East Villager News, AUG 16, 2012

Al Amateau retires, p. 4

Volume 2, Number 48 FREE

East and West Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Noho, Little Italy and Chinatown

August 16 - 29, 2012

A bottle of squat: Beer tries to tap spirit of Blockos

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON “Busch beer. Head for the mountains.”

“Tastes great. Less filling.”

No doubt, there have been a lot of catchy beer ad slogans over the years.

How about this one?

“Crack open an abandoned building — crack open a frosty cold Doss Blockos.”

Hey, it could work — but it’s just a suggestion of

Photo by Amy Starecheski

Mosaic master is the key piece Jim Power, the East Village’s “Mosaic Man,” right, stopped by MoRUS on Saturday to help them apply the grout to their new mosaic sign. See Page 14.

Hot stuff! Park benches are unfit to sit, as they hit 125 °F

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Talk about being on the hot seat!

On hot, sunny, summer days, the dark granite benches in Washington Square Park reach bun-blistering temperatures.

The classy-looking benches, which ring the famed fountain plaza, were added under the park’s recent hotly debated renovation. And “hot” is definitely the operative word where the new seating is concerned.

The painfully evident fact is not lost on parkgoers, or their posteriors. On high-temperature days during midday, very few people can be seen sitting on the sections of these granite benches that are in direct

sunlight. Instead, parkgoers can be found clustered under the sections of the benches that are shaded by trees. Meanwhile, the park’s sandstone fountain and traditional wooden benches, when exposed to strong sunlight, don’t heat up excessively and parkgoers can be seen sitting on them during the hottest part of the day.

On Monday, at 1:40 p.m., The East Villager took a reading with a thermometer on one of the granite benches and, on the “outdoor” scale, it registered a tush-torching 125 degrees Fahrenheit! It wasn’t even particularly hot outside, with the temperature at that time, according

to wunderground.com, being about 82 degrees.

(A knowledgeable stock clerk at the Nuthouse 24-hour hardware store on E. 29th St. said the key to an accurate reading would be to put the thermometer’s bulb on the bench surface. Fortunately, the $7 indoor/ outdoor thermometer that was used had — for the “outdoor” reader — an external wire with a metal piece at its tip that could be placed directly onto the bench surface. The “indoor” reading, which measured the “ambient” temperature, was also very high, around 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Both

The East Villager.

Yes, in what is probably a first, there is now a beer named after a former East Village squat. But it’s brewed in a place about as far away on this Earth as one could get from Alphabet City — Australia.

The company that makes it is the East 9th Brewing Co., named after

Continued on page 8

Chick-fil-A flap embroils N.Y.U.; Vote on fall menu

BY GARY SHAPIRO A local food fight is causing a lot of squawking in the Village.

The ruckus began when Dan Cathy, president of the Atlanta-based restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, criticized gay marriage. N.Y.U.’s Weinstein Residence Hall, which is currently closed for summer break, serves food from this company.

Continued on page 23

5 1 5 C A N A L STREET • N YC 10013 • C OPYRIG H T © 2012 N YC COMMU NITY M ED IA , LLC

The Village location is the only Chick-fil-A franchise in the city.

Hillary Dworkoski, a former student at N.Y.U.’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, caused a lot of clucking by circulating a petition at www.change.org, urging N.Y.U. to stop doing business with Chick-fil-A. City Council Speaker

Continued on page 12

EDITORIAL, LETTERS PAGE 10

FRINGENYC IS FOREVER YOUNG PAGE 18

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August 16 - 29, 2012

SCOOPY’S NOTEBOOK

Photo by Scoopy

THE MOSAIC TRAIL…: Mosaics are hot right now — from the new sign at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, on Avenue C, to the new mosaic murals at the East Village’s Sirovich Senior Center, on E. 12th St. As usual, Jim Power, the East Village’s “Mosaic Man,” is working away on a bevy of local mosaic projects, including one at 47 E. Third St., above. This one, with a geometric pattern, was designed by Alistair Economakis, the building’s owner, who was inspired by Power’s mosaics for the new Bean coffee shop down the block. It was made using ancient bathroom floor tiles recycled from when Economakis gut-rehabbed the old five-story building (that is, after he had cleared out rent-regulated tenants from the place’s then-15 apartments after a lengthy and bitter landlord-tenant struggle). Laurie Mittelmann, MoRUS’s co-director, said Power told her Economakis paid him well — double the commission price they had agreed to. Economakis plans to rent the basement commercial space beneath the mural to a medical tenant. Meanwhile, Steve Sinclair, president of the recently resuscitated Progress Republican Club, tells us Economakis attended one of the club’s weekly meetings, held by the fountain in the backyard of Sinclair’s posh place on E. Ninth St. Sinclair said he actually doesn’t know whether Economakis is a registered Republican or not. As for Power, we hear he unfortunately got booted out of his basement studio that a barbershop at Fifth St. and Second Ave. was letting him use, and where he — and his loyal canine sidekick, Jesse Jane — actually usually crashed. It sounded like they were also facing eviction from The Lee, the supportive housing residence on E. Houston St. run by Common Ground, where Power had earned a rep as a bit of a whistle-blower. But Matt Rosen, who helps Power run his online business, said the “Mosaic Man” smoothed everything out. “He’s met with the management, and they’ve addressed some of his issues,” Rosen said. “It was not a great situation before, but things have quieted down a bit.”

A food and wine tasting benefit for Washington Square Park Wednesday, September 12th

Tickets on sale now at villagealliance.org or in person at 8 East 8th St.

August 16 - 29, 2012

3

Will Berman run? Redistricting issue could be deciding factor

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON There are three expected candidates for the Third District City Council race in 2013, Corey Johnson, Yetta Kurland and Andrew Berman. But redistricting could affect whether one of them — prominent preservationist Berman — ultimately runs or not.

Berman has not yet opened a campaign account, and a large factor behind this is reportedly the redistricting question.

Meanwhile, Johnson has “maxed out,� raising about $170,000, the maximum eligible to receive public matching funds under the city’s campaign finance law. Kurland has raised more than $70,000.

Every 10 years, following the Census, New York City Council districts are adjusted to ensure fair representation and equal population distribution between all the city’s 51 districts. No more than a 10 percent population differential is allowed between the largest and smallest district.

While New York City’s population as a whole grew by only 2 percent from 2000 to 2010, areas like Chelsea and Lower Manhattan saw their number of residents surge. The Third Council District grew by more than 14 percent, while the number of people living in Lower Manhattan’s District 1 spiked 13 percent.

Currently represented by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, District 3 covers the West Side from Canal to 55th St., taking in most of Greenwich Village, as well as Chelsea, and stretching east as far as Park Ave. at some points.

Facing term limits, Quinn is running for mayor in 2013 — which opens up the Council’s so-called “gay seat� for a new representative. Quinn is openly gay, as are Kurland, Berman and Johnson.

District 1, currently represented by Margaret Chin, extends up from the Battery through Tribeca, Chinatown, the Lower East Side and Soho, also taking in the area around Washington Square.

Meanwhile, District 2, represented by Rosie Mendez and covering the East Village, Union Square area and part of the Lower East Side, only saw a 2 percent population growth.

In short, both Districts 1 and 3 are likely to “shed territory� due to their population booms. Some have speculated that Chin’s District 1 will lose the N.Y.U. superblocks — between Houston and W. Third Sts. and Mercer St. and LaGuardia Place — and possibly also Soho, with these being ceded to either District 3 or 2. That would mean District 3 could add areas at its southern edge — which could mean it would lose territory at its northern end, which is where Berman currently lives, on W. 47th St., to be exact. But, if he is able to stay in the district while the superblocks are added to District 3, it could be a powerful incentive for Berman to enter the race — since he has a very strong following there: His organization, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, has allied with N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan to oppose the N.Y.U. 2031 expansion scheme, and they are poised to file a

joint lawsuit against the mega-project. “Andrew Berman is our champion,� said Sara Jones, of the LaGuardia Corner Gardens, which is located on the southern N.Y.U. superblock. The gardeners fear their green oasis will be destroyed by the university’s desire to wedge 2 million square feet of new development space into the superblocks.

Asked last week if he would move, if necessary, to stay in District 3, Berman declined comment. Assuming he owns his apartment, that could make the decision harder.

Asked if he has made up his mind whether he’ll throw his hat in the ring, Berman said, “I don’t have any updates to give you at the moment.�

The election is still a ways off, so he still has some time to decide. “It’s 14 months out. There are some very important things that are still yet to happen,� he said.

Johnson and Kurland both live in Chelsea, in the heart of District 3, and so don’t face the possibility that their homes would be shifted into a neighboring district.

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‘I think it’s a total unknown how the district’s going to change.’ Corey Johnson Another consideration for Berman is that, were he to campaign for office, he would have to leave his position as executive director at G.V.S.H.P. Not only would this mean he’d lose his income, but it would be a major blow to G.V.S.H.P., which has become a force to be reckoned with under Berman’s active leadership.

This week, the New York City Districting Commission is kicking off its first round of public hearings on redistricting. A Manhattan hearing will be held on Thurs., Aug. 16, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway.

The first maps by the commission of proposed new district boundaries should be out by Sept. 5. The Council is expected to adopt the new boundaries in November.

Berman has often been at odds with Quinn on development issues, and some speculate, as a result, the Council speaker might try to get back at him by redistricting the preservationist right out of District 3.

Insiders think Quinn would favor Johnson over Berman or Kurland, the latter who criticized the Council speaker for

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not doing more to save the financially doomed St. Vincent’s Hospital from closing or from advocating for a replacement hospital. Nevertheless, Quinn is said to have strongly backed longtime tenant organizer Joe Restuccia over Johnson for Community Board 4 chairperson two years ago, and was reportedly shocked that the 30-year-old upstart pulled off the victory.

However, City Council spokespersons stressed that the redistricting process is being done by an independent commission.

Responding to the idea that Quinn might take a hand in the process and try to block Berman from running in District 3, Council spokesperson Jamie McShane retorted, “That’s ridiculous. The commission is nonpartisan, independent and decisions about lines are made with input from the community at series of public hearings that begin this week.�

McShane added that Quinn has “other things� she’s focusing on right now, apparently referring to her responsibilities as speaker and her own bid for mayor.

Shirley Limongi, another Council spokesperson, echoed McShane, saying, “The commission is an independent commission with no political agenda. Neither the Council speaker nor the mayor controls this process, nor are they involved.

Granted, the Council has to approve the final redistricting map, but the process is entirely done by the commission.�

Meanwhile, Johnson appears to have taken on the mantle of frontrunner. Earlier this month, he slammed out an e-mail blast, titled “Boom!� announcing that nearly 600 local leaders, activists and advocates are supporting him. His endorsers range from block association leaders and P.T.A. presidents to Rory O’Malley, the star of “Book of Mormon.� “Our campaign is moving into a new phase of excitement,� said Johnson. “The support from grassroots leaders and activists is overwhelming. Together, we can work for more affordable housing, stronger schools with smaller class sizes, economic and social justice, and the intangible qualityof-life elements that are so essential to the city we love.�

Asked about redistricting’s impact, Johnson said, “I think it’s a total unknown how the district’s going to change — but I think however it changes, I’m going to campaign hard and talk about my track record and accomplishments as community board chairperson and also my vision for the district.�

As for activist Kurland, a close political ally of hers, Dodge Landesman, said, “I doubt the district will change too dramatically, so she’s not really thinking about it too seriously.� However, he added, “Her activism on the West Side has also impacted neighborhoods beyond those just lying in the current Third Council District area. For example, she wanted to save St. Vincent’s Hospital, not only to benefit residents of the Lower West Side, but to alleviate hospital overcrowding for people living near the various hospitals in Community Board 6. If her district goes east, north or south, residents of Manhattan in general recognize her efforts.�

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August 16 - 29, 2012

Albert Amateau retires after a lifetime in the news

Photos by Tequila Minsky

Borough President Scott Stringer presented Albert Amateau with a proclamation at his retirement party on Aug. 2.

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON After a career as a newsman spanning six decades, Albert Amateau retired from Community Media earlier this month.

He filed his last story — a fine profile of Peggy Friedman, the director of the Washington Square Music Festival — for the Wed., Aug. 1, deadline. That is, it was his last story as a full-time staffer.

Amateau, who just turned 80, said he plans to take a few weeks to acclimate to retirement, but then might want to freelance for The Villager and East Villager, such as covering precinct community council meetings or writing obituaries.

As he wrote in a personal piece a few weeks ago reflecting on his career, Albert Amateau began his life in newspapers around 1952 as a copy boy at the World Telegram & Sun, down at 125 Barclay St. A fellow copy boy, Allen Ginsberg, advised him to ditch poetry after seeing a sample of his verse.

But it was the news industry’s gain.

Amateau would go on to work for the Lafayette, Louisiana, Daily Advertiser, the Syracuse Post Standard and also Millinery Research, where he covered boxer Emile Griffith, who had a day job in the stockroom of a Sixth Ave. millinery house. He also reported for Women’s Wear Daily and The Westsider and Chelsea Clinton News before coming to The Villager and Downtown Express in 1997.

Amateau wrote The Villager’s Police Blotter, most of the obituaries and covered the full slate of community board meetings and City Council hearings — from St. Vincent’s Hospital to the N.Y.U. 2031 plan.

His obits annually won top honors in the New York Press Association’s newspaper contest, one judge once raving of Amateau’s pieces, “I didn’t want to miss a single, delicious word.”

Larry O’Connor, a former editor of his at the Chelsea Clinton News, respectfully

dubbed Amateau “The Dean of Community Journalism.”

Amateau was feted at a party last Thursday at Phil Mouquinho’s P.J. Charlton bar and restaurant, at Greenwich and Charlton Sts. Borough President Scott Stringer presented Amateau with a proclamation declaring it “Albert Amateau Appreciation Day.” Stringer noted the veteran scribe had been covering him ever since he was a kid campaigning for his cousin Bella Abzug.

Assemblymember Richard Gottfried said Amateau made neighborhood news important, and was always reliable.

“When Amateau said it was so — it was so,” he stated.

Councilmember Gale Brewer also presented the career newsman a proclamation.

She recalled how when she was an aide to former B.P. Ruth Messinger on the Upper West Side, she depended on Amateau’s reporting to help fight for tenants’ rights.

Councilmember Margaret Chin said she hadn’t known Amateau that long, but that he was always a really nice guy.

Troy Masters, associate publisher of Gay City News, said that for a straight person, Amateau wrote very sensitively about gay issues.

“He just gets it,” Masters said, adding, “I love him.” Amateau gallantly kissed Masters’ hand.

Mouquinho said his first memory of Amateau was of him being “surrounded by 14 people” at a meeting. The restaurateur said he had no idea what actually went on at the meeting until he read Amateau’s incisive report.

Jere Hester, a former city editor at the New York Daily News who now works at CUNY’s graduate journalism department, cut his teeth at the Downtown Express with Amateau, during an earlier stint by Amateau at that paper.

“Al taught me how to curse like a devil,” Hester said, “and write like an angel.”

Photo by Byron Company, courtesy Museum of the City of New York

Planting trees was always in fashion The Parks Department is hosting an exhibition at its Arsenal Gallery, in Central Park at 64th St. and Fifth Ave., entitled “Parkcentric: Photographs From the Museum of the City of New York, 1890-1940.” On view weekdays through Thurs., Aug. 30, the show covers a critical period in the city’s parks development from the social reform era to the Works Progress Administration.

Among the historic images by well-known photographers — such as Jacob Riis and Berenice Abbott — are several Village greenswards, including Union Square, Tompkins Square, Washington Square and Kenmare (a.k.a. Lieutenant Petrosino) Square. The photo above is from an Arbor Day parade and planting in Tompkins Square in 1904. Regarding what’s rising from atop the woman’s head, Jonathan Kuhn, the Parks Department’s director of art and antiquities, said, “Yes, this is an arresting detail. It does not appear to be her natural hair, nor I think, a wig. It seems to be a massive headdress with some top plumes rivaling those sported by contemporary artist Chakaia Booker.”

August 16 - 29, 2012

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Photos by Clayton Patterson

Return to Tent City: The mother of all occupations CLAYTON At the punk rock concerts on July 5 marking the Tompkins Square Park riot’s 24th anniversary, one longtime East Villager could be overheard saying, “Occupy Wall Street, they held Zuccotti Park for two months. We occupied Tompkins Square Park for three years!” Clayton Patterson was among the local photographers who documented the homeless park scene, including these shots, from 1989. Clockwise, from top left, the Tent City Crew; a shelter constructed with the help of a children’s jungle gym; a Palm Sunday service at the soon-to-be demolished band shell, inside which homeless people slept; a Tent City resident out cold on a cot during the day.

The Tent City crew were the main organizers of the park’s homeless encampment. “They were in the northwest corner of the park,” Patterson said. “They kept things functioning and they were the main people that you dealt with when issues would come up with the homeless and the park.”

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August 16 - 29, 2012

POLICE BLOTTER Cornelia rape reported

Stewartson was found guilty of felony charges of burglary, robbery and five counts of criminal possession of stolen property. The charges all stemmed from an incident in which Stewartson gained access to a woman’s Christopher St. apartment and choked her into unconsciousness before running out with stolen goods. Stewartson had tricked the woman into letting him into the building by claiming he lived there and that he had lost his keys, according to the D.A.’s report.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.

On Wed., Aug. 15, at about 3 a.m., a woman was reportedly raped by an unknown male on Cornelia St. The victim told police she was walking back toward her residence and was approached by the perpetrator and was later attacked and forcefully raped. The assailant currently remains at large.

The Sixth Precinct, in conjunction with the Police Department’s Special Victims Unit, responded immediately to the incident. Officers canvassed the neighborhood for the perpetrator and searched the scene for evidence. The investigation remains in its early stages.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot-8inch-tall Asian male. However, no sketch is available, since the victim was unable to provide additional details. Police will be reviewing surveillance camera footage on the block and adjacent streets.

Pit bull takes a bullet Police shot an unleashed pit bull in the head in the East Village on Mon., Aug. 13, after its owner suffered a seizure that caused a commotion on the street.

The dog began barking aggressively when three officers surrounded his owner, a homeless man identified only as Polak, who had gone into a violent seizure while panhandling on the corner of E. 14th St. and Second Ave., according to witnesses cited in the New York Post.

Although the bullet wound left him bleeding heavily from the head, the pit bull, named Star, has survived the inci-

Choke burglar convicted Lance Stewartson, 41, was convicted last week of a violent attack and theft he committed in the West Village in 2009.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced on Fri., Aug. 10, that

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dent and is being treated at an East Harlem animal shelter. Both Polak and the officer who shot Star were taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries.

Shoplifting spree ends A young serial shoplifter got a rude awakening on Fri., Aug. 10, when her $4,800 spree ended in an arrest for grand larceny.

Demina Demina, 16, hit three highend clothing stores in the West Village and Meatpacking District that afternoon, starting around 1 p.m. in Otte, at 121 Greenwich Ave. Using the shopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dressing room as a hiding spot, Demina cut the security tags off her items of choice â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a $280 crew-neck sweater, a $1,150 leather jacket and a $125 ring â&#x20AC;&#x201D; before stuffing the merchandise in her shopping bag and sauntering out the door.

She then walked north to Yigal Azrouel, at 408 W. 14th St., where she followed the same process in stealing a $370 shirt, a $1,395 dress and two pairs of shoes taken from the storeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sample rack. Finally, she turned west and ended up at Scoop, at 861 Washington St., where she swiped a $425 skirt and a $1,100 dress.

But while Deminaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s afternoon escapade was still taking place, employees from the first two stores had already gotten wise to her actions and called the police to give her description and whereabouts. So when she walked out of Scoop, Demina got an unexpected surprise to go along with all of that free merchandise â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a couple of officers, waiting to slap the cuffs on her.

Candid-camera catch Three days after he made headlines by being caught on a hidden camera while burglarizing an East Village apartment, Piotr Pasciak, 24, was arrested on Thurs., Aug. 9.

Pasciak, who lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was caught after someone who knows him saw the widely publicized video â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which showed him stealing an iPad, watch and wallet from an apartment at 516 E. 11th St. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and called the police. He is also being charged with breaking into the same apartment on June 12 and stealing video game consoles and other electronics, according to the New York Times.

Pasciak has a history of break-ins, and went to prison from 2009 to 2011 after pleading guilty to charges stemming from three homeinvasion burglaries in Upstate New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Otsego County, the Times article said.

Subway sneak attack Police arrested three men for robbery in the West Village on Thurs., Aug. 9, after they clubbed another man in the back of the head and swiped his wallet. The victim, 44, was walking down the stairs at the

Christopher St.-Sheridan Square subway station at around 1:30 a.m. when Kyle Copeland, 20, Jaquan Ford, 20, and Justin Gaskins, 18, attacked him from behind.

While the victim was on the ground, the three perpetrators fished the wallet out of his back pocket. But when the robbers turned to flee, they were confronted by an officer who had witnessed the whole scene from down the block, and who arrived just in time to apprehend them.

The attack left the man with cuts on his head and a black eye.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Drop the f---- phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; A woman, 36, told police she was sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park on Fri., Aug. 10, around 7:30 p.m. when a strange man approached and began staring directly at her face. Fearing for her safety, she got up and began walking away, but the man gave chase, saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Drop the f-----phone, bitch.â&#x20AC;? The woman quickly complied, leaving her cell phone on the ground for him to pick up.

The threatening thief snatched up the phone â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but unfortunately for him, a courageous male bystander noticed the incident, stepped in, forcibly took the phone back, and restored it to its rightful owner. The woman then found a police officer near the park and led him to the perpetrator, later identified as Jacob Ide, 29, who was promptly arrested for robbery.

Robber punches woman Police are on the hunt for a man who pummeled and robbed a woman in the East Village on Sat., Aug. 11, at around 11:45 p.m.

The perpetrator, who was spotted on a surveillance video, followed the 28-year-old victim into the stairwell of her apartment building at 116 Avenue C, near E. Eighth St. Once inside, he repeatedly punched her in the face and grabbed her purse before fleeing the scene, according to the Post.

The wanted man was described as being approximately 5 feet, 7 inches tall and in his late 20s.

Antigay assault A middle-aged man is wanted for assault after allegedly committing a homophobic hate crime in the East Village on Mon., Aug. 6.

At around 10:45 that night, the suspect was driving his luxury sedan down St. Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place near First Ave., when he stopped the car, got out and accosted a man who was walking down the street. He proceeded to call the pedestrian a â&#x20AC;&#x153;faggotâ&#x20AC;? and hit him on the side of the face, before jumping back into the vehicle and speeding away.

Witnesses described the assailant as white, about 40 to 45 years old, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 200 to 215 pounds.

Sam Spokony

August 16 - 29, 2012

7

8

August 16 - 29, 2012

New beer tries to tap squatters’ ‘defiant rawness’ Continued from page 1 the East Village street that the squat was on until its inhabitants were evicted by police 12 years ago.

Reached by phone in Melbourne, the first question by Benjamin Cairns, the beer’s brand manager, was, “What time is it there?” It was midnight New York time, so about 2 p.m. in “Oz.” Currently, Doss Blockos beer is only available Down Under, in “funky bars and restaurants,” Cairns said. It was released about two years ago.

Each bottle of Doss Blockos is individually packaged in its own paper bag — to evoke the feeling of swigging a brew on the streets of the East Village while dodging arrest by Ninth Precinct cops for drinking in public.

And each bag is emblazoned with the squatter slash symbol and a graffiti image of one cartoon figure spanking another, the latter which was found on a wall in Australia, and is by street artist Jak Rapmund.

Cairns suggested continuing the long-distance interview by e-mail. Asked what moved them to make Doss Blockos beer, Cairns responded, “We see the squatting movement as inspirational, and take a lot from the spirit and sense of community that the EV squatting movement produced. It’s an ideology that makes you stop and think about the world, and what’s important in life. We’ve built this beer brand as a testament to those that continue to live life their way, and aren’t afraid to go against the grain.”

He said the name Doss Blockos and the packaging are intended to evoke the “defiant rawness” of the squatter lifestyle.

Asked what the connection is between the East Village and Melbourne, he said, “Melbourne is a city that has a strong sense of independence, creativity and personality. Melbourne prides itself on its unique bar culture — which suits us down to the ground...NYC bars like PDT, Angel’s Share and Death & Co would be right at home here!”

He said, in the near future, they hope to introduce Doss Blockos in New York, since it’s “where it all began.”

There will surely be the inevitable criticism among former East Village squatters that the suds are a sellout — a way to “commercialize” and “cash in” on movement.

But beyond the paper bags and iconic symbols, the company is carving out a social mission.

“As we grow, we are developing more and more ways in which we can help out these communities from which the ideology sprung,” Cairns said. “The more success we have, the more we look forward to helping out.

“So far, we’ve received some really positive responses

Doss Blockos beer comes ready to hit the streets with its own paper bag emblazoned with the squatter symbol.

from the squatting community in the EV. We’re set to work together in the East Village in the near future and lend a hand in preserving their heritage and lifestyle,” he said. “We’re also working on some stuff here in Australia to raise awareness of the problematic homeless situation here and in NY. We’ve just finished shooting a documentary on squatting and homelessness in NY. “We’ve got some strong links with the creative scene here in Australia, and try and support local artists where

we can,” Cairns continued. “We have recently created an artist residency with T-squat.com in Melbourne.”

Queried if he’s spent time in the East Village, Cairns said, “Yeah, we’ve been there a number of times...and loved the East Village, the multiculturalism, endless number of bars and eateries to try and the friendly New York locals. It’s such an interesting place to us, with such a mixed heritage.”

One notably hoaky thing about the beer, however, is “The Story of Doss Blockos,” on the company’s Web site, which makes mention of “mole people” and says the lager was “brewed beneath the city’s discarded railway systems.” Hmm, sounds like a dose of “Mad Max” somehow got mixed into that myth.

So why did they name the beer after Dos Blockos (which was the way it was actually spelled — “Dos” with one “S”), as opposed to Serenity squat, Fifth St. Squat, or Umbrella House or Bullet Space? Was it just a catchy name?

“I think that the history attached with the Doss Blockos squat in particular was a story that we all fell in love with every time we were slumming it in New York,” he said. “The fact that it brought together a community to stand up for what they believe... the idea that they will fight for what they want and love is beautiful.”

Squatters definitely stood up and fought for Dos Blockos at the end. The squat was active from 1992 until ’99 and had as many as 60 residents at its height. A film shoot for “Trainspotting” was held there in 1996.

After the developer notified them of their imminent eviction, the squatters — including the late Indymedia journalist Brad Will — fortified Dos Blockos with a crown of projecting metal rods ringing its roof line to keep police from getting access to the tenement’s top.

(After the eviction, the Ninth Precinct commanding officer at the time told The Villager that the place had practically been booby-trapped, with squatters concealed under trap doors.)

As a police chopper circled overhead, the late Michael Shenker, a leading spokesperson for the squatters, who had chained himself up in front of Dos Blockos, held forth until his arrest. Jerry The Peddler, known as “the most arrested man in the East Village,” was removed from the place in full arm and leg shackles, a smile beaming on his face.

In 2002, 11 of the 12 remaining East Village squats made a deal with the city under which they each purchased their buildings for $1. Since then, they’ve been working with UHAB (United Homesteading Assistance Board) to bring them up to code as permanent affordable housing, with some squats already having completed the process.

August 16 - 29, 2012

Bike-share rollout keeps hitting bumps in the road

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER One thing is certain about New York City’s bike-share program, which is supposed to make 10,000 bikes available for short-term rentals at 600 docking stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens: It didn’t start in July as advertised.

No one seems to know when the program will hit the streets.

“We’ll make an announcement when we have an update on this,” said Nicholas Mosquera, a spokesperson for the city Department of Transportation.

The idea of a New York City bikeshare program first surfaced publicly in November 2010 when the city issued a request for proposals. This R.F.P. stipulated a program with specially designed bicycles available 24 hours a day for short trips, and that the program was to be financially self-sufficient. The R.F.P. called for a test run of 30 stations in summer 2011 with a rollout of the complete program on April 1, 2012.

However, it wasn’t until Sept. 14, 2011, that New York City announced that it had selected Alta Bicycle Share — which had previously engineered bike-share installations in Montreal, Boston and Melbourne, Australia — to run its bike-share program.

And it wasn’t until the end of April 2012 that Citibank agreed to sponsor New York City’s bike-share program with $41 million to be disbursed over five years. Some of the money was to be used to produce bikes with unique parts that would be incompatible with other bikes and thus discourage stealing. At the same time, MasterCard agreed to put up the $6.5 million needed to install payment mechanisms on the bike stations.

When the contract was announced on May 7, 2012, the city stated that the bikes would be phased in between July 2012 and spring 2013 and that the program would be known as Citi Bike.

Now there is no definite start date.

Mayor Bloomberg has attributed the delay to software problems. He said Alta had changed software vendors and the new system “just doesn’t work yet.”

Perhaps this is to be expected in the launch of what will be the largest bikeshare program in the United States. Yet Alta does not have an unimpeachable track record.

Alta’s equipment provider, Public Bike Systems Co., ran into financial problems in Montreal. The city had to put up $108 million, in part to cover losses incurred by the bike-share program.

And the bike-share system in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which Alta installed and manages, was supposed to start this May, but didn’t go live until July 23. On a much smaller scale than New York City, Chattanooga’s system uses the same bicycles and kiosks that Alta will use in New York. Chattanooga has 300 bikes in

28 locations.

In Chicago, Illinois, a bike-share program operated by Alta was scheduled to start late this summer. Early this month, offi cials announced that the program would not begin until spring 2013 because of equipment manufacturing problems and unresolved docking site issues.

Because the bike docking stations are portable, they can be quickly and easily installed — so it’s conceivable that Alta could put some sharable bikes on New York City’s streets before the fall. But if that deadline is missed, there are rumors that the start date would be pushed back to spring 2013. There are also rumors that Alta has asked Citibank to advance some funds that were contractually not due until the program’s actual launch.

‘A year from now, two years from now — no one is going to remember when [Citi Bike] launched.’

Paul Steely White

According to the New York Post, Citibank paid Alta $1.4 million when it signed the sponsorship contract, with another $1.4 million due on the launch date, and an additional $2.1 million due when 7,000 bikes have actually been deployed. The Post also said that a city Department of Transportation spokesperson called that assertion “inaccurate.”

The truth will doubtless emerge eventually. In the meantime, not everyone is impatient.

“A year from now, two years from now — no one is going to remember when [Citi Bike] launched,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit organization that advocates for cycling, walking and public transit. “They’ll just know that New York has this wonderful transit option.”

White said he thinks Citibank is getting valuable exposure by underwriting the bike-share program.

“This system is going to be as visible as New York City streets and as iconic as Broadway,” he said. “This being New York, I applaud the mayor and the Transportation commissioner for making sure that it’s done right and that we have a bike-share system befitting the greatest city in the world — and if that takes a few more months to make happen, so be it.”

9

10

August 16 - 29, 2012

EDITORIAL Districting: Help wanted Every decade, following the U.S. Census, legislative boundaries are adjusted to reflect changes in the population. Nationally, this involves congressional districts while statewide, it involves the Assembly and Senate districts.

For New York City, it will reshape the 51 City Council districts. The New York City Charter establishes a Districting Commission to carry out this important function, essential to the operation of our city’s government.

Over the next few months, the Districting Commission will undertake this important task. The Charter provides the commission with criteria it should use in creating the district lines. Applying the constitutional standard of “one person, one vote,” the districts must be of essentially equal population. And in complying with the Federal Voting Rights Act, the districting plan must provide an opportunity for members of the “protected classes” (blacks, Hispanics and Asian-Americans) to elect candidates of their choice.

The charter also encourages consideration of so-called “communities of interest,” as well as observing certain technical features. For example, districts are to be compact and contiguous, not be twice as long as they are wide, or have many jagged lines. Districts should respect county boundaries.

In our coverage area, for example, one question might be whether — especially, after the recent contentious City Council vote to approve the N.Y.U. 2031 development plan on the superblocks — should this area be kept in Lower Manhattan’s District 1? Do the superblocks’ residents “share interests” to a greater degree with residents in District 3 (Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen) or possibly District 2 (the East Village)?

Also, should District 3’s eastern boundary be Fifth Ave., or — as former Councilmember Carol Greitzer advocates — would it be better if Greenwich Village were “unified” by including the area all the way over to, say, Bowery/Fourth Ave.? This would mean District 2 would lose this area.

Should Soho be shifted out of District 1? Does opposition by many Soho residents to a proposed Soho Business Improvement District mean they have more in common with residents living in District 3?

Neighbors who have strong feelings on these issues are encouraged to turn out at the hearings to voice their feelings.

However, just testifying, for instance, that a particular district’s councilmember didn’t vote on a certain issue how residents would have liked won’t impress the commission.

Residents must convey why adjacent blocks or neighborhoods share — or don’t share — common interests, why they should be united, or split off.

The commission’s districting plan will be subject to review by the City Council and, in final form, to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice (or the federal district court in the District of Columbia).

As part of its first round of hearings, the Districting Commission will be holding a Manhattan public hearing on Thurs., Aug. 16, at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The public is invited to pre-register for speaking time or submit written testimony at nyc.gov/districting, where the schedule of hearing dates is also listed.

The commission is slated to produce maps of proposed district lines by early September. A second round of public hearings will be held in October. The City Council will vote on the revised lines in early November. However, if the Council rejects the revisions, it will trigger another round of hearings to be held by March.

The commission’s 15 appointed members are drawn from all the boroughs and reflect the city’s diverse population. All New Yorkers are eligible to give testimony at the districting hearings. Our democracy is enhanced by such participation — when people make their voices heard, and make their votes count.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ch-ch-changes To The Editor: Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2): Thanks to Mr. Sutter for his years of successfully publishing these vital community papers. Best wishes to Ms. Goodstein as she steers NYC Community Media for the next generation.

Kimberly Donahue

Thanks for a stellar job To The Editor: Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2): John, you have done a stellar job leading a phenomenal team of journalists who so thoroughly, fairly and brilliantly have covered our neighborhoods.

You will be missed — but you leave behind a talented, awardwinning team.

Good luck in pursuing new adventures and we will see you in the neighborhood.

Corey Johnson

Way to go, sis!

To The Editor: Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2): Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Jennifer, on her new business venture. Very proud of you.

Rochelle Spector

Unify the Village district To The Editor: This week we have the opportunity to put the Village back together again…at the first Districting Commission hearing leading up to the 2013 City Council elections. Greenwich Village used to be in one district, but more recently it has been divided into three districts, with two of the three councilmembers generally deferring to the third on every issue…and thus not representing their constituents. After all, it wasn’t just the residents of one part of the Village who were affected by what happened to St.

Vincent’s and Washington Square Park.

Unlike many other geographical areas in the city with somewhat vague boundaries, Greenwich Village has very distinct and clear-cut borders, as recognized by the City Planning Commission when it drew community board lines.

Nevertheless, a powerful member of a previous Districting Commission opined that if Fifth Ave. was good enough to be the line demarking East and West in Manhattan, it was good enough to provide a neat divide, wherever possible, for Council districts. And that’s why Villagers living east of Fifth Ave. and south of the park have been gerrymandered out of the district that includes the majority of Villagers.

The Districting Commission is seeking your input at the first Manhattan hearing Thurs., Aug. 16, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway. You can sign in online at www.nyc.gov/districting. Come and testify. This is our chance to make the Village whole again.

Carol Greitzer

Smart, sexy and powerful To The Editor: Re “Burlesque will be on the menu with stripped-down poetry club” (news article, Aug. 2): I’m interested in learning what it is about the modern burlesque movement that’s so sexist in K Webster’s opinion.

Is the problem that we and the venues we’re working at are making money on an art form that we enjoy and choose to do? An art form, by the way, that is produced almost entirely by and performed mostly for women. Or is it because there’s an element of striptease involved? I’m genuinely curious, and I’m having a hard time accepting the idea that burlesque is an invitation to treat women as anything less than human, unless you feel that way about performance art in general.

My guess is that you just don’t know much about neo-burlesque.

I personally know most of the women in that Duane Park promo photo that was on The Villager’s front page last week. I won’t pretend to speak for them, but they’re incredible, smart, talented women. Some are business owners. A couple produce shows of their own. Throughout the scene there are doctors, professors, mental health professionals — these are not women doing this for lack of other options.

They’re also not performing out of some internalized self-hate.

They’re strong, confident women of varying body types who’ve decided that being smart and being sexy need not be mutually exclusive.

Maybe you didn’t say “burlesque is degrading,” but the implication that it’s inherently sexist is completely unfair.

Kita St. Cyr

Continued on page 13

EVAN FORSCH

August 16 - 29, 2012

11

Top 10 outrageous things about N.Y.U. plan approval TALKING POINT

BY ANDREW BERMAN The recent approval of New York University’s massive expansion plan by the City Council, City Planning Commission and borough president was a stunning, if not entirely unexpected, decision. As we and our friends at N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan prepare our legal challenge of the approvals, we have been poring over the voluminous documents outlining the terms of the giveaway of public land, light, air and development rights to N.Y.U. The city documents have been an eyeful.

Here for your perusal is a list of the 10 most outrageous things about the city’s approval of the N.Y.U. expansion plan.

Zipper trouble: At just shy of 1 million square feet, the massive “Zipper Building” to rise on Mercer St. will be the largest building ever constructed in Greenwich Village.

The 375-foot-long, 300-foot-tall edifice will be so large you could actually fit all three of the adjacent 30-story I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers inside the new structure twice over, or almost the entire neighboring four-building Washington Square Village complex.

In fact, at just shy of 2 million square feet altogether, the N.Y.U. expansion will more than double the current square footage on the two superblocks containing the already-quite-large Washington Square Village and Silver Towers complexes. But whereas those developments were designed with ample open space and low-rise structures around them to balance out the impact of their mass, much of that will disappear to be replaced by newer, much more massive structures.

And added bonus: While the city claims it disallowed N.Y.U.’s planned hotel in the Zipper Building, there’s actually nothing to prevent the university from having sleeping accommodations and suites available on a short-term basis for visitors, functioning for all intents and purposes as a hotel.

No alternatives: Opponents of the N.Y.U. plan didn’t simply say the university shouldn’t grow; we actually offered win-win alternatives for N.Y.U.’s growth that would have been greener and more beneficial to the city as a whole. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation commissioned studies showing that locating some of N.Y.U.’s expansion just a 5-minute subway ride away in the Financial District, where community leaders were begging N.Y.U. to consider locating,

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Andrew Berman of G.V.S.H.P, left, and Professor Ann Pellegrini of N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan at a rally on the City Hall steps last month before the City Council voted to approve the N.Y.U. 2031 plan.

would have been more economically beneficial to the city (not to mention that satellite campuses have become the way for cities to deal with university expansions, and that schools across the country spread their facilities across distances the equivalent of Washington Square to the Financial District, or greater). N.Y.U.’s faculty pointed out that most of the university’s classes don’t meet on Fridays, and that if the university simply implemented Friday classes, it could increase its classroom space by 25 percent without spending a penny. But city officials refused to ask N.Y.U. to even consider these alternatives.

What public input? The N.Y.U. plan was roundly opposed by N.Y.U.’s own faculty, staff and workers; its neighbors; the local community board; and far and away the majority of the public who contacted city officials and participated in literally dozens of public hearings about the plan. The City Planning Commission public hearing lasted 10 hours, reportedly the longest in the commission’s history, due to the volume of opposing testimony. In spite of this overwhelming outpouring against the plan, the City Council, Planning Commission and borough president all voted to approve N.Y.U.’s

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Sasaki signs and accessible atriums: The “amenities” offered to the public in exchange for the lavish approvals given to N.Y.U. would be funny if they weren’t so sad. Two stand out.

First, N.Y.U. will have to install better signs announcing that Washington Square Village’s award-winning Sasaki Garden is open to the public — that is, before it demolishes the garden to make way for massive new buildings and an underground labyrinth of labs and classroom.

Second, in exchange for the loss of public parks, playgrounds, gardens and dog runs, N.Y.U. will have to allow public access to an atrium inside the massive, million-square-foot Zipper Building.

Bulldozers Yes, preservation No: While the city moved ahead with this massive upzoning and development project for N.Y.U. despite community objections, it continues to refuse to move ahead with the long-promised, proposed South Village Historic District, which directly abuts the N.Y.U. expansion. Groups have been clamoring for this designation for a decade.

Meanwhile, N.Y.U. got its approvals from the Council, Planning Commission and borough president in just under six months.

(Not) Promise keepers: It’s one thing when elected officials do things you don’t like. It’s another when they publicly state they are going to do one thing, but then do another. Both Councilmember Chin and Borough President Stringer stood with community groups for a press conference announcing they absolutely would not, under any circumstances, support giving away any public green space to N.Y.U. as part of its expansion plan. And yet that’s exactly what they did: The plans approved by the borough president and the City Council both sold off what are now public playgrounds, park space, gardens and dog runs to N.Y.U. Beyond that, Borough President Stringer convened a “Community Task Force on N.Y.U. Expansion” for four years prior to the university submitting its expansion plans, a task force in which Councilmember Chin, Speaker Quinn and Councilmember Mendez all participated. A broad range of community groups and stakeholders participated as well, and were charged with issuing recommendations regarding N.Y.U.’s expansion and how it could be compatible with community concerns. While the elected officials did not pledge to be bound by the task force’s recommendations, they did pledge to be guided by them in considering N.Y.U.’s application. The recommendations included that N.Y.U. first look outside the Village for locations for new facilities, as well as provide a rationale for why any new facilities must be located within the already oversaturated “core” of the Village. Neither recommendation was ever raised by either the Council or the borough president in their approvals.

Window dressing: With approval of the N.Y.U. plan, literally thousands of New Yorkers will be living directly adjacent to 20 years of demolition, multistory, underground excavation, and massive new construction. The mitigation? The City Council is requiring N.Y.U. to provide new windows for neighbors.

Lack of commitment: Throughout the process, N.Y.U. repeatedly claimed that its requested expansion was not prompted by any planned expansion of its student enrollment, and that enrollment over the course of the two decades of this plan would only grow 0.5 percent annually. (That’s even cited by the City Planning Commission in its approvals.) Instead, the university claimed the expansion was needed to provide adequate space to accommodate growth that had already occurred over the past several decades. But opponents pointed out that there was absolutely nothing in the approvals N.Y.U. sought from the city that kept the uni-

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August 16 - 29, 2012

Your company insurance changed again?

Another reason to call.

Photo by Duncan Osborne

The fate of Chick-fil-A at N.Y.U. will have to wait for a decision by the University Senate when classes resume in the fall.

Many cooks stirring the pot in Chick-fil-A flap at N.Y.U. Continued from page 1

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Christine Quinn, who is openly gay, stirred the pot last month when she used Council letterhead in a message to university President John Sexton, asking him to cancel ties with Chick-fil-A. More feathers flew because she opened by mentioning her official capacity “as the Speaker of the NYC Council, and on behalf of my family.”

If Quinn had her way, students might have to gobble up other offerings at the Weinstein dining room on University Place, like Quiznos subs, fruit-filled pancakes and “Grab n’ Go” items like sushi.

N.Y.U.’s decision on the subject is pending. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “The recent remarks attributed to Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy about gay marriage are out of step with N.Y.U.’s views on this matter, and with our practices.” As to the school’s next move, the statement said, “The University Administration will ask the University Senate to take up the issue of Chick-fil-A’s status on campus again when it reconvenes this fall to make a recommendation on how to proceed.”

In a written statement, Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A executive vice president of marketing, said, “We value everyone and strive to treat all people with a caring spirit.” An online press release for the company says, “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”

Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t feel it’s government’s duty to flush Chick-fil-A out of the city.

On WOR Radio’s “The John Gambling Show with Mayor Mike,” Bloomberg said it was inappropriate for “government to look at some-

body’s political views and decide whether they can live in the city or operate a business in the city or work for someone in the city.”

Similarly, Gregory Angelo, chairperson of Log Cabin Republicans of New York State, representing gays and lesbians within the Republican Party, cried “fowl” at the effort to ban the chicken chain.

“I do not want elected officials making the choice of how or where to spend my money,” Angelo said.

Tina Montenegro, an N.Y.U. doctoral student in French literature, said the owner of Chick-fil-A stating his opinion “is free expression.”

Marion Nestle, a professor in the nutrition department at N.Y.U., said, “It seems to me that there are two issues here. Should N.Y.U. permit franchises on campus from fast-food companies with distasteful views about sexual preference? And should N.Y.U. permit fast-food and beverage companies to be on campus at all?”

Nestle said such fast-food companies market themselves to poor families and children both here and in developing nations.

“The Chick-fil-A issue is a good reason for N.Y.U. to reconsider all of its arrangements with fast-food and soda companies,” Nestle stated.

On another gustatory note, radio host Gambling said the chain’s chicken sandwiches were tasty. The mayor chimed in, “Never had one, I didn’t know about them until I read about them in the paper.”

The L.G.B.T. Center on W. 13th St. declined comment on the politically incorrect poultry place.

However, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the local gay and lesbian synagogue, said, “As individual consumers, we should express our values through how we spend our dollars.”

August 16 - 29, 2012

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from page 10

Restored our faith To The Editor: I am the owner of a small struggling independent bookstore on Carmine St. in Greenwich Village.

We have been on Carmine for 20 years and now, with the devastating economy, we are having a hard time, like many other independent bookstores. I wanted to share with your readers a very positive New York story.

Today I was cleaning the store counter and I found on top of the pile of books, one of the store’s small bags with a note in it. The note was written “To Jim and Indiana,” and said the following. (I’ve taken the person’s name out for privacy’s sake.)

“Hello, My name is ___, I used to steal books (in 2001-2007) from the store and wish to pay for them. This is payment, estimated, in part.

Yours, ______” Inside the folded note, there were five $20 bills, a total of $100!

This is why I love New York: You never know what to expect.

Since I don’t know who this person is — because the note was left on top of the counter — I wanted to write something to him or her.

What I wanted to say is: Your gesture meant so much to us during these difficult times.

Thank you so much for restoring our faith and hope in people.

Indiana Bervis Bervis is co-owner, Unoppressive Imperialist Bargain Books

Non

Here today, gone tomorrow To The Editor: Re “Gentrification, genocide and the shadow of Bialystok” (talking point, by Bill Weinberg, July 12): I was interested to read Bill Weinberg’s talking point. I think Weinberg fails to acknowledge the realities of immigration as they play out in New York City.

In the East Village, Germans were replaced

by Italians and Eastern Europeans, who then stepped away to make room for Puerto Ricans.

Now, the children of assimilated immigrant groups are returning.

The Norwegians and Swedes are gone from Bay Ridge, replaced by Arabs. The Irish are gone from the my childhood South Bronx neighborhood, displaced by African-Americans and Puerto Ricans, who are now being replaced by Mexicans. The Greeks are gone, mostly, from Astoria, like the Italians whom they displaced.

And there used to be an African Methodist Episcopal church on Cornelia St.

The list goes on, endlessly.

Each of the to-be-displaced groups builds churches, synagogues, clubs and cultural institutions meant to last until the final trumpet. But we move on — or are moved on — and no one long remembers.

In part, we are moved by our success in this socially and physically mobile society. By the time Weinberg was born, there were more Bialystok descendants in Queens or the Five Towns than had ever stepped off a boat from the old country. They were too successful to stay: They wanted a lawn and a garage and…all the rest. They became Americans.

Here’s the two-part punch line: The current changes in the neighborhood are not, as Weinberg says, “…effected through the violence of police nightsticks.” The police, even at their worst, do not conduct crime waves.

Anyone who lived through the several waves of crime in the East Village and Lower East Side can discern the difference between police behavior, even bad police behavior, and the plague of drugs and burglaries and violence — real violence — that gutted the area’s social life for decades.

On this point, Weinberg argues for a theory of moral equivalence that is unsupported by facts or moral reasoning. Knowing everything that is written above, as virtually everyone does, it is morally repugnant of Weinberg to suggest even the most distant connection between genocide and the commonplace occurrence of New York neighborhood change.

Neighborhood change, all over the city, all the time, is just how it goes.

Bernard McElhone

13

Great house, great times To The Editor: Re “Key site in early gay rights history faces demolition” (news article, July 26): I remember this building very well as the home of Bruce Voeller, Arnie Kantrowitz and Jim Owles. I went to several wonderful parties there.

It was a time of huge optimism, intense bonding among gay activists, and a feeling of outrage that could scorch the streets.

All of the house’s residents were active in the Gay Activists Alliance, whose clubhouse or community center on Wooster St. in an old firehouse — which became known as The Firehouse — became legendary. Their weekly Saturday evening dances were the forerunners of gay dance clubs in the city. They also orchestrated their famous “Zaps” from The Firehouse.

This house should be preserved for its historic associations. Jim Owles and Bruce Voeller are no longer with us, Arnie Katrowitz is. I’m glad for that.

Perry Brass Brass is the author of “King of Angels,” a new gay, Southern, Jewish, coming-of-age novel set in Savannah, Georgia, in 1963, the year of John F. Kennedy’s assassination E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to lincoln@thevillager.com or fax to 212229-2790 or mail to The East Villager, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013.

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14

August 16 - 29, 2012

Pieces are falling into place for activist museum

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Things are really starting to come together at the new Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) — including, notably, its mosaic sign.

Over the past two weekends, volunteer crews have been assembling at the museum space, in the ground-floor storefront of C-Squat, at Avenue C and E. 10th St., to assemble the sign — a first for all of them.

According to Laurie Mittelmann, the museum’s co-director, on the first weekend, they tried to enlist the East Village’s “Mosaic Man,” Jim Power, to do the 13-foot-long shingle, but he was swamped with his various commission work. But Power gave two of the museum’s volunteers a tutorial, and they also read about making tile mosaics online, allowing them to get started.

The result was a smashing success. However, the tiles weren’t literally smashed, but clipped.

They purchased 3-inch-by-3-inch blue tiles, and Mittelmann and the volunteers, using a cutting tool, clipped them into fragments and shards.

Then they arranged the blue bits into the shape of the letters, which had been stenciled onto the sign. Black tile bits were used to create the MoRUS logo at the sign’s right end. The space between the blue letters was filled in with mirrored mosaic pieces.

Meredith Doby, an exhibit designer, created the sign’s design, and, with Jonathan Daily, pieced together the “M.” “It’s like a puzzle — but you’re controlling

Photo by Angie Dykshorn

Amelia Martin, left, Tania Doles, right, and other volunteers working on MoRUS’s mosaic sign two weekends ago.

it,” she said of the M.O. of mosaic.

Meanwhile, the mosaic maestro Power showed up this past Saturday to help them with adding the grout, as well as doing the design elements on the sign’s left side, including four tenement buildings with a garden in the middle, with the sun shining in the background.

The sign is close to completion. As for the museum, Mittelmann said they hope to open soon.

When they’re not getting MoRUS ready, Mittelmann, co-director Bill DePaola and volunteers help out in local gardens. They recently installed a sink in La Plaza Cultural, built a stage in Green Oasis Garden, and planned to construct a solar-powered pond in another community garden.

MoRUS will be paying C-Squat $1,600 monthly rent. The museum recently received $3,500 from Councilmember Rosie Mendez,

which will help, covering two months’ rent.

Bill Cashman, a band and event manager who lives in the former squat, took the lead on bringing in the museum.

He said a few of the C-Squat residents actually had backed a more traditional commercial tenant for the space, feeling it would bring in the most rent, which would be to the residents’ benefit. But most wanted a nonprofit use connected to the principles of East Village squatting and activism, and MoRUS fit the bill.

“I’m totally for it,” Cashman said of MoRUS. “Me and Johnny Coast — it was a total group effort.”

Cashman added that if some sort of chain store were the tenant, it would have fixed up the storefront space at its own expense.

However, C-Squat spent its own funds to get the storefront, as well as part of the basement, into usable shape for MoRUS. “We put in a lot of money,” Cashman said, not wanting to disclose the amount publicly.

For Cashman and the other C-Squatters, the crowning moment will be when the museum’s new storefront and steel window frame is installed — which was made by two of the building’s longtime denizens, Popeye and Shayne — which will mark the end of C-Squat’s efforts on behalf of the new museum space.

That will happen sometime soon.

“It’ll be good,” Cashman said. “That rolldown gate has been closed for so many years. It’ll be one less closed, roll-down gate on the block.”

August 16 - 29, 2012

15

Sirovich’s Center offers window(s) into mosaic

Photo by Bonnie Rosenstock

Artist Julia Whitney Barnes in front of one of the mosaics Sirovich Center seniors created in sealed-over balcony windows.

aways. In addition, she retrieved broken chinaware more than 100 years old from Dead Horse Bay, the Brooklyn dumping

Trinity Wall Street THURSDAY, AUGUST 16 & 23, 5:15pm Summer Evensong When Evening Prayer is sung it is called Evensong, the service that closes the day. During the summer Trinity offers a simplified version of Evensong, sung by the congregation.

All Saints’ Chapel, Trinity Church

Let’s do something together

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2-6pm Open Labyrinth Walk Open to all for walking, prayer, meditation.

St. Paul’s Chapel

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 6-7:30pm Family Friday Pizza and Movie Night This month’s movie is Disney’s THURSDAY, AUGUST 16 & 23, 5:45pm Beauty and the Beast.

Charlotte’s Place Summer Discussion Group Following Evensong, study the history SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 & 26, 10am and meaning of hymns, including the Community Bible Study hymns for the following Sunday and the A weekly, summer Bible study favorite hymns of those who are present. open to all.

74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl, Parlor 74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl, Parlor EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY, 12:45pm Brown Bag Lunch Ministry Trinity’s Brown Bag Lunch Ministry is open to anyone that needs a lunch or you can volunteer to distribute lunches.

Trinity Churchyard (north side)

All Are Welcome All events are free, unless noted.

212.602.0800

ground that closed in the 19th century.

“I thought it would be great to have something older than anyone here,” she

said, of her wading adventure. “Everything in there is before Styrofoam and plastic and gorgeous.”

The popular Sirovich ceramics studio was abuzz with activity. Sheila O’Brien, 75, a Stuyvesant Town resident, said, “The project was a real challenge. Julia gave us a creative outlet, something to strive for and we had to cooperate with one another.”

Shirley Birnbaum, 80, molded ceramic flowers for one panel and a bird, fish and yellow daisy for another. The Lower East Side resident has been attending the center for 21 years and runs the regular mosaic class.

“Julia enhanced everything we did,” Birnbaum said. “The mosaics are absolutely gorgeous.”

Terry Gregory, director of the center, which is affiliated with the Educational Alliance, said this was the second project with the Department of Aging.

“We found the quality of people very high, and members gained a lot of expertise and enjoyment,” he said. “This year, we were extremely lucky in getting Julia.

She has love for them and vice versa.”

Barnes has her sights set on the remaining three closed-off spaces on the wall.

When she woke up the morning after the June 23 public opening, she promised herself, “I don’t know when, but I have to do them at some point.”

Her team is ready.

trinitywallstreet.org

worship SUNDAY, 8am and 10am St. Paul’s Chapel Holy Eucharist SUNDAY, 9am and 11:15am Trinity Church Preaching, music, and Eucharist Child care available MONDAY – FRIDAY, 12:05pm Trinity Church Holy Eucharist MONDAY – FRIDAY, 5:15pm All Saints’ Chapel, in Trinity Church Evening Prayer, Evensong (Thurs.)

Watch online webcast

TRINITY CHURCH Broadway at Wall Street 74 Trinity Place is located in the office building behind Trinity Church.

Max Maddock

BY BONNIE ROSENSTOCK When visual artist Julia Whitney Barnes began her six-month SPARC (Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide) residency at the Sirovich Senior Center, she immediately proposed creating a lasting legacy. Inspired by 2,300-year-old Hellenist mosaics she admired during a residency in Eretria, Greece, she envisioned using that vibrant art form to transform four cemented-over former balconies in the main ballroom/auditorium of the center at 331 E. 12th St. between First and Second Aves.

“It’s especially important for older populations, who want to have a lasting mark, to be able to make something together to impact the space,” Barnes, 32, said. “I also wanted to create something that would have universal appeal.”

Collectively called “Refracted Nature,” each of the four, spectacular, 40-inch-by60-inch mosaic panels reflects a different theme: flowers, animals, landscape and figures of people. “But the consistent theme is growth,” Barnes said.

The mosaics were a true collaboration between Barnes and about 20 seniors, ranging from 60 to 90 years old, who created hundreds of ceramic relief elements, which were combined with repurposed glass, ceramic fragments and antique dishes. Barnes contributed objects, hoarded in her Red Hook studio from street throw-

Trinity Brown Bag Lunch Ministry serves lunches to those in need every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:45–1:30pm.

ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL Broadway and Fulton Street CHARLOTTE’S PLACE 107 Greenwich St, btwn Rector & Carlisle The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Vicar

an Episcopal parish in the city of New York

16

August 16 - 29, 2012

Con Ed and union connect on four-year agreement

BY LIZA BÉAR Bringing their highly charged labor dispute to a conclusion, on Wednesday, members of Local 1-2 Utility Workers Union of America voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement with Con Edison.

“After the largest lockout of union members in U.S. history, the brothers and sisters of Local 1-2 voted by a margin of 93 percent to accept a new four-year agreement with Con Edison,” Harry Farrell, president of Local 1-2, said in a statement.

“While no contract is perfect, it was our recommendation that this agreement be approved by the membership,” Farrell said. “In its totality it is clear that we won some significant advantages at the bargaining table.”

The contract addresses union members’ concerns about changes to their pension benefits plan. In addition, if Con Ed replaces union employees, it now must replace every three of four of these jobs with union workers, rather than outside contractors. Also, an outside independent contractor must now be used to assess whether outside contractors are necessary for jobs, or if they can and should be performed by union members.

On Thurs., July 26, the stalemate in which Con Ed labor-management talks had been mired since April was suddenly broken, ending

Photo by Liza Béar:

Members of Local 1-2 at a labor solidarity rally in Union Square on July 17.

a 26-day lockout of 8,500 employees.

The lockout — not a strike — had been initiated with no advance notice on July 1

by Con Ed when the union’s previous fouryear contract expired. The 8,500 front-line workers were replaced with 5,000 managers, some of whom had to work as much as 72 hours a week.

With the threat of a ferocious storm hitting New York City and wreaking havoc to

the power grid, Governor Cuomo finally intervened. Summoning the two sides to his Manhattan office at 633 Third Ave. he reportedly kept them there until they reached a deal.

“We would like to thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for his support and guidance in helping Con Edison and the leadership of UWUA Local 1-2 reach a tentative agreement that is fair and equitable for our employees and customers,” Allan Drury, a Con Ed spokesperson, said at the

time in an e-mailed statement after negotiations ended.

“It’s a political gain for Cuomo if he runs for re-election as governor,” said Frankie, a shop steward in the utility’s electrical department.

The main sticking points in the talks were pensions and health benefits.

“All in all, it is a fair deal,” said Gary Magliari, a design engineer and shop steward. “We had to make some concessions with increases in medical and prescription contributions. ‘The Perfect Storm’ gave the union bargaining leverage. It gave the governor a chance to redeem himself. And it gave the company some concessions it wanted, along with bringing back its workforce in time to support any damage caused by the heavy winds.”

While the agreement offers wage increases of 10.5 percent over four years, this is offset by substantial increases in medical co-pays.

However, a major new gain for the union is that current members will keep their existing fixed pension plan, which allows them to retire at age 55 with 48 percent average of their last four years’ pay until at least 2037; Con Ed is not allowed to try to renegotiate this clause every four years at contract time.

“Our total C.B.A. [collective bargaining agreement] is the size of a paperback novel,” said John Melia, spokesperson for Local 1-2.

Top 10 outrageous things about N.Y.U. plan approval Continued from page 11 versity from, in spite of this claim, continuing to grow its student population at a breakneck speed, and coming back in 20 years to ask for more new facilities, more public land, and more neighborhood zoning protections to be overturned to accommodate additional growth.

In fact, mere days before the Council voted to approve its plans, N.Y.U. admitted that in the coming year the number of freshman entering the university would increase by 10 to 15 percent over the prior year, or roughly the entire increase in student enrollment N.Y.U. predicted would take place over 20 years!

Before the ink was even dry…: Speaking of breaking commitments, before the ink was even dry on its approvals from the City Council, N.Y.U. broke one of its cardinal commitments

connected to its expansion plan. Throughout the process, the N.Y.U. administration claimed the entire rationale behind its proposal was to make its planning “transparent,” and that, unlike in the past, it was letting the public, especially the Greenwich Village community, know everything it was planning to build in advance.

But just days after the City Council voted to approve the N.Y.U. 2031 plan, the university announced its intention to construct new physics labs at 726 Broadway — a never-before disclosed plan that requires adding a three-story mechanical addition atop a building in the Noho Historic District. This means Landmarks Preservation Commission approvals are required, and — because physics labs are prohibited by the area’s zoning — also a zoning variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals. So much for transparency! The reaction from city officials that approved the N.Y.U. plan? Not a peep.

It could be worse: As bad as the terms are under which N.Y.U.’s massive expansion plan was approved, they could actually worsen in the future. A provision in the City Council approval allows N.Y.U. to go back at any time and apply for changes to certain aspects of the plan that would only need to be approved by the City Planning Commission, an unelected body, rather than go through the full public review and approval process that includes the City Council, an elected body. Supposed “amenities” being offered to the community as “givebacks” in the plan could all be eliminated, such as the community space N.Y.U. is supposed to provide and the public access to certain areas. Requirements to try to preserve existing gardens, plus mitigation requirements on noise and construction and environmental impact, could also simply be changed or eliminated at the request of N.Y.U. by a mere vote of the commission.

One thing that became painfully clear with the review process for this plan is that this was a done deal from the start. In spite of vigorous public participation in the process, the only thing the university and city officials were willing to consider was fiddling with the margins.

G.V.S.H.P. and N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan will announce the filing of our legal challenge of the N.Y.U. plan soon.

Berman is executive director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

August July16 5 - 29, 18, 2012

17

EASTVILLAGERARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Over a dozen fresh local eggs FringeNYC shows by, or about, Villagers

BY SCOTT STIFFLER They play up its global identity right there in the title — yet of the nearly 200 shows that are part of the New York International Fringe Festival, well over a dozen either take place in the Village or were created by Villagers.

That makes this edition of the annual theater fest an unusually hyperlocal one, in which more than a few shows are being performed within blocks of their actual settings…often by a cast who came to the Village from far-off places, only to find themselves acting in a show about…the Village. Confused? Intrigued? Filled with local pride? Don’t be…except for that last one. This should clear things up a bit:

I’M SORRY Written & Performed by Katya Lidsky Directed by Giles Chiasson Sat., Aug. 18, 9pm; Sun., Aug. 19, 7:15pm; Wed., Aug. 22, 6:30pm; Fri., Aug. 24, 5pm; Sat., Aug. 25, 9:15pm; Sun., Aug. 26, 2pm At The White Box at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette St., Astor Place) Tickets: $15 in advance $18 at the box office To order, and for a full schedule of FringeNYC events, visit fringenyc.org In our recent phone conversation (not her one call from jail), Katya Lidsky didn’t seem like the troublemaking type at all. So how did this nice Cuban-Jewish girl end up cooling her heels in a West Village holding cell?

Originally from Laredo, TX and currently based in L.A., Lidsky did four years of hard

time as an undergrad at NYU. Inspired by her lingering affection for the West Village, “I’m Sorry” is set in Manhattan and concerns, as Lidsky tells it, “an overly apologetic person who has experiences that change her.

She becomes an animal activist, which is not a people-pleasing stance to take.”

The culminating scene of this solo show, in which Lidsky plays 16 men, women and animals, takes place at the Sixth Precinct — after the formerly meek main character blossoms into a rebel with a cause.

“It’s based on my life,” says the writer/ performer. “Almost all of the events are true. I wanted to tell it because I’m hoping other people-pleasers might find a sense of purpose, which for me, saved my butt… to know you have something greater than yourself to focus on.”

Caged in her West Village holding cell, like an animal, Lidsky says her formerly mousy alter ego “stops apologizing and realizes she is not sorry. If people don’t like her, that’s too bad. It’s her new attitude, and that’s the new life she’s going to lead.”

Lidsky is not afraid of biting the hand of the locale that fed the show its subject matter and setting. “I spent a lot of time in the West Village when I went to NYU,” she recalls. “It’s so progressive. But I’m shocked,” she says referencing puppy mills and unethical breeders, “that there are over six pet stores [in the area] that sell their puppies. I don’t mean to attack West Villagers, but I chose to focus on this area because it’s such a sweet spot for change.

It’s a great model for what I think New York City can do for animals.”

Photo courtesy of Gene Blalock

Katya Lidsky of “I’m Sorry” has a lot of explaining to do…but no apologies to issue.

AFTER THE CIRCUIT Written & Produced Josh Billig Directed by Matthew Singletary Sat., Aug 18, 7:15pm and Sat., Aug. 25, 12pm At The Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St., btw. Aves. A & B) Visit afterthecircuit.com It’s 1933 — and while the Great Depression hasn’t even begun to ebb, vaudeville’s been on the wane for the better part of a decade. The once-vibrant theaters of the Lower East Side have either shuttered or replaced their stages with movie screens — forcing plate spinners, tap dancers, comedy teams and their ilk to spread out across the country. Unlike Buster Keaton or The Marx Brothers, few would find steady work in Hollywood (or anywhere else).

Following the morphine overdose of his twin brother and performing partner, rudderless Theo must prevent his marriage, and career, from crumbling.

“The protagonist is trying to figure out how he can be a vaudevillian without his partner, and in a world where vaudeville is getting smaller and smaller,” says playwright Josh Billig, who set much of the action “in the tenement where my great grandfather grew up, on East Fourth and Avenue C. The family lived there from around 1902-1925.

It was this generation of immigrants that influenced vaudeville and comedy. So many of these great vaudevillians took to the road and spread their style of humor from New York to California.”

Although they weren’t in show business, Billig did draw inspiration from his family’s time as tenement dwellers, noting parallels between vaudeville performers and East Village residents. “That area,” Billig says, “had a huge immigrant population. You had this melting pot of Jewish, Italian, Irish. It was this really bizarre sense of community where it was insulated within itself. So whatever clan you came from, you’d be that first. Then of your neighborhood, then of New York. I think that’s kind of gone now… but maybe it’s morphed into something else.

You still have tenements, but they’re called ‘projects.’ You still find these close knit communities, similar to what was happening in ’20s and ’30s.”

Billig also draws parallels to 2012 and the era of his play, in the hard times experienced by performers displaced from their chosen mediums. “In the same way that movies killed vaudeville,” he laments, “the Internet is doing that to so many of the arts, be it film or TV or theater. They still exist, and I think they will always exist. But at the same time, with the ubiquity of YouTube,

Photo courtesy of the Jonathon Musser

Josh Billig’s play “After the Circuit” takes place in the LES tenement where his grandparents lived.

it makes it hard for an artist to be an individual and find their niche.”

Good to know, then, that the resilient Billig has managed to bend YouTube to his own will by posting a vaudeville skit from “After the Circuit.” But if you want to access it, please: Find your way there by visiting afterthecircuit.com instead of proceeding directly to that infamous Internet site whose name we won’t mention again.

Theater may embrace the synergy, but it doesn’t need the competition.

OTHER FringeNYC SHOWS SET IN THE VILLAGE Much of “The Girl with Her Hands in the Sand” takes place in an East Village art studio. After the death of her mother, a young artist on the verge becomes obsessed with her work. But what happens when the paint starts to run dry, and reality starts to set in?

Playwright Jonathan G. Galvez describes “Girl” as “a very New York play” about “an artist living Downtown as opposed to Uptown, where her sister lives. There’s this physical and ideological difference between them. Downtown, you feel like you have a little more freedom, and live by your wits.

Uptown feels more structured.”

“Scarlett Fever” is a “pop cultureinfused comedy” in which Joey and her best friend Gracie (a Scarlett Johansson superfan) live in the East Village while plotting their entrance into New York’s world of the rich and famous.

Bi-coastal playwright Dani Vetere, who’s been a Village resident for over a decade, penned “Hadrian’s Wall.” Set in the West Village, it involves “Ramona, a reclusive

Continued on page 16

18

August 16 - 29, 2012

Funny, forever young and wise beyond her years FringeNYC’s oldest performer mines laughs from life, not age THEATER I MARRIED A NUN

PART OF THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL Thurs., Aug. 16, 5:45pm Sun., Aug. 19, noon Tues., Aug. 21, 3:45pm Run time: 75 minutes At the Gene Frankel Theatre 24 Bond St., btw.

Lafayette & Bowery

audience to simply delight in the fact that she’s senior citizen behaving badly. Although t h e r e ’s p l e n t y o f t h a t , h e r advanced age is more than a quick and easy punchline — it’s the source from which her survivor’s spirit flows.

“My greatest hope is for audiences to walk away inspired,” Forest says, imploring conflicted searchers of all ages, “Don’t hide. Don’t be afraid. No matter how different you might be, live life to the fullest, because it skips along much too quickly.”

That Forest regards her own journey as something of a giddy blur isn’t difficult to believe. Life has taken her from humble origins as a Boston-based Jewish gal to a series of globe-hopping

Tickets: $15 in advance, or $18 at the box office To order, and for a full schedule of FringeNYC events, visit fringenyc.org For more info, visit dyanforest. com/fringenyc

BY SCOTT STIFFLER S h e ’s b e e n l i k e n e d t o Betty White — but 78-yearold D’yan Forest, who has the distinction of being FringeNYC’s oldest performer, defies categorization or comparison.

White, our last living Golden Girl, has recently surged in popularity by using her 90 years on the planet as a free pass to shock and awe us with profane words and deeds. As the writer and performer of “I Married A Nun,” F o r e s t ( a l o n g t i m e Vi l l a g e resident) is not above working blue.

But she earns audience adoration and cascading waves of laughter the oldfashioned way — with honest material based on hard times and real struggles. A brave performer equally skilled in the use of humor and pathos, F o r e s t d o e s n ’t e x p e c t h e r

Forest (a longtime Village resident) is not above working blue.

adventures — including, as she tells it, “fun with the nun, tragic divorce, forbidden nights in the demimonde of Paris and humorous mishaps of falling off a camel in Tibet.”

These and other ribald tales are interspersed with song parodies sung by Forest — who accompanies herself on the ukulele. Even if you emerge from the experience without finding a specific anecdote to identify with (not many of us have actually married a nun), Forest’s epic past and her present desire to keep exploring will inspire you to take risks and open some new windows… so that by the time you reach her ripe old age, you'll have enough dirty, funny, wise stories for your own FringeNYC show.

D’yan Forest shocks and awes with true (and blue) tales.

August 16 - 29, 2012

19

A Times Square busker breaks his silence Robot’s tell-all does more than go through the motions FILM FROM BUSK TILL DAWN: THE LIFE OF A NYC STREET PERFORMER

Part of the New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) Written & Performed by Tim Intravia Directed by Rebecca Yarsin Sun., Aug. 19, 9:45pm; Fri., Aug. 24, 5pm; Sat., Aug. 25, 4pm At the Gene Frankel Theatre 24 Bond St. (btw. Lafayette & Bowery) Tickets: $15 in advance, $18 at the box office To order, and for a full schedule of FringeNYC events, visit fringenyc.org

BY SCOTT STIFFLER The next time you find yourself depressed or disappointed (or at least acutely aware) that life has become a bit routine, just be glad you’re not that guy who spends his days standing on a

soap box in the middle of Times Square, covered head to toe in silver and competing for dollar bills with the likes of Elmo, Buzz Lightyear and The Singing Cowboy.

You may feel like a robot, but Tim Intravia is actually expected to “do the robot” — that popular dance move meant to convey mechanical motion — again and again and again. Sure, each new request chips away at his dignity… but least he has a FringeNYC gig to show for it.

As source material goes, there’s plenty to work with. Tourists who snap photos without making a cash donation, cops who want to bust you for loitering, cutthroat competition from fellow buskers, creepy groupies and silent longing for the unobtainable “Lotion Lady” who plies her trade in a nearby store: These are just a few of the nuggets Intravia draws from, as he recaps seven years of working as a living statue while killing time by daydreaming of better things to come.

That maddening existence (lonely, mute stillness punctuated by short bursts of activity and recognition) is a perfect metaphor for the hungry actor — and the irony is not lost on our man in silver.

A basically decent guy with an unusual day job that thrusts him into one absurd situation after another, there’s only one thing capable of making this soft-spoken everyman fly into a furious, uncorked rage: a request to “do the robot.”

Unfortunately, this happens about 100 times a day.

From curious onlookers who want to see

Fighting to make Lower Manhattan the greatest place to live, work, and raise a family.

him break his motionless stance to subway muggers to potential lovers, people just can’t get enough of that funky mechanical dance. Even an arresting officer dangles “the robot” as a Get Out of Jail Free card (“Hey Carlo,” he asks his partner, “What do you say to a mime, you have the right to speak?”).

A proud actor who learned those in-demand moves as a student at the Circle in the Square Theater School, Intravia plays his insecurity for laughs — wanting (practically begging) you to know that he’s more than the sum of his living statue skills. But you’ll never know, because his bit part as a waiter in Episode 13, Season 2 of “Blue Bloods” got cut. And that leading role in the big budget movie inspired by a true story he told to a screenwriter? The powers that be decided there’s nobody better qualified to play Tim Intravia than Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Compared to these anecdotes, even the life of a NYC street performer pales in comparison — and that’s the notable shortcoming of this amiable but ultimately slight monologue. The show’s best moments come from the trials and errors of the guy beneath all that silver makeup, and take place outside the confines of his Times Square workplace.

Although skilled indeed at doing the robot, Intravia’s most physically expressive scene involves a pantomime of time spent at the bank while the teller meticulously counts his tips (a

Photo by Alexander Long

Tim Intravia will do the robot upon request…but only for cash.

massive stack of dollar bills). A retrieved memory of childhood trauma is hysterical (to the audience, at least). So too is the moment when Intravia wipes away his makeup and describes his domestic life, which involves a gay roommate with noisy paramours and a refrigerator stocked only with Silver Bullet beer.

These moments, so removed from the toooften-told confessions of an underemployed actor, are full of promise. Let’s hope Intravia, a sharp and subtle observational comedian, uses “From Busk Till Dawn” to move beyond monologue work and into the realm of writing for multiple characters. That already seems to be happening. The press kit for “Bask” notes that an original web series (“Parker and Steve”) is in the can and on the way. Visit timintravia. com for more info.

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August 16 - 29, 2012

Fringe shows fit for a Village Continued from page 173 archaeologist with a tarnished reputation who meets a younger woman determined to uncover more than just the truth. Two girls, one guy and a dinosaur.”

“Best Night Ever,” which takes place in the East Village, has Chelsea resident and Tony nominee Lou Liberatore as a guy whose “chance encounter at a trendy bar spirals into a dangerous game of sex and deceit.”

“In Heat: Is She Hot Under Her Collar or Under Her Skirt?” star Doris Anderson plays a Gender-Queer revolutionary who dispenses dating tips and makes the case for cat neutering — all from the confines of her headquarters, located off an alley on Avenue C.

FringeNYC SHOWS CREATED BY, OR FEATURING, VILLAGERS In “Canon in D Minor,” West Village resident and former star of Broadway’s “Spring Awakening” Eryn Murman stars as Beth — who, after the suicide of her best friend, “glides the bow of her violin through the music that connected them in this tender and poetic story of friendship and forgiveness.”

West Village resident Ryan Emmons coauthored (and directs) “Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail.” This interactive musical transports the audience back to 1848 — then takes them on a 2,000-mile wagon train journey.

Tara Schuster, also a West Village resident, wrote “I <3 Revolution” — in which she and two other equally incompetent revolutionaries kidnap the audience and force them to attend a workshop where the graduates will emerge with a knowledge of extremist political tactics as well as the necessary skills for determining their perfect dress shape.

Sam Byron, who lives in the East Village, wrote “Animals” — about “a group of twenty-somethings kicking around their suburban hometown. Some got out, some stayed, and some were held captive, but they must all confront the unexpected violence that lives inside them.”

Also an East Villager, Crystal Finn is the writer and performer of “Becoming Liv Ullmann.” Crystal will do anything to win back Ezra. She’ll even “become a Swedish movie star” — and she does, in this tribute to love, madness and Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal.”

For a full schedule of performances, visit fringenyc.org.

Photo by B.A. Van Sise

L to R: Imran W. Sheikh, Erica Jensen, Katherine Mullis and Tavis Doucette, in “The Girl With Her Hands in the Sand.”

Photo by Stacey Boag

In “Canon in D Minor,” music provides comfort after the death of a friend.

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“Quest for the West” takes you on an interactive wagon train trip.

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August 16 - 29, 2012

21

Free pizza party delivers slice of East Village culture Two Boots turns 25, puts on a show MUSIC TWO BOOTS 25TH ANNIVERSARY FREE CONCERT

5pm-9pm on Thurs., Aug. 23 At the East River Park Amphitheater For info, call 212-777-2668 or visit twoboots.com Twitter: @TwoBoots Facebook: facebook.com/twobootspizza

BY SCOTT STIFFLER A precise number was unavailable as we went to press. But it’s safe to say that over the past 25 years, the total amount of slices served up by Two Boots is…considerable.

So too is the imprint they’ve left on the East Village — with a cornmeal crust take on New York’s most ubiquitous soul food and a commitment to building on the neighborhood’s counterculture legacy by nurturing current and future generations of artists.

Taking its name from the foot-friendly shapes of Italy and Louisiana, Phil Hartman and Doris Kornish opened the first Two Boots (originally at 37 Avenue A, now at #42) in 1987 — earning a cult following with their fusion of Cajun-Italian cooking before the term “fusion” had burrowed itself into the mainstream lexicon.

Like their comfort food peers Ben & Jerry, the Two Boots menu distinguishes itself with pies whose toppings invoke the temperament of pop and counterculture icons. Old favorites like the Mr. Pink (named for East Village resident, “Reservoir Dogs” star and Two Boots friend Steve Buscemi) can currently be found alongside recent additions such as “V for Vegan” — which references the “V for Vendetta” hero embraced by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Bette Midler’s cheerful mug headlines “Earth Mother,” while the clueless second banana of “Bewitched” has been immortalized as the face of the “Larry Tate.”

Hartman, who still owns and operates the Two Boots empire (which will soon have 16 locations nationwide), is about more than enshrining beloved celebs and underappreciated sitcom icons.

“We live in the neighborhood and raised our kids in the neighborhood,” he says of the Boots clan. “So we’re really connected to East Village culture and the East Village historical legacy. We’re doing everything we can to promote it.”

In the past, those preservation efforts have included, Hartman recalls, “working with local arts groups for special events, from the HOWL! Fest to movies

in Tompkins Square Park.” Two Boots also commissions local artists to create in-store works (the Avenue A store currently displays a recently created mosaic from Nuyorican Poets Cafe member Bimbo Rivas). “We love music and poetry,” declares Hartman. “We ran an indie movie theater [Two Boots Pioneer Theater] for years, and we’ve done a lot of events at SummerStage. We’re always looking to collaborate with local arts organizations and artists.”

Hartman and crew will get a chance to do just that, when they again join forces with the City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage to present “The Two Boots 25th Anniversary Concert.” Headlining the event, offstage at least, will be complimentary slices of their most iconic pies (which can be washed down with a beer, brand TBA, or the fruit juice/fizzy water concoction known as a Fizzy Lizzy).

As for the music, Hartman (who notes that the bill is filled with old friends) says, “We curated the whole event. I’ve always been a big fan of African music, so we’ve got Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. Mamarazzi is a local Afro funk band who played at the 2011 version of our Mardi Gras benefit that we throw every year for the Lower East Side Girls Club. Whiskeyhickon Boys [acoustic folkies gone electric] played at the Hell’s Kitchen and Bard College branch openings…and my daughter, Odetta Hartman, just recorded her first album. It’s being mastered now, and will be out in a couple of weeks.”

Poets from Nuyorican, right down the street from the Avenue A Two Boots, will also be on hand, and several community organizations will have tables (including the LES Girls Club — who will be raffling off the grand prize of free Two Boots pizza for the next year). The LES Ecology Center, radical bike group Time’s Up! and the North Brooklyn Bike Collective will also have a presence.

Like the pies that invoke beloved icons, Hartman hopes the family-friendly concert’s blend of food, music and art will be a fitting tribute to “the bastion of East Village counterculture that was very genuine. That includes everything from Allen Ginsberg to the Yippies to Flux Theatre Ensemble to the abstract expressionists. There’s still a lot of amazing vestiges of that…you see it at Anthology Film Archives, La MaMa and A Gathering of the Tribes.”

Although he acknowledges that the neighborhood has changed considerably, Hartman vows an ongoing commitment on the part of Two Boots to continue “the great tradition of counterculture. Individual artists and cultural organizations have been scattered around to Brooklyn, Baltimore, upstate…but there’s still the idea that the East Village represents something to people all over the world.”

Photo by Angela Marie

Made fresh: This shot of Two Boots, in its current East Village incarnation, was taken just days ago.

Photo courtesy of Two Boots

A second banana gets top billing: The “Larry Tate” pizza pays tribute to the befuddled ad exec of “Bewitched.”

Photo courtesy of Two Boots

Child of the East Village Odetta Hartman performs (songs from her upcoming album?) on Aug. 23.

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August 16 - 29, 2012

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August 16 - 29, 2012

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Hot stuff! Park benches hit 125 °F, are unfit to sit Continued from page 1 readings were literally “off the chart,” surpassing the thermometer’s highest marked reading of 100 degrees, though there were hash marks above 100 degrees indicating what the temperature was. The Nuthouse clerk suggested he also had an infrared gun that could measure the bench’s temperature by shooting a beam at it, but that was too pricey at $60.)

However, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the combination of strong sunlight and the benches’ dark, heatabsorbing color creates a powerful rump-roasting effect.

This startling effect was seen in action when, as The East Villager was taking the bench’s temperature, two New York University Law School students sat down a few feet away on a sun-seared section of the seating to eat their deli takeout.

As soon as she took her seat, Hélène Sironneau, 24, could be heard quietly uttering something in surprise and her face registered a slightly shocked look. She immediately touched the bench’s surface with her hand to check how hot it was.

The bench is really blazing, right? she was asked.

“Yeah, I burned my ass! You can quote me if you want,” she said.

Her friend, Dennis Berkel, 21, offered that the bench’s temperature was so cooking that, “I think you can fry an egg [on it] — maybe not boil the water.”

Sirroneau added the park’s designers should have foreseen how hot the dark-colored, stone benches would get.

“I’m surprised they didn’t think about that,” she said.

Asked if the seriously hot seating could ignite an inju-

A temperature reading on one of the benches on Monday using an indoor/outdoor thermometer yielded a scorching “outdoor” temperature of more than 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Even the “indoor” temperature, which measured the ambient heat, was a high 118 degrees. (Due to the photo’s angle, the red mercury for the “indoor” temperature isn’t clearly shown.)

Photos by Lincoln Anderson

Few people have the “buns of steel” — make that buns of asbestos — required to sit on Washington Square’s sun-superheated granite benches on hot summer days. Most folks wisely seek rear-end relief on the benches’ tree-shaded areas.

ry lawsuit, law student Sirroneau said, “If you sit there without pants, obviously you could have one.”

(Note to crusties who might have holes in their pants.)

The benches’ surface temperature on hot days does seem to be in the range that could cause a minor burn if exposed skin were left in contact with it for more than a few minutes.

Like Berkel, cooking an egg on one of the benches had also crossed a reporter’s mind. The benches’ have such a nice, smooth surface, after all. One could just imagine an egg cooking on it, sunny side up — under the sun.

However, according to Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” an egg fries at 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet, Nye says on his blog entry “So Hot, You Could Fry an Egg,” an egg can cook at temperatures as low as 130 degrees, though it would take about 20 minutes. So, yes, it sounds like an egg could be cooked, if not fried, on one of the burning benches. (Note again to crusties.)

About a month ago, The East Villager asked a Parks Department spokesperson about the buttocks-broiling benches. It had not been a superhot day then, with temperatures only in the 80s — but again, people could be seen avoiding the sunny sections of the granite benches on that particular day, and a reporter had been unable to endure sitting on one of them for long. The reporter made the mistake of calling the benches “black.”

“The granite is gray, not black,” Philip Abramson said. “This has only been a problem during an extreme heat wave such as the one from last week. As the new trees mature, the benches will be in shade and the temperatures will dramatically decrease. The newly planted eight Zelkova trees will become significant in size. They tend to grow large and wide. These trees will cast shade around the entire ring of the plaza area where we have granite seating and benches. The fountain will remain in the sun though.”

Well, those Zelkovas better grow fast, or there will be more cooking in Washington Square — of buns, and maybe eggs too.

The thermometer’s metal cord took a direct reading of the bench’s surface temperature.

The upside of the backside-braising benches can be felt, literally, in the fall, when the warming effect is welcome.

“You come out here on an October day, they’re nice in the fall — you get a little heat,” said Jim Dasbach, who works at Greenwich Village Animal Hospital on Hudson St. Kyler James, a tarot card reader/psychic counselor, is one of the few parkgoers who can bear being on the sun-blasted benches during the hottest part of the day.

But it’s not because of his extraordinary psychic powers; he uses a trick.

“I’m sitting on my cape — instead of wearing it,” he noted when interviewed in the park on July 10. “And this is not even that hot outside today,” he added. “If it’s in the 90s — forget about it.”

Sharon Woolums, a fierce critic of the Washington Square Park renovation project, said she calls the granite slabs “the mausoleum benches,” and not only for their distinctive look.

“It’s fitting because it represents the death of the park,” she said.

As well as glute grillers, the benches are also cheek chillers, she noted.

“They’re not only hot as hell in the summer, but cold as ice in the winter. And there’s glue dripping down the sides, which is ugly as sin.”

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August 16 - 29, 2012