The Villager

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www.TheVillager.com

June 9, 2016 • $1.00

Volume 86 • Number 23

The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933

What was he drinking?Cuomo bill could allowbars to be near schools BY COLIN MIXSON

Local lawmakers are de-manding Governor Cuo-mo give the city’s com-

munity boards a chance to air their grievances over bills he an-nounced to amend laws control-ling the sale and distribution of alcohol.

Downtowners claim the pro-posed laws — mostly based on

the counsel of handpicked insid-ers — hold serious consequences for New Yorkers, whom the state gave scant opportunity to weigh in on the proposed measures.

“I’ve long supported a key role for community boards in the li-quor application process,” state Senator Daniel Squadron said. “It doesn’t make sense that com-munity boards weren’t given a

Newell gets D.I.D.’s nod;Rajkumar rages against‘clubhouse gang’ politicsBY COLIN MIXSON

Breaking the deadlock that has gripped the Down-town Independent Demo-

crats over who its candidate for the 65th Assembly District will be in the September primary election, last Wednesday eve-ning, D.I.D. fi nally made a de-fi nitive choice, endorsing Paul Newell.

In their June 1 vote, the club went for Newell over Jenifer Raj-kumar by about 2-to-1. Both are district leaders and D.I.D. mem-bers.

Newell previously ran in an Assembly primary when he chal-lenged former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in 2008. He also was recently endorsed by two

‘Soho Wild Man’ sentenced to 14 years............p. 12Spaces: At home with actor Charles Busch.....p. 14

Ali: Sting like an Avenue B.....p. 22

BY YANNIC RACK

The massively unpopular re-

development of an entire block of Gansevoort St. can move ahead, after the city’s Land-marks Preservation Commis-sion this week voted to approve a modifi ed plan to remake the historic row of market-style buildings in the Meatpacking District.

Preservationists and local residents — who have fought the plan, dubbed “Gansevoort Row,” since it fi rst came to light last August — blasted the land-marks agency for backtracking on its own standards and allow-ing the developers to, in some cases, more than triple the height of the existing streetscape.

“We got skunked,” said Keith Anderson, who lives around the corner from the site on Horatio St. and attended L.P.C.’s public meeting on Tuesday morning.

“I think they completely dis-regarded the guidelines they had set,” said Elaine Young, an-other critic of the plan, who co-founded the ad-hoc opposition group Save Gansevoort.

Young and her fellow resi-dents took particular issue with the fact that the L.P.C. commis-sioners themselves had asked the architects at their last hearing in February to scale down the pro-posed buildings. And although the developers did so, the plan’s opponents say the changes were not drastic enough by far.

The commission had previ-

ously rejected the design, by BKSK Architects, because it was too “fussy” and some of the buildings were too tall.

“It’s like this: Keep your word,” Young said after the meeting, holding up a sign stat-ing the same idea. “But they didn’t.”

The highly unpopular pro-posal, by Aurora Capital Associ-ates and William Gottlieb Real Estate, aims to demolish some of the low-slung former Meat Market buildings on the south side of Gansevoort St. between Ninth Ave. and Washington St. and replace them with new buildings up to 81 feet high. Other existing buildings would be restored and topped with

Betraying its mandate, L.P.C.

hikes Gansevoort St. heights

ALCOHOL continued on p. 10

D.I.D. continued on p. 8

GANSEVOORT continued on p. 6

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

And on that note! ... A jazz trumpet player tooted his own horn in Washington Square

Park.

2 June 9, 2016 TheVillager.com

TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT: The reason Gigi Li isn’t seeking re-election as chairperson of Community Board 3 is not that she does not want to since she is running for Assembly in the 65th District in the up-coming September Democratic primary. It’s because she can’t. “I have had the honor of serving as board chairperson of C.B. 3 for four years, and am proud of what we have been able to accomplish,” Li told us. “Last year, we passed a new set of bylaws that in-cluded a four-year term limit for the chairperson posi-tion, which I supported. I continue to serve as a board member and I look forward to becoming the next as-semblywoman for our community.” Asked what she felt the highlights of her four terms heading the East Village community board were, she said: “Leading

resiliency and recovery efforts to rebuild our commu-nity after Superstorm Sandy. Increased transparency regarding board process and procedures. We held developers accountable for delivering public benefi ts and community uses at the Essex Crossing project. Playing a central role in developing a [Lower East Side / Chinatown] rezoning plan in partnership with the Chinatown Working Group.”

PROPHETIC PENLEY: Former East Village activ-ist John Penley’s prediction has come true: Rolling Stone recently reported that Prophets of Rage — Rage Against the Machine minus former front man Zach de la Rocha — will be playing and stirring it up in and around the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

D’AG-NAM IT! Readers are reporting that the shelves are increasingly barren at the D’Agostino su-permarket at Greenwich and Bethune Sts. Writer and activist Michele Herman recently checked it out and gave us the report. “Many shelves are empty, shock-ingly so,” she said. “I got the deli guy to talk to me a little — just as a shopper, not a reporter. He says the same thing I heard from the manager: They’re wait-ing for the truck. Apparently ALL their stuff, includ-ing produce, comes from one supplier, C&S in New Hampshire. D’Ag has money troubles and hasn’t been able to pay for the shipment.” Villager reader Sara Kimbell also said she is very concerned at the mar-ket’s state. “I’m a longtime West Village resident and have always shopped locally,” she said. “It’s getting harder and harder to do so. We’ve already lost one supermarket — D’Ag at Christopher and Greenwich Sts. — and now this one on Greenwich and Bethune Sts. looks like it’s heading the same way.” And let’s not forget the recent shuttering of longtime local food standby Associated on W. 14th St. “It’s very sad when you can’t even shop for the family dinner in your own neighborhood,” Kimbell lamented. “One employee said, ‘Problem with deliveries.’ Another employee mentioned ‘cash fl ow’ problems. Markets are being forced out due to high rent.” She sent us some pho-tos of the place’s nearly empty shelves taken this past Mon., June 6. According to sources, the D’Ag has been feeling it ever since Mrs. Green’s opened nearby.

CORRECTION: In last week’s Scoopy’s Notebook, former New York State Senator Thomas Libous was referred to as Thomas Libelous — though Libelous sounds almost right! In July 2015, the late Libous, who was the state Senate’s deputy majority leader, was convicted of lying to the F.B.I. and had to vacate his seat. He was not sentenced to jail time, however, because of his terminal illness.

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PHOTOS BY SARA KIMBELL

Empty shelves at the D’Agostino supermarket

at Greenwich and Bethune Sts. are making

regular shoppers extremely ner vous about

the neighborhood’s food future.

June 9, 2016 3TheVillager.com


Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005by New York Press Association

News Story, First Place, 2015Editorial Page, First Place, 2015Editorials, First Place, 2014News Story, First Place, 2014Overall Design Excellence, First Place, 2013Best Column, First Place, 2012Photographic Excellence, First Place, 2011Spot News Coverage, First Place, 2010Coverage of Environment, First Place, 2009

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PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH BUTSON

Flowers, face painting and fun in the gardenThe Jefferson Market Garden, at Sixth and Greenwich Aves., hosted its annual Children’s Music and Flower Festi-

val on Sat., June 4. Kids frolicked in the Greenwich Village green oasis resplendent with roses. Faces were painted

with butterflies. Little hands learned that worms were good for the soil . Seeds were planted in tiny pots. Young

students from Greenwich House Music School provided entertainment.


STAY SAFE WHEN DRIVING IN WET WEATHERADVERTORIAL

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According to the Federal Highway Administration, wet roadways, and rain in par-ticular, are the main cause of weather-related vehicle crash-es. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-tion notes that, between 2004 and 2013, rain caused 573,784 crashes.

To drive safely in the rain and avoid accidents, drivers should follow certain precau-tions.

-ers. Inspect and, if necessary change windshield wipers regularly to ensure they are working optimally. Always test wipers before driving in rainy weather.

-ers. Reduced visibility is a ma-jor contributor to wet-weather accidents. Drivers’ views may be hampered by falling pre-cipitation and glare from wet roadways. Cloudy conditions and fog also compromise vis-ibility. When using windshield wipers, turn on your head-lights as well. This makes your vehicle more visible to other motorists and improves your own ability to see the road and

pedestrians.

conditions. Roadways accumu-late oil and engine fluids that can float in rainwater, creating slippery road surfaces. This is usually a problem during the first few hours of a rainstorm or in areas that receive little precipitation and then are subjected to downpours. These fluids make rain-soaked roads even more slippery. Slow down, leave more room between ve-hicles and try driving in the tracks left by vehicles ahead.

-motive group AAA says hydro-planing, when the tires rise up on a film of water, can occur with as little as 1 ⁄12 inch of wa-

ter on the road. The group goes on to say that tires have to dis-place a gallon of water per sec-ond to keep the rubber meet-ing the road. Drivers should reduce their speeds to corre-spond to the amount of water on the roadway. New tires can still lose some contact with the roadway, even at a speed as low as 35 mph. Therefore, reducing speed and avoiding hard brak-ing and turning sharply can help keep the rubber of the tire meeting the road.

the car’s windshield defroster/defogger to improve visibility. Turn it on early and keep it on until the rain has stopped and visibility has improved.

can be frightening, but when skidding, resist any tempta-tion to slam on the breaks. Instead, continue to look and drive in the direction you want to go and slowly ease up on the accelerator.

important to maintain control over the vehicle in rainy con-ditions, so avoid using cruise control.

inflation and tire tread levels can improve traction. AAA recommends checking tread depth by inserting a quar-ter upside down into the tire groove. If you can see above Washington’s head, start

shopping for new tires. Check tire pressure on all tires at least once a month. Get an ac-curate reading when tires are cold and adjust air pressure accordingly.

-ardous during good road con-ditions and even more danger-ous when visibility and other factors are compromised. Switch phones and other de-vices off so you can fully focus on the road and other drivers.

Rainy weather can contrib-ute to poor driving conditions. Drivers should make changes to speed and other factors to make wet weather driving as safe as possible.


multistory additions.The developers and their architects argue that the taller

structures are an echo of warehouse buildings historically found elsewhere in the landmarked district. But the oppo-nents counter that the proposal should stick to the mostly lower tenements that more recently stood on the street.

“We are disappointed that L.P.C. has arbitrarily reached back to an earlier stage in the district’s history to justify replacing existing low-rise market buildings with massive new construction,” Save Gansevoort wrote in a recent letter to the landmarks commission.

“If the rationale is to return Gansevoort St. to its earlier tenement confi guration, then the new buildings at 60-68 and 74 Gansevoort St. must conform to the size of their predecessors,” the letter urged.

Under the new plans, the two tallest buildings, at 60-68 and 70-74 Gansevoort St., will now be 61 and 81 feet tall, respectively — only a few feet lower than the original proposal and still signifi cantly higher than the 50 to 55 feet that city records show the tenements at the site once were, as the plan’s critics point out.

“This is the last remaining block of one-and-two-story market buildings in the entire borough of Manhattan,” said Zack Winestine, the other co-leader of Save Gan-sevoort, who lives nearby on Horatio St.

“It’s the epitome of what the Gansevoort Historic Dis-trict is about, and these buildings are going to completely transform this block,” he said.

Recent changes made to the plan also include more simplifi ed facades, as well as removal of previously pro-posed penthouse additions on the two tallest structures.

At the block’s eastern end, a two-story building at 46-48 Gansevoort St., will be restored and largely kept intact. In addition, 50 Gansevoort St., which originally was to be demolished and replaced by a larger three-story building, will now simply be restored as well.

“The change is pretty signifi cant,” offered Harry Ken-dall, of BKSK Architects. “We feel very confi dent that what we’ve done is appropriate.”

The two-story building in the middle of the block, which currently houses the Gansevoort Market food hall, will largely remain the same and eventually become the new location for Keith McNally’s Pastis restaurant.

Jared Epstein, vice president of Aurora Capital Asso-ciates, said the next step would be starting demolition, though there is no specifi c timeline yet. Galling to the op-ponents, he went so far as to claim that the project won’t harm but actually will enhance the landmarked district’s historical authenticity.

“We have always said this neighborhood has not one, but many histories, and today’s action ensures that the complete story of its evolution over the past 130 years will continue to be told to future generations of New York-ers,” Epstein said in a statement after the vote, according to DNAinfo.

“Today is an important milestone, and we are grateful for the guidance and input of local residents, stakehold-ers and particularly the Landmarks Preservation Com-mission, whose thoughtful and sensitive approach to the process will preserve the integrity and character of this neighborhood while allowing for its continued growth,”

he added.The block does currently have a restrictive declaration

in place, which limits the types of tenants Aurora can lease to and includes a ban on housing or offi ce space.

L.P.C. Chairperson Meenakshi Srinivasan said that she felt the changed proposal fi t in nicely with the sur-rounding area, much of which was landmarked as the Gansevoort Historic District in 2003.

“I think, if you look at it in context, it very much re-minds of the original buildings,” she said of the design. “It’s all very consistent with the district.”

Before the commissioners voted 8 to 2 in favor of the proposal, the agency chairperson also pointed out that 900 people wrote e-mails to the commission in opposi-tion to the proposal.

“It’s so dismissive of the greater population,” Vera Lut-ter, another local resident, said of the approval. “It’s crazy. The damage can’t be turned back.”

‘It’s crazy’: L.P.C. hikes Gansevoort heightsGANSEVOORT continued from p. 1

PHOTO BY YANNIC RACK

Opponents of the redevelopment plans once again showed up to a public meeting at the Land-

marks Preser vation Commission on Tuesday to protest, but to no avail.

RENDERINGS BY BKSK ARCHITECTS

Changes to the original proposal, at left, include removal of rooftop penthouses on the two larger buildings, at 60-68 and 70-74 Gansevoort St.

At right is the revised plan that L.P.C. approved earlier this week.


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other local political organizations, the East Side’s Coalition for a District Alter-native and the Stonewall Democrats, a leading gay and lesbian club.

“The D.I.D. has been standing for com-munity representation and ethical govern-ment for 45 years,” Newell said. “I am proud to carry that banner in this election and will be prouder still to do so in Al-bany.”

D.I.D. President Jeanne Wilcke said, “D.I.D. members have seen Newell’s long service to our neighborhood and his fear-less advocacy for reform. The vote was not a rejection of any candidate, but a fi rm support for Paul Newell.”

But Rajkumar slammed the club’s en-dorsement and vowed to remain in the race. A member of D.I.D. for the past six years, she heaped scorn on the venerable political outfi t after it voted to endorse her club rival, Newell. She said the club “does not represent the greater community” and likened it to the triumvirate in Albany that traditionally has ruled New York State with an iron fi st — and which formerly included Silver.

“A small group cast a vote that doesn’t refl ect the true sentiments or diversity of our community,” Rajkumar said. “I sup-pose it was to be expected, since there’s really no difference between ‘three men in a room’ and a gang in a clubhouse.”

The 65th A.D. includes Lower Man-hattan and the Financial District, Battery Park City, Chinatown, the South St. Sea-port, most of the Lower East Side, a small part of the East Village, part of the South Village, a small part of Soho and Gover-nors Island.

The district is currently represented by Alice Cancel, who ran as the Democratic nominee in an April special election to fi ll the vacancy created by Silver’s conviction at the end of last year on federal corrup-tion charges.

To become the Democratic nominee, Cancel won a February vote by the dis-trict’s roughly 200 Democratic County Committee members; Newell came in sec-

ond in the County Committee vote while Rajkumar was third.

Cancel is running for re-election in Sep-tember amid a crowded fi eld of at least a half dozen hopefuls that includes several Asian candidates.

Last Wednesday, D.I.D. was faced with making the unenviable decision of choos-ing to endorse Newell or Rajkumar, both leading members of the 45-year-old politi-cal club.

D.I.D. has a long history of supporting both Newell and Rajkumar in their elec-tions, including Newell’s bid for district leader in 2009 and Rajkumar’s run against then-District Leader Linda Belfer in 2011, plus Rajkumar’s unsuccessful challenge to Councilmember Margaret Chin in the 2013 primary election.

Beyond that, many D.I.D. members refer to both Newell and Rajkumar as a friend, underscoring the diffi culty of the decision to endorse one candidate over the other.

“Everybody’s been friends with Paul and Jenifer for over a decade, so it was a very diffi cult call for everybody,” said D.I.D. member Tom Goodkind.

Some members were so upset with the prospect of choosing between Rajkumar and Newell that there was an effort to include “Captain’s Choice” on the D.I.D. ballot, an option allowing members to endorse all candidates in a given race — which is more positive than voting “No Endorsement.”

D.I.D. President Wilcke went so far as to put Captain’s Choice on the ballots that were handed out at the beginning of the June 1 meeting. However, the members present voted overwhelmingly to strike it off, with the general sentiment being that Captain’s Choice would dilute the club’s infl uence on the coming election, which, again, has at least half a dozen other can-didates, plus incumbent Cancel.

“People were so concerned and would say, ‘Can’t we elect both?’ that the Cap-tain’s Choice thing was fl oated,” Wilcke said. “But people understood that we real-ly had to endorse a candidate. We’re here to give guidance to people who look to our endorsements.”

But Rajkumar took issue with the deci-sion to nix Captain’s Choice, which — in light of the club’s decision to go for Newell — could have left her campaign in a far

better position come November.“The removal of Captain’s Choice from

the internal club ballot — which would have offered an opportunity for members to support their preferred candidate — smacks of a fi x being in,” she said.

However, Wilcke took issue with that statement, saying the decision to remove Captain’s Choice from the ballot was made in as open and democratic a way as possible, with a vote among members that followed a lengthy discussion on the na-ture of Captain’s Choice and its merits.

“We actually spoke at length — about to the point where people’s eyes were glaz-ing over —to make sure we got it right,” Wilcke said. “So I don’t think that’s a fair comment.”

Former club president Sean Sweeney said that Rajkumar apparently knew her chances of beating Newell for D.I.D.’s endorsement were slim, since she called Sweeney requesting that Captain’s Choice be added to the ballot as a means of hedg-ing her bet.

“She knew she was losing,” Sweeney said. “It was a very shrewd political move.”

Regardless, it would seem that Rajku-mar is cutting off her nose to spite her face — as well as spite the club — in hurling accusations at her longtime friends and supporters, according to Goodkind.

“For her to scorn the club certainly is bridge burning,” he said.

Despite her harsh words, though, there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings on the part of D.I.D.’s leadership, which looks forward to supporting her in future endeavors — just as long as she’s not run-ning against Newell.

“I consider Jenifer like a daughter and I told her that, and Paul like a son,” Sweeney said. “She’s a little annoyed, I understand, it’s natural. She put a lot of time and effort into this campaign. And Paul and Jenifer were the best of friends. We all were. We still are.”

According to a D.I.D. source who re-quested anonymity, however, at least two elected offi cials and some club members are now saying they think Rajkumar, at this point, should throw in the towel.

“But it is unlikely she will drop out at this point, especially now that she has opened a campaign offi ce and offi cially announced,” the source said.

In addition, in a close vote, D.I.D. last week endorsed Deborah Glick for re-elec-tion versus challenger Arthur Schwartz in the September primary for the West Side’s 66th Assembly District. Glick got 26 votes to District Leader Schwartz’s 22, with 3 votes for “no endorsement.”

Schwartz didn’t let the loss get him down, though, and said he is in it to win.

“The same night, however, I was en-dorsed by the 504 Democratic Club, the club of disability rights activists, so I bat-ted .500,” he said. “I was also endorsed by Yetta Kurland. I never thought taking on a 26-year incumbent would be easy; this race will go down to the wire,” he predicted.

Monday night Yuh-Line Niou kicked off her campaign for state Assembly in the Democratic primary on Sept. 13. Niou, who received more than 6,000 votes on the Working Families Par-ty line in the spring special election for the 65th A.D., urged the crowd to “fi n-ish the job” they started in April and send a “true progressive” to Albany to represent Lower Manhattan.

“Not surprisingly,” Niou said, “Alba-ny has not reformed itself, our schools are still overcrowded, the right of work-ers to organize and earn fair wages is

still under attack, tenants are still be-ing harassed out of their homes and too many families still struggle every day to make ends meet.”

Among her prominent supporters is Comptroller Scott Stringer.

“We are going to win this race and change the status quo,” Stringer said, “because Yuh-Line has the right pro-gressive values and the right experi-ence to go to Albany and deliver for Downtown.”

Niou was previously chief of staff for Queens Assemblymember Ron Kim.

‘Let’s fi nish the job’: Niou launches new campaign

Yuh-Line Niou, center, with supporters at her campaign kickoff.

D.I.D. continued from p. 1

D.I.D. backs Newell for Assembly; Rajkumar rages

Paul Newell. Jenifer Rajkumar.


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T he Metropolitan Transporta-tion Authority is quietly plan-ning repairs to the Hurricane

Sandy-ravaged 2 and 3 and F train tunnels between Brooklyn and Man-hattan, in a similar vein to the much-fretted-about fi x-ups that will likely see the L tube close for more than a year.

But unlike the L work — for which the M.T.A. has held public meetings and created fl ashy informational vid-eos — the authority has been vague on when these other repairs would happen, how long they would take, or how they would affect the lines, and now straphangers are demanding an-swers.

The 2012 superstorm sent saltwater gushing into the 2 and 3 trains’ and the F train’s East River tunnels, dam-aging tracks, signals, ducts, power and communication cables, and now workers need extended access to fi x them, according to agency spokesper-son Kevin Ortiz.

Repairs to the F tunnel would af-fect the 155,000 passengers who zip through it every day. The agency will name a contractor for the job in 2018, Ortiz said last week, but he initially claimed it was too soon to know ex-actly when the work would start or end, and if the agency would need to close the tunnel on weekdays.

Riders were keeping their fi ngers crossed that the closures would only take place on nights and weekends, so their daily commutes would not be disrupted.

The Brooklyn Paper reported last week that the M.T.A. wasn’t saying whether the F train repairs would close the tunnel on weekdays. The agency subsequently said the F tun-

nel would only be closed for repairs on weekends at some point in the coming years, but didn’t offer more specifics.

Repairs to the 2 and 3 tunnel — which 150,000 passengers traverse every weekday — will take place fi rst and only happen on weekends, Ortiz said, though he wouldn’t say when or how that would impact the rest of the line. The authority will reveal more only after it names a contractor some-time this month, he said.

Sandy did less damage to the 2 and 3 tube than the F tunnel — battering the former with 500,000 gallons of saltwater, in contrast to the 1.5 mil-lion gallons that fi lled the orange line, according to Ortiz.

The L train’s Canarsie tube under the East River, however, is longer than the Clark and Rutgers tunnels and took in a whopping 6 million gal-lons of water during the hurricane.

The M.T.A. plans to either close the L tunnel entirely for 18 months or partially for three years. It will name a contractor by the end of the year and work will begin in 2019, Ortiz said.

The Clark, Rutgers and Canarsie tunnels are the last of the Sandy-swamped East River tubes still in need of mending. The authority is halfway through repairs to the 4 and 5 tube. It has been closing the con-nection on weekends since March 11, and is slated to wrap up 13 weeks later on July 25.

The M.T.A. closed the R tunnel for 13 straight months during 2013 and 2014, the G train’s Greenpoint tube to Queens for 12 weekends in 2014 and fi ve full weeks in 2014, and the A and C tunnel for 40 weekends last year.

Weekend repairs on trackfor 2, 3, and later, F tubes

The fi fth annual New York University and VillageCare “Take Charge of Your Health Today!” Community Health Fo-rum and Expo will kick off with a health fair expo at which participants can be test-ed for blood pressure and blood glucose, learn hands-on C.P.R., and receive a mas-sage, plus important information about a variety of topics that matter to older adults and their caregivers.

The free event will be Thurs., June 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at N.Y.U.’s Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South. This year’s theme is “Living Longer – Ag-ing with Attitude.”

In addition to moderator Dr. Max Gomez, the CBS TV medical journalist, the event will feature an expert panel,

including Dr. Tara Cortes, executive di-rector of the Hartford Institute for Geri-atrics and a professor in geriatric nursing at N.Y.U. College of Nursing; Judith Gil-bride, Ph.D., N.Y.U. professor of nutrition and food studies; Alexander Grijalva, Vil-lageCare chief information security offi cer and HIPAA security offi cer; Dr. Marie-Genevieve Iselin, senior psychologist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center: and Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, director of the Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Wellness Program at Rusk Rehabili-tation, N.Y.U. Langone Medical Center.

Those interested in attending should RSVP N.Y.U.’s Offi ce of Civic Engage-ment at 212-992-7323. Light lunch and health info materials are complimentary.

Free massages and moreat health forum and expo


meaningful role in developing proposed changes to the liquor law. Provisions that impact our communities and raise real concerns should not be pushed forward without engaging those communities.”

The cadre of Manhattan state and city legislators, including Squadron, Assem-blymembers Alice Cancel, Deborah Glick and Richard Gottfried, and Councilmem-bers Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez, rallied outside City Hall on June 3. They appealed to the state to provide locals with a more substantial opportunity to give in-put on Cuomo’s new legislation.

The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws — enacted in the 1930s following the end of the country’s doomed “noble experiment” — give local community boards the opportunity to issue opinions on a wide range of liquor license applica-tions.

However, a suite of new bills pro-posed by Cuomo to modernize the nearly century-old laws were largely devised by the 23 members of the Alcoholic Bever-age Control Law Working Group — a so-called “blue ribbon” panel of industry professionals and their lawyers, including Steven Harris, president of the New York State Beer Wholesalers Association, and Kelly Diggins, senior counsel for North American Breweries.

The group included only one local rep-

resentative, Ebenezer Smith, the district manager of Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood in Upper Manhattan.

Many of the governor’s new bills are relatively innocuous as far as New York City residents are concerned — designed to ease the fi nancial and bureaucratic bur-dens state laws have placed on manufac-turers and brewers. For example, the legis-lation would result in reduced paperwork for craft brewers, the ability to sell wine in growlers and reduced fees for small wholesalers.

Other proposed provisions, however, would expand the hours that bars can op-erate on a Sunday and ease the licensing process related to the “200-foot rule” for bar / restaurants. The latter would open up the possibility of watering holes — al-beit, only those with a kitchen — situating themselves adjacent to houses of worship and schools, and posing very real quality-of-life concerns for Manhattan neighbor-hoods already oversaturated with night-life, according to locals.

However, the “500-foot rule” reportedly would not be weakened; this law currently

makes applicants justify the “public good” of adding another liquor license within an already alcohol-saturated area.

“There are lots of good things — sim-plifying red tape for wineries and artisa-nal this or thats,” Jeff Ehrlich, a member of Community Board 1, said. “But in an Upstate town you don’t have 300 bars in a 500-foot radius like you do down here. So some of those proposals seem like they were done without proper comment and proper representation by the communities of the city.”

Not only were locals virtually nonexis-tent on the working group, little effort was made to alert Manhattan’s community boards of the working group and its po-tential to affect residents’ quality of life.

Susan Stetzer, district manager of the East Village’s Community Board 3, is largely responsible for bringing the issue to the community’s attention. She said she became aware of the working group’s existence sometime last fall. However, she was made to understand — through an attorney who regularly appears before C.B. 3 on behalf of local-liquor license ap-plicants — that the group’s main concerns were on the manufacturing side of the al-cohol business.

It wasn’t until Stetzer happened upon the working group’s recommendations, which she found buried on the State Li-quor Authority’s Web site, that she real-ized the group was, in fact, proposing legal changes that would affect residential communities.

“It was a media advisory on the S.L.A. Web site, which is not something we usu-ally check,” Stetzer explained. “I try to occasionally look. But there’s no way we have the resources to check every Web site for every agency, and there wasn’t any buzz about it. There was public notice. But 11 of the 12 Manhattan community boards had no idea that the 200-foot rule was being discussed, or Sunday hours be-ing changed.”

Moreover, while the working group’s meetings were open to the public, the community boards were not explicitly in-vited. The aforementioned attorney, how-ever, did receive a letter welcoming him to

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Cuomo bills could ease 200-foot rule on barsALCOHOL continued from p. 1

Manhattan politicians and community board members gathered on the

City Hall steps on June 3, demanding more community participation

in revisions to the state’s alcohol laws. Front row, from left, Coun-

cilmembers Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez, state Senator Daniel

Squadron, C.B. 3 Chairperson Gigi Li and state Senator Liz Krueger.

Also among the group were Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, C.B. 2

Chairperson Tobi Bergman and former Chairperson David Gruber; Bob

Ely and Carter Booth, chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively,

of the C.B. 2 Liquor License Committee; District Managers Bob Gorm-

ley and Susan Stetzer of C.B. 2 and 3; and Karlin Chan, a C.B. 3 member

active on Chinatown bar issues.

ALCOHOL continued on p. 12


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Wald Houses homicide

A 22-year-old man was fatally shot in the Lillian Wald Houses on Fri., June 3, shortly before 2 a.m.

Police responded to a 911 call of a man shot in the public-housing complex’s courtyard area at 890 E. Sixth St. Upon arrival, offi cers found the victim with gunshot wounds to the torso.

E.M.S. medics also responded and transported the victim to the Beth Israel Hospital, where he was pro-nounced dead.

As of this Wednesday, there were no arrests and the investigation was ongoing.

Police are not releasing the deceased’s name until his family members have been properly notifi ed.

Lieutenant Thomas Antonetti, a spokesperson with the Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, shed some light on the case.

“Could be narcotics related,” he told The Villager. “He has a narcotics past. It looks like he’s a marijuana player.”

Antonetti said the victim has two previous pot ar-rests and also a number of sealed arrests. He could not immediately say if the arrests had occurred in or around the Wald Houses.

The lieutenant said police are looking at sur-veillance video and questioning eyewitnesses and “earwitnesses” in an effort to find the killer or killers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800-577-

TIPS. Tips can also be submitted by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.

‘Soho Wild Man’ sentenced

Richard Pearson a.k.a. “The Soho Wild Man” a couple years ago was terrorizing neighborhood resi-dents, who kept warning police he would defi nitely eventually kill someone.

On June 23, 2014, he almost did, stabbing a side-walk cell phone-case vendor on Broadway south of Houston with a pair of scissors, nearly hitting him in the heart.

The wounded vendor chased Pearson into the Broadway-Lafayette subway station, where the men-tally disturbed street dweller was arrested by police.

According to the criminal complaint, Pearson stat-ed during a police interrogation at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse, “I was defending myself.”

Apparently responding to a detective’s question, Pearson answered, “How many times did I stab him?... We were talking about evolution. I stabbed him to protect myself.”

Pearson recently pleaded guilty to attempted mur-der in the second degree in that case.

On Thurs., June 2, he was sentenced to 14 years in state prison and fi ve years of post-release supervision, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Offi ce.

Other people’s property

A 38-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a woman after he caught her stealing his property early Friday morning at Off the Wagon bar, at 108 Macdougal St., police said.

On June 3 at 3 a.m., according to a report, a woman attempted to remove the victim’s property. The report didn’t state exactly what it was the woman was alleg-edly trying to take.

The man attempted to retain the property and the woman struck him multiple times causing lacerations to his shoulder, neck and face, police said.

All of the property was recovered at the crime scene.

Stephanie Kenyon, 28, was arrested for felony rob-bery.

Out-of-tune tag team

Karaoke Boho bar, at 186 W. Fourth St., was the scene of an alleged altercation Thursday night. A doorman there told police that around midnight on June 2, while he was working at the bar, two women entered the place and became argumentative over the bar’s ID policy.

One of the women struck the employee in the head with a Corona beer bottle, causing lacerations, swelling and bruising. Meanwhile, the other woman punched him, causing bruising and swelling to his head.

The two women, Shanika Walker, 21, and Jelissa Walker, 25, were arrested for felony assault.

Up & Down and out

An employee of Up & Down nightclub, at 244 W. 14th St., called police last Wed., June 1, when he wit-nessed a burglary, police said.

Cops responding around 5:45 a.m. saw the man matching the description attempting to leave the loca-tion, and said they saw damage from the burglary. With the assistance of other offi cers, they caught the suspect before he could fl ee into a nearby subway station.

Police were shown surveillance video of the suspect trying to break the club’s door and enter the premises.

Police arrested Andre S. Zhulidau, 38, for felony burglary.

Un-Souk-cessful swiper

Multiple women had their iPhones stolen at Le Souk nightclub, at 510 LaGuardia Place, on Tues., May 31, police said.

On that night at 1:15 a.m., one of the victims stated she was dancing and felt a man pushing up against her side where her purse was. Shortly afterward, she discovered that her cell phone was removed from her purse.

The second victim also stated that she discovered that her phone was removed from her purse.

The third victim, who is a club employee, told cops she placed her cell phone under her workstation and

later noticed that it was removed. However, Le Souk’s security staff recovered all

three cell phones from a man at the club. Upon ar-rest, it was discovered that the man had one active warrant.

Samba Tague, 31, was charged with felony grand larceny.

Emily Siegel

and Lincoln Anderson

POLICE BLOTTER

Cuomo booze bills backlashattend the meetings, according to the East Village district manager.

“They’re saying there was notice, but I’m wondering why an industry lawyer got an invite and we didn’t,” Stetzer noted.

Now, with the state’s annual legislative session com-

ing to a close on June 16, locals are fearful that the gov-ernor will ram his liquor bills through committee and put them before the Assembly for a vote without giving community boards a chance to review them carefully and weigh in.

“The 16th is the last day they’re voting on legislation, so that’s part of the whole problem with transparency,” Stetzer said. “It requires a little bit of time.”

ALCOHOL continued from p. 10

BY MICHAEL OSSORGUINE

As New York rapper Troy Ave was being arrested and charged in a fatal shooting at rapper T.I.’s concert on May 25, Irving Plaza was busy can-

celing concerts, including shows by rappers Joey Bada$$ and Mac Miller on June 2 and 3, respectively.

“If there’s a miscommunication between anybody, it needs to be dealt with properly — no violence,” CLOCK-WORKDJ, the opening act for Mac Miller, stressed.

Troy Ave, who is now being held in jail on Rikers Is-land, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. He is now saying he acted in self-defense because someone was trying to “assassinate” him, according to the Daily News.

Asked if the tragic Gramercy shooting is sending a chill through the rap world, CLOCKWORKDJ said they’re trying to keep things positive.

“We’re not trippin’, though — we’re happy,” he said.All tickets to the scrapped Irving Place gigs were re-

funded. Diehard fans likely scalped tickets to the Gover-nors Ball Music Festival on Randalls Island on Saturday, where the two rappers played sets with record turnout.

Other shows canceled or postponed because of the

Irving Plaza shooting were Vince Staples and a few concerts at Gramercy Theater, The New York Times reported.

On a personal note, CLOCKWORKDJ said he is excited by the prospect of hopefully “going gold” after recently signing a deal with artistic management group CEG Entertainment, based in Manhattan’s Garment District.

‘No violence,’ rapper stresses after club murder

CLOCK WORKDJ says “miscommunication

needs to be dealt with properly” — i.e., peace-

fully.

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Last week, Le Souk restaurant and hookah lounge, at 510 LaGuardia

Place, had a menu tasting to tr y out new things on its menu. Of course

there was the requisite belly dancing to accompany the food. This time,

the dancer lit a sort of candelabra and gyrated with it on her head, and

sometimes belly.

Hot belly dancing!PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY


BY BOB KRASNER

W hen asked what he would like to be remembered for, Charles Busch — the

director/playwright/actor/painter/chanteuse — mused for a moment, then answered.

“I think that I gave my audience a sense of something bigger than life, with a bit of glamour,” he said.

He could easily have been talking about his apartment, which looks exactly like what you would expect from the man behind “Vampire Les-bians of Sodom” and “Die, Mommy Die.”

Busch grew up in Manhattan’s Murray Hill and has resided in the Village since 1980.

His current living situation began when he moved from what he called a “horrible railroad flat tenement” into a large studio on Bank St. in 1995.

Later, finding himself with some money in the bank thanks to the success of his play “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” (“Thank God for Linda Lavin,” he said), he managed to buy the studio above his own, as well.

Plans to combine the two apart-ments took two years to get approved by the co-op board, but it was, re-markably, smooth sailing after that.

Busch, a self-described “amateur interior decorator,” found the perfect collaborator in architect August Ven-tura. The two set about adding mold-ing, creating furniture, designing a staircase to combine the two spaces and finding colors that would create the decor that Busch sums up as “an elegant 19th-century whorehouse.”

Notably — and somewhat unbe-lievably — John Priber of the Faro Building Corporation managed to complete the renovation on time and on budget.

“He said it would take three-and-a-half months and it took three-and-a-half months,” Busch said.

The dark, rich tones of the walls were chosen so that the furniture would “pop out.” The deep-red liv-ing room is a nod to Diana Vreeland, who famously favored the color. Some of the furnishings came from the home of Busch’s late Aunt Lil-lian, who raised the artist.

“She was the most influential per-son in my life,” he said.

Lamps and a candelabra that were part of Lillian’s “wacky sense of de-cor” now illuminate the living room. The small round tables covered with photos are also a reminder of

A bit glamour, a lot bordello, plus Lillian’s lamps,

SPACES

Charles Busch at work in his office, formerly a kitchen, with framed posters of his shows on the wall. BUSCH continued on p. 15


make actor Charles Busch’s home sweet home

the woman who “made all the right choices for me,” Bush said.

Nearby, in his beloved Abingdon Square, is a bench that he funded to honor her.

Besides the renovated square, Busch loves what he calls “one of the great neighborhoods.”

“The Village is still very beauti-ful,” he said. “But I miss the wonder-ful little stores” that have been dis-placed by corporate retailers.

“I moved here at the tail end of the working-class and bohemian era,” he said. “I lived in a building [on 12th St.] full of old eccentrics. I wish I had appreciated them more at the time.”

He wistfully recalled the “weird antique stores” and the shops that sold strange curios, as well as the generally funky atmosphere.

“In my youth, I did rather enjoy walking on the wild side,” he admit-ted. “But I guess there’s been some improvement.”

One improvement has been in his eating habits, as he has been teach-ing himself to cook. After immersing himself in the Cooking Channel for the past two years, he is bringing a bit of theater into the kitchen as he “plates” his dinner and judges it, as if it were a competition. He doesn’t al-ways win, he quipped, but frequently ends up “in the top three.”

He also spends a lot of time in the other kitchen, which was converted into his office. The writer can be found at his computer nearly every day, working on the next project in front of a wall full of framed posters from his shows.

“I just wish I had another wall for all the new posters,” he lamented.

But that’s his only complaint.“I love having a great apartment,”

he said. “When I get a bad review, I think, ‘Well, I’ve probably got a bet-ter apartment than that critic.’ ”

Charles Busch will be perform-

ing “The Ultimate Playlist” at Fein-stein’s / 54 Below, at 254 W. 54th St., on Fri., June 10, and Sat., June 11. For more information and tickets, visit https://54below.com/events/charles-busch/ .

BUSCH continued from p. 14

PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER

Charles Busch in his bedroom.

The actor’s living room, featuring a rare Sarah Bernhardt poster at left, and a portrait of Charles Busch

painted by Don Bachardy, writer Christopher Isher wood’s lover.

‘I love having a

great apartment.’

Charles Busch


BY JANE HEIL USYK

Celeste Villani, known as Sally, died Sat., May 21, in the Hopkins Center for Rehabilitation & Health-care in Brooklyn.

Celestina Stephani Grippa was born Nov. 9, 1922. “Celeste” was ac-tually short for her name at birth. She lived on Thompson St. all her life.

Her death took me back to 1964, when I fi rst moved to Thompson St. The street had scared me when I was at N.Y.U. a few years before, living on Washington Square South. It was dark, and had guys rolling back and forth on their heels in the doorways. But just a few years later, I heard about an apart-ment there that was half the price of my one-bedroom on E. 35th St. I wanted to reduce my expenses so I could be a free-lance writer and not have a steady job.

The apartment was perfect for me at that time. It was sunny and a fi ve-fl ight walk-up, but I was 24 and fl eet of foot. The place came with neighbors: Sally and Pin and their family. Her children were 12 and 14 at the time. Sally must have been around 40, but to me she

seemed ancient. She married in 1946 and had lived

there ever since, with her extended family all around her. Her sister Chub-by lived on the fourth fl oor, just un-derneath Sally, with her husband John and three children. Her sister Carmela lived next door. Her cousin Mary lived next to Carmela, two buildings up. Her husband’s mother lived three or four blocks down Thompson St. And there were other relatives — cousins and aunts and uncles — on Thompson,

Prince and Spring Sts.They started to become neighborly,

mainly by offering me parts of their meals, especially Sunday dinners. I didn’t have any family, except in Con-necticut and on the Upper West Side, but there was no one around Thomp-son St. (by design). So they fi lled in, knocking on my door with spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, la-sagna and cake. Sally gave food to who-ever was in my apartment, even if it wasn’t me. My friend Sheila, who some-times stayed there when Michael and I were away, said she received “many a meatball” from Sally.

Sometimes they would knock and invite me to join them, and I would. There were often nine or 10 people around their kitchen table, all relatives, plus me.

In those days I wasn’t doing much cooking, so it was quite a help. Some-times Pin went fi shing; mainly, he went to Sheepshead Bay, and usually caught a lot of fl uke there. And when he brought it all back home, I got a fi sh or two.

I remember one day in my twen-ties, I had a date with a guy who was from Connecticut, very well connected. (His uncle was a famous English profes-sor at Yale.) But when he drank, I was surprised to learn, he became violent, and he grabbed onto my wrists and wouldn’t let go. I started to scream. Pin and Sally heard me, and Pin knocked on the door and asked me if I was all right. I wasn’t. I told him this guy had to leave, right away. And Pin stood there until he was going down the stairs, say-ing nasty things to Pin all the way.

I often wonder what would have happened if Pin hadn’t knocked on my door.

In my forties I met Michael, and he moved in with me. We were married

a few years later. Sally started feeding him, too.

In the 1970s, Sally’s daughter An-drea got married and moved — across the street, where she still lives.

Her son Frank moved to Florida. They were quite strong; Pin, in his

seventies, went down the street to his mother’s apartment — she also lived on the top fl oor of a walk-up — and took meals to his mother for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he fed her, too. Other-wise, she wouldn’t eat anything. So he carried meals up fi ve fl ights of stairs three times a day, for years. His moth-er died at 106, and then he stopped. One day we fi gured it out: Our stairs are about 83 steps for fi ve fl ights, so up and down, is about 170 steps. Then do that six times a day (our building and his mother’s building), and you have climbed about 1,000 steps a day.

Every day. Sally was very slight. I never heard

her raise her voice, not once. She was tough, and nobody could put anything over on her, but she didn’t act tough at all. I learned quite a bit from her —mainly, how to stand strong in an argument and not back down, but not raise your voice, either.

When Michael had just begun living with me, in the 1980s, he came home one very hot day. In the fi fth-fl oor hall, outside our doors, were Pin and Frank, sitting in beach chairs in their under-wear and tank-top shirts. That was the only cool place on the really hot fi fth fl oor, because it had windows on both sides. They were relaxing, and both had their toupees off.

“Eh, Mike!” they said, “How are ya?” as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Bye, Sally. You and your family were wonderful Village neighbors.

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Celeste Villani, 93, lifelong Thompson resident

OBITUARY

Celeste “Sally” Villani in a re-

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BY MICHAEL OSSORGUINE

The School Construction Authority has been renovating The Neighbor-hood School, P.S. 363, since 2013,

and parents and staff are furious that the drawn-out work has taken so long.

During the school year, the work has been done at night, with the building all lit up with construction lights, making it resemble a giant, glowing U.F.O. plopped down in the East Village.

With the project almost a year past its scheduled completion date, and numer-ous problems with funding and damages allegedly caused by the work, the school, at 121 E. Third St., is pushing the S.C.A. to fi nally wrap things up.

Multiple construction goals were sup-posed to have been completed by October 2015. After that date was missed, a new deadline of this April was set. The S.C.A. is now promising to fi nish the work by July.

“We’ve got scaffolding all around the school,” Elinor Tatum, a frustrated school parent, told The Villager. “Our kids can’t see the daylight through it. It’s kind of like they’re in a shroud all the time. We really would like to see that gone.”

The original plan called for work on the exterior masonry, parapets and roofs of The Neighborhood School and STAR Academy, P.S. 63.

According to school leaders, the S.C.A.’s work has created safety hazards and dam-aged the building, including gaps in the safety guards on upper fl oors and ceilings that leak rainwater into classrooms.

The Neighborhood School is demand-ing that, in addition to the job being fi n-ished, all damages to the building are re-paired. The school’s Wellness Committee is circulating a petition among parents to address the deteriorated conditions.

The petition cites a rat infestation at the construction site, hypodermic needles

left on the scaffolding, and violations of the S.C.A.’s claim that 19 to 25 workers would be “on the job daily” to fi nish work on the facilities.

The project, whose delays border on the surreal can be called “Kafkaesque.” According to the petition, the construc-tion’s snail-like pace is due to problems with Kafka Construction Inc., which was enlisted by the S.C.A. to execute the plan.

Tatum said that a recent meeting with the S.C.A. and The Neighborhood School’s leadership persuaded the S.C.A. to put its foot down. If Kafka Construc-tion does not get its act together by this weekend, it reportedly will be replaced.

However, the S.C.A. had no comment regarding the petition or Kafka Construc-tion Inc.

The Neighborhood School has educat-ed children from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade since 1991.

The ongoing work has sometimes pre-vented afterschool programs from hap-pening, and has caused the schoolyard to be closed, forcing children’s outdoor time to take place outside the school’s grounds, such as at First Park.

Since much of the work on the building involves abatement of asbestos-containing materials, the children’s respiratory health is also at stake, parents say.

A FAQ page on the project by the Health and Safety Committee in 2013 de-tailed the safety precautions of the abate-ment, which uses safe, chemical methods to remove asbestos, and requires regular air quality checks to test for asbestos fi -bers.

In addition, according to Tatum, an-other problem is that unless the S.C.A. fi nishes the work by a set time, funding for specifi c construction projects will be “moved around,” which raises concerns over whether the project will ever be com-pleted, let alone fi nished in time.

Neighborhood School workhoped to fi nally end by July

As dusk falls, The Neighborhood School building starts to resemble

something out of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” as construc-

tion lights go on behind the safety netting and the pounding, chipping

and drilling sounds commence.


Alex, 13, a major Donald Trump supporter, was recently spotted on

Duane St. in Tribeca. A student at Chelsea’s LAB School, he was doing

his part to get the bombastic real estate tycoon elected by manning a

Trump informational stand in front of his building. The young politico

said he likes the candidate’s foreign, domestic and economic policies,

and would really “love to meet him someday.” The teen for Trump was

not soliciting donations but giving away snacks and drinks, all in the

name of tr ying to Make America Great Again. Yeah, right, more sugar

and aspartame! That’s all we need. Any way, Alex is definitely going

against the grain in Lower Manhattan, where most voters are no doubt

going to vote Democratic in November and are aghast at the idea of

Trump as president.

He’ll drink to The DonaldPHOTOS BY MILO HESS

2 0 June 9, 2016 TheVillager.com

Legendary leaders, alas...

To The Editor:Re “Where are our leaders?” (letter, by Bunny Ga-

bel, June 2): Thank you, Bunny Gabel. In 1963, as secretary to Ruth Wittenberg on

Community Planning Board 2, I had the hon-or of working with Jane Jacobs, Verna Small, Jim Shaw and many other community activists.I later was elected secretary to Planning Board 2, un-der the chairmanship of Anthony Dapolito, who also contributed to protecting and improving our Village.

Yes, we do need leaders with courage and honesty.

Connie Masullo

Canada hydro energy’s cons

To The Editor:Re “Cries to close nuke plant and go green gain

energy” (news article, June 2):Local generation of power is effi cient and supports

values of energy democracy. We should not just think of resolving the grid with renewables, but rethink how we get our power to benefi t local communities. Let’s think justice!

Why would New York City want to get into the business of using our Upstate neighbors as a conduit for importing electricity from far away? I see that run-ning into the same systemic problem that fossil fuels have created by crushing small locales in favor of big

markets.Let’s be great and support local generation and lo-

cal ownership!

Kim Fraczek

Hillary hugs nuclear power

To The Editor:Re “Cries to close nuke plant and go green gain

energy” (news article, June 2):Hillary supports keeping Indian Point open. Bernie understands the problems. Hillary had eight

years as New York senator, but doesn’t want to close an aging nuclear plant that can make Manhattan and elsewhere a permanent dead zone.

She had bad judgment about Iraq and has bad judg-ment about nuclear energy. Her campaign Web site uses the nuclear industry propaganda term “clean” energy for nuclear, and supports building more nu-clear reactors.

Existing thin-walled (half-inch) nuclear waste can-isters at Indian Point and at other U.S. plants cannot be inspected, repaired or maintained and can crack and leak millions of curies of radiation. Each contains more deadly Cesium-137 than was released from Chernobyl.

Entergy has no plan in place to deal with leaking “Chernobyl” cans. Learn more at SanOnofreSafety.org.

Thanks to Friends of the Earth and the donors that support them. F.O.E. helped shut San Onofre in Cali-fornia. Unfortunately, the nuclear waste is still unsafe-ly stored in thin-walled canisters right at the beach and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission refuses to

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTERS continued on p. 22

IRA BLUTREICH

Muhammad Ali, there will never be another

City Councilmember Corey Johnson posed for a historic selfi e — which he promptly tweeted out — with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night at the Brook-lyn Navy Yard when Clinton declared victory in the Democratic presidential primary.

Her win in the New Jersey primary put her over the top versus the tena-cious Bernie Sanders in terms of win-ning a majority of pledged delegates. She would go on to win several other states and Tuesday night’s biggest prize, California. Though Sanders, continuing to pressure her, still won an impressive amount of votes.

Clinton is the fi rst woman ever to win the presumptive presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party.

Refl ecting on the moment, the Vil-lage / Chelsea councilmember said, “The sense of history — that this was a key moment in the movement for women’s rights — was palpable in the room. When she said her mother was born on the day Congress ratifi ed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, it absolutely put this in perspective for everyone.”

How tweet it

is, Hillary!


BY BILL WEINBERG

The “Goddess of Democracy” be-came a global icon when it was raised by student protesters in Bei-

jing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 — be-fore the movement was put down in the massacre of June 4.

In the prelude to this year’s 25th anni-versary of the massacre, the Democracy Goddess came to Manhattan’s Chinatown. While the original raised in Beijing 27 years ago was of papier-mâché and stood some 30 feet tall, this one was of fi berglass and about 10 feet high. It was raised in Confucius Plaza on May 30, right in front of the statue of the revered philosopher, at the corner of Bowery and Division St.

Owing much to New York’s Statue of Liberty but also to the French Marianne, the Goddess stands holding a torch aloft. Across the statue’s breast is a banner with the words “Freedom is not free.”

Standing below were her creator, Cal-ifornia-based artist Chen Weiming, and his small entourage. They had just arrived in the city following a cross-country tour with the Goddess.

Chen said this fi berglass version, con-structed in his studio in the Mojave Des-ert town of Barstow, is a prototype for a colossus he hopes to cast in bronze. This would stand a symbolic 64 meters — for June 4. In China, “6-4” is popular code for the massacre, which remains a forbidden topic there. With its base, the statue would stand 89.64 meters, the “89” referencing the year of the massacre. At this height, it would rival the Statue of Liberty, which stands 93 meters, ground to torch.

Chen, amiable and with slightly dishev-eled hair, stated ambitiously, “I hope to move it into China when there is democ-racy there.”

Of course, he hopes to raise it over Tain-anmen Square — specifi cally, at the site of Mao Zedong’s mausoleum, which now overlooks the square on the south.

“We should move Mao out, like they moved Stalin from Red Square,” he said. “We should build a memorial to democ-racy there.”

While followers of the Falun Gong med-itation practice frequently have tables set up in Chinatown protesting persecution of their kind in the People’s Republic, images of the 1989 pro-democracy movement are considerably rarer. The side of the truck that carried the fi berglass statue displayed photos from those fateful days in Beijing a generation ago — tanks advancing on protesters, residents coming to the aid of

the stricken.New York was the second-to-last stop

on the Goddess’s tour. It left Los Angeles on May 14, after a display outside that city’s Chinese consulate. The statue then moved on to stops in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and the Yale campus in New Haven before arriving in front of the Isaiah Wall across First Ave. from the United Nations on May 27, and then down to Chinatown three days later. The God-dess’s last New York stop was a June 3 rally near Times Square, before moving on to a culminating rally in Washington, D.C., two days later.

And before the dreamed-of day when the bronze colossus can rise in Beijing? Chen names Freedom Square in Taiwan’s capital as a possibility. He said he was in talks a few years ago with the local gov-ernment of Taiwan’s Jinmen Island — also known as Quemoy, the scene of the 1958 crisis when it was attacked by Chinese forces. But before he could raise the statue there, Taiwan’s then-pro-China govern-ment interceded. With the new and more independent-minded Tsai Ing-wen now in offi ce (Taiwan’s fi rst woman president), Chen may try again.

Chen was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. That’s just up the coast from Fujian, from where many of Chinatown’s newest residents hail. He worked in public sculpture for municipal governments in the ’80s, and his statues are still standing in

the squares and parks of Zhejiang. When asked what they depict, Chen answered: “Chinese culture and beautiful ladies.”

He arrived in New Zealand in 1988 — six months before the massacre. The news changed his life.

“After ’89, I became committed to hu-man rights,” he said. And this was refl ect-ed in his work. “No more just beautiful women,” he said with a smile.

Chen’s political commitment has taken him to some global frontlines. He took out his cell phone to show me a picture of him-self standing with Syrian revolutionaries in besieged Aleppo, with a banner reading, “CHINESE PEOPLE SUPPORT SYR-IAN PEOPLE,” in English, Chinese and Arabic. Another showed him brandishing a rifl e with a group of Free Syrian Army fi ghters. Chen said he went to Aleppo in 2012 to do an art installation in support of the Syrian revolution, but ended up help-ing to defend the city from forces of Bashar Assad’s regime.

“China is supporting the dictator,” he said. “So I wanted to show my solidarity.”

The June 3 rally near Times Square was organized by the Democratic Party of China, which was launched as an op-position party in the People’s Republic in 1998. But the party was never allowed to offi cially register there, and hundreds of its supporters were arrested — with many still imprisoned today. Since 2010, the par-ty’s headquarters have been in Flushing,

Queens —although it has chapters in sev-eral countries around the world touched by the Chinese diaspora.

One of the D.P.C.’s sibling organizations is the Federation for a Democratic China, whose president, Sheng Xue, came down from Toronto for the raising of the statue in New York. Sheng is a veteran of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, and had to fl ee China in the subsequent crackdown.

Sheng paints a grim picture of her home country today.

“At least when I was there, we had se-curity,” she said, referring to the so-called “iron rice bowl” and guarantees for edu-cation and healthcare. “They took all that away. The people no longer have protec-tion. The whole country is like a jungle — you have to fi ght for your living. They opened the only door in China — the eco-nomic door. And everybody ran for that. But it led to the jungle.”

And some tentative moves toward greater political openness in recent years are being rapidly undone under President Xi Jinping, Sheng asserted.

“It looks worse than 1989,” she said.Arranged at the foot of the stage at the

Times Square rally were candles forming the Chinese characters for 6 and 4. Above the stage was a banner with a fanciful photoshopped image: Chen Weiming’s bronze Goddess towering over Beijing’s historic Marco Polo Bridge, lined with stone lions.

Democracy Goddess raises her torch in Chinatown

Reporter Bill Weinberg, right, speaking with artist Chen Weiming next to Chen’s “Goddess of Democracy”

in Chinatown when the statue was recently brought to New York.

EAST(VILLAGE)LOCAL


require higher waste-storage standards. Most other countries use thick-walled metal casks 10 inches to almost 20 inches thick.

Donna Gilmore

Failed Beth Israel ’89 plan

To The Editor:Beth Israel once before tried to make a stealth move

to cash out on real estate values — propelled by Wall Street’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg — possibly de-priving the Downtown community of essential medi-cal services. It wouldn’t be the fi rst time this allegedly nonprofi t enterprise has operated in a furtive manner to the detriment of the community.

In late 1989 I learned that the 14th St. Y, at 344 E.14th St., was slated for extinction. It was, and re-mains, an anchor — a cherished, full community cen-ter. It was one of nine of 13 YMHA’s of New York targeted for closure by the United Jewish Appeal. They were losing money. In my opinion, there was pervasive corruption on 14th St.

The U.J.A. wanted to sell the building to Beth Israel

Medical Center. There was a major structural defect due to a botched construction job on the theater, in addition to the bleed from fast and loose manage-ment.

Beth Israel fancied the prospect of a big building on choice real estate at a favorable price. B.I. was said to have put down a deposit of $1 million while avoiding the proper legal channels to avoid sunlight.

It was through an investigator from the New York State attorney general’s charities and trusts division that the Y was saved. Thwarted, B.I. bought on Union Square East.

On May 31, Dr. Kenneth Davis, president of Mount Sinai Health System, sat for a skillful interview with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer. Davis dismissed single-payer as a feasible system. This would make healthcare a human right and simplify reimbursement by cutting out insurance companies and saving 30 percent.

Follow the money.

Jack Brown

Dust off plaques proposal

To The Editor:Re “AIDS Memorial supporters are the community

too” (talking point, by Keith Fox, May 26):The talking point by Keith Fox was clarifying and

informational, but this controversy will end up like Sixth Ave. — some people call it Avenue of the Ameri-cas!

When community meetings on the Washington Square Park renovation were underway with the Parks Department and Community Board 2, neigh-bors presented proposals for 10 prominent historic markers, to be placed around the park. Included were drawings and photographs of sturdy, eye-level, podi-um-like, slanted-top, fl at-screen models, with room for comprehensive prose.

We have never gotten the promised markers, but it’s possible C.B. 2 still has the information. Two of those would work perfectly inside the memorial park at Seventh Ave., taking up very little room, no matter what name it goes by.

The AIDS Memorial needs the identifying tribute and the Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent’s Hospital deserve the honor.

Mary Johnson

E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to [email protected] or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 Metrotech North, 10th fl oor, Brooklyn, NY, NY 11201. Please in-clude phone number for confi rmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORLETTERS continued from p. 20

Antonio “Chico” Garcia, the legendary Lower East Side graffi ti artist, was in town this past week-end when the news broke that another legend, the great heavy-weight champion Muhammad Ali, had died.

Chico relocated to Tampa awhile back, but periodically re-turns to Loisaida to do commis-sioned mural work.

His Ali mural is on a roll-down gate just off E. Houston St., at 9 Avenue B, next to Raul’s Barber Shop. The gate is down most of the time except for when the building’s super needs to go inside to get tools, usually around 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“He was a popular guy, number one,” Chico said of the outspoken three-time heavyweight champion. “He was a family man. He fought for what he believed in. He was a political boxer. He was generous. He was a great person, a champ.

“To me, he was an icon,” he said. “I remember the Frazier fi ghts. I’m 52, so I grew up with him.”

Earlier that night, before he made the mural, Chico found out that he had also lost a close friend. The graffi ti project was a way for him to deal with the pain.

“I just wanted to release my-self,” he said.

Lincoln Anderson

Float like a butterfl y, sting like an Avenue B

PHOTO BY CLAYTON PATTERSON


BY TRAV S.D.

For almost two decades, the Lower East Side’s Metropolitan Playhouse has been performing

the valuable public service of present-ing long-lost plays from America’s past, mostly from the early 20th century or before — the era when melodrama was king, a style and aesthetic that fell out of public favor as the century progressed.

A key figure in the public’s conver-sion to a greater preference for realism was Eugene O’Neill. An ironic conse-quence of that shift in consciousness is that O’Neill’s own works have come to be regarded as outdated, especially his early ones. The Metropolitan strives to breathe new life into them. Nine years ago, they presented a festival of five early O’Neill one-acts — and through June 26, they’ll be doing the same with “O’Neill (Unexpected),” a double bill consisting of the plays “Recklessness” (1913), and “Now I Ask You” (1916).

“Recklessness” is a delicious melo-drama, a one-act clearly derived from Strindberg’s “Miss Julie,” in which the bored wife (Erin Beirnard) of a rich man (Kelly King) is having an affair with the chauffeur (Jeremy Russial). The husband discovers the truth, result-ing in a domino effect of tragic conse-quences. (If you know O’Neill it should be very easy to imagine the climax, although the playwright does give us a nifty fake-out).

“Now I Ask You” is more of a satire and a comedy of manners, rare territory for O’Neill — but fans of the playwright will recognize something of

the ironic tone he would employ in “Ah, Wilderness!” a couple of decades later. Here he pokes fun at Greenwich Village bohemians. A young middle class couple (Emily Bennett and Terrell Wheeler) tie the knot — but instead of going through with a conventional mar-riage, they sign a Free Love Agreement. Wanting to teach them a lesson, the girl’s mother (Kim Yancey-Moore) eggs the pair on in flirtations with their radi-cal friends (Dylan Brown and Eric R. Williams). How’s that likely to work out? Hint and reminder: This is O’Neill,

and the line between farce and tragedy can often be thin.

Neither of these early, experimen-tal plays was ever produced during O’Neill’s lifetime, and productions remain rare to this day. What’s “unex-pected” about this pair of works is the surprisingly light touch the famously heavy-handed playwright brings to the table. And, while we often associate O’Neill with “low” naturalistic settings (ships, barrooms, farms and the like), these two works — like many of his very earliest plays — were more con-

ventional for their time in taking place in the drawing rooms of the well-to-do.

“There are two things I like about working on early O’Neill,” says Metropolitan’s Artistic Director (and “Unexpected” director) Alex Roe. “One is the exciting fact that many of these plays are almost prototypes of the later, better-known plays, their characters and plot points. The other [thing] is, that when you present these plays on stage, they still come alive. They remain

‘Unexpected’ excavates early, experimental O’Neill Seldom seen one-acts straddle farce and tragedy

O’NEILL continued on p. 24

PHOTO BY SVETLANA DIDORENKO

Greenwich Village bohemians get goosed in the 1916 satire “Now I Ask You.” L to R: Terrell Wheeler, Kim Yancey-Moore, Dylan Brown.


potent and meaningful.”And that’s a point worth making.

Historically, O’Neill stands at the junc-ture of two different eras. Especially in his early plays, he has one foot (at least) fi rmly planted in old school melo-drama. Yet O’Neill had so much more going for him than the hack contem-poraries George Bernard Shaw called Sardoudlists (after the much emulated but highly repetitive French playwright Victorien Sardou).

“When people are critical of melo-drama,” says Roe, “it’s generally because

it’s overly reliant on certain stock devic-es and its effects are unearned. But O’Neill is much subtler than that. He’s really got an uncanny ability to tease out complicated dramatic motivations and confl icts from his characters drawn from their psychologies and relation-ships. It’s as though he’s taken the old melodramatic climaxes, like an explod-ing steamship or a woman being tied to the railroad tracks, and replaced it with something more recognizable but equally devastating — like a breaking heart.”

O’Neill’s naturalistic gifts allow Roe to direct as though he were putting on a contemporary American play, in a way that serves the expectations of both modern actors and audiences. And that’s important, because these plays are still relevant.

“These plays capture a moment when America was in radical transi-tion,” says Roe. “After World War One people started asking ‘What are the con-ventional norms and values that got us into this boat?’ They started looking for new explanations. Bohemians disrupt-ing the social order, women seeking the vote, advocates for child welfare, and other social changes. And now we’re distanced enough that we can recog-nize ourselves going through a similar moment. It still resonates. These prob-lems weren’t unique to O’Neill’s time. This isn’t just archaeology.”

“O’Neill (Unexpected)” is pre-sented June 10–June 26: Thurs.–Sat. at 7:30pm; Sat. & Sun. at 3pm. Additional performances Wed., June 15 & 22 at 3pm. At Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. Fourth St., btw. Aves. A & B). For tickets ($25, $20 for students & seniors, $10 for ages 18 & under), call 800-838-3006 or visit metropolitanplayhouse.org.

O’NEILL continued from p. 23


L to R: Erin Beirnard and Kelly King as husband and wife in 1913’s “Recklessness.”


A new wife is hard to handle in “Now I Ask You.” L to R: Terrell Wheeler and Emily Bennett.

Welcomes Pride Month 2016615 ½ Hudson St, New York, New York 10014

(212) 989-3155 TheBespokeKitchen.com

[email protected]


BY SCOTT STIFFLER

HUDSON RIVER DANCE FESTIVALModern dance in all of its visual complexity and

stylistic diversity — performed on a lawn near the water, with the promise of a spectacular sunset — is the siren call of this free showcase curated by Chelsea’s own indoor movement mecca, The Joyce Theater. Music from electronic pioneer Clams Casino and the fashions of designer Narciso Rodriguez give wing to bodies careening back and forth through time and space, when Stephen Petronio Company performs their 2014 piece, “Locomoter.” An excerpt from “Concerto Six Twenty-Two” will be one of the works from Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Created in 1986, it was inspired by support networks active during the height of the AIDS crisis. In celebration of their 30th Anniversary, Urban Bush Women present iconic moments from the company’s vast repertoire. Founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar provides the music, with additional sound compositions by Trey Judson in collaboration with Kakilambe Drum Troupe.

Free. At 6:30pm on Wed., June 15 & Thurs., June 16 (same program both evenings). At the Pier 63 Lawn (at W. 23rd St. & the Hudson River), in Hudson River Park. Visit hudsonriverpark.org/events.

THE FLYING DOCTOR BY MOLIERE (OVER AND OVER AND OVER)

Everything old is new again (and again and again and again), when the game-for-anything good eggs from recently hatched theater company flexCO transform Central Booking art gallery into an everything-goes performance space, in which a short farce by Moliere is mounted multiple times. The plot: Lucile, betrothed to another man, favors Valere — who orders his dimwitted manservant to masquerade as a doctor, and prescribe a medici-nal trip to the countryside for Lucile, who will then marry her true love. Nothing, of course, goes according to plan — and to heighten that effect, flexCo director Michael Doliner (who did the adaptation) raises the stakes with each per-formance, throwing live indie rock and bluegrass music, champagne, literature, and an airborne MD into the mix.

Through Sat., July 2: Wed. at 7:30pm, Thurs.–Sat. at 8pm & Sun. at 2pm (Fri., June 10 per-formance is at 10pm). At Central Booking (21 Ludlow St., at Hester St.). For info & tickets ($5-$30), visit flexcodot.com.

Just Do Art

JUST DO ART continued on p. 26

PHOTO BY STEVEN SCHREIBER

An excerpt from Lar Lubovitch Dance Company’s “Concerto Six Twenty-Two” is part of the Hudson River Dance Festival, June 15 & 16.

PHOTO BY STEVEN PISANO

L to R: Kat Blackwood, Patrick Brady, Robyn Adele Anderson in “The Flying Doctor by Moliere (over and over and over).”


THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL

At just 24 years of age, Isaac Newton invented calculus, explained the color spectrum, and came up with the concept of gravity. The Chelsea Music Festival — also a high achiever still in the flush of youth — has chosen “Gravity 350” as the theme for its seventh year. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as CMF pays tribute to Newton’s triptych of 1666 breakthroughs by showcasing world-class and fast-rising movers and shakers in the fields of food, music, and art. Site-specific festival events, which take place all around Chelsea (Aperture Foundation, Canoe Studios, General Theological Seminary, Leo Baeck Institute, St. Paul’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church), include classical and jazz concerts, late night and daytime open-air happenings, visual and tasting feasts, and Saturday morning family-themed events. Among this year’s In-Residence group: composer Michael Gandolfi, multi-media visual artist Lukas Birk, and Chef Timothy McGrath. Noteworthy performing artists include double bassist Dominik Wagner, clarinetist Vera Karner, organist Stephen Tharp, jazz pianist Adam Birnbaum, The Lee Trio, and Momenta Quartet.

June 10–18, at various locations. Visit chelseamusicfestival.org for the schedule of events, and to purchase tickets (ranging from Free to $68, plus applicable online service fees; discounts available for those under 30, students, and seniors).

THE DEATH OF A BLACK MAN (A WALK BY)

Just walk on by, or walk a mile in the shoes of another? This new work from William Electric Black documents the harrowing consequence of hearsay and mistaken identity, during a day in the lives of victims, perpetrators, and survi-vors of inner city violence — specifically, murder by bullet, in the name of pride or vengeance. The third entry in his ongoing “Gunplays” series presented with the sup-port of Theater for the New City, “Walk” uses poetry, rap, song, movement, video projections and intense audience immer-sion to examine the root causes, and the consequences, of a shooting in an urban playground. Through a series of non-linear vignettes, the audience experiences police investigations, protests, funerals, community deliberation, and shootings.

Through June 19: Thurs.–Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 3pm. At Theater for the New City (155 First Ave., btw. E. Ninth & E. 10th Sts.). For tickets ($15 general, $12 stu-dents/seniors, $10 per for groups), call 212-254-1109 or visit theaterforthenew-city.net. Also visit gunplays.org.

OFFLINE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM”

One good madcap troupe deserves another — and they’ll get it, as the comedians, improvisers, and musicians of Offline Productions bring digital age sensibilities and an unpredictable performance style to their interpreta-tion of Shakespeare’s motley crew of mismatched lovers, manipulated actors, and busybody fairies. Nothing is what it seems, but the consequences are real — when a magical, mystical land known as the Lower East Side takes the place of the Bard’s enchanted forest, and lines blur between the desires of noble lords and the dreams of starving artists. After the show, cast a spell of your own by vis-iting the William Barnacle Tavern (next to the theater), where they’ll be offering $5 “Puck’s Potion” or “Fairy Queen” specialty cocktails.

Through June 26. Thurs., 7pm; Fri. & Sat., 8pm. Sun., June 26, 7pm. At Theatre 80 (80 St. Marks Place, btw. First & Second Aves.). For tickets ($25 general, $35 & $45 for premium seating, various discounts for students, seniors, groups), visit offlinenyc.com.

JUST DO ART continued from p. 25

JUST DO ART continued on p. 27

PHOTO BY MATT HARRINGTON

Newton’s grasp of gravity is a thematic touchstone for this year’s Chelsea Music Festival, June 10–18. Seen here, opening night 2015 at Canoe Studios.

PHOTO BY REMY

Stop by a candlelight vigil, in “The Death of a Black Man (A Walk By),” an immersive new play at Theater for the New City, through June 19.

PHOTO BY BAHRAM FOROUGHI

The cast and crew of Offline Productions, hatching a plan for their take on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (at Theatre 80 through June 26).


THE WASHINGTON SQUARE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Having begun its 58th season on June 7, this reliably eclectic open-air classical concert series (always with an indoor venue at the ready, should it rain) continues for the next three Tuesdays. June 14’s program marks the fi rst festi-val appearance by Canticum Scholare. The NYC-based vocal group, which specializes in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, will join conduc-tor Lutz Rath and the Festival Chamber Ensemble in performing Handel’s “Dixit Dominus.” Elsewhere on the program: works by Mozart and Estonian com-poser Arvo Pärt. On June 21, Rath and the Ensemble present the fi rst complete version of Hanns Eisler’s “Septet No. 2, The Circus” ever to be heard in the US (Eisler arranged the piece from his 1947 work on music for Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus”). Also a program highlight: trombonist David Taylor in the world premiere of “Quatre Kakokosmoi” for bass trombone & strings. The series concludes on June 28, with Ron Wasserman leading the 17-piece New York Jazzharmonic band — with works including The Weavers co-founder Fred Hellerman’s “Fourth of July” (composed in 1987 for a sym-phony but never performed, it’s been re-orchestrated by Wasserman for his group’s jazz sensibilities). Thus ends this year’s series, at which point they’ve banished any doubt surrounding our opening observation about eclecticism!

Free. Seating is on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. Tuesdays in June, 8pm, in Washington Square Park (main stage south; Fifth Ave./Waverly Place, btw. W. Fourth

& Macdougal Sts.). Rainspace: NYU’s Frederick Loewe Theatre (35 W. Fourth St. at Greene St.). Call 212-252-3621 or visit washingtonsquaremusicfestival.org.

ARChive OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC’S SIZZLIN’ SUMMER SALE

While we were busy heralding the advent of the CD, mourning the loss of vinyl, praising the iPod, and debating the right to download our favorite tunes, the ARChive of Contemporary Music’s mission remained the same: amass the world’s largest collection of popular music, for use by artists and scholars. Two times a year, the general public benefi ts from the bounty of their pack rat mentality, at a sale that’s as carefully curated as the three million sound record-ings in ARC’s permanent collection. The highlight of this summer event: 65,000 recently donated 45s. The other 30,000-or-so items include pop, jazz, country, dance, rock, world, and Broadway music. There are hundreds of CDs for $1–$5 each; cassettes and Classical LPs, 2 for $1; plus music books of all kinds, 7” singles, VHS & DVD videos, and 60s psychedelic posters. The good news: all proceeds go to support the ARChive’s nonprofi t music library and research center work. The bad news: you’ve missed the spirited June 9 members-only cocktail party and early shopping soirée. But don’t fret. Join ARC’s merry little band while you’re fl ip-ping through their bins, and you’ll score an invite to their second sale of the year, come December.

Daily, 11am–6pm, Sat., June 11–Sun., June 26, at ARChive of Contemporary Music (54 White St., btw. Broadway & Church St.). Visit arc-music.org or call 212-226-6967.

FATHER’S DAY “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF” SING-ALONG

Starting with (but not limited to) the fact that you’re alive to read this, Dad deserves a certain amount of respect — so don’t steal the old man’s thunder during his show-stopping rendition of “If I Were a Rich Man.” That’s assuming you’ve started a new “Tradition!” of your own, by allowing him to channel his inner Tevye — at what we’re confi dently predicting will turn out to be the best go-to Father’s Day gift since the invention of the necktie. One thing’s for sure: The Museum of Jewish Heritage’s sing-along screening of 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof” is a socially acceptable way to come in costume as the fi lm’s iconic characters, then belt one out — which, sad to say, is discouraged at the otherwise excellent revival now on Broadway. In the likely event this gathering of the musical theater tribe gives your family patriarch a taste for more, note that it’s co-spon-sored by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene — whose summer resi-dency program at the Museum pres-ents a fully-restored performance

of the Roaring Twenties romantic comedy operetta “The Golden Bride” (July 4–Aug. 28).

The “Fiddler” event takes place Sun., June 19, 3pm, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust (36 Battery Place). Tickets are $15, $10 for Museum or Theatre Folksbiene members, and $36 for families (up to four people). To purchase tickets, visit nytf.org or call 212-213-2120, x204 (after business hours, 866-811-4111).

JUST DO ART continued from p. 26

THE NEW SOUND OFBROOKLYN

The Community News Group is proud to introduce BROOKLYN PAPER RADIO. Join Brooklyn Paper Editor-in-Chief Vince DiMiceli and the New York Daily News’ Gersh Kuntz man every Thursday at 4:45 for an hour of talk on topics Brooklynites hold dear.

Each show will feature in-studio guests and call-out segments, and can be listened to live or played anytime at your convenience.

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PHOTO COURTESY THE ARTISTS

Early music ensemble Canticum Scholare will have its Washington Square Music Festival debut on June 14.

PHOTO COURTESY ARC

ARChive of Contemporary Music opens its doors to the public through June 26, for a sizzlin’ summer sale.

IMAGE COURTESY MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE

Tradition! Father’s Day is a great excuse for dad to belt one out, at this “Fiddler on the Roof” sing-along, June 19 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.


Purpose.Vil: 06/09 - 07/14/2016

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PUBLIC NOTICEThe Board of Trustees of Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School will meet on Wednesday, June 8 at 630 PM at 147 Saint Nicholas Avenue, New York, NY 10026. The meeting is open to the public.

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E ven though hospitals are closing and downsizing left and right, the central Vil-

lage area just got healthier. On May 20, Northwell Health-GoHealth opened an urgent-care center at 41 E. Eighth St.

The new health hub’s services include treatment for cold, flu and fever; asthma, allergies and em-physema; minor skin lacerations, cuts and burns; urinary tract infec-tions; and sports injuries, sprains and strains; plus X-rays for joints and bone injuries; and lab services for blood tests, urinalysis and cul-tures.

“Many New York residents have already come to trust North-well Health-GoHealth for their ur-gent-care needs and we are very pleased to open new centers in Manhattan that will provide even greater access to our effortless ex-perience and culture of care,” said Todd Latz, C.E.O. of GoHealth Ur-gent Care.

“We look forward to serving the Greenwich Village community with a contemporary, state-of-the-art ur-gent-care center that puts patients

first. From easy online check-ins and walk-in availability to highly skilled, caring providers, North-well Health-GoHealth Ur-gent Care is here to help people feel better and stay healthy.”

Spanning from Long Island and Queens to Westchester, Staten Is-land and Manhattan, the North-well Health-GoHealth Urgent Care network included 23 centers by the end of last month, with plans to open 15 more by the end of this year. The centers combine GoHealth Urgent Care’s award-winning facil-ity design with Northwell Health’s top-quality healthcare services.

All of Northwell Health-Go-Health Urgent Care’s centers op-erate seven days a week, with ex-tended evening hours, and welcome walk-in patients, with the opportu-nity to “save your spot” by checking in online.

Each center features X-ray equip-ment and a lab, combined with an integrated electronic medical record system that can be accessed by care-givers across Northwell Health.

For more information, visit www.gohealthuc.com/northwell.

Urgent news: New health hub opens on Eighth St.

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Officials with Northwell Health and GoHealth Urgent Care cut the ribbon on the new heatlh center at 41 E. Eighth St. on May 20. Joining them

were Alex Hellinger, fifth from left, executive director of the Lenox Health Greenwich Village comprehensive care center and free-standing

emergency department at W. 12th St. and Seventh Ave.; and Maria Diaz, fourth from right, executive director of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea

Chamber of Commerce.

In an examining room at the new E. Eighth St. urgent-care center, from

left, Dr. Robert Korn, medical director of Northwell-GoHealth Ur-

gent Care; Sarah Arora, New York market president for GoHealth Ur-

gent Care; Nancy Marrazzo, RPAC (Registered Physician Assistant Cer-

tified); and Dr. Neal Shipley, urgent-care doctor.

June 9, 2016 3 5TheVillager.com

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Greenwich Village Little League alumni Harrison Rottman and Blas Lee will lead the Eleanor Roosevelt High School baseball team to its fi rst-ever appearance in the Public School Athletic League AA Division Cham-pionship Game at Yankee Stadium on Mon., June 13, at 4 p.m.

The boys, who are both graduating seniors, have been playing ball together since Little League. Making it to the “Big Show” is an exciting way to cap off their New York City baseball ca-reers before heading off to college in the fall.

Rottman, who batted .300 during the regular season, is red hot with a .545 batting average with one double and 3 RBI in the playoffs.

Lee, who batted .341 during the reg-ular season, is also hitting at a scorch-ing pace with a .667 batting average and a .727 on-base percentage with two doubles and four RBI.

The boys are also the product of the Pier 40 baseball program located at W. Houston St. and the West Side High-way.

It should be noted that Eleanor Roosevelt, a.k.a. “ELRO,” freshman Oscar Rachmansky is the team’s start-ing left fi elder and is also a product of the Pier 40 baseball program, where upperclassman Lee was his coach. Ra-chmansky played with the Downtown Little League.

The ELRO Huskies fi nished the sea-son 12-4 to earn the seventh seed in the playoff bracket. They defeated Port Richmond 11-1 and Lafayette 9-1, be-fore eliminating the No. 2 seed, Beach Channel, by a score of 7-5 and No. 3 seed, Petrides High School of Staten Island, 4-3 this past Saturday.

Eleanor Roosevelt, at 411 E. 76th St., is a District 2 school zoned for Green-wich Village and Lower Manhattan. It was created in 2002 and was originally in Chelsea.

Last year’s PSAL AA baseball cham-pionship was won by the East Side High School Tigers from the East Village.

G.V.L.L. ‘Bash Brothers’ playing for city AA crownSPORTS

Harrison Rottman, left, and Blas Lee, sporting their old G.V.L.L. caps,

honed their baseball skills early on in Little League on Pier 40.


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