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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 5, No. 12   Aug. 18, 2018  
IN THIS ISSUE

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"If there's something that you need to change, you need to be the one who does it. You don't wait for someone else to come save you or to fix things for you."
      -  Ilhan Omar, Minnesota state representative and the Democratic nominee for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress

* Calendar: August - Museum of Jewish Heritage - 'Memory Unearthed'

WEATHER INFORMATION: For current weather information, click here.
 
Go to www.DowntownPostNYC.com for breaking news and for updated  Downtown Post NYC bulletin board and calendar information.

MASTHEAD PHOTO: Neha Singh dancing in the U.S. premiere of "Yatra: The Journey of Kathak," choreographed by her husband, Anuj Mishra, and performed at the Battery Dance Festival. Aug. 15, 2018 (©Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2018)  


editorLETTER FROM THE EDITOR: NEW YORK STATE PRIMARY ON SEPT. 13       
 
Terese Loeb Kreuzer, editor
If you're unsure about what will be on the ballot and whether you can cast a vote when New York State holds its primary election on Thursday, Sept. 13, it's not your fault. The news has been spotty.

First of all, the primary is on a Thursday, NOT a Tuesday. And secondly, there has not been a lot of clear information about exactly whom you can vote for that day. Races for governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor and the legislature will be among those on the ballot with the winners of the primary going on to the general election in November, where voters are not confined by party registration in casting their ballots.

Note that you have to be registered to vote as a Democrat or Republican or in some other political party to vote at all on Sept. 13, and you will only be able to vote in the primary election for the party for which you're registered. If you are not registered with a political party - if you're registered as an "independent" - you can't vote in the primary election.

You have until midnight on Sunday, Aug. 19 to register to vote in the primary election or to change your registered address.

Given that Aug. 19 is a Sunday, these are your options:

You can register in person at a Board of Elections office or at a participating State agency such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. Usually, Board of Elections offices are open from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, this coming Sunday, Aug. 19, each of the Board of Elections offices in New York City will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to accept in-person voter registration applications.

The Board of Elections Manhattan Borough Office is at 200 Varick St. The phone number is (212) 886-2100. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles office at 366 W. 31st St. is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. To register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles, you will need a New York State driver's license, permit or non-driver ID issued by the DMV.

If you have one of those DMV credentials, you can also register online at the DMV website: https://dmv.ny.gov/more-info/electronic-voter-registration-application

What you can't do at this point is to change your party affiliation. If you want to do that for future elections, you will have to do it after this primary is over and before Oct. 12, 2018.

Finally, you can register to vote by mail. Your application must be postmarked by Sunday, Aug. 19 (which, for all practical purposes, means Saturday, Aug. 18) and received by Aug. 24. Here's the URL for the mail-in application: http://vote.nyc.ny.us/html/voters/register.shtml

Now - who will be on the ballot on Sept. 13?

In the Democratic primary, incumbent Andrew Cuomo is running for a third term as New York State governor. Cynthia Nixon, former "Sex and the City" star and an ally of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, is Cuomo's major challenger. 

Also in the Democratic primary, Jumaane Williams is running for lieutenant governor against incumbent Kathy C. Hochul. Williams currently serves on New York City Council, representing the 45th district, which includes East Flatbush, Flatbush, Flatlands, Marine Park and Midwood in Brooklyn.

The Republican candidate for New York State governor, Marcus Molinaro, was unanimously nominated at the Republican state convention in May. Since he has no challengers for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, there will be no Republican primary election.

There are four candidates in the Democratic primary for the State Attorney General position previously held by Eric Schneiderman. The four candidates are Letitia A. James, Sean Patrick Maloney, Zephyr Teachout and Leecia R. Eve. James is currently the New York City Public Advocate. Maloney is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing New York's 18th Congressional District. At one time, he was a senior advisor to former president Bill Clinton. Teachout is a law professor at Fordham Law School. She ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York in 2014 and for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016. Eve, a graduate of Harvard Law School, is an attorney in New York and was a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006. She serves on the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In the 65th Assembly District, which includes parts of Battery Park City, the Financial District and the Lower East Side, Christopher Marte is running against Joseph N. Garba for Male State Committee person on the Democratic ticket.

For a complete list of all candidates whose names will appear on the ballot in the September 13 primary election, click here.

HOW TO SUPPORT DOWNTOWN POST NYC - Downtown Post NYC is emailed free to subscribers, but if you like DPNYC and want to support it, you can do that in four ways. 1) Make a contribution to Downtown Post NYC.  Email editor@downtownpostnyc.com for more information. 2) Support Downtown Post's advertisers by clicking on their ads, and if you use their services, tell them that you read about them in DPNYC. 3) Consider advertising in DPNYC if you have a business, service or event that you want to promote. 4) Tell people about DPNYC and suggest that they subscribe. They can sign up at www.DowntownPostNYC.com.

Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Editor
 
The emailed Downtown Post NYC newsletter is appearing less frequently than formerly, however, Downtown Post NYC's website (www.DowntownPostNYC.com) is updated daily. That's the place to check  for urgent messages, breaking news and reminders of interesting events in and around Lower Manhattan. When heavy rain and thunderstorms caused cancellations for scheduled performances at the Battery Dance Festival this past week, this information was immediately posted on the Downtown Post NYC website along with news of other canceled events in Lower Manhattan. So be sure to look at the website every day, especially if you want to know about breaking news.



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danceBATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL BRINGS 25 DANCE COMPANIES TO
BATTERY PARK CITY FOR A WEEK OF FREE DANCE PERFORMANCES
 
Douglas Dunn + Dancers performed "Aidos" at the Battery Dance Festival.
(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The plan was for the 37th annual Battery Dance Festival to start on Saturday, Aug. 11, with a film called "Moving Stories," to be screened in Battery Park City's Wagner Park, where most of the rest of the week-long festival was to take place. Because of rain, the film screening didn't happen.

But despite the threat of rain and a few actual drops, on Sunday and Monday dancers and an enthusiastic audience showed up for a smorgasbord of companies and performers from a dozen parts of the world who danced on a stage set against the backdrop of New York harbor.

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, rain actually did cancel that evening's program, but the announced schedule resumed on Wednesday, Aug. 15, with an evening of dances from northern India in the Kathak style.

"Kathak" features rhythmic footwork accentuated by a hundred small bells on each dancer's ankles and by multiple, fast, spinning turns derived from Sufi practices.
The dancing is mesmerizing and colorful, often based on epics and legends that are thousands of years old, sometimes updated. Gods and goddesses appear on the stage, and richly jeweled princes and princesses. Demons sometimes show up, and lovers. Always there are lovers.

Some of the dancers precede their dance with a prayer. On Aug. 15, the cosmic forces were evident. A crescent moon hung in the sky above the stage, and as the sky darkened, the stars came out. But not every night at the festival was so blessed. Even when the dancing wasn't canceled because of rain, a densely cloudy sky enveloped the dancers and audience in heat and humidity.

Given the vagaries of the weather, particularly in this era of climate change, it would
"Qui Tollis," with choreography by Tadej Brdnik, was performed at the Battery Dance Festival by aspiring dancers, ages 10 to 18, who study at the Martha Graham School under Brdnik's direction. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
undoubtedly be more practical to hold the Battery Dance Festival indoors, but if that were to happen in the future, that would be a mistake. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island behind the performers are part of the impact and meaning of their dances.

At a time when so many immigrants are being reviled and chased out of this country by the federal government, in New York City, the Statue of Liberty still lifts her lamp beside the golden door. Nearby Ellis Island commemorates the more than 12 million immigrants who, between 1892 and 1954, trudged off ships carrying everything they owned to begin a new life here.

Battery Dance, the originator of the festival, performs, collaborates, teaches and engages in cultural exchange with people from 70 countries around the world. This year's festival included dance companies from Macedonia, Botswana and Gabon - countries that Battery Dance visited in 2014, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The festival opened this year with the world premiere of a dance called "Thinking of Knowing," performed by three dancers from Egypt, Costa Rica and the Kurdish region of Iraq. The Iraqi dancer is in the United States on a fellowship created by Battery Dance for "Dancers Seeking Refuge."

Many of the dances in the festival deal with freedom and political oppression, with war and its effects, and with the human need for connection, partnering and love.
However, the Battery Dance Festival is not only freighted with political meaning. It is also a remarkable presentation of superb dancing.

The Battery Dance Festival is free. It concludes on Aug. 18 at the Schimmel Center of Pace University, where tickets are required. To reserve a ticket (free) or to purchase a VIP ticket ($65) that includes a reception, click here.

For more about the Battery Dance Festival, click here.

(Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer. All rights reserved)


 
Mohip Joarder and Parul Shah of the Parul Shah Dance Company performed "Yugal," choreographed by Shah's teacher, Kumudini Lakhia, at the Battery Dance Festival during a night devoted to an Indian dance form called "Kathak."  (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)




routeTICKET HAWKERS CAUSE CONNECTION BUS ROUTE CHANGE

For the remainder of the summer season, the Downtown Connection bus will no longer be stopping near the subway station at Battery Place and State Street, which serves the IRT No. 4 and No. 5 trains. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The Downtown Alliance has temporarily suspended its free Connection bus service to the five stops adjacent to The Battery to dissuade the bus from being misused by aggressive ticket sellers who have been taking advantage of visitors in the neighborhood.

The Downtown Connection bus will be bypassing five stops adjacent to The Battery through the end of the summer season. These stops are being bypassed:
Battery Park City bound stops: State Street/Bridge Street; Battery Place/Washington Street; Battery Place/West Street. South Street Seaport bound stops: Battery Place/West Street; Battery Place/Greenwich Street. 

The ticket hawkers have been accosting unsuspecting tourists who want to visit the Statue of Liberty and telling them that they can board the free Connection bus, debark at the ferry terminal in Battery Park City and take a boat to the Statue of Liberty. Actually, that boat doesn't stop on Liberty Island - it only cruises next to it. Only Statue Cruises, whose tickets can be purchased at Castle Clinton in The Battery, actually takes visitors to Liberty and Ellis Islands. 

The Downtown Alliance issued this statement: "The Alliance strongly and vocally opposes the ticket touters found in Lower Manhattan and we have long held the position that this is a systemic problem. We have stationed public safety officers in the area to try and curb this behavior by reporting illegal activity and the NYPD's 1st Precinct has done an increasingly good job on the ground issuing summons and making arrests. Unfortunately, this problem is a bigger issue that needs to be resolved with a change in how these companies operate. We feel that sidewalk sales should either be banned or significantly reined in. All that said, we want the Downtown Connection to be a useful amenity that welcomes everyone in Lower Manhattan therefore we don't place restrictions on who is allowed to ride the bus."

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer

 


IlhanTRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: MUSLIM? AN IMMIGRANT? BLACK?
A WOMAN? NOTHING STOPS ILHAN OMAR IN 'TIME FOR ILHAN'  
 
Ilhan Omar during her 2016 campaign for the Minnesota State Legislature.
(Photo: Chris Newberry)

On Aug. 14, 2018, Ilhan Omar, a 35-year-old Muslim woman in her first term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, won a hands-down victory in the Democratic primary election to represent Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Out of 135,315 votes cast, she defeated her closest rival in a field of four by more than 20,000 votes.

Winning the Democratic primary in that district, which includes Minneapolis and its closest suburbs, is tantamount to winning the general election. Ilhan Omar will be moving to Washington, D.C.

Omar's initial political victory in 2016 - the one that put her in the Minnesota House of Representatives - was equally dramatic. In that election, she defeated a woman who had held that seat for 44 years. Her victory was especially remarkable and poignant because Omar was born in Somalia and came to the United States at the age of 12 as a refugee.

This year's Tribeca Film Festival premiered a documentary, "Time for Ilhan," that chronicled that campaign. It was directed and co-produced by a Minneapolis filmmaker, Norah Shapiro, who said that it was not a foregone conclusion that Omar would win that election but that "It was apparent to me within minutes of meeting her that she was a star."

The Tribeca Film Festival always presents a provocative array of films that may not ever win awards or mass distribution but that provide unexpected and often intimate insights into issues and events that continue to affect us. "Time for Ilhan," which premiered this past April at the Tribeca Film Festival is certainly among them.

During the festival, Omar and Shapiro talked about themselves and about the film.

Ilhan Omar at the Tribeca Film Festival  
(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer
"I was born political," Omar said. "I come from a family that thinks that having political conversations are part of the dinner conversation. My dad and grandfather and uncles and aunties always talked about politics."

When the family came to the United States, Omar said that she helped to guide her grandfather through the process as his linguistic and cultural guide. "I think it started my love affair with our democracy and the idea of a representative democracy and really not looking at politics as something that someone else does but as something that we all do," she said as she reflected on that period in her life.

After much thought and discussions with her family and others, in the fall of 2015, Omar decided to run for political office. She was a political anomaly - young, black, Muslim, female and an immigrant. When she won the election in November 2016, she became the first Somali-American legislator in the United States.

On election night she said, "I was hopeful about what would happen next. I knew that people were finally awakened from their complacency."

She said that she travels a lot across the country and that when she meets people who are new to the country or who are first generation, they often ask, "Why do you think it's OK for us to participate in this process?"

She said that they believe that they have a conditional citizenship that could be taken away at any time "so they need to be quiet and simply grateful to have been given the blessing of being here."

"I think the biggest way that I can show my gratitude," she said, "is to actually fight for a better country... not only for myself and for my children but for all of America's children. I think I owe it to the people who came before me who fought for all of the progress that we see in this nation, to allow for someone like myself to be here and to have the rights that I have to continue to fight for that and to continue to say, 'These things are not enough.'"

Omar, who has three children of her own - the oldest is 15 - said that she was very aware of young people and their concerns, particularly when it comes to gun control.

She said she was a freshman in high school when Columbine happened. "I remember thinking 'Surely someone else will deal with this," she said. "'This is not going to continue.' I wish I had had the wisdom, I wish I had had the courage, I wish I could have seen myself as being part of a leadership that could change that."

Now, she said that she realizes that "Regardless of what background you might have, regardless of what the obstacles might look like, regardless of how old you are, regardless of how poor you are, regardless of how marginalized you are, you have something to contribute. If there's something that you need to change, you need to be the one who does it. You don't wait for someone else to come save you or to fix things for you."

In her relatively short time in the Minnesota House of Representative, Omar was the author of 38 bills, although as of May 2018, none of them had become law. Among other things, she supports single-payer health care, gun control, abolishing ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and an all-out effort to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change.

She has said that in the U.S. House of Representatives, she would like to join the House committees on agriculture, education and homeland security. It seems highly likely that she will get that chance.


- Terese Loeb Kreuzer

So far, "Time for Ilhan" has not been distributed beyond its film festival showings. In fact, many worthy and excellent films go no further. That's all the more reason to put the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival on your calendar. It will next take place between April 24 and May 5, 2019 with a continued focus on discovering new filmmakers and with juried awards for best new narrative and documentary films.



 Bits & Bytes 
chapoEL CHAPO CAUSES BROOKLYN BRIDGE GRIDLOCK; WIGSTOCK RETURNS, THIS TIME TO PIER 17; PIZZA BAGEL GETS FIVE STARS 
 

The Watchtower sign, accompanied by the time and temperature stood atop a building at 30 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn for almost 50 years, but when the Jehovah's Witnesses sold the building in 2016 to Columbia Heights Associates, a consortium of developers that plans to turn the building into an enormous, multi-office and retail complex, the sign was taken down. The City decreed that the sign couldn't be replaced because it had never been legally installed. On Aug. 7, 2018, lawyers for the development group challenged the decision at a Board of Standards and Appeals hearing. Apparently, the appeal prevailed. Yesterday (Aug. 17), Downtown Post NYC received a photograph from a Southbridge Towers resident showing a red time and temperature sign where the Watchtower sign used to be. The photo was accompanied by a jubilant message: "The time and temperature are back!"
(Photo above: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2012)

"Gridlock on the Brooklyn Bridge? Blame El Chapo," New York Times, 8/14/18. "For more than a year now, an only-in-New York transportation nightmare has been caused by the case of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord best known as El Chapo," says The New York Times. "In a highly unusual move, Mr. Guzmán is facing trial in Brooklyn, but, because of his proclivity for breaking out of prison, he is being held in a high-security federal jail in Lower Manhattan. Every few months or so, whenever he is called to go to court, something awful happens: The police must close the entire Brooklyn Bridge, stranding hundreds of motorists as the world's biggest drug lord is swept across the East River in a speeding motorcade of heavily armored cars. And when the trial begins in November, the traffic could get worse because Mr. Guzmán will need to be escorted over the span twice a day, for up to four months. These closures would happen, inconveniently enough, precisely during the morning and evening rush hours." For the complete article, click here.  
 
"Wigstock Returns From the Dead," New York Times,8/15/18. "Sometime around 1984, a group of inebriated drag queens left the Pyramid Club in the East Village in Manhattan and wound up at Tompkins Square Park, where a spontaneous performance before a bunch of homeless people turned into a festival called Wigstock," says The New York Times. "For a decade and a half, it was an annual rite on New York City's L.G.B.T. calendar, a 'circuit party' for people who wouldn't normally be caught dead on the circuit. It outgrew the park and moved to the piers along the West Side Highway. Then something happened, according to its founder, Lady Bunny. "'It rained,' she said. Not once, but two years in a row....Now Wigstock is coming back to life this Labor Day weekend, on Sept. 1 at the newly rebranded Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport. And it's easy to see why it's happening. The audience for drag is ballooning." For the complete article, click here.  
 
"Infant boy's lifeless body washes up in waters off Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan," Daily News, 8/5/18. "An 8-month-old boy's lifeless body washed up under the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan Sunday afternoon - his parents nowhere to be found," the Daily News reported. "Police and a nearby tourist tried desperately to revive the tot just after 4 p.m., but their efforts couldn't save the little boy's life." For the complete article, click here.  
 
"Father of Baby Found Dead in East River Is Jailed in New York," New York Times, 8/10/18. "Five days after the body of his 7-month-old son was found floating in the East River, James Currie stood in a Manhattan courtroom, charged with concealment of a human corpse," says The New York Times. "Mr. Currie flew to Thailand the day after the body of his son, Mason Saldana, was discovered - but he was quickly returned to the United States. On Friday, he was brought before Judge Suzanne Adams of Manhattan Criminal Court. A prosecutor, Shawn McMahon, told the judge that there was 'essentially irrefutable proof the defendant threw his infant son into the East River,' adding that Mr. Currie fled the country shortly afterward." For the complete article, click here.

"A Hundred Years Ago, High Tech Was a Paint Job,"
New York Times, 8/5/18. "In June, the artist Tauba Auerbach dressed a relic from one era as if it were almost a relic from another," says The New York Times. "The relic in question is the John J. Harvey, a 130-foot-long ship that was once the largest and most powerful fireboat in the world. That was 87 years ago, deep in the Depression, when it joined the Fire Department's fleet in New York City. Ms. Auerbach gave it a splashy red-and-white paint job in a nod to a time when the United States was desperate in a different way than it was when the John J. Harvey was christened in 1931. In World War I, before radar and before satellite navigation, the best technology to help ships elude German U-boats was paint. The technique that a British artist developed was called dazzle painting - putting colors from stem to stern with patterns that Ms. Auerbach said were typically 'sharp-edged, high contrast, graphic and stripy, with mostly straight lines.'" For the complete article, click here.

"Robert Silman, Engineer Who Saved Fallingwater, Dies at 83,"
New York Times, 8/7/18. "Robert Silman, a structural engineer who rescued Frank Lloyd Wright's cantilevered Fallingwater in Pennsylvania from the edge of collapse, and preserved dozens of other landmarks besides, died on July 31 at his home in Great Barrington, Mass. He was 83," says The New York Times. "He had multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, his wife, Roberta Silman, said. Mr. Silman was the president emeritus of the engineering firm Silman, headquartered in Manhattan, which he founded in 1966. Though he came of age when engineers were expected to perform feats of awe-inducing bravura, Mr. Silman largely contented himself with the invisible, ingenious stitchery that protected the work of other engineers and architects. 'Any time we faced any intractable problem in trying to save a building, we called Bob,' Peg Breen, the president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, said on Friday. Among the best-known projects he helped engineer were the creation of the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration, the restoration and expansion of Carnegie Hall and the preservation of the Survivors' Stairs from the World Trade Center." For the complete article, click here.

"Seaport District's Outdoor Bar Serves a 'Ridiculously Good' Pizza Bagel, Critic Says,"
Eater.com, 8/8/18. "Embracing the season, the Post's Steve Cuozzo recommends two new outdoor restaurants in the city for open-air revelry: the Garment District's Elsie Roof and Pier 17's Heineken Riverdeck. Named after the 20th century NYC actress Elsie de Wolfe, Elsie Roof has small dishes by David Burke like a grilled cheese with caviar. It overlooks Times Square and the rising Hudson Yards development, and cocktails are $18. Over on the waterfront, Heineken Riverdeck has snacks like a pizza bagel that Cuozzo calls 'ridiculously good' and cocktails by Saxon + Parole alum Mark Murphy. Cuozzo recommends the bourbon punch, made with Jim Beam, citrus, and bitters." For the complete article, click here.





Downtown bulletin board
ceramics MENTORING FOR AT-RISK YOUTH; ADULT CERAMICS CLASSES  
     
The Hudson River and Jersey City after a day of rain, heavy at times. Aug. 11, 2018.  For more than a week, it has been raining almost daily in Lower Manhattan, causing New York City to issue flash flood watches. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, between 1958 and 2010, the amount of precipitation falling in heavy downpours increased more than 70 percent across the northeastern United States. Sea levels along New York's coast have already risen more than a foot since 1900, almost twice the observed global rate over the same period. For more information, click here.
(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2018)
 
 

Financial District Lions Club seeks mentors for at-risk youth: The Financial District Lions Club is working with the New York State Mentoring Program, founded by Matilda Raffa Cuomo, former first lady of New York State and mother of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to mentor at-risk youth in New York City. People who want to learn more about the program and perhaps to volunteer can contact Terry Paladini-Baumgarten, a Battery Park City resident and founder of the Financial District Lions Club, a non-profit organization of volunteers that engages in various forms of community service. Her email is tpaladini38@nyfidilions.org. For more information about the New York State Mentoring Program, click here.

Adult ceramics classes: Manhattan Youth's ceramics classes for adults start the week of Sept. 9. They are designed for all levels, beginning to advanced, and cover hand-building and pottery-wheel techniques. Registration opens on Aug. 20. Class times: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.; and Thursday mornings 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registered students can work on their own during open studio offered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday mornings from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 12 p.m to 4 p.m. Place: Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St. Tuition: $320 for eight classes plus a non-refundable $45 fee for firing. For more information or to register, click here.
 
Culture Pass: Culture Pass is a new service for holders of a New York Public Library card that enables free admission to dozens of museums and cultural institutions around the city. Participating institutions include the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the Frick Collection, the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the Museum of the City of New York, Wave Hill, the Whitney Museum of American Art and many more. You must be at least 13 years old to reserve a pass. To get a Culture Pass, go to www.Culturepass.nyc and follow the prompts. You can obtain passes for dates up to three months in advance and can have two pending reservations at any time. Each pass is good for two to four people.  
 


Most of the Downtown Post NYC bulletin board listings are now on the Downtown Post NYC website. To see the bulletin board listings, click here.




calendar CALENDAR: August 2018  
Spotlight: Museum of Jewish Heritage - 'Memory Unearthed'

The entrance to the exhibition, "Memory Unearthed" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
 
Aug. 19: Sunday, Aug. 19, is the last day to see the exhibition, "Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City.
 
In 1940, a professional photographer named Henryk Ross was confined to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland and put to work by the Nazi regime as a bureaucratic photographer  
for the Jewish Administration's Statistics department.
 
More than 160,000 Jewish people were trapped in the Lodz Ghetto - comprising the second largest Jewish ghetto population in German-occupied Europe. Among Ross's duties was to photograph each person sent to the ghetto. Instead of using a piece of film for each head shot, he photographed several people on a single frame and then used the film that he had saved for his own purposes.   
 
For nearly four years, Ross used his official position as cover, showing ghetto life as it devolved from some semblance of normality to dire hunger, illness and deportations. Eventually, thousands of people were deported from the Lodz Ghetto and murdered at Chelmno and Auschwitz.
 
Sometimes forced to conceal his camera in his overcoat, Ross preserved evidence of Nazi crimes. As liquidation began, he buried 6,000 negatives near his home - committing to the ground, and perhaps to future generations, "some record of our tragedy." 

As it turned out Ross survived the war, and in March of 1945, he returned to Lodz to see if what he had buried had also survived. He was able to reclaim almost 3,000 negatives. 
 
"Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross" includes more than 200 of Ross's photographs, supplemented by artifacts and testimony and presented in the context of Lodz Ghetto history.

Place: Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place. Open on Sunday from 10 am. to 6 p.m. For more information, click here
 
One of Henryk Ross's photographs in the exhibition, "Memory Unearthed" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
 
For the complete calendar of Battery Park City events between May and August, click here.


 
For more calendar listings, go to the Downtown Post NYC website. Click here.



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