DECEMBER THEATER downtown HIGHLIGHTS, PG. 21 ® express VOLUME 23, NUMBER 29 THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN DECEMBER 1 - 7, 2010 Cult of holiday cheer Assembly passes BY ALINE REYNOLDS Last Sunday, tree vendor Scott fracking moratorium Lechner was taking two or three deliv- BY JOHN BAYLES to ground water. The New ery calls at a time in his cluttered, At the eleventh hour of York State Senate passed smoke-fi lled R.V. parked on Sixth Monday’s special legislative similar legislation in August Avenue next to SoHo Square. session called by Governor and the bill now awaits the It was opening week of his com- Paterson, the New York Governor’s signature. pany, SoHo Trees, which is open 24 State Assembly passed a On Tuesday, Assembly hours a day, seven days a week, from moratorium on a controver- Speaker Sheldon Silver said, now through Christmas Day. sial drilling technique used “This moratorium will help SoHo Trees began as your everyday to acquire natural gas. ensure that the hydrofrack- neighborhood tree vendor in Flatbush, Horizontal hydraulic ing process will only be Brooklyn. fracturing, or fracking, has allowed in New York after “It was 1982,” Lechner said. “We come under fi re from envi- a thorough, deliberate and were just a few young Brooklyn boys ronmental groups across the unrushed analysis of the from the streets.” country because of possible process is complete.” He had no idea then that the small- dangers the technique poses Environmental Con- scale business venture would turn into a competitive citywide operation. Continued on page 17 Today, SoHo Trees operates 12 loca- tions around Manhattan, including 20th Street and Second Avenue, and Hudson and Clarkson Streets. The Park51 seeks funding company delivers the trees to the cus- tomers’ homes, installs and even deco- rates the trees, which range from $39 from L.M.D.C. to $2,000. BY ALINE REYNOLDS prevention and homeless Like most vendors around the After a hiatus that lasted veteran services. The grants nation, SoHo Trees has struggled in several weeks, Park51 has would also fund two multi- recent years as fuel, shipping, labor once again found itself in cultural art exhibits, immi- and rent prices have escalated and the media limelight. gration services and Arabic profi ts have steadily dwindled. SoHo Properties, the and other foreign language “We’ve been treading water [in developer of the proposed classes, according to its recent years],” said Lechner, who community center on Park blog, park51.org. wouldn’t reveal the company’s fi nan- Place, has applied for $5 “Park51 remains commit- cial status. million in federal grant ted to exploring all sources But the company has managed to stay money that would fi nance of revenue and funding to alive, running on the sales pitch of pro- programming at the center, build the community cen- viding great-quality trees for reasonable including domestic violence ter in Lower Manhattan,” Downtown Express photo by John Bayles Ruslan Komitsev is one of the many SoHo Tree employees stationed at the Continued on page 13 Continued on page 9 company’s Sixth Avenue location for the holiday season. St . Rea d on e St s . Your pet’s ich St Hud w en e ™ Gr Chambers St favorite 157 Chambers St., New York, NY 212-346-9027 . adway new store ro . B Mon. – Sat. 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. W BIG CITY BARGAINS... SEE INSIDE! Sun. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 2 December 1 - 7, 2010 downtown express &ORMOREINFORMATIONVISIT www.thenewseaport.com 3OUTH3TREET3EAPORTs&ULTON3TREETs0IERs&RONT3TREETs3%! 0/24 downtown express December 1 - 7, 2010 3 OWNTOWN NEWS . 1-9,12-19 D DIGEST EDITORIAL PAGES . 10-11 YOUTH . 20 BLACK’S WAIVER PROMPTS “RED THURSDAY” Commissioner Steiner, plus six out of eight experts on his advisory panel, stated unequivocally that Cathy Black ARTS . 21-27 Opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s appointment of possesses neither the qualifi cations, the related life or Cathleen Black as schools chancellor continued to mount professional experience, nor any prior interest in public this week, even as the former publishing executive was education, to serve as Chancellor. Other than a closed CLASSIFIEDS . .26 formally cleared to take on the role. On Monday, State door deal to mollify the mayor – parents and educators Education Commissioner David Steiner approved a want Commissioner Steiner to explain what has changed waiver for Black, only after Bloomberg agreed to install over the past six days?” Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky as a “chief The D.W.C. plans to hold a protest called “Red academic offi cer” advising Black. Thursday” on Thursday, December 2, on the steps of C.B. 1 In the weeks after Bloomberg announced the appoint- the Tweed Courthouse at 52 Chambers Street, at 4 PM. ment, parents, lawmakers, and others protested Black’s Attendees – and those in solidarity with the protest who MEETINGS lack of education credentials, attempting to persuade cannot attend – are invited to wear the color red. Steiner to deny a waiver that would allow Black to assume The upcoming week’s schedule of Community the role nonetheless. Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless other- On November 23, Community Board 1 passed a SILVER HOSTS CONSTRUCTION JOB FAIR wise noted, all committee meetings are held at the strongly worded resolution against a waiver, which read, board offi ce, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room in part, “there can be no reasonable doubt that there are Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is hosting a job fair on 709 at 6 p.m. far more qualifi ed and better prepared persons to oversee December 9 at Rutgers Houses that will focus solely on the the management of our schools at this precarious moment construction job market. The New York State Dormitory ON WED., DEC 1: C.B. 1’s Financial District in our City’s future, given Ms. Black’s breathtaking lack of Authority, the Lower East Side Employment Network and Committee will meet. professional qualifi cations.” the New York City Housing Authority are also sponsoring Several groups have been formed to protest the the fair. ON THUR., DEC 2: C.B. 1’s Planning and appointment, including the Deny Waiver Coalition, which The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Community Infrastructure Committee will meet. calls itself “an association of public school parents and Gouverneur Hospital will be among a number of groups educators as well as concerned community leaders.” delivering presentations about specifi c construction jobs ON TUES, DEC 7: C.B. 1’s Battery Park City will Following the news that the waiver had been granted, currently underway where employment opportunities might meet at Battery Park City Authority, 1 World Financial Noah Gotbaum, a D.W.C. member, said, “Last week exist. Center, 200 Liberty Street, Manhattan Now serves Breakfast! 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Swedish educational enterprise that, accord- seas] have a fi nancial stake in it.” The Department of Education is con- Community Board 1 passed a resolution ing to the school’s website, features per- However, Hoey noted, “I.M.C.S. is run by templating what to do with the six empty at its Youth and Education Committee meet- sonalized teaching and projects. It is a a nonprofi t Board of Trustees with the aim classrooms in the Tweed Courthouse once ing last week, citing the need for a non-char- culmination of ten years of research and “to provide pedagogical services, not opera- their current occupant, Spruce Street School ter, public school in Tweed. Silver echoed development, and I.M.C.S.’s founder, Peg tions of the school or fi nancial management (P.S. 397), moves to its permanent location Hoey, noted that the children in the K.E.D. of the school.” at Beekman Tower next fall. program have outperformed those in other And, contrary to parental fears, Hoey The likely candidate is a middle school Swedish schools. “It has a distinct advantage maintained that the standards I.M.C.S. set called Innovate Manhattan Charter School, “It’s very unwise to use of already being tried out by other children,” in the school’s 1,200-page charter are strict.