Chelsea Now, Feb. 20, 2013 by Schneps Media

Queen of the Hill, p. 21

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 12

THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 5, 2013

Change a Venue? CB4 Contemplates MSG Signage, OCS Post Office Sales BY SCOTT STIFFLER Having learned late in the day that their room was double-booked, Community Board 4 (CB4) scrambled to find a nearby space able to accommodate its full membership as well as an expectedly robust contingent set to weigh in on a matter that, like the meeting’s hastily arranged new location, caught many by surprise. On the early evening of February 6, CB4 reps stood outside the New York Hotel Trades Council (305 West

Photo by Fern Luskin

L to R: Julie Finch, City Councilman Jumaane Williams, Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and State Senator Brad Hoylman were among the friends of Hopper Gibbons House who braved the cold at a Feb. 10 rally. Two days later, the Board of Standards and Appeals gave a welcome boost to their preservation efforts.

Fate of Hopper Gibbons House Now in Hands of LPC BY MAXINE WALLY On February 12, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) ordered the owner of Hopper Gibbons House — Manhattan’s only documented Underground Railroad Station and a hotly contested historical site — to get approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) before moving forward with construction. A coalition of preservationists, historians and elected officials maintain that the construction began on illegal

grounds. The building, located at 339 West 29th Street, lies on a row of four-story landmarked houses in the Lamartine Place Historic District. The Department of Buildings (DOB) granted owner Tony Mamounas the go-ahead to build a fifth-story — mistakenly, some allege. All parties involved, however, acknowledge that the DOB’s 2005 action renders the added level exempt from landmark protection given in 2010. According to opponents of the

renovation, the additional floor disturbs a key aspect of the historical significance — the Quaker abolitionist family that once owned Hopper Gibbons House used these rooftops as an escape route during the 1863 Draft Riots. Mamounas’ lawyer Marvin Mitzner stated his plans to overturn BSA’s unanimous denial of the appeal in court. “I could find nothing in the law

44th Street) long enough to direct early birds and stragglers one block over — to 310 West 43rd Street. There, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East hosted CB4’s monthly Public Meeting. Scheduled for 6:30pm but delayed to accommodate those coming from the event’s original location, CB4 Chair Corey Johnson called the meeting to order just before 6:50pm.

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Con Ed Feeling the Pressure from Pipeline Opponents BY EILEEN STUKANE Valentine’s Day was anything but soft lights and whispers for the lovers of lively debate gathered at a Community Board 4 (CB4) Waterfront, Parks and Environment Committee meeting that had Spectra Pipeline safety issues leading the agenda. The Spectra natu-

Continued on page 3

ral gas pipeline that has arrived at the Gansevoort Peninsula at the edge of the Meatpacking District will affect the CB4 area of Chelsea as well as the West Village. This high pressure 30-inch pipeline — which seemed not to affect Chelsea at first — is being extended by Con

Continued on page 5

ediToRial, leTTeRs PAGE 8

Who’s aFRaid? PAGE 13

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Art Walk Opens Doors to Over 50 Private Studios

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Photo by Paul Steftel

On March 9, meet Paul Steftel at PSProject Space studio (548 W. 28th St., Studio F3).

Home to more private art galleries and studios than any place in the world, the West Chelsea arts district is a destination for art lovers every day of the year — and on one of those days, every year, a destination event affords casual observers and serious collectors alike the rare opportunity to access a multitude of styles and mediums, purchase works directly from the artists’ inventory and lay claim to the discovery of new talent before their work appears on gallery walls. As sprawling and visually appealing as the elevated park its name invokes, “High Line Open Studios” is a self-guided tour of work spaces normally

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open by appointment only — allowing visitors to gain unique insights into the creative process through a dialogue that strips away the layers between artist and enthusiast. “This year,” notes organizer and participant Scotto Mycklebust, “we are able to take the event to a new level with over 50 artists opening their studios to the public and potential buyers.” Free. Sat., March 9, from 12-6pm. Selfguided tours begin at the West Chelsea Arts Building (526 W. 26th St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.), where you can pick up a map of nine buildings with open studios. For info, visit highlineopenstudios.org.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Community Rallies to Preserve, Protect Hopper Gibbons House Continued from page 1 that requires you to defer decision to the Landmarks Act in this case,” Mitzner said. “I believe this board’s decision was clearly in error.” Friends of Hopper Gibbons Chair Fern Luskin accused Mamounas of “duplicitous” behavior at the meeting, claiming he “consistently cheated on his applications, construction he undertook and the photographs and affidavits” sent to the BSA. Mitzner responded by saying the DOB gave the permit in error, and all paperwork was submitted in a lawful manner. “He got his permit to begin development that was perfectly authorized, and approved by DOB without any suspicion that there was something wrong with that permit at the time it was approved,” he said. Still, BSA’s ruling was final. Lawyer Jack Lester spoke on behalf of the Friends of Hopper Gibbons House, commending the Board for doing right by the community. “I think [the decision] is in accord with statutory law and common law,” he said, “and in accordance with the submissions we’ve made.” BSA closed the hearing, and scheduled a final decision be made on the tentative date of April 23. On Sunday, February 10 (two days prior to the BSA meeting), elected officials students, neighbors and families gathered before the house for a rally to raise awareness organized by Friends of Hopper Gibbons. Still shrouded behind scaffolding of stopped construction, the building resembled the argument that has befallen it these past few years: at a stalemate, eerily in limbo. All the same, participants remained cheerful and supportive of their cause. Bronx Lab High School Underground Railroad Riders arrived by bicycle, and the event included a performance of Stephen Foster’s 1862 song, “We Are Coming, Father Abra’am” (composed to the poem by James Sloan Gibbons). Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, State Senator Brad Hoylman and City Councilman Jumaane Williams (who designated Lamartine Place as a landmarked historic district as one of his first acts of council membership) all spoke. “If we don’t work hard to keep this history alive, we will most certainly lose it,” Williams commented. Organizer Fern Luskin remarked on the importance Hopper Gibbons House offers. “That this event spoke to them, and the need to preserve this building spoke to them, shows it’s not just for current New Yorkers. It’s for future generations.”

Photo by Maxine Wally

Shrouded in controversy, and scaffolding: A local coalition continues to oppose construction atop Hopper Gibbons House.

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman agreed, saying the BSA did the right thing in upholding the LPC’s ruling, and says he remains hopeful that April 23rd’s verdict will also act in their favor. “These underground railroad sites are so rare,” he said. “They are an important and overlooked part of our history, and we need to get the word and the story out there.” Shortly after the BSA issued its February 12 ruling, a joint statement was sent to the press. Attributed to Hoylman and Gottfried as well as Speaker Christine C.

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Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, it maintained that both the Hopper-Gibbons House as well as the other buildings within the Lamartine Place Historic District “hold tremendous local and national historical significance.” The group went on to praise the BSA’s ruling, noting that it “rightfully puts oversight of alterations to this building under the purview of the Landmarks Preservation Commission” and taking Mamounas to task for years of engaging in “a process of defacing this historic building and skirting the law.” The offices of Marvin Mitzner did not respond for comment.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Can Quinn Build on RWDSU Endorsement?

Photot courtesy of RWDSU

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn with leaders of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, including (to her immediate left, front row) its president Stuart Appelbaum.

BY PAUL SCHINDLER When the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) recently announced its endorsement of Christine Quinn for mayor, the move provided bragging rights to a campaign looking to dispel any narrative that progressive forces in the city might be looking for an alternative to the City Council speaker, criticized in some quarters for her close ties to three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The endorsement was particularly significant given RWDSU’s high profile on questions of economic and social justice and its fierce opposition to the mayor’s reelection in 2009, a stance that angered top lieutenants in the Bloomberg campaign. “We are a progressive, activist union that represents and organizes the most vulnerable and marginalized workers in our city today,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of

RWDSU, which has been particularly active recently in efforts to unionize car wash operators. “We believe Chris Quinn will be a progressive, activist mayor for those workers and their families, a strong, determined mayor who will help make the American dream a reality for many New Yorkers struggling to survive. She has made city government more responsive and attuned to underserved communities and to people who feel invisible and forgotten.” In an interview with the New York Times hours before the January 31 endorsement was announced, the speaker termed it “a huge Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” In rolling out its choice, RWDSU became only the second union to make an endorsement in the mayor’s race, where party primaries are likely to be held in September in advance of the November general election. Quinn snagged the other nod, as well — from

grocery workers Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has frequently made early political endorsements. Whether Quinn will be able to quickly capitalize on the momentum from her Local 1500 and RWDSU endorsements, however, is unclear. Union sources have told Gay City News, our sister publication, that other key labor players in the city — such as the United Federation of Teachers, building services workers affiliated with Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, SEIU’s Local 1999 representing health care workers, and District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal employees’ union — are likely to hold back from any early endorsement and may work to coalesce around a single candidate. That scenario was also spelled out in a February 11 story in Crain’s New York

Business, which reported that 35 unions affiliated with the city’s Central Labor Council agreed to such a strategy last month. “It’s an effort to be more collaborative and have a more coherent process,” one labor source told Crain’s. “The mayor’s race is full of candidates with deep ties to labor and the effort is to make sure [the CLC endorsement decision] is as democratic as possible.” Two of Quinn’s rivals — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu — were first elected to their current posts in 2009, both with strong labor support. In the immediate aftermath of that election, each man was seen as having potential to win major labor backing in a 2013 mayoral bid. Liu, however, has been hobbled by ongoing investigations of alleged improprieties surrounding his 2009 campaign financing. Though the comptroller has not been personally implicated, the federal corruption trial of two leading figures from that campaign gets underway this month, with Liu’s former press secretary testifying after a grant of immunity. De Blasio, who formally announced his candidacy outside his Park Slope home on January 27, would be the logical beneficiary of Liu’s difficulties, and he has worked to highlight his differences with Quinn on labor concerns. Cynthia Nixon, the “Sex and the City” star who married her longtime partner Christine Marinon last year, was on hand at the Park Slope campaign roll-out to say that the speaker’s opposition to paid sick leave legislation — which would require most private employers in the city to provide between five and nine days off a year for illness — trumped any allegiance she might have to “identity politics.” On numerous occasions, Quinn has argued about the negative impact the measure would have on small businesses during continued softness in the economy. Last year, the bill’s chief sponsor, Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer, told Gay City News that the speaker “has kept her commitment to keep talking” about prospects for moving forward. Nixon is not alone in the LGBT community in pressing for action on paid sick leave. At the same time the newspaper heard

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February 20 - March 5, 2013

On Valentine’s Day, no Love in the (Spectra) Pipeline Continued from page 1 Edison with a new 1500-foot extension pipeline going north on 10th Avenue to its West 15th Street terminal. Realizing that construction from West 14th Street to West 15th Street brings the pipeline into the CB4 district, residents have begun educating themselves to the safety issues surrounding the pipeline — issues that include the possibility of explosion and the sanity of having a high-pressure pipeline of 350 psi (pounds per inch) in a dense urban

Most of the evening was devoted to the questioning of Anthony Leto, Con Edison’s section manager in gas engineering. In addition, David Gmach, Con Edison’s director of New York City Public Affairs and Christian DiPalermo, a consultant for Spectra, came forward from time to time. Leto reported that in the next two weeks, Con Edison is going to excavate and document what is underground in the area due for construction. The construction will take 16 weeks beginning late March or early April, when it is assumed that Department of Transportation (DOT) permits will be in

The construction will take 16 weeks beginning late March or early April, when it is assumed that Department of Transportation (DOT) permits will be in place. There will be a trench six feet wide, seven feet deep, closed over at completion with three feet of ground cover.

area. Environmental activists have been bringing these issues to the attention of Community Board 2’s (CB2’s) West Village residents for more than a year. Now it was Chelsea’s turn to reckon with the pipeline. Held in the Piano Room of Project Renewal’s Holland House (351 West 42nd Street), the CB4 meeting highlighted the Spectra Pipeline and its Con Edison extension, but also offered Con Edison’s follow-up to Hurricane Sandy. The main focus, however, was the pipeline. Interested residents took this opportunity to question representatives of the Spectra Pipeline and Con Edison face-to-face. The grilling from participants, in an audience of 80 to 100 people, was intense. The Committee’s Co-Chair, Maarten de Kadt, opened the meeting by stating “We are in a learning stage for this pipeline...we’re looking forward to an evening of gathering information and having exchange. We’ll consider ourselves students in the area.” However, it would be clear, as a presentation from Con Edison wound down and the questions kept coming, that residents and attending activists were well-prepared with information about the history of exploding natural gas pipelines, the presence of radioactive radon in natural gas and the nuances of high pressure transmission.

place. There will be a trench six feet wide, seven feet deep, closed over at completion with three feet of ground cover. Now experienced in Downtown relations, having presented at a CB2 public meeting in December 2012, Leto also said that he was neither going to answer questions about the controversial hydrofracking of natural gas from Marcellus Shale in upstate New York, nor about the content level of radon (a tasteless, colorless, odorless gas that is naturally created in hydrofracked natural gas). Radon, when inhaled, is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers, and the second leading cause among smokers. He explained that Con Edison is the carrier of the gas, and not the producer, and questions about production were not in his purview. He proceeded to offer a PowerPoint presentation, with headings such as “Gas Transmission Risks and Mitigating Measures,” which listed how Con Ed checks for corrosion and water leaks, and looks daily for “Third Party Damage” from weather and other underground infrastructures. Leto pointed out the daily monitoring of the pipeline extension by Con Ed and the safety features to prevent catastrophe built into the hydraulic operations, with remotely operated valves, battery backups, phone monitoring.

Continued on page 19

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Police BLOTTER Amidst Larceny Uptick, 10th Precinct Touts Operation ID

Photo by Scott Stiffler

At January 31’s Community Council Meeting, Deputy Inspector Elisa Cokkinos (left) explains contributing factors to an increase in larceny crimes.

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Usually held at 7pm on the last Wednesday of the month, 2013’s first installment of the 10th Precinct’s Community Council Meeting took place on Thursday, January 31. Otherwise, it was business as usual — with a small but engaged group of locals in attendance to voice quality of life concerns and hear the latest crime index statistics. “Grand larceny really drives the crime in this command,” said Deputy Inspector Elisa Cokkinos. After noting that the 10th Precinct “finished thirty percent up in crime in 2012” when compared to the previous year, Cokkinos added, “We would have had an eight percent decrease if not for identity theft.” Special Ops officer Lt. Wilfredo Ramos spoke about the ongoing local problem of bank accounts being compromised through the use of ATM skimmer machines — devices which look as if they’re part of the machine, but allow thieves to see you punching in your PIN number. The public was advised to avoid sidewalk or outdoor ATMs and cover the keypad with one hand while they use the other to enter their PIN number. Cokkinos gave a number of other reasons for the grand larceny crime rate, citing “8,700 new residents in the community” as well as “the High Line, which has brought a lot more tourists into the area…and the neighborhood continues to grow. It’s very robust and commercial. So with that, there are certain crimes you’re going to see have little upticks.” Readers of Chelsea Now’s Blotter page are familiar with the high cost of larceny crime, which in our area often takes the

form of pickpocketing or bicycle and car theft — but is most often the result of carelessness on the part of absentminded (frequently inebriated) individuals partaking in local nightlife. Bags and purses left unattended in clubs or slung on the back of chairs while dining are easy targets for opportunistic thieves, who use these scenarios to score electronic devices and rack up unauthorized charges on credit cards. With cell phones a popular target, Cokkinos urged local residents to bring their mobile devices into the Precinct. “We can register it with my Crime Prevention Officer,” she said. “We put it into a database and if your phone gets stolen, we can track it [if it’s activated].” Officer George Triantis noted that in addition to cell phones, the NYPD’s Operation ID program also encourages the public to register their GPS units, iPads and Nook devices. The service is free, and involves registering the serial number of portable electronics along with the owner’s name and contact information. Items can also be optionally engraved with a uniquely identifiable serial number prefaced with the letters NYC. “When a suspect is arrested” and found to be in possession of these products, explained Triantis, “We can check it” to see if the registration number matches a device in their database. If so, the owner will be reunited with the stolen item. Triantis is available Monday through Friday for Operation ID product registration. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the 10th Precinct, at 212-741-8228.

Grand Larceny: Jeep jacked during BBQ, Bar crawl At some point during the time it would have taken to put in a proper day’s work, a BBQ-hungry bar crawler’s green 2001 Jeep Blazer was stolen. That’s what the owner, a 35-year-old male, told police. The vehicle was parked in front of 333 W. 23rd St. at 2pm on Sun. Feb. 10. Over the next eight hours, the victim dined at Dallas BBQ (8th Ave. & 23rd St.), then made his way to Gym Bar (167 8th Ave., btw. 18th & 19th Sts.), then to Hanger Bar (115 Christopher St., btw. Bedford & Bleecker Sts.), then back to 23rd St. in anticipation of retrieving the vehicle and calling it a night. Responding officers from the 10th Precinct conducted a canvass of the area from Sixth Ave. & W. 23rd St. to 10th Ave. & W. 23rd St., with negative results. The police report indicated that there was no video footage available in the area where the vehicle was parked.

by another cabbie (after the fleeing thief refused to pay his fare). The driver of the stolen cab showed up and positively ID’d the defendant — who was in possession of the cab’s missing keys.

Petty Larceny: Chain cut, bike stolen, deliveries delayed Short on one newly purchased bike used for deliveries, the staff of Claw Chelsea (269 W. 23 St., btw. 7th & 8th Aves.) reached out to the long arm of the law to report they’re short on one newly purchased bike used for deliveries. Valued at $400, the month-old 700c Fixie bike was chained to a pole outside the establishment at 2:20pm on Fri., Feb. 8 — when a thief cut the chain and fled westbound on 23rd St.

Criminal Posession of a Controlled Substance: Unauthorized Use of a Motor Pipe in pocketbook At 3:55pm on Tues., Feb. 12, officers Vehicle: From Passenger to arrested a 46-year-old female who was observed aggressively begging for money Driver to Jailbird within ten feet of at ATM (at 10th Ave & A verbal dispute regarding a passenger’s destination escalated into a carjacking and ended, 90 minutes later, in the arrest of a 34-year-old male. At around 5:50pm on Sun., Feb. 10 —at the northwest corner of 10th Ave. & W. 21st St. — the defendant and a cab driver began arguing. As the driver exited the vehicle, determined to forcibly eject his unruly charge, the defendant exited through the rear passenger side, got behind the wheel and fled northbound on 10th Ave. Officers conducted a canvass of the area, and the cab was found, unoccupied and with the keys missing, in front of 194 Ninth Ave. Other 10th Precinct officers found the defendant on E. 21st St. & 2nd Ave. — when they were flagged down

CASH FOR GUNS $100 cash will be given (no questions asked) for each handgun, assault weapon or sawed-off shotgun, up to a maximum payment of $300. Guns are accepted at any Police Precinct, PSA or Transit District.

CRIME STOPPERS If you have info regarding a crime committed or a wanted person, call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, text “TIP577” (plus your message) to “CRIMES” (274637) or submit a tip online at nypdcrimestoppers.com.

W. 23rd St.) A glass crack pipe was recovered from her pocketbook.

—Scott Stiffler

THE 10th PRECINCT Located at 230 W. 20th St. (btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). Deputy Inspector: Elisa Cokkinos. Main number: 212-7418211. Community Affairs: 212-7418226. Crime Prevention: 212-7418226. Domestic Violence: 212-7418216. Youth Officer: 212-741-8211. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-741-8210. Detective Squad: 212-741-8245. The Community Council meeting, open to the public, takes place at 7pm on the last Wed. of the month. (at 7pm, 230 W. 20th St., btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). For more info on this free service offered by the NYPD, call 212-741-8226.

THE 13th PRECINCT Located at 230 E. 21st St. (btw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.). Deputy Inspector: Ted Bernsted. Call 212-477-7411. Community Affairs: 212-477-7427. Crime Prevention: 212-477-7427. Domestic Violence: 212-477-3863. Youth Officer: 212-477-7411. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-477-4380. Detective Squad: 212-477-7444. The Community Council meeting takes place at 6:30pm on the third Tues. of the month.

T:4.85”

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Bright Lights, Big Signage: CB4 says No MSG Continued from page 1

PUBLIC SESSION

Dolores Freedman spoke as a representative of High Water Women (a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization that empowers women and youth in need). She encouraged participation in Financial Literacy classes for low-income youth ages 13 to 21, to be held at the Columbus branch of the New York Public Library. Students will learn how to manage money responsibly and lay the groundwork for a more secure financial future. Upon completion of these four free classes, they’ll receive a $25 gift certificate. For more info, call 212-634-7365 or visit highwaterwomen.org. Lenore Friedlaender, Assistant to the President of 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU), asked CB4 to be aware that they are in communication with some workers throughout the city

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Welcome { back }

We are thrilled to announce that NYU Langone Medical Center has reopened – with enhancements to many of our programs and services, alongside a new Urgent Care Center. Our unwavering commitment to our patients and to the community has been the inspiration and motivation that drove a timely and safe reopening. We are back, stronger than ever – and taking excellence to a new level. To ﬁnd the right NYU Langone specialist for you, call 888.769.8633 or visit www.NYULMC.org/ﬁndadoc.

T:11.4”

Venues in flux would be a theme throughout the night — in the form of a unique affordable housing opportunity, proposed Madison Square Garden signage and the sale of Old Chelsea Station Post Office. Before the figurative gavel fell on the board’s 28-item agenda, two representatives from The Park Clinton presented information on the application process for affordable housing ownership. “The project is 80% complete and we expect to be ready for occupancy by the summer,” they said of construction on the 535 West 52nd Street cooperative building. Located one block from Hudson River Park, the website for Manhattan’s first affordable home ownership building touts “well-appointed one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments” with amenities including “a landscaped rear garden, a fully-equipped fitness center, part-time attended lobby, 40-year tax abatement as well as bicycle storage.” The building, its one-page website notes, “offers everything you want from owning a new apartment in Manhattan — but never thought you could afford.” City residents with incomes ranging from $34,148 to $167,505 will be eligible for a chance at purchasing one of the 95 units made available through the 80/20 Program of the New York City Housing Development Corporation. Half of those units will be set aside for those currently living within CB4’s borders. To help navigate the application process, two seminars are scheduled. The first will take place at Roosevelt Hospital (1000 10th Avenue, at 59th Street) on March 12, from 6-8pm — and the other, on March 28, from 6:30-8pm, at Fulton Auditorium (119 Ninth Avenue, between 17th & 18th Streets). Those who register at theparkclinton.com will be notified when the marketing period begins. The housing lottery will be held in mid-May.

who are employed by TF Cornerstone — a commercial real estate developer and property management company which plans to develop a piece of land at 57th Street and 11th Avenue. Cornerstone “is not living up to standards in the way other responsible developers do. We want to raise awareness before they come to you again” regarding this, and other, properties. For more info, visit seiu.org. John Wells, a member of Local 32BJ, also spoke on behalf of workers urging Cornerstone to participate in the Thomas Shortman Training Fund (TSTF). Offered to SEIU members through funding by (as they describe it) “responsible building owners, managers and employers in New York,” Wells said he’s currently enrolled in TSTF electricity classes, and had recently became CPR-certified through another TSTF program. Clarissa Jones-Winter, an associate director of the New York State Nurses Association (nysna.org), thanked CB4 for helping in their efforts to bring attention to how St. Luke’s moved its Detox Unit (at the campus on Amsterdam Ave. & 110th Street) — using October’s natural disaster as an excuse to temporarily, then permanently, transfer services to Roosevelt Hospital (1000 Tenth Avenue, at 59th Street). Referencing how the hospital cited a post-Sandy influx of patients and staff from elsewhere (necessitating the creation of more space), Jones said, “It’s outrageous that the hospital would use Sandy [as a reason for making the transfer permanent] instead of going through the Certificate of Need [CON] process required by the Department of Health.” The CON program is a review process, mandated under state law, which governs the establishment, ownership, construction, renovation and change in service of specific types of health care facilities. Jones-Winter concluded by acknowledging that the board followed through on a promise made during the previous month’s meeting. “CB4 was generous to say they’d write a letter,” Jones noted. “Thanks for doing it.” Written by CB4’s Housing, Health & Human Services Committee (HH&HS), the aforementioned letter was passed by the full board as Agenda Item 12 — and will be sent to Roosevelt Hospital. During a February 19 phone interview with Chelsea Now, Jones-Winter emphasized the need for greater transparency and accountability [“CON gives everyone the right to weigh in”], while detailing the main concerns shared by her organization and CB4. The transfer, she said, “was done without going through the normal processes, and done during a fragile time. These two populations [detox, from St. Luke’s and rehab, from Roosevelt] are, she noted, both fundamentally incompatible. Those in detox, Jones-Winter explained, “have been brought in because they’re current substance abus-

February 20 - March 5, 2013

editorial

Hizzoner Ed Koch

It was hard to imagine New York City ever being without Ed Koch. Whether you loved him, hated him or fell somewhere in between, Koch was a larger-than-life figure who always seemed to embody the very essence of the city. His death on Feb. 1 at age 88 came as a shock — even though he had been very publicly preparing for it for years. Long after leaving office, and in fact until the very end, he remained an avuncular political icon who was always available for a quote and relished the spotlight. His endorsement carried clout and was coveted. He regularly e-mailed out his opinion pieces on a myriad of issues and — after we at Comunity Media dropped him as a movie reviewer a few years ago — his movie critiques. Two years ago, proving he was still relevant and could have a profound political impact, he launched the New York Uprising campaign, pushing for campaign finance reform, independent redistricting and ethics reform in Albany. He was successful on two out of three, though politicians — fearful of losing their gerrymandered seats — ultimately refused to weaken their hold on redistricting. Most will say that Koch leaves a mixed legacy. Most important on the pro side, he pulled New York City out of the 1970s fiscal crisis, and also poured billions of dollars into the creation of middle-class housing — on a scale no one has done either before or after him. Koch also reformed the judicial selection process so that it became based on merit rather than patronage. This last initiative stemmed from his political roots, which were in Greenwich Village, where he was an early, leading member of the Village Independent Democrats club. VID was a Reform Democratic club, and judicial reform was part of its platform. Running with Carol Greitzer, Koch went on to topple Tammany District Leader Carmine De Sapio, a political kingmaker and machine boss known for selling judicial nominations. From there, Koch rose to city councilmember, congressmember and finally a three-term mayor of New York City. He continued to live in Greenwich Village as mayor — it was said because he valued his privacy. Some said it was because Koch was gay and didn’t want his social life exposed. This leads to part of Koch’s legacy that remains controversial: his failure to respond quickly and assertively to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. AIDS activists charged that his lack of action resulted in thousands of deaths. That Koch was gay, they claimed, only served to heighten the outrage. It was Koch’s choice to keep his sexuality private, though it definitely would have helped gays had he come out. Koch also came under heavy criticism for closing Sydenham Hospital in Harlem, an action he later said he regretted having taken. In addition, in terms of race relations in New York City, he unfortunately became a polarizing figure, and was dubbed racist by black activists. However, those who knew him over his political career contend that Koch wasn’t racist, but more of an opportunist: He saw that he had lost support in the Village, on the Upper West Side and Harlem as he had moved to the center, and so realized his base was now the boroughs. He used race as a way to maintain his power, the thinking goes. That he was famously pugnacious didn’t help race relations either. But his level of racial insensitivity or antagonism never reached the level of Rudy Giuliani. He crossed party lines often, such as to support the likes of George W. Bush and Bob Turner. His old club, VID, parted ways with him when they endorsed the more liberal Mario Cuomo over Turner for governor. Koch was a staunch defender of Israel and a vigilant monitor of anti-Semitism around the globe. For all of his imperfections, Ed Koch was always New York’s number one cheerleader. Whatever you think of him, one thing’s for sure, there will never quite be another mayor like Ed Koch.

letters to the editor Subway safety To The Editor: I was so happy to hear Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on 1010 WINS news radio Thursday morning calling for safer subways when the trains are coming into the station. Here Downtown, on the now defunct Community Board 1 World Trade Committee, we had been asking for this for years as part of the new Fulton Street Station through Platform Screen Doors. PSD’s are used now in Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The PSD’s are used by the Port of Authority on their Air Train. They allow the platform to be air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter, and mostly prevent platform accidents. There have been six NYC subway related platform deaths in the last one and a half months. In CB1 WTC meetings, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority informed us that there are no official records kept of injuries and deaths due to open platforms – but one doctor at Downtown Hospital told me all you have to do to realize the need is see one of the many who come in weekly with subway injuries. A few months back, the MTA started to publish official figures. When Manhattan B.P. Stringer states that “too many people are dying,” our MTA needs to listen, as this will save lives. Possibly this can start here Downtown with PSD’s at the new Fulton Street World Trade Center Station. Tom Goodkind Member, Community Board 1

gressive in this race and has a terrific record on progressive issues. Allen Roskoff E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to scott@chelseanow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Chelsea Now does not publish anonymous letters.

Reader Comments from ChelseaNow.com… Re “Hudson Yards Set to Alter Skyline, Transform Neighborhood” (news, Feb. 6), “New Yorker” wrote: Honestly I commend the revamping of the city. However, I feel the city’s money would have been better spent on the crappy subway system we have. It is an embarrassment and shame to international standards and is highly outdated. Let’s invest in some new technology to make our subways cleaner, safer & more reliable so visitors and residents will opt for that as the optimal method of transportation vs. a car or bus. Let’s get out, act together and stop using the fact that the MTA is old to an excuse. Nationalize it and fund it with city taxpayer money. Stop giving it to the greedy corporate crooks.

Menin is the most progressive To The Editor: I am supporting Julie Menin because she is the most progressive candidate in the race. Her opponents all voted for Chelsea Market and the NYU 2031 expansion plan and thus against the interests of Village and Chelsea residents. One of her opponents voted to overturn term limits. Lappin was useless on the Living Wage Bill. I could care less about Julie’s party registration more than a decade ago. Julie is the only true pro-

Re “A New Neighborhood, from the Ground Up” (news, Feb. 6), Scott wrote: What a pile of junk! How much are we the tax payers paying for this private for profit boondoggle? Does the plan include flood walls? 12 years of construction noise, dust and congestion. It’s time to end the so called “developers” reign of terror over our city. 100% affordable housing for working people now!

The New & Improved

site! b e w w e n r u o Check out om c . w o N a e s l e h C www.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

TalKiNG PoiNT Chelsea Market Community Givebacks Neither Permanent Nor Guaranteed We were extremely disappointed this past October when Speaker Christine Quinn and the City Council voted to grant permission for two huge office towers to be built atop the historic Chelsea Market complex, over the objections of many in the community (including our three organizations). Yet again, the City Council was changing local zoning rules to allow developers to reap enormous profits in our neighborhood, while increasing congestion, overtaxing infrastructure, eliminating more light and sky and, in this case, compromising a historic landmark. We were told, however, that there was a silver lining — the Council made their approval contingent upon a series of community givebacks, including one which (according the Speaker’s press release) “permanently protects 75%” of Chelsea Market’s ground floor space for non-chain food uses. We and many others had complained that Jamestown Properties, the international developers who bought Chelsea Market and sought this upzoning, was replacing the independent food shops which made Chelsea Market special with chains and clothing stores that could be found anywhere. Additionally, the Speaker and the Council promised that Jamestown would be advertising jobs to local residents, providing start-up space for new businesses and providing training and education programs to local residents in need. While we were unhappy about the overall deal, these “guarantees” at least meant that the community would get some ongoing benefit in exchange for the permanent gift to Jamestown of allowing them to add hundreds of thousands of (previously prohibited) square feet of office space to our neighborhood, on top of a beloved landmark. Or so we thought. After weeks of inquiry and investigation, we discovered that in fact none of these "guarantees" we just described were really guarantees

at all. If Jamestown failed to deliver on any of these promises, they would face no penalty and would get to keep their lucrative approvals from the City Council — even if the community got nothing. For instance, in spite of the Speaker’s claims, under the agreement the entire ground floor of Chelsea Market can be replaced with The Gap, McDonald’s, or K-Mart. If they did so there would be no penalty, and no rescission of the approvals they received. The same is true if they do not provide any of the other community benefits we mentioned. Is Jamestown likely to keep these agreements in the short term, in order to avoid embarrassing themselves and their benefactors on the City Council? Probably. But in the long term, we know from experience there is little if any chance of these “guarantees” being kept. A written promise from an owner (who may sell the property at any time ) to an elected official who will, at some point, no longer be in office, hardly constitutes a “permanent guarantee” — which is what these agreements have been touted as. As all parties now agree, these provisions have absolutely no legal enforceability. It’s a handshake deal between players who may not be around to even complain to years down the road (and if they were, could not do anything about it — legally speaking — if they wanted to). Whether this arrangement was constructed in this manner as an oversight or by design, we cannot know. Similarly, throughout the public review and approval process for the Chelsea Market upzoning, Jamestown argued and the Council apparently agreed that the large additions to Chelsea Market were necessary in order to accommodate growing tech companies in Chelsea Market and an increased need for office space in the lower Chelsea/Meatpacking District area. But shortly after the approvals were granted, we became

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he 2004 federal budget proposed by the Bush administration on February 3 is drawing both praise and criticism from gay and AIDS groups. “Generally, we have a mixed reaction to it,” said Winnie Stachelberg, political director at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), even as some leading AIDS groups, including the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), were more critical. The proposal includes a $100 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a $5 million dollar increase in the Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS

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Member of the National Newspaper Association Chelsea Now is published biweekly by NYC Community Media LLC, 515 Canal St., Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013. (212) 229-1890. Annual subscription by mail in Manhattan and Brooklyn $75. Single copy price at office and newsstands is 50 cents. The entire contents of newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2010 NYC Community Media LLC, Postmaster: Send address changes to Chelsea Now, 145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., New York, N.Y. 10013.

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aware that Jamestown Properties had in fact already purchased a large office building directly across the street from Chelsea Market at 450 West 15th Street, as well as an adjacent development site, upon which such space could easily be located. Additionally, we discovered that among Jamestown Properties’ vast holdings in New York was 1 Times Square — a strategically located office building atop one of New York’s largest transportation hubs and in the middle of one of New York’s most robust office markets, which Jamestown has kept almost entirely empty for more than fifteen years. These highlight the lack of transparency and candor in both the application and approval process for this zoning change, and the lack of consistency between the justifications for these approvals and the actual facts. Factual inconsistencies have unfortunately been pervasive in this process. What is clear however is that the community will indisputably bear the permanent consequences of the upzoning granted to Jamestown in increased traffic and congestion, loss of light and air, and compromise of a cherished local landmark. But the permanent benefits we have been promised in return are very unlikely — at least in some cases — to be permanent at all.

Lesley Doyel

Co-President, Save Chelsea

Andrew Berman

Executive Director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

William Borock

President, Council of Chelsea Block Associations.

P ST SIGN U LwA Els-eB R o .com U n a O R tt at scott@che FmO ail Sco E

SR. V.P. OF SALES AND MARKETING Francesco Regini RETAIL AD MANAGER Colin Gregory ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Russell Chen Allison Greaker Julius Harrison Gary Lacinski Alex Morris Julio Tumbaco

ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Troy Masters SENIOR DESIGNER Michael Shirey GRAPHIC DESIGNER Arnold Rozon CIRCULATION SALES MNGR. Marvin Rock DISTRIBUTION & CIRCULATION Cheryl Williamson

CONTRIBUTORS Ryan Buxton Martin Denton Lakshmi Gandhi Terese Loeb Kreuzer Kaitlyn Meade Duncan Osborne Paul Schindler Jerry Tallmer Maxine Wally PHOTOGRAPHERS Milo Hess J. B. Nicholas Jefferson Siegel

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Community Contacts To be listed, email info to scott@chelseanow.com. COMMUNITY BOARD 4 (CB4) CB4 serves Manhattan’s West Side neighborhoods of Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen. Its boundaries are 14th St. on the south, 59/60th St. on the north, the Hudson River on the west, 6th Ave. on the east (south of 26th St.) and 8th Ave. on the east (north of 26th St.). The board meeting, open to the public, is the first Wednesday of the month. The next meeting is Wed., March 6, 6:30pm, at the Fulton Center Auditorium (119 Ninth Ave., btw. 17th & 18th Sts.). Call 212-7364536, visit nyc.gov/mcb4 or email them at info@manhattancb4.org. COMMUNITY BOARD 5 (CB5) CB5 represents the central business district of NewYork City. It includes midtown Manhattan, the Fashion, Flower, Flatiron and Diamond districts, as well as Bryant Park and Union Square Park. The district is at the center of New York’s tourism industry. The Theatre District, Times Square, Carnegie Hall, the Empire State Building and two of the region’s transportation hubs (Grand Central Station and Penn Station) fall within CB5. The board meeting, open to the public, happens on the second Thursday of the month. The next meeting is Thurs., March 14, 6pm, at Xavier High School (30 W. 16th St., btw. 5th and 6th Aves., 2nd fl.). Call 212-465-0907, visit cb5.org or email them at office@cb5.org. THE 300 WEST 23RD, 22ND & 21ST STREETS BLOCK ASSOCIATION Contact them at 300westblockassoc@prodigy.net. THE WEST 400 BLOCK ASSOCIATION Contact them at w400ba@gmail.com.

CHELSEA GARDEN CLUB Chelsea Garden Club cares for the bike lane tree pits in Chelsea. If you want to adopt a tree pit or join the group, please contact them at cgc.nyc@gmail.com or like them on Facebook. Also visit chelseagardenclub.blogspot.com. LOWER CHELSEA ALLIANCE (LoCal) This group is committed to protecting the residential blocks of Chelsea from overscale development. Contact them at LowerChelseaAlliance@gmail.com. THE GREENWICH VILLAGE-CHELSEA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Call 212-337-5912 or visit villagechelsea.com. THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT INITIATIVE Visit meatpacking-district.com or call 212-633-0185. PENN SOUTH The Penn South Program for Seniors provides recreation, education and social services — and welcomes volunteers. For info, call 212-2433670 or visit pennsouthlive.com. THE BOWERY RESIDENTS’ COMMITTEE: HOMELESS HELPLINE If you know of anyone who is in need of their services, call the Homeless Helpline at 212-533-5151, and the BRC will send someone to make contact. This number is staffed by outreach team leaders 24 hours a day. Callers may remain anonymous. For more info, visit brc.org. THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISExUAL & TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY CENTER At 208 W. 13th St. (btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). Visit gaycenter.org or call 212620-7310. GAY MEN’S HEALTH CRISIS (GMHC) At 446 W. 33rd St. btw. 9th & 10th Aves. Visit gmhc.org. Call 212-367-1000.

HUDSON GUILD Founded in 1895, Hudson Guild is a multi-service, multi-generational community serving approximately 14,000 people annually with daycare, hot meals for senior citizens, low-cost professional counseling, community arts programs and recreational programming for teens. Visit them at hudsonguild.org. Email them at info@ hudsonguild.org. For the John Lovejoy Elliott Center (441 W. 26th St.), call 212-760-9800. For the Children’s Center (459 W. 26th St.), call 212-7609830. For the Education Center (447 W. 25th St.), call 212-760-9843. For the Fulton Center for Adult Services (119 9th Ave.), call 212-924-6710. THE CARTER BURDEN CENTER FOR THE AGING This organization promotes the wellbeing of individuals 60 and older through direct social services and volunteer programs oriented to individual, family and community needs. Call 212879-7400 or visit burdencenter.org. FULTON YOUTH OF THE FUTURE Email them at fultonyouth@gmail. com or contact Miguel Acevedo, 646-671-0310. WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE Visit westsidenyc.org or call 212956-2573. Email them at wsna@ hcc-nyc.org. CHELSEA COALITION ON HOUSING Tenant assistance every Thursday night at 7pm, at Hudson Guild (119 9th Ave.). Email them at chelseacoalition.cch@gmail.com. FRIENDS OF HUDSON RIVER PARK Visit fohrp.org or call 212-757-0981. HUDSON RIVER PARK TRUST Visit hudsonriverpark.org or call 212627-2020. SAVE CHELSEA Contact them at savechelseanyc@ gmail.com.

CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER CHRISTINE QUINN Call 212-564-7757 or visit council.nyc. gov/d3/html/members/home.shtml. STATE SENATOR BRAD HOYLMAN Call 212-633-8052 or visit bradhoylman.com. CHELSEA REFORM DEMOCRATIC CLUB The CRDC (the home club of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, State Senator Tom Duane and Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried) meets monthly to exchange political ideas on protecting the rights and improving the lives of those residing in Chelsea. Visit crdcnyc. org or email them at info@crdcnyc.org. THE SAGE CENTER New York City’s first LGBT senior center offers hot meals, counseling and a cyber-center — as well as programs on arts and culture, fitness, nutrition, health and wellness. At 305 Seventh Ave. (15th floor, btw. 27th & 28th Sts.). Call 646-576-8669 or visit sageusa.org/thesagecenter for menus and a calendar of programs. At 147 W. 24th St. (btw. 6th & 7th Aves.) THE SYLVIA RIVERA LAW PROJECT

works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression without facing harassment, discrimination or violence. Visit srlp.org.

FIERCE (Fabulous Independent Educated

Radicals for Community Empowerment) builds the leadership and power of bisexual, transgender and queer youth of color in NYC. Visit fiercenyc.org.

QUEERS FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE is a progressive organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation. Visit q4ej.org. THE AUDRE LORDE PROJECT is a les-

bian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, trans and gender non-conforming people of color center for community organizing. Visit alp.org.

Living with VISION LOSS? If you’ve been diagnosed with macular degeneration, find out if special microscopic or telescopic glasses can help you see better. Even if you have been told nothing can be done you owe it to yourself to seek a second opinion.

Dr. Steven Schoenbart 516-794-0704

www.SchoenbartVisionCare.com 901 Stewart Avenue, Suite 202, Garden City,NY

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February 20 - March 5, 2013

chelsea: arts & ENTERTAINMENT

The Festival that Came into the Cold Horse Trade’s FRIGID is a fine cousin of CAFF THEATER

THE 2013 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL

Feb. 20 through March 3 At The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th St., btw. 2nd Ave. & Bowery) And at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place., btw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A) Tickets: $10-$16 Visit frigidnewyork.info Call 212-868-4444

CANUCK CABARET At UNDER St. Marks Midnight: Wed-Sat. Feb. 20-23 & Feb. 27-March 2 Tickets: $5 Photo by Rhys Harper

FRIGID HANGOVER At The Kraine Theater March 4-5 & 7-9 Schedule, TBA Tickets: $18

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Taking its cue from our always chilled and frequently cool neighbors to the north, the 30 shows featured in this year’s FRIGID New York Festival are — literally — random acts. Not as large in number of participants, or as physically sprawling (or as prone to crippling humidity) as August’s FringeNYC, FRIGID was founded in 2006 by Horse Trade Theater Group and EXIT Theatre. East Village mainstay Horse Trade brought to the table their three theaters (two of them housed in the same building as KGB Bar), and EXIT brought the wisdom accumulated from having run The San Francisco Fringe Festival since 1992. They also introduced Horse Trade to The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals’ nurturing mission statement and fair, if somewhat dice-rolling, curation process. Unlike FringeNYC, which has taken some flak from purists for choosing its participants through a juried process, FRIGID embraces the risks and rewards that come from CAFF’s open call for submissions — as well as its guiding principle to “provide all artists, emerging

“Bathtub Jen and the Henchmen” is a steampunk collaboration of prohibitionistic proportions that thrusts audiences into a world of slapstick, stand-up and vaudeville — when Jersey’s finest speakeasy entrepreneur and her curmudgeonly ex-con husband embark on a series of poorly judged money-making schemes, erotic escapades gone awry, run-ins with the fuzz and vignettes that include accordion, ukulele, clarinet, spoons and trumpet.

and established, with the opportunity to produce their play no matter the content, form or style and to make the event as affordable and accessible as possible for the members of the community.” “We jury, adjudicate and check out shows all year round,” says Horse Trade Executive Director Erez Ziv of how performers usually get booked for gigs at the Kraine Theater, The Red Room and UNDER St. Marks. “We go to scout shows and we read scripts, reviews and references…but this is the one time of the year we get to throw things out and see what happens. So we end up with some phenomenal shows we would have never picked if we were jurying.” This year’s festival garnered around 80 applicants. Booking half of the 30 participants, notes Ziv, takes less than two seconds. “The application is online starting sometime in August,” he explains, “then there’s a countdown clock. You can fill out the application any time, but you can’t press the button until Labor Day.” As the clock strikes Midnight, the first 15 trigger-fingered applicants score an invite to FRIGID. In a nod to the festival’s Canadian roots, the remaining 15 acts are chosen from scraps of paper “pulled out of a beaver fur top hat. We normally do that at UNDER St. Marks, on Halloween night. This year, courtesy of Sandy, we did it in Brooklyn… and we pulled the names out of a plastic pumpkin.”

Continued on page 12

Photo by Dahlia Katz

Presented by Toronto, Ontario’s The Theatre Elusive, “Love in the Time of Time Machines” is the once-upon-atime tale of Klein and Gabrielle. When they broke up, that was the end of that…or was it? Taking place in a “world where time’s arrow spins like a compass needle at the North Pole,” this love story asks whether the actions of two people amount to a hill of beans…then ponders what a hill of beans amounts to.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

The Morning After, and After, ‘Hangover’ Features FRIGID’s Best Continued from page 11 Residents of The Great White North need not feel slighted at this year’s abandonment of the beaver fur hat, since the land of universal health care and hockey is well-represented during FRIGID.

details regarding the rights and responsibilities of such a classification — and eventually managed to throw us off the trail of potential scandal by noting that in addition to the aforementioned talent roster, “We sprinkle on top of that FRIGID performers. It’s a great chance for them to let loose, hang out with each

Horse Trade considers establishing relationships with new talent to be the real reward of FRIGID — which is good, since there’s no actual coinage to be had by hosting its 150 performances. ‘Participants keep one hundred percent of the box ofﬁce,’ says Ziv, who adds, ‘The shows are the intellectual property of the performers. We keep no part of them when the festival ends.’ The Midnight series “Canuck Cabaret” is a raucous variety show featuring Canadians living in New York, talent fresh from a border crossing and NYC-based artists who’ve agreed to be “honorary Canucks” for the night. Ziv was evasive when repeatedly pressed for

other and let everyone see what they are, as artists, beyond the one show they have in the festival. “Cabaret” is hosted by Paul Hutcheson, who “did a show with us in the second year of the festival called ‘On Second Thought.’ The material looked awful

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce LGBT-2-B Committee Presents…

Managing Your Business Are you an effective driver of your business? Join Manhattan Chamber of Commerce on March 11th for part two of three of its Business Accelerator Series and network over cocktails as you hear from a panel of experts and experienced business owners as they discuss: • • • •

Business protection against the unexpected Key considerations in leasing office/retail space Marketing essentials Key legal considerations in hiring and managing employees

WHEN:

Monday, March 11, 2013 6:00pm –8:00pm (Panel discussion and Q&A @6:30pm)

WHERE:

Heartland Brewery at Times Square 127 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036

RSVP:

Email events@manhattancc.org, call 212-473-7875 or visit http://bit.ly/Ug6t9c

COST:

Free for members of Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Free for members of StartOut $15 for non-members (non-refundable) $20 for walk-ins

Photo by Rene Ferrer

Photo by Karim Muasher

Tokyo-based clown Shoshinz (whose name translates into “shy timid people”) performs “A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup” — a mysterious figure whose solitary existence is accompanied by a raucous cast of sounds and music that make her life an absurd adventure.

In “The Vindlevoss Family Circus Spectacular,” mustachioed Professor Penelope Vindlevoss discovers Edward the Zombie on her anthropological expedition, and takes it upon herself to domesticate him. Edward’s final lesson: put on a circus! Physical comedy and undead logic collide in this quirky fable about how to be truly human.

[beforehand], but it ended up being one of the highlights of the festival, and we’ve had a relationship with him ever since.” Horse Trade considers establishing relationships with new talent to be the real reward of FRIGID — which is good, since there’s no actual coinage to be had by hosting its 150 performances. “Participants keep one hundred percent of the box office,” says Ziv, who adds, “The shows are the intellectual property of the performers. We keep no part of them when the festival ends.” For producers, there are advantages beyond a performance slot in FRIGID. “There’s quite a bit of overflow,” says Ziv of the content sharing between February’s FRIGID and August’s FringeNYC. “Almost every year, somebody from our festival also does the [NYC] Fringe. Few shows leave with less than three reviews, and some have gotten as many as nine. They can emerge with a well-reviewed, successful show that’s already proved itself, and parlay that into a platform to show up at other festivals.” In a mirror image of that trend, one of this year’s FRIGID performers arrives fresh from a well-reviewed and well-attended run in 2012’s FringeNYC. “Sassy senior” and longtime Village resident D’yan Forest — whose autobiographical “I Married a Nun” was a decade-spanning yarn of bi-attraction

— returns with a tale of how to keep the home fires burning at 78 and beyond. With a philosophy as solid as its title is salty, Forest says her new show (“My Pussy is Purrin’ Again”) delves further into the price we pay for denying, and obeying, our deepest yearnings. “As time passes,” she says, “I’ve become acutely aware of the lies we tell ourselves in order to get the love we long for, even if it is not the love that feeds our soul.” Lest you think “Purrin’ Again” is strictly a two-hanky weeper, rest assured there will likely be a good deal of the ukulele, trumpet and the glockenspiel-accompanied tunes that made “Nun” such a crowd-pleaser. If Forest pulls in respectable numbers and impresses management, she may be one of five to eight shows featured in the “Hangover” series. Set to run the week immediately following FRIGID, Ziv notes it marks a return to business as usual for Horse Trade: “Those ‘Hangover’ shows are curated. We pick them based on the quality of the show and their potential to get an audience. We’ll announce about half of the roundup on the first Tuesday of FRIGID, then pick the remainder towards the festival’s end. We try to do the out-of-town shows on Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off, then feature local shows Thursday through Saturday.”

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Slow Like a Turtle, Crazy Like a Fox Edward Albee and his ‘Woolf ’ still flourishing THEATER WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Written by Edward Albee Directed by Pam MacKinnon Through March 3 At the Booth Theater 225 W. 45th St. (btw. Broadway & 8th Ave.) Running Time: 3 hours (includes 2 intermissions) For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit telecharge.com BY JERRY TALLMER They’ve taken Edward Albee’s heart apart and put it back together again — oh yes, kiddies, unlike the Tin Woodman, Edward always had a heart — but America’s three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright has lost none of his salt. “You never saw the film?” Albee said (exploded gleefully) to a journalist who’d just confessed to the sin of never having absorbed the Richard and Elizabeth celluloid version of George and Martha’s long, dark, tumultuous night of truth and untruth telling, fun and games, verbal violence, a touch of physical violence and endless consumption of firewater. “Never saw the movie?” Albee exclaimed again. “Good! I didn’t want to have to talk about it. It’s a very different thing from what I wrote.” The journalist had, however, seen three flesh-and-blood state versions of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — from its long-ago opener on October 13, 1962 at what was then called the Billy Rose Theatre on West 41st Street, with masterful Arthur Hill and unforgettable Uta Hagen as two people — a staid professor of history at “a small New England college” and his tumultuous wife Martha — tearing themselves and everybody else (cocky young George Grizzard, kooky young Melinda Dillon) apart; and then, 43 years later (March 20, 2005, Longacre Theatre), its topnotch rebirth at the skillful hands of Bill Irwin and (yes!) Kathleen Turner; and now, going-on-eight-years later, the Chicago Steppenwolf (no pun) production that opened at Broadway’s Booth Theater on October 13, 2012, exactly 50 years to the day from its Billy Rose premier, and has now drawn enough enthusiastic viewers to be twice extended.

Photo by Michael Brosilow

Long night’s journey: Carrie Coon, Tracy Letts, Amy Morton and Madison Dirks.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” ran for 664 performances (plus previews) in its first crack at Broadway, for 117 performances in the 1976 renewal, for 177 performances in 2005, and the current show is now a little beyond 100. Total, 1962-2013, more than 1,000 “Woolfs” and counting. What other straight play gets 1,000 performances on Broadway these days? Edward Albee, adopted child, born March 12, 1928, was 34 years old and already quite famous as progenitor of “The Zoo Story,” “The American Dream” and other short, caustic plays when the three-hour “Virginia Woolf” hit the scene — and exploded it. Albee is now 84 and heir to the various human erosions of those years. This past June 4, he underwent crucial openheart surgery conducted by Dr. Gabriele Di Luozzo at Mount Sinai Hospital in this city. It has slowed Albee down, but not stopped him. Does he mind talking about it? “I don’t care. I don’t mind. Let’s see.

Well, my heart problems were getting a little complex. Then, you know, they [the medics] give you a choice, right?” Live or die? “Yes.” Some few years earlier, when a stent procedure as portal to that same heart was deemed necessary, Edward had allowed as how he’d get around to it in a couple of weeks. In a couple of weeks, you’ll be dead, he was informed. “Oh,” Edward had said. “In that case, I’ll do it tomorrow.” And did. Around that time, Albee said to the above journalist — oh heck, said to me — “I plan to go on writing till I’m 90 or gaga.” Well, he’s getting up toward 90 and he’s not gaga, even if names, dates and places have an occasional tendency to float off into Otherland. Are you happy, Edward? “I wish I were more…” he says, then stops, regroups. Then: “I wish I were more in command of…everything…of my memory. I wish I wasn’t forgetting things. But I’m still pushing ahead.”

I’m not sure you’ve forgotten anything, Edward, the journalist declares, then tacks on: I myself go blank nowadays on a lot of proper names. “I go blank on improper names,” Albee shoots back. Slow like a turtle, crazy like a fox. How do you like this Steppenwolf version? “I thought it was a good solid production,” the playwright says. “Lots of threedimensionality and…” Yes, yes — go on. “I’m finished,” says Edward Albee. George Bernard Shaw used to divide his output into Plays Pleasant and Plays Unpleasant. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is both — funny as hell and ruthless as hell, all in one package, skillfully knitted together this time by Obie-winning director (for last year’s “Clybourne Park”) Pam MacKinnon and four skilled Steppenwolf actors: Amy Morton (Martha), Tracy Letts (George),

Continued on page 14

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Together Again: George, Martha, Albee, Heart Continued from page 13 Madison Dirks (Nick) and Carrie Coon (Honey, the skittish young booze hound who “blew up and then she went down” in a false pregnancy matching Martha’s long-ago real or imagined miscarriage — or had Martha and George’s hidden trauma been, gracious goodness…shhh… a dark-ages abortion?). Remember, this is the same Edward Albee who, 36 years after “Virginia Woolf,” would scare the bejeezuss out of us with his cryptic, remorseless “The Play About the Baby.” Tracy Letts, a Steppenwolf mainstay, may in fact be a bit too gifted. He is a playwright as well as an actor. As playwright, he won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for his 2008 “August: Osage County” (and repelled me with “Killer Joe”). But on stage at the Booth, he never stops acting for one minute, be it through ceaseless zigzagging vocal effects or a Saint Vitus Dance jitterbug physical underscoring of hands, feet, shoulders, elbows, fingernails, eyebrows, what have you. Which makes this George’s play, rather than the Martha’s play or the even-steven seesaw play I had absorbed through all these years. Still and all, Albee himself, in admiration of Bill Irwin’s quiet power in both “Virginia Woolf” and the even more daring “The Goat,” now says, “I always thought George was more important to this play than Martha. If you just play the real character that I wrote, it’s okay with me. It is true that George is more subtle than Martha.” To director Pam MacKinnon, who goes back a long way with Albee, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is the direct answer to Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” — where the guiding principle is “We Need Our Pipe Dreams.” And George says: “No!” There is even a touch of Sandy Hook 2013 in this drama of 50 years ago — a boy who, mocked by everyone for verbal ineptness, slays his mother with a shotgun, his father with an automobile. Whose idea was it to bring “Virginia Woolf” back to Broadway at this particular time? “Some bright guy,” says Albee with a cryptic smile below his once trim, now flourishing, moustache. The bright guy — says Albee’s whipsmart young assistant, Jakob Holder — may have been Broadway producer and PR man Jeff Richards, who saw the Steppenwolf production in Chicago. It may also have been Richards who suggested holding off the New York opening until the precise 50-year anniversary. Albee may be a little bit more careful at 84 than at 24 — but he has not lost his tartness of tongue. “Truth or illusion, toots — who knows the difference? That’s what this play is all about. I don’t think: Is this going to be

Photo by Michael Brosilow

A total invention: George and Martha sprung from Albee’s imagination — not his family album.

effective? I just try to figure out what’s happening, what’s going on. “People shouldn’t read plays — it has a bad effect. Broadway is so many revivals these days — plays that don’t deserve revival.” There is a fleeting mention of a telegraph delivery boy in “Virginia Woolf.” Well, the young and hungry Mr. Edward Albee was once himself a bicycling telegraph delivery boy in this city. “Oh, I put myself in my plays all the time,” he says. And Martha — is she a precursor of “Three Tall Women?” Is she to any degree your, how shall we say — your adoptive mother? Albee jumps up from his chair and fairly explodes with a mix of laughter and “That - - - - !” (An ugly, ugly word — the ugliest word in the English language.) But sits back down and says, “Martha’s a total invention.” And George is not? “I didn’t say he wasn’t. I invented them both.” What would you have thought if 50 years ago somebody had said this play will still be around, 50 years from now? “I would have been delighted.” Is Edward Albee writing anything new these days? “I’m getting back to it. A couple of things. One is a play called ‘Laying an Egg.’ I’ve got two acts of it. And maybe

something else that’s just called ‘Silence.’ ” Which brings us to Mr. Samuel Beckett, of late renown, whose masterwork “Waiting for Godot” seems to this hapless lifelong consumer of drama to pervade much of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” from title to fadeout, cradle to grave. VLADIMIR: Moron! ESTRAGON: Vermin! V: Abortion! E: Morpion! V: Sewer-rat! E: Curate! V: Cretin! E: Critic! I can still see Bert Lahr collapsing in a swanlike swoon at this final thrust direct. And now…George and Martha (yes, kiddies, as in General and Mrs. George Washington): GEORGE: Monster! MARTHA: Cochon! G: Bête! M: Canaille! G: Putain! That’s fun and games. What is more serious, more telling, more of a mournful Beckettian (or Godolian) dying fall, is the final drawing together of “Virginia Woolf,” of which I reproduce just a con-

densed fragment. As follows: GEORGE: All right…Time for bed. MARTHA: Yes. G: Are you tired? M:Yes. G: I am. M:Yes. G: Sunday tomorrow; all day. M: Did you…Did you…have to? G: Yes...It was time. M: Was it? G: Yes. M: I’m cold. G: It’s late. M: Yes. G: [long silence] I will be better… M: I don’t know… G: Are you all right? M: Yes. No. G: (pets her hand) Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Virginia Woolf… Virginia Woolf… M: I am, George. I am. Edward Albee may deny it — he says he prefers the short, terse later plays of Beckett, when Beckett “was more in control” of his medium — but take it or leave it, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” with its battle between humanism (George) and letter-perfect, blue-eyed genetic fascism (Nick), resounds with the Beethoven’s Seventh chords of “Waiting for Godot”— a greater play, but not an unrelated one.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Their eyes focused on witness accounts Exhibitions draw upon interviews, intimate snapshots BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN

Open Sesame

In this exhibition, organizer Ola El-Khalidi revisits the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which happened on August 2, 1990. The Gulf wars that ensued contributed to the violence that is still very much a part of the region today and which shaped the lives of a whole generation. El-Khalidi refers to the latter as the Open Sesame generation and discusses how the thenteenagers experienced a sudden loss of youth. Gathering witness accounts and mementos, the assembled artists in the exhibition — Ganzeer, Jeanno Gaussi, Rheim Alkadhi and Makan Collective — provide a moving voice for this lost generation. Through March 2, at apexart (291 Church St., btw. Walker & White Sts.). Hours: Tues.-Sat., 11am-6pm. Cal1 212431-5270 or visit apexart.org.

Alexandre Singh: The Pledge

Curated by Claire Gilman, this first North American museum exhibition of Singh’s work presents a new series of Assembly Instructions. This project takes interviews that the artist conducted throughout 2011 with noted scientists, artists, writers and filmmakers, and transforms them into fictional dialogues visualized according to Singh’s signature format of collaged photocopies con-

nected by hand-drawn pencil dots on the wall. Filling the entire Main Gallery, Singh’s “interviews” explore drawing not only as a form of physical gesture, but also as a graphic conduit for the intellectual process. Through March 13, at The Drawing Center (35 Wooster St., btw. Grand & Wooster Sts.). Hours: Wed., Fri., Sat., 12-6pm; Thurs., 12-8pm. Call 212-2192166 or visit drawingcenter.org.

Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg

Who could imagine a better look at the Beat Generation than through the lens of Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997). Although known primarily for his poetry, Ginsberg was also an avid photographer, capturing the individuals and places around him in a series of intimate snapshots. The black and white photographs on display include portraits of William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, as well as several self-portraits. Conveying a glimpse of the unique lifestyle and spirit of the Beats, Ginsberg’s images tell of a generation in which spontaneity and a lust for life began to boil. Through April 6, at Grey Art G a l l e r y ( 1 0 0 Wa s h i n g t o n S q u a r e East, btw. Waverly & Washington P l a c e ) . H o u r s : Tu e s . , T h u r s . , F r i , 11am-6pm; Wed., 11am-8pm; Sat., 11am-5pm. Call 212-998-6780 or visit nyu.edu/greyart.

Neal Cassady and his love of that year the star-cross’d Natalie Jackson conscious of their roles in Market Street Eternity: Cassady had been prototype for Jack Kerouac’s 1950 On the Road saga hero Dean Moriarty, as later in 1960’s he’d taken the driver’s wheel of Ken Kesey’s psychedelic-era day-glo painted Merry Prankster crosscountry bus “Further.” Neal’s illuminated American automobile mania, “unspeakably enthusiastic” friendship & erotic energy had already written his name in bright-lit signs of our literary imaginations before movies were made imitating his charm. That’s why we stopped under the marquee to fix the passing hand on the watch, San Francisco, maybe March 1955. —Allen Ginsberg

Courtesy Sprueth Magers: Berlin and London; Art: Concept: Paris; Metro Pictures: New York; Monitor Gallery: Rome.

Alexandre Singh: “Assembly Instructions (The Pledge-Leah Kelly).” 2011. Framed inkjet ultrachrome archival prints and dotted pencil lines, 18 x 24 inches, #6 from a set of 37.

Image courtesy of the artist and apexart.

Ganzeer: “Utopia” (2013). See "Open Sesame."

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Most Unions Likely to Stay on Sidelines, Despite RWDSU Nod Continued from page 4 from Brewer, Dr. Marjorie Hill, CEO of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Liz Margolies, executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, and Melissa Goodman, the senior litigation and policy counsel for LGBT and reproductive rights at the New York Civil Liberties Union, also spoke up for the measure. In an interview with Gay City News, Appelbaum defended Quinn’s posture on paid sick leave, saying, “She has always said paid sick leave is a worthy goal. It’s always been a question of how and when.” The impact that Superstorm Sandy had on small businesses, he said, compounded concerns about the ongoing effects of a fouryear recession. “We want to create true paid sick leave and not simply have a political football,” Appelbaum said, arguing that proposals to raise the size threshold for companies that would be covered under the law — in a bow toward anxiety over the economy — from five to “75 or 100 don’t accomplish anything.” Appelbaum worked with Quinn on the most visible piece of labor legislation in her speakership — the living wage law, which she highlighted in her State of the City address on February 11. The measure establishes a floor for total wages and benefits that must be paid to any private enterprise receiving more than a million dollars in city subsidies. The measure was largely aimed at developers, but in coming to an agreement with Quinn, the RWDSU had to abandon its goal of having retail businesses renting space in such projects also meet the compensation minimum. Saying that subsidies approved since the law took effect have not gone to developers leasing to retail concerns, Appelbaum argued that the net impact of his union’s concession has been zero, though he acknowledged other projects down the road could well include leased retail space. Appelbaum, who is gay, also praised the Council speaker for her advocacy work for the 2011 marriage equality law and for her efforts to keep Walmart out of New York and to minimize the deportation of undocumented immigrants found guilty of minor crimes. These are all issues with strong appeal among progressive voters, but few paid sick leave advocates share Appelbaum’s optimistic statement that he’s “confident” Quinn would enact legislation addressing the issue as mayor. The Working Families Party, though not responding to a request for comment on its endorsement thinking, is not letting go of the issue. In a February 11 e-mail, the group circulated a quote from Chris Hayes’ weekend public affairs program on MSNBC, in which he said, "If you're a New Yorker who's had the misfortune of contracting the norovirus, maybe you should send Christine Quinn a note of gratitude." Whether the speaker’s resistance to paid

Photo courtesy of Gay City News

Quinn with the West Side’s new state senator, Brad Hoylman, at the February 2 Human Right Campaign dinner, where the City Council speaker accepted the national LGBT rights group’s endorsement. She had previously been endorsed by the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

sick leave will ultimately pose a stumbling block for the city’s major labor unions, which take care of issues like this as part of their contract negotiations with management, is unknown. It may well be that political viability proves as important a factor. De Blasio, who has lagged behind Quinn by a big margin in polls to date, will likely need to show labor that his campaign has momentum before any major players move his way. Filings with the city Campaign Finance Board show that the public advocate has been the leading recipient of union contributions, with tens of thousands of dollars in donations, alone, from local chapters nationwide of UNITE, which represents needle trades and textile industry workers. There is no clear evidence, however, that the political problems hanging over Liu’s head have led labor to give up on his campaign. And, union giving shows a clear pattern of hedged bets. SEIU 1999 has made contributions to de Blasio, Liu, and Quinn, with its most recent donation, last month, going to the speaker. Meanwhile, the teachers have given to de Blasio, Liu, and former Comptroller William Thompson, the 2009 Democratic mayoral candidate who is also in this year’s race. Appelbaum, in talking to Gay City News and the Times, used a different word for viability — “electability.” He made clear, however, that he was not talking about placing a bet on who is most likely to win the Democratic primary, but rather on which candidate can go into what he predicts will be a tough general election campaign best able to end 20 years of GOP mayors. “I don’t think my union has ever been accused of shopping for the winner,” he said, referring to RWDSU’s lonely stand against Bloomberg. The speaker, Appelbaum insisted, can win in November, because “she is a progressive and one who knows the levers of government.”

February 20 - March 5, 2013

At CB4 Meeting, Ire Over Sale of Post Office Building Continued from page 7 ers — and in rehab, they’ve been started on a path of recovery. To put in someone who is still in the clutches of a strong addiction, and has been pulled in to dry out, with someone still very vulnerable to those pulls” is, JonesWinter said, “extremely irresponsible.” While merging the programs is not illegal, she said that the New York State Nurses Association feels the hospital acted as it did, “for their own convenience...We in the medical industry talk about census [patient numbers]. Both of these programs had very low numbers. Regardless of that fact, they should be separate.” To access CB4’s letter, visit nyc.gov/mcb4. From the home page, click on the Calendars Agendas and Committee Schedules icon (left sidebar), then Board Letters part 2, then scroll down to Item #12.

ELECTEDS & REPS REPORT

Newly minted State Senator Brad Hoylman said that (other than the commute), “The biggest transition for me is the food,” then noted that during his short time in Albany, “the legislature enacted the toughest gun laws in the country.” More work is to be done, Hoylman said, on the issue of munitions detection. “We want to pass a microstamping bill,” he noted, referring to a tracking method that would embed information about a gun onto the bullet it fires. Hoylman also expressed solidarity with those in the mental health community. “I share their concern,” he said, adding that “legislation may have the unintended consequence of revealing a person’s medical condition.” Hoylman introduced native New Yorker Ellen Louis as “my new legislative aid and liaison to CB4,” adding that former liaison Lauren Morrison remains his Chief of Staff. “Such a cheap applause line,” Hoylman admitted, as he made his exit while basking in…cheap applause. Louis can be reached at 212-633-8052 or at ellen@bradhoylman. com. David Czyzyk, representing the office of Borough President Scott Stringer (mbpo. org), reported that the BP came out with an initiative asking the MTA to look into recent fatalities, and explore safety precautions already in use in other systems worldwide. Czyzyk also spoke, in detail, about “Led Astray” — a report detailing potential ways of reforming the Animal Care & Control Agency (AC&C). Copies of the January 2013 report were made available at a table near the meeting room’s entrance (where the public could also take a variety of information from groups and electeds who spoke throughout the night). The report’s summary asserted that the AC&C — a nonprofit corporation that runs the largest animal shelter system in the Northeast — is “in dire need of repair,” and falling short on its mission to rescue, care for and find homes for the city’s homeless and abandoned animals. Since 1995, AC&C has been under contract with the NYC Department of Health

Image from theparkchelsea.com

Public information seminars for The Park Chelsea’s affordable housing lottery will be held on March 12 & 28. See page 7.

and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). “The root of the problem is structural,” Stringer’s report said, noting that DOHMH’s administration and oversight authority leaves “little room for AC&C to question DOHMH priorities and decisions.” During the Agenda Item period, board member Delores Rubin noted that the animal welfare “affects CB4, and this is the beginning of the conversation.” She was joined by several other board members who voiced support for the “Led Astray” recommendations — in particular, more stability in top administrative staffing, a substantial increase in revenue by aggressively promoting dog licensing compliance and the restructuring of the AC&C into an independent agency that is no longer under the thumb of DOHMH (instead, functioning as a nonprofit modeled after the Central Park Conservancy). Item #11 was then passed — a letter to the Borough President supporting “Led Astray,” that CB4 Chair Corey Johnson will bring to the Borough Board (an all-borough gathering of reps from various community boards). Representing Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, Paul Sawyer said that her office has moved from 230 West 72nd Street to 250 Broadway (at Chambers Street) — then noted that Assemblymember Rosenthal “is working in the legislature to reform the NYCHA Board structure.” Melanie La Rocca and CB4 liaison Harriet Sedgwick, from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s Office, referenced an incident in Chelsea that made citywide headlines during Hurricane Sandy. The collapsed facade of a building at 92 Eighth Avenue (between 14th & 15th Streets) did not, they said, “go unnoticed” by the Speaker’s Office. “The folks from the building looked like tourists,” they recalled, “but the building is a residential building. It was clear as day that

this is an illegal hotel…they’re taking critical housing away from us.” The Office of Special Enforcement is doing an investigation. Edgar Yu, of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.’s Office, encouraged the public to access their electronic newsletter “which highlights activities and initiatives, and includes a pin map of noteworthy causes.” To sign up for the newsletter, visit manhattanda.org. Yu made reference to an incident earlier in the day at 41st Street & Ninth Avenue, in which a pedestrian was killed. “An arrest has been made,” he said of the driver, “and we are pursuing hit and run prosecution” as well as, a board member noted, vehicular manslaughter charges. In the board’s New Business section, it was agreed they would send a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) asking that right turns at that dangerous intersection be eliminated. “My staff member witnessed this,” said board member Joe Restuccia, “and is traumatized. This woman [the victim]

just wanted to cross the street.” Johnson expressed hope that “the DOT will make these changes quickly.” For Matt Betts of John Liu’s Office (comptroller.nyc.gov), this was his first time at a CB4 meeting. He gave 212-669-8776 as a number at which he could be reached, and touted the Liu’s launch of Checkbook NYC 2.0 (checkbooknyc.com) which, Bitts said, “has vastly increased the transparency of NYC government” by building on the original Checkbook NYC site (launched in 2010 to help taxpayers view and track how New York City government spends its nearly $70 billion annual budget). Representatives from the offices of Congressman Jerrold Nadler, State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney also spoke, as did Councilmember Gail Brewer — who noted, “The Mayor just signed my Underlying Conditions Bill,” which requires building owners to do proper repairs, as opposed to patch job fixes. “The owner has to fix the roof,” she cited as an example, “or the city puts a lien on [the property].”

MSG SIGNAGE A STICKING POINT IN PERMIT RENEWAL REQUEST

Agenda Item #23, a letter to the Department of City Planning (DCP) regarding an application by Madison Square Garden (MSG), passed with amendments based on issues brought up during a lengthy discussion. To continue at its present location atop Penn Station, noted Chelsea Land Use Committee Co-Chair J. Lee Compton, “MSG needs a special permit. It has had one since the 1960s, which just expired.” At the request of Community Board 5 (CB5), the board agreed to take a look at the matter and advise them. Although Compton urged his colleagues to recommend a 50-year lease identical to the last one (“I like 50, because it is rooted in precedent”), he also emphasized that debate surrounding the application process should “be reasonable to Madison Square Garden while being sensitive to Penn Station construction. We need to

Continued on page 20

February 20 - March 5, 2013

Chelsea Spars with Con Ed over Spectra Pipeline Continued from page 5 In order to connect to the Spectra Pipeline at Route 9A and dig up 10th Avenue north to West 15th Street, Con Edison needs those permits from the DOT but it is not required to do an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) relating either to the construction or the safety of the pipeline it is installing. The Q&A portion of the meeting was expertly moderated de Kadt — who systematically went from right to left across the room, allowing questioners to have only one turn each. The first question was from Clare Donohue, a founder of Sane Energy Project, who wanted confirmation of the high pressure level

The pressure is reduced at West 15th Street and throughout the Con Edison distribution pipeline by pressure regulators. Depending on where the gas is in the pipelines, it can be at 99 psi, 15 psi or lower. Con Ed has 88 miles of pipeline in its service area.

of gas transport at 350 psi. Leto explained that interstate transmission of natural gas allows for up to 1,000 psi — but that Con Edison was operating conservatively and “stepping down” the pressure in New Jersey to travel the 15 miles of pipeline through Staten Island, under the Hudson River and to the Gansevoort Peninsula. He also said that Con Ed had been bringing in natural gas at 350 psi since the 1950s, and that this pipeline was not going to be used to the full capacity of its pressure, which already gets reduced along the way. The pressure is reduced at West 15th Street and throughout the Con Edison distribution pipeline by pressure regulators. Depending on where the gas is in the pipelines, it can be at 99 psi, 15 psi or lower. Con Ed has 88 miles of pipeline in its service area. What was clearly on the minds of

the Chelsea questioners was the risk of the high pressure pipeline exploding and causing loss of life and property. Similar pipelines have exploded in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and California. An audience member brought up the San Bruno, California explosion in 2010 that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes, and the fact that the Pipeline Safety Trust (an advocacy group out of Bellingham, Washington) has claimed that every nine or 10 days, on average, someone ends up dead or in the hospital from pipeline accidents. As de Kadt concisely put it, “We’re worried about frying our own butts.” DiPalermo, Spectra’s consultant, defended that the San Bruno explosion was not a Spectra pipeline. “Most of the accidents you hear are third party,” he said. This was cold comfort to other audience members who brought up Spectra’s safety record of violations and the discovery by Denise Katzman that the company was concerned about its capability of acquiring Risk of Loss insurance. Asked by de Kadt whether there was an emergency plan that Con Edison might have in place. Mr. Leto said there was a plan, that he did not have it with him, but he promised to provide it to CB4. Mr. Leto reiterated the daily monitoring that Con Edison does and the fact that “Con Edison could increase the pressure and use more of the design of the pipe but we choose not to, we’re more conservative.” There was palpable frustration coming from the gathering. People wanted to know what they would do if an accident occurred. They also wanted answers as to why they might be in danger of inhaling radon, which still has high radioactive levels. Radon’s radioactivity has a half-life of 3.8 days and delaying its delivery from gas hydrofracked in New York and Pennyslvania would allow the radioactivity to dissipate. The question of whether Spectra might build storage tanks to hold the gas before delivery was answered by DiPalermo who said, “According to FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] and its Environmental Impact Statement, there is no problem.” Half of those attending left the meeting as the agenda moved to Con Edison’s follow-up to Hurricane Sandy. Gmach explained the changes being made to the East 14th Street substation so that it wouldn’t blow out again the way it did during Sandy. Structures are being raised, barrier walls are being built, control panels are being renovated, water pumps are being installed. Also, states like Florida — which have more experience dealing with hurricanes than New York City — are being consulted. This was the better news that ended the meeting.

February 20 - March 5, 2013

CB4: Save Our OCS this, because of the light pollution issue? “No,” said Compton, because the request for larger signage “is not an alteration to the building.” Still, Restuccia maintained, the proposed changes “would be more appropriate on the Seventh Avenue side [which is more commercial], but not on Eighth Avenue.” By phone on February 15, CB4 District Manager Robert J. Benfatto, Jr. told Chelsea Now that he expected Compton to deliver a first draft of the board’s letter during the following week — and shortly after that, it would be sent to DCP. Once they issue their recommendation, the Borough President has 30 days to weigh in, then City Planning has 60 days. A final verdict by the City Council would be due 50 days after City Planning’s recommendation.

Continued from page 17 put [in our letter, a recommendation that] if there are attempts to improve Penn Station, no permit granted to MSG would interfere with that.” “We should be somewhere between perpetuity and 50 years,” Restuccia advised regarding the shelf life of any new permit issued. “Madison Square Garden has moved four times.” “This is MSG,” Compton responded. “They’re not going anywhere” — although he did acknowledge that, “CB5 believes MSG can be induced to leave. No one on this side of Eighth Avenue does.” Anticipating a scenario where MSG has a long-term presence in the neighborhood, talk turned to what Compton identified as “the single most horrid thing in this proposal…They want to change the plaza and the signage to make the [Eighth Avenue] entrance to Penn Station more visible.” These proposed signs, Compton noted, “bump out from the circle, by the escalator, 12 to 80 feet above ground. They want LED [light emitting diode] signs, with moving images.” Referencing the visual debacle that has been visited upon the 42nd Street bus terminal, Compton warned that the MSG plans are “akin to

PUBLIC ISSUES STAMP OF DISAPPROVAL, ON SALE OF OLD CHELSEA STATION Photo by Scott Stiffler

End of two eras? Old Chelsea Station’s possible sale was discussed by CB4 on the heels of an announcement that the USPS would no longer deliver mail on Saturdays.

what they did at Port Authority. It’s bringing Times Square here,” he said, with other board members expressing concern that such massive, moving signage would reflect on the Eighth Avenue Post Office

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windows directly across the street from MSG. “Farley is a landmark,” said one board member, wondering, “Wouldn’t LPC [the Landmarks, Preservation Commission] get

Multiple members of the public, as well as the board, spoke regarding a fastmoving story that continues to develop as Chelsea Now went to press — the possible sale of Old Chelsea Station Post Office, and its relocation to another space in the neighborhood. Located at 217 West 18 Street (between Seventh and Eighth Avenues), the two-sto-

Continued on page 21

February 20 - March 5, 2013

PG to get Earful from CB4 Queen of the Hill Continued from page 20 ry, red brick, limestone-trimmed, Colonial Revival-style structure (which first opened its doors in 1937) is one of 29 Depressionera post offices in New York City. On the National Register of Historic Places, but not a New York City Landmark, local residents were caught by surprise recently when a letter appeared in the much-loved building’s lobby that seemed to hint that its days were numbered. “Our understanding is, they do plan to sell it,” said Benfatto in a February 15 phone conversation confirming facts that came to light during the February 6 meeting. “The notice,” he said referencing that lobby letter which has since been taken down, “wasn’t the official notice. They do have to have some sort of public meeting” before authorizing sale of Old Chelsea Station. The letter that hung in the lobby, Benfatto pointed out, “was a Section 106 Notice,” regarding its status as a historic building slated to be transferred from federal ownership. A broad coalition of community groups and elected are involved in trying to have the United States Postal Service (USPS) halt plans to sell the building and move its services elsewhere in Chelsea. Copies of a strongly-worded letter sent to Postmaster

General Pat Donahoe were made available at February 6’s CB4 meeting. Co-signed by Nadler, Maloney, Hoylman, Quinn, Stringer and Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Richard Gottfried, it expresses “concern over USPS’s lack of internal clarity on the sale of Old Chelsea Station,” and urges that the process of public comment on sale and relocation “begin as soon as possible.” CB4, which had drafted its own letter to the Postmaster General (which would be cc’d to the local branch and all the abovementioned electeds), did end up approving an amended version of the letter. “It seems a little tepid to me,” said board member Hugh Weinberg. “It’s not angry enough.” By the end of the discussion, Johnson assured all gathered that before the letter is stamped, “We’ll change it to be a little more indignant, and we’ll work with our elected officials” as the matter develops. Chelsea Now will continue to follow this story in our March 6 issue and beyond. The Old Chelsea Station section of this article included elements of Liza Béar’s reporting, which first appeared in our sister publication The Villager (February 7: “Community going postal over Chelsea P.O. sale threat”). That article can be accessed by visiting thevillager.com.

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Isla, 3, sledded safely down “Pinwheel Hill” with helmet on head and father cheering from behind Saturday, February 9 after about 10 inches of snow hit Chelsea and the rest of Manhattan. She was one of several dozen neighborhood kids to take advantage of the small hill near Penn South's Pinwheel Park on West 25th Street. By Sunday, the crowds were down as the hill turned to ice, and that was mostly washed out with Monday's rain.

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February 20 - March 5, 2013

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February 20 - March 5, 2013

Dear Aunt Chelsea, Occasionally, I find myself up in Hell’s Kitchen walking back from a play or from a B&H shopping spree. Recently, I stopped at the Bread Factory at 43rd and Ninth Avenue and ordered a slice of their specialty pizza pie. Finding it a little dry, I asked for a cup of water. He pointed at the cooler and said that water was only available to buy. I was confused. Aren’t eateries required to have free water for customers? Dry mouthed in Hell's Kitchen Dear Dry: Hmm…how best to respond to this problem borne of privilege? I’ve been catching royal H-E-Double-HockeySticks lately from readers (coddling helicopter parents mostly, I suspect) for dressing down certain letter-writers instead of breaking out my pom poms and giving them an unconditional cheer. So take what you wish from my little tough love missive and let the rest of it wash off your back like the stench of failure from a fifth place track and field ribbon. Ah, my dear specialty pizza-ordering pal…As old Aunt Chelsea sees it, anyone who can afford to see a play and go on a shopping spree is perfectly capable of supporting our local merchants by springing for their own water. Having

established that little golden rule, I must say your general tone of righteous indignation falls on deaf ears. That said, there is a bothersome social justice/common courtesy aspect to your inquiry that continues to stick in my craw like a poppyseed in my dentures. When you say “He pointed at the cooler,” is that a colloquialism for refrigerated storage shelf, or a water cooler? If a shelf, then of course one must pay — but if it’s a water cooler, I’m pitching a tent in your camp. Now keep in mind that Aunt Chelsea is many things…but she’s not a lawyer, and has no desire to turn this column into a depository for questions best answered by dipping her toes into the complex lake of NYC rules and regulations. Therefore, I can’t really say if eateries are “required to have free water for customers” — but I do know that the inviting gurgle of a water cooler (or “bubbler” as we used to call them in my youth) has “free drink” written all over it. Not literally, of course, but you get my point. To make a long answer short (an impossible task at this point), a store with a water cooler and little paper cups should not treat it as a piggy bank — and a customer with plenty of coinage in his piggy bank has no business shaking down a store for free water. Just enjoy the pizza pie…and put a Poland Springs on your bill!

c o s r H o o pe s

Aries Impatient rams with multiple irons in the fire risk getting burned while watching their pots boil. Lucky Village Person: Cowboy.

Taurus You will find the character flaws of a Reality TV star both repulsive and intriguing. Lucky Bond: Timothy Dalton. Gemini Submit to bulk shopping urges when it comes to candles, canned goods and Marshmallow Peeps. Lucky Peep color: Blue. Cancer Next Wednesday will be present several opportunities to get what you gave up for Lent. Resist! Lucky beat: Bossa Nova. Leo Important information awaits, a foot to the left, as you glance downward to inspect your shoelaces. Lucky animal: Salamander. Virgo Pick a fight with a fellow subway passenger who’s clearly in the wrong and risk incurring the wrath of Saturn, their overprotective ruler. Lucky lines: A, C, E.

Libra Overconfidence from surviving that meteor strike will allow Russian Libras to scale new career heights. Lucky fabric: Wool Tweed. Scorpio Your competitive nature, applied to the problems of a casual acquaintance, will make all the difference. Lucky ill-advised snack: PEZ. Sagittarius Uneasy dreams prompt an early morning bout of contemplation in

matters of the heart, followed by the purchase of flowers. Tip well! Lucky pie: Apple.

Capricorn It is imperative that you cross over to the other side of the street, so to speak. Lucky chapter: 5. Aquarius This Tuesday at 8:37am, you will be challenged by a situation requiring empathy but inspiring apathy. Sleep in to avoid certain doom. Lucky drawer: Middle one. Do you have a personal problem at work, the gym, the bar or the corner coffee shop? Is there a domestic dispute that needs the sage counsel of an uninvolved third party? Then Ask Aunt Chelsea! Contact her via askauntchelsea@chelseanow.com, and feel free to end your pensive missive with a clever, anonymous moniker (aka “Troubled on 23rd Street,” or “Ferklempt in the Fashion District”).

Pisces You will be tempted to interpret a string of coincidences as bad omens. Ignore them! Lucky Mel Torme song: Glow Worm (Christmas version).

February 20 - March 5, 2013

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