Wellness for Seniors

The elder support organization DOROT offers inexpensive wellness classes for seniors on the Upper West Side. This May and June, they will be holding regular sessions as well as one-time workshops to promote mental and physical health. On Tuesdays from 10–11 a.m., a licensed social worker facilitates a group chat to discuss memories and life experiences; from 12:15–2 p.m. on Tuesdays there is a “senior café” with coffee, tea and cookies on the 7th floor. On Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:30 a.m.–12:10 p.m., a martial arts instructor leads gentle exercise classes that focus on increasing immunity and spinal flexibility. There are also tai chi, stretching, Zumba chair and yoga classes available on a weekly basis. Other sessions and workshop topics include singing, meditation, movement, comedy, heart health, gardening and chats with doctors from Weill Cornell Medical Center. The wellness classes are $5 per class, with scholarships available. Participants should arrive 15 minutes before class starts and wear sneakers or flat rubber-soled shoes. All sessions take place at 171 W. 85th St., second floor. For more information and a complete schedule, call Katie Girardi at 917-441-3743. Homebound seniors can participate in many classes via phone.

West Side School Gets Grant for Arts

The Adolph Ochs School, P.S. 111M, was recently awarded a $50,000 grant to establish an educational theater and literacy program. The school, on West 53rd Street, is a federally designated Title I school, and 91 percent of the students’ families live below the poverty line. The grant from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children will be used to implement a theater curriculum and drama studies in the early grades, in collaboration with the group Story Pirates, which uses kids’ ideas to create and perform skits and plays. The school is committed to using drama education to strengthen literacy and engagement in the classroom.

UWS Graduate on Olympic Team

Last month, the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team announced its new lineup, and a recent graduate of the Dwight School on the Upper West Side was among them. Race Imboden, who graduated in 2011 and took a year off to focus on fencing before attending Notre Dame, will be joining the team for the 2012 Summer Games in London. He qualified for the team after his fourth World Cup event in the Men’s Foil division. Imboden began fencing at age 9, after a stranger saw him playing with toy swords in the park and suggested the sport to his parents. He qualified for his first major international team by age 16 and earned a bronze medal in the 2012 Cadet World Championships. He’s won many competitions since, and earlier this year he was one of the youngest competitors to medal in the Senior World Cup competition. Imboden said that he’s thrilled to compete in England, his mother’s home country, and credits his parents’ support and sacrifice as well as The Dwight School’s flexibility for helping him achieve his Olympic dream.

Local School Fair

P.S. 9, at 100 W. 84th St. between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, will be holding its annual Spring Fair on Saturday, May 19, from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. There will be rides and games for kids, crafts, science activities and a variety of food for sale. Proceeds from the fair support school programs.

Pesky Insects Topic of Town Hall

In some pockets of the Upper West Side, residents have been plagued by mosquito infestations in recent years, despite the city’s attempts to eradicate the populations by flushing the sewers and encouraging landlords to eliminate sources of standing water. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who said that she hears about this issue continuously from her constituents, will be hosting a town hall meeting on Thursday, May 17, from 7–9 p.m. at the Goddard Riverside Community Center, at 593 Columbus Ave., to address this problem as mosquito breeding season approaches. Pest management specialists and representatives from city and state agencies will be available to answer questions and share what they are doing as well as how residents can combat the itch-inducing insects. For more information, call Rosenthal’s office 212-873-6368 or email rosenthall@assembly.state.ny.us.

Brewer Intros Safety and Transit Bills

Upper West Side City Council Member Gale Brewer introduced three new bills to the council last week, all focused on public safety and transportation. Addressing the recently renewed concern for the safety of hotel staff members, one bill would require hotel owners and proprietors to equip their staff with silent alarms. The two other bills are aimed at accommodating electric vehicles: One would make the installation of electric charging stands eligible for revocable consent from the city, intended to streamline the process and encourage investment in these structures; and the other would establish a pilot program to install 10 vehicle charging stations throughout the city. This would be followed by an analysis of their use to determine whether more charging stations would be utilized.

Compiled by Max A. Goldstein

Friday, June 4

Eastern Dance—The Indo-American Arts Council and Asia Society present the third annual “Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance 2010.” The agenda includes two evening performances and two days of panels, workshops and demonstrations of Indian and Indian-inspired dance. The evening performances feature traditional, non-traditional, classical and post-modern dance, while the day sessions explore movement elements, rhythm and textual content. For more information, visit www.asiasociety.org. Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Ave., 212-288-6400; $16 to $20 for performances, $7 to $10 for a class.

Immigrant Experience—Author and culinary expert Jane Ziegelman talks about her latest book, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. The families—who were Irish, Italian, Eastern European Jewish and German—lived in the same building from 1863 to 1935. Each sought assimilation, but hung on fiercely to recipes from “the old country.” Includes wine and cheese reception, author talk and book signing, followed by evening service and potluck dinner. The Society for the Advancement of Judaism, 15 W. 86th St., 212-724-7000; 6:15 p.m., Free.

Baby Boomers—Town Hall presents a tribute to boomers’ music of the ’60s and ’70s, featuring Tony-nominated actresses and sisters Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway. The two share stories about growing up in New York and Chicago and perform selections from their cast recordings and works made famous by Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Carly Simon, Stevie Wonder and more. The Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., 212-307-4100; 8 p.m., $45 to $50.

Opera Cinema—Empire Opera presents the world premiere of renowned composer Thad Wheeler’s latest work, Cinema Songs. This production brings together recognized performers from both musical theater and opera, and offers a new interpretation to some of America’s best-loved movies, from Hitchcock’s Rear Window to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Empire Opera, 349 West End Ave., 917-743-7076, www.empireopera.org; 8 p.m., $30.

Saturday, June 5

Storytelling—The 54th season of “Stories at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen” kicks off today with Haitian stories from the book The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales. Stories are accompanied by music from Haitian drummer Oneza LaFontant, singers Jessica Lee and Joy Smith, and guitarist Phil Robinson. Through Sept. 25; visit www.dianewolkstein.com for details. Central Park on the west side of the pond, near 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue, 212-929-6871; 11 a.m., Free.

Spring Fair—Celebrate spring with the P.S. 9 community. Festivities include inflatable rides, face painting, games, arts & crafts, food and music. P.S. 9, West 84th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, 212-678-2812; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Free admission, games/activities $1 to $2 each.

Ocean Experts—The 2010 World Science Fair, running through June 6, includes a much-anticipated discussion about the world’s oceans with legendary marine biologist Sylvia Earle and Fabian Cousteau, grandson of the famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. They focus on the endless possibilities of oceanic exploration, with a look at new technologies transforming how we investigate the seas. Also check out never-before-released “making-of” footage from Jacques Perrin’s revolutionary film, Oceans. The Paley Center, 25 W. 52nd St., 866-811-4111 or 212-352-3101; 4:30p.m., $15 to $30.

Multi-talented—The “Lyrics and Lyricists” series ends its 40th anniversary season with a tribute to the composer, pianist, singer, actor and bandleader Hoagy Carmichael. Carmichael wrote some of the most famous American songs of all time, including “Stardust,” “The Nearness of You,” “Heart and Soul” and “Georgia on My Mind.” Tonight’s show, “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening: The Stardust of Hoagy Carmichael,” features artistic director Ted Sperling and Broadway vocalists Laura Maria Duncan, Capathia Jenkins and Clarke Thorell. Also June 6 and 7. 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 212-415-5500; 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., $52 to $62.

Sunday. June 6

Community Festival—The Enid A. Haupt Glass Garden at NYU Langone Medical Center’s Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine hosts its 12th annual community festival for families and children. The festival includes a petting zoo with baby farm animals from Green Chimney Farms in Westchester, plant potting, nature crafts and pony rides. 400 E. 34th St., 212-263-6058; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Free.

Medical Info—The Hospital for Joint Diseases at NYU Langone Medical Center hosts the 2010 Rose Dabbs Health Fair. The fair includes free medical consultations, craft and book sales and physician referrals, along with children’s activities and a magician. The Hospital for Joint Diseases, 301 E. 17th St., 212-598-6016; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Free.

Monday, June 7

Colon Cancer Cues—Learn more about colon cancer prevention on a virtual tour of a colon. Colon cancer survivors and health professionals provide tours through an 8-foot-high, 20-foot-long inflatable replica of the human colon that depicts healthy and cancer-riddled tissue. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health, 1315 York Ave., 212-821-0560; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Free.

Taste of Times Square—The annual Times Square festival showcases food from different neighborhoods and restaurants around the city, and includes live entertainment. Special musical guests perform at the Hard Rock Café stage. For more information, visit timessquarenyc.org. West 46th Street between Broadway and Ninth Avenues, 212-768-1560; 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Free.

Preservation Effort—Kathy Howe of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation delivers an informal discussion on how to submit a building or neighborhood for consideration on the National Register. The designation can provide benefits and tax incentives to owners and residents to preserve the neighborhood or building, and is the first step toward local landmark designation. Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 E. 11th St., 212-614-9107; 8:30 p.m., Free.

Roosevelt Review—A musical review featuring Broadway’s only female
composer-lyricist team, Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, raises money for Roosevelt House, Hunter College’s recently reopened public policy institute. “Einstein & the Roosevelts” is a fanciful story about Eleanor Roosevelt’s 120th birthday party hosted by her cousin, Alice, with a guest list of luminaries that include Albert Einstein. Roosevelt House, 47-49 E. 65th St., 212-650-3786; performance 7:30 p.m., dessert reception 8:45 p.m., $95.

Tuesday, June 8

Senior Steps—Choreographer Naomi Goldberg Hass and her company, Dances For a Variable Population, offer a six-class workshop for older adults that encourages participants to explore the benefits of dance in their daily lives. Participants will perform with the ensemble on the High Line Cruise in September 2010. Classes are also June 11, 15, 18, 22 and 25. Hudson Guild Fulton Senior Center, 119 Ninth Ave., 347-683-2691; 1 p.m., Free.

Get Your Culture On—Museums up and down the mile offer free admission for the 32nd annual “Museum Mile Festival.” El Museo del Barrio, The Museum of the City of New York, The Jewish Museum, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Neue Galerie New York, Goethe-Institut New York/German Cultural Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art are taking part in the festival, which includes outdoor activities for children. The opening ceremony is at El Museo del Barrio, on Fifth Avenue between East 104th and 105th streets. Fifth Avenue from East 82nd to 105th streets, 212-606-2296; 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Free.

Wednesday, June 9

Bee Talk—Samantha Bee, the most senior correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, talks about her memoir I Know I Am But What Are You?, a collection of her hilarious personal essays. Bryant Park Reading Room, Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, 212-768-4242; 12:30 p.m., Free.

Symphonic—Music Director George Rothman leads the Riverside Symphony, for the third and final concert of the orchestra’s 29th season, in “Theater for the Ears.” The finale, dedicated to three generations of music from the theater, features Rebecca Jo Loeb, winner of the 2008 Lotte Lenya International Soprano Competition. Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, 1941 Broadway, 212-864-4197; 8 p.m., $35 to $50.

Incredible Life—George Marcy’s life has been a voyage. The Ballad of George Porgie, a one-man show presented by Marcy, takes audiences from an orphanage to a tank in World War II and his role as Bernardo, opposite Chita Rivera, in the original West Side Story. Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St., 212-757-0788; 6 p.m., $25 plus two-drink minimum.

Thursday. June 10

Vinyl—More than 10,000 items, including records, posters and sheet music from the 1800s to the 1980s, are on sale. Includes genres spanning across the music world. Tip Top Shoe Building, 155 W. 72nd St., 4th floor, 212-579-0689; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Free.

Sketchy Stuff—Beginning June 10, some of the best live sketch comedy groups in North America descend on the city for SketchFestNYC. Featured shows include MUDRDERFIST, Fearsome Presents: Grease 3: THREASE, Elephant Larry, Fuct and Tom Davis Presents: 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss. The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 307 W. 26th St., 212-366-9176; 7 p.m., $10 to $90.