Stetzer petitioning for Li.

Li, who heads the 50-member volunteer board, is technically Stetzer’s boss, in that Stetzer is the board’s top paid staff member.

Asked his thoughts, Arthur Schwartz, the West Village’s district leader, said, “I don’t think it’s the smartest of moves. Perceptions are important.”

Schwartz said if anyone had a conflict of interest it would be Li, since she is Stetzer’s boss and thus holds power over the district man-ager and her job.

On Monday, two days before Li bailed out of the race, Stetzer would

only say “I’m sorry. I’m very, very busy. We’re doing our district needs and we have a full-board meeting tomorrow night and I am extremely busy and I cannot speak right now.”

In addition, the suit charged, at least 50 petition signatures collect-ed for Li were all written in what appeared to be the hand of one female subscribing witness, and so also con-stitute forgery, the suit charges.

Li and a Chin spokesperson both did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Chad Marlow ran against Li for C.B. 3 chairperson two years ago, losing by 31 to 15. He chose not to run again this June as Li won an uncontested re-election to a fourth term. When he ran two years ago, Marlow sharply criticized Li’s lead-ership of the board.

Asked earlier this week about the

allegations of fraud in Li’s ballot petitions, Marlow said local politi-cos of course had all been buzzing about the lawsuit — but that even before the suit’s filing, he had been hearing stories of alleged petition improprieties.

“What I am hearing,” Marlow said, “is like the old Ronald Reagan line: ‘There she goes again.’”

He called Stetzer collecting sig-natures for Li “inappropriate.”

Without an opponent, Rajkumar declared victory Wednesday night in a statement, adding, “My focus remains fighting for my constituents everyday to keep our neighborhoods affordable, create quality education for our children, and transform local government into a platform for innovation and inspiration.”


Candidate is considered a potential successor to Sheldon Silver.

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N.Y.C.’s new slang dictionaryBY LENORE SKENAZY

New Yorkers have always had their own slang. We all know that “coffee regular” means coffee with milk and sugar. A “straphanger” is a subway rider (though, come to think of it, maybe it’s a bus rider, too). And fugheddaboudit is a single word.

But we are clearly overdue for an update. So here is:

NEW SLANG FOR NEW YORK

Halal-anon: Meetings for people addicted to lamb over rice.

Quipster: A hipster who lives in Queens.

Tri-asselete: A person who, by a combination of man-spreading, leaning, and glowering, manages to take up three seats on the subway.

Celebate: A person who tries to not spot celebrities.

PPB: Short for “phantom phone booth” — a phone booth with only wires left in it.

High Line Line: A line you are likely to hear on the High Line, e.g., “It’s 7:30 in Milan now.” Or, “I could’ve bought that building for $50,000 in ‘78.”

Yellowed Cab: Pre-Uber form of transportation.

Square Knot: A crowd of Times Square tourists trying to cross the street that intersects with a crowd of tourists trying to buy $10 handbags.

Coney-ism: Boardwalk employees who send busi-ness to other Boardwalk establishments. E.g., “Now that you’ve had a hot dog, maybe it’s time for a ride on the Cyclone.”

NO-DOZ: (Acronym) The neighborhood Near Or Directly Opposite Zabar’s.

NO-DOZ BRONX: The neighborhood Near Or Directly Opposite Zoo.

Blunch: Brunch that commences at or past lunch-time.

Tramelot: Nickname reflecting Camelot-like hopes for a new Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island.

Churisma: The irresistible allure of a giant pile of churros.

Ferry Godfather: A Mafia don who lives on Staten Island.

Cartio Workout: The exercise one gets walking over to the hot dog cart.

Bubblestone: Street or sidewalk littered with bub-ble-shaped tops of Frappucino cups.

Lost and Lost: The MTA’s Lost and Found booth.

Late Bloomers: Buildings and projects begun in Bloomberg era only now reaching completion.A-Riguez: The side of A-Rod we didn’t see until now.

Cataclysmic Climate Change: The act of entering a freezing subway car from a sweltering platform, or vice versa.

Tube Jobs: A street fair job, e.g., selling tube socks.

Loughnut: The lone doughnut left on a doughnut cart.

Speed Lump: A person standing on the left side of the escalator unaware that that side is reserved for people walking.

Mister Loudee: Any ice cream truck that plays music.

Horse Shoo: Nickname for Mayor de Blasio’s initiative to rid Central Park of carriages.

Sick Passenger: Joking euphemism for lame excuse. E.g., “I wanted to get to your opening, but there was a sick passenger.” Or, “A sick passenger ate my home-work.”

Eva-lution: The gradual switch from traditional to charter schools, often aided by Eva Moskowitz.

Mondo Condo: Nickname for Long Island City.

Shadowfreud: To feel pleasure in knowing a friend’s luxury apartment will soon to be in the shadow of an even more luxurious building.

Smidgeon: A small pigeon.

Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and the author and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids.


Sad SignWith commercial rent increases all over Manhattan, people are seeing so many of these signs lately. This one was at the former Imperial Coffee Shop at Church and Chambers Sts. in Lower Manhattan.

Posted ToMore people means less business for

Nassau Street shops (POSTED, July 16):

Not to be insensitive, but I’m not sure what they want. NO construction? NO Change? Sorry, that’s not happening. If you don’t adjust your merchandise to appeal to the new demographic you are not going to succeed. I don’t shop at those stores because they don’t offer what I want. I’ve seen lots of stores close over the last 8 years that refused to adjust to the “new” neighborhood by staying open later and opening on weekends. They have been replaced by better tenants that offer what we do want. That’s how capitalism works. Pisillo makes great sandwiches. I order from them. He gets it. For him, busi-ness is great.

DTNYC

I agree with other comments about the merchants just not being in touch

with what residents want. I prefer to shop near home (who has time to shop near work these days?), and I would love to have more businesses with mer-chandise I like. Tribeca had a tradition of independently owned stores (cloth-ing, jewelry, hardware, housewares, etc.) that are dying as rents go sky-high over there. Maybe Nassau Street is an opportunity for merchants priced out of Tribeca to make a move, or for some other enterprising small businesses like we see in residential Brooklyn neighbor-hoods to have a branch in Manhattan.

Local Resident

If the neighborhood demographic indicates average household income of over $200K, I would think Omega Jewelers should be selling Rolexes not Seikos, and the Silk Shop should be selling Charvet ties not 3-for-$10 spe-cials. If they upgraded their merchan-dise, the upscale residential clientele would follow.

Nassau Resident

To expand or not is the question at Tribeca plaza (POSTED, July 15):

As an attendee, this was one of the most pathetic discussions I have ever heard at a Community Board meeting

RMMTribeca

We could use a lot more plazas in the neighborhood. And just as important, we need to get on-board with the Move-NY Sam Schwartz plan to end the cheap toll incen-tive trucks have to get to Jersey via Tribeca. No neighborhood has a bigger reason to support this plan than Tribeca.

HamTech87

Agreed, the neighborhood is a traffic nightmare. Why would any-one not want improvements?

Matthiashess

LETTERS POLICYDowntown Express welcomes letters to The Editor.

They must include the writer’s first and last name, a phone number for confirmation purposes only, and any affiliation that relates directly to the letter’s subject mat-ter. Letters should be less than 300 words. Downtown Express reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity, civility or libel reasons. Letters should be emailed to [email protected] or can be mailed to 1 Metrotech Center North, Brooklyn, NY 11201.


Hungry for a spire?Security is tight at One World Trade Center, but we trust no one is too worried about this shark spotted recently in Tribeca.


LONG-RUNNING

TENNIS PROGRAM: East River Park, Montgomery St. and E. 12th Street; cityparksfoundation.org/2015-summer-; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 am – noon, Now – Fri, Aug. 14; Free. City Parks Foundation is again host-ing tennis lessons for children as part of its Summer Sports program. Registration is required online.

YOGA: Washington Square Park, West 7th St. and University Place; nycgovparks.org; Thursdays, 10 am to 11 am, Now – Fri, Aug. 21; Free. Bring your little ones 2 to 7 years old for a stretching session. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Mats will be provided.

ART TIME: Nelson A Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org; Thursdays, 10:30 am–noon, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free. Young artists are introduced to paper, clay, paint and other supplies.

ACCESSIBLE ARTS INITIATIVE: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; Mondays and Wednesdays, Noon–5 pm, Thursdays and Fridays, Noon–6 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 am – 5 pm; Free.The museum is beginning a pilot year of the program which will enable any child with a disability and their care-giver to help strengthen museum wide programs. The initiative is aimed at making the museum more accessible for all children including special needs children. Registration is required.

ART AND GAMES: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org/event; Thursdays, 3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free. Create a fun project, make friends and play games. For children 5 years and older.

ARTS ISLAND OUTPOST: Governors Island, Outside

Building 14; Nolan Park; (212) 274–0986;cmany.org; Saturdays and Sundays, 12 pm to 4 pm, Now – Sun, Sept. 27; Free. The whole family will enjoy making artwork inspired by Governors Island. Participants create works with nat-ural materials found on the island, including rocks, recyclables and more. Hosted by the Children’s Museum of Art.

TRACK AND FIELD: East River Park, Montgomery St. btween E. 12th Street and the FDR Drive; cityparks-foundation.org/2015-summer-; Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 am to 10:30 am and 10:30 am to noon, Now – Wed, Aug. 12; Free with museum admission.

ART AND PLAY: Robert F. Wagner Park, Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org; Mondays – Wednesdays, 10 am–noon, Now – Wed, Oct. 28; Free. Preschoolers drop-in and play with other toddlers, in this interactive play time on the grassy lawn. Sing and hear stories too.

PARENT AND BABY YOGA: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org/event; Mondays, 1 –2:15 pm and 2:30–3:45 pm, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; $180. Multi-level class designed to strength-en the body after giving birth. Pre-registration required. (two sessions).

BASKETBALL CLINIC: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org/event; Mondays, 3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Mon, Oct. 26; Free. Staffers teach children of all ages the basics of the sport. No classes May 25, September 7 and October 12.

HUDSON RIVER OUTPOST: Hudson River Park, Pier 25 at North Moore Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; Tuesdays, 1 pm to 2:30 pm, Now – Tues, Aug. 25; Free. Hosted by the museum and Hudson River Park Trust, families explore

the environment of the Hudson through art workshops. No registra-tion required. Drop ins welcome. All materials provided while supplies last. Weather permitting.

SOCCER CLINIC: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org; Tuesdays, 2:30–3:15 pm; 3:30–4:15 pm and 4:30–5:30 pm, Now – Tues, Oct. 27; Free. Children learn the fundamentals of the game and pre-schoolers have fun kicking, running and being part of a team. Drop in. For ages 3 to 11 years old.

YOUNG SPROUTS GARDENING: Nelson A Rockefeller Park (Children’s Garden), Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org; Tuesdays, 3:15 – 3:45 pm, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free. Little ones 3 to 5 years old learn about simple gardening projects. Space limited first come, first served.

DROP IN CHESS: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org/event; Wednesdays, 3:30–5 pm, Now – Wed, Sept. 30; Free.Players of every level practice, learn and hone up on skills. For children 5 to 15 years old.

PLAYTIME: Teardrop Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org; Wednesdays, 3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Wed, Oct. 28; Free. Staffers teach children the value of play and create fun projects in draw-ing, sculpting and murals. For chil-dren 5 and older.

THURS, JULY 30

SENSORY STORYTIME: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; 4:30 pm to 5 pm; Free with museum admission.Explore books recommended for the new exhibition about small worlds and the far off places of imagination. Stories will be read by CMA staff with opportunities to explore them

with our senses. This interactive sto-ry-time is designed for children ages 3 to 7. Children with disabilities are encouraged to attend.

SAT, AUGUST 1

SLIDE THE CITY: Vita Coco Beach - Foley Square Rest Stop, Duane and Centre Sts.; nyc.gov/summerstreets; 7 am – 1 pm; Also Aug. 8 and 15; Free. Cool off while you slush and speed down a 270-foot water slide. Yippee! This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to slide through the streets is presented by Vita Coco Coconut Water. Participants must register on line in advance.

THURS, AUGUST 6

GARDEN STORIES: Hamilton Fish Library: Siempre Verde Garden, 181 Stanton St. and East Houston Street; (646) 400–2042; nycgovparks.org; 10:30 am; Free. Join in for stories for toddlers through five year olds.

STORYTIME ART CLASS: South Plaza - Union Square Park, East 14th St. and Union Square; nycgovparks.org; 11 am; Free. Dress and mess for artistic success: young children explore their talents with dough, crayons, chalk and more.

SAT, AUGUST 8

SLIDE THE CITY – see Aug. 1.

SATURDAY STUDIOS: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; 10 am – 1 pm; $12 plus general admission. Skill-based art classes for parents and kids together! Pre-registration required.

TUES, AUGUST 11

“GREASE”: Tony Dapolito Recreation Roof, 3 Clarkson St. and Hudson Street; (212) 242–5228; nycgovparks.org; 8 pm to 10:30 pm; Free. Sit back and enjoy the classic with great music, John Travolta and Olivia Newtown John.

ActivitiesJULY 30-AUG. 12, 2015

LIFEDOWNTOWN

BY VICTORIA GRANTHAMOne of the things you learn when

you become a parent is that you’ve taken on a responsibility for life. You can never truly get a vacation from your role as a mom or dad…but my husband and I aren’t above trying.

This summer Jay had a large chunk of time off of work, and when the kids weren’t in school (they go to a year-round daycare/preschool), a lot of the childcare fell to my husband. He’s an extraordinarily involved dad even when schedules are normal, (he regularly cares for our youngest three days a week) but during this time he became The Go-to Guy for our two and five-year-old. For the last hurrah of his summer break he decided to jet to San Francisco for a boys’ week with his college friends. (I don’t begrudge him this in the least, but who has ever heard of a boys’ week?? Anyway.)

I remember years ago when a girlfriend of mine said that her husband had never stayed solo over-night with the kids before, and she feared he might not be capable of handling it — and her oldest was six! At the time I felt pretty smug about the fact that I could leave my child with my husband and be con-fident he’d not only keep him alive, but also that he’d be pretty well cared for in my absence.

But now that I’m in the mid-

dle of Jay’s time away I’m starting to realize the pendulum may have actually swung too far in the oppo-site direction. Yes, my husband is a competent caregiver, and that’s a wonderful thing, but I’m starting to wonder…am I? Here’s the story…

A couple days before Jay left we instituted a rewards system. We bought the chore chart years ago, but finally decided to implement it more consistently last week. For getting dressed, eating meals while seated, brushing teeth, and putting their toys away, the kids get to pick colorful magnetic circles embla-zoned with “Way to Go!” “Good Job!” and “Awesome!” We decided that after three days of solid perfor-mance they’d get a small privilege — an ice cream, stickers, an extra book at bedtime, etc. Before Jay left, the kids were super enthusiastic, but then it fell apart and it’s all my fault.

The first night Jay was gone I decided to take the kids to Wagner Park for music and a picnic with friends. When I was ginning up the plan it sounded great: live music, running around on the grass with classmates on a beautiful night… what could go wrong?

I picked the kids up at 6 p.m.

Are my mothering skills slipping to my husband?

frustrations.Committee member Fern

Cunningham, who has lived at 140 Nassau St. for 15 years, said that in the past week, the street has improved a bit, “but it’s been pretty much awful.”

During the prime time in the morn-ing when kids are off to school and people are rushing to the subway, foot traffic on Nassau would be stopped for the crane, she said. Retail across the street said that the construction was affecting their business.

“It just seemed like there wasn’t any thought into pedestrian traffic along that street,” she said.

Andrews said significant concrete work was currently going on, but when it finishes at the end of September there will be fewer road closures.

Marc Donnenfeld, a 140 Nassau St.

resident, said that when construction began, the Beekman and its developers promised that they wanted to be part of the community. Once the project began, however, all doors and commu-nication was shut, he said.

“You continually work after hours without a permit,” said Donnenfeld. “You ignore requests to stop making noises before work should start and after work should stop.”

He said there is a myriad of com-plaints to 311 from 140 and 145 Nassau St.

Andrews, who has been on the job for four and a half months, was amena-ble to meeting with the committee about concerns and problems.

“We’re part of the neighborhood,” said Andrews. “We want to talk to you.”


Temple Court

Keith McNally, restaura-teur extraordinaire, went before Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee last week and revealed some details about his new restau-rant at 5 Beekman St., which will be both a hotel and condos.

Named Augustine, the restaurant will feature French cuisine — a con-tinuation on the theme of some of McNally’s other spots, which include the Odeon in Tribeca and Balthazar in Soho, but somewhat different, he said. There will also be a bar with 10 to 12 seats. Shane McBride, currently

the executive chef at Balthazar, and Daniel Parilla, co-executive chef at Cherche Midi, will helm the kitchen.

McNally said he had been com-ing before the board since 1979. He quickly agreed to the hours the committee wanted, midnight during the week and 1 a.m. on weekends. The committee approved the liquor license.

Tom Colicchio will also have a signature restaurant at 5 Beekman. The restaurants are slated to open when the hotel and residences do on Feb. 1, 2016.

Beekman restaurant

when their school day and my work day ended. We went and got pic-nic food and started out on our adventure — them on their dino-saur head scooters and me on foot. First miscalculation: I forgot how far we actually live from Wagner Park. After 30 minutes of scooting they were famished and exhaust-ed and their bedtime was rapidly approaching. We were late and it was crowded, so we needed to step over and annoy large groups of peo-ple to get to our friends. I felt like we needed to stay for at least a little while since our friends had saved space for us. It was a beautiful night and a fun concert, and watch-ing my two-year-old bust a move was priceless, but then we were pushing up to and past their bed-time and I had a 9 p.m. work call that I had to be home to lead. (Late night work calls are very unusual for me, but of course one had to be scheduled for this particular night.)

We finally packed it up and headed home leaving our friends behind. By the time we got back I had to rush the boys to sleep without the usual fanfare of baths, stories, songs and backrubs. As a result, they wailed throughout my call. After I wrapped up I went to console them and they promptly suckered me into allowing them to come into my bed. OK so maybe I proactively offered out of guilt. In any event, it was “The Worst Idea Ever.” They proceeded to treat it like some kind of kiddie rave and stayed up until midnight out of sheer excitement. To top it off, in the morning, after scaling the pillow walls I’d built, the two-

year-old tumbled off the bed and started screaming bloody murder. Thankfully there were no perma-nent injuries, but I was rattled, as was he. “I miss daddy” and “I don’t like mommy” was the depressing breakfast mantra.

Needless to say, none of us earned chore chart accolades on either of my first two days alone with my boys.

I planned to tell my husband none of this, but three minutes into his check in call I confessed all (minus the fall off the bed as I knew that would drive him bonkers and he’d potentially strangle me through the phone).

I felt like I was living the disas-trous scene from the beginning of “Mr. Mom,” the icon ‘80s movie, but instead of being the buttoned up mother (Teri Garr) I’m appar-ently the bumbling, inept Michael Keaton. What the hell?

On the upside, I can say that we’re now on day five and the sit-uation is steadily improving. We had a fantastic Sunday at Victorian Gardens in Central Park with friends and I actually got my kids to bed on time for once. I’m trying to be more realistic in my plan-ning and more consistent with rules enforcement. The chore chart is no longer barren.

Let me just say though that I do not understand how single parents do it and my hat is off to stay-at-home moms and dads. It’s a tough and unrelenting job.

A couple days after my husband returns I’ll be off for a girls’ week-end, so the tables will be turned. I’m (pretty) sure he can handle it.


BY SUSAN SHAPIROThe following is an excerpt from

Susan Shapiro’s new novel, “What’s Never Said,” published by Greenwich Village’s Heliotrope, officially coming out Aug. 3.

Setup: In February 1981, in Greenwich Village, Lila Lerner, an innocent graduate N.Y.U. student from a Jewish Wisconsin family, is upset when the professor she adores ignores her on Valentine’s Day. So sheW has dinner with a Turkish classmate, Tarik, at the Cookery on University Place.

When the wine came, Tarik took a sip and nodded for the waiter to pour.

“Why did you get a bottle from ten years ago?” Lila asked, wondering if it was still good a decade later, and if you got a discount for old stuff.

“A friend and wine best when old,” he said, clicking her glass.

Lila was intrigued by his accent and the way he sometimes left out connec-tives.

“You prefer red or white?” “Definitely red,” she said, not men-

tioning that the kind they drank at home was Manischewitz.

“After graduate degree, you move home?” Tarik asked.

“No. I’ll get a job and stay here. I love the Village.” Lila drank up. The taste was growing on her.

“Your family let you do this?” Tarik poured more.

Lila shrugged. “Why not?”“Dangerous alone. Before you

marry…” Lila finished her glass. “I might never

get married.”“Woman writer needs husband,” he

insisted. “Tell that to Sylvia Plath.” She

poured a tall one she finished quickly. He looked confused. “She had hus-

band and two babies young.” “Yeah, then her husband’s affairs

ruined their family,” Lila said. “She would have been better off unmarried and childless. Like Emily Dickinson. Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bishop.”

“You don’t mean.” Tarik shook his head. “Something wrong with woman who doesn’t want to be wife and moth-er.”

“What do you mean by [ital] wrong?” [unital]

“Broken. Damaged. Not normal. Crazy,” he listed. “How you say — dis-turbed.”

“Why the f--- would you say some-thing so ignorant?” she asked, embold-ened by the wine.

“Speak quietly,” he said through clenched teeth. “Not attractive for ladies to swear.”

“F--- you!” she said louder, stand-ing up.

He stood up too, his eyes jumpy, horrified. “Sit down,” he whispered.

Lila did not sit down. She marched out the door. She’d never walked out on a guy at dinner before. It felt totally cool, like she was the poet version of Gloria Steinem. Until she realized that she was overdressed and alone at 9 p.m. on the Saturday night of Valentine’s Day in a city of couples on dates. How humiliating.

Lila started to cry, heading back to her dorm to hide under the covers. Instead she went to Washington Square Park. Sitting on a bench, she lit her roommate Sari’s present: a red joint. Nobody noticed Lila amid the trans-vestites, hippies and students gath-ered around the fire-eater — even in freezing cold. A scraggly regular said, “Hey pretty clothes, what ya doin’ back here?”

“Dumped my date,” she said, hand-ing him the joint. They shared it as a guitar player sang Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris.” She hummed along, tin-gly, dizzy, starving.

Remembering the $20 her mother

sent her for Valentine’s Day, Lila decided to take herself out to dinner at Dojo. She changed into the flats hidden in her purse and waded through the hordes of bohe-mians and homeless men hanging out on

decrepit St. Mark’s Place. It smelled of burning incense and the hot

dog truck on the corner. Lila marveled at the seedy

bodega, dive bar, graffiti-lined record shop and tattoo parlor

she passed. More crazy char-acters strolled this jam-packed

East Village intersection than she’d seen in nineteen years in her hometown of Baraboo — population 10,000. She was awed by the downtown graffiti artists and foreign women selling used blouses and coffeemakers on the sidewalk — not noticing it was twenty degrees out. All the oddballs were decked out as if Valentine’s Day was Halloween — girls in gowns with vampire capes, men in dresses, high heels and makeup. Everybody carried bizarre objects: antique chairs, bagpipes, a boa constrictor. She felt like she was floating, escaping from prison to live in this excit-ing drug-filled carnival.

At her favorite bookstore, St. Mark’s Bookshop, she treated herself to a poetry collection, Louise Glück’s “Descending Figure,” on sale for $2. Crossing the street, she sat inside at Dojo and read the angry female Jewish poet’s words, craving chicken

yakimeshi. Sari had turned her on to this dive and awesome $4 meal. When Lila got her paycheck, she’d treat her-self to this special dish. The only thing Lila didn’t like was the sliced onions. She’d pick them out one by one, put-ting a pile on the side.

Right after she ordered, she had a revelation. She stopped the waitress and said, “Excuse me, miss. I have a question. Can I get my yakimeshi with-out onions?”

“Sure, hon. No problem,” the wait-ress said.

Lila was amazed. Forget all her male Svengalis trying to teach her wisdom. She’d just learned the most important lesson on her own: You could order the world without onions! Just as it came, she saw Sari walking by through the window. She was alone too. What happened to her date Lenu? Lila ran outside and called out to her. “I left Tarik at the Cookery and smoked your joint alone in the park.”

“Lenu bangs me four times last night, then blows me off Valentine’s Day. It’s a stupid motherf---ing Hallmark holiday,” Sari muttered, then started crying.

Lila held out her arms, which Sari fell into. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come hang out with me.” Lila led her inside.

Sari sat down at her table, blowing her nose with Lila’s napkin. Then she stuck her fingers in the yakimeshi, picking out chicken and some carrots, plunking them in her mouth.

“Tastes different,” Sari said. “I special ordered it,” Lila told her.

“You can just order life without the onions!”

“Nice metaphor,” Sari said. “Right? I know!” Lila cracked up,

then asked the waitress for another fork, thinking she wound up with the exact right person she loved most on Valentine’s Day after all.

Susan Shapiro will read from “What’s Never Said” at a “Shrinks Are Away Reading” on Tues., Aug. 4, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at St. Mark’s Bookshop, 136 E. Third St. Other authors reading from their new works will include Kate Walter, Neesha Arter, Royal Young and Kenan Trebincevic. On Wed., Aug. 5, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Shapiro will host a “Secrets of Book Publishing Panel” with book editors and literary agents at the Strand bookstore’s Rare Books Room, 828 Broadway at 12th St. (Buy a copy of “What’s Not Said” or a $15 Strand gift card in order to attend.)

Hold the onions! A Village Valentine’s Day story

Susan Shapiro as an N.Y.U. student in 1981, with a friend in the Village.

AROUND


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BY SCOTT STIFFLER

FREIGHT: THE FIVE INCARNATIONS OF ABEL GREEN

J. Alphonse Nicholson plays one African-American man given five different fates, in Howard L. Craft’s time-tripping tour of American history. Minstrel, cult leader, FBI informant, struggling actor and out-of-work mortgage bro-ker comprise the titular “Incarnations,” within whose abilities and limitations Abel Green must navigate the gray areas of the American Dream.

At HERE (145 Sixth Ave. btw. Spring & Broome Sts.) through Aug. 9: Tues., Thurs., Fri., Sat at 8:30 p.m. (also Wed. Aug. 5 & Sun. Aug.

9). Matinees Sun. Aug. 2 & Sat. Aug. 8 at 4 p.m. For tickets ($18), visit here.org. For info on the play’s producing enti-

ties: newdogtheatre.com and piedmont-pe r f o rmance -factory.org.

HAMLETGHOSTSAfter 18 months

in the workshop percolation phase,

The Brewing Dept. has distilled Shakespeare’s

“Hamlet” down to its essence — a potent cup’s worth of core themes remain, with much of the plot and text jettisoned in favor of vignettes that mash the best of the Bard’s takes on family ties, insanity and revenge with Lady Gaga, Internet info and can-did narratives plucked from the lives of cast members. Director Cody Holliday Haefner’s inter-pretation of the much-produced play forces the audience, he asserts, “to question their own com-plicity in the acts of madness and violence played out in front of them.”

Mon., Aug. 3–Wed., Aug. 5, 7 p.m. at HERE (145 Sixth Ave. btw. Spring & Broome Sts.) For tickets ($15), visit here.org. Artist info at the-brewingdept.org.

THE SINGULARITYDystopian near-future?

Check. Bossy health care cyber-overlord? Check.

Successful use of a forty-something’s last egg?

Nope. So begins “The Singularity” — in which Astrid rages against the system while going rogue to find a donor who’s got the right stuff to beat her biological clock. A chance discussion with

a quirky scientist about his odd experiments

could take her plans from concept to conception…

but at what price? Playwright Crystal Jackson’s sassy, sur-real, sci-fi comedy of esca-lating absurdities marks a return by Virago Theatre Company of San Francisco — last seen in these parts last summer, at The Flea,

with their productions of “AROUSAL” and “The Lover.”

July 30–Aug. 15: Mon.–Sat. (dark on Tues.) at 9 p.m. with Sat. matinees Aug 1, 8, 15 at 1 p.m. At The Flea Theater (41 White St. btw. Broadway & Church). For tickets ($15–$30), call 212-352-3101 or visit theflea.org. Artist info at viragotheatre.org.

Just Do Art

Photo by Nick Graetz

One man, five fates: J. Alphonse Nicholson time-shifts between different eras in American history, in “Freight” (at HERE through Aug. 9).

Designed by Jiin Choi

The Brewing Dept. boils down “Hamlet” to its essence, when “HamletGhosts” haunts HERE Aug. 3–5.

I N P R I N T O R O N L I N E

W W W. D O W N T O W N E X P R E S S . C O M

Photo by Bren Coombs

Scrambled, with eggs: Astrid pursues reproduction, in “The Singularity,” a sci-fi-tinged comedy at HERE through Aug. 15.

28 July 30-August 12, 2015 DowntownExpress.com

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HAS ARRIVED IN DOWNTOWN NEW YORK.

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, JULY 30,2015

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