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Intro. 775 on the Outs With Preservationists BY YANNIC RACK A bill currently under consideration by the City Council could soon overhaul New York’s landmarks designation process — and potentially hand some historic buildings to developers, according to opponents. Intro. 775 — which has been the focus of intense concern amid advocates’ calls to stop it from becoming law — would establish time limits for buildings and districts under consideration by the city’s Landmarks Continued on page 7

DOB Commish Commits to More Public Access BY ZACH WILLIAMS New money invested by city government into the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) will result in better service, more transparency and increased cooperation with other city agencies, according to DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler. About $121 million in new investment over the next four years will fund 320 new inspectors and other staff for a department Continued on page 5

GET WHAT YOU WANT Joe Jackson steps out with a new album and two nights at Town Hall. See page 21.

Photo by Yannic Rack

Construction on the project’s Eastern Yard includes 30 Hudson Yards, right, and the future Shops & Restaurants complex, left. In the background, left, is the glass tower of 10 Hudson Yards, opening to commercial tenants in the spring.

At Hudson Yards, Managing a Site While Sculpting a City BY YANNIC RACK The skyline of the West Side has been changing rapidly in recent years, and it can be hard to keep track of all the new developments currently springing up in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and in between. The largest project of its kind in the area, and the city for that matter, is Hudson Yards — the cornerstone of a new neighborhood that is set to breathe life into this long-neglected part of the city. Currently under construction atop the active rail yards between W. 30th and W. 34th Sts., and 10th Ave. and the Hudson River, the project will be completed in stages over the next ten years, with the first office tenants scheduled to move in next spring. It will eventually accommodate around 125,000 residents, visitors and workers every day. “That’s Cambridge, Massachusetts. That’s Burbank,

California. It is a city in and of itself. And that’s just our project, not including Brookfield and the other projects in the area,” says Michael Samuelian. As a vice president with Related Companies, which is developing the site together with Oxford Properties, he is responsible for the urban planning, architectural design, marketing and public approvals of the $20 billion project. Samuelian and Related’s Geoff Butler — who oversees the construction at 10 Hudson Yards, the first office tower that now stands almost complete — recently sat down with Chelsea Now to talk about what it’s like to be involved in one of the largest private real estate developments to ever be built in the country. Originally from Seattle and now living in New Jersey,

Continued on page 2 VOLUME VOLUME 07, ISSUE 07, 30 ISSUE | SEPTEMBER 22 | JULY 24 16 - 30, 22, 2015

Hudson Yards Overseers Here Now, and Forever Continued from page 1 Butler has been working in New York for the last 20 years and was most recently involved in the construction of 3 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. “A lot of that helped with this, managing not just your own construction site but coordinating with neighboring ones as well,” he says. “It’s kind of one big construction site but within that there’s a lot of individual projects.” Samuelian, who grew up in Brooklyn, was also involved with the World Trade Center. As the Director of Lower Manhattan Special Projects at the Department of City Planning, he helped the city’s efforts to redevelop Downtown post-9/11. This project, however, is like nothing else he’s been involved in. “At Hudson Yards we’re starting from zero. We’re not rebuilding anything. We’re building stuff. We’re kind of trying to capture the essence of what makes a great neighborhood,” he says. “We’re very much at the edge. We’re at the edge of Chelsea, we’re at the edge

Photo by Joe Woolhead

Courtesy Related

Geoff Butler, right, standing under a section of the High Line. The northernmost section of the park wraps around Hudson Yards and is partly incorporated into its design.

Michael Samuelian, a vice president of Related Companies, with a model

ment, 10 Hudson Yards, now sits at the southeastern corner of the site, at W. 30th St. and 10th Ave. It has almost reached its final height of 52 stories and is emblematic of the quick pace that the whole project is moving at. “You’re putting up steel and curtain walls that are kind of chasing each other, but now we have interiors going on, we have structural steel going on, we have foundations going on,” Samuelian says. “It’s like building an entire city simultaneously.” “Very soon it’ll reach its height and you’ll see the glass wrap it up into early next year,” Butler adds. “And then people will be sitting at their desk in their new office in the spring.” Most of the site rests on hundreds of caissons that are drilled into the bedrock between the train tracks running underneath and support the platform that stretches over both the Eastern and Western yards. Butler says it is currently about 60 percent complete. “Earlier on, we had a tunnel going in and we were chasing that with the platform. Right now, a lot of the platform is done and it’s chased by building on top of the platform,” he says. “We’re kind of our own site now and above the rail yards, so it’s more normal construction.” Once complete, the neighborhood will have a multitude of notable amenities. The platform will be home to a cogeneration plant and a trash disposal system of pneumatic tubes (like the one that is already being used on Roosevelt Island), as well as a ventilation system

to keep the heat of the train yards from killing plants on the public plaza, which will serve as a connection between the buildings as well as the High Line and the Hudson Park and Boulevard. The latter recently opened north of the neighborhood on Sept. 13 and now includes three blocks of park space as well as the entrance to the new 7 subway extension. In order to maintain the many parts of the project, Related will stay in charge of the neighborhood once it’s up and running, also managing the office, retail and residential buildings through a newly created subsidiary. “What distinguishes us from other developers is that we will continue to own the assets,” Samuelian says, “so we will have a continuing role in the neighborhood — forever. We can’t just let it go, it’s too big of a project. We’re going to have to hire gardeners for the first time.” Samuelian says the developers also took a page from the destruction wreaked by Hurricane Sandy, to minimize the impact a similar catastrophe would have on the neighborhood. “The cogeneration plant is a direct result of Sandy, to some extent, so we will have energy independence,” he says. “Hudson Yards will be up and running in the case of a blackout on the East Coast or New York City.” Due to the nature of building on top of the rail yards, the neighborhood’s electrical equipment is located on the

of Hell’s Kitchen, we’re at the edge of Midtown, and we’re kind of that hole in the donut. And it’s a great opportunity to fill that up with the best of New York.” The first building of the develop-

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DOB Tech Upgrade to Improve Tracking, Transparency Continued from page 1 increasingly reliant upon technology in order to accomplish its mission of overseeing building safety throughout the city. Data analysis can help identify buildings (and landlords) not in compliance, while more online resources can streamline the construction of affordable housing and make more department data publicly accessible, Chandler said at a Sept. 18 forum held at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism (219 W. 40th St. btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.). “We’re going to use data like we’ve never used it before,” Chandler said. An online system capable of handling 100 percent of permit applications as well as payments can boost transparency and provide the hard information necessary to power the digital effort. The department also intends to make more of these records publicly accessible, he said. Scrutiny comes with the job, added Chandler, who was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in July 2014. He did not offer a specific date or program for increasing public accessibility to DOB records. “[The DOB is] a place where people take pride in what they do, and we all know that we’re under the watchful eye of others as the government should be. So we all kind of take that as a point to stand up and say: ‘Be proud of the fact that people are watching what you do, and make a decision that you think is right,’” Chandler said of the culture among the 1,300-person DOB staff. A crane accident last spring left several people with minor injuries when a heating and air-conditioning unit weighing several tons fell from a building crane on Madison Ave. While unfortunate, the incident reflected the efficacy of a proactive approach on the part of the DOB towards building cranes, Chandler said. adding that building inspectors were on-scene for the heavy lifting. DOB inspectors evaluated the work plans and the crane was operating early in the morning with the roadway temporarily closed — minimizing the danger, he said. Data analysis can bring attention to contractors with poor safety records, or reveal fake details submitted by architects, engineers and developers, he said. Recent gas explosions have led to thousands of inspections as well as regular meeting among employees from the DOB, Con Ed and National Grid, .com

Photos by Zach Williams

The DOB is examining regulations allowing sidewalk sheds, such as this one between W. 22nd & W. 23rd Sts., to remain in the same place for years.

L to R: DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler and Errol Louis, CUNY faculty member and host of NY1’s “Inside City Hall.”

said Chandler. Addressing corruption within the agency also requires effort. Seven months ago, 11 DOB employees were indicted (along with 39 other city employees and private individuals) for faking inspections, dismissing building violations and other alleged graft, according to the Associated Press. Chandler said that the investigation into the alleged graft came from his own agency. The department cannot compete on equal terms with the monetary temptations of the private sector, he noted. “It’s frustrating to see that some people make the wrong decision but at the same time it’s also reassuring to know that the referrals about these concerns emanate from our own staff — so that’s a part of the culture,” he said. The department now tracks inspectors via GPS to create “a bread crumb trail” of inspectors’ whereabouts,

Chandler said. Yet technology can only go so far in addressing many of the safety and quality of life issues facing the department. Buildings owners often deploy “sidewalk sheds” in order to shield pedestrians from falling

debris breaking off of aging façades. The department requires that owners submit reports concerning the health of all sides of a building (not just those facing the street) every five years for buildings more than six stories or 75 feet, Chandler said. But many building owners simply erect the sidewalk sheds for reasons beyond safety per se, necessitating an evaluation of DOB regulations that is ongoing, he added. “Clearly some owners feel that it pays to just pay the cost of the sidewalk shed rather than pay for façade repairs,” he said. Chandler added that abuse of After Hours Variances — which allow construction late at night, early in the morning and during the weekend — rely upon public complaints. Local residents have said in the past that calls to 311 have done little good because inspectors did not mobilize in time to catch violations, Chelsea Now reported in the July 17, 2014 article “Making Some Noise About After-Hours Construction.” He expressed confidence that the DOB adequately enforces limits on construction noise made outside of regular working hours. The department issued 44,000 After Hours Variances in 2014, Chelsea Now reported in the April 23, 2015 article “CB4 in Top After-Hours Construction Tier.” Chandler said the necessity of the variances was on full display as he made his way to the school through the hectic traffic of the West Side. “If you make a justification, then generally we are going to provide that permit…just driving up here today I can see how a lot of the work should probably have been much better executed if it would have been done overnight or over the weekends. We find that so much of the work which is done after hours is done for a very good reason,” he said.

September 24 - 30, 2015

Asbestos Delayed Chelsea Clinic Renovation BY DUNCAN OSBORNE While AIDS groups and activists remain focused on replacing the services that were lost when the city closed its Chelsea sexually transmitted disease clinic for a renovation, city documents obtained by our sister publication, Gay City News, show that the start of the renovation was repeatedly delayed. “Regardless of when the city got its act together and was able to execute a contract with the winning bidder, there should still have been a better, fleshed out plan for continuation of services,” said City Councilmember Corey Johnson, the out gay, HIV-positive Health Committee chair who represents Chelsea, among other neighborhoods. “They should have had a plan two years ago, and they should have had a better plan earlier this year.” Using the state Freedom of Information Law, Gay City News obtained documents related to the city’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC) contract for the renovation totaling roughly 2,800 pages. The clinic is operated by the city’s health department, and DDC oversees the construction of many city properties. The records were obtained from the city comptroller’s office, which registered the contract. The Chelsea clinic, which saw the most visitors in any year among the city’s nine clinics, was expected to be a central resource in the Plan to End AIDS. The plan, which aims to reduce new HIV infections in New York State from the current roughly 3,000 annually to 750 a year by 2020, will use anti-HIV drugs in HIV-negative people to keep them uninfected and in HIV-positive people so they are no longer infectious.

People who visit the Chelsea clinic and have a sexually transmitted disease or a positive HIV test would be prime candidates for these drug regimens. The records show that the design contract for the renovation was awarded to an architecture fi rm by 2009 and the construction drawings were completed by August 2011. DDC incorporated them into the specifications, which were date stamped “08/31/11,” for companies that would bid on the $17 million renovation contract. The specifications were updated in December 2012 to include $15,000 for removing asbestos from the clinic. The Bloomberg administration allocated the cash for the renovation in the city’s 2013 fiscal year, which began on July 1, 2012. DDC solicited bids in March of 2013 and selected the winning bidder, Andron Construction, on May 7, 2013. The bid documents envisioned the contract paying in three equal amounts over three fiscal years. In an email, a DDC spokesperson wrote, “The initial fund allocation does not dictate fi nal project schedule.” The contract was fi nalized in Jan. of 2014 with Andron signing four copies in DDC’s offices, and then submitted to the comptroller’s office for approval in February. The comptroller listed the contract terms as running from March of 2014 to March of 2017. Andron began work in March of 2014, but quickly stopped after fi nding “additional substantial asbestos quantities and encountering difficulties of massive abatement in direct proximity to the functioning medical facility,” a DDC spokesperson wrote in an email. The documents show

Photo by Duncan Osborne courtesy Gay City News

ACT UP’s Jim Eigo at a Sept. 1 town hall meeting about the city’s response to STD and HIV transmission rates among gay and bisexual men.

that DDC’s plan was always to keep the clinic open while the renovation occurred in phases. In 2014, the city health department rejected that plan. “This decision was made exclusively by [the city health department] based on the end user’s feedback during initial construction phase (asbestos abatement),” the DDC spokesperson wrote. According to the specifications, asbestos surveys were conducted in the 23,600 square foot clinic in 2004, 2010, and 2011. Among five areas in the clinic, the surveys found 3,440 linear feet of asbestos in “pipe insulation and associated fittings” and 14,737 square feet of other materials containing asbestos. “The work was stopped by [the city health department] and by 04.10.15, the building was fully evacuated,” the DDC spokesperson wrote. “Asbestos abatement resumed immediately after.” The fi nal wrinkle was that Andron did not get paid. At the start

of this year, the company wrote to the comptroller’s office complaining that it had not received any cash. A labor law lien had mistakenly been placed on the company. The lien was quickly removed, and Andron has received its fi rst checks. DDC is now saying that the renovation will be completed in 26 months. “It is not going to take three years,” the DDC spokesperson wrote. “The estimated completion date will take place in Fall 2017.” The agency, which has sent senior executives to meetings about the clinic that were organized by Johnson, has said the same thing to activists who have been pressing the de Blasio administration to fully replace the services that the Chelsea clinic provided until it reopens. “The DDC, they have given us as much as a solid timeline as they are willing to and that is September 2017,” said Jeremiah Johnson, HIV prevention research and policy coordinator at the Treatment Action Group, an advocacy organization. “We just need services to continue now.” While activists were initially aiming their fi re over the clinic closing at the city health department, they are now also targeting Mayor Bill de Blasio. Their view is that the city never prepared for the shutdown. “DDC told us it was only in March of 2015, with the closing, that they realized that personnel would not be able to continue to work there through the renovation,” wrote Jim Eigo, a member of ACT UP, the AIDS activist group. “I do not believe [the city health department] was prepared for a full closure of the clinic in March.”

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Opponents Say Landmarks Bill Would ‘Lay Waste’ Continued from page 1 Preservation Commission (LPC). The measure’s sponsors in the Council say that they intend to clear the LPC’s backlog of buildings that are under consideration for designation. The list currently has 95 items, some of which have languished on the commission’s calendar for decades. But scores of angry residents and preservationists from across the city crammed into the City Council chambers at City Hall on Wed., Sept. 9, to protest the bill at a hearing of the Land Use Committee (LUC). “The battle is on out there. They’re really coming for us,” said Reno Dakota, who used to live in the East Village, and is now a homeowner in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was one of dozens of spectators who had come armed with stickers and placards proclaiming “No on Intro. 775.” A badge on his shirt read “Designate Stuyvesant East” and “Stuyvesant East Preservation Action League.” The bill’s 10 co-sponsors, among them David Greenfield, chairperson of the LUC, and Peter Koo, chairperson of the Landmarks Subcommittee, say they only want to increase transparency and bring good government to the landmarks designation process. “I know there are many differences in this room,” Koo said at the hearing. “But the landmarks process in this city needs to be reformed.” Under the plans, the commission would have one year to designate individual landmarks, with a public hearing scheduled within half a year after calendaring the landmark for consideration. For historic districts, the time frame would be two years, with a hearing after one year at the latest. If, under the legislation, the LPC disapproved or failed to designate an item, that property would be ineligible for reconsideration of landmark status for five years, during which time there would be no additional restrictions on its owner. Currently, the commission can place any building on its calendar, without a time limit. Calendaring indicates that the agency is considering a property for designation as a landmark or as part of a historic district. While a property is calendared, the owner, in turn, must secure additional approval from the city if they want to alter or demolish it. .com

Photo by Yannic Rack

Reno Dakota, a member of the East Stuyvesant Preservation Action League, was one of the dozens of concerned New Yorkers who crammed into a city council hearing on the bill Sept. 9.

Speaking after the hearing, Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation, said the proposed law is a grave threat to eligible buildings. “It basically gives a green light to any developer to go ahead and demolish a building, simply on the basis of it not having met some artificially imposed deadline,” he said. “They’ve never even tried [a less restrictive option],” he added. “They’re going from zero to ninety here on this proposal.” Some of the politicians at the hearing agreed. “Intro. 775 does not resolve the problem it seeks to address,” said Councilmember Ben Kallos, who is a member of the Landmarks Subcommittee and opposes the bill, adding that it would “lay waste” to communities. Unsurprisingly, real estate leaders like the legislation. “The problem is it’s open-ended and indefinite if your building is calendared,” Michael Slattery, the senior vice president for research at the Real Estate Board of New York, an industry group, told The New York Times earlier this month. “If you want to sell your building or develop it, it makes that very hard. Property owners deserve to know what is in their future.” Meenakshi Srinivasan, who has been the LPC chairperson since last year, was the first to testify at the hearing. She argued against the bill, calling it “far too broad,” and said the City Council should instead let the commission improve its designation process

through internal policy changes. “We believe the proposals are unworkable and would undermine the landmarks law,” she said. “We support the underlying goals, but we believe they are best addressed internally.” Srinivasan said that once time frames are instituted, the agency’s

commissioners would strive to deal with the proposed designations within the allotted time, making the five-year waiting provision unnecessary. As for the backlog, she said the agency was already addressing that issue. The bill would require the LPC to determine whether or not to designate items currently on the calendar within 18 months of the bill going into law. But the LPC’s website currently details a plan that would see all these properties dealt with by the end of next year. Two of the currently backlogged buildings are located in Hell’s Kitchen, according to the LPC’s website. The Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse at 850 12th Ave., which is now used by Con Ed, has been shortlisted for landmarks status since at least 1979. The Beaux Arts-style structure was built in 1904 and occupies almost an entire block between W. 58th and W. 59th Sts. and 11th and 12th Aves. The other listing in the area stands at 448 W. 56th St., at the corner

Continued on page 15

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THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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After Many Years in Chelsea, Revolution Books Re-Opening in Harlem

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September 24 - 30, 2015

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In front of the new Revolution Books.

TALKING POINT BY CONNIE JULIAN Revolution Books (RB) had to shut its W. 26th St. doors on May 31. But we are glad to report that RB will re-open at a great new storefront in Harlem at 437 Malcolm X Blvd./Lenox Ave. at W. 132nd St. We aim to re-open the bookstore in early October, with a Grand Opening the second week of November (stay tuned for dates at revolutionbooksnyc.org). We want to extend an invitation to all our friends in Chelsea and the Village to hop on a 2 or 3 train for the short ride to the 135th St. stop. Already, even before opening, there’s excitement Uptown, as people discover a new bookstore is opening in their midst. And what makes RB so unique and vital is that it is a bookstore about the whole world,

where people can find books and engaging discussion about why the world is the way it is, and the possibility of a radically different way it could be — a center for the movement for revolution. During RB’s eight years on W. 26th St., we made many good friends in the neighborhood who came through the bookstore — including to the hundreds of events we hosted. Some highlights include: The “Hidden Lives” series featuring writers Eve Ensler, Edwidge Danticat, and Walter Mosley; emergency forums on torture and Gaza; the screening/discussion series of the film “BA Speaks: Revolution Nothing Less”; performance and conversation with musicians like Arturo O’Farrill; and, in the heat of last December’s street demonstrations against police murder, “Ferguson is Everywhere,” with Saul Williams, Jessica Care More and many other great poets. It’s sobering to think about what’s happened in the world just since RB closed:

The global refugee crisis has grown to a horrific level of misery; the Obama administration okays new oil drilling in the Arctic as global warming intensifies; the police continue to murder with impunity. Revolution Books is the place to get into what is causing these and other horrors of the system, and to find out what we can do about it. At RB, the world of ideas and culture interact with the movement for revolution. It is where people can find and engage with the new synthesis of communism brought forward by Bob Avakian — a breakthrough in the scientific method for understanding the world in the most deepgoing way, and how it can form the basis for making a revolution that can truly emancipate all of humanity. RB is needed more than ever, and funds are urgently needed now. A few weeks ago, we successfully completed a $30,000 Indiegogo online campaign. Almost 250 people donated, including lawyers, homeless people, professors, Harlem residents, students, musicians and doctors. The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn wrote a statement of support: “For more than thirty-five years, Revolution Books has been a place where people from various backgrounds have gathered to obtain and swap information about the challenging issues we face in our society, and what we can do to make much needed changes…they urgently need your support to re-open and to continue with the work they do with such conviction and fierceness..” To finish the renovation and to restock the shelves in Harlem, another $35,000 is needed. We hope our Chelsea friends and the readers of Chelsea Now will help get us over the top. Donations can be made at revolutionbooksnyc.org. We look forward to seeing you all at the new Revolution Books in Harlem, not far from the Schomburg Center and Studio Museum.

Memorial Services to Celebrate Two Chelsea Originals DORIS CORRIGAN For over 40 years, Mae Doris Corrigan was the go-to person in Chelsea for neighborhood advocacy, progressive causes and Reform Democratic Party organization. She died at The Amsterdam Nursing Home on July 23, at the age of 87. One of many who reached out to Chelsea Now upon receiving news of Corrigan’s passing, former New York State Senator Tom Duane recalled her as “committed, fiery when

necessary, energetic, thoughtful, a leader by example,” speculating with confidence that she is now “organizing her angel colleagues in heaven.” A public memorial service will be held Sun., Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. at the Hudson Guild Elliott Center (441 W. 26th St. btw. Ninth & Tenth Aves.).

BILL KUSHNER Chelsea Community Church will celebrate the life of New York School poet Bill

Kushner. Born in the Bronx in 1931, he was a long-time resident of Chelsea and a member of CCC. Among Kushner’s books are “Night Fishing” (1980), “He Dreams of Waters” (2000), “In Sunsetland with You” (2007) and “Walking After Midnight” (2011). Publishers Weekly praised Kushner for taking “the New York School aesthetic back to its rich gay roots; his Chelseabased speaker comments on everything from sexy muscled

passers-by, late night tricks and imaginary giraffes drinking blue oceans in a family room. But above all, Kushner is a master poet of loneliness, casting it in a cool, benevolent, magical light, evoking childhood (years when most sleep alone) and lunar spaces where the laws of the earth do not apply.” A public memorial service will be held on Fri., Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St. btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.). .com

Rhymes With Crazy

Graduation From the School of Hard Knocks BY LENORE SKENAZY On a recent Sunday night, partygoers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice nibbled spinach puffs and sipped their wine. Men in suits chatted with ladies in cocktail dresses. College president Jeremy Travis took to the podium, thanked them for attending, and said he had just one word to describe their goal. “Wimpy.” What!?! The entire room erupted in cheers. “Yes!” Time to dream bigger. Dream huge! Dream of getting even more human beings out of their prison cells and back into glorious, everyday life — just like them. This was the graduation gala for Just Leadership USA, a company dedicated to teaching formerly incarcerated people the leadership skills they need to change America’s love affair with prison. The group’s official goal is “half by 2030” (#halfby2030) — cutting the prison population by 50 percent in the next 15 years. That’s the goal Travis declared “wimpy.” We may not think of ourselves as a vindictive country, but consider his point: Getting us back to the incarceration rate of 1972 — hardly ancient history — would require an 80 percent reduction in the number of Americans in prison today. That’s how overboard we’ve gone when it comes to putting people in cells. The 19 Just Leadership fellows who’d just finished the year-long course had been chosen from 117 applicants nationwide, all former prisoners, on the basis of the good they’d been doing since they got out. Ronald Simpson-Bey spent 27 years

behind bars in Michigan until his sentence was reversed for “prosecutorial misconduct” — including using inadmissible evidence and false testimony against him. Long story short, he was one of four people in an armed robbery — two testified against him and got out in two years, one is still inside. Once released, he started a letter-writing campaign to long-term prisoners, so that if and when they ever get out, they could adjust a little better. But even on the inside, Simpson-Bey had already become a leader. He raised $5,000 for the Special Olympics. He studied law and helped other prisoners with their appeals. And every year he held a Kwanzaa ceremony where he’d give a copy of the book that changed his life — “Visions for Black Men” by Na’im Akbar — to the youngest prisoner present. Many of those young men are still in touch with him, as are eight prisoners he helped get out — all on mistrials. But when I ask, “What’s the best thing you ever did?” those aren’t it. The best thing began on Father’s Day, 2001. Simpson-Bey’s only son, Ronald Jr., 21, called the prison that morning to say he was coming by to celebrate. The day got later and later — no son. At last, Simpson-Bey was called to the phone. Ronald Jr. had been shot. He was dead. The murderer was a 14-year-old boy. Ronald Sr. knew exactly what would happen to him if he got tried as

an adult and was found guilty of pre-meditated murder. Life in prison, without parole. From his cell, he begged for the boy to be tried as a juvenile. The young man served seven years and is now out — and still in touch with Simpson-Bey. It isn’t a surprise Simpson-Bey was chosen for the Just Leadership program, because the organization believes that long sentences, “three strikes,” and the war on drugs are all squandering the human potential of entire generations. Glenn E. Martin, the group’s founder and president, spent six years in New York State prisons, and insists that “those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.” That’s why the other fellows included Bill Cobb, a Philadelphia man who lost job after job because of his record, now fighting for the employment rights of ex-offenders;

and Khalil Cumberbach, a young man from Queens who spent most of his 20s in prison. Now he’s 33, a dad, and employed at the Legal Action Center helping others with criminal histories turn their lives around. The lesson Cumberbach learned through Just Leadership is one that I came home and told my own son: “Understand that everything you do has consequences, and these can be good or bad.” The armed robbery Cumberbach committed could have had good consequences — easy money, no issues — but more likely the consequences were going to be bad. Which they were. At the party, the consequences of the fellowship were easy to see. Family members crying for joy. Donors dabbing their eyes. A college president urging them to dream even bigger. And not a wimp in the house. Lenore Skenazy is a public speaker and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids (freerangekids.com).

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POLICE BLOTTER HARASSMENT: Dangerous recycling An unknown man threatened a Rite Aid employee with bodily harm on Sat., Sept. 19. The approximately 40-year-old male perpetrator entered the store located at 188 Ninth Ave. (btw. W. 21st & W. 22nd Sts.) at about 3:50 p.m. to return some bottles for change. But the employee, a 25-year-old Chelsea resident, refused to accept one of the bottles. She received a violent threat in response. Police have not located a suspect.

PETIT LARCENY: Diamonds were not forever hers Someone stole a $200 silver and diamond bracelet from a woman working at a fashion show at the Javits Center (655 W. 34th St. btw 11th & 12th Aves.) on Sat., Sept. 19. The 22-year-old victim left her wallet unattended that morning. The Brooklyn resident later returned to find that someone stole the bracelet and $20 cash from her wallet, which was left at the scene. There was no video footage, police said.

GRAND LARCENY: Taken from right under her nose An iPhone 6 Plus worth $1,000 went missing at about 10 p.m. on Tues., Sept. 15 within One Oak, a bar located at 453 W. 17th St. (btw. Ninth & Tenth Aves.). Upon realizing the phone was no longer in her possession, the victim called her number, and

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it rang a few times before going to voicemail. An attempt to find it via the Find My Phone app revealed that the thief had moved to a new location. The victim attempted to contact the thief to offer a reward in exchange for the phone. There was no response.

PUBLIC LEWDNESS: Left as quickly as he came There was too much of a view outside a car parked in front of Holy Apostles Church (296 Ninth Ave. btw. W. 26th & W. 28th Sts.) on Fri., Sept. 18. A 42-yearold woman from Virginia told police that she saw a man wearing a checkered shirt come up to her passenger side window and begin masturbating at about 1:55 p.m. He then fled the scene without a trace, via taxi.

DEAD ON ARRIVAL: Suspected suicide Police say that a 75-year-old man leapt to his death from a balcony on Sat., Sept. 19. The body was found on the sidewalk in front of his residence on the 200 block of Ninth Ave. at about 11:15 p.m. The FDNY pronounced him dead minutes later. A police report states that foul play is not suspected.

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THE 10th PRECINCT Located at 230 W. 20th St. (btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.). Commander: Deputy Inspector Michele Irizarry. Main number: 212-741-8211. Community Affairs: 212-741-8226. Crime Prevention: 212-741-8226. Domestic Violence: 212-741-8216. Youth Officer: 212-741-8211. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-741-8210. Detective Squad: 212-741-8245. The Community Council meets on the last Wed. of the month, 7 p.m., at the 10th Precinct or other locations to be announced. The next meeting is on Sept. 30.

THE 13th PRECINCT Located at 230 E. 21st St. (btw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.). Deputy Inspector: David Ehrenberg. Call 212-4777411. Community Affairs: 212-477-7427. Crime Prevention: 212-477-7427. Domestic Violence: 212-477-3863. Youth Officer: 212-477-7411. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-477-4380. Detective Squad: 212-477-7444. The Community Council meets on the third Tues. of the month, 6:30 p.m., at the 13th Precinct. The next meeting is Oct. 21.

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The Age of Engagement: Community Progr The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Photo by Nic Lehoux

Sitting on the Hudson River at W. 46th St., this museum consists of a unique collection of military, scientific and civilian vessels, along with air and space crafts, arranged both on the aircraft carrier itself as well as on the adjacent pier that functions as an open-air museum floor. Completed in 2008, the masterplan and renovation design by Dattner Architects is subtle and understated, letting the primary elements of the collection: the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler and the British Airways Concord dominate the experience as one enters the museum grounds. The greatest “architecture” on the site is the utilitarian and performance-driven design and engineering of the elements of the collection. A tour of the Growler reveals the nature of the submarine as an assembly of highly intricate mechanical and electrical elements woven through the raw steel structure and skin of the submarine. The aerodynamic shaping and tiny diameter of the Concord emphasize the intense requirements of travel at supersonic speeds. The jewel of the museum is the space shuttle Enterprise, which sits in a nondescript enclosure at the far end (aft) of the aircraft carrier’s deck. The exhibition enclosure creates an intimate setting that allows one to come face to face with this great iconic symbol of late 20th century American culture. While visitors are not given access to the interior of the shuttle, one’s proximity to the orbiter inspires an appreciation of its scale and great bulk, as well as its function as a cargo transport. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum connects all of us to the mind’s enduring creativity and engineering prowess in addressing the challenges of war, science, and exploration.

—Jason A. Montgomery NCARB LEED AP architect and professor 12

September 24 - 30, 2015

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC When the Whitney Museum flung open its doors to its new home in May, the first school to visit was Chelsea’s PS33. “PS33 — they were the first kids in the doors of the museum,” said Heather Maxson, director of school, youth and family programs, in a phone interview. “When we opened, the first groups that came in were our neighborhood schools. We worked really hard to engage the community.” The Whitney has worked with PS33 for a long time, she said, and they have new partnerships with PS41, PS3, NYC Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies and the Clinton School for Artists and Writers. The museum is also working with three high schools — the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy, Harvest Collegiate High School and the Gotham Professional Arts Academy, which it has worked with for a number of years. “We welcome many, many, many schools to come for guided visits,” she explained. “But we are working in-depth with all of those schools.” With PS3, the details are still being ironed out, but, for example, the school’s whole third grade could participate in a three-part program. In the first part, a museum educator would go to the classroom for a visit, then the class would come to the Whitney, and then there would be a follow-up, explained Maxson. The students and their teachers could engage with, for example, the upcoming Frank Stella exhibition, which opens Oct. 30, she said. “In the beginning, we would do kind of an introduction to Stella’s work,” she said. “We would look at a few reproductions in the classroom.” The different roles that an artist could play — experimenter, storyteller, observer and critic — would then be examined. “With Stella, we probably would focus on artist as experimenter and really kind of look, with classes, at the different ways that he’s experimenting with materials and ideas and forms,” she said. She noted the museum is free for New York City public schools and there is free admission for children under the age of 18. Maxson said the museum is looking to double the amount of tours it had at its former building on the Upper East Side, and is hoping to serve about 20,000 students this year. “One thing that I think is really special is that we really welcome students as VIPs on Tuesdays, when the museum is closed,” she said. “So they’re the only people in the galleries. They get really kind of an amazing experience.” Maxson said there are family programs on weekends — both drop-in and those that require sign up. Gallery-based programs, Whitney Wees (for fourand five-year-olds), and Sketching Tours (for six- to ten-year-olds), are $5 per child. There is also the Family Fun Art Workshop, for ages six to ten, where both the parents and children spend an hour in the galleries and then an hour

Astronomy Night is one of many Intrepid Museum progra

making art together, she said. It costs $10 per child. For family programs, adults must pay museum admission. The Whitney also has a large community-based program for seniors, said Danielle Linzer, director of access and community programs, in a phone interview. “We work with about forty different senior centers citywide that we have partnerships with, and we provide free programming on site at their facilities,” said Linzer. She said the programs are customized and the museum works with the staff at each organization to craft “an appropriate approach, and kind of match the resources of the museum with the goals of the organization.” The museum has partnerships with SAGE, Hudson Guild at their Fulton Senior Center, the ElliotChelsea NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community), Penn South and the Greenwich House. “We work a lot with seniors in the neighborhood,” she said. “It’s actually a really lovely relationship.” Twice a year, all senior center partners are invited to bring groups to a senior open access day at the museum on a day it is closed to the public. It is a VIP experience where the museum is made really accessible, with additional seating in the galleries and assisted listening devices for tours, said Linzer. In July, the museum had its first senior day in the new building. Linzer said in June, it launched a thematic tour exploring the museum’s collection through the lens of the LGBTQ experience — looking at artists who either identify as lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual, or who are exploring gender identity and sexuality through their work. .com

ramming at The Whitney and The Intrepid

Photo by Erika Kapin

ams for families.

That tour had been provided for SAGE seniors, and others had the option to choose it, she said. “We worked with our community-based partners to identify that need and that interest based on our new neighborhood, and history, and who’s here — who has roots here, who has interests here,” said Linzer. “We tried to respond with really sensitive programming.” At the Intrepid Museum, there is also an emphasis on school and community outreach. Lynda Kennedy, vice president of education, said the museum has an educational mission and that is reflected in the myriad of programs that are offered, including public tours and talks. “We do a lot of work with the New York City Department of Education so that includes all of our local schools,” Kennedy

said in a phone interview. For certain schools that qualify, there are free programs that cover history and science, she said. New funding through ConEd has enabled the museum to host STEM Day for middle schoolers the first Wednesday of every month during the school year, she said. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.) The Intrepid offers programs including aviation science, space science and water science focused on urban ecology. For example, one explains how to preserve a big metal ship in a brackish water environment, Kennedy explained. The Intrepid also has programming for families and adults. Ellen Silbermann, director of public programs, said the museum’s busiest season is during the warmer months of the year. During the summer, free movies are shown on the flight deck. The series started Memorial Day weekend, kicking off with “Top Gun.” Silbermann said some movies, like “WALL-E,” are geared toward a family audience. Astronomy nights take place on the flight deck during warm months when telescopes are set up for sky viewing. Inside the ship, guest speakers give talks. “This year we were really excited, we had [Dr.] Steve Howell from NASA, who’s the project scientist of the Kepler telescope,” Silbermann said in a phone interview. “It happened to coincide with Kepler being in the news for its discovery of a new Earth-like planet. He was here to talk to families about what exoplanets are, what it means to be an Earth-like planet, how many they’ve found, and then went outside on the flight deck to look at the sky with the families.” During winter months, the night moves indoors, and targets an adult audience, serving alcohol via a cash bar. Often, speakers give lectures about astrophysics or astronomy, she said. On Sun., Sept. 27, there is a lunar eclipse, she noted. Pier 86 will be open from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., with telescopes and astronomers on hand to maximize the viewing experience. The Whitney Museum of American Art is located at 99 Gansevoort St. (btw. 10th Ave. & Washington St.). Call 212-5703600 or visit whitney.org.

Photo by Filip Wolak

Whitney Wees is a gallery-based program for fourand five-year-olds. .com

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at on Pier 86 is at 46th St. & 12th Ave. Call 212-245-0072 or visit intrepidmuseum.org.

The Whitney Museum of American Art Located between the High Line and the Hudson River Park at Gansevoort Street, the new Whitney building sits in an area which has undergone dramatic transformations. Once the river’s shoreline and the route of an American Indian footpath to the river, the site was home to earlier constructions, including Fort Gansevoort in 1811, intended to defend against the British, and Photo by Nic Lehoux a meat distribution center in 1950. Today, the Whitney joins an already robust yet unfinished part of town, which continues to grow and evolve into one of the newest commercial and cultural epicenters of New York City. As Marcel Breuer’s Whitney was in 1966, Renzo Piano’s may be difficult for some. Clad in pale blue-gray standing seam panels, the new eight-story building — with its linguistic mash-ups and collage-like assemblage — is challenging. Yet, the precise articulations and artfully chiseled cutaways draw you in. There is also the ambiguity: depending on one’s vantage point, the building can appear weighted and solidly anchored, as if docked to the northern bulwark, or buoyant, as if about to detach and sail the open sea, ready to escape the next big flood. But viewed from the north along 11th Ave., the building settles in, harmonizing with the cityscape beyond — the slightly canted west wall aligning with One World Trade Center’s diagonal rise. Altogether, the strength of the architecture here may lie in the demanding yet cogent act of search and discovery itself. The entrance plaza to the Whitney is a pleasure. As the building peels back and up it reveals a powerful perspective through the building and to the river. This wedge-shaped open space connects the Whitney with the High Line entry hub, frames views to and from the Hudson, and melds with the streetscape, creating a strong sense of place and belonging, identity and community. And akin to ancient cliff dwelling formations, the fifth floor boldly cantilevers out to offer shelter from rain, snow and hot summer sun. Inside, the space steps aside, allowing for intimate engagements with great works of art, objects and ideas. Galleries are quiet, well-proportioned and appropriately lit. Outdoor terraced spaces to the east allow for a place and time to reflect and to reconnect with the city. To the west, a giant picture window provides vistas to the river and doubles as a kind of billboard to the outside passers-by, displaying museum goers, as they float past the glazing, as integral to the life of the building and its art.

—Ken Conzelmann Architect, professor and West Chelsea resident September 24 - 30, 2015

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Opponents Want a Hasty Exit for Intro. 775

Photo by William Alatriste/NYC Council

Andrew Berman, of the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation, jotted down notes while still displaying his “No on Intro. 775” sign at Sept. 9’s hearing at City Hall.

Continued from page 7 of 10th Ave. and W. 56th St. and has been considered for landmarking since 2009. The three-story brick building was constructed in 1903 for the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin West, a Catholic charity, and has housed part of the High School for Environmental Studies since the mid1990s, according to the LPC. Many point out that the 95 backlogged items only represent a fraction, 0.3 percent, of all the buildings considered for landmarking in New York City ever since the Landmarks Law was passed in 1965. Critics also argue that, had the bill been in effect in the past, many of the city’s most beloved buildings, like Grand Central Terminal or even Rockefeller Center, could now be history. “It’s, at worst, a tiny problem that is now being resolved, compared to the huge problem the bill would create if it was enacted,” Berman said, referring to the current backlog. Greenfield, the LUC chairperson, seemed at least open to making adjustments to the bill and the length of the time limits, which Srinivasan wants to see extended. At the hearing a second bill was also discussed. Intro. 837, authored by Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, would mandate that the LPC publish a database of all properties already .com

designated as landmarks or historic districts or under consideration for designation. Srinivasan said the commission would need additional staff to fulfill this “burdensome” requirement, and that the commission is already working on achieving more transparency. Garodnick said the Council committee was working on refining the bill, so that only items requested by community boards would need to be published, for example. Both bills now seem likely to be changed substantially before the LUC actually votes on them. Greenfield mentioned repeatedly during the hearing that his efforts to impose stricter rules on the LPC were not motivated by mistrust in its leadership. In fact, he saluted Srinivasan for her work. Yet he remarked that there was no guarantee that future commission chairpersons would be as effective and responsible. “No agency likes when legislature does their job, which is to actually write legislation,” Greenfield said. “The reality is that, for the last fifty years, we have not had an LPC that is following the rules and regulations, and trying to get every item done in an efficient manner. The challenge that we have is that you, like every chairperson, will probably not serve forever. And therefore we cannot simply rely on your good graces to get the reforms that we want.”

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Filling the Hudson Yards Donut Hole with the ‘Best of New York’

Courtesy Related-Oxford

The $20 billion Hudson Yards development will create a whole new skyline on Manhattan’s West Side by 2025.

Continued from page 2 fourth and fifth floors. “I can’t imagine anything more resilient than having all our utilities elevated,” Butler says. “We don’t have a basement, so even before Sandy all of our equipment was elevated on upper levels,” Samuelian adds. “Unlike Downtown, where most of the electrical equipment was in the basement, we’ve never had that condition from day one. And our first floor is higher than Tenth Avenue. The water [during Sandy] didn’t quite make it to Tenth, so think about that.” Samuelian says all of those different aspects will hopefully set new standards for future development in the city. “I would hope to say we’re raising the standard for New York City, whether it’s about having energy generated on site via the cogeneration, having a smart trash system, having storm water retention, having a green and sustainable environment,” he says. “But there are certain things that are limited [to a project like this]. A microgrid requires private utility. It would be

difficult or near impossible for a series of developers to kind of gang together and run utilities in public streets. There are certain things you can only do if you have a campus.” For Samuelian, being involved with Hudson Yards and adding to the city’s skyline has all the more meaning because it’s right in his own backyard. He describes himself as a “real West Sider” because he has lived in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen for the last 15 years. “I have a great deal of pride, as a New Yorker building more New York,” he says. “It feels really good to be able to do that. And also filling in a hole in the city, that in particular — this huge urban design benefits and really connects these neighborhoods. For the first time, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen are going to be connected. “The skyline is important, and I take pictures too, but I think doing it right on the ground is even more important to New Yorkers. My fantasy is that, in fifty years, nobody views Hudson Yards as separate from the neighborhood. It will be just one contiguous piece of the West Side fabric.”

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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Courtesy NYFF

“The Walk” focuses on 1974’s high-wire amble between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit.

Tomorrow’s Talk of the Town, Now at NYFF 53rd New York Film Festival has a vast body and a strong core BY RANIA RICHARDSON Autumn is upon us, and with it comes the onslaught of fall season arts events that can overwhelm even the most organized New Yorker. Luckily, the New York Film Festival (NYFF) shines as a beacon at this time of year, with a highly curated selection of movies which quickly become the talk of the town, and fuel awards season speculation for months to come. The 53rd New York Film Festival will screen selections from the best of world cinema from Sept. 25–Oct. 11, in Alice Tully Hall and other venues at Lincoln Center. While just 26 films comprise the highly anticipated main slate, the lineup also includes programs of documentaries, shorts, interactive experiences, experimental work, revivals, and director discussions. The festival’s opening night film, Robert Zemeckis’ “The Walk,” world premieres one day later than usual — Sat., Sept. 26 — in anticipation of transportation snarls due to the visit by

September 24 - 30, 2015

Pope Francis. The film focuses on the true story of a high-wire amble between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the role of acrobat Philippe Petit. With a cadre of co-conspirators, he mounts stakeouts and rehearsals, and weathers close calls and betrayals to execute his audacious plan. Will the film be as riveting as the documentary, “Man on Wire,” that mined the same territory in 2008? The PG-rated drama will be projected using a specially installed RealD system, effectively giving audiences the feeling of being right in the action. Billed as a “technical marvel,” “The Walk” boasts a 3D re-creation of Lower Manhattan in the 1970s that makes this a must-see. Three other films will world premiere at the festival: “Miles Ahead,” the directorial debut of Don Cheadle, who also wrote and stars in the Miles Davis biopic; Steven Spielberg’s Cold War-era “Bridge of Spies,” starring

Tom Hanks as a lawyer who negotiates the exchange of a U-2 pilot for a Soviet agent; and “Don’t Blink - Robert Frank,” a documentary portrait of the seminal photographer/filmmaker by Laura Israel. For many film festivals, world premieres are essential to build excitement, exhibit industry leadership, and gain attention from the press. Other festivals use their platform to bring already lauded work from around the globe to local audiences. The NYFF does both, with a tilt towards the latter, significantly culling from major international festivals. The programmers keep a keen eye on award winners from what is considered to be the preeminent film festival in the world — Cannes. Held in the south of France in May, it is far enough in advance of the fall season to be a key source for the NYFF. Several of these award winners are among the selections that originated at Cannes. Yorgos Lanthimos envisions

an absurdist future in “The Lobster,” where single people must pair up or turn into animals. The latest from Todd Haynes, “Carol” is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Patricia Highsmith. It stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as lesbian lovers in the 1950s. Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “The Assassin” may be a delicately plotted and glacially paced Tang Dynasty royal court drama, but viewers can luxuriate in stunning cinematography, sets, and costumes, and gain a new appreciation for sound design. Slotted in the special events section, “Son of Saul” does not shy away from immersing viewers in disturbing events. The debut feature from Laszlo Nemes tells the harrowing tale of a man in Auschwitz who delivers his fellow Jews to the gas chamber. At Cannes, the film divided critics. The special events section also includes work from performance art-

Continued on page 19 .com

A Kaleidoscope of People and Places at NYFF

Courtesy NYFF

“The Lobster” envisions a future where single people must pair up or turn into animals. Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz star.

Jia Zhanke is on both sides of the camera at NYFF, as the filmmaker of “Mountains May Depart” (pictured here) and as the subject of a documentary.

Continued from page 18 ist Laurie Anderson, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Also included is a new work by Athina Rachel Tsangari, a cohort of Yorgos Lanthimos in the quirky style referred to as the “Greek Weird Wave.” Tsangari is currently the filmmaker-in-residence at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the nonprofit organization that hosts the NYFF in the fall, New Directors/New Films (in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art) in the spring, and general programming year-round. During her residency, Tsangari will be shooting footage for her new film in New York. A city with seemingly limitless stories, New York appears frequently in the NYFF lineup. Besides “The Walk” and “Miles Ahead,” there is “Maggie’s Plan,” a romantic comedy by Rebecca Miller, and John Crowley’s “Brooklyn,” about a girl who leaves Ireland in search of a better life. Among New York filmmakers presenting their work are Laura Israel (of the aforementioned “Don’t Blink”) and Michael Almereyda, two Downtown denizens who came of age creatively in Greenwich Village in the 1980s. Israel made music videos for Patti Smith, Lou Reed, John Lurie, and many others before embarking on her first feature about her friend, Robert Frank, for whom she has been archiving video work. During his decades of independent .com

Courtesy NYFF

In John Crowley’s “Brooklyn,” a girl leaves Ireland in search of a better life.

filmmaking, Almereyda’s imaginative undertakings have included shooting with a toy camera and adapting “Hamlet” to the present day while preserving Shakespeare’s dialogue. His new film, “Experimenter” (starring Peter Saarsgard), follows the social psychologist and researcher Stanley Milgram, whose experiments included instructing participants to administer electric shocks to other subjects. Beyond our borders, countries around the world have berths in the lineup, with a good showing from Asia — Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan and

South Korea are all represented in the main slate. Both Hou Hsiao-hsien and Jia Zhangke will be on hand to discuss their oeuvre with festival director Kent Jones. Jia Zhanke will also be on both sides of the camera, as director of the then/now epic of loss and progress “Mountains May Depart,” and as the subject of a documentary on his life by Walter Salles. Todd Haynes and Michael Moore will also participate in discussions of their life’s work. Moore continues to kick up controversy — although this

time with a lighter touch — with “Where to Invade Next,” in which he travels extensively to examine the policies of other countries. Another provocative film on tap is the latest from Danny Boyle, who takes on a new genre, the biopic, with a revealing if fictionalized story of a genius, in “Steve Jobs.” Make a few selections from the well-curated 53rd NYFF program, and you are guaranteed to hit the bullseye. For the full schedule of events and tickets, visit filmlinc.org. September 24 - 30, 2015

What’s on Off-Off Metropolitan Playhouse celebrates America’s theatrical legacy ABOUT Now in its 24th season, focusing on the theme of “Hope,” Metropolitan Playhouse is devoted to the exploring and enriching America’s theatrical legacy, and the discovery of that tradition’s place in world theater. Metropolitan focuses on three types of productions: forgotten American masterpieces, new plays based on America’s history and literature, and works from around the world that put these American works in context.

WHAT MAKES METROPOLITAN GREAT Metropolitan Playhouse is one of the jewels of the Downtown theatre scene, with a unique mission that it fulfills admirably and engagingly. It specializes in American plays of the late 19th and early 20th century, offering occasional works that one has heard of but rarely (if ever) seen, and much more often works which, even when popular in their own day, have been undeservedly forgotten. With invariably strong casts and illuminating direction, Metropolitan gives new life to these works — revealing their theatrical power and, not infrequently, their continuing relevance to today’s social, cultural and personal concerns. Season themes tie the works together and put them in dialogue with each other, but the real achievement of the theatre is in the revelation of worthy but undeservedly forgotten dramas from our country’s theatrical past. Their ongoing work continually enriches and deepens our national dramatic heritage, and the many pleasurable evenings I have spent in this theatre have proven a most rewarding blend of entertainment and enlightenment.

CURRENTLY ON THE BOARDS: A second marriage comes with more than one second chance, in “The Awful Truth.” It’s the first revival of Arthur Richman’s never-published 1921 hit comedy, which revolves around New York socialite Lucy Warriner — who, before she can remarry, must put to rest the rumor that her first husband divorced her because she had an affair. While enlisting her ex to reassure her new fiancé’s family, he tells Lucy privately that he knows she cheated on him. She denies it, and they give very different accounts of their failed marriage. One thing is not in dispute, however: they are more in love now than they were then. Equal parts wit and warmth, the play asks what chance friendship, love, or marriage have if they depend on knowing “The Awful Truth.” Through Oct. 18. Thurs.–Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 3 p.m. Also Wed. Oct. 7 & 14 and Sat. Oct. 10 & 17 at 3 p.m. At Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. Fourth St. btw. Aves. A & B). For tickets ($25, $20 for students/seniors, $10 for children), call 800-939-3006 or visit metropolitanplayhouse.org.

UPCOMING: Nov. 13–Dec. 13, “Alison’s House” is Susan Glaspell’s 1930 Pulitzer Prize winner about a family struggling with how to celebrate and protect the legacy of a famous, but famously reclusive, ancestor. A January 2016 festival has guest companies celebrating the most hopeful of American writers and thinkers: The Transcendentalists. From April 11–May 1, 2016, the Seventh Annual East Village Theater Festival will present all-new one-act plays inspired by the life and lore of the Lower East Side.

September 24 - 30, 2015

Courtesy Jacob J. Goldberg Photography

Marvin Carlson Sidney E. Cohn Professor of Theatre The Graduate Center The City University of New York

Alexandra O’Daly and Nate Washburn confront “The Awful Truth.” .com

Joe Jackson’s Back With What You Want ‘Fast Forward’ is brilliant piano pop rock BY KEITH VALCOURT Looking sharp and sounding reinvigorated, the true prince of the thinking man’s piano pop rock is back with a brilliant new CD and US tour. Okay, to be fair, Joe Jackson has never really gone away. Throughout his five decades of creating captivating music, he has continued to release solid album after solid album, supported by live tours around the world. Also true is that some of those albums have proven too challenging for the general public. Yes, I’m talking about “Will Power,” “Night Music” and 2012’s collection of Ellington covers (“The Duke”). Fans can relax and rejoice — because the upcoming “Fast Forward” finds Jackson returning to his roots, to stunning effect. Jackson’s first disc of original material since 2008’s underrated gem, “Rain,” this collection is structured like a classic double album, and thematically divided into four distinctive “sides,” each of which features four songs recorded in a specific city: New York, New Orleans, Berlin, and Amsterdam (there are 14 originals and 2 covers). For the New York recordings, Jackson enlisted a myriad of top-notch talent, including jazz violinist Regina Carter and guitar guru Bill Frissel. I was able to get an early listen to a handful of the songs, and was beyond pleased at both the writing and scope. The title track is an emotion-drenched mid-tempo ballad that easily recalls the Jackson hits “Real Men” and “Breaking Us In Two,” while the song “A Little Smile” is a rollicking and sly look at dating in the digital age that is sure to draw favorable comparisons to his best-known hit, “Steppin’ Out.” And the sublime cover of Tom Verlaine’s “See No Evil” is so perfect it may make you forget the original by Television ever existed. Yes, it is that good. If you’re planning to see him live, get there on time, since there will be no opening act. With a catalog of hits

joejackson.com

Joe Jackson, who never went away, returns to classic form with a new 16-track CD and a US tour that plays Town Hall on Oct. 20 & 21.

that includes “Hometown,” “Sunday Papers,” “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” and dozens more, there is no need for a warm-up. Jackson will play a full evening packed with old favorites and highlights from his illustrious career as well as new material. Joining Jackson on tour will be his longtime bassist, Graham Maby. The rest of the ensemble is fleshed out by New York stalwarts Teddy Kumpel on guitar and drummer Doug Yowell. Jackson recently remarked, “We’re all strong singers. We’ll sound like a lot more than four singers. This tour is gonna be a lot of fun. Can’t wait.” Neither can we, Joe. Neither can we. “Fast Forward” is released on Oct. 2. The tour kicks off in Seattle, WA on Sept. 29 and continues through early Nov. — with two shows at Town Hall (123 W. 43rd St. btw. Sixth Ave. & Broadway) on Oct. 20 and 21. Get tickets ($60–$110) and info at joejackson.com.

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September 24 - 30, 2015

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Buhmann on Art

‘Collecting Paradise’ at the Rubin Museum of Art

Courtesy RMA

Folio from “The Perfection of Wisdom” manuscript depicting Gate-keeper of the eastern direction Vajrankusha. Tholing Monastery, Western Tibet; 11th century; Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Courtesy RMA

Crowned Buddha Shakyamuni. Kashmir or Gilgit, present-day northern Pakistan; 8th century; Brass with inlays of copper, silver and zinc.

BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN (stephaniebuhmann.com) “Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kashmir and Its Legacies” focuses on the art and cultural impact of Kashmir, where exceptional Buddhist sculptures, paintings and manuscripts have been created since the 5th–6th centuries. Kashmir, which extends between present-day Pakistan, India and China, had significant cultural impact, especially in the Western Himalayas and West Tibet. In fact, it was the many Western Himalayan pilgrims to Kashmir who furthered cultural exchange, by collecting art there and bringing it to the new monasteries that were being built at home. In addition, these pilgrims invited Kashmiri teachers and artists to work together, in order to create a new Buddhist culture. Over time, the Buddhist art of Kashmir became deeply imbedded in the cultural identity of Western Himalayan Buddhists. This elegant exhibition succeeds in tracing the continuity of the art of Kashmir in the Western Himalayas for over a millennium. It begins with the delicately carved ivory and metal sculptures from Kashmir that were brought to the Western Himalayas in the 7th–12th centuries and it continues with the presentation of sculptures and paintings created by Kashmiri and local artists in the Western Himalayas in the 11th–14th centuries. The survey concludes with examples from the 15th–17th centuries, when Kashmiri aesthetics were revitalized during an economic and religious revival in West Tibet. Besides showcasing many stunning artifacts, the exhibition pays homage to Western Himalayan Buddhists, who played an important role in collecting and preserving the art of Kashmir.

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Courtesy RMA

Four-Armed Mahakala. Tholing Monastery (?), Western Tibet; 15th century; Pigments on cloth; 90 x 70 cm.

Through Oct. 19 at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 W. 17th St. btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.). Museum Hours: Mon. & Thurs., 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed., 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.– 10 p.m. (free admission to galleries after 6 p.m.). Sat. & Sun., 11 a.m.–6 p.m. $15 general admission ($10 for students/ seniors; free admission for seniors on the first Monday of the month; free for kids 12 and younger, and RMA members). Call 212-620-5000 or visit rubinmuseum.org.

September 24 - 30, 2015

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