Download - DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, MAY 21, 2105

VOLUME 27, NUMBER 25 MAY 21-JUNE 3, 2015

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

FREEDOM TOWER & 9/11 MUSEUM

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SUMMER FUN DOWNTOWN

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IN A SHOCK, DRIVER

ARRESTED IN DOWNTOWN

HIT & RUNBY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

Tiffany Murdaugh has been arrested and charged with three counts — including assault in the second degree, a felony —

on Wednesday for an incident on Beekman St. that seriously injured a woman last month, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Murdaugh, 34 and a New Jersey resident, was arraigned on charges in criminal court at 100 Centre St., which include reckless endanger-ment in the first degree and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, according to the D.A.’s office.

Heather Hensl, a 37-year-old mother of two young girls, was walk-

Continued on page 6

BY JOSH ROGERS

For at least a decade or two, there hasn’t been much rea-son to hope the South Street Seaport’s New Market Building

would be preserved, but the city like-ly began hammering the final nails in the building’s coffin last week.

“It was just an iconic view with the Brooklyn Bridge in the back-ground and the dawn light,” Seaport artist Naima Rauam, 69, who began her life’s work documenting the area in paintings nearly 50 years ago, said Tuesday. “You’d see this miraculous sunrise after the work-ers were done. It sparkled in the evening.”

The 1939 building was the last to be constructed for the Fulton Fish Market and its more modern look was at least one reason the city has never landmarked it. Rauam said the prominent “Fulton Fish Market” lettering on the building makes a strong visual tie to the history, par-ticularly since smaller lettering on some of the 19th century buildings have faded long ago.

Plans are to demolish the back “cooler area” of the building in July or August because the city’s Economic Development Corp. has determined it is in danger of collapse.

Internal E.D.C. emails in April concluded a complete demolition was

necessary, Crain’s reported last week. In response to Downtown

Express questions, Kelly Magee, E.D.C.’s spokesperson, did not deny the accuracy of the reports about the emails, or that officials still anticipate demolishing the city-owned building, but she maintains no final decision will be made until after the first phase.

“The demolition of the cooler area is a first step,” she wrote in an email, and future work could “include full or partial demolition of the Tin and New Market buildings.”

Unlike New Market, the Tin

Image courtesy of Naima Rauam

Artist Naima’s Rauam 2005 painting, “Working through a Snowstorm, Fulton Fish Market” shows what she calls the “iconic” New Market Building.

Despite cries of foul, Seaport building appears headed for the wrecking ball

Continued on page 16

2 May 21-June 3, 2015 May 21-June 3, 2015 3DowntownExpress.comDowntownExpress.com

STAR & HARD WORKComedian Billy Crystal joked

about smoking pot and sleeping late (hey, so did at least two presidents) when he was at community college on Long Island several decades ago, but he also got serious at B.M.C.C.’s annual gala last week.

Crystal then got serious saying it was at community college that he got interested in performing, and the rest is history. Paul Shaffer, who until this week was David Letterman’s sidekick, introduced Crystal. Shaffer has been a big supporter of the college and was instrumental in bringing Crystal to

the event, which has attracted the likes of Robert De Niro in the past.

The glitzy gala which was offering single malt Scotches for those in the know, took in a record $1.1 million for the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s scholarship fund, which edu-cates many poor immigrants.

One scholarship awardee who spoke, Ya Rue Zie, was working 12-hour days in a Chinese restau-rant and going to school part-time. She was looking to graduate in about a decade, but when she got a scholarship she was able to go full time, and hopes to be get a business degree and work to be a venture capitalist in the not so dis-tant future.

Our old reporter friend Al Amateau, now semi-retired, used to say “I’m sending her my resume.”

MAGEE JOINS E.D.C.Some may see it as poetry. We’re

not sure about that, but we do think it’s at least noteworthy that Kelly Magee recently became spokes-person for the city’s Economic Development Corp., which manag-es the South Street Seaport’s city-owned properties.

Magee, was spokesperson to Councilmember Margaret Chin two years ago, when Chin backed the Howard Hughes Corp.-E.D.C. deal to rebuild Pier 17. At the time, Chin did not press the city and Hughes to talk about the firm’s intent to build a tower at the Seaport’s New Market Building site — a proposal that has dominated Seaport news since the end of 2013.

E.D.C. kept that part of Hughes’ plan hidden from the public until the Pier 17 plan was approved, as Downtown Express first reported then.

At the time, Magee seemed to come down hard on any local crit-ics of the plan. Robert LaValva, who at the time was running the Seaport’s New Amsterdam market, said Magee berated him after a City Council hearing in which he hinted at the secret part of the deal.

More recently, Chin has been a much harsher critic of Hughes, leading with Manhattan Beep Gale Brewer the opposition to the Seaport Tower.

We may get some flack for this but we did notice that perhaps only coincidentally, Chin did not take as hard a line this week at news that E.D.C. was going to start demolish-

ing the cooler area of New Market Building, which Chin favors land-marking.

Magee did not respond as to whether she thought her Seaport experience helped her land the E.D.C. gig.

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC“The kids were blown away.”That is how Robert Sander, a teacher

at Stuyvesant High School, described his class’ recent visit to the 9/11 Museum. Sander teaches a senior elective New York City History and took his class to the muse-um for the first time.

“I thought it was incredibly powerful,” said Sander, who also teaches an advanced placement U.S. history course, in a phone interview. He was at Stuyvesant when the Sept. 11 attacks happened and he remembers the F.B.I. being in the lobby, gas masks, kids screaming and the evacuation.

First, the students went to the reflecting pools of the memorial and then to the museum where they saw artifacts from the day of the attacks. The students also listened to audio of people calling their families before the tower collapsed.

Afterwards, he asked students to write evaluations and many said it was the most powerful educational experi-ence of their life.

But how many students are having this experience — specifically those who attend schools near where the tragic events took place? It seems to be a mixed bag when it comes to Lower Manhattan public schools visiting the museum — for a variety of rea-sons. One educator said that no museum is part of the curriculum. Another said that there is too much material to cover to even get to 9/11 whereas for others it comes at the end of the year.

More than 17,000 New York City stu-dents have gone to the museum since it opened last May, Anthony Guido, director of communications for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, wrote in an email.

There are 1.1 million students in New York City, so less than two percent have visited.

In September last year, the museum started classrooms workshops and 181 classes have gone, said Guido. This num-ber reflects how many classes have taken the workshops until the end of this March.

Out of those 181, which he said is around 4,000 students, 40 classes were from Manhattan, but he had no further breakdown of the numbers by neighbor-hoods and there is no way to tell how many were from Lower Manhattan. Out of those students, 1,800 were high schoolers and 1,100 were middle schoolers.

At the High School of Economics and Finance at 100 Trinity Place, Raj Nanda, an assistant principal, said that it has a ninth grade bridge program that offers students entering the high school to attend a month-long summer session that includes a visit to the museum.

Nanda also teaches U.S. history for 11th graders and said that since 9/11 comes at the end of the school year in the curriculum, it doesn’t make sense time wise to go to the museum. However, Nanda said in a phone interview that he strongly encourages students to visit to the museum since it is so close.

No classes from Millennium High School at 75 Broad St. have gone as a group to the museum, said Angela Benfield, parent coordinator, in an email.

Individual students have visited and a few have participated in a museum com-munity service project, but no classes, she said. Millennium High School was found-ed in 2002 with 9/11 recovery money as a way to help revitalize Lower Manhattan and its mascot is the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from the ashes.

Initially, Benfield cited price as a deter-rent — it costs $24 for an adult and $15 for those seven to 17.

The museum is free — both the admission and the workshops — for New York state schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. Benfield did not know admission was free and later said she would talk to the principal and teachers about organizing a trip.

The museum said that there has been outreach through the city’s Department of Education and their website, and the focus has been on creating a pres-

ence throughout all five boroughs and beyond the city. There are plans to reach out to Lower Manhattan schools specifically next year.

“Providing a place to educate the students of today, as well as future generations, is both a fundamental and critical aspect of our mission,” Joe Daniels, president of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, said in a statement to

Downtown Express. “Our classroom workshops are designed to challenge students to think critically about a wide range of topics related to 9/11.”

Principal Terri Ruyter of P.S./I.S. 276 in Battery Park City, said that as middle school curriculum has so many topics to cover, no classes have been to the museum.

“We barely get to Vietnam,” she said in an email.

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Students participating in a workshop at the 9/11 Museum.

Most schools resist visits to the 9/11 Museum

One World Observatory will be opening May 29 — offering spec-tacular vistas of the city from above 1,250 feet.

Located on three levels — 100, 101 and 102 — of 1 World Trade Center, a.k.a. the Freedom Tower, the observatory will be a high-tech experience. Boarding one of five elevators, which are being called “sky pods,” visitors will ascend to the 102nd floor in under 60 sec-onds while immersive floor-to-ceil-ing LED technology “invites guests to experience a virtual time-lapse that recreates the development of New York City’s skyline from the

1600s to present day,” according to the press release.

For adults, ages 13-64, admis-sion will be $32; children ages six to 12, $26, and for seniors over 65, $30. Children five and under will be admitted at no charge, but must have a ticket to enter. All tickets are timed admission and will be valid for a specific time and date. For best availability for summer 2015, visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets online in advance.

Visit DowntownExpress.com to view photos and read about our press preview May 21.

Freedom Tower observation deck opens next week

Photo by Louis Chan/Courtesy of BMCC

Paul Shaffer and Billy Crystal at the B.M.C.C. gala last week honoring Crystal.


HARASSERS & THIEVES ON STONE ST.

A good Samaritan tried to stop two men from harassing a woman and ended up having his iPhone stolen.

On Tues., May 12, at around 5 p.m., a 27-year-old saw two men bothering a woman at the corner of Broad and Stone Sts. in the Financial District and told them to stop, police say. The two then got very aggressive with the man, who lives in Brooklyn. He told police that one of the men, shoved him and he fell. His head hit the concrete and he suffered swell-ing and abrasions.

He took photos of the two men. One grabbed the $200 phone and gave it to the other. They then took off for the subway. Police say the man’s phone was turned off and not traceable.

SHOPLIFTERS GET THOUSANDS

IN TRIBECA & SOHOA female tag team of shoplifters

nabbed four items worth over $9,000 from a shop in Tribeca, police say.

The women came into Patron of the New, a shop that carries high-end clothing, at 151 Franklin St. at 2 p.m. on Wed., May 13. A female employee told police that the thieves pretended to shop, then ran away with the four items. They got away with Balmain clothing and a Moschino shoulder bag — valued at $9,095.

In a different incident in Soho on Thurs., May 14, a female team boost-ed a Chanel purse, worth $4,500, at around 2:30 p.m. from What Goes Around Comes Around, a vintage shop at 351 Broadway. The male employee, 27, told police that one of the women took the bag and handed it to the other, who then hid it. They then left the store.

SNOOZING & LOSINGA “lush worker” strikes again —

stealing a $700 iPhone and $120 from a man who fell asleep on the 1 train.

The man, 50, got on the 1 train at Penn Station at 3 a.m. on Sat., May 16 and fell asleep. He told police

he got on a northbound train, but was awakened by the conductor at South Ferry. The man, who lives in Central Harlem, discovered that his phone and wallet were gone and that his pants pockets were cut — a sure sign that a lush worker, the term the police use for those who prey on inebriated or sleeping subway riders, was there.

GRAND THEFT TAXIJumping into a cab took on a

whole new meaning when someone stole a taxi while the driver was checking the car’s tire pressure.

It was a little after midnight on Sun., May 10, when the driver, a 50-year-old from Staten Island, was checking his tires at the corner of South and Whitehall Sts. in the Financial District. He told police he saw a man run into the driver’s side, put the car into drive and take off.

Police arrested a suspect, 20, and the 2014 Toyota yellow cab was recovered.

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BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICCaptain Mark Iocco always knew he

wanted to be a cop.Recently appointed the commanding

officer of the First Precinct, Iocco said he followed in his father’s footsteps.

“My father was a role model,” he said in a phone interview last week.

Born in Italy, his father “came here and made his way into the N.Y.P.D.,” said Iocco, 43. His father, now retired, achieved the rank of deputy inspector, which is one higher than captain.

Iocco, 43, grew up in Astoria before he moved to Westchester when he was 10. He joined the police force almost 19 years ago — starting out as a cop in the Bronx, at the 52 Precinct, which includes Bedford.

By 2001, he had been promoted to sergeant.

“I was assigned to the Midtown North Precinct and on my second day there it was Sept. 11, 2001,” he said. “While we were responding the second plane hit while we were coming down the West Side Highway.”

Iocco and others were assisting in the evacuation of the North Tower when the South Tower fell first. He spent weeks and months in the aftermath of the

attacks helping with the recovery effects and the security of the site.

Six years later, he was promoted to lieutenant, left Midtown North and went briefly to the 26 Precinct in West Harlem. Iocco explained that once you get promoted, you leave the precinct.

After the quick stint at the 26, he was a lieutenant in the Ninth Precinct in the East Village.

He was at the Ninth until 2011 when he got promoted to captain just in time for the Occupy Wall Street movement, he said. He was temporarily assigned to the detail that covered Occupy Wall Street, which originated in the Lower Manhattan’s First Precinct. But once it was over, he moved over to the Fifth Precinct in Chinatown. At the Fifth, he was the executive officer, which is sec-ond in command.

He became commanding officer of

the First Precinct on March 6. Iocco said that although he had never been officially assigned to Lower Manhattan before, he had spent a lot of time there.

“I understand the sensitivity of this area,” he said.

Eighty percent of the crime that

occurs in the First Precinct is grand larcenies, he said. A large portion of those happen when people leave their property unattended — putting your purse behind you on the chair while your eat, for example.

Iocco said that he is working with the grand larceny division to tackle “organized retail crime” in Soho’s shop-ping district. The division is looking to identify grand larceny crews that use fraudulent credit cards to purchase clothes or shoplift in bulk in order to sell the items.

The other challenge is the possibil-

ity of another terrorist attack and all the sensitive locations that are in this precinct, said Iocco. “It’s a major con-cern,” he said.

The precinct works with the N.Y.P.D.’s World Trade Center Command, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative — a.k.a. the “Ring of Steel” of surveillance cameras Downtown — the Port Authority Police Department and others.

Downtown’s new police commander responded on 9/11, was captain on the Occupy detail, and worked in Chinatown before coming to the First Precinct.

Battling terrorism & Wise Guy shoplifters

Mark Iocco said “organized retail crime” in Soho is a big concern in the First Precinct.

Police released this photo of one of the suspects accused of harassing a woman near the Stone St. outdoor cafes.


ing to work when she struck by a car near Spruce Street School causing serious injuries — and says she won’t be able to walk on her own for several weeks. Hensl gave the first account of the crash to Downtown Express, published in an article on May 13.

The charges came as a surprise as it seemed that the police did not have enough evidence to move the case forward. They had identified the car, but had no witnesses to identify the driver. At one point, Hensl feared that the case would be dropped.

The charge of assault in the sec-ond degree, a more serious charge that is punishable by up to seven years in prison, was added to what

the First Precinct said it initially would file for, which included reck-less endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to the complaint, on Tuesday evening at the First Precinct, Murdaugh was shown video of the incident and identified the 2013 white Dodge Challenger in it as her vehicle. She also told police that “she had taken the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan that morning and that no one else had driven her vehicle that day,” according to the complaint.

“I’m very relieved,” said Hensl in a phone interview. “I’m glad that she is in jail right now and not on the street.”

Hensl said the assistant district attor-ney felt confident in the case and she will testify before the grand jury.

Before the news of the arrest broke, Hensl in an email Tuesday said, “I definitely hope to pursue civil action against this woman. There must be consequences to such actions.”

The day of the incident, April 13, was a regular one for Hensl, who has been working in Lower Manhattan since 2000. Her rou-tine: exit the subway, go to Dunkin’ Donuts to grab a coffee and get to work. That morning, the physician assistant at NewYork-Presbyterian

Lower Manhattan Hospital was on her way to see patients when she was hit on the sidewalk — just feet away from the hospital doors.

She said she was walking on the sidewalk and had gotten out her work identification when she looked at a text message. She then felt slammed into a heavy piece of metal, said Hensl, who lives in Brooklyn.

“I didn’t see her coming at me,” she said.

She felt herself being propelled and thrown onto the sidewalk onto her back.

“I immediately knew that some-thing was wrong with my left leg,” she said.

Dazed, she thought that someone had poured water over her head, when in reality it was blood running

down her face from a cut. She said that something sharp had hit her head. A jogger then came over to her and told her that she had been hit by a car.

“Did they stop?” she asked.Someone found her phone, which

had flung out of her hand, and she was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian by ambulance, circling around the block.

Hensl has suffered a large lacer-ation (not visible from the photos she sent this newspaper) on her face and fractures in her leg — and has been unable to walk for the past month and has three more weeks to go. Her leg is in a brace and she has to use crutches. She may have to undergo surgery for her knee, but it is sure that she will have months of physical therapy.

Video of the accident viewed by Downtown Express showed the hit and run driver backing up several times to maneuver enough room to drive on the sidewalk and pass traffic.

“I never anticipated somebody getting around all that by driving on the sidewalk,” she said.

Hensl said last week that the police investigation has “moved very slowly.” It took a week and a half to run the plates, she said.

The same car was also involved in an incident in Brooklyn where an elder-ly woman was hit about 30 minutes after Hensl was struck on Beekman St.

The community was outraged over the incident, which has shaken Spruce Street School parents and has increased traffic enforcement nearby. Last week, commenters on downtownexpress.com had expressed disbelief over the lack

of charges, like Lisa who said, “This is frightening. No charges? They have a video of this driver backing up and driving on sidewalk? The driver hit an elderly woman also?”

It is difficult to bring charges against those accused of reckless driv-ing — even when someone is killed — because of a high legal standard and several cases don’t move forward.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

IN CONJUNCTION WITH:

Driver charged in Beekman St. caseContinued from page 1

Heather Hensl with her daughters on Mother’s Day, a month after the hit & run incident.

BY SARA HENDRICKSONAt a public meeting on Mon.,

May 11, at the L.G.B.T. Center to “unveil” the Village’s new middle school at 75 Morton St., the crowd of 150 people had a few anxious questions, but most of all, the mood was gleeful celebration that the school would finally open its doors in fall 2017.

The 75 Morton success story of community activism is well known by now. It’s been a 10-year slog by parents and community leaders to pressure city and state officials to provide a desperately needed mid-dle school in the Village. The tire-less group identified the Morton St. building — which was partially oc-cupied by a state agency that was be-ing relocated — and convinced local politicians to champion the cause.

David Gruber, former chairper-son of Community Board 2, offered glowing opening remarks.

“Our challenge was to get the building out of the state’s grip and to land the plane,” he said. “Mission accomplished.”

City Councilmember Corey John-son, who represents District 3, ap-plauded the efforts of Assembly-member Deborah Glick and state Senator Brad Hoylman in pushing

for the school, noting it was “bitter-sweet that they are fighting the good fight in Albany and cannot be pres-ent tonight.”

Johnson pushed hard for the school to have a student health cen-ter, which will be located on the basement level. Primary care, den-tal, vision and mental health ser-vices will be offered to students.

Melanie La Rocca, chief of staff of the School Construction Author-ity and it’s C.E.O. Lorraine Grillo presented a series of poster boards showing floor-by-floor architectural renderings for the school.

For starters, all of the seven-story building’s windows — which were on the small side — will be enlarged to allow in lots of natural light.

The first floor will feature a large lobby and very spacious cafeteria with extra-large windows.

The second floor will be dedicat-ed to the 100 or so District 75 stu-dents with special needs, such as au-tistic spectrum disorder. The fourth floor will feature a spacious library with oversized windows to allow natural light to stream in. Multiple specialty rooms dedicated to music, art and science labs will fill the fifth and sixth floors.

Adjacent to the “L”-shaped build-

ing will be a street-level outdoor play area on Greenwich St.

There will also be a “gymatori-um” — a regulation-sized gym con-vertible to an auditorium/theater. The space will feature retractable tiered and floor seating for an au-

dience in “the low 500’s” according to La Rocca.

Advocates are hoping there will also be a “green” rooftop area for gardening and hands-on science

Parents get their first look at 75 Morton middle school

Downtown Express photo by Tequila Minsky

Shino Tanikawa held up a design rendering of the exterior of 75 Morton St., showing how its windows will be enlarged.

Continued on page 22

‘I’m very relieved. I’m glad that she is in jail right now and not on the street.’

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


Dr. Edward Rubinchik, one of the most highly expe-rienced ocular surgeons in New York, is now offering pa-tients a cataract surgery op-tion that eliminates or mini-mizes the need for expensive post-operative eye drops, which are often required for 3-4 weeks after the proce-dure.

“Drops are effective at re-ducing the risk of inflamma-tion and infection,” said Dr. Rubinchik, a partner at Re-ich Medical and Surgical Eye Care, LLC and the first physi-cian in New York to offer the dropless therapy. “However, at least 50% of patients end up missing a scheduled dose for one reason or another.”

Studies show that many patients simply forget to use the drops properly and may have other medical condi-tions, such as arthritis, which

make it harder for them to take the drops.

The number of patients who skip eyedrop doses in-creases with patient age, as does the need for cataract surgery itself.

“We don’t have to worry about any of this with the dropless technique,” said Dr. Rubinchik, who practices in Midwood and Bensonhurst.

“Our patients are much happier going ‘dropless’, and the medical system is saving hundreds of dollars per case. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Dr. Rubinchik added that many cataract patients have longstanding vision prob-lems such as myopia or astig-matism and may be eligible for a multifocal lens implant during the same procedure, resulting in much better vi-sion than the patient has ex-perienced in years.

How It WorksDuring dropless cataract

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Paint, sip wine at new barTake one instructor, examples of

classic art like Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” — toss in nibbles, wine and beer and you get Muse Paintbar.

The latest location is coming to Tribeca at 329 Greenwich St. in September, the owners told Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee on Wed., May 13 as part of their wine and beer license application.

One session lasts around two and a half hours and bites, such as hum-mus, as well as wine and beer will be offered. Pricing starts at $35 and Muse Paintbar is also available for private parties and date nights.

“It’s different — we don’t have anything like this in the neighbor-hood,” said Elizabeth Lewinsohn, the committee’s chairperson.

Famed Austrian chef, Eduard “Edi” Frauneder, will open a new restaurant in the Financial District.

He plans to move into the former Bunrasa space at 109 Washington St., between Carlisle and Rector Sts.

It will be an Austrian-leaning restau-rant — a neighborhood joint offering good food with solid wine, beer and cocktail selections, he told Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee at their Wed., May 6 meeting. There will also be a small backyard that can fit up to 20 people.

“What I’m basically trying to do is bring food and art together,” he said.

Frauneder said he had been looking for a spot for a year and a half. As of now, the restaurant has no name and he didn’t say when it would be open. The space itself needs renovation, he said.

Frauneder moved to New York 13 years ago and earned his first Michelin star seven years ago at Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar, which was located in Midtown. He is part of the team that is behind restaurant Edi and the Wolf and cocktail bar The Third Man — named after the 1949 British noir film with Orson Welles and directed by Carol Reed. Both are in the East Village.

Famed chef to open spot in FiDi

Three new Open KitchensOpen Kitchen, pictured, at 123

William St. between Fulton and John Sts. will be opening soon. The upscale marketplace has cuisines to please any palate or persuasion — East Asian, Mediterranean and a taqueria. Breakfast, coffee and tea, burgers, sandwiches and salads are also offered. Open Kitchen will also open two more locations in the Financial District at 120 Wall St. and 15 William St.

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educationSUNDAYS, MAY 24 & 31, 10amDiscovery Clouds of Witnesses: Anglican Saints

MAY 24: Whoosh! A Pentecost

celebration featuring dancing led by Laura

Neese of the Irish Arts Center.

St. Paul’s Chapel

MAY 31: Jonathan Daniels,

civil rights activist. Led by the

Rev. Phillip Jackson.

Trinity Church, Manning Room

musicBACH AND CONCERTS AT ONE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1pmBach at One, St. Paul’s Chapel

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and

Trinity Baroque Orchestra perform the

cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.

THURSDAY, MAY 21 & 28, 1pmConcerts at One, Trinity Church

MAY 21: NOVUS NY

Julian Wachner, conductor

MAY 28: Melanie DeMore, vocal activist

communitySUNDAYS, 10amThe 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.

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 10:15am Kids’ Charette, St. Paul’s Chapel

Children ages 12 and under are invited to help shape Trinity’s new Parish building in a fun and visual way.

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Easing the crackdown on toddler scooters in Chase Plaza?BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICFinancial District families were

alarmed when they and their children with scooters or strollers were kicked out of One Chase Manhattan Plaza in recent weeks.

Denise Courter, founder of FiDi Families, said around mid-April sever-al families went to what is now called 28 Liberty Plaza, renamed after it was brought by Chinese company Fosun in 2013.

“We all tend to go to the open plazas to scooter or, for the little kids, they’re learning how to walk or pushing their own baby strollers,” Courter said in a recent phone interview. “We’re obviously very lucky because there’s just gigantic spaces that we take advantage of on the weekends.”

After about 20 minutes, howev-er, she realized families were getting asked to leave. There were about 12 different families there and the par-ents pushed back, asking the security guards why they had to go. The secu-rity guard told her that the plaza was under new management and he “defi-nitely indicated that the philosophy had changed, that it was no longer a open plaza,” she said.

The guards were civil, she said, but there was the veiled threat that if they didn’t leave, they would call the police.

“It just left a bad taste in every-body’s mouth,” said Courter.

Elisa Vega, who moved to the neigh-borhood two years ago, said she went there with her two-year-old late in the day and within five minutes of getting on his scooter, guards came over and said he couldn’t do that.

The issue came to a head at Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee meeting on Wed., May 6.

Jim Connors, vice president of asset management for Fosun, said “particu-larly overzealous” security guards were enforcing rules, but he insisted that Fosun had not changed any rules.

“They’ve been absolutely instructed to be family friendly,” said Connors. “Families and kids are welcome all the time in the plaza.”

But parents at the meeting said the problem had persisted and emphasized the amount of families and children near the plaza.

Connors apologized and said he was surprised as he thought this had been corrected a couple of weeks ago.

“I have four kids too — I get it,” he

said. “I will redouble my efforts with the property manager and the director of secu-rity to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Committee mem-ber Patrick Kennell said when his four-year-old son rode his scooter around, the security guard hand-ed him a copy of the rules.

“He indicated that the owner of the building was telling them to do this,” he said. “That’s why he handed this copy of the rules and said go to your community board and change it.”

Michael Levine, C.B. 1’s land use consultant, explained that the plaza is in effect, a privately owned public space, or POPS. One Chase Manhattan was built before POPS legislation was passed, however, the plaza was opened for the public in exchange for closing part of Cedar St., which allowed the

building to be taller.“It’s our understanding that’s it’s

actually private property — it looks and feels like a public space because it’s been open to the public,” said Connors.

While it is private space, Fosun can’t build on it.

In a Sun., May 10 email, Vega said that she and her family went to the plaza this past weekend and experienced no issues.

Downtown Express photo by Mia Rupani


BY MIA RUPANI With summer quickly approaching,

activity at Piers 25 and 26 in Tribeca near N. Moore St. is picking up. The piers are part of Hudson River Park, which extends from 59th St. south to Battery Park City.

Hudson River Park (hudsonriver-park.org) has a plethora of activities planned throughout the summer for kids and adults alike, beginning in May and running through September as part of their “Summer of Fun” series.

Starting June 7, those interested in fishing and learning more about the Hudson River environment can partici-pate in Big City Fishing, a free program offered at Pier 25. Every Sunday from 3-5 p.m. participants can fish and chat with environmental educators. Rods, reels and bait are provided.

For those with kids, Pier 25 will host entertainment for children every Monday from 6:30-7:15 p.m. starting June 1. Families are encouraged to attend these free performances that include musicians, magicians and inter-active storytelling.

Likewise, kids aged four to nine are invited to attend the free River Rangers program Mondays from 2-3:30 p.m. at Pier 25 starting July 6. Kids will learn about the Hudson River ecosystem through science experiments and crafts.

Beginning July 7, artists from the Children’s Museum of the Arts will host free art-making activities for kids at Pier 25 every Tuesday from 1-2:30 p.m.

Pop Up Maker Space, a free sci-ence-based workshop, will task par-ticipants with the job of constructing projects and working to find solutions to real-world challenges. The work-shops are held every Thursday from 5-7 p.m. starting July 9.

Free kayaking resumed last week-end at the Downtown Boathouse on Pier 26 and will run until Oct. 12

every Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Starting in July, the kayaking program is extended to include weekday evenings from 5-6:30 p.m.

Also this summer, two historic ships are docked at Pier 25 and offer very different experiences for visi-tors. The first is the U.S.C.G. Lilac, America’s sole surviving steam-pow-ered lighthouse tender. Docked oppo-site of the Lilac is the Sherman Zwicker, a 142-foot fishing schooner built in 1942.

Opened on May 19, the Lilac is host to the Lilac Arts Series, a con-temporary art exhibition and public events series that will feature artist talks, film screenings and educational programs. Visit lilacarts.org for a full list of events being held.

The Sherman Zwicker doubles as

LIU Brooklyn congratulates the graduates who were awarded bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees, as well as associates degrees and advanced certificates, at this year’s annual Commencement. The university community proudly welcomes our newest graduates to a global network of over 200,000 alumni. Learn more at LIU.edu and stay connected with the LIU Brooklyn alumni community at LIU.edu/Alumni.

Congratulations Graduates!

• 1,068 master’s degree recipients• 825 baccalaureate recipients• 291 doctoral recipients• 88 dual bachelor’s/master’s degree recipients• 67 advanced certificate recipients• 20 associate’s degree recipients

Proudly celebrating:

Brooklyn’s newest generation of young graduates celebrated their educational suc-cess in a momentous occasion at LIU Brook-lyn’s Commencement ceremony on May 12 at the Barclays Center.

The LIU community recognized Brook-lyn cultural leader and President of Brook-lyn Academy of Music (BAM), Karen Brooks Hopkins, and awarded her an LIU Honorary Doctorate. Hopkins has played a transfor-mative role in broadening and redefi ning Brooklyn’s cultural landscape through pre-mier performing arts programming at BAM and its affi liates in Downtown Brooklyn.

Political Science Major Named Valedictorian Navil Infante, an Honors student and Polit-

ical Science major, was named valedictorian of the 2015 graduating class and presented the student address during Commencement ceremonies. Infante was awarded New York City’s prestigious Jeannette K. Watson Fel-

lowship and worked at a national nonprofi t organization and a leading multinational law fi rm. Infante will spend her last Watson Fellow internship in Costa Rica teaching English to children from impoverished com-munities.

Distinction and ScholarshipA crowd of nearly 10,000 graduates, proud

families, guests, and university offi cials gathered at Commencement 2015 to celebrate the achievements of 291 doctoral candidates, 1,068 master’s degree candidates, 88 dual bachelor’s/master’s candidates, 825 bac-calaureate students, 20 associate’s degree recipients, and 67 who have completed ad-vanced certifi cates.

Geographically, the class represents 35 states and 40 nations from 6 continents around the world. It included 235 interna-tional students, decorated service veterans, and award-winning student athletes. A large

number of students graduated with honors: 8 with distinction in honors; 61 with hon-ors designation; 78 Summa Cum Laude; 62 Magna Cum Laude; and 146 Cum Laude.

Degrees and certifi cates were conferred to graduates of LIU Brooklyn, LIU Global, LIU Pharmacy, and LIU Hudson.

For more information on the LIU Brooklyn Commencement ceremonies, visit www.liu.edu/brooklyn/commencement.

LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITYLIU is one of the nation’s largest private

universities. Since its founding in 1926, LIU has provided high quality academic programs taught by world-class faculty. LIU offers 500 accredited programs to more than 20,000 stu-dents and has a network of over 200,000 alumni that includes leaders in industries across the globe. Visit liu.edu for more information.

LIU Brooklyn Honors Class of 2015 with Commencement Celebration

It is time for another jam-packed season at Governors Island, which will opens on Sat., May 23. There will be favorites returning and new programming on the island, which will be open until September 27. The Billion Oyster Project will exhibit its work to restore a billion oysters to the New York Harbor. Just in time for the arrival of the Hermione, a replica of General Lafayette’s 18th century ship, there will be the New-York Historical Society’s “Revolution: N.Y.C. & the War for Independence.”

Art and playfulness abounds on the island with Figment NYC, the weekend of June 6 and 7. Sculpture, installations, performances, mini-golf and workshops are all part of Figment, a free participatory art event. Another favorite, the River to River Festival, produced by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, will again return to Governors

Island as one of its signature loca-tions. Performances of “Fall of the Rebel Angels: X” found some inspiration in Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. Created by Catherine Galasso, the interdisciplinary work is on its tenth “study” or chapter.

Also, the hills are — almost — alive on Governors Island. Made of recycled fill materials, the hills are still under construction but are expected to be complete next year. Rising 25 to 70 feet above the island, the Trust for Governors Island will offer guided hard hats tours of the hills this season.

The ferry (govisland.com) costs $2 for adults and chil-dren over 12. Children under 12 ride free and senior citizens for $1. The ferries run seven days from Lower Manhattan and from Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 on Saturdays, Sundays, Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Gov. Isle opens

It’s looking like summer in Tribeca

Downtown Express photos by Milo Hess

The Downtown Boathouse opened its kayak program on Pier 26 last weekend.

The Sherman Zwicker on Pier 25.

both a maritime museum and restau-rant. On the deck of the ship is Grand Banks, an oyster bar and seafood restaurant now open to the public. The museum in the hold is not-for-profit while the proceeds made from the restaurant are used to preserve the ship.

“Our favorite time of year is kicking off the summer season with entertain-ment, events and education programs which will draw a diverse audience from adjacent communities and across the entire city, for all to enjoy,” Madelyn Wils, C.E.O. and President of Hudson River Park Trust, said in a statement.


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Board cites 3 buildings they say shouldn’t be forgottenBY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICHow long does it take to landmark

a building? For some, like the 1888 Excelsior Power Company building at 33 Gold St. — the answer is 38 years and counting.

The burnt umber brick Excelsior was one of three buildings Community Board 1 highlighted in their recent resolution urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to bring these buildings “to public hearing for urgent designation.”

The other two buildings are at 315 Broadway and 143 Chambers St. and both have been on the calendar since 1989.

The L.P.C. suggested late last year to remove all languishing items from its calendar — something that would affect some 100 buildings throughout the city. The commission postponed that proposal after an outcry from pres-ervation and community advocates.

There were two C.B. 1 resolutions about the L.P.C. before last month’s full board meeting. Roger Byrom, chairperson of the board’s Landmarks Committee, said it was somewhat bizarre as one praised while the other criticized the commission.

“The first one is condemning the Landmarks Preservation Commission for not acting on important buildings in our district,” said Byrom. “The new chair is suggesting that we just remove that designation and forget that work was ever done.”

Byrom was referring to Meenakshi Srinivasan, who was appointed L.P.C. chairperson by Mayor Bill de Blasio last year. He said that the board is “vehemently against” the removal of buildings from the calendar.

In the ‘90s, then mayor Rudy Giuliani pushed revitalization plans for Lower Manhattan and many buildings were landmarked as part of the effort, but for some reason these three were not.

In an email this month, L.P.C. spokesperson Damaris Olivo said that the properties have had hear-ings — Excelsior Power Company was heard on May 10, 1977; 143 Chambers St. on Sept. 19, 1989; and 315 Broadway on Dec. 12, 1989 and again on April 3, 1990. The commis-sion listened to testimony at those hearings and the buildings remain on its calendar, she said.

Both 143 Chambers St. and 315

Broadway were calendared in connection with including them to Tribeca historic districts while the L.P.C. was active in the area. Neither building is part of a his-toric district. After designating the historic districts, it turned its atten-tion to buildings that were a high-er priority, more meritorious, or potentially threatened, said Olivo.

At the time of the initial cal-endaring for the Excelsior Power Company, there was significant opposition, Olivo added. Since that time, a rooftop addition was added to the building and it was converted to residential. This building has not been a priority for the commission because of its rooftop addition and because it is not threatened, she said.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Byrom said, has put forward a way to deal with the backlog — look at five a month, slowly but steadily getting through them instead of wiping them off the calendar.

There was another resolution on the table — honoring the work of the L.P.C., which celebrated its 50th

anniversary. Both passed.“Over the course of 50 years,

we’re stronger for the actions of the L.P.C.,” said Byrom, who noted the six historic districts — five in Tribeca and one in the Seaport — and import-ant buildings, such as the Woolworth Building, in C.B. 1.

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

143 Chambers St. has been on the Landmarks Preservation Commission calendar since 1989.


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Building next door is in the city’s South Street Seaport Historic District and is slated to be restored under a proposal by the area’s developer, Howard Hughes Corp. The firm has hopes of demolishing New Market to construct a 500-foot residential tower.

Some opponents of the project see the demolition news as a way to jumpstart the Hughes development plan, which remains on hold due in part to local opposition.

“What’s our basis for saying we want something else on the New Market Building if it no longer exists,” Community Board 1’s Paul Hovitz said at a board meeting Tuesday night. “Doesn’t that then pave the way for them to say ‘well it’s not there anymore so let’s put a tower on it.’ ”

The city says the partial demolition has nothing to do with the development plans, and it has reached out to local politicians. E.D.C. officials also took a few members of Board 1 on a private tour Tuesday. The reaction to the mes-sage varies.

One person directly involved, speak-

ing on the condition of anonymity, said “You sort of have to take them at their word. Trust? Do we believe them? It’s the Reagan line, ‘trust but verify.’”

Councilmember Margaret Chin’s

spokesperson, Sam Spokony, did not want to use the word “concern.”

“We’re following it very closely,” he said.

Everyone agrees that the pier sup-

porting the New Market and Tin, and the buildings themselves are badly in need of repairs which get costlier with

Continued from page 1

Downtown Express photo by Josh Rogers

The New Market Building.

The end of the New Market Building

time. A 2010 report by E.D.C. esti-mated it would cost about $10 million to stabilize the New Market and Tin, but the current estimate from Hughes for the pier supporting them is about $75 million.

Some members of C.B. 1 and Save Our Seaport, an advocacy group, say the city has “abrogated their steward-ship and responsibility” for the build-ings out of neglect, and the city and developer shouldn’t benefit as a result.

Hughes, which declined to com-ment for this article, argues that the only way to get benefits like a middle school, affordable housing, restoration of the Tin, and better waterfront access — all part of the current proposal — is to accept a revenue-generating tower at New Market, which is designated in state and federal registries, but has no city Landmarks protection.

Although C.B. 1 and preservation-ists have been fighting for many years to add the New Market to the city’s historic district, the city has always seen it as a development site. Even Bruce Ehrmann, co-chairperson of

the board’s Landmarks Committee acknowledged this year the effort was “like beating a dead horse.”

Because of the Tin’s precarious state, Hughes had proposed carefully dismantling it and restoring it close to its original state, so the latest news pre-sumably should not change those plans, although not everyone is sure.

“It seems clear to me that the reason the Landmarks application for the Tin Building is not proceeding is because E.D.C. is intending to demolish both it and the New Market building,” Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, wrote in an email to Downtown Express. “The people making decisions are acting in bad faith with regard to the public process and the his-toric buildings of the Seaport.”

His group, Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee, Save Our Seaport, and others have recently signed onto a draft letter to Mayor de Blasio criticiz-ing the overall Seaport process for ”an egregious absence of transparency.”

E.D.C. officials did not attend Tuesday night’s Board 1 meeting but the Seaport Committee is expecting the agency to show up to its next meeting,

June 16.For her part, Rauam, the Seaport

artist, surprisingly, is not one of the people opposing the proposed demoli-tion of the New Market — whether it’s done by the city or by Hughes someday — even though she kept using the word “iconic” to describe its importance to the fish market, which moved to the Bronx in 2005.

She said she has always seen her

role as an observer to chronicle the neighborhood, not to be the change. She’s also OK with moving the Tin a little away from the F.D.R. Drive, which Hughes wants to do so it can be raised for flood protections.

“If it has to come down, it has to come down. So be it,” she said of New Market. “Moving the Tin is fine. None of us ever saw that building because of the awful highway.” Continued on page 17


New Marke

t

Building

Cooler Area

Cooler Area

Tin Building

Photo illustration of the demolition areas the Tin and New Market buildings.


BY LENORE SKENAZYAs we settle in to the reality that

we will probably never know what happened to Etan Patz after he dis-appeared that May morning in 1979, maybe we can finally come to terms with the legacy the crime left behind.

The legacy of constant, crippling fear.I promise I won’t only be writing

columns about helicopter parenting, but indulge me this one, because of the circumstances. You see, a reporter who called me for comment after the Patz trial ended in a hung jury asked me the question that I get asked, one way or another, all the time. Sometimes it is by parents trying to feel less anxious. Sometimes it is by the media trying to stir that anxiety up.

Either way, it is this:“What would you say to parents who

are interested in letting their kids walk home from the park but are too nervous that their child might be the next Etan?”

Oh, so much.Parents afraid that their child might

be the “next Etan” are understandably fearful, since we have been hearing about this case for 36 years. It is our

New York catechism. We have been trained to reflexively picture the sad-dest possible fate — basically, Etan’s — before we let our kids do anything on their own. I call this “worst-first thinking” — thinking up the worst case scenario first, and proceeding as if it is likely to happen.

It is depressing. It is paralyzing. And it isn’t really keeping our kids any safer. To see why, try this:

Imagine if, 36 years ago, a child — call him Frederick — had died falling down the stairs. It is a rare way to die, but it happens. Now imagine that Frederick’s case had received inordinate media attention. Article after article. Television story after television story. “Remembering Frederick” would be the headline on the cover of People maga-zine, and the name of a docudrama. But would it make sense for parents to feel heart-stopping fear every time their kids

wanted to walk down the stairs?Of course not.One terrible, tragic case that hap-

pened when a child was doing some-thing that is generally very safe and normal should not change the way we go about everyday life. Certainly not for 36 years. We would have to try to keep it in perspective. After all, since 1979, 120 million Americans have been 6 years old and not appeared on the cover of People, because nothing bad happened to them.

That is a hard perspective to keep in our predator-obsessed society. But a couple of things help me. One is this: For my book, “Free-Range Kids”, I asked the British author Warwick Cairns to solve this problem for me. “How long would you have to leave a child outside, unattended, for it to be statistically likely that the child would be kidnapped by a stranger?” This is sort of like asking, “How many lottery tickets would you have to buy to be statistically likely to win the jackpot?” He crunched the numbers and responded:

It is 600,000 years.

And after the first 100,000 years or so, your child isn’t technically a kid anymore.

Another calming thought is that there has never been a safer time to be a child in America, and New York is particularly safe. Our city’s crime rate is actually below the national average. And if we’re talking murders (which we are), there were 328 homicides in our city last year — “the lowest number since at least 1963, when reliable statistics were first kept,” according to The New York Times.

That means that walking to school, playing in the park, and waiting at the bus stop are safer for our kids than when we were kids and our parents let us go outside.

So we can live in fear of very rare, very random events that we can’t possibly predict in the course of everyday life. Or we can remember the best aphorism any-one ever sent to my blog: “All the worry in the world doesn’t prevent death. It prevents life.”

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

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PUBLISHER EMERITUSJohn W. Sutter

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 matter. 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.

TRANSIT SAM

Etan Patz fears & reality: Your kids are alright

Thurs., May 21 – Wed., May 27ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE

SUSPENDED MONDAY FOR MEMORIAL DAYMay the get-away games begin! With Memorial

Day weekend fast approaching, brace for heavi-er traffic than we’ve seen in the past few years. Traffic is up at all bridges and tunnels and at airports. No need to fear, Transit Sam is here!

Lower Manhattan will see monster traffic jams at bridges and tunnels on Thursday and Friday. Hardest hit will be the Holland Tunnel approach-es from Canal, Varick, and Broome Sts. The Broome St. back-up, around 4 p.m. both days, may extend all the way to Lafayette St. The best time to travel will be after 9 p.m. Friday.

On Monday – Memorial Day – alternate side parking rules are suspended, as are meter parking rules. Signs that say “No parking” or “No stand-ing” on certain weekdays, in this case Monday, are also suspended. Signs with the word “any-time” are still in effect.

Fleet Week continues through Tuesday. Naval enthusiasts will flock to the Hudson River water-front to tour U.S. Navy ships, and an event at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza will cause slowdowns 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. Expect heavy traffic on the West Side Highway.

East River crossing woes ahead: In the Lincoln Tunnel, the New York-bound south tube will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. In the

Mom Hit By Car On Beekman Calls For Justice

(POSTED, May 13):

Why a vehicular charge at all? Why not two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, insurance fraud, false report, etc.? Throw the book at this woman.

Daniel

Leaving the scene of an acci-dent should be an automatic felony, regardless of if it involves an injury. And regardless of what state the accident occurs.

Dianna

NYPD just doesn’t care about traf-fic safety. Unless someone is drunk, hits a police officer, or says they in-tentionally hit someone else, the po-lice response is a shrug.

It’s a disgrace. People are injured daily and killed every few days in NYC, and the fundamental police response is: “We don’t care - it’s not

our job to do anything about it.”

JTJT

North Cove Marina Plans Revealed Just Before Sailing Season

(POSTED, May 7):

This is shameful and pathetic. If their primary focus is to get peo-ple going through the retail sever-al times a day, then they missed the point. Why were these peo-ple awarded management of the Marina? They clearly have no idea what they are doing.

Karen Zieff

Forgotten Hitchcock Nazi docu-mentary to be shown in Battery

Park City (POSTED, May 7):

Why hide it at a museum? This Hitchcock film should be posted to YouTube for all to see.

Avangionq

Posted To

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

Here’s looking at you...head. This oversized wooden sculpture that recently appeared in a Tribeca Park was getting some looks, and giving some back.

In the article about the Downtown Little League’s Opening Day parade in our April 23 - May 6 issue (“A parade to play ball!”), we incorrectly credited the photogra-pher of one of the photos. Suellen Epstein took the picture of players waving American flags and enjoy-ing the celebration, not Tequila Minsky, who took all of the other photos in the article.

CorrectionHolland Tunnel, one New York-bound lane will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

All Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will close 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday through Friday, and midnight Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.

On West St./Route 9A, one northbound lane will close between West Thames and Vesey Sts.10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

The Little Italy Pedestrian mall kicks off its weekly Friday evening closures of Mulberry St. between Canal and Broome Sts. and Hester St. between Mott and Baxter Sts. 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.

The Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit

will close Washington Square East between Waverly Pl. and West 4th St., and the side-walks on University Pl. between E 13th St. and Waverly Pl. and on Washington Pl. between Washington Square East and Mercer St. noon to 6 p.m. Saturday through Monday.

The Chabad of Wall Street Community Fair will close Liberty St. between Broadway and Trinity Pl. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

Email your traffic, transit and parking questions to [email protected]. For the most up-to-date Memorial Day get-away news, follow @GridlockSam and check www.GridlockSam.com.

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BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

Revolution Books needs your help.The bookstore, which has been located at 146 W. 26

St. between Sixth and Seventh Aves. since 2008, has lost its lease and is looking to raise $150,000 for a new spot, explained C. Clark Kissinger, the store’s manager.

When the bookstore’s five-year lease came to an end, he said, the landlord let them stay on a month-by-month basis at below market rate until he could find a long-term tenant that he liked. That tenant has been found and the bookstore has until the end of this month, he said.

“We couldn’t afford to stay here,” Kissinger said at the store, which held an emergency meeting May 7.

Revolution Books has always been a desti-nation bookstore — people search for it due to its categories such as U.S. History, Revolutionary Theory, Women and Libros en Español as well as a wide selection of material — and the nexus of subway lines in Chelsea has always been helpful.

“The neighborhood has changed” Kissinger said, adding, “other parts of the city are more appropriate.”

The not-for-profit bookstore first opened in 1978. It has had several locations before settling in Chelsea, mostly notably near Union Square at W. 19th St. for 13 years, said Kissinger.

“This is an important resource for the metropolitan area,” he said. “We think we have a new place. We have to raise a lot of money to make this possible.”

The emergency meeting was a rallying cry to enlist as much help as possible for their fundraising drive and move. As it is a not-for-profit endeavor, people cannot invest in it, and so the bookstore is calling “on

people who feel this kind of store needs to be in the mix,” said Kissinger.

“I was always glad it was here,” said Sylvia Men-del, who has lived in Chelsea for 11 years.

The bookstore’s disappearance gets at a deeper problem, she said, and “it is just another sadness.”

“I think we all know why we’re here tonight,” said Andy Zee at the start of the meeting.

It is to turn a bad thing into a good thing by raising enough money to relocate the store, he said, and “to

ask ourselves, do we really need this store?”Yes, he declared, before announcing that

the store is moving to Harlem.“Harlem is where Revolution Books

should be,” said Zee, who noted the neigh-borhood’s history of art and activism. “To

make this real requires serious money. It is a lot of money for people like us.”The $150,000 is needed now for a new lease,

to take care of past obligations and to renovate and set up the bookstore at the new location, he said.

He tied the bookstore, whose members had par-ticipated in Occupy Wall Street, to current issues — what happened in Baltimore, the #BlackLivesMatter movement and sexual assault and said, “No other bookstore is dedicated to this mission.”

Revolution Books will start an Indiegogo cam-paign in June to raise $40,000 to $50,000, said Zee.

There is much to be done to pack up the store and then shelve the new one — as well as plan a party that will announce the new store.

K. Osburn, 19, knows how she will pitch in. She recently moved to Brooklyn from Los Angeles and frequently comes to Revolution Books. A film stu-dent at New York Film Academy, she will volunteer

to edit the testimonial video of people who support the bookstore.

Revolution Books / Libros Revolución, 146 W. 26th St. (btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.), needs volunteers. Call 212-691-33455 or visit revolutionbooksnyc.org.

The end of the Revolution in Chelsea

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

Revolution Books will close at the end of May with hopes of moving to Harlem.

BY TEQUILA MINSKYFor 34 years, Frank Modica served as

director for Hamilton-Madison House, a non-profit settlement house, now more than 100 years old, dedicated to improv-ing the quality of life of individuals and families primarily in the Chinatown and Two Bridges neighborhoods.

Modica died in 2013 at age 81. Im-mediately after his funeral, those who knew and worked with him brainstormed on how they could honor this man who so completely took the Lower East Side into his heart and made it his life’s work.

On a picture-perfect day last week, at the far reaches of the Lower East Side, between the Brook-lyn and Manhattan bridges, those who worked with and loved the late com-munity activist gathered at Rutgers Slip and South St. to co-name the street Frank T. Modica Way.

Victor Papa, a board member of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, beamed with pride talking about the history of the neighborhood. Gesturing to the East River just north of Brooklyn Bridge, he said, “Immigrants — mostly English and Irish — disembarked here in the early 1800s.”

Pointing to an expanse of housing

along South St., he said, “This is the Two Bridges Urban Renewal District — fif-teen hundred units of affordable housing. It’s a flagship project that houses 60 for-merly homeless families and a building for seniors only.”

Tenant leader Elaine Hoffman ex-pressed how much she loved Modica.

“He was a former priest,” she not-ed. “As director of Hamilton-Madison

House, he grew it for the people and the services they needed.”

Modica was the settlement house’s director from 1976 to 2010, and was also board chairperson of the Two Bridg-

es Neighborhood Council. During the street cere-

mony, Papa said that the L.E.S. leader had also worked in Europe

and lived elsewhere. However, he said, “Frank Modica was one of us. He was a Lower East Sider and we got to have him.”

Also among those at the event were seniors and other Two Bridges tenants, former co-workers of Modica’s, represen-tatives of local politicians and a slew of kids from after-school programs.

“This is your first foray into civic ac-tion,” Papa told the younger generation.

“He did a lot for us and I am so proud and so happy. He was my family, too,” he said of Modica. Then, looking up at the sign, he said, “Keep on shining on us.”

City Councilmember Margaret Chin mentioned a number of local ini-tiatives that Modica was responsible for setting up, including Head Start and mental health programs.

With Modica’s widow, Kathleen, look-ing on, his son Sean also paid tribute.

“This was his city and his people,” he said. “He was dedicated to serving this community and worked to make it a better and safer place. Like Margaret said, maybe people will see the sign, Google his name, get inspired and fol-low in his footsteps.”

L.E.S. leader Modica honored in street co-naming

Downtown Express photo by Tequila Minsky

At the dedication of Frank T. Modica Way, Victor Papa, center, received a proclamation from state Senator Daniel Squadron’s representative, while Elaine Hoffman looked on.

AROUNDAROUND


LONG-RUNNING

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.

BIG CITY FISHING: Pier 25 (near N. Moore St.). hudsonriverpark.org; (212) 627-2020; Sundays 1 pm – 5 pm Mondays 5 pm – 7:30 pm, Tuesdays 1 pm – 4 pm, Thursdays 1 pm – 4pm. Free. For children 5+ and adults who want to learn how to fish and about river ecology. All fishing equipment is provided.

BASKETBALL CLINIC: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; www.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 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; http;//www.bpcparks.org; Tuesdays, 3:15 – 3:45 pm; 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; www.bpcparks.org/event; Wednesdays, 3:30–5 pm; 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, sculpt-ing and murals. For children 5 and older.

ART 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; www.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.

THURS, MAY 21

BABY LAPTIME: Battery Park City library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 11:30 am. Free.Babies 0 – 18 mo. and their caregivers can enjoy stories, songs/rhymes, and meet other babies. Limited to 50 babies; first-come first-served.

KIDSLIVE! AUTHOR TALK WITH PAUL CZAJAK: Battery Park City library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm. Free.Hear children’s author Paul Czajak dis-cuss his book Seaver the Weaver. All ages welcome

TUE, MAY 26


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, MAY 27

TODDLER STORY TIME: Battery Park City library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org;

10:30 am. Free.Toddlers 12-36 mo. and their caregivers can be entertained by a librarian sharing lively picture books and songs.

THURS, MAY 28


FAMILY GEOMETRY CRAFT: Battery Park City library. (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm. Free.Bring the whole family and learn how to make a “flextangle,” a moveable geomet-ric creation. For children of all ages + a gown-up helper.

MON, JUNE 1ROLIE POLIE GUACAMOLE: Pier 25 in Tribeca. (212) 627-2020; hudsonriv-erpark.org; 6:30 pm. Free.The children’s band Rolie Polie Guacamole will perform at Pier 25.

WED, JUNE 3

BIG TOP SCIENCE: Battery Park City library; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm. Free.Science-themed circus where kids ages 4+ will learn about physics and chem-istry. Limited space, first-come first-served.

FRI, JUNE 5

FRIDAY NIGHTS: Battery Park River Terrace, 6 River Terrace (Irish Hunger Memorial0; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org/event/friday-night-for-teens-2; 7–9 pm; Free. Teens come together and make new friends and play games. Hosted by the

Battery Park Conservancy. Sat, June 6

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

STORIES FOR ALL AGES: Teardrop Park, Warren St. and River Terrace; (212) 267–9700;bpcparks.org/event/stories-for-all-ages-2; 11 am; Free. Master storyteller Mary Ann Schmidt tells the tale of a shy earthworm and a lonely caterpillar. For ages 2 and older. Hosted by the Battery Park Conservancy. Sun, June 7

ART TOUR AND WORKSHOP: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, River Terrace and Murray Street; (212) 267–9700; bpcparks.org/event/family-art-tour-work-shop-gimme-shelter; 2 pm; Free. Gimme Shelter is a great workshop for all ages to enjoy the afternoon exploring Nelson A. Rockefeller Park. Then build a shelter of your own design. All materials provided. Hosted by the Battery Park Conservancy.

MON, JUNE 8

STORY PIRATES: Pier 25 in Tribeca. (212) 627-2020; hudsonriverpark.org; 6:30 pm. Free.Professional actors bring children’s orig-inal story ideas to life in front of their eyes.

WED, JUNE 10

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC SHOW: Battery Park City library; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 pm. Free.Magic show for kids 3+ featuring a superhero and his puppet rabbit sidekick.

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projects, although parent fundrais-ing would be needed to build out this area.

The DeMatteis Construction Cor-poration is the contractor for the am-bitious renovation project.

Following the presentation, during the Q&A, some parents pined for a separate gym and auditorium. La Rocca said that, in recent years, all schools built by the S.C.A. for the Department of Education have had gymatoriums, since D.O.E. believes these provide maximum flexibility for a variety of events, from basket-ball games, to black-box theatre, to full-scale theater productions. The gymatorium can also be divided in two with a temporary partition at half-court.

Before the presentation, Jeannine Kiely, chairperson of the Community Board 2 Schools and Education Com-mittee, made a recruiting push for parents to join the 75 Morton Com-munity Alliance, to provide input on the new school process before the middle school admissions season be-gins in fall 2016.

The alliance is a coalition of par-ents from School District 2 elementa-ry schools that has been a key player in the school’s planning, working in tandem with C.B. 2 and Community Education Council for District 2. Be-tween now and next fall, the alliance will host two or three “envisioning meetings” — as it has done during the last two years of planning for the school. The goal will be to gather par-ent input on critical issues, such as admissions criteria, desired qualities of the principal, and programming for both the middle school and Dis-trict 75 schools.

“We need representatives from every District 2 elementary school to participate,” Kiely said. “We don’t want just the loudest voices to be heard.”

One of the key items for the school’s successful launch is hiring a principal before the fall 2016 ad-missions season. That’s when parents want to meet principals face to face and learn first-hand about academics, educational philosophy, program-ming, extra-curriculars, teaching styles and the ethos of the school. D.O.E.’s current plan has a principal starting date of January 2017, which local parents feel is too late.

Tours of the 75 Morton building won’t be possible, since a tempo-rary certificate of occupancy allow-ing visitors is not issued until about three months prior opening day. So, parents and school advocates feel, it is important for a principal to be in place to embody the school’s mission for prospective families. In place of

an on-site school tour, the hope is that, with the help of a tech-savvy parent volunteer, a virtual building tour could be created online to tout the new school’s state-of-the-art fa-cilities.

One of the hot topics parents will want input on is admissions criteria. As C.E.C. President Shino Tanikawa explained, there are several middle school admissions processes. These range from “unscreened,” in which any student can apply without be-ing evaluated; to “screened,” where a variety of metrics, such as grades, writing samples, interviews and test scores, are used to make admissions decisions — although many middle schools do not take standardized test scores into consideration. There are even a handful of zoned middle schools in District 2, such as Baruch and Wagner, for which admission is simply based on home address.

According to Tanikawa, D.O.E. has historically controlled admissions policies for new schools — not allow-ing parental input into the process. But the C.E.C. has been studying various approaches to middle school admissions and is pushing D.O.E. to allow it to have an advisory role to institute changes. Given the shortage of school seats in District 2, the maze of middle school admissions has only exacerbated the stress felt by families of fifth graders.

The number of students that will attend the 75 Morton school is also up in the air. Although the S.C.A. says it designed a school with a 900-student capacity, D.O.E., not the S.C.A. will dictate enrollment. But that won’t be without input from C.B. 2, C.E.C. and parents, insisted Kiely.

“The D.O.E. knows where we stand,” she said. “We don’t want a sardine mod-el. We want a ‘right-sized school’ of 600 to 700 students.”

Kiely anticipated that the school will open with a sixth grade and add a grade each year, although D.O.E. approval of the rollout has not yet been finalized.

The successful collaboration be-tween the community and D.O.E. is expected to continue, as the agency has committed to bimonthly calls with representatives from C.B. 2, C.E.C. and the 75 Morton Commu-nity Alliance. Thankfully, the S.C.A. has a stellar track record of building best-in-class new schools and meet-ing scheduled opening dates, so these deliberations can focus less on con-struction progress and more on the next big questions. Who will lead the school as principal? What kinds of academic and enrichment programs will be offered? How best to fill the school with a diverse mix of students from across District 2?

P.S. 3 parent David Colby, who has a daughter in third grade who would join the inaugural 75 Mor-

ton class of sixth graders, said he is “really motivat-ed.”

“At P.S. 3, par-ents helped de-sign our school’s unique curricu-lum and didn’t have to answer much to the Board of Ed,” he said. “So if we mobilize for 75 Morton, maybe we can avoid the morass of test-ing and flawed admissions and create an amazing school.”

At one point during the meeting, it was asked how many in the room were the parents of current third graders, and about half of those pres-ent raised their hands.

Advocates stressed that now is the time for parents to step up and have a voice in shaping 75 Morton into a top-notch middle school. Parents can get involved by contacting the 75 Morton Community Alliance at HY-PERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected].

The kickoff to plan the envisioning meetings during the next school year will take place on Mon., June 1, at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 33, 281 Ninth Ave. (between W. 26th and 28th Sts.).

“The incredible designs we’ve seen today came from unprece-dented communication between the D.O.E., parents, community and elected officials,” Kiely told the crowd. “If we work together and continue to give the D.O.E. our in-

put on admissions, programming, partnerships and more, just think of what we can create!”

Looking at the design renderings after the meeting, Nadine Hoffmann, president of the Village Independent Democrats, remarked, “I wish I had a young kid to go to this school. My kid went to LAB School. It was a wonderful school — but the physical plant, it looked like a jail from the outside.”

Terri Cude, first vice chairperson of C.B. 2 said, “Of all the issues we deal with on the community board — all the victories, the defeats — this is a real win.”

Tony Hoffmann, Nadine’s hus-band, said, “They fought so hard and so long for this. It’s such an example of community action. What I love about it, is that only in the Village can they fight for these details — and get them.”

WITH REPORTING BY LINCOLN ANDERSON


75 Morton middle school

Downtown Express photos by Tequila Minsky

Obviously a pretty gifted student, a prospective 75 Morton St. pupil was busy attempting anagrams while simultaneously doing homework during the meeting, above. Jeannine Kiely displayed a poster board with a design of the school’s spacious cafeteria, below.


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Bay Parkway (Exit 5) on the Belt Parkway West

www.ADVENTURERSPARK.com

FREE Parking & Admission

$5.00 OFFBook of 30 Tickets

Valid Until 7/31/15As Seen in Brooklyn Parent

JUNE SPECIAL!!!MINI GOLF 2 PLAY FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

MONDAY - THURSDAY 7pm-9pm (Excludes Holidays)

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P.O.P.“PAY ONE PRICE”

RIDE WRISTBANDSSTARTING:

JUNE 30TH, 2015.Monday – Friday

Session 1: 12pm - 3pmSession 2: 3pm - 6pmSession 3: 6pm - 9pm

*Excludes GO KARTS*1 Ride on Bumper Cars Only

$22.00per person

COME ONE, COME ALL ... FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILYGO-KARTS!

1824 Shore Parkway - Brooklyn, NY 112141824 Shore Parkway - Brooklyn, NY 11214

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855.692.5289 katzmoving.com

Katz Moving has a stellar reputation for excellence in the moving industry.

Please mention “Community Media” when placing your move.

Katz Moving will donate 5% of your move to The Ali Forney Center

Check out our 5 Star Customer Reviews

47-47 Austell Pl., Long Island City, NY 11101 • NYSDOT #T-38598 • USDOT #2280679 Terms and conditions apply, can't be applied with any other offer, offer expires on 3/31/2015.

Must mention "community media" when calling.

32 May 21-June 3, 2015 DowntownExpress.com

1 1 FULTON ST. NYC

SouthStreetSeaport.com

OUTDOOR

BAR& OF THE BEST LOCAL VENDORS8

SMORGASBURG IS BACK AT SEAPORT

Cemitas El Tigre Lonestar EmpireLumpia ShackMilk TruckPizza MotoRamen BurgerRed Hook Lobster PoundSchnitz

OPEN EVERY DAY ALL SUMMER

STARTING MAY 21st