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Silverstein leader blastsPort plan, but sees somemovement at W.T.C.
Pols, protest, stuck string;Jacobs would have loved it
Downtown Express photo by Jared T. Miller 
Maya Lin sneak peak
Comic book fans got an early look at famed architect Maya Lin’s design for the Museumof Chinese in America’s new space last weekend. Lin kept many of the elements of anold Centre St. factory in the new design, which will open fully in September. The eventwas believed to be the first comic book convention centered around Asian Americans.For more on Asian American ComiCon, see page 19.
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
A Silverstein Properties executiveslammed the Port Authority’s most recentproposal for the World Trade Center siteMonday night but also said it could repre-sent a small step in the right direction.The Port’s proposal, given to developerLarry Silverstein last Friday, marks the firsttime the Port has offered to help Silversteinbuild two of his Church St. office towers.Previously, the Port had offered to help withonly one of the towers, which Silversteinsaid wasn’t good enough.“I don’t want to be totally negative,”Janno Lieber, president of Silverstein’s W.T.C. Properties, said Monday night, inthe firm’s first public comments about thePort’s proposal. “The fact that there’s a newprinciple, some openness to new ideas, maybe favorable,” Lieber continued, “but thesubstance is the more important thing.”Lieber found plenty to criticize in theproposal’s substance when he spoke toCommunity Board 1 Monday night, and heeven questioned whether the Port had meantit as a serious offer. The Port’s plan wouldrequire Silverstein to raise $625 million forTower 2, which Lieber said is next to impos-sible given the frozen credit markets.If Silverstein raises the money, the Portwould then backstop up to $1.2 billion tofinance Tower 2 and would also backstopfinancing for Tower 4, as previously offered.A Port official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that under the proposal,Silverstein has two years to raise the $625 mil-lion for Tower 2. During that time, the officialsaid, Silverstein can build the belowground por-tion of the tower. Then, if Silverstein can’t raisethe money, Silverstein can build a shorter retailpodium instead, the official said.Lieber, though, said building a retail podi-um rather than a tower would necessitate anentirely different belowground structure. Someof Tower 2’s security features are in the toweritself and would have to be relocated, Liebersaid. While people often think of constructionas LEGO, where each piece snaps togetherindependently, Lieber said Tower 2’s design ismuch more complex and interconnected.“You cannot just start a building and say,‘Well, I’ll decide later whether I’m going
BY ALBERT AMATEAU
Jane Jacobs, gone from GreenwichVillage these 40 years and gone from thislife three years ago, was celebrated anewon Monday morning when a crowd of WestVillage neighbors and public officials gath-ered in front of the White Horse Tavern tounveil a commemorative street sign, “JaneJacobs Way.”A few people from Brooklyn addedto the throng to protest the proposedConey Island renewal plan; a former EastVillage woman came to denounce MayorBloomberg and City Council SpeakerChristine Quinn.Jane Jacobs, the foe of urban renewal andchampion of neighborhoods and street life,would have loved it. She lived on the blockat 555 Hudson St. with her family whenshe led the fight against Robert Moses’1962 proposal for a Lower ManhattanExpressway through the Village.Doris Diether, the longest serving com-munity board member (since 1964) in thecity and a close ally of Jacobs in the battlesto preserve Greenwich Village, was theguest of honor. Indeed, City CouncilmemberAlan Gerson referred to Diether as “DorisJacobs” at one point. Quinn presentedher with a replica of the “Jane Jacobs
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 VOLUME 22, NUMBER 10 THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
JULY 17 - 23, 2009
BASIL WOLVERTONART SHOW, P. 23
 
July 17 - 23, 2009
2
downtown express 
 S
QUADRON
 
MARRIES
Some bachelors stay up late and carouse before their wed-ding, but State Sen.
Daniel Squadron
was up until 2 a.m.passing crucial state legislation the day before he tied the knotlast weekend with
Liz Weinstein
.Squadron, a freshman senator, had tried as best he couldto break the month-long senate stalemate several times dur-ing the impasse, but not everyone had his good sense andleaders were unable to resolve it until last week when turn-coat Sen.
Pedro Espada
flipped back to the Dems.It seemed Squadron and Weinstein, a director of servicesin the mayor’s office of operations, had selected a verysafe date several weeks after the session was scheduled toclose, but there is no underestimating Albany’s inability togovern.The happy couple, who got married July 11 at an undis-closed Lower Manhattan locale, is taking some well-deservedtime together.
 S
IZE
 
MATTERS
The community reluctantly gave support last month to afuturistic rooftop addition for 250 West St., a Tribeca condoconversion by Elad Properties.But then the wooden mockups went up atop the formerCitibank building, and they were much bigger and muchmore visible than the developer had promised.“We were surprised that they originally showed us some-thing that wasn’t what went up,” said
Bruce Ehrmann
, co-chairperson of Community Board 1’s Landmarks Committee.The committee gave advisory approval to the design lastmonth after seeing renderings of the addition that showed itabout 50 percent smaller.
Lloyd Kaplan
, Elad spokesperson, said the design shownto the community board was an honest mistake. By the timethe city Landmarks Preservation Commission saw the designlast week, Elad had updated it to reflect the actual size of the rooftop addition, which is about 16 feet tall. The L.P.C.thought the glass and black-painted metal addition was toobig and asked Elad to revise it, Kaplan said.Elad returned to the community board after the L.P.C.meeting and presented the correct designs, and the commu-nity board had the same opinion as L.P.C.Kaplan said Elad would redesign the rooftop addition andthen revise the mockup at 250 West St., before returing tothe board.Even if Elad gets approval soon, the company hasn’t got-ten financing yet so it could be a while before new residentsstart moving in.
 T
RIBECA
G
 YMBOREE
?
Does Tribeca need another children’s center? That wasthe question put to us this week by
Debra Whitefield
, ownerof the Gymboree Play & Music centers in Manhattan. We weren’t sure what to tell her, but keep an eye out: Whitefield said the international, interactive play center isthinking about opening up Downtown.
R
ISING
 
 STAR
Ten-year-old Battery Park City resident
Cecilia Gault
already has two short films under her belt, and one of thempremiered last weekend in Red Hook. The 20-minute film,called “LOADED” and directed by
Jon Stemmler
, chroniclesthe life of a woman growing up in Arkansas.Cecilia played the younger version of the woman. She hadto learn an Arkansas accent, attend several rehearsals andthen spend a day filming north of Poughkeepsie. The moviealso features
John C. Kim
and
Adelyne Liu
.Cecilia missed the movie’s Red Hook debut because sheis in Japan visiting family, but her father,
Dennis Gault
, saidhe hopes the Regal Cinemas in B.P.C. will agree to screen itlater this summer.Cecilia, a recent P.S. 89 grad, will attend the ProfessionalPerforming Arts Middle School.
G
WYNETH
D
OWNTOWN
 
Speaking of movie stars,
Gwyneth Paltrow
will be atTribeca Rooftop on July 29 for a benefit supporting Childrenof the City, which served underprivileged children in NewYork. Also in attendance will be Councilmember
Sara M.Gonzalez
,
Richard Mahler
and
John Abi-Habab
, who willreceive awards.
NEWS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-15,18-19 Seaport Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12  Mixed Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 
EDITORIAL PAGES
. . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17 
 YOUTH
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21
 ARTS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 23-26 Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-26 
CLASSIFIEDS
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 
C.B. 1
M
EETINGS
 
C
ORRECTION
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., JULY 16:
The Quality of LifeCommittee will meet.
ON TUES., JULY 21:
The Youth & EducationCommittee will meet.An article last week on the Landmarks PreservationCommission approval of the residential side of theSt. Vincent’s Hospital redevelopment (“Landmarksapproves part of St. Vincent’s residential plan”) mis-stated the L.P.C. vote. It was 9 to 1 for approval, not 10to 1. One commission member, Roberta Brandes Gratz,did not attend the July 7 L.P.C. meeting and did not vote.She has been opposed to the project and said she wouldhave voted against approval if she had attended.
U
NDER
 
c
over
S
END
 
YOUR
 
Letter to the Editor
N
EWS
@D
OWNTOWN
E
 XPRESS
.
COM
145 S
IXTH
A
VENUE
, NYC, NY 10013P
LEASE
 
INCLUDE
 
YOUR
 
PHONE
 
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July 17 - 23, 2009
www.
DOWNTOWNEXPRESS
.com
 
downtown express 
3
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
 When Netta Levy found out that herdaughter was No. 13 on the waitlist forkindergarten at P.S. 234, she wasn’t thrilledbut she wasn’t too worried either.Levy knew she was better off than someof her friends, who were lower down onthe randomly ordered 56-person list. Andshe assumed that at least 13 of the childrenslated to attend P.S. 234 would opt for pri-vate school or gifted programs instead.But now, nearly four months after thekindergarten decisions went out, only ninechildren have been accepted into P.S. 234from the waitlist. And at P.S. 89, only fivechildren have been accepted off the wait-list, while 20 remain.“It feels very far away,” Levy said thisweek. “It’s the not knowing…. It’s part of this very, very frustrating ping-pong gamewhere no one had the answers.”Levy’s daughter and the other childrenon the waitlists do have seats for the fall, just not the seats they want. They will beattending one of Downtown’s two newschools, P.S./I.S. 276 in Battery Park Cityand the Spruce Street School, which areopening kindergarten classes in temporaryspace this fall in Tweed Courthouse. While Lower Manhattan children arebetter off than those in other neighbor-hoods who don’t have any kindergartenseat at all, many Downtown parents aredisappointed with not getting their firstchoice.Caryn Tanen, whose son is on the P.S.234 waitlist, said she and other parentswere initially hopeful about being accepted,especially after reading a column by DeputyMayor Dennis Walcott, published in the May15 – 21 issue of Downtown Express.In the column, Walcott acknowledgedthe waitlists, which at that point haddropped from 81 students to about 75students.“We know that most of these students willbe accepted in the coming months,” Walcottwrote, since “53 students zoned for P.S. 234and P.S. 89 have been offered a placementin a gifted program, and some families maychoose a non-public school option.”Tanen took comfort in Walcott’s state-ment, but it soon became apparent thateven with the gifted acceptances, the largewaitlists were there to stay.“It’s so upsetting,” Tanen said. Walcott’scolumn, she said, “made it sound like[we shouldn’t] worry. Was that just com-pletely fictitious to put parents at bay fora while?” Will Havemann, D.O.E. spokesperson,said more children could still be admittedoff the waitlists, and it was too soon to saythat Walcott’s pronouncement had beenincorrect. But parents expect few childrento drop out of the kindergarten classesbetween now and the beginning of school,since most families have already made finaldecisions for next fall.Havemann did not know how long theschools would continue accepting studentsoff the waitlist. The schools will not acceptany more children over the summer, sincethey are closed, he said.“It’s up to the schools to determinehow best to do it,” Havemann said. “It’sa shared goal [between the principals andthe D.O.E.] to make sure we give parentsinformation as soon as possible.”Problems with kindergarten admissionswere among the issues advocates discussedwhen weighing whether or not the stateLegislature ought to renew mayoral con-trol of the schools. The Assembly approvedmayoral control before it expired June30, but the mayor’s power lapsed whenthe Senate disarray prevented them fromapproving any bills. The Senate was slatedto take up mayoral control Wed., July 15but as of midday it was unclear whetherDemocrats planned to discuss it. Somesenators do not approve of the Assemblybill and are proposing modifications thatthe Bloomberg administration would notsupport, according to news reports.The larger questions of school policy aside,the waitlisted Lower Manhattan parents arefrustrated about being caught in limbo. Tanenused to tell her son that one day he would goto P.S. 234, near their Tribeca home, but shehasn’t mentioned it recently and hopes hewon’t ask. Tanen said she bought an apart-ment close to P.S. 234 so she would be ableto walk her son to school.Tanen, Levy and others are still angrythat the city did not zone the new schools forthis fall, dividing families among the schoolsbased on geography. Instead, there was a lot-tery for seats, which meant a family living inthe Financial District had the same chance of getting into P.S. 234 as a family living on thesame block as the school.Levy said she is torn between embrac-ing P.S./I.S. 276, which admitted herdaughter, and holding out for P.S. 234.“The process, especially as a first-timeparent, has been very painful,” Levy said.“No one has taken responsibility for any-thing…. It’s still a question mark.”The D.O.E. once said children whoweren’t able to get a seat in P.S. 89 or P.S.234 this fall would have the opportunityto transfer in for first grade, but this weekHavemann said the city has not yet made adecision and does not have a timeline formaking one.Those who have gotten into P.S. 234 off the waitlist said their luck was bittersweetand even a bit uncomfortable.“It’s hard to be happy, since some of our friends aren’t in,” said Paulette Goto,whose daughter Juliet received a 234 seatfrom the waitlist.She said the complicated, ever-chang-ing admissions process convinced her tomove Juliet to private school when shegets older, just to avoid dealing with theD.O.E. again. And, as Gotto said, privateschool admissions couldn’t be much moredifficult than the public school process forthis fall.“We feel like we just got into the mostelite private school in the city,” Gottosaid.
 Julie@DowntownExpress.com
Most waitlisted students still denied first choice
July 17 - 23, 2009
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downtown express 
May 15 - 21, 2009
17
 TALKING POINT
BY DENNIS M. WALCOTT
Downtown families with children entering kindergar-ten next year have been understandably anxious aboutthe admissions process. As a father of four, I know thatsending a child off to school for the first time can bestressful even in the best of circumstances. The uncer-tainty and frustration caused by waitlists has only addedto parents’ confusion. I’d like to briefly explain the Dept.of Education’s admissions process, and describe whatwe’re doing to ensure that every student who appliedfor kindergarten is enrolled as quickly and fairly as pos-sible.This year, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein institutednew admissions guidelines designed to make applying tokindergarten fairer. Rather than each school acceptingstudents on a first-come, first-serve basis — a practicethat invariably punishes families unable to secure anearly seat — his year there was a month-long admis-sions wind, fter which all applications were consid-ere base cear enrollment priorities. Top priority,lwa, students who i ithin col’s.before September. Far more students apply in the springthan attend in the fall. But we know that the newadmissions timeline has caused considerable confusionamong parents who still don’t know what school theirchild will attend. We are working aggressively to clarifyand resolve enrollment issues at crowded schools, bothDowntown and throughout the city.The situation in Lower Manhatta is unique, since allstudents waitlisted at a zoned sc have already beenoffered a seat at one of the two cs opening on thefirst floor of the Tweed Courth ear. In order tothe enrollment burden on .. P.S. 89, Statel Sr hldon ir wntn r-next year, and will attend an outstanding school.Many parents were frustrated that the D.O.E. did notconsider families’ proximity to P.S. 234 and P.S. 89 whenmaking kindergarten placements. Parents told us that itseemed unfair that some students who live in sight of their zoned school were waitlisted, while others livingfarther away were offered a placement. But the city hasan obligation to serve zoned students regardless of theiraddress — everyone in a school’s zone equally expects tosend their children to that school. Many families won-der how the addition of two new schools in DowntownManhattan will affect their opportunity to attend P.S. 234or P.S. 89 in the future. This is a good question, and onethat the D.O.E. will work with the District 2 CommunityEducation Council to address as early as time permits.As parents who have met the new principals nodoubt already know, the two schools opening in Tweednext year will be wonderful additions t the Downtowncommunity. They will also improve lring conditionsat P.S. 234 and P.S. 89, which hav manage theconsequences of thir own populri r long. Theayor i crci sch r ot
Most kindergarteners will get their first choice Downtown
 All Lower Manhattan children havea kindergarten spot close to home.
In a Downtown Express column two months ago, Dep. Mayor Dennis Walcott wrotethat most students on the waitlists for P.S. 89 and 234 would be able to attend, butfew have gotten slots yet for September.
Downtown Express file photo
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