Society of the Silurians EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS BANQUET The Players Club 16 Gramercy Park South Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Drinks: 6 p.m. Dinner: 7:15 p.m. Meet Old Friends and Award Winners Published by The Society of The Silurians, Inc., an organization (212) 532-0887 of veteran City journalists founded in 1924 Members and One Guest $100 each Non-Members $120 MAY 2015 Silurians Honor the Best Journalism of 2014 wo dozen news organizations won Excellence in Journalism Awards Tfor 2014 in the most competitive Silurians contest in recent years. No single subject dominated the winning en- tries, although two breaking news stories – the shooting of two police officers in Brooklyn and a fatal building blast in East Harlem – attracted a lot of coverage. Cor- porate approaches to pursuing profits in health care and the imperious behavior of the governors of New York and New Jer- sey also received well-merited scrutiny. At the awards dinner on Tuesday, May 19, at The Players, Silurians Medallions and Merit Awards will be given to report- ers, editors, producers, columnists, edito- rial writers, photographers and bloggers from the tri-state area in 26 categories. The contest, the first conducted by the Silurians totally online, was overseen by Awards Chair Carol Lawson. The judges devoted hours to reading, listening to and viewing the entries before convening at the CUNY Graduate School of Journal- ism to make the final decisions. Veteran newsman David Gonzalez of received the Peter Kihss Award, given annually to the re- CLOSE UP AND PERSONAL Stephanie Keith of The Daily News snapped this picture at a protest rally at Barclays Center following the death of Eric Garner. It was awarded the top prize in the Feature Photography category. porter whose work best reflects the in- tegrity and meticulousness of the late Mr. The winners are: Kim Barker, Ashley Southall, Jeffrey E. Despite minimal metro staffing and the Kihss, in addition to emulating his quali- Singer, Nina Bernstein, Alan Blinder, Ri- looming early Sunday deadline, the Times ties as a mentor to younger colleagues. PRINT JOURNALISM chard Fausset, Sandra E. Garcia, Edna reporters scrambled to reconstruct the The Dennis Duggan Memorial Schol- Breaking News Ishayik, Thomas Kaplan, Sarah Maslin cold-blooded executions of police offic- arship Award, awarded annually to a Medallion Winner The New York Nir, William K. Rashbaum, Kenneth ers Wenjin Liu and Rafael Ramos in their promising student at the CUNY Gradu- Times, for ”Two Officers Ambushed.” Rosen, Marc Santora, Nate Schweber, patrol car in Brooklyn. The Times team ate School of Journalism, was won by Cole The Times team: Ben Mueller, Al Baker, Mosi Secret, Melody Simmons, Vivian also compiled a comprehensive portrait Rosengren of the Class of 2015. J. David Goodman, Matt Flegenheimer, Yee, Jack Begg Continued on Page 2 Kihss and Gonzalez: On the Same Page BY RALPH BLUMENTHAL porter renowned for digging up facts, poring over the t was the 40th anniversary of the 1962 Cuban mis- fine print in city reports and mentoring his juniors, and sile crisis that very nearly plunged the world into the award is given in that spirit. IMutual Assured Destruction, and David Gonzalez, Actually early in Gonzalez’s career, the two crossed Caribbean correspondent of The New York Times, was paths, although Gonzalez didn’t realize it at the time. in Havana as veterans of Camelot huddled with Fidel Fresh out of Yale, where he had disappointed his fa- Castro and other Cuban and Soviet adversaries of the ther by abandoning a pre-med track for psychology, cold war, sharing chilling lessons. he was working at the National Puerto Rican Forum Gonzalez was quizzing Robert S. McNamara in a as the No. 2 publicist (in a two-man office) when hotel room when the former defense secretary rose to Kihss dropped by to pick up a report on the status of leave, ostensibly to consult with JFK adviser Ted Puerto Ricans nationwide. Gonzalez’s boss was in- Sorenson. Gonzalez turned to his buddy, photographer credulous. “He came here, himself? Peter Kihss?” Angel Franco, and whispered in mock panic: “Do you Gonzalez didn’t make as much of it and by the time think he found out that two Puerto Ricans from the Gonzalez reached 43d Street in 1990, Kihss was long South Bronx are doing the interview?” gone. But he relishes the connection. And like Kihss, Leave it to Gonzalez to flaunt his Nuyorican roots Gonzalez would find a way to nurture journalistic pos- every chance he gets (although he’s looking more and terity. more these days like a sleeker Al Pacino). It’s no sur- “I grew up in the Rodney Dangerfield of boroughs,” prise, too, that his down-to-earth street reporting, at- Gonzalez likes to say – specifically Beck Street be- mospheric photographs and journalistic generosity have tween Longwood and Intervale in the South Bronx, won Gonzalez, 57, and currently co-editor of The the third and last child of Pedro and Lillian Gonzalez, Times’s Lens Blog, this year’s Peter Kihss Award from teenage arrivals from Puerto Rico who met at a church the Society of the Silurians. dance in East Harlem. When he was 7 the family Kihss, who died in 1984 at 72 after nearly half a moved to a better neighborhood, 181st Street and century of pounding a typewriter at The AP, The Wash- Mapes Avenue, near the Bronx Zoo. Ralph Blumenthal ington Post, The New York World-Telegram, The New “I grew up playing in the street,” he said. “When David Gonzalez of The New York Times, this year’s York Herald Tribune and The Times, was the quintes- the Bronx started burning, there were basements we Peter Kihss Award winner, with a photo of Kihss. sential master craftsman of the trade, a reporter’s re- Continued on Page 6 PAGE 2 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2015 President’s Report Silurians Honor the Best Journalism of 2014 BY ALLAN DODDS FRANK s I enter the bell lap of my presi dency, I am thrilled to report that Amy terrific successor and old friend Betsy Ashton will take over the Silurians in June in even better shape than when I was handed the conch two years ago. Thanks to indefatigable former presi- dents Myron Kandel and Mort Sheinman, and many other dedicated Silurians, we now have nearly 310 mem- bers. Sadly, some members have passed away, but in case you have not noticed, we now commemorate each one with a posting on The New York Times obitu- ary page. Our Treasurer, Karen Bedrosian Richardson, has managed our finances expertly and our treasury happily has grown, thanks to the generosity of our members who have donated more than $3,000 in addition to our dues. As many of you now appreciate, Betsy and Karen also have done a fabulous job with han- dling the inflow at our lunches, and making it possible for attendees to pay by credit card, get electronic receipts and even reusable name tags. Secretary Linda Amster has kept marvelous track of the goings on at the lively board meet- ings that precede each lunch. Former Tariq Zehawi of The Record won top prize in the Breaking News, Photography, category with this photo that president Linda Goetz Holmes has pro- shows a SWAT team subduing a mother who had been threatening her children while other officers are whisking vided expert pinch-hitting assistance away the youngsters. with the minutes. Our lunches, which have most re- Continued from Page 1 the firehouse. Moreland Commission and Gov. Andrew cently featured WNET CEO & Presi- of the killer and illuminated the complex Merit The New York Times, “Palm Cuomo’s promise to clean up corruption dent Neal Shapiro, the great gossip Liz tensions of an NYPD then at war with Sunday” by Joe Goldstein in Albany revealed that the governor is a Smith and New York Times Public Edi- the Mayor. tor Margaret Sullivan, have averaged Thirty years after 10 people, including master of the back room whose orders nearly 90 people each month. And, if Merit Award for “Deadly eight children, were massacred on Palm mandating government transparency you missed them, thanks to Dennis Cieri Blast” Sunday in a Brooklyn railroad flat, might as well have been written in invis- and his company, Cieri Media, we now When an East Harlem gas explosion Goldstein revisited the sole survivor, now ible ink. have a video archive so you can see flattened two buildings, killed four people a 31-year-old woman, and the police- them on a YouTube Channel: https:// and injured dozens more, Newsday’s woman who rescued her and later Sports Reporting www.youtube.com/ team of 10 reporters produced a com- adopted her. Medallion The Daily News for playlist?list=PLnKCsfMNf4CNv6- prehensive look at the tragedy and its “Cooking The Books” by Teri Thomp- 5ur1QFOU3bf1KP3TTQ causes. Investigative Reporting son, Mary Papenfuss, Christian Red, You can also click through to the vid- Medallion The , Nathaniel Vinton eos by accessing our website Feature News “Death on Rikers Island” by Jake A classically investigated and reported www.Silurians.org, which Fred Herzog Medallion The New York Times, Pearson look at corruption inside the secret, lu- most graciously administers. “Baptism By Fire” by N.R. (Sonny) In a devastating and chilling 10-part crative world of international soccer at Board members Bill Diehl and Bar- Kleinfield exposé that ran from March to Decem- the highest levels and how a group of te- bara Lovenheim, with the help of Ted Kleinfield crafts the story of a proba- ber, backed up with exhaustive documen- nacious insiders made millions—often by David, also have launched a new tionary fireman’s first fire and his res- tation from internal reports, The Associ- illegal means. Facebook page for the Silurians and in- cue of a baby boy in a burning apart- ated Press revealed a sickening pattern Merit Newsday, “Five teams passed vite you to log on and sign up. Tell us ment into a beautifully written and re- of physical abuse and criminal neglect at on Derek Jeter; here’s what they think what you are up to or what in the news searched epic narrative. Not only does ’s largest jail complex, lead- about that now” by Steven Marcus business is on your mind. he tell the story of fireman Jordan ing to official investigations and reforms. A fascinating story about how Derek Awards Chair Carol Lawson boosted Sullivan and his unlikely path to the Fire Merit The New York Times, “Med- Jeter ended up in pinstripes and the teams participation in our Silurians Excellence Department, but he gives us an intimate dling Governor” by Suzanne Craig, Tho- that passed on him in the 1992 baseball in Journalism Awards for 2014 contest picture of the men of Ladder 105, the mas Kaplan and William K. Rashbaum draft ended up in the dumps. and the level of the entries was excel- fire they fought and the life and culture of Continued on Page 4 lent, with two dozen news organizations This exposé of the collapse of the winning awards. In addition to most of the Silurians I have already mentioned, the contest, this year exclusively online for the first time, was also judged by In Duggan’s Footsteps Ralph Blumenthal, Jack Deacy, Gerald Eskenazi, former President Tony Guida, ole Rosengren, an outstanding stu “By sharing pews and a pulpit,” Cole Ben Patrusky, Anne Roiphe and Michael dent at the CUNY Graduate wrote, “they hope to not only survive but Serrill. And we are grateful to the CUNY CSchool of Journalism, is this year’s also thrive.” Graduate School of Journalism for pro- recipient of the Dennis Duggan Award. A recent piece, published in the Gotham viding facilities for us to hold the awards Cole, 28, has already amassed a wor- Gazette, describes the scramble for jobs deliberations. thy pile of clips about the lives of ordi- at the Department of Sanitation, as hope- Finally, if you are reading this straight nary New Yorkers. He has filed compel- fuls at the African American Benevolent from the newsstand at the awards din- ling stories from neighborhoods through- Society Organization in Queens prepare ner, you will already be appreciating the out the city, many focusing on the South for the employment exam – the first of- sensational job Dinner Chair Wendy Bronx. This review from one of his first- fered since 2007. At stake: 500 jobs. Num- Sclight has done and how Silurian News semester professors: “He is smart, ana- ber of applicants citywide: 94,000. Editor Bernard Kirsch has revitalized the lytical, and passionate about bringing pro- One faculty member who cited Cole’s publication with outstanding stories from fessional journalism to the poorest area work describes him as “an insatiable policy our members. I also want to thank the in New York City.” wonk” who “wants to tell the stories of Players club staff for their efforts on And passion is what made Dennis ordinary people and how they are affected, our behalf. pro and con, by the great machinery of Duggan, a former Silurians president, Cole Rosengren I have been honored to serve as the such a special journalist. city government.” President of this august organization, One of Cole’s early stories covered Cole has long been drawn to urban is- chronicled life in cities across the coun- which I believe has the most enthusias- the merger of two struggling Bronx sues. As an undergraduate at Emerson try. In its three-year run, the site published tic, well-informed, caring, professional churches. Published by the Hunts Point College (where he was editor-in-chief of more than 800 articles. membership of any group of journalists Express, it gives a glimpse into the lives Gauge Magazine, the student culture pub- And now he’s keeping busy at the J- in the country. I am certain that the lication), he interned at The Weekly Dig. Silurians’ collective energy and momen- of both pastors and congregants as it ex- School: a current project, a five-part se- tum will carry on unabated. plains the financial crisis that compelled After graduation, he founded ries for City Limits, will focus on the fu- them to put aside doctrinal differences. RealcityOnline.com, a website that ture of New York’s garbage system. MAY 2015 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 3 A New York Reporter’s Vanished Legacy Reappears BY JOHN MARTIN group” of Southerners especially skilled n September 10, 1986, a group of at civil rights reporting. mourners — reporters and editors As journalists, they faced danger in O— gathered in an auditorium at “being able to get people to talk to you the New School in Greenwich Village to about this – white men who would admit trade stories about a departed colleague, to the crimes, prosecutors who had to put Paul Sann, a longtime executive editor at their lives on the line just to talk to you off The . the record,” she said. As memories unfolded, Ed Kosner, On November 22, 1963, Opotowsky, editor of New York magazine, recalled a who had covered the 1960 Kennedy presi- group of “night vagabonds” on the Post’s dential campaign, was working on a story city desk in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He in Washington, D.C. When he picked up called them “a very, very odd bunch.” a pay telephone to call his office in New One, a reporter, was identified only as York, said Anne Opotowsky, he got a busy “Opotowsky.” signal before he could insert a coin. “He was the only guy who could have “His instincts told him that nothing could two cigarettes in his mouth, have his feet ever have done that, other than a crisis,” up on the desk, and write a story at the she said. “He found out about five min- same time, faster than anybody else,” utes later and got on a plane” to Dallas. Kosner said, Days later, she said, her father con- As a chain-smoking national reporter, fronted Melvin Belli, Jack Ruby’s lawyer, Stanford(Stan) Opotowsky cut a vivid as he portrayed patriotism as his client’s swath at The New York Post between motive for killing Kennedy’s assassin, Lee 1955 and 1965. Later, as city editor and Harvey Oswald. managing editor, he was less memorable “My father wasn’t buying it,” she said. Stan Opotowsky: A portrait of the journalist at work – but far from forgotten. “It increased Belli’s respect for my fa- Writer Nora Ephron once described her ther and it developed a relationship. They days as a fledgling Post reporter this way: the bureau chief. “I would have to In 1957, the Post assigned Opotowsy, then would talk and he would tell him things “I had an editor there named Stan point out that we were dealing in hu- 34, to look into the burgeoning civil rights off the record. My father got tons and Opotowsky, and he was always coming man lives. To Stan’s credit, he always struggle. He wrote a 12-part series investi- tons of information from a guy that he up with these great ideas for me. He pushed the higher number through.” gating White Citizens Councils across the didn’t give an inch to.” would say, ‘Go out and find the most ex- Over several days, Delaney es- south. His conclusion was stark and uncondi- The following year, Opotowsky co- pensive apartment for rent in New York corted 101 Vietnamese to the gates tional. The councils, he wrote, were “a bri- wrote a Post series exposing lucrative in- and report on it!’” of Tan Son Nhut Air Base, where they gade of bigots whose total domination of the sider deals for restaurant franchises at the Jack Robbins, a seasoned Post reporter, argued and bribed their way past Viet- populace can be matched only by the Com- 1964 New York World’s Fair. The no-bid said: “He was very easy-going, I liked him. namese MP’s to reach an Air munist Party within Russia.” deals favored friends of Robert Moses, On the other hand — I don’t know quite America terminal. “Thank God for In 1958, six months after covering the inte- the city’s parks commissioner. how to put this — he was just astonish- corruption,” Delaney said. “The sys- gration by nine black students of Little Rock’s Opotowsky wrote four books. Critics ingly terse.” tem still works.” Central High School, he returned to Central were often (but not always) impressed. The son of Ukrainian and Polish Jews At times, Opotowsky used humor High. “Vivacious, sharply written, highly read- who emigrated to New Orleans from Paris, to defuse tension. In 1979, returning In a series of shocking articles, he reported able,” wrote a New York Times reviewer Opotowsky wrote sports reports for The from the Three Mile Island nuclear a barrage of physical and emotional attacks on March 6, 1960, of “The Longs of Loui- Times-Picayune at age 14. Volunteering accident, I complained that my crew on the eight remaining black teenagers (the siana,” which described the family that in World War II, he served as a Marine had not been issued protective gear. ninth had been expelled for fighting back). The dominated his home state for decades. combat correspondent in the South Pa- Stubbing out his cigarette, Opotowsky perpetrators, he reported, were racist white Despite the author’s flair for storytelling, cific. After the war, he joined United Press deadpanned: “Look, if in 40 years you students encouraged by parents and friends. the critic decided, “the book is about as as a sportswriter and married a fellow UP get cancer, we’ll apologize!” We With few exceptions, moderate white students profound as a tabletop.” correspondent, Marie Coble. In 1955, he laughed. He immediately ordered an had turned their backs. Neither the school nor Nevertheless, a Times book columnist moved to the Post, a respected liberal af- exhaustive series of tests, which Federal troops intervened. praised the author’s description of the day ternoon paper. found no harmful exposure. On April 7, 1958, Opotowsky wrote that in 1935 that Huey Long was assassi- On April 1, 1972, Opotowsky abruptly In 1981, ABC News shifted eight black teenagers “walk each day into the nated. “Mr. Opotowsky uses the skill of a resigned as managing editor, pushed out Opotowsky to directing political cov- hostile world of Central High School guarded novelist to develop all the suspense a situ- by Sann and publisher Dorothy Schiff. erage and devising a system of track- only by their determination and their dignity.” ation can stand.” “Morale at the paper was not fabu- ing assignments by computer, a new “Technically, they are the most protected “The Kennedy Government” (1961) lous,” said Marilyn Nissenson, who wrote tool. He retired in 1992, remembered, schoolchildren in the world. They have be- described the political figures aligned with “The Lady Upstairs: Dorothy Schiff and if at all, as a manager. He died in 1997 hind them the majesty of the U.S. Supreme the newly elected president, explaining The New York Post.” in Florida. Court, the force of the U.S. Army and the how Kennedy chose among them to form “I think people recognized that the But last October, while writing a personal guidance of the Little Rock School his cabinet. paper’s time had come, and gone,” she book on network television news re- Board. Richard Rovere, a leading political ana- said in an interview. “I think everybody porting, I decided to include a few lines “But in reality they walk alone,” he wrote. lyst, found “a sound, sensible, crisply writ- was upset with everybody else.” on Opotowsky. My Internet query “You see them move down the twisting halls ten account of the President’s work in In a March 11, 1972, memo, Sann ad- turned up a surprise artifact, a two- of Central High in a quick, tense gait, eyes assembling a government.” vised Schiff: “I would just tell Stan that page typewritten story Opotowsky riveted to the fore, fearful and expectant.” The problem, he concluded, was that he has no future here and we feel it is in filed via Western Union to The Post. Citing school records of 42 attacks, despite Opotowsky’s “competent, objec- the newspaper’s interest to reorganize the The dateline: Sept 28, 1962, Oxford, Opotowsky said: “This is the sort of thing that tive, and instructive” reporting, the book news operation now.” Mississippi happens almost daily at Central High — would be useful only for readers who did Opotowsky quickly sent out feelers. His story was about Governor Ross kickings and pushings and name callings, inci- not follow the news and they “don’t read Within days of leaving, he joined ABC Barnett’s defiant opposition to admit- dents that are pitifully petty when taken alone, political books.” News and was soon promoted to director ting a black student, James Meredith, yet horrible torture when assembled in the “TV – The Big Picture” (1961), a of its worldwide television news cover- to the University of Mississippi. unbroken chain which has lasted for six months “close, hard look” at the world of the age. He hired me in 1975 as an ABC news Opotowsky explained why the Jus- now.” broadcast medium, was written during a correspondent. We worked together for tice Department had pushed in court Fifty years later, Vanity Fair writer David New York newspaper strike and attracted six years, but I knew nothing of his days to extend by a few days a deadline Margolick unearthed Opotowsky’s articles on little attention. as a reporter. for admitting Meredith: “There was microfilm and began using them for an article His final book, “Men Behind Bars” At ABC, despite his brusque manner, the political consideration to be made that led to his 2013 book, “Elizabeth and Ha- (1972), appeared in the wake of the Attica Opotowsky earned a reputation as a boss just five weeks before a national elec- zel: Two Women of Little Rock.” Prison riots and described dehumanizing who cared deeply about his staff. In April tion. The Kennedy Administration “It was just one of those bylines that you experiences still faced by convicts today. 1975, as South Vietnam neared defeat, wants to go into those elections with learned to look for,” said Margolick in an in- This winter, 17 years after Opotowsky helped orchestrate an ABC a victory over Mississippi defiance, terview. “His work stood out so much.” Opotowsky’s death, a New York Times News operation to evacuate 15 Vietnam- but a victory that quite clearly was Opotowsky’s coverage “was insightful, it reporter who covered many of the same ese employees, several former employ- earned only with a great show of com- was very sensitive,” he said, “but it was gritty topics recalled his work. ees, and their extended families. Calling passion.” and gutsy because unlike most reporters he “I am sad to say I did not know Stan almost nightly from New York, Opotowsky Three days later, Barnett backed actually went inside the school. He saw the Opotowsky personally, only by his repu- learned that the number seeking rescue down. way that these kids were being treated.” tation as a fine journalist,” said Gay Talese. was rising steeply as overlooked “sons” The discovery of Opotowsky’s Opotowsky’s daughter Anne, a journalist, “I read many of his pieces — his was and “daughters” appeared. press-rate telegram, held in an Ox- editor and graphic novelist, said, “All nine of a prominent byline, and I always read The Opotowsky “protested that the ABC ford office for four decades, led to a those kids knew my father, they invited him Post,” Talese wrote in an email. “He was board of directors would not agree to any broader search. The results aston- over, they trusted him.” a respected figure in serious journalism higher number,” recalled Kevin Delaney, ished me. Her father, she said, was one of a “sub- during my time on the beat.” PAGE 4 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2015 Finding Her Voice(s) BY MAGEE HICKEY friend Ernie Anastos, anchor of FOX 5. “Do you sing?” Ernie and I first met in Providence, R.I., It was freezing cold. We reporters in the 1970s. I was a Brown University were huddled together waiting for a fire junior interning at WPRI-TV and Ernie chief to give us any morsel of information was the brand new general assignment re- about a suspicious fire, so we could go porter, fresh from a radio gig in Boston. back to the relative warmth of our TV We became fast friends and have also trucks. Fortunately no one was seriously worked together at WABC and WCBS hurt on a forlorn block in the north end of over the years. But I didn’t know he was Newark. a wonderful cabaret singer. But I was on another mission as well: So now I just needed someone from recruiting newscasters to sing in the first NBC 4 and NY1. cabaret fundraiser I was organizing. It I didn’t find any takers at that Newark was to benefit a special needs school my fire. But eventually Andrew Siff, who late father had helped to develop and it played Mayor Bloomberg so well in our had been named after him. annual Inner Circle musical, joined in both The Lawrence F. Hickey Center for singing and playing the piano. Budd Child Development, run by Astor Services Mishkin brought along his guitar and did for Children and Families, serves 40 an original song about James Taylor. preschoolers who have already been ex- And the funny thing is I am the one who pelled from other nursery schools and kin- is scared to death to sing in public. IN TUNE: Ernie Anastos and Magee Hickey, the author, at a benefit event. dergartens in the Bronx. More than 80 Six years ago, I stumbled into a “Face percent live below the poverty line. Your Fear” cabaret singing class at Hickey Center. Wiener, is a reworking of “I’ve Grown Now, the tougher question for my fel- the 92nd Street Y, taught by the incredibly So now I am a singing fool. It doesn’t Accustomed to Her Face” from My Fair low intrepid reporters. nurturing Collette Black. With my heart matter if I am any good or not. Lady. “Hey, will you risk looking like a fool pounding and my throat dry, I warbled a My signature songs are parodies of my up on stage, trying to sing, to raise money few tentative notes. What I lacked in in- long TV news career in this city, having Bob wrote, in making fun of my long to help others?” nate talent I hopefully made up for with worked at every station in town, three of career in tv news: I was working at CBS 2 News at the self-deprecating humor. them twice, over the last three decades. “Damn, damn, damn, damn. time. And I had already corralled a passel I am not sure why I decided to try to I come out on stage dragging my mi- They’ve grown accustomed to of my closest colleagues at the deuce to conquer this fear of singing, but it had crophone, which is so heavy because it has MY face. join me in this enterprise. something to do with missing my mother, microphone flags from the seven stations I used to make their day begin. Reporter Hazel Sanchez and meteorolo- an actress, who had passed away the I have worked at. I sing a parody of the They’ve grown accustomed to my gist John Elliot were the two terrifically tal- year before. Jean Hogan Hickey had parody song from “Blazing Saddles,” “I’m hair, ented standouts in the crowd of more than loved the Great American Songbook and Tired.” The late, great Madeline Kahn My Wild Irish flair, a dozen fearless colleagues, including so do I. My childhood had been filled with played the broken down cabaret singer Lili My smiles, my frowns, Kirstin Cole, Dana Tyler, Cindy Hsu, songs from all the great Broadway musi- von Schtupp, singing about being sick and My Q score’s ups and downs.” Maurice DuBois and Lou Young. cals, with my mother being a lot like tired of love in the original. Now I sing I can’t believe I’m working still. I had been hoping for a representative Auntie Mame in real life. about being sick and tired of TV news. Some say I’m too old to fit in...” from each TV station. Luckily, for me, My mother had always taught me to “Tired of being admired, until my Sarah Wallace of Eyewitness News is a be brave, confront what scares you, never contract’s expired, tired of then getting fired You get the gist. good sport. And she is married to Harry be snobbish or self-satisfied. Once you let’s face it, I’m tired,” I sing, dragging my So now, along with my fellow singing Martin, formerly of My9 News, who hap- take the attention off yourself, it frees heavy microphone behind me. TV reporters, we have raised close to pens to play the piano and write music. you to think of others, in this case, the Another favorite parody, also with $100,000 to help the children at the Hickey They jumped on board, as did my good developmentally delayed children at the words by my journalist colleague Bob Center.

Something Seemingly for Everyone at Awards Dinner Society of the Silurians Continued from Page 2 Bernstein brought into stark relief the columns, chronicled in keen-eyed detail Officers 2014-2015 manner in which the nation’s health sys- the political evolution of the embattled President Business & Financial Reporting tem, driven by financial incentives and governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. ALLAN DODDS FRANK Medallion The Record, “The For- based on finding the maximum govern- Prompted by a quote from Mahatma First Vice-President Profit Prescription” by Lindy Washburn ment reimbursement, works in favor of Gandhi that Christie oddly invoked in his BETSY ASHTON Second Vice-President This three-part series revealed how hospitals, nursing homes and other health- keynote speech at the Republican Na- BERNARD KIRSCH the business of health care has changed care providers over the needs of the pa- tional Convention in 2012, Stile matched Treasurer dramatically in New Jersey, enabling tients they serve. the governor’s deeds to other words by KAREN BEDROSIAN some for-profit hospital operators to Merit Bloomberg News, “Emergency India’s legendary exponent of non-vio- RICHARDSON Secretary make fortunes by acquiring faltering non- by Appointment at Mount Sinai” by David lence, resulting in a wry, informative LINDA AMSTER profit institutions in a shadowy health- Armstrong, Peter Waldman and Gary study in contrasts. Board of Governors care/business/political environment. Putka RALPH BLUMENTHAL JACK DEACY Two Merit Awards Bloomberg News This exposé of how Mount Sinai — News Analysis BILL DIEHL for “Wall Street Finds New Subprime one of New York’s leading hospitals - Two Medallion Winners The GERALD ESKENAZI With Brokers Pitching 125% Loans” by games the Medicaid system to extract Record, “Christie’s Report Language TONY GUIDA LINDA GOETZ HOLMES Zeke Faux maximum profits while degrading emer- Tells a Story, ”by Herb Jackson, John CAROL LAWSON When there is a new way to exploit gency room care should be required Reitmeyer and Michael Linhorst BARBARA LOVENHEIM the vulnerable with predatory lending, fi- reading for regulators and legislators. The Record expertly parsed the 344- BEN PATRUSKY ANNE ROIPHE nancial vultures will find it. This story il- And patients. page report prepared by Christie’s le- WENDY SCLIGHT luminates the latest dark blot on the gal team that exonerated him. The MORT SHEINMAN record of the financial industry as its usu- Arts/Cultural Reporting Record’s analysis delineated many in- Governors Emeritus rious practices target small businesses. Medallion Bloomberg News, “Art stances in which the report failed to GARY PAUL GATES HERBERT HADAD Vanity Fair, “War of the Words” by Flippers Chase Fresh Stars as Murillo’s meet accepted standards for writing ROBERT McFADDEN Keith Gessen Doodles Soar” by Katya Kazakina government investigative reports. LEO MEINDL A map of the battle between Amazon This story exposed the mania of the Newsday, Columns by Joye Brown Committee Chairpersons on the West Coast and pub- art market and the bad behavior of In several insightful columns about Advisory lishing in France over money that has the moneymen who are chasing little-known life on Long Island, Joye Brown called MYRON KANDEL financial fate of publishing capital of the young artists, buying and stockpiling their on Hempstead Town officials to bear Dinner WENDY SCLIGHT world and writers everywhere in its grip. works and then hyping them to make responsibility for shortcomings in edu- Legal quick financial killings. cation. Another column investigated a KEN FISHER Science and Health Reporting Merit Vanity Fair “Too Rich, Too spate of unsolved killings in Suffolk Membership Medallion The New York Times, “A Thin, Too Tall?” by Paul Goldberger. County and prompted a public outcry MORT SHEINMAN Nominating Father’s Wish, a Daughter’s Anguish” A disturbing portrait of the shadows for action. BEN PATRUSKY by Nina Bernstein cast by new construction projects for the Silurian Contingency Fund Trustees An exhaustively researched and elo- ultra-rich and how Central Park and the Community Service LARRY FRIEDMAN, CHAIR NAT BRANDT quently crafted narrative of a daughter’s psyche of New York City will suffer. Medallion The Daily News, in con- JOY COOK frustrating and heartbreakingly fruitless junction with the CUNY Graduate MARK LIEBERMAN MARTIN J. STEADMAN quest for end-of-life home care for her Editorial Writing and Commentary School of Journalism’s NYCity News Silurian News dying father. By personalizing the story Medallion The Record, Charles Stile Service, for “Stop the Mold: Tracking the BERNARD KIRSCH, EDITOR and writing it as poignantly as she did, Stile, in a yearlong series of riveting Continued on Page 6 MAY 2015 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 5 The Beginning of a Very Long Love Affair BY HERBERT HADAD never expected anything to come of the job. I showed up at an ancient Ibuilding in downtown Boston, took the elevator to 5 and entered a large, disor- derly room. The ashtray was the floor. Cackles and shouts bounced off the walls. I asked for the person whose name I’d been given by my college, and a nervous, unsmiling man appeared. “The hours are bad and the job has no future,” he said. “You’ll work 4:30 until 12:30 in the morn- ing, Tuesday and Wednesday off. And make sure you arrive on time.” I an- swered, “Yes, Sir,” and he gave me a sus- picious look. He seemed to know I would never call him “Sir” again. I stared around the City Room and began my career at The Boston Globe. I watched and listened carefully. One night, a political reporter asked everyone to say he was out if an especially obse- quious state senator called, and already I knew to put the call through. “This is Senator McGillicudy and I’m happy to have this opportunity to explain my new legislative package,” he said. All around jaws grew taught with suppressed laugh- ter. Then the explosion came as the squirming reporter spotted a colleague imitating McGillicudy. As he did, another reporter administered a hotfoot by light- ing a match tucked into his instep. THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS A scene from The Boston Globe City Room in the 1950’s. When the reporters spotted a couple making love an in adjacent building, some- he would say, “Not at all.” cover a fire, the spray will ruin notes made the same early lessons in how to be a one tracked down the phone number and I witnessed it all from my perch atop a with a pen.” And a profound observation good and true newspaperman. They in- dialed. The whole City Room was at the metal desk. “Not at all.” What a gracious from a third: “Show me a reporter with cluded the values of being kind as well window. The phone rang and the couple expression. I began to use it and still do. too much respect for authority and I’ll as tough, the importance of friendship and leaped off the desk. “God is watching “Copy!” a gruff editor shouted. show you a lousy reporter.” the folly of vanity. you,” the caller said. I wondered about “Cream, no sugar. And tonight, not tomor- One night shortly later Al Haviland sum- Years later, feeling imposed itself. It that couple for a long time. I bet they fled row.” I raced down to a Howard moned me to his desk. “Get to the Parker arrived with a curious force and it lin- home and mystified their families and Johnson’s across the street and placed House. There’s a fire alarm in.” I began gered. It was this: had I been able to stay neighbors by resuming regular worship the coffee on his desk, expecting no to gush a thank you but his look said to on at the old Globe, smiling good evening habits. acknowledgement. “Not at all, Harold,” shut up and run. I ran to the hotel – there to Al, greeting my friends and heroes in Yet I noticed that the same men who I said. was no smoke or fire trucks or people hang- the City Room and beginning the night’s enjoyed these pranks seemed to take their “Copy!” shouted another elderly edi- ing out of windows. I ran inside. “I’m here adventures, I would have been happy to profession of reporting the news with a tor flailing the air with a sheath of pa- from The Boston Globe to cover the fire,” show up there every night for the rest of gravity that resembled reverence. Would pers. I flew across the room, rolled the I told a clerk. He looked dumfounded. “Get my life. I want to be one of them someday? It paper into a cylinder and sent it in the the manager!!” I demanded. He appeared was most unlikely. pneumatic pipeline to the composing and said, yes, an alarm was turned in, per- “No one leaves a staff job at the room. “Not at all, Warren,” I whispered haps by a guest who had overindulged and Globe,” we five copy boys had been in- close to his head. thought he was summoning room service. New Members formed. “No one’s been hired in five I realized after some time that I was Everything seemed in order so I called Al. Maggie Berkvist was a photo editor at The New York years, no one may be hired in the next being lured irresistibly into the City Room He must have known it was a false alarm Times (Book Review Section and the Magazine) from 10.” In a quieter tone we were told they life. I loved the joy and anarchy that grown by then from the fire department signal box 1960 to 1979. From 1980 to 2013, she was a men with wives and children seemed to in the City Room. But he said six of the freelance photo editor and researcher at The Times don’t want Northeastern boys, of which and at LIFE magazine. She now takes photographs for I was one. If a reporter is ever hired, he’ll sprout with meager encouragement. I most important words I have ever heard. the WestView News, a monthly publication covering be from Harvard. admired their equal devotion to their work. “Good work. Come on home, Son.” her West Village neighborhood. Many of the men in the City Room “Herbie, you’re studying economics, I left the Globe and became a reporter Myra T. Forsberg, from 1983 till this year, when she were ruffians in disguise, street wise but have you decided want you want to be?” in Keene, N.H. And one day the Globe retired, held down a number of posts in various culture my father asked over dinner on a night called and asked me to come back for a departments of The New York Times. The roles she often poorly educated in the formal sense, filled included classical music and dance editor, deputy yet well suited by temperament to cover off. He had been trained as an accoun- reporter’s job. I’d broken the Harvard culture editor, Weekend section editor, and copy edi- the daily news. They would be the last of tant shortly after arriving in America from code. Eventually I came to New York, tor. Prior to joining The Times, she was entertainment editor at The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News. their breed. I had inadvertently placed the Middle East. He spoke almost a dozen where I was born, and worked for myself into an apprenticeship to them, languages, I admired him and, over a bowl “Sesame Street” and ABC News, did a Joan Kron has been writing professionally since 1969. of large purple olives, I confessed my in- stint in Washington for the Muskie for Her byline has regularly appeared in magazines and news- which would lead to a dead end. fatuation. “Dad, I’m going to become a President campaign, reported for the Post papers on subjects ranging from fashion to facelifts and A copy boy’s pitiful status did carry a from décor to decorum. Since 1991, she has been a newspaperman,” I said. and the Times, and ultimately joined the modicum of prestige unless he was ob- contributing editor at large at Allure magazine. She is the I returned to the same copy boy job U.S. Department of Justice. author or co-author of several books, including “High- noxious in habits or appearance. Some- for four years during college, a time in And at every place I’ve been I’ve used Tech: The Industrial Style and Source Book for the Home” thing resembling brotherhood emerged which my second education commenced. and “Lift: Wanting, Fearing, and Having a Face-Lift.” between us, the reporters and the editor, “Write the lead as clearly and as tightly Bert Shanas, before embarking on a career in public although no one wanted to be an editor – relations, was with The Daily News from 1964 to 1986, as you can,” Al told me one night. “Work In Memoriam where he took on various reporting and editing assign- it was obvious reporters had all the fun. on it hard and the rest of the story will ments, including education editor. In 1975, he was a The one woman on the scene was a fall right into place.” It seemed nothing Edith J. Cahill, a long-time Silurian and a veteran re- co-winner of a Silurian Excellence in Journalism Award medical writer who moved her desk more than an ancient truism, but I did as porter who worked for The New York World Telegram for investigative reporting. He has also taught journal- & Sun and WNBC-TV, died on Feb. 28 at Calvary Hos- ism at NYU and at Hunter College. around the corner from all the hijinks and he instructed and he was right. pital in the Bronx. She was 89. When the New York treated the men like frisky kid bothers. Newspaper Reporters Association — now known as the Charles Strum was with The Times from 1979 to 2014, During a daytime stint, the day city during which time he was a metro editor, New Jersey And the ringmaster of this human circus New York Press Club — was formed in 1948, she was editor, Alfred J. Monahan, insisted, “The a charter member. bureau chief, obituaries editor and a national deputy was City Editor Alexander J. Haviland. lead must be a maximum of 16 words.” I editor. In 2006, he was named an associate managing Milton Hoffman of The Journal News, who was known editor. He was bald and handsome, wore a sometimes found that impossible, but I as the dean of Westchester journalism, died on April 7. Pamela Vassil, from 1977 through the early 1990s, tweed suit and insisted on being called noticed the lead on this story is only nine. He was 86. In a 50-year career that ended with his was an art director and photo researcher at The Times “Al.” He commanded respect and affec- Reporters added their wisdom. One retirement in 2002, Hoffman was a reporter, metro (on staff and then freelance); her work could be found tion with apparent ease but would not tol- removed a few sheets of paper folded editor, columnist, editorial page editor and a mentor to generations of reporters who became known as “Milt’s on the Op-Ed and Editorial pages, in Sunday Arts & erate slipshod reporting or writing. He into three panels from his breast pocket. Kids.” In 2001, he was recognized by the Silurians as Leisure sections and other special sections. would go over a story, with a sharpened “Get the quotes right,” he said. “The winner of that year’s Peter Kihss Award. Leonard Fisher is a retired associate editor of The New- pencil in hand, word by word, reporter at quotes must be absolutely accurate. The Hoffman won first-place awards for editorial writing ark Star-Ledger, where he had been on staff for 36 his elbow, and when he was done the re- rest of the story you can remember.” from the Deadline Club and The Associated Press of years. Prior to that, he was a reporter for UPI and for New York State. Dorf Feature Service. porter would say, “Thank you, Al,” and Another said to carry pencils. “If you PAGE 6 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2015 Silurians Honor the Best Journalism of 2014 Continued from Page 4 emotionally disturbed man hurling ice Scourge in Public Housing,” by Greg B. and epithets at New York City’s finest Smith, . Allegra near the World Trade Center. Abramo, Natalie Abruzzo, Julia Alsop Frank Green, Gwynne Hogan, Ross Feature Photography Keith, Roxanne Scott, Melisa Stumpf, Medallion The Daily News, “Eric María Villaseñor, NYCity News Ser- Garner Protest at Barclays Center” by vice. Stephanie Keith This investigative series on problems A close-up and personal depiction of with the New York City Housing Au- two vastly different faces in a con- thority depicted the heartbreaking, frontation between police and protest- ongoing frustration many tenants suffer. ers in Brooklyn following the death of These stories triggered a city investi- Eric Garner. gation into the epic failures at the hous- Merit The Daily News, “Ramos- ing authority. Liu Memorial” by James Keivom Merit The Poughkeepsie Journal, For his powerful photo of a former “Killers & Pain” by Mary Beth Pfeiffer police officer and his daughter at a me- Utilizing Freedom of Information re- morial for two NYPD officers who quests and robust data bases, this se- were murdered in Brooklyn. ries revealed the deadly links between heroin and prescription drug overuse. Sports News or Feature James Keivom of The Daily News was cited for a Merit Award, in the Photogra- Photography phy features category, for his shot of a former police officer and his daughter at Breaking News Photography a memorial for two NYPD officers who were murdered in Brooklyn. Medallion The Record, “Hostage Medallion The Daily News, Rob- Situation” by Tariq Zehawi ert Sabo MAGAZINES Feature Writing Zehawi’s dramatic photo of a SWAT Sabo’s you-have-to-see-it-to-believe- Investigative Reporting Medallion Vanity Fair, “To Live and team subduing a mother who had been it photo of Giants receiver Odell Medallion Bloomberg News, “Any- Die in America” by Nancy Jo Sales threatening her children also captures Beckham making a stunning touchdown thing But Secure” by David Evans This exploration of the murders of four the precise moment when other offic- catch against the Cowboys. Evans uncovered a $1 billion internet- young Iranians who had migrated to ers were whisking the youngsters to Merit Newsday, “California based scam that preyed on investors Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to develop an indie safety. Chrome” by J. Conrad Williams around the globe with promises of big re- rock band called the Yellow Dogs cap- Merit The Daily News, “EDP Busi- A glimpse of the Derby and turns trading currencies. The U.S. Attor- tures the decline of one former band mem- nessman” by Marcus Santos Preakness winner, and a possum, work- ney in the Eastern District of New York ber and how his despair shattered the An unconventional portrait of an ing out at Belmont Park. opened a criminal investigation. Continued on Page 7

lyn? When Boyd asked what about the Times sent him to Miami as the Carib- Kihss and Gonzalez: On the Same Page Bronx?, “I couldn’t say no to that.” bean correspondent, where he spent an- Continued from Page 1 Kimball who told him about an opening In one big exposé, Gonzalez investi- other four years covering Haiti and the could go in.” He attended Catholic gram- at Newsweek. gated the “South Bronx Padrino” Ramon Dominican Republic, Cuba, , mar schools and Cardinal Hayes High Gonzalez was hired as a researcher S. Velez, who had built his Hunts Point and Guatemala. By then he was married School on the Grand Concourse where and rose quickly, winning promotions to Multi-service Center into a multi-million to fellow journalist Elena Cabral, who had he ran track. To this day he venerates reporting assignments in Detroit and Mi- dollar empire. But to his chagrin, Velez left the Ford Foundation to take a report- the priests and nuns who taught him – ami. But in Miami he became “super emerged unscathed. ing job with The Miami Herald, and they “the illuminati of the South Bronx,” he homesick” for New York, especially af- Gonzalez’s family often asked him, had a son, Sebastian, later to be followed calls them. Discipline was sometimes ter coming across a copy of “Meyer “How’s The Daily News?” Fine, he by a daughter, Paloma. harsh but he wasn’t molested. “I know Berger’s New York,” a collection of the would answer, puzzled. He realized that He had also returned to his earlier in- that happened,” he said. “Happened to great man’s Times columns. By 1990 he The News was the only newspaper they terest in photography, doing some of his friends of mine. Didn’t happen to me.” was back at Newsweek headquarters on knew. If he was working for a paper, it own shooting on assignments. So when He had never heard of the Ivy League Madison Avenue, with a fancy title, had to be The News. Times editor Jon Landman turned up in but his teachers wisely encouraged him deputy bureau chief – and bored out of Imagine Gonzalez’s delight when in Miami in 2003 and offered Gonzalez a to apply to Yale. Upon graduating with a his mind. “It was one of the most difficult 1992 Columbia honored his fresh brand chance to return to New York with a new degree in psychology (“which was use- times of my life,” he recalled. He spent of street reporting with the coveted photo column called City Wide that would less”), he worked for Puerto Rican and his days going to lunch and killing time. Berger Award. splash his panoramic pictures over the Harlem civic groups while nurturing an Maybe, like his idol Mike Berger, he won- Much as he loved covering the metro display page, sometimes all six col- interest in photography at a Bronx col- dered, he was more cut out for life as a Bronx, when Ari Goldman left the reli- umns wide, Gonzalez grinned, “That’ll lective called En Foco. “My parents newspaperman? Or — dare he think it? gion beat to join the Columbia Journal- work.” thought a photographer was a guy on the — a columnist? ism faculty, Gonzalez asked to replace He continued to report, too, winning, corner taking Latino communion pic- At an Hispanic journalist convention him. He loved covering religion too – among a slew of prizes, the Distinguished tures,” he said. They also convinced in San Francisco, he learned that The from a street perspective. He did a story Writing Award in 2008 from the Ameri- themselves they were rearing a doctor. Times was recruiting. “It was a time when on how midnight mass in the Bronx was can Society of Newspaper Editors for his Years later, at his father’s wake, people New York Newsday was kicking our ass becoming too dangerous – so midnight three-part multimedia series, “House were still coming over asking him, so they wanted to beef up coverage,” mass was being celebrated in daylight Afire,” about a storefront Pentecostal “How’s medical school?” Gonzalez recalled, from the later hours. He did another story on what Church in Harlem. In 2009, he joined “Holy [expletive]!” he reflected, “did vantagepoint of a Timesman. Suddenly, impossible things believers were pray- Angel Franco and four fellow photogra- my father not tell them?” Latinos were hot. Assistant Managing ing to St. Jude for. One of them was a phers in founding a collective, Seis del Sur, As he learned photography, Gonzalez Editor Carolyn Lee badgered him to send job. or Six from the South, to document life in also taught it, to youngsters at Commu- The Times his résumé. And then he was He had been at the paper three years the South Bronx. He also became a found- nity School 61 on Charlotte Street. Inspir- being ushered in to meet her fellow AME, when Mort Zuckerman called. Would ing member of the Bronx Documentary ing tales like that didn’t show up in the the fearsome Allan M. Siegal, keeper of Gonzalez be interested in a column at Center, a nonprofit gallery and educational desolate photos when President Carter the paper’s exalted standards. The News? (Finally, his family would center in Melrose near the Hub. paid a visit, but the borough was often “Everyone warned me about Al have it right.) It was attached to serious As co-editor of the Times Lens blog stereotyped, complained Gonzalez. “Take Siegal,” Gonzalez said. money. Gonzalez needed to think about with Jim Estrin, Gonzalez, starting in 2013, what you know about the Bronx – and Siegal sat him down and said, “Let’s it. But there are no secrets in this busi- joined 150 photographers and 75 gallerists, think differently.” cut the crap. Where’d you grow up in ness. Boyd called him in. What was this curators and editors in a huge annual He was working at the Puerto Rican the Bronx?” Siegal, it turned out, was a about The News? What could The Times mentoring project, the New York Portfo- Forum when Thomas A. Johnson, the first landsmann. do to keep him happy? lio Review, offering free career consulta- black reporter at The Times, came by, like Gonzalez had been warned that get- Well, The News had offered him a tions for young photographers. Kihss, to pick up a report. Johnson soon ting hired at The Times was an exhaus- column. How about the “About New Meanwhile he’s also been writing the left the Times to found the Harlem Third tive process but there was Executive York” column — originated by Mike Side Street photo column every other World Trade Institute and invited Gonzalez Editor Max Frankel courting him and Berger in 1939. Mike Kaufman was writ- Monday while contributing stories as well. to join him. After two years there, waxing lyrical about “the Traditions of ing it then and Gonzalez had occasionally “I’m a street reporter, that’s where the Gonzalez, at Johnson’s urging, applied to The Times.” filled in when Kaufman and his prede- stories are,” he says. “I like to be the first the Graduate School “Holy [expletive]!” Gonzalez thought. cessor, Doug Martin, were off. But when reporter someone has talked to. I like to of Journalism, where he won a fellow- (He often thinks in expletives.) “Is he Kaufman left... talk to regular folks.” ship to cover tuition. “Columbia taught me offering me the job?” In 1995 Kaufman decamped for Of course, after years far afield from how to write,” he said, singling out men- He started off on general assignment. Prague to publish George Soros’s news- his beloved city, he’s landed back home tors like Prof. Penn Kimball and Wall When Metro Editor Gerald Boyd offered paper. Gonzalez went back to Times edi- in his native borough. OK, so he bought Street Journal reporter Karen Rothmyer. him the Brooklyn bureau, Gonzalez said tors and held them to their promise. the family a co-op in Riverdale, but, hey, When he graduated in 1983, it was no way. Brooklyn? Where was Brook- After four years on the column, The it’s still the Bronx. MAY 2015 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 7 Silurians Honor the Best Journalism of 2014 Continued from Page 6 of the shooting of two New York police dreams of the others. officers in their patrol car. Merit Bloomberg Markets, “Andy Hall Goes All In” by Bradley Olson Investigative Reporting/ A penetrating profile of a legendary Web Exclusive Wall Street commodities trader whose Medallion ProPublica, “How Wall golden touch trading oil may have turned Street Tobacco Deals Left States With to lead. Billions in Toxic Debt.” “Tobacco Bond” Series by Cezary Podkul. Public Service Building special data bases to probe Medallion Financial Planning maga- the public records left by Wall Street bond zine, “Could Financial Planning Help Stem deals built around scheduled payoffs from the Rate of Military Suicides?” by Ann the national tobacco settlement of 1999, Marsh. these meticulously researched stories This in-depth examination of how fi- were the first to document that nearly nancial stress has become a major factor half the money no longer goes to benefit in military suicide led to Congressional taxpayers. Instead, it’s being siphoned legislation mandating the military to pro- off to cover a multi-generational legacy vide financial advice and counseling to of debt taken on by dozens of the gov- active-duty personnel and veterans. ernments involved – debt that some may never be able to repay. Apps built by Yue Merit Bloomberg Markets, Qiu and Lena Groeger allow readers to “Overworked and Underwhelmed” by track the financial effects of these bad Dawn Kopecki deals county by county in New York This article helped prompt Wall Street State and elsewhere. investment banks to rethink the path to Merit DNAinfo.com, “Mayor’s Top riches they set out for young associates. Aide Hid Relationship With Convicted It illustrated the stress and lack of a nor- Felon” by Murray Weiss & James mal 20-something life that are devastat- Fanelli. ing to physical and mental health Ongoing digging about the relation- ships of the chief of staff for the First TELEVISION Lady of New York affected the running Investigative Reporting dispute between the Mayor and the po- Medallion News 12 New Jersey, lice union leadership. “Kane In Your Corner: Students Re- strained” News Commentary A troubling investigation examining the Medallion TheStreet.com, “Unac- abuse — or is it discipline — of special countable Bureaucracy” and other col- needs children in New Jersey. In the ab- THE CATCH Robert Sabo of The Daily News was at MetLife Stadium to take this umns by Susan Antilla sence of laws governing the conduct of photo of the Giants receiver Odell Beckham making a stunning touchdown In these searing columns, Antilla high- teachers and counselors, children are at catch against the Cowboys. The shot garnered top prize in the Sports Photog- lights the anti-consumer sentiment that has risk and their parents are in the dark. raphy competition. taken hold of significant portions of the Merit NY1 News, “Sex Trafficking” Republican Party as it attempts to dis- by Dean Meminger mantle agencies such as the Consumer A good look at the exploitation of teen- Public Service iam Weinbaum, producer; Robert O’Reilly, Financial Protection Bureau, which she age girls in New York and the difficulty Medallion WPIX 11, “Pregnant and Justin Stokes, location sound mixers; Ja- says “has broken new ground reining in of stopping it. Addicted,” by Narmeen Choudhury, cor- son Sharkey, editor; Kelly Rohrer, pro- sleazy debt collectors, slipshod mortgage respondent. Victor Lopez, photographer/ duction assistant; Carolyn Hong, coordi- servicers and banks.” In just two years, Breaking News editor. nating producer; Rayna Banks, associ- the agency has handled 270,000 com- Medallion NY1 News, “No Indict- Compelling stories of three women drug ate producer; Eric Lynch, assignment plaints from consumers and has returned ment in the Death of Eric Garner” users who confront their addictions and editor; Dwayne Bray, senior coordinat- almost $3 billion to them. It was high drama as NY1 broke the the births of their methadone-affected ing producer; Vince Doria, vice president Merit The Record, “GWB Files,” news that there would be no grand jury babies while receiving treatment in a of news. Staff of The Record indictment in the chokehold death of Gar- Lower East Side clinic and working to- A portrait of Michele Roberts, new The Record’s ongoing catalogue of the ner on Staten Island. ward becoming responsible parents. head of the N.B.A. players union. We evolution of the George Washington Merit WLIW, “MetroFocus Special learn she is charming, bold, and dedicated Bridge scandal is the multi-media Feature News Report: The Eric Garner Decision.” to making certain that, in her words, “an scorecard subscribers need to keep track Medallion ESPN, “Outside the Lines: Rafael Pi Roman and Jack Ford, anchors; institution this important and one that is of this cast of characters. Tragic State.” Michael Hill, reporter. Sally Garner, ex- predominantly African-American cannot John Barr, correspondent; William ecutive producer/writer; Erica Zolberg, be allowed to fail.” Public Service Weinbaum, producer; editorial producer; Andrea Vasquez, Merit WCBS 880, “The Gem Vac Medallion ProPublica and National Bryan Brousseau, Joe LoMonaco, Marisa Wong, producers; Matthew Chao, Vets” by Wayne Cabot/ Public Radio, “Red Cross” by Jesse Marc Lustig, directors of photography; associate producer; Ann Benjamin, direc- Military veterans tell their stories on Eisinger & Justin Elliott, ProPublica; Rob Berman, Scott O’Leary, editors; tor; Kirsti Itameri, multimedia producer; Veterans Day as a small group does ev- Laura Sullivan, NPR Chris Buckle, deputy editor; Joshua Sean McGinn, producer/editor; Kerry ery Tuesday at a little shop in New Jer- The diligence of this reporting team Vorensky, production assistant; Carolyn Soloway, editor; Christofer Nicoletti, pro- sey. paid off as it refused to accept the origi- Hong, coordinating producer; Rayna duction assistant; Diane Masciale, gen- nal explanations from the Red Cross Banks, asssociate producer; PJ eral manager, WLIW21; John Servidio, ONLINE about how it spent hundreds of millions DeCordova, Eric Lynch, assignment edi- vice president of subsidiary stations Breaking News of dollars during responses to Hurricanes tors; Dwayne Bray, senior coordinating A thorough and thoughtful round-up of Medallion The Wall Street Journal Sandy and Isaac. As ProPublica/NPR producer; Vince Doria, vice president of a big breaking story. (WSJ.com), “East Harlem Explosion” concluded: “The Red Cross botched key news. With digital bulletins, constant tweets, elements of its mission after Sandy and This examination of the tragic after- RADIO video, and overall mastery of social me- Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet math of the injuries suffered by heavy- Breaking News dia, alongside print coverage, Journal re- needs and acrimony.” weight title contender Magomed Medallion 1010 WINS, “NYPD Of- porters covered the explosion that killed The Red Cross’s shortcomings were Abdusalamov in a Madison Square Gar- ficers Fatally Shot” eight, collapsed two Park Avenue build- detailed in confidential reports and in- den fight offers deep insight into how the 1010 WINS reporters delivered rivet- ings and overturned countless lives. ternal emails, as well as accounts from fight establishment works and how im- ing coverage when two officers were Two Merit Awards DNAinfo.com, current and former disaster relief spe- perfectly it functions when it comes to shot while sitting in their patrol car in “4-Year-Old Tortured Before Death En- cialists. protecting fighters. Brooklyn dured Nomadic Life Filled With Abuse.” Merit Newsday/News 12, Cash Merit NY1 for “How NYC Works: Merit WCBS 880, “Explosion in Murray Weiss, James Fanelli, Janon Crop: “Marijuana on Long Island and Food Rescue.” Roger Clark, Reporter. Harlem” Fisher Across the .” Mandy Davide Cannaviccio Producer & Photog- A quick, comprehensive reaction to a Fine pursuit of the reasons for the un- Hofmockel, Thomas Maier, Saba Ali, rapher. Jessica Steiner, Producer; Dan big breaking news tragedy. necessary death of a 4-year-old boy who Matthew Cassella, Timothy Healy and Komarinetz, Editor Leisha Majtan, cam- slipped through the cracks of the social Newsday.com and Newsday Staffs era operator. News Feature services network. The complete package on marijuana A delightful jaunt around New York Medallion ESPN Radio, “Outside the Newsday.com, and Newsday Staff, on Long Island with text, photos, videos, with a delicious behind-the-scenes look Lines and The Sporting Life: Roberts “Cops Shot” charts, maps and other interactive graph- at how City Harvest feeds the needy. Rules.” Kelly Naqi, correspondent; Will- An exhaustive multi-media coverage ics, legal documents, etc. PAGE 8 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2015

Benjamin agreed: “We were think- A Home, Home ing that building materials could have a kind of ecosystem and cycle like our From the Range bodies do, like plants do, so yeah, ex- actly like that quotation.” BY TONY GUIDA Architecture, meet synthetic biology. It’s Benjamin’s passion and the reason he I build my house of straw named his firm The Living. I build my house of hay Already he has created Living Light, an I toot my flute interactive canopy in a park in Seoul, Ko- I don’t give a hoot rea, whose flashing lights announce air And play around all day quality conditions across the city. - “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” Soon to come in New York’s East River, Amphibious Architecture, floating A curious building rose in the courtyard lights whose colors will broadcast the of MoMA/PS1 in Long Island City last presence of fish and the river’s levels of summer. Forty feet high, it resembled a tee- pollution. pee at its base and suggested a slinky up And Hy-fi, Benjamin’s name for a top. Ten thousand bricks were used in its structure built, essentially, of hay. construction but nothing like it had ever been Hy-fi won last year’s prestigious Young In the courtyard of MoMA/PS1 was a building made up primarily of chopped- built before. It was neither a residence nor Architects Award given by MoMA/PS1. up corn-stalk bricks. a commercial structure, but a herald from Museum director Pedro Gadanho said the future, a curtain raiser on what may Benjamin’s idea could be revolutionary. that perspective we are not going to sur- complish a whole building no matter how be the next generation of building. “Imagine, if you can, that people could vive as a species.” primitive it is, that’s its charm,” she said. Its creator, David Benjamin, is not your get a little packet of mushroom roots and Many architects and engineers tell us “Hand-laid brick, an old system but a new everyday architect. He is also a bio-re- they could mix it with whatever is avail- our buildings produce a heavier carbon way, maybe that is the new avatar.” searcher whose studies of bone growth, able and build their own structure.” footprint than anything else in our envi- Szenasy smiled, and said, “It’s incred- bivalves, and slime mold inform his ideas Revolutionary indeed. Not just for ronment. From the energy it takes to pro- ibly encouraging because human intelli- about building. With this structure his idea primitive cultures but for urban land- duce glass and steel to the energy wasted gence at work is a fascinating thing to was to reinvent the most basic compo- scapes as well. by inefficient structures our built environ- watch.” nent of architecture, the brick. Ron Shiffman, an architect and urban ment is profligate; a luxury, experts say, At the close of summer according to “This brick is basically made of planner at Pratt Institute, points out that that is increasingly unaffordable. plan, Hy-fi was dismantled, all 10,000 chopped-up corn stalks, agricultural the progenitor of the modern movement David Benjamin’s brick – grown, no bricks composted. Though it has been waste,” he told me. “We combine that in city planning, Patrick Eddies, was a bi- energy wasted – points toward a brave returned to the earth from which it grew, waste with mycillium – mushroom roots ologist who looked at cities as living or- new sustainable world. the promise of Hy-fi lingers and intrigues. – and in about five days, with no added ganisms. “It is one of those things that is a game energy, it grows into solid objects.” Shiffman said that by studying nature changer,” said Susan Szenasy, editor in (Tony Guida now freelances for a pro- The Book of Genesis springs to mind. one can study the next generation of build- chief and publisher of Metropolis, a maga- gram called Arts In The City on CUNY “Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt ing. “Unless we do that,” Shiffman warns, zine of architecture and design. TV. This article is based on one of his return.” “unless we look at the environment from “The fact that David was able to ac- episodes, which aired this year. ) The Gospel According to Liz Smith Eyes on the Times Margaret Sullivan may be one of the few people in the world of journalism who can wag a finger at The New York Times— and the paper listens, quite respectfully. She is its public editor, the fifth person to hold that untouchable position at the paper. At the Silurians’ March meeting at the Play- ers Club, she spoke passionately of the re- spect she has for The Times and eloquently Bill Diehl Margaret Sullivan at the podium. of the juggling act inherent in the role. “I get a paycheck—but I’m not of The one.” And her perception of the paper’s Times,” she explained. She was respond- Israeli-Arab coverage? ing to a question by Joe Berger, who asked “I think it sets out to be fair, but some- how she was able to navigate the news- times falls down.” room which she may have to criticize from She also is juggling the newer forms of time to time. journalism with the kind she grew up with— “I try to be respectful,” she said. “No “when there were gluepots on the desk.” surprises.” She concedes that in hiring her, the paper Among the most difficult jobs she has wanted her to expand the public editor’s tackled has been a public discourse on the role into various platforms. “Now the first paper’s coverage of Israeli politics. She thing I do is turn to Twitter,” she quipped. believes the paper “can never satisfy any- — Gerald Eskenazi

Bill Diehl Public Television’s No. 1 Fan HOW MUCH AM I BID At the Silurian March luncheon, Allan Dodds Frank holds up a There are many moments when people memoir by Liz Smith, who was the guest speaker. tell Neal Shapiro just how important pub- lic television has been in their lives. In her luncheon visit in February, Liz -born Smith arrived in New “My daughter became class valedicto- Smith, 92, noted that she was born one York in 1949. Armed with a journalism rian because of what you did,” Shapiro re- year before the Silurians were born as an degree, she later became a producer for called a father told him. organization. And speaking of age, Smith ’s CBS Radio chat show, It was one of many such anecdotes he opened her talk (standing at the podium, “Mike and Buff,” and was a ghostwriter recited, with pride, at the Silurians’ April declining a chair) by noting a Time maga- for the “Cholly Knickerbocker” gossip luncheon at the Players’ Club. zine cover about the frontiers of longev- column.She spent 11 years working for Since 2007, following a career in com- ity that said“this baby could live to be a ’s Cosmopolitan mercial television, he has been the CEO Neal Shapiro Bill Diehl hundred and 42 years old.” magazine. She called Brown an extraor- of WNET, where he oversees Channels Smith said she isn’t worried about liv- dinary woman, though she disapproved Thirteen, WLIW21, and NJTV. ing for some of his 32 Emmys. ing that long, unless you have a religious of everything she believed in. “I guess “Public TV,” he said, “can make our Before he came to WNET he was belief that there’ll be something wonder- she kept me around as a curiosity.” country smarter, and improve people’s president of NBC News, where he over- ful in the hereafter. But “I find it per- As for being dubbed the Grande lives.” saw Today, NBC Nightly News and Meet fectly wonderful right here.” Address- Dame of Gossip? “I never thought of Small wonder he considers his televi- the Press. ing the internet, Smith said there once myself as a very good gossip,” she said. sion operations “a public trust.” Now, the challenge for public-TV is no was a time when a byline meant some- “I was always more a sort of star-struck “Great TV should touch you in your head different from that facing commercial thing, but not anymore. Now everybody observer, a bystander. I’ve had 65 years and your heart,” he explained. “Commer- television: “We have to think how the can have a byline, expressing their of working, observing this wonderful life cial TV doesn’t care about that — they want media world is changing. So much of thoughts, attacking people, praising in New York and I wouldn’t take any- to see how many eyes are watching.” what we see is a legacy of what was. people, without fear of getting fired or thing back for those glory days.” His vision of public television has played We need new ways.” going to jail. — Bill Diehl a major role in his many awards, account- — Gerald Eskenazi