JUNE 18, 2015 DOWNTOWN EXPRESS

VOLUME 28, NUMBER 1 JUNE 18-JULY 1, 2015

BY JOSH ROGERS

You win some, you lose some, but when it comes to development plans at South Street Seaport, there’s always frustration.

That was the overriding feeling at two Community Board 1 meetings this month to talk about recent action on a project that has stalled on and off for 18 months. The delays tend to be wel-comed — but never by opposing sides at the same time.

The news: The developer Howard Hughes Corp. is reducing the pro-posed size of its much-criticized 500-foot tower by a “significant,” unknown amount.

And then on Tuesday, a city offi-cial gave little hope that the New Market Building — the 1939 Fulton Fish Market structure on the tower site — or its older landmark neighbor, the Tin Building, would be standing on their decaying pier much longer.

Demolition of the city-owned build-ings’ non-back cooler areas — added later in the ‘50s — is expected to begin early in August and finish in September.

At that point, engineers hired by the city’s Economic Development Corp. will “take a better look at the rest of the building and see what we have to do because this isn’t the end,” said the official, Rich Cote, senior vice president of asset management. “The piles are continuing to deterio-rate. It’s just a matter of time. Mother Nature is gonna take its course.”

Cote, the agency’s construction manager, acknowledged there were plans in April to demolish both vacant buildings.

Crain’s reported in May about April’s demolition plans. City offi-cials staunchly refused to confirm or deny the article’s accuracy until Cote’s

Smaller tower, bigger uproarat the South Street Seaport

Continued on page 6

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

What does a rent stabilized building look like? If it’s in the Financial District, it could look like 37 Wall St.

— a stately building that also houses Tiffany & Co. and is across from a Trump tower.

Over five years ago, a housing court decision centered on 37 Wall St. could have opened the flood-gates of rate-stabilized apartments in Lower Manhattan — instead a trickle happened.

“That ruling had the potential of regulating about 5,000 apartments in the Financial District,” said Serge

Joseph, a lawyer with Himmelstein McConnell. “Since then, unfortunate-ly, not much has happened.”

Today, thousands of Downtown units — at least 3,400 — may still be eligible for stabilization but whether tenants take advantage is another matter.

(Some buildings that are under the 421-g program are in the chart that accompanies the article.)

In the 2009 case, Maverick Scott, a tenant at 37 Wall St., refused to pay his $4,920 rent due to the condi-tion of his apartment, which he told

A route to better rent deals Downtown

Continued on page 12

BY JOSH ROGERS

The plans of Rupert Murdoch and sons’ to move their film and media empire to Lower Manhattan is not yet a done deal,

but the project’s high-profile architect last week released an eye-catching

video showing what the new 2 World Trade Center will look like.

The news was mostly welcomed Downtown, particularly because Two is in danger of languishing undeveloped

The new 2 W.T.C.

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

Continued on page 3

Rendering by DBOX/Courtesy of BIG

The Bjarke Ingels Group’s design for 2 World Trade Center.

2 June 18-July 1, 2015 June 18-July 1, 2015 3DowntownExpress.comDowntownExpress.com

since it does not have the public sub-sidies that allowed construction of the three other towers on the site.

Bjarke Ingels, the 40-year-old Danish architect who was dubbed the “whiz kid” by the New York Times architectural critic in 2013, proposes a skyscraper of seven stacked boxes in a stairway-like shape which will “frame the memorial.”

He sees the box shape as akin to Tribeca’s historic warehouse build-ings and Two as a bridge between Tribeca and the memorial.

“From Tribeca, it will appear like a vertical village of singular build-ings, each tailored to their individual activities, stacked on top of each other,” he says in dramatic tones on the video, which was first posted at Wired.com June 9.

Ingels, who lives in Tribeca and works in FiDi, has designed a series of “hanging garden” terraces, which would overlook Church St. away from the 9/11 Memorial. The video shows open work/play spaces with ameni-ties like a basketball court.

Commenters on Facebook’s FiDi Fan Page, in general reacted favorably to the new design, although more than a few lamented the loss of architect Norman Foster’s design for 2 W.T.C.

“I definitely preferred the exterior of the original design much more, but the interiors and the terrace are all pretty sweet,” wrote one poster.

Luis Vazquez, the page’s creator, was excited by the news even though he also liked Foster’s renderings.

Vazquez, a real estate broker and local resident, wrote in an email to Downtown Express that the expense of the video “makes it far more likely that it will happen. I am an eternal optimist, but this is not a cheap expense. And it clearly is a much better option for Fox than what they have now on 6th Ave. which is kind of sad.”

Silverstein Properties, the build-ing’s owner, and Fox have a non-bind-ing agreement, but Silverstein put the new design on the firm’s web site the day it became public.

Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance, said she was “thrilled” to hear the news.

”A lease is never signed until a lease is signed but it’s certainly a good sign to have two parties, it seems, who are very interested

in working together,” she said in a phone interview.

Ingels said on the “Charlie Rose” show last week that W.T.C. developer Larry Silverstein’s first reaction was that the plan was “disturbingly differ-ent. He needed some digestion time…

“Silverstein has been working on this for like 14 years, of course we needed to make Larry want to build this building.”

Ingels and his colleagues at the Bjarke Ingels Group or BIG, reached out to Silverstein’s architect David Childs, designer of 1 and 7 W.T.C.

Ingels presented the plan to Childs and Silverstein at 7. According to Ingels, Childs said “I love it,” and that was the turning point.

Ingels said that James Murdoch, Rupert’s son, was the driving force behind the planned move of 21st Century Fox and News Corp. from Midtown to the W.T.C.

“The first thing James said to me is he didn’t want to build a tower,” Ingels told the Wired news site.

A few days after the video was released, the Murdochs signaled that James would soon be taking over leadership of 21st Century Fox.

They hope the building opens in 2020.

This is not the first spalsh Ing has made Downtown. His firm’s Big U design to form a U-shaped ring of flood protection in southern Manhattan was selected by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

The Tale of Two de Blasios

A de Blasio rent freeze and his push for stricter Albany rent laws is not only one big contradiction, it will destroy affordable housing for the millions of New Yorkers who depend on it.

“I provide affordable housing for 5 families in Harlem.”

“I provide affordable housing for 6 families in Bay Ridge.”

“I provide affordable housing for 8 families in Park Slope.”

• “Rent is the number one expense for New Yorkers.”• Wants stricter Albany rent laws and a rent freeze that prevents landlords from paying the bills.

• His tenants pay $100,000 in rent.• He can cover his bills by raising his tenants’ rent.

LANDLORD de BLASIOMAYOR de BLASIO

Downtown Express photos by Milo Hess

Park games

From extreme pogo to a pentathlon, Saturday’s inaugural Hudson River Park Games filled the Lower West Side waterfront park’s piers, waters and even its airspace, with a day of feel-good competition and games. Goldman Sachs won the coveted Hudson River Park Cup, taking first place among 20 New York com-

panies and community groups. Presented by Friends of Hudson River Park, the games were not only healthy competition, but a fundraiser (the games were pay-to-play) for the 5-mile-long park, which receives no government cash for its operations. The Olympic-style pentathlon was the day’s highlight, with teams clashing

in back-to-back gruelling games of beach volleyball, flag football and dodgeball, plus kayak races and a daunting obstacle course. Goldman Sachs ultimately prevailed by winning a tug-of-war contest. The deliv-ery.com Games Village, at Pier 26 in Tribeca, was the event’s home base, also site of a beer garden.

New design unveiled for 2 World Trade CenterContinued from page 1

Rendering by BIG

Diagram of the World Trade Center buildings surrounding the 9/11 Memorial.

Photo by Steve Benisty/Courtesy of BIG

Architect Bjarke Ingels

Rendering by BIG

A cafe and terrace at 2 W.T.C.


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BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC WITH JOSH ROGERS

Jeff Galloway, a longtime mem-ber of Community Board 1 and Battery Park City resident, has plead-ed guilty to tax fraud, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. announced Thurs, June 4.

He pleaded guilty to criminal tax fraud in the third degree, which is a felony, and is expected to be sentenced on July 22. According to several media reports, he will have to pay $600,000 in taxes, serve three months in jail and resign from the bar.

Galloway, 61, failed to file New York State personal income tax returns for five years, between 2005 and 2010, while earning close to $1 million dollars per year as a partner at the law firm of Hughes Hubbard and Reed, according to the plea and court documents.

State Department of Taxation and Finance investigators approached Galloway in April 2012 about his fail-ure to file. He claimed to investiga-tors that he had indeed filed, but had entered the wrong Social Security num-ber, according to prosecutors.

He then filed fraudulent tax returns with excessive deductions — “claiming the rent for all four of his residential apartments in Battery Park City and claiming monthly garage parking in Manhattan for two personal vehicles,” according to Vance’s office.

Galloway continued to lie about his tax returns and made false statements

about the validity of the deductions, according to prosecutors.

He did not return a call for comment.Galloway had been a C.B. 1 member

for 12 years and was chairperson of the Planning Committee and a member of the Battery Park City Committee. Once a community board member is found guilty of felony, he or she is automat-ically removed. C.B. 1’s webpage no longer lists Galloway as a member and Michael Connolly is now listed as chair-person of the Planning Committee.

It is unclear if and when Galloway will be replaced. A spokesperson from Manhattan Borough President Gale

Brewer’s office said in an email Tuesday, “We were fortunate this year to have many more qualified applicants than available community board seats. When a mid-term vacancy arises, the borough president’s office will look first to the pool of applicants who were found to be highly qualified after our screening and group interview process.”

At B.P.C. meetings, Galloway stressed community — most recently as the Battery Park City Authority has opened up the permit process for the ballfields, which has put local leagues’ field time in jeopardy. The leagues have helped create a community by connect-ing neighbors and their children to one another, Galloway said at the commit-tee’s March meeting.

In the years after 9/11, Galloway was a leading voice on the community board on rebuilding efforts and took a particular interest in the memori-al, writing a Downtown Express col-umn in 2004 praising the selection

of the “Reflecting Absence” design. He also headed the neighborhood dog owners group and often spoke out on behalf of his neighbors at Gateway Plaza, the largest B.P.C. housing which was built as middle income housing.

Catherine McVay Hughes, C.B.1’s chairperson, declined to comment.

Galloway was a partner at Hughes Hubbard and Reed for over 33 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. A person at the firm said “Jeff Galloway’s office” when answering the phone June 5, but then said he was no longer working there.

Jeff Galloway, a C.B. 1 leader, admits to tax fraud

The Battery Park City resident is expected to be sentenced to 3 months in jail.

Jeff Galloway,

PAINTING CAPERA thief — pretending to be a building

super — got away with a contemporary piece of art worth anywhere between $19,000 and $32,000, police say.

On Mon., May 15, at 9:30 a.m., a Fed Ex worker was delivering the painting to 321 Greenwich St. in Tribeca when someone claiming to be the building super-intendent signed for the package, which contained the painting.

The painting, titled “Calming Freshness,” by Harold Wong, was being delivered to a private owner in the build-ing, who then reported the theft, police say.

Wong created the piece in 2000 and it is ink and color on paper and inscribed and signed with six seals of the artist, police say.

He is prominent in the art world, and in 2000, the New York Times raved about a Wong show with the now stolen art work.

“Contemporary painting doesn’t get more spectacular than some of the work in this superb solo show by Harold Wong,” the paper wrote.

Police had not publicized last month’s crime until Tuesday and are now hoping members of the public will help them

find the painting. People can call 800-577-TIPS, post their tips to nyp-dcrimestoppers.com or text them to 274637(crimes) then enter tip577.

SUBWAY ROBBERIESA tag team of thieves worked togeth-

er to steal a man’s iPhone, expensive bracelet and Beats headphones on the train — getting away with $1,600 worth of stuff, police say.

A 20-year-old male got on a down-town express 2 train at Times Square on Sat., June 13 at 8 a.m., police say. At the Park Place station, one suspect approached the Brooklyn man and stomped on his right foot — using that as a distraction to snatch the smart-phone and headphones. His partner than grabbed the man’s bracelet, valued at $1,200, from his right wrist. Both fled.

In a separate subway incident, a 53-year-old man from Amawalk in Westchester County, got bumped and jostled on a busy northbound 5 train on Thurs., June 11 at 6 p.m., police say. A thief got away with both the man’s MetroCard and Metro-North pass, worth $410 together.

IPHONE VICTIM LURES THIEF TO COPS

It is a case of adding insult to injury — someone steals your $800 iPhone and then tries to “sell” it back to you for $300.

That is what happened to a 23-year-old Queens woman, who had left school and realized that her phone was gone when she checked her pocket in front of 401 Canal St. in Tribeca on Mon., June 1 at 12:30 p.m., police say.

The suspect, 24, later told her on the phone to meet him at the corner of Broadway and Chambers St. with $300 to get her phone back. She contacted the police and the man was arrested.

GANG OF QUICK

SHOPLIFTERSIt could be the quickest shoplifting

heist in history — a team of 15 men stole $34,001 worth of clothing from a Tribeca store in under a minute.

The 26-year-old male employee of Patron of the New at 151 Franklin St. told police that the men were in and out in around 20 seconds. The group entered the store on Thurs., June 4 at 12:30 p.m. and grabbed pricey jeans, leather pants, cami-soles, socks and sweatpants and then fled both east and west on Franklin St. The employee told police that all the men looked about 20.

$1,700 STOLEN FROM TOURIST

On Fri., June 12, a woman, 31, visiting from Upstate New York put her book bag down at around 6:15 p.m. on a bench in Battery Park (recently renamed The Battery) to take photos — maybe of the Statue of Liberty — and walked away, police say. When she returned, the bag was gone — and so were various credit cards, her Columbian driver’s license and $1,700. She told police she is unsure if there have been any unauthorized usage on her cards.

CABBIE ROBBEDA cabbie picked up a fare in the

Financial District and ended up getting robbed by his passenger.

The taxi driver, 25, picked up a woman at the corner of Broadway and Cortlandt St. on Wed., June 3 at 4 p.m., police say. He allowed her to ride in the front seat with him on the way to her destination — the corner of Church and Fulton Sts.

The Brooklyn man had his blue leather wallet inside a bag on the cen-ter console. After dropping her off, he noticed his wallet with $400, debit and credit cards was gone. He told police that he had an unauthorized charge on his debit card. No word on whether the thief tipped him.

— DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

Images of Harold Wong’s painting, “Calming Freshness,” which was stolen last month.


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remarks Tuesday. “I considered both buildings to be in

an emergency condition so I tried to get an emergency permit to do that [demolish the buildings],” he said.

He said E.D.C. colleagues told him, “‘Rich, probably we need to take a step back.’ I was very reluctant to do that for safety reasons.”

He said the current “compromise” plan to demolish only the cooler areas was agreed upon after consulting with city, state and federal environmental and pres-ervation agencies.

Preservation groups and C.B. 1 have long favored landmarking the New Market Building, and many saw the E.D.C. moves as a backdoor way of ending the debate about the building.

That skepticism, which has been fueled over the years by the agency’s history of withholding information regarding the Seaport, was in evidence Tuesday night.

Cote acknowledged that the E.D.C. decision to inject the pier piles with con-crete protection in the late ‘90s has made it impossibly expensive to repair the pier now without taking down the buildings.

Divers would have to manually chip away the concrete around each wooden pile, he said.

Paul Hovitz, a community board member, said the agency is not being held accountable for its mistakes.

“So it’s been 20 years that the respon-sibility for those supports have been with the Economic Development Corp., so is it your position that because it would have been a mammoth project, it was better to just let them deteriorate to the point at which we need to rely on a private corpo-ration, Howard Hughes, to come in and pay for what the city should have taken care of in the first place,” Hovitz said.

Cote said the agency has been spending about a $1 million a year to stabilize the Tin and New Market, but it can’t spend much more given that they don’t generate revenue, and E.D.C. only has a tiny percentage of the money needed to protect about 65 miles of waterfront buildings.

“There are billions of dollars of imme-diate repairs [needed] on those waterfront structures, [and] E.D.C. over a 10-year period, gets about $150 million in the budget to make those repairs,” he said.

Although the Tin Building, which was

badly damaged in a ’95 fire, is like-ly to be taken down, it was always in Hughes’ plans to dismantle and restore the building as best it could, so the E.D.C. announcement does not appear to change those plans, if the Hughes project ends up being approved.

SHORTER BUILDING As for the Seaport tower, things

had been in limbo all of this year, as observers continue to wait for the Hughes Corp. to proceed with its landmarks application.

On June 3, David Weinreb, Hughes C.E.O., sent Mayor Bill de Blasio a letter saying they were changing the design. A Hughes spokesperson said the decision to change was made short-ly before the letter was sent.

Weinreb was reacting to a May 20 letter signed by Board 1 as well as non-profit preservation groups like the New York Landmarks Conservancy and Historic District Council criticiz-ing the city’s deference to Hughes.

Last week, Chris Curry, the Hughes executive in charge of Seaport devel-opment, angered many C.B. 1 meeting attendees when he did not have any details about the revisions to come.

“We didn’t completely satisfy the height issue,” Curry said of the 500-foot tower plan being changed. “The height issue may never be completely satisfied to everyone’s satisfaction, but what I can tell you is we are looking at a significantly revised plan that I don’t even know what it looks like yet, so it’s not going to be shared.”

There were sarcastic chuckles when he said “we have been nothing but transparent.”

The reaction has clearly perplexed

Hughes executives, who are privately wondering why they’re getting push-back for conceding on the biggest stick-ing point, the building’s size.

Curry said they have been trying to meet the guidelines of the Seaport Working Group, which was run by E.D.C. mediators, and was made up of local politicians, community leaders and Hughes.

“Something that came up at the Seaport Working Group a lot was ‘let’s press pause, let’s just slow down,’” Curry said of last year’s discussions. “That’s what’s happened. That’s why we don’t have much happening…No one wants to move faster than I do.”

In response, Roger Byrom, chairper-son of C.B. 1’s Landmarks Committee, said “yes, whilst we did ask for a pause, that pause was a long, long, time ago.”

Byrom said the historic buildings “are now exposed. We’re sitting here with all of this history, without a sense of how to move forward.”

Later in a phone interview he said “it’s hard to judge” whether the smaller building will be a positive development until the plans are revealed.

The leaders of the working group, Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Margaret Chin, did not attend either recent meeting, but both were more bullish about a new design.

“H.H.C’s statement that they are ‘working on a significantly revised plan to address the height issue’ is welcome news,” the pair said in a statement June 4. “We look forward to seeing how well their revised proposal meets the Seaport Working Group guidelines and preserves and enhances the vibrancy and historical significance that the Seaport deserves.”

Continued from page 1

PROJECT BOUNDARY

HISTORIC DISTRICT BUILDINGS

TIN BUILDING

NEW MARKET BUILDING

PIER 17

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT // THE SITE

Howard Hughes Corp. is currently building a new Pier 17 and hopes to develop the New Market and Tin buildings.

Frustration grows over Seaport development


BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICLower Manhattan residents gath-

ered Monday in front of the Frank Gehry building to remember and honor Mike Rogalle, a beloved U.P.S. worker who was fatally struck by a car three years ago.

Over 80 residents from 140 and 145 Nassau St. donated money for a tree to pay homage to Rogalle, who spent decades on his Nassau St. route — and became a part of the community.

“Mike was no ordinary U.P.S. guy,” said Diane Rohan, a resident who organized the tree planting and the ceremony. “The best way to remember him and let his family know how much we loved him was to plant a tree.”

In April 2012, Rogalle, 58, was critically injured when a S.U.V. hit him on Beekman St. and died five days later on April 22.

Safety concerns on the street were heightened once again as a recent hit and run crash badly injured a mother who was on her way to work at Lower Manhattan Hospital.

Wanting to honor Rogalle, Rohan and others raised money in 2013 for a tree. It took two years to coordinate

with the city Parks Dept. to make it happen. The first place for the tree was at 15 Beekman St. — in front of which the incident took place — but it was not viable due to a hollow sidewalk. Rohan found a spot at the plaza in front of 8 Spruce St.

“I’m really appreciative of this Downtown community,” Chelsea Rogalle, his daughter, told Downtown Express after the ceremony. “I can tell the community misses him as much as we do.”

Around 25 people came for the plaque’s unveiling at the base of the tree and shared memories of Rogalle before, during and afterwards — rais-ing a glass to him across the street at Beekman Pub.

“He always had an extra minute or two,” said Alan Steinberg, who knew Rogalle for more than 30 years. “What happened to him was absolutely tragic.”

Fern Cunningham, a new Community Board 1 member, said that she “can’t get over” what happened to Rogalle.

“He was just the best,” said Cunningham, who has lived at 140

Nassau St. for 15 years.“Each of us had their own unique

relationship with him,” said Barbara Lipski.

Lipski, who lived at 140 Nassau St. for 20 years and now lives in Penn South in Chelsea, spearheaded the fundraising drive.

“This is what a community is sup-posed to be,” said Lipski with tears in her eyes. “Mike was a part of our community.”

Dwight Hamilton has been a U.P.S. worker for 29 years — and knew

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Beloved U.P.S. driver honored on Beekman St.

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

Chelsea Rogalle spoke at the tree dedication for her father, Mike, a beloved U.P.S worker who was fatally struck by a car three years ago.

Downtown Express photos by Dusica Sue Malesevic and photo of Mike Rogalle courtesy of Diane Rohan.

Many gathered to honor Mike Rogalle, below in his uniform.

Rogalle for almost as long. Hamilton’s route was near Rogalle’s and he saw

him every morning.“It’s tremendous,” Hamilton said.

“To have this here, it will remind of us Mike for a very long time.”Continued on page 9



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

BY MIA RUPANILuke, an eighth grade student at

Manhattan Academy of Technology has been taking tap dancing lessons for the past eight years. As a danc-er, he was taught that tap dance originated in the old Five Points neighborhood near his school — a seemingly faceless claim that most regard as true.

Now, through the school’s Lower East Side Young Historians program, Luke and fellow classmates have found multiple sources to back their claim that tap may have actually began just outside of Five Points on Catherine St., the same street as M.A.T.

“Mr. Guerriero came to me with a newspaper article from The Sun’s Rays. He told me that he found a few sources that said tap danc-ing was created on Catherine St. instead the Five Points,” said Luke (the school requested students’ last names be withheld).

The L.E.S. Young Historians program, created by middle school teachers Alfonso Guerriero and Chris Piccigallo, focuses on local history while still meeting common core social studies reading/writing standards.

The program supplements the eighth-grade social studies curricu-lum that normally would not include learning about the history of the area where many of the students have grown up.

According to some historians, the Five Points neighborhood in Manhattan, which was defined as being bound by Centre St. in the west, the Bowery in the east, Canal St. in the north and Park Row in the south is seen as the area where tap originated.

For proof, historians often look to the writings of Charles Dickens, who visited Five Points in 1841. Dickens wrote about a new form of dance performed by an African-American man named William Henry Lane, otherwise known as Master Juba, at the Pete Williams Dance hall in the Five Points.

Dance students like Luke are often taught about tap and the Five Points origin in class — web-sites such as Wikipedia and Urban Geography also give credit to the neighborhood for this discovery.

As part of their research proj-ect, students Luke, Elijah, Alice and Crystal made the decision to research the origin of tap dancing

“I started researching and I came across Thomas De Voe who wrote ‘The

Market Book,’” Luke said. “When we looked more into him, we found that he was a historian and butcher who wrote about tap dancing.”

Through their research, the stu-dents believe they may have found enough proof to back their claim that tap dancing started at the for-mer Catherine Market, which was down the street from the school between Cherry St. and Water St. near Catherine Slip (the site today is a small park). De Voe dedicates a chapter in his book to this particu-lar market, describing a dance that African slaves performed there in the 1820s, roughly 20 years before Master Juba.

The article the student’s refer-ence in The Sun’s Rays is titled “Where tap dancing had its start here, Catherine Street, now gray, once bright and the main thorough-fare of big business” and is dated Jan. 9, 1932.

“Thus, we find Catherine street virtually paved with stories, among them being this quaint one of how tap dancing began in New York,” the article states.

The article describes Catherine Market and the dances that slaves often performed there. It also men-tions De Voe and The Market Book, and quotes him directly in the piece.

Guerriero, Piccigallo and the stu-dents have made multiple attempts to get their research noticed, but currently, they are awaiting a response.

“We will continue with this claim until we get some other feedback…We’re trying to get some notoriety for this,” said Piccigallo.

Thomas F. Defrantz, a professor of African and African American studies at Duke University, consid-ered the student’s claim after being contacted by Downtown Express. In an email, he wrote that it would be hard to pinpoint an exact place of origin.

“I think a tussle between Five Points or Catherine Street matters little; if the students can date an actual showcase or competition for tap on Catherine Street, how great is that,” Defrantz wrote.

While one group of students con-tinue to research tap, the rest of the class have chosen other project top-ics, such as food, photography and urban sports.

“Everything is supposed to take on the aspect of local history,” Piccigallo said. “So through the

lens of local history, how does this research perhaps connect to our overall arching question, which is the idea of social change and how social change contributes to the idea of American history.”

Regardless of the outcome of their claim, Piccigallo and Guerriero hope students take away the importance of local history from the program.

“I take the bus here every day and I pass these buildings without realizing there’s a real story behind these objects. After class, I come home and tell my parents and they say, ‘Your grandfather worked in a similar neighborhood in the Lower East Side,’” Luke said. “The history of my life comes together through this program. It’s like nothing else I’ve had before in my learning.”

A tale of two dances: Students challenge Dickens’ claim

Downtown Express photo by Mia Rupani

Eighth grade students at Manhattan Academy of Technology put together this chart challenging the conventional wisdom that tap dancing originated in Lower Manhattan’s Five Points. The claim’s origin is believed to be the writings of Charles Dickens.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

The M.A.T. students’ research indicates that tap dancing probably originated just outside of Five Points at the former Catherine Market Building.

Five Points

M.A.T. School

Former Catherine Market

Catherine St.

Cherry St.

Water St.

BY MIA RUPANIFor one night only, the museums of

Lower Manhattan are opening their doors to the public for free to offer guests an evening surrounded by art, artifacts and interactive design.

On June 23 from 4 to 8 p.m., visitors can visit 15 museums and historical sights all within walking distance of each other as part of the River to River Festival’s Night at the Museums event.

A few of the participating muse-

ums include the Museum of American Finance, the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum, the Poets House and the Skyscraper Museum.

As the current producer of the River to River Festival, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council strives to create dance, music and art events in areas Downtown like parks, historic landmarks and along the waterfront.

Some of the museums will offer interactive experiences for guests.

Historical musician Linda Russell will be performing at the Fraunces Tavern Museum as instructors from the Tricorne Dance Ensemble teach visitors popular dances from the Colonial Era.

As part of this event, museumgo-ers can also receive 25 percent off their bill at participating restaurants in Lower Manhattan by mentioning River To River. A few of these estab-lishments include Watermark Bar, Industry Kitchen and Merchants

River House. Discounts are avail-able until the end of the festival on June 28.

For those who may not be able to attend Night at the Museums, other events will be happening daily as part of River to River, which include a number of musical and dance performances.

For a full list of events hap-pening throughout the week, visit the L.M.C.C’s website at lmcc.net/event/night-at-the-museums-2.

Downtown museums offer free evening

Maison Kayser, a French bakery, will open its seventh location in Manhattan at 355 Greenwich St. in Tribeca.

The bakery, which was started by Eric Kayser in Paris in 1996, according to its website, will serve freshly baked bread and other French pastry goodies as well as coffee. Maison is opening in the former spot of the Harrison, a

restaurant, and is expected to open in mid-July.

In addition to buttery crois-sants, the Tribeca Grand Hotel is repurposing its cellar into a jazz lounge. The hotel’s management told Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee on Wed., June 10 that they will put a bar and seats in to create a lounge in the style of an old Parisian jazz club.

Ooh la la, French bakery & a jazz club coming to Tribeca

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Downtown Express then had been overrun with mice. The landlord took him to court and during the proceedings, it was discovered that his building was receiving the 421-g tax break, which only affects Lower Manhattan. The court ruled that the apartment should be rent stabilized.

The 421-g tax abatement pro-gram was introduced by then Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the ‘90s to encour-age developers to convert aging Lower Manhattan offices into res-idences. While owners receive the benefit, apartments in the buildings are subject to rent stabilization, which offers tenants protection from high rent increases and the right to renew their lease.

Tenants in affected buildings were reluctant to give their full names to a reporter.

Sarah, a tenant at 37 Wall St. since Sept. 2013, said that she was informed that her apartment was stabilized and her last rent increase was small.

David, a tenant in the same building, said, “I don’t notice it,” when asked about the rent stabili-zation.

He had the opposite experience — saying his rent was increased by a substantial amount. It wasn’t a trick, he said, but rather part of the complexity of the system. A tenant for a little over a year, he said that the rent stabilization part was bur-ied in his lease.

Tiffany Winbush, a Community Board 1 member, lived at 37 Wall St. for five years. Prior to the final two years of her lease, she learned that her building was stabilized after Tom Goodkind, another

board member, and the Housing Committee compiled a list of all buildings under the 421-g program.

“Thirty-seven Wall’s stabilization clause helped ensure that I received only nominal rent increases during my annual lease renewal process,” she said in an email.

Joseph, who was Scott’s lawyer, has continued to defend tenants in similar cases, and gave an update to C.B. 1’s Planning Committee at their meeting on Mon., June 8. On May 20, a New York State Supreme Court judge affirmed the lower court’s decision that when a build-ing is under the 421-g program, its units can indeed be rent stabilized.

In that case, the owner of 25 Broad St. tried to evict Thomas and Patricia Bransford from their apartment, according to court doc-uments. The building was under the 421-g program and Judge Shlomo S. Hagler ruled that their apartment was rent stabilized, according to court documents.

Joseph said in his current case, a family that had lived in an apart-ment for years and paid incremental increases in rent got concerned when “lo and behold, at their last renewal lease their landlord at 85 John St. sought a 29 percent rent increase.”

Joseph said many tenants have not taken advantage even though the 2009 decision was well publi-cized and C.B. 1 has worked to get the word out.

“Some people, at least [that] I spoke to anyway, they’re afraid to challenge their landlord — even though they have the right to do so,” said Diane Lapson, a community board member and tenant leader at Independence Plaza in Tribeca.

Lapson pointed out that even apartments with high rents could be stabilized if the owner takes part of the 421-g program.

A tenant can file a rent over-charge complaint with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to figure out whether their apart-ment is rent stabilized.

Goodkind, who has worked with Joseph to spread the word, said later in a phone interview that the reason many have not filed is that some renters are transient — not looking to put roots down in the communi-ty. It is those that want to stay that will take the time to fill out the form, he said.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron said at this point, some tenants have probably moved in after the abate-

ment has burned off. In 2006, the 421-g program was sunsetted.

“A lot of people living in Lower Manhattan, living in these con-verted buildings, it never occurs to them that this rent stabilization might actually be about them and about our neighborhood,” Squadron said in a phone interview.

“I think it’s a real shame because it absolutely is and should be,” he added. “It’s actually a broader prob-lem that we see that people aren’t told when they move in that their home is rent stabilized then they are going to end up having their right taken away from them.”

At the meeting, Goodkind said that rent stabilization is “very good for promoting the kind of communi-ty that we enjoy.”

The New York City Dept. of Finance, which administers exemp-tion and abatement programs, shows on its website how much owners are getting in tax breaks. For example, at 10 Hanover Sq., the tax was near $2.6 million — the same as the abatement. That means the owners paid no property tax on a building with an estimated market value of over $98 million, according to the Dept. of Finance’s website.

“These owner-operators are real-ly enjoying some fantastic years,” said Goodkind. “It requires stabili-zation and they’re not doing that.”

an Episcopal parish in the city of New York

trinitywallstreet.org

All Are WelcomeAll events are free, unless noted.212.602.0800

worshipSUNDAY, 8am & 10amSt. Paul’s Chapel · Holy Eucharist8pm · Compline by Candlelight

SUNDAY, 9am & 11:15am

Trinity Church · Preaching, music, and Eucharist · Child care available

MONDAY—FRIDAY, 12:05pm

Trinity Church · Holy Eucharist

MONDAY—FRIDAY, 5:15pmTrinity Church, All Saints’ ChapelEvening Prayer

Watch online webcast

TRINITY CHURCH Broadway at Wall Street

ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL Broadway and Fulton Street

Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Center 2 Rector Street

The Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, Rector The Rev. Phillip A. Jackson, Vicar

let’s dosomethingtogetherat TRINITY WALL STREET

educationSUNDAYS, 10-11amThe Gospels, Times, Journal, and You

Parish Center

Join in a discussion of the editorial pages of

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,

and the assigned Gospel for the day. Led by

the Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones.

MONDAYS, 1-2pm

The Broad Way Bible Study

Parish Center

Bring your lunch to this informal Bible

study focusing on the Gospels and the

“broad ways” they can be interpreted.

Led by the Deacon Robert Zito.

FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1-2pmLife TalkTrinity Church, Manning Room

Come to a lively lunchtime discussion

about God, politics, love, and life. Led by

the Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones.

communitySATURDAY, JUNE 20, 11am Installation of the Vicar Trinity Church The Rev. Phillip A. Jackson will be installed

as Vicar of Trinity Wall Street. The Rt.

Rev. Claude Payne, former Bishop of the

Diocese of Texas, will preach.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 7-9pmNeighborhood Movie Night St. Paul’s Chapel

Watch a favorite film on the big screen

with your neighbors. Popcorn and drinks

will be served. More information at

trinitywallstreet.org/movies.

TRINITY PRESCHOOLImagine a happy, secure child who engages with the world in mind, body, and spirit.

• For children 3 months to 5 years

• Enrollment open for 2015-2016

• Financial aid now available

Schedule a tour at trinitypreschoolnyc.org

Schedule an audition today at trinitywallstreet.org/downtownvoices

DOWNTOWN

VOICESA new semi-pro choir

Courtesy of Tom Goodkind

Some Lower Manhattan buildings that are under the 421-g program that could be rent stabilized.

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

Thirty-seven Wall St. was at the center of a lawsuit that could have opened the floodgates for rent-stabilized apartments in Lower Manhattan, but that didn’t happen.


Few know about Downtown rent limitsBY MIA RUPANI

With 50,000 helicopter landings each year at Lower Manhattan’s heli-port, Downtown residents have been fed up with the incessant drone of choppers that are catering to tourists.

Residents say the rising number of tourist helicopters, which depart from the Downtown Manhattan heliport at Pier 6, located at South and Broad Sts., is an unwanted disruption. The tours, which offer tourists a bird-eye’s view of the city, run seven days a week — including holidays.

At Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee meeting on Wed., June 3, not only did Downtown resi-dents attend to discuss the persistent problem, but also those from the Upper West Side, Staten Island and even New Jersey.

“I had my windows shut, air con-ditioner on and white noise music playing…it still didn’t blot out the noise from the helicopters,” said Gene Wisniewski, a Weehawken resident. “It was relentless…it goes on from morn-ing until night and I’m fed up with it.”

A round of applause followed this comment.

The city’s Economic Development Corp. which oversees the heliports, was invited to the meeting but did not show, much to the dismay of the board and Catherine McVay Hughes, C.B. 1’s chairperson.

“E.D.C. has been asked to come to the community board for over a year. It’s about time we get on the record again,” Hughes said. “The peo-ple in this room should know there are 50,000 helicopter landings on Pier 6 each year. We don’t want another heli-copter season to go by.”

In an email to Downtown Express, E.D.C. spokesperson Ian Fried did not say if the corporation would be attend-ing any board meetings about this issue in the future.

“We take the community’s concerns seriously and remain in contact with Community Board 1 about this and other issues,” Fried said. “We will pro-vide an update to the board when one is available.”

Residents also raised concern for their children who are subjected to the constant thrum of helicopter blades, as well as the quality of air in the area from so many takeoffs and landings.

“It’s worse than having an airport because at least an airport has a public benefit,” said an Upper West Side resi-dent. “These helicopter tours have no real public benefit aside from tourism and they can go to the top of the World Trade Center for views.”

Saker Aviation, a Nevada corporation, operates the Downtown Manhattan heli-port where five companies run helicopter tours. Some at the meeting said the heli-port does nothing but line the pockets of out-of-state companies.

Delia von Neuschatz, president of the grassroots organization Stop the Chop N.Y./N.J. attended the meeting armed with statistics. Stop the Chop was created to inform the public about the hazards created by the incessant helicopter tours over Manhattan.

“If you look at the S.E.C. filings for Saker Aviation, which are all public records, last year they paid New York City $2.8 million in concession fees for the heliport,” said Neuschatz, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “That’s .0003 of New York City’s $78 billion budget. This has made our lives a living hell.”

C.B. 1 plans to contact the

Environmental Protection Agency to get tests performed on air quality in the city. The board will also be reaching out to the mayor’s office and the city council, requesting they take action against Saker Aviation and the helicopter tour companies.

Board takes on helicopter noise

Downtown Express photo by Mia Rupani

The heliport on Pier 6.


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Thurs. June 18 – Wed., June 24ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING

RULES ARE IN EFFECT ALL WEEKFather’s Day is this Sunday, June

21! If you are travelling into Lower Manhattan to be with dad, be prepared for delays — the Manhattan-bound Brooklyn Bridge will be closed all week-end. Beginning midnight on Fri., June 19 through 6 a.m. Mon., June 22, all Manhattan-bound lanes will be closed for 54 consecutive hours. Take the Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, or the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel instead.

Double trouble under the Hudson River on Thursday night: In the Holland Tunnel one New Jersey-bound and one New York-bound lane will be closed 11 p.m. Thursday night to 5 a.m. Friday morning. No relief for inbound traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, where the New York-bound tube will also close 11 p.m. Thursday night to 5 a.m. Friday morning.

No. 1 train service between 14 St. and South Ferry will be suspended 11:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. Take the 2 or 3 trains instead, which will make local stops at Chambers, Franklin, Canal,

Houston, and Christopher Sts.Great news for Lower Manhattanites

heading to Brooklyn and Queens on the weekend: the J train now stops at the Fulton St. and Broad St. stations on Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to regular weekday service.

The N.Y.C. Police Museum Fair will close North Moore St. between West and Greenwich Sts. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.

The Philoptochos Walk 2 Rebuild will close Liberty St. between West and Church Sts. 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

On West St./Route 9A, one north-bound lane between Vesey and 14th Sts. will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Two northbound lanes will close from Albany St. to Liberty St. 11 p.m. to 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

FROM THE MAILBAG:

Dear Transit Sam, Many construction sites have signs

with restricted parking, such as No Parking 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in white, and below it an orange sign, temporary construction regulation.

What does this mean? Can I park at the construction site area after 6 p.m., or do other signs on the street govern after 6 p.m.?

John, New York

Dear John,

You can park if there are no other

signs that say otherwise. For example there are some nighttime regulations

near nightclubs. Those signs would go into effect after 6 p.m. so read all the signs carefully.

Transit Sam

Email traffic, transit and park-ing questions to [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam and check GridlockSam.com for the latest traffic news.

TRANSIT SAM


New York City’s annual Gay Pride March will be Sun., on June 28 at noon. Like previous years, the parade will include a number of organiza-tions, political candidates, activists and celebri-ties who have all come together to celebrate the lives of L.G.B.T. people and the community.

The march starts at 36th St. and Fifth Avenue at noon. The march continues down Fifth Avenue, ending at Christopher and Greenwich Sts.

NYC Pride Week kicks off this year Tues., June 23 and there will be many events all over the city including some in Lower Manhattan.

Tribeca’s Pier 26 will hold “The Rally” on Fri., June 26 from 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Broadway actor Tituss Burgess will be host-ing this free, all-ages event that includes perfor-mances by Ashanti and drag queen Adore Delano.

On Sat., June 27, from 3 p.m.-10 p.m. Teaze, NYC Pride’s exclusive dance event for women will be at Pier 26. Women 21 and older can purchase tickets online (nycpride.com) starting at 29 dollars.

Pride week wraps up on Sun. June 28 with three separate events: The March, Pridefest and Dance on the Pier.

From 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. residents can browse the annual Pridefest street fair which joins together vendors and entertainers on Hudson St. between Abingdon and W. 14th Sts. Attendees

can purchase food and pride gear while enjoying live musical performances.

The largest fundraiser for NYC Pride has remained Dance on The Pier, now in its 29th year. Doors open at 3 p.m. at Pier 26 in Tribeca and tickets can be purchased online starting at $50 for entry into the dance.

Ariana Grande will be headlining the event, which ends at 10 p.m. with the world’s largest L.G.B.T. fireworks display over the Hudson River.

The first Pride March in New York City was held in 1970, the year after the Stonewall Uprising June 27, 1969 For a full list of Pride events that are tak-ing place throughout the week in Manhattan, visit Heritage of Pride’s website at nycpride.org.

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BY ZACH WILLIAMSAdvocates want to restore $65 mil-

lion in cuts to public libraries made since 2008 as city councilmembers negotiate the city’s budget this summer. They have enlisted residents to write reams of sup-port letters. But where the written word reaches its limits, they have another tool in their lobbying arsenal in the form of a tod-dler-sized puppet who goes by the name Leroy Hudson.

The fuzzy-haired hand pup-pet appeared at Seward Park Library on June 1, just one of nine scheduled sites across the city where library supporters rallied for increased city funding. He also appeared in a recent video made by staff members at his Hudson Park Library home, at Hudson and Leroy Sts.

Local libraries received $300 mil-lion in Mayor de Blasio’s proposed 10-year capital plan, but library repre-sentatives say $1.4 billion would more comprehensively address many branch-es’ aging infrastructure.

“Some libraries are crumbling,” the blue-headed Leroy says in a video. “Some libraries need elevators. Some

libraries have leaky roofs. With your support we can give you even more of what you want: more books, more pro-gramming, more classes, more bubbles, more music.”

Leroy’s video further urges library supporters to contact city coun-cilmembers, attend rallies and join

their letter-writing campaign, which has neared 70,000 partic-ipants, according to a New York Public Library spokesperson.

Despite the novel fuzz-covered advocate, library staff were quick

to emphasize that Leroy is by no means a full-time “political puppet.” His true role lies in assisting educational programs for young children and babies.

Nonetheless, he added a curious ele-ment to the rally at Seward Park Library, according to Lakisha Brown, the library’s manager. She said that the colorful Leroy is a good example of how libraries can accommodate neighborhood needs and present educational resources to children. Yet, only three percent of city library branches are open seven days a week, she noted. And her branch needs window and elevator repairs, she added.

“Libraries are, and have always been,

a place where anyone can go to get free access to information,” she said. “And today, that information can be books, or Internet access, or ESOL classes, ear-ly-literacy programs, computer training, afterschool programs, even author talks.”

Staff at the Hudson Park Library con-ceived him as part of the 45th anniver-sary celebrations of “Sesame Street” last fall. A crowd-sourced fundraising effort financed his production by toy company FAO Schwarz. Dozens of local children voted on his features, which include an orange, puff-ball nose and debonair robe with bow-tie.

Leroy took on a pedagogical role fol-lowing his debut at an exhibit in honor of the famed children’s TV program. He’s become a prominent attraction for local toddlers and babies as they expand their intellectual horizons through the traditional media of sing-alongs and sto-rybook time at the South Village-area

library branch, located at 66 Leroy St.At a May 29 event held there for

infants, library staffer Chris Ruiz played the guitar while children’s librarian Kristy Raffensberger helped maestro Leroy conduct.

It was fun and games, but with plenty of mental stimulation for several dozen young minds. The branch’s infant and toddler patrons responded with glee to the enthusiastic renditions of childhood sing-alongs.

Leroy talking himself blue in the face for funds!

Supporters rallied on June 1 at the Seward Park Library on the Lower East Side to call for greater funding for the city’s public libraries.

Downtown Express photos by Zach Williams

Leroy entertained young children at the Hudson Library Branch with the help of children’s librarian Kristy Raffensberger.

AROUND

Gay Pride Week events

Downtown Express file photos by Michaael Shirey

Last year’s Gay Pride Parade

AROUND


BY VICTORIA GRANTHAMWhen we moved to Tribeca more

than a dozen years ago we noticed that there was a well-regarded pub-lic school — P.S. 234 — across the street. At the time we weren’t even married and kids shimmered like a mirage on a far-off horizon, so the whimsical looking red brick building with its turrets and archways and frog sculpture wasn’t at the forefront of our minds, but still, through our peripheral vision, we noticed.

We didn’t anticipate staying for all this time, but now that we have, and the kids have materialized, and our oldest has turned five, (and our apart-ment has turned into a clown car) the school has become a beacon.

Competent teachers, a nurturing, community-centric environment, a subway-free 20-step commute — oh my! Of course there’s been drama along the way — our building was nearly cut out of the school’s zone a few years ago, and as the neighbor-hood exploded with new luxury high rises filled with families, the waitlists at 234 were legendary.

These things didn’t impact us directly, so we watched from a dis-tance with anxiety-tinged curiosity, but without a particularly acute sense of panic.

This year when we finally filled out the Dept. of Education’s form, we knew which school we wanted, but we tried to play coy. In addition to select-ing 234, we also checked the box on a handful of popular schools outside of our neighborhood that are undoubted-ly overcrowded with their own zoned kids. (It was an attempt to seem flexi-ble without actually being so.)

We didn’t apply to any of the

gifted and talented programs for our son (too high pressure) and we didn’t consider the wildly expensive N.Y.C. private schools.

When I explained our strategy to people who live in other parts of the country they were baffled.

“Wait a second. Your son may not be able to go to the public school you’re zoned for? I don’t get it,” said my college roommate.

I couldn’t really explain it, and attempting to do so made me feel like a participant in a hyper-competitive rat race, so I changed the subject.

I also laid low with friends on the other end of the spectrum — the parents of my sons’ peers in Lower Manhattan who were going through rounds and rounds of tours, inter-views and tests with their preschoolers. Opting out of that particular merry-go-round made me feel like a slacker.

Mainly I was betting on the idea that lightening could strike twice. I knew that in spite of its history of waitlists, P.S. 234 didn’t have a wait-list last year and in fact the school had accepted children from a neigh-boring zone who couldn’t cram into their new school in Battery Park City.

Though our neighborhood had experienced a baby boom, some new schools had sprung up to accommo-date the growth, so I was crossing my fingers hoping that the new seats in those schools would offset the crush.

At one point though I briefly allowed myself to consider the pos-

sibility that our son wouldn’t get into 234. (We’d been hopeful about universal pre-K the year before, but there were none in our area and the public community based organiza-tions we could get our son into were too far away to be practical for two working parents.)

I went to my neighbor, a level-headed former elementary school teacher who has two girls in the school, with my anxiety attack: “What if he’s waitlisted, then not accepted? The other schools we selected will be even less likely than our school to have room for him. Is it possible that he’d not get a spot anywhere? Then what? Should we be touring and testing and interviewing?”

I did some quick mental calcula-tions and realized we were almost too late to form a viable back up plan. She talked me off the ledge with her empathetic, but firm response. The message: Stop wheel spinning. Snap out of it, sit tight and it’ll work out.

Thankfully I listened to her and as luck would have it, she was right. We got the offer letter in May and that same week we confirmed our son’s atten-dance at the school across the street.

Our neighbors got our son a tee-shirt emblazoned with his new school’s name/number and with an image of the frog sculpture we’ve been walking by every day since he was born.

It’s way too big on him, but he wears it proudly and tells everyone who will listen that he’s headed for kindergarten at P.S. 234 in the fall. I trust he’ll grow into it someday.

Victoria Grantham, a writer and communications professional, is rais-ing her family in Tribeca.

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LIFEDOWNTOWN

BY LENORE SKENAZYTo me, “old New York” is the city I

moved to in 1981. Back then, the sub-way cars were so covered with graffiti, you couldn’t see out the windows. You always added a 20-minute cushion to your commute, just in case. And Times Square…

Well, I’m getting off track. My point is, everyone’s got an “old New York.” The one Edith Wharton was referring to when she was writing a hundred years ago was the “old New York” before the Civil War, already a quaint and distant memory in the Gilded Age.

Old New Yorks are always being demolished, or updated beyond rec-ognition, so it is astonishing to learn that one slice of the old, old New York not only still exists, it stands virtually intact, right down to its original furnishings from 1832. It is the Merchant’s House Museum (mer-chantshouse.org), at 29 E. Fourth St., and this month I went to hear a lecture about it at another amazing venue, the National Arts Club. (Hat tip to Gary Shapiro, the club’s dapper emissary, who alerted me to the talk.)

“We call it the ‘Miracle on Fourth Street,’ ” began the speaker, Carl Raymond, a tour guide at the Merchant’s House who is also a pro-fessional chef. He combines both those

skills to sleuth out what the home’s original owners would have been eat-ing 183 years ago, when they first moved in. But before getting to the meat of his talk — as it were — he explained how the miracle came to be standing at all.

When a young man named Seabury Tredwell moved to New York at age 18 to make his fortune in the hard-ware business, he lived in a board-inghouse. Perhaps predictably, he fell in love with his landlady’s daughter. They married and had seven kids. In 1832 they bought a brand-new house on Fourth St. — the suburbs at the time — and in 1840, when Seabury was 60, they had a surprise eighth child, Gertrude.

“Like my mother,” continued lectur-er Raymond, “Gertrude never threw anything away.” She also never mar-ried. So when she died in 1933, just 20 feet from the bed she’d been born in 93 years earlier, she was surrounded by the very same objects that she had grown up with, right down to 39 dress-es. These included the one her mom got married in more than a hundred years

earlier, in 1825.Gertrude’s heir was about to

sell the place and all its dusty con-tents when a distant cousin, George Chapman, realized that this was no ordinary fixer-upper. Stepping inside was like walking into a time capsule — the King Tut’s Tomb of Manhattan. Gertrude had kept the house “as Papa would’ve wanted it” and Chapman wanted that for the rest of us. He purchased the place and turned it into a museum.

In 1965, Merchant’s House was one of the first 25 buildings on which our city bestowed landmark status. To this day, 90 percent of the items in the building are original.

So what did the Tredwells eat during the century or so that they lived there?

Alas, nothing particularly deli-cious at first.

Despite our modern pining for heirloom vegetables, early 19th-centu-ry New Yorkers generally boiled these to death. The watery mess was served alongside boiled or roasted meats with perhaps some melted butter as gravy. And since Eliza was raised in a board-inghouse, it is likely she served the same kind of food her mom did, including what one boarder back then described as “the dessert feared by every boardinghouse resident: a sour

apple encased in dough.”Historians contend that more

change occurred in the 19th century than in any other era, and happily, some of that occurred in the kitchen. By the end of the 1800s, French cui-sine was all the rage, along with the new practice of serving food in cours-es, instead of putting it all out at once.

You can still see the dining room table and chairs the Tredwells used, and some of their cookware, and the bells to call the servants, à la Downton Abbey. But threatened is the beautiful original plasterwork in the dining room and elsewhere.

The neighboring lots are not land-marked, and a boutique hotel is slat-ed to rise on one side. Vibrations from nearby construction could crack the walls. The museum is hoping to ensure that doesn’t happen by working with lawyers and engineers to develop protection plans.

With any luck, the Merchant’s House will be around for another 183 years, when aged locals may remem-ber an “old New York” back when food was created by cooks, not 3D printers, and delivered by bike, not drone.

Lenore Skenazy speaks at confer-ences, companies and schools about her book and blog, “Free-Range Kids.”

A slice of old New York survives DowntownJumping to kindergarten after waitlist fear

Notes from a leaderTo The Editor:

Re “Odd Politics” (UnderCover June 4 – 17):

I apologize to the editors for not getting back in a timely manner with comments on my race for Democratic district leader in the 66th Assembly district, Part B.

A Democratic district leader is a nonpaying Democratic Party position. That being said, we have many duties and a lot of meetings. We are volunteers and work very hard. A lot of elected officials like to say what they have done,

but I won’t say what I have done. This is because I am a part of a collaborative effort. I couldn’t have done anything without support.

However, I will say we have built a beautiful community. I’ve served many years on the board of the Washington Market Park, before the New York City Parks Dept. took it over. I served on the Community Education Council District 2, and I’m one of the original members of Assemblymember Sheldon Silver’s Task Force on School Overcrowding.

I am a proven leader that gets things done and have a good working relation-ship with all of our elected officials. My

mom always taught me that self-praise stinks. Therefore in the coming months I will let our elected officials speak of my work and my ability to get things done.

Sometimes elections can be down-right dirty. Sometimes negative cam-paigning works. In this case, I can’t see how the people I’ve worked with and for could be fooled. I would like to close and say that I love my com-munity, that I’ve raised two beautiful daughters here, and that my wife and I are proud grandparents.

John R. Scott Democratic district leader

Letters to the Editor

BY ANDY HUMM Artist Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt was

a street kid who arrived in New York in May 1966 and participated in the Stonewall Rebellion. But he was also someone who frequented the bar itself, which opened in 1967. And while he concedes it was a dive bar, he loved it because it was unique among gay bars of the time in allowing “slow danc-ing where you could have a nice, full embrace — the unity of one person with another person.”

Lanigan-Schmidt, now 67, believes the slow dancing in a public place was in itself a “revolutionary” thing and accounted in part for the violent reaction to the police raid in June 1969 that we now know as the Stonewall Rebellion. “You could connect with someone,” he said. “That started the revolution.

“We were in our teens and hadn’t gone through the same things that older people — over 25 — had gone through.

We were runaways. I remember a kid who had boiling water thrown on him by his mother for being gay. Outside we could be murdered. Inside we were safe.”

He said that when you went into a bar like the Tenth of Always at the time, “if you touched, they would throw you out.”

He recalled a bouncer “on a power trip” who decided who could get into the Stonewall. “It was a combination speakeasy, juke joint, lawless and below the radar — it was all those things com-bined,” he said. “It was a deeply romantic place.”

The first night of the rebellion, Lanigan-Schmidt couldn’t get in and came back when the raid was in prog-ress. “More and more people kept show-ing up,” he said, “and suddenly everyone was together” — which allowed people to act up in ways they had never consid-ered before.

“That night we were angry, an anger that was not being reflected upon, an

impulsive anger at not being able to dance — a total body thing,” he said. “It was a visceral feeling.”

Lanigan-Schmidt, who has taught in the M.F.A program at the School of Visual Arts for almost 25 years and been exhibited at MoMA’s PS1, said that he hopes that the Stonewall, which occupied 51 and 53 Christopher St. (now Stonewall Place) in 1969, would get bought by someone “who would turn it into a gay museum. It should be like the Tenement Museum” at 97 Orchard on the Lower East Side, where tenement life circa the 1870s is preserved. He suggest-ed using “gay acting students” to play the 1969 patrons and protesters.

“If they wanted to recreate the Stonewall,” he explained, it was all pretty bare bones. “It was a Mafia bar with plywood painted black on the walls and two juke boxes,” he recalled. “The best way to inform people is to give it that flavor so

that people can get into how down and out it was — not a nice, mid-dle-class bar.”

Andy Humm is a reporter at Gay City News, a sister publication of Downtown Express. His interview with Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt with co-host Ann Northrop on “Gay USA”, can be viewed at downtownexpress.com.

Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt

Downtown Notebook

To be young & gay in 1969


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

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

ARTS ISLAND OUTPOST: Governors Island, Outside bldg. 14 in Nolan Park; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; Saturdays and Sundays,11 am–3 pm, Now – Sun, Sept. 27; Free. Enjoy a day out with art workshops, and fun projects.

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

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

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; Free. Children learn the fundamentals of the game and preschoolers have fun kicking, running and being part of a team. Drop in. For ages 3 to 11 years old.

BIG CITY FISHING: Pier 25 (near N. Moore St.).hudsonriverpark.org; (212) 627-2020; Sundays 1-5 pm (except on 6/28), Mondays 5-7:30 pm. Free.For children 5+ and adults who want to learn how to fish and about river ecology. All fishing equipment is provided.

YOUNG SPROUTS GARDENING: Nelson A Rockefeller Park (Children’s Garden), Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org; Tuesdays, 3:15 – 3:45 pm; Free. Little ones 3 to 5 years old learn about sim-ple 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; Free. Staffers teach children the value of play and create fun projects in drawing, sculpting and murals. For children 5 and older.

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 program which will enable any child with a disability and their caregiver, admission to programs during general public hours in exchange for feedback to help strengthen museum wide programs.

THURS, JUNE 18FATHER’S DAY: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany.org; Noon–6 pm; $11 per person; (seniors & infants free). Celebrate dear old dad with fun projects. Dads are free on June 21.

ERIC CARLE CELEBRATION: Battery Park City Library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 10 am. Free.Bring the whole family and kids of all ages for stories, followed by an Eric Carle-themed craft.

SAT, JUNE 20WHAT’S ANTHROPOMORPHIC?: The Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Pl., Battery

Park City. (212) 968-1961; skyscraper.org; 10:30 – 11:45 am; $5 per child.Kids will work together to compose a sky-line of their own traced silhouettes, turning their drawing into a personal building form. All ages, RSVP required.

SUN, JUNE 21FATHER’S DAY: 10 am–5 pm. Children’s Museum of the Arts. See Thursday, June 18.

MON, JUNE 22BABY LAPTIME: Battery Park City Library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 9:30 am; Free.Babies 0 – 18mo. and their caregivers can enjoy stories, songs/rhymes and meet other babies. Limited to 50 babies; first-come fist-served.

TODDLER STORY TIME: Battery Park City Library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm; Free.Toddlers 12-36 mo. and their caregivers can be entertained by a librarian sharing lively picture books and songs.

TUES, JUNE 23BABY LAPTIME: 11:30 am. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

PICTURE BOOK TIME: Battery Park City Library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm; Free.A librarian will share classic picture books. For all ages.

WED, JUNE 24TODDLER STORY TIME: 10:30 am. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

CRAFTERNOON: Battery Park City Library (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm; Free.Bring your favorite stuffed animal and make them a superhero. Kids will create capes and masks for their toy. Kids of all

ages invited with their caregiver. Limited to 25 kids.

THURS, JUNE 25BABY LAPTIME: 11:30 am. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

SAT, JUNE 27MY CITY PARK DAY: Bowling Green Park, Broadway and Whitehall Street; www.nycchildrenstheater.org; 1 pm; Free. Children learn the importance of communi-ty spaces – sing along puppet musical tells the story of Milo who finds out his favorite park is closing, so he asks his friends to help him save his park. Suitable for chil-dren 3 to 7 years old.

SUN, JUNE 28HISTORY TOUR: Pier A, Battery Place and the Hudson; bpcparks.org/event/pier-a-tour; 2–3 pm; Free. Take a walk and talk and learn all about the recent restoration of Pier A, the last remaining historic pier in the city. Great for all ages. Hosted by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.

MON, JUNE 29TODDLER STORY TIME: 4 pm. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

TUES, JUNE 30BABY LAPTIME: 11:30 am. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

WED, JULY 1BUG OUT: Battery Park City Library (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm; Free.Kids learn all about what bugs are through experiments, demonstrations and stories taught by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. For grades K – 5, limited to 25 kids and their caregivers.

THURS, JULY 2BABY LAPTIME: 11:30 am. Battery Park City Library. See Monday, June 22.

JUNE 18-JULY 2, 2015

Manhattan Academy of Technology this year won four major middle school sports championships in one season and without losing a single game. The cham-pionships went to the girls softball, boys baseball, girls volleyball and track and field teams.

In softball, after an undefeated regular season and a tough final eight-match-up game against East Side Community High School, Chinatown’s M.A.T found themselves facing Battery Park City pow-erhouse I.S. 276 in the semi-finals.

I.S 276 has state-champion pitcher Jamie Morrison and the M.A.T. Dragons found themselves fearing elimination, down 3 to 1 with two outs in the bottom of the last inning.

“Needless to say, we needed a miracle, but our kids don’t go down without a fight,” said M.A.T.’s athletic director, John DeMatteo.

No sooner had parents started filming what everyone thought would be the final out, M.A.T. eighth grader Dorie Levine hit a shot to centerfield for a base hit.

After a stolen base, Dorie was knocked home by eighth grader Casey Curran. Seventh grader Isabella Pelaez was up next and again hit a shot to send Casey home and tie the game.

After moving over to third base, sixth grader Jalyn Cassarino doubled to left center for a walk off win, sending the Dragons into the city championship for

the first time in four years. At the city championship, seventh

grader Annabella Pelaez pitched a one hit gem to seal the city title for the Dragons 6 to 2 on June 10.

In boys baseball, the Dragons were the team to beat all year, ending up with the number one seed overall and defeating the Institute for Collaborative Education, Simon Baruch, Robert F. Wagner and Salk School of Science to advance to the city final four versus the Sandhogs from the Bronx.

At the old Yankee Stadium field, M.A.T. held onto a slight lead before finally winning 3 to 2. In the city final at Columbia University on May 30, the Dragons showed their dominance, win-ning by a crushing score of 16 to 1

behind the pitching of Eric Pascale and Max Moss.

The M.A.T. bats got hot early, as the Dragons jumped out to a 5 to 0 lead on the hitting of eighth graders Kyle Gordon, Justin Lipitz, Jason Virasami, Alex Fernandez, Louis Ostrowski, Elvis Morel and Nick Filanovsky.

“I’m very proud of the way my boys played but more importantly how they portrayed themselves as student athletes,” coach Rob Mehan said.

Coach Steve Schmidt did a great job working with the girls volleyball team in the fall (M.A.T won the city title) and their skills only got better in the spring, demonstrated by the 10-0 record the Dragons brought into the playoffs.

Led by eighth graders Anna Comitini,

Maia Villalba, Lucy Yaccarino, Julie Schoenmaker, Payton Reising, Erin Eisner, Dorie Levine and Sonali Govind, the Dragons cruised to easy victories, winning in straight sets in every match including the championship against Baruch on June 9.

Seventh graders Alexis Harvell and Qi Mei Schmidt were also very instrumental in the win.

For the 11th time in 12 years, M.A.T. took home the Riozzi Cup as the District’s best track and field team. Winning by a score of 106 to 98 over Robert F. Wagner and 14 other middle schools on Verizon track on June 8, the Dragons swept the relays and had some outstanding performers.

Jason Morales was N.Y.C. champion in the 100 and 200-meter run and posted a top five national time. His relay team of Rea Davis, Massimo Bertini, Allijah Carr and Evan Gershoff won the city title as well and broke the city record.

Eric Pascale came in second in the 100 and 200-meter run and Stella Teeter was city champion in the 1600 meter run. The girls relay team of Kiana Araujo, Mya Rodriguez, Darby Jahn, Rease Griffiths and Kadijtou Darboe won in record time as well.

“Needless to say I am proud of all of my teams and what we’ve done this year has simply been unimaginable,” DeMatteo said.

Championship seasons at M.A.T.

M.A.T.’s championship track team

The Major’s division of Downtown Little League softball had two exciting playoff games last weekend. In the first playoff game, the third place Cavaliers defeated the second place Red Storm 7 to 4.

The Cavaliers started strongly with Grace Kirwin doubling and Chase Behar driving in a run to give the upstart Cavaliers a 2 to 0 lead June 12. In the bottom of the second, the Red Storm tied the game with a key hit from Ella Curtis.

In the top of the third, the Cavaliers scored two runs to take a 4 to 2 lead. In the fourth inning, the Red Storm’s Aeryn Lubelsky hit a scorching line drive to center to bring the Red Storm within a run.

In the bottom of the fifth, Isabella Palaez scored a run to tie the game. In the sixth inning, the Cavaliers scored three runs to take the lead. The Cavalier’s pitcher, Jamie Morrison, pitched a perfect sixth inning for the win.

Critical to the Cavalier’s win was the defensive performance of the catcher Ava Wallis who kept the Red storm from advancing on the bases. The Red Storm also had strong defensive performances

from Annabella Palaez and Zoe Anderson.In the championship game June 13, the

Cavaliers defeated the regular season champions, the Wildcats 7 to 2.

Once again, the Cavaliers started out strongly with three runs in the top of the first. Julietta Orciuoli had

a key single and Ava Wallis and Maddy Boyce scored in the first inning for the Cavaliers.

In the bottom of the first, the Wildcats’ Emma Whitman had a double, but was unable to cross home plate. In the sec-ond inning, with strong pitching by Jamie Morrison for the Cavaliers and Ella Carter for the Wildcats, neither team was able to score a run.

In the top of the third, Chase Behar, Marriane Dowd and Julietta Orciuoli had singles and the Cavaliers took a commanding 7 to 0 lead.

In the fifth inning, the Wildcats scored their first run with a double by Ava Whitman. In relief, Ava Whitman of the Wildcats pitched flawlessly.

The Wildcats also had strong defense from Harriet and Brighid Albright and Leah Meyerson. In the bottom of the sixth, Ella Carter singled and

scored on an Ava Whitman triple to bring the score to 7 to 2 but the rally ended there.

In the Cavaliers road to the championship, they were aided by strong defense from at first base from Evie Schoneman and outfielders, Carly Adams and Devon Karabees-Lamer.

Downtown Little League softball playoffs

The Cavaliers, Downtown Little League champs.


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NYC TECH

28 June 18-July 1, 2015 DowntownExpress.com

SUMMER IN THE CITY

JOIN US FOR SAILS, SOUNDS AND SALES!

On the Hudson Waterfront | 230 Vesey St.

Celebrate Father’s Day Weekend at Brookfield PlaceSpecial offerings from Vilebrequin, Paul Smith & more!Details at brookfieldplaceny.com

Saturday, June 20“Summer Sail-stice” One-Hour Sailboat Rides $35 Per Person Offshore Sailing

Lobster Rolls and Ice Cream on the Waterfront brought to you by Little Muenster

Sunday, June 21“Bang on a Can” marathon(Winter Garden at Brookfield Place)

“Street Studio” presented by Found Sound Nation a mobile recording studio equipped for passersby and Marathon musicians alike to spontaneously create and record original music!

brookfieldplaceny.com | @brookfieldny

JUNE 18, 2015 DOWNTOWN EXPRESS

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