THE VILLAGER, AUG. 27, 2015

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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933

August 27, 2015 • $1.00 Volume 85 • Number 13

A socialist presidential candidate — no, not that one — looks back

BY JOSEPH MULKERIN

D

McREYNOLDS continued on p. 27

Herman Gerson, patriarch of Village political dynasty, district leader, dies at 103

BY ALBERT AMATEAU

H

erman Gerson, a Greenwich Village resident for more than 60 years and a leader in the neighborhood’s often contentious political life, died at the age of 103 on Aug. 19 at New York University Medical Center after a brief illness.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

avid McReynolds, 85 has lived in the same East Village building since the 1960s. His original apartment was gutted by a fire two and a half years ago and one of the few items that he managed to salvage from the wreckage was

his F.B.I. file, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request in the 1970s. The file, which sits inconspicuously on a cluttered shelf overlooking his TV, exceeds 300 pages and is something that he regards as a badge of honor.

“The agent in charge of my case just recommended

At a tribute 10 years ago when the Village Independent Democratic Club gave him its Community Service Award, he was called the “patriarch of the Gerson dynasty.” His wife, Sophie Gerson, who died in 2013, was a longtime member of the local school board and of CommuGERSON continued on p. 16

A toddler really got into, literally, one of the fountains in the new Seventh Ave. park on the former St. Vincent’s triangle site. See Pages 10 and 11.

Construction finally starts on SPURA mega-project

BY YANNIC RACK

M

ost of the 10 lots that make up the $1 billion SPURA redevelopment project currently underway on the Lower East Side have been lying dormant for decades.

But last month, construction work finally began on the first two sites, between Delancey and Grand Sts., after the developers closed on the construction financing at the end of June.

The 1.65-million-square-foot

project, dubbed Essex Crossing, will add 1,000 housing units to the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area over the next decade and also create a new home for the historic Essex Street Market, as well as a shopping and entertainment corridor along Broome St. Isaac Henderson is a senior project manager at L+M Development Partners, one of the companies that make up Delancey Street Associates, the consortium created to build the entire project.

Last week, in an interview

with The Villager, he gave a progress report.

The first two sites that are now commencing “fullspeed ahead,” according to Henderson, are Numbers 2 and 5, located at the southeast corner of Delancey and Essex Sts. and the northwest corner of Clinton and Grand Sts., respectively.

“It’s basically a nine-year construction period, but a large portion of it starting right now,” he said.

SPURA continued on p. 12

Mass rally against ‘Corporate U’.....................page 2 Getting to know Mrs. Green’s............................page 14 Editorial: Help the homeless.............................page 18 Fighting for his bar’s future..........page 4

www.TheVillager.com

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August 27, 2015

NO TO CORP. U! A massive demonstration against greedy, out-of-control corporations is planned in Washington Square Park on Tues., Sept. 1, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. No, the targets won’t be Walmart, Chevron, Monsanto or others that typically top the lists of worst corporations — but the Village’s universities: N.Y.U., the Cooper Union and the New School. The “Rally and March Against the Corporate University” will bring together what its organizers are calling an unprecedented coalition of students, professors, labor and community members and local groups. There will also be a performance by the cast of “STOMP!” More specifically, the anti-corporate confab is being described as a “rally to save the Village, save our parks, and stop wasting our tuition on bad labor practices, unwanted development and reckless real estate expansion.” Among the rally’s endorsers are N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, N.Y.U.’s Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM); the Committee to Save Cooper Union; N.Y.U.’s Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC); Whose N.Y.U.?; Coalition for Fair Labor; Roosevelt Institute; Union of Clerical, Adminstrative and Technical (UCATS) at N.Y.U.; the N.Y.U. adjuncts and New School part-time faculty union (ACT-UAW Local 7902); Washington Square South Citizens Action Committee; Community Action Alliance on N.Y.U. 2031 (CAAN 2031); the Soho Alliance and more. It will start off with a rally in the park by the Garibaldi statue, with speakers and a performance by “STOMP!” Things will then climax with a march down to the Coles Sports Center, the N.Y.U. gym on Mercer St. that is slated to be replaced by the university’s new “Zipper Building.” Following the Court of Appeals’s ruling in June that the N.Y.U. 2031 development project can proceed, the university now plans to close Coles this fall and tear it down soon after. Speakers will address a range of issues, from the destruction of open spaces (the N.Y.U. plan will close four park strips along the project’s edges for years) to student debt (some students are even selling their bodies to afford the astronomical tuition); “Wall Street’s stranglehold on U.S. higher education”; faculty exploitation; and schools with global ambitions forming partnerships with foreign regimes (did someone say Abu Dhabi?) that grossly violate human rights. At more than $70,000 a year, N.Y.U. is now the nation’s most expensive university, according to the organizers. Mark Crispin Miller, N.Y.U. professor of media, culture and communication, said, “N.Y.U. is now an institution driven not by a concern for education, but by an elite financial calculus that ends up hurting all of us in many ways: the students, faculty and staff within the school itself, as well as its long-suffering neighbors. What’s happening at NYU is indicative of a nation-wide trend that has turned institutions of higher learning into profit-driven corporations.” However,

GOT THE STORY WRONG? The architect hired to design a proposal for the new facade of One if by Land, Two if by Sea, the popular Barrow St. restaurant, might be in a conflict of interest. Anita Brandt presented plans for a new storefront to Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee last week, but not before she recused herself from voting on the issue — since she is a C.B. 2 member on the committee. The restaurant ripped down its decorative plaster arch without a permit last month. The new proposal, which called for a different look incorporating the underlying cast-iron beams, was swiftly voted down by the other committee members. But after the committee meeting, Brandt, on the recommendation of C.B. 2 Chairperson Tobi Bergman, called the city’s Conflict of Interest Board to see whether it was kosher for her to represent the restaurant. She told The Villager on Wednesday that the lawyers there instructed her to write a formal letter, but they haven’t made a decision yet, despite an article on DNAinfo New York claiming otherwise.

“That was news to me,” Brandt said in a phone call yesterday, adding that she won’t do anything before COIB responds. “Not without a ruling, no, absolutely not,” she said. “I met with the Landmarks Preservation Commission today, and until I get a definitive answer I’m not going to quit anything. I’ll see whether they agree to it and, if not, whether I can have someone else present the proposal.” The application for the proposal has already been submitted to L.P.C. and is scheduled to be presented at the commission’s next public hearing on Tues., Sept. 8. Brandt was hired by the restaurant after the facade had already been removed and said she got the job through a “codes consultant” she’s been working with for 30 years. “Look, it’s a little unusual — most of my clients don’t get themselves into hot water first, but it’s a job,” she said. “We don’t want the community to be unhappy, we want to solve the problem and get something good.” Regarding the DNAinfo article, which referred to comments allegedly made at last Thursday’s C.B. 2 meeting, Brandt was perplexed and said she has no idea where the information came from. “I was at the meeting myself,” she said. “[Bergman] did not say that and I didn’t either.”

GARDEN GRAB: Speaking of DNAinfo, the news site reported that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has applied for a $6 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to build 75 or more affordable apartments on the site of the Elizabeth St. Garden in Nolita (or Little Italy, as the locals still prefer to say). According to an H.P.D. spokesperson, the city plans to move ahead with the project this fall. Back in May, as first reported

by The Villager, C.B. 2’s Bergman proposed to Councilmember Margaret Chin that a better site for the housing would be the large vacant lot at Clarkson and Hudson Sts. in Hudson Square, where a water-shaft project was built over the past years. Last week, C.B. 2 passed a resolution opposing the grant application for the Elizabeth St. Garden. The board is on record supporting preserving the garden as a permanent public green space. The L.M.D.C. hearing on the issue SCOOPY’S continued on p. 12 TheVillager.com

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A benefit for Washington Square Park

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Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005

by New York Press Association Editorials, First Place, 2014 Overall Design Excellence, First Place, 2013 Best Column, First Place, 2012 Photographic Excellence, First Place, 2011 Spot News Coverage, First Place, 2010 Coverage of Environment, First Place, 2009

PUBLISHER JENNIFER GOODSTEIN

EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON

ARTS EDITOR

SCOTT STIFFLER

CONTRIBUTORS FILE PHOTO BY HANA RASKIN

ALBERT AMATEAU IRA BLUTREICH SARAH FERGUSON TEQUILA MINSKY CLAYTON PATTERSON JEFFERSON SIEGEL ZACH WILLIAMS SHARON WOOLUMS

Dick Manitoba has fought to keep his eponymous Avenue B bar open. But without legislation to protect small businesses from rent gouging, is he now facing a losing battle?

ART DIRECTOR MICHAEL SHIREY

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS ANDREW GOOS CHRIS ORTIZ

EXECUTIVE VP OF ADVERTISING AMANDA TARLEY

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES JACK AGLIATA ALLISON GREAKER JENNIFER HOLLAND JIM STEELE 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

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August 27, 2015

A punk rocker ponders his bar’s future

BY TINA BENITEZ-EVES

M

ick Rock’s haunting blackand-white “Transformer”-era shot of Lou Reed. A young, pre-Pistols Sid Vicious working at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s London SEX shop. With walls plastered with snapshots of punk’s past, Manitoba’s is like a rock ’n’ roll museum, offering a glimpse back in time for those who were there, those who dreamed of being there and anyone new to it all.

Manitoba’s is among the last of its kind in the East Village, but all good things must come to an end. That’s Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba’s mantra when it comes to the future of his punk rock dive bar at 99 Avenue B, and he’s sticking to it.

Opened in 1999 by Manitoba, and co-owned and managed by his wife, Zoe Hansen, the rocking watering hole may or may not close its doors within the next year. Its future depends on how much the rent goes up, the punk icon told The Villager.

“We’ll revisit the lease when it gets closer to ending time,” said Manitoba, who does not know exactly when his current lease ends, but is afraid that the rent will rise significantly. “I don’t want to sign another lease now and pay more rent a year in advance. If it’s a lot more, I’m out — because I can’t afford a lot more. I’m not going to work for nothing.”

Earlier this year, Manitoba’s nearly shut its doors following a settlement of $25,000, after a man named Luigi Girotto

sued Manitoba’s and 27 other businesses, including the bar’s former neighbor, Casimir — since reopened as Pardon My French — for failing to provide wheelchair accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act. After a successful Indiegogo campaign, Manitoba raised more than $32,000. Nearly 700 donors pledged funds in return for an offering of memorabilia from Manitoba’s band, The Dictators, and other collectibles from Manitoba’s personal stash of T-shirts, bobblehead dolls in his likeness, Godlis photos and even autographed guitars donated by Joan Jett and Blondie.

Although Manitoba’s survived the lawsuit, the neighborhood’s punk past has nearly been wiped away. Handsome Dick is a survivor, but whether Manitoba’s will ultimately survive, he can’t yet stay.

The camaraderie — fans who come to recapture a taste of the old days — is what makes it worthwhile for Manitoba.

“I don’t love the bar business,” he said.

“I love having that bar. I love having that history. I love having that clubhouse.”

While he enjoys keeping a bit of that old punk culture alive in the East Village, the Bronx native has seen the neighborhood change over the years from its grittier roots to something more polished, with everything being driven by ever-higher rents.

Manitoba said he sees through his son’s eyes and understands how today’s younger generation might miss out on special places, after they are gone. His son wonders what it was like for Manito-

ba to hang out at the factory with Andy Warhol or check out the Peppermint Lounge in 1962 when he was just eight.

“At 11 life is exciting, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” said Manitoba, who first fell in love with the idea of having a bar during a trip to Manhattan with his father when he was 10, and they had a chance meeting with boxer Jack Dempsey at his bar and restaurant in Midtown.

“What are we supposed to do, miss what we lost?” he asked. “It’s a type of loss. Life is a death. Life is about a bunch of deaths.”

It gets to a point, said Manitoba, when, “You are just another old person talking about how great the old days were.”

It’s still a labor of love for Manitoba, but only time will tell if the little punk bar that serves Mother’s Milk, leaves its $5 photo booth open at all hours and its jukebox ready to play anything — even some pre-punk oldies — will keep the history alive.

“When people come to New York City, there’s no more CBGBs,” he said.

“There’s no more…fill in the blanks. So I’m one of those stop-offs now where people have a drink and take a picture.

That means a lot to me.”

Manitoba knows that another piece of punk in the East Village would die if Manitoba’s closes, because, he said, it’s a different kind of bar from the rest.

“Where are you gonna go for Manitoba’s?” he said. “Where is there a place that has that little niche? When you want White Castle you can’t go to Burger King.”

Yet, he added, “When it’s gone, it’s gone. Then something else will rise up.”

TheVillager.com

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Fired years ago, man kills guard at fed building

L

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

ast Friday afternoon, deadly violence hit Hudson Square as a disgruntled former government worker shot and killed a security guard at the federal building at 201 Varick St. at Houston St. After slaying the guard, the man encountered a friend in the lobby who he knew from the New York Athletic Club, who slowly backed away toward the elevator, according to The New York Times. The gunman then turned the weapon on himself and took his own life.

The guard, Idrissa Camara, 53, was pronounced dead just before 6 p.m. at Lenox Health Greenwich Village, according to police. The shooter, Kevin Downing, 68, of Fort Lee, N.J., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives, plainclothes officers and dozens of Strategic Response Group officers, as well as other police and emergency vehicles, quickly converged on the scene.

According to reports, Downing

harbored a 15-year grudge over being fired from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has an office on the building’s eighth floor. He had protested in vain that he was canned for being a whistleblower after arguing that the bureau’s moving its regional office to New Jersey was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Downing had no connection to Camara, a father of four. A representative of a whistleblower-advocacy group quoted by the Times, described Downing as “obsessive” about his case. Authorities ruled out any connection to terrorism.

This Monday, there were at least four Homeland Security officers guarding the building’s Varick St. doors, while the Houston St. entrance, through which the gunman had entered, remained temporarily closed. They were still “cleaning it up,” according to the officers.

Lincoln Anderson and Tequila Minsky

Strategic Response Group officers and detectives were quickly on the scene after the shooting at the federal building at 201 Varick St.

6

August 27, 2015

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August 27, 2015

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POLICE BLOTTER Police Officer Chris Rong; the Fifth Precinct’s detective squad, community affairs and Chinatown Project; two Airlines Reporting Corporation Fraud investigators, Douglas Nass and Christine Hettich; the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; and City Councilmember Margaret Chin and her staff.

L.E.S. man missing Francisco Morales, 34, of 60 Baruch Drive, is reported missing, police said.

He was last seen at his workplace on Tues., Aug. 11, around 6:30 a.m., at 13620 38th Ave. in Flushing. He is 6-foot-1 and weighs 240 pounds. No clothing description was available.

Meanwhile, police said that Michael Thomas, a 46-year-old 61 Jane St. resident who was reported missing back in April is no longer missing. He had been reported missing on April 20, having last been seen that day at the Pennsylvania Hotel. But, after a nearly two-week absence, was located on May 1. More details were not immediately available.

Tricky travel agent On Monday, Cy Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, announced the indictment of Vivian Cheng, 46, a Chinatown travel agent, for stealing roughly $45,000 from victims and defrauding others as part of a scheme. Cheng was charged with grand larceny in the third and fourth degrees, scheme to defraud in the first degree and petty larceny.

“As the peak summer travel season draws to a close, travelers are encouraged to remain on alert for fraud,” Vance said. “Victims of the alleged scheme — which included elderly individuals, adult children returning to China to visit sick parents, and families traveling together — were unable to go on their planned trips or stranded abroad with no way of returning home. Individuals are reminded to be vigilant against scams, obtain e-ticket numbers, and keep documentation of payment and financial transactions in order to avoid falling victim to fraud.”

According to the indictment and court documents, between February 2014 and May 2015, Cheng, the own-

Stroke of misfortune

Francisco Morales was reported missing.

er and proprietor of Bestway Travel (also known as “First Chamber” and “Broadview Logistics”), at 12 Pell St., stole from and defrauded numerous individuals through various alleged schemes. In several cases, she used credit cards belonging to other individuals to pay for plane tickets for which the defendant had been paid in cash by other travelers. In at least one instance, Cheng charged more than $60,000 in airline tickets unbeknownst to the cardholder.

As part of her scheme, the defendant also purchased one-way tickets for travelers who paid for roundtrip fare to Asia, leaving victims unable to board their return flights and stranded abroad. Many of these victims were elderly and were forced to pay additional fees, on top of what had been previously paid to the defendant, in order to return home.

In some cases, Cheng accepted payment for round-trip tickets and did not purchase tickets at all, instead providing her victims with receipts and itineraries to deceive them into believing that they possessed the necessary information and documents to travel.

Assistant District Attorney Rosemary Yu is handling the prosecution of the case.

For their assistance, Vance thanked

NOTICE OF A JOINT PUBLIC HEARING of the Franchise and Concession Review Committee and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to be held on Monday, September 8th, 2015 at 22 Reade Street, Borough of Manhattan, commencing at 2:30 p.m. relative to: INTENT TO AWARD as a concession the installation, operation and management of an outdoor holiday gift market at Union Square Park, Manhattan, for a potential five (5) year term, to Urban Space Holdings, Inc. (“USH”). Compensation to the City will be as follows: for each operating year, USH shall pay to the City a license fee consisting of the greater of the guaranteed annual fee (Year 1: $1,400,000; Year 2: $1,470,000; Year 3: $1,543,500; Year 4: $1,620,675; Year 5: $1,701,709), or fifty percent (50%) of gross receipts derived from the operation of the holiday market.

Police said that a 17-year-old youth and a slightly older sidekick attacked another man with a golf club early on Sun., Aug. 23, near the southeast corner of E. 14th St. and University Place.

In the incident, around 4:45 a.m., they hit the man multiple times in the face and back with the club.

The attackers then proceeded to snatch a $300 cell phone, $150 in cash and other items before fleeing — the older man on foot and the teenager on a bicycle. Police later searched the area and arrested Jamari Leacock, 20, and the teenager. They were both charged with felony robbery. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital for medical treatment.

Citi Busted Police said that a 20-year-old woman had something to hide after she fled police on Sat., Aug. 22. She was riding a Citi Bike on the sidewalk until police stopped her in front of 75 Christopher St. shortly after 2 a.m.

A foot chase then ensued but police soon apprehended Taylor Honeycutt.

A search of her person revealed a switchblade and a small amount of marijuana, according to cops. The bicycle had been reported missing

by NYC Bike Share. Honeycutt was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.

Cutter and coke An unknown person alerted police that a man was wielding a knife during an argument with another person in front of 848 Washington St. early on the morning of Sat., Aug. 22.

Police responded by around 2:55 a.m. They approached Keith Jones, 42, and allegedly found a small amount

of cocaine in his shorts, as well as a knife. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

The report did not state whether the altercation had turned physical.

What a dope!

Marijuana hit the ground in front of 75 Christopher St. in what police said was a deliberate effort to sabotage an investigation early on Sat., Aug. 22. An officer approached a man at that address at 2 a.m. after reportedly observing him drinking alcohol on the street.

The man then reportedly threw to the ground a bag containing multiple smaller bags of weed — but this did not throw the cop, according to a police report.

Brady Lightfoot, 26, was arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence, a felony.

Hookah kooka Things got testy at the Falucka Lounge in the wee hours of Wed., Aug. 19. Two women got into an argument at about 2:15 a.m. inside the place, at 162 Bleecker St. A witness said he then observed one of the women spritz the other in the face with pepper spray.

Emergency medical service responders aided the 19-year-old victim, whose eyes were burning from the irritant. Police arrested Marquita Evans, 21, charging her with misdemeanor assault.

Subway Samsung swipe On Mon., Aug. 10, 2015 at around 8:20 p.m., a 46-year-old man was on the southbound A train platform inside the W. Fourth St. station when he was approached and surrounded by three youths who proceeded to take his Samsung cell phone before fleeing.

Two of the suspects are described as being 18 to 20 years old, and the third 16 to 17 years old. The younger suspect wore a Nets baseball hat and red headphones.

Zach Williams and Lincoln Anderson

A draft copy of the agreement may be reviewed or obtained at no cost, commencing Friday, August 21, 2015, through Monday, September 8, 2015, between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, excluding weekends and holidays at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, located at 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 313, New York, NY 10065.

Individuals requesting Sign Language Interpreters should contact the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, Public Hearings Unit, 253 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10007, (212) 788-7490, no later than SEVEN (7) BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC HEARING. TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR THE DEAF (TDD) 212-504-4115.

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August 27, 2015

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TheVillager.com

August 27, 2015

9

Hospital triangle goes ‘back to the land’ as new

BY TEQUILA MINSKY

T

10

August 27, 2015

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

he consensus is: “I’m glad there is a park here.”

After all the anguish over the closing of St. Vincent’s — which is being replaced by luxury condos — an open space now finally replaces part of the triangular block that was partly occupied by a clunky building that received supplies for the hospital.

Without any fanfare, and as workmen continued making minor adjustments to park bench arm rests and the like, the new $10 million, 16,000-square-foot park, bounded by Seventh and Greenwich Aves. and W. 12th St., opened to the public on Fri., Aug. 21.

The park was built by Rudin Management — which, in partnership with Eyal Ofer’s Global Holdings, is also building the condos across the street — and will be maintained by Rudin in perpetuity. The designer was Rick Parisi of M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, who calls the park’s curvilinear design “fluid and organic.”

At midday in the new park, there is little shelter from the baking late-August sun, and at this point, the many young trees provide little shade. That didn’t seem to bother those who took in some rays or stopped for a quick rest on opening day, though. It’s expected that when the trees fill out, this problem will be lessened.

Two local men, walking their dogs on the grass in the park’s center, were promptly reprimanded by another Village resident, who informed them that it was a sitting lawn and not a dog run.

A sign is obviously needed.

Thaddeus Castanis, a longtime Village resident, was pretty happy with the park.

“Something is better than nothing,” said Castanis, who remembers the Loews that was at the site.

The movie theater opened in 1921, was taken over by Loews in 1926, was shuttered in 1969, and then purchased

by St. Vincent’s Hospital, which demolished it soon afterward.

“I think the fountain is nice with its colored LED lights,” he added.

During the day, water jets gush in intervals from stainless steel basins at ground level, creating a pleasant water-play environment for children and water therapy for sore adult feet.

Five 30-inch granite stones mark the park’s entrances, commemorating the work of the Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent’s Hospital.

One mom, watching her 2-year-old son, said, “I thought there would be more to the water park and that the park, in general, would have more embellishment.”

On first glance, some might say the park looks rather generic, but it’s per-

A little boy in the new park investigates a fountain that has lights beneath it.

A sun worshiper went straight to one of the new curvy wooden benches to soak up some rays.

Workers were still putting finishing touches on the park last Friday.

fectly functional.

The new greensward has curved benches providing plenty of seating that snake alongside the walkways that border the thick carpet of sod.

Moveable tables are an added amenity.

Emeka Oglonna had left his workout at the nearby Equinox gym (the site of another former movie theater) to check out the new park, and commented on the hours, which are posted at the entrance.

“I think it should be a 24-hour park,” he said.

Its seasonal hours are 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. from April through October and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. from November through March.

The well-lit green space, cooled by evening breezes, was particularly inviting once the sun was down. People lay on the carpet of grass. Local resident Jim Fouratt and Councilmember Corey Johnson were spotted seated across from each other having an animated conversation.

One Village resident walked over from Sheridan Square to look for the AIDS memorial, which is part of the project, only to discover it has yet to be built. A green plywood wall now hides the memorial’s future site at the park’s western corner. The New York City AIDS Memorial is optimistically expected to be finished, according to reports, by as soon as the end of the year, but could take longer.

The memorial, which is currently being fabricated, will occupy a 1,600-square-foot area. It will sport a PARK continued on p. 11 TheVillager.com

park opens; AIDS memorial is coming next PARK continued from p. 10

painted steel canopy sculpture, central granite water feature and benches designed by Brooklyn-based Studio a+i. The memorial’s granite paving will have an engraved installation designed by internationally renowned artist Jenny Holzer and containing portions of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.”

“Our goal was to provide a serene green space for the entire community,” said Eric Rudin and William Rudin, managing partners of Rudin Development, in a statement. “Having worked with all of the stakeholders including the community, New York City Parks, the City Planning Commission and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, we believe all the families and visitors in the neighborhood will enjoy this park, and we are especially delighted to be opening it in the summer when the children can enjoy the interactive fountain.”

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver added, “This park creates a space that connects Greenwich Village’s rich history with its flourishing present. The Village gains a beautifully landscaped community gathering place that will also offer a striking memorial to the lives lost in the AIDS epidemic.”

As of yet, the park remains unnamed, but a formal opening ceremony is planned at a later date, perhaps at which time the name will be revealed. The sign at the park’s Seventh Ave. entrance currently lists the park’s name as 76 Greenwich Ave. and says it is owned by West Village Residences LLC. Rich Caccappolo, chairperson of Community Board 2’s Parks and Waterfront Committee, told The Villager that there would be “two openings” for the park, one after it goes through the city’s ULURP review process, which is required for the former hospital property to be converted into use as a park. Last week’s low-key opening was apparently the first of the two.

Councilmember Corey Johnson, left, and activist Jim Fouratt had a discussion in the park later that evening.

Squiggly lines of lights embedded in the paving illuminate the new Seventh Ave. green spot at night.

The park’s new grass lawn was a welcome spot to cool off amid the summer swelter.

TheVillager.com

August 27, 2015

11

Half of SPURA work could finish in next 3 years SPURA continued from p. 1

12

August 27, 2015

PHOTO BY YANNIC RACK

Both building sites will have around 200 rental apartments each, with half of these affordable (the same is true across the entire project), and also house a range of commercial tenants. At Site 2, a 24-story building, a Regal movie theater will share space with the new and bigger home of the Essex Street Market, as well as the “Market Line,” a 20,000-squarefoot food-oriented market space.

“For the last four or five weeks we’ve been in the process of doing soil removal and beginning the foundation work there,” Henderson said.

He also revealed that the new Essex Street Market, which is getting up to 10 new tenants and will open in 2018, won’t have its own subway entrance inside the building as previously hoped.

“There’s a subway station right now, it’s going to remain in the same location,” Henderson said. “But the subway will not have direct access to the market. Financially, it wasn’t feasible for everybody to make that happen.

“At the end of the day, you’re still going to see that there’s a giant, exciting new market right off the subway,” he added. “And hopefully that will entice people to go in.”

In addition, at Site 5, there will be a number of retail uses that haven’t been finalized yet, most likely a gym and a supermarket, according to Henderson.

Right now, they’re still in the process of beginning early foundation work and completing the demolition of the last remaining building on the project site. Henderson said that, over the next few weeks, they would complete the razing and then proceed with foundation and construction work in September.

The two sites are part of the project’s first of three phases, which encompasses 1 million square feet, or roughly half of the overall development.

Phase one also includes a 55-unit building where apartments will be for sale, with one-fifth of them affordable, according to Henderson.

“We’re looking to close and acquire the property [from the city] in early to mid-December and begin work full-speed ahead during that period of time,” he said.

This new building, slated for Site 1, currently a small parking lot at the northeast corner of Broome and Ludlow Sts., will also be the home of a Splitsville bowling alley and a “cultural facility,” yet to be determined. The Pittsburgh-based Andy Warhol Museum originally planned to occupy the 10,000-square-foot

Excavation work at Site 2 of the SPURA project is underway, above. This site will be home to the future tallest building of the development project, and will also house the relocated Essex Street Market.

space but bowed out of the project earlier this year.

“We’re currently looking for a replacement,” Henderson said.

The last site where construction is set to kick off this year is Number 6, the easternmost lot at the northeast corner of Broome and Clinton Sts. “That’s going to be 100 units of affordable senior housing, and we hope to begin construction on that in late September, early October,” Henderson said, adding that they are also hoping to attract a medical facility to the building.

The rest of the sites, three of which are north of Delancey St., are not scheduled for construction until 2017. Site 9, the current home of Essex Street Market, north of Delancey St., can’t be developed until the market has relocated to its new home.

Similarly, Site 10, the northernmost lot on Essex St. in the project area, currently houses the Community Health Network, which holds a lease on the building for another five years.

But the buildings on the four lots that make up phase one will all be open long before 2024, the prospective completion date for the last of the developments.

“Roughly in the next 30 to 36 months, all those buildings should come online,” Henderson said.

SCOOPY’S continued from p. 2 will be on Thurs., Sept. 17. Bergman noted that the L.M.D.C.’s first mandatory guideline for allocating grants states that there must be a “high level of community interest and support” for a given project. “H.P.D. still has not told us about the application or shown it to us, so how can there be a high level of interest and support,” Bergman said.

“It’s like they are claiming support for a secret project.” He said he believes Councilmember Corey Johnson is supportive of the water-shaft site — which is in his district — for affordable housing, but isn’t taking a position on the Elizabeth St. Garden. Huh? Why not?

C’mon, Corey, get involved here and help save a beloved garden!

COMMUNITY POWER: Responding to last week’s Scoopy’s item in which Assemblymember Deborah Glick rattled off the names of many of the elected officials backing John Scott and Jean Grillo for re-election, Sean Sweeney, a leading member of Downtown Independent Democrats, scoffed that while their opponents don’t have the pols, they do have community groups supporting them.

Backing Terri Cude and Dennis Gault for district leader are the Soho Alliance, of which Sweeney is the director; the South

Village Neighbors; and the Noho Neighborhood Alliance; plus Mark Crispin Miller and Bo Riccobono of N.Y.U. FASP; and Sara Jones, the head of LaGuardia Corner Gardens, to name a few.

CORRECTIONS: Previously, The Villager has incorrectly stated that District Leaders Scott and Grillo both live in Battery Park City. In fact, both of them live a bit north of there, Scott in Independence Plaza and Grillo in a loft building nearby. Gault, who is running against them with Cude, does live in B.P.C. In addition, an article in last week’s issue about the planned redevelopment of a block of Gansevoort St. misrepresented a claim by the developer that the office of Councilmember Johnson, as well as the City Planning Commission, were on board with lifting the site’s restrictive zoning declaration.

Rather, the developer said both Johnson and City Planning were both open to the proposal but only if the community and C.B. 2 were on board. “The developer must work with the community to arrive at a proposal that respects the context and character of the Gansevoort Market Historic District,” Johnson said in a statement this week. “I will support no proposal that does not respect the Meatpacking District, a neighborhood we love.”

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August 27, 2015

13

Mrs. Green’s, thanks for schwag, but who are you?

BY MICHELE HERMAN

M

14

August 27, 2015

PHOTO BY SHARON WOOLUMS

rs. Green’s, the new natural and organic grocery store that’s been under construction seemingly forever on Hudson and Bank Sts., opened its doors this Monday. The papered-over windows with the marketing puns have come down, revealing a sparkling new store on the site of the tired, old Gristedes.

Meanwhile, we far West Villagers are madly trying to figure out Mrs. Green’s M.O., speculating about how it might change our daily routines and affect our already precariously balanced retail ecosystem.

Is Mrs. Green’s more of a miniWhole Foods, or more a maxi-Elm Health? Will it threaten the life of D’Ag, which is, for better or worse, our only full-service supermarket?

Will it knock out our health-food stores and mom-and-pop drug store?

Will it drive prices up or down at the Saturday Abingdon Square Greenmarket? Will it mean that everyone can stop schlepping to Chelsea for food? For those who don’t cook much, the big question is whether Mrs. Green’s will provide a viable alternative to ordering in. For those who do cook: Will it sell ingredients we can use at a price we can afford?

The press party last week had a jazz band, a lot of very friendly staffers — including the resident wellness adviser — samples, and some incredibly heavy goody bags.

But it didn’t answer any of the above questions because the food was not yet on the shelves; only time will tell.

Some things are clear now: The store is big, so it can potentially fulfill a lot of competing desires: 6,000 square feet of prepared foods and health/wellness products on the ground floor, plus another 6,000 of produce, meat, seafood, frozen food and dairy in the basement. The prepared-foods counter is extremely long, maybe the longest I’ve seen.

The store has a slightly rustic feel, with rough reclaimed wood at the checkouts. I was surprised by the large selection of health-food-store supplements and toiletries, including some familiar ones, like Dessert Essence and Natracare, and some I’d never heard of, like Dr. Woods and Goddess Garden. I was disappointed not to see the one hardto-find health-food product my family swears by, Nature’s Gate toothpaste. But Laurie Rocke, Mrs. Green’s customer engagement manager, assured me she would look into stocking it.

The abundant food we sampled was mostly local, although the prosciutto was from, of all places, Iowa,

At the Mrs. Green’s pre-opening event, from left, Matthew Bell, David Kiser, C.E.O. Pat Brown and Henry Balle. Bell and Balle oversee the store’s meat and seafood and Kiser handles promotions.

and my husband and I had a good laugh with the rep as we imagined Hillary Clinton sampling it at the state fair. The cheeses were all rich and flavorful. The falafel was good.

I was unimpressed by the chocolate mousse pie, with a taste and mouth feel that struck me as too aggressively healthy, and my husband declared the three-ingredient sorbet watery.

To learn more about the chain and the new store, I spoke with David Kiser, the promotions manager. Mrs. Green’s has 14 stores, one in Canada, two in Illinois and the rest in Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield Counties. The business was founded in Scarsdale in 1991, and is headquartered in Irvington. New stores are on the way in Rye and Dobbs Ferry, and they are scouting out additional New York City locations. It’s a little hard to pin the company down because the mission statement is replete with feel-good language, like “clean, healthy food.” Here are a few definites: The produce is organic, everything is preservative free, there’s a money-back guarantee, and whenever possible Mrs. Green’s “supports local farmers and [food] artisans and buys from suppliers who practice sustainability.”

Kiser stressed the chain’s long-standing relationships with Hudson Valley farmers, though he also said that Mrs. Green’s uses a middleman distributor.

“We don’t want to sell stuff that’s just O.K.,” he told me. “We want to sell what’s best right now, when it’s plentiful and flavorful. Right now we have an abundance of yellow and green summer squash. Because there’s so much, we get a good price.”

Last week, he said, the Jersey peaches were in, but now the New York ones are coming, and will be

sold first in the new store.

“We would so rather have a local product where we know the farmer, how he grows it, how he takes care of it,” he said. “It’s so much better than shipping across the country.”

I asked about corn, which is tough for city dwellers because it loses its sweetness so rapidly. He said that there’s about a day between harvest, warehouse and store, and that it’s kept at the optimal temperature during transit. Fish comes via the distributor Scandia based in Secaucus, N.J. Some of the products will be tailored specifically for the new store: the Stumptown Coffee, the Beecher’s cheese that’s made in the Flatiron District, the Sohha savory yogurt.

Me, I like a store with a nice ugly weekly circular full of numbers like “$1.99” and “2 for 1.” I was impressed by the prices in this week’s circular on their Web site, which Kiser assures me will be in force at the new store. My household doesn’t usually buy organic because it’s just too expensive, so I was heartened by the prices on the organic Hudson Valley produce, all of them either comparable to or cheaper than what we can buy at the Greenmarket or the Manhattan Fruit Exchange in Chelsea Market.

I did an in-store comparison of a dozen Mrs. Green’s sale items with Trader Joe’s and D’Agostino — peaches/nectarines, summer squash, corn, kale, leaf lettuce, slicing tomatoes, ribeye, drumsticks, boneless chicken breasts, oats, fresh mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Mrs. Green’s beat the others most of the time. D’Ag had peaches and nectarines on sale, but they were not organic, came from California and were the same price, $2.49, as Mrs. Green’s local organ-

ic ones. D’Ag’s ribeye was $21.99, Trader Joe’s $15.99 and Mrs. Green’s $13.99. Mrs. Green’s parmigiano beat D’Ag’s hands-down: $15.99 to $21.99, but Trader Joe’s was $13.99, and the Italian import store in Chelsea Market is cheaper than all of them. The two best bargains I saw in the circular: organic oats and organic chicken drumsticks, both for $1.99 a pound.

When I got home from the press party last week, I rummaged through the canvas goody bag, so heavy because of the five plastic beverage bottles inside, most of them containing water fortified with something or other — electrolytes or minerals or high pH or berry flavor.

The bag, which I don’t need because I have a dozen other such giveaway bags, had a tag dangling from the strap proclaiming that it was responsibly sourced, with smaller print noting that it contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.

Considering the fact that Mrs. Green’s is all about clean food, I felt surprisingly dirty. I wished I hadn’t taken it. Even more, I wished I could wave a wand and make all this stuff not exist in the first place, make Americans with disposable income less susceptible to snake oil. One of the water bottles actually said it was gluten-free. Stop and think for a minute: If you put gluten in water you end up with wheat paste. One of the bottles was so durable and so svelte in its curves, I imagined frontier people or bush dwellers coming upon one and building a shrine to worship it, never imagining a culture in which people might buy one of these every day of the week and toss it without a thought.

What else was in the bag? A weighty, seedy chocolate-chip cookie wrapped in Saran that I found chewy in all the wrong ways.

A lot of skin-care samples, including a My-Chelle exfoliant made of sugar that I’m enjoying because it’s so concentrated and smells delicious. A sample of a painkiller made from turmeric that sounds intriguing and a packet of super green food that doesn’t. A small chocolate bar fortified with probiotics. Two kinds of granola, a natural inhaler, and a snack called pretzel “shells” — presumably for people who can’t be bothered to chew on pretzel innards.

I’d happily trade all of this stuff for one perfectly ripe organic Hudson Valley beefsteak tomato. And if Mrs. Green’s can offer me that tomato for $1.99 a pound in August, when tomatoes are plentiful and at their peak of flavor, I’m sold.

TheVillager.com

Jersey opens window onto kooky kids-in-car rule RHYMES WITH CRAZY

BY LENORE SKENAZY

I

t pains me to say it, but New Jersey is suddenly a light unto us all. Last week, its Supreme Court ruled that it isn’t automatically child abuse to let your kid wait in the car while you pick up the dry cleaning.

Hallelujah!

We’ve been warned these past 10 years that kids are in danger anytime we leave them in the car. Public service announcements say, “Never leave your child in the car — not even for a minute!”

Onlookers who spot a child in a car go crazy with rage. One mom that I know had just buckled her child into the car seat and went to return her shopping cart. When she got back maybe 30 seconds later, a woman was screaming at her, “She could have died!”

But this is bunk. Most of us spent part of our childhood waiting in the car while our moms ran errands, and no one called it abuse. Hardly! I

had one friend who looked forward to the car waits with her sister because they’d tilt the passenger seat all the way back and play “dentist.”

We refuse to concede there’s a difference between waiting in the car for 10 minutes on a mild afternoon and waiting in the car for 10 hours in the Mojave Dessert. This obtuseness explains why, back in 2009, a mom who let her 19-month-old wait in the car during a 5-to-10-minute errand at a dollar store in South Plainfield, N.J., was found guilty of child abuse by the state’s Department of Children and Families. The law there states parents cannot “recklessly create a risk of severe injury.”

But somehow it didn’t matter that

it was 55 degrees that day, or that the child slept peacefully through this whole “ordeal.” The mere fact of letting a kid wait in the car was enough for the department to place the mom on New Jersey’s Child Abuse and Neglect Registry. Every state has one — it’s like the Sex Offender Registry, just not public.

Once you’re officially a “child abuser,” good luck getting a job in teaching, daycare or nursing.

This mom asked the child protection agency for a hearing at which she could try to defend herself and get off the registry. When this was denied, she appealed, but New Jersey’s appellate court denied her, too.

The three-judge panel said there was no way she deserved a hearing because what was there to hear? She’d left her kid in the car, which automatically made her a child abuser because something bad could have happened.

That’s true — but also highly unlikely. Of the 30 to 40 kids who die in hot cars every year, 80 percent were forgotten there for hours, or climbed in when no one was looking and couldn’t get out. They were not waiting in the car while mom ran into the store to pick up the pizza.

What’s more, law professor David Pimentel points out that anything

could also happen when the child is being walked through the parking lot. In fact, more kids die each year in parking lots and driveways than waiting in cars.

And if you want to talk about a bigger risk to children, it isn’t waiting in the car — it is riding in one.

The No. 1 way children die in America is as car passengers. So if we really want to crack down on parents who put their kids in danger, we’d have to scream things like, “How dare you drive that child to her piano lesson? She could die!”

We don’t do that because we are not constantly warned, “Never let a child ride in a car, not even for a minute!”

So last week, the court agreed with the mom’s lawyer, Sean Marotta, that we cannot expect parents to ensure a zero-risk childhood. No option is ever completely safe. And no parent is every completely perfect.

And being imperfect is not the same as being abusive. So ruled the court, by a vote of 7-0. Which is why New Jersey is now a beacon of sanity in our parent-shaming and -blaming country.

Skenazy is a keynote speaker and the author and founder of the book and blog “Free-Range Kids”

Pitiful kitty captured 1940’s pet contest crown FLASHBACK

BY YANNIC RACK

M

any a local pet has graced the pages of The Villager over the years — from Scoopy to crusty pit bulls. But an article that appeared in the newspaper 75 years ago this month is likely still unsurpassed when it comes to reporting on the neighborhood’s animal inhabitants.

The lengthy Aug. 15, 1940, dispatch, headlined “Playground Jammed At Pet Show,” details the winners and proceedings at what was the first-ever citywide pet show, according to the reporter.

It seems the event, held at the Sullivan St. playground, also had spectators more excited than you would expect. “ ‘Number 40 is the winner of the grand prize…’ announcer Viani’s words were almost lost in the beginnings of what was going to be a roar of approval mixed with protest,” the TheVillager.com

Part of the front page of the Aug. 15, 1940, Villager. The full article on Junior and the pet contest can be read in The Villager’s newly digitized archives at the Jefferson Market Library.

article began.

Number 40 was a small gray kitten named Junior.

“In the opinion of the judges, ‘Junior’ was ‘the most underprivileged beast, bird or fish’ in the show,” the article stated, noting that he stood out among more than 150 contestants.

His difficult upbringing not only

earned him a front-page mention in The Villager, but the prize also came with a two-week vacation at Camp Bowdoin in New Hamburg, N.Y. “ ‘Junior’ could not be interviewed before The Villager went to press as to his feelings on winning two weeks in the country, and there were some sour looks among the canines who obviously had their own

ideas about the Children’s Aid Society which has rules against allowing dogs to go to its camp for vacations,” the Villager dryly reported. “Several of them were fairly vocal.”

Prizes were also given to pets with the saddest face, the most cultured voice and the floppiest ears, to name just a few.

The Best Swimmer title went to “Smitty,” a frog, while “Porky” the guinea pig took home the trophy for Oddest contestant.

The various dogs, cats, turtles, pigeons and finches at the show came from as far away as Harlem. But, throwing impartiality to the wind, the article noted that the most attractive ones “happened to belong to Village youngsters.”

One specimen that had made trip to the competition all the way from 72nd St. was “ ‘Pete, a husky snake who was all too active and all too unhappy in his tall glass jar — the lid screwed firmly on, with two holes punched in the top for air.”

The snake’s owner was quick to add that Pete was not poisonous. “ ‘Sure, he bites, but it don’t do no harm,’ ” he explained.

August 27, 2015

15

Herman Gerson, 103, father of ex-councilmember OBITUARY GERSON continued from p. 1

16

August 27, 2015

PHOTOS BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

nity Board 2, and his son, Alan, was the City Councilmember for the district covering Greenwich Village, serving two terms, from 2001 through 2009.

Herman Gerson was an early member of V.I.D. and active in the Reform Democratic movement that deposed District Leader Carmine DeSapio as party leader. Over the years, Herman served as Democratic district leader and as Democratic State Committee member. He also served as a vice president of V.I.D. The Gerson family was one of the first to move into the high-rise middle-income co-op at 505 LaGuardia Place, and Herman for many years was president of the co-op board of directors and also founded and edited the co-op newsletter.

“I remember Herman from 1967 when we first moved into 505,” recalled a neighbor, Arnold Goren, former vice chancellor of N.Y.U and the university’s emeritus professor of higher education policy.

Although Herman used a wheelchair for the past few years, he was strong and vigorous into his 90s.

During a power outage in Lower Manhattan in 2002, Herman walked up 20 floors to his apartment at 505 LaGuardia Place.

At his funeral at Greenwich Village Funeral Home on Sun., Aug. 23, and at a shiva reception later, neighbors and community leaders shared their memories of Herman.

Tony Hoffmann, a former Democratic district leader and former V.I.D. president, recalled a political rivalry.

“In 1977 I ran for district leader against him. He won by something like 164 to 48,” Hoffmann recalled.

Frieda Bradlow, a veteran V.I.D. member and community activist, remembered their mutual involvement in politics.

“Until a few years ago, I only knew him as a political activist,” she said. “When he was in rehabilitation after a medical procedure, I spent some time visiting him and learned that he was a chemist,” she said.

Herman, who had earned a degree in chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles, worked as a professional chemist and held several U.S. patents.

In his eulogy, his son, Alan, recalled the family history.

Herman was born in May 1912 in Elizabeth, N.J., the son of Russian immigrants Ida and Aaron Gerson. The family tradition of political action predates their arrival in America. Aaron had been exiled to Siberia for his part in the early 20th-century anti-czarist rebellion, but managed to make his way to the U.S. and settled with his family in New Jersey. The 1917 revolution that overthrew the czar, led first by Social Democrats, inspired Aaron and his family, which by then included Herman, to return to Russia.

“They went west intending to enter through Vladivostok but by the time they got to Japan the Communists had taken over and there was a civil war,” Alan said. “They turned back, but Los Angeles was as far east as they got,” he said.

“My father was raised in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood that was then like the Lower East Side of Los Angeles,” Alan said. When World War II began, Herman worked as a chemist for the Army in Pearl Harbor and later served as a soldier in the Philippines, Alan said.

Herman Gerson on election night in the 1970s after winning a race for Greenwich Village Democratic district leader.

Herman Gerson, right, with family members, from left, wife Sophie, daughter Rikki, son Alan and a cousin.

“He always had a great respect for the military, even when he was protesting the war in Vietnam,” Alan said, recalling a family vacation with an aunt who was very anti-military. “We were driving near West Point and my father wanted to pay his respects, but my aunt said she wouldn’t set foot in the place. So he stopped, let her out at the gate, and drove in. We picked her up when we drove out,” Alan recalled.

Herman came to New York shortly after his discharge from the Army and lived on Jane St. “He never left his beloved Greenwich Village,” Alan said.

When Herman met Sophie Greenberg, she was studying to be a girls physical education teacher, and they were married in 1947. They both joined A young Herman and Sophie Gerson.

GERSON continued on p. 17 TheVillager.com

GERSON continued from p. 16

V.I.D., but in the 1960s the club split, and Sophie joined the breakaway Village Reform Democratic Club.

“I’m the product of what passes for a mixed-marriage in the Village,” Alan quipped. “My father was a member of one Democratic club and my mother was in the other Democratic club.”

Herman, who was a pole vaulter at UCLA, was a fan of track and field and would attend events with the late Keith Crandell, Alan recalled. Crandell, a fellow political activist and V.I.D. member, died in 2005.

Herman and Sophie were avid world travelers, visiting India, Russia and China. They made several trips to Israel. Herman was an enthusiastic supporter of the Jewish state. The couple also enjoyed membership in the Salmagundi Club, the artists club founded in 1874 in the Village. As a pigment chemist — specializing in the color green — Herman qualified as an artist member.

In addition to Alan, Herman is survived by his daughter, Rikki, and two grandsons, Lance and Dillon Charles.

“A few days before he died he asked me, ‘Where’s Sophie?’ I told him, ‘She’s resting.’ He died very peacefully,” Alan said.

Herman was buried next to Sophie in Old Montefiore Cemetery, Queens.

Herman Gerson with Sophie and Alan when Sophie was presented with an award by her club, the Village Reform Democratic Club. Herman was a member of V.R.D.C.’s arch-rival club, Village Independent Democrats.

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August 27, 2015

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The real face of homelessness; People need help

EDITORIAL PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

F

or the past week, Diane Majett has been sitting in Pershing Square on a little stool, next to the Citi Bike station by the Park Ave. Viaduct. Her luggage, containing her possessions, is arrayed behind her, and her cat, Buttercup, calmly sits nearby on a little leash.

Majett, in her 40s, is one of the city’s nearly 57,000 homeless. Born in Brooklyn and a former supermarket manager, she said she fell on hard times after she decided to follow her passion — art and fashion design.

Straphangers, commuters and Citi Bike riders, as they rush by, might notice her knitting, as she was this Wednesday, her bare feet on the warm asphalt. She makes coats and blankets for cats, and also shawls for people.

(You can find her creations — modeled, of course, by Buttercup — online at “Represent Buttercup Catwalking Madyna Pet Gear. 2015”.)

Incredibly, somewhere hidden behind the pile of luggage, her son, Joshua, 26, was sleeping. He was conceived in a former boyfriend’s apartment on E. Houston St., she said. She admitted that Joshua smokes too

Diane Majett, clamping one of her knitting needles in her teeth while holding up Buttercup, who models Majett’s hand-knit cat coats.

much pot, which is probably why he doesn’t have a job, and that he needs to go into detox. For her part, Majett said that back when she got pregnant with him she was drinking a lot, but she seems to be sober now.

Lately, as Mayor de Blasio has come under attack in the daily tabloids — notably the New York Post — for the city’s homelessness problem, the focus has been to portray individuals like The Urinator on the Upper West Side or homeless drunks crashed out on cardboard boxes in Tompkins Square Park.

The Post has also negatively profiled the East Village’s crusty travelers

for allegedly turning Taras Shevchenko Place behind Cooper Union into a toilet. And, of course — as covered

by The Villager — at least two of the crusties’ pit bulls were recently running wild, leading to the death of photographer Roberta Bayley’s pug Sidney, plus viciously attacking two men trying to defend their dogs.

But the overall demonizing of the homeless is not fair to the many homeless, like Majett, who are peaceful and conscientious, yet simply lack a roof over their heads. Majett, like so many of the homeless, doesn’t want to go into one of the city’s shelters, feeling they are unsafe and unpleasant

— and can you blame her? Individuals in the shelters who are troubled need to be “separated” from those who just want to be left alone, she said. More to the point, she needs a real home so she can get her life back on track.

It’s said de Blasio is taking a more humane approach toward the homeless — which is great. But the question is: What is being done about people like Diane Majett? She told us that, in the week she has been sitting there, no outreach worker from the city has contacted her about helping her get off the street. The Grand Central Partnership business improvement district has told her she can fill out an application for housing, but nothing is available right now. We’re not professionals in the field, but she seems to us like a perfect candidate for supportive housing. But right now, she seems to be falling through the cracks — and it’s happening in broad daylight in one of the busiest places on the planet.

In short, let’s look beyond the sensationalistic tabloid headlines about The Urinator et al. There are hundreds and thousands of Diane Majetts out there who need help — and, above all, permanent housing. Is anyone doing anything to help them?

In the meantime, if you see Majett in Pershing Square, check out her cat coats. The prices are negotiable.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Cude is working for us To The Editor: Re “Benchmark moment” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Aug. 20): We need Terri Cude and Dennis Gault as our district leaders. Who else sees every problem we have and addresses each of them on daily basis? Terri has led the fight against N.Y.U. 2031, has led the fight for M21 and M5 bus ser-

EVAN FORSCH

vice, and fights daily for noise control, better monitoring of environmental issues and historic preservation.

She leaves her apartment early in the morning and returns late at night, stopping at every opportunity to take note of and address things she sees that are wrong in our neighborhood.

Dennis Gault and she are a perfect team covering the north and south parts of our district.

This is an exciting primary where we get to happily vote for a neighbor, a friend, a con-

cerned and caring neighborhood activist. Please take advantage of this great voting opportunity and vote for Terri Cude and Dennis Gault.

Judith Chazen Walsh

Vote experience; Vote Grillo!

To The Editor: With the upcoming election in September, it is crucially important that Village voters understand the crucial role district leaders play in our community.

District leaders have the critical job of hiring and placing coordinators and poll site workers at polling sites in the district. It’s an ongoing job and one that is especially demanding. It takes years to master and is a job that will be especially critical with a presidential election looming in 2016. A great deal is at stake.

I’ve worked as a coordinator for Jean Grillo for the past five years. She hired me to work various sites in Soho, Tribeca and the Village, as needed.

Voters in the 66th Assembly District, Part B, have no idea the work she puts in, with long hours and sacrificing many weekends months in advance to call coordinators, call poll workers, assign people to classes, get test scores, find out about sites that LETTERS, continued on p. 20

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August 27, 2015

TheVillager.com

Rent and creativity: The coffeehouse connection TALKING POINT

BY STEVEN WISHNIA

T

TheVillager.com

within walking distance — people didn’t have to commute, and could run into each other repeatedly and spontaneously.

This could be summed up as the need for a community — of audience, collaborators and colleagues.

It’s much more crucial in the collective arts, like music and theater, but it also benefits the more solitary creative types, like writers and cartoonists. Lower Manhattan was so fertile for much of the 20th century because it contained multiple, overlapping genres and subcultures — punk rock and free jazz, Nuyorican poetry and Off Off Broadway theater. Replacing that kind of community is made much more difficult by landlords using young artists as pawns for gentrification, with the yuppie bishops and castles inexorably following as they advance stop by stop along the L train. That process also segregates neighborhoods by age.

The need for cheap rent and community is about much more than the arts. The New York of the ’70s was crime-ridden and decaying, but it was a place where if you were working, you could afford an apartment; if you had a middle-class income, you could afford a nice one. No more.

The economy is broken for many of us. Having skills no longer means being able to find a decent-paying job.

Working no longer means making enough to pay rent. The solution to this isn’t job training, “giving peo-

ple the tools they need to compete.”

No matter how educated people are, many will still be deli-counter workers, cabdrivers, clothing-store clerks, home healthcare aides and janitors.

They need places to live, too.

Do we want to be a city where people can raise children, where the young can live independently and get to know the people who were there before them, where the old can live around people who’ve known them for decades? Or do we want to be an American version of Dubai, a place where all the good spots are occupied by millionaires, and servant-class workers are crammed into rooms on the outskirts?

What can be done? For residents, a good start would be stronger rent controls and the construction of massive amounts of genuinely affordable new housing. That means rents low enough for the half of New York households that make less than $50,000 a year, the one-third who live on less than $600 a week, instead of the current formula, which subsidizes $3,000-a-month apartments as “below market.” For businesses, some form of commercial rent control would help. None of this is likely to be politically possible without quasi-revolutionary change, one that creates a society that respects working people and their leisure instead of worshipping the tsunami of money that “creatively” destroys everything in its way.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

here are more coffeehouses with live music and poetry in Tryon, North Carolina, population 1,200, than there are in all of Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. The Trade St. Gallery and Coffeehouse, where eight years ago I was guest bassist for an Appalachian swing band called Cantankerous, still exists.

Think about that for a minute. The Village and San Francisco’s North Beach were the places where the Beats adapted the Italian social institution of espresso coffeehouses into a venue for live poetry, for spieling skeins of spontaneous bop prosody.

There are none left, at least as far as I know. Gizzi’s on W. Eighth St., which closed around three years ago, is the last one I remember.

Who would have ever thought that Staten Island would have more coffeehouses with poetry readings than Greenwich Village? I’m referring to the rather hippiefied ETG bookstore/ cafe in Tompkinsville, down the block from where Eric Garner was killed. The coffeehouse as a place for live performance or simply to hang out for a few hours is no longer economically sustainable in most of Manhattan.

“You can only charge so much for a cup of coffee,” a co-owner of the Big Cup — whose yellow walls with daisy-age painted flowers provided a haven for gay men and others in Chelsea — said when it closed in 2005. Its rent had more than tripled in the 11 years it was open. The model that is sustainable once commercial rents rise that high is a place where you sit for 25 minutes and leave, where people are far more likely to be on Facebook than having a conversation with an in-the-flesh human.

“Neighborhoods change, and these coffeehouses are being replaced by others,” goes the answer.

“You just have to go to Brooklyn.”

But they’re not being replaced. Yes, there are places like Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights (which occasionally features live rembetica music, the Greek counterpart of 1930s viper blues), but coffeehouses that are social and artistic centers are inevitably short-lived. They have been reduced to transitional businesses for gentrification. They appear soon after the first artist types arrive in Flatbush or Bushwick, and get pushed out when the real money comes in. If they are

replaced, it’s usually by a Starbucks.

The Flying Saucer, a UFO-themed coffeehouse on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where I wrote several bits of my second novel, disappeared around the time its block became dominated by the kind of boutiques that have one rack of severely expensive dresses.

The existence of coffeehouses as venues and hangouts is one aspect of how cheap rent is essential to the social ecology of both the arts and the city as a whole. To have a viable scene in any of the arts — music, theater, writing, painting, whatever — artists need to be able to survive and do their work; to have places to perform; to be able to find an audience; and ultimately, to have a community.

Cheap rent is essential for all of these. First, unless you’re already commercially successful, being an artist requires working a second job — writing, rehearsing, drawing, plus hustling to get gigs or published — on top of your day job. If the amount of work you have to do just to make your rent leaves you drained, you can’t create.

Second, venues that don’t have Damoclean overhead can afford to put on more varied genres and lesser-known performers — or merely survive. The math is simple: A venue paying $15,000 a month rent has to bring in 50 people spending $10 every single night before any other expenses. (If 50 people doesn’t sound like much, there are hundreds of talented musicians in the city who are lucky to draw 10.) Anyone who has followed the music scene here over the last decade can list the losses: CBGB, Tonic, the Lakeside Lounge, Southpaw in Park Slope, and a slew of do-it-yourself spaces in Williamsburg, including 285 Kent, Death by Audio, and the Brooklyn Rod and Gun Club.

The presence of big names obscures the destruction of the roots, the places where younger people develop their craft and older ones who haven’t “made it” keep at it. Yes, you might have to wade through a lot of mediocrity and amateurishness to find the gems, but this is the soil that nurtures them and encourages them to keep going.

Third, venues need audiences who have time and money to see them, who aren’t too broke or overworked to come out, or spun out to the far reaches of the city, where getting home means an hour on the late-night subway. While it’s healthy that live music, poetry, theater and art have blossomed outside Manhattan, one reason Greenwich Village, the East Village and the Lower East Side were once such fertile creative communities was that so much was

Big ballet in Tribeca The French street artist JR recently installed a large-scale photo mural of a ballerina on a 75-foot-by-100-foot wall in Tribeca. The artwork is on the side of a residential building at 100 Franklin St. JR also recently made a documentary on ballet, “Les Bosquet.”

August 27, 2015

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PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Naked Cowboy lets it all hang out in Wash Sq.

Along with Police Commissioner Bratton, the Naked Cowboy has been among the loudest critics of the growing army of women who troll Times Square with only star-spangled body paint covering their breasts in search of tourists’ tips in return for allowing themselves to be photographed. Actually, the Naked Cowboy shows about as much flesh as they do. Perhaps feeling Times Square was reverting too much to its former “fleshpot” days — i.e., too much competition for him — the tighty-whities-wearing cowpoke was recently spotted in Washington Square Park with a sidekick. It seems there is a TV pilot series in the works about street performers and the guy shown with the Naked Cowboy is the host, who tries his hand at the various types of busking, in this case, stripping down and strumming.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR LETTERS continued from p. 18

suddenly get closed (through no fault of hers), scrambling to get everyone moved, trying to find new sites, going to politicians to try and get sites to stay open. She saved three sites in the Village but couldn’t keep N.Y.U. from shutting another. Even the Board of Elections can’t stop them!

She is always on the phones working and makes herself available day or night. More than 18 district leaders across the city have endorsed Jean Grillo and John Scott so far! Jean and John have earned their respect and admiration, and Villager readers should consider very carefully just what district leaders do when deciding for whom to vote.

Michael McDerman

‘Blighted’? What a joke!

To The Editor: Re “Gasps over Gansevoort plan as developer calls historic street ‘blighted’ ” (news article, Aug. 20): One has to laugh about Jared Epstein’s comments on blight on Gansevoort St. It is interesting that it is his own his partner, Neil Bender (the current Gottlieb), who owns this block and has not made any effort to lease the blighted spaces or to do modest repairs. One exception is the Gansevoort Market, run by Chris Reda, which is a wonderful space.

Unfortunately,Gansevoort Market is being removed to make way for Pastis and undoubtedly the higher rents that Pastis will probably pay.

It does not take a massive development in order for a block to be cleaned up. It takes a landlord that is not so overly greedy. The Gottlieb style is shabby, unmaintained buildings and extraordinarily high rents that many Gottlieb tenants complain about.

The blight on the area is Gottlieb’s ruinous practices. No one says Bender / Gottlieb shouldn’t make a profit, but the Gottlieb touch elevates greed to an

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August 27, 2015

astonishing height.

The club issue in the area goes way beyond a few buildings on Gansevoort St. and the one club that is on that block — which Jared is so kindly “cleaning up” for the neighborhood — is most likely moving across the street (to another Gottlieb space).

Elliot Draccule

Bikes for bagels To The Editor: Re “It’s schmeer love between an artist and N.Y.C. bagels” (news article, Aug. 20): We lost our art space in Petrosino Square to the Citi Bikes, and we don’t want artworks in the small, gated and green area of Petrosino. We have consistently demanded that the gated green space be left uncluttered and open, so that people can meditate and eat lunch in peace.

In the early morning we demand that the tai chi exercisers, among others, be allowed to continue their practices unmolested by things like giant bagels.

However, if the Department of Transportation would take the Citi Bikes away from the designated art space in the north triangle of Petrosino, we would welcome any art at all — the worse, the better, even a tower of bagels as tall as the tallest buildings in the city. But only, to quote the Village Alliance’s William Kelley, if such art is temporary.

Many thanks to Kelley for giving the bagels a home. They were going to be shoved down someone’s throat, so to speak, no matter what.

Minerva Durham

Let’s not lose focus To The Editor: Re “Crusty pit bulls gone wild; Man attacked protecting dog” (news article, Aug. 13):

Thank goodness being a homeless person (willful or otherwise) is not a crime. However, having a vicious dog off leash should be.

This not about “crusties” or pit bulls. I know sweethearts in both groups. This should be about owners who allow their vicious dogs, of any breed, off the leash.That is where the liability is and that is where the law should focus. Not on our biases.

Lawrence White

Noise coverage sounds good!

To The Editor: Re “Residents sound off on rising noise” (news article, July 23): The article on construction noise is so important and can be used as an argument against unprecedented razing of small buildings and construction of huge ones in their place. It’s a very real health hazard to nearby residents, and it also takes massive energy to raze what was there and construct new buildings.

And the new high-rises will use a lot more energy than the low-rises they replace. And, of course, we are losing our neighborhood places — public places — as well as affordable homes. Streets, sidewalks and parks will become ever-more congested, more street noise, etc.

Attention must be paid! Keep up the coverage!

Bette Dewing 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. Anonymous letters will not be published.

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August 27, 2015

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August 27, 2015

23

An E.V. art and fashion pioneer pops up again

BY CODY BROOKS

A

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August 27, 2015

PHOTOS BY CODY BROOKS

look back at the enduring art and fashion of Linda St. John is wrapping up this weekend at the Umbrella Arts Gallery on E. Ninth St. The dual pop-up shop and retrospective comes after three decades of St. John’s working in the East Village art world. In 1984 she moved to New York City from southern Illinois with the desire to engage in Downtown Manhattan’s busy art scene. She had a day job and used the evenings to work on getting a business going.

“I was a hard worker,” she said. “I never partied or took drugs, because I was trying to get my business off the ground.”

In 1985 she succeeded and opened up a shop on E. Seventh St., selling vintage designer clothing while making various art pieces and showcasing them in galleries around the city.

The clothing line, DL Cerney (with her husband Duane Cerney), featured designs from the ’30s through the ’60s, along with fabric that is reminiscent of the times.

“The clothes back then were so beautiful,” St. John said of those earlier eras, noting that today, finding clothing on par with that quality is difficult.

In 2012, however, St. John closed her shop.

Rents were soaring, the shop was getting too cramped, and she and her family were fed up.

The vibe of the East Village had changed, she said, from wild and crazy artists to a more subdued, richer crowd.

The family decided to move way out of the city to find some calm: a farm 50 miles west of Woodstock. She could continue her fashion line with more breathing room, in the company of her dogs and with a garden to tend.

In 2015, when the 30-year anniversary of her local artistry came up, her friends who run Umbrella Arts, MaryAnn Fahey and Margaret Bodell, let her know that the gallery would be empty for July and August if she wanted to come down to the city again.

The art and fashion that St. John creates maintains the essence of her poor upbringing in rural southern Illinois. She described her situation as a child as “white trash.”

Having little money growing up, she found pleasure in the little things: the design of Wonder Bread packaging, or making clothes for her sisters when theirs became unusable.

This transferred into her style, which she sums up as “trashing the concept of poverty” — meaning to find the beauty in everything.

Her pet project is making girls’ dolls with repurposed materials for clothing; Egg McMuffin wrappers double as skirts, and old army sock fabric as purses. She travels the country holding workshops for children and shows them repurposing skills, such as sewing.

A sort of soft melancholy can be felt throughout St. John’s work. Her oil pastels feature dead black canvas with minimalist lines depicting nursing homes, carousels and young girls smiling together, but in a disquieting way, like a vaudeville gone wrong.

Linda St. John’s pop-up shop and retrospective will run through Sun., Aug. 30, at Umbrella Arts Gallery, 317 E. Ninth St., from noon till 8 p.m. every day.

Linda St. John in her pop-up shop and show at Umbrella Arts Gallery.

Dresses designed

by St. John.

St. John is known for repurposing materials, such as using Egg McMuffin wrappers for these girls’ dolls.

One of Linda St. John’s paintings.

TheVillager.com

McReynolds was first openly gay prez candidate McREYNOLDS continued from p. 1

that they just discontinue surveillance,” he wryly recollected. “This is from way back in the mid-’50s, I think. Fortunately, he was overruled or it would be very embarrassing.” Embarassing, that is, to his radical cred, McReynolds jokingly meant.

McReynolds has, in many respects, been a pioneer. As a committed pacifist, in 1964, he co-authored, along with AJ Muste, the very first statement opposing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. At a time when few Americans could point out Vietnam on a map, McReynolds fairly accurately described the history of U.S. involvement in the region up until that time and pointed out the flow of U.S. weapons and advisers into the region. He was also a draft resister during the Korean War, long before such an action was considered fashionable.

In 1980, running as the nominee of the Socialist Party, he also had the distinction of being the first openly gay presidential candidate. Although his name is known by few, McReynolds’s career as an activist has perhaps been more prolific than anyone else living.

Standing more than six feet tall with a thin sliver of white hair, McReynolds is a polite and welcoming man. Through Facebook, he maintains contact with and is readily accessible to a wide circle of fellow travelers. Within the radical socialist and pacifist community of New York he is something of an elder statesman. He invites many of his close friends and fellow activists over to the studio apartment on E. Sixth St. that he shares with his two cats, Shaman and Rustie, for regular gatherings. I was promptly invited to one of them.

A group of socialists, anarchists and radical pacifists intensely discussing politics late into the night would have been a commonplace occurrence in the East Village of yesteryear. But in the upscale neighborhood of 2015 late-night bull sessions are far more likely to revolve around the derivatives market or the latest iPhone app.

Born in Los Angeles in 1928, the oldest of three children, McReynolds describes his childhood as “pretty protected.” His father’s employment as head of the local water reserve, combined with access to his grandfather’s farm and livestock, largely shielded the family from the worst effects of the Great Depression.

Initially, in what he candidly describes as “a Freudian, not a political issue,” McReynolds tended to take the liberal position when arguing with his father, a conservative-leaning independent.

McReynolds’s earliest political affiliation was surprisingly enough to the Prohibition Party, which he became involved with through his family’s Baptist Church. It was already a politically marginal group more than a decade after the repeal of the Volstead Act, but McReynolds’s commitment was strong enough that in 1948 he worked briefly for one of the party’s congressional candidates in Kansas.

Gradually, though, his faith began to fade and with it his prohibitionist stance, due in part to his homosexuality, which he says “was totally incompatible with the Christian Church at that time. It’s changed a good deal but there was no wiggle room at all there,” he recalled.

Discovering the pleasures of alcohol may have also helped and McReynolds got his first taste while visiting a friend following a speech that he gave, ironically enough, to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

“I had maybe a tablespoon full of whiskey and TheVillager.com

David McReynolds speaking at the 2009 Left Forum in New York City.

I kept waiting for it to do weird things,” he said.

“You know, I thought I was going to pass out or have hallucinations or something. Of course nothing happened.”

In 1951, having fully shifted his allegiance to the socialist movement while attending UCLA, McReynolds officially severed his ties with the Prohibition Party. While sailing to England on official movement business, he composed a letter of resignation which he mailed back to the States when the ship docked at Southampton.

The early 1950s were a precarious time for a budding young leftist. The scourge of McCarthyism scared many away from political activism at a time when even the perception of radical sentiments could be damaging to career prospects. McReynolds recalled purchasing an album of Paul Robeson songs.

“It was from a guy at UCLA whom I didn’t like particularly and he wasn’t left wing,” he said, “but he offered to sell me his 78 album of Paul Robeson’s ‘Songs of Free Men.’ ” Not surprisingly, McReynolds’s political activism led to his being fired for explicitly political reasons at least once. In an incident vaguely reminiscent of a “Mad Men” subplot, he was canned from his job at a Los Angales advertising agency in the late ’50s when the firm was in the process of applying for defense contracts.

“The guy who was in charge of the advertising department pulled me in and said, ‘David I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I think you deserve to know. You’ve done very good work, we’ve had no problems at all with you. But I have to let you know because the F.B.I. has come by and indicated that you’re a security risk, so we don’t have any alternative.”

After moving to New York in 1960 and taking a position as field director with the War Resisters League, where he would remain until his retirement, McReynolds was freed from any constraints on his political activism.

“The pay was very poor but I was job secure because you don’t get fired from the W.R.L. for being a radical,” he said.

After hearing early civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin speak in 1949, McReynolds became a committed pacifist. However, he refused to apply for conscientious objector status, feeling that the sys-

tem was discriminatory since it privileged religious convictions over secular ones.

“My friend Verne Davidson, who was sort of my mentor at UCLA, could not get a C.O. exemption because he was an atheist,” he recalled. “And so I felt — and I went back in my mind — I felt again that in asking for the exemption I could not answer the question ‘Do I believe in God?’ because that would be to take a special privilege that Verne couldn’t have. So I didn’t answer that question when I made the reapplication. Therefore, I didn’t meet the qualifications of being a religious objector.”

As a result, McReynolds received his draft notice in 1951. The day he was scheduled to report for duty, McReynolds showed up at the Army recruiting center. Although he still could have been granted a deferment had he either admitted his homosexuality or a mild case of manic depression during the psychological examination, he did neither. Instead, wanting to lead by example in his opposition to war, he refused induction and was promptly arrested.

“I couldn’t say to you I think you shouldn’t go into the Army and I myself am 4-F,” he explained.

“So I knew I had to go through.”

He spent the night in prison and was bailed out by his father. McReynolds then hired a lawyer, who petitioned the state appeals board to hear his case. In response, the government dropped all charges out of a desire to not have to disclose the F.B.I. report that had been compiled on him.

McReynolds has always been somewhat hostile to identity politics, a common stance among leftists of his generation. Although he came out of the closet in 1969 — a time when it was still politically risky — he argues that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision that he didn’t put much thought into.

“I think maybe part of me thought it would be dramatic and get me a new beginning of some kind,” he said. However, McReynolds has never been heavily involved in gay activism.

“I didn’t identify with gay culture, I didn’t like it at all,” he said. “I would go into bars for sex but I didn’t really like much about gay culture. I think Allen Ginsberg spoke to this very well when he said, ‘I am not a queer poet, I am a poet who is queer.’ There is a major distinction between those two concepts and I never found that the gay community produced anything from its position as a ghetto.”

Although he doesn’t shy away from his landmark status as the first openly gay presidential candidate, he never viewed that as central to his political makeup.

“My identity is in this case that of a socialist and a pacifist, which is complex enough,” he said. “So I didn’t run as a queer candidate. I just made it very clear.”

In the 1950s the political left that McReynolds entered into was every bit as homophobic as the broader society. In 1953 the U.S. government informally banned anybody suspected of homosexuality from government employment under Executive Order 10450, considering them to be a security risk susceptible to blackmail. Ironically, despite the fact that homosexuality was at the time largely associated with communism in the popular imagination, the American Communist Party had an identical policy. That same year, McReynolds was offered a McREYNOLDS continued on p. 47 August 27, 2015

27

NOTICE OF NAMES OF PERSONS APPEARING AS OWNERS OF CERTAIN UNCLAIMED FUNDS HELD BY BNY MELLON The persons whose names and last known addresses are set forth below appear from the records of the above named company to be entitled to abandoned property in amounts of fifty dollars or more.

COUNTY OF NEW YORK PETER ABELES & RUTH FRIEDMANN JT TEN PO BOX 653 ANSONIA STATION NEW YORK NY 10023-0653 HARRY BADEN CUST JUDSON BADEN UGMA FL 341 W 24TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10011-1504 HARRY BADEN CUST LINDSEY BADEN UGMA FL 341 W 24TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10011-1504 PAUL BELL & CYNTHIA A BELL JT TEN PO BOX 500 ROCKEFELLER CENTER NEW YORK NY 10185-0500 JAMES J CALDER 1510 LEXINGTON AVE APT 12D NEW YORK NY 10029-7166 JOAN CAMPBELL 516 E 78TH STREET APT 4N NEW YORK NY 10075-1121

RICHARD M CHADBOURNE 550 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK NY 10065-7369

FLORENCE FRANKEL 30 EAST 37TH ST NEW YORK NY 10016-3019

JOHN KAYE 319 E 78TH ST NEW YORK NY 10075-1369

ROSE ROSBERG 880 W 181ST STREET #4-I NEW YORK NY 10033-4414

POLLY Z STEINWAY 141 EAST 72ND ST NEW YORK NY 10021-4315

MICHAEL CHUDINSKI 337 E 13TH ST APT 1 NEW YORK NY 10003-5851

WILLIAM FRANKEL 140 CABRINI BLVD APT 107 NEW YORK NY 10033-3434

ALBERT MILLER C/O MILLER LEVINE & COMPANY 419 PARK AVENUE SOUTH NEW YORK NY 10016-8410

MARIA A ROSENBERG 270 MADISON AVE RM 1410 NEW YORK NY 10016-0601

ILANA STRAUSS 105 BENNETT AVE APT 51A NEW YORK NY 10033-2345

GRACE E GOULD 333 W 86TH ST 608A NEW YORK NY 10024-3145

SHEILA M MORAN 50 E 89TH ST NEW YORK NY 10128-1225

RICHARD ROSHENY 309 WEST 57TH STREET APT 1005 NEW YORK NY 10019-3154

ISAAC N TRAININ 345 EAST 81 ST NEW YORK NY 10028-4005

E M GREENE 400 EAST 55TH STREET APT 8-F NEW YORK NY 10022-5172

CARL J MORELLI 30 WEST 13TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10011-7912

MINI SHAPIRO 40 EAST 84TH ST NEW YORK NY 10028-1115

RAYA WALSEY 11 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK NY 10003-4342

ROSS SHAPIRO 150 W 55TH ST NEW YORK NY 10019-5586

DOROTHY WEISS 401 E 86TH ST APT 3A NEW YORK NY 10028-6477

JOHN J SHARKEY JR 344 EAST 87TH STREET APT 1C NEW YORK NY 10128-4863

BENJAMIN WEISS 520 W 56TH STREET APT 5-D NEW YORK NY 10019-3543

CATHERINE G SMITH & CATHERINE CLAPPER TTEES CATHERINE G SMITH REV TRUST U/A DTD 06/03/92 333 E 34TH APT 7L NEW YORK NY 10016-5242

EMILY YUNGKANS BANK OF NY 101 BARCLAY ST NEW YORK NY 10007-2550

JOSEPH DANCIS 300 EAST 34TH ST APT 32-D NEW YORK NY 10016-5222 BEN DENENBERG 100 BEEKMAN STREET APT 27-B NEW YORK NY 10038-1820 MATT DUBEY 25 CENTRAL PARK WEST CENTURY APT 15-I NEW YORK NY 10023-7253 ADELE EDELMAN 301 E 78TH ST APT 3B NEW YORK NY 10075-1323 FLORENCE FRANKEL 140 CABRINI BLVD APT 107 NEW YORK NY 10033-3434

ALAN HIRSCH & ANNA HIRSCH JT TEN P O BOX 402 CATHEDRAL STATION NEW YORK NY 10025-0007 ALFRED HYSLOP 30 WATERSIDE PLAZA APT 27 D NEW YORK NY 10010-2626

ELEANOR M NIEVES C/O DEWITT REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER 211 EAST 79TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10075-0819 LOUIS NOVICK 355 8TH AVE APT 12C NEW YORK NY 10001-4884 BERTRAM C ROBINSON C/O ANDRIETTA HARTEXEC 835 RIVERSIDE DRIVE APT #4E NEW YORK NY 10032-6428

A report of Unclaimed Property has been made to the Comptroller of the State of New York, pursuant to Article 111 of the Abandoned Property Law. A list of the names contained in such notices is on file and open to public inspection at the office of The Bank, located at 111 Sanders Creek Parkway, East Syracuse, NY where such abandoned property is payable.

Telephone number 1-800-433-8191

Such abandoned property will be paid on or before October 31, 2015 to persons establishing to its satisfaction their right to receive the same. In the succeeding November, and on or before the tenth day thereof, such unclaimed property will be paid to the Comptroller of the State of New York and shall thereupon cease to be liable therefore.

NOTICE OF NAMES OF PERSONS APPEARING AS OWNERS OF CERTAIN UNCLAIMED FUNDS HELD BY FIRST NIAGARA BANK, N.A. The persons whose names and last known addresses are set forth below appear from the records of the above named company to be entitled to abandoned property in amounts of fifty dollars or more.

NEW YORK COUNTY SHIELA MARIE BAPTISTE 92 HORATIO ST APT 3D NEW YORK, NY 10014 STEPHANIE A BATCHELOR 330 E 38TH ST APT 28I NEW YORK, NY 10016 LUCIA BENABENTOS 65 4TH AVE APT 3D NEW YORK, NY 10003 JOHN F BENNETT 920 RIVERSIDE DR APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10032 MATTHEW J BIRDE 309 C AVE APT 5E NEW YORK, NY 10009

BJJJ PARTNERS LLC 780 3RD AVE FL 45 NEW YORK, NY 10017

JENNIFER E DUFFY 125 W 76TH ST APT 3A NEW YORK, NY 10023

DOUGLAS A HIRSCH 1320 YORK AVE APT 32H NEW YORK, NY 10021

DANIEL L NIR 10 GRACIE SQ APT 4A NEW YORK, NY 10028

RICHARD I BRONZO 530 E 76TH ST APT 15D NEW YORK, NY 10021

HANNAH LEAH DUNN 235 W 56TH ST APT 20L NEW YORK, NY 10019

JOSHUA G LECHNER 520 E 12TH ST APT 3C NEW YORK, NY 10009

JONATHAN OKON 752 W END AVE APT 8J NEW YORK, NY 10025

JAI HYUK CHA 120 RIVERSIDE BLVD APT 10L NEW YORK, NY 10069

FAZKAP ASSOCIATES 57 IRVING PL # 59 NEW YORK, NY 10003

GARY LEE 235 ELDRIDGE ST APT 2 NEW YORK, NY 10002

LUCAS PAPAELIAS 141 W 28TH ST RM 300 NEW YORK, NY 10001

NICHOLAS FUNG 90 WASHINGTON ST APT 16E NEW YORK, NY 10006

QIANG LI 65 E 112TH ST APT 14A NEW YORK, NY 10029

JOSEPH G PETRUCELLI 205 W 54TH ST APT 5B NEW YORK, NY 10019

WILLIAM G MARTINEZ JR 155 E 31ST ST APT 7N NEW YORK, NY 10016

HOWARD L SCHWARTZ 455 E 14TH ST APT 6G NEW YORK, NY 10009

JAMES MCGOWN 311 W BROADWAY APT 8C NEW YORK, NY 10013

HILDA SCHWARTZBERG 177 E 75TH ST APT 16E NEW YORK, NY 10021

WA PAO CHANG 34 MONROE ST APT CG NEW YORK, NY 10002 W DOYLE-CAPITMAN 504 W 111TH ST APT 12 NEW YORK, NY 10025

RALPH D GARDNER 135 CENTRAL PARK W APT 5N NEW YORK, NY 10023

MAURICE H SHARP 1 CHASE MANHATTAN PLZ FL 45 NEW YORK, NY 10005 PHILLIP JAY SUSSER 270 MADISON AVE RM 1500 NEW YORK, NY 10016 XIAO FENG TAN 105 BARUCH DR APT 5A NEW YORK, NY 10002

WILLIAM W TILLINGHAST 245 W 76TH ST APT C NEW YORK, NY 10023 REBECCA BELEN WELLMAN 263 W END AVE APT 16A NEW YORK, NY 10023 STEPHANIE A WU 20 CONFUCIUS PLZ APT 28D NEW YORK, NY 10002

YI TANG 285 3RD AVE NEW YORK, NY 10010 THE ALBANIAN-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 100 MAIDEN LN APT 317 NEW YORK, NY 10038

A report of Unclaimed Property will be made to the Comptroller of the State of New York, pursuant to Article III of the Abandoned Property Law. A list of the names contained in such notice is on file and open to public inspection. Inquiries may be made at any local branch including our corporate headquarters located at 726 Exchange St, Buffalo NY 14210, where such abandoned property is payable or by phone at: Telephone Number 1-800-421-0004 Please forward any written correspondence to First Niagara Bank, N.A, Attn: Deposit Services/Abandoned Property, PO Box 886, Lockport NY 14095-0886 Such abandoned property will be paid on or before October 31 to persons establishing to its satisfaction their right to receive the same. In the succeeding November, and on or before the tenth day thereof, such unclaimed property will be paid to the Comptroller of the State of New York, and shall thereupon cease to be liable therefore.

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August 27, 2015

TheVillager.com

NOTICE OF NAMES OF PERSONS APPEARING AS OWNERS OF CERTAIN UNCLAIMED FUNDS HELD BY CAPITAL ONE 360 (FORMERLY ING DIRECT) The persons whose names and last known addresses are set forth below appear from the records of the above named company to be entitled to abandoned property in amounts of twenty dollars or more.

NEW YORK COUNTY 41 JANE ST. OWNERS CORP. 210 E 23RD ST FL 4 NEW YORK, NY 10010-4604 HIAM K ABBAS 191 SAINT NICHOLAS AVE APT 5C NEW YORK, NY 10026-1219 DINA B ABEND 239 E 79TH ST APT 10P NEW YORK, NY 10075-0814 JENNIFER D ABLAN 101 W END AVE APT 12J NEW YORK, NY 10023 JOSSARY A ABREU 199 SHERMAN AVE APT 1F NEW YORK, NY 10034 MARIEL P ABREU 413 W 16TH STREET APT 4D NEW YORK, NY 10011 RANDY D ACEVEDO 865 COLUMBUS AVE APT #4F NEW YORK CITY, NY 10025 ACHIEVE NOW! 530 EAST 23RD STREET 10F NEW YORK, NY 10010 VALERIE ACKERMAN 411 E 85TH ST APT G NEW YORK, NY 10028 YEZID ACOSTA 888 MAIN STREET APT 809 NEW YORK, NY 10044 PAULINE E ADAMS 7 EAST 20TH STREET APT #5F NEW YORK, NY 10003 LOPA M ADHIKARY 180 MACDOUGAL ST APT 1N NEW YORK, NY 10011 JECHIBEA ADU-PEASAH 77 COLUMBIA ST NEW YORK, NY 10002 ASTRID J ADVIS 243 WEST END AVE 502 NEW YORK, NY 10023 IRINA AGREST 179 BENNETT AVENUE APT 4F NEW YORK, NY 10040 MAGAT AGUIRRE 100 SULLIVAN ST APT 4F NEW YORK, NY 10012-3664

TheVillager.com

FEROZ AHMED MEHRUBA TABASSUM PO BOX 30277 NEW YORK, NY 10011

LIA ARAUJO 309 WEST 72ND STREET APT 4D NEW YORK, NY 10023

JOHN A BACHER 2 PRINCE ST APT 2A NEW YORK, NY 10012-3586

ADEYEMI K ALABI 965 COLUMBUS AVE APT 6B MANHATTAN, NY 10025-3181

DEREK ARAUJO 157 W 79TH ST APT 1D NEW YORK, NY 10024-6414

TARYN J BAHDIO 555 W 59TH ST APT 6F NEW YORK, NY 10019-1088

PARIZAD ARBABI 227 EAST 28TH STREET APT 5A NEW YORK, NY 10016

EMILY F BAKER 11 E 68TH ST APT 7H NEW YORK, NY 10021-4955

ALEJANDRO M ARCE IVY ARCE 181 MOTT ST. #5 NEW YORK, NY 10012

PETER A BAKST ANNA J BAKST 92 LAIGHT ST. #10B NEW YORK, NY 10013

AVERLYN ARCHER 2611 8TH AVENUE #2N NEW YORK, NY 10030

CHRISTOPHER J BALZARETTI 180 WEST END AVENUE APARTMENT 21J NEW YORK, NY 10023

JAYNE H BAUM 26 GROVE ST APT 4C NEW YORK, NY 10014-5329

BRUCE F ARCURI 80 N MOORE ST APT 36J NEW YORK, NY 10013-2737

ANURAG BANERJEE 2 RIVER TER NEW YORK, NY 10282

KEVIN BEAN JYOTSNA BEAN 310 E 46TH ST APT 24U NEW YORK, NY 10017

RAFAEL J ALARDO 555 WEST 186TH STREET #2F NEW YORK, NY 10033 ALISA ALI 603 ISHAM STREET APT 4A NEW YORK, NY 10034 ANTHONY L ALICEA ARLENE T PADILLA-ALICEA 10 W END AVE APT 8H NEW YORK, NY 10023-7809 SARITA ALITOWSKI 30 RIVER RD APT 11K NEW YORK, NY 10044-1120 RONALD E ALLEN 1280 5TH AVE APT 10E NEW YORK, NY 10029-3482 MONICA ALTMAN ADI LOEBL 1760 2ND AVE STE 7C NEW YORK, NY 10128-5355 CLAUDIA E ALVAREZ 10 HILLSIDE AVENUE #5P NEW YORK, NY 10040 STEPHANE AMATE 561 10TH AVE APT 28J NEW YORK, NY 10036 VALECIA AMBROSE 41 CONVENT AVENUE APT 5F NEW YORK, NY 10027 ANDREA FAZZARI PHOTOGRAPHY INC 109 E 89TH ST APT 5F NEW YORK, NY 10128 JOSE C ANDREWS 129 SHERMAN AV APT 23 NEW YORK, NY 10034 JAMES R ANGELLINO 145 W 30TH ST FRNT 2 NEW YORK, NY 10001-4006 GLORIA ANGLERO-MERCADO 6 STUYVESANT OVAL #12G NEW YORK, NY 10009-2426 PARSWA ANSARI 314 W 77TH STREET APT 7B NEW YORK, NY 10024

JERRY ARROW 225 E 60TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10022-1442

BARTHOLOMEW L BAPTISTA 311 W 19 ST APT 61 NEW YORK, NY 10011

NOBUTAKA ASHIHARA 132 NASSAU ST RM 1320 NEW YORK, NY 10038

ANDRE P BARADAT 11 PRINCE STREET 3B NEW YORK CITY, NY 10012

MITCHEL H ASHLEY 265 LAFAYETTE ST APT B5 NEW YORK, NY 10012-4036

MARIA CRISTINA D BARAO 118 E 102ND ST APT 4B NEW YORK, NY 10029-5719

KIM R ASHTON 265 WEST 121ST STREET APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10027

DONNA BARASCH 444 EAST 86TH STREET APT. 15H NEW YORK, NY 10028

STEVEN J ATTWELL 529 W 147TH ST APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10031-4433

DOROTHY BARENHOLTZ 75 MONTGOMERY ST APT 2E NEW YORK, NY 10002-6554

JONATHAN A AUGUST 100 RIVERSIDE BLVD APT 16H NEW YORK, NY 10069-0422

LAURA L BARISONZI 153 E 32ND ST APT 14C NEW YORK, NY 10016-6039

STEPHEN J AUSTIN 304 WEST ELEVENTH STREET APT. #1A NEW YORK, NY 10014-2383

ANGELIQUE BARNES 67W 119TH ST 67W 119TH ST NY, NY 10026

NICOLAS AUTRET 47 W 70TH ST APT 4A NEW YORK, NY 10023-4531

MICHAEL D BARNES 300 WEST 135TH STREET, APT # 9F NEW YORK, NY 10030-2716

WILLIAM S AVERY 220 E 94TH ST APT 7K NEW YORK, NY 10128

CHRISTINE E BARRAL 426 E 77TH ST APT 1RW NEW YORK, NY 10021-2300

JESSICA R BACHARACH 7 E 14TH ST APT 1019 NEW YORK, NY 10003

FLYNN H BARRISON 130 WEST 67TH STREET APARTMENT 9D NEW YORK, NY 10023

ANNA C BARRY MARC V MILIC 305 E 85TH ST APT 10A NEW YORK, NY 10028-4669

MYLES BERG SAMANTHA B BRODIE 420 E 72ND ST APT 18A NEW YORK, NY 10021-4675

DOROTHEA T BARTON 2569 7TH AVENUE APT 6J NEW YORK, NY 10039

DAVID A BERGAN 152 W 58TH ST APT 6CD NEW YORK, NY 10019

OTTO H BARZ ELLEN M BARZ 39 CROSBY ST APT 2N NEW YORK, NY 10013-2624

SYLVAIN BERGFELD ALISON SNOW 515 EAST 85TH STREET, #2F NEW YORK, NY 10028 IRWIN BEROWITZ 61 JANE STREET APARTMENT 6G NEW YORK, NY 10014

GABRIEL A BASBUS 596 W 152 ST #1 NEW YORK, NY 10031

FRANCOISE J BEVY 415 GRAND ST, APT 1407 NEW YORK, NY 10002-4722 NINA BHAMBHANI 162 E. 55 STREET APARTMENT 5C NEW YORK, NY 10022 ANJLI B BHANDARI 47 E 87TH ST APT 7DE NEW YORK, NY 10128-1005

PAUL L BEARD 201 W. 21ST STREET APT. 5F NEW YORK, NY 10011

RANBEER BHATIA 355 SOUTH END AVE. APT. 14M NEW YORK, NY 10280

TACORA C BEASLEY 50 AMSTERDAM AVENUE APT 11F NEW YORK, NY 10023

HARSIMRAT S BHATTAL 401 E 34TH ST APT N6N NEW YORK, NY 10016

RACHEL BECKERMAN 212 W 91ST ST # 1032 NEW YORK, NY 10024

REGINA BIENSTOCK 129 E 71ST ST NEW YORK, NY 10021-4201

SHOSHANA S BELISLE TOWNSEND A BELISLE 444 MANHATTAN AVE APT 8D NEW YORK, NY 10026-1069

STEPHEN BILLINGS 335 E 13TH STREET, APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10003

GIULIANA BENEDICTY 522 W 150TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10031-3306

GIANPAOLO BINI 196 SPRING ST APT 14 NEW YORK, NY 10012

GARY E BENJAMIN 455 FDR DR APT B105 NEW YORK, NY 10002-5911

ALLISON J BIRD DIANE L NADLER 155 E 34TH ST APT 3J NEW YORK, NY 10016-4758

BERNARD BENJAMIN MARCELLA BENJAMIN 1763 2ND AVE APT 37K NEW YORK, NY 10128-5372 JENNIFER C BENNION 620 FORT WASHINGTON AVE APT 4H NEW YORK, NY 10040-3945 PAUL D BENSON MARY J GRACE 26 E 22ND ST APT 6 NEW YORK, NY 10010-6107

LISA BIRNBAUM 120 EAST 34TH ST 3D NEW YORK, NY 10016 CAROLINE H BLACKWELL 210 W 70TH ST APT 504 NEW YORK, NY 10023 ALEXANDER BLANKFEIN 300 MERCER STREET APT. 19J NEW YORK, NY 10003

Continued on next page August 27, 2015

29

Continued from previous page MARYELLEN NUGENT-LEE 314 EAST 89TH ST #1A NEW YORK, NY 10128

GERHARD R PAGAC 100 HAVEN AVE APT 4D NEW YORK, NY 10032-2622

YUE-TING PEN 366 W 52ND ST APT 4B NEW YORK, NY 10019-6272

TANYA V PINA 1558 YORK AVENUE APT. 4A NEW YORK, NY 10028

PIYUM PUNITHAKUMAR 305 EAST 40TH STREET APT 4B NEW YORK, NY 10016-2156

FRANCESCA REPPEN 211 EAST 70 STREET 17H NEW YORK, NY 10021-5207

AMANDA E NUNEZ ADELINE CAMACHO 65 COLUMBIA ST APT 11J NEW YORK, NY 10002-2711

CAROLE H PALEY 45 E 82ND ST NEW YORK, NY 10028

WENDY M PENA 1492 AMSTERDAM AVENUE #2B NEW YORK, NY 10031

ULYRICIA S PITTMAN 733 AMSTERDAM AVE APT 16H NEW YORK, NY 10025-9826

CAROLE H PALEY 45 E 82ND ST NEW YORK, NY 10028

CARLOS PENA CECILIA PENA 701 WEST 176TH ST 0.083333333 NEW YORK, NY 10033

GRGAS B PIVAC 529 WEST 48TH STREET APT. 7 NEW YORK, NY 10036

DIKELA QUIRICO MICHAEL A QUIRICO 87 HAMILTON PLACE APT. 6B NEW YORK, NY 10031

JOHN G RETSIOS 55 W 68TH ST APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10023-5317

JANUARI O’BRYANT 15 WEST 108TH STREET APT #5 NEW YORK, NY 10025 KATHERINE O’CONNOR 224 ELIZABETH STREET #7 NEW YORK, NY 10012

BAHRAM PANBEHI 360 E 50TH ST APT 5G NEW YORK, NY 10022

NATHANIEL P OGISTE 476 W 145TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10031-4701

GOPIANDHAN P PANDALAI 301 W 118TH ST APT 7C NEW YORK, NY 10026-1075

KATHERINE O’HAGAN 400 E 70TH ST APT 607 NEW YORK, NY 10021

YOUMAN PANG 500 GRAND STREET APT C9B NEW YORK, NY 10002

CATHERINE E OLEARY 21 WEST ST APT 24A NEW YORK, NY 10006-2932

KENNY PANG 319 W 22ND ST APT 3A NEW YORK, NY 10011-2675

PATRICK OLIVER 550G GRAND ST APT 12D NEW YORK, NY 10002-4278

CHRISTOPHER A PAPPAS 300 1ST AVE APT 7C NEW YORK, NY 10009-1843

MEGHAN P O’NEILL 166 W 83RD ST APT 3A NEW YORK, NY 10024-5032

CHRISTINE I PARADINAS ALFONSO PARADINAS 200 E 32ND ST APT 21E NEW YORK, NY 10016-6306

SAM ONG II 154 ATTORNEY STREET, 304 NEW YORK, NY 10002

PARALEGAL CONSULTANT ASSOCIATE 160 WEST 71 STREET SUITE 5-P NEW YORK, NY 10023

AMY E ORSULAK 611 W 158TH ST APT 3A NEW YORK, NY 10032-7106 STEPHANIE ORTEGA 1990 LEXINGTON AVE 3E NEW YORK, NY 10035 AUDRIANA ORTEGA 405 E 105TH ST APT 6F NEW YORK, NY 10029-5153 ANN-ELIZABETH OSTRAGER 930 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10021 ANDY OTHMAN 21 MAIDEN LANE 5B NEW YORK, NY 10038 KAREN OZUNA 2289 5TH AVE APT 9O NEW YORK, NY 10037-1706 SARA PACKMAN 188 E 64TH ST APT 904 NEW YORK, NY 10065-7463 PURVI PADIA 408 GREENWICH STREET 8TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10013

36

August 27, 2015

HEA JUN PARK 310 E 85TH ST APT 1D NEW YORK, NY 10028-4567

AMEYA K PENDSE ARUNA K PENDSE 1306 2ND AVE APT 2FS NEW YORK, NY 10065-0219 JOSE PEREZ 89 THAYER STREET APT # BSMT NEW YORK, NY 10040

ANDREW B POLANSKI 400 2ND AVE APT 5C NEW YORK, NY 10010-4051

ROBERTO PEREZ 165 PINEHURST AVE APT 5C NEW YORK, NY 10033-1814

JESSICA L POLIZZI 333 PEARL STREET APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10038

SONIA M PEREZ JUAN I PEREZ 752 W END AVE APT 2A NEW YORK, NY 10025-6259

KACI D POLK 245 E 124TH ST APT 11U NEW YORK, NY 10035-2091

STEPHANIE I PEREZ 2075 3RD AVE. APT.13C NEW YORK, NY 10029

JENNIFER L POLLAND 165 CHRISTOPHER ST. APT. 2L NEW YORK, NY 10014

JENNIFER PEREZ 10 OVERLOOK TER APT 3J NEW YORK, NY 10033-2204

STEPHANIE POPE-CAFFEY 38 W 127TH ST APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10027-3928

VINCENZO PERRETTA 310 WEST 56TH ST. #6A NE WYORK, NY 10019

JAMES PORTER MARILYN M PORTER 30 WEST ST APT 20F NEW YORK, NY 10004-3058

KASHIMA M PARRIS 501 WEST 143RD STREET NEW YORK, NY 10031 CHRISTINE M PASCUAL 319 E 24TH ST APT 4G NEW YORK, NY 10010

ADAM K PERRY LANG 561 10TH AVE APT 38D NEW YORK, NY 10036-3062

GARY J PASTERNACK 36 BETHUNE ST APT 3 NEW YORK, NY 10014-1729

JUSTIN PETERS 37 W 95TH ST NEW YORK, NY 10025-6716

MAXWELL PAU 88 LEONARD STREET APT 1603 NEW YORK, NY 10013 DMITRI PEKKER 225 EAST 95TH STREET APT 31D NEW YORK, NY 10128 ANDREA L PELLEGRINO 1245 PARK AVE APT 11F NEW YORK, NY 10128-1739

MICHELE P POKOWICZ 150 W END AVE APT 11P NEW YORK, NY 10023-5732

WANDA C PEREZ 65 PARK TERRACE WEST #7C NEW YORK, NY 10034

MICHAEL W PERRY 2 WASHINGTON SQUARE VLG APT 3P NEW YORK, NY 10012-1703

PAREEN P PATEL 246 WEST 116TH STREET APT 3E NEW YORK, NY 10026

KAROLINA PODLESNA 8 W 71ST ST APT 2A NEW YORK, NY 10023-4208

JARED R PICCOLO 415 EAST 80TH STREET, APT 3H NEW YORK, NY 10021 MOISES R PICON-PONCE 451 E 14TH STREET, APT 4E NEW YORK, NY 10009 MIKI PIERRE 216 W 99TH ST APT 13 NEW YORK, NY 10025-5086 PILATES ISLAND INC DBA PARK EAST PILATES 1045 MADISON AVENUE 4AB NEW YORK, NY 10075-0241

JEFFERY R POVERO JEFFREY W SCHNEIDER 117 BEEKMAN ST APT PH-B NEW YORK, NY 10038-2001 MARLON PRAGNELL 575 GRAND ST APT E1306 NEW YORK, NY 10002-4319 MARY A PRENDERGAST 61 E 8TH ST # 376 NEW YORK, NY 10003-6450 CHARLES R PRICE 120 W 21ST ST APT 1103 NEW YORK, NY 10011 SEGOLENE PROT 245 E 24TH ST APT 12G NEW YORK, NY 10010-3828 SAMUEL W PUGATCH 63 WALL ST APT 518 NEW YORK, NY 10005

SERIBETH REVZEN 300 MERCER ST APT 20L NEW YORK, NY 10003-6739

PAIGE L RABALAIS 10 PARK AVE APT 16K NEW YORK, NY 10016-4338

RICHARD REYLE 15 BROAD ST APT 3620 NEW YORK, NY 10005

MIRIAM L RACCAH JORDAN RACCAH 2680 BROADWAY #3B NEW YORK, NY 10025

SARAH J RIDGWAY 484 W 43RD ST. 21N NEW YORK, NY 10036

THOMAS RAEL 17 PARK PL APT 2 NEW YORK, NY 10007-2514

VAIBHAV RIKHYE 1 RIVER PL APT 2219 NEW YORK, NY 10036-4378

W RAFF 33 GREENWICH AVENUE 10B NEW YORK, NY 10014-2701 KIERON ASHTON RAGOONATH KIM R ASHTON 265 W 121ST ST NEW YORK, NY 10027-6218 MARIAM RAGOVSKAIA 205 W 95TH ST APT 1C NEW YORK, NY 10025

SYED I RIZVI 135 WILLIAM ST APT 6B NEW YORK, NY 10038-3862

PRIA RAI 520 W 43RD ST APT 21D NEW YORK, NY 10036 SHRUTI RAMACHANDRAN 370 MANHATTAN AVENUE 6K NEW YORK, NY 10026

JENNIFER M RANDLE 320 W 38TH ST APT 1607 NEW YORK, NY 10018-5235 CHISHONA A RAY 2931 8TH AVE APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10039-1325 COURTNEY M REAGAN 425 W 23RD ST APT 4F NEW YORK, NY 10011 HANA RECTOR 90 RIVERSIDE DRIVE NEW YORK, NY 10024 MARCIA L RENERT 370 EAST 76TH STREET APT. B1605 NEW YORK, NY 10021

JUDIT RIUS SANJUAN 310 W 101ST ST APT 7 NEW YORK, NY 10025 TAMARA M RIVERA 200 DYCKMAN ST #5D NEW YORK, NY 10040

ERIC C RAHE 25 CENTRAL PARK W APT 23-0 NEW YORK, NY 10023-7253

JOSE A RAMOS 140 W 4TH ST APT 12A NEW YORK, NY 10012-1054

CHRISTOPHER M RINI 334 E 117TH ST APT 7 NEW YORK, NY 10035-4931

NATALIE RIZZO 277 AVENUE C APT 1B NEW YORK, NY 10009-2537 JESSICA L RIZZUTI 309 E 81ST ST APT 5RE NEW YORK, NY 10028 RM INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. 37A ORCHARD STREET NEW YORK, NY 10002 PATRICIA L ROBBERSTAD 540 E 20TH ST APT 3A NEW YORK, NY 10009-1332 MONIQUE B ROBERTSON 212 W 111TH ST APT 4A NEW YORK, NY 10026 CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON 2130 1ST AVE 1608 NEW YORK, NY 10029 RABIA K ROBINSON 678 SAINT NICHOLAS AVE APT 34 NEW YORK, NY 10030-1044

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Continued from previous page JOHN H RODENBECK 517 W 46TH ST APT 403 NEW YORK, NY 10036

ROBERT R ROSS JR 316 W 81ST ST APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10024-5796

FABIO SALVATORI MARITHELMA COSTA 290 6TH AVE APT 6A NEW YORK, NY 10014-4478

FRANK X SCHOEN 30 W 63RD ST APT 32K NEW YORK, NY 10023-7127

MARIELLEN SEREDUKE 345 W 48TH ST APT 3C NEW YORK, NY 10036-1354

DALIA Y SILBERSTEIN 80 RIVERSIDE BLVD APT 31CD NEW YORK, NY 10069-0301

ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ 426 WEST 27TH STREET APT. 10G NEW YORK, NY 10001

MARK ROSSIER 547 W 157TH ST APT 66 NEW YORK, NY 10032-7609

ANDREA T SANDVIG 215 W 101ST ST APT 4C NEW YORK, NY 10025-5047

MICHAEL SCHOU 510 2ND AVE APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10016

JEREMY SETO 1710 2ND AVE APT 2N NEW YORK, NY 10128-3263

AILIE L SILBERT 500 E 77TH ST APT 606 NEW YORK, NY 10162

MICHELLE C RODRIGUEZ 555 W 59TH ST APT 5C NEW YORK, NY 10019

MICHAEL L ROTHBERG 666 GREENWICH ST APT 850 NEW YORK, NY 10014-6336

GREGORY M SANGERMANO 720 FORT WASHINGTON AVE APT 1X NEW YORK, NY 10040

JANKAREL SCHREUDER 509 WEST 155TH. STREET APT. 5C NEW YORK, NY 10032

RAYMOND D SILLER 300 EAST 56TH ST. APT. 28A NEW YORK, NY 10022

FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ 432 WEST 204TH STREET APT 5 E NEW YORK, NY 10034

ARTHUR J ROUSE 940 ST NICHOLAS AVE APT 5E NEW YORK, NY 10032

NICHOLAS SANSANO MARY E KAIL 56 HAMILTON TER NEW YORK, NY 10031-6403

DYANNE-AMBER ROGERS 55 E 7TH ST APT 5A NEW YORK, NY 10003-8162

BRETT S RUBIN 229 CHRYSTIE ST APT 521 NEW YORK, NY 10002-1169

DAVID SANTIAGO 145 W 111TH ST. APT 5 NEW YORK, NY 10026

JOHN J SCHREUDERS BARBARA J MOROFSKY 120 WEST 86TH STREET APT #5C NEW YORK, NY 10024

LISSETE SEVILLA DELILAH SEVILLA 720 FORT WASHINGTON AVENUE APT. 6Y NEW YORK, NY 10040

ROGUE SCIENTIST LLC 102 CHRISTOPHER ST APT 6E NEW YORK, NY 10014

VALERIA J RUBINSTEIN SILVIA RUBINSTEIN 188 E. 64TH STREET APT 405 NEW YORK, NY 10021

RENATA ROJAS 1 COLUMBUS PL APT S17D NEW YORK, NY 10019-8205

SILVIA RUBINSTEIN 188 EAST 64TH STREET APT.#405 NEW YORK, NY 10021-7461

ELAINE ROLLOGAS 20 RIVER RD APT 11C NEW YORK, NY 10044-1161

SHELDON RUDOFF 140 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY 10005-1108

MONICA D ROMAN 400 E 66TH ST APT 10D NEW YORK, NY 10065

ANTHONY RUSSO 132 E 35TH ST APT 9C NEW YORK, NY 10016

RUSSELL F ROMOND 319 E 50TH ST APT 6K NEW YORK, NY 10022-7938

MATTHEW RUTENBERG 375 W END AVE APT 10D NEW YORK, NY 10024-6570

ZIPORAH RONEY 25 SAINT NICHOLAS TER APT 23 NEW YORK, NY 10027-2836

MARISSA P RYAN 30 CHRISTOPHER ST APT. 4B NY, NY 10014

KEVIN C ROONEY 178 7TH AVE APT 3C NEW YORK, NY 10011-1860

LIANA C RYAN 175 W 12TH ST APT 9M NEW YORK, NY 10011-8211

MIGUEL A ROSARIO 2400 SECOND AVENUE # 9A NEW YORK CITY, NY 10035

HEATHER K SABOL 2109 BROADWAY APT 1206 NEW YORK, NY 10023-2149

HERBERT B ROSE 343 E 30TH ST APT 20D NEW YORK, NY 10016-6445 MICHAEL ROSEMAN 319 GREENWICH STREET, APT 4F NEW YORK, NY 10013 SHARI ROSEN 333 E 91ST ST APT 11B NEW YORK, NY 10128 PAUL H ROSS 420 E 55TH ST APT 3F NEW YORK, NY 10022-5140

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JESSICA SANTIAGO 720 W. 170TH #3C NEW YORK, NY 10032 BARA SAPIR 127 W 106TH ST APT 1B NEW YORK, NY 10025-3773 LINDSAY SARGENT 250 EAST 40TH STREET APT. 4D NEW YORK, NY 10016 MASAHIRO SASAKI 225 E 36TH ST APT 15M NEW YORK, NY 10016 LISA A SASKOWICZ 155 2ND AVE APT 1 NEW YORK, NY 10003-5767 KAORU SATO 268 EAST BRADWAY #A105 NEW YORK, NY 10002 NOBUKO SATO 240 E 55TH ST APT 4E NEW YORK, NY 10022-4010 JACOLE A SAULSBERRY 601 WEST 163RD STREET APT.4B NEW YORK, NY 10032-5638

CARRIE B SAGER 520 W. 23RD ST 9D NEW YORK, NY 10011

THOMAS B SAUNDERS KAORI KOSUZU 355 S END AVE APT 30L NEW YORK, NY 10280

JESSE T SALAI 165 W 66TH ST APT 18F NEW YORK, NY 10023

MEGAN SAVAGE 200 E 16TH ST APT 13C NEW YORK, NY 10003

DAVID SALAVERRY 330 3RD AVE APT 16G NEW YORK, NY 10010-3722

MATTHEW SCHATZ 570 GRAND ST APT H602 NEW YORK, NY 10002-4352

SALON CLICK DBA MIN NEW YORK 319 LAFAYETTE ST STE 253 NEW YORK, NY 10012

ROBERT E SCHLESINGER 350 BLEECKER ST APT 4D NEW YORK, NY 10014

LIA M SCHUBERT 635 W 42ND ST APT 44E NEW YORK, NY 10036-1938 ROCHELLE C SCOTT 357 EDGECOMBE AVE. #6E NEW YORK, NY 10031 NATALEE R SCOTT 276 W 119TH ST APT 4C NEW YORK, NY 10026-1118 JOHN C SCOTT 20098 PO BOX LONDON TER NEW YORK, NY 10011 TESFA D SCOTT 302 W 152 ST APT 2B NEW YORK, NY 10039 JILL N SEABROOK 166 E34TH ST APT 4A NEW YORK, NY 10016 SERENA J SEABROOKS 60 E 135TH ST APT 10F NEW YORK, NY 10037-2306 MARSHALL D SEBRING 11 5TH AVE APT 7S NEW YORK, NY 10003

STEPHEN R SHAFFER 229 WEST 105TH STREET #35 NEW YORK, NY 10025

THOMAS P SILVESTER 618 E 9TH ST APT 5W NEW YORK, NY 10009-5227

IRINA SHAKHNOVICH 795 COLUMBUS AVE # 6E NEW YORK, NY 10025-5953

ZORITA SIMMONS 2070 1ST AVENUE #651 NEW YORK, NY 10029

SEAN SHANNON 1733 2ND AVE APT 3D NEW YORK, NY 10128

ALEXANDRA SIMOES 372 CENTRAL PARK W APT 4V NEW YORK, NY 10025-8204

THERESA H SHAO 400 W 63RD ST NEW YORK, NY 10069

MAGARET L SIMON 105 W 13TH ST APT 8G NEW YORK, NY 10011-7843

SCOTT D SHAPIRO JARA S SHAPIRO 1245 PARK AVE APT 10J NEW YORK, NY 10128-1738

DAVID SINGER 251 W 92ND ST APT 10E NEW YORK, NY 10025-7336

ANDRE R SHEFFIELD 243 E 120TH ST APT 5F NEW YORK, NY 10035-3027

MARIO F SINGER 201 E 80TH ST APT 16 NEW YORK, NY 10021-0511

ILLYA SHELL 363 EAST 76TH STREET APARTMENT 11H NEW YORK, NY 10021 RICH S SHEMARIA 83 PARK TERRACE WEST 6D NEW YORK, NY 10034 LENA SHEMEL 131 MERCER ST, #4A NEW YORK, NY 10012

HARRISON D SEBRING 333 E 34TH ST APT 11B NEW YORK, NY 10016-4959

PATRICK H SHIELDS 37 1/2 SAINT MARKS PL APT C1 NEW YORK, NY 10003-7984

ELIZABETH SEGAL 30 5TH AVE APT 14E NEW YORK, NY 10011

HANAKO SHIMIZU 211 CENTRE ST FL 5 NEW YORK, NY 10013

RAHAV SEGEV 327 E 12TH ST APT 3 NEW YORK, NY 10003-7249

BELINDA SHIRKEY 41 WARREN ST APT 7 NEW YORK, NY 10007-1072

JERALD R SENTER, JR. 64 W. 11 #2 NEW YORK, NY 10011-8672

JAMES S SILBERMAN 413 E 70TH ST APT 2 NEW YORK, NY 10021-5322

MARIAELANA SEPULVEDA-BOATENG 414-424W 48STREET #3A NEW YORK, NY 10036

ELINOR SILVERMAN 253 W 73RD ST APT 17B NEW YORK, NY 10023-2763

MARCUS L SILBERMAN CRISTIANE D PEIXOTO 40 EAST 78TH STREET APT 14 G NEW YORK, NY 10021

SHEILA SINGLETON 550 WEST 125TH STREET APT. 8A NEW YORK, NY 10027 YOGEV SISO 800 2ND AVENUE 14 FLR NEW YORK, NY 10017 MARIE SKIDMORE ELIZABETH M SKIDMORE 210 W 146TH ST APT B NEW YORK, NY 10039-3919 AMY K SLACK 225 E 36TH ST APT 21E NEW YORK, NY 10016-3631 BEVERLY R SMITH 219 W 134TH ST APT B NEW YORK, NY 10030-3001 DARREN J SMITH 645 WATER ST APT 18F NEW YORK, NY 10002-8104 GORDON L SMITH 52 END AVE NEW YORK, NY 10028-7954

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37

WIN TICKETS TO SEE

MADONNA

PHOTO BY JAMES WILLIAM HUDSON

COURTESY OF

Gotta try the Burrata — a perfect lump of gooey, salty mozzarella on deliciously ripe local tomatoes.

Frankly, Supper is my fave EATS

BY NEELOU MALEKPOUR

U

MADONNA SEPTEMBER 17th at Madison Square Garden For your chance to win, visit

gaycitynews.nyc/win 46

August 27, 2015

nofficially, Supper is the most successful member of Frank Prisinzano’s East Village Italian restaurant empire, and it’s the perfect date spot. This cash-only restaurant, at 156 Second Ave., is always packed and doesn’t accept reservations, but you can wait for your table at their bar next door. The extensive wine list trumps their specialty cocktails, and whether you want to drink by the glass or the bottle, the knowledgeable staff will help you choose a wine perfect for your palate.

The black-and-white family photos lining Supper’s brick walls, along with mismatched tables and chairs, antique chandeliers and frayed red-velvet lampshades, all lend a casual, eclectic feel. Similarly, the staff are friendly and relaxed.

The restaurant is divided into multiple sections. The sidewalk cafe is delightful in summer. Downstairs is a private room perfect for private gatherings. The rear dining room boasts views of the wine cellar but can become uncomfortably crowded.

On the other hand, the front dining room, with its communal tables and views of the tiny, open kitchen, is the best spot to dine with friends.

While Lil’ Frankie’s, at 19 First Ave., specializes in pizzas and Prisinzano’s Italian-American home cooking, Supper serves northern Italian fare, focusing on simple, fresh ingredients. They serve daily specials, including a Daily Risotto and a Daily Supper — including local rabbit on Saturday evenings.

Their killer weekend brunch offers three-for-one drink specials and the best egg in New York City. (It even

has its own hashtag and cult social media following, #crispyegg.)

To start, each table is served fresh bread and a mixture of cannellini beans, olive oil and spices. (The focaccia alone is worth the trip.) Skip the Salsa Cruda (typically bruschetta at other restaurants); while delicious, it’s simply too filling unless you’re in a large group. Choose the Black Kale Panzanella (the best appetizer by far) over the Black Salt Caesar; but beware, vegetarians — it doesn’t taste like it and the menu doesn’t mention this, but it’s made with anchovies. The Burrata is to die for — a perfect lump of gooey, salty mozzarella served on deliciously ripe local tomatoes topped with basil, and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The Watermelon & Basil Salad is interesting but wouldn’t be my first choice.

For supper, the Chicken Parmigiana with Spaghetti came highly recommended — a large chicken breast pounded thin, covered in bread crumbs and cooked to perfection before being smothered in melted mozzarella and tomato sauce, then served with a side of perfectly cooked spaghetti. Our server’s other recommendation, the Pappardelle with Asparagus, Peas and Tomatoes, although fresh, was rather bland. The Spaghetti Al Limone, however, was delectable. Order it with the priest stranglers (strozzapreti) instead of spaghetti, to sop up even more of the tangy sauce with each bite. The Tagliatelle Bolognese is both heavenly and hearty, but Lil’ Frankie’s does a better version with their Mezzi Rigatoni Polpettini Ragu.

To finish, the Hazelnut Panna Cotta, served with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream, drenched in ribbons of warm chocolate sauce, was delicious, but the Tiramisu, although traditional, was on another level — and probably the best we’ve ever had.

TheVillager.com

The fast and furious: Nonstop action at ‘Cage’ SPORTS

BY ROBERT ELKIN

S

ummer is known as baseball season, but at the W. Fourth St. court in the Village, it’s when basketball kicks into high gear.

The W. Fourth St. League features games during daylight hours seven days a week. Because there is limited sitting, all spectators are advised to bring their own chairs.

Kenny Graham is the director of the league, which also includes two divisions for young women. The league also has a commissioner and assistant directors. Nike is the league’s sponsor.

One former junior college coach is among those who enjoy watching the games at “The Cage.” A Manhattan resident who used to live on Long Island and has been associated with basketball for many years, he requested anonymity. He doesn’t

Driven to win: Players going head to head in the W. Fourth St. League.

even recruit, but enjoys the action at W. Fourth St. “I’ve been following this W. Fourth St. League for about 10 years. These players are really impressive,”

he said. “I see some great ones here. These kids are still learning. It’s good for them.”

One player from the league, Ismael Johnson, is at Odessa College, a two-year junior college in Texas.

“A lot of players out of Odessa College end up at a Division I college,” the ex-coach noted.

This year’s competition has featured a number of first-timers in the high school division. Among them is Elias Edeneke.

“It’s fun playing in the league,” said Elias, who attended high school in Connecticut. “I’m only a sophomore in high school and also play in other leagues, such as Dyckman and Rucker. I have to get stronger and bigger. But, otherwise, I feel good.”

The league’s high school division is growing in teams and in the number of players. It’s a great opportunity for the recruiters, especially the college ones, to look at the young talent. They don’t talk to the players, though. They just take notes and watch them in action.

The top eight teams in each division qualify for the playoffs to determine one champion for each division.

McReynolds: Sanders campaign is showing ‘vigor’ McREYNOLDS continued from p. 27

staff position with the Fellowship of Redeemers, a Christian pacifist organization, on the condition that he undergo psychiatric treatment for his sexual preference. While McReynolds refused, he harbored no ill will toward the organization and went on to serve on its national committee.

Although he was already an old man by the standards of an era in which the mantra was “never trust anyone over 30,” McReynolds’s status as a self-described “peace movement bureaucrat” naturally led him to the counterculture, whose influence had crept into the War Resisters League.

Peter Stafford, McReynolds’s then-lover, was an author who wrote the book “Psychedelic Baby Reaches Puberty,” a collection of essays about the drug culture. Although McReynolds himself occasionally smoked peyote, his own views were also heavily informed by his class-conscious outlook.

“I said, ‘Look Peter, the drugs are not going to solve the problems in Harlem.’ They’re not and, in fact, the drugs in Harlem were heroin, not LSD,” he noted. “People in Harlem did not want their consciousness expanded. They wanted it closed down.

They didn’t want to see more things, they wanted to go to sleep, to pass out, and heroin could do that and LSD could not.”

McReynolds did throw himself wholeheartedly into the anti-war movement, though, participating symbolically in the first draft-card burning in 1965, and in 1968 signing a tax-resisters pledge in opposition to the war. In 1968 he stood as the nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party TheVillager.com

in Manhattan’s former 19th Congressional District but managed to receive just under 5 percent of the vote.

In 1980, at the urging of his comrade Maggie Fehr, McReynolds launched the first of his two quixotic bids for president. He ran on a platform of cutting the defense budget by one quarter, guaranteed employment and the nationalization of energy companies. Although he only received 6,898 votes nationally, he believes that, given the stakes, his campaign was reasonably successful.

In 2000 he ran again. That February, in an interview with The Progressive, McReynolds predicted that, “Gore probably has the campaign sewn up,” due to the roaring economy. He briefly emerged in the news at the time, for receiving a larger-than-expected number of votes in Palm Beach County, Florida, due to the infamous “butterfly ballot.”

Though he has never been tarred with the accusation of spoiler that Democratic partisans have long used to lambaste Ralph Nader — McReynolds only got 5,602 votes — he has acknowledged that, in hindsight, he probably wouldn’t have thrown his hat in the ring.

“I think if I had known the election was going to be that close I might not have run,” he said. “I really don’t think that if Gore had taken the White House we would have had the war in Iraq.”

McReynolds has expressed praise for the campaign of another socialist, Bernie Sanders. Initially, he dismissed Sanders as “not a serious candidate,” but considered his candidacy to be educational in the same way that McReynolds’s own had

been. However, he recognizes that Sanders has the potential to reach a far larger audience just by virtue of running as a Democrat. In a more recent Facebook post, while still picking Hillary as the favorite, he said that Sanders’s campaign had shown “much greater vigor then people (including me) had expected.”

McReynolds briefly discussed the minor controversy that he became embroiled in several months ago.

As Bedford + Bowery previously reported, several Facebook posts of McReynolds’s were misconstrued as racist — one about Islam and the other about Michael Brown. This led to his being officially censured by the party and resigning his membership this past February.

As we talked, McReynolds elaborated his views on both of these topics. He partly walked back his statement about Islam being particularly violent by condemning bigotry against Muslims. He also argued, perhaps somewhat unusually for someone on the political left, that European anxieties about immigration were not entirely illegitimate.

“There is a problem for Western Europe, which the left shouldn’t evade,” he said. “That is you have countries that have fairly homogeneous societies, Denmark, Norway, fairly homogeneous, which are suddenly being, not invaded, but people are coming in, not as temporary workers who are going to leave — which is true in Switzerland, they have a lot of guest workers who are not planning to stay and Switzerland is not going to ask them to stay — but Denmark has been very opening to them and Holland has been very opening to them.

What you’re getting is extreme Muslims emerging in those countries, posing a problem for those countries as to what their national identity is.

That has to be discussed. It accounts for the rise of racist parties in Britain and Norway and Sweden, and we can’t get rid of it just by saying the people have a right to enter.”

At the same time, McReynolds, referring to the flow of refugees into Europe, largely placed the blame at the feet of U.S. and Western policymakers.

“Part of the problem is a serious look at the fact that Africa is so f---- up now, with what we did in Libya, with the chaos in Syria, with the magnitude of desperation that leads people to take any chance at all on a boat. You’re not gonna deal with the boat people if you’re simply picking up at sea. You’ve got to ask what drives people to leave their homes at great cost and get on a boat at enormous risk to get to Western Europe.”

When speaking to the issue of police brutality, McReynolds expressed support for what he saw as progress on race relations, at least in terms of the public reaction to the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray.

“It used to be that you had to be a white kid to get people upset,” he said. “I think we have to recognize that the Kent State killings in 1970 provoked a very different kind of rage than the killings which occurred that same week at a black college. I have to track down the date, but I remember it. It wasn’t so directly linked to the Vietnam War, but they were killed. They were black but that wasn’t fixed on our minds, our minds were fixed on Kent State, which was white.”

August 27, 2015

47

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