The Villager, Jan. 31, 2013

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Hooray for MLk!, p. 7

Volume 82, Number 35 $1.00

West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Hudson Square, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

January 31 - February 6, 2013

Board 2 asks city to review vendors jamming Broadway BY SAM SPOkONY After heaps of complaints from Soho residents about the number of street vendors along Broadway, Community Board 2 is calling on Mayor Bloomberg to take action by reconvening a city review panel that hasn’t been used in more than a decade. The resolution, which C.B. 2 passed unanimously last week, ultimately seeks to limit the amount of vendors

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

Archbishop Timothy Dolan led the dedication Mass at the newly renamed St. Brigid and St. Emeric Church on Sunday.

it’s a real miracle on avenue B as St. Brigid’s Church reopens BY LINCOLN ANDERSON After a 10-year community struggle to save St. Brigid’s Church from demolition, followed by a four-year-plus, $15 million renovation to shore up the historic structure and return it to its former splendor, the iconic Avenue B house of worship at last reopened on Sunday. The opening was celebrated with a joyful dedication Mass presided over by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. To the chagrin of members of the Committee to Save St. Brigid’s, though, which fought and filed a lawsuit to

keep the church standing, Dolan was joined in the celebration by former Archbishop Edward Egan. The latter had actually started demolishing St. Brigid’s before relenting in May 2008 and agreeing to accept a $20 million gift from an anonymous “angel” to fund the renovations, the parish and St. Brigid’s School. It was controlled chaos before the 5 p.m. Mass, as people crowded the front doors near Eighth St. to get inside the church, which has a capacity of about 400. Last year the parish of St. Emeric

Church, at Avenue D and 13th St., was merged with St. Brigid’s parish, so the reopened church on Tompkins Square’s eastern edge is now being called St. Brigid and St. Emeric Church. According to an archdiocese spokesperson, Governor Cuomo was invited to attend. He didn’t make it, though, but sent a representative. Seated in the front row were Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Congressmember Nydia Velazquez. The consulate generals of

allowed to operate on the stretch of Broadway between Houston and Canal Sts. “The proliferation of vendors [along that] corridor constitutes a serious and immediate threat to the health, safety and well-being of the public and local residents on the weekends,” the resolution states, “in that sidewalks are too congested by pedestrian

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B.P. race: Lappin meets and greets; Post blasts Menin BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Trying to make inroads with Downtown community leaders, borough president candidate Jessica Lappin held a meet-andgreet with a small but influential group of about 30 people at the Village home of Susanna Aaron and Gary Ginsberg on Monday evening. Standing midway up a staircase leading up from

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5 15 C A N A L STREET • N YC 10 013 • C OPYRIG HT © 2013 N YC COMMU NITY M ED IA , LLC

the living room, Lappin addressed her audience for about 20 minutes, laying out some of her key campaign positions and concerns, then took questions and mingled with the crowd as they sipped wine and snacked on cheese and grapes. The gathering — which was not a fundraiser —

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edItoRIAl, letteRS PAGE 10

pRIme tIme FoR cUltURemARt PAGE 18


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