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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
June 26, 2014 • $1.00 Volume 84 • Number 4
Li wins a third term to lead C.B. 3, beats Marlow by 31 to 15 BY LESLEY SUSSMAN
C
ommunity Board 3 Chairperson Gigi Li easily coasted to re-election to a third term at Tuesday night’s full-board meeting, beating challenger Chad Marlow. Li won about two-thirds of the board, by a vote of 31 to 15.
Marlow has been a frequent and outspoken critic of Li’s leadership of the 50-member volunteer board. Four members were absent for the vote. Marlow is aligned with a faction of board members who recently accused Li of racial insensitivity because C.B. 3, continued on p. 35
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
E
veryone — from residents to merchants — has always said Richard Pearson would surely kill someone if the menacing, mentally ill man was allowed to keep roaming the streets of Soho and Nolita. On Monday, he almost did.
According to police, at 11:10 a.m., Pearson, 49, grabbed a pair of scissors off vendor Baare Batchiri’s table on Broadway just south of Houston St., and then plunged the shears into the 60-year-old’s chest. Pearson stands 6 feet 4 inches, weighs 250 pounds WILD MAN, continued on p. 6
Gay Pride! Special section...pages 15-22
PHOTO BY MILO HESS
‘Wild Man’ stabs vendor, and no one is surprised in Soho
A woman wore a tasty costume at Saturday’s Coney Island Mermaid Parade. See page 4.
Soccer scores a goooooal! as Cup fever grows in U.S. BY SERGEI KLEBNIKOV
T
he World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. According to FIFA (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association), some 3.2 billion people watched at least a few minutes of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Now, four years later, media experts say that the Brazil 2014 tournament will become the most watched
sporting event in history, as record numbers of television viewers are likely to tune in. Large domestic audiences, new technologies, timing of matches and the sport’s growing fan base in countries where other sports take precedence will all contribute to increased viewership around the world. One key component to more viewers in recent years has been the growth of “the beautiful game” in the U.S., the world’s biggest sports market. U.S. soccer has in-
deed seen significant development in recent years. Youth programs around the country are becoming increasingly effective in producing stars of future generations. The national team has slowly earned more global respect with increasingly solid performances on the world stage. The TV industry has played a large part, as well, with broadcasting companies like NBC Sports, which CUP FEVER, continued on p. 10
Not a rent freeze, but a bit of a thaw................page 7 Friends respond to Fox on Hudson Park.......page 13 Real estate: Hell’s Kitchen hot properties....page 28 www.TheVillager.com
Extell L.E.S. project blasted as ‘segregation’ BY ZACH WILLIAMS
G
ary Barnett, the head of Extell Development, told the C.B. 3 Land Use Committee last week that his company would replace the former Lower East Side Pathmark supermarket, as well as construct 204 new affordable housing units at the site. However, at the June 18 meeting, committee members and residents alike criticized the current plans for the project, which will include a 68-story condo tower at 250 South St. — plus a supermarket in the building’s base — while the affordable units will be in a separate 13-story building on the same parcel, with a separate address, 229 Cherry St. “Segregation is segregation and that’s what this is,” said Nancy Ortiz, a committee member. But financing a mixed-use building under current market conditions would be impossible, Barnett said. Furthermore, prospective condo buyers would not be able to secure mortgages through banks and Fannie Mae if their properties were to be located in the same building as affordable housing units, according to Barnett. “If we had to put all the affordable
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June 26, 2014
[units] in the building, it would now be 15 stories higher, that much taller, longer to build, much more expensive,” he said. Responding to numerous residents’ concerns, Barnett said his company would work with Community Board 3 and residents to mitigate construction noise and traffic disruptions; install more nighttime lighting at the site to improve safety; and give additional updates throughout the construction. The presentation from Extell included numbers aimed at garnering support from residents, including a planned 50 percent lottery preference for C.B. 3 residents applying for the affordable housing. There will be 49 studio apartments for $833 per month, 50 one-bedroom apartments for $895 per month, and 105 two-bedroom apartments for $1,082 per month. A commercial plaza between the buildings would accommodate a 25,000-square-foot grocery story and 8,000-square-foot pharmacy, as well as a smaller business, such as a coffee shop, Barnett said. Foundation work at the site will begin in three months with completion of the entire project expected about three years later, according to Extell. Specific commercial operators have
yet to be determined, but Barnett added that the developer welcomes the community’s suggestions. Current real estate prices and construction costs, however, make building affordable housing more difficult than it once was, according to Barrett, who earlier said that “perfection is the enemy of achievement.” “Most of the affordable housing that’s been done in the city has been stand-alone projects,” he explained. “There’s been a lot of stand-alone projects where you could get the land cheap; so, you could afford to build affordable housing by itself.” By constructing the affordable housing units on site as 20 percent of the project’s overall residential space, the company will qualify for tax breaks over the next two decades. Eventually the company will cede ownership of the affordable housing units to a community organization yet to be determined, Barnett said. “One of the benefits of a separate building is that all of the units are permanently affordable,” he stated. Committee members and residents disagreed with the notion that it would be “impossible,” as Barnett said, to mix affordable housing with condominiums in the residential tow-
er. They said examples of mixed-income housing abound. Affordable housing’s presence in the same building would not likely affect the ability of a condo buyer to secure a mortgage, according to Lawrence J. White, an N.Y.U. economics professor and expert on the mortgage industry. “It seems odd that Fannie would not buy an individual mortgage loan from an originator by an otherwise perfectly suitable borrower who had all the requisite conditions,” he said in a phone interview. Contention at the meeting, though, didn’t end with Extell’s presentation. Local resident Samuel Vasquez charged that the lack of Spanish translation kept some people from actively participating. “This board needs to show a real reflection of the community. These people out here, they are minority groups,” he said of the audience members. “Up here, the majority is what? Caucasians,” he said of the committee. The comment elicited some applause, gasps and a stern response from Ortiz, who suggested Vasquez has priorities beyond fully participating in the community board process. “You don’t show up until the cameras come out,” she said.
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PHOTO BY CLAYTON PATTERSON
“It was really humbling to win a national award.” Sando also described how special it was for P.S. 41, as a public school, to be honored with industry leaders in the building community. When the project was started six and a half years ago, there were a lot of issues, Sando recalled. Millions of dollars went into the green roof, and the effort was a result of the hard work of an entire team that included school Principal Kelly Shannon and officials from the city’s Department of Education and the School Construction Authority. As the green roof idea’s founder, Sando served as project leader and accepted the award on behalf of the entire team. “Everybody was part of the process,” she said. The Urban Green Council presented the EBie Awards in an Oscar-style award ceremony. The EBies (short for “Existing Buildings”) recognize improved environmental performance in existing buildings, and put a spotlight on the leaders who have found solutions for improved efficiency. P.S. 41’s green roof won in the Verdant Brainiac: Green Renovation Innovation category. “It was a very lively ceremony,” said Sando, who referred to the “good energy and great group of people.” She added that she has a lot of respect for the Urban Green Council, which made “every nominee present feel special.” After launching the city’s largest green roof on a public school, P.S. 41 has reportedly inspired more than 20 other schools to begin building their own rooftop learning labs and incorporating green roofs into their science programs. In addition to improvements in education, the 15,000-squarefoot modular tray system dramatically increased the building’s energy efficiency. The roof also provides several ecological services, such as absorbing stormwater and providing habitats for urban wildlife. Several schools have toured the green roof, and are now eager to start similar projects, Sando noted, adding she hopes the project can continue to set a good example for others around the city.
FROM FISH TO CHICK: The former Max Fish bar space on Ludlow St. is now Sweet Chick, a comfort-food place. John Seymour, above right, Sweet Chick’s owner, posed for a photo with Ricky Powell, a.k.a. the “Original NYC Street Photographer.” Powell, a Greenwich Village native, rose to fame with the Beastie Boys. THEY’RE GELL’IN! The GELL Project at P.S.
41, which is now home to New York City’s largest green roof on a public school, won an EBie award on June 9 at the Urban Green Council’s Third Annual Award Ceremony. Known as The Greenwich Village School, P.S. 41, on W. 11th St. at Sixth Ave, was honored at the rockin’ ceremony, which took place at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. A juried competition that celebrates innovators behind significant improvements to building efficiency, the EBie Awards recognize finalists from all over the country. Among this year’s winners — and the only one from New York — the Green Roof Environmental Literacy Laboratory (GELL) Project was founded in 2006 by Vicki Sando, the environmental science program developer at P.S. 41. “It was a huge honor,” she told The Villager. TheVillager.com
HEALTHPLEX E.D. TOUR: This summer, on
the ground floor of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital O’Toole Building, North Shore/LIJ Health System will debut the first phase of its Lenox Hill HealthPlex facility — a 24/7 freestanding emergency department. Over the next year, other elements of the medical center (on the upper floors) will begin providing health and wellness services. In anticipation of the E.D. becoming operational, the public is invited to attend an open house, during which they can ask staff questions about services, and learn about current and future plans for the HealthPlex. The open house will be on Sat., June 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (tours last about 30 minutes), at the Lenox Hill HealthPlex, at 30 Seventh Ave., between W. 12th and 13th Sts. To attend, RSVP by e-mail to wkawadler@nshs.edu or just stop by. For more info on the facility, visit lenoxhillhealthplex.org .
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PHOTOS BY MILO HESS
‘Coney Island babies,’ from mermaid mama to big Bill Saturday’s Coney Island Mermaid Parade saw all manner of mermaids and mermen, plus plenty of pirates, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was accompanied by New York’s first lady, Chirlane McCray, as a blue mermaid. Their children, Dante and Chiara, were chosen to be King Neptune and Queen Mermaid of the annual boardwalk confab.
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June 26, 2014
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June 26, 2014
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‘Soho Wild Man’ arrested after stabbing vendor WILD MAN, continued from p. 1
and is extremely strong. He had reportedly been arguing with a passerby, then decided to come at Batchiri, who was selling cell-phone accessories. Batchiri, an African immigrant, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was recovering Tuesday, being treated for a punctured lung. After the attack, Pearson fled into a nearby subway. But, as the New York Post reported, the wounded Batchiri followed him to make sure he wouldn’t get away, and police were able to arrest the hulking Pearson. He was charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal weapon possession. Pearson a.k.a. the “Soho Wild Man” has a lengthy rap sheet, with 21 arrests over more than three decades. He recently did a six-month stint in jail for cocaine possession, though prosecutors were unable to convict him on charges of allegedly attacking someone with a brick last May, which could have kept him behind bars longer. Local residents and merchants had packed the courtroom at Pearson’s first hearing, trying to influence the judge to give him a stiffer sentence. Bernard Thompson, 50, Batchiri’s partner, was off running an errand on Monday morning when Pearson was attacked. He arrived 20 minutes after the stabbing. “When I reached the table, I see all this red — I thought it was paint,” Thompson said. A detective and a lieutenant were on the scene talking to Batchiri before he was taken to the hospital, and writing down the charges. “I seen ’em do the paperwork — ‘attempted murder,’ ” Thompson said. He spoke to The Villager on Tuesday as he was helping a jewelry vendor at the other man’s table. Ironically, he said, he and Batchiri would try to help Pearson when they could. If the homeless man was slumped down on the sidewalk outside the Ricky’s store, they’d buy him a coffee, he said. “One day he’d have shoes, one day not,” Thompson said. “One day he’d have dirty clothes, one day not.” He said he’d heard Pearson had knocked a woman out on Broadway once when he was panhandling and she refused him. The homeless terror has also harassed tourists when they were browsing his table, Thompson said. “He should have been off the streets a long time ago,” Thompson
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Bernard Thompson said he arrived at his vendor’s table on Monday to find his partner covered in blood after being stabbed by Richard Pearson.
said. “I believe when he takes his medication, he’s a normal person. When he doesn’t, he’s a time bomb. But he’s crazy, man. He’s a menace to society. He disrespects all the tourists and families.” “Two weeks ago, they arrested him down the block and took him to Bellevue. Out the next day. … But now they got him.” Spring St. resident Christina Nenov is among those who have been stridently warning that Pearson is extremely dangerous and should be off the streets. She said the vendor’s stabbing on Monday is similar to the recent tragic incident where another mentally ill man, for no reason, stabbed two young children — one fatally — in an elevator in a Brooklyn housing project. “There’s a big problem, but no one in government wants to touch it with a 10-foot pole,” she said. “But this was bound to happen. I think there needs to be some kind of legislation passed that gets this man — who is very sick — the help he needs. It’s clear that this man is going to relapse over and over and over. “They’ll put him in jail, and when he gets out next time, it’ll be a murder,” she predicted. “This is an escalating problem and it’s a foreseeable problem.” In fact, it’s not the first time Pearson has gone after someone with a knife, she said. “He punched the halal guy, Mohammed, outside the Duane Reade on Spring St.,” she said, “opened his cart, and grabbed an 18-inch, serrated knife, and chased a guy across the street who was sitting outside Gatsby’s who had prosthetic legs.”
Almost everyone, it seems, has had a negative interaction with Pearson. “Chipotle — they have countless stories,” Nenov said. “Marc Jacobs has had problems. Pearson was throwing chairs in Starbucks. The shoe store guy was attacked — he has some video of it online — he was
Nenov forwarded to The Villager an e-mail she received last week from the owner of a Spring St. P.R. firm: “I called 911 on Richard so there is documentation on Tuesday, June 17th because he [is] making anti-gay slurs towards my gay male employees that night when we were returning to the office after an event around 9:30 PM. He was also lurching towards them. I instructed my staff to call the police if ever threatens them again.” Another local woman e-mailed Nenov on June 16 to say she had seen Pearson lying on the ground at Prince and Broadway at 7:30 that morning and loudly screaming the “F” word over and over. “I crossed over to the other side of the street, he is quite menacing,” she wrote. “I am going to call the police now.” Myoung Suk Cho, a cashier at Deli & Cafe Cyber, on Spring St. near Lafayette St., said Pearson’s behavior is erratic. “Sometimes he’s screaming, fighting — bothering us, bothering customers,” she said as she organized a box of candy bars on Tuesday. “Sometimes, he says, ‘Hi, Miss,’ and sometimes, ‘F------ something.’ I don’t understand. “Usually, my husband picks me up in his car after work. One day, I took the subway and [Pearson] followed me. He was shouting at me. I don’t say nothing. … “Sometimes he’s outside, talking to himself, screaming. … Anyway, he’s crazy.” However, knowing Pearson is in custody is giving many Soho denizens peace of mind. The diminutive Nenov, who is disabled, was once cornered in a store by him. “He trapped me in the little jewelry store, with a manager and two employees,” she said. “It was very, very scary. He’s blocking the entrance and he’s threatening to force us to commit sexual acts on him. And I’ll never forget — when the police came, they said, ‘We didn’t see it, so there’s nothing we can do.’ They were just kind of dismissive of the whole incident. … That was a bad day.” As she spoke on her cell phone Tuesday evening as she walked down Spring St., she said, “I see him quite often, and I’ll just wait until he leaves, and then I’ll go home. … In a weird way, I feel safer tonight walking home.”
‘He should have been off the streets. … But now they got him.’ Bernard Thompson
pushed and shoved. Balthazar tries to keep him away with the doorman. The busboy from Spring Street Natural, I think his daughter saw him expose himself. The guy at the smoke shop at Spring and Lafayette had a restraining order against him — the day it was lifted, he went in there.” It seems no one — and no animal — is immune from the walking quality-of-life nightmare. “There’s a group of little old ladies from Little Italy,” Nenov said. “He would pick up their little dogs and rub his face all over them.” Recently, the “Wild Man” ’s threatening behavior had reportedly increased and had been raising alarm among locals. “My husband noticed — [Pearson] was off his meds,” she said.
TheVillager.com
Rent board bucks de Blasio’s call for a freeze BY ZACH WILLIAMS
C
ity landlords scored a political victory Monday night, even as the Rent Guidelines Board voted to enact the smallest rent increase in the history of the city’s rent-stabilization program. Hopes were high before the meeting that a historic rent freeze would win approval, especially after Mayor de Blasio reiterated his support earlier that day. The board instead approved a 1 percent increase for one-year leases and a 2.75 percent increase for two-year leases by a 5-to-4 margin. The new rates will take effect this Oct. 1. Board members accused each other of political bias and intellectual disingenuous. In the end, R.G.B. public member Steven Flax — a de Blasio appointee — countered expectations by casting the deciding vote in favor of the increases. He accused board members who represent the interests of building owners of appropriating his proposal through duplicitous means. “I’ve had intense pressure from both the right and the left, some of it dirty some of it principled,” he said. “I gotta vote my conscience. This is
my proposal. I apologize, but I vote in favor of the motion.” Raucous audience members in the Great Hall of The Cooper Union were not happy. Dozens quickly swarmed in front of the stage, but a small squad of security men in suits quickly formed a defensive line, as board members promptly exited through the rear of the stage. Advocates of raising rents said that not doing so would endanger rent-stabilized housing over all by depriving owners of sufficient funds to maintain facilities and pay increasing costs of labor, taxes and utilities. R.G.B. board member Magda Cruz, a partner at real estate law firm Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, said the proposal for a “radical” rent freeze would “completely ignore the evidence” of landlords’ burdensome costs, in favor of political motivations and the “financial pressures faced by some tenants.” Keeping rents at current levels would “exasperate housing inequality,” she argued. Supporting rent increases strengthens the rent-regulation program by keeping affordable housing profitable for building owners who would otherwise operate at a loss,
added David Wenk, a public member of the board. He said that proponents of a rent freeze were misdirecting their efforts. “I think the process is really broken down here,” he said. “Our intellectual rigor, I think, has been sidestepped by selective use of data, leaps of logic that turn a blind eye to those facts which don’t support the political agenda.” Rent-freeze supporters, though, argued that prior board decisions had jacked up rents so much that the time had come to give tenants relief. Prior estimates of increased costs on landlords were too high, yet were approved anyway, charged Sheila Garcia, an R.G.B. tenant member. “We keep ignoring one important increase, which is that year after year even they didn’t merit increases, they got them,” she said of landlords, speaking before the vote. “As much as [landlords] try to ignore it, tenants’ plight is just as important in this conversation.” After the vote, tenant advocates expressed dismay that their best chance in recent years to secure a rent freeze had failed. Brandon Kielbasa, an organizer with the Cooper Square Committee, said another
year of rent increases disappoints him, but the fight will continue next year when the board votes again. “Not what we wanted at all here,” he said. Experiences in recent decades and during the civil rights movement inspire Ernest Russell, a Lower East Side native, to view rising rents as just one more indication of a wider threat to longtime residents, people of color and the elderly. The playing of an unofficial New York City anthem as dozens of activists demonstrated in front of the stage after the vote indicated a lack of respect toward those with more radical political inclinations, he added. “I really believe the icing on the cake was when they put on the song ‘New York, New York,’ ” he said. “This wasn’t a party, and they disappointed the people. Everybody’s disappointed. And then they put that song on. That’s what they think of us,” he said. “There’s a lot of contempt, particularly in the Lower East Side. It’s a progressive, radical neighborhood and this is a way to destroy it, and they damn near destroyed it. They’re bringing in people without the values which we had down there.”
c
Your Food Scrap ScrapS at Greenmarket
PHOTO NYC PARKS/JONATHAN KUHN
Mural fix went swimmingly The Parks Department’s Citywide Monuments Conservation Program has restored Keith Haring’s 1987 “Carmine Street Swimming Pool Mural” at the Tony Dapolito Pool, at Clarkson St. and Seventh Ave. South. And it’s just in time for this week’s outdoor pool openings at city rec centers. The mural was repaired and selectively repainted. Work to clean and repair the concrete wall was done in collaboration with Parks masons, while Louise Hunnicutt and Associates, LLC, along with Jane Nelson, “in-painted” portions of the mural that required care. The project was sponsored by the Keith Haring Foundation. TheVillager.com
Drop off household fruit and vegetable scraps at 38 Greenmarkets citywide, including Abingdon Square, St. Mark’s Church, Tompkins Square and Tribeca. Visit www.GrowNYC.org/compost or call 212.788.7964 for details, locations, and hours
GrowNYC and DSNY Food Scrap Compost Program A program partnership between the City of New York, the NYC Department of Sanitation, GrowNYC, and community partners.
June 26, 2014
7
POLICE BLOTTER Mass-transit medley
Hot wheels
According to police, on Mon., June 23, at 12:34 p.m., officers observed William Perry, 30, riding a Citi Bike on the sidewalk on Bedford St. and Seventh Ave. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Perry was “not in lawful possession” of the bike, according to the police report. When approached by police, however, he fled into the subway at Christopher St. and Seventh Ave. South, allegedly jumping a turnstile and running down the platform. Perry was seen jumping down onto the tracks, before crossing over and climbing a ladder onto the other side. A passerby then notified police that the man had gotten onto an M.T.A. bus heading down Seventh Ave. South. Police found and stopped the bus, and arrested Perry for felony criminal possession of stolen property.
While running a car’s licence plate through his scanner on Tues., June 17, a traffic agent came across a car that was reported stolen from Yonkers. The car was pulled over at 3 p.m., on W. 14th St., and police questioned Derrick Williams, 54, and Isreal Robinson, 22. An officer spoke with the car’s owner and verified that it was being used illegally. One of the men admitted “that he did drive the vehicle,” and without permission, according to the police report. The two men were charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.
ing in concert” with another unidentified accomplice, according to police, snatched an iPhone 5S, a Kate Spade wallet and a Coach keychain from a female victim, 20, in front of 54 W. 14th St. at 11:15 p.m. The phone was worth $600 the wallet, $170, and the keychain, $180. The accomplice, Pino, then reportedly met him at a different location, where he allegedly “gave him his shirt” to disguise the other’s appearance, according to reports. Several witnesses observed and took photos of the clothing exchange, and police quickly arrived on the scene to take the two youths into custody. A “show-up” was conducted with the victim and witnesses, and the robber was picked out of the lineup. The victim’s cell phone was recovered from the juvenile’s back pocket.
Teen robbing team
Citi Bike kicks
A 17-year-old and an accomplice Thomas Pino, 19, were charged for grand larceny on June 19. The 17-year-old — whose name was withheld due to his age — “act-
Police were informed by a witness at 12:30 a.m. on Tues., June 17, that a teen was observed illegally removing Citi Bikes from their docking stations. The youth, 16 — whose name was not released by police due to his age — was seen by a female witness, 24, in front of 224 W. Fourth St., reportedly removing two bikes by kicking the locked tires until they came loose and causing damage to the docking stations. He was seen giving the bikes out to accomplices Mario Jiminez, 18, and a female, 17, whose name was also not released due to her age. When police arrived, Jiminez and the female fled the scene, but eventually were caught. Reportedly, they both flailed their arms and refused to put their hands behind their back while being arrested, but apparently were not charged with resisting arrest.
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The three youths were charged with felony grand larceny, and the two stolen Citi Bikes, valued at $1,200 each, were recovered.
Trailer bash Five people were arrested last Thurs., June 19, for breaking into a construction site trailer in the West Village and remaining there overnight. Brian Cowan, 22; Alexis Moreno, 19; Dominic Logue, 21; Aaron Prince, 24, and an underage female, 17, reportedly broke into the locked trailer — owned by a trailer rental company, Cassone — by breaking a side window, causing over $250 in damage. The five perpetrators then remained inside the commercial trailer, located in the courtyard of a residential building at 155 Bank St., before they were apprehended by police at 4:10 a.m. They were charged with a felony for forced entry and burglary.
Swiper and sleeper Also last Thursday, police in the subway station at Eighth Ave. and W. 14th St. reportedly observed Arnulfo Teapila Garcia, 38, stealing $26 from a sleeping man on the platform. The victim, 25, had his wallet removed from his front left pants pocket while sleeping on a platform bench at 5:40 a.m. Garcia removed the $26, before throwing the billfold onto the platform and walking away. He was arrested for grand larceny, a felony, and the stolen money was recovered from his pocket. Police apprehended him without incident, but did find that he had a previously open warrant.
Sergei Klebnikov
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for MILLER’S NEAR & FAR LLC to establish, maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 65 RIVINGTON STREET in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26/2014
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World Cup kicks soccer mania into high gear CUP FEVER, continued from p. 1
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June 26, 2014
PHOTOS BY JASON B. NICHOLAS
bought television rights for the Barclays Premier League, England’s primary domestic league, last year. Sports giant ESPN has also been a regular broadcaster of big games, and currently has viewing rights for all of the World Cup matches. ESPN and Spanish-language network Univision had a combined 16 million Americans tuning in to watch the U.S. beat Ghana in their first game, a competitive 2-1 match. This set records for both networks for a soccer game. But with World Cup fever still growing, the U.S.’s next match, against Portugal, shattered that mark, notching a new all-time viewing record, with 24.7 million American viewers. Fueling the excitement around the tournament here is the fact that New York is such a truly global city. Crowds gather everywhere to watch the games — in bars and restaurants, or in outdoor screening venues. The World Cup is “good from a nationalistic point of view,” said a British tavern-goer at Churchill’s Tavern, at 45 E. 28th St. “It’s war without guns,” added a German fan at Zum Schneider, 107 Avenue C, as he sported his country’s colors with a red-yellow-andblack Viking hat on. Of course, all die-hard soccer fans will be following the tournament. But the widespread interest in this year’s tournament is also bringing in new fans. “People are getting involved in World Cup fever who might otherwise not be interested in soccer,” said Sol Metcalfe, an employee at Churchill Tavern. Even local youth soccer programs have been caught up in the spreading futbol mania. Tom Frambach, general manager for Downtown United Soccer Club, talked about their summer camp. With more than 1,000 kids participating, the club has “lots of themes and activities revolved around the World Cup,” he said. At DUSC’s camp, kids are encouraged to participate in fan brackets, trading cards and mini-tournaments. “It’s ingrained in our culture as a club,” he said of the World Cup. “It is important for kids to watch the games as well, because the more accessible they are, the more the kids can aspire and relate to their favorite professional players.” With World Cup fever spreading throughout the city, there are many great venues to watch the world’s biggest sporting event in an exciting atmosphere. One is the above-mentioned Churchill Tavern, which claims to be New York’s finest English-style pub. How-
Brazil fans rejoiced at Sushi Samba, at 87 Seventh Ave. South, as their team trounced Cameroon, 4-1, in World Cup play Monday.
A dancer samba’d outside Sushi Samba before the game.
ever, England’s team already bowed out of the tournament in disappointing style. “It makes the place a livelier environment,” said Sara Perez, an employee there. “There are usually fans here for whichever game is on.” There was a lively atmosphere there to watch the Netherlands demolish defending Cup champs Spain, 5-1. Spain would go on to be
eliminated ingloriously in the next game. The East Village’s Zum Schneider is another hot spot to watch the games. This German beer garden and restaurant has transformed into World Cup central — they show every game live, with replays shown at night. For the first time, the bar is offering a special World Cup menu with traditional Brazilian dishes.
This is the local for German football fans. “Everyone knows if you root for Germany, you have to go to Zum’s,” said a fan outside the bar. During Germany’s highly anticipated opening match against Portugal, the entire street was flooded by a sea of fans wearing German leis, skirts, tops, jerseys, flags, face paint, scarves and hats. Zum Schneider filled up almost immediately, with people lining up several hours before the game to get in. German fans spilled over into nearby bars, restaurants and cafes all along the block to watch the games there and support their team. As the German national team demolished Portugal in an impressive 4-0 win, widespread celebrations kicked off. Inside the bar, fans waving large pints of beer yelled out chants as a DJ played music. People ran out to celebrate in the street, madly waving German flags at stopped traffic. “It is amazing to be with other Germans and to watch in a German community,” said two girls visiting from Germany, who were among the masses gathered for the game. “The mood was amazing,” said Sylvia Lochmann, the place’s manager. She went on to describe how, for big games, like Germany versus the U.S., as well as the semifinal and final matches, they will close the restaurant and move to E. 23rd St. along the East River, where they will have open-air screenings on a massive LED screen, as well as live bands performing. And of course, there is Nevada Smith’s. Described as a “soccer mecca,” the East Village bar, at 100 Third Ave., is perhaps one of the most popular spots to watch the sport in the city. Nevada Smith’s boasts more than four floors, 40 flat-screen TVs and two projectors. There is a reason their motto is “Where Football Is Religion” — the fans are hardcore and passionate about the sport. “Everybody knows this is the real place to watch football,” said Shak Diabi, who was manning the front door. Manager Eric Silva described the “excellent market” the World Cup generates for the bar, including various fan apparel for the games that is sold at the front door. During the U.S.-Ghana match, the place was packed to the brim, with the line to get inside stretching well around the block. More than 300 cheering and yelling fans filled the multilevel watering hole for the game. Other local venues worth noting are Felix, at 340 W. Broadway at Grand St., a French bistro with a large Brazilian fan base, and Mr. DenCUP FEVER, continued on p. 35 TheVillager.com
‘Gymatorium’ debate dominates 75 Morton forum BY LAUREN VESPOLI
L
ocal education leaders, parents and teachers gathered for a forum on Monday night June 16 to discuss the current building design for the future middle school at 75 Morton St. Melanie La Rocca, of the School Construction Authority, and project architect Georgia Stokes, of John Ciardullo Associates, P.C., presented the current plans and responded to parents’ questions. Heather Lortie, of the 75 Morton Community Alliance, and Molly McGowan, a local parent and practicing architect with Ennead Architects, helped guide the discussion by providing both an architectural and community perspective. According to the current plans provided by S.C.A., the existing seven-floor building will be gut-renovated to have a capacity for a 1,000-student school. The design includes 10 classrooms per grade, three science labs, a library, a reading resource room, three science labs, two art rooms, two music rooms and a guidance suite. The Community Alliance sought specific feedback on the S.C.A.-proposed “gymatorium” — a combined
gym and auditorium space — as well as faculty and administrative spaces, the uses for several amenity and unassigned spaces, as well as how to allow the school to provide the best possible education model for its students. Community members were encouraged to provide written feedback on sticky notes, and then post their notes to various large pieces of paper designated for each of the discussion topics. Most of the expressed concerns were concentrated around the issue of the gymatorium, one of the options S.C.A. presented for the sixth floor. The gymatorium would consist of a full (350-person) gym with a stage area. The space could be transformed from a gym into a 660-seat auditorium by adding chairs. The gymatorium layout would also allow for an extra room, plus a 2,000-square-foot play roof. Alternatively, the separate gym and auditorium layout would provide a 330-seat auditorium, including additional balcony seating on the seventh floor, and a 350-person gym. This plan would allow for a 1,000-square-foot play roof. Parents expressed concerns that the gymatorium layout would not provide proper space for lighting equipment and a means of egress from the stage, and wondered who would be
responsible for setting and storing the 660 seats. One parent worried that a “turf war” would ensue between arts and physical-education programming within the space. With 75 Morton being a Village school, parents seemed passionate about securing dedicated space for the performing arts. “We’re a Downtown school with artsy kids,” one parent remarked. In response, La Rocca noted that the gymatorium is S.C.A.’s current standard of building. “Our first and primary objective is to build a state-of-the-art middle school for the students,” she said. Community members also expressed apprehension as to whether the planned classroom sizes would be large enough to allow for sufficient breakout spaces required in a collaborative learning environment. “We want to see the school be forward-thinking, and even go beyond the collaborative, workshop-based model we strive for in District 2,” McGowan said. Other concerns were raised regarding sufficient natural light, and ensuring complete integration and input from District 75, since the school will be serving 100 special-education students. “We’re also working with District
75 to ensure that all classrooms and shared spaces meet their needs,” said La Rocca. Suggestions for the amenity and unassigned spaces included general tech, robotics and engineering labs, as well as a yoga / dance studio, a film editing space and a teaching kitchen. La Rocca reminded community members that the design process is still ongoing, and that S.C.A. would like to incorporate community feedback while moving forward with the design and construction process as efficiently as possible. “The current design is not set in stone,” she said. “We’re aware of everyone’s eagerness to get the school opened as soon as possible. This is an important step for getting us there.” Shino Tanikawa, president of C.E.C. District 2, stated that the school will not be exclusively for P.S. 3 and P.S. 41 students, and that the school’s admissions process has not yet been determined. She also reminded the group how fortunate they were to have so much input during the school’s development. “It’s unprecedented for us to be in the same room with the S.C.A.,” Tanikawa said. “District 2 has never previously had input into this design process.”
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Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association PUBLISHER JENNIFER GOODSTEIN
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June 26, 2014
In reversal, L.P.C. is now cool with Pastis cube On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a revised version of the proposed addition to the Pastis building, at 9-19 Ninth Ave., in the Meatpacking District. However, the revised design barely looks different from what the L.P.C. commissioners rejected as a “big, hovering ice cube” back in early May. “We are extremely disappointed with this vote, the last to take place under outgoing L.P.C. Chairperson Robert Tierney,” said Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. “Once again, the commission did not allow the public to comment upon or review an amended design before voting to approve. And once more the commission approved a design in direct contradiction to their own prior recommendations, in which they told the applicant to substantially change the design, and that it was too large. The size of the addition is relatively unchanged. We hope the new chairperson will be more conscientious in allowing the public to participate in the process,” Berman said, “truly fulfilling the mission of the L.P.C. to only approve ‘appropriate’ designs in historic districts — and, at minimum, following their own recommendations and directions to applicants when deciding whether or not to approve revised designs.”
Lincoln Anderson
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Talking the talk, but...
Trust must clean house
To The Editor: Re “Q & A with Corey Johnson on Pier 40 air rights and ‘expedited ULURP’ ” (news article, June 19): Once more we hear dismay from our elected representatives that they can’t get a copy of the secret (from them) memorandum of understanding, or M.O.U., including those that appoint members of the Hudson River Park Trust board of directors. That means that Trust board members were not informed about the M.O.U. before its signing or given a copy afterward. Why only expressions of dismay and no calls for action? If this is so anathema to our elected reps, why aren’t they demanding the removal of the paid Trust senior staff who went behind their backs?
To The Editor: Re “Can the Hudson River Park Trust still be trusted?” (talking point, by Tom Fox, June 19): Too many Republicans in office over the past 12 years has resulted in a lot of secrecy involving Hudson River Park, even among those who used to tout open process and transparency, like Assemblymember Gottfried and others. Passing the air-rights legislation in the middle of the night made the Trust people, like Madelyn Wils and Diana Taylor, think they can do anything, and they did. Not surprising. Their attitude toward public process has been disparaging and their attitude toward the elected officials is truly astounding. Going to meetings for months and not disclosing to elected representatives a signed M.O.U. reeks of bad faith.
Nicole Vianna
The elected reps are elected by the people — Madelyn Wils and Diana Taylor are not. Time for them to go. Julie Nadel Nadel is a former board of directors member, Hudson River Park Trust
Power vs. community To The Editor: Re “Until C.B. 3 is fixed, L.E.S. has no democracy (talking point, by Diem Boyd, June 19): Over the past 15 years, I have frequented Community Board 3 fullboard meetings, and my memory from the earlier years was that there were more citizens participating in the process back then. I fully agree there has been a chilling effect created within the current C.B. 3 that has discouraged LETTERS, continued on p. 14 TheVillager.com
Let’s work together to better Hudson River Park TALKING POINT BY SUSANNA AARON
H
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three years ago to work more closely together, and allow the Friends to become the primary fundraising arm for the park. We work alongside the Hudson River Park Trust, but we have separate boards, budgets and bylaws. Our fiduciary responsibility is to the community that uses the park and that contributes to its welfare. That has never changed. What we can all agree on is that now is a critical time for the park. We should find common ground by working together to develop a road map that will allow us to complete the park and realize the vision that we have fought for so many years to achieve. Aaron is a “citizen advocate” board of directors member, Friends of Hudson River Park
PHOTO BY THE VILLAGER
udson River Park has become a cherished lifeline in every West Sider’s daily life. The park is beautiful and each year more people are drawn to its amenities and programming. However, the park is still not completed, and has a long way to go to fulfill its original mandate. Tom Fox’s recent talking point (“Can the Hudson River Park Trust still be trusted?”), printed in this newspaper last week, expresses the passion that he and so many others have shown to Hudson River Park since its inception. There are so many points on which I agree with Tom about the needs of Hudson River Park. “We need to develop an overall funding mechanism”: The stream of capital funding from the city and state has dwindled to a trickle; the park receives no government money for operations. Something’s got to give. The law that allows the Hudson River Park Trust to sell development rights offers real potential. We should talk publicly about how to structure it, but we should be careful not to allow cynics to snuff it. “Efforts to fundraise…are critical”: The Friends of Hudson River Park just began fundraising within the last couple of years and already is discovering that the park’s neighbors are generous and committed partners to its welfare. “There’s no question that Pier 40 is in trouble”: It’s time for folks to stop accusing the Trust of crying “wolf” about Pier 40. Both the roof and the pilings are in dire straits, and a new engineering group’s report will soon confirm what the Trust has been saying for years. The damage is serious, and the cost to repair is high. However, there are other areas where Tom and I disagree. He has no faith in the current Trust leadership, whereas I think they’re making the best of a bad situation. It’s so easy to criticize, but people forget that the Trust MUST find a solution for this park. No one else is providing one. The Trust is forthcoming with information. Its representatives visit the community boards regularly. Its board meetings are open to the public, its financial documents are a matter of public record. Anyone who doubts the severity of the park’s financial straits has ample opportunity to check the Trust’s budget. In terms of the park’s revenue, through improvements in its efficiency and additional income from Friends of Hudson River Park, revenue has grown and the park has been able to improve operations. But because of the capital maintenance needs of Pier 40, the park has not been able to cover its budget. Tom points out that the Hudson River Park Act never “required” the Trust to be self-sufficient, that it just “allowed” it to do so. This may be the case, but it doesn’t change anything. The city and state were generous while the park was being built, but those days are gone. If any elected official would like to come to the park’s aid and bring home some public money, be my guest. I don’t see it happening. In terms of the much-discussed M.O.U. (memorandum of understanding), by signing onto the state’s non-binding agreement with the developer of the St. John’s Terminal building, the Trust sim-
ply acknowledged that IF the General Project Plan proceeded, THEN it would agree to reduce the unused development rights on Pier 40 and accept payment for the increased property value at the St. John’s site. If the city and state decide to proceed with the city’s land use review process (ULURP) — as they are expected to do — we want to be certain that the process moves quickly and the park gets the funds it needs to repair the pier. I also need to clarify the partnership between Friends and the Trust. Friends of Hudson River Park indeed began as a watchdog group, which was appropriate at the beginning, before the park was built. However, as time passed and the majority of the park came online, it became evident to the Friends that private funding would become an indispensable part of the park’s future. That’s why the Friends and Trust boards forged an agreement
SCENE
For the past month, “Waves and Particles,” an exhibition of six kinetic sculptures by George Sherwood, has been glittering in the sunlight and gently moving with the breeze in Hudson River Park’s Greenwich Village section between Charles and Horatio Sts. The riverfront location affords the optimal conditions for the Fairfield, Conn., artist’s work, given the reflected light from the waterway. Madelyn Wils, Hudson River Park Trust president, said, “Being at the edge of the city awakens the senses to light, air and water in a way that isn’t possible inland, and the artist’s sculptures will further enhance this awareness for park visitors.” The installation, by Cynthia-Reeves Projects, will remain through November.
IRA BLUTREICH
The “new kid” moves into the Republican Upper East Side. June 26, 2014
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from p. 12
community input. As an example of this, I recall (recently resigned C.B. 3 member) David McWater stating during an S.L.A. Committee meeting that the committee should not cede power to community groups. This he stated just before he jumped up and started screaming at a female community member inches from her face. The response from the community board, oddly, was the suspension of the block association to which the young woman belonged. It was most peculiar that the civil liberties of a group of citizens — uniting together to petition their government for change — could be swept aside so callously. It makes you wonder what kind of power some community board members really want to hold on to for themselves, and does being the big bully really constitute power? The real tragedy, though, is that this type of underhanded behavior is more often remembered — instead of the incredible work that many
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community board members perform (without pay) for their community, without the need to grab “power” or call unnecessary attention to their work. David Troutman
Boards need term limits To The Editor: Re “Until C.B. 3 is fixed, L.E.S. has no democracy (talking point, by Diem Boyd, June 19): Excellent piece. Yet, your synopsis has been stated before and the results have been as they are today: yelling into a grave. During my nearly six years on Community Board 3, there were attempts to generate committees that would have oversight of interior board operations and the board’s responsive function. They were roundly defeated by long-term board members who had vested interests and still seek to control board direction and conduct. Community boards need term limits. Community boards need district
managers — who are city employees — to stay out of local politics and out of politics in general. Many of them work as fulcrums for political levers to steer, or sway, board members in political directions that may not be the will of the populace. The same goes for board chairpersons. A chairperson does not lead a group, but is its officially designated public representative, and must speak only as the board directs. Outside of that, conduct a meeting and shut up. C.B. 3 is absolutely not the only community board that is leaking political ooze from all pores. Just look at C.B. 4 as one example. There is more, much more… . John Shuttleworth
This is not Midtown! To The Editor: Re “N.Y.U. plan foes say run is a park, doggone it, as appeals are filed” (news article, June 19): I live at the corner of Mercer and
Bleecker Sts. When you see the people and four-leggers sitting in the dog run, there is no question it is a park. I see more people there than I do even in the Mercer Playground. Why does N.Y.U. need to take open space — park or not — away from our neighborhood? Greenwich Village is a residential neighborhood not Midtown. The university can increase its space by 25 percent without building anything. For example, N.Y.U. can start having a full-class schedule on Fridays, and improve existing structures it already owns, using the same building envelope and / or footprint. Howard Bader E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager. com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. The Villager does not publish anonymous letters.
TheVillager.com
Gay Pride 2014
A special Villager supplement Pages 15 to 22
TheVillager.com
June 26, 2014
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COURTESY L.G.B.T. COMMUNITY CENTER NATIONAL HISTORY ARCHIVE
PHOTO BY JOSEPH AMBROSINI, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Gay youth and police jostle at the Stonewall Inn during the riots that famously ignited the gay civil rights movement.
The Gay Scene Guide, 1968, one of the 26 posters in the “Stonewall 45” exhibit.
Poster show offers fresh look at L.G.B.T. history
S
tonewall 45: Windows Into L.G.B.T. History” is an exhibition that’s taking it to the streets — via the windows. Running through June 29, the show features colorful poster panels that tell the story of the beginning of the L.G.B.T. civil rights movement. More than two dozen stores along Christopher St. have offered their windows as display space. In addition to longstanding Christopher St. mainstays, like Ty’s and the Leather Man, an eclectic mix of owner-operated stores is participating, from Doodle-Doos toys, Sockerbit candy and Doyle & Mueser menswear — to corporate outlets like Rag & Bone and Brooklyn Industries. The idea was conceived by Susanna Aaron, a Greenwich Village native and member of Community Board 2 who has lived on or near Christopher St. all her life. “It saddens me to see so little presence of the important history that
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June 26, 2014
of where it began.” Aaron’s hope is to welcome a broad audience — gay and straight, old and young, local and foreign — and offer a cultural means of engaging with the street. “Cultural anchors are good for communities, and the public is interested in this story,” she said. “Droves of people of all types flock to the Stonewall Inn. They stand outside with their guidebooks — but the problem is that once they’ve read the plaque outside the building, there’s nothing much more for them to learn from.” Susanna Aaron has a vision for Christopher St. For this 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, viewers was born here,” Aaron said. “The to “Stonewall 45” are promL.G.B.T. civil rights movement has ised a history lesson that runs from inspired the world and become part Greenwich Ave. to Greenwich St. and of our shared national consciousness. describes the context of the riots; the It’s a good moment to remind people events of June 1969; and the political
response that followed. David Carter, author of “Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution,” collaborated with Aaron in writing the text for the posters. Visual elements include period photographs, newspaper clippings and fliers. The archive at the L.G.B.T. Center on W. 13th St. was a principal source of material. The show is sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Arcus Foundation. Aaron hopes that “Stonewall 45” is just the start of something much bigger. “One day, it would be great to see an L.G.B.T. history museum on the western end of Christopher St., joining the trail shaped by the Hudson River Park, the High Line and the Chelsea art galleries.” she said. “I don’t think there’s such a museum anywhere in the country. It’s about time we create one.” TheVillager.com
We all need to do more BY KATE WALTER
A
s an early riser, I walk through the West Village and see the kids sleeping on a bench in front of a church on Christopher St. or huddled together near the Queer Pier in Hudson River Park — the many homeless L.G.B.T. (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) youth. They’re outside in every season, even winter. Most are black and Latino. Many are transgender. I feel sad and guilty about my white middle-class gay privilege as I walk past them when rushing to my job as a college teacher. When I struggled to come out to my conservative Catholic family in 1979, I role-played for weeks in my therapist’s office. I’m sure my parents in New Jersey had some idea. I hadn’t brought home a man in years. Back in my day, people tended to come out in their 20s after trying to be straight. I dated men during high school and college, although it turned out two of my boyfriends were gay (and both later died of AIDS). I was a wreck when I sat down at my parent’s wooden kitchen table for the big talk. I had no idea how my announcement would be received, but I couldn’t continue living with this secret. By the time I told them, I had finished college, and lived in a walk-up apartment in the East Village. Whatever happened, I would not be on the street. My mother cried a lot and my father said he thought homosexuality was abnormal and deviant. But they assured me they still loved me and I was still their daughter. It could have gone over better, but this was decades ago, and later they came around. Today people are aware of their sexual orientation at a much younger age. Many kids come out as teenagers while still living at home. Increased visibility on the stage and screen makes it seem O.K., even glamorous, to be out. Just look at Ellen on TV every weekday. Check out the gorgeous Laverne Cox on the cover of Time magazine. The queer community also encourages folks to come out, but we’re not dealing with the fallout for those kids whose families kick them to the curb. We are their cultural parents. If we don’t help these young people, who will? At least 40 percent of the homeless youth in New York City are L.G.B.T. — a shocking statistic. The National Lesbian and Gay Task Force es-
timated there are 8,000 homeless queer kids in New York City. It’s no surprise there is a high rate of drug abuse, mental illness, suicide and H.I.V. infection among a group struggling to survive day to day and to avoid violence on the street. Manhattan’s Ali Forney Center, the country’s largest provider of shelter and services for L.G.B.T. youth, has a long waiting list. Only 250 beds in the city are designated as safe spaces for queer kids. In the Village, various churches — St. Luke’s on Hudson St. and St. John’s on Christopher Street- serve nutritious meals and provide counseling but they are not shelters. Earlier this month, I attended a rally for homeless L.G.B.T. youth in Washington Square Park sponsored by the Ali Forney Center and the National Coalition for the Homeless. The event’s purpose was to kick off a campaign to increase the number of beds. Carl Siciliano, the Ali Forney Center’s executive director, calls the current situation “the largest crisis in our community in our times.”
If we don’t help these young people, who will?
TheVillager.com
So where is the outrage, like during the AIDS crisis? Where is the exposé, like “The Normal Heart”? The hour-long rally was well attended, but as I looked around, I mostly saw young people. I spotted a few seniors from the gay synagogue holding a banner. But the absence of middle-aged and older gay men and women was surprising. While I made a point of being at the event, I must confess I have not volunteered to prep or serve meals at these churches. I vow to get more involved when I retire in a few years. But I have attended benefits and written a check to sponsor a gay kid at a queer summer camp. We all need to do more. Not sure what explains the apathy. Is it lack of awareness? Is it the obsession with gay marriage? Is it a disconnect felt by the middle-class white gay community? As a longtime far West Village resident, I must admit the queer street kids seem loud and outrageous as they stream down Christopher St. flaunting it. It sometimes feels like an invasion, especially in the summer, but where else can they express themselves? I
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HOMELESS, continued on p. 18 June 26, 2014
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Pier may have lost its edge, but not its pull BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM
S
PHOTO BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM
ince the Stonewall riots, the Christopher St. Pier has been vital to local L.G.B.T. youth, as a place to find acceptance and a safe refuge — often from their own homes. Once renowned for its bohemian artists and gay culture, the West Village has transformed into a hip, upscale neighborhood peppered with designer thrift stores and restaurants, whose quaint décor masks its clientele’s deep pockets. Like the rest of the neighborhood, the pier itself is no stranger to gentrification. Devon McDowell, a 48-year-old product developer, has been a Christopher St. Pier regular since he first came out. He said the upside of the neighborhood’s upscaling is that the waterfront has greatly improved, at least aesthetically. “It’s nice, it’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s somewhat nostalgic for me because the first time I came here was in 1984. Before, it was all broken down. There was another pier that was ripped out. From 1984 till now, it’s a new face — way improved.” For today’s L.G.B.T. youth, the pier still holds a special place in their hearts. Sabree Miller, 24, goes there when he wants to clear his mind and write music. “It’s a good, quiet place for me to relax,” he said. When he was homeless at 17, the student and musician slept in the bushes by the pier for two years. However, the crowd has also changed quite a bit, said McDowell, who was there with Salvadore Lopez, 42, a piergoer since the ’90s. “It used to be a little more raunchy, a little more dirty, a little more gay,” said Lopez, who hails from Spain. “Now that ‘gay’ is more included in society, I feel there’s no need for a gay place any-
Salvadore Lopez, left, and Devon McDowell, have some perspective on the Christopher St. Pier scene.
more because it’s more everywhere. They can be gay in their own environment now, so this is more like a park.” Brian, a 32-year-old acrobat who withheld his last name for privacy reasons, agreed the place has gotten a lot nicer. Gesturing toward the pier’s real grass lawn, he said, “There’s a crowd of children over there, instead of a throng of gay men having sex, so it’s changed dramatically.” Yet, McDowell and Lopez see today’s L.G.B.T. pier youth as different from the way they used to be. Branding them somewhat “out of control,” McDowell said the youth are more defiant and mischievous, causing problems for the local residents. “I’ve noticed the kids when you come down here, they’re always arguing,” he said. “I don’t know, sometimes I get a little afraid to come down here because you don’t want to confront them; they’re like little groups of street gangs.” Miguel P., a general assistant at Housing Works, came face to face with the seeming risks the youth pose to the community at large. Just the night before, Miguel, who is involved
in outreach efforts at the pier, was robbed by a group of teenagers. “Some of the younger minorities have nowhere to go,” he said. “They have been pushed away from home or they don’t feel comfortable at home, so they come here. But being that they have left home, they don’t know how
decades, Lopez offered. “I think gayness before used to be a little bit more political,” he said. “We had more, like, things we’re going to achieve. Now everybody’s gay, but they don’t really know what’s happening, what it means. It’s a little more diluted.” The Village’s increasingly wealthy and family-oriented residential community represents a vast shift from its grittier bohemian roots as the birthplace of the Beat generation. Back then, the Village was populated by artists, musicians, writers and others who lived on the edgier fringe of New York society. Today, the area’s denizens are “boring” and “conservative” by comparison, said McDowell. “It’s just people with money, and they want to be by the water,” he said. Lopez agreed, adding that gentrification and skyrocketing property values were not merely confined to the Village. “Everything has been taken by people with money; there’s no middle class anymore,” he said. “The whole New York is like that.” The demographic changes have led to some strife between residents and the L.G.B.T. youth who hang out in the area. Residents have complained about the noise level at the pier in the wee morning hours, and in recent years have tried to set an earlier, 10 p.m. curfew. However, the curfew for the whole Hudson River Park remains 1 a.m. On the other hand, gay youth advocates have called for lifting the curfew entirely to create a 24-hour pier.
‘Now, it’s a new face — way improved.’ Devon McDowell
to act and it makes it a little unsettling. I don’t like the young crowd. I’m just not sure what they’re into anymore... . I didn’t expect to be robbed by a community that I’m constantly trying to help.” The change in young people’s attitude is partly because the concept of “being gay” has also altered over the
PIER SCENE, continued on p. 19
We all need to do more HOMELESS, continued from p. 17
fled from New Jersey to the Village for the same reason — to be myself. Gay icon Edie Windsor, who spoke at the rally and joked about how she felt like an old lady, plans to make the homeless queer kids her new cause. Windsor is the Greenwich Village resident whose lawsuit in the Supreme Court defeated the Defense of Marriage Act. I was thrilled to meet her at a private party in my
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June 26, 2014
building last year. As I thanked her for her work, she gave me a big kiss! I hope the involvement of a visible hero — Windsor was grand marshal of the Pride March in 2013 — inspires more high-profile people to address this crisis. I also feel it is incumbent upon Mayor Bill de Blasio to keep this front and center. The fact that there are so many homeless kids on the streets is shameful. During Pride this year, let’s remember the queer kids who have no safe place to sleep after the party ends. TheVillager.com
PIER SCENE, continued from p. 18
PHOTOS BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM
Miller said some residents are less L.G.B.T. friendly than others. “I think they think we are all loud,” he said of the pier youth. “People have complained about the noise here before, but there’s nothing really they can do — it’s a park. I hope that they do keep the park open because a lot of people come here and find comfort here.” Brian said that the tension between residents and L.G.B.T. youth is simply due to the latter being rowdy late at night. “When you have people screaming outside your window, of course, you’re not happy about it,” he said. “Sometimes I think it’s really that simple. It’s not this deep-seated homophobia where they’re coming out and trying to beat young, queer people because they’re out on the street — it’s just really because they’re bothering them.” “I could imagine,” McDowell said, “for all those people who come down here and live down here, they’re spending so much money. They don’t want to deal with that stuff.” Some things will remain the same, though, Lopez and McDowell pointed out. In the summer, Christopher St. pier is like the “gay beach,” they said, because of the flock of sunbathing men who stretch out on the grass. “On a hot summer day,” McDowell said, “you come down here — bodies of men. The guys are pretty much naked.” Lopez said once the families see that, they turn around, pushing their high-end strollers away to the next pier, their perfectly groomed puppies in tow.
Miguel P., left, was recently doing outreach to the pier’s gay youth, when he was mugged by a bunch of teens. Sabree Miller, right, comes to the pier to clear his mind and write music.
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June 26, 2014
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FIERCE fights for the rights of L.G.B.T. youth BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM
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PHOTO BY CLARISSA-JAN LIM
FIERCE Co-directors Krystal Portalatin, left, and Jai Dulani.
don’t have anywhere else to go.” Amid a gentrified West Village that has become more family oriented, tension has risen over the presence of L.G.B.T. youth in the area, which, since the Stonewall riots, has been an important place for the L.G.B.T. community. FIERCE’s overarching goal is to “be seen as stakeholders” in the community, said Dulani. The L.G.B.T. youths’ relationship with the community has come a long way, due in large part to FIERCE’s efforts.
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“Our needs are the same and also unique,” Portalatin said. Although friction persists, the interaction has evolved. “I remember West Village residents yelling at us, telling us, ‘You gotta go. How dare you be here?’ Now, it’s much more a conversation about, ‘There’s tension, let’s acknowledge that. How are we thinking about safety that’s not about criminalizing you?’ ” FIERCE is also known for its internships and fellowships, which give the
wh
he word “fierce” calls to mind many things. But among the L.G.B.T. community and Villagers in the know, it’s a name to be reckoned with. It represents a group that fights for the rights and interests of L.G.B.T. youth of color. FIERCE — its all-caps name shouting in your face — is headquartered in an airy sixth-floor space in the Village. The place sports thick maroon paint on brick walls, cluttered cubicles tucked in the corner, a large kitchen and a tiny fur ball named Egypt. When The Villager recently visited, FIERCE Co-directors Jai Dulani and Krystal Portalatin were dressed down in jeans, and sneakers and flip-flops, respectively. The office’s messy, easygoing vibe belies the powerful progress that FIERCE has made in the community since its establishment in 2000. The group was founded out of a need for a gathering space for L.G.B.T. youth to engage in community organizing. FIERCE has since integrated itself into the West Village community, voicing the concerns of not only L.G.B.T. youth, but also those most marginalized in the community. “The experiences of the L.G.B.T. youth of color are what we focus on,” said Dulani, who joined FIERCE in 2011. “But those experiences are absolutely tied to the experiences of the broader community, in terms of poverty, discriminatory policing, access to healthcare, access to jobs.” Estimates are that 40 percent of homeless youth identify as L.G.B.T. “That’s thousands of folks in New York City who don’t have stable housing,” Dulani noted, “and who are then at risk for engagement with the law. They are the ones impacted by policing practices that target minor offenses and poor people who
youth an opportunity to take part in community organizing. Portalatin said more than 400 people have taken part in the internship program. “Each year, we develop a cohort of young people who are going off to become organizers in their communities,” she said. “It really means a lot to us because one of the reasons FIERCE exists is to give young people power and leadership. To see that manifest outside our space, once they leave our doors, has been beautiful.” Nicole Fonseca is the group’s current campaign fellow. Having been with FIERCE for three years, Fonseca said, has taught her to take ownership of her skills and potential and channel that into action. Eloquent and thoughtful, the 21-year-old said that working at FIERCE has also helped her focus in on her future goals. “FIERCE has really shown me that it’s possible to not just sit there and be a citizen who takes what they give you,” she said. “You fight for yourself and your community to liberate yourself and them. FIERCE has shown me that, and help me understand exactly what it is I want to do.” FIERCE also focuses on combating police brutality and discriminatory policies. Every year at Pride, FIERCE organizes “Cop Watch,” where volunteers observe and document any discriminatory policing tactics. This practice serves as a tool for accountability and, if need be, de-escalation during tense exchanges between police and civilians. More broadly, FIERCE aims to change the narrative about public spaces. Or, as Portalatin explained it: “As the city is calling for more services that contain people to a place or remove them from sight, how are we thinking about what it means to just exist. To have rights and not walk down the streets and be harassed by police. To be seen. To be validated.”
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The way we were: Lenny’s Hideaway to Stonewall BY ROBERT HEIDE
Hideaway (now Smalls jazz club). A pal first described Lenny’s to me as “a homosexual hot spot” and that was all I had to hear. Down in the depths of “The Hideaway” there was a lively bar attended by an exotic Russian ballet dancer named Robby who served bottled beer (no glasses, please!) and a drink called a “Klinker,” which was a lethal mix of apricot brandy and vodka combined with a cheap house brandy. Drinking this concoction in a brass cup made for a real quick high; and after a few of these, some people wound up passed out on the floor. Lenny the mobster proprietor would then haul them upstairs, dumping them onto the sidewalk. Lenny’s mainly attracted intellectual and creative gay types, including actors, artists, musicians and writers, who lived in the Village and were out to make a name for themselves — as it turned out, many of them did. I first met Edward Albee there with his live-in partner-companion-lover of many years, William Flanagan, a music critic for the New York Herald Tribune. Also a composer, Flanagan and another of Lenny’s regulars, Ned
W
hen I first came to live on Christopher St. in the early ’60s after studying theater at Northwestern University in Illinois, I was happy and content to find myself in the then gay mecca and bohemian enclave known as Greenwich Village. Apartment rentals in those halcyon days were under $100; and there was a variety of cultural scenes to be involved in: folk music, coffeehouse theater, poetry readings in cafes, rock music at the Nite Owl and, of course, the gay bars. What was happening everywhere in the Village was certainly a big change from the small town of Irvington, N.J., where I grew up. In college, I met a handsome crewcut blonde theater major named Corky who made it his business to drag me to Chicago, and take me driving down Lakeshore Drive in a red Chevy convertible to the gay bars that were situated in that toddlin’ town’s “notorious” neighborhoods. As he introduced me to a group of his chatty and garrulous, good-looking drinking pals, I felt at once at ease and at home. Here fun, danger and adventure seemed to merge all together into one big ongoing party. In the first bar we hit, which was named Louie Gage’s, Corky drifted toward the jukebox and, whispering into the ear of a muscular young Adonis, disappeared into a backroom. I wasn’t sure about what was happening that night; but I knew I was on my own. Fascinated by this Midwestern gay scene, I eventually would take the elevated train from my college town of Evanston to Chicago’s downtown “Loop” and to the “near Northside,” where I came into contact with others who were on the prowl looking for love, lust and some kind of undefined new freedom not available back
Jim Jennings, left, and Walter McGinn in Robert Heide’s play “The Bed” at the Caffe Cino in 1965.
in the old hometowns. For me it was an exciting time of endless encounters, and new discoveries. I entered into a quest then that was the beginning of a search for my own particular gay identity. Acting in plays at Northwestern, I was first cast in the role of Snobby Price in “Major Barbara,” and then as the confused “homosexual” young man who is “saved” by an older woman in the play “Tea and Sympathy.” (Deborah Kerr and John Kerr [no relation] played these parts on Broadway.) After college, I headed back East to New Jersey for a time but wound up renting an apartment with the financial help of my father on Christopher St., where I still live today. In the early years of the ’60s there was no such thing as gay politics. It wasn’t until late June 1969 that the riots at the Stonewall Tavern occurred, which led first to Gay Pride and then to Gay Power. In the decade preceding those riots, it didn’t take me long to discov-
er that Christopher St. at Sheridan Square was the cruisiest gay pickup spot in town. My apartment was a block away from the 10th St. bar (between W. Fourth St. and Seventh Ave. South) that was the gathering place of the most popular gay crowd in the Village — a cellar dive called Lenny’s
SWINGING ’60s, continued on p. 22
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From NS to FWB to LTR to the big M, marriage BY TIM GAY
M
usicalMuscleBear left a message on my cabin phone machine. “Hey, MountainJeepsterMan, call me when you can on my house number. I have some news to tell you.” Wow, this must be important. Usually, MusicalMuscleBear texts, e-mails or instant messages when he’s looking for dinner and a date. Never would he leave a message on my land line. What could it be? Before I reveal the details of the phone conversation, let me digress on the trials, tribulations, virtues and joys of cyber sex and introductions, love and marriage. Because dreams can come true. There are dozens of Web sites and phone apps for men looking for love and sex, ranging from the young and pretty (Adam-4-Adam), for instant gratification (Grindr), for big furry guys (GROWLr, BearForce411), younger-for-older and vice versa (SilverDaddies), and the all-purpose, anything-is-possible (ManHunt). Some sites are for “right now” hookups (NS for No Strings) some for rough-’n’-tumble sex, some cater to recreational drug users (Party-n-Play or PNP), some even are for men who don’t practice safe sex. And others go for dating and friendship, including the increasingly popular FWB (Friends with Benefits). Thanks to apps on smart phones, these sites show who is on and how close he is — from thousands of miles down to a few feet. You can now track down a straying boyfriend, if you know his profile moniker. Speaking of nom secret pour le sexe, to get noticed on a site, you need a good descriptive name, a
compelling profile description, and attractive photos that describe your life, love and pursuits, as well as physical capabilities. For example, MountainJeepsterMan (not my real cyber name, but close), tells other men that I live in the mountains and drive a Jeep. And my photo shows me and my Jeep, with the sun setting over the Catskill Mountains. MusicalMuscleBear (not his real name either, but close) is an enormous, burly, bodybuilding classical musician. And his photo shows him barechested in swim trunks with tree-trunk thighs, and bulging biceps while seriously and intently playing his violin. I updated my profile after I moved full-time from Chelsea to my cabin in the Catskills last winter — not so much for hooking up but for meeting local men. Instead of listing my sexual desires, I checked off: Dating, Friends, LTR (for Long-term relationship), Safer-Only and no PNP. I stated my actual age, and indicated the date on my new photos. I also clarified that I’m mostly interested in men older than 45. The inquiries came in. A few are closeted or in heterosexual relationships, some are partnered or married to men, but many are age-appropriate, single and looking for “that special someone.” (O.K., I will say most of us do maintain that old gay liberation spirit, and don’t rule out the occasional NS or FWB.) That’s how MusicalMuscleMan and I met — first by “winking,” and then by unlocking “private” photos, and, well, segueing from cyber fantasy to physical reality on an early spring dinner. And that led to some dinner dates where he lives, up the Hudson River about 40 miles, and back here
in the mountains west of Woodstock. We’ve had lively discussions on politics and B movies, and a little FWB activity to top it off. Now about that phone call… . Gary, the muscular musician, told me he had accepted another man’s marriage proposal, and that he was ending our FWB. Gary explained that the other man was also one of his FWBs who he met on the same site a few years ago. But they became something more. Gary had first declined marriage last year, but over the past couple of weeks, they had gotten together, and he decided he was truly in love with the man. “We both have the same interests, and we’re both 65,” Gary explained. “Tim, there is no right or wrong time until you just somehow know the time is right. I like you very much, and I want to keep up with you.” I told Gary the truth — that I was absolutely delighted and happy for him! And then I said, “But Gary, you weren’t truthful about one thing. Your profile says you are 62!” “But 62 was true three years ago,” Gary said. “I just didn’t update that.” There’s more though. I have another FWB, whom I call my “Truckin’ Do-Dah Man.” We were both born in 1955, graduated from high school in 1973. We both had lovers die from AIDS in the ’80s, we’re both sort of radical faeries, and both like beaches and mountains, camping and traveling on the cheap. We’ve been FWBs from time to time for the last 12 years or so. I asked my Do-Dah Man back in March to marry me. He said no, but we still get together. Who knows, maybe next year…when we turn 60… . But then again, you got to have friends.
The way we were: Lenny’s Hideaway to Stonewall SWINGING ’60s, continued from p. 21
Rorem, were both protégé’s of Virgil Thomson. To my surprise, one night my college buddy Corky Corcoran turned up in Lenny’s. He told me he had moved to New York and had become a theatrical agent. Heavy drinking was the order of the day at this inthe-cellar establishment, and many of those I met never left the premises until 4 a.m. After that hour, some would be invited to continue the party at a nearby Village pad. Fueled by booze, the happy-go-lucky gay crowd was mainly there on the make looking for a one-night-stand bedtime partner. At the bar or at the big brightly lit Wurlitzer blaring out show tunes of the day sung by Mary Martin or Ethel Merman, you could connect with men who were on the prowl and out for a good time. Uptown female luminaries, often referred to as “fag hags” by the clientele, included the likes of Tallulah Bankhead and Peggy Hopkins Joyce. They would drop by to check out the downtown gay
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scene, sit at a table in an arched enclave and have a cocktail. In his first play, “The Zoo Story,” Edward Albee describes the “fairies in the bushes” in Washington Square. If you were in a relationship, you would be asked if it was an “open one,” meaning — “do you sleep around?” Others I met at Lenny’s in its heyday were Broadway luminaries Tom “Dreamgirls” Eyen and Jerry “Hello Dolly” Herman, as well as the poet Richard Howard. A famous Village character who patronized the place was Ian Orlando MacBeth, who it was said was related to the designer Cecil Beaton. He dressed in Shakespearean garb, spoke in iambic pentameter and caused a stir by sporting a live squawking parrot perched on his shoulder. A tall, blond, good-looking Christie Barter, a top editor at Cue magazine, held court there almost every night of the week. The striking, neurotic and intense Ron Link, later the director of several Off Broadway shows starring Divine, was also a regular. Making a glamorous nightly entrance down
the stairs to the crowded barroom at that time, always dressed in all black, was H. M. “Harry” Koutoukas, who was known later as the “quintessential Cino playwright.” In 1965, I myself took up pen and wrote a play called “The Bed” for the Caffe Cino about two men in a time warp who were drugging, drinking and could not make it out of bed for days or weeks at a time. In the mid-’60s the flamboyant Joe Cino ordered some of his playwrights to write plays about men, and among the first openly gay plays in town were Lanford Wilson’s “The Madness of Lady Bright,” Robert Patrick’s “The Haunted Host” and my play “The Bed,” which Andy Warhol turned into a film after he saw it at the Cino. An earlier play I wrote for two men, one of whom is a down-andout hustler, was presented Off Broadway by Lee Paton Nagrin at New Playwrights; I was told by an uptown critic that I should break my typewriter over my hands and never write again. This was in 1961. The main gay bars on the circuit
after Lenny’s in the ’60s were the historic Julius’, which is still thriving on the corner of 10th St. and Waverly Place; Mary’s and the Old Colony, on Eighth St.; and the San Remo, at MacDougal and Bleecker Sts., which attracted an elite crowd. In the realm of gay hot spots one should not forget places like the Keller Bar, Peter Rabbit and other more tawdry Village watering holes. The wildest scenes on the waterfront were in and around the parked trucks and on the rotting piers, where dangerous rough-trade sexual liaisons took place, with some gay men winding up being tossed in the river. The Stonewall was perceived by uppity gays as a low-level, stayaway hustler hangout, but this was the place that in terms of gay history changed everything. I watched some of this fight for freedom with my lifetime companion, John Gilman, from Christopher Park as it happened in 1969. That led into gay liberation and the sexual revolution of the ’70s, and now — with the legalization of samesex marriages — the Stonewall has been designated a historic landmark. TheVillager.com
Wig On, Gloves Off Lady Bunny weighs in on haters, assimilators, and lost club culture
THEATER LADY BUNNY IN “CLOWNS SYNDROME” Open Run: Tuesdays, 8 p.m. At La Escuelita Cabaret Theater 301 W. 39th St. (btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.) Tickets: $19.95 (plus one-drink minimum) Purchase at the door or at brownpapertickets.com/event/629583 Online ticket sales end two hours before showtime Cash only at the door & for drinks Visit enyclub.org & ladybunny.net
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PHOTO COURTESY OF DDPR
Long in the legs, and even longer in the tooth, Lady Bunny is mad as hell — and you’re going to take it, when the self-proclaimed “old pig in a wig” lipsynchs, struts, swears, mugs, and muses her way through an evening of “very, very independent theater” during which you’re constantly aware of how an iconic, once-grand lady has been inexorably altered by changing times and tastes. Now, wait just a minute. Why would you think we’re talking about Bunny when we say “lady?” That’s transphobic…or is it? “There’s a loss of flavor in the area. It’s unbelievably sad to see New York City now, with XL as our only large gay nightclub,” says Lady Bunny, whose “Clowns Syndrome” is a relentlessly funny and joyously filthy one-drink-minimum
show that lobs equally aggressive salvos at the gay community and the larger culture at hand. It’s sexually charged gay adult entertainment performed within cruising distance of Times Square — a defiant stand against respectability that’s as out of synch with the surrounding neighborhood as a nuclear family would have been three decades ago. That’s around the time when Jon Marc Ingle began to work the high heels and the even more vertically formidable hair that gave rise to Lady Bunny — and, soon after that, gave birth to the annual outdoor drag festival that brought crimes against good taste and gender conformity to the Village for over 20 years. Wigstock is consigned to history now, taking its place alongside recently closed Chelsea bars like Rawhide and Splash. “That’s how I made my living,” recalls the 51-year-old veteran performer and promoter. “I DJ’d at the closing party of Splash,” notes Bunny, who, although “never a circuit queen,” did spin wax at various stops along the once-robust Manhattan gay bar and club grid that kept many a queen in stockings and various stuffings. “Now,” she says, “there is no way that you could pretend New York City is a nightclub destination. It’s very embarrassing when my friends come to town and ask me, ‘What is there to do?’ ” More on that soon. When we recently spoke with Lady Bunny, her thoughts at the outset of our conversation were as far from the Big Apple as her physical self — which, last week, had just deplaned in Kalamazoo. “I’m performing at their Gay Pride tomorrow,” noted Bunny, who admitted to having never set foot in that part of Michigan before. “I wasn’t sure Kalamazoo was a real place. It sounds fictional, like a fairy tale. But here I am.” Far from the hardened Gotham venue that hosts “Clowns Syndrome,” would
Long may she reign: Lady Bunny’s got a lot to get off her chest, in the open run of “Clowns Syndrome.”
the good people of Kalamazoo be getting the same level of obscenity that endeared our trampy lady to a recent La Escuelita Cabaret Theater preview audience? “I tone it down a bit whenever I leave New York,” admits Bunny. “Some of these Gay Pride festivals are in the daytime, and sometimes, gays have fami-
lies or invite the straight community. I like offensive and vulgar comedy, but I don’t like to offend. So I do it where it’s appropriate. One year, I performed at a Virginia Gay Pride and it was a little bit THEATER, continued on p. 24 June 26, 2014
23
Lady Bunny sexes up our too-tame Times Square area THEATER, continued from p. 23
Welcom
THE “T” WORD LADY BUNNY: I know the word tranny from the London club scene, where it is used affectionately as an abbreviation for transvestite or transsexual. It’s never been a slur in my book and since it’s an abbreviation for transvestite, I’m free to use it. I wouldn’t use it to refer to a trans woman who doesn’t like it. I’m a drag queen. But I’m not going to be censored if I want to refer to myself as a tranny. A transvestite is someone who wears the clothing of the opposite sex, whether that’s Marlene Dietrich in a men’s suit or [The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s] Frank N. Furter, or a man who wears women’s lingerie and masturbates at home. Drag queen typically means a type of transvestite who performs, who is normally, when they’re not in drag, a gay male. What’s really hurtful is that drag queens have always been the most accepting of the transgender community. So this infighting doesn’t make sense. They have every right to say “I don’t like it,” but they don’t have the right to tell me to stop using it. If you don’t like the word, you can take its power away, because you are what you answer to. I have a friend who is a post-operative transsexual and she actually coached Jared Leto on how to play a transsexual and these militants were slamming her and calling her a drag queen even though she is a post-op. If you are that, a drag queen is just about the mean-
e To The
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A LANDMARK FOR FINE FOOD AND GROG The Ear Inn is inside The James Brown House, one of the very few Federal Houses left in the city, and a designated Landmark of the City of New York on the National Register of Historic Buildings of the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is largely in the original condition it was when it was built two centuries ago and features a wood post construction with a Flemish brick bond facade. The noted architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable writing of Federal houses in her book Classic New York, notes, “Their value is... a sudden sense of intimacy scale... evocative of another century and way of life. The Ear Inn hopes you enjoy its historicity and home cookin’. Please tell us if you see any ghosts!
326 Spring Street, New York City 10013 • (212) 226-9060 24
June 26, 2014
est thing you can call someone. These activists are crying about being called ‘tranny,’ yet they are using hate speech themselves against members of their own community. Or against RuPaul. One of the most vocal of them tweeted, “I f***ing hate RuPaul.” I think that’s hate speech, when you say you hate someone. What’s really bizarre to me is that while they’re putting Laverne Cox on the cover of Time magazine and mainstream America is beginning to understand and accept what a transsexual is, the gay community is infighting — and that’s preventing us from moving forward on the goals that affect all of us. The real challenge that trans people face is not words on a silly reality show [“RuPaul’s Drag Race”]. The challenges they face are the same as drag queens and gay people. They’re discriminated against for jobs and housing and they’re targets for violence.
ASSIMILATION
The gay movement is very conservative now. Fighting in the military is an establishment goal. Getting married? While I support equal rights, let’s be real. Marriage is often about property transferral. The gay marriage movement seems to be run by gays with money, and who are they? A friend of mine who’s black said he went to the celebration outside of Stonewall when New York got gay marriage, and he said he was the only person of color there. It just all seems very conservative to me, different than it was when we created Act Up and Queer Nation. These were radicals. They were taking on the Catholic Church and Big Pharma. Now, these gay men seem like, “Let’s kiss the government’s ass and achieve all these very conservative goals that uphold the establishment.”
NIGHTLIFE
There’s a couple of things going on. Clubs are hit by the recession and they don’t take any chances with smoking cigarettes or people selling drugs. Let’s face it, that’s a reason people go to clubs. Now, to stay in business, they have this bottle service, which is geared to people who are dumb enough to pay $500 for a bottle of vodka that costs $50 in the liquor store. If you’re doing that, then you must be a banker trying to impress your model-slash-hooker girlfriend. I don’t know any fun people who have that kind of money to burn. If you do, chances are you’re not a good dancer, you’re not in a colorful outfit, and you’re not any of those other things that made New York great. I remember when you didn’t have to pay to be a VIP. You either were or you weren’t. That [attitude] is an insult to what nightlife used to be. Rawhide was where
PHOTO COURTESY OF DDPR
too much. There was a dildo incorporated into the act, and some church group took a picture of it dangling near a little girl. So no more of that. I don’t want to be known as a Typhoid Mary who closes down Pride because they can never get their permits again.” Free to let loose when performing “Clowns Syndrome” at La Escuelita, Bunny actually seemed disappointed that nobody’s hand went up when she requested a straight person head count. “What is this,” she asked with mock indignation, “Callen-Lorde?” Like a good many other jokes that night, it was followed by a well-timed rimshot. Ripped from the Vaudeville playbook, that time-honored punchline drumroll device, applied to Bunny’s act, was equally capable of giving a camp bump to the proceedings or leavening the bitter aftertaste of material calculated to provoke. Another calculated move on Bunny’s part: the show was co-written by Beryl Mendelbaum. “She has a comic persona on Facebook as a kind of bitter, seething, mean-spirited Jewish retiree from Boca,” says Bunny, “and we’ve become friendly [through Facebook]. Beryl is able to write for me in my voice.” That’s of particular value when Bunny abandons the lip-synching, broad physical comedy, onstage costume changes, and Shirley Bassey tributes to make forays into more sober territory. “I want to get some serious information out there,” says Bunny, “and Beryl has helped me soften those issues with a joke, so it’s not just a show of tirades. “When I’m saying that militant trans activists are going too far by saying that Jared Leto should not have played his trans role in ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ that they should have used a real trans women, I say that Bruce Jenner was not available.” Is that funny, transphobic, neither, or a little bit of both? In “Clowns Syndrome,” it’s a question that Bunny constantly
asks herself and the audience, often with a honey-sweet yet insincere pledge to strip all future versions of the show (DVD, viral videos) from any mention of offending words, deeds, and references. But what’s in a word, and who has the right to use it? In our Manhattan-to-Kalamazoo phone conversation, we challenged Bunny to a bit of word association — which ended up being more of an inkblot test. Here’s what Bunny said, when asked about the meat and potatoes soapbox topics she covers in “Clowns Syndrome.”
Last man standing: Lady Bunny and a member of the La Escuelita staff, at the tail end of an audience participation segment.
you went to hook up with a minimum of conversation, but clubbing wasn’t just about finding sex. It was about learning new dances, and seeing fashion. And remember the lost art of conversation? Can we get an app for that? Grindr and online hookups also helped to kill the gay clubs. Gays don’t need to pay a cover charge to find a sexual partner. So today, I guess our safe spaces are online. But in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the clubs were the only place where you would see a large group of gay men converge. That’s where we fell in love. That’s where we ran to the dance floor with our hands in the air for every Diana Ross or Madonna song. That’s where we lived. Club culture was gay culture. Now, gays are assimilating into straight culture, and what do we have? A lot of younger gays feel comfortable in straight bars, and that’s great for them — but for me, I say I want all the equal rights that straights have, but I don’t want their culture, because I’ve always felt gay culture is better. We have better taste. It’s being lost on the younger gays who like the same Top 40 as everybody else. Straight DJs used to come to the gay clubs to find all the good music.
GAYBORHOOD
One positive thing that’s happened over the past few years, is how a lot of gay bars have opened up in Hell’s Kitchen, which they’re calling “Hellsea.” Chelsea was all about the circuit queens. Now, Hell’s Kitchen is for the twinks. When I moved to New York, it was the older gays and the clones in the West Village and the more alternative gays in the East Village. How is it the gays always move to whatever neighborhood is trending? I guess they’re just fickle. I’ve been around for a while and I’ve seen different scenes come and go. I’ll say this about New York, it is safer. That’s one plus. But it’s almost a little too safe. TheVillager.com
Cycle of life ‘Bike Shop’ is a full circle trip from damage to repair THEATER BIKE SHOP: A NEW MUSICAL Book by Elizabeth Barkan Lyrics by Caroline Murphy Music by Youn-Young Park Directed by Gretchen Cryer Performed by Elizabeth Barkan & The Bicycle Band Through July 6 No shows on June 29 or July 4 Mon. – Sat. at 7:30 p.m. & Sun. at 3 p.m. At Theater For The New City 155 First Ave. (btw. Ninth & Tenth Sts.) For tickets ($15), call 212-254-1109 or visit smarttix.com Also visit BikeShopMusical.com & theaterforthenewcity.net
B Y SC OT T ST IFFL E R Life has a way of abruptly putting the brakes on — or at least taking the air out of your tires. When we first meet 17-year-old Bobby, she’s a highly skilled, hellon-two-wheels bike messenger who seems to care about little other than getting her adrenaline fix and delivering her package on time. Brushing off an occasional trip across the hood of a car as the cost of doing business, that reckless nature serves her well — until a breakneck trip though Union Square causes a truck to swerve, jump the curb, and take out an innocent pedestrian. Two years later, wracked with guilt and stuck in slow gear, Bobby’s former mode of transport (and livelihood) hangs on the wall of her family’s Brooklyn bike shop — where she does self-imposed penance by using her skills to repair every conceivable broken thing except herself. It’s painful to watch this likable, sweet, and once-fearless young woman so haunted by a split second misdeed TheVillager.com
I’d love to go outside And take a ride Somewhere with you But so much here needs fixing As more rolls in So thank you But no thank you You should have seen me before I’d have gone out every night I used to be someone else I wish I had stopped at that light The passion project of former bike shop owner, bicycle messenger, and competitive racer Elizabeth Barkan, “Bike Shop” is a sharply written, poignantly observed, and nimbly performed one-act musical that — while anchored in regret — has far more to offer than the tale of one person’s gloomy struggle to get back on track. It’s also an exuberant, century-spanning tribute to the hopes, dreams, and survival skills of a bike-obsessed Brooklyn clan. In their capable grease monkey hands, the bike becomes a vehicle for emancipation, economic empowerment, and even religious awakening. (Bobby’s uncle, a would-be rabbi, teaches a spinning class — and her grandmother landed on Ellis Island in 1935 with little more than a penny farthing bike, mechanical know-how and entrepreneurial chutzpah). With instrumental support from a four-piece “Bicycle Band,” Barkan shifts from character to character, while building and fixing real bicycles on the stage. In a bid to encourage zero emission commuting, real-life spinning instructor Barkan wants cyclists to ride their bikes to the theater and park them on the stage. If the wheels you arrive on are a bit worse for the wear, slip the stage manager a note before the show. You just might be sent home with a repair job as thorough and satisfying as the one Bobby undergoes.
Bartender’s
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PRODUCTION
Music Direction by Gerry Dieffenbach
that she’s unable to even entertain the notion of accepting a customer ’s flirtatious advances. With no obvious flaws, she says, he’s not damaged enough to be a suitable match. Well, she doesn’t say it, so much as sing it:
Elizabeth Barkan spins a tale of recklessness and redemption.
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June 26, 2014
25
The golden age of graffiti When subway art was all about respect
© NORMAN BORDEN
An installation view of “Moving Murals.”
Through July 10 At City Lore Gallery 56 E. First St. (btw. First & Second Aves.) Hours: Wed. – Sun., 12 – 6 p.m. Call 212-529-1955 or visit citylore.org/ the-gallery
B Y N O R MAN B OR D E N Like so much else in New York City, graffiti isn’t what it used to be. Oh sure, street art is still around in many forms (thank you Banksy), but not the way it was. In the 1970s and early '80s, the state
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of the art was subway graffiti, which many New Yorkers (including then Mayor Ed Koch) considered vandalism. Others called it an art form. Whatever you thought, it was a cultural and sociological phenomenon. Teenagers armed with spray cans were surreptitiously painting subway cars with bright, bold graphics, trying to outdo each other’s artwork and make a name for themselves — among themselves. As one artist said, “It was all about respect.” The painted subway cars and the controversy are long gone, but much of the period’s subway art and portraits of the artists were captured through the determination, persistence, and talents of photographers Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper. It’s now all on display in the “Moving Murals” exhibition at City Lore Gallery’s handsome new space. The unique format of the show is both fascinating and mind-boggling. It includes over 825 of Chalfant’s individual car images and 84 of Cooper’s portraits
© MARTHA COOPER
MOVING MURALS: HENRY CHALFANT & MARTHA COOPER’S ALL-CITY GRAFFITI ARCHIVE
Under cover of the night, back in the day: Martha Cooper was there to capture Dondi in action, during “the golden age of graffiti.”
stacked floor to ceiling, which prevents many from being viewed up close. No matter, there’s still plenty to look at. Viewed from a distance, the images look like wallpaper, but it’s a wall-to-wall mosaic that creates a graffiti train yard environment. In effect, it’s a big picture of what New Yorkers had to endure — or enjoy — when the trains rolled by. A multi-media presentation, which includes artist interviews and Chalfant’s iBook of his graffiti archive, adds another
perspective. In explaining how he got started with the project, the artist says, “I moved here in the early '70s when graffiti was already evolving, from just tags (artist’s personalized signatures like ‘Taki 183’) to ‘pieces’ (masterpiece or complex painting) to subway cars. I saw a painted train one morning and thought it was fun. I was an artist myself — a GALLERY, continued on p. 27
TheVillager.com
‘Moving Murals’ freezes and preserves a cultural phenomenon
© HENRY CHALFANT
Blade was called “The King of Graffiti.” Active from 1972 to 1984, he painted over 5,000 cars, using his own characters instead of appropriating imagery.
GALLERY, continued from p. 26
Norman Borden is a New York-based writer and photographer. The author of more than 100 reviews for NYPhotoReview.com, he’s a member of Soho Photo Gallery and ASMP. One of his images in the juried show, “Impromptu” (now at Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, VT), was awarded an Honorable Mention. Visit normanbordenphoto.com.
© MARTHA COOPER
sculptor — and liked it aesthetically. I also was drawn to the rebellious aspect. Once I was more familiar with the city, I started taking pictures and went to the outer boroughs for shots of the elevated trains.” Since this was the pre-digital, pre-Photoshop era, Chalfant had to take several photos of each subway car with his 35 mm SLR, and then splice them together to create a panoramic image. Once the artists got to know him, they often gave him advance notice of a train they had just “tagged” so he could take pictures before the train was cleaned off or covered up by other graffiti. Still, he says, “It was very catch as catch can.” Chalfant spent seven years on the project, and during that time, he and Martha Cooper produced the 1984 book, “Subway Art,” which became the howto manual for graffiti artists around the world. The 25th anniversary edition was published in 2009. He also co-produced the documentary “Style Wars” in 1983, which featured interviews with graffiti artists, Mayor Koch, cops, art critics, and others. It became the indispensable record of subway graffiti and hip-hop culture, winning the Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Some segments are in the gallery’s multi-media show. With so much to see, where do you begin? Chalfant offers his “Tales of Ten Train Cars” as a guide. I liked the car painted “Dump Koch” because it was so in-your-face and of the times. Chalfant explains that it was created around 1981,
when the mayor was graffiti’s sworn enemy. The “John Lennon” car was considered so sacred that even the Transit Authority car cleaners wouldn’t touch it. The car stayed in service for years without being cleaned or painted over by other artists. In contrast, “Buffed Train” stands out because it was freshly whitewashed — it had just gone through a train yard’s special car wash that used giant brushes and toxic chemicals to buff and remove the graffiti. Check out “BLADE,” who Chalfant called a complete original. His mural covered the entire car including the windows. I also liked “Ski Hicki,” a tribute by the artist SEEN to Hickey and Ski, two Transit cops who were retiring from their job of catching young graffiti artists. You see two cartoon-like guys in flowered shirts on a tropical island showing their badges. Very cute. There’s a lot more to see here, of course. I liked the car that says, “ I (heart) Zoo York.” And Cooper’s portraits put real faces on these guys (except for the infamous “Taki 183,” who hides his face). Other artists don’t. You see many at work, spray cans in hand, trying to make a name for themselves — long before YouTube and social media made it easy.
Dondi pioneered many styles and techniques still in use today. The first graffiti artist to have solo shows in the Netherlands and Germany, his work is collected by European museums.
© HENRY CHALFANT
SAK was a prolific graffiti artist who began writing in 1979 and teamed up with Rize from 1981 to 1984. TheVillager.com
June 26, 2014
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Hell’s Kitchen moves up to the head of the pack REAL ESTATE
lounge with a fireplace, a fitness center, two roof decks, a courtyard garden with a reflecting pool, an outdoor lounge with a movie screen and a pet spa. Sold by Halstead Property Development Marketing, prices start at $725,000. (540west.com)
BY LAUREN PRICE
I
ts established roots are still very evident. Hell’s Kitchen has always been a closely knit neighborhood rich in cultural opportunities and old New York history. But while the West Side area bounded by W. 37th and 57th Sts. was once dotted with warehouses, parking lots and walk-ups, for more than a decade developers have been eyeing the possibilities of building luxury rentals. Residential revitalization –– coupled with expanded dining, shopping and nightlife options –– is now the order of the day. And as of two months ago, sale prices and rents here now surpass the averages for Manhattan as a whole. “There is no doubt that Hell’s Kitchen is undergoing an exciting transformation,” said Stephen McArdle, senior managing director of Halstead Property Development Marketing. “Reaching this milestone demonstrates that savvy homesteaders who now choose to live and invest in New York City not only see the potential of this particular neighborhood, but also want to be at the forefront of its revitalization.” It might seem as though Hell’s Kitchen has become a labyrinth of glass-wall residential towers and luxury loft conversions. But there remain plenty of mid-rise apartment buildings and walk-ups — especially closer to Ninth Ave. — preserved in good measure due to specific zoning laws that have long been in place.
GOTTA LIKE GOTHAM WEST Developed by the Gotham Organization, Gotham West, at 420 W. 45th St., leases studios to three-bedroom homes, replete with condo-like finishes and amenities, such as quarter-sawn oak floors, washer/dryers, floor-to-ceiling windows and kitchens outfitted with the likes of KitchenAid appliances and honed Absolute Black granite worktops. Some units offer walk-in closets, separate kitchen pantries and Hudson River views. Gotham West’s communal amenities list is long and includes a lounge, which serves daily breakfasts, a business center, a screening room, a demo kitchen used by invited professional chefs, and a game room with a handcrafted pool table. The fitness center has a motion studio and yoga / spinning classes. The building also includes three
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HEY, STELLA!
A luxury four-bedroom unit is for sale at the Piano Factory on W. 46th St.
outdoor spaces: a huge courtyard garden; the Perch, with an outdoor fireplace overlooking that garden; and the Sky Terrace, with misting walls, a bar and an outdoor movie screen, with an adjacent Sky Lounge. Amenities also include playgrounds, a bike porter for last-minute tune-ups, free weekday shuttles to and from 42nd St. and Sixth Ave. for evening and morning commutes, onsite parking and doorman / concierge services. The ground-level indoor / outdoor block-long Gotham West Market features artisan vendors and restaurants. No-fee monthly rentals currently begin at $2,900. (gothamwestnyc.com)
SILVER TOWERS SHINE From Silverstein Properties, Silver Towers is an enormous complex with million-dollar views of the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline. Located at 42nd St. and 11th Ave., two glass towers offer studios to two-bedrooms, including lofts and penthouses. Some have private outdoor space. All feature high, floor-to-ceiling windows, Afromosia wood floors and washer/ dryers. Floors two through seven in the North Tower are outfitted with furnished units for corporate residents. Open kitchens boast stainless-steel appliances, custom-designed wenge wood grain laminate, and aluminum-framed glass cabinetry with engineered stone worktops. Porcelain-tiled bathrooms come with Carrera marble-topped floating vanities, as well as vessel sink vanities, rain showers and soaking tubs. For tenants, the Entertaining Terrace has cabanas, chaises, daybeds and
misting showers, a BBQ grill and a wet bar. The fitness center offers spa and nail services and a yoga room. There’s a 75-foot indoor pool and sundeck, too. Other communal amenities include a lounge, a screening room, a playroom, on-site parking and concierge services. Complimentary weekday shuttles connect residents to and from multiple locations during morning and evening commutes. A quarter-acre public park designed by Thomas Balsley showcases pavilions, a kids’ area, an enclosed dog run, a mist fountain and an area for lounging and picnicking. There is also an on-site Sunac Fancy Foods market. The Spot Experience dog daycare will soon be a part of Silver Towers. No-fee monthly rentals currently begin at $3,190. (silvertowers.com)
GO 540WEST, YOUNG MAN! A condominium developed by Fortis Property Group and Wonder Works Construction Corp., 540West, on W. 49th St., expects to have units ready for move-in by year’s end. A complex of two interconnected midrise buildings, the mix runs from studios to two bedrooms, including duplexes and penthouses. Some have private outdoor space. Apartments range from 501 to 1,625 square feet. In-home amenities include floorto-ceiling windows, white oak floors, custom-built wardrobes, and washer / dryers. Kitchens are outfitted with appliances by Liebherr, Bertazzoni and Blomberg, and have Silverstone quartzite worktops. Master baths are dressed in Italian porcelain and boast shower / soaking tubs with oversized rain showerheads. Communal extras include a lobby
The real estate development team of JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group, in partnership with Starwood Capital Group, is bringing the latest Ralph Walker conversion to Hell’s Kitchen –– Stella Tower, at 425 W. 50th St. Originally designed by Walker in 1927 for the New York Telephone Company, the condominium has one- to three-bedroom residences ranging from 1,000 to 2,200 square feet, though penthouses boast as much as 3,600 square feet. Units feature oversized tilt-and-turn windows and soaring ceiling heights, and select residences have fireplaces and private outdoor space. Stella Tower will have a 24-hour attended lobby, a fitness center, a lounge with a pantry and bar and a garden lounge. Sold through Douglas Elliman, prices are from $1.8 million. (stellatower.com)
4-BR UNIT IS ON KEY The Piano Factory, the conversion of an 1870s building at 454 W. 46th St. where Wessell Nickel & Gross built pianos, has 48 loft-like units. An enclave-like complex, it features a European-style interior courtyard where plants cascade down from restored iron catwalks that connect two buildings. Town Residential is now offering a four-bedroom penthouse duplex with an enormous terrace. Light-filled with wonderful skyline views, this home has hardwood floors and high ceilings –– including a vaulted ceiling in the living room –– pocket doors and a laundry room with a Bosch washer / dryer. The very large eat-in kitchen, which opens onto a second terrace, is outfitted with cherry wood cabinets, granite countertops and a radiant heat floor. Appliances are by Jenn-Air, Dacor and Bosch. The master suite has a dressing area, two full closets and an en-suite bathroom. The owner will have roof rights, so with board approval, a third deck can be added. Priced at $4 million. (townrealestate.com/sale/id-452084/454west-46th-street-ph-6bs-midtownwest&scroll=1) TheVillager.com
GOTHAM WEST 550 WEST 45TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10036 212.496.2100
NOW LEASING TOP FLOOR HOMES STUDIO TO 3 BEDROOMS
Superior Finishes Fully Attended Lobby 10,000+ SF of Private Outdoor Space Bicycle Porter & Shop by NYC Velo
GO WEST Come home to Gotham West - an enclave of artisanal living in one of Manhattan’s most highly in-demand hubs. Perfectly situated to provide access to both hopping Hell’s Kitchen and the beautiful Hudson River Park, Gotham West features a cozy neighborhood-within-a-neighborhood feel, and makes for a warm, welcoming home in the heart of a major metropolis.
VISIT US ONLINE OR CALL 212.496.2100 TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! GOTHAMWESTNYC.COM
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/GOTHAMWESTNYC
@GOTHAM_WEST
#GOTHAMWEST
June 26, 2014
29
The quiet allure of Tribeca L U X U RY R E N TA L S BUILDING UPON EXCELLENCE FOR 40 YEARS
REAL ESTATE BY LAUREN PRICE
THE PRIDE OF THE WEST VILLAGE Whether you prefer the classic or the ultramoder n, Rockrose has the rentals to express your own unique lifestyle.
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The Archive
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110-114 Horatio Street
Fitness Center, Roof Deck
Concierge, Roof Deck
212.691.9800 rockrose.com Actual View
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unning from Canal St. south to Barclay St. and from Broadway to the Hudson River, Tribeca is a neighborhood of some 16,000 residents that has grown up amidst cavernous cast-iron warehouses set on historic cobblestone streets. Home seekers can find light-filled, loft-like layouts that typically fetch sky-high prices, or they can look to the new luxury buildings, some with units for sale, others with rentals. When artists in the 1970s began searching out less expensive studios and homes, the residential transformation of the neighborhood that only then came to be called Tribeca began. It is now one of Manhattan’s most sought-after neighborhoods. Smart shops, art galleries, performance spaces and prime eateries, like Kutsher’s, Bouley and Nobu, are now the public face of the neighborhood. And when Lower Manhattan was staggered by the 9/11 attacks, Robert De Niro and other Hollywood bigs rallied spirits by launching the Tribeca Film Festival –– though its success in recent years has led it to seek larger venues uptown. Considered a quieter alternative to its equally expensive neighbor Soho, Tribeca is chockablock with tony shops, such as the boutique retailers Steven Allen, Patron of the New, Nili Lotan and By Joy Gryson; specialty cutlery shop Korin; and the bicyclist’s haven Adeline Adeline. Whole Foods, the Amish Market, the All Good Things artisanal market and Grandaisy Bakery offer the very best alternatives for residents who take their cooking seriously. The Lower Manhattan locales of world-class retailers like Bloomingdales, Hermès and Tiffany are just steps away. The neighborhood is well served by subways, with ready access to the 1, 2, 3, A, C and E, and another half dozen or so lines available nearby at City Hall. With Stuyvesant High School and P.S. 150 and 234, the public schools are a draw, as well. According MNS’s May 2014 report, Tribeca’s median per-square-foot purchase price for a one-bedroom residence is $1,131. For two-bedroom units, the median price is $1,392. The same report indicates that average rents for studios in doorman buildings run at $3,400, with one-bedrooms coming in at about $4,736. Marketed by Corcoran Sunshine Group Marketing, the landmarked Cast Iron House, at 67 Franklin St. at
Broadway, is a conversion developed by Knightsbridge Properties. The building has 13 duplexes, including two penthouses on newly constructed levels atop the original structure. All sport soaring ceilings (from 17 to 25 feet), vaulted windows, washer / dryers and quarter-sawn white oak floors. Ranging from three- to five-bedrooms, some with outdoor space, in the original portion, square footage is from about 2,850 to 4,890. The four-bedroom penthouse is about 3,800 square feet, with 1,530 square feet of outdoor space. The five-bedroom unit at the top is about 4,560 square feet, with 1,430 square feet of outdoor space. Appliances by Gaggenau and custom lacquer cabinets topped with Corian grace open kitchens. Marble-slab master bathrooms boast white mosaic glass-tile walls and radiant-heat floors. Communal extras include doorman / concierge services, a courtyard garden, an exercise room, a hydrotherapy spa and treatment room, a dance studio, a water room, a playroom, a game room and private storage. Prices begin at about $4.97 million. (castironhouse.com) About 3,000 square feet with keylock elevator access, a duplex co-op at 74 Reade Street just off Church St. is now for sale through Urban Compass. In a converted office building originally erected in 1964, this flexible live / work space’s current configuration has two bedrooms. The space features double-height windows, hardwood floors, a skylight, exposed brick walls and piping and 15-foot pressed tin ceilings. The open kitchen with a large pantry is dressed in sleek wood cabinetry and high-end stainless-steel appliances. Residential extras include a roof deck and video intercom. Priced at $3.1 million. (urbancompass.com) The World-Wide Group made the decision to convert 50 Murray, a 1964 office building between Church St. and West Broadway, just before 9/11. By 2002, they were renting loft-like studios to three-bedroom units, ranging from about 500 to 2,000 square feet, some with outdoor space. You’ll find 11-foot beamed ceilings, kitchens with stainless-steel appliances, sleek white cabinetry, black granite countertops and two-tone penny-tile mosaic bathroom floors. Residential extras include a laundry room on every floor, a bi-level roof deck, an outdoor basketball court, a lounge and screening room, a game room, playrooms, a parking garage and doormen / concierge services. Both Equinox gym and the Amish Market are on site, as well. Currently, no-fee monthly rentals start at $2,900. (50murray.com) TheVillager.com
TheVillager.com
June 26, 2014
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a summer on premise liquor license, #TBA has been applied for by Masterpiece Cateres Corp d/b/a Sky 55 to sell beer, wine and liquor at retail in an on premises establishment. For on premises consumption under the ABC law at 55 Water Street, Elevated Acre NY, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a summer on premise liquor license, #TBA has been applied for by Masterpiece Cateres Corp d/b/a Promenade Grill to sell beer, wine and liquor at retail in an on premises establishment. For on premises consumption under the ABC law at 55 Water Street, Vietnam Veterans Plaza NY, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a on premise liquor license, #TBA has been applied for by Masterpiece Cateres Corp d/b/a Cafe 55 to sell beer, wine and liquor at retail in an on premises establishment. For on premises consumption under the ABC law at 55 Water Street, 1st Floor NY, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an on-premise license, #TBA has been applied for by The House In Gramercy Park, LLC to sell beer, wine and liquor at retail in an on premises establishment. For on premises consumption under the ABC law at 121 East 17th Street NY, NY 10003. Vil: 06/26 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF NEW YORK FORTUNE GROUP LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 06/03/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: The LLC, 40 WALL STREET, 28TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10005. Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF S GROUP MANAGEMENT, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/08/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: National Registered Agents, Inc., 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful activities. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 3400 LAWSON BLVD LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/6/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Davis & Gilbert LLP, 1740 Broadway, NY, NY 10019. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF M. MARTIN NEW YORK LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/11/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 515 Greenwich St., NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Alex Gaines at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF WARBURG PINCUS XI (LEXINGTON) PARTNERS - A, L.P. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/16/14. Office location: NY County. LP formed in DE on 4/16/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to the principal business addr.: c/o Warburg Pincus LLC, 450 Lexington Ave., NY, NY 10017, Attn: General Counsel. DE addr. of LP: c/o The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Name/addr. of genl. ptr. available from NY Sec. of State. Cert. of LP filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF CONSILIO SERVICES, LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/09/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/23/14. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste. 400, Wilmington, DE 19808. Arts. of Org. filed with DE Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF BNT HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/11/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Proskauer Rose LLP, Attn: Ivan Taback, Eleven Times Sq., NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF WARBURG PINCUS PRIVATE EQUITY (LEXINGTON) XI - A, L.P. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/16/14. Office location: NY County. LP formed in DE on 4/16/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to the principal business addr.: c/o Warburg Pincus LLC, 450 Lexington Ave., NY, NY 10017, Attn: General Counsel. DE addr. of LP: c/o The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Name/addr. of genl.ptr. available from NY Sec. of State. Cert. of LP filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF SOLENIS LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/30/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 4/30/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE and principal business address: 500 Hercules Rd., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 2065 WALTON AVENUE MANAGING MEMBER LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/16/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o B&B Supportive LLC, 419 Park Avenue South, 18th Fl., NY, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014
NAME OF LLC: RELEVANCE CONSULTING, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State: 6/6/14. Office loc.: NY Co. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Business Filings Inc., 187 Wolf Rd., Ste. 101, Albany, NY 12205, regd. agt. upon whom process may be served. Purpose: any lawful act. Vil: 06/26 - 07/31/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF WEEN & KOZEK, LLC, A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (PLLC). Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 6/4/14. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 150 Broadway, Ste. 1920, NY, NY 10038, principal business address. Purpose: practice law. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF COMMUNITY NEWS GROUP, LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on June 9, 2014. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: Community News Group, LLC, 515 Canal Street Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013 Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PREVIEW STYLES, LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 05/15/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: SIYUAN WANG, 1 UNION SQUARE SOUTH SUITE 11K, NEW YORK, NY 10003. Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF THIRTEEN PARTNERS PRIVATE EQUITY 3 GP, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 6/27/13. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 830 3rd Ave., 6th Fl., NY, NY 10022. LLC formed in DE on 6/17/13. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF TICO INVESTMENT VEHICLE IV, LP Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 6/3/14. Office location: NY County. LP formed in DE on 5/14/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 590 Madison Ave., 35th Fl., NY, NY 10022, principal business address. DE address of LP: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Name/address of genl. ptr. available from NY Sec. of State. Cert. of LP filed with DE Sec. of State, P.O. Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF NEWYORK.COM ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, LLC App for Authority filed with Secy of State (SS) of NY on 8/21/12. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 1/5/12. SSNY designated as an agent upon whom process may be served. PO address to which SSNY shall mail copy of process against LLC: 19495 Biscayne Blvd, Ste 600, Aventura, FL 33180, which is also the FL address of LLC. Cert of LLC filed with SSDE located: 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful act. Vil: 06/12 - 07/17/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF TICKETSATWORK – PLUM BENEFITS, LLC App for Authority filed with Secy of State (SS) of NY on 4/17/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 1/31/14. SSNY designated as an agent upon whom process may be served. PO address to which SSNY shall mail copy of process against LLC: 19495 Biscayne Blvd, Ste 300, Aventura, FL 33180, which is also the FL address of LLC. Cert of LLC filed with SSDE located: 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful act. Vil: 06/12 - 07/17/2014
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF AR NEWYORK 1, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/2/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1430 Spring Hill Rd., Ste. 300, McLean, VA 22102. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/12 - 07/17/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF CCATT LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 11/20/13. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1220 Augusta Dr., Ste. 600, Houston, TX 77057. LLC formed in DE on 11/14/13. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/12 - 07/17/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF POLYPLEX USA LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 3/25/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in AL on 7/19/11. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. AL and principal business address: 3001 Mallard Fox Dr. NW, Decatur, AL 35601. Cert. of Org. filed with AL Sec. of State, 100 N. Union St., Ste. 770, Montgomery, AL 36104. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/12 - 07/17/2014 HOK 2 LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 6/4/14. Off. Loc.: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, c/o Lisa Lou, 95 Colon Ave., Staten Island, NY 10308. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity. Vil: 06/19 - 07/24/2014
MACNEE LLC Arts. of Org filed NY Secy of State (SSNY) 5/09/14. OFC in NY Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 119 Bank St, #3H, NY NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful act. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 340E24 JV LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/25/13. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Benjamin Shaoul, 594 Broadway, Ste. 1010, NY, NY 10012. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF FIREMON, LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/22/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Missouri (MO) on 10/01/03. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: National Registered Agents, Inc., 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011. Address to be maintained in MO: 120 S. Central Ave., Clayton, MO 63105 . Arts of Org. filed with the MO Secy. Of State, 600 W. Main St., Rm. 322, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Purpose: any lawful activities. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 95TH STREET REALTY COMPANY LLC Cert. of Conversion filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/19/14, converting 95TH STREET REALTY COMPANY to 95TH STREET REALTY COMPANY LLC. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 55 Fifth Ave., 15th Fl., NY, NY 10003. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Robert Kantor, c/o Cityprop Management Corp., 55 Fifth Ave., 15th Fl., NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE – EAST 7TH AND AVENUE B SC Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless is proposing to collocate antennas on an existing building with an overall height of 70 feet, which is located at 108 Avenue B in New York, New York County, NewYork. Public comments regarding the potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30-days from the date of this publication to: Andrew Maziarski - IVITelecom Services, Inc., 55 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains, New York 10604, CulturalResources@ivi-intl.com, or (914) 740-1930. Vil: 06/26/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for PORTO RESTAURANT, INC to continue to maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 1731 SECOND AVENUE in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of four years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26 - 07/03/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for MEXMA, LLC to continue to maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 305 CHURCH STREET in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of four years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/19 - 06/26/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for CARAPINA LLC to establish, maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 233 BLEECKER STREET in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/19 - 06/26/2014
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NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 102-116 EIGHTH AVENUE ASSOCIATES LLC Cert. of Conversion filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/11/14, converting 102-116 EIGHTH AVENUE ASSOCIATES, L.P. to 102-116 EIGHTH AVENUE ASSOCIATES LLC. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, c/o The Brodsky Organization, LLC, Attn: Daniel Brodsky, 400 W. 59th St., NY, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF UB LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/22/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 228 W. 47th St., NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Hotel Edison at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 451 TENTH AVENUE MEMBER LLC Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 3/31/14. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 666 Third Ave., NY, NY 10017, Attn: Jeffrey Moerdler, Esq. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF FTI CONSULTING TECHNOLOGY LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/18/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in MD on 1/11/05. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. MD and principal business addr.: 909 Commerce Rd., Annapolis, MD 21401. Cert. of Org. filed with Custodian of Records, MD Dept. of Assessments & Taxation, 301 W. Preston St., Baltimore, MD 21201. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF GOLDENTREE PARTNERS LOAN FUND LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/12/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 3/31/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Attn: General Counsel, 485 Lexington Ave., 15th Fl., NY, NY 10017, principal business address. DE address of LLC: 615 S. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF HONDA AVIATION FINANCE COMPANY, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/20/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 20800 Madrona Ave., Torrance, CA 90503. LLC formed in DE on 1/21/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CT Corporation System, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 ORTAGGI LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/18/2014. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 304 Hudson St., # 507, NY, NY 10013. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ACF FINCO I LP Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/14. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/25/14. Princ. office of LP: 245 Park Ave. - 44th Fl., NY, NY 10167. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o CSC, 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste. 400, Wilmington, New Castle Cnty., DE 19808. Arts. of Org. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock - Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF 21 CROSBY STREET LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/22/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/21/14. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Corigin, Attn: Spencer Romoff, 505 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste. 400, Wilmington, DE 19808. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of the State of DE, Corp. Dept., Loockerman & Federal Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PING GUI LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secy. Of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/4/14. Office location: QUEENS County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 1824 COLLEGE POINT BLVD, COLLEGE POINT, NY 11356 Purpose: Any lawful act Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ALVAREZ & MARSAL ASSET MANAGEMENT SERVICES, LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/15/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/12/14. Princ. office of LLC: 600 Madison Ave., 8th Fl., NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste. 400, Wilmington, DE 19808. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of State of DE, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF BRONX FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER FUND, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/15/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o NY City Regional Center, LLC, 99 Hudson St., 15th Fl., NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF QUAL. OF COBBLE HILL HEALTH AND WELLNESS PARTNERS LLC Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 3/19/14. Office loc.: NY County. LLC org. in DE 3/19/14. SSNY desig. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to NRAI, 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011, the Reg. Agt. upon whom proc. may be served. DE off. addr.: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purp.: any lawful activities. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for MILLER’S NEAR & FAR LLC to establish, maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 65 RIVINGTON STREET in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANTTO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for LEGENDARY NIGHT SPOTS INC. to continue to maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 61 CHRISTOPHER STREET in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/19 - 06/26/2014
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NOTICE OF QUAL. OF COB 3420 BROADWAY LLC Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 2/19/14. Office loc.: NY County. LLC org. in DE 2/12/14. SSNY desig. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to NRAI, 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011, the Reg. Agt. upon whom proc. may be served. DE off. addr.: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purp.: any lawful activities. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF MAJESTIC ACQUISITIONS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/8/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 721 Fifth Avenue, Ste. 45C, NY, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 15BUNP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/14/14. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Solomon Blum Heymann LLP, 40 Wall St., 35th Fl., NY, NY 10005, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF THE RICHMAN GROUP OF CONNECTICUT, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/14/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in CT on 10/24/94. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: National Corporate Research, Ltd., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. CT and principal business address: 340 Pemberwick Rd., Greenwich, CT 06831. Cert. of Org. filed with CT Sec. of State, 30 Trinity St., Hartford, CT 06106. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF SOHO-LUDLOW TENANT, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/12/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/26/12. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o Andy Childs, 515 W. 20th St., NY, NY 10011, principal business address. DE address of LLC: c/o The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF SPG MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES III, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/13/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in IN on 1/29/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. IN and principal business addr.: c/o Corporate Paralegal, 225 W. Washington St., PO Box 7033, Indianapolis, IN 46207-7033. Cert. of Org. filed with IN Sec. of State, 302 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF LINDSAY GOLDBERG IV L.P. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/6/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 630 5th Ave., 30th Fl., NY, NY 10111. LP formed in DE on 4/2/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: National Corporate Research, Ltd. (NCR), 194 Washington Ave., Ste. 310, Albany, NY 12210. DE addr. of LP: NCR, 615 S. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Name/addr. of genl. ptr. available from NY Sec. of State. Cert. of LP filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. #3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF LINDSAY GOLDBERG IV - A L.P. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/6/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 630 5th Ave., 30th Fl., NY, NY 10111. LP formed in DE on 4/2/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: National Corporate Research, Ltd. (NCR), 194 Washington Ave., Ste. 310, Albany, NY 12210. DE addr. of LP: NCR, 615 S. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Name/addr. of genl. ptr. available from NY Sec. of State. Cert. of LP filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. #3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 05/29 - 07/03/2014 E&L EPICERIE LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 02/05/2014. Off. Loc.:New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, c/o Laurent Baud, 37 West 26th Street, Suite 302, New York, NY 10010. Purpose:Any lawful act or activity. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF ERICA SILVERMAN INTERIORS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/6/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Capitol Services, Inc., 1218 Central Avenue, Ste. 100, Albany, NY 12205. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF BROADWAY BUILDERS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/6/14. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 826 Broadway, 11th Fl., NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful activity. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014
NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF NEST FILM PRODUCTIONS LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/7/14. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608. LLC formed in DE on 3/20/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: c/o The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ONVOY, LLC Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 4/21/14. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in MN on 3/10/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. MN and principal business address: 10300 6th Ave. N., Plymouth, MN 55441. Cert. of Org. filed with MN Sec. of State, 60 Empire Dr., Ste. 100, St. Paul, MN 55103. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 451 TENTH AVENUE OPERATING LLC Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 3/31/14. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 666 Third Ave., NY, NY 10017, Attn: Jeffrey Moerdler, Esq. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Vil: 06/05 - 07/10/2014 TIME TUNNEL HERITAGE SERVICES LLC a domestic LLC, filed with the SSNY on 5/2/14. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to The LLC, P.O. Box 1126, Gracie Square Station, NY, NY 10028. General Purpose. Vil: 05/22 - 06/26/2014
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, July 02, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. at 66 John Street, 11th floor, on a petition for SALUMAIO ITALIAN DELI, LTD to establish, maintain, and operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 1731 SECOND AVENUE in the Borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. REQUESTS FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004. Vil: 06/26/2014
June 26, 2014
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Li re-elected chairperson with two-thirds vote C.B. 3, continued from p. 1
of her failure to appoint any African-American or Latino members to chair C.B. 3 committees. Li and her supporters have strongly denied the accusations. Marlow also argued that Li had mishandled several other high-profile flare-ups during her two-year tenure. Marlow, a senior policy adviser with the city’s Department of Health, had pledged that, if elected, he would appoint an executive committee and committee chairpersons that “reflect the diversity of the community board and the community it serves.” After the results of the paper-ballot vote were announced Tuesday evening, Li told The Villager, “I’m excited and thankful that there were enough board members who felt that I should be afforded a third year to make some changes and continue on the projects that I’ve been working on.” The C.B. 3 chairperson added that she was more than willing to work closely with those board members who opposed her re-election. “Everyone plays a really important role on this board,” she said. Li added, “There have been some real issues that have been raised in this process, and I think a lot of those can be addressed with structural and leadership changes.” In her earlier, two-minute, prevote comments, Li, who is director of the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, acknowledged it had been a challenging year for her. Addressing an audience of more than 100 local residents, she focused her remarks on her years growing up in an immigrant family on Canal St. “This community is my home,” she said. “The hopes and dreams that my parents had for me are the same hopes and dreams that many of the residents of this community
Gigi Li, left, held off challenger Chad Marlow in Tuesday’s C.B. 3 chairperson election.
continue to strive for — and those are opportunity, access and equity. These are the same values I bring to you as board chairperson.” Marlow, during his pre-vote remarks, chose not to speak about his personal background, but about the need for change on the community board. “I think, unfortunately, because in large part how this board had been operated, the community has lost a lot of faith in our board,” he said. After the election results were announced, Marlow told this newspaper that he was “not disappointed” with the outcome. “I think the board got to raise some important issues that need to be discussed over the next year,” he said. “I think we’re going to need to move forward and work on them together. “For anyone to challenge the existing power structure is difficult, but what’s most important is that we now all come together,” he added. “I think the board is going to do that, but in order to bring the community in and make them feel better about this vote, it’s going to take some work. I think we’re all going to have
Tourney is one kickin’ Cup CUP FEVER, continued from p. 10
nehy’s, at 63 Carmine St., an Irish bar with a staff full of soccer fans and a comprehensive World Cup screening program. During the Brazil-Mexico game, Felix was full of fans crowding inside and spilling out onto the sidewalk, in a sea of clashing green and yellow jerseys. This past Sunday evening, when Clint Dempsey scored a late go-ahead goal against Portugal, the place went nuts. A guy in a large, floppy Uncle TheVillager.com
Sam hat waved an American flag as people cheered, yelled and hugged. But soon afterward, Portugal scored a last-gasp equalizer on a long, pinpoint crossing pass by — who else? — superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and the elation was replaced by a massive groan. The U.S. still has a chance to advance from “The Group of Death,” but they face powerful Germany on Thursday. Sounds like it’s going to be another packed house at Zum Schneider!
to engage in that work.” Ayo Harrington, an African-American C.B. 3 member, helped fuel the revolt against Li with her stinging accusation of racism. Harrington filed a complaint with the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, charging Li with refusing to appoint qualified black and Latino members who wanted to chair committees. Harrington, a strong Marlow ally, said she was “very, very disappointed by the outcome.” “I think for this community board to have facts in front of their faces that are irrefutable, and then not vote for change after Li’s proven two-year record of exclusion of minorities and the inefficiencies of her running of board meetings is inexcusable,” she said. Harrington, however, did offer a conciliatory note. “Regardless of who won,” she said, “all of us are members of a 50-member board and we’re all going to have to work together.” She emphasized, though, that that doesn’t mean she thinks things at C.B. 3 are all kumbaya. “I’m not saying this is a call for unity because I’m not going to pretend that there’s unity on this board,” she said. “We’ll see whether or not changes are going to be made, but I strongly suspect that changes will be made because someone feels forced to make them rather than knowing that it’s the right thing to do. And therein lies the hurt to the community.” Board member Kate Webster, one of Li’s most ardent supporters, said she believed Li was “going to move the board forward.” “The board will get smarter and we’ll unify,” Webster said. “I think the point that was made was an important point and now we need to move forward. That’s what a good
board does.” Former C.B. 3 Chairperson Dominic Berg stated he was pleased by the whole process. “Gigi heard about some issues and she’s going to make changes,” he said. “I think a large majority of the board saw that, which is why they voted for her.” Despite the dramatic buildup to the election, with charges and denials of racism flying back and forth, the evening’s proceedings were relatively sedate, without the excitement or divisiveness that many board members had anticipated. Only Li and Marlow were involved in a contest, while all other candidates for board officer positions — ranging from treasurer to recording secretary — were unanimously re-elected. Herman Hewitt was re-elected first vice chairperson; Ricky Leung, second vice chairperson; Carlina Rivera, secretary; Jamie Rogers, assistant secretary; and Bill LoSasso, treasurer. The Villager, in a special online editorial last week, endorsed Marlow, saying he would bring change, activism and inclusiveness to C.B. 3, plus make the board more responsive to the community. Before the election, Marlow sat down for an endorsement interview with The Villager, but Li declined the opportunity to make her case to the newspaper for another term. Most Manhattan community boards have term limits of from two to four years, but C.B. 3 does not. Susan Stetzer, C.B. 3 district manager, provided The Villager with the election vote sheet, showing who voted for who. Voting for Li were David Adams, Dominic Berg, Karen Blatt, Karlin Chan, Jimmy Cheng, MyPhuong Chung, David Crane, Enrique Cruz, Morris Faitelwicz, Flora Ferng, Gloria Goldenberg, Herman Hewitt, Linda Jones, Meghan Joye, Lisa Kaplan, Carol Kostik, Ben Landy, Mae Lee, John Leo, Ricky Leung, Alysha Lewis-Coleman, Li, Bill LoSasso, Alexandra Militano, Chiun Ng, Richard Ropiak, Christopher Santana, Josephine Velez, Kathleen Webster, Justin Yu and Thomas Yu. Voting for Marlow were Lisa Burriss, Justin Carroll, Jan Hanvik, Ayo Harrington, Anne Johnson, Vaylateena Jones, Marlow, Ariel Palitz, Carolyn Ratcliffe, Joyce Ravitz, Carlina Rivera, James Rogers, Susan Scheer, Nancy Sparrow-Bartow and Rodney Washington. Not present were Penina Mezei, Teresa Pedroza, Julie Ulmet and Zulma Zayas. June 26, 2014
35
45 years after the Stonewall riots, New York University joins Greenwich Village in celebrating a turning point in LGBT civil rights.
We salute the LGBT leaders, friends, and allies, then and now, whose tireless advocacy continues to further equality, inclusion, and support for individuals from every community —
in New York City and beyond.
Learn about NYU’s public programs and community partnerships nyu.edu/nyu-in-nyc 36
June 26, 2014
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