May Flatiron Newsletter

in this issue

	Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available Save the Date: June 12 Red Mango Opens in Flatiron Olana Debuts on Madison A Matter of Security East Side Alliance Forum on Methadone Clinics Mad. Sq. Kids Fest Second Stories: Samuel French Discover Flatiron: The Flatiron Building Safety Team Profile: James Polanco Free Flatiron Walking Tours Every Sunday Newsroom Newsletter Archives

Save the Date: June 12

You can put this one on your calendar right now: The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District will conduct its second annual meeting on the morning of Thursday, June 12, at Cipriani 23rd Street, in 200 Fifth Avenue. RSVPs are required and all BID members, including property owners, commercial tenants and residents, should register prior to the meeting so they can vote for directors. Further information will be coming shortly, but in the meantime, save this date: JUNE 12.

To register for the annual meeting CLICK HERE.

Red Mango Opens in Flatiron

Red Mango, a frozen yogurt chain with stores in seven states, has come to the Flatiron district.

Its newest unit, at 688 Sixth Avenue, between West 21st and West 22nd Streets, is Red Mango's fifth in New York City and fourth in Manhattan. Daniel Hwang, originally from Seoul, South Korea, owns the franchised store, whose specialty is frozen yogurt in either of two flavors: plain or green tea. It is available unadorned or with a variety of fresh fruit toppings. The most popular, said Hwang, are blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

Red Mango also offers drinkable blends made of frozen yogurt combined with fresh fruit. The store is open every day from 11:00AM to midnight.

Red Mango is also in California, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington State.

Olana Debuts on Madison

Olana is the name of a historic estate near Hudson, N.Y., that once belonged to the artist Frederick Edwin Church. It's also the name of a new restaurant in the Flatiron district. Owned by brothers William and Patrick Resk and by executive chef Albert Di Meglio, Olana is at 72 Madison Avenue, between East 27th and East 28th Streets. Chef Di Meglio, who formerly cooked at Windows on the World, Cellar in the Sky, Daniel and Le Cirque and who was executive chef at Osterio Del Circo, has prepared a seasonally updated menu of modern American food influenced by French and Italian cuisines. In addition to à la carte selections, tasting menus are offered.

Olana's dining room is set off by murals of Hudson Valley landscapes, plush velvet chairs and burgundy leather banquettes. A 30-foot circular bar is the focus of the main bar and lounge area.

The restaurant serves lunch and dinner weekdays, only dinner on Saturdays and is closed Sundays.

A Matter of Security

Crime and safety will be the focus of a breakfast meeting this month for property owners, businesses and residents in the Flatiron neighborhood. The meeting, co-sponsored by Commerce Bank and the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership, will feature a talk by Captain Timothy Beaudette, the new commanding officer of the NYPD's 13th Precinct.

It is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, at 8:30AM at the Commerce Bank branch at 260 Park Avenue South, at 21st Street. Captain Beaudette, who will provide an overview of crime patterns and security issues, will also participate in a Q&A session.

Because seating is limited, RSVPs are required by Friday, May 9, either by clicking here to send an email or calling 212-741-2323. To view the invitation click here.

East Side Alliance Forum on Methadone Clinics

The East Side Alliance will conduct a community forum on May 15 to discuss efforts to improve communication between community members and area methadone providers. It will be held at the New York University Palladium Building, 140 East 14th Street, at Irving Place, third floor.

A reception is scheduled from 6:00PM to 6:45PM, with the meeting to follow until 9:00PM.

For additional information, contact the District Attorney's Community Affairs Unit at (212) 335-9082. To see the invitation click here.

Mad. Sq. Kids Fest

The annual Kids Fest event in Madison Square Park, which has been scheduled for Saturday, May 31, from 10:30AM to 2:00PM, will offer entertainment, food, art activities, theater and even live animals. With TimeOut New York Kids as the presenting sponsor and a larger-than-usual crowd anticipated, the free festival will be held throughout the park instead of just at the northern end, as in past years. A stage will be set up near the Shake Shack. The popular AudraRox kids' band and the Vital Children's Theater Co. will offer some of the entertainment, Whole Foods is providing food, and the Rubin Museum of Art will be working on a Peace Flag art activity. Kids Fest is the kickoff to Mad. Sq. Kids, the Madison Square Park Conservancy's free summer entertainment series for children. This year's programs of live music, storytelling and other children-oriented attractions will take place at 10:30AM every Tuesday and Thursday from June 3 to Aug. 21 on the park's Oval Lawn.

Second Stories: Samuel French

The plate glass window says simply: "Samuel French Inc./House of Plays/Founded 1830."

Behind the window, one flight above West 25th Street, lies what just might be the oldest extant business in the Flatiron district, a publishing and licensing company whose origins go back to the first half of the 19th century and the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Samuel French is the world's largest and oldest publisher of plays and musicals for amateur and stock theater companies.

It was Thomas Hailes Lacy, a British actor who had amassed the printing plates of almost 1,500 plays, who started the business in London in 1830. In 1854, Samuel French, a young American entrepreneur who had been an agent for a New York publisher of British and American dramas, produced his own collection: "French's American Drama." The first play published under his imprint was William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A copy cost 12 1/2 cents and came complete "With Cast of Characters, Stage Business, Costumes, Relative Positions, etc. etc." French, like Lacy, started acquiring the printing plates of every play he could lay hands on. In 1859, he and Lacy became partners. By 1872, Lacy was ready to retire and sold his entire stock to French.

As the years rolled by, the Samuel French business, which began on Nassau Street, slowly moved uptown, as did the theater district. In 1924, French set up shop at 25 West 45th Street, remaining there until 1984, when it found its present location, 45 West 25th Street. The similarity of the two addresses still confuses some people, said office manager Ken Dingledine.

French also has offices in Toronto and two in California (Studio City and Hollywood), a sister company in London and a warehouse in Hurleyville, N.Y. The operation is primarily two-pronged: publishing and licensing, with the current catalog listing some 3,500 active titles. There is a constant flow of submissions by writers hoping to crack the catalog and Abbie Van Nostrand, vice president, says the company is always on the lookout for "emerging playwrights, new talents like Adam Bock and Sarah Ruhl."

Once a play is published, it is listed and described in the catalog and on the Web site (www.samuelfrench.com), thus becoming available for production by French's customers, including schools (from elementary to universities), as well as community, regional and Off Broadway theaters. Royalty and licensing arrangements vary from play to play.

The offices, which house administrative, editorial, production and customer service operations, are now being renovated as French, whose first orders were probably written with quill pens, moves further into the digital age. Essentially a retail business, French handles requests from all over the world and now plans to "print on demand" on the premises, rather than outsource that chore. It has also opened its library to Google, another first for this venerable company.

"Some of our titles," said Dingledine, "have never seen a computer."

Discover Flatiron: The Flatiron Building

It is one of the earliest romantic symbols of New York City, an icon that has appeared in countless movie and television productions and on more postcards than perhaps any other modern building. It was immortalized in early photos by Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen and since its completion in 1902, it has been recorded by millions of lesser-known photographers and painters. The Flatiron Building is hardly a "hidden gem," but here are some details about it that might not be common knowledge.

Designed by the renowned architect Daniel Burnham of Chicago, the Flatiron Building was not exactly an instant hit. Sidewalk superintendents rolled their eyes and laughed while it was under construction, taking bets on when it would collapse. The New York Times called it a "monstrosity." Other critics labeled it "Burnham's Folly" and one likened it to "a stingy piece of pie."

Years before the building went up, the triangular plot of land on which it stands was known as the "flat iron." Once farmland, it later held the St. Germaine Hotel, then the Cumberland Apartments, whose northern face was regarded as prime advertising space and was used by The New York Times to promote itself as the repository of "all the news that's fit to print." The slogan appeared there, glowing in electric lights, before it was ever published in The Times.

Its first formal name was the Fuller Building, named for George A. Fuller, head of the construction company that built it. Fuller died in 1900, two years before the Flatiron was completed, but Fuller Construction maintained offices in the building for 20 years. In 1925, it moved uptown to the new Fuller Building at 57th Street and Madison Avenue.

When it was completed, the Flatiron Building could be clearly seen from the 59th Street entrance to Central Park. Its street address is 175 Fifth Avenue, but mail addressed to "Flatiron Building" will reach its destination just as quickly.

The Flatiron Building is a right-angle triangle, not an isosceles, as many people think. The 90-degree angle is at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street.

It once had a restaurant and observation deck, and was originally designed to hold a clock face, an idea that never reached fruition.

Its façade is rusticated limestone and glazed terra cotta. The monotony of its tall midsection is interrupted by undulating bays, a design influenced by trends introduced by Burnham at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It is also one of the first skyscrapers to use a steel skeleton.

At its tip, the building is only 6.5 feet wide.

Two popular misconceptions: It is the oldest surviving skyscraper in Manhattan and when it was completed, it was the world's tallest building. The Park Row Building on Ann Street is three years older and almost 100 feet higher.

The building is credited in popular lore with inspiring the phrase "23 skidoo."

It became a New York City landmark in 1966 and a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Its appearance as it cleaves the space where Broadway and Fifth Avenue intersect has been most often compared to a great ship as well as a symbol of an evolving young nation. As Alfred Stieglitz famously put it: "It appeared to be moving toward me like the bow of a monster ocean steamer - a picture of a new America in the making."

Safety Team Profile: James Polanco

When James Polanco was just a baby, his family left Queens, where he was born, and moved to Texas. Within two years, they were back in Queens.

"All I remember about Texas," says James, "is a playground, a swimming pool and the weather. It was hot, hot, hot. The AC was always flowing in the car."

He is 22 now and has been a member of the Flatiron Partnership's Safety Team since its launch last year. Other than that short stay in Texas, he's been a New Yorker all his life. After graduation from John Bowne High School in Flushing, James joined the U.S. Postal Service, working as a clerk, a mail handler and a mail carrier. He was assigned to post offices in Manhattan and the Bronx, where he now shares an apartment with friends in Parkchester.

Last year, James exchanged his gray uniform for a blue one when he was hired by ACSS, the nationwide security-services company. That led directly to his current position. "The best thing about this job," he says, "is that you're out in the open and communicating with the people. I like walking around the district and getting to know the people in the neighborhood. They give you the rundown on what's happening."

Scott Kimmins, the BID's Director of Operations and the man in charge of the Safety Team, has nothing but good things to say about James: "He is very steady. He's always on time, he's diligent, he's very good with details and he takes care of his post. You can count on him. And he always looks sharp."

As James himself says, with a grin: "The ladies like a guy in a uniform."

Free Flatiron Walking Tours Every Sunday

The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership sponsors free walking tours every Sunday.

Join our experienced guides on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of the City's most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance building, the MetLife Tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.

Time:
Every Sunday at 11:00AM.

Meeting Place:
The southwest corner of Madison Square Park, at 23rd Street and Broadway, in front of the statue of William Seward.

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