How to plan for emergencies ranging from natural disasters to terrorism was a subject that attracted more than 90 members of the Flatiron and Union Square communities to a Ready New York for Business breakfast forum at Baruch College on Nov. 1.

The event, co-sponsored by the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and the Union Square Partnership, was primarily aimed at owners of small businesses as well as property owners.

Basic steps that can be taken by small businesses were outlined by Ira Tannenbaum, coordinator of public/private initiatives for the New York City Office of Emergency Management (pictured above), and Eric Parker, deputy director of the Business Outreach Team at the City's Department of Small Business Services.

The subjects ranged from assessing hazards that might affect one's business to making response plans following a disaster. They included continuity planning; preparing for medical complications; making provisions for employees with disabilities; reviewing insurance coverage; securing equipment, including data and information technology systems; fire safety; drawing up evacuation plans; preparing "go bags" and emergency supply kits; and having an Emergency Action Plan, as often required by law.

Tannenbaum and Parker also talked about the City's Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS), a pre-emergency credential program that may allow essential employees access to otherwise restricted areas following a disaster.

For more information on the Ready New York program, please visit the Office of Emergency Management online at nyc.gov/oem.

Musicians on Call (MOC), a non-profit organization that delivers the healing power of live and recorded music to hospital bedsides, orchestrates its mission from inside the Flatiron district. Its national headquarters are at 1133 Broadway, between 25th and 26th Streets.

Founded in 1999, MOC has so far touched the lives of close to 100,000 patients, family members and caregivers. Its live music performances are now being conducted in 12 facilities in New York City as well as at hospitals in Nashville and Philadelphia. The musicians all perform strictly on a voluntary basis, according to Dr. Leslie Faerstein, MOC's executive director.

MOC's fourth annual benefit concert and auction has been scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the Hard Rock Cafe, at 43rd Street and Broadway, featuring a performance by Seal.

City Year New York, founded in 2003 to harness the spirit of volunteerism that had grown in New York City as a response to the attacks of 9/11, is headquartered at 20 West 22nd Street, in the heart of the Flatiron district.

It is the third-largest site in the network of City Year, Inc., which originated in Boston in 1988 and was built around the concept of national service by young Americans. City Year has 17 sites in the U.S. and one in South Africa. It is a member of AmeriCorps, the federally funded network of national service programs whose creation in 1994 it helped inspire.

City Year New York currently has 180 corps members, all volunteers between the ages of 17 and 24, each of whom made a 10-month commitment this year to give their time and talents to students at some of the City's most overtaxed and underserved schools. They act as mentors and tutors, run lunch programs, provide after-school and weekend care, and become role models and examples to the children of the value of community service. Perhaps most important, they are evidence that somebody cares.

Corporations of all sizes are invited to partner with City Year New York. Through the Team Sponsorship Program, corporations may sponsor a team of corps members who wear the sponsor's logo on their uniforms and serve as ambassadors of the company's social values. In addition, company employees have the opportunity to work with corps members on special projects.

On Community Service Days, City Year New York leads thousands of volunteers, from corporate executives to school children, in programs to beautify and transform city neighborhoods by such means as cultivating community gardens, painting over graffiti or cleaning up abandoned lots. Projects are often tied to special events and holidays, such as the fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day on Jan. 21, 2008 in Long Island City.

For additional information or to volunteer, contact Andrew Curtis (1-646-452-3634 or acurtis@cityyear.org).

With its intricate woodwork, its plasterwork garlands, cherubs and acanthus leaves, its parquet floors and Renaissance-inspired murals, the Prince George Ballroom was once one of the biggest and grandest indoor spaces in New York City. The 4,800-square-foot ballroom was the showpiece of the Prince George Hotel, north of Madison Square at 14 East 28th Street, just off Fifth Avenue. Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Howard Greenley, then president of the Architectural League of New York, the hotel opened in 1904 and the ballroom, with its own entrance at 15 East 27th Street, soon became a prime gathering place for the city's elite.

It remained that way for decades, but changing conditions transformed the once-glamorous room into something grim. By the 1970s, a drop in tourism and a surge in crime had taken their toll. A decade later, the Prince George was a shabby welfare hotel - and all too often, a crime scene. The ballroom, once a hub of the city's social life, became a dining hall, a social services office and a basketball court. In 1989, the Prince George was shut by the city.

In 1996, things began to change. The building, vacant for seven years, was purchased by Common Ground, the New York City non-profit organization that provides affordable housing for homeless, disabled, elderly and low-income people. Backed by federal, state and private funds, a mammoth restoration program followed, led by Beyer Blinder Belle, the architectural firm that worked on the renovation of Grand Central Terminal.

In 1999, the Prince George welcomed its first new tenants, and in 2001, the city designated the surrounding area the Madison Square North Historic District, which helped spur a campaign to restore the ballroom. In 2004, Common Ground embarked on a restoration of the Ballroom and the adjacent former Hunt Room. High school interns interested in restoration arts, architectural students and students from the Parsons School of Design provided much of the labor.

In 2005, the project was completed. Many of the Ballroom's rich details were meticulously restored, from the oak herringbone-patterned floor to the green, blue and red medallions on the ceiling. The Hunt Room, a 3,000-square-foot space that had fallen into total disrepair, became an airy, modern entry foyer that is now the World Monuments Fund Gallery, a special exhibition and events space. The Ballroom and the Gallery are both available as event spaces, with the proceeds supporting Common Ground's housing development work.

The Prince George, once a symbol of urban decay but newly restored to its former luster, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership sponsors free walking tours of the historic Flatiron district every Sunday.

Join our expert 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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