Photos by Chris Robinson

LES resident (and freelance journalist/producer) Chris Robinson runs an after school program in the neighborhood. He sent us the following story after taking the teens to the Abrons Arts Center earlier today:

Students from University Neighborhood High School participating in the Advantage After School program took a trip to Abrons Arts [...]]]>

Photos by Chris Robinson

LES resident (and freelance journalist/producer) Chris Robinson runs an after school program in the neighborhood. He sent us the following story after taking the teens to the Abrons Arts Center earlier today:

Students from University Neighborhood High School participating in the Advantage After School program took a trip to Abrons Arts Center today to check out their current exhibition called, “Where They At.”  The exhibition documents the New Orleans ‘Bounce’ scene with portraits of artists like Cheeky Blakk, Katey Red and Juvenile, audio and video clips of bounce tunes and interviews conducted by journalist Alison Fensterstock.

Aubrey Edwards talking with students at Abrons Arts Center.

Photographer Aubrey Edwards came down to meet the students and she talked about how the exhibition was developed, discussed the history of the bounce sound, the effect of Katrina, and explained the proliferation of gay and transgender rappers and dancers who challenge stereotypes often associated with hip hop music.

The trip was organized by the Advantage Audio Production program that teaches students how to produce their own podcasts and publishes them on its very own website here.  Participants in the program’s Step Team and Science Club joined in on the fun and tried out some of the moves too!

Advantage is an afterschool program coordinated by Grand Street Settlement at two High Schools on the Lower East Side: UNHS and Marta Valle High School. “Where They At” runs at Abrons until March 27th.

Residents spent the day sprucing up Luther Gulick Park in November. Photo courtesy Brian Crowley.

The fledgling neighborhood organization, Friends of Gulick Park, has made a lot of progress since the last time we checked in with them a few months ago. They’re gearing up this spring for a big push to [...]]]>

Residents spent the day sprucing up Luther Gulick Park in November. Photo courtesy Brian Crowley.

The fledgling neighborhood organization, Friends of Gulick Park, has made a lot of progress since the last time we checked in with them a few months ago. They’re gearing up this spring for a big push to secure the funding needed to rehab what city officials call one of the most neglected public spaces in all of New York.

Since an initial meeting in the park (located at Delancey and Willett Streets) last summer, lots of residents have joined the campaign to reclaim the blighted two-block parcel just to the south of the Williamsburg Bridge. They’ve met with Parks Department bureaucrats and elected officials. They held a community day in the park, planting bulbs, pulling weeds and cleaning up garbage. They began an oral history project, documenting the history of a gathering place in the middle of the Lower East Side’s ethnic and cultural cross-currents. And Thursday night, they updated Community Board 3 on their progress.

Coming up on May 16th, coinciding with “My Park Day,” another community event is being planned. It’s a visioning session, designed to get neighbors talking about how they’d like to see the park redesigned. The Hester Street Collaborative will be helping to facilitate the discussion. The LES non-profit has a lot of experience working in the community to help revitalize public spaces. One of the most recent examples: the ongoing reconstruction of the playground in Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

In a related development, students from the Parsons School of Design have also taken an interest in the grassroots park project. Recently, over pizza at Two Boots Tavern on Grand Street, Professor Scott Probiner led residents in a conversation about Gulick Park’s past, present and future. They talked about some of the problems in the park: the lack of trees, the absence of benches and tables, the wire fence sectioning off one section from the other.  There weren’t a lot of preconceived notions about how the park should be redesigned. The general goal, they seemed to agree, is making Gulick a pleasant and open space that the whole community can enjoy.

Later this month, the Friends of Gulick Park will be meeting with the neighborhood’s elected officials, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, about finding the money for the project. The City Council has allocated $360,000. Parks officials have indicated they’ll need $2 million before beginning to draw up any plans. According to steering committee members, State Senator Daniel Squadron has expressed optimism that more money can be found.

In a presentation to CB3’s Parks Committee Thursday, steering committee member Elizabeth DeGaetano, said the organization welcomed any support the community board could provide.  In its annual list of capital priorities, CB3 called on the city to make Gulick Park a funding priority. She said a top goal of the group is to “unite the community in the renovation effort and advocate for stakeholders’ involvement in the design process.”

If you’re interested in more information about the Friends of Gulick Park, visit their web site.

I recently sat down with producer, and longtime Lower East Side resident, Marc Perez, to talk about his  real life war movie, “Severe Clear.” After a successful festival circuit run, the documentary is opening at the Angelika this weekend. It was directed and edited by his partner (and cousin) Kristian Fraga. It’s based [...]]]>

I recently sat down with producer, and longtime Lower East Side resident, Marc Perez, to talk about his  real life war movie, “Severe Clear.” After a successful festival circuit run, the documentary is opening at the Angelika this weekend. It was directed and edited by his partner (and cousin) Kristian Fraga. It’s based on the memoir by First Lieutenant Mike Scotti, and uses actual video footage shot by him and other members of 1st Battalion, 4th Marines on the outset of the 2003 invasion of Iraq:

Producer Marc Perez

TLD: So how did you get involved with the project?

MP: Years ago (2004) we were finishing up “Anytown USA” and an intern of ours was working in the video department at NYU and one day this marine (First Lieutenant Mike Scotti) walked in with all this videotape from the war and asked if someone could help edit it to show his family. So we called him in and saw his footage, really intense stuff, not shot for the purpose of making a movie, really just to show his friends and family. And we came up with the idea to take what he had and make this movie about the war, just from his point of view.

Marc said it took years to make because they decided to keep the film solely in Scotti’s perspective. They recorded some interviews with him, but soon realized it was his footage that was most compelling about the story. They scoured all of Scotti’s letters and journals (even some notes written on napkins) and then edited the footage, which was an enormous project, piecing his candid clips together in order to create a cohesive story.

MP: Basically when we made this film, we wanted the audience member to feel as uncomfortable as they (the soldiers) did when they were there. So we used a lot of horror film techniques. I mean, they never know when people are going to start shooting at them, so you’re always in suspense. It’s graphic, and we show everything. When the people are speaking Arabic to them, they don’t understand Arabic, and we chose not to use subtitles. One thing Mike said, that helped us, was, “You don’t know fear until another human being is trying to hunt you down and kill you.”

TLD: How involved was (First Lieutenant) Mike Scotti in the process?

MP: He was very involved, I mean it was all his footage and his notes. We tried to get him to write down everything he could, at first…a lot of these guys have post traumatic stress syndrome, they block out a lot of stuff that happened to them, so you really have to get them to – write it all down. Sometimes we’d ask him about something he had written (while he was over there) and he’d say, “I don’t remember that.” And then we’d talk about it more and it would start to come back.

TLD: What was it that interested you most about this story?

MP: Nobody’s really done a war film in that first person angle, it’s unique. I think we have something that is really rare – candid. Also it’s not for or against anything. We wanted it to be sort of a blue collar movie, not about the bigger picture but about the guy that has to go do what he’s ordered to do. The job.

TLD: How was he able to shoot all that footage? Didn’t the military mind these guys having video cameras out there?

MP: Well, this was the 2003 invasion so it was the first time soldiers could bring small video cameras on to the battle field, I mean in the Gulf War, the cameras were still too big to carry around, so it didn’t cross anyone’s mind and while they were filming, nobody said anything. And in fact, his job was a forward observer, so he’s way up front and he basically calls in artillery. If he wasn’t using his camera, he’d be just using binoculars. It actually helped him do his job, he just had it around his neck…After Abu Ghraib, with the pictures, everything changed. Now they have rules.

TLD: He was happy with the final product?

MP: Very happy. He feels like this is a real (portrayal) of what goes on.  That it’s not a Hollywood movie (version) or a journalist’s version. We’ve screened it for a lot of veterans and they’ve told us they feel this really showed what they really experienced. Because they have trouble explaining it to their families. And a lot of these guys, they have a trust issues, I guess, with the press, they feel it’s a bit of a p.r. machine.

TLD: Did making this film change your perspective on the war in any way?

MP: Well — yeah. Seeing what they went through – for something that wasn’t there… I think they feel a little betrayed. They lost friends. A lot of people died for other than what they were told. But we didn’t want to make the movie about that. (We’ve found) both sides use it to strengthen their argument (either for or against the war). Arguments have broken out after the screenings. They take away what they want from it.

Iraq war films are an increasingly unpopular genre (although Marc hopes Kathryn Bigelow’s recent Oscar sweep with the fictional war film, The Hurt Locker, may have turned the tide.)  The filmmakers knew they’d have trouble finding someone to distribute Severe Clear so they decided to do it themselves. They’ve launched an all-out Do-It-Yourself, grassroots marketing campaign – competing with films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland for screens across the country. Make sure to go out and support the filmmakers. The length of their run will depend on how many seats they fill on opening weekend.  They are hoping for a successful run at the Angelika to keep their momentum going. Buy tickets here. Watch the trailer below:

Last night, Lower Manhattan’s political establishment and more than 900 supporters came to the enormous Jing Fong Restaurant on Elizabeth Street to celebrate Asian Americans for Equality’s 36th anniversary. Among the attendees at their annual Lunar New Year Celebration: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, [...]]]>

Sheldon Silver, Margaret Chin, Chris Kui, Wendy Takahisa

Last night, Lower Manhattan’s political establishment and more than 900 supporters came to the enormous Jing Fong Restaurant on Elizabeth Street to celebrate Asian Americans for Equality’s 36th anniversary. Among the attendees at their annual Lunar New Year Celebration: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Chin and Stringer were AAFE’s “Dream of Equality” honorees.  In the photo above, Silver is presenting the award to Chin (AAFE Executive Director Chris Kui and President Wendy Takahisa also pictured). Chin was a founding member of AAFE, and until her election last year, the organization’s deputy executive director.

In-between the speeches and presentations, guests munched on fried crab and other dishes, and witnessed the famous unicorn dance. AAFE, founded in 1974, is an affordable housing developer and community development organization based in Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

New bike lanes, pedestrian friendly street improvements – more from Wednesday’s CB3 hearing (Streetsblog).

Senator Squadron’s school overcrowding bill: DOE will review it but suggests no change is needed (Downtown Express).

Robert Knakal: why rent control laws must be reformed (Observer).

Pulino’s [...]]]> The Lower East Side/East Village has the third most 311 noise complaints in the city (Brick Underground).

New bike lanes, pedestrian friendly street improvements – more from Wednesday’s CB3 hearing (Streetsblog).

Senator Squadron’s school overcrowding bill: DOE will review it but suggests no change is needed (Downtown Express).

Robert Knakal: why rent control laws must be reformed (Observer).

Pulino’s revealed! (Eater)

Chef/restauranteur Scott Conant reflects on how the Bowery has changed (NBC New York).

Eddie Huang of Baohaus blogs, hilariously (Fresh Off the Boat).

Cosmos Parcels becomes Hanley’s, “a backyard beer and pizza joint next to a full-on bar next to a beer and sausage joint,” (Jeremiah).

A slick video explains what the new NYT/NYU East Village web site is meant to achieve (Vimeo).

Twitter’s fake Shelly (NBC New York).

We begin our day with a vintage photo depicting the construction of Luther Gulick Park in the 1930’s. Last night, a group of residents campaigning to give the park a major facelift, after years of neglect, updated Community Board 3. We’ll check [...]]]>

Archival photo from NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation

We begin our day with a vintage photo depicting the construction of Luther Gulick Park in the 1930’s. Last night, a group of residents campaigning to give the park a major facelift, after years of neglect, updated Community Board 3. We’ll check in on their progress later today. Also last night, Asian Americans for Equality celebrated their 36th anniversary with 900 supporters in Chinatown. Later today, the City Council will examine the MTA’s controversial proposal to charge students to get to school. And, of course, we’ll have the weekend guide. Whatever you’ve got planned, you might want to do it indoors. The forecast calls for rain showers through Sunday. The high each day will hover in the high 40’s.