A stable attendant sweeps in front of a horse about to leave the stables

Will the Central Park horses finally be outlawed?

By Anam Baig and Sean Creamer

Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages have been a traditional New York City tourist attraction since the 1930s, but animal rights activists have been pushing for years to close the stables, free the horses and find them a home outside the Big Apple.

Three recent incidents involving the horses have resparked the debate and shed light again on the horses and the iconic tourist experience. March 3, a horse was spooked on the Upper West Side and took off, dragging a tipped carriage through heavy traffic. Last December, a horse collapsed near Grand Army Plaza at 59th Street while pulling a carriage holding three adults and a child, tossing them to the ground. In October, another horse, Charlie, died while pulling a carriage on the way to Central Park.

Those in favor of the horse carriages claim that the incidents are sporadic and don’t reflect the high standard used by the industry. The opponents claim that it’s just another day at work for the horses.

Two dueling events happened last weekend when the groups gathered to build momentum on their side as the debate rages. A slew of equestrians from all over the country gathered March 30 to attend ClipClopNYC, where the Horse-Carriage Association of New York welcomed members of the public to see behind the scenes of the industry. The event included tours of the stables, a meet-and-greet with veterinarians who work with the horses and an informational session at Central Park. The event touted the industry’s partnership with Blue Star Equiculture of Palmer, Mass., where retired horses go to live after serving on the streets of New York City.

To counter that event, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, working with other animals rights groups, held an event of its own Sunday, April 1, to protest ClipClopNYC and expose the carriage industry’s practices.

But things weren’t always so black and white for horses in the park.

Frederick Law Olmstead’s original 1870s design of Central Park was meant for horse-drawn carriages both as a means of transport and recreation. Now that those times have passed, many people are vying for the carriages’ ban, citing that the horses are put under unnecessary strain, suffer subpar living conditions and lack roaming space.

Upper West Side Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Queens Senator Tony Avella introduced legislation last spring that would ban horse-drawn cabs in the city.

“These horses get easily spooked on city streets. Its not their natural habitat,” Rosenthal said. “It’s dangerous for them and the people in the carriage. My aim is to relieve the horses of work that they are forced to do, dragging hundred and hundred of pounds of carriage and people all day long.”

At the City Council level, legislation sponsored by Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito would ban the use of horse-drawn carriages in the park, allowing electric cars to take the place of the horses as a tourist attraction.

“We support any legislation that gets these horses out of harm’s way,” said Carly Marie Knudson, executive director of NYCLASS, a group that wants to end the use of carriage horses in the city.

Steven Malone, president of the New York Horse and Carriage association with his horse Paddy

“We think the City Council’s route has the advantage of offering an alternative that saves the horses while simultaneously creating new jobs and boosting revenue to the city through the vintage replica cars,” she said.

NYCLASS was founded by Manhattan Mini Storage and Edison ParkFast owner Steve Nislick and Ed Sayres, co-president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). The ASPCA not only acts as the government watchdog for the carriage industry, it donated $250,000 to NYCLASS to support their electric car cause.

Animal rights activists such as NYCLASS, The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Friends of Animals, the ASPCA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claim that the horse-carriage industry is equine abuse in its worst form.

But those who are a part of the carriage industry say otherwise. Carriage drivers interviewed for this story were adamant that there is no animal abuse. They claim that PETA and the ASPCA, among others, have stalked carriage drivers at the park and stables with video cameras, looking for instances of abuse. But, according to the drivers, they’ve left empty-handed every time.

Conor McHugh, a carriage driver of 26 years, said protesters of the industry have yelled at customers and at times thrown water or spit on them for taking a ride.

“It’s shameful to the city that allows it—that the customers, tourists of this city, get spat on by people because they decide to take a horse and buggy ride,” McHugh said.

In order to become a driver, applicants must go through oral and multiple-choice exams proctored by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which licenses New York City’s horse carriages. After they get their license, newly established drivers take a test run with an experienced driver for a week to ensure they pick up the skills needed to successfully and safely operate a horse.

New horses from the Pennsylvania stables in Amish country are tested for their ability to work the busy Central Park streets. If the horses do not become accustomed to the incessant traffic noise, bustling crowds and gawking tourists, they are sent back.

“Maybe sometimes they get used to it, but they can get spooked,” said Edita Birnkrant from Friends of Animals, a group that proposes banning animals in the park. “They have an innate instinct. Nothing can change that. There will be times when the horse will startle, and then you have 2,000 pounds of wild animal running out of control in a metropolitan hub.”

The horse-drawn carriage industry has faced scrutiny before. In 1988, when three horses died during a heat wave, the City Council enacted a New York City Administrative Code that regulated carriage horse operation, required licensure of the horse, carriage and driver, and established standards for horse treatment and a horse health advisory board to make recommendations to the commissioner of health.

Since then, the Code has seen many amendments focused on improving the quality of life and well-being of New York City’s carriages horses.
The horses are kept in four stables on the Upper West Side, an area that has been undergoing renovations over the past 10 years, according to Steven Malone, president of the New York Horse and Carriage Association, which represents the city’s 68 carriages, 293 certified drivers and 220 privately owned horses. The stable on 52nd Street has three levels that are connected by ramps, another facet that activists say is dangerous for the horses.
The bottom level holds the carriages. Above them, the horses live in individual stables. The horses have constant access to water and food and their bedding is changed three times a day, according to various drivers who, like McHugh, keep their horses at the stable.

McHugh stood against a backdrop of stable workers cleaning out the empty stables of the horses that had left for work earlier in the morning and explained that if NYCLASS or Friends of Animals get their way, these men would lose their jobs.

“We have people in this business who inherited it from their fathers in the 1950s,” said McHugh. “That’s a long, continuous connection, and someone like the assemblywoman just proposes that we be banned? It just seems so draconian.”

Horses are supposed to work every other day and only for nine hours at a time, giving them the chance to rest after a day of lugging carriages and tourists around from the day before, a result of previous legislature to ensure the horses are treated fairly. ASPCA veterinarians examine them twice a year.

Last year, the ASPCA did an intensive study of the horses for 281 days and found no instances of abuse, according to McHugh.

“The horses have to be groomed and presented everyday. We present them everyday on Fifth Avenue,” said McHugh. “Inspection does not go on behind closed doors.”

But activists say that the abuse exists in the fact that the horses must endure the conditions of the city. Janet Restino, an artist who lives near the stables on the UWS, agrees with this sentiment.

“I don’t think it is a particularly great idea to have horses on the street during traffic and rush hour,” Restino said.

Ivanna Fairweather, a Harlem resident who was walking in Central Park on a recent bright, sunny day, said she’s in favor of a ban.

“We have so many other forms of transportation, why do we need horses? People just want to say, ‘Oh, I took a horse ride in Central Park.’ But those pretentious people don’t know that taking a walk in Central Park is so much better,” she said. “New York is a place to walk; it’s a walking city. We don’t need horses to take us places. I mean, $50 for 20 minutes? What? Are they crazy?”

“You kidding me? I lose business! It’s too noisy, it’s too crowded, nobody can move around here in the morning,” scoffed Conte. “But hey,” he rescinded, cracking a smile. “At least they’re happy.”

“They” means the group of longtime Upper East Side residents who have been coming to Conte’s for years. In recent years, a new tradition has brought the old-timers in to sing.

Every Friday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, Conte’s Market, a small butcher shop and grocery on 89th Street at York Avenue, is dominated by an ensemble of guitars, harmonicas, a mandolin and a ring of people surrounding this set-up singing along to old Italian and American folk songs.

Headed by Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior on The Sopranos, the idea for this Friday morning jam session came two years ago in February, when mid-conversation with Conte, Chianese ran home to get his guitar and started playing songs right in the shop in his native Italian.

Now there is a whole band of musicians cramped around a card table with a red tablecloth. Around them are residents singing along, slowly clapping and swaying to the music with their eyes closed or their hands folded against their chests.

Around 12:30, the crowd slowly shuffles out, Parvezur Rahman and Mamum Hossain, longtime employees of Conte’s, say farewell to all of them by name.

“It is a very good, friendly neighborhood,” said Rahman. “I know all these customers because they come in every Friday and during the week. It gets hard to do business Friday morning [with the crowd] but they’re not gonna go away until we say no, and we’re not gonna say no because they’re nice people.”

Once the crowd empties out, it is business as usual for the boys at Conte’s. The smell of cooked meats is almost unbearable as it wafts from the kitchen. Conte walks through with a giant slab of beef in his hands, which he gives to the guys behind the counter. One of the guys cuts a piece off the block of beef and hands it to a waiting costumer.

“I’ll take a corned beef sandwich,” she said immediately after tasting it.

Jim Sullivan, a longtime friend of Conte’s, raves about the meats here at Conte’s. “He is the best butcher in the Upper East Side, bar none.”

A Bronx native, Conte acquired the shop from its previous owners in 1986 after having worked there for nine years. He has run it since then but is thinking about retirement. Once he does, he will hand over the store to Hossain and Rahman. But he will never be too far from the shop—he lives right next door.

“I’ve got everything I need here,” he said. “Got my car, highway’s right there, I can be on my way and go golfing every weekend.”

A father comes in with his children. Conte greets him and the kids like old friends. While the children get their snacks, Conte hands the father a golfing club and ball, pulls back a round piece of flooring by the back kitchen, and waits as the father takes his shot. He gets it on the third time to applause and shouts throughout the store.

As he walked in, two felt-covered tables flanked his left, one of them full of men belonging to every creed, all eyeing the growing pot in the middle of the table. Farther down the corridor there was a makeshift wall with a hole carved in it. This served as a kitchen, where players exchanged chips for money through the window.

“This is where I work,” said Mooshu.

Mooshu, a nickname given him by his fellow poker dealers, has worked at illegal underground poker clubs for the last three years. Raids, robberies, high stakes and drunken players are all part of his job description, and his last place of employment—the digs on St. Marks—was shut down only two weeks ago by police. He is a 19-year-old part-time college student and a full-time card dealer.

And for the past year, he was a scheduled dealer for cash poker games at this ground-floor apartment in a grimy townhouse on St. Mark’s Place.

Two types of poker are played in this world: tournaments and ring games, or cash games. Tournaments have anywhere from two to 1,000 people playing, and the winner is the person who ends up with all the chips. Others place bets based on the time they are eliminated. There is typically an entry fee, but the chips cannot be exchanged for money.

In a cash game, like the ones on St. Mark’s, real funds are at stake and the session can go on indefinitely. On a typical weekend night, there could be up to $10,000 in the pot. Employees take rake, what is generally a five to 10 percent portion of the pot for each hand, and this is how the lights are kept on and the bouncers, dealers and cocktail waitresses continue to get paid.

To enter this illicit establishment, patrons have to go through the basement apartment door and face a glowing red security camera posted on its frame. Regulars at the poker club are usually let right in, but newcomers have to present their IDs to the bouncer and get a brief pat-down for weapons before they are allowed to enter.

According to a bouncer working the door at St. Mark’s, stringency of security depends on where the poker is taking place and what type of game is going on.

“Cash games in the LES usually have bouncers that pat you down for weapons—sometimes you can’t even have your cell phone. Some places have gun checks, where you have to give them your gun to put away while you play and then reclaim it before you leave,” described Julio, the leather-clad bouncer who greeted Mooshu at the door.

“It’s all about the type of game going on, too,” he continued. “Tourneys are not too much cash, but the cash games get big and they need more security on deck.”

Besides the security at the door, there is a screening process for every new player, all of whom are there on an invitation-only basis, usually extended by a frequent player. Another way poker clubs are promoted is through websites such as theactionfinder.com. The catch to some of these sites, however, is that they either require passwords or other security measures, and each player has to post his employment history to weed out any undercover cops.

“The first place—that was on Avenue C—got robbed and then the cops showed up. Made that place too hot, so we moved here,” Mooshu explained of an earlier bust. Security cameras, background checks of players and burly, menacing-looking bouncers are necessary precautions used to prevent robberies or raids by undercover cops.

New York gambling laws state that commercial lotteries and any type of gambling not sponsored by the city or state are illegal. Living in the city, the closest legal gambling fix is in places like Foxwoods or Atlantic City, but they requires a lot of travel.

Compare that to the slot machines found in many grocery stores in Las Vegas, and New York City’s gambling scene seems nonexistent.

Back in 2005, during what poker players call the “dark days” of underground poker, the NYPD vice squad reportedly raided two popular clubs in New York City, Playstation and the New York Players Club, arresting 39 employees and snatching nearly $100,000 in cash in total. The Broadway Club, Ace Point Backgammon and Chest Studio were also among the clubs busted that year. (The office of the deputy commissioner of public information could not provide citywide statistics on the number of gambling related arrests in recent years.)

Besides the police, the players themselves pose a threat.

“There is really no good way to say it, but it happens. Games will get robbed and people will get shot. Sometimes it’s not even a robbery, just an irate player. As long as there is money in a room, someone is going to try and take it,” said Travis C., who frequents these underground clubs.

But this tucked-away crevice in St. Mark’s is more laid back, giving it a casual, relaxed environment.

Out of the two poker tables set up, one was full that night with 10 players plus the dealer. Salt-and-pepper-haired businessmen, beer-bellied middle-agers and lanky college students, plus enough ethnicities to satisfy a U.N. General Assembly meeting, all congregated in this one small room.

“I meet all kinds of people; teachers, stockbrokers, rich Jewish widows, club promoters—everybody is here. Some of the chillest people I know are the people I’ve worked with and dealt for,” said Mooshu.

College students also regularly play at these underground poker clubs. Jason C., an acne-ridden sophomore from Fordham University, used to spend two nights a week at St. Mark’s.

“I have a legit job,” he said. “But usually I spent my salary there, playing for six or seven hours every night I’m there. I make some money, enough to feed myself for the week and to cash in again, and sometimes I make more money from one flop than I do at work. But it’s not about how much money I win, though; it’s more about the thrill of playing. And it’s about the skill that goes into it.”

While many at St. Mark’s enjoy the strategy and skill that go into playing a good game, some are there for the money and others are so hooked on the thrill of big bets they become addicted.

“You get your gambling addicts here,” said Mooshu, over a smoke and a quick dice toss in the backyard. “A guy comes in here drunk, drops a stack [of money], stumbles out of here a few bills richer or not and comes back the next day still smelling like last night. Win or lose, they’re back.”

A green tent covers the enclave where dealers and players took their breaks under plumes of smoke, discussing strategy and swapping stories. A middle-aged Chinese man sits despondently in a dark corner, taking heavy drags from his cigarette as the clack of dice continued on the pavement.

“He tilted. He just lost a lot of money tonight,” Mooshu continued. “Yo, Jim!” he called out. But there is no response from this unhappy gambler, merely a look of utter loss.

“Tilt is when a player loses a lot of his stack then does something really desperate, like go all in even if he has a bad hand. After that, they come out here looking like Jim,” explained Mooshu.

Another story he shared was about a woman who took money from her husband’s hidden safe to play poker. The dealers realized this when she paid $700 for chips with old $20 notes. “The husband came and saw that she had the money. But he didn’t say anything; he was drunk and just let her play. She comes in a lot and stays for hours and for the most part she doesn’t make money. She just bets with her husband’s bread and then they leave together and do it all over again some other night.”

A resurgence of poker parlors in New York City has seen many open up all over the city. Of course, there are online poker websites that may sate the thirst of poker players, but the experience of playing a live-action game is, for the most part, incomparable for the patrons.

“Yeah, you play online,” said one player who wished to remain anonymous. “But this is the real deal, you know? I don’t have to haul ass to Atlantic City or Vegas. And anyway, this is way better. The underground life of poker in New York City is better than any fancy table at the Bellagio.”

This surge of poker parlors has also caused more raids by the cops, according to a floor manager working at St Mark’s. “But it’s a legitimate business,” he continued. “The rent is paid, the employees are paid, the players are kept happy and fire codes are followed.”

At 9 p.m., Mooshu ended his Sunday shift and headed to another spot in Midtown, another part of the St. Mark’s rooms, where they hold tournament games.

Exiting the spot, one has to be just as discreet when entering, if not more.

“We’re gonna take the VIP exit,” he said, indicating a peeling white door across the card tables. It creaked open, revealing a dingy, badly lit staircase that leads to the front entrance of the building. One has to crouch low to get up the crooked stairs and exit through the front entrance of the townhouse, allowing patrons the utmost discretion.

And for a poker dealer, that is their best bet.

“There is a 32,000-square-foot park that is a really cherished and wonderful open space that is used by seniors and children that Related wants to turn into a high-rise,” said Council Member Jessica Lappin at last month’s Community Board 8 meeting. “I think that requires a pretty significant change in our land use.”

Council Member Dan Garodnick, who has also been pushing the city to force a ULURP review instead of allowing Related to build as-of-right on the parcel, wrote in a letter to the City Planning Commission that Ruppert Playground was created as “a park space to offset the impact of another high-density development.”

But now The Related Companies, the real estate company that bought the space in a 1983 deal with the city and has maintained it as a playground for over 25 years, has fulfilled its end of the bargain and is planning to build a 35-story high-rise on the land.

Opponents argue that it is a land use change that requires a full public review, even though it is allowed under the original contract. The playground has been closed to the public since September 2011. Related did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

“The community has come to rely on this park space as a valuable resource for outdoor activities and as an escape from the heavily congested surrounding area,” Garodnick’s letter stated. “Prior land use review and approval never explicitly considered the elimination of the park space…the city should review its implications in a full land use review process.”
Community Board 8’s territory, with over 219,000 residents, is one of the most densely populated areas in Manhattan. Only 3.2 percent of its total land area is dedicated to parks and open space.

The plan for another high-rise in this already congested neighborhood has rallied active dissent from the community, its elected officials and park advocates.

“A building makes no sense, because this community has the least amount of public space—it makes no sense to allow something like this to go up,” said Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates. He said that if the city doesn’t force a ULURP review, there may be lawsuits from the community.

In a memorandum filed Jan. 11 by the law firm Goldman Harris LLC on behalf of Ruppert Housing Company, which owns the 650-unit Mitchell Llama cooperative housing development adjacent to Ruppert Playground, “development of the playground requires a modification to the Large-Scale Residential Development Plan to change the use of [Ruppert Playground] from public open space to specify the use and build of development, if any, permitted on the site.”

The ULURP process takes about 17 months, during which time the application will go through the community board, the borough president’s office and the City Council as well as the City Planning Commission. Each phase invites public comment.
“Even though Related has no obligation to maintain the playground, they cannot use it for any development unless they change the large-scale plan with it made with City Planning,” said Howard Goldman, an attorney at Goldman Harris LLC who specializes in zoning and land.

“The legal question now is what public process Related should go through with City Planning in order to make that change in the plan,” he said.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has tried to work out a deal with Related that would offer a substitute site on which to build. She wrote in a letter to City Planning that she hopes to find an alternative solution.

“I can’t really imagine a bigger change in park space use and it deserves a ULURP, it deserves a public hearing and it deserves a chance for people to have a say,” Lappin said.

By Anam Baig

The U.N. International Holocaust Commemoration Sabbath took place Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Park East Synagogue, where the year’s first snowfall marked the memory of the six million who lost their lives during the Holocaust.

U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

Nearly 200 people attended the event, including 63 diplomats from organizations such as the U.N., UNESCO and the E.U., representing 33 countries. Addressing the congregation were U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and U.N. General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. The commemoration was led by Rabbi Arthur Schneier, spiritual leader of Park East Synagogue for over 40 years, who is a Holocaust survivor.

The U.N.’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day is Jan. 27, and this year the General Assembly will remember children who perished during the Holocaust.

But at the Sabbath, Jan. 21, multitudes of ethnicities and religions gathered in a house of worship to exalt the countless victims of Nazi rule and to remind themselves that there is continuing injustice in the world. The event also marked the anniversary of the closing of Auschwitz, the biggest Nazi concentration camp that claimed the lives of over 1 million people.

The Sabbath prayers were made early in the morning and the diplomats streamed in around 10 a.m. Despite the snow, many people showed up to offer their prayers and support for the victims of hate and discrimination.

Countries as different as Australia, Korea, Sweden and Morocco were present at this commemoration. Every man donned a kippah before entering the synagogue, symbolizing their respect for the Jewish faith and for the house of worship that they entered.

The commemoration ceremony began with Schneier addressing the congregation. He asked all of the Holocaust survivors in the room to rise. Although there were only a few scattered amongst the many in attendance, it was a powerful moment to see these aged survivors shakily stand up and reveal their brutal pasts.

“Hear the cry of the oppressed,” he urged the congregation. “Silence and indifference by the free world undermines the survival of the victims.”

Ban also expressed his feeling about the event. In his address, he thanked Schneier for continuing to teach the world about the important lessons of the Holocaust and for being a voice for interfaith peace and understanding.

“The Holocaust affected so many different groups and so many professions that it is vital to reach new audiences with this history,” he said in his speech. “Our work for human dignity will underpin all we do. And our memory of the years when that dignity was torn from so many millions—so fast, so brutally—is likewise part of the bedrock from which we operate.

Let us all work together today to realize human dignity for all and to realize the U.N.’s full potential in building the future we want.”

Ronni Thomas, a filmmaker and oddity enthusiast, has created a new web series documenting the darkness, eccentricity and mystery of the uncharted and unimaginable happenings of New York City.

Fittingly named The Midnight Archive, these videos boast an eclectic class of characters such as Sue Jeiven, a tattoo artist at East River Tattoo, and Madame Cagliastro of Brooklyn. Jeiven, who is featured in episode three, specializes in anthropomorphic taxidermy, creating lifelike tableaux from dead animals that she guts, stuffs and lovingly clothes in vintage human attire. Madame Cagliastro also deals with animals, performing mummification for pets weighing 20 pounds or less—she mummifies a dead toad in the first episode.

Episode eight, the latest on the Midnight Archive website, is entitled “Wax.” Sigrid Sarda, an artist who started making hauntingly human wax sculptures after the death of her father, hosts with her spooky collection of wax figures that line every inch of her house.

Other members of the odd ensemble who work on the series include Mitch Horowitz, author of Occult New York; Jere Ryder, conservator for the Guiness Automata collection at the Morris Museum in New Jersey; and professor Paul Koudounaris, who traveled the world photographing ossuaries and charnel houses, places constructed of human bones.
In his IKA Collective office at 15 E. 32rd St. in Midtown, Thomas sits among a giant Grim Reaper, scary child dolls and other spine-chilling items as he edits a new episode of the show.

The episode features Thomas himself discussing his collection of stereoviews, a late 19th century entertainment consisting of 3-D images projected through a stereoscope—a much older and intricate ancestor of 3-D View-Masters.
“The lecture was on my collection of macabre stereoviews, in particular my set of diableries, which are French stereo tissues from the 1860s that depict Satan’s daily life in hell. I always kind of sat on these macabre demented things, these private fetishes. When I saw the variety of people who showed up for my lecture, from Harvard professors to gutter punks to people I didn’t even know from my old high school, I decided, let’s make a film out of this stuff.”

Many of the eclectics filmed for The Midnight Archive are lecturers at the Brooklyn Observatory, an event space at 543 Union St. in Brooklyn that serves as a multipurpose room for artists. That’s where Thomas met Joanna Ebenstein, the curator of Morbid Anatomy at the Observatory and now the producer of the series.

Thomas said that after the first episode, TV networks were offering to air the show, but it would have meant less creative control for Thomas and the guys at IKA Collective, whom he says have “fostered a very artistic environment” for him to pursue his work. Television might also “exploit these people or make them look stupid,” and even though the money would be good, Thomas remains speculative about selling out his perverse brainchild.

“I want people to see these everyday people doing extraordinary things, and I wanted to give them a view from an insider, myself, who has had a lifelong fascination and respect for these things. There is a dark underside to all things, and I want to open up that side to those who are outwardly interested and to those who live two lives,” he said.

To watch, visit themidnightarchive.com.

Jonas Elrod is a filmmaker in New York who woke up one day to discover that he was having visions and could see angels, demons, ghosts and auras.

“My first vision was pretty personal,” he said. “I was in San Francisco working on a film when I woke up in my hotel room and started seeing energy and feeling energy. I saw these geometric figures and shapes—it was all very overwhelming and I didn’t understand what was happening to me.”

To get some answers, Elrod traveled the country with his girlfriend Mara, focusing on all things spiritual and religious—even the occult—to find out what was happening to him. He went to several doctors to check if there was anything physically wrong with him, but to no avail.

Elrod filmed his cross-country experience with the help of filmmaker Chloe Crespi, creating the documentary Wake Up to show the world his experience with the spiritual.

In the film, he seeks knowledge from a slew of physicians, scientists, religious teachers and spiritual leaders about his sudden metaphysical visions, but no amount of MRI scans or psychological tests determine how or why Elrod sees and hears the supernatural. In the end, he realizes that his visions are part gift, part curse, and he embraces both.

Growing up in a Southern Baptist family, Elrod was always surrounded by conservative Christians.

“You either grow up the preacher’s son or you completely rebel,” he says. “And I rebelled. It’s not like I despise religion, I certainly believe in and trust Jesus. But I wouldn’t consider myself religious. I’m certainly more of a spiritual person.
“When I visited my parents and told them about the visions, they were hesitant at first, like I was,” he continued. “But it was my mother who embraced it and started asking me questions about it. Our relationship has opened up since then, but my father does not ask me anything about my visions.”

The reaction to Elrod’s journey in Wake Up has been overwhelming. It had its festival premiere at the Southwest Film Festival in March 2009 and its New York City premiere, hosted by Sting and Trudie Styler, in April 2010.

The film has been on a series of tour and private screenings hosted by Elrod and others. The next New York City screening is scheduled for Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at Jivamukti Yoga at 841 Broadway.

“The audience reaction has been really reassuring. There are always going to be people who think you are crazy for seeing and hearing angels and dead people. But then there are those who truly believe and are moved to tears by my experiences. There is a bigger reality than the one we’re sold, and people are looking deeper than ever before. Our job as filmmakers is to get people to start asking questions, and we’ll continue doing it despite all the skeptics.”

By Anam Baig

Léman Manhattan Preparatory School, part of the Meritas group of international private and boarding college prep schools, promises a dynamic, culturally aware education for all of its pre-kindergarten through high school students.

Formerly known as Claremont Preparatory School, it was acquired by the Meritas Family of Schools, a conglomerate of prep schools, last April. It was renamed Léman Manhattan Preparatory School after its sister schools, Collège du Léman in Switzerland and Léman International School in Chengdu, China.

Both Léman campuses are located in the Financial District. Its lower school, ranging from pre-K through 4th grade, is at 41 Broad St., the former headquarters of Bank of America International—where Claremont Prep used to be.

The middle and high schools opened to students in September 2010 and are on the top four floors of the Cunard Building, located on Morris Street and Broadway right by the Wall Street Bull. The campus boasts a two-floor library, art and music studios, multiple computer labs, a café and an athletic facility with a 25-yard pool, full-size gymnasium and fully equipped exercise room.

“We are located in the heart of American history. If you look outside our window, the Statue of Liberty is there, welcoming people as she has for hundreds of years. It’s just an amazing, amazing place to be able to teach children,” said Christine Karamanoglou, interim head of the Léman middle school.

Léman Prep immerses students in a globally charged curriculum and promises an open forum for communication between parents, students, faculty and the administration, as well as with students at other Meritas schools located on three different continents.

From day one, students are encouraged to be critical, culturally aware learners. Léman’s lower school curriculum focuses on educating the child as a whole, with careful attention to math, language and art.

“Critical thinking is very important in the lower school. We strive to give our youngest students the tools they need to become independent learners, rather than just simply memorizing and reciting things they’ve read or heard,” said Rob Cousins, head of the lower school.

The middle school furthers the critical thinking process for students, giving them insight into how to use the education they acquired in the lower school in a productive way. During this time, students are introduced to an advisory group, a concept many new schools are adopting in order to ensure a safe, fostering environment for the youth.

These are usually small groups of students headed by a teacher, forums for discussion that go past academia and into the personal lives of these growing individuals. The goal of the advisory system is to ensure every student is well-rounded before continuing with more rigorous high school and college education.

The Léman Prep high school will graduate its first senior class in 2013. It provides its students opportunities for academic excellence, co-curricular activities, special projects and internships with neighboring government, nongovernmental and artistic, environmental, educational and financial organizations.

By combining facets of local and international communities in the burgeoning neighborhood of the Financial District, Léman Manhattan Preparatory School continues to excel as a global learning community.

By Anam Baig

The barricades surrounding Zuccotti Park were taken down Tuesday night, but the Occupy Wall Street movement has seemingly abandoned its former residence for warmer ground.

McGuiness, a white-bearded anarchist who prefers to go by one name, has occupied the park since September. On the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 12, he and only a few other members of the movement were hanging around Zuccotti Park, hoping, they said, for a rebirth of the revolution.

“The cold is keeping the people away, but no revolution has stopped because it was cold or rainy or snowy. When the park was evicted, there was an attempt to occupy Duarte Square, but it fell through,” McGuiness said. “Now, most of the occupiers have either gone home or are waiting for the spring—or they’re up at 60 Wall St. But I think that’s stupid; a movement loses momentum like that. Clearly, the protest wasn’t planned for the winter, even though it was started in September.

“I’ll be here, though, night and day,” he said, “whether I have to sleep under a bench or on a train.”

According to the occupiers, there were four arrests last week; three of them occurred the night the barricades were taken down. One person was arrested for sitting on a barricade and two others for lying down in the park, said OWS members. All allegedly received charges of trespassing.

An atrium at 60 Wall St., a 55-story skyscraper that is the headquarters of Deutsche Bank, is now the new meeting spot for pivotal members of the 99 percent movement. This area, as required by City Council, is a privately owned public plaza where people can meet, eat and stay warm, an ideal location for OWS members working on meetings, marches and other movement business.

Most of these occupiers, however, were hesitant to give interviews. This could be due to media burnout or, as one occupier, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed last week, rumors of CIA and FBI involvement.

The scene at OWS’ new location is decidedly low profile. As the mild winter rages on, the movement has brewed to a simmer, but some promise a full comeback by spring.