The Brooklyn Standard

The American Museum of Natural History’s 77th Street Grand Gallery was the site of a “wonderful accident” yesterday as the country’s largest iridescent ammonite, an incredibly rare, 80 million year old marine fossil, was put on permanent display.

Dr. Neil H. Landman, Curator-in-Charge of fossil invertebrates at the museum, describes the specimen as a “geological anomaly” since the opal-like sheen of the shell only occurs under very specific conditions along the St. Mary River in Canada. Millions of years of intense heat and pressure from the formation of the Rocky Mountains has not only preserved the animal but also “turned it into something new and wondrous that really knocks your eyes out,” said Landman.

The two-foot-long ammonite was donated by Korite International and Canada Fossils Ltd., an Alberta based rare gem retailer and Canadian mining company respectively. This particular fossil was found three years ago on an ammonite expedition but Korite has been mining the treasure to sell as jewelry since the early 80s. As the owners of over 90 percent of the rainbow-hued deposits, Korite is the first and largest company to do so in the world.

Bram Kerwin, 2, of the Upper West Side, stops to see the ammonite on his stroll through the Museum.

Named after the Egyptian god Ammon for his iconic ram-like horns, this ancient mollusk is more closely related to the giant squid than its similarly armored cousin, the nautilus. Landman believes the prehistoric creature swam by spewing large gulps of water from its mouth. Also, the jaw structure suggests that it ate plankton and jellyfish in subtropical seas around the same time most dinosaurs roamed the Earth 65 million years ago.

Paleontologists have long studied ammonite fossils to determine the age of rocks and the locations of ancient bodies of water but the rainbow streaked specimens are much more rare and admittedly more exciting. Landman notes the iridescent veneer is actually light refracting off of layers upon layers of micron-thick plates or scales that get crumpled and melded together to produce a truly beautiful effect.

From a commercial point of view, the stones extracted from the fossils – termed “ammolite” – are incredibly valuable due to their rarity, beauty and wearability. Ken Oschipok, a sales manager for Korite International present at the unveiling today called the stones the “Sleeping Beauty of the gem world” and predicts that their value will double in the next five years. Right now, a small, half inch stone in a ring – like the one on Oschipok’s right hand – fetches about $3000.

Most museum goers aren’t concerned with Devonian-era bling, though. Two-year-old Bram Kerwin from the Upper East Side, who was just excited to see old things in glass cases, was asked what he thought of the display. He emphatically observed, “It’s pink!” and giggled wildly from his stroller.

Subway and street performances in Manhattan are more than just great (and free) music. Every song is distilled human experience and pure New York character that seems to seep into the ground and grow great things.

“How you guys doing, alright?” the very talented vocalist asks of passers-by in between verses of Route 66. As his bejeweled fingers dance effortlessly along the keyboard, Maestro D’s lounge act gives straphangers something to tap their toes to long after they’ve left Penn Station. “And that’s what it is,” he says contentedly as he fetches the bills from his tip basket.

Geovanni Suquillo draws from an unusual repertoire of rumba songs and 80’s rock ballads peppered with Spanish style guitar riffs. As drum machine beats from an unidentifiable source fill the stagnant subterranean air, the Ecuadorian musician tends to confuse albeit delight his Union Square audience.

Hundreds of performances occur under NYC in a week but few gather a crowd like the nine piece jazz band Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Even fewer know how to sell CDs as well as the nine Cohran brothers from Chicago. A mixture of flawless jazz classics and energetic original compositions makes getting to Grand Central to listen well worth the $2 cover charge.

A doctor told Karim Noack she had six months to live if she didn’t get a mastectomy and continue her chemotherapy. She refused and, 12 years later, a combination of holistic treatments, dancing, and making music has given Karim new life. “It’s like my therapy,” she says as her friend of 20 years and fellow Colombian David Pena softly strums and whispers Spanish sentiments to Tompkins Square Park.

“I just want to work on my craft and share music with people,” Sweet Lew explains, though he acknowledges the economic pressure of the city. “My philosophy is to always end up with more than I started with,” he says with a big grin that opens into a booming chuckle. With nothing more than an alto sax, Sweet Lew adds a passion and dimension to Astor Place that few New York street corners can claim as their own.

* If anybody wants, add your own. How fun!

The Wyckoff-Bennett House in Manhattan Beach, the oldest building still in residence in the state, may soon be added to the city’s collection of 22 historic sites. Owner Stuart Mont, who was initially approached seven years ago by the Historic Housing Trust, a division of the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), said the final stage of approval for the sale is this Tuesday.

Built approximately 1766, the Dutch colonial is a well-preserved example of early American architecture, beautiful woodwork and wrought iron hardware. The 18th century estate hosts a house, barn and milk room and also quartered Hessian officers during the American Revolution.

Colleen Alderson, Assistant Director of Planning for the DPR, said the objective of the purchase is to “maintain, preserve and promote” New York’s historic locations and she urged local community leaders to support the effort. If successful, the Wyckoff-Bennett House would be the fourth Brooklyn location secured by the not-for-profit Historical Housing Trust. Other locations include Park Slope’s Old Stone House, Prospect Park’s Lefferts Historic House, and the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House Museum.

Although both parties declined to put a price tag on the house, the city was confident that enough was allocated and Mont was sure he would be given a fair price. After the sale is complete, Mont plans to be a life tenant and caretaker of the property though his landlords will pick up the tab for any major construction work once the house changes hands.

Some question the wisdom of such a purchase however, citing a budget already stretched thin by a nearly 20% citywide cut over the past two decades, according to a study by New Yorkers for Parks. As it stands, Brooklyn only receives about 10% of the city’s entire DPR capital budget allocation of $300 million, which is barely enough for community upkeep.

Teresa Scavo, chairperson for Brooklyn Community Board 15, cited several pending DPR general maintenance projects as well as the disrepair of nearby historic Gravesend Cemetery, a property currently owned by the city, as disincentive for the purchase. “It’s a waste of money,” she said since the funds will come out of the area’s other projects.

Mont is pleased with the city’s proposal though and is hopeful that the transaction will be completed this year. “I think it’s very positive,” he said. “It guarantees the house will be well protected.”

I think the operative word here is “opportunity” when we discuss the Internet’s role and the blogger’s place in a new media landscape.

If a thousand people were standing in an open field, noses to the sky, as an airplane suddenly exploded overhead, most would have something to say about it. They would turn to their left or right and blurt out the first thing that came into their head, probably an “Oh damn!” or a “Merciful creator!” or something of that sort. I would wager that very few would calmly take out their notebooks, collect data, ask to make sure everyone saw the same thing, draft just the right expletive¹, edit the copy, and then read the result, especially if surrounded by a thousand spectators.

The access of an audience prompts the delivery. At the risk of stating the obvious, the Internet is tantamount to proximity. Though podcasting, vodcasting, RSS feeds, etc. make the delivery more diverse and entertaining, it’s utility lies mostly within it’s connectivity, which, don’t get me wrong, is invaluable.

On no other medium would I have the opportunity to read in succession and then juxtapose the gravamen of two dissimilar viewpoints. The volley between Lemann and Jarvis is a great example of the medium’s accessibility and thought provoking potential.

I think Jarvis’ thorough indictment accuses Lemann of slightly more than he is guilty of, but he makes several important observations, one of which is that Lemann is careful not to use the word “reporting” – a point that should not be dismissed as semantics but understood as a refusal to recognize Bloggers who do the job well as any reporter’s equal. Thankfully, everyone with an Internet connection now has the opportunity but ultimately, the proof is in the pudding. There’s just way more pudding to eat now. You tell me how in any situation, be it physical or metaphorical, more pudding could possibly be a bad thing.

Just as a kid who only eats McDonalds will surely be obese, so too will citizens with a poor media diet swell with misinformation. The Internet is a double edged sword in the sense that it provides equal opportunity to those who want to learn and better themselves as it does to those who want intellectual stagnancy and soundbite superficiality. In this sense, it is not so different from cable news channels. Not to completely spotlight my personal biases, but people who get their information solely from Fox News do so for one of two reasons; they either don’t want to hear the complexities of current events or they’re too lazy to look for alternatives.

I agree that the internet – in terms of speed, accessibility, conflation of resources, and sheer power – is a great evolutionary step in media delivery, but I think it falls just short of revolutionary. Some will use a new ladder to climb to the roof and unclog the gutters, and others will have a shiny, metal shelf on which to place some pretty flowerpots.

¹”Huzzah!”

Local business owner Ben Harris, located in Jamaica, Queens for over 79 years now, recounts the damage and the spectacle of Aug. 8 vividly. “Thousands of people were out on the sidewalk with no transportation,” Harris recalled. “You needed a boat to get through there!”

The devastating storm that hit the city on August 8th, flooding sections of Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island to varying degrees, was followed by an eerie silence from both the state and federal governments. Almost two weeks passed before residents and business owners from the affected areas had a formal request for federal assistance submitted on their behalf from Governor Spitzer’s office. Finally, over three weeks after the storm, Queens County alone was declared a federal disaster and FEMA responded.

Two Queens residents (left) apply for federal aid with the help of a translator (center) at the new Disaster Service Center.

Flushing is now the home to the Borough of Queens Disaster Assistance Service Center, a “one stop shop for federal, state, and city agencies” according to Barbara Lynch, a FEMA regional spokeswoman present at the opening today. She went on to explain the process of receiving federal aid as a sort of last resort for residents and business owners after all city and state avenues have been exhausted.

Also involved are various government agencies at the local, city, and state level including the Human Resources Administration, the NYC Office of Emergency Management, the State Emergency Management Office, and the Red Cross.

The initial application must be made to the Small Business Administration and then, after a federal inspector assess the damages, the claim is passed on to FEMA for processing. Michael B. Peacock, a communications specialist for the SBA, said that low interest loans – up to $200k for property owners and up to $1.5 million for businesses – would be the primary source of disaster relief from the federal government.