BY JOHN BAYLES
Print news is not dead, at least
according to the staff of the Scoop
newspaper at the Manhattan Academy
of Technology.
Last month the middle school news-
paper landed an exclusive interview
with Bill Gates and Tom Brokaw. Their
fourth-fl oor classroom was turned into
a mini-television studio and the seg-
ment aired on MSNBC a week later
as one part of a weeklong segment on
education in public schools.
One would think the youngsters
would have been star struck, or would
have had no idea who or why these two
old men were coming to talk to them.
Neither however was the case.
In fact when asked if it was the fi rst
time if they had been around television
cameras and celebrities, one student
chimed in and said, “Not for me. I was
back stage at a Black Eyed Peas concert
and there were paparazzi everywhere.”
But perhaps the most striking infor-
mation that came out of the interaction
between the Scoop staff and their very
special guests was when Brokaw asked
the middle school students how they
got their news.
A large number actually said they
preferred getting their news in print
form.
“I think watching the television is
lazy,” said sixth grader James O’Grady.
If that wasn’t enough, he
continued,
“Human
beings,
are addicted to being lazy.”
Other students noted that televi-
sion news often doesn’t tell the
entire story and even mentioned the
role advertising plays in how short
or long television news stories are
allowed to be.
The two teachers who run the
school newspaper, Al Guerriero and
Chris Piccigallo, were impressed with
their students.
“With this new generation of kids,
Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds
Lofty Tribeca view
A 4,700-square-foot loft on Worth Street is connected to a rooftop (above), where owners Trevor Price and
Megan Sheetz grow vegetables. Turn to page 7 for the story.
BY JOHN BAYLES
Lower Manhattan is now
a step closer to having its
own version of the renowned
Lincoln Center. Last week it
was announced that $100
million in federal funds is
slated to go directly to the
building of the Performing
Arts Center.
After several meetings
of the Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation’s
Cultural
Committee,
which includes the likes of
Community Board 1 chair
Julie Menin, Kate Levin,
Carl Weisbrod and others,
allocating the money to the
P.A.C. became a reality after
the city and the state came
to an agreement last week.
“We met with the city,
and basically the city signed
off, we signed off, the
L.M.D.C. signed off and
we thought it was a great
start on the P.A.C.,” said
Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver.
Silver went on to say the
creation of a world-class
venue would help anchor
the revitalization efforts in
Lower Manhattan, with the
goal of rebuilding into a
24/7 community.
Mayor Bloomberg echoed
his remarks in a prepared
statement.
“Our collective desire
[to] the development of the
BY TERESE LOEB
KREUZER
The
New
York
City
Department
of
Transportation and New
York City Transit undoubt-
edly scheduled the inaugura-
tion of the M15 Select Bus
Service between the South
Ferry and 125th Street for a
holiday weekend in order to
enable a gentle rollout and
avoid harried commuters,
late for work. But still, there
was some New York grum-
bling and some confusion.
As of 5 a.m. on Sunday,
October 10, the M15 Select
Bus Service replaced the
M15 Limited on First and
Second Avenues, supple-
menting the M15 local
buses, which will continue
running as usual. The M15
Select Bus Service operates
daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The local service runs 24
hours a day.
What was new for most
passengers using the M15
Select Bus Service were the
curbside fare boxes, which
accept both Metrocards and
cash. Passengers must pay
before boarding the bus.
The fare boxes dispense a
receipt, good for one hour
from the time of purchase.
$100 mil makes P.A.C.
seem like a reality
New, speedier bus
service has curbside
fare boxes
M.A.T. newspaper lands surprise
exclusive; print not yet dead
Continued on page 20
Continued on page 23
Continued on page 31
®VOLUME 20, NUMBER 42
THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
OCTOBER 13 - 19, 2010
OKTOBERFEST COMES DOWNTOWN,
MORE PICS ON PAGE 14
downtown
express
October 13 - 19, 2010
2
downtown express
A D O P T A
G ER A N IU M
FA LL C O M M U N IT Y
PLANTING DAY
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
10 AM to Noon | Rain or Shine
Bowling Green Park
(Broadway and Whitehall Street)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
10 AM to Noon | Rain or Shine
Bowling Green Park
(Broadway and Whitehall Street)
sponsored by:
D
downtown express
October 13 - 19, 2010
3
Park51 leaders are threatened
and slandered
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, have
received death threats in the past couple of weeks for their
association with Park51.
“Threats were received that are being investigated by
the N.Y.P.D.,” according to Detective Cheryl Crispin of the
Offi ce of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information.
“For the record, my life is under threat,” Khan recently
said during a debate on A.B.C.’s “This Week” news pro-
gram.
Hisham Elzanaty, the principal investor of Park51, has
also been receiving hate mail, according to one of his attor-
neys. “People are saying he is a supporter of Hamas,” the
attorney said, adding that Elzanaty, his client, was “upset” to
be associated with a terrorist group.
“It impacts his kids, how his wife and children will be
treated in the [Roslyn Heights] community, and how his
children would be treated by other children in the school,”
the lawyer said.
Embassy Suites lays off employees
On January 5 of next year, the Embassy Suites Battery
Park Hotel will be closing for renovations. The refurbish-
ments will be made as the hotel transitions into the Conrad,
which will open at the end of 2011 as the fi rst of its kind in
New York City.
Embassy Suites will be laying off 250 of its employees as
a result of the transition.
“We understand that these renovation efforts do displace
employees at a sensitive time in the economy, and we are
working in every way possible to ensure our staff is pro-
vided with quality severance and benefi ts packages,” said
Mark Ricci, director of corporate communications at Hilton
Worldwide, owner of Conrad and Embassy Suites.
The hotel will be accepting guest reservations up until
January 3, 2011. Ricci added there will be no internal disrup-
tions to guests prior to the close of the property.
P.S. 276 Hosts Ribbon-Cutting
Students at P.S. 276 now have their very own school
building, and they celebrated this morning at a ribbon-
cutting ceremony at 55 Battery Place. New York State
Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, school administrators and
parents were there to celebrate.
The students were incubated last year at the Tweed
Courthouse, which is currently the temporary home to
Spruce Street (P.S. 397) students. They’ll be moving into
their permanent home, Beekman Tower — at 8 Spruce Street
— in Fall 2011.
BY ALINE REYNOLDS
On the corner of William and Ann Streets lies a barely
noticeable ground fl oor space. At an eye’s glance from the
sidewalk, it is dimly lit and looks vacant. A large white sign
on the outside window says “For Rent.”
But inside, Britta Riley and her fellow environmental-
ists are busy testing windowfarms, a method of vegetable
gardening you can take up in your very own living room or
kitchen.
“The idea was to hack away at this problem of getting
fresh food to people who live in cities,” said Riley, founder
of the Windowfarms Project, which she began experimenting
with in 2008.
“They’re vertical hydroponics gardens – it’s a totally
different way of growing [than] growing in dirt,” she
explained.
Each “column” is made of a string of water bottles,
makeshift pots the plants grow in. Small clay pellets stored
in the bottles hold the plants’ roots in place as they absorb
a liquid solution. The bottles are connected via tubes to an
air pump, which circulates nutrients and water through the
containers.
“It’s almost like you’ve made a tea out of really good
dirt, which you’re running in a bath over the plants’ roots at
timed intervals,” Riley said.
The columns of plants must be hung directly above a
windowsill.
“Plants ideally get eight hours minimum of natural light
per day,” Riley said.
South-facing windows, she added, have the optimal expo-
sure to sunlight.
Since cloudy skies or shadows hamper natural light, even
in the sills facing southward, windowfarmers are advised to
attach bulb lights with timers to the columns.
“If you have the lights turned on for a few hours during
the middle of the day, they can actually replicate [sun] light,”
Riley explained.
They should receive no more than 12 hours of light per
day, though.
Riley recommends that windowfarmers start off with
simple plants, such as lettuce and herbs, and eventually
graduate to more high-maintenance vegetables like peppers,
squash and cherry tomatoes.
She holds windowfarming workshops on Wednesday
afternoons and evenings. Last Wednesday night, Riley
coached Financial District resident Megan Soffe on step one:
how to plant seeds.
Within about 15 minutes, Riley and Soffe dipped the
seeds into a solution containing hydrogen peroxide, and then
nested them into sponge-like plugs made out of composted
tree bark. They placed the plugs in egg cartons.
“The plant will germinate inside of that,” Riley said to
her student.
Soffe is supposed to set them in her sunlit windowsill
for two to three weeks, after which she’ll set up the window
garden and insert the plugs into the water bottles.
“I’m excited to get it started,” Soffe said after the tutorial
session. She works from home on Nassau Street, around the
corner from the studio, and is taking up windowfarming
both as a hobby and as a means of nutrition.
Riley’s professional website, windowfarms.org, now hosts
a forum for 17,000 windowfarmers who dialogue about their
projects and troubleshoot problems that arise during the
farming periods.
“The idea is to try to make it be as much online [based] as
possible without the need for in-person meetings” or expert-
led tutorials, Riley said.
Windowfarms are particularly popular in the fall and win-
Farming at home, in windows and water bottles
Continued on page 31
Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds
Founder of the Windowfarms Project Britta Riley
demonstrates one of her vertical hydroponics gardens.
N EW S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1--11,14-23, 30-31
EDITORIAL PAGES. . . . . . . . . .1 2 - 1 3
YO U TH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
ARTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25-29
Listings........................ 26-27
C L ASSIFIED S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
C.B. 1
ME E TIN G S
The upcoming week’s schedule of Community
Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless other-
wise noted, all committee meetings are held at the
board offi ce, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room
709 at 6 p.m.
ON WED., OCT. 13: C.B. 1’s Tribeca Committee
will meet and C.B. 1’s Tribeca Parking and
Transportation Subcommittee will meet at 5:30 p.m.
ON THURS., OCT. 14: C.B. 1’s Landmarks
Committee will meet
ON MON., OCT. 18:C.B. 1’s Waterfront
Committee will meet
ON TUES., OCT. 19: C.B. 1’s Seaport/Civic
Center Committee will meet
OW NTOW N
D IG E S T
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