Whoa! No Halloween hijinx in Sleepy Hollow

Friday October 31, 2008 11:26 AM By Jamshid Mousavinezhad

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. (AP) — Police are poised to prevent any monstrous Halloween behavior in the New York village that hatched the Headless Horseman.Authorities in suburban Sleepy Hollow say they’ll disperse large

groups of teenagers, if necessary, and confiscate eggs and shaving

cream.

The area served as the backdrop for Washington Irving’s 1819

“Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which depicts the Headless Horseman

charging after a terrified Ichabod Crane.

In both Sleepy Hollow and Mount Vernon, parents are being asked

to voluntarily have children under 17 at home by 8:30 p.m.

Elsewhere in Westchester County, Yonkers has a mandatory curfew.

It’s 10 p.m. for kids 11 and under; 10:30 p.m. ages 12 and 13; and

11 p.m. for ages 14 to 16.

Happy Halloween from Urbanite!

Friday October 31, 2008 6:47 AM By Jamshid Mousavinezhad

Meredith Vieira, co-host of the NBC "Today" program, dresses as Pinocchio for the annual Halloween show, in New York's Rockefeller Center. (AP Photo/ Richard Drew)

Forget about ghoulish and ghastly! When it comes to Halloween fun, we're here to tell you about the stuff that's FUN and FREE! The following, for your haunting pleasure and chocolate tendencies:

3:30 p.m. Children’s Halloween Parade; begins in Washington Square North,

near the Arch, and ends at LaGuardia between Washington Square South and West 3rd St.

FREE CHOCOLATE at La Maison du Chocolat: All kids up to age 12 get free Halloween treats from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the following locations: 30 Rockefeller Center and 1018 Madison Avenue

Chelsea Mark Jam-BOO-Ree: For the fifth year, kids and parents are invited to trick-or-treat, and eat some artisanal goodies - and, it's FREE! Expect free candy, brownies and cookies, live music, face-painting and pumpkin-carving by master carver Hugh McMahon. (Chelsea Market, Oct. 31, 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Ninth Ave. @ 15th St.)

Halloween Happening at Trinity Church: Head to Trinity Church for a FREE night of games, crafts, ghost stories and a night screening of the classic silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, accompanied by the church organist. (Trinity Church, Oct. 31, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., 89 Broadway @ Wall St., www.trinitywallstreet.org)

Village Halloween Parade

This year's Parade is dedicated to artist Rudie Berkhout. Come see the puppets, the ever-clever costumes and of course hit the offical Webster Hall after-party. (Parade starts at Spring St. and Sixth Ave. and travels to 21st St. 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.)

More Halloween ideas from amNewYork:

Spooky spots for drinks along the Halloween Parade route: [here]

Boo! Take a tour of haunted New York: [here]

The Halloween of 'Joe the Plumber' [here]

Scenes from the Judge's panel at Tompkins Sq. Park Dog Halloween: [here]

- Lauren Johnston

CLICK THROUGH FOR MORE HALLOWEEN EVENTS:3:45 p.m. The Riverside Park Fund hosts annual Halloween Parade; from the

plaza at Soldiers’ & Sailors Monument, 89th Street and Riverside Drive, to the Hippo Playground on 91st Street.

4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Stuyvesant Town Halloween Party; Stuy Town Oval, between 16th and 18th streets and Avenues A and B.

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The American Museum of Natural History hosts annual

“Spooktacular” Halloween celebration; Central Park West at 79th Street.

Queens woman finds her subway heroes

Thursday October 30, 2008 3:26 PM By Rolando Pujol

Balwan Prashad, left, and Gregory Grajko (Photos: Jefferson Siegel, RJ Mickelson)

By Marlene Naanes

Imagine Prunella Manhertz’s surprise when she found out that not one, but two men came forward yesterday to say they saved her after she tumbled onto subway tracks.

The Queens woman was desperate to thank the man who plucked her off the downtown tracks of the 51st Street-Lexington subway station after she fainted and fell. The men came forward after amNewYork featured Manhertz’s story in an article Thursday

“They were good to me. They were very good,” said Manhertz, of Jamaica, when told that two men came forward. “I can’t find words to express my thanks. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today.”Both men said yesterday that they were tormented by not knowing what happened to Manhertz. After she was safe in the arms of police officers, both men said they jumped onto a train and rushed to their respective jobs.

Transit officials said police did not have surveillance video of the incident, which happened last Thursday just before 8 a.m.

Balwan Prashad, 32, a Metro-North Railroad electrician from Long Island, was standing on the crowded No. 6 train platform when a packed train crawled out of the station. He saw Manhertz on the platform near the end of the train, where she stumbled while trying to board the car. When the train had pulled out, she fell onto the tracks.

“She was laying across one of the rails,” he said, adding that her head was close to the third rail. “The train was approaching — she would have been killed.”

So he jumped. Prashad said he alone picked up the woman and handed her to people on the platform above, before quickly going back to pick up her purse and bag. The next train was coming, so he briefly contemplated laying between the tracks to shield himself before he jumped up to the platform to safety.

Afterward, Prashad went to work dirty, greasy and a little shaken up, his supervisor said. He tried to find out how the woman fared later that afternoon and the next day, and finally spoke to Manhertz over the phone on Thursday.

“Metro-North is extremely proud of this particular employee who showed tremendous courage and heroism,” said Marjorie Anders, a railroad spokeswoman.

Another man, Gregory Grajko, 26, a secretary at New York University Hospital, said he also helped Manhertz to safety. Grajko said Manhertz fell, and another man jumped to the tracks just before he did.

“I seen her hitting the train tracks with her head,” he said. “She hit the train tracks so hard.”

Grajko said he and the other man, whom he only remembers as being dark-skinned, pushed the woman up to people on the platform. He then went to work, showing up with dirty pants from the ordeal, co-worker Maria Colon said.

“He even had her blood on his shoes,” she said. “He was shaken up, his hands were shaking.”

Grajko is happy to know that Manhertz is recovering from her fall, bruised with stitches above one eye.

“I wondered if she was even alive because she slammed the train tracks so hard,” he said. “I went to the police…the workers on train tracks. Nobody knew what happened.”

Manhertz said she is going to send each man a card and write something special. She and Prashad already made plans to meet soon.

“I said to him I cannot find words to express my thanks….you are phenomenal,” Manhertz said.

Racing against the odds

Thursday October 30, 2008 3:25 PM By Pete Catapano

Hand cyclist Nadine McNeil will race in the marathon on Sunday. Her son, Tyler, will make his debut. (Tiffany L. Clark)

By Amanda Magnus

Special to amNewYork

When Nadine McNeil runs the New York City Marathon on Sunday, her biggest challenge won’t be her paralyzed right side, or the fact that she uses a hand cycle to complete the 26.2-mile course. Her biggest worry is her son.

“I’m more nervous for him than I am for myself,” said McNeil, a resident of the Bronx.

This will be McNeil’s fourth marathon in the past two years, but her 18-year-old son Tyler, who has autism will be running in his first marathon, with a guide.

“I’m hoping that I’m not too distracted when I get out there,” McNeil said. “Tyler will be out there and I won’t know where he is.”

Paralyzed on the right side from a childhood stroke, McNeil uses a hand cycle to compete in marathons, but she has upper body limitations. Because she has limited use of her right arm, she powers herself mostly with her left. She said she tapes her right arm to the handle to keep herself balanced.

McNeil is a member of the Achilles Track Club, an international nonprofit organization for disabled runners of all levels.McNeil started as a spectator mom while her son was a part of Achilles Kids. In 2006, Tyler was selected to compete in a 5k race in Los Angeles. McNeil went with him and also competed in the event, on foot. She couldn’t do any distances further than five miles, though, because of her weak right leg.

After the race, McNeil met with Dick Traum, the Achilles Track Club founder, and Karen Lewis, director of the children’s program, to thank them for giving her son the chance to compete in Los Angeles. Traum recommended that she try a marathon while using a hand cycle.

“Never in a million years, ever, would I have thought that I could compete in a 26.2-mile course,” McNeil said.

But in late August 2006, she climbed into a hand cycle for the first time. Three months later, McNeil was at the starting line of her first marathon.

“Sometimes other people have to believe in you before you believe in yourself,” McNeil said.

Celebrating the revival of the Upper East Side's Bohemian National Hall

Thursday October 30, 2008 3:11 PM By Rolando Pujol

The restored Bohemian National Hall. (Photos: Czech Cultural Center)

By Amanda Magnus

Special to amNewYork

The Bohemian National Hall, an Upper East Side landmark and a center for Czech culture in the early 20th century, is celebrating the completion of a six-year renovation that has revived the building to its original splendor.

The Renaissance Revival building on East 73rd Street was also home to a milestone in Liza Minnelli’s career before falling into disrepair. Thursday at 7 p.m., the building’s new era was celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Guests included Czech Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek, Czech Ambassador to the United States Petr Kolar, and members of the Czech Senate and Parliament. The evening’s host was Tomas Hanak, a famous Czech movie star and voted the most handsome man in the Czech Republic.

The Bohemian National Hall will contain offices of the Consulate General and the Czech Center to maintain ties with the Czech Republic. There will also be a Czech restaurant and the Czech Center exhibition space.

The five-story Bohemian National Hall was constructed between 1895 to 1897 to the designs of architect William Frohne. The German architect is known for his construction of other ethnic halls, notably the German Shooting Club on St. Marks Place.

The building served as an epicenter of Czech and Slovak culture in New York City as Central and Eastern Europeans immigrated in high numbers. The Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Society (BBLA) owned the building and oversaw all of the social and cultural events that took place there. The “Narodni budova” (Czech for Bohemian National Hall) also became an epicenter of political activity, particularly for the establishment of a Czech state during World War I.

After World War II, the Czech community moved from the Upper East Side to Astoria, Queens, and the National Hall began to fall into decline. As the younger generations of Czech-Americans lost touch with their roots, events became less frequent. Attendance and funds dwindled as the hall’s popularity declined.

The BBLA rented out some of the rooms to theater companies in order to keep the building in use and to bring in rent. As a result, the hall was the venue for Minnelli’s debut, in the musical “Best Foot Forward.”

In 1986 the building was declared unfit for occupancy. The hall was declared a New York City Landmark in 1994 with help from Jan Hird Pokorny, a Czech member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee.

In 2001, the BBLA sold the building to the Czech government for a ceremonial one dollar. The nation took over and funded renovations on the building under the condition that the BBLA can have the entire third floor free of rent for 396 years.

Emotional return to New York for Olympian Kara Goucher

Thursday October 30, 2008 2:48 PM By Ryan Chatelain

Kara Goucher competes in her first marathon Sunday. (Photo by Getty)

By Ryan Chatelain

Kara Goucher fought back tears at a news conference this week when she talked about her connection with her native New York City.

“It’s just as a little girl, you want your family to be together,” said Goucher, 30. “And this is where my family was together.

Days before her 4th birthday, Goucher’s family was torn apart when her father, Mirko Grgas of Queens, was killed in a car accident by a drunken driver. Shortly after, Goucher’s family moved to Duluth, Minn., where she grew up.

Twenty-six years later, Goucher — a top-10 finisher in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Beijing this summer — will make an emotional return to the Big Apple for her 26.2-mile debut in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.“I’m going to think of my dad when I’m running here. I don’t want it to be a distraction,“ Goucher said. “But I think that those moments during the race where I have those moments of weakness and doubt that I feel my dad is going to be there, and he’s going to help me fight through those moments.”

Goucher is attempting to become the first New Yorker, man or woman, since the marathon expanded to all five boroughs in 1976 to win the race. No American woman has won since Miki Gorman in 1977.

Coincidentally, the last American man to win in New York, Alberto Salazar in 1982, a three-time champ, is Goucher‘s coach. Because of her muscular frame and mental toughness, Salazar says he believes Goucher’s future is in marathons.

“I’m not lying when I say that the last five weeks has been the most I’ve ever enjoyed running,” said Goucher, who took a week off from training after the Olympics, but was soon running 110 miles per week.

“No matter what happens on Sunday, this will not be my last marathon.”

New Yorkers find themselves in a state of fear

Thursday October 30, 2008 1:59 PM By Rolando Pujol

By Jason Fink

Fear. It’s not just the stuff of horror movies. It’s real, every day life now for New Yorkers.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Morgan Rautzham, a bartender at Suspenders Bar in the Financial District. “People seem scared and confused. They’re more anxious and more disheveled.”

Undoubtedly, the anxiety is fueled by the Dow’s daily roller coaster ride, unemployment skyrocketing and news about the economic future looking grimmer by the day.

“Down here it’s pretty evident people are stressed out,” said Rautzham, 24, who added that her customers are coming in greater numbers and staying later into the night.

However, experts in the field say there is also something else at work, a kind of self-sustaining anxiety fed by the 24-hour news cycle and the almost paralyzing amount of information at people’s fingertips.

“Throughout history, there are always times when people have been in a state of fear,” said Gerilyn Ross, director of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. “What’s different now, ... because of the onslaught of information we get 24/7, is you can’t turn it off. People are tuned in, turned on, and there’s no escape.”Another difference today is that people can go out and get the information they want, which can often do little more than stir the fears they already have.

Gail Saltz, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital, said the wealth of information that is now a mouse click away can be a blessing but is just as often a curse.

“If people have an issue they Google it,” she said. “And very often they find information that is correct but they don’t see the other side of it. You have a bump on your skin - that could be a pimple and it could be cancer.”

In fact, stress can actually make people sick even if they weren’t before, Saltz said.

Scientists believe the fear response begins in a small section of the brain. When people are afraid, their body releases a flood of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases the heart rate so blood pumps faster. Meanwhile, cortisol begins the process of breaking down non-essential tissue, leading to elevated blood fats and sugar.

“Chronic anxiety can take a toll on our bodies,” she said. “Cortisol and other hormones run through your body without relief, people develop anxiety disorders or they turn to drugs or alcohol.”

Joseph Bailey, a clinical psychologist and author said he had also noticed more people clinging to their fears.

“After 9/11, I witnessed that there was a growing addiction to fear, an obsession with fear,” he said. “Marketers use it, the news media use it. What keeps us awake at night is not necessarily what happened but what might happen.”

Indeed, several New Yorkers interviewed recently said they had noticed feeling a general sense of dread about the future.

“The fear is that this is the tip of the iceberg,” said Rich Commodore, 36, of Brooklyn, reflecting on the economic downturn.

Asked his thoughts about people in the city living in fear, Commodore pointed to a group of police cars and one officer holding an automatic weapon. “You mean like that?” he said.

10 to watch at New York City Marathon

Thursday October 30, 2008 1:46 PM By Ryan Chatelain

Five women to watch at the New York City Marathon:

Paula Radcliffe, 34, Great Britain

The world marathon record holder, Radcliffe (pictured) is a two-time NYC Marathon champion (2004 and 2007). She has won seven of nine career marathons.

Dire Tune, 23, Ethiopia

Tune was an Olympian in Beijing this summer as well as the 2008 London Marathon champ.

Gete Wami, 33, Ethiopia

Wami won the Berlin Marathon last year, and then a month later, finished second to Radcliffe in New York.

Catherine Ndereba, 36, Kenya

A four-time winner in Boston and two-time champ in Chicago, Ndereba has finished on the podium in 16 of 17 career marathons.

Kara Goucher, 30, United States

A Queens native, Goucher is making her marathon debut. She finished in the top 10 in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in the Beijing games.Five men to watch at the New York City Marathon:

Paul Tergat, 39, Kenya

A two-time Olympic silver medalist, Tergat was the 2005 New York City Marathon champion and is a former marathon world record holder.

Abderrahim Goumri, 32, Morocco

Goumri finished second in the 2007 London Marathon, his marathon debut. He has followed up that performance with a second-place showing last year in New York and a third-place finish in London this year.

Henrick Ramaala, 36, South Africa

A four-time Olympian, Ramaala won the 2004 New York Marathon and finished second in 2005 after being edged out by Tergat.

Abdi Abdirahman, 36, United States

A three-time Olympian, Abdirahman is the only American ever to have run in three consecutive Olympic 10,000-meter finals (2000, 2004, and 2008).

Marilson Gomes dos Santos, 31, Brazil

The 2006 New York City Marathon champ, Gomes dos Santos holds the best time of any athlete from the Western Hemisphere in the half-marathon.

Photo of Paula Radcliffe by Getty

Throwback Thursday: "The New York Experience" at the McGraw-Hill Building

Thursday October 30, 2008 12:00 PM By Rolando Pujol

By Rolando Pujol

"The New York Experience" was a 55-minute multimedia, shock-and-awe extravaganza that showcased all the things that make Gotham great. It ran from the early 1970s to the late 1980s at the McGraw-Hill Building. Recently, a video on YouTube turned up featuring an ad for the spectacle, which is very much worth watching, along with the other ads that follow. (Remember the May's department store chain? "Every day's a sales day at May's," the jingle went.)

Back to "The New York Experience." Per a New York Times story on its closure:

Over the 15 years, 3 months and 4 days of the ''Experience,'' Mr. [Albert] Boyars did some updating. But he never got rid of the subway tokens with Y's in the middle, the nonelectronic taxi meters that clicked a dime at a time or the 10-cent cup of coffee, also at the Automat. ''It's a costly thing to reshoot,'' Mr. Boyars said, ''and I personally was in that scene.''

.... ''The New York Experience'' came to be like the Statue of Liberty: New Yorkers knew about it; they just did not go there very often. By the time it closed, it was a dinosaur of a show, faded film and slides lumbering through the video age.

At the last performance - No. 51,591 - the projection room was clicking and whirring like a lunatic pinball machine, switching on four 16-millimeter projectors and an arsenal of slide projectors, tape players, bubble machines, fog makers (''We've had ladies tell the manager, 'You ruined my bouffant,' '' Mr. Boyars said). In the beginning, there was a giant tuba under the theater with a 26-foot-long speaker. For that high-fidelity subway rumble.

Read the rest of the article on this forgotten NYC classic here. The YouTube video is below.