Sound Heart but Giant Headaches about the Super Bowl
Fingers crossed Big Blue will repeat Patriot win
By Josh Rogers
My head says the Giants won’t win the Super Bowl this Sunday. It’s not that I’m one of those doom and gloom Giants fans, although admittedly I was raised by one. No matter how bleak things look at the beginning of the season, I usually go in with the attitude of “Hey, if things break right this year, we could win it all.” Read more
Value Content Over Style
Heed those who see the big picture
By Bette Dewing
Hey, journalists Jeff Greenfield and Mark Barabak, don’t call yourself “old fogies” because you think that televised debate audiences shouldn’t react verbally, and chuck that ageist label. It implies that decorous behavior in an era of loud mouths is somehow regressive. Read more
Better Location
To the Editor:
In response to “Neighbors Won’t See the Light of New Cancer Center” (Jan. 26), I must speak up for my building (440 E. 62nd St.) and the community of the Upper East Side. Your account of the meeting was different than what I witnessed and missed or dismissed the most important points. Those points are: Read more
What Obama’s State of the Union Means for New York
By Alan S. Chartock
In politics, there is an old saying: “First you have to win.” A corollary is “Winning is everything.” Another companion idiom in American politics is “There are no co-winners.” Read more
Crime Watch
Compiled by Megan Bungeroth
Cops Search for Deadly Hit-and-Run Driver
Police report that at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, a white SUV was traveling northbound on the FDR Drive near East 84th Street when it struck a vehicle, sending it into two lanes of traffic and hitting a third and fourth vehicle in a nasty pileup. One of the passengers in a 2001 Toyota, a 31-year-old man whom police did not identify, was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead there. The driver of the SUV fled the scene, and police said that the investigation is ongoing. Read more
Notes From the Neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Bungeroth
Vudu Lounge Closed
According to the 19th Precinct, the infamous Vudu Lounge on First Avenue between 77th and 78th streets is closing its doors for good and handed over its liquor license to the State Liquor Authority this week. The nightclub, which was popular with young partiers and reviled by neighborhood residents, has been plagued with problems over the past few years. The NYPD closed them down temporarily last May, but the club came back and was holding mandatory quarterly meetings with residents to address their concerns over the noise and late-night loitering.
“I was relieved to hear Vudu Lounge has finally closed its doors,” said State Sen. Liz Krueger, who has worked with other local officials to quell the problems coming from the establishment. “With numerous State Liquor Authority investigations and multiple counts of violent behavior and underage drinking to its name, Vudu Lounge simply didn’t belong in our neighborhood.”
Calls to manager Michael Stein for comment were not returned, but a source said that the owners were hoping to find a more amenable location downtown.
Bar Gets a Sports Fan Facelift
When the Giants face off against the Patriots this Sunday for a Super Bowl rematch, Mayor Michael Bloomberg can rest easy knowing he’s scrubbed as many references to the New England team as possible from the city. Just as they did four years ago, the mayor’s office is targeting establishments whose names might falsely belie an allegiance to the enemy (we’re guessing anything with the words patriots, Boston or Gisele Bundchen) and asking them to make a temporary moniker switch in support of the home team. On the Upper East Side, Brady’s Bar, on Second Avenue near 82nd Street, will again take up a new mantle for the weekend: Manning’s. The quarterback switch is fully supported by owner Dan Brady, a diehard Big Blue fan. He said that the mayor should be in attendance for the renaming ceremony on Friday afternoon; check their website bradysbar.com for updates and the exact time.
Bill to Protect Jobs of Pregnant Women
State Sen. Liz Krueger is sponsoring a bill that would require employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant women on the job. Currently, employers are barred from discriminating against pregnant women and must make accommodations for disabled workers. Because pregnancy is not considered a disability, however, employers are not required to make any concessions for pregnant woman and can legally fire them for, say, taking too many bathroom breaks or requesting to sit. Krueger’s bill, which is being introduced in the assembly by upstate Democratic Assembly Member Aileen Gunther, would close that legal gap.
The bill’s language states that employers must take action to “allow pregnant women to perform in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held and include, but are not limited to, provision of an accessible worksite, acquisition or modification of equipment, support services for persons with impaired hearing or vision, job restructuring and modified work schedules; provided, however, that such actions do not impose an undue hardship on the business, program or enterprise of the entity from which action is requested.”
Dina Bakst, founder and president of A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center, wrote on Tuesday’s New York Times op-ed page that the law is a “public health necessity” and called it a necessary measure to ensure the safety of pregnant women who may not ask for accommodations if they fear being fired.
New Show Parodies Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a popular home base for fictional characters, and now ABC has commissioned a new show set in the ritzy section—this time with a supernatural twist. The show, 666 Park Avenue, is based on a book series by Gabriella Pierce and revolves around a Midwestern couple who comes to live at and manage the eponymous address and soon discovers that the tenants have all made deals with the devil in order to attain their fantastic lives and have their darkest desires fulfilled.
Produced by the team that delivered Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, the show seems to be taking advantage of the most popular aspects of both of those successes. Something tells us that it won’t be portraying Upper East Siders in the best light, but then again, neither does Gossip Girl, and that’s been a hit.
Musical Open House for Kids
The 92nd Street Y is holding a free open house for its School of Music on Sunday, Feb. 5 from 1–4 p.m. Children ages 3 to 9 can take mini classes in the different styles offered and parents can meet instructors and discuss the methodologies of each class. Offerings include Delcroze, a program for toddlers that helps them develop rhythmic skills through musical interpretation of children’s stories, courses in using GarageBand to record original music and introductory violin instruction for little ones. At 1395 Lexington Ave. Visit 92Y.org for more information.
Local Doorman and Driver Made Richer
The New York Post reported earlier this week that millionaire music exec and high stakes poker player Alan Meltzer, who died at 67 this past Halloween, left a huge chunk of change in his will to his Park Avenue doorman and personal chauffeur. Meltzer was divorced and had no children, and both of his former employees, who received about $1 million and $500,000 respectively, told the Post that their boss was always kind and generous to them.
Go Light with Torrontes
Argentinean white goes perfect with warm winter
By Josh Perilo
I left the house on Tuesday to move my car and I wasn’t wearing a coat.
Yes, this is the wine column, but I felt that sentence needed to be said. It’s both thrillingly amazing (considering the snow spanking we got last year) and very, very scary. By the way, thanks, Al Gore! I still have trouble sleeping whenever it’s unseasonably warm. Read more
Celebrating Black History Month
Black History Month is being celebrated all over the city, including many places uptown. Below are just a few of the highlights. Read more
Best Bets for Super Bowl XLVI
By Andrew Rice
Best Super Bowl Party
Playwright Irish Pub, 27 W. 35th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), playwrightirishpubnyc.com.
It’d be hard for almost any bar to top the Playwright for square inches of screen space, as this Irish sports bar has over 80 of them in their two-floor establishment. For a pair of Andrew Jacksons, you’ll get an open bar and buffet to enjoy as you watch the G-Men battle it out with the Pats. Read more
Ground Line Redefines How Women Artists Have Evolved
By Joe Bendik
Daniele Marin’s current exhibition, Ground Line, at Noho Gallery explores how women in art and society have evolved over time. By using iconic imagery along with the mundane, Marin recontextualizes these images to create nonlinear narratives. Doing this makes the historical information seem fresh. Marin also uses fabric in the acrylic paintings, creating texture and delineating space.
As Marin said, “The incorporation of fabric shifts the expectation about traditional feminine arts.” It also serves as an anchor point for the eye, a place of return.
Marin considers the painting surface a stage where different techniques communicate with each other. In fact, the paintings themselves seem to speak to each other. The color of each painting works within the bigger concept of the show. Marin is particularly interested in “the ground line,” the foundation for this exhibit, which is the horizontal plane on which objects sit. She weaves this into all of the works, establishing unity while referencing “still” images from the past, thereby reclaiming and redefining their roles as ‘feminine.’ The result is a new way of viewing traditional materials.
Marin was born in Paris but lives in the United States. She has an MFA from the Pratt Institute and has won two painting awards from the Visual Arts Center in New Jersey. She has been featured in Art in America and Woman’s Art Journal (Rutgers), among other publications. Some of her works are in the collection of the Newark Museum, the Montclair museum and Merrill Lynch, as well as private collections.
This show runs through Feb. 4. While visiting the exhibition, I had the eerie feeling of walking through a different state of being; somehow becoming a part of the ground line myself, as if I was inside the paintings.
Daniele Marvin: Ground Line
Noho Gallery, 530 W. 25th St., 4th Fl., 212-367-7063, www.danielemarin.com.
Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
