May 21, 2014 - WestchesterGuardian.com

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PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. X, No. IXX
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Thursday May 21, 2015 • $1.00
Justice in
The Land
of the
Free
Thoughts on the
Criminal Justice System
and the Sam Zherka Trial
Editorial Page 2
WWW.WESTCHESTERGUARDIAN.COM
Page 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Community/GovernmentSection
Editorial
Justice in The Land of the Free
What happened to the rights
of the accused in America, wonders
CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria
in his April 30th, 2015 column
(FareedZakaria.com). Legal scholars
throughout the world marvel that
with “nearly 5 % of the world’s population, the United States has nearly
25% of the world’s prisoners and 50%
of the world’s lawyers,” according to
Zakaria, quoting former Canadian
newspaper publisher Conrad Black’s
research. “The United States locks up
more people every year than Stalin
held in his gulags at the height of his
power*”, is another frequent observation among those who have studied
the statistics.
According to Black, “the high U.
S. conviction rate is not because our
prosecutors are so much better, it is
because of the plea bargain, a system of
bullying and intimidation by government lawyers for which they ‘would be
disbarred in most other serious countries, [and which] enables prosecutors
to threaten everyone around the target
with indictment if they don’t miraculously recall, under careful government
coaching, inculpatory evidence.”
And Conrad Black should
know. Black’s newspaper publishing
empire once controlled a third of the
world’s English language newspapers.
Following a U. S. investor initiated
investigation he served 37 months
in a United States Federal Prison
for alleged Fraud and Obstruction
of Justice. Most charges were overturned on subsequent appeals and he
was released on May 4, 2012. Black
returned to Canada upon his release
and is barred from returning to the
States for 30 years, though one doubts
he would ever care to return.
Zakaria also quotes U.S. District
Judge Jed Rakoff ’s essay for the New
York Review of Books, who “wrote
that because of the plea bargain, ‘the
criminal justice system in the United
States today bears little relationship to
what the Founding Fathers contemplated, what the movies and television
portray, or what the average American
believes. There is, more often than not,
no ‘day in court,’ no trial, no rights for
the accused. The prosecutor almost
always gets what he wants. When
I served on a grand jury, I quickly
realized that it was a rubber stamp
for the prosecution, the opposite of its
original intent.’”
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Creative Disruption.................................................................7
Guardian Arts.........................................................................7
Travel.......................................................................................8
Book Review.........................................................................10
Eye on Theatre.......................................................................10
Calendar..................................................................................6
Local Lore.............................................................................12
Legal Ads..............................................................................14
Community Calendar...........................................................14
Cultural Perspectives.............................................................15
Mary at the Movies...............................................................16
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Editorial...................................................................................2
Government............................................................................5
Continued on page 3
Commercial • Industrial
& Residential Services
Table of Contents
Memorial Day.........................................................................4
Conrad Black’s portrayal of
the tactics employed by Federal
Prosecutors is eerily similar to those
Sam Zherka, Publisher
Mary Keon, Acting Editor /Advertising
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From amongst journalism’s classic key-words: who, what, when, where, why, and
how, the why and how will drive our pursuit. We will use our more abundant time,
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Page 3
GOVERNMENT
COMMUNITY
Valet Parking and Energy Proposals for New Rochelle
By Peggy Godfrey
Though
the
proposed Valet Parking
Law had been spelled
out in great detail,
questions still remained at the
May 12, 2015 meeting of the New
Rochelle City Council Committee
of the Whole session.
Councilman Lou Trangucci
wanted to know who would check
where the needed parking spaces
were potentially available. He was
told the valet company would
put the information together and
would list this information with the
Department of Buildings officials.
The rules for valet parking are firmly
spelled out and an operator who
accumulates three violations within
a year would lose the valet permit.
False statements will also be regarded
harshly. The non-compliance in the
first instance would require a fine of
$50; the second and third, $100 each.
Councilman Trangucci felt the third
fine should be $500. Commissioner
of Development, Luiz Aragon, suggested this fine could be increased,
but City Manager, Chuck Strome,
said the court could determine the
fine. Trangucci stated that even
if the court decided differently,
a minimum fine of $500 would
discourage non-compliance.
Councilwoman Shari Rackman
asked about the restaurant fee for
valet parking and Aragon answered
that perhaps a cost of $5 for valet
parking could include a free drink
voucher. No other charges can be
added. The use of a few metered
sparking spaces in front of the store
was suggested. Councilman Al
Tarantino asked if a valet parked
car later received a ticket (for $50)
would the person have the information about who parked the car on
the stub? The answer by Aragon was
that the valet company would be
responsible for the ticket. Aragon
insisted the operator will pay the
fees (or fines) and these terms can be
reinforced by the lawyer.
That evening at the public
hearing, David Lacher, attorney for
Dubrovnik Restaurant which had
been previously granted a zoning
board variance with the condition
that the restaurant implement a
valet parking plan, claimed the need
for valet parking was obvious. The
current law will increase both permitting requirements and costs. He
did ask that the current establishments in New Rochelle now using
valets be exempted from these new
costs. He stated he was fully aware of
the responsibilities inherent in valet
parking.
The only other issue raised was
a legal one by Joyce Furfero, who
noted that under New York State
law VAT AS 338, a vehicle owner
who “allows someone else to drive
his or her car is still responsible for
the negligence of the other person.”
This law does nothing to mitigate or
eliminate vehicle owners’ liability for
any negligence of these valets... “This
ordinance,” she continues, is “short
on indemnity for vehicle owners,”
and she asks that this be addressed.
Two guests from AACommunity Choice Aggregation
spoke at the next section of the
meeting. The speakers featured
were from Sustainable Westchester:
Mark Gordon and Glenn Weinberg.
According to their website,
“Sustainable Westchester is a consortium of Westchester County local
governments that facilitates effective
sustainability initiatives, engages
community stakeholders, and shares
tools, resources, and incentives to
create more healthy, vibrant and
attractive communities, now and in
the future.” Sustainable Westchester
has been procuring energy supplies
from energy service companies,
(ESCO’s represent 41 out of 44
Westchester dues paying municipalities). Commissioner Aragon
introduced them as a group offering
community choice on energy costs,
creating green environments and
jobs.
Sustainable Westchester has
merged with Energy Action and
all but three municipalities in
Westchester are in the merger. They
are also working with other states.
Sustainable Westchester believes
that government regulated utility
suppliers should be in competition for delivery costs and that if all
communities work together, municipalities could achieve a projected
aggregate five to ten percent better
price on utilities. Individual consumers that do not like their service
are free to return to their previous
supplier or Con Edison.
There would likely be two rates
in a zone: commercial and residential. The ability to opt out to another
provider is the same as now. When
Bramson asked what actions would
be necessary to link New Rochelle to
the other communities, he was told a
resolution would have to be passed.
Rackman highlighted a difference
that residents would experience.
Now, she said, “we” select an ESCO
or stay with New Rochelle. The new
way would mean residents would
have to switch back to Con Edison
if they were not satisfied.
The new fixed rate should be
lower than the Con Edison rate.
The one glitch suggested was that
if the consumer leaves an adopted
city’s plan, they may not be able to
get back into it. Councilman Barry
Fertel asked which communities were in this plan and was told:
Somers, North Salem, Lewisboro,
Croton and Pleasantville. When
he asked about the discount on the
fixed rate he was told it could be as
much as 20%.
When the fee for this service
was addressed, the council was told
there is a commission. A price given
was $8 for each $100,000. A referendum is not needed to change to
this system. Mayor Bramson suggested asking the staff to prepare
legislation for consideration at a
future meeting.
Editorial
Justice in The Land of the Free
C
Continued from page 2
is difficult for Mr. Zherka to assist
in his own defense from Manhattan
Correctional, where even in the attorney’s room, there is no expectation of
privacy.
As we celebrate Memorial Day,
ask yourself if the men and women
who died for our country gave their
lives so others can be compelled by
the government to testify against
someone untruthfully to get a better
deal for themselves? They did not
and the government’s behavior in too
many cases should outrage us all.
* Adam Gopnik, The Caging of
America, The New Yorker, Jan. 30,
2012
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we have seen employed against Sam
Zherka. In an effort to build a case
against our Publisher, at least one of
his business associates involved in the
case was threatened with incarceration
in a facility in Colorado, if convicted,
where there is 23 hour lockdown,” a
euphemism for “SuperMax,” (again,
we are talking about alleged white
collar crimes here), by prosecutor U. S.
Attorney Jacobson, while others stood
there and did nothing. Mr. Zherka is
being held without bail, as Conrad
Black was, on “garden variety white
collar crime” charges, though he has
not yet been convicted of a crime. It
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Page 4
MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day Observances:*
We must hold dear and never forget
the sacrifices of the men and women
who died in defense of our country.
Bedford Hills
May 25th Bedford Hills Memorial
Day Parade and Ceremonies sponsored
by the Bedford Hills Fire Department
and Bedford Hills Lions Club. The
Parade starts @ 9:00 AM sharp at
BHES on Babbitt Road. Parade
Route: Babbitt Road to Church Street
BHCH, Main Street to the BHFD.
Ceremonies: Held at the BHCH WW
I memorial followed by a ceremony at
the end of the parade at the WW II,
Korean and Vietnam War memorials
at the intersection of Bedford Road and
Main Street.
Bedford Village
May 25th Bedford Village
Memorial Day Parade and Ceremonies
sponsored by the Bedford Fire Dept.
and Bedford Village Lions Club.
Parade starts at 11:15AM (approx.).
at the corner of Seminary Road and
Pound Ridge Road right onto Pound
Ridge Road (Route 172) to the Village
Green. Ceremony held at the WWI,
WWII, Korean, Vietnam and Gulf War
Memorials located at the Village Green.
At the conclusion of the ceremony residents are invited to the BFD for light
refreshments.
Bronxville
Memorial Day Parade Monday,
May 25. Participants assemble at
Leonard Morange Square Memorial
Park, (south side of the Bronxville
railroad Station) promptly at
8:45AM. The Parade will commence
at 9AM and will end with ceremonies
at the Bronxville School on Pondfield
Road. The Parade Grand Marshal is
Fr. Peter McGeory from St. Joseph’s
Church in Bronxville.
Cortlandt
The Town of Cortlandt will
honor Veterans with a Memorial Day
ceremony on Friday, May 22 2015 at
1:30 PM at the Muriel H. Morabito
Community Center, 29 Westbrook
Drive, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567.
Light refreshments will be served.
William Nazario is the Chairman of
the Cortlandt Hudson Valley’s Veteran’s
Committee; Rudolf Grexa is ViceChairman. RSVP to the Supervisor’s
office, Karen Grexa at 914.734.1002. or
[email protected]
Harrison
God Bless Our Veterans. Memorial
Day will be celebrated this year on
Monday, May 25, 2015 and we invite
you to participate in Harrison’s annual
parade. We will be honoring the men
and women who made the ultimate
sacrifice in the cause of freedom. As
our country is once again at war, this
day of commemoration takes on an
even greater significance. Line Up
time is 9:30 AM on Halstead Avenue
and Thatcher Avenue/ Step Off time
is 10:00 AM. Parade Participants:
Veterans Groups, Harrison Police,
Harrison Fire Departments, Harrison
High School Marching Band, Harrison
Ambulance Corps and any and all other
civic groups who would like to march
with us. We hope you will join us on
this most important day. Please call
(914)835-2052 or (914)527-0803 to
join the parade.
Irvington
Memorial Day celebration Monday,
May 25, 2015: participants are asked
to be in place by 10:30AM to ensure
a prompt start at 10:45AM. 10:45
ceremony at the War Memorials on
Main Street (in front of the Main
Street School) followed by a parade to
Memorial Field for ceremony. Katonah
May 25th 2015: Katonah American
Legion Post 1275 and the Katonah Fire
Dept.sponsor the Memorial Day Parade.
All Veterans are invited to march in the
Katonah Memorial Day Parade. Meet
at the Katonah Fire Dept; the Parade
Begins at 10 A.M. From the Fire Dept.
the Parade marches down Katonah Ave
and up Parkway to Lawrence Circle.
Ceremonies are held at the Lawrence
Circle WW I, WW II and Civil war
memorials followed by a ceremony at
the end of the parade at the KFD bell
honoring all veteran’s who were also volunteer firefighters. After the ceremonies
at the War Memorials the parade continues from Lawrence Circle to down
Bedford Rd. to the Katonah Fire Dept.
All town residents are welcome at the
annual Town of Katonah Memorial
Day Picnic, 12Noon - 3PM, held at the
Katonah American Legion, 136 Jay St.,
Katonah, NY 10536. Veterans interested in joining Post 1575 should call
Carlo Marotta at 845.277.4457.
Larchmont
Memorial Day Parade May 21,
2015 7:00 pm
Line-up begins at 6:30 PM in train
station Lot #3 (above I-95) and the
parade will start at 7:00 PM.
New Rochelle
Memorial Day Observance
Weekend events Sunday May 24:
Grave Decoration at Beechwood
Cemetery Monday, May 25: Ceremony
at Memorial Plaza 10AM followed by
waterfront ceremony at Glen Island
Park and “Veterans Appreciation Event”
12-5 PM with helicopter landing at 2
PM
White Plains
Parade starts 10AM at the Library
Plaza, 100 Martine Avenue White
Plains, NY 10601 and proceeds to the
White Plains Rural Cemetery
Yonkers
The Yonkers Annual Memorial
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Day Parade takes place on Saturday,
May 30, on McLean Avenue. The City
will host the parade in conjunction with
the Charles N. Bajart American Legion
Post 1122. The parade will commence
at 1:00 pm with a ceremony at Stillwell
Park (McLean Avenue at 241st Street)
and proceed along McLean Avenue
to the Bajart American Legion Post,
840 McLean Avenue. A ceremony
will conclude the parade at the Post
with the placing of wreaths. Additional
local Memorial Day events in Yonkers
include:
• 7th Ward Memorial Service – May 18
at 6PM
• Donna Walshin Community Center
Memorial Day Parade May 21 at
6PM
• City of Yonkers Memorial Day
Ceremony – May 25 at 9AM
• Crestwood Memorial Day Parade –
May 25 at 10AM
• Catholic Slovak Club Memorial Day
Parade – May 25 at 12PM
• Empire VFW Post 375 Memorial
Day Service – May 25 at 2PM
For additional information on all the
Memorial Day ceremonies, contact
the City’s Department of Veterans
Services at 914-377-6700 or visit
www.yonkersny.gov.
Yorktown
Monday, May 25, 2015 - 11AM
Service at Memorials located at Town
Hall. 11:15 AM: Parade followed by
speeches and ceremony at John “Jack”
DeVito Gazebo located at the Yorktown
Community and Cultural Center Join
in the tradition of Memorial Day as we
actively remember our ancestors, our
family members, our loved ones, our
neighbors, and our friends who have
given the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts
and in wars.
* This is the available information at
deadline and is not exhaustive. MK
Page 5
not back down on their principles,
but these politicians can’t be allowed
to dominate the process. If they do,
the legislative process deadlocks and
representative government becomes
impossible. Skillful legislators know
how to honor their firmly held principles while still finding common ground.
The progress we’ve seen of late on
Capitol Hill is proof that these legislators exist. May their ranks increase.
Environmental Affairs. He was a member
of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34
years.
GOVERNMENT
The Way Forward for Congress
By Lee Hamilton
There have been
encouraging signs on
Capitol Hill of late that
Congress’s long slide into
irrelevance may be slowing
Agreements on Medicare reimbursements in both houses, and on Iran,
No Child Left Behind, Pacific trade
and other issues in various committees
led last month to a chorus of relieved
approval both in Washington and in the
press. Less noticed, but equally important, a report from the Bipartisan Policy
Center found that Congress worked
more during the first quarter of this
year than the past few years, and that
the amendment process in the Senate is
once again functioning as it’s supposed
to.
But let’s not go overboard. Major
challenges lie immediately ahead, chief
among them how Congress handles
the budget. Politicians on Capitol Hill
are coming more to agreement. Modest
bills are being passed. And we have a
taste of bipartisanship. If Congress finds
that it likes feeling productive, then I’ve
got some suggestions for turning these
first, tentative steps into full-blown
progress.
First, it needs to remember that our
founders placed Congress first in the
constitutional firmament. It has been far
too timid. As has been noted, “Congress
today is a reactive body, taking its cues
.
from the President: sometimes in deference to him, sometimes in opposition
to him, occasionally in agreement with
him — but always in reference to him.”
That’s not the definition of a co-equal
branch of government.
And it’s not just the President.
Congress leaves regulatory decisions
to federal agencies with little direction
or oversight, hands economic power to
the Federal Reserve, and has allowed
the Supreme Court to become the
central policymaking body on controversial issues from campaign finance
to affirmative action to environmental
regulation.
Second, Congress needs to return
to good process. This is not a panacea,
but it enhances the prospect of getting
things right.
Returning in both houses to the
so-called “regular order” of committee hearings and amendments would
do wonders for restoring transparency,
encouraging fact-finding, hearing all
sides, weighing options, and finding
agreement. Congress has adopted
some really bad habits on procedure by
passing huge bills in secret, bypassing
committees, curbing participation of
members, and sharply limiting debate
and amendments. Calling an end to
all of that would boost Capitol Hill’s
chances of crafting legislation that represents what’s best for Americans.
And discouraging legislators from
tying two unrelated issues together
— the tactic that led to the unconscionably long approval process for Attorney
General Loretta Lynch — would help
policy get made on its merits.
Third, members need to understand
that their conduct has a direct impact on
Americans’ trust in Congress. Too many
have a constricted view of what it means
to serve. They understand their responsibility to represent their constituents,
but apparently feel little or no responsibility to get legislation enacted into
law or to make the country work. They
are satisfied with issuing political statements, casting a vote, or passing a bill
— but not caring if it can pass the other
house and get signed by the President.
This approach fails the ultimate test of
the legislative process, which is to find
remedies to the nation’s challenges.
Members spend too much time
raising money, politicking, and legislating on trivial or pointlessly political
matters. Too few take the time and
effort to master the legislative process
or to bear down on the work their constituents sent them to pursue: crafting
legislation, debating bills, deliberating
with their colleagues and reaching a
consensus on the serious problems confronting the country. They don’t need
new rules to fix this. They just need to
go to work.
Finally, Congress should heed the
lesson of these past few months and
re-energize its commitment to negotiation and compromise. There’s room
in politics for elected leaders who do
Lee Hamilton is Director of the Center
on Congress at Indiana University;
Distinguished Scholar, IU School of Global
and International Studies; and Professor
of Practice, IU School of Public and
For information about our educational
resources and programs, explore the
website at www.centeroncongress.org. Go
to Facebook to express your views about
Congress, civic education, and the citizen’s
role in representative democracy. “Like”
us on Facebook at “Center on Congress
at Indiana University,” and share our
postings with your friends.
Source URL: http://www.centeroncongress.org/the-way-forward-congress
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Page 6
COMMUNITY
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Senator Murphy Comments on Indian Point Emergency Request - Every Local
Government inWestchester Needs
More Funds for Road Repaving.
The Funds Allocated Were Not Adequate
JEFFERSON VALLEY, NY
May 11, 2015
Senator Terrence Murphy today
commented on the fire at Indian Point
energy center inside a transformer on
Saturday. The plant is located in the
Village of Buchanan in Murphy’s senate
district.
“I have been in constant contact
with Entergy and the Department of
Environmental Conservation as they
address this incident. Thankfully, no
workers were hurt. We are fortunate that
this was not any worse.
“Our focus is now on protecting the
Hudson from any chemical disturbances
due to the failed transformer. Oil containment booms have been deployed and we are
told that any remaining cleanup should be
completed within the next few days. This
incident exposes new concerns for regulators
to address, and it remains paramount that
Indian Point must be operated safely if it is
to remain open.”
Dear State Legislator:
The NYS Legislature recently
approved the state budget which
includes funds for extreme winter
recovery. The additional funds were
added to the budget supposedly to
help local governments address some
of the significant road problems due
to the extreme winter. I am attaching the dollar amounts being given to
localities in Westchester. The amount
the Town of Greenburgh is receiving
$44,059.03 is inadequate. $44,059.03
will not enable us to repave any
major section of road. It costs at least
$250,000 a mile to repave a road sometimes much more.
I recently met with other colleagues - Town Supervisors, Mayors,
Council Members, and Municipal
Administrators. Those who I talked
to all believe that the Legislature
must do a better job of advocating for
Westchester municipalities since we
all need help addressing horrible road
conditions. Our roads are crumbling.
Many municipalities are not spending
what is needed to address road conditions due to the tax cap. Before the
legislative session ends I hope you will
find extra dollars to help every locality
in Westchester with road repaving.
There may be some settlement money
or surplus accounts that could be
found to help every local government.
Our crumbling infrastructure
is a crisis. We need results. We need
more funding for road repaving from
Albany. We’re getting a new Tappan
Zee Bridge, but the local roads that
will be used to get to the bridge are full
of potholes! And, people will get flat
tires getting to the new bridge once it’s
built - unless you help.
Sincerely,
Paul J. Feiner, Town Supervisor
Cc:
Mayors and Supervisors
NYS Conference of Mayors
Westchester Municipal Officials
Association
NYS Association of Towns
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Page 7
blur the owner’s picture. We aren’t there
now but, hopefully, we will be.
As I was reading the book, my mind,
as mentioned above, went off on some
tangents. The author writes of “happiness” – has this totally connected world
made us any happier?
Some have written that the hyperconnectivity puts inordinate pressure on
us to be “on call 24/7” but many seem to
thrive on the “always on world” or at least
act as though they do. I’ve been doing
some consulting for a firm in the Wall
Street area and every morning when I get
on the elevator, at least one person, usually
more (and, most often, female), will immediately whip out her / his smartphone
and begin reading something or other –
whatever it is, it’s enough to occupy her /
his attention until the 21st or 22nd floor is
reached (about a 20 second trip). In days
gone by, an elevator ride in a skyscraper
was a time of boredom or reflection -now it is just like all the rest of our day,
attached to technology.
In the same days gone by, our circle
of friends might include some folks we
grew up with, some we met at various
schools or jobs, people from our current
neighborhood, parents of our children,
long time friends of our spouse, etc. -a rather small number, a few hundred
at best. Now, we have “friends” from all
over the world – hundreds, even thousands. Are these people really friends in
the traditional use of the word? Would
I turn to most of them for help if I had
an ill child or marital difficulty or needed
a loan? Of course not – most are merely
acquaintances, yet a greater number of
acquaintances than we could ever have
had in the “days gone by” (Before going
further, I must admit that I have 5,000
Facebook “friends” – the most allowed by
that system – many are students or former
students, contacts and sources from 35 years
as a journalist, persons met in the various
“virtual worlds” that I wrote about as well
as the usual suspects mentioned above. Of
the 5,000, I probably have direct interaction
with fewer than 200 on a regular basis).
Are we better off for having these
new friends or is it a dilution of the time
and energy that we might devote to
family and “real-world’ friends?
There are many anecdotal tales of life
partners met on line but just as many of
marriages ruined by on-line relationships
that went nowhere. After 40 years of the
Internet and a mere 20 of the World
Wide Web (which brought “normal” nontechnology professionals into the online world
and brought computers into our homes), we
really can’t say “good” or “bad;” we can just
accept the fact that this is the world and,
if we recognize the problems that Havens
points out, use his or other methods to
try to correct the problems. After all, this
is our world and we must take responsibility for it.
Creative
Disruption
GOVERNMENT
Hacking Happiness?
By John F. McMullen
I just began reading
“hacking
h(app)iness:
Why Your Personal
Data Counts and How
Tracking It Can Change the World” by
John C. Havens (Jeremy P. Tarcher /
Penguin, 2014) and, right from the start,
I find it very interesting and thought
provoking, not totally because of its
content but also because of tangential
thoughts that it triggers.
Although the title of the book
may sound as though it is one of those
“touchy-feely” books that technologists and data scientists would deplore,
it seems to be far from that. The author
recognizes the power of the new “app”based totally-connected world and
embraces it. He just wants us, the individual users, to have control over the
data that we provide to others. More
than that he wants us to understand the
data that we provide and to be responsible and accountable for it. Further, he
wants us to provide data to the system
that promotes users’ desire that benefit
gained from the data be equitably shared
with those who provide it. Finally, he
wants to persuade the user to be proactive in using the power of the system to
promote personal and public well-being
--all-in-all, not bad goals for a book!
Havens lays out in the book’s introduction what he sets “out to prove in the
book:
• “Data is getting personal – Data
about people’s sleep, dietary and
work habits, sex lives, and emotions
is being collected and analyzed. Our
current online economy is built on the
management of people’s data without
their full knowledge of the process. It’s
a dangerous precedent that needs to be
reversed,
• “Happiness can be quantified and
increased – The science of positive
psychology is empirically based.
Mobile sensors in our phone and data
from the world around us can contribute information about our lives
that we can utilize to increase positive
well-being and essential, long-lasting happiness. While emotions are
ephemeral and subjective by nature,
data-identifying triggers leading to
or around them are being leveraged to
improve other people’s lives in revolutionary ways.
• The happiness economy is redefining wealth – Countries such
as Bhutan, the United Kingdom,
Brazil, China, and the United
States are using happiness indicators
that reflect multiple metrics beyond
money to measure and improve the
lives of their citizens. People are being
encouraged to leverage skills and
talents for civic engagement that are
providing previously untapped stores
of resources that are changing the
world for good.” (pp xiv-xv)
In the section on “Accountability,”
Havens discusses “Connected Identity”
and breaks it down into three different
elements:
• The Internet – where we “are”
when we are on our computers.
• The “Outernet” – the combination of technologies that affect us
when we are away from our computers – smart phones, containing
GPS, accelerometer, microphone,
GUARDIAN ARTS
Taconic Opera: World Premiere—DANIEL
Currently in its 17th season and the
recipient of the Westchester County
2012 Arts Organization of the Year
Award, Taconic Opera will be performing the world premiere performance and
professional recording of the oratorio
Daniel on Saturday, May 30, 2015,
at 7:30 pm at the Ossining United
Methodist Church, 1 Emwilton Place/
corner of Route 9, Ossining, NY, and on
Sunday, May 31 1, 2015, at 3:00 pm at
the White Plains Presbyterian Church,
39 North Broadway, White Plains, NY.
The work was composed by the company’s General and Artistic Director, Dan
Montez and will be one of the featured
entries in ArtsWestchester’s ArtSee
Festival of 50 new art works in 2015.
Tickets are $27, $20 for seniors and
$15 for students and can be purchased
at the door, in advance online at www.
taconicopera.org, or by calling Taconic
Opera’s toll-free number (855) 886-7372.
etc.; and the “Internet of Things,”
“which includes sensors and devices in
cars, buildings and the world around
us that we typically don’t see.” (p 4)
• How we relate to one another as
people.
The confluence of these elements
makes up each of our individual connected identities.
The rest of the book (which I am
just getting into – but already recommend
it strongly – available from Amazon in
hardcover ($23.34), paperback (13.47) and
Kindle versions (12.80) -- http://goo.gl/
W31UUT) details first how our data
is being collected, what we might do to
obtain a fair return on its use, and how
we might use our knowledge and technological skill to provide well-being for
ourselves and others.
One example that caught my attention of using technology to attempt to
provide a fair return on our image or, at
least, cause the person to stop recoding us
without our permission is given on page
xxix of the book – “Rather than worrying
about strangers filming and tagging without
permission, people can broadcast their identities in public places while notifying how
they’d like to interact with the world. If
you’re at Starbucks and someone looks at you
wearing Google Glass, your digital avatar
could appear in their vision and say ‘If you’d
like to record and I’m in your shot, my face
will appear blurry and I can’t be tagged
without my permission. If you’re tagging me
for commercial purposes, please text me the
specifics of how I’ll be compensated for the use
of my personal data.’” In this example, the
protagonist is expected to be knowledgeable enough to recognize the Google
Glass (or any other recording device) and
technically astute enough to possess such
an app that would both send an avatar
out to talk and have the wherewithal to
Creative Disruption is a continuing series
examining the impact of constantly accelerating technology on the world around us.
These changers normally happen under our
personal radar until we find that the world
as we knew it is no more.
John F. McMullen is a writer, poet, college
professor and radio host. Links to other
writings, Podcasts, & Radio Broadcasts at
www.johnmac13.com, and his books are
available on Amazon.
© 2015 John F. McMullen
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Page 8
TRAVEL
MONTAUK POINT: The Great Ocean Escape
By Richard Levy
Need a break?
Escape to Montauk. In
fact if you try to escape
any further, you’ll fall into
the Atlantic Ocean. Located way out on
the very tip of Long Island, Montauk is
surrounded by pristine ocean and endless
powdery, un-crowded beaches. No less
an authority than National Geographic
rates the Long Island seashore from The
Hamptons to Montauk Point among
the top 10 beaches in the world– and,
it’s just three hours away! Unlike the
trendy, pretentious Hamptons, (where
you might possibly run into folks you
don’t want to run into), in Montauk,
you can actually relax, kick back and
be yourself. (Yes, you can leave your
Manolo Blahniks at home.) One of
the things I love about Montauk is that
you don’t absolutely need a car to have
a good time here: Taxis will take you
wherever you would like to go.
Where to stay? I love the rustic and
charming Daunt’s Albatross Motel,
smack in the middle so you can walk
to everything: just two short blocks
from the beach and two short blocks
from town. The hotel offers large, very
clean rooms with a small kitchen, a
coffee maker, cable with HBO, a lovely
pool, BBQ grill and bikes to explore
Montauk. A complimentary breakfast of fresh bagels and coffee will be
available for guests after July 1. Hosts
Jimmy Daunt and his son Leo will treat
you like family. (It’s very reasonable, so
book early; they’re filling up for July and
August.)
The Hampton Jitney, departs from
points in Manhattan and drops you
in town, two short blocks from the
Albatross Motel. (I will tell you why I
love the Hampton Jitney later.) The
Atlantic Terrace and the Ocean Surf
Motels are nearby and also moderately
priced.
If your budget allows, there are
three marvelous, luxury hotels. My
favorite is Gurney’s Resort & Spa, the
only luxury resort located on the beach
with a world-class Spa. Chief Concierge
Maureen and her staff will help make
your time there fabulous in every
possible way. There’s also the luxurious
Montauk Yacht Club and the austere,
old world Montauk Manor.
Taking a long walk along the waters
Montauk Harbor Courtesy of The Montauk Chamber of Commerce
edge is one of my favorite things to do best time is dawn or twilight when
out here, anytime of the day. (It’s better the fish are feeding.) Bring your catch
than Meditation and your don’t need to Wok & Roll Chinese restaurant in
a Mantra.) Montauk is home to the town and the Chef will prepare it for
historic 108-foot Montauk Lighthouse you Chinese style. Both the Lazy Bones
that has served as a seafarer’s beacon for Party Boat and Viking Five Star offer an
over 200 years. Designated by George enjoyable half or full day of fishing. And
Washington and Congress in 1792, the even if you don’t love fishing, taking
lighthouse is now a National Landmark a lovely ride out to the middle of the
and has a small museum inside. Walk idyllic Atlantic Ocean is worth the cost
all the way to the top for fabulous ocean of the trip. Boats leave 8:00 am or Noon
vistas.
and supply everything you need to fish.
Montauk is a fisherman’s paradise. You can rent just about any kind of boat
The area is dotted with fresh water on Montauk: zippy speedboats, sailfish,
ponds stocked with white perch along large sailboats or you can charter a party
with large and small-mouthed bass. boat for the day. Wonderful “Whale
There’s great fishing in the salt water of Watching” cruises sail from Montauk
Lake Montauk. A surf-casters dream on Sunday’s from 9:30 -- 3:30 pm July
come true, you can catch huge fish off and August. Call Viking Five Star for
any of Montauk’s many beaches. (The reservations.
The Hampton Jitney
Montauk Lighthouse
Montauk also has some of the best a seafood lunch overlooking the water.
horseback riding you’ve ever enjoyed.
A little known fact is that during
Ride on picturesque trails with pan- World War II we maintained a Naval
oramic ocean views or canter along the Base on Montauk that was constantly
beach. For reservations call The Deep on the lookout for German U-Boats.
Hollow Ranch. For golfers there’s the We were worried about German spies
18- hole championship length pan- coming ashore at night in Montauk
oramic golf course, Montauk Downs and there is supposedly a U-Boat
–considered one of the 10 best munici- sunk off Montauk. (Don’t ask me
pal golf courses in the country. Tennis what happened; the details are still
buffs can warm up for the U.S. Open at classified.)
Montauk Downs State Park, where the
As you can imagine, “Seafood
6 Har-Tru courts for rent $23 hour; $13 Rules” in Montauk and I always look
for Seniors.
forward to their sensational restauThe seaside town of Montauk is rants. My very favorite restaurant
lined with charming shops, lovely bou- is the romantic East-By-Northeast
tiques, nautical stores and restaurants. restaurant with views of scenic Fort
(There is a fabulous clam bar on the Pond. They serve inventive, delicious
harbor.) Ladies, make reservations at farm-to-table food and their presentaGurney’s Resort & Spa for a couple of tion of every course is so breathtaking,
hours pampering, while your husband is you feel guilty about eating them. Start
out fishing.
with the sushi. (Best I’ve ever had).
The Village Green in the center Then order the “Feisty Camille” roll
of town is the setting for free Monday with shrimp tempura, cucumber and
night music concerts, presented weekly avocado, topped with lobster salad.The
throughout the summer, by local groups. “Mango Tango” roll consists of real
One day, hike or rent bikes at Mike’s King Crab, avocado and cucumber,
Bikes and explore the many trails in topped with mango, soy seaweed
the woods or along the beach. Hiking and mango Yuzu sauce. My favorite
Montauk’s marvelous trails is one of appetizers are their delicate Octopus
my favorite escapes. Go to Hither Carpaccio, to-die-for Duck Tacos
Hills State Park and take the “Walking and the amazing Steamed Brisket
Dunes” Trail that reaches a height of 80 Buns. My favorite entrees include
feet. Remember that it is very important their acorn fed Heritage Pork Belly
to do a thorough “tick check” follow- with salsa, pomegranate molasses and
ing hiking or biking through the dunes, baby fennel salad; and the pan-roasted
tilefish with spring pea puree and herb
grasslands or woods.
Consider taking a romantic sunset roasted Sunchokes. Order the Carl
cruise or scenic day-trip to Block Island, Fisher Burger. Made with Wagyu
just a 45-minute boat ride away. Explore Beef, aged Gruyere cheese, Foie Gras
unspoiled Block Island on rented
Continued on page 9
bikes or just take a hike and stop for
Page 9
to Montauk for a four-day ocean
escape, renting a place for July or
August, taking a week’s well-deserved
vacation, or coming out for a day-trip,
you couldn’t find a more enjoyable,
ocean escape.
For an even more relaxing
Montauk trip, instead of driving out,
do what I do, take the Hampton Jitney
Montauk, which takes three hours
and it’s the last stop.
Directions to Montauk: Take
the LIE to Manorville, Route 27,
Sunrise Highway, which is 50 miles to
Montauk, including a nightmare “twolane highway” from the Hamptons all
the way out to Montauk. To avoid
beach and Hampton’s traffic, drive
out on Thursday and come back on
Monday. Whether you’re just coming
out to Montauk for a four-day ocean
escape or renting a house for the
summer, a visit to Montauk is an
enjoyable, ocean escape that is close to
home: where a two-pound lobster, ten
pound striped bass, a charming beach
cottage and endless unspoiled, pristine
beaches are just waiting for you.
TRAVEL
MONTAUK POINT: The Great Ocean Escape
and onions, this has to be the most
decadent burger, ever.
The other Montauk restaurant
I’m sure to go to every time I visit
is Duryea’s Lobster Dock, where
third generation owner Chip Duryea
oversees this “Temple of Lobster.”
The food is simple, but delicious and
nothing is fried. Enjoy your meal
along with the lovely sunsets from
their dock on Fort Pond Bay. Start
with their OMG lobster roll, overflowing with hunks of claw meat.
The steamed lobster tastes like it just
jumped out of the ocean. (Go for the
two –pounder.) Duryea’s does not
serve beer or wine, so BYOB. You can
have an amazing picnic on the beach
by ordering lobster rolls and steamed
lobster from the Duryea retail store
next to the restaurant. (They even have
lobster crackers.)
Swallow East is another restaurant I enjoy, with their great ocean
views and even greater “small plates”
of gourmet treats. I loved their asparagus fries, butternut squash soup, Mac
n’ Cheese with Asiago cream and
bacon bits. (You’ll want all of them.)
For lunch go to Six-Six-Eight The
Gig Shack on Main Street. I fell
in love with their Blackened Fish
Montacos, with mango salsa, coleslaw
on a crunchy corn tortilla. (Came back
twice for them.) as well as the Spicy
Tuna Tartar Taquitos, with toasted
sesame seeds, avocado, micro greens.
Other restaurants you’ll enjoy include
the Harvest On Fort Pond, sister
restaurant of Harvest in Hastings-onHudson. And finally there’s the huge
Gosman’s restaurant, the Montauk
icon in the Harbor. (Get a table where
you can watch fishing boats passing by
with their catch.) For your “bagels n’
lox fix” go to Goldberg’s in town.
For the best breakfast in Montauk
go to the Bird on the Roof Restaurant
If You Go:
The Pool at Daunt’s Albatross Motel
East By NorthEast Restaurant, Montauk
Blackened local fish Montacos at Six-Six-Eight The Gig Shack
Duryea’s Lobster Dinner
across from Daunt’s Albatross Hotel.
Order their Eggs Benedict with
Smoked Salmon, California Omelette
with avocado, mushrooms, cheese,
tomatoes, or their super-thin (Crepelike) pancakes filled with fresh
blueberries: hands down, the best
pancakes in Montauk.
While in Montauk, if you need to
know, find or do anything, be sure to
call the helpful folks at the Montauk
Chamber of Commerce at (631)
668-2428 or visit MontaukChamber.
com. So whether you’re coming out
from midtown Manhattan right out
to Montauk. It’s hassle-free and a
comfortable way to go to: instead of
fighting the traffic, you can sit back,
nod off or start that book you never
get to read. In less than three hours
you’re in Montauk. The Jitney serves
complementary beverages and snacks
and there’s a lavatory in the rear.
Catch the Jitney at 43 St. and Third
Ave. (a block from Grand Central and
at several other NYC locations but
be sure to reserve early. You can also
take the LIRR from Penn Station to
Atlantic Terrace: atlanticterrace.com
Bird on The Roof Restaurant: facebook.
com/pages/Bird-on-the-Roof
Daunt’s Albatross Motel: dauntsalbatross.com
East By Northeast Restaurant: eastbynortheast.com Gosman’s Restaurant:
gosmans.com
Gurney’s Inn & Spa: gurneysmontauk.
com
Hampton Jitney: hamptonjitney.com
Harvest Restaurant: harvestfortpond.
com
Hither Hills State Park nysparks.com/
parks/122
Lazy Bones Party Boat: montauksportfishing.com/lazybones
Mikes Bikes Montauk Chamber of
Commerce: MontaukChamber.com
Montauk Downs Golf Course: http://
nysparks.com/golf-courses/8
Montauk Downs State Park: http://
nysparks.com/parks/29
Montauk Lighthouse: montauklighthouse.com
Montauk Manor: montaukmanor.com
Montauk Yacht Club: montaukyachtclub.com
Ocean Surf Motel: oceansurfresort.com
668
The Gig Shop: 668thegigshack.com
Swallow East: swalloweastrestaurant.
com
Wok & Roll Restaurant: mtkwoknroll.
com
Viking Five Star: vikingfivestar.com
The Deep Hollow Ranch: deephollowranch.com
Page 10
BOOK REVIEW
Charles King’s Midnight at the Pera Palace – The Birth of Modern Istanbul
By Lee Daniels
“To catch a glimpse
of oneself in a gilt-framed
ten-foot mirror at the Pear
Palace Hotel in Istanbul, “
wrote Paul Theroux in his
1975 book, The Great Railway Bazaar,
“is to know an instant of glory, the joy
of seeing one’s own face in a prince’s
portrait. The décor in the background
is decayed sumptuousness, an acre of
mellow carpet, black paneling, and
rococo carving on the walls and ceilings,
where cupids patiently smile and flake.
Overhead are complicated chandeliers,
like giant wind chimes in crystal, and
past the ballroom’s marble pillars and
potted palms is the mahogany bar…”
So it was that 10 years after
Theroux’s visit to the famed Istanbul
landmark that I found myself pausing
for a moment outside the entrance (I
was staying in a cheaper hotel nearby) in
an attempt to absorb some aurae from
notable writers who stayed there in the
past.
Thus, when I received an invitation
in March to attend a lecture by noted
author, historian and Georgetown
professor of International Affairs and
Government Charles King, at the
Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach
in March, I jumped at the opportunity.
“The likes of Ernest Hemingway,
John Dos Passos, poet Joseph Brodsky
and Agatha Christie, who wrote her
1934 classic, Murder on the Orient
Author Charles King Photo by Miriam
Lomaskin
Express while staying at the Pera Palace,
are all part of the rich tapestry of the
hotel’s history” King said at the lecture.
“The significance of the title of this
book is that, as midnight struck on Dec.
31, 1925, at the end of the second year
of the Turkish Republic, Turkey entered
a new era,” King continued.
“While this was a time of social
upheaval, transformation and modernization in Turkey, it was also a euphoric
time, a time of joy,” King explained.
King’s book is much more than
an historical overview of the hotel
and Istanbul: it is an entertaining and
colorful description of the cultural flavor
of the city, its coming of age in the
1920s, and political revolution following
the death of the country’s first president
and founder of the Republic of Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in 1938, at the
brink of World War II.
The author’s detailed illustration of
the various social and ethnic classes that
comprised the city’s quickly evolving
melting pot of a population during the
era is highlighted by his richly anecdotal depiction of behind-the-scenes
goings-on in the world of the of dancers,
musicians, spies, wealthy émigrés, literati
and professional partygoers who frequented the hotel and regarded it as
the nexus of political intrigue and social
movement in the city.
In addition to extensive travel
to Istanbul, King, a former Marshall
and Fulbright scholar, also performed
exhaustive research at the U.S. Consular
Archives at the National Archives in
College Park, MD.
His 19-chapter book is one that not
only history buffs, but also those interested in travel and the arts, will enjoy, as
its unique historical perspective covers
the city’s varied ethnic composition
and related cultures--beginning with
its Byzantine roots as the crossroads of
Eastern and Western civilization--providing lively detail on both the artistic as
well as the complex political evolution of
the city.
“Istanbul’s rise began with the
journey away from a place that visitors
often knew as Constantinople. The new
city was the product of immigrants as
well as emigrants—women and men
who, by choice or necessity, had come
to Istanbul as well as those who had
left it…In an era of leave-taking and
…the storied old hotel was a
symbol of the transition between
East and West, between empire
and republic, and between nostalgia and experiment in the only
place on earth to have been the
epicenter of both Christendom
and global Islam.”
– Charles King,
Midnight at the Pera Palace-The Birth of Modern Istanbul.
restlessness, a time we now call the
interwar years, the Pera Palace was not
the only place where these transients
and newcomers began their reinvention. But for wave after wave of refugees,
migrants, and exiles, the storied old hotel
was a symbol of the transition between
East and West, between empire and
republic, and between nostalgia and
experiment in the only place on earth
to have been the epicenter of both
Christendom and global Islam,” writes
King in the book’s prologue.
“Istanbul is today a global city, a
sprawling urban place of more than
thirteen million people, making it
more populous than Greece, Austria,
or Sweden larger, in fact, than twothirds of the world’s countries. Old
fishing villages have become fashionable suburbs, and old suburbs have
become city centers in their own right,
with glass-clad skyscrapers rising above
new mosques and malls. Even during
Muslim holy days, the Arabic-language
call to prayer competes with Turkishlanguage pop music pounding through
the thin walls of café-bars.”
Lee Daniels,a former reporter for the Journal
News and Reuters, is Arts & Leisure writer
for the Westchester Guardian. His work has
appeared in the Danbury News-Times,
Litchfield County Times, and Orlando
Sentinel. He is the winner of the first-place
prize in Non-Fiction in the 2013 Porter
Fleming Literary Competition, and an
M.F.A. candidate at the School of Letters of
the University of the South.
EYE ON THEATRE
From Nowhere to Nowhere Much
By John Simon
Finding Neverland
Surprisingly,
the
program for the musical
“Finding
Neverland”
mentions only a couple of its probable
sources. It is the story of the Scottish
playwright James Barrie encountering
in Kensington Gardens the Llewelyn
Davies boys, befriending them and their
family, and deriving from them the inspiration for his most famous work, “Peter
Pan.”
It rehashes that ever-popular piece
about the boy who wouldn’t grow up,
and becoming tight with these siblings,
taught them to fly, and spend a happy
time with him on his exotic island along
with friendly Indians, the elusive fairy
Tinkerbell, and the comic-book-ferocious Captain Hook and his pirates. In
“Peter Pan,” Barrie wrote more than a
play: a legend.
Not growing up was precious to
Barrie, who was scarcely over five feet
tall, and whose marriage to actress Mary
Ansell apparently remained unconsummated, ending in divorce after her affair
with Lord Cannan came to light. Barrie
never remarried, but became a close
friend of the boys’ widowed mother,
Sylvia (daughter of George Du Maurier),
upon whose death he got to be a guardian
of the “lost boys.”
But what a lackluster show this
musical, and how dishonest! Barrie
is played by matinee idol Matthew
Morrison, who is nothing like the real
Barrie, who was quite possibly a closet
homosexual and pedophile. Yet Morrison
does manage the difficult Scottish accent
persuasively, even, what is still harder,
while singing. Dialect coach Dawn-Elin
Fraser has done praiseworthy work with
both Morrison and the child actors, all of
whom sound believably British, notably
Aidan
Continued on page 11
Finding Neverland © Carol Rosegg (Back) Courtney Balan and Chris Dwan. (Front
L-R) Tyley Ross, Kelsey Grammer, Teal Wicks, Matthew Morrison
Page 11
GOVERNMENT
EYE
ON THEATRE
From Nowhere to Nowhere Much
Gemme, who, as Peter Llewelyn Davies,
speaks, sings and acts remarkably.
Outstanding too is the scenery by
Scott Pask, which ingeniously replicates the illustrations in children’s books.
Finding Neverland © Carol Rosegg
(L-R) Matthew Morrison, Jack (dog),
and Aidan Gemme
Projections by Jon Driscoll, illusions by
Paul Kieve, air sculptures (?) by Daniel
Wurtzel, crafty lighting by Kenneth
Posner, and no less than two companies to handle the flying in a somewhat
tacked-on feeling prologue and epilogue
for Melanie Moore to buzz aloft hither
and yon, still cannot lift the show into
high gear, let alone art.
Unimpressive remain the book by
James Graham (too much for kiddies,
not enough for adults), and the pedestrian music and lyrics by Gary Barlow
and Eliot Kennedy. The supporting cast,
though decent, is given too little to work
with, except for Kelsey Grammer, who, as
Barrie’s producer Charles Frohman, gets
the meatiest role, presumably to reflect
favorably on the musical’s producer,
Harvey Weinstein. Almost lost in the
shuffle are Laura Michelle Kelly, who is
Sylvia, and Carolee Carmello, as a dour
mother-in-law.
What I find most interesting is that,
despite poor reviews, the show is doing
very well, proving either that the charisma
of Johnny Depp in the movie version or
the benightedness of Broadway audiences are forces to reckon with.
The Painted Rocks at
Revolver Creek
What are we to make of Athol
Fugard and his latest play, “The Painted
Rocks at Revolver Creek”? Fugard has
been a playwright, director and actor for
more than half a century, and some of
his plays have been estimable, although
perhaps less for artistry than for their
outcry against apartheid.
So what about today, with apartheid
gone, like a rug pulled out from under
Fugard’s feet? The more recent plays
inherit diminished relevance and resonance, rather like the sermons of a hell-fire
revivalist in a world gone agnostic, if not
actually atheistic. This has to do with
Fugard’s slightly preachy, less than eventful
theater, in which talk, granted the lifeblood
of drama, preponderates over action, its no
less important muscle.
We get here a mountain top strewn
with scattered quaintly painted rocks,
surrounding one huge central one.
(Christopher H. Bareca is the apt set
designer.) This is the property of a Boer
farmer whom we don’t get to see. We
do get an old black man, Nukain, and
his grandson, endearingly referred to as
Bokkie, Afrikaans for a small buck. They
have come for their regular Sunday visit,
bringing paint and paint brushes.
Act One (1981) culminates in
Nukain, assisted by the eleven-year-old
Bokkie, painting colorful symbols of the
oldster’s strenuous and anonymous life
onto the big rock, on which Elmarie,
the farmer-owner’s wife, had requested
flowers. She appears, rebuking and
demanding those flowers, to which the
old man acquiesces, while the brave little
boy rebels.
In Act Two, in 2003, the boy, now
a grown man named Jonathan turned
schoolteacher, returns to Revolver Creek
alone, Nukain having died long ago, and
weather and the land owners having
erased most of the paint on the rock.
He has brought paints to restore it to its
pristine memorial status. Elmarie, now a
similarly time-worn older lady, reappears
with a gun to shoot the man she doesn’t
recognize and takes for a threat.
Recognition follows and, with it an
agon in which the two debate the new
dispensation. She cites the brutal murder
of white farmers by liberated black thugs;
he, without justifying it, discusses what
further changes are needed. After some
debate, they reach a hopeful understanding, albeit with Jonathan discoursing in
too manicured a language.
For the audience, there are diverse
problems. First, a leaflet in the program
explicates 36 terms in Zulu, Xhosa or
Afrikaans used in the text. But we are
unlikely to memorize, or even perhaps
read, all of them before curtain time,
which proves a bit of an irritant. Next,
(L-R) Sahr Ngaujah (Jonathan) & Bianca Amato (Elmarie)
(L-R) Leon Addison Brown (Nukain) & Caleb McLaughlin
Photo Credit © Joan Marcus
(Bokkie)
mostly good effect. Nevertheless, it all Leader, New Criterion, National Review,
goes to show that even from something New York Magazine, Opera News, Weekly
better than a sow’s ear, it’s still too long a Standard, Broadway.com and Bloomberg
News. He reviews books for the New York
way to a silk purse.
John Simon has written for over 50 Times Book Review and for The Washington
years on theatre, film, literature, music and Post. To learn more, visit his website: www.
fine arts for the Hudson Review, New JohnSimon-uncensored.com
L a s t Pe r for m a n c e s of t h e S e a s on !
©2010 José Rivas, used by permission
(L-R))Caleb McLaughlin (Bokkie)
& Leon Addison Brown (Nukain)
Photo Credit © Joan Marcus
a note informs us that the old man is
suggested by the life of Outsider Artist
Nukain Mabuse, but that the play is
a work of fiction. How much, then,
approaches reality, and how much
departs from it?
Further, although the process of
painting on the rock is fun to watch, the
static nature of everything else is wearisome and more suited to a lecture hall.
Finally,we may feel that all this is Monday
morning quarterbacking and, however
worthy, ultimately otiose. Especially so
since much remains bypassed. Why is
the place called Revolver Creek; why
don’t we get more of anything about
Bokkie’s parents, only about the hard
life of granddad; what ensues in the
aftermath of the reconciliation between
Jonathan and Elmarie—where do they
go from there?
Still, there is bracing acting from
Leon Addison Brown (Nukain), Bianca
Amato, and Sahr Ngaujah (Jonathan),
and a superb performance by young
Caleb McLaughlin (Bokkie), As director,
Fugard has tried to infuse as much stage
motion as possible into the verbiage to
DANIEL
Dan Montez
Saturday May 30, 2015
Ossining United
Methodist Church
Corner of Emwilton & Route 9
Ossining, NY · 7:30pm
Sunday May 31, 2015
Presbyterian Church
of White Plains
39 North Broadway
White Plains, NY · 3:00pm
Winner of the
2012 Arts Organization
of the Year for Westchester County
For tickets, order online at www.taconicopera.org
or call (855) 88-OPERA
This production is made possible, in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and
Arts Westchester with funds from Westchester County, government, corporations, and individuals.
Page 12
LOCAL LORE
Scattered to the Four Winds: The Lenape Diaspora
By Robert Scott
On
May
11,
1647,
55-year-old
Petrus
Stuyvesant
stomped ashore at New
Amsterdam on a wooden leg decorated
with incised bands of silver.
Only three years before, while
attacking the Spanish-held Caribbean
island of St. Martin, he had lost his right
leg to a cannonball.
Among those witnessing his
arrival was Adriaen Van der Donck,
the young lawyer whose title Yonkheer
survives today in the name of Yonkers,
Westchester’s largest city. He described
Stuyvesant as “Peacock like, with great
state and pomposity.”
Adriaen Van der Donck
Peter Stuyvesant
Areas of the colony Stuyvesant had
inherited from the unpopular Willem
Kieft had already been carved from the
original Dutch lands.
As one of his first actions following
the creation of a municipal charter for
New Amsterdam in 1653, Stuyvesant
would endorse the decision “to surround
the greater part of the City with a high
stockade and a small breastwork.”
Along the northern edge of the
settlement, a palisade consisting of
New Amsterdam as it appeared in 1664. by Johannes Vingboons
stout oak logs 12 feet long, six inches
in diameter and “sharpened at the
upper end” were sunk three feet into the
ground. This ambitious structure would
give the name to Wall Street. Contrary
to popular belief, it was erected not to
defend against Indians, but against the
English threat from New England.
New Amsterdam, capital of New
Netherland, was a mess. Stuyvesant later
reported to the directors of the Dutch
West India Company that Kieft’s “landdestroying and people-expelling wars
with the cruel barbarians” had ruined
the colony.
Settlers abandoned farms on the
frontier, entire villages were destroyed
and many colonists gave up and headed
elsewhere. Some 700 people, afraid to
return to outlying homes, huddled in
makeshift dwellings near the settlement’s fort.
The Dutch West India Company
was under the impression that the bitter
enmity caused by Governor Kieft’s
ruthless killing of Indians had been
calmed with the treaty signed in 1645.
They couldn’t have been more
mistaken. Stuyvesant, under orders not
to provoke another devastating war,
tried to placate the Indians, but sporadic
Indian attacks continued.
The Peach War
On September 15, 1655, a fleet of
64 canoes landed at New Amsterdam
and about 500-armed Indians attacked
the settlement. They broke down doors,
smashed furniture, ransacked homes
and threatened the terrified occupants.
Finding barrels of beer and brandy, they
drank themselves into a stupor.
Stuyvesant and his entire army were
absent. They had sailed down the Jersey
coast, and rounded Cape May to attack
Swedish forts along the Delaware River,
established along the lower Delaware
in 1638. Colonies of Swedes and Finns
were diverting the local fur trade away
from the Dutch.
The Indian attacks were the first act
of retaliation in what would be known as
the Peach War. A prominent citizen and
former West India Company soldier,
Hendrick van Dyck, had caught an
Indian woman stealing peaches from
his orchard and shot her.
Before the Peach War was over,
Dutch settlements at Pavonia (Jersey
City) and Staten Island were laid
waste. Indians murdered fifty colonists
and carried off into captivity more
than a hundred more, mostly women
and children. Two-dozen farms were
burned, and 600 head of cattle and
12,000 bushels of grain were destroyed.
Too weak to take military action,
the Dutch paid ransom to the Indians
for the captives. The Peach War dragged
on inconclusively until 1657, with the
ransoming of the last of the Dutch
prisoners.
When Dutch settlements expanded
north of the Hudson Highlands, a
series of bloody conflicts erupted with
a Delaware tribe, the Esopus. These
clashes became known as the Esopus
Wars.
Thanks to treaties they had
made with the Dutch, most of the
Indians of Westchester managed to
avoid becoming involved. To lessen
the risk of the Westchester Indians
being drawn into the conflict, in the
summer of 1663, Stuyvesant moved
the Wickquaskeck, Kitchawanck, Sint
Sinck and Keskistkonck tribes to the
northern end of Manhattan Island near
Spuyten Duyvil.
The British Take Over
In May of 1664, a treaty finally
ended the Esopus Wars, leaving the
Dutch exhausted once again. British
King Charles II, recognizing that
Manhattan was the key to the Hudson
River and the untapped fur trade of the
west, made a gift of the vast stretch of
land between Maine and Delaware to
his brother, James, the Duke of York,
who would later rule as James II.
Less than four months later, New
Netherland easily fell to an English
squadron of four gunships and 450
men commanded by Colonel Richard
Nicolls. With a fort that was weak, few
men and supplies, and a populace on the
brink of rebellion over the shortsighted
policies of the West India Company,
Stuyvesant had no choice but to
surrender.
The English moved quickly to set
up an alliance with the Iroquois. Called
the Covenant Chain, its purpose was
to use the fierce Indian tribe as a buffer,
protecting the newly named colony of
New York from the French in Canada.
By the early decades of the 18th
century, most of the remaining Indian
lands in the Hudson Valley had been
sold to the English. The Hudson Valley
had long since been trapped out.
Lenapes of the lower Hudson
Valley were forced to travel as far as the
Ohio Valley and Great Lakes for pelts.
Many returned empty-handed from
such expeditions. Some never returned,
having been killed by Mohawk, Seneca,
Mahican or Susquehannock Indians
who resented intrusions into their
fur-rich lands..
No conspiracy among colonial
governments was needed to obliterate
Indians or their culture. Acquisition of
Indian lands was driven by the oldest of
motives: greed. Facing chronic problems
caused by friction between Indians and
a fast-growing, expanding population
of newcomers, colonial leaders decided
that civilizing the natives and encouraging them to settle down as farmers was
the only practical solution.
New Jersey established the first
Indian reservation on the North
American continent. In 1758, the
colony purchased 3,044 acres of land
for a reservation called Brotherton
at the present village of Indian Mills
in Burlington County. The following
year, about a hundred Indians, mainly
Lenapes, moved to the reservation.
Waiting for them were comfortable
homes, a log meeting house, general
store and gristmill. Although they
accepted the fruits of European technology, the Indians clung desperately to
their native hunter/gatherer lifestyle.
Confining them to small tracts
of land conflicted with their Indians’
concept of freedom and mobility.
Indian men considered it demeaning to become farmers. Traditionally,
Indian women cultivated the fields,
while the men hunted and fished. The
Indian population on the Brotherton
Reservation soon dwindled.
Mahican vs. Mohican vs.
Mohegan
First, Mahican and Mohican are
synonymous. Mohican is a variation of the Mahican tribal name.
The Mahican/Mohican and Mohegan tribes are frequently confused. The names refer to two
very distinct Algonquian tribes in
two different and widely separated locations.
Mahicans inhabited the upper
Hudson Valley in New York. Mohegans lived in the upper Thames
River Valley in eastern Connecticut. Despite the presence of a
hamlet named Mohegan Lake in
Westchester County, there were
no Mohegans in Westchester
nor anywhere near the lake that
bears this name.
Popular novelist James Fenimore
Cooper, who wrote The Last of
the Mohicans in 1826, was partly
responsible for the mix-up. Cooper lived in Cooperstown, N.Y.,
and the setting of his story was
the upper Hudson Valley. The
Mahicans in his book could only
have been the Mahicans of the
area in which he lived.
Unfortunately, Cooper chose
“Mohican,” a spelling variation of
the Mahican tribal name. He also
linked the name of Uncas--an important Mohegan sachem in Connecticut—to it, only adding to the
confusion.
The Mahican homeland was on
both sides of the upper Hudson
River, from the Catskill Mountains
north to Lake Champlain.
Uncas and the Mohegans occupied the upper portion of the
Thames River Valley in Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound at New London.
Continued on page 13
Page 13
LOCAL LORE
Scattered to the Four Winds: The Lenape Diaspora
The Lenape Diaspora Begins
under infamous Lt. Col. Banastre
Tarleton, descended on them.
Pursued by the British, the Indians
retreated into an open field at the northeast corner of today’s Van Cortlandt
Park. Outnumbered and lacking
bayonets, the Indians mounted a valiant
but doomed defense.
A bronze plaque erected by the
Bronx Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution marks the site
and memorializes Chief Nimham and
17 Stockbridge Indians, noting that
they “gave their lives for liberty.” The
exact number of killed and wounded
may never be known.
For many Indians in the Hudson
Valley, the response to settler encroachment was to move west to unspoiled
forests rich in game--land that had not
been disturbed by the plow.
The Susquehanna and Ohio River
valleys beckoned. Once the Indians
arrived, it seemed almost like old times
again--but not for long. Colonial
America was expanding. No matter
where the Indians moved, it was only
a matter of time before white settlers
The Lenape Indians used specific symbols to represent their clans as well as the earth and animal spirits they believed played key roles
would begin to pour in.
in their daily lives. Painting courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Lenapes who moved to
set aside land for them in Ontario along baskets and brooms from door to door. 1907. The tribe now numbers about
Pennsylvania and later to Ohio found Migration to Canada
the Grand River.
The Stockbridge Indians remained 10,000 members and makes its
Other Indians, notably the
haven in missions German-speaking
Known as the Six Nations Reserve, in Massachusetts until 1788, when headquarters at Bartlesville, Okla. A
Moravian pastors had established for Iroquois and their dependent tribes
this reservation is today home to they joined Oneida Indians in central small group of separately organized
them and were converted to Christianity. and some Lenapes, fought on the side
Mohawks and other tribes, includ- New York at a town they named New Delawares (called “the Absentees”) are
Housed in log cabins, Indian of the British during the Revolution. To ing some who identify themselves Stockbridge.
located in Anadarko, Okla., on lands
converts ate well, and learned agricul- punish them, the new American gov- as Delawares, the alternate name
they jointly control with the Wichita
Other
Indians
arrived,
includture and other useful skills. They were ernment confiscated their lands sfter the used by the Lenapes. Nearby are two
ing Lenapes from the Brotherton and Caddo tribes. Interestingly,
encouraged to abandon their primi- war. To show gratitude to their former smaller Canadian reservations that
Reservation in New Jersey. Now calling there are no Indian reservations in
tive way of life and live in peace and Indian allies, the Canadian government include Delawares among their poputhemselves Munsees, from the name Oklahoma.
harmony.
The story of our treatment
lations. One is called of their Lenape dialect, they traveled
Ignoring the westward
Moraviantown, and farther west again with their Oneida of Indians over the years is a sad
movement and reversing directhe other is a hamlet hosts to Indiana, and on to Wisconsin chronicle. Four hundred years after
tion, a large group of Mahicans,
called Muncy Town.
in 1822. Although the Munsees had Europeans first strong-armed their
the Lenapes’ neighbors in the
Reconstructing remained only briefly along the White way into their homeland, American
upper reaches of the Hudson
the movements of River in Indiana, their stay is recalled in Indians as a whole remain economiValley, traveled east to converge
Delaware bands is the name of the present city of Muncie. cally the poorest, the least employed,
on a new Scottish Presbyterian
the unhealthiest, the lowest in educanot easy. Famine,
mission settlement for displaced
tion and income level, and the worst
disease and alcohol- Moving Still Farther West
The Stockbridge-Munsee Indians housed ethnic group in America. For
Oneida Indians at Stockbridge,
ism took their toll,
Mass.
and bands went out established a town named New our disgraceful treatment of these
During the Revolutionary
of existence. Some Stockbridge on the eastern shore proud people, we should all be ashamed.
War, Stockbridge Indians
Lenapes quietly moved of Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago.
enlisted in the Continental Army,
to Seneca villages Refusing a government offer of land
The Delaware Indian
hoping a new government--if it
along the Allegheny even farther away in Minnesota, in
1856
the
Stockbridge
band
moved
Research Center
should become a reality--would
and Genesee rivers
again
to
a
40,000-acre
reservation
Readers interested in learning
look more favorably on Indian
of western New
more about the Delawares, or
purchased
by
the
government
from
problems.
York, where traces
Lenapes, should visit a valuable
an
Algonquian
tribe,
the
Menominee
On August 31, 1778,
of them can still be
local resource and repository of
Indians,
near
Bowler,
Wis.
American troops were posted
found. Others headed
information, the Delaware InThe Wisconsin tribal group
near the present northern
to New Jersey and
dian Research Center at the
now call themselves the Stockbridge
boundary of New York City.
Pennsylvania.
Trailside Nature Museum in the
With them was a company of 40
Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
Homesick for their Munsees and operates a comprehenor 50 Stockbridge Indians under
A large library of books, tapes
former lands, from sive health care center, a residential
their chief, Daniel Nimham.
and photographs, as well as a
time to time Indians facility, and a family recreation and
fitness
center.
For
tribal
parents
who
collection of local Delaware artiThe Indians were south of what
would return to the
facts is available here for viewing
work,
it
offers
children’s
day-care
is now McLean Avenue, the
Hudson Valley to visit
and study. The museum is mainservices.
Their
secret?
A
highly
sucAmericans north of it.
ancestral gravesites or
tained by Westchester County’s
cessful
gambling
casino
on
the
While the Stockbridge
even to die. Strangers
Department of Parks, Recreation
Indians attacked a British force
in a changed land, reservation between Green Bay and
and Conservation (Tel.: 914/864Wausau.
advancing from the east, a second
they would trade pelts
7322). The entrance to the park,
Other Lenape/Delawares found
British force struck the Indians
Westchester’s largest, is near
they had trapped in
from the south. Before they The Lenape Indians used specific symbols to represent their clans as their new homeland, their way to Kansas and from there
the intersection of Routes 35 and
could reload their muskets, a well as the earth and animal spirits they believed played key roles in or peddle homemade to the Indian Territory, which would
121 in Cross River.
become the state of Oklahoma in
third column, mounted dragoons
their daily lives.
Page 2
Page 14
Community/Gover
COMMUNITY
Westchester Community College Unde
GOVERNMENT
CALENDAR
News and Notes from Northern Westchester
By Mark Jeffers
Congratulations
and happy graduation to all our college
friends & families, a
very special shout out to my daughter
Amanda for her finishing up her
studies at Lafayette College, with all
this celebrating, I almost “failed” to
finish this week’s “proud papa” edition
of “News & Notes.”
The good folks at the KatonahBedford Hills Ambulance Corps
will be sponsoring a Blood Drive on
Monday, May 27th at their facility
in Katonah. KBHVAC is entirely
managed and supported by volunteers from the local community.
Sponsored by Westchester
County Parks and the county’s
Department of Senior Programs
and Services, the annual Senior Pool
Party and Barbecue is set for June
23rd, from 10am to 3pm and open to
Westchester County residents aged
60 and older. Seniors are welcome to
bring their young grandchildren to
the event being held at Saxon Woods
Pool in White Plains, rain date is
Wednesday, June 24th.
Grand Prix New York (GPNY)
recently hosted the Third Annual
90-minute endurance race that raised
$4,600 for Project Yellow Light, an
organization that promotes awareness of the dangers of distracted
driving.
If you want to see some terrific
lacrosse, the Section One Girls
Lax Championships will be played
at the Fox Lane High School in
Bedford on Wednesday, May 27th.
Refreshments will be available from
the Fox Lane Sports Booster Club’s
brand new concession trailer.
On June 5-7 and 11-13 The
Armonk Players Present “Time
Stands Still,” the story of James
and Sarah, a journalist and a photographer, who share a passion for
documenting the realities of war. This
Columbus Ships Pinta and Nina To Land in Newburgh
On Thursday, May 28th, the ‘Pinta’
and the ‘Nina’, replicas of Columbus’
Ships, will open in Newburgh. The ships
will be docked at Riverfront Marina, 26
Front Street, until their departure early
Monday morning, June 1st.
The ‘Nina’ was built completely
by hand and without the use of power
tools. Archaeology magazine called
the ship “the most historically correct
Columbus replica ever built.” The “Pinta”
was recently built in Brazil to accompany
the Nina on all of her travels. She is a
larger version of the archetypal caravel.
Historians consider the caravel the Space
Shuttle of the fifteenth century.
Both ships tour together as a new
and enhanced ‘sailing museum’ for
the purpose of educating the public
and school children on the ‘caravel’, a
Portuguese ship used by Columbus and
many early explorers to discover the
world.
While in port, the general public is
invited to visit the ships for a walk-aboard,
Photo Courtesy of ninapinta.org
self-guided tour. Admission charges are
$8.00 for adults, $ 7.00 for seniors, and
$6.00 for students 5 - 16. Children 4 and
under are Free. The ships are open every
day from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. No reservations necessary.
Teachers or organizations wishing to
schedule a 30 minute guided tour with a
crew member should call 1 787 672 2152
or email [email protected] .
Minimum of 15. $5.00 per person. No
Maximum. Visit our website at www.
ninapinta.org
The ships arrive on Wednesday, May
27th, and there will be a private viewing
of the ships for the media after docking.
Broadway hit play by Pulitzer Prizewinner Donald Margulies is a witty,
intelligent look at what happens
when ordinary life is refracted
through the lens of war.
Hilltop Hanover Farm and
Environmental Center in Yorktown
Heights will distribute Vegetable
Kits on Saturday, May 23rd, each kit
contains Hilltop Hanover seedlings
& Hudson Valley Seed Library seeds,
and there will also be a one-hour
lecture on gardening techniques to
help you get started.
There is nothing that gives you
more of that hometown feel than
supporting your local Memorial Day
parade. Here in the town of Bedford
there are three parades, one for each
of the hamlets, Bedford Hills starts
at 9:00am sharp at the Bedford Hills
Elementary School on Babbitt Road,
then jog over to Katonah for a 10am
start at the Katonah Fire Department
and finish at the Bedford Village
parade set to march off around at
painting.
festival
willaward
takewinning
place
scholarship.The
He played
on the
rain
or shine.
Seating
informal;
team and
was granted,
upon is
completion
of
what was
thought to
a two-year
stint with
bring
blankets
orbefolding
chairs
for
WCC, a on
full the
scholarship
to play ball and
with
seating
lawn, admission
nationallyare
ranked
parking
free.Florida A&M University.
Not Congratulations
long after his arrivaland
at Florida
goodA&M,
luck
an Chappaqua
anonymous tipster
informed
the college
to
resident
Alyzza
Ozer
and the NCAA that Walker’s scholarship at
who
was recently promoted to CEO
WCC had been stripped a year prior, after it
of the Boys & Girls Club of Northern
was revealed he only taken one class at the
Westchester.
college. In order to maintain a scholarship at
The Schoolhouse
Theater
and
the college,
a student must be
matriculated
Gallery
in load.
Croton Falls, NY, in
for a full credit
collaboration
with
The Katonah
Upon further
investigation,
it was
Museum
Artists
revealed that there
are severalAssociation
other former
(KMAA),
proudly
an
WCC students
who are announces
also playing basexhibition
of diverse
visual
works
ketball for Division
1 schools
and that
they
too KMAA
might be members,
at a new school
undernow
less
by
on view
than transparent
St John’iss
through
May circumstances.
31. The Gallery
University,
famous for theirfrom
Red 11am
Storm
open
Monday-Friday
team,
has opened
investigation
into the
to
2:30pm
andanone
hour prior
to
all main stage performances at the
theater.
Beware college summer breaks
are underway, students are returning
home, couch positions will be challenged
and TVPlains
watching
is at risk:
of the White
Department
of
enjoy
children
being home…see
Publicyour
Safety
to commemorate
the
you
week. of the shooting death
thirdnext
anniversary
Director of Athletics (NY): Responsible for managing all
aspects of Gaelic sports program. Educate sports teams
on Gaelic Athletic Association’s rules & regulations.
Implement & monitor systems & procedures to ensure
compliance & tracking of all GAA & conference rules &
regulations. Prepare budgets & monitor the program’s
expenditures, including costs for equipment, & facility
maintenance. Evaluate performance of each athlete
individually & as a team, determine the fitness of each
athlete to compete in games, & prepare & file reports
with the GAA based on such evaluations. Stay abreast
of the evolving rules, regulations, & techniques applied
to sports under the GAA. Req.: Master’s Degree in any
field or its foreign equivalent plus two years of experience
as a Physical Education Teacher. Must have knowledge
of the rules, regulations, and techniques applied to sports
under the GAA. Mail CV to Gaelic Athletic Association of
Greater New York, 893 McLean Avenue, Yonkers, New
York, 10704, Attn: J. McGirl.
LE G A L N O T I C E
THE SIERRA GROUP HOME INSPECTIONS, LLC Articles
of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 2/24/15. Office
in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon
whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy
of process to Registered Agent: Incorp Services, Inc 99
Washington Ave Ste. 805-A Albany, NY 12210. Purpose:
Any lawful activity.
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Community Marks 3 Years Since
vigil was held in front
of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. The 68
year old former marine was shot to
H ELP WA N T ED
WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN LEGAL ADVERTISING
[email protected]
11:15am. By NANCY KING
I always thought my daughters
Westchester
and wife were the ladies of laughter,
Community College is the
but there is actually
a comedy
show
latest public
institution
to
by the samecomename…Westchester
under scrutiny of the
Community New
College
will Inspector
present
York State
“The
Ladies
Laughter’s
Funny
and
General
when of
it was
revealed that
a former
Fabulous
Tour on
May
23rd.
The
assistant basketball
coach
falsified
academic
cabaret-style
nights
transcripts and standup
forged ancomedy
administrator’
features
three
funny
divas andcollege
will
signature. As
a result,
the community
hasheld
canceled
Basketball
be
at 8pmitsin2014-2015
the Academic
Arts
season. However
the story
doesn’t stop
Theatre
on the Valhalla
Campus.
there,The
because18th
many Annual
student athletes
use
AsianWestchester
Community
College
as
American Heritage Festival, first ina
springboard
playofatcultural
NCAA heritage
four-year
the
annual to
series
colleges; the scandal has now spanned several
festivals in county parks will be held
states and several teams.
on Saturday, May 30th, from noon
Former Mt. Vernon High School star,
to
6pm at Kensico Dam Plaza in
Jamell Walker was a star player for WCC
Valhalla.
planned
for the
and was at Festivities
the school on
a full basketball
festival include: live performances
displaying the music and dance of
COMMEMORATION
many
Asian countries (including
China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma),
Asian arts, cultural exhibits, custom
cuisine andBy NANCY
healthKING
screenings.
Activities for kids include: learning
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evening,
Origami, balloon sculpture and facea
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death
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Page 15
GOVERNMENT
CULTURAL
PERSPECTIVES
Stratos
By Sherif Awad
The character of the
hit man has fascinated
film writers and directors alike for ages. Actors
ranging from Max Von
Sydow and John Reno in Europe to
John Cusak and Tom Cruise in the
U. S. have all played assorted contract
killers. I remember watching a rerun of
The Mechanic (1972) starring Charles
Bronson in a downtown Cairo cinema
and its double twist ending still fascinates me. (Please let’s forget it was
recently remade).
Some international art house films
have their own take on such characters
and it is quite a different approach from
the trigger-happy stereotype we see in
Hollywood’s films time and again. A
recent arrival in the hit man genre is
the two hours plus Greek drama Strato
in the process, showing the effect of
the current Greek recession upon the
dwindling middle class and the growing
criminal class, who profit from the situation. We learn that Stratos uses all the
money he gets from his contract jobs
to fund an escape plan for his former
boss Leonidas. In a scene where the two
Stratos getting paid off by the Mob for another hit.
Jan Micheal Vincent and Charles Bronson in 1972 movie The Mechanic
by Cypriote born writer and director,
Yannis Economides, who studied filmmaking in Athens. Following several
short films and documentaries, he
wrote and directed his first feature
film, Matchbox in 2003. Economides’
second feature, Soul Kicking, premiered
in La Semaine De La Critique in 2006
and his third, Knifer (2010) won seven
awards from the Greek Film Academy,
including Best Film, Best Director and
Best Screenplay.
On the surface, Stratos is a thrilling drama about the title character
who is also a part-time hit man, often
contracted by the mob to settle scores
when he is not working as an unassuming baker. The film manages to get
under the skin of the main protagonists,
confront each other, Strato visits Leo
in jail and their dialogue reveals that, at
the age nineteen, Stratos committed a
crime of passion and spent half his life in
prison where Leonidas took him under
his wing. But one day, during a rival
gang attack, Leonidas saved Stratos’ life
and took the fall for him, which is why
Stratos continues to kill to free him. Call
it “a code of honor among thieves.”
Vangelis Mourikis who plays
Stratos, has appeared in more than
thirty films since 1982. He studied in
Australia and then returned to Greece
in 1990s, where his devotion to independent cinema won him five acting
awards for leading and supporting roles.
Mourikis knew how to play Stratos, not
only because he is credited as a co-writer
Vangelis Mourikis as Stratos
of the film, but also because his expressive face allows him to effectively reflect
the dark world of grief and despair in
which such a character lives.
In this film, Mourikis has very few
lines until the film is nearly over, when
the climax between Stratos and the mob
explodes. Director Economides relies
upon wide-angle shots of Athens’ empty
streets and Landscape Mountains, by
cinematographer Dimitris Katsaitisof,
under-scored by Bavis
Papadopoulos’s solo guitar
soundtrack to evoke the
loneliness that Stratos experiences. The original Greek
title of Stratos is To mikro
psar meaning the little fish
(Stratos) who will eventually and tragically one day be
eaten by a bigger fish.
Following the premiere
in the Berlin Film Festival
last February, Stratos continued a highly successful track
record in major international
festivals, winning The Grand
Prize of the Med Film Fest
in Rome. European distributors have picked up the
film for releases in England,
Ireland and Serbia. A distribution agreement in the U.
S. is in the works and once
that is accomplished, I predict
that Stratos will be remade in
the US featuring a major American star.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a
film/video critic and curator. He is the film
editor of Egypt Today Magazine (www.
EgyptToday.com) and the Artistic
Director for both the Alexandria film
Festival , and the Arab Rotterdam Festival
in The Netherlands. He also contributes
to Variety, in the United States and is the
Film Critic of Variety, Arabia (http://
amalmasryalyoum.com/ennode189132
and The Westchester Guardian: www.
WestchesterGuardian.com
The Belle of
Belfast
Extended Through Sunday,
June 14, 2105
The The Irish Reperatory
Theatre (Charlotte Morre, Artistic
Directore and Ciaran O’Reilly,
Producting Director) announces
that Irish Repertory Theatre
(Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director
and Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing
Director) announces that the critically acclaimed New York premiere
of Nate Rufus Edelman’s THE
BELLE OF BELFAST, directed
by Claudia Weill, will extend one
week, and will be now be performed
through Sunday, June 20th, 2015. The
fourth production of the Irish Rep’s
27th theatre season, THE BELLE
OF BELFAST, began previews on
April 15th and opened on Thursday,
April 23, 2015 at the DR2 Theatre,
located at 103 East 15th Street in
Union Square (the Irish Rep’s temporary home during renovation of its
home base in Chelsea).
Page 16
MARY AT THE MOVIES
MOVIE REVIEW: Far From The Madding Crowd
By Mary Keon
Before we had Soap Operas, we
had Thomas Hardy novels. Written
during the reign of Queen Victoria,
Hardy’s well-drawn characters have
progressive ideas and complicated lives.
They struggle to overcome the constraints Victorian society placed upon
them, with varying degrees of success
Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene
and Tom Sturridge as “Sergeant Troy”
in FAR FROM THE MADDING
CROWD. Photos By Alex Bailey. ©
2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film
Corporation All Rights Reserved
and small missteps have far-reaching
consequences. Set in the countryside of
central and northwest England, an air
of melancholy is pervasive throughout
Hardy’s novels, kind of like “listening to
Chopin on a rainy Saturday afternoon,”
as a friend once put it.
Written in 1874, Far From the
Madding Crowd, Hardy’s fourth novel,
was originally serialized and wildly successful; the movie is based upon this
book. Bathsheba Everdene, the central
character, was orphaned at a young age.
Upon her uncle’s death, she inherits his
farm and becomes a woman of property.
Bathsheba is independent, educated and
determined to make her own way in
the world. She takes charge of the farm,
vows to “astonish everyone,” and soon
has it running like a top. However her
success in managing the farm is inversely
proportionate to her ability to manage
her romantic relationships. Headstrong
and forthright to a fault, Bathsheba
understands she is too independent for
most men but this just seems to make
them try harder.
Three men court Bathsheba.
Bachelor #1 is Sheep Farmer Gabriel
Oak, played by Belgian actor Matthias
Schoenaerts. Farmer Oak is handsome,
strong, silent and self-assured. He is
determined to succeed and rise in
the world, despite a crushing setback.
Farmer Oak offers Bathsheba a cottage,
and in time, her own piano. Bachelor #2
is the brooding and handsome William
Boldwood. Wealthy and the owner of
the large neighboring estate, Boldwood
can offer Bathsheba a home even more
stunning than the one she has inherited
and her own piano. She would want for
nothing. Bachelor # 3 is the dashing,
dangerous army Sergeant Frank Troy,
about whom little is known, but he is
prepared to give up his commission to
marry Bathsheba.
Through a thoughtless flirtation,
Bathsheba sets in motion a series of
events that play out with disastrous
Matthias Schoenaerts as Gabriel Oak
and Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba
Everdene in a scene from Far From The
Madding Crowd. Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation All Rights
Reserved
Michael Sheen as “William” in FAR
FROM THE MADDING CROWD.
Photos by Alex Bailey. © 2014 Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights
Reserved
consequences for two men. Pride and
stubbornness nearly cause her to lose
the third.
Though this is a romantic costume
drama set in Victorian England, the
issues of love gone wrong and how to
set it right are timeless and will resonate
with modern audiences. An excellent
Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba
Everdene in Far From The Madding
Crowd. Twentieth Century Fox Film
Corporation All Rights Reserved
adaptation of literary classic, all principal
actors, especially Mulligan, Schoenaerts
and Sheen do justice to their respective
characters.
England’s bucolic countryside is
always the unnamed character in Hardy
novels and this movie is beautifully
filmed by Charlotte Bruus Christensen;
edited by Claire Simpson and directed
by Thomas Vinterberg; screenplay by
David Nichols. Far From The Madding
Crowd was produced by Andrew
Macdonald and Allon Reich; distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures who
provided the photos for this review.
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