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October 29, 2004
Farmingville, the movie
In the summer of 2000, amid growing tensions between longtime
residents and illegal immigrant day laborers in the Long Island town
of Farmingville, two young Mexican men were lured to a job site by
white supremacist youths and beaten nearly to death. Many
documentaries might be content to begin and end with that grim story,
but "Farmingville," a new one produced and directed by Carlos Sandoval
and Catherine Tambini, goes much further, taking the attempted murders
as a starting point for larger questions about hatred, tolerance and
the future of labor and immigration law in this country.
In the late 1990's, some 1,500 workers from Mexico flooded
Farmingville (population: 15,000), lured by the promise of work in the
contracting, landscaping and service industries. Soon residents were
complaining about overcrowded rental housing — up to 30 men in one —
and the packs of men standing on street corners, waiting for work.
One disgruntled resident, Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, started a group to
protest the immigrants' presence; other groups quickly sprang up to
protect the workers' rights, including an informal union organized by
the laborers. The film soberly documents how legitimate
quality-of-life grievances like overcrowding and noise can degenerate
into racially inflected intolerance.
-- full story --
MOVIE REVIEW | 'FARMINGVILLE'
When the Pursuit of a Living Wage Leads to Violence
By DANA STEVENS, The New York Times
2004 October 29
In the summer of 2000, amid growing tensions between longtime
residents and illegal immigrant day laborers in the Long Island town
of Farmingville, two young Mexican men were lured to a job site by
white supremacist youths and beaten nearly to death. Many
documentaries might be content to begin and end with that grim story,
but "Farmingville," a new one produced and directed by Carlos Sandoval
and Catherine Tambini, goes much further, taking the attempted murders
as a starting point for larger questions about hatred, tolerance and
the future of labor and immigration law in this country.
In the late 1990's, some 1,500 workers from Mexico flooded
Farmingville (population: 15,000), lured by the promise of work in the
contracting, landscaping and service industries. Soon residents were
complaining about overcrowded rental housing — up to 30 men in one —
and the packs of men standing on street corners, waiting for work.
One disgruntled resident, Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, started a group to
protest the immigrants' presence; other groups quickly sprang up to
protect the workers' rights, including an informal union organized by
the laborers. The film soberly documents how legitimate
quality-of-life grievances like overcrowding and noise can degenerate
into racially inflected intolerance.
As Ms. Bianculli-Dyber's efforts draw support from extremist hate
groups nationwide, verbal and physical harassment of the workers
escalates, and the residents argue bitterly with their local
legislators and one another. Even the beating incident of 2000 fails
to shock the community into a peaceful solution; rather, each side
uses the horrific event as further evidence for its position.
Though it has the slight, informal feel of a made-for-television
documentary shot on video, "Farmingville" is an unusually sensitive
and sophisticated piece of investigative journalism (to gain their
subjects' trust, Ms. Tambini and Mr. Sandoval lived and worked in
Farmingville for nine months during the filming.)
In 78 minutes, the film manages to do justice to the experience of the
newly arrived immigrants (who, in one of the film's few heartening
moments, gather for a morale-boosting soccer game), to the
complexities of federal immigration policy, and even to the
often-disturbing views of the quality-of-life contingent.
There is occasionally some subtle irony in the filmmakers' choice of
frame (as when Ms. Bianculli-Dyber is interviewed in front of her
collection of grinning troll dolls) but they generally steer clear of
editorializing about their subjects, no matter how extreme the views
they voice. If everyone listened to one another with such patient
even-handedness, films like "Farmingville" might not need to be made
at all.
Farmingville
Opens today in Manhattan
Produced and directed by Catherine Tambini and Carlos Sandoval; edited
by John Bloomgarden and Mary Manhardt; music by Steven Schoenberg. At
the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time:
79 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, Paul Tonna, Louise, Darren Sandow,
Matilde Parada and Eduardo.
[NYT]
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October 25, 2004
Porn and the village
On Avenue of the Americas from Greenwich Village to Chelsea, there is
more sex for sale than at any time in the neighborhood's memory.
At No. 313, near West Third Street, there are X-rated DVD's and
anatomically correct gadgets known in the sex industry as "marital
aids." A few doors down, at Crazy Fantasy, two mannequins in the
window suggest the provocative lingerie that can be found inside,
along with many more DVD's.
Stores at 597 and 599 offer more, more, more of the same, and at
Xcellent DVD, at 515, there are private booths for viewing videos,
staffed by a grim-faced worker armed with a breathing mask and a mop.
Almost a decade after Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani proclaimed war on the
sex-shop business in New York City, the industry is alive and well
and, at least in Greenwich Village, growing. The former mayor's
restrictions on the industry, passed in 1995 as a centerpiece of his
quality-of-life campaign, proved toothless after numerous court
challenges, and an intransigent industry has found a way to dodge
nearly every regulation imposed upon it.
While these stores still dot the western edges of Times Square, the
Village, which has always prided itself on being a national symbol of
tolerance, has become an example of how loopholes and weak language
can undermine a once-celebrated law.
"A lot of people think that anything goes in the Village," said
Marilyn Dorato, an officer of the Greenwich Village Block
Associations, a consortium of block associations in the neighborhood.
"I think our virtues are being held against us."
2004 September 27
In the Village, Sex Shops Multiply and Test a Neighborhood's Tolerance
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER. NYT
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October 23, 2004
On Park Slope
Guide to On Park Slope, Brooklyn.
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October 18, 2004
Google Adverts
We're now testing Google Adverts on the righthand side.
Click away if you see anything interesting.
Don't click if nothing is relevant.
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October 12, 2004
basement bhangra againt Bush (FREE mojitos )
Because this election is seen by liberals as the most crucial in
decades, political experts say that the number of anti-Bush events has
been huge and will continue to be through the convention, from Bhangra
Against Bush (free mojitos!) to Mothers Against Bush (Harvey Weinstein
and Arianna Huffington are scheduled to attend) to the Imagine
Festival (200 events in 70 locations, including "We Was Robbed,"
directed by Spike Lee, a film about racism in Florida during the 2000
election).
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October 03, 2004
Vanderbilt's privately built road, the Long Island Motor ParkwayMotor Parkway
The 1908 race was also the first time that 10 miles of Vanderbilt's privately built
road, the Long Island Motor Parkway, was used as part of the racecourse.
Vanderbilt had conceived of this private 45-mile highway, running from Flushing,
Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma, as a quick and easy route for plutocrats of the Gold
Coast era to get from New York City to their lavish Long Island estates.
And because the road was privately owned, Vanderbilt could skirt laws relating
to public road use. There was no posted speed limit, and the parkway's banked
curves encouraged high-speed driving.
Financing was provided by wealthy homeowners who sought to increase
their property values by touting access to a major roadway. Despite original
plans to keep the parkway private, it was soon opened to the public for a
$2 toll. The 11 handsome tollhouses served as year-round residences for
the toll collectors and their families. The only surviving tollhouse can be seen
at 230 Seventh Street in Garden City, where it now serves as Chamber of
Commerce offices.
[NYT]
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October 01, 2004
25A: Bucolic Sunday drive on Long Island
The notion of a bucolic Sunday drive on Long Island may bewilder anyone who
has suffered through a traffic-clogged crawl back to New York from the Hamptons.
But Long Island is funny that way. Just when you think you've got its number, it
will unsettle you, in a lovely way, by tossing unexpected gems in your path. And
nowhere is that truer than along the North Shore, where Route 25A and its
tiny spurs wend their way through winsome villages, canopies of trees, bedrocks
of history and sweeping, sandy vistas.
Route 25A itself stretches for 55 miles from Great Neck to Calverton.
DRIVING: Roundabout on Long Island
2004 September 10
By BETH GREENFIELD
THE notion of a bucolic Sunday drive on Long Island may bewilder anyone who has suffered through a
traffic-clogged crawl back to New York from the Hamptons. But Long Island is funny that way. Just
when you think you've got its number, it will unsettle you, in a lovely way, by tossing unexpected
gems in your path. And nowhere is that truer than along the North Shore, where Route 25A and its
tiny spurs wend their way through winsome villages, canopies of trees, bedrocks of history and
sweeping, sandy vistas.
Route 25A itself stretches for 55 miles from Great Neck to Calverton, where it merges with Route 25;
the section from Great Neck to Port Jefferson has been designated a New York State Heritage Trail. The
route has served as a conduit for leaders, from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, and as a
road to riches for barons, from the Astors to the Vanderbilts, who built opulent mansions nearby
during the Gatsbyesque Gold Coast period of the early 20th century. Today, it carries suburbanites
tucked into air-conditioned S.U.V.'s, and a western Nassau stretch is lined with chain stores. But stick
it out, and 25A will reward you with the charms of a country lane.
A doable stretch for a leisurely trip starts at Port Washington, 25 miles from Midtown Manhattan, and
ends at Kings Park and Gov. Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park, 50 miles east of the city.
The road is the northernmost east-west route in this part of the island, closest to Long Island Sound.
But because the shoreline juts up and down wildly, creating peninsulas that resemble dinosaur heads
on maps, you'll often have to take smaller side roads up north to the water, then go down and up
again to get to the next peek of shore. That only adds to the excitement of the drive: you meander
along, knowing that the water lies in wait, but each time it pops into view it's still a stunning, beautiful
surprise.
For a historical perspective, a good first stop is the secluded Sands Point Preserve in Port Washington.
It's an appealing tangle of wooded trails, but it's also home to Falaise, one of the few remaining Gold
Coast mansions, now run as a museum. Sands Point is a sleepy site, below the radar. The house,
accessible only in guided tours, was built in 1923 for Harry F. Guggenheim, who founded Newsday.
It's a massive French-eclectic structure with steeply pitched roofs and a round, medieval tower, its
insides frozen in time with collections of 16th-century paintings and furniture.
Another combination of nature and history awaits 13 miles to the northeast, off 25A in Oyster Bay,
which sits like a pearl in the crook of land that forms Oyster Bay Harbor. It's a classic American village
with a few twists: a strollable Main Street with a smattering of Italian delis, a harbor sprouting a forest
of thin white sailboat masts and a favorite son named Billy Joel.
But way before Billy Joel, Oyster Bay claimed Theodore Roosevelt. At Sagamore Hill you'll find Teddy's
rambling Queen Anne house perched atop a peaceful, breezy knoll. You can enter the house only
through a tour led by a National Parks Service ranger (which is fascinating if you have the time), but
you're free to roam the orchards and pastures of the sweeping grounds.
Also worth a stop is the ex-president's grave site, down the road in the 300-year-old Youngs
Memorial Cemetery. Next door is the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary, the first national Audubon
songbird sanctuary. It's a haven with a floor of fragrant wood chips and a ceiling of towering pine and
oak branches. Goldfinches and tufted titmice flutter in the trees, and winding paths beckon you to
stroll through sun-dappled forest.
Farther east you can find a more vigorous hike. Drive through the precious, blink-and-you'll-miss-it
village of Cold Spring Harbor and then due north to the Lloyd Neck peninsula and Caumsett State
Historic Park. Skim up across the isthmus that connects Lloyd Neck to the mainland and catch
breathtaking views of Cold Spring Harbor. The spectacular 1,500-acre park offers a bit of everything:
meadows; marshes; gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted; groves of tupelo and beech trees; a barn of
cows; trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding; and a rocky shoreline for swimming and fishing.
For more beachy pleasures, continue on to the neighboring peninsula of Eatons Neck. To get there,
head back down to 25A and journey through hip Huntington, quaint Northport and the exclusive
community of Asharoken, perched along a lengthy isthmus. When you hit Eatons Neck, you'll see the
entrance for a Coast Guard station. You will need to call ahead to gain access to the base, where you
can visit the second-oldest lighthouse on Long Island (the oldest is Montauk), built in 1799 after more
than 200 ships crashed against treacherous reefs. Though you can no longer go inside, the bright
white lighthouse is still amazing to see up close, especially as it sits, surreal and anachronistic, within
a small suburban cul-de-sac of Coast Guard housing.
Continue to the tip of the peninsula and you'll arrive at windswept Hobart Beach — the park for this
small community, a resort destination from the 1930's to 50's that lured luminaries like Eugene O'Neill
and Marlene Dietrich. The spit of sand is a fine place to catch a sunset before heading back to the city,
though a better spot is 15 miles east, at Sunken Meadow State Park.
The Jones Beach of the North Shore, Sunken Meadow has nature trails, golf courses and a curious
rooster-hen duo that roams the property. But the high point is, simply, the wide sandy beach, flanked
by the silvery sound and an expanse of boardwalk.
On a recent evening, David Bingham, a 76-year-old insurance salesman who lives in nearby East
Northport, was stretching on the boards, where he says he walks and runs every single day, even in
the snow. "You'd have to look the world over to find a more beautiful place than Long Island," he
declared, squinting into the slowly sinking sun.
The New York Times
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