June 5, 2009 Downtown Express

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Downtown Express photo by Tequila Minsky

Many Downtown youth programs like Children’s Tumbling in Tribeca are cutting backclasses.

BY JOSH ROGERS

Pete Gleason won the endorsementof Downtown Independent DemocratsTuesday night delivering a body blow tothe reelection efforts of CouncilmemberAlan Gerson.D.I.D. is considered by many to bethe most important political club in theCouncil’s First District because it cov-ers most of the area’s Lower Manhattanneighborhoods. As a practical matter, theendorsement means club volunteers will behelping Gleason collect signatures over thenext few weeks to be on the ballot for theSept. 15 Democratic primary, but perhapsmore importantly, it means primary voterswho have not tuned in to the race yet willsee some of their most politically activefriends and neighbors out stumping forGleason, an attorney and a former policeofficer and firefighter.“I’m stoked,” Gleason said immedi-ately after beating Gerson at St. Anthony’sChurch on Houston St. “This is tremen-dously important. It sends a clear signalthat new leadership is needed.”The D.I.D. endorsement helped Gersonnarrowly win the Council seat in 2001,when he was one of seven Democrats vyingfor the open seat. He has won the club nodeach time since, including in 2003 when hehandily beat Gleason in the endorsementvote and in the primary.In more recent years however, Gersonhas lost the support of some Downtownpolitical leaders who previously helped himget elected, including Sean Sweeney, JulieNadel, Adam Silvera and Jean Grillo.Gerson also lost support in the clubbecause many members believe he put uptwo of his political allies, Noel Jefferson andAvi Terkel, to run as Democratic districtleaders against Grillo and Silvera. Gerson,in a phone interview, acknowledged giving“friendly advice” to both about mountingchallenges, but he said each candidatemade their own decision to run.The official vote tally was 62 for Gleasonand 54 for Gerson, with eight votes splitbetween their three opponents and “noendorsement.” The numbers were slightlydifferent in the first count done by twodifferent people, with Gleason getting 65votes on both counts and Gerson getting56 and 57.Bob Townley, a Gerson supporter, saidhe thinks Gerson is having more troublegetting reelected this time because people

Gerson loses Downtownclub’s endorsement vote

BY JULIE SHAPIRO

On the playground and in schoolyards,Lower Manhattan parents are talking abouthow to save money on programs for theirchildren.“People are not doing what they normallydo this year,” said Tricia Joyce, a Tribeca motherof 5-year-old twin girls. “They’re being morecareful.”As parents close their pocketbooks, manychildren’s program providers are feeling thepinch. From nursery schools to children’sgyms, half a dozen owners who spoke toDowntown Express said they are seeingdips in enrollment. They said some laid-off parents are moving their families out of thecity, while others who recently lost their jobsare watching their children themselves rather

Youth programs hanging onas families tighten their belts

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nto

expres

VOLUME 22, NUMBER 4 THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN

JUNE 5 - 11, 2009

Prince Harry

Downtown

PICTURES, PAGE 5

Sam Rockwell’sspace oddity, p. 24

Photo by Clint Spaulding/PatrickMcMullan.com

June 5 - 11, 2009

downtown express

NDER

over

END

YOUR

Letter tothe Editor

EWS

OWNTOWN

XPRESS

COM

145 S

IXTH

VENUE

, NYC, NY 10013P

LEASE

INCLUDE

YOUR

PHONE

NUMBER

FOR

CONFIRMATION

PURPOSES

ONLY

OHO

’

INFAMOUS

Soho fetish studio owner

Don MacPherson

, who’sunder indictment accused of recruiting dominatrix cli-ents for a $50 million real estate fraud scheme in theHamptons, showed up to Tuesday night’s DowntownIndependent Democrats endorsement vote. MacPherson, aclub member, would not tell us whom he voted for, but helooked very happy when

Pete Gleason

won the club’s CityCouncil endorsement, and he was one of the first personsGleason hugged after winning.Before the vote results, Gleason said he thought he hadMacPherson’s support and he was not concerned it couldbackfire. MacPherson is innocent until proven guilty,Gleason pointed out, and he had been very critical of Suffolk County officials long before the indictments.MacPherson was friendly, but he did not want to talkabout his case. “Oh now, you know better than to ask mea question like that,” he told us.

EWELL

’

BACK

Speaking of the First District race, onetime StateAssembly hopeful

Paul Newell

has thrown his supportbehind Pete Gleason.Last fall, Newell tried unsuccessfully to topple Speaker

Shelly Silver

, and since then he’s been lying low, politi-cally speaking. But Newell told UnderCover this weekthat he’s volunteering as a consultant for Gleason’s cam-paign to unseat incumbent

Alan Gerson

.“Lower Manhattan has been inefficiently representedfor some time now,” Newell said. “Pete has the experi-ence and the energy to do a good job.”

RIBECA

There’s nothing entirely autobiographical in theTribeca-based TV show

Bonnie “Alixx” Schottland

ispitching, but the characters may be familiar to anyonewho hangs out with a stroller in Washington MarketPark.There’s the quintessential stay-at-home mom, who fre-quents charity board meetings and refuses to get a nanny,whose husband may or may not be having an affair. At theother end of the spectrum, there’s a coke-snorting UpperEast Side socialite who just moved to Tribeca.“It’s just about being a mom and trying to keep it alltogether,” said Schottland, who has some experience asa mother of two, married to Matt Pomerantz, owner of Zucker’s Bagels on Chambers St.Schottland dreamed up the show, called “Mommy inManhattan,” with her sister

Alyssa Schottland-Bauman

, awriter in Vancouver. She hasn’t filmed a pilot yet but willhold a staged reading June 17 and 18 at the FlamboyanTheatre, hoping to attract a network or even a Broadwayproducer.The cast for the staged reading includes

DonnettaGrays

from “The Wrestler” and

Josh Burrow

, who playedone of Carrie’s one-night stands, Chad, on a “Sex and theCity” episode. Recording artist

Marc Ribler

will perform,and

Isaac Byrne

is directing. The reading will featurelocal footage, including pickup time at P.S. 234 and lastmonth’s Taste of Tribeca. Reservations for the reading arerequired (604-290-1231, 215-353-3780).

ALL

TAKEOVER

The Municipal Art Society is taking over Wall Street Rising,the nonproﬁt that

Julie Menin

founded after 9/11 to helpDowntown’s recovery.The Wall Street Rising name will live on under M.A.S., andMenin will retain some inﬂuence over the organization since shewas appointed to the board of M.A.S. last year.“We’re absolutely delighted about it,” Menin said of themerger. “We can have greater inﬂuence if we partner with alarger organization, and the Municipal Art Society has tremen-dous resources.” Wall Street Rising’s resources aren’t too shabby either, with$1 million left in the bank.

Vin Cipolla

, president of M.A.S., promised the moneywould stay in Lower Manhattan. He wants to combine WallStreet Rising’s knowledge of the neighborhood with theMunicipal Art Society’s focus on planning. One idea is to holda summit on Downtown’s future, which Menin said would be agreat idea given the rapid population growth.Another potential project is to update the Civic Center guidethat jurors use to navigate the neighborhood. Menin hopes tocreate a podcast of famous New Yorkers giving a tour of theCivic Center that jurors can listen to on their lunch break. Wall Street Rising’s two staff members will keep their jobs running the Downtown Information Center, whichwill stay open on the fourth floor of 55 Exchange Pl. Theinformation center once had ground-floor space when WallStreet Rising was more active, but the nonprofit has held fewevents recently.Talks on the merger and the $1 million booty started justafter Menin joined the prestigious M.A.S. board last year.Menin said M.A.S. approached her about the board, and shedid not think about a merger until after she became a directorand learned more about the society. Menin stopped directing Wall Street Rising in 2005 when she was elected chairpersonof Community Board 1, but she remained involved and on the W.S.R. board.

ILVER

AUDITORIUM

The community is unlikely to forget that AssemblySpeaker Shelly Silver secured space for a new school in therapidly rising Beekman Tower, but just in case, CommunityBoard 1 wants to name the school’s auditorium after Silver.“If it wasn’t for Shelly Silver, we wouldn’t have the build-ing,” said

Paul Hovitz

, a C.B. 1 member. “And we can’t namethe school after him because he’s still alive.” Also, the K-8has already been christened Spruce Street School by newprincipal

Nancy Harris

.Since naming the whole school for Silver was out,Hovitz was then left deciding between the gym and theauditorium. The gym was tempting because Silver is knownfor his basketball skills, but Hovitz ultimately settled onthe auditorium because it’s “more prestigious and morefrequented,” he said.

NEWS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15 Mixed Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

EDITORIAL PAGES

. . . . . . . . . . . 16-17

YOUTH

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-22

ARTS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23-27 Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-27

CLASSIFIEDS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-27

C.B. 1

EETINGS

The upcoming week’s schedule of Community Board1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted,all committee meetings are held at the board ofﬁce,located at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709 at 6 p.m.

ON THURS., JUNE 4:

The Planning and CommunityInfrastructure Committee will meet.

ON MON., JUNE 8:

The W.T.C. RedevelopmentCommittee will meet at 250 Broadway – AssemblyHearing Room, 19th Floor.

ON TUES., JUNE 9:

The Seaport/Civic CenterCommittee will meet.

ON WED., JUNE 10:

The Tribeca Committee willmeet.

ON THURS., JUNE 11:

The Landmarks Committeewill meet.

Read the Archives

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DOWNTOWNEXPRESS

com

downtown express

June 5 - 11, 2009

had been expecting to get a new councilmember due to termlimits. Citing the dire economy, Gerson voted last year toextend limits for the Council, the mayor and other officialseven though he had previously said at various times over theyears that he would not support overturning voter referendaon the matter without a new referendum.Townley, who runs Manhattan Youth, also thinks Gerson ismore vulnerable because there are a lot of new residents whohave moved Downtown in the last few years and don’t knowGerson well.“There is a spirit of change,” Townley said as the club ballotswere being counted. “Alan has to work hard — there’s a lot of new people in the community.”Townley said Gerson should be reelected because of hisexperience helping Downtown, both in the Council and leadingCommunity Board 2 before that. “I think Alan deserves fourmore years because of his original commitment of the last 20years.”Nadel said she continues to like Gerson personally, but he’s“totally disorganized,” echoing a common criticism of him.“People deserve better. I would try anybody else.”She said she feels Gleason is the strongest opponent rightnow, but she said she ultimately could end up supporting a dif-ferent Gerson opponent as she learns more about them.Margaret Chin, a former executive with Asian Americansfor Equality, PJ Kim, a former Community Board 1 memberwho has administered anti-poverty programs, and ArthurGregory, a bar owner and former C.B. 1 member, are also run-ning for the seat. Chin and Kim lead the fundraising race so far,respectively with $108,000 and $71,000, followed by Gerson($26,000) and Gleason ($23,000). Gregory has not yet filedfundraising figures.Money is not expected to be an issue because the city’s gen-erous matching fund law make it relatively easy to raise enoughmoney to run a credible campaign.The opponents point to their individual experience as beingright to lead the Council, and criticize Gerson for not effectivelyusing the bully pulpit to get more for a district that includes the World Trade Center site.Townley and other Gerson supporters say he was a steadyforce after 9/11, and continues to fight hard throughout thedistrict, which includes Battery Park City, the Financial District,the Seaport, Tribeca, Chinatown, Soho as well as parts of theLower East Side and Greenwich Village.

Gleason beats Gerson for club endorsement

Continued from

page 1

Pete Gleason hugged a supporter after winning the Downtown Indpendent Democrats’ endorsement Tuesday. Atleft, Gleason consults with Julie Nadel as the votes were being counted.

Continued on

page 6

BY JOSH ROGERS

PJ Kim showed up for an interview lastweek with a big knapsack on his back lookinglike he’d fit in better on a grad school campusthan at a City Council candidate forum. Hesaid he didn’t expect to get any political clubendorsements, and this sounded less like falsemodesty than a realistic self-assessment by ayoung, relatively unknown candidate.But that evening, he earned the endorse-ment of the Jim Owles Liberal DemocraticClub in the First District City CouncilDemocratic primary. Alan Roskoff, the leaderof the gay club, said Kim had no support atthe beginning of the meeting but won thegroup over with his intelligence.“I don’t think anyone in the room had everspoken to him before,” Roskoff said.Still Jim Owles is smaller than other gayclubs and may not be that influential in thedistrict. Kim, who looks younger than his 30years, said last week that as a political new-comer and the last entrant into the race, theclubs will not be helpful.“I’m not counting on the traditional leversof political power to get me where I need tobe,” he said in an interview.He has got off to a fast fundraising start,leapfrogging all but one of his opponents withover $70,000. Kim said he has reached out tofriends and colleagues around the country fordonations, but he hopes to raise more moneyin the district as the campaign proceeds.Kim has two masters degrees from Harvard(in business and public administration) andan undergraduate degree from Princeton, andfriends and foes alike routinely cite his intel-ligence as his greatest strength.Before Harvard, he was a business analystat the McKinsey & Company consulting firmfrom 2001 to 2003. After grad school, hewas the director of FoodChange’s tax sup-port program from 2006 to 2007, providingthe poor with free tax services, allowingthem to collect Earned Income Tax Credits.Most recently, he has worked for Single StopUSA, overseeing anti-poverty programs inCalifornia, New Mexico and New Jersey.He said a councilmember has to gobeyond the powers of the office to workwith businesses, non-profits and others tolook for solutions in the neighborhoods —something he doesn’t think CouncilmemberAlan Gerson has done well.“There’s a need for new energy, new ideasand a new approach to problem solving,” hesaid “There’s some candidates in this race thathave been running for a really long time, andAlan has served honorably but he’s been aprofessional politician for many years.”Kim, was appointed to CommunityBoard 1 in 2007, when he was working inLower Manhattan. He did not move into theFinancial District until a year ago. By his ownadmission, he did not speak up much his firstyear on the board and he did not attend manymeetings his second year, which is why hewas not reappointed in 2009.He said in his first year, he wanted to learnabout how the board worked before insert-ing himself into the debate. Then he got the job with Single Stop, which made it hard toattend most meetings because he was travel-ing around the country.He said if elected, “I’ll work 24-7,”because “it’ll be the only thing on my plate.”He said he has always given full effort toevery job he has had, but it was hard to ful-fill the time commitments of the volunteerboard position when he had to travel.He has not decided whom he will votefor mayor in November, but Kim couldbe the only candidate who could supportMayor Bloomberg.“I think he’s done a good job,” Kim said.“I think a couple of things process-wise hecould have handled better.”He praised Bloomberg for trying newanti-poverty programs and other innovations.But he said the mayor should have plannedsooner for the school crowding crunch inLower Manhattan, should have put the termlimit extension to a voter referendum, andhis Dept. of Transportation has not had goodrelations with the Downtown community onissues such as the Grand St. bike lane.The First District does have poor resi-dents, particularly in Chinatown and theLower East Side, but it also has some of the city’s wealthiest in neighborhoods likeBattery Park City and Tribeca.He said he will fight for the bread and but-ter issues in richer neighborhoods like parks,schools and quality of life, but he thinks peoplein all neighborhoods, inspired by Obama’swin, are looking to help those most in need.“There’s also a different sensibility of not only caring just about their narrow self interest, but I think they also have a largervision of social justice in a way that didn’texist before,” he said.Kim was born in South Korea and came tothe U.S. at age 6, with his parents. He lived inBaton Rouge, La. and then Memphis while hisparents attended grad schools.His given name is Jin. In Korea, older kidsgave him the nickname “PJ,” and he adoptedit as his name when he came to this countrybecause it was easier for people to pronounce.He is leaning toward using the name Jin “PJ”Kim for the ballot, but said at this point inhis career, he won’t be hurt by whatever hechooses.“I’m not that well known,” he said.“Either way it doesn’t matter.”

Josh@DowntownExpress.com

Newcomer to the Council race says fresh approach is needed

PJ Kim

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