By Joshua Rosenau

Ed Kayatt, founder and publisher of Our Town, died Sunday afternoon at the age of 90 at his home on the Upper East Side.

Family, friends and colleagues remembered Kayatt as a vehement defender of the interests of Our Town’s readers over the span of his 30-year career as leader of the paper.

Kayatt was inexperienced in newspapers when he started Our Town in 1970, but he grew the paper by focusing on local problems – from negligent landlords to crooked car mechanics to animal abuse.

“Anybody could walk in. If you had a problem with your landlord, a justifiable problem, he’d be on the front page the next week,” son Richard Kayatt said.

Richard Kayatt served as an assistant publisher alongside his father at the paper’s inception.

Manhattan Media acquired the company in 1990. Straus News purchased it in January.

Irving Lepselter spent 15 years working under Kayatt, crafting the ‘Cityscape’ series of editorial cartoons.

Lepselter said that he remembered Kayatt as a hard-nosed newspaperman with a soft spot for animals.

“He had an office filled with creatures, with dogs he would take in and cats he would take in,” he said. “It looked like it was an animal shelter.”

Arlene Kayatt, ex-wife and former investigative reporter at Our Town, described Kayatt as a firm but fair man, who commanded respect.

“People respected him, but they also knew they didn’t want to do the wrong thing because they knew they’d be called on it.”

Kayatt’s longtime companion Nancy Sexton was distraught over the loss.

“He was the love of my life,” she said.

Kayatt is survived by daughters Stacy, Julia, and Linda; and sons Richard, Michael and Lawrence.

 

Our Town founder and publisher Ed Kayatt pictured at rally to stop scientific testing on live animals

]]> http://nypress.com/ed-kayatt/feed/ 0 http://nypress.com/straus-news-enters-the-manhattan-neighborhood-news-market/ http://nypress.com/straus-news-enters-the-manhattan-neighborhood-news-market/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:23:54 +0000 NY Press http://nypress.com/?p=60955 Family-owned media company returns to its NYC roots

Jeanne Straus, President of Straus News, looks over issues of her company’s newly acquired New York City weeklies with William Pecover, Tom Allon and Richard Burns of Manhattan Media. Photo by Aaron Adler.

Straus News, a leading community news publisher and owner of weeklies in the tri-state region, today acquired Manhattan’s premiere weekly newspapers.

The weeklies include one of New York City’s best-known papers, Our Town, along with its sister publications Our Town Downtown, The West Side Spirit, The Chelsea Clinton News and The Westsider, as well as NYPress.com.

These papers reach more than 180,000 unique weekly print and digital readers through free distribution to more than 3,000 upscale Manhattan apartment buildings, news boxes and in-store racks.

NYC roots

The purchase also puts the papers into the hands of a successful publisher owned by a family with longtime roots in New York City.

With the acquisition, the Straus family re-enters the New York City media market. The family made radio history when it owned WMCA Radio, 570 AM. Playing rock n roll in the 1960s, and known to Baby Boomers as the “Home of the Good Guys,” Straus-owned WMCA ranked #1 as the most listened to New York City radio station.

Later, the Straus family transformed WMCA Radio into New York’s premiere talk radio station, with well-known hosts such as Barry Gray, who also wrote regularly for Our Town.

“We’re committed to local news and covering the issues that matter to people’s everyday lives,” said Straus News Publisher Jeanne Straus, who lives in West Side Spirit territory. “We relish the opportunity to take over publishing these terrific papers in the greatest city in the world.”

Tom Allon, the long-time publisher/editor of the Manhattan Newspaper Group, will remain as president and CEO of Manhattan Media.

“I’m very happy that we have found in Straus News a buyer who understands community journalism, the neighborhoods of Manhattan and recognizes the need to keep these five newspapers vibrant parts of our city,” Allon said. “After more than a quarter century of being involved with West Side Spirit and Our Town, I look forward to being a regular reader of these award-winning publications.”

Richard Burns, general partner of Isis and chairman of Manhattan Media, added: “We’ve been pleased and proud owners of the newspapers for more than a decade. They’ve not only played important roles in their communities but have also produced consistent financial returns for us. We know that Straus News has the know-how and commitment to make these papers a continuing vital part of the New York landscape.”

Following today’s sale, Isis continues to own and produce media properties like New York Family, the New York Baby Show, City & State (for professionals in city and state government in New York), as well as AVENUE magazine and Dan’s Papers LLC in the Hamptons.

Isis bought the newspapers it is selling in 2001.

About Straus News

Prior to acquiring these five publications, Straus News has been publishing nine local weekly newspapers and associated Web sites in the New York-New Jersey- Pennsylvania region.

Straus News also publishes Dirt, a magazine covering the local “green scene.”

Owned for decades by the Straus family, the papers focus on neighborhood issues that matter to people’s everyday lives, with a commitment to reporting the tough local stories while highlighting neighborhood successes and achievements.

The newspapers have won numerous awards for news coverage and editorial and advertising excellence, including first place for in-depth reporting for a series about heroin addiction and a prestigious National Education Writers Award.

The newspapers are distributed weekly to more than 80,000 homes.

A new queen has been crowned. After two rounds of semifinals and a final round on the evening of Nov. 13, the judges of Our Town’s Karaoke Idol event picked a winner.

All three events took place at the dinner clubs Lips. As the clock approached contest start time at 9:30, the crowd grew and the judges convened: Lee Evans, an award-winning producer; Carol Henning, a performer from Tandava Arts; and Paula Liscio, an opera singer and vocal coach.
Nicole Ortiz launched the competition with a soulful rendition of “I’m Every Woman,” but it was her second number, “I Will Always Love You,” that gave goosebumps to everyone and earned her a standing ovation.

Host Blackie O put it well, saying, “I feel as though Whitney Houston rose from the grave, put clothes on and performed for us tonight.”

Claudio Lake looked stunning and festive in his finale outfit, complete with matching blue hair and pants, but the judges felt that his song choices weren’t the best.

Our BBBBBD (Big Beautiful Black Broadway Bound Diva) Natalie Randall thrilled the house with her first number, “I Love You I Do,” but her second performance was marred by a technical glitch that prevented her from seeing the lyrics. She was comforted by the judges’ comments that she handled the mishap like a pro.

Thinking out of the pop-and-rock box, Maggie De Silva sang Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and a country ballad from Faith Hill, “Like We Never Loved at All.” When complimented by the judges on how glamorous she looked, Maggie replied she was trying to keep up with Blackie O. Later, Blackie O pointed out to her that it was no competition because what we were seeing in her own case was a result of tons of make-up and having to shave all over. To which Maggie (an RG, or real girl, in drag-queen parlance) wittily replied, “I do the same thing, too.” That brought raucous laughter from the audience.

Despite the dramatic ending to his second song “So Amazing” by Luther Vandross, the judges lamented that the Mike Vocalz that wowed them in the first preliminary just wasn’t there that night.
Lauren Abrami brought sexy to the contest with her almost X-rated performance of “Bad Romance,” with the mic stand sometimes doubling as a stripper pole. It was her rendition of Pink’s “Nobody Knows” that was most impressive, as she tackled the wide octave range of the song with ease.

The judges took a long time to deliberate, explaining that “blood is at stake.” Ultimately, Nicole Ortiz won the title of Karaoke Idol and $1,000. A very close second was runner-up Lauren Abrami, who won $500. Both get recording studio time as well.

With the winners & the other finalists still onstage, flanked by all of the Lips performers, Blackie O concluded Karaoke Idol 2012. So much fun, excitement and enjoyment was had by everyone, nobody was ready to leave.

The Yorkville Bank building is expected to be the Upper East Side’s newest landmarked building. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

Late last month, the LPC met to hear testimony about the historic building, which it described as “an elegant Italian renaissance revival-style structure.”

The Yorkville Bank, which was established in 1893 by German stockholders, first operated out of an office on Third Avenue and East 85th Street. In 1905, they commissioned Robert Maynicke, a German-born architect who had designed the Germania Bank Building, now a city landmark, to construct the current four-story building of granite, limestone, brick and terra cotta.

The LPC and those supporting the effort cite the building’s cultural history as an important factor in the designation decision.

“This building is significant not only for it architectural integrity but its representation of the German-American community that once populated this part of Manhattan,” said Tara Kelly, executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, who testified in support of the designation at the recent hearing. “This area of Yorkville centered around the ‘German Broadway,’ which had all kinds of businesses that supported the community, and unfortunately there isn’t much left of that.”

While architecturally valuable buildings are sometimes marred by haphazard additions, proponents of landmarking the bank building point to the 1923 addition by architect P. Gregory Stadler, designed to replicate Maynicke’s original structure, as an enhancement and asset of the aesthetic. They also assert that while the facade has been slightly altered since it was constructed, the main features that make it stand out are still intact and are the most prominent aspects of the building.

“Although the ground-floor windows were elongated in the 1990s for use as show windows for the retail enterprise, the elegant arched openings, separated by full-height pilasters and flanked by delicate roundels, were left intact,” the LPC stated in their summary of the landmark merits. “The building’s massive sculpted bronze entrance doors, second-story triangular pediments supported by scroll brackets, classical window surrounds and two imposing cornices have all survived as well.”

Others pointed out that as the neighborhood continues to grow in popularity, it will be more urgent to protect worthy buildings with landmark status.

“Just as the opening of the Second and Third Avenue elevated railroads brought initial urbanization to Yorkville, work on the Second Avenue Subway has brought new construction to the area and development pressure will only increase with the line’s eventual opening,” said Nadezhda Williams of the Historic Districts Council.

The building changed hands several times over the course of its history but continued to operate as a bank until 1991, when it was converted to retail space on the ground floor and a fitness center on the upper floors. It is currently owned by the Related Companies, which supports the designation, and houses the Gap and an Equinox gym.

“If the owner is for it, then typically, it goes right through,” Kelly said of the chances that the LPC will vote for the designation.

City Council Member Jessica Lappin has also expressed her support for the landmark, and Lo van der Valk, president of the Carnegie Hill Neighbors, praised the building, saying that its massive doors “remotely evoke a modern industrial counterpart to the Gates of Paradise of the Florence Baptistery.”

The LPC will likely agree, and is schedule to vote on the Yorkville Bank Building’s application on Tuesday, April 17.

Chris Bragg.

From City & State Managing Editor Andrew J. Hawkins:

Here at City & State, we don’t normally toot our own horns. But today we’ll make an exception. Two of our reporters, Chris Bragg and Laura Nahmias, were honored with the New York Press Association’s 2011 “Writer of the Year” distinction. Chris took home the top prize, Laura the runner-up, but in our eyes both are equally commendable. On Chris’s award, the NYPA judges wrote: “This is a powerful body of work, consistently characterized by high-profile (meaning high-difficulty) topics, deep and detailed reporting, and sharp writing that keeps the reader engaged.” On Laura’s award, they wrote: “I’m from 3,000 miles away and don’t know New York well, but I was drawn to these stories.” Laura also won second place for best news story, and first place for best news/features series in her division. And there’s more! The paper as a whole took home several additional prizes: third place for coverage of education, third place for in-depth reporting, third place for coverage of local elections and third place for coverage of elections/politics. Our photo editor, Andrew Schwartz, was honored in his category for feature photos. Congratulations to all of them. We couldn’t be more proud.

Laura Nahmias.

Andrew Schwartz.

Three other Manhattan Media community newspapers were also honored with awards from NYPA this year. See a full list below with shots of the winning photos and links to the winning articles:

Our Town Downtown

Coverage of the Arts, Second Place

Best Special Section Cover, First Place, ““Dynamic and eye-catching.  Great balance of color.  Has fun with a recognizable NYC aerial image. Relays the section’s focus well, and in a unique way.”

The Special Sections Cover first place winner.

Sports Feature, Second Place,  “The Extraordinary Sports—and Sportspeople—of Downtown Manhattan”

Best Use of Color, Third Place

Our Town

Best Column, Third Place

Best Feature Photo, First Place

First Place Feature Photo winner for Our Town. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

West Side Spirit

Best Graphic Illustration, Third Place

Best Special Section Cover, Third Place

Third Place Special Section Cover for the West Side Spirit. Cover by Ed Johnson.

Best Feature Photo, Second Place

Second Place Feature Photo winner for the West Side Spirit. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

The Japan Society raised $12.5 million for earthquake releif under Motoatsu Sakuri's s leadership. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

By Laura Shin

Just two days after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Japan Society in New York had raised $350,000 in relief funds. A year later, it has raised $12.5 million.
As a cultural institution, fundraising isn’t one of the Japan Society’s primary functions. But Motoatsu Sakurai, president of the Society, made it a top priority after the disaster struck his home country last year.
“We are determined to help Japan as much as possible,” he said. “With the magnitude of this disaster, you need at least 10 years to see recovery. So when it comes to money for Japan, we want to keep our door open.”
The Japan Society’s relief fund for the Great East Japan Earthquake is the sixth largest in the United States. The Red Cross’ is the largest.
“I saw how hard he was working with the businesses here to raise funds,” said Matthew Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District, who nominated Sakurai for an OTTY and won one himself. “It was such a horrible disaster. It was great that New Yorkers could do their part and he really led that effort in a big way.”
Sakurai was named president of Japan Society in 2009. He was formerly CEO of Mitsubishi International Corporation. In 2006, he became the first business executive to serve as ambassador and consul general of Japan in New York.
After 40 years in the private sector then serving as ambassador, Sakurai said he is pleased to have had a chance to work in different fields and ultimately transition into the nonprofit sector.
“The purposes in the three sectors are different,” said Sakurai, 67. “In the private sector, you have to make money. In government, you have to think about the national interest, and in an NGO, my definition of purpose is to think about the people.”
Japan Society was established in 1907 with a mission to bring “the people of Japan and the United States closer together though mutual understanding, appreciation and cooperation.”
The Society is home to an art gallery, a performing arts program, a film program, a lecture program, an education program, a library and a language center that offers Japanese language courses.
Sakurai is the first Japanese person to lead Japan Society.
“They wanted to change the mood. They were interested in having a Japanese person, so I said, ‘Why not?’”
Sakurai’s extensive career as a businessman also prepared him for the job. He became president at a challenging time, he said; the organization’s endowment was depleted and he had to find ways to reduce costs and enhance revenue. As of last year, they were able to break even.
Sakurai said the donations coming in for earthquake relief have declined significantly. He hopes to continue to raise money for the victims of the disaster. Japan Society has distributed $7.2 million of its funds to 19 different organizations that directly serve the people affected by the earthquake.
“We are very appreciative of the American people helping out the Japanese,” he said.
Even though he is from Japan, Sakurai said his favorite part of his job is learning new things about Japanese culture.
When he is not working, Sakurai said he enjoys playing golf. He came to the United States in 2000 and currently lives on the Upper East Side. He is married and has two daughters who live and work in the United States. 

—Tom Allon, President and CEO
—Josh Rogers, Our Town contributing editor

To read our OTTY profiles click on a recipients name below:

East Sider of the Year, Carolyn Maloney

Bravest and Finest, Lt. Jason Rigoli

Bravest and Finest, Officer Chris Helms

Culture Club, Emily Rafferty

Culture Club, Motoatsu Sakuri

Educator, Jennifer Raab

Educator, Merryl Tisch

Educator, Matthew Goldstein

Community Builder, Matthew Bauer

Community Builder, Oscar Fernandez

Community Builder, Nancy Ploeger

Neighborhood Civic Association, Elaine Walsh

Health Care Pro, Daryl Wilkerson

Health Care Pro, Mary Cahill

Health Care Pro, Constance Peterson

Charity, Thomas Williams

Real Estate Royalty, Louise Sunshine

Real Estate Royalty, Debra Fechter

Real Estate Royalty, Joseph Mattone and Scott DeMatteis

Entrepreneur, David Brooks

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a bit about the basics of pairing wine with food. I received a lot of questions from friends who read the column and wanted more specifics, so this week I’m going to expand on some of the principles I introduced in the last piece.
The first question, which I got from more people than any other, is, “What about wine and cheese?” This seems to be an area that is more daunting and intimidating than it needs to be. The ideas behind matching wine with cheese are as simple as the ideas behind matching wine with any other food—the three basic principles still apply.
There are an enormous number of cheeses that have a marked acidity to them. This is due to the natural acids that are present in cow, sheep and goat’s milk. Under certain conditions, when those cheeses age, the enzymes that are present can make the acidity even sharper. This is the case with fresh goat’s milk cheese (or chevre, as it is called in France), which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
There are many other cheeses that have the same kind of sharpness to them. Humboldt Fog, which is also made from goat’s milk, and Bûcheron both fall into this category. In this instance, I would match them, with a wine that has acidity, as well. As I mentioned last week, this will hide the sourness and bring the more subtle flavors in the cheeses front and center.
Then there is the entire palette of blue cheeses. Many of these are so strong that they are an acquired taste, but to those who appreciate them, they are among the highest regarded in the world. A classic pairing for most robust blue cheeses is port. This goes with the second principle I discussed last week: pairing opposite tastes together. In this case, it is salty and sweet.
Even to someone who isn’t head over heels for the blue-veined curd, this pairing can make it palatable. Match a port with a blue Shropshire and you’ll taste caramel, toasted hazelnut and a host of other intense flavors you’d never thought were there.
The ultra-creamy cheeses present their own problems. With these, sometimes the fat content is so high that many people can only take a tiny portion before their palate is overwhelmed. The third principle is the best to use here; to match opposing textures. In this case, a rich and decadent Brillat-Savarin, which coats the tongue with every bite, should be matched with a heavier sparkling wine, like a blanc de noir. The bubbles clean the palate between bites, making the cheese less heavy and more enjoyable.
Aside from the flavor profiles, a popular idea in the wine and food world is to match wines and cheeses together that originate from the same area. This goes to the French idea of terroir, which is the concept that the land, the air and the specific weather patterns and climate of any area can be tasted in the food and wine that are made from the produce of that place. If a wine from Burgundy tastes like Burgundy, then wouldn’t a cheese from Burgundy match with that wine? In many cases, the answer is yes. And, staying with the Burgundy example, there are a number of runny cheeses from the area, such as époisses, that match brilliantly with the delicate and complex pinot noirs from that region.
Then I got hit with the second big question, which is “what about spicy food?” I quickly touched on it in the opening to my last piece on pairing but didn’t fully unpack it. The basic concept here is to put out the fire. It’s similar to the idea behind opposing tastes, but what you’re doing is tempering the heat. The best way to do that is to drink something with a moderate amount of sweetness to it. A riesling from the Mosel area of Germany is exactly what a spicy vindaloo wants to help cool its jets.
Keep the wine and food questions coming! And don’t be afraid to experiment yourself to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Follow Josh on Twitter: @joshperilo.

Illustration courtesy of Wiki Commons.

By Josh Rogers
John Edwards’ name resurfaced in the news last week with a report that he was a client of the Upper East Side’s “Millionaire Madam” during his 2008 presidential campaign. Regardless of the truth in the allegation, there was a better reason to bring him up again.
It’s hard to remember, but before the first caucus four years ago, Edwards appeared to have a plausible chance to win the Democratic nomination over the two better-financed candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
All three had roughly similar plans to provide health insurance to more Americans, but Edwards talked about a strategic maneuver he planned to pull in the face of certain Congressional roadblocks. His idea was to introduce a bill to end health coverage for Congress, thus challenging opponents to vote for their health care while denying it to others.
With the two-year anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s health care law coinciding with the Supreme Court debating its legality, congressional opponents have had a chance to revive their “rationing medicine” criticism. It’s as if they believe we live in a country where doctors, not insurance companies, decide on the best treatment for patients.
It may work that way under Congress’s gold-plated health plan, but it is not typical in the United States, where medications, tests and doctor referrals are often held up for approval by insurance companies.
When Republican opponents debated “Obamacare” two years ago, they clung to fantasies about what health care is like for many people with insurance. It was so easy for them to say that Obama’s plan would “lead to rationing” that it sounded like a misstatement borne out of genuine ignorance.
Rationing has been going on for a long time. Bureaucrats do make medical decisions. Those decrees are just not the ones we usually hear about because they are made in the private sector.
It still has not sunk in that Obama’s plan was an outgrowth of what used to be conservative mainstream thinking. The Clintons probably could have gotten a similar plan passed almost 20 years ago, but they rejected Republican counter-proposals. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were not only for Obamacare before they were against it, they were for it before Obama was.
In more recent years, Republican health care plans have become less reality-based.  When Rudy Giuliani ran for president four years ago, he repeatedly said that he would let individuals shop for the best health insurance at the lowest price. While it’s possible to imagine companies getting into bidding wars to insure young people who have no health problems, the free market is not so kind to people with red flags in their medical records.

Health insurance has become so expensive it can often be an overriding factor in families’ job decisions. I left my full-time job a few years ago to take care of my infant son.  It’s something I wanted to do, but it was also something my wife would have wanted to do. The difference was that I worked for a small company with a health plan that would have cost me many thousands of dollars more to add my wife and son. She works for a large corporation which can bargain for better rates—it costs her an extra $10 a week to cover me.

Ours is by no means a hard-luck story. We were fortunate to have options and were able to pick one we liked. For too many others, health costs forces people to make choices they hate and live in fear

That’s the real-world health system Obamacare is trying to change.

Josh Rogers, contributing editor at Manhattan Media, is a lifelong New Yorker. Follow him at @JoshRogersNYC.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #137, 1894, Chromogenic color print.

By Mario Naves

What would art be without fiction—that is to say, without the allusive sweep of metaphor?
Literature, music, painting, poetry, dance, film—you name it, every medium thrives when it embodies something beyond its material means. “Art that conceals art” is old news, of course, but that’s not to say it isn’t desirable or, in fact, an ongoing necessity. The human animal has craved the stuff since Day 1.
Nowadays, you know, we’re more advanced than that. Fiction—it’s so passé. At least, that’s the lesson of Cindy Sherman, an eponymous retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
Devotees of the postmodernist pioneer would argue otherwise. Hasn’t Sherman been devoted to fiction or, at least, its attendant limitations since the first time she planted herself in front of a camera? She’s made a substantial career assuming an array of divergent identities, among them B-movie ingénue, corpse, biker chick, fashionista, fairy tale princess, Upper East Side dowager, pinup girl and, in a recent work, an Icelandic Norma Desmond.
Sherman’s photographs are purposefully ersatz in costume and affect. Caked-on makeup, thrift shop wigs, garish mood lighting, cut-rate stage sets, desultory photographic technique and thank God for the advent of Photoshop—artifice is Sherman’s all. Arrant contrivance is a tool for investigating “the construction of contemporary identity,” “the nature of representation” and “the tyranny…of images.”
Reasonable avenues of inquiry, I suppose, but there’s a difference between inhabiting an invented persona and, as one wit had it, pretending to pretend. Novelty tits and a blank stare don’t prompt much in the way of sociological insight, let alone create a compelling fiction. The purpose they serve is to let us know that Cindy Sherman—front, center and oddly puritanical—is calling the shots. Here is an artist who doesn’t—or can’t—venture beyond the strictures of self. No amount of irony can redeem her cold, callow art.
Apples and Oranges—that’s a colleague’s alternate title for Rembrandt and Degas: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has a point: What commonality is shared between history’s most humane artist and its most perfect? (Really, did anything Degas touch not turn to gold?)
Box office receipts may have prompted The Met, along with co-organizers The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, to mount this jewel-box exhibition. Place the name of either artist on a banner and a steady stream of visitors is guaranteed. Still, cynicism shouldn’t prevail—at least, not initially. Part of a curator’s job is to explore the possible and render it revelatory.

To read the full City Arts article click here.