The BroadsheetDAILY – 12/2/21 – Battery Park City Resident Sentenced for Home Invasions and Sexual Abuse

The Broadsheet: Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

While They Were Sleeping

Battery Park City Resident Sentenced for Home Invasions and Sexual Abuse

Above: River Terrace in Battery Park City.

Below: Music industry executive and Battery Park City resident Adam Lublin, now headed to jail for four years.

On November 15, music industry executive Adam Lublin, a resident of Tribeca Pointe at 41 River Terrace, was sentenced to four years in prison on two counts each of first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony.

These charges stemmed from incidents that first came to light in September 2019, when a woman who lived on Mr. Lublin’s floor called police, charging that he had entered her unlocked apartment while she was asleep, and that she awoke to find him touching her vagina. She added that she had previously noticed multiple undergarments missing from her home in recent weeks.

When police officers asked the building staff to play security video from the lobby and the elevators, the victim identified Mr. Lublin by sight, and the doorman was able to supply his name. Police then knocked on Mr. Lublin’s door, which went unanswered. The following morning, a team of officers was still surveilling the building, waiting for Mr. Lublin to enter or leave. When the morning doorman spotted Mr. Lublin via video camera in the service elevator, he alerted police, who caught up with Mr. Lublin at the corner of Chambers Street and North End Avenue. As they approached, officers allege, Mr. Lublin tried to dispose of a beverage container. Upon inspecting this container, officers say, they found it to contain several pairs of women’s panties. Based on these events, he was initially arrested and arraigned on charges of burglary and sexual abuse.

As investigators interviewed other possible witnesses, they took a statement from the victim’s roommate, who said that a similar incident had occurred a week earlier, in which she awoke to find a man hovering over her bed in the dark, and reaching for her breasts and between her legs. When she stirred, the second victim said, the man fled. Although she had not filed a police report at the time, investigators added this account to their list of possible charges against Mr. Lublin. (The names of all victims are being withheld to protect their privacy.)

At his initial arraignment Mr. Lublin was released on $175,000 bond. At the time, his attorney, Scott Leemon (who makes a specialty of representing entertainment and sports celebrities facing serious criminal charges) said, “one of the backbones in our legal system is the presumption of innocence. That important presumption is deep-routed in our history and was created to stop others from jumping to conclusions. Today, Adam will rely on that presumption of innocence. Out of respect for the system we will not make any further comment at this time.”

A few days later, however, Mr. Lublin was rearrested and charged with second-degree charge of burglary as a sexually motivated felony. These charges arose from the allegations leveled by the first victim’s roommate. Mr. Leemon responded, “there is nothing new here. These were the same allegations that were mentioned in court Monday. Not a surprise at all.”

Reached by Billboard Magazine after this first arrest, Mr. Lublin acknowledged that he had a substance-abuse problem and declared his intention to check himself into a rehabilitation facility, saying, “if I donʼt get help, Iʼm going to end up killing myself,” adding that although he was not contemplating suicide, he was in “a very bad place. I have known I needed to go for a while and I just havenʼt. Now itʼs not even a choice. I must go.” Mr. Lublin was subsequently reported to have checked into a substance-abuse treatment facility.

In November 2019, Mr. Lublin was arraigned once more, based on a third incident (dating from 2015, but discovered by investigators only after his initial arrest), during which he spent the night in a co-worker’s apartment on the Upper East Side. The woman recounted awakening to discover that Mr. Lublin was touching her vagina.

Although subsequently released after posting a $1 million bond, Mr. Lublin was arrested yet again later that same month and charged in relation to another September 2019 incident, inside his apartment, in which he allegedly took videos and photos of himself molesting a woman who was sleeping there. Investigators found these videos archived in an online account registered to Mr. Lublin.

Part of the overwhelming evidence presented during Mr. Lublin’s trial was the trove of videos he had made, documenting each of these incidents. Prosecutors originally asked for a sentence of ten years, which Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Ward reduced to four years.

Matthew Fenton

A Languid Recovery

Multiple Reports Document Slow Rebound of Downtown Apartments

Lower Manhattan residential real estate values came roaring back in the third quarter of this year, but still have some distance to cover before recapturing pre-pandemic highs, according to a pair of recent analyses.

The Lower Manhattan Real Estate Market Report from the Downtown Alliance notes that the median rent for the community bested a record high set in 2019, “reversing the decline seen throughout the pandemic.” During the third quarter, median apartment rents climbed to $4,100, a jump of up nearly 15 percent from the same period last year, and 10.2 percent higher than the second quarter of this year.

This means that median apartment rents in Lower Manhattan are now $1,100 (or 37 percent) higher than those at the beginning of 2021, before the onset of the pandemic. For contrast, median residential rents in Manhattan as a whole remained the same as the third quarter of 2020, and have climbed only seven percent above 2019 figures.

Where Ideas Are Hatched

Governors Island Plans Climate Incubator for Historic Building

The Trust for Governors Island announced on Monday that it has chosen a partnership of real estate developers to lease a historic building on the waterfront and create an incubator space that will nurture new firms focused on “climate adaptation, renewable energy research and monitoring, and the transition to a low-carbon economy.” The project, which is slated for completion in early 2024, will also serve as an education and training center for the growing sector of climate jobs, and is anticipated to create more than 150 permanent jobs on Governors Island.

The new partnership, called Buttermilk Labs (in a nod to the name of the channel that separates Governors Island from Brooklyn, which the building it will occupy overlooks) is a coalition of the North River Company, BJH Advisors, Barretto Bay Strategies, and Greenwood Strategies. To read more…

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

THE WEEKLY CALENDAR

THURSDAY DECEMBER 2

11AM

Museum of Jewish Heritage

In January 1943, a Jewish teacher imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp planted a silver maple tree and nurtured it, along with a group of Jewish children who used their precious water rations to help it grow. 78 years later, join us as we dedicate a newly-planted descendant of that tree in front of the Museum. The dedication ceremony will feature keynote remarks from Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Fred Terna and Rene Slotkin, survivors of Terezín, will water the newly-planted tree and share their reflections on the occasion. The tree bears the name “The Children’s Tree” in memory of the Jewish children in Terezín who first planted the tree, and in honor of the students at PS/IS 276, located across the street from the Museum, who will become the tree’s caretakers for generations to come. Free.

12NOON

Museum of American Financial History

Webinar. During the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, our financial infrastructure failed. Govern­ments bailed out the very institutions that let the economy down. This episode spurred a serious rethink of our financial system. Does it make any sense that it takes two days to settle a stock transaction? Why do retailers, operating on razor thin margins, have to pay 3% for every customer credit card swipe? Why does it take two days to transfer money from a bank account to a brokerage—or any other company? Why are savings rates miniscule or negative? Why is it so difficult for entrepreneurs to get financ­ing at traditional banks? Free.

5PM-8PM

Howard Hughes Corporation

When the switch is thrown to light up the tree, you know it’s officially festive season. Come to the Seaport for an evening of all things merry. Spread the joy with a donation to the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive, hosted by The Seaport in partnership with EPSN; drop off a new, unwrapped toy at The Corner (25 Fulton St.) on December 2 and get a coupon for a hot chocolate at Cobble & Co. next door. Live music, ugly sweater party, photobooth with Santa. Free.

5PM-9PM

Howard Hughes Corporation

Antiques. Jewelry. Art. Vintage goods and local designers. A beloved street fair makes the move from the Lower East Side to the Seaport. Kicking off on Labor Day Weekend, Hester Street Fair is now in the neighborhood. Come and browse the stalls. Snack. Refresh. And enjoy music by Wade and Sammy. Experience the Hester Street magic: Tightly curated. Wildly creative.

6PM

Battery Park City Authority

Kick-off the season at the Holiday Lights celebration with your BPC community! Special guest appearances by Sing Harlem Choir, PS/IS 276 Advanced Chorus, and you-know-who! Free.

Holiday Lights at South Cove

6:30PM

Gateway Plaza Holiday Celebration

Gateway Ring Road area

Gateway Plaza residents kick off the holidays with Gateway’s annual Tree Lighting Celebration. Santa and his helpers will be at the park to help light the tree and take pictures with residents. Experience a dazzling light and music show while enjoying cookies, cocoa, and gifts.

6:30PM

Fraunces Tavern Museum

In this lecture, Martha Saxton provides a sketch of the challenging life of Mary Ball Washington, who raised George and his four siblings largely alone—as well as her unfair treatment at the hands of his biographers. This lecture will take place via Zoom. Free.

6:45PM

Museum of Jewish Heritage

Rachel Cowan was a civil rights activist, community organizer, the first female Jew by choice ordained as a Rabbi, and a beloved and influential mindfulness teacher. After she was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer, her years of mindfulness practice enabled her to model living well while dying. Join the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and presenting partners for an evening celebrating the remarkable light and legacy of Rachel’s life. The program will feature a screening of Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing, a new film about Cowan from American-born, Jerusalem-based documentary filmmaker Paula Weiman-Kelman. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Weiman-Kelman, Khary Lazarre-White, Executive Director & Co-Founder of the Brotherhood Sister Sol, and Jeannie Blaustein, Founding Board Chair at Reimagine End of Life. The discussion will be moderated by Rabbi Marc Margolius, Senior Program Director at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.

Free; suggested $10 donation.

7PM-9PM

Robby Ameen Live at the Poster Museum

52 Warren Street in Tribeca

Drummer Robby Ameen and bandmates (Bob Franceschini, sax; Conrad Herwig, trombone; Troy Roberts, sax; Edsel Gomez, piano; Bill O’Connell, piano; plus surprise guests) present jazz at Philip Williams Posters, 52 Warren Street. $20 ($10 students). Reservations 212-513-0313.

EYES TO THE SKY

November 29 – December 12, 2021

“Under One Sky”: human voices from space

I heard the voices of sensitive humans from outer space. They spoke of living in awe of the beauty of a blue planet—Earth—hanging in the blackness of space. The uniqueness of Earth in the cosmos astounded them, charged them with emotion. They observed the Sun white in the great blackness, not as we know the shining orb seen through our blue atmosphere, the sky. Stars—viewed with no atmosphere between eye and star—are vivid, steady lights of different colors: red, orange, yellow, blue, white.

“Nothing could prepare me for the phenomenon of the fragile atmosphere. The thinness of the atmosphere: paper thin.” To read more…

Judy Isacoff

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ruth Westheimer (But Were Afraid to Ask)

“Ruth doesn’t lead with her backstory,” actress Tovah Feldshuh (right) reflects about her friend, Dr. Ruth Westheimer. “She presents herself as an international sex therapist who is funny and witty and insightful, so everybody knows the mannerisms and the sound of her voice. But there is much, much more than that. Very few people know that, as a child, she barely escaped the Nazis, who murdered her entire family, or that she then fought in the Israeli Army, before coming to America.”

This backstory is central to the narrative arc of the one-woman show, “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” written by playwright Mark St. Germain, which begins previews at the Museum of Jewish Heritage this Saturday (December 4), then opens on December 16 and runs through January 2. To read more…

For Crying Out Loud

Downtown Districts Rank Among City’s Most Cacophonous

Lower Manhattan is home to a trio of the noisiest communities anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City, according to a recent analysis of the City’s Open Data platform researched by RentHop, an online listings database.

Three of these are located in Lower Manhattan: MN-25 is comprised of Battery Park City, Greenwich South, the Financial District, and the South Street Seaport; while MN-24 covers Tribeca, SoHo, Little Italy, and the Civic Center; and MN-27 is coterminous with Chinatown. To read more…

Will the Levee Keep Us Dry?

City Previews Plans for Augmented East River Shoreline as Bulwark Against Flooding

In online meetings hosted last Wednesday and Thursday by the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio shared preliminary ideas for its Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan, covering the mile-long stretch between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

The concepts reviewed at last week’s meetings include extending the shoreline of Manhattan between 60 and 200 feet into the East River, with a series of interlocking berms, platforms, and floodgates, all designed to hold back waters from climate change, sea-level rise, and extreme-weather events. To read more…

Outward Mobility

Has Anybody Seen 11,000 Neighbors?

According to a new statistical analysis released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Lower Manhattan’s population declined during the COVID-19 pandemic by more than that of any other community in the five boroughs, due to residents moving away.

These results are especially stark when broken out by the eight residential zip codes within Community Board 1: To read more…

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets are open

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Every Wednesday & Saturday, 8am-3pm

Food Scrap Collection: Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Open Saturdays and Wednesdays year round

Schedule Changes: Market closed 12/25 for Christmas Day and 1/1 for New Year’s Day.

The loyal community of neighborhood residents who shop at the Tribeca Greenmarket show up each Wednesday and Saturday year-round to get their fix of locally grown produce, sustainably raised meat, seafood, sheep’s milk cheese and yogurt, orchard fruit and berries, herbs, live plants and cut flowers. Cooking demonstrations, raffles, and educational activities make the market a hands-on experience for shoppers of all ages.

Farmers:

American Pride Seafood Wild-caught fish and shellfish from Suffolk County, NY

Dipaola Turkeys Turkey and turkey products from Mercer County, NJ

Francesca’s Bakery Breads and baked goods from Passaic County, NJ

Hudson Valley Duck Farm Heritage breed ducks and duck products from Sullivan County, NY

Jersey Farm Produce Vegetables, herbs, orchard and small fruit from Hunterdon County, NJ

Lani’s Farm Vegetables, eggs and prepared foods from Burlington County, NJ

Millport Dairy Eggs, cheddar cheese, beef, pork, pickles and baked goods from Lancaster County, PA

Prospect Hill Orchards Fruit, some certified organic, granola, and baked goods from Ulster County, NY

Tucker Farms Cut Flowers from Burlington & Monmouth County, NJ

Westmeadow Farm cow and goat milk cheeses and cows butter from Montgomery County, NY

Yellow Bell Farm Chicken and eggs from Dutchess County, NY

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Green Greenmarket at Bowling Green

Broadway & Whitehall St

Open Tuesday and Thursdays, year-round

Market Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Compost Program: 8 a.m. – 11 a.m.

The Bowling Green Greenmarket brings fresh offerings from local farms to Lower Manhattan’s historic Bowling Green plaza. Twice a week year-round stop by to load up on the season’s freshest fruit, crisp vegetables, beautiful plants, and freshly baked loaves of bread, quiches, and pot pies.

Greenmarket at the Oculus

Oculus Plaza, Fulton St and Church St

CLOSED FOR THE SEASON

The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market

91 South St., bet. Fulton & John Sts.

212-349-1380 info@fultonstallmarket.org

Fulton Street cobblestones between South and Front Sts. across from McNally Jackson Bookstore.

Locally grown produce from Rogowski Farm, Breezy Hill Orchard, and other farmers and small-batch specialty food products, sold directly by their producers. Producers vary from week to week.

INDOOR FARMERS MARKET STORE:

91 South St., bet. Fulton & John Sts. Open Monday – Saturdays 11:30 AM – 5 PM

Indoor Market Hours: Monday – Saturday

11:30 AM to 5:00 PM, year round

SNAP/EBT/P-EBT, Debit/Credit, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks accepted at all farmers markets.

TODAY IN HISTORY

DECEMBER 2

Georges Seurat

1697 – St Paul’s Cathedral opens in London

1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned emperor of France in Paris

1845 – Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

1867 – In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the US.

1901 – Gillette patents first disposable razor

1929 – First skull of Peking man found, 50 km out of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien

1939 – La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight

1941 – Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor

1942 – First controlled nuclear chain reaction (Enrico Fermi-U of Chicago)

1952 – First human birth televised to public (KOA-TV Denver, Colo)

1954 – US Senate censures Joe McCarthy (Sen-R-Wisc) for “conduct that tends to bring Senate into dishonor & disrepute”

1964 – Ringo Starr’s tonsils are removed

1968 – President Nixon names Henry Kissinger security advisor

1969 – Boeing 747 jumbo jet first public preview (Seattle to NYC)

1971 – Soviet Mars 3 is first to soft land on Mars

1980 – 4 American Maryknoll nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador

1982 – First permanent artificial heart successfully implanted in retired dentist Barney Clark; lived 112 days with Jarvic-7 heart

2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2015 – San Bernardino attack: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 people and wound 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.

2016 – Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective.

2020 – The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs removes cannabis from the list of most dangerous drugs of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs

Marty Feldman credit: imdb

Births

1599 – Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, Scottish nobleman (d. 1663)

1754 – William Cooper, American judge and politician, founded Cooperstown, New York (d. 1809)

1759 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and mycologist, founded the Linnean Society (d. 1828)

1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)

1923 – Maria Callas, American-Greek soprano and actress (d. 1977)

1924 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)

1931 – Edwin Meese, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 75th United States Attorney General

Deaths

930 – Ma Yin, Chinese warlord, king of Chu (Ten Kingdoms) (b. 853)

1885 – Allen Wright, Principal chief of the Choctaw Nation (1866-1870); he proposed the name “Oklahoma”, from Choctaw words okra and umma, meaning “Territory of the Red People.” (b. 1826)

1892 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (b. 1836)

1982 – Marty Feldman, English actor and comedian (b. 1933)

1986 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, businessman, and television producer (b. 1917)

1990 – Aaron Copland, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)

2015 – Georges Seurat American lawyer and politician, 19th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1945)

Credit: Wikipedia and other internet and non-internet sources

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