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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
January 14, 2016 • $1.00 Volume 86 • Number 2
Squadron slams Senate for refusing to consider the Elevator Safety Act BY YANNIC RACK
T
enants and politicians joined in calling on state legislators to pass a bill that would improve regulation and licensing for elevator workers after a 25-year-old man was crushed to death in an elevator on New Year’s Eve. Stephen Hewett-Brown,
an aspiring rapper from the Bronx, was heading to a party at 131 Broome St. when he was fatally injured in an accident just before midnight on Dec. 31. When the elevator got stuck between floors, HewettBrown reportedly helped others get out, but was pinned ELEVATOR continued on p. 10
Composting comes to Spring St., twice a week BY TEQUILA MINSKY AND LINCOLN ANDERSON
T
he term “scrappy New Yorkers” is taking on added meaning at a spot on the Lower West Side where local residents are flocking — well, twice weekly, for now — to drop off their banana peels, broccoli stems and coffee
grounds. Part of a city-funded program to encourage residents to separate out their organic matter for composting, the drop-off site is in operation at Spring St. and Sixth Ave. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., right outside the C/E subway staCOMPOST continued on p. 12
PHOTO BY Q. SAKAMAKI
A photo of David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period amid votive candles and flowers at the memorial in front of his Soho building.
Fans bid Bowie farewell, good luck amid the stars BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
A
lison Dalton was walking down Lafayette St. carrying a bouquet of rust-orange roses, heading to the memorial in front of David Bowie’s building. Although no tears came from her eyes, she appeared as if crying. “They’re the color of ‘Aladdin Sane,’” she said of the flowers, referring to Bowie’s 1973 album. “He had a lightning bolt that color on his face.” The superstar singer died
early Sunday in London at age 69 after an 18-month battle with liver cancer. Along with his wife, the model Iman, he had lived at the Soho address since 1999. Asked what Bowie meant to her, Dalton, 59, said, “He was always, in his way, completely honest about what he was going through.” She added her flowers to the memorial, which included cards with “Aladdin Sane” lighting bolts and stars for Starman, a “David Live” album cover, photos of Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White
Duke, notes with his famous song lyrics, like “The stars look very different today” and personal notes, like “Love you forever + thanks for more permission to be a weirdo. I hope your crazy space adventure is hella fun.” Similarly, others who came to pay their respects at the memorial in front of 285 Lafayette St. said Bowie’s openness about his ambiguous sexuality, along with his ever-changing stage personas, gave them the courage BOWIE continued on p. 6
Ex-chef dies in skateboard accident...........page 8 Are kids’ playdates really for parents?......page 14 Grey Art Gallery goes global........page 21
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