Adam Chanler-Berat and Celia Keenan-Bolger. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

William Faulkner might not be the first author one expects writer and one-time actor Rick Elice to quote when describing his adaptation of Peter and the Starcatcher, the current hit Broadway show he adapted from the children’s novel entitled Peter and the Starcatchers, penned by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. But to hear Elice discuss the show, a labor of love about which he is clearly passionate about, grateful for, and humbled by, such a reference seems perfectly fitting.

“There is a line in one of his works where a guy is recounting the great love of his life,” Elice recalls, “and he says something like ‘my foot got stuck in the door.’ That’s how I feel about this show. It became a real passion project for all of us.”

Peter, in both book and stage form, is a prequel of sorts to J. M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan. But even though it provides a backstory for the character, the tale of an orphan named Peter (played by Adam Chanler-Berat), his young friend Molly (Celia Keenan-Bolger), and an irreverent mix of characters that must work to guard a mysterious treasure of an ingredient known as “starstuff,” the work stands on its own. And much like the people that came together in Peter, the show’s history also portrays a series of comrades who teamed up, united by the quest of guarding something very special to them.

Tom Schumacher, currently president of Disney Theatrical Group, owned the rights to the novel (Disney owns Hyperion books, which published it). He approached his friend Roger Rees, Elice’s partner, to direct the work, and Elice, who has written the books for Jersey Boys and The Addams Family musicals, came onboard to adapt it. Rees and Alex Timbers, who worked on Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson together, also teamed up as co-directors on Peter.

Peter Pan may never grow up, but this play sure metamorphosed through a workshop in Williamstown and a subsequent run in 2009 as part of the page-to-stage program at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse. Elice altered dialogue so that it would be more suitable for an adult audience, and fiddled with the youthful orphan characters as well.

“I wanted to keep some of the darkness to be found in Dickens novel,” he explains. “The idea of fresh air and sunlight on their bodies for the first time was moving to me, but you had to see they came from a place where they had none of that, the kind of awfulness they faced every day.” He created a put-upon, lipless character named Jim, while Peter was more of a leader from the start.

“The audience kept asking about characters other than Peter,” he says. “Peter was heroic throughout, and less interesting.”

Eventually, the show moved to the East Village’s New York Theatre Workshop, and Elice performed a bit more surgery on his cast. Told to trim it down from 16 to 12 players, the role of a nanny would be played by a man in the company and poor Jim’s attributes were folded into Peter’s. “I ascribed all of those feral, filthy, almost sub-human qualities into the role of someone who will leave those traits behind,” Elice explains. “He’ll become first a boy named Peter, and then Peter Pan, the mythological hero that we know.”

Audience reaction has been quite favorable. Peter was nominated for five Drama Desk awards last year and opened to positive reviews on Broadway this spring, where it is currently running at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Earlier this month, the production received nine Tony nominations, including for Best Play, Best Director, and Best Featured Actor (Christian Borle, for his acrobatic turn as Black ‘Stache). Just this week, the Broadway League confirmed is more Tony nominations than any other new American play in its history.

Part of the success of the show rests in another choice Elice made in adapting the work. Dropping the “s” at the end of the books title might seem like a cosmetic alteration, but it actually represents a sea change for the work, making Molly the only female character in the show as establishing Peter as a feminist work.

“If you have this great gift named Celia Keenan-Bolger, such a rock at the center of everything, that’s a great thing for any writer to live up to,” Elice says. “She’s so sweet and so smart and so talented. So I imbued Molly with the DNA of Jo March and Scout Finch, super-smart, active female characters who insist on being center stage in their own story. As a man, I wanted to take a crack at writing that, providing inspiration the way similar characters inspired women of my generation.” Elice was equally quick to lavish praise on co-stars Borle and Chanler-Berat.

Elice’s next project is a musical inspired by George Mallory, the mountaineer who died during a 1924 expedition along Mount Everest. “It’s great to plunge right into something else,” he adds.

Not that Elice isn’t loving Peter’s success. “It’s awfully nice when the phone rings and it isn’t someone complaining!” he jokes. But he’s also quick to cite what he calls the “greatest compensation” of the Peter experience.

“I’ve lost a whole lot of cynicism,” he says. “I remember watching Meryl Streep on Inside the Actor’s Studio, and she said her least favorite word was ‘cynicism.’ She said that it’s the source of all evils in our culture, and that if we could get rid of some of that we’d be better off.”

“This play is very much about a collective sensibility. It’s good to be part of something bigger than yourself, and that’s the chief methodology of this production – the plot and the theme overlap,” Elice elaborates. “I found myself understanding what Meryl was saying for the first time.

“Getting to know these people has made me much more optimistic about the world, people, connectivity. I’m a much happier guy.”

More information about Peter and the Starcatcher can be found at http://peterandthestarcatcher.com/.

Photo courtesy of Groundreporter and Flickr Commons.

Following the sleepy-faced 7:30am curtain call David-Michel Davies, founder of the Webby Awards and cofounder of Internet Week itself, gave a quick hello and passed the mic to New York City’s Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne. The work that Sterne has been doing in partnerships with the local tech community is a large part of the growth we’ve recently seen here in the city. She mentioned the recent New Tech City Report, put out by the Center for an Urban Future, stating that “New York City is the only region in the country that over the last five years has experienced an increase in venture capital funding.” People! Not only were we the only ones, all the other popular cities like Boston and Silicon Valley actually saw investment fall. Good job us. Speaking of jobs, Mayor Bloomberg and Rachel Sterne’s unveiled a little dealy called Made in New York, a Google map for job seekers that pinpoints tech companies that are hiring. Very cool.

So word. Then what? Billy Beane, the dude who was portrayed by Brad Pitt in Moneyball, gave a keynote speech on how he harnessed data for the power of good (i.e. money…and ball). As for things that can be seen on everybody’s lips, #BigData is the new hipster mustache. I suppose it makes sense to have Mr. Beane get up and talk about it in a sort of Old Guard passing the torch way, but really we all just wanted to see if he was as handsome as Pitt. On that point, “they pretty much nailed it,” said Billy Beane while on a stage. Fair, though. In a completely objective sense, I’ll say, dude was pretty Silver Foxy.

Beyond Beane, we had a treat of a speech on Tuesday morning with David Carr and Brian Stelter of the New York Times. First, I should just say that these guys really don’t seem to like each other very much. Until they hit the groove it was a fairly uncomfortable back and forth about who would win in a fight between the Past and the Future, played by Carr and Stelter, respectively. Now I’m no Nostradamus but—based on the way that he is dead and I am alive—my money’s on the Future. Sorry, Carr. Moving forward the gist of their banter was that the New York Times won’t fail…no matter what. So don’t worry, y’all: The Times is here to stay; stay here, indeed.

Today we saw Mitchell Baker, Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation and former CEO of the Mozilla Corporation, give an awesome talk about the trajectory of her organization and, in effect, well, us. When Mozilla dropped Firefox it really changed the way we understand our interactions with Internet technology. Think about the difference between the world of proprietary software that we had before and the push of Open Source that they sort of ushered in. It’s all very cool. Where we’re headed, though, with all the data out there and concerns over privacy and fair use and $$$, is for a bunch of people a pretty worrisome landscape. Mozilla’s Do Not Track initiative, which started with the browser add-on and has recently gone mobile, is one response to the issue of uncontrollable consumer transparency. It’s one response, and it’s a good one. Regardless of what your stance is on whether or not companies should have hold of all our infos, just having the option to not be tracked—to opt-out—is what Baker is all about. Her whole deal is that if there’s this “ball of information about me out there, that can be very personal, and that can be very scary. But it can be used to get a degree of personalization that you just can’t beat.” That’s real, right? But in order to make this Personal Web really a human thing we need to find a way to “maintain a workable balance that allows companies to use that valuable information, but that also ensures individual control.” I couldn’t agree more.

So that’s what’s up for the first two days of #IWNY! I’ll be back shortly to fill you in on the rest.

Follow me for updates and just because, @44carib

WEST SIDE LAWMAKER PROTECTS PREGNANT WORKERS
Last week, Upper West Side Rep. Jerrold Nadler joined three Democratic co-sponsors in introducing new federal legislation that would provide protections for pregnant woman against unfair job discrimination.

Nadler joined fellow New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney and two others in presenting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The bill is supported by 119 advocacy groups from across the nation and has 63 original cosigners. The law would require employers to give reasonable working accommodations for pregnant women and prevent employers from forcing these women onto leave, paid or not, when a reasonable adjustment can be made to their workload.
The bill will also relinquish hiring discrimination toward women who are pregnant and in need of certain accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

“When American families are struggling to make ends meet, we must do everything we can to keep people in their jobs. This is especially true for pregnant women who are about to have another mouth to feed,” said Nadler. “Ensuring that a woman who needs minor and reasonable job adjustments to maintain a healthy pregnancy gets that accommodation should be central to our society’s support for strong and stable families.”

The bill follows the introduction of a similar measure at the state level from State Sen. Liz Krueger.
“When pregnant women cannot be provided reasonable accommodations at their workplace, they lose wages and opportunities for advancement, their newborns are disadvantaged and both their employers and the economy as a whole suffer unnecessary losses,” Krueger said.

The sponsors of the national bill cite recent examples of pregnant women losing their jobs after asking for minor accommodations, like carrying a water bottle or help with certain physical tasks, as the impetus for creating the protections.

LAWYERS HONORED BY STATE BAR
Two Upper West Side residents were recently recognized by the New York State Bar Association’s prestigious 2012 President’s Pro Bono Service Awards. The award recognizes lawyers who have provided their expertise and counsel to those who are unfortunate enough to be victim of crimes but cannot afford attorneys.

The Bar honored Caroline Heller, a lawyer at the firm Greenberg Traurig, and Natalie Fleming Nolen, who works at Morrison & Foerster, at the Law Day luncheon May 1 at the State Bar Center in Albany.
Heller was recognized for her free assistance to victims of domestic abuse in 2011. Nolen received the Young Lawyer award for leading a project within her firm that dealt with Humanitarian Parole for Haitian Women Project, a human rights initiative to assist post-earthquake victims of sexual violence.

“The work of pro bono service attorneys makes ‘justice for all’ a reality for New Yorkers. Whether they are a solo practitioner or work in a large law firm, every lawyer can help solve someone else’s problem,” said State Bar President Vincent E. Doyle III in a press release. “It is an honor to recognize such a distinguished group of recipients, including Ms. Heller and Ms. Fleming Nolen. They represent the best of our profession.”

HACKING INTO BREWER’S NEW LAW
The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) is holding a Policy Hack day to collaborate on the technical aspects of the implementation of Local Law 11, the Open Data Law, which was sponsored by City Council Member Gale Brewer. The law mandates that the city publishes its databases online in machine-readable formats through a centralized, public website. The event this Saturday, May 19 at 11 a.m. is a day for anyone interested in the open government movement to discuss, plan, hack and draft the technical standards that will be used to execute the law. At Pivotal Labs, 841 Broadway, 8th floor. RSVP at nycopendatapolicyhack.eventbrite.com.

TOUCH-A-TRUCK DAY
The West Side YMCA is holding its seventh annual Touch-a-Truck Street Fair and Fundraiser this Saturday, May 19. Kids are invited to touch, climb on and sit in a collection of trucks that will gather on West 64th Street between Central Park West and Broadway. Last year’s festival attracted almost 2,000 children and had trucks from UPS and FreshDirect, fire trucks, construction machines and old-fashioned buses. There will also be face painting, crafts and activities for kids, food and entertainment. Kids can get unlimited access wristbands for $25 or pay $1 a ticket to access the activities. All proceeds benefit the West Side YMCA.

FLIP-FLOP FOR ESPAILLAT’S SEAT

City & State reports that as State Sen. Adriano Espaillat’s primary run against Rep. Charlie Rangel heats up, insiders have been whispering about the possibility of Northern Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez jumping into the race for Senate. Last week, the councilman confirmed to City & State that he was indeed considering announcing a run—until he called back to rescind that statement.
If Espaillat prevails in the June 26 primary against Rangel, there will be a fierce battle for his empty Senate seat. Assemblyman Guillermo Linares has already announced his intention to run, as has Democratic district leader Mark Levine. Rodriguez confirmed that he will be supporting Levine in the race if Espaillat’s seat opens up.

Phantom Furniture
An employee at the furniture store  was fired and reported to police for using a little too much imagination on the job. The 21-year-old worker processed fraudulent returns for inventory that never existed, then allegedly sold the store credit to friends to purchase more furniture at the store. The total stolen credit was for $3,449.17.

Hot Spot Targeted
The owner of a popular Upper West Side restaurant learned last week that his business had been the victim of fraud. The man’s bank contacted him to inform him that two fraudulent checks had been drawn on his business checking account and deposited into a different account at another bank. The two checks were for $3,189.76 each; the victim had no idea who might have access to his account information.

Phone Thefts Abound
Criminals are still on the lookout for iPhones and other expensive smart phones, and the victims are often young teens walking home from school. One recent theft in the neighborhood occurred when a man approached a woman and asked for the time; when she checked her iPhone and put it back in her purse, the perp grabbed it from her bag and ran away. Other incidents involve two perpetrators approaching young kids and intimidating them into giving up their phones.

Pricey Instruments Taken
A 24-year-old musician was dining late at night with her friend at a bar on the Upper West Side last Friday night. She placed her French horn in its case at her feet, and she and her companion left the bar briefly before she remembered the instrument. By the time she returned five minutes later, the $8,000 horn was gone, and the bartender said he had seen a man come in and leave with the bag.
The same day at the Juilliard School, a 19-year-old student was practicing violin in one of the practice rooms. She left the instrument in the room to pack up her things, and when she got it back to her dorm room and opened the case, the double-bass bow, worth $1,700, was missing.

Silent Hold-Up
A man walked into the Apple Bank on Broadway last Friday during the day and conducted a robbery without saying a word. He held up a handwritten note to the plexiglass of the teller window that read “I have a gun, no dye pack, no bait, $50 bills and $100 bills, this is a robbery.” The teller forked over $1,700 in cash as instructed, which the perp placed into a black nylon bag. The robber is described as a white 30-year-old man with grey hair.

When she was pregnant with her daughter over a year ago, Brooklyn-based writer Erin Bried found herself up to her eyeballs in sometimes confusing, often contradictory advice on parenthood. But she put her zest for research to work, and the result is the practical, yet tender book How to Rock Your Baby: And Other Timeless Tips for Modern Moms (Hyperion).

The heart of the book flows from Bried’s interviews with 10 extraordinary mothers including Sunchita Tyson, mother of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson; Elaine Maddow, mother of Rachel Maddow; Betty Horton, who at the age of 102 is America’s oldest mother; and of course, Bried’s own mom.

What inspired you to research and write How to Rock Your Baby?
When I was pregnant, I read as much as I could. But rather than feel empowered, I felt totally paralyzed. There was so much conflicting information. Let the baby cry versus never letting the baby cry. Always wash hands before touching baby versus germs are good. It was overwhelming, and I found myself not trusting myself. That is why I wrote this book: I wished there was a book with advice in it that hadn’t changed over the years.

How did you decide which mothers to interview?
I wanted to talk to moms of all backgrounds and all ages, and I wanted to interview moms of extraordinary kids, so we could all agree [that] they did something right. I wanted the best advice, and I figured these moms would offer it to me.

There are so many books about pregnancy and parenting newborns out there. Why do moms need another one?
What I wanted to offer with mine was perspective. You can get so wrapped up—what brand of pacifier should I buy? which crib?—but in the end, you won’t remember any of that. You will remember the sweet memories.

How would you describe your overall parenting philosophy?
In a nutshell, love your child and let her find her own way. And it’s equally important to do the same for yourself and trust [that] you will find your own way, too. Ruth Alsop [mother of Marin Alsop, the first female conductor of a major American orchestra] said that there’s a strength in each of our children that needs to be nourished. That also resonated with me as a mother. We are all stronger than we know. … We got the strength from our mothers, and they got it from their mothers.

What was the most unexpected piece of advice you received?
One of the moms confessed that she let her kids watch television and eat junk food from an early age. That gave me so much comfort! You’ve got some wiggle room. If they eat a cookie, you haven’t ruined them.

When should parents start trying to get their baby on a schedule?
Parents should be at their baby’s beck and call for the first two months. … Your job is to make them feel loved, safe and comfortable. After that, start establishing loose routines like at bedtime—give the baby a bath, a massage, read a book and put her down. Establish that ritual. This will help you in the long run.

You make several mentions of encouraging moms to get help and support. Do you think there’s still a stigma against moms who need help?
Yes, I think there is absolutely a stigma. There is an aura surrounding motherhood. On one hand, I say trust your instincts; your gut will not steer you wrong. On the other hand, people expect you to have all-knowingness once you’re pregnant. But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes the best parenting decision you can make is to get help.

You include chapters on things that some people probably think are instinctive, like how to sing a lullaby. Have you found that some moms today have lost these instincts?
You’re going to remember what songs you sang to your kid for the rest of your life. I found so often at 2 a.m. when I wanted to sing to my daughter that I couldn’t remember a single song. There’s so much pressure on mothers today to be perfect. This chapter is just a reminder that perfection doesn’t exist. You don’t need to have an award-winning voice to soothe your child. Your baby just needs to hear your voice.

If you could give just one piece of advice to a new mom, what would it be?
Overall, worry less. When I was breastfeeding, I was so paranoid that my daughter wasn’t getting enough milk. Of course she was—I wish I had worried less!

Describe your perfect Mother’s Day.
My perfect Mother’s Day would start with breakfast at home, because restaurants are tough with a 1-year-old in tow! I would treat myself to a caffeinated coffee. Then my husband and I would put our daughter in the stroller and walk to the carousel under the Brooklyn Bridge. We’d have a picnic and play, then walk home, put the baby to bed and have a glass of wine.

Jenna Helwig, founder of Rosaberry, is a culinary instructor, personal chef and freelance writer. She blogs for Yummy Delicious at newyorkfamily.

Meet Christopher Ziemba, jazz pianist at Juilliard

“There are no mistakes in jazz,” the old saying goes, and Christopher Ziemba is no exception. A pianist in Juilliard’s prestigious Artists Diploma Ensemble, he arrived on the Upper West Side last fall from Rochester.
The 25-year-old is already fully immersed in the musical scene that is New York City. A typical week for him could include performances at Dizzy’s Club, the Central Park Boathouse and David Letterman’s birthday party. Since he doesn’t have a piano in his apartment, he spends much of his day at Juilliard, ready to compose music on their Fazioli grand piano.

West Side Spirit: When did you start playing?
Christopher Ziemba: From what my parents tell me, we had an old family upright, and as soon as I could reach the keys, I started playing. I used to play nursery rhymes that I had picked up from ear. I grew up in a musical environment; my father is a percussionist in the Buffalo Philharmonic orchestra.

How did you come to specialize in jazz?
I had taken classical piano lessons for 10 years. When I got to high school, they needed a pianist for the jazz band. There, it was either sink or swim—for the first year, it was mostly sink. I went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester for my undergraduate and master’s degrees. I was a double major in jazz piano performance and music education. My master’s is in jazz piano.

So then you went to Julliard?
When I finished school, I expected to move to New York, but it wasn’t going to be in the context of school. Then I took a lesson from Frank Kimbro, who is part of the piano faculty at Juilliard, to prepare for a competition. At the end of the session, he said, “We have an opening in our Arts Diploma Ensemble.” Normally, auditions are held in February, but this was already mid-May.

How did you end up mastering jazz?
My mother tells me that I really didn’t like it in the beginning. Having been trained classically, it was frustrating. With classical music, you’re given a piece and you learn the notes on the page. In jazz, you have to read chords. You’re responsible for improvising, making up whatever chords you want to play. It’s like its own language. The only way to get really good at it is to spend time listening to and analyzing records.

What’s the biggest compliment ever given to you?
Recently, I was playing at the Thalia Cafe at Symphony Space. There was an older man and his caretaker watching. Whenever we performed a familiar standard, he would sing along, even though we were mostly a background attraction. After we finished, I went over to say hello. He introduced himself as the cousin of drummer Roy Haynes, a jazz legend who had played with many of my past heroes and still plays around town in his eighties. He told me I sounded just like pianist Bud Powell, with whom Roy once played. Powell is considered one of the most important figures in the history of jazz piano.

For a list of Ziemba’s upcoming performances, visit www.chrisziemba.com.

The hotel in question is not really a hotel at all, by law or by appearances. It’s run out of 318 W. 75th St., a landmarked five-story walk-up with 11 apartment units. It looks like, and is zoned to be, a residential building, but until recently, four of the 11 units were functioning as hotel rooms instead of homes.

Until a few days ago, the four rooms were listed on the travel site Airbnb.com, where homeowners can rent out rooms or entire homes to travelers at rates typically lower than traditional hotels. The listings have since been taken down, but they boasted a prime Upper West Side location and spacious, sunny apartments. Visitors had been coming and going among the permanent tenants for some time, but the city was finally spurred to action when the local block association got involved.

“West 75th Street has had this on their radar for a while,” said Dee Rieber, president of the block association. “It was pretty clear that people were coming and going with suitcases for quite a while. We didn’t know the extent, that there were four homes in the building that were being used as illegal hotels, until relatively recently.”
Rieber said that the owner of the building, Ron Shoshany, has been trying to get tenants out of the rest of the building in order to operate all of the apartments as hotel units. Shoshany, the president of Sirkin Realty on East 62nd Street, did not return a call requesting comment for this story. But the photos that last week were advertising apartment 1A at 318 W. 75th St. as an available property on Airbnb are now on Sirkin Realty’s website advertising the same apartment, fully furnished, for rent.

“It’s been very difficult for the tenants in the building, I know that, just from what’s happened in the past two weeks,” Rieber said.

After Rieber mobilized the block association and the local elected officials, making 311 complaints, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement moved quickly to inspect the premises and issue violations against the building operating transient occupancy rooms out of a permanent residence. The Department of Buildings inspected and issued Environmental Control Board violations, which address the occupancy contrary to the zoning and certificate of occupancy as well as the lack of fire exits and sprinkler systems that are required for hotels. The listings have disappeared and Rieber believes, based on what she’s heard from tenants, that for now the temporary occupants are out.

Sarah Meier-Zimbler, who works as a legislative aide to State Sen. Tom Duane, said their office has been trying to combat illegal hotels, or the technical term “transient use occupancy establishments,” for years. She told residents in an email that calling 311 was the best way to register the issue with the city, but that it can be a slow process.

She also pointed out that even when fines are levied, they are often low enough that the owner simply pays them and continues to operate illegally, making more than enough money to cover the financial risks. Similar studio apartments in the neighborhood rent out on Airbnb for $150 to $200 a night; if the apartment is rented most nights, it brings the owner more money than the average studio would in monthly rent.

Council Member Gale Brewer is sponsoring legislation in the City Council that would raise the fines for illegal hotel operators, which she said has gotten support from affordable housing advocates, neighborhood groups, lawmakers and even legitimate hotel operators.

“The current amount [of the fine], if you have an illegal hotel, is very low, under $1,000. That’s like one night of business,” said Brewer. “The feeling is if you’re really going to have some teeth to the state law, the fines really need to be higher.”

During Prohibition, New Yorkers drank illegally behind the unmarked doors of underground speakeasies, which over time became more visible due to an easily bribed police force. Now, 79 years later, speakeasies have made a comeback in New York City. Beginning with Sasha Petraske’s Milk and Honey, these hotspots became the rage—especially Downtown—by offering glamor and clandestine mystique as an alternative to overcrowded sports bars. The cocktails and décor may have changed since the Prohibition era but an age-old rule still applies—the more exclusive something seems, the more people want in.
Tonight, we’re giving you the secret password and inviting you to follow us down velvet-dark side streets to Downtown’s best hideaways. From East Village lounges to Lower East Side lairs, here’s your sneak peek at what goes on behind our favorite hidden doors.

1. The Back Room: Best Cure for a Monday
It’s pin-drop quiet on Norfolk Street as you pace back and forth, searching for The Back Room’s tell-tale toy store façade. A low metal gate marked Lower East Side Toy Co. signals that you’re in the right place; you push it aside to descend into an alleyway suffused in a hazy, champagne yellow. Behind an unmarked door a bouncer waits to ask the password. Proletariat, you mouth, slipping into the crimson darkness within. Inside, Victorian settees in brothel red line the mezzanine floor, where locals sip Prohibition-styled cocktails out of ceramic teacups. On the walls, pale-limbed lovelies framed in ornate gold pose impishly above a live jazz quartet that’s just begun to play. Then perhaps, if you’re a VIP or press, the bartender pushes open the bookcase to a strictly guarded back room within a back room, a secret room where certain celebrities may or may not also be unwinding. Taking in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and an enormous cushion in Arabian Nights azure, you find yourself feeling like a superstar as well…at least until it’s time to go home.

102 Norfolk St. (betw. Delancey & Rivington Sts.); 212-228-5098; see The Back Room’s Facebook page for Monday night’s “Lucky’s Lounge” password, which is updated on a weekly basis; Sunday-Wednesday: 7:30 p.m.-around 2:30 a.m.; Thursday: 7:30 p.m.-3 a.m.; Friday-Saturday 7:30 p.m.-4 a.m. For reservations, email thebackroomnyc@yahoo.com. No fur allowed.
Prices: cocktails: $10-$14; beer: $7; wine: $8.

2. 2nd Floor on Clinton: Best WAY to Impress Your Significant Other
“Why can’t we just stay in tonight?” complains your date as you enter Lower East Side bar Barramundi with a crush of sports fans. With a knowing smile, you lead the way into the lounge’s recesses and to a door marked “Private,” where, to your date’s disbelief, you press the nearby buzzer. Soon enough the entrance opens, revealing a comely hostess who beckons you to follow her up a wooden staircase washed in ivory candlelight and into an elegant parlor. Discordant gypsy violins hum softly as you recline in the burgundy window seat to sample port and absinthe-flavored chocolates. “This is a haven,” your date exclaims, and you can’t help but agree, realizing that you’ve just discovered the perfect way to go out while remaining right at home.

67 Clinton St. (enter through Barramundi); 212-529-6900, www.2ndflooronclinton.com; Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 7 p.m.-2 a.m. (last entry at 1 a.m.). Inquire in person about their private online reservation system.
Prices: cocktails: $14-$16; beer: $10; wine (by the glass): $14; wine (bottle): $42-$95; liquor: $12-35; chocolates, assortment of three: $9.

3. Apotheke: Best WAY to Feel Like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
You’re about to give up the hunt for Chinatown’s Doyers Street but suddenly there it is, coiling off the Bowery like a scrap of serpentine lore snatched from some urban fairytale. There, concealed beneath the faint aura of spices and a sign marked “Chemist,” you uncover the entrance to Apotheke.
I guess I’m not in Manhattan anymore, you muse, clasping the lion-etched brass handle and opening the door. Inside, high-backed fainting couches dazzle in sea green and burgundy, illuminated by the garnet- and sky-colored lamps dangling above. Behind the marble bar, tinctures and potions beckon like liquid gems—come closer. You take the bait, ordering a creamy coconut blend that soon turns into two before you finally slip back out into the clove-soaked evening, already plotting your return.

9 Doyers St. (betw. Bowery & Pell Sts.); 212-406-0400, apothekenyc.com; Monday-Saturday: 6:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday: 8 p.m.-2 a.m. For reservations, email info@apothekenyc.com.
Prices: cocktails: $15-$18; wine: $13; champagne & sparkling wine: $18-$415;

4. Sake Bar Decibel: Best Man Cave Since Fred Flintstone’s
Searching for a speakeasy where kitsch is king? Look no further than Decibel, a Japanese sake den buried beneath trendy East 9th Street. After spotting the blinking red “On Air” sign and sleet-gray awning, descend the staircase below street level and enter Decibel’s dimly lit cavern. In the front room, graffiti-coated walls and a disco ball set the stage as you wait to be seated, which, before 7 p.m. on a weekday, shouldn’t take very long at all. In the secluded back room beyond, red lanterns cast a warm glow over vintage sake labels and Transformers action figures frozen in fighting postures behind the bar. The plain, translucent elixir that soon arrives at your table is also more than meets the eye—if you’re not already a sake lover, consider yourself converted.

240 E. 9th St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.); 212-979-2733, sakebardecibel.com; Monday-Saturday: 6 p.m.-2:50 a.m.; Sunday: 6 p.m.-12:50 a.m. No Reservations, walk-ins only.
Prices: sake (5 oz.) $8-$33; sake (bottle) $18-$187; beer: $5-$6; plum wine: $8; Japanese spirits: $5-$20; food: $1-$11.

5. Please Don’t Tell (PDT): Best Reason to Hit Redial
Saturday night; the roar of St. Mark’s Place. Inching past a cluster of frat boy types you enter Crif Dogs, a hot dog dive concealing a 1930s phone booth that also serves as PDT’s elusive entrance. You pick up the phone, follow the instructions. I hope they answer, you think to yourself, recalling all the times you couldn’t get through before finally landing tonight’s reservation. One minute that feels more like 10 elapses and then…the door on the other side of the booth slips open. As the hostess ushers you to your seat passed a stuffed black bear sporting fangs and a hat you notice something even odder, considering the neighborhood you’re in—tranquility. Yes, somehow you’ve found a hip East Village hotspot where you don’t have to fight for a seat or the bartender’s attentive service, even if you did have to fight to get in.

113 St. Mark’s Pl. (betw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A; enter through Crif Dogs), 212-614-0386, pdtnyc.com; Sunday-Thursday: 6 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Friday-Saturday: 6 p.m.-3 a.m. Table reservations are made same day only beginning at 3 p.m. ; bar seats are first-come, first-served.
Prices: cocktails: $15; beer: $7; wine: $12-$16; food (from the Crif Dogs menu): $5-$8.

I quit smoking in May 2002 and was diagnosed with first-stage emphysema in May 2004. I asked my doctor what the next step was to get rid of the disease; he said there was no known cure for emphysema and the most important thing I could do was not return to smoking. He also said that second-hand smoke exposure was just as dangerous to me as smoking my own cigarettes, and to avoid it in the same manner.

I was very fortunate to live in a smoke-free dwelling. My landlord at that time was a New York City fireman, and was completely opposed to anyone smoking in his four-unit home. In 2009, New York City fire marshals determined that 556 fires had been caused by careless smoking, so in the lease agreement that I—and the three other renters—signed was an addendum about the no smoking policy. I have since moved into a three-family house that also has a smoke-free policy in the lease.

At this time, most New Yorkers living in multiple dwellings are not as fortunate as I am. There is no safe level of second-hand smoke exposure for anyone. Even people who have never smoked a cigarette themselves are exposed to low levels of second-hand smoke and can have the same lung abnormalities seen in smokers.

In our city, 200,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke in their own homes. I feel that smoke-free housing is vitally important—and according to a recent survey commissioned by the city, 64 percent of New Yorkers agree, saying they want to live in smoke-free housing. In fact, in another recent poll done by the Coalition for a Smoke-free City, 58 percent of New Yorkers questioned said they would shell out more money to live in a smoke-free environment.
I applaud the new legislation being proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration, which would require building owners and managers to disclose their buildings’ smoking policies. It is designed for informational purposes only and would not specifically state whether buildings should or should not allow smoking. The requirement would afford potential tenants and buyers, including the 86 percent of non-smoking New Yorkers, to make an informed decision regarding this issue.

It is also a great fit for New York State’s Real Property Law, which states that every tenant has the right to be free of “dangerous, hazardous or detrimental” conditions. It will not affect exiting leases, but renewal leases will be required to include the information about the property’s policy on smoking. In addition, all tenants will be informed of their building’s smoking policy once the new policy goes into effect.

Since quitting smoking 10 years ago, I have devoted my life to helping others quit, as well as advocating for policies that curb the public’s exposure to secondhand smoke. I feel that this policy makes good sense on countless levels. I urge you to support this policy, which will help improve the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.

Adam Steiner is the SmokeFree project counselor at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.

Where the children go, the schools follow. In a sure sign that Lower Manhattan is adding more families than ever (our residential population has doubled in the last 10 years), a new child care center and preschool has opened off Washington Street across from Battery Park City.

Just up the Hudson in North Battery Park City, Harry’s Italian has officially opened its doors, thus completing the restaurant row openings around the Goldman Sachs building. As usual, if you see any new retailers or spot changes to a longtime friend, please email me at tre@downtownny.com and I’ll check them out.

The Learning Experience  Children’s Academy
20 West St. (Entrance at 28 Washington St., betw. Morris St. & Battery Pl.), 212-797-1110, thelearningexperience.com.
Mr. Bubbles the elephant roams the halls, walls are decorated in a fairy tale theme and everyone gets a nap. This is the blissful life of a child enrolled at The Learning Experience, a child care center and preschool for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. The center will celebrate its grand opening May 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with games, vendors, prizes and a ribbon ceremony. Center Director LaToya Dawkins said activities are play-based and teach children how to explore and learn from their natural environments. At each stage of development, children are preparing for the next level, whether they are just spending time on their tummy building strength, getting potty-trained or learning words in Spanish or Mandarin.
Though the academy has more than 100 locations throughout the country, the West Street location is the first in Manhattan. The academy has more than 30 years of experience in the child care and pre-kindergarten business, and developed The Learning Experience Academic Program (LEAP), which consists of three classes separated by age and developmental stage. Add in phonics instruction and curriculum that includes American Sign Language, and children will be as prepared as possible when they enter kindergarten, Dawkins said.

Harry’s Italian Pizza Bar
225 Murray St. (betw. North End Ave. & West St.), 212-608-1007, harrysitalian.com.
Chef Nick Angelis and restaurateur Peter Poulakakos are teaming up again, this time to bring a new pizza parlor to a community hungry for some more Italian. The restaurant features both round and square pies with toppings such as meatballs, prosciutto or broccoli rabe. Pastas include gnocchi, seafood linguine and manicotti. Or, enjoy an entrée such as chicken parmesan, veal saltimbocca or filet of sole. Harry’s also offers a variety of wines for the perfect pairing.
Delivery and takeout will be available throughout Lower Manhattan and a weekend brunch will be served on Saturdays and Sundays. This new venture is the fourth pizza bar and third outpost of the Harry’s Italian brand, said Kate Domaingue, who represents the group. Angelis and Poulakakos first partnered to create Adrienne’s Pizza Bar and later opened Harry’s Italian Family Style on Gold Street, as well as a location in Rockefeller Center.