The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
January 23, 2014 • $1.00 Volume 83 • Number 34
‘Mayor of Chinatown,’ Paul Lee, dies at 63; An outspoken leader BY JOSH ROGERS
P PHOTO BY BÉATRICE DE GÉA
Mike Martin fashioning a piece of a Remington rifle into a mattock, a farming tool, at Middle Collegiate Church on Sunday.
A disarming M.L.K. Day service BY HEATHER DUBIN
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t was a birthday present fit for a King,” said Reverend Jacqueline J. Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a worship service was held at the church on Sunday, followed by the transformation of a gun into a gardening tool, plus a teach-in. Speaking this week, Lewis — who
goes by Jacqui — explained where the idea came from to do a demonstration of making a Remington rifle into a mattock, a farming implement with a twopronged rake at the end. Last year for Martin Luther King Day, the church partnered with Auburn Theological Seminary, the Groundswell Movement and Pico, a Jesuit organization, for a national Anti-gun-violence Sabbath. There was shock and an upwelling of concern after several highprofile shootings in 2012, including in
Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people were killed at a movie theater; in Newtown, Connecticut, where 27 — including 20 children and seven adults — were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school; and in Sanford, Florida, where Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. “This year for King Day, we wanted to keep that movement going,” Lewis said. KING DAY, continued on p. 21
Co-op dogged by pet-eviction flap.....................page 4 House of pain; Man had sick torture video.......page 5 Tallmer’s early ghostwriting stint....................page 10 www.TheVillager.com
aul J.Q. Lee, a Chinatown small business owner and activist who seemed to revel in uphill fights against the establishment, died Jan. 18 at age 63. Lee suffered a heart attack in the subway on the way to work Jan. 15, and
died three days later at Beth Israel Hospital, said Keith Leung, who thought of Lee as a second father figure. Lee and his family owned the 32 Mott Street General Store for more than a century before he had to close the business in 2003, citing the loss of PAUL LEE, continued on p. 6
Photographer goes from punks to pugs for a dog run’s aid BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
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s the resident photographer for Punk magazine, Roberta Bayley captured iconic images of and hung out with the likes of the Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Clash, the New York Dolls and the Ramones. Bayley still hangs with a really cool guy named
Sidney, but, well, he’s not a punk — he’s a pug. And, yes, if you ask her, he definitely rocks! You’ll often find Bayley and Sid at the Washington Square Park dog run, where they mingle with the run’s other “rock stars,” like pugs named Biggie Smalls (actually, there are several Biggies), CALENDAR, continued on p. 11
BID babies’ partnership.....page 8