AUGUST 21, 2014 EAST VILLAGER NEWS by Schneps Media

The Paper of Record for East and West Villages, Lower East Side, Soho, Noho, Little Italy and Chinatown

August 21, 2014 • FREE Volume 4 • Number 20

Boozy league kicked out of schools after Dwellers’ complaints BY SERGEI KLEBNIKOV

he city has once again revoked the Lower East Side permits for an adult sports league residents say was using school properties to run an “alcohol-driven” social league. ZogSports, a co-ed league for young professionals in

cities across the U.S., had been hosting several kickball games each week at MO25 145 at Stanton St. and P.S.142, at 100 Attorney St. Not only do these local properties belong to the Lower East Side Preparatory High School and P.S.142, kids were reportedly even getting ZOGSPORTS, continued on p. 7

BY ZACH WILLIAMS

n ivy-covered building on E. Eighth St. is the latest site of legal clashes between East Village tenants and landlord Steven Croman. Two new lawsuits allege that Croman uses building repairs and renovations as a

means of inducing rent-regulated tenants to vacate 309 E. Eighth St. A Croman representative “categorically denied” that charge, as well as other accusations of building neglect and the harassment of tenants. The parties will meet in CROMAN, continued on p. 4

PHOTO BY ZACH WILLIAMS

E. Eighth St. tenants take Croman to court over ‘harassment’ Carlos Pastrana looking at Chico’s mural of Robin Williams on E. 13th St.

Chico’s Robin Williams wall draws admiration, and tears BY ZACH WILLIAMS AND LINCOLN ANDERSON

ntonio “Chico” Garcia, the legendary Lower East Side graffiti artist, was quick to put up a sidewalk mural for Robin Williams after the great comedic actor’s death on Mon., Aug. 11. Garcia started the piece the day after Williams died, and did the finishing touches on the roughly 100-square foot portrait on Aug. 14. The

mural — adorning a wall outside B Cup cafe, near the corner of E. 13th St. and Avenue B — has stirred up affection, as well as tears, among passersby and cafe clientele. “The reason I did it, I grew up with his character,” Garcia told The Villager in a phone interview this Tuesday evening. “He made thousands of people laugh. I thought he was one of the funniest characters I ever saw on TV. I just thought that — from the Lower East

Side — he was a great star that we lost.” Also, Williams made films with Latin stars, like J. Lo, Garcia noted. And yet, in such a cruel irony, despite so much joyous laughter that he inspired in audiences, Williams himself was racked by crippling depression. “For a guy to make the world laugh and he’s sad — it’s incredible. People WILLIAMS, continued on p. 12

Stuy tenants try to stave off sale....................page 5 Photo great Lepkoff dead at 98....................page 10 Big party for Big U anti-flood funds................page 18 Dream Up Fest is a dream...........page 15 | May 14, 2014

www.EastVillagerNews.com

“MOSAIC MAN”’S LATEST MOVE: The East Village’s “Mosaic Man,” Jim Power, has been a whirlwind of activity in Astor Place over the last few weeks. After posting signs all over the neighborhood urging people to support his quest of saving seven of his colorful lampposts from removal by the Department of Transportation this fall, he started preemptively taking one of them down himself at the corner of Astor Place and Third Ave. However, in an about-face, in a blatant challenge to D.O.T. and its $16 million redesign for the area, he has now reversed his strategy and plans to tile his remaining three poles on Astor Place in the weeks before the construction reaches them. D.O.T., after urging from the Village Alliance business improvement district, has previously pledged to store and reincorporate Power’s poles — which it admitted are “historic artifacts” — into the redesigned streetscape. But the “Mosaic Man” seemed unimpressed this Wednesday, and continue to express his fierce opposition to the redesign plans. According to him, the city’s plan will ruin and congest Astor Place with the removal of the short street just south of “The Alamo”

(a.k.a. “The Cube”) sculpture, as well as expansion of pedestrian islands and adding of new plaza areas. “They got $16 million for this now, and yet this entire neighborhood, every single street and every single sidewalk, is botched,” he declared of the scheme. “None of it makes sense, What are the benefits of this new design? It privatizes this whole area around ‘The Cube’ in a bottleneck situation. This is the entranceway to our f------ neighborhood!”

PEACE, LOVE AND FUNDRAISING: “We got to get ourselves back to the gaaaarden!” C.S.N.Y. and Joni Mitchell sang in the ’60s. Now you can help a local garden raise some green to keep putting on free events, and also enjoy singing some classic tunes from the hippie era. The 6th & B Garden Events Committee is hosting a fundraiser in the garden, at Sixth St. and Avenue B, on Sat., Aug. 23, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Come by and enjoy some food, tie-dye a T-shirt, buy a raffle ticket and listen to music featuring X-Tine and The City Timbres. Lyrics sheets will be provided for a ’60s sing-along from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

PHOTO BY YANNIC RACK

Jim Power stands sentinel over his “Mosaic Trail” lampposts at Astor Place. Parked in the background is his mosaic tile-encrusted “Mosaic-mobile.”

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EastVillagerNews.com

August 21, 2014

E. 8th St. tenants take landlord Croman to court CROMAN, continued from p. 1

PHOTO BY ZACH WILLIAMS

Housing Court on Aug. 26 after negotiations broke down earlier in the summer. The second case has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in State Supreme Court, according to records. The two suits aim to compel Croman to make needed repairs before resuming construction, as well as address outstanding building violations and end what tenants, local politicians and housing activists say is an ongoing effort to dislodge the tenants. Since buying the building in 2012, Croman has renovated vacant apartments in it to capitalize on the red-hot Manhattan real estate market. However, tenants allege that the construction work has filled their apartments with dust in recent months, led to multiple ceiling collapses and even drenched one apartment in raw sewage, among other grievances. “There has to be a happy medium between [longtime tenants] and what they are trying to make it into now,” said tenant Robert Pinter, who has lived in the building for 32 years. In interviews with The Villager, residents of 309 E. Eighth St. — one of about 150 Croman-owned properties in Manhattan — echoed complaints from tenants of his building at 346 E. 18th St., which was the subject of a recent Villager article. The relentless manner with which building management pursues renovations indicates more nefarious goals, tenants say. “My ceiling caved in four times, multiple leaks,” said tenant James Peterson. “They take their sweet time fixing everything, even though they have three or four construction crews running around the building fixing up the new apartments.”

James Peterson outside an apartment at 309 E. Eighth St. showing how much construction dust he could get on his hand with just one touch of an exposed surface.

He said that buyout offers of as low as $10,000 are being offered to the beleaguered tenants to get them to vacate their units. Peterson and fellow tenant Shwan Dahl are the plaintiffs in the case before the State Supreme Court. Dahl returned home earlier this year only to find that an incident two days before had allowed raw sewage to seep into her apartment through the ceiling and plumbing fixtures. “They knew what they had done and no one contacted me,” she said. She added that building management did address the issue once she complained.

“I felt bad, [management] sent a woman to clean all the sewage” with no gloves, a rag and some cleaner, Dahl said. About a week later, a well-known Croman employee contacted Dahl’s then-partner with a buyout offer. But this was not the first time that Anthony Falconite visited Dahl. The ex-police officer is well known among Croman tenants for approaching them with buyout offers while also investigating them in order to purportedly gather evidence of tenants abusing rent regulation by actually living elsewhere. State Attorney General Eric Schnei-

derman slapped the Croman goon with a cease-and-desist order on July 22, barring him from continuing such activities. In recent months, tenants have enjoyed additional help in their battles against Croman. The Cooper Square Committee and Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) have advised tenants, while the Urban Justice Center provides legal firepower. Brandon Kielbasa, lead organizer for the Cooper Square Committee, said the lawsuit in Housing Court stemmed from a sense of powerlessness among the E. Eighth St. tenants after an effort at reconciling with the landlord broke down in recent months, similar to efforts on E. 18th St. “We’ve tried every other means of negotiating with them for repairs that needed to be done,” said Kielbasa. At a March 31 meeting, also attended by Kielbasa, tenants submitted to building management a list of suggested construction protocols. The requested measures included 24-hour notice before utility shutdowns, the installation of industrial air filters, vermin mitigation, replacement of the front door and a rent abatement. “They said they were open to all of it, and then we didn’t hear back from them until June 24, when all the new construction was beginning,” Pinter said. He added that construction dust may have played a role in his recent asthma diagnosis, an ailment he never experienced before. A representative of Croman’s 9300 Realty company had a different view on the situation. Croman has improved the building and removed 120 violations issued to the property’s CROMAN, continued on p.18

Chin wants healthy ‘climate’ for better student learning BY ZACH WILLIAMS

ne local elected representative wants to make it a bit cooler to attend school in the hot summer months. A resolution before the City Council seeks to put heat on the state Legislature to make air conditioning a required amenity in public schools. Temperatures as high as 103 degrees lead to canceled programs and lots of sweaty students at East Village and Lower East Side schools, according to Councilmember Margaret Chin, who sponsored the resolution. “We’ve been hearing from parents

August 21, 2014

and teachers about the indoor conditions, especially during the summer months, and it’s really commonsense,” she said. “We want to make sure that our children have the best conditions to study.” Temperatures within the MS 131 gym surpassed 100 degrees on several occasions this summer. Air conditioners function in about half of the classrooms at New Design High School, while at Pace High School a cooling unit blew hot air instead, according to Chin. Thermal controls within schools are an important element in student success, according to a 2002 Virginia

Tech study cited within the resolution. The effects of overheated classrooms on lower-income and minority students are more pronounced, the report notes. Citing previous research, the study concludes that reading speed and comprehension decrease between 74.4 and 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit. “After the socioeconomic status of the students, the most influential building condition variable that influenced student achievement was air conditioning,” states the study. The City Council resolution recommends that the Legislature set indoor

climate goals between 68 to 75 degrees in winter and 73 to 79 degrees in summer, when schools or summer sessions are in operation. A survey of schools in Manhattan Community School Districts 1 and 2 found that, of the 26 schools that responded, 19 percent lack adequate heating while half did not have air conditioning, according to the resolution. “All of us when put into that situation — where it’s really hot, the teachers try to pull down the shade, try to turn on fans,” said Chin, who is a former teacher. “It’s not a comfortable situation.” EastVillagerNews.com

Stuy Town tenants are trying to stave off sale

mid recent tenant fears of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village being sold to new owners, numerous New York officials, led by Mayor deBlasio, have made it clear that affordable housing for middle-class tenants will be preserved. The mayor met with tenant leaders and local officials on July 15, to reassure them of his support. Early last month, CWCapital, a real estate investment firm, was accused of trying to “reap an unjust windfall” and “wrongfully seize control” of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, lenders claimed in court. CW decided to take title to the massive East Side apartment complex through a deed in lieu of foreclosure, rather than holding a foreclosure auction and searching for new owners. Tenants claimed that the owners cheated them, since CW reportedly inflated the mortgage by $1 billion, and none of it went to lower-level lenders. Several large developers and investor groups already showed interest in buying the property, while the dispute between management and

tenants threatened to boil over. A tenant-led bid against CWCapital called for the preservation of affordable housing. The plan would allow tenants the option to purchase or continue to rent existing units, but at affordable rates. After canceling the foreclosure auction, CW agreed to hold off on a sale for two months while working with local officials and representatives of Mayor de Blasio, who has come to the rescue of tenants as part of his affordable housing program. After local elected officials announced that CWCapital would work with the Mayor’s Office last month, officials at housing lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae agreed not to finance an outside takeover until affordability issues were ironed out. According to Susan Steinberg, the chairperson of the complex’s tenants association, Senator Charles Schumer and Congressmember Carolyn Maloney were responsible for working to get the two mortgage giants to hold off on any potential purchase. Without federal backing, it would be difficult for any company to finance a purchase of the complex worth billions of dollars.

COURTESY OF BRIAN KAVANAGH

BY SERGEI KLEBNIKOV

Mayor Bill de Blasio met with tenant leaders and local elected officials last month, in Councilmember Dan Garodnick’s apartment in Stuyvesant Town.

On July 15, de Blasio met with tenant leaders and local politicians to plan a long-term solution to protect affordability. Among those also in attendance were Borough President Gale Brewer, State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh. The midafternoon meeting lasted about 45 minutes and took place in Garodnick’s apartment. De Blasio was “extremely receptive,” according to Garodnick. “The mayor understands what we’re looking for — he’s committed to affordable housing,” Steinberg added. The T.A. chairperson added that they are looking forward to having a seat at the table as the Mayor’s Office continues working to find common ground with the other side. “CWCapital seems to be amenable

to working with the city,” she stated. Several meetings have reportedly occurred, but no specific plan has been developed. The de Blasio administration must now find a way both to make a sale feasible and preserve housing for the middle class. Roughly 6,000 units of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village’s 11,232 apartments are considered “affordable,” according to Capital New York. If de Blasio succeeds here, it will be considered a significant victory for his 10-year affordability plan. Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village make up a “high-profile community that represents the heart and soul of middle-class housing in New York City,” Garodnick said. “We can’t allow it to slip out of our grasp.”

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August 21, 2014

Cooper Union tuition fight continues in court BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

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PHOTO BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

rguments were heard in court in Lower Manhattan on Fri., Aug. 15, in the ongoing battle over The Cooper Union charging incoming students tuition. Members and supporters of the Committee to Save Cooper Union also held a rally outside the courthouse at 1 p.m. State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose 27th District includes the 155-yearold elite school, spoke at the rally and thanked the students for their activism. Many of the protesters held placards with slogans like “Free School or Die” and “Trustees Gone Wild.” “Somewhere Peter Cooper is looking down on us and smiling,” Hoylman said. In a column he recently penned for City and State in support of keeping Cooper Union tuition-free, Hoylman stated, “Charging tuition at The Cooper Union — a beacon of educational equality in Manhattan’s rapidly changing East Village, which I represent in the state Senate — is a betrayal of New York’s trust that not only jeopardizes the college’s reputation, but also its standing in our community.” He emphasized that Cooper Union

has enjoyed a property-tax exemption for the land it owns beneath the Chrysler Building on E. 42 St. that no other private institution has received. He cited the taxes Columbia University paid on its Rockefeller Center land until it sold it in 1985. “I would urge that the trustees would reconsider this plan,” Hoylman said. “We’ll keep fighting.” Arguments were made before Justice Nancy Bannon in State Supreme Court. “These trustees are engaging in risky business,” said Richard Emery, a lawyer for the Committee to Save Cooper Union. “We believe we will be successful.” “When I first heard that they would charge tuition at Cooper Union, I was shocked,” said Adrian Jovanovic, a co-founder of the committee. An alumnus who graduated with a degree in science and engineering, Jovanovic is also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He slammed what he called lavish spending by the board of trustees, an expensive inauguration party for President Jamshed Bharucha, and other financial mismanagement that he said has led to the change. “That’s not my Cooper Union,” he

Protesters brandished their placards and Jamshed Bharucha puppets — which imply the school president is merely the trustees’ president — outside court last Friday.

declared. “Not Peter Cooper’s Cooper Union. Not our Cooper Union.” According to court documents, lawyers for the school’s board of trustees argue that the Committee to Save Cooper Union’s claims related to the “Board’s decision to reduce scholarship are based on a false premise that Cooper Union’s Deed of Trust and Charter (the ‘Founding Documents’) require the institute to be tuition free. A review of the Founding Documents reveals that no such mandate exists.” New incoming students for the fall have already received their tuition invoices. Claire Kleinman, 18, who will attend the School of Art, held her invoice in her hand as she spoke to the crowd about keeping Cooper Union tuition-free. The school will offer half-tuition scholarships for fall 2014 — around $20,000 for the full year, according to its Web site. Tuition for the 2013-2014

year was $39,600. “There are certain things that change when money is involved,” said Benjamin Degen, 38, an alumnus, who said he has taught drawing and painting at Cooper Union. “It is not a transactional experience. Education at Cooper Union is not to be brought or sold.” “This is the last hurrah,” said art student Larissa Gilbert, 19. In her own case, Gilbert will not have to pay tuition. Yet, she has spent much time fighting and organizing to keep Cooper Union from charging incoming students. She was joined by two fellow art students who also don’t have to pay tuition but who, like her, wanted to show support: Hunter Mayton, 20, who had been in the courtroom, and Marina Daniel, 20. “Trying to fight for the school,” Daniel said.

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Sports league kicked out of schools after complaints ZOGSPORTS, continued from p. 1

PHOTO BY @LIBATIONSNYC (TWITTER)

displaced off of the playgrounds during the scheduled games. Marge Feinberg, a Dept. of Education (D.O.E.) spokesperson, said in a statement to The Villager: “The permits for ZogSports were rescinded last month. They are a for-profit business and we provide permits to use our space to non-profit organizations.” ZogSports had replaced a previous league, NYC Social, which also eventually had their permit revoked. According to local residents, NYC Social encouraged players to go to local bars afterward to drink, and one bar even had a competition for which team “showed the most spirit” at the bar, which would result in free drinks. “Children need a place to play, especially in this community,” Diem Boyd, founder of L.E.S. Dwellers, an active neighborhood group on the Lower East Side, said before learning of the city’s decision. Locals endured many years of frustration, and both schools reached out to neighborhood activist groups like Dwellers and the East Village Community Coalition, which helped persuade the city D.O.E. to shut

Patron at Libation NYC.

down NYC Social. Eventually the registered as a not-for-profit with the league was removed for not having New York Department of State. Howa non-profit angle — the D.O.E. only ever, drinking is emphasized as a soprovides permits for non-profit orga- cial component of the adult league, and American Honey Wild Turkey nizations. A research report sent to the D.O.E. is the official liquor of ZogSports and provided by L.E.S. Dwellers and Bud Light is the official beer of states, “Though it is filed as a for-prof- ZogSports, both official sponsors of it entity, its website says charity do- ZogSports. We find liquor-sponsored nations are made through its sister adult leagues on D.O.E. property obT:8.75” jectionable.” entity “Play For A Cause,” which is

After the games, there was undoubtedly a large focus on drinking. Besides being officially sponsored by two different alcoholic drinks, Libation, at 137 Ludlow St., is the officially sponsored bar of the sports league, and is only a few blocks from the playing fields. And beyond that, Boyd pointed out, is “Hell Square,” a neighborhood nickname for an area with numerous bars. “They are promoting alcohol on D.O.E. property,” Boyd said of the sports league, pointing out the advertising. She said residents were “concerned about the alcohol-fueled images” being presented to their children as well as the rest of the community. It is inappropriate therefore, she said, for the alcohol-driven leagues to play on D.O.E. property, since their main goal is reportedly the partying after the games. A resident who asked to remain anonymous provided a recent update on the situation. She reported that the lights and generators have been removed at P.S.142, and that ZogSports have not played kickball at either location since last week. Despite positive signs, residents didn’t want to get their hopes up too high.

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August 21, 2014

POLICE BLOTTER Targeted senior

their early 20s, after leaving the deli at W. 12th St. and Eighth Ave. a few minutes before the assault — leading investigators to believe the men intentionally targeted him. Lathrom believes he was the latest victim of the “knockout game” — in which an assailant tries to deck a target with one blow while a sidekick shoots video and posts it online. “That’s what I think it is,” he told the Post. “If it was a robbery, he’d have gone through my pockets or attempted to take something. I had an iPad and a Kindle reader. There was no attempt to take anything.” The attack was caught on surveillance video. No arrests have been made. Police ask anyone with information on the assault to call the Crime Stoppers tips hotline at (800) 577TIPS.

In what may have been the latest instance of the sickening and cowardly “knockout game,” a man believed to be in his 20s apparently targeted a West Village senior, then suddenly sucker-punched him, leaving the older man with a blood clot on the brain and a bruise on his left eye. The victim was identified as Donald Lathrom, 72, a former taxi driver who lives at the Jane St. Hotel. He was walking home to the hotel, at Jane and West Sts., around 5:30 p.m. on Mon., Aug. 11, according to news reports, carrying a six-pack of Bud Light from a nearby store, while listening to Bach on his headphones. “I had seen him coming, but didn’t pay him any mind.” Lathrom told the Daily News. “He didn’t say anything — nothing. Then I found myself on the ground near a planter.” After the attack, Lathrom was treated and recovered at Beth Israel Medical Center. The New York Post described Lathrom as a lung cancer survivor who is in remission. Lathrom told The Post he doesn’t really remember the attack, which left him “stunned” and “confused.” “I just remembered saying, ‘What happened?’” he recalled asking of a doorman who rushed to his aide. “Basically, I just walked by somebody, and he wound up punching me hard. I didn’t see him coming.” The Post reported that, after the incident, Lathrom told police he had seen the suspects, believed to be in

Socks safe cyclist

A 25-year-old man crossing the street near the southwest corner of W. Fourth St. and Sixth Ave. was the victim of a snatch and run early on the morning of Sat., Aug. 16. Police responded soon after the incident, which occurred at about 2:30 a.m., and came across Carali Ramos, 22, who admitted to police that she had an iPhone that did not belong to her, police said. The victim recognized the alleged perpetrator and recovered the phone, valued at $120. Police charged Ramos with felony grand larceny.

When a bicyclist fell off his ride early last Thursday after trying to avoid a collision with a pedestrian, he got a punch in the face for his efforts. According to police, Gregory Enix also struck the 31-year-old victim in the head in the 4:20 a.m. Aug. 14 incident, causing abrasions to the cyclist’s chin and lips, as well as tenderness to the bridge of his nose. During the attack, the alleged perpetrator then grabbed an iPhone 5, valued at $300, from the victim’s right rear shorts pocket and took

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Slaughters windows While walking along W. Fourth St. at about 6 a.m. on Wed., Aug. 13, a 22-year-old man observed another man smash the windows of the Slaughtered Lamb pub with his fists before fleeing. Police canvassed the area and found Hassau Powell, 49 in a cellar stairwell in front of 181 W. Fourth St. In his left shirt pocket, police reportedly discovered a small ziplock bag containing what appeared to be marijuana. Powell was charged with felony criminal mischief.

Smashed her with pan A woman waiting for an elevator inside of 28 E. 10 St. was struck by a frying pan at about 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 12. According to police, video surveillance and a witness in an elevator attested that the perpetrator “aggressively” dragged the 57-yearold victim, pulled her to the floor and dragged her by the hair. Police responding to a radio call arrested Jaime McKeown, 56, and charged her with felony assault. It remains unclear whether the victim and perpetrator knew each other prior to the incident, according to police.

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off on foot. Police later caught up with Enix who had the now-cracked phone on his person. He was charged with felony robbery.

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On Fri., Aug. 8, police followed up on 13 community complaints regarding a mistreated dog living near the southwest corner of Greenwich and Clarkson Sts. According to police, an officer observed open wounds on the dog’s back, as well as insects feasting around festering wounds. The canine’s owner, a well-known regular of the corner, could not provide any documentation of recent medical care for the dog. Police noted in a report that the pooch appeared to have adequate shelter given the circumstances. They removed the dog from the scene for its own good after consulting with the A.S.P.C.A. A veterinarian will examine the animal to make a determination on whether the creature suffered from neglect. Police arrested James Tarangelo that same day and charged him with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. Tarangelo, who grew up in the area, lives with his dogs in a van parked on the street at the location.

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PHOTO COURTESY BRAD HOYLMAN’S OFFICE

Knock out this vicious ‘game’ In the West Village last Thursday, state Senator Brad Hoylman, above, and his staff handed out fliers his office produced to raise awareness about the apparent “knockout game” attack on West Village senior Donald Lathrom, 72, on Aug. 11, in front of 99 Jane St. The flier included a police sketch of the suspect in the cowardly assault, below.

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August 21, 2014

Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association PUBLISHER JENNIFER GOODSTEIN

EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON

ARTS EDITOR

L.E.S. lenswoman Rebecca Lepkoff dies at 98

SCOTT STIFFLER

CONTRIBUTORS IRA BLUTREICH TEQUILA MINSKY JEFFERSON SIEGEL JERRY TALLMER

ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER MICHAEL SHIREY

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS CHRIS ORTIZ ANDREW GOOS

EXECUTIVE VP OF ADVERTISING AMANDA TARLEY

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

TROY MASTERS

Famed photographer Rebecca Lepkoff, who documented the Lower East Side — the neighborhood where she grew up and continued to live — died in Townshend, Vermont, Sun., Aug. 17. She was 98. Her series of photographs of the Lower East Side was taken in the 1940s and 1950s. Lepkoff lived part of the year in Vermont, where she photographed the Pikes Falls hippie community, according to an obituary in the Commons, a Vermont publication. In New York, she was a member of the Photo League, a group that strove to photograph how ordinary people lived. “She lived a long and incredible life,” her son, Jesse, told the Commons. “She was an amazing artist, mother and person.”

Rebecca Lepkoff at a recent memorial for her friend Gloria Channon in Ulster, County.

SENIOR VP OF ADVERTISING / MARKETING FRANCESCO REGINI

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES BILL FINK ALLISON GREAKER MIKE O’BRIEN REBECCA ROSENTHAL JULIO TUMBACO

CIRCULATION SALES MNGR. MARVIN ROCK

PUBLISHER EMERITUS JOHN W. SUTTER

Member of the New York Press Association

Member of the National Newspaper Association

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Clayton calls it To The Editor: Re “Dameht punks up the Pyramid club Friday nights” (Clayton, Aug. 7): Again, Clayton gets it right. The Pyramid is one of the last original venues from when the East Village was the destination of the tired, huddled hipsters fleeing the conformity and crap of dead American middlebrow culture. I’d like to add the Sidewalk Cafe and the Parkside Lounge to that list. Please support all of them! Thanks, Clayton. Ron Kolm

The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 is published every week by NYC Community Media LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 (212) 229-1890. Periodicals Postage paid at New York, N.Y. Annual subscription by mail in Manhattan and Brooklyn $29 ($35 elsewhere). Single copy price at office and newsstands is $1. The entire contents of newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2011 NYC Community Media LLC.

PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR

The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue. Published by NYC Community Media, LLC One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (212) 229-1890 • Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2012 NYC Community Media, LLC

August 21, 2014

A monstrous scheme To The Editor: Re “Fear that a developer could plow under little farmhouse” (news article, Aug. 7): Isn’t this the ultimate in cruel ironies. Here is a slapdash but cute little house, brought down from the Upper East when threatened with demolition, and placed up against the wall on

a double lot purchased for $20,000. Little Suri Bieler pined over it, and eventually bought it with her husband in 1988. And now — listing it for $20 million? Is the cost of single-family housing so high now? Here is the irony: Now that Bieler and her husband have sat on this nest egg for 25 years — during which time many of us have pined similarly for this cute little house (and their two dogs who come out to greet us) — they will not retire to a modest home outside the city as the previous owners did, leaving it to her dream’s satisfaction. No! Rodan has hatched! They will deny us this romantic prospect. No one will ever again live in this house! Such a little house...and such a big deal. William Goodhart

Boulevard of death To The Editor: Re “Speed on Houston St., Bowery, Sixth Ave. will be slowed to 25 m.p.h.” (news article, Aug. 7): While there may have only been

one fatality on Houston St. in the four years ending in 2012, I can remember at least five fatalities in the past nine years along this stretch. Cyclists Brandie Bailey and Andrew Ross Morgan were killed in 2005, and Derek Lake in 2006. Pedestrian Jessie Dworkin was killed only about a year ago at Houston St. and Sixth Ave., and there was a fatal motorcycle collision last summer at Houston and West Broadway. Of these, all except the motorcycle collision happened at minimal speeds. So it’s highly questionable as to whether lowering the speed limit on this dangerous street will make any real difference. Stacey Walsh Rosenstock

E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 Metrotech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. The Villager does not publish anonymous letters. EastVillagerNews.com

When saying hello to a friend was saying goodbye TALKING POINT BY KATE WALTER

Hillary has come out swinging! EastVillagerNews.com

The magical vs. the concrete

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

ast September, on a perfect late summer afternoon, as I walked up Hudson St., I saw Larry sitting on his second-floor fire escape reading. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and looked comfortable. I debated whether to say hello because he — always the English professor — was immersed in his book. I hadn’t run into him in the neighborhood lately. Nor had I seen him on campus. Classes had just resumed at Borough of Manhattan Community College, where we both taught remedial English, but in different departments. I decided to shout up, “Hi, Larry.” I yelled and waved. He looked down to the sidewalk and waved back “Hey, Kate.” He seemed glad to see me. When I first met Larry in the summer of 2006, I was going through the painful breakup of my 26year lesbian relationship. My ex had cut me off cold and I could barely function. Larry was also going through a divorce, so we were kindred spirits. We commiserated in the campus cafe over coffee. Back then, Larry and I worked at the college as certified readers who scored the entrance essays of incoming students to determine their class placement. We were adjuncts, who needed the extra cash. For me, going into work to read papers was a distraction from sitting home crying and obsessing about my ex. Even though he was straight and I’m gay, we bonded during that awful summer when we hung out together during our breaks. It felt comforting to talk with someone else going through an inexplicable breakup. Neither of us had the answers we craved. “Why is she doing this to me,” I asked, “when she says she still loves me?” “Why is my wife being so difficult?” asked Larry, who struck me as a good father. At least I was not dealing with custody and alimony issues. As years passed, our careers evolved: We were both hired full time and now had real salaries. After I stopped scoring essays (our main meeting place) we saw each other less often on campus. But Larry was also my neighbor in the far West Vil-

You never know where you just might find a little magic, this stencil underfoot on W. Fourth St. seems to be saying.

lage, where he had moved after his divorce. He lived on Hudson St. above Dublin, the Irish pub, where he hung out greeting me from the bar’s open window on the street. I’d run into him Saturday mornings at the Abingdon Square Greenmarket, where we discussed the merits of heirloom tomatoes. I’d see him grocery shopping in D’Ag’s on Bethune St. Larry was tall, lanky, athletic, with close-cropped gray hair. He wore jeans and cowboy boots, played basketball and always rode his bike to work. On Rate My Professors, a student wrote, “He’s so good-looking you will be distracted.” About two weeks after I saw Larry on the fire escape, the cleaning woman came into my office, agitated. She told me everyone on campus was upset about the professor found dead in his apartment. She didn’t know his name but he had gray hair and rode a bike. I flipped through possibilities: Who cy-

cled to work? Was it Larry? But I’d just seen him. I raced from my office to find out. Over the next few days, I picked up pieces of the story: Larry had cancer but decided to forgo treatment. He’d watched his father suffer through the same illness and did not want to endure that diminished quality of life. He kept his condition quiet but was clearly not well when he returned to work in September. During his last classes, he was so weak that students asked, “Professor, do you want us to call an ambulance?” He refused. When their teacher did not show up for the next meeting, concerned students went to the department office. After administrators called Larry’s phone and got no answer, they contacted the N.Y.P.D., who gained access to his apartment. I was stunned as I heard variations of this news unfolding. But, mostly, I was grateful I had decided to interrupt when I saw Larry reading on his fire escape. I thought I was saying hello, but I realize now I was saying goodbye. A month later, I was walking up Hudson St. and I saw a carton of books on the sidewalk. An avid reader, I’ve always rummaged through piles of discards left on a stoop. When I pulled out the stash, I discovered lots of new texts, literature and writing. And I thought to myself, “This person must be an English teacher.” Then it hit me: I was standing in front of Larry’s building. I took a brand-new three-volume boxed set of world literature. I also took “The Counterculture Reader” and a book on writing research papers. The latter is in my office at the college and the literature collections are on my bookshelves in my loft. After I rescued these books, I saw workers renovating Larry’s old place. I felt sad and turned down Bank St. recalling the summer he helped rescue me.

August 21, 2014

Chico’s Williams wall draws admiration, and tears WILLIAMS, continued from p. 1

August 21, 2014

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

need to get personal help, one way or another,” said Garcia, who is also known as “The Messenger.” “Depression is destroying so many people nowadays,” he said. “And I need to bring that message.” Williams could have found some solace through religion and the socializing with others that one finds in church, Garcia offered. “I think he needed to go to church and meet God,” he said. The graffiti great felt he wanted the image he created of Williams to be sad, to reflect reality. “I wanted him pretty sad because he didn’t die happy,” he explained. For a model, Garcia looked at some photos of the actor in the Post, but they weren’t right, they were all smiling and happy. Then he got a hold of a copy of the Daily News, and found a shot that he was looking for. “There was a picture that was very sad — that was it.” Despite the pensive expression on Williams’ face, the mural also has the slogan “Keep Smiling.” Garcia relocated to Florida a few years ago, but comes back to Loisaida frequently, especially in the

Members of The Street Artists Collective used an image from the Robin Williams movie “Toys” to create a chalk artwork of the late actor in Washington Square Park.

summer, to see his mother, touch up his walls and do commissioned work. This mural, though, was not a

commission, but from the heart. He didn’t get approval from the landlord first. “I happened to have some spray cans right here,” he said. “I went over to B Cup. I asked the guy. He said, ‘Chico, it’s not my wall.’ I said, ‘To hell with it.’ By the time you get all that permission, if I were to ask the landlord, the feeling’s not there anymore.” Eden H., a friend of Garcia’s who declined to give her full name, helped him secure the wall for his work. “It’s definitely bringing in more customers,” she said. “Some people stand there and mourn.” The mural does justice by Williams, said Carlos Pastrana, a longtime East Village resident who saw Williams perform in 1986 at the Metropolitan Opera. “The man was talented, started in comedy and went into acting,” said Pastrana. “God bless him. He was a good guy. We all have our days. Robin Williams, he was definitely the man.” Garcia, who just turned 51, started making a name for himself in the 1980s graffiti-art scene. He hung with Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, too, on occasion, but always retained his independence. Haring asked if he would work with him, teaming up on murals, but Garcia declined. There isn’t a block in the Lower East Side, Garcia’s Web site boasts, that doesn’t sport at least one of his signature murals. His work has also appeared in the Bronx, East Harlem

and in Europe. However, some online comments criticized his latest mural for lacking photographic perfection, including eyes much more green than the real-life Williams had. Yet, small details such as that did not affect viewers’ enthusiasm for the mural nor dampen their enthusiasm for anything new by Chico. The Williams piece evoked plenty of emotion for two young women who viewed it on Aug. 18. After his TV breakthrough as Mork, Williams starred in family-movie classics like “Mrs. Doubtfire,” then evolved into his Oscar-winning performance in “Good Will Hunting,” noted one of the women, who both declined to give their names. “It’s a very classy portrait,” she said. Graffiti murals carry special significance in the East Village and Lower East Side, where they sometimes pay homage to locals who have passed, as well as famous celebrities, according to Pastrana. “It just signifies the ’hood,” he said. “It’s bad that when somebody dies you gotta put somebody up on the wall. ... For me, he’s not dead. He’s alive,” he said of Williams. Just as Williams gave to the world through his comedy, Garcia gives to the community through his graffiti artworks. “He always gives back to the community,” Eden said. “He’s proud of where he comes from.” EastVillagerNews.com

TNC season winds down with ‘Dream Up’ Annual summer fest, borne of surplus, keeps growing

THEATER THE DREAM UP FESTIVAL Through Sept. 7 At Theater for the New City 155 First Ave. (btw. 9th & 10th Sts.) Tickets: $12–$20 (varies by show) Reservations: 212-254-1109 PHOTO BY COMPANY LA PETITE FAMILLE

Or dreamupfestival.org Also visit theaterforthenewcity.net

BY SCOTT STIFFLER

hat do therapists and theater companies share, besides reliance upon people compelled to work through their issues? The common denominator used to be August — that thin window of opportunity to close shop and skip town without causing too much of an outcry from patrons in search of a cathartic experience. Not so much these days, at least where the Lower East Side theater community is concerned. A total of 18 stages, most of which would sit unoccupied as companies prep for their 2014-2015 seasons, are currently playing host to the 200-show-strong New York International Fringe Festival. The performance spaces housed inside Theater for the New City won’t be participating, although TNC’s August programming certainly shares FringEastVillagerNews.com

L to R: Alexandre Thamié, Hugo Dubois-Tortosa, Clara Turcovich, Martial Dubois and Morgane Cadre are among the believably (and actually) young cast of “Tomorrow’s Dawn.”

eNYC’s commitment to international flavor, thematic sprawl and bold experimentation. Through September 7, Dream Up is presenting 24 plays and one workshop production. It’s the half-decade mark for this annual festival, which its organizers maintain is not in competition with FringeNYC. “The first two or three years, it hurt us, because Fringe is massive,” recalls Dream Up curator and festival director Michael Scott-Price. “It’s well-established, and I have a lot of respect for how it’s run. But in the last couple of years, we’ve noticed that it’s not a negative at all. We’ve carved out our

own identity. For us, Dream Up is where people, whether they’re new or established, can try work that’s not going to break the bank. It’s also the one time of the year when TNC broadens its outreach. Our mission is to find new playwrights and work for the American stage. Dream Up’s mission is to find original work from any source.” Having studied at the School of Physical Theatre (London, England) and the Odin Teatret (Hostelbro, Denmark), and with the International School Theatre Anthropology (Wroclaw, Poland), Scott-Price brought his “great appreciation for

European artists” to Dream Up’s invite-only debut in 2010. Back then, it was pitched to TNC co-founder Crystal Field as a way to draw upon a surplus of local talent that the regular season couldn’t accommodate, while welcoming international artists into the fold. From a field of roughly 200 applicants, four overseas productions made it into this year’s festival. Written by a native New Yorker who has lived in Edinburgh, Scotland since 1988, Lee Gershuny’s “Messages from a Mental Institution” chronicles a woman’s quest to discover her husband’s true identity, while attempting to rescue him from a psychiatric hospital. The American premiere of this work happens at TNC’s Community Theater on Aug. 27, 28, 30, 31 & Sept. 1. A complex meditation on friendship, feminism and the differences between American and Israeli cultures, “Simple as Life and Death” has Efrat coming from Israel to New York, by way of an open ticket. Fleeing pressures at home, she seeks refuge in the apartment of fellow artist Anne, who’s recently returned (pregnant) from a year abroad. It’s directed by Keren Tzur, a two-time Best Actress winner of Israel’s equivalent of the Academy Award. At the Community Theater, on Aug. 21, 23 & 24. Completing Dream Up’s trilogy of two-person plays from foreign shores, “In the Ring” is the English language premiere of a work that earned Léonore Confino a Best Playwright nomination for the 2014 Molière Awards (the French equivalent of Broadway’s Tony). This exploration of the often combative dynamics between men and women places DREAM, continued on p.14 August 21, 2014

Dream Up hits the half-decade mark

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRE OPPECINI

Verbal sparring: Nathalie Bryant and Kyle Tuck, in the American premiere of “In The Ring.”

DREAM, continued from p. 13

one of each in a boxing ring, with a fresh scenario explored during each successive three-minute round. At TNC’s Johnson Theater on Aug. 26, 28, 29, 30 & Sept. 3 & 6. “Tomorrow’s Dawn” is your chance to see a musical about teenagers that hasn’t been cast with actors who look like they’re about to age out of grad school. This exceedingly rare achievement is brought to you by La Petite Famille (“The Little Family”). Founded in Souillac, in the South of France, the company (whose members range in age from 16-25) has presented “Tomorrow’s Dawn” in 10 different countries throughout Europe, performing both French and English language versions. “They started out as middle school kids seven years ago,” says Scott-Price, “and they’ve stuck together as an ensemble ever since. Now, we’re giving them their New York premiere.” Age-appropriate casting isn’t the play’s only strong show of authen-

August 21, 2014

ticity. The script, by Jeff Gallon and Fred Larrieu, effectively conveys the urgency of youth as well as the exclusivity claimed by those just beginning to confront the nuances of love and friendship. “Here I speak of an age,” they sing, “which over of twenty are unable to know, an age where the present, renewed at any time, vibrates on some maybe.” Although it’s primarily a story of young love between Tom and Alice, these teens and their peers are equally audacious in their exploration of how teachers, parents and grandparents see the world. At the Johnson Theater, Aug. 21, 22, 24 & 25. Most of the works on this year’s roster are world premieres, some from playwrights who’ve been nurtured by TNC. Chima Chikazunga is one such example, having developed his voice (and his latest play) at the New City, New Blood reading series. “We first started working with him three years ago,” says Scott-Price of the Nigerian-American who cut his TNC teeth as a stage actor with be-

hind-the-scenes aspirations. “We’ve helped him develop his plays over the past few years, and he’s gotten better and better. That’s what TNC has always been about: opportunity.” Written, directed, designed by and co-starring Chikazunga, “For Chance” takes place in a Lower East Side living room apartment, as 25th birthday boy Chance awakens, alone and defeated, from a drug- and alcohol-fueled binge, during which he unsuccessfully attempted to construct the perfect play. Two childhood friends — one just out of prison, the other a successful actress — arrive unexpectedly, bringing with them unfinished business that Chance has spent years hiding from. Less of a walk down memory lane than a full throttle trip to the end of the road, the casual but ominous dialogue crackles with in-jokes and references originating from the once-intense bond these friends shared. Like a whodunit without an Act I murder, hidden agendas are revealed as the

audience begins to piece together the backstory of each particular character. It’s not pretty, but it’s very compelling. “For Chance” plays in TNC’s Cabaret Theater on Aug. 28, 29, 30 and Sept. 2 & 3. “Angela’s Justice” is from frequent TNC actor and playwright Michael A. Jones. Set in 1970, it’s an adaptation of “Antigone” that melds the rebellious and determined title character of Sophocles’ 2000-year-old play with 1960s black activist Angela Davis. The justice implied in the title is the proper burial, by any means necessary, of her brother. This world premiere has performances at the Johnson Theater on Aug. 23 & 24. Scott-Price hopes you’ll see these, and other, festival productions. But if you’re one of those vacationing travelers referenced in the first paragraph of this article, TNC invites you to check out the New City, New Blood reading series and the Scratch Night works-in-progress event, for a taste of Dream Up things to come. EastVillagerNews.com

Storytelling at Scratcher SPOKEN WORD THE SCRATCHER SESSIONS Sunday nights 7:30 p.m. At The Scratcher Cafe 209 E. Fifth St. (btw. Second & Third Aves.) PHOTO BY PAUL QUINN

Sessions resume Sept. 14 with Steve Bartolemoi, followed by John Rush on Sept. 21. The events usually start at 7:30 p.m. Visit facebook.com/pages/TheScratcher-Sessions/185847498886

BY PUMA PERL

arly last fall, this guy named Bicycle Joe told me about some writer guy he thought I should meet. “He does spoken word just like you,” said Bicycle Joe. “And he’s opening for Television in a couple of months.” “Hold on,” I replied. “He’s just like me except that he’s opening for Television? Who the *&^%& opens for Television? Who is this %$&# guy?” “Oh yeah, and they’re flying him out to San Francisco to do it,” added Bicycle Joe. Although consumed with envy, I was rabidly curious about who this &%$# writer was and how he had pulled off getting a gig like that. Some

Show me the meaning of the word: Dennis Driscoll, in performance at The Scratcher Sessions.

Inwood boy Dennis Driscoll brings the neighborhood alive dude named Dennis Driscoll, I was told. I threw a few more f-bombs around in my head, then went about my business, which included prepping for a show at the Sidewalk Café the following week. Saturday rolled around, and Puma Perl and Friends did a one-hour set, which included ten of my poems and two original songs from musician Joff Wilson. During the turnaround time for the next band, a pleasant, rather reserved gentleman who’d been watching from a front table extend-

ed his hand and introduced himself, remarking that he’d enjoyed the set, and offered me a CD of his own. Between my post-performance distraction and difficulty hearing in loud clubs, I never caught his name but accepted both the compliment and the CD. He seemed to totally understand my momentary spaciness, and I promised to give his work a listen. The next morning, the CD fell out of my bag as I was putting my books away, and I studied the cover. It was the guy. Dennis Driscoll. That &$%*&

writer guy. I had to hear this. The album is titled “Inwood Stories” and he’s definitely an Inwood boy, both in his inflections and in his ability to bring the neighborhood alive. While reminiscent of Jim Carroll in his tone and subject matters, the stories and voice are clearly his own. As far as recording goes, his use of music was distinctly designed to support him and provide atmosphere, while Jim Carroll transitioned from poet to front man of a post-punk rock band. What they share, in addition to their uptown urban roots and drug-induced experiences, is the ability to identify and engage excellent musicians who are able to tune into their sensibilities. The first piece, “Grand Union,” recalls the way he supported his “weekend warrior junkie routine” as a sixteen-year-old bagging up groceries, and describes his first get high buddy DJ, who used to mainline heroin, throw up between parked cars, and periodically yell out, “Don’t look at me! Don’t look at me while I’m puking!” I was taken. By the time I was halfway through the second one, “What a Difference a Day Makes,” with its teenage glue hallucinations and a near fatal overdose, I was over my case of writer envy and too busy either listening intently or laughing to curse much. One of his strengths is his self-deprecating brand of humor — his conversational tone and Inwood accent add to the effect. I sent him an email. “Don’t look at me while I’m puking!” I wrote. Not only did we become friends, we even went to see Television together several months later. SPOKEN WORD, continued on p.16

Theater for the New City • 155 1st Avenue at E. 10th St. Reservations & Info (212) 254-1109 For more info, please visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net

!!!TNC’S AWARD-WINNING STREET THEATER COMPANY inFREE!!!

FREE

EMERGENCY!!! or THE WORLD TAKES A “SELFIE” A New Musical for the Street

Written, Directed and Lyrics by CRYSTAL FIELD Music Composed by JOSEPH VERNON BANKS August 23 - September 14 Saturday & Sunday, 2pm This Weekend’s Two Shows are: Sat, August 23rd, 2pm- Sunset Park at 6th Ave. & 44th St., Brooklyn Sun, August 24th, 2pm- Travers Park at 6th Ave. btwn 77th & 78th Sts., Queens -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TNC’S 5th Annual DREAM UP FESTIVAL

“Dream Up: Invent, Concoct.” The festival is dedicated to new works. August 17th - September 7th 2014 For showtimes and tickets, visit our website at www.theaterforthenewcity.net TNC’s Programs are funded in part by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts

EastVillagerNews.com

August 21, 2014

A good storyteller makes listening easy SPOKEN WORD, continued from p. 15

August 21, 2014

PHOTO BY PUMA PERL

Turned out, he was joking with his old friend Fred Smith about opening for them and it morphed into reality. I started polishing up a few routines for Keith Richards, just in case we happen to be chatting. On the last Sunday in June, Dennis played a set at Scratcher, a bar located at 209 E. Fifth St. (btw. Second and Third Aves.). It was the first time I’d heard him do a full set, as well as the first time I was visiting the venue. The Scratcher Sessions are a weekly Sunday event primarily featuring musicians, and this was the final show before summer hiatus. The Sessions began in 2008, and are run by Brendan O’Shea and Pete Olshansky. One of the bar’s owners, Karl Geary, was previously at Sin-e, and they are dedicated to continuing the legacy of great live music in the East Village and supporting a community of music lovers. Olshansky described Dennis as a dear friend of the Sessions and stated that they love his stories. Dennis performed with one of his musical partners and friends, Mark Sewall, who not only played on the album, but also recorded the first five tracks on a digital recorder in his apartment. At Scratcher, Sewall played guitar and utilized a drum kit that produced a rolling bass line, creating a fullness of sound, but remaining unobtrusive. Adding to the subtlety of the work was the anonymity of the musician’s appearance and body language—he positioned himself in the darker corner of the stage and often had his back to the audience while adjusting the equipment. Rather than alienating the crowd, it served to keep

A passerby stops to listen, at a Scratcher Sessions performance from spoken word artist Dennis Driscoll and musician Mark Sewall.

the spotlight on the storyteller. The ease and shared sensibility between the two artists in this blending of words and music was clearly apparent. As Dennis said, “I don’t rehearse or tell anyone anything but ‘go with the feelings.’ We get up there and do it. There are no mistakes. I think of the musicians who accompany me as company on the stage.” On a beautiful summer Sunday evening, it’s hard to draw a large crowd but there was a warm feeling and a good vibe in the room. The audience seemed to consist mainly of regulars and pals of Dennis’, who appeared relaxed and able to maintain the same familiar, conversational tone he had presented on the album, whether talking about “The Wrong Bum” being arrested on the subway, or relating more of his near-death her-

oin tales, which often involve dubious guys with names like Sully, random bullets, and/or dancing chickens. A new one is titled “Junkie Jews with German Guns.” One of the things I most appreciate is his ability to end a story. There is always a snappy punch line, and he turns away with a conspiratorial smile before going on to the next. The following Sunday, I met up with Dennis at Otto’s Shrunken Head over a couple of club sodas. Although he is a lifelong Inwood resident, he has been present on the downtown scene for decades, starting out as a musician and eventually opening a neighborhood restaurant. He started playing bass at the age of nineteen because “before I ever even played bass, I was into the bass. It fits my personality. Some people don’t even hear the instruments individually, but if you’ve got the music in you, you listen differently.” His first of many bands was Pop Decay. He went on to play with musicians including Richard Lloyd of Television, and formed the Lowriders with Dee Pop and Deer France, a friend from early childhood. He has continued to play with a wide variety of musicians, both in bands and while performing his stories. Recently, he travelled to Joshua Tree and performed at a festival in the desert, backed up by Chris Goss and Dave Catching of Masters of Reality. He’s also become fairly well-known in

Ireland, where he often works with songwriter/actor Glen Hansard of The Frames. I had previously asked him about his collection of stories and how that started, and he’d told me that he’d been taking inventory and talking about his life. I misunderstood and thought he was speaking twelve-step lingo, but he was actually being very literal. From 1994 until 2008, he owned and operated a popular East Village restaurant called Old Devil Moon. To pass the time while taking weekly inventory with his partner, he started telling stories. It was suggested that he write them down, and he decided to try telling them onstage. Involving some of his musician friends in the project was a natural progression. The reader may note that I have used the word “friend” throughout this piece even more often than the ubiquitous &$%. Dennis is a truly likable guy who, in his low-key way, has developed friendships and collaborations in all facets of his life, and these qualities come through in performance. Before he left to catch the subway Uptown, I asked him if there was anything else he wanted people to know about him. “A guy from the Irish band Hothouse Flowers once said that I should keep doing what I’m doing because it’s important. If I’m really doing something important to people, that makes it all worthwhile. It makes me feel valid.” Refreshing to hear, since humility can be hard to come by — but I guess that’s another reason the &$^% guy has so many friends. Dennis Driscoll’s CD, Inwood Stories, can be purchased through his website, dennisdriscoll.com. He is currently preparing to record a new album. Puma Perl is a widely published poet and writer, as well as a performer and producer. She is the author of two chapbooks and two fulllength poetry collections: “knuckle tattoos” and the recently published “Retrograde” (great weather for MEDIA press). “Puma Perl’s Pandemonium,” a quarterly event, brings spoken word together with rock and roll. As “Puma Perl and Friends,” she performs regularly with a group of excellent musicians. Perl’s video links and event updates can be found at pumaperl.blogspot.com. EastVillagerNews.com

A long wait that’s worth the trip HELD MOMENTARILY A FringeNYC Presentation Written by Oliver Houser Additional Material by James Zebooker PHOTO BY DIXIE SHERIDAN

Directed by Hunter Bird Music Director, Jeremy Robin Lyons Runtime: 1h Visit heldmomentarily.com Sat., Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. At the Sheen Center – The Loretto 18 Bleecker St. (at Elizabeth St.) For tickets ($18), purchase at FringeNYC.

L to R: Geena Quintos, India Carney, Jordan Barrow, Yael Rizowy (laying down) and James Zebooker.

org | By Smartphone: FringeOnTheFly. com | By credit card at the Box Office | By cash at FringeCentral (114 Norfolk St., btw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.)

BY YANNIC RACK

he plot is simple enough: seven New Yorkers get stuck on the C train. Six of them have somewhere to be, but they all have the same concern: “How many minutes left, how many moments lost?” On the New York City subway system, who hasn’t asked themselves this question? That line, from the opening number of “Held Momentarily,” sets an appropriate tone of urgency and frustration. Over the next hour, the script, lyrics and music (all by the incredibly talented and promising Oliver Houser, with additional material by James Zebooker) — along with spot-on acting from a talented cast — manage to avoid making it all look too cliché (after all, this is not the most original situation). There is a twist, though: a pregnant woman is about to give birth. Sam, played with brute force and emotion by Yael Rizowy, is on her way to the hospital because her abusive boyfriend is too cheap to spring for a cab. When the subway car gets stuck, the group is understandably anEastVillagerNews.com

‘Held Momentarily’ has catchy music and an unexpected moral noyed. But that quickly gives way to panic when Sam’s water breaks and she goes into labor. The remaining 40 minutes are musical comedy at its best, as seven strangers “realize it’s not just the train that’s stuck,” as the play’s summary puts it. Houser plays Cal, the very busy, very impatient businessman, who has no time for hyperventilating pregnant women. Zebooker is Greg, the endearing and quirky nerd who, earlier, found himself on an OKCupid date with Geena Quintos’ health-obsessed, driven and independent Mindy (the two end up on the train together by chance after Mindy storms off). We learn this through one of several well-placed flashbacks, which manage to construct deep and profound character stories without straying too far from the present action. Mindy, who “knows exactly where she’s going” (a nod to the play’s overall theme) left Greg stranded, not impressed by his laissez-faire lifestyle and selective honesty on his dating profile. He, on the other hand, is sure “the Internet brought real romance.” Elliot Greer ’s Liam adds another layer to the story. He’s a med

student under mounting pressure from his dad (also played by Houser), college professor (Jordan Barrow) and supervising doctor (Zebooker) who must overcome his insecurities and rise to the occasion to deliver the baby. Greer, outstanding among a very good (and very young) cast, portrays the familiar struggle of finding oneself with heart-felt emotion. Barrow is funny as Stan, who’s dealing with his own set of problems — namely, a cheating boyfriend. Many of the actors, including Houser, seem to know each other from LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, and their chemistry shows on stage. Andrea Nevil, who filled in for India Carney in the role of Lilith, gave the evening’s best vocal performance, as a homeless woman who suddenly appears from under a rug. Wonderfully weird, she prompts Greg to admit that “subway performers are getting REALLY good.” Not taken seriously at first by the others, Lilith eventually inspires the group to recognize the importance of demonstrating compassion in their daily lives. The music is upbeat and catchy. Hunter Bird’s direction is smooth

and balanced, the sound and lighting are unobtrusive and work very well to set the pace for the back and forth of present story and flashbacks. The choreography by Katie Palmer makes very clever use of the subway setting, through routines that incorporate MetroCards and manage to bring the shaking subway to life on a static stage. But the most appealing thing about “Held Momentarily” is the well-observed inside jokes, which include jabs at the MTA (fearing that Sam will die in childbirth, Lilith exclaims, “Oh no, she is going to become a statistic!”), the mayor (“Bill de Blasio was on board last week, he closed the income gap!”), the social consciousness (the homeless woman as the most generous and compassionate of the group) and Internet dating (which seems almost nostalgic in the age of Tinder). “If you see something, say something,” Lilith sings at the end, the only one left in the subway after everyone else has left. She, in turn, leaves us with not only a spin on the MTA motto, but also a profound and admittedly unexpected moral. August 21, 2014

Storm protections are coming, so group says let’s dance BY ZACH WILLIAMS

August 21, 2014

PHOTO BY ZACH WILLIAMS

n the Lower East Side partying and emergency preparedness can go hand-in-hand. A DJ presided over an Aug. 8 soiree held in East River Park as a collective “thank you” to local residents for their input in the Big U project — the proposed storm protections for the U-shaped section of southern Manhattan starting with most of the East Side. Local dancers and spoken word artists performed as residents watched and mingled with representatives ranging from the Red Cross to Good Old Lower East Side [GOLES], which helped Rebuild by Design organize the approximately three-hour event. “It’s really important to have you operating with us on the design for the Big U, which is a plan that will receive federal money to connect the waterfront back to the community and to also protect you from future storms,” said Tara Eisenberg, a research coordinator at Rebuild by Design, which formed after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the city two years ago. The $335 million project will construct a “living barrier” integrating berms from 10- to 20-feet tall into the park from Montgomery St. to E. 23rd St. Federal funds will pay for the project which is just one out of 157 projects in a $3.7 billion city effort to mitigate climate change in low lying areas such as the Lower East Side and East Village. Planners anticipate that within four years the Big U will stretch from W. 57 St., south to the Battery, all the way to E. 42nd St. Residents were at first skeptical about the idea of changing the beloved park, but gradually began to trust the Big U team, offering suggestions as to how the project could increase accessibility to the riverfront by increasing pathways across F.D.R. Drive, according to Lilah Mejia, disaster relief coordinator for GOLES. “They literally took those ideas and incorporated them into the berm,” she said. Fears remain however, that a reinvigorated park, protected by the Big U, might invite increased attention from real estate developers in the coming years at the expense of public housing residents, she added. “I’m still kind of hesitant. I’m still kind of scared because I don’t know what that means,” she said. “We all know this community became gentrified rather quickly.” Such concerns though did not play prominently within the event. Chil-

Dancers from Grand Street Settlement quickly got all ages dancing at the event which also feature spoken word poetry and a traditional Chinese fan dance.

dren perused disaster preparedness guides helped along by the narrating Mickey Mouse. Another table had children design their own ideal version of public space through implements such as re-purposed plastic Easter Eggs and plastic pipes. Voluntary emergency works with the city Office of Emergency Management sought fresh recruits for free training as Community Emergency Response Team members. Next to them was Pedro Barry, who deployed a table and clipboard for Operation Hope, which helps people prepare for the financial implications of natural disasters, he said. He got more than 20 people at the event to sign up for more information about the FEMA-affiliated program. “The piece that people tend to lack on is the financial piece,” he said. “They go into the hole, they go into debt. We help them navigate the process a little bit faster.” Native fauna will figure prominently within the park once construction on the project begins. A nursery in Staten Island is busy raising salt-resistant species which will also absorb a significant amount of storm water once they are planted in the park, said Steven Handel, an ecologist for the project who attended the event. Despite the visibility of the Big U team about 15 feet away, some residents still had yet to hear that their beloved park would be the site of construction in the near future.

Baruch Houses resident Miriam Capo said she heard about the event through her Tai Qi class which performed at the event. She and her friend Dora Morreno had no idea the event concerned flood mitigation efforts. However, she welcomed efforts

to address the vulnerable situation residents such as herself faced when the full wrath of Sandy caught the community unprepared in 2012. “By doing these events, it’s perfect,” she said. “But they need to distribute the information a lot more.”

E. 8th St. tenants take landlord Croman to court CROMAN, continued from p. 4

prior owner by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, according to the representative’s statement. Electrical and intercom systems have been upgraded, plus lighting and stairways have been repaired, according to 9300 Realty. “The renovations to the building were permitted by the city and completed by licensed professionals,” reads the statement. “The tenants behind the recent suit have a long history of litigation with the prior landlord, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against what we consider to be unfounded accusations by these individuals.” Building management addressed the tenant-suggested protocols and has exceeded its legal obligation in agreeing to a “majority of their requests,” 9300 Realty added in a separate statement. The new legal efforts arose as an

investigation by Attorney General Schneidermen continues probing Croman’s business practices. Investigators have gathered evidence from 309 E. Eighth St. as part of the fact-finding process, The Villager has learned. Croman, meanwhile, also remains the target of local politicians, who praised Schneiderman last month for joining the fight against the landlord. State Senator Brad Hoylman told The Villager that Croman, in fact, ranks as the top landlord of concern in his district, which has, in part, inspired a new push to pass a bill, long stalled within committee, that would tighten oversight over New York City landlords. “It’s ironic that the reason places like the East Village are attractive to developers is because of the community created by these tenants who have lived there for decades,” Hoylman said. “And now they are being faced by harassment and eviction in many cases.” EastVillagerNews.com

Legal help rollout for the L.E.S. and Chinatown BY ZACH WILLIAMS

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mobile legal advice unit will pull into the Lower East Side and Chinatown this month to help residents facing tenant issues and beyond. Community members can access the fully equipped and staffed vehicle on Fri., Aug. 22, at Seward Park Library and at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association on Mon., Aug. 25. From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on both these days, advice on a wide range of legal topics will be available under the service, which is jointly run by the New York Legal Assistance Group and the New York State Courts Access to Justice Program. Spanish and Chinese interpreters will be at the ready. “You can see the scope of this is vast. Whatever your needs are, tell us,” said C.C.B.A. President Eric Ng, speaking in Mandarin at an Aug. 19 press conference announcing the upcoming events. The two neighborhoods have long been magnets for new immigrants, both those with and without legal status. However, at the same time, real estate development has been fueling conflict between longtime rent-regulated tenants and landlords. Legal advice on public benefits, disability benefits, consumer credit, custody, employment and identity theft will also be available. Councilmember Margaret Chin secured $5,000 through the City Council to fund the two events. “Access to legal services is a fundamental community need,” Chin said. “But too many Chinatown and Lower East Side residents struggle to afford necessary legal help, especially on difficult

The mobile legal advice vehicle.

housing issues.” Known as the Mobile Legal Help Center, the 41-foot-long vehicle has powered a mission to provide legal services to low-income individuals ever since it was first commissioned in 2012, according to the NYLAG Web site. Appointments are recommended through the vehicle’s complicated handle: mobilelegalhelpcenter.acuityscheduling.com. The imposing vehicle can accommodate 17 people at once, with interview rooms and all the fixings of a modern office. High-tech gadgetry can virtually connect with judges in order to secure

legal action in emergencies such as unlawful evictions and domestic violence protection. Once the paperwork travels back and forth, and a judge interviews the litigant, an order arrives via fax machine. The litigants can walk away with a copy of the order, according to NYLAG. If the expert attorneys in the field are stumped, there is plenty of reserve legal power, according to Amy Hozer, NYLAG supervising attorney. “We guarantee everybody advice and counsel when they come on board, as long as it is an area that NYLAG covers and that there is no conflict in giving you that advice,” she said. These two stops are part of the mobile program’s goal of serving 2,000 New Yorkers annually arose after Ng saw the unit operating in Flushing, Queens, he said. Soon he got in touch with Chin, who took up the cause, he added. The need for legal advice extends to relatively mundane issues for recent immigrants, said Karlin Chan, a member of Community Board 3. For example, acquiring a peddler’s license can be difficult when the applicant does not speak English or understand the regulations. The cost of private legal counsel also precludes many new immigrants from accessing the right information, according to Chan. “This is free legal advice, or if there is a case they’ll take the case pro bono,” he said. “You go see a shyster lawyer, the guy will charge you $250, $300 for consultation, and then they’ll hit you with, ‘Yeah, we’ll take care of that.’ Then, boom — a year later, two years later, you’re back to square one. Nothing’s been done.”

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Lower West Side among fastest changing neighborhoods BY LAUREN PRICE

COURTESY OF WARBURG REALTY

n t e r t w i n e d n e i g h b o rh o o d s stretching from Gansevoort St. to 34th and from Broadway to the Hudson River, the Meatpacking District, the High Line and Chelsea are among Manhattan’s most sought-after residential locales. The Meatpacking District runs roughly from Horatio St. west of Eighth Ave. north to W. 16th St. Within that cluster of blocks, the High Line park begins at Gansevoort St. and tracks north to 30th St. (between 10th and 12th Aves.). The elevated park’s final phase, close to completion, winds around the western edge of the Hudson Yards project and up to 34th St. Chelsea, whose boundaries encompass nearly all of the High Line, runs from about 14th to 30th Sts., between the Hudson River and Broadway. Before its gentrification, the Meatpacking District was just that — a working meat market. By the late 19th century, this cobblestoned historic district was filled with as many as 250 meat businesses and slaughterhouses. Currently, less than a dozen remain in operation. A neighborhood where Florent Morellet’s eponymous French bistro was

The living room of a three-bedroom loft at 520 W. 19th St.

for decades a 24/7 pioneer is now home to hot designer shops, like Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Tory Burch and Diane von Furstenberg. The streetscape also includes art galleries, tony clubs and hard-to-geta-table-at restaurants. The High Line represents a remarkable transformation of an abandoned strip of a freight rail line — which operated from the 1930s to the ’80s — into a beautifully landscaped public park, the world’s second major ele-

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August 21, 2014

vated park (thehighline.org) — the first being Paris’s Promenade Plantée, a three-mile stretch from Avenue Daumesnil to the Bois de Vincennes on the city’s eastern edge (tinyurl. com/phkc96h). The High Line was saved from likely demolition when a community-based nonprofit — Friends of the High Line — stepped up in 1999 to push for its preservation and redesign. By 2002, the city was on board, and three years later CSX Transportation began a series of donations of portions of the rail viaduct, ensuring the project would blossom. By 2011, the converted park’s first two phases were completed, taking the park north to 30th St. A magnet for strolling locals and tourists alike, the High Line has become a huge hit — and convinced the Whitney Museum of American Art to relocate to the rail line’s south terminus by mid-2015 (whitney.org). It was in the mid-18th century when Thomas Clarke, a retired British Army major, purchased almost 100 acres of land and named it after a London veterans’ hospital. On a hilltop, he built a country estate overlooking the Hudson River, where London Terrace sits today. Chelsea played an important role in the early days of the motion picture business, with Mary Pickford, the Canadian Oscar winner who became “America’s sweetheart,” shooting some of her earliest movies there. By 1912, however, filmmakers had already started their migration to California. Through much of the 20th century, Chelsea was a down-at-the-heels neighborhood with a large number of factories and warehouses. But by the early 1970s, a stream of gay men, many priced out of the West Village, began moving to the neighborhood, though not always without tensions.

The New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project grew up there out of informal gay street patrols. The 2010 Census found a population of 35,000 in the neighborhood, which by then had for some years been a world-class art district. The High Line Park, the eclectic Chelsea Market (chelseamarket.com), the Chelsea Hotel (a bohemian redoubt for generations (chelseahotels.com), and celebrity-filled eateries like Del Posto (delposto.com) and the Breslin Bar (thebreslin.com) have upped the ante in a district now full of blue-chip real estate.

WHAT’S ON THE MARKET A neighborhood once dominated by 19th-century brownstones and row houses has seen an explosion of mid-rise and high-rise rentals, condos and co-ops, one that amped up considerably in the last decade as the High Line park took shape. Big buildings, however, are not new to the neighborhood. Pre-wars have long been a feature here, and none is more famous than London Terrace, which occupies a full city block between Ninth and 10th Aves. and 23rd and 24th Sts., enclosing an interior private garden. The complex’s four corner towers are co-ops, with the remaining 10 buildings rentals. According to several real estate industry professionals, current median sale prices in the neighborhood hover around $1.9 million. Average monthly rentals range from $3,600 for a studio to about $4,500 for a two-bedroom unit. Only minutes from the High Line, Halstead Property is currently listing a light-filled one-bedroom duplex with a south-facing terrace inside a gut-renovated Federal-style townhouse built in the 1800s. Located two flights up at 443 W. 24th St. (between Ninth and 10th Aves.), the residence is priced at $1.155 million. It features a washer and dryer, hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, recessed lighting, custom closets, and motorized shades throughout. The reconfigured open kitchen was designed by the Italian firm Molteni & C Dada of Soho, is outfitted with appliances by Smeg, Bosch and Liebherr, and has light elm wood cabinetry. The upper-level bedroom, which accesses the landscaped terrace, has an en suite bathroom dressed in slate tiles (visit halstead.com/sale/ny/ manhattan/chelsea/443-west-24thstreet/coop/10325145). A lovely three-bedroom loft is now WEST SIDE STORY, continued on p. 22 EastVillagerNews.com

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Lower West Side among fastest changing neighborhoods WEST SIDE STORY, continued from p. 20

COURTESY OF HALSTEAD PROPERTY

listed for $4.285 million with Warburg Realty at 520 W. 19th St. (between 10th and 11th Aves). Recently renovated, it offers more than 2,000 square feet of living space. Sunny to the max, this homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south and north views provide excellent eyefuls of both the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline. Features include 10-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, walk-in closets and custom-built cabinetry in the living and dining room. The new kitchenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light wood cabinetry is topped with stone and appliances by Miele, Sub-Zero and Gaggenau, with an adjacent washer/ dryer area. The marbled en suite master bathroom has a double-sink vanity, as well as a separate glass-door shower and soaking tub with marble surrounds. A luxury condominium, the building offers round-the-clock doorman/concierge services and private storage (visit warburgrealty. com/property/47440620140711). A one-bedroom co-op at 160 Ninth Ave. (between 19th and 20th Sts.) is now listed with TOWN Residential. Inside a 1920 pre-war building, it boasts high ceilings, exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and a decorative fireplace. Facing southeast, it pro-

vides lovely garden views and lots of light. The open kitchen and bathroom were renovated a year ago. The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Built-in, throughwall air conditioning and ample overhead storage can be found in the bedroom. Priced at $669,000, the monthly maintenance is low (visit townrealestate.com/sale/id-234637/160-ninthavenue-2r-chelsea). With full city views on a quiet treelined cobblestone street around the corner from the High Line, Hudson River Park, Abingdon Square and the Meatpacking District, a triple-mint studio at 354 W. 12th St. (between Greenwich and Washington Sts.) is the very definition of location, location, location! It has 10-foot ceilings, exposed brick, tall arched windows, beautiful woodwork, a decorative fireplace, refinished hardwood floors and terrific closet space. The kitchen features solid cherry cabinetry with extra storage, honed granite countertops and appliances from Viking and Sub-Zero. The bathroom is outfitted with glass mosaic tile, a unique bronze vessel sink and Philippe Starck-designed Hansgrohe fixtures. The building features a large landscaped common garden and has a live-in super. This co-op is priced at

The private terrace in a one-bedroom duplex at 443 W. 24th St.

$430,000 (visit corcoran.com/nyc/ listings/display/3229859). No-fee rentals are available at the new Abington House at 500 W. 30th St. (between 10th and 11th Aves.), which is leasing studios to two-bedroom units with open plans, a select number of which have private outdoor space. South- and west-facing units offer breathtaking views of the High Line, the Hudson River and

Manhattan skyline, and all the residences feature large windows, oak floors and washer/dryers. The building has three communal terraces (including one dedicated to barbequing), along with party rooms, indoor/outdoor screening rooms, lounge areas (one with five iMacs) and Dog City for walking, play date, grooming and training services. Rents start at $3,600 per month (visit related.com)

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HURRY! 2 DAYS ONLY AT EACH LOCATION!

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Hilton new york

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1335 Avenue of The Americas New York, NY 10019

1836 to 1839 ............Up To ................... $5,500

(6th Ave between 53rd & 54th) Concourse E

1840 to 1873 ............Up To ................... $5,500

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August 21, 2014

Marriott Brooklyn Bridge 333 Adams Street Brooklyn NY 11201 (Between Tillary & Willoughby St) 3rd Floor This Wednesday, august 27th: 11amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;6pm Thursday, august 28th: 11amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;6pm

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