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

December 17, 2015 • $1.00 Volume 85 • Number 29

Yuh-Line Niou is a new contender for Silver’s ex-seat

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON This article is part of an ongoing series on the special election for the vacant 65th Assembly District seat.

T

here’s a new candidate in town — well, at least, in Lower Manhattan’s 65th Assembly District, that is, where Sheldon Silver’s ouster from the Legislature has left a huge political void.

Yuh-Line Niou (pronounced “You-Lean Neo”), the chief of staff for Queens Assemblymember Ron Kim, has indicated her interest in succeeding the former longtime speaker in the Assembly.

Governor Cuomo has set April 19 as the date for a speseat. The 196 members of the district’s Democratic County Committee will select the Democratic nominee, possibly in January or February.

While Niou, who is in her mid-30s, lives in the district — in the Financial District, to be exact — she is not well known in it, unlike two local Democratic district leaders,

Yuh-Line Niou.

Jenifer Rajkumar and Paul Newell, who are also interested in Silver’s former seat.

However, unlike the two district leaders, Niou is the only one who actually has experience working in Albany in state government. She has been the chief of staff for Kim, who represents Flushing, for all of his three years would be more than ready to “hit the ground running,” if elected.

She said her boss, Kim, NIOU continued on p. 9

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Look out! Santa Con is coming to town!... Well, actually, they already did...on Saturday.

For article, Police Blotter and photos, see Pages 4, 6 and 14.

Finally, a fitting memorial plan for Triangle tragedy

BY YANNIC RACK

O

n a Saturday in March more than a century ago, around 500 workers were crowded industrial building at the corner of Washington and Greene Sts. in Greenwich Village.

Mostly young Italian and Eastern European immigrants, many of them women, they had shown up for work like any other day.

But many would not return

to their families that night and instead fell victim to one of the deadliest industrial tragedies in the country’s history, the Triangle Shirtwaist 146 lives, but also prompted a wave of lasting labor and safety reforms.

“This was a Saturday, I imagine them walking to work, glad that it was the end of a very long week,” said Suzanne Pred Bass, a psychotherapist on the Upper West Side whose great-

aunt Rose Weiner perished Rose’s sister, Katie, survived the tragedy and later tory’s owners, who were acquitted of any wrongdoing.

Katie Weiner also told the story of that day to her greatniece before she passed away in the 1970s, which is why Pred Bass is now working to get a lasting memorial installed at the site of the MEMORIAL continued on p. 23

They love statuesque women............................page 4 Kornacki recaps G.O.P. debate.........................page 8 Just who is Santa, anyway?...........page 15

www.TheVillager.com

how best to defeat the G.O.P. People disagreed, with powerful and cogent statements for both candidates; so the club voted no endorsement at this time. It allows the debate to continue.”

POLITICAL PARTY: Speaking of V.I.D., club members and local Democratic politicians enjoyed Frieda Bradlow’s annual holiday party on Charlton St. once again. Along with all the pols, of course, Jonathan Geballe’s famous raisin bread was also in the house. The irrepressible Bradlow was looking good after a physical-rehab stint at VillageCare. In other V.I.D. news, Nadine Hoffmann was re-elected club president. She said she has been having a great time working with club members on issues like passing PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

District Leader Keen Berger got our endorsement.

She was looking good at the V.I.D. Holiday Party!

V.I.D. FOR...BERNILLARY?

A ROOM WITH A VIEW: At last month’s Commu-

vote when the Village Independent Democrats gathered on Dec. 10 to endorse in the Democratic presidenBernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton there were 7 for no endorsement and Martin O’Malley got 0. The top two vote-getters then moved on to and no endorsement both got 10. Since no one won an absolute majority — more than 50 percent of total votes cast — the club went “captain’s choice,” meaning members can gather ballot petition signatures for the candidate of their choosing, and V.I.D. is not endorsing a particular candidate. Before the club members weighed in, Tony Hoffmann and Kathy Slowinski spoke for Sanders, while Annette Zaner and Cormac Flynn advocated for Clinton. Keen Berger to suggest no endorsement, and was seconded by Jim Fouratt and Ann Heaney. Although O’Malley didn’t get a single vote, “it was a very strong zero,” stressed Jonathan Geballe. He and Hoffmann both said many V.I.D.’ers generally like O’Malley’s stance on the issues. District Leader Berger explained to us that the April primary. One of my hopes,” she said, “is widespread participation in the political process, as well as strong defeat of the Republicans. I didn’t want V.I.D. to tilt too soon, or worse, to split on this. The reason we didn’t endorse is that all of us — including the people who spoke passionately for Bernie and those who spoke passionately for Hillary — are laser-focused on defeating the Republicans. We are appalled at some of the statements of their candidates, especially at statements that cast suspicion on all Muslims. We are solidly pro-tolerance, pro-American, pro-immigration. The debate was about how best to express our values and

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2

December 17, 2015

fracking and for the closure of the Indian Point nuke plant, and keeping tabs on Mrs. Green’s.

Sharon Woolums, left, talked about the S.B.J.S.A. with Borough President Gale Brewer at the V.I.D. party. We’re told Brewer flatly told her she thinks the bill has no chance of passing.

Tom Connor, a senior advocate board member, raised an issue that we had noticed, too. Namely, that, according to designs for the new St. John’s Partners project, slated for the St. John’s Building site across from Pier 40 at West Houston St., it doesn’t appear that the project’s senior affordable apartments will have river views. On the other hand, most, if not all, the market-rate units and apparently many of the affordable apartments for families will have river views.

The seniors will be in their own building, with its entrance on Washington St., which their apartments will overlook. “All of the other apartments have views of the river. The seniors face the street,” Connor complained. A spokesperson for the developers said it’s possible that a few apartments at the top northern and southern edges of the senior building might possibly offer a neck-craning glimpse of the Hudson. But he said the senior building, in fact, was designed with its entrance on Washcloser to the subway for them than if the entrance was on West St., like the front door of the 100 percent market-rate building that will be on the same block. Some might cynically call it looking a gift horse in the mouth to complain about an affordable apartment’s views; but if a senior can walk from Washington St. to Varick St. to catch the 1 train, he or she can surely just as easily walk an extra block to West St. — plus, having that breathtakextra spring into anyone’s step!

Congressmember Jerry Nadler, left, and state Senator Brad Hoylman made the scene.

THEY FINALLY BAG MENDEZ: After resisting the idea for more than a year, Councilmember Rosie Mendez colleagues, as a sponsor of a bill to assess a 10-cent surcharge on shoppers for single-use paper and plastic bags at convenience stores, supermarkets and delis.

Mendez had been concerned about the burden the extra cost could pose for the poor and senior citizens on food for religious reasons. She also feared dog walkers might lose incentive to pick up after their dogs if forced to pay a dime per plastic bag. A year ago, Mendez spokesperson John Blasco told us, “Unless there are further amendments to the proposed legislation, she is unable to sign her name as a co-sponsor.” However, Saleen Shah of the Citizens Committee recent-

after we did a bag giveaway in the district,” he noted.

The group gave away reusable cloth tote bags a year ago outside an East Village supermarket to encourage SCOOPY’S continued on p. 26 TheVillager.com

TheVillager.com

December 17, 2015

3

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

by New York Press Association Editorials, First Place, 2014 News Story, 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

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ART DIRECTOR MICHAEL SHIREY

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS RHIANNON HSU CHRIS ORTIZ

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CIRCULATION SALES MNGR. MARVIN ROCK

Fight for female statues

On Thurs., Dec. 3, at Riverside Park and W. 93rd St., the centennial of the park’s Joan of Arc statue was celebrated. Made by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, it’s reportedly the first statue in New York City honoring a real-life woman. Among those in attendance were Bertrand Lortholary, consul general of France; students from nearby M.S. 256, the Joan of Arc complex; Jonathan Kuhn, director of art & antiquities for the city’s Parks Department; and performance artist Lulu Lolo, who can be seen around town in her Joan of Arc armor as she advocates for more statues honoring women. The photo showing Lolo and other women, above right, was taken on 14th St. this past summer, when she was asking others to nominate potential female subjects for city statues. Joan of Arc (1411-1431) fought for France against the English, but was captured and burned at the stake as a witch. In 1920, she was sainted.

SantaCon ‘zones in’ on E.V. and L.E.S.

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON AND ALLEGRA HOBBS

Member of the New York Press Association

Member of the National Newspaper Association

The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 is published every week by NYC Community Media LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 (212) 229-1890.

Periodicals Postage paid at New York, N.Y. Annual subscription by mail in Manhattan and Brooklyn $29 ($35 elsewhere). Single copy price at office and newsstands is $1. The entire contents of newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2011 NYC Community Media LLC. PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR

The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement.

The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

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4

December 17, 2015

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

S

antaCon — the roving bar crawl of revelers dressed in Santa Claus costumes — kicked off in Williamsburg on Saturday, before moving on for more alcohol-fueled fun in the Lower East Side and East Village, at venues like The Delancey, The DL, Solas and Bar 13. Organizers issued maps showing three party “zones,” with the Lower East Side and East Village being zones two and three.

SantaCon secured a Parks Department permit to gather in McCarren Park and met with police, according to civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, who the their right to party.

“My sense is they are transitioning from what Santacon was to hopefully a more positive Santacon,” he said.

State Senator Brad Hoylman, once again, before the event, took the lead

among local politicians in working with SantaCon’s organizers to ensure they understood that the community didn’t want the partying to get out of hand.

This year, the State Liquor Authority also agreed to try to monitor the boozy bacchanal, to watch that bars were not serving people who were excessively intoxicated.

“I’m very pleased the State Liquor Authority agreed to my request along with on notice of their responsibilities and add inspectors along the route of the bar crawl,” Hoylman said.

Similarly, thanks to the politicians’ pushing, this year SantaCon released its route two days before the event, rather than at the last minute, as usual.

“An organization that brings over should show us respect,” Hoylman said, “by sharing its routes with community working together with us well in ad-

vance to determine how we can mitigate the negative impacts of this bar crawl on our local communities.” and handed out 106 summonses during this year’s SantaCon. Summonses were issued for open container violations, disorderly conduct and public urination, according to cops. Regarding the arrests, police said there was one assault, while another naughty St. Nick was charged with weapon possession and three others with drug possession.

One East Village bar owner wasn’t complaining about the white-bearded bar-crawling horde. “Packed with Santas all day and not one problem!” said Trigger, who runs the Continental. “We denied entry to just a couple of them later in the day ’cause they were already a little tipsy, but that happens every weekend anyway. My bartenders did great and were blown away by how well they did with tips. All in all, it was another great SantaCon!” TheVillager.com

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TheVillager.com

December 17, 2015

5

POLICE BLOTTER Bad Santa EMT She didn’t aid a bartender — she injured her, according to police.

An off-duty Fire Department EMT dressed as Santa Claus during last Saturday’s SantaCon bar crawl threw a beer mug at a female bartender at the Village Pourhouse, at 64 Third Ave., around 10:15 p.m., police said.

Robalina Giannella, 30, got into a New York Post reported.

“She believed that we overcharged her, and we didn’t,” bar manager that’s when she got angry.”

Giannella reportedly swept her hand across the bar, sending plastic beaned the bartender. The glass mug cut the bartender’s nose, according to a police source. The bartender was treated at the scene. Giannella was charged with second-degree assault.

In another assault the same day,

The law caught up with Rodwell arrested him for felony grand larceny.

But the beauty products were gone.

Cheesy robbery A broom-wielding teen reportedly robbed the West Village Two Boots Pizza on Tues., Dec. 8. Police said the 14-year-old moved quickly, snatching a “container” with some cash before motion caught the attention of nearby police, who chased the teen to a parking garage at 11 Jane St., where he locked himself inside the cashier’s booth, refusing to let the attendant leave.

A police report did not state how long this standoff continued. The teen did not go quietly, refusing to be handcuffed and attempting to escape from police custody, according to the report. He was arrested and charged with felony robbery.

Bad Santa burglar

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him to hit his head on the ground and lose consciousness, according to police. In a video posted by Gothamist, Aiello is shown handcuffed and wearing a Santa hat, while the victim is being loaded into an ambulance. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, and Aiello was arrested.

A police spokesperson said this SantaCon-related incident per se, because it was apparently a “domestic dispute” between cousins.

‘Cooping’ Ch’town cop The Daily News reports that Detective Kenny Chin, 44, a 17-year Police Department veteran who works at the Fifth Precinct, has been placed on desk duty for being involved with two different prostitutes who worked at Chinatown massage parlors. Chin has also been accused of “cooping” — smoking and napping during work hours — in massage parlors with his police partner, according to a source, the News reported. Neither Chin nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment.

“The matter is under internal review,” a police spokesperson said.

Beauty and the thief On Fri., Dec. 11, around 3 p.m., a speedy shoplifter allegedly swiped 113 containers of L’Oréal beauty from the CVS store at 65 Fifth Ave.

6

December 17, 2015

Santa came early and with crimiKris Kringle entered the building by shattering a glass door before heading upstairs and pushing his way into an apartment. A male resident confronted him after hearing the noise and a struggle ensued, according to a police report.

“Gun, I’ll kill you,” threatened the perpetrator, who police said intentionally broke a drinking glass before leaving the apartment. The report did not state if any loot was taken from the apartment. Police responded to the incident and arrested sion, police said.

Ahem...bulging pants Someone walking home from work in the early morning of Tues., Dec. 8, saw a man helping himself to merchandise inside a closed electronics store at 53 Seventh Ave., according to police. The witness alerted police, who responded by about 5:30 a.m.

Police said the shop’s door was ajar when they arrived and they observed ic devices into his pants outside the premises. The large bulges made the cops suspicious. They detained Murphy and found 13 items in his trousers.

He was arrested for felony burglary.

Zach Williams and Lincoln Anderson TheVillager.com

JACOB A. RIIS Revealing New York’s Other Half

“HEART-RENDING RETROSPECTIVE” – The New York Times

PHOTO COURTESY GRACE CHURCH

Return of the Grace urn

The restoration of the ancient Roman urn in Grace Church’s Rector’s Garden is almost complete, but not quite. In a week, a darkened stainless-steel permanent lid will be installed, replacing the plastic lid seen above. The urn, estimated to be around 2,000 years old, was found in the 1880s near the site of Nero’s palace.

Inequality remains a fact of life in America.

A century later, this New York master’s photos still explode with outrage.

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TheVillager.com

December 17, 2015

7

Kornacki: Trump ‘cracked code’ for G.O.P. base

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

mused. “He was kind of saying we’ll turn off this part of the Internet, as if there’s some switch. ... His base doesn’t really care if it makes sense.”

How about the manically karate-chopping John Kasich?

“He’s probably been the biggest disappointment in these debates,” Kornac-

H

ow do you begin to make sense of Tuesday night’s CNN Republican presidential debate? Two hours nine candidates...Trump?...Trump!

You go to Steve Kornacki, MSNBC’s ace political reporter, that’s what you do.

Kornacki, a proud East Villager, took a break out of his busy schedule on Wednesday to offer his insights on the G.O.P. slugfest to The Villager.

The media has been hyping this debate as Jeb Bush’s chance to take some hard shots at frontrunner Donald Trump, and he did get in a zinger by calling The Donald the “chaos candidate.” But Kornacki said the Bush fami“There’s just something about the body language,” he said. “If you look at the transcript, the words are there, but watching him try to deliver it... I don’t think it did anything to Trump.”

Meanwhile, Ted Cruz and Trump decided “there was nothing to be gained from going after each other.”

“Cruz, I think, the strategy is just this long, soft takeover of the Trump base — sticking to his message and being nice to Trump,” he said.

As for Marco Rubio, Kornacki said,

Steve Kornacki.

“Clearly, on immigration, he’s much more exposed on the issue because he was part of that compromise a couple of years ago and then walked away from it. Immigration has been a killer for conservative Republicans.”

On foreign policy, Cruz came across as “less hawkish,” while Chris Christie — though getting dissed by Rand Paul as the “World War III” candidate — was playing to the Republican base, Kornacki said, with his tough talking on shooting down Russian planes in Syrian airspace.

And what about Trump saying he would close down the Internet to keep terrorists from using it?

“I mean, I’m still trying to make sense of what he said there,” Kornacki

shot, doesn’t time his interjections well.

He’s the governor of Ohio — it seems like he’s running for governor of Ohio.”

Rubio, in Kornacki’s view, “is the most polished candidate by Republican “Rubio would have the best chance at beating Hillary,” he offered, a view that Republican insiders support. “He would do well in debates and at pulling in a broader base. I would expect the Republican elite to be getting behind Rubio.”

Yet, that’s not happening.

“Trump has kind of cracked the code of the Republican base that others hathink what Trump has exposed is there is this big gap between the Republican with Republicans who call themselves Tea Party members, with traditional conservatives...across the board.”

Unlike Bush, Trump might be using vague language, but he does it forcefully, with assertive body language, Kor-

nacki said.

“Trump would have no problem shooting down planes — it’s part of his military swagger,” he said.

Ben Carson won’t be rebounding, in Kornacki’s view.

“I feel like gravity has caught up with Ben Carson,” he noted.

As for whether Hillary Clinton would beat Trump in the general election, he opined, “I would say Hillary would be the favorite. But in this environment, and with Trump having the appeal he has — if he could just get to the Republican nomination, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying it’s Hillary hands down.”

Among the Democrats, Bernie Sanders hasn’t been gaining, according to polls.

“Hillary had a good performance, with Biden not running, with her Benghazi performance,” Kornacki said. “The Democratic race has basically been frozen.”

Sanders is strong in Iowa and ahead in New Hampshire, but it doesn’t look good after that, the newsman said.

“The minute you get beyond New Hampshire, she has a huge, huge advantage with nonwhite voters. She is up 50 points in South Carolina. Get past New Hampshire, and you get to bigger states — she’s steamrolling him.”

Christmas At The Church of the Ascension

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December 17, 2015

TheVillager.com

Niou is a neo-contender for Silver’s former seat added. “Being in government isn’t about being a big whatever. I think it’s about being a servant. You’re not making a ton of money. You’re there to represent people.”

It took sometime for Niou just to learn basics, like who to contact to

NIOU continued from p. 1

who is of Korean descent, pushed her to seek the Manhattan seat. Also, Chinatown’s United Democratic Organization courted her.

“I think the Chinatown community, they want someone who has proven themselves,” Niou said.

A native of Taiwan, Niou speaks in a district that is at least one-third Asian-American and contains all of Chinatown.

(Niou said she recently saw a fact sheet that stated the district’s popu-

Yuh-Line Niou.

to Jerry Skurnik of Prime New York, 34 percent of registered voters in the

ers and veteran legislators.

“I write all of the legislation for Ron,” she explained. “We’re a small

as black, with the remaining 43 percent presumably white; while Asians and Hispanics are apparently 31 per-

policy writers.”

Whereas Kim only got a budget of

registered Democrats, respectively. Skurnik’s group determines the and last names on voter lists and cena fail-safe system, noting, “Spike Lee would be listed as Korean and Whoopi Goldberg as Jewish.”)

She immigrated with her family to the U.S. at six months old, and grew up “all over” — including Idaho; El Paso, Texas; and Seattle — due to the job of her father, who designed computer chips. Her mother was a nurse.

Niou attended Evergreen State College in Washington, after which she worked for three years as a legislative assistant for state lawmakers in Washington State.

She also spent nearly two years as a lobbyist for the Statewide Poverty Action Network, also in Washington geting low-income people.

She came to New York City six years ago to get her master’s in public administration at Baruch, and stayed, loving the city’s diversity.

After living in East Harlem, she moved into the 65th A.D. two years not because she was at that time contemplating a run for Silver’s seat.

In a phone interview last Friday and a follow-up meeting Monday at a South St. eatery, Niou introduced herself to The Villager.

She apologetically described herself as a wonk — “I’m a policy wonk, sorry!” — yet she has a bubbly, upbeat personality, and laughs easily and heartily.

“I have worked behind the scenes a lot,” she said. “I work mostly on the ground, working at the grassroots.”

One thing that she has learned all too well in Albany is about the funding inequity that exists between newcomTheVillager.com

staffers, Niou noted that Assemblymember Richard Gottfried — who has and chairs the Health Committee — is allocated $1 million for his staff of 16, plus his own salary.

“This is something that I actually was surprised about,” Niou said. “New York State assemblymembers get money based on longevity.

“I don’t resent Gottfried,” she stressed.

“I resent the disparity of the system.”

It’s a system that was set up by former Speaker Silver, according to her.

“I will tell you this,” Niou added. “I know how to run a very, very

she noted. If elected, she wouldn’t have to waste any time getting up to speed.

That said, she noted, “In a lot of ways, Paul and Jenifer have a head start on me. They have fundraising bases they can tap into.”

Yet, she added, “I’ve always been a very good fundraiser.”

In fact, she said, a year and a half ago she threw a fundraiser for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman at her home — and Rajkumar attended.

Niou is upfront that increasing Asian-American representation in Albany is important to her.

“There’s only one Asian-American in the entire state Legislature — and that’s Ron Kim, and I work for him,” she said. “I feel that it’s time for one a caucus of one!”

On a personal level, volunteering has always been important to her, she said. As a young girl, she accompanied

‘The Asian-American community is hungry to have representation.’

we serve 30 to 60 walk-in constituent cases. I don’t think there is anybody in the Assembly who serves 30 to 60 walk-ins in a week.”

It’s been a lot of work, but that’s what “I think that’s what it’s like to be a public servant,” she said. “You have to be able to serve your community, and get down on your knees and scrub.”

She’ll bring that energy to Lower Manhattan, if elected, she said.

“I’m a great coalition builder,” she said. “I can make sure people can come together. We have a lot of different income levels here, a lot of different ethnicities here — it’s New York at its most brilliant.”

She said it’s actually a plus that she’s a fresh political face in the district, because it means she’s not beholden to anyone.

“I don’t have alliances with any clubs,” she said.

“I’m all about transparency” she

Virginia Kee

her mom in the hospital, giving out candy to sick kids. She bonded with and Niou cut her own hair so the other girl could have a wig. She continues to lop off her locks every year to give to Wigs for Kids.

“That’s why my hair always looks so short or so long,” she said.

Asked what happened to the little girl, Niou said she died, at which point she was overcome by emotion and “Sorry about that — it’s so unprofessional,” she apologized, composing herself.

Asked her thoughts on overdevelopment in the 65th A.D., she said she, like others who moved into the Financial District, for one, would like to see its residential community grow. However, on the other hand, she noted, “It’s called ‘overdevelopment’ for a reason.”’

“I think growth is good and I’m not

necessarily against development,” she said. “But projects should have input from the people who live, work and play in those areas. They need to match the neighborhoods around them.”

As for Asian-American representation at the City Council level, there is Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan, and Peter Koo, of Flushing, Queens.

“Margaret’s great,” Niou said, though adding, “There are some issues we don’t see eye to eye on.”

For example, asked where she stands on the Elizabeth St. Garden issue, Niou said she would back saving it, as opposed to building affordable senior housing there, as supported by Chin.

“I’ve talked to a lot of Chinatown folks about it,” she said. “Housing is a huge issue in Chinatown. There’s a large aging population and a lot of displacement. But I think that the people that live and play there are important,” she said of the beloved Little Italy garden. “I think that we have to listen to the community on that one.

“Community spaces are not created — they’re formed,” she explained, likening how neighbors adopted the Elizabeth St. Garden to how seniors in Kim’s district turned a McDonald’s on Northern Boulevard into a “senior hub,” much to the fast-food spot’s chagrin.

“It somehow naturally became a community hub,” she said. “Those places grow organically. You have to think about what they’d be taking away. We had to negotiate a deal for when the seniors could sit there at off-peak hours, and send a bus to take them to senior centers during peak hours.” bill to give restaurants a subsidy for seniors hanging out in them and turning them into “senior hubs.”

On two issues closely watched by the city’s Asian community — Governor Cuomo’s crackdown on wage theft Liang’s case in his allegedly accidental fatal shooting of Akai Gurley — Niou indicated that what Asians want, above all, is fairness.

Regarding Liang, some Asians are afraid he will be scapegoated after OfEric Garner’s death.

Meanwhile, the nail salons and some lawmakers, including Assemblymember Kim, have pushed back against the governor’s legislation requiring the salons to get a wage bond to be used if they fail to pay their workers. Niou noted that the nail salon industry is about 85 percent Asian, which makes it feel like they are being unfairly singled out.

“I agree that wage theft is never NIOU continued on p. 10 December 17, 2015

9

Niou now in the running vs. Rajkumar and Newell NIOU continued from p. 9

O.K.,” she told The Villager. “In every industry there are some bad apples. But the solution to that has to actually help to weed out those bad apples. Many of these owners are also workers in their own stores.

The solution of a wage bond that the governor proposed and is enforcing only on the nail salon indusdustry he is trying to regulate. The industry is largely small business owners that are new immigrants or are minorities. The wage bond product premiums are determined by the owners’ personal credit history. What is the one thing that immigrants really lack?

You probably guessed it...credit history. Mandating this product would basically be redlining an entire community out of the industry.”

Niou noted that Kim backed the governor’s bill, but included “buffer language” to ensure the bond or liability insurance requirement applied to the entire appearance-enhancement industry, which also includes hair, skin, eyebrows and so forth.

“The legislation that was passed by the Legislature, Ron stands by it, but it is not what is being enforced,” Niou said. “What is being enforced right now is the governor’s emergency regulations.”

Gigi Li, chairperson of Community Board 3, might have been expected to run for the Assembly. But, before Silver was even convicted, Li’s plan to challenge tions of petition fraud.

“I do feel bad that she’s not viable,” Niou said of Li, another young Asian-American leader.

Asked if she would also have run for the open seat

if Li was in the race, Niou responded, “Yes,” but then stressed, “I want to make sure there’s an Asian candidate.”

She said that Li “maybe needs a little distance” between the district leader race meltdown and mount“She actually has done some good work and she would be a good person to run at maybe the local level,” Niou offered.

Niou and her boyfriend, who is of Mexican descent, from El Paso and works in tech, have known each other since they were 10.

She used to bartend part-time at the since-closed Winnie’s bar in Chinatown after work.

“It was like a little community, a little hub,” she recalled, “and I loved Winnie. It was like hanging out with your friends, but getting paid for it. It was like ‘Cheers’ — but the Asian version.”

Virginia Kee, the president emeritus of the United Democratic Organization, said her club is very bullish on Niou.

“We’re excited that she has declared,” Kee, 83, said, “because the Asian-American community is hungry to have representation. We want to be proud of the person we send to Albany.

“She is very warm, very personable,” Kee said of Niou. “She will hit the ground running. She knows Albany. We heard through the grapevine that she was interested, so we reached out to her.

“We would like her to present herself to D.I.D. — they’re an independent club — and speak before the County Committee of the Harry S. Truman Club,” Kee added.

In terms of identity politics, Kee noted that the

district does not have a big South Asian population, which would help Rajkumar.

On Newell, she said, “He sounds like he has some progressive ideas, but we wouldn’t say that we know the person.”

Regarding Niou’s basically being unknown in the district, Kee — recalling another young politician — said that can be a positive.

“Remember when John F. Kennedy came on,” she said. “There was so much enthusiasm.”

Meanwhile, Jeanne Wilcke, president of D.I.D., said although Niou sounds good, there is concern about her lack of local experience.

“It sounds like she has a good pedigree,” she said.

“But what’s her involvement in the neighborhood?

We want a candidate who will represent what the community wants.”

Wilcke said she feels that, of the district’s four political clubs, State Committeeman John Quinn’s Lower East Side Democratic Club will ultimately decide who the County Committee will select to run in the special election. Yet, she noted, there will also be the September primary when other Democrats will be able to run.

Sean Sweeney, a longtime former president of D.I.D., said while the district admittedly has a big Asian population, that’s not the end-all.

Chinese population will be voting. Many are noncitizens.”

Sweeney groused that Kee’s backing of Niou sounds like a “case of one or two women picking the candidate.”

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December 17, 2015

TheVillager.com

Tribes’ Steve Cannon is at it again

BY BOB HOLMAN

A

tribute album that poet Thomas Sayers Ellis of Dark Room Collective has

fter being evicted from A Gath-

18 months ago Steve Cannon, the Blind Professor of Loisaida (that’s Nuyorican for the Lower East Side), has settled in as scholar, documentarian and éminence grise. But now he’s got a new cause and his activist roots are showing.

“A statue or memorial for Allen Ginsberg in Tompkins Square Park!

It’s got to happen!” he’s shouting into the phone and into the ears of the two assistants, one city nurse and the usual crew of poets and artists arrayed in his living room at 745 E. Sixth, Apt. 1A, right at the corner of Avenue D. The man who The New York Times saw as the gateway to alternate culture now wants to ensure that the icons of his neighborhood do not disappear into the current gentrifying Fog of Forgetfulness.

The lecture continues — “Look at Ukraine! The George Washington of Ukraine was a poet, and they got statues of Shevchenko everywhere!

They even got his bust up over there on Second Avenue, by Veselka! Derek Walcott’s statue in St. Lucia. Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’ is up in Harlem.

Bob, you told me about the Mahmoud Darwish Park in Ramallah — you can have poetry readings there! We need a statue of Allen to keep poetry in Tompkins Square Park!”

I drop by Steve’s place with Adam Falkner, the brand-new director of Urban Word, the after-school writing program that sponsors the city’s youth poet laureate and has young poets reading during halftime at Knicks games. (Used to be a young the Yale Younger Poets Prize — under Adam’s never had the chance to meet this living legend before, and he’s loving Steve’s instant karma critiques. Who wouldn’t? Already Adam is talking about getting some Urban Word youths to read to Steve.

“It’s amazing how you guys move from scene to scene, from Lincoln Center to a Downtown bar,” Adam says, “from Tribes to PEN to the American Academy.”

“That’s nothin’, that’s a book,” Steve says. Adam gets it.

He also gets that Steve has been lending a hand to young artists for decades — that generations of Lower East Side poets have been mentored by this man — Paul Beatty, Tracie Morris, Reg E Gaines, Saul Williams, Sara Jones. If artists had stars in the sidewalk here, they’d lead to Steve’s front door, to A Gathering of the Tribes, with its renowned David Hammons living room.

Would that the city had got Steve TheVillager.com

renditions of Baraka poetry, “Heroes Sessions.”

“Get Ellis to resurrect Umbra!” says Steve.

And speaking of jazz, he sharpens his intentions to a whisper, “Bird’s got to be down here, too. You know he died here. Gotta have a statue of Bird!”

Charlie Parker is another of Steve’s icons to be memorialized. Steve helped start the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, and for years there was a huge poetry celebration in the Tribes backyard as part of the Lower East Side’s annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.

“Tribes did it, we’re in the history should all come out by June of next year. And then I know what my job is.

PHOTO BY BOB HOLMAN

Steve Cannon at Marjorie Eliot’s Parlor Jazz Series in Harlem.

Cannon a little bit more before he was evicted last spring from the galyears on Third and C. Tribes was a one-stop culture chop shop — fresh art on the walls, a constant stream of visitors, live music and poetry performances, a publisher of a great magazine and a series of poetry books. Oh, did I mention that Steve Cannon is blind (“The only admittedly blind gallery owner in New York City”), black and 80 years old?

On our way Uptown to hear the jazz concert in Harlem, Steve is a nonstop rant. Ishmael Reed — an old friend of Steve’s, they founded a small press together, Reed Cannon Books — is in town.

“I know he’s going to show up and bang on the damn piano and go on complaining about ‘Hamilton,’ ” Steve predicts. Then he starts in on another old pal, David Henderson, who is moaning about the Dark Room Collective, how they’re erasing Umbra, referring to the collective of black artists who stayed avant-garde and Downtown while LeRoi Jones moved Uptown, became Amiri Baraka and started the Black Arts Movement.

“And we need a statue of Baraka, too!” Cannon preaches on, “over in Newark.”

But with Baraka’s son, Ras, as mayor, wouldn’t that smell a bit of nepotism?

“Hell no, Bob! It’s a gift to the community! Ras is doing a great job — surely, you read that piece on the front page of the Times?”

I inform Steve of the new Baraka

do it with my eyes closed. Don’t forget, Bob, that I started Tribes the year after I retired from being a professor,” he says, pointing directly to his Medgar Evers (CUNY) College Professor Emeritus diploma on the wall.

“Yes, Gil Scott Heron was my student,” Steve notes. “But when I felt that energy around the Nuyorican when it reopened a block away — location, location, location!

“Then there was the time that Zoe burned down my house, but that’s another story. ing in generalities, here, but Vipin took me for a walk the other day, and

17 8th Avenue (between 12th and Jane)

www.leftbankbooksny.com leftbankbooksny@yahoo.com instagram @leftbankbooksny

212.924.5638

Drunks at brunch — what could be worse? They weren’t talking about poetry and music, it was sad. They were talking about bulls--- gossip, uninventive and borrrring. I’ve seen the neighborhood change, and change again, and change after that. But it was wave after wave of artists that came into Tribes. Leaving that place, well, I just left the hassles. Artists were being more demanding, and not giving back like they used to.

“O.K., I’ll say it,” he continues. “It’s a change for the worse. I mean I still hear the young artists — ‘I just got out of school, I want to be a poet, where do I go?’ And what’s happened here on the Lower East Side — look at Williamsburg, it happened there, and Bushwick I hear is now just as bad. You know and way. But for Tribes, that job is done.

What we did for black poets and Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Asians, Indians, I sure do miss Diane Burns, that’s part of it. That’s why Tribes got started, let’s be upfront about that. But it’s never been about the blacks, whites, anyCANNON continued on p. 27 December 17, 2015

11

Let’s not be dense about it, Mayor de Blasio EDITORIAL

A

cross the city, community boards and housing activists are rejecting two sweeping zoning proposals by Mayor Bill de Blasio. On Wednesday, there was an overwhelming turnout at a City Planning Commission hearing, where the public could offer testimony, and the got an earful.

Basically, the two proposals — called Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing — can, on the one hand, be seen as well-intentioned efforts to help create affordable housing, which has been one of de Blasio’s oft-stated and admirable top goals. However, the question is whether the so-called “trade-off” — in increased height and bulk — needed to create these affordable units is so negative that most New Yorkers oppose the two plans.

Overwhelmingly, community boards — which are the de facto voices of their communities — housing activists and community groups, along with some politicians, including As-

semblymember Deborah Glick and Councilmember Rosie Mendez, have all” plans.

Z.Q.A. would apply citywide to what are known as contextually zoned districts, where height caps currently exist. These caps would be increased from around 5 to 10 feet in contextual inclusionary zones — where developers get a height boost as an incentive to voluntarily build affordable housing — with the city’s argument being that this would allow developers to include affordable housing and community facilities in their projects that they currently often don’t have space for under outmoded zoning.

Yet, the districts where this zoning would apply are contextually zoned for a reason — in many cases, residents, community groups and local representatives worked long and hard, over years, to craft community-led rezonings in these areas.

For the city now to come along and summarily boost the heights is simply wrong. It’s laudable to create conditions that allow for more affordable housing. Yet, at the end of the day, it simply seems to us that Z.Q.A. is be-

to allow more market-rate units.

As for M.I.H., again, in theory, it’s a great idea to require developers to manently affordable housing for any large swaths of the city — or even speare undergoing a rezoning. If passed, this would be the country’s most far-reaching mandatory inclusionary affordable housing plan.

For an idea of what this plan would mean, one needs to look no further than the sprawling St. John’s Partners project being proposed for the Lower West Side, across from Pier 40, at West and Houston Sts. Of this project’s 1,586 residential units, 476 would be permanently affordable. Of that amount, 175 would be for low-income seniors; the rest would be for low- and moderate-income families.

In return for St. John’s Partners providing so much affordable housing, the city wants to give the develable square footage, allowing them to construct a much larger building than would be currently allowed under existing zoning. Is the trade-off worth it? Perhaps at this one Lower West Side site, which admittedly is not smack in the middle of a dense

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Much respect for Field To The Editor: Re “After 50 years, famed fashionista Patricia Field closing Downtown store” (news article, Dec. 10): Pat is a genius. She has helped so many people in so many ways, helping them with jobs, getting started in the business, emotional support and so on.

and fabulous stores that sold my Clayton Caps.

After the Tompkins Square police riot and during my court case period, she came to court as a supporter. She was a vital force in so many nightclub scenes. In fashion, she was always on the leading, trendsetting edge.

She is much more than a leading-edge fashion store and designer. She is a symbol of all that is good in that hard, crusty business. I send her my love and respect.

Clayton Patterson

EVAN FORSCH

residential part of the Village, it could work. And the St. John’s Partners design, by COOKFOX, does a nice job of setting buildings back and creating staggered heights, so that it won’t be one massive wall along the Hudson.

Over all, however, the consensus seems clear that most New Yorkers do not want greater density in exchange for desperately needed affordable housing.

Under the previous administration, public housing tenants — particularly in the East Village and Lower East Side — protested against Maytowers on New York City Housing Authority property. De Blasio has now dusted off this plan, though now the towers would be 50 percent market rate and 50 percent affordable, as under Bloomberg’s plan. De Blasio is clearly moving cautiously, though, starting with just two sites, one in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, the other on the edge of East Harlem.

Meanwhile, as City Planning Commission members were being bombarded Wednesday by the public’s objections to Z.Q.A. and M.I.H., ChiEDITORIAL continued on p. 27

Trump scarier than terrorism To The Editor: Re “Speaker leads interfaith speak-out against Trump” (news article, Dec. 10): Donald Trump has taken a page out of the fascist playbook to scapegoat minorities in order to spread hatred, bigotry and xenophobia to boost his poll numbers and try to convince his supporters that they are victims. Shamefully, they seem all too willing to buy into his narcissistic psychopathology.

If you listen to Trump’s rhetoric, he seems more concerned with his “ratings” than he actually does with being a serious candidate for president.

Winning is not an agenda or a policy statement for him, it is an ego trip. America deserves more than a blustering demagogue for its leader.

And I wonder if he really believes all the hatemanaged to attack Hispanics, blacks, women, the disabled and anyone who even slightly disagrees frightening than any terrorist threat.

Jay Matlick

Only leaving feet first To The Editor: efforts in East Village buildings” (news article, Dec. 10): Killing me is the only thing that hasn’t been LETTERS continued on p. 22

12

December 17, 2015

TheVillager.com

With his glass houses, Trump shouldn’t throw stones TALKING POINT

BY TIM GAY

C

ould one of New York City’s leading property developers be harboring terrorists?

Are multimillionaire jihadists lurking in high-rise marble glamour with full-time con15-year tax abatements?

Up there, 30, 40, even 80 stories in the sky, anarchists with shoulder-mounted missile launchers enjoy unobstructed views of the new Freedom Tower, Midtown Manhattan, Central Park, the East River, the Hudson waterfront and New Jersey — J.F.K. and Newark Liberty airports, thanks to a developer willing to sell to anyone with a mailbag of unmarked bills?

And, if so, how much did this developer profit by knowingly or ignorantly selling condos to Presbyterians.

Donald Trump proposes identifying and registering all Muslims entering the United States. However, as anyone who actually reads a complete news story knows, most terrorists — regardless of religion or lack thereof — are homegrown right here in the U.S. Muslims include refugees, students, software designers, department store buyers, chemical engineers, dentists and some of the world’s richest people. And a lot of them own real estate.

Trump has developed, owned and bankrupted multitudes of apartments, condos, casinos and hotels on U.S. soil. America has no idea who lives in them.

Some Trump tenants may be responsible for depleting major trust funds. Many may be hedgefund managers creating the next economic bubble.

A few could be notorious plastic surgeons responsible for botched buttock implants. ably couldn’t pass the scrutiny of an old-money Park Ave. co-op board. But, were any Trump tenants screened for being Muslim?

Some 17 buildings in New York City bear the brassy plexiglas Trump name.

A cursory check of Trump’s more plebian Manhattan residential properties — the buildings on River-

some still do.

The bin Ladens weren’t in the U.S. on work visas to run a newsstand on Eighth Ave. They were and are rich. The family business, Saudi Binladen Group, is one of the largest construction companies and developers of real estate in the Mideast and Malaysia. Major terrorism requires major money connections.

Come to think of it, maybe Trump is working with the Saudi Binladen Group on the soon-to-be completed Trump International Golf Club in Dubai (www.

This is not a family-oriented vacation and golf spot.

feature a 30,000-square-foot clubhouse overlooking a par-71 golf course designed by world-renowned architect Gill Hanse. It will feature three “high end” restaurants and “luxury villas and mansions” overlooking the course.

Halfway around the world in the United Arab Emmirates, Trump is developing a playground for the uber-wealthy, including the Muslims whom he loathes in the U.S. Back here in the States are hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens who don’t know what a condo is, and have never met a Muslim. They were deceived into believing that Saddam Hussein bombed

the World Trade Center, that President Obama was born a Muslim in Kenya, and that mass murderers ally protected right to bear concealed arms.

These Americans want Trump to deliver them from their long-held fears instilled by Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush. Foreigners are the problems.

And Trump, always looking for a quick sale, is eager to please.

It’s now Trump’s responsibility to assure those masses by putting his mouth where his money is.

Trump must immediately identify each and every suspected Muslim who lives or invests in properties bearing the Trump name. And every woman, man and child who stays at a Trump hotel, drops a quarter into a Trump slot machine, or divots a Trump golf course must declare allegiance to either Allah or to America.

Mr. Trump, tell America now if you are or ever have had business dealings with known Muslims, joint venture on the verge of bankruptcy.

Republicans need to know now, before the Iowa caucuses.

Once the Muslim problem is solved, Mr. Trump, you can focus on your defense plan and major economic stimulus program for the United States — The Great Texas-to-Tijuana Wall.

of registered voters (and therefore U.S. citizens) with Muslim — Abdul, Mariya, Yasir, Alfarisi, Fadil, Aisha, Kareem, Yasmin, Yelnea and Omar, to name a few.

A number of Trump residences are undoubtedly owned by LLC’s and LLP’s (limited liability corporations or partnerships), real estate trusts, venture groups, estates and holding companies. These could be based in the U.S. or anywhere in the world, the United Arab Emmirates, Bermuda, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Beijing or Delaware.

Who knows how many of those owners are known Muslims?

If Trump is really going to stereotype and stamp Muslims, he should look within his own marble foyers.

As a case in point, Osama bin Laden had more than 30 brothers and sisters, and hundreds of cousins, many of whom lived in the U.S. Maybe TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Working the angles at 51 Astor Place.

December 17, 2015

13

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

Soused Santas spread beery cheer in E.V./L.E.S. SantaCon — the roving bar crawl of revelers dressed in Santa Claus costumes — kicked off in Williamsburg Saturday morning, before moving on for more alcohol-fueled afternoon and evening frolicking in the Lower East Side and East Village.

14

December 17, 2015

TheVillager.com

Who is Santa?

A critical analysis of the Rankin/Bass ‘jolly old elf’

BY MAX BURBANK

lands him in jail is no surprise.

Rather than serve his time and allow the possibility of rehabilitation, he instead turns to the Dark Arts (see “Winter Warlock”). A brief nod is given to Judeo-Christian Ethic when the Warlock loses his powers because he has become “good.” But by the end of the hour, his abilities have inexplicably returned. Santa, having dragged a local schoolteacher into his delusions of grandeur (see Sissy Spacek, “Badlands”), convinces her that he can see children at all times, and must judge them as “naughty” or “nice.”

With his common-law bride, Elf gang and geographically misplaced penguin sidekick (see “Bonnie and Clyde”), Santa goes on the lam —

L

ike many modern American Jews, I learned everything I know about Christmas straight from what seemed to be the most reliable source available: at best, having a non-speaking role critically panned late-Animagic-era “Little Drummer Boy”), Christmas revolves around worship of the life What do we know of this “Jolly Old Elf?” Is he a reliable vessel for our Children’s faith? What are his labor practices? If he and the Christ Child had a no-rules tables, chairs, and ladders cage match versus Superman and the Tooth Fairy, who would win?

To come to a better understanding of Santa, I have decided to examine

Immortal, and forever on your screen: This image of the restored stop-motion puppets used in 1964’s “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is available as a free wallpaper, on rankinbass.com.

less reactionary, quasi-legitimate religion, which is certainly nicer for the Elves than the vat of grape KoolAid Mrs. Claus was almost certainly mixing up.

Santa’s near-pathological orcietal role (see “Batman”) is at last

— not in the order they were created, but in the chronological order of their storylines. For purposes of this article, no reference will be made to the “crossover” work of the late “decadent period,” where Santa is, at best, peripheral (see the execrable “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”).

restricting his serial breaking and entering to a single night each year: Christmas Eve, the “Holiest night of the year.”

SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (1970) Here we learn the root of Santa’s multiple issues: his abandonment as an infant. Raised by a foster family of Elves, he will suffer complex questions of identity throughout his life (see Cher, “Half-Breed”).

In this light, the compulsive rejection of the rule of law (see “Burgermeister Meisterburger”) which TheVillager.com

the earth. Only the Burgermeister’s death avoids a Waco-like siege at the North Pole. Over time, Santa’s

THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (1974) Santa, in the grip of psychosomatic illness, cancels Christmas. Having achieved psychological domiRANKIN/BASS, WIKIA.COM

In 1974’s “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” psychosomatic illness is the flimsy premise upon which Mr. Kringle abandons the world’s children.

SANTA continued on p. 16 December 17, 2015

15

Claus and effect: How Rankin/Bass sees Santa to embrace the diversity embodied in Hermey, an openly gay Elf. His

SANTA continued from p. 15

nation of the world’s children, he now abandons them, symbolically becoming his own Parents on a scale ry Chapin, “Cat’s In The Cradle”).

His actions constitute a passive-aggressive punishment on all children for failure to “believe” in him.

Only when fealty is established (as demonstrated by the bestowing of gifts upon Santa by what appear to be the animatronic robots from the “It’s a Small World” ride) can Christmas take place. Santa’s usurpation of the religious nature of the holiday (the concept that he has the authority to “cancel” the celebration of Christ’s Birth) is now complete.

This episode’s overall darkness of tone (see “The Empire Strikes Back”) is mitigated slightly by the show-stopping and surprisingly inclusive “Heat Miser” and “Snow Miser” numbers.

neo-Teutonic “Reindeer Games,” forbidden to Rudolph (see “Schindler’s List”), whom Santa only accepts into the fold once a way to exploit his unique abilities has been discovered (see “X-Men”).

Santa is again seen as willing, perhaps even eager, to “cancel” Christmas. His excuse this time is Weather, demonstrating that either his will or his magic have become weaker than the Oath of the United States Postal Service. Those who see Sanas a sign of ethical growth will be Bass added this scene in 1965 after an intense write-in campaign (see RANKIN/BASS, EXPLORETALENT.COM

A geographically misplaced penguin sidekick isn’t the only fishy thing in 1970’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”

RUDOLPH THE REDNOSED REINDEER (1964) Santa’s power has begun the long, inescapable decline of all revolutions, a process graphically symweight — a sure indicator of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (see any movie featuring Eddie Murphy in an offensive fat suit).

Abandoning the ideology of his youth, he becomes a primarily secular authority. Crabby, irritable, old, and above all, thin, he drifts easily to the role of supporting character. Voiced twice as a younger man

by Mickey Rooney, the role is now taken up by Stan Francis — a virtual unknown whose vocal identity is further diluted by his double casting as the hybrid tyrant, King Moonracer.

Bass” by Rick Goldschmidt — an actual book, and not just another lame “see” joke). The psychological import of Santa hot-rodding around the North Pole on an oversized Norelco electric shaver is really anybody’s guess, but was obviously disturbing enough to be cut from modern broadcasts.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

RANKIN/BASS, CBS

Stan Francis does double duty in 1964’s “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” voicing Santa and “hybrid tyrant” King Moonracer.

Santa’s management style can be seen in the brutal sweatshop men-

tality of the Toy Shop — which values only conformity, and is unable

So who is this “Santa” (see “Easily Decipherable Anagram”)? Dominated by abandonment, his entire life is dedicated to being the “good father” to all humanity’s children — but in pursuit of this goal he becomes neurotic, domineering, hypochondriacal, exploitative, and increasingly powerless.

Once immortal and near omnipotent, he is, in the end, distinctly human. I would invite readers to draw their own conclusions, but would at least suggest they exercise caution before allowing their children onto the old man’s lap.

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Sing, swing, walk, rock

Music to make you merry and bright

PHOTO BY SUZANNE BLAKELY

All roads lead back to Judson Memorial Church, when groups return from the Greenwich Village Caroling Walk.

BY SCOTT STIFFLER

THE GREENWICH VILLAGE CAROLING WALK It’s off the grid and back in time, for this holiday tradition that invites you to sing and stroll through the narrow, often winding, streets of a neighborhood full of Dickensian charm and a history all its own. Members of the West Village Chorale will lead several groups along routes, while singing seasonal carols and songs. All roads lead back to where it began — for refreshments, conviviality, and more singing at Judson Memorial Church.

Can’t quite recall all of the words?

Songbooks will be provided!

Free (donations accepted). Sat., Dec. 19. Gather at 4:30 p.m., in the Meeting Room of Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Square South, at Thompson St.). Visit westvillagechorale.org or call 212-517-1776.

A SWINGING BIRLDAND CHRISTMAS Stuffed like a Yuletide stocking with the evergreen gift of top-notch talent, this old-fashioned Christmas show for our brave new world has earned its reputation as a Manhattan popular standard. Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch amaze, charm and engage with their awesome cabaret superpowers: tugging at the heart, TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY BILL WESTMORELAND, GRAPHIC BY TODD JOHNSON

L to R: Jim Caruso, Billy Stritch and Klea Blackhurst have perfected the cabaret recipe to make you merry and bright.

bouncing jokes off one another, and ripping the roof off the joint in a single vocal bound. With Stritch at the piano, Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums, the swinging arrangements of seasonal favorites recall the very best of classic holiday TV variety specials (think Judy Garland, Andy Williams). The music is hot, the cast is cool, and the determination to entertain is as pure as the driven snow.

Mon., Dec. 21 through Fri., Dec. 25.

All shows at 6 p.m., except the 7 p.m.

Mon. show. At Birdland (315 W. 44th St., btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.). For reservations ($30 cover, $10 food/drink minimum), visit BirdlandJazz.com or call 212-581-3080. “A Swinging Birdland Christmas” is available on iTunes, and on CD via the Birdland website.

ST. CLEMENT’S LITURGY There’s no shame in having a blue Christmas, but you don’t have to go it alone — because you’re not. Seek and vice dedicated to acknowledging that the holiday season can be less than merry and bright. It features a liturgy of healing and comfort, and mental health professionals will be present.

Sun., Dec. 20 at St. Clement’s (423 W. 46th St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves.). Join then on Christmas Eve, for caroling and readings (7:30 p.m.) and a Candlelight Communion Service at 9 p.m. Call 212246-7277 or visit stclementsnyc.org.

COURTESY CHELSEA MARKET

Color Collage is among the local music acts set to fill the decked halls of Chelsea Market with music, for Dec. 19’s Holiday Spectacular.

CHELSEA MARKET’S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR Paper Garden Records and Chelsea Market, the team behind the monthly Chelsea Nights live music series, team up for this holiday con-

the Market’s decked-out evergreen forest-inspired interior includes Salt Cathedral, The City and Horses, vocalist and guitarist Isaac Gillespie’s The Due Diligence, Dear Georgina, and “electronic doo-wop” artist Shane Conerty’s Color Collage.

Free. Sat., Dec. 19, 2–7 p.m. at Chelsea Market (75 Ninth Ave., at W. 16th St.).

December 17, 2015

17

The heart of Rock and Soul is still beating Second generation owner builds on a legacy

PHOTOS BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

Loyal customers have followed Rock and Soul to its new W. 37th St. location.

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

I

n the early ’90s, a group of ambitious men went into Rock and Soul, an iconic record and DJ equipment store, looking to gain some exposure for their music.

“They asked my mom to sell their records,” Sharon Bechor, the current owner, recalled.

They were mainstream unknowns — but Shirley Bechor told them she would take the records on consignment and pay them for what was sold, Sharon Bechor told Chelsea Now at a recent interview at the store at 10 W. 37th St. (btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves. Visit rockandsoul.com).

“They sold a lot of records,” she said. “And it turns out that was the Wu-Tang Clan. We have a shout out on Method Man’s album, on Wu-Tang’s album, and on a lot of hip-hop albums. Actually, it’s pretty cool.”

Members of the Wu-Tang Clan are not the only famous artists to give Rock and Soul their busi-

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December 17, 2015

ness, since it opened in the ’70s. DJ Premier, Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ AM, as well as Mark and Samantha Ronson have frequented the store looking for equipment and records for their sets, Bechor said.

One could say that DJs saved the soul of the store.

Originally a record and consumer electronics store, Bechor’s parents opened Rock and Soul in “At that time, there were a lot of electronic stores on Seventh Avenue,” Bechor said. “They sold a lot of records. At that time, it was probably a little bit more blue collar.” the store separate: Bechor’s mom ran the record department, and her father, Joseph, ran the electronics department.

In the ’80s, the music industry shifted from records to CDs, Bechor said, and stores stopped selling vinyl.

“DJs found it really hard to buy music because

they weren’t using CDs,” she said. “So the DJs would tell their friends and tell each other [Rock and Soul] still had records and then it…really, like, blew up into a DJ store.”

Bechor’s parents started stocking turntables, needles and mixers. DJs would often buy two records of the same song so they could mix them on turntables.

“It kind of took off from there,” she said. “It was only word of mouth. There was never any form of advertising.”

As DJs kept coming to the store, they also became its strongest asset. Bechor, who worked at the store during high school and college, took over as owner 10 years ago. She said it was good timing, as the way small businesses are run have changed.

“Unfortunately, it’s really, really hard,” she said.

“You have to do things to make yourself different.

ROCK & SOUL continued on p. 19 TheVillager.com

DJs drawn to Rock and Soul’s brick and mortar

Often on Fridays, the store has a DJ come in and spin.

Rock and Soul is a favorite among DJs, for both equipment and records.

Owner Sharon Bechor, whose parents opened Rock and Soul in the ’70s, shows off some artwork that adorns the wall.

ROCK & SOUL continued from p. 18

Why would someone come and buy this exact thing here instead of just buying it on Amazon?”

Loyal customers offer to do sets at the store, and Bechor says there are classes and events. Often, the DJ sets are put on YouTube, which tourists mention to her that they have seen.

“I can’t compete on a lot of levels, but we at least have something that makes us a little bit more unique,” Bechor explained.

“There really is history here,” she added. “People who believe in the industry and have done so much for the culture are the ones who shop here. It’s all about the love, and spreading the love of the culture around.”

In addition to loyal customers, Bechor says her parents — who still work at the store — moved swiftly to provide people with what they wanted, whether it was a record or a certain type of needle.

Ave. also helped the store’s longeviTheVillager.com

ty. However, the rent skyrocketed — more than quadrupled — and Rock and Soul moved to its current location at W. 37th St. in August, Bechor said.

Bechor says that while she misswell at the new spot.

“We know who we are,” she said.

“We’re not trying to be like someone else.”

Rock and Soul has a sizable selection of records, and the records still sell — but it has been hard for the “We didn’t have the heart to get rid of the records,” Bechor said. “It’s what made this store.”

But like many independent stores, Amazon looms as her biggest comhow long records will continue to be a part of the store.

“If there’s any part of you that would be a little bit sad about a store closing down — one of your favorite stores — then try to support them,” she said. “It’s hard to be a brick and mortar.”

A customer checks out the record selection.

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December 17, 2015

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December 17, 2015

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December 17, 2015

21

Light on! Tree ceremony shines at 81

PHOTOS BY YANNIC RACK

A

— and the camera phones came out — as hundreds of Villagers and visitors from around the city and beyond cheered and snapped photos of the Christmas tree as it was lit for the Arch last Wednesday night Dec. 9.

At 81 years old, it’s the city’s second-oldest tree-lighting ceremony, according to Trevor

Sumner of the Washington Square Association, which organizes the event.

“It’s really a nice tradition,” he said, noting that this year may have seen a record attendance of around 1,000 people.

“The turnout’s great, the weather couldn’t be more beautiful,” he said.

After the tree lighting, the crowd joined in singing classic Christmas carols like “Jingle Bells” and “O! Come All Ye Faithful,” led by soft tunes from a brass quartet.

Songbooks were handed out and Santa offered candy canes to the little ones.

Sumner, who grew up on Washington Square

and has participated in at least 30 tree lightings, Hampshire a few weeks earlier.

It might not be as high as some of the others around the city, such as the famous spruce at Rockefeller Center, which can reach 100 feet. But Sumner said size is not what matters.

“Certainly, people can buy big trees,” he said.

“But you can’t buy tradition.”

The tree will be lit for the season from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily, and the Washington Square Association will hold its annual Christmas caroling at 5 p.m.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from p. 12

tried yet to get me out of my rent-controlled place.

I’ve told people, I hope that the landlord does a nice, quick, professional job if he does murder me.

When I was young one landlord tried to “prove” that I wasn’t rent-controlled, but I still had all the 1964. When that didn’t work, he made a serious offer to buy me out, which I thought about. I forget the amount, but I remember that he was willing to also give me a year to move out saying, “Think of what you could do with the money, and a young, handsome guy like you can always live rent-free with some woman.”

My present landlord owns a lot of buildings.

When he took over my building, he completely renovated the apartments, which required people to move out of them entirely during the renovation. Fortunately, I got to stay in an empty one right next door that had recently been vacated by an old man who had lived in it until he got too old and his family had to come and get him.

The landlord also bought out and got rid of the remaining rent-controlled tenants, but not me. He didn’t even make me a serious offer. Instead, he to get me out.

Perhaps when my wife died suddenly from might be able to get a grief-stricken me out easily.

Suddenly, all kinds of junk appeared in the hall-

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December 17, 2015

ways and the roof was carpeted with potted plants and even potted corn stalks, along with a barbecue.

He tried to blame me for it and wrote letters with a date that I refused to leave by. In the meantime he had one set of lawyers trying to evict me for the junk in the hallway and for turning the roof into my “private preserve” and another set of lawyers that held my rent checks to try to evict me for nonpayment of rent. charade, served me with an eviction summons to appear in housing court, he got a call from the District Council 37 union lawyers, and their one phone call ended the landlord’s elaborate charade. He has since left me alone since he now knows that as a retired civil servant, I am entitled to free legal representation as part of my DC 37 So I guess the only way he could get me out would be to murder me, but he’s too big and too rich a landlord to risk that, not to mention that he may not have to wait that much longer before this 75-year-old is too old and too sick to live on the is to die before that happens, so...dear landlord, go ahead and blow me away. if it weren’t for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, or SCRIE. The landlords are slowly doing away with rent-regulated apartments. The Big Apple is now the Big Money Vault.

Rusty Wilson

BdB turns his back on bizzes To The Editor: Re “What would Francis do? Voting on the S.B.J.S.A.” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Dec. 3): Mayor de Blasio recently said, the city “stands behind immigrants.” He has not stood up for the majority-immigrant small business owners as they struggle to survive the high rents and landlord abuses. Instead, he has turned his back and allowed greedy landlords to rob the life’s savings of our hard-working business owners. He has followed the Bloomberg economic policy of favorbusiness owners have no future in New York City under this mayor, this Council speaker and Councilmember Cornegy.

Sung Soo Kim Kim is president, Korean-American Small Business Organization E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-2292790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.

TheVillager.com

Finally, a memorial plan for Triangle tragedy MEMORIAL continued from p. 1

“For us family members, the tragedy is still keenly felt,” she said. “And the idea that there was going to be a memorial that really highlights this forms is deeply meaningful for us.”

Pred Bass is part of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, a group of the victims’ descendants, labor advocates and volunteers that was formed centennial commemoration. Out of the planning for that event came the idea to construct the memorial.

“We have exported the tragedy of Triangle. Garments are not made in this country like they were in 1911,” said Joel Sosinsky, a retired city attorney who is the coalition’s secretary.

In fact, the former factory building is now used as biology and chemistry laboratories by New York University.

Sosinsky noted that although didon’t occur in the U.S. anymore, they do still happen elsewhere around the world, which makes it a contemporary issue.

“You go to a place like Bangladesh, and they don’t have the same rules and regulations and safety protections for workers we have — which are a direct result of what happened at Triangle,” he said.

The project already has support from a range of local politicians, like City Councilmember Margaret Chin, Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Borough President Gale Brewer, who is also listed on the coalition’s advisory committee. the worst industrial disaster in the history of the city — and one of the worst ever in the nation,” Brewer said in a statement. died and recognize the role that the tragedy played in improving working conditions and spurring the growth of labor unions.”

N.Y.U. also supports the plan and has been working with the coalition rial, according to a university spokesperson.

Richard Joon Yoo, an architectural designer who lives in Queens, submitted the winning proposal together with a friend, Uri Wegman, an architecture professor at The Cooper Union.

“For almost a hundred years, all that has existed [in memory] of the corner of the building,” Yoo said, adding that he was immediately fascinated by the project.

“A memorial, especially in New York, and especially for something that is so desperate to be memorialTheVillager.com

A panel a few feet off the ground will reflect the names of the 1911 fire’s 146 victims — as if disembodied spirits, floating in air — and will include the story of the fire.

Another panel 17 feet off the ground will have the victims’ names etched on it.

ized, was just an awesome project to take on,” he said.

The design consists of three sets of polished steel panels running along the building’s facade and serving several functions.

One panel, installed at pedestrione line running around the entire outthe names of the victims — which are etched into a second panel installed roughly 17 feet above the sidewalk.

The third panel, running vertically up the building’s corner to the eighth sky” and attract curiosity from afar.

At the time of the design competition, around two and a half years ago, Yoo said the idea of the memorial was still somewhat abstract to him. As soon as he became immersed in the project, however, he discovered he had a perHis wife’s aunt, it turned out, is the daughter of Theodore Kheel, a prominent attorney and labor mediator who, Yoo said, played a part in the negotiations that were a consequence “It’s amazing, that’s actually a pretty direct connection, which completely

shocked me,” Yoo said.

“I’ve been really humbled by how deeply this runs in so many directions.”

The Greene St. building is landmarked, so the memorial design would have to be approved by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. A spokesperson for the commission did not return a request for comment.

The coalition’s main goal now is to raise the cost of building and maintaining the memorial, which will cost insky.

He hopes they will be able to obtain funding from many sources, including labor unions and even the state Legislature or the City Council, which could fund the $1.4 million construction cost in its annual budget.

“We also hope to raise a lot of money from workers around the country — a worker or a teamster, or somebody else who is a labor advocate, a piece of this memorial,” Sosinsky said.

For him and the other volunteers involved in the project, the memorial is simply a continuation of their efforts.

The group is already involved in the annual commemoration ceremony at

A vertical panel will extend up to the building’s eight floor, the location of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and of the deadly fire. Many of the victims leapt to their deaths.

more than 50 years ago. The centennial cess, attracting thousands of people.

“We don’t usually get the same crowds as then, but it’s increasing every year,” Sosinsky said.

But he added that remembering the “The reason we need a memorial is because people walk by that building every day and do not have a clue what happened there and what it led to,” he said.

Labor globally speaking, also, will be inspired by the memorial, he said.

“Union activists [abroad] look to us and say, hey if we can get something like this done in our country, people who go to work in the morning will have a better chance of coming home at night.”

December 17, 2015

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December 17, 2015

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December 17, 2015

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The Theater for the New City carolers, with Crystal Field, the theater’s founder and artistic director, center in red coat, brought holiday cheer to Tompkins Square Park on Sunday.

Caroling in the holiday season in Tompkins Sq.

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BY LIBBY DU CHAMP

A

mid unseasonably balmy weather, the largest crowd ever turned out for the Tompkins Square Park tree lighting ceremony on late Sunday afternoon.

All ages, from toddlers to seniors, chimed in along with the carolers from Theater for the New City, everyone singing their hearts out, with the Mandel & Lydon Trio from the Third St. Music School backing them up brilliantly. A number of East Village children won prizes from local merchants.

Albert Fabozzi was the supreme cheerleader and organizer of the charming and heartwarming annual event. Along with Fabozzi, the Tomp-

SCOOPY’S continued from p. 2 people to stop using the wasteful plastic and paper bags.

MEATY DONATION: After all the matches were added in, the community Thanksgiving dinner at Le Souk, on iting Neighbors. Contributions at the meal totaled $750, which was matched

by Le Souk, Falucka Lounge and BAMRA (Bleecker Area Merchants’ and Residents’ Association). Plus, some other folks chipped in a few larger-than-usual

kins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition and the East Village Parks Conservancy hosted the event.

Veselka restaurant, a longtime neighborhood culinary mainstay, served hot cider and hot chocolate.

Crystal Field, artistic director of Theater for the New City, gave a brilliant rendition of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

And to top it all off, the beautiful pine tree, planted years ago by community activists, and now grown to a graceful and rather large maturity, sent out its beautiful glow, which of all the children present.

What a wonderful way to say “Welcome to the holidays” that lie before us.

donations. Thanks to super-Thanksgiving volunteer Terri Cude for the report!

CORRECTIONS: Last week’s article on the restoration of Grace Church’s ancient Roman urn incorrectly stated for the job. In fact, Center Art only was paid to the riggers. ... Last week’s Scoopy’s item about Eden Brower and R. Crumb incorrectly referred to John Heneghan as her boyfriend. They got married two years ago after dating for

TheVillager.com

Ex-C.B. 3 chair still fighting for a good cause SPORTS

F

ollowing his tenure on Community Board 3, David McWater, a former chairperson of the East Village board, has been involved for the past couple of years in boxing, as an agent and manager. He’s been also come in contact with many amateur programs, as well.

One amateur program that he’s particularly excited about is the nondo, Ohio.

Last Saturday night, in Reno, Nevada, one young boxer who trains at Soul City, Charles Conwell, 18, scored a victory to clinch a spot on the U.S.

Olympic team for the middleweight, 165-pound spot. Conwell, who graduates high school in May, has been boxing for seven years. “I’ve been talking to Charles’s family for sometime about representing him when the time comes,�

McWater said, “and through them, I was introduced to Soul City and just is. I have clients in Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit, so I’m right there all the time.�

McWater is a big booster of the Soul City program, as he explained in a fundraising letter for it that he sent out to friends and associates last week. “There are so many great programs that are really doing wonderful things for kids and keeping them away from street life!� he wrote.

Steve Cannon at it again CANNON continued from p. 11

body. It’s been about everybody. That’s it. What do you hear about in New Orleans, my hometown? It’s the same had that poll, did you see it? Seventy percent of white folks thought New Orleans was back after Katrina, and 70 percent of black folks said it wasn’t. The population has shifted. “My advice for young artists is the same as always, it’s D.I.Y., Do It Yourself,� Steve offers. “Publish it yourself. Put your art up on the sidewalks in Tompkins Square Park, use the subway. Let the city be your gallery, your book, your stage. You got some

friends around you? Throw a reading, throw a party, just do it. Gather your own tribe. If you’ve got the numbers, go ahead, start an organization. Get a enough, invite the dancers in. “When I stopped teaching, I dedicated myself to the community to encourage the young people. Encourage — that’s it. Someone says no to you, don’t accept it. Prove ’em wrong. I want

natown and Lower East Side residents were protesting up at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s home, demanding that the mayor do something to protect their homes — namely, pass the Chinatown Working Group’s community-led rezoning, which would add height caps and other restrictions, like those in the part of the Lower East Side. The massive 80-story super-luxury Extell tower, rising next to the Manhattan Bridge, is the ominous symbol of what lies in store for this unprotected part of Manhattan if something is not done soon.

As for Z.Q.A., Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, noted that preserving “neighborhood feeling� is the crux of the issue. The city, for example, says retail stores need higher ceiling heights, but Berman counters TheVillager.com

“Many of you know about the troubles Detroit has had recently. I’m sad to say that Toledo and Flint (which are both just outside of Detroit) have been hit even worse. The economy is horrible and both cities seem to be in just a complete free fall. In the midst of this, Soul City has developed a program not just for boxing but also for education and health. Children attending the program are even fed hot meals every day. “I’ve been involved in a lot of athletic-oriented charities, most notably the Lower East Gauchos baseball

team, and this program is one of the continued. “And yes, their programs, including boxing, are for females also. In fact, the program last year had the No. 1-ranked female amateur under 16 years old in the world!�

Right now, Soul City is in the middle of an end-of-year fundraising drive, and needs to drum up $7,500 to get to the world tournament for 15-to-18-year-olds this Jan. 5.

To contribute to Soul City Boxing tyBoxingClub .

push the buzzer 1A, and come in and introduce yourself. Be part of the new Gathering of the Tribes. E-mail? Sure. gatheringofthetribes@gmail.com. Tell them the Blind Guy sent you.�

Let’s not be dense about it EDITORIAL continued from p. 12

From left, after Charles Conwell’s win to secure a spot on the Olympic boxing team this past weekend, Soul City coach Roshawn Jones, coach Leroy Carter Jr., David McWater, Conwell and coach Otha Jones.

that ceiling heights as they are now is the “neighborhood feeling� that retailers themselves actually prefer, and want to keep. As for M.I.H., Berman notes, similar large-scale rezonings in use have, essentially, brought in waves of market-rate residents, along with some affordable housing tenants. “The tsunami of market-rate housing which was the price to pay [for some affordable housing] has made those two neighborhoods unrecognizable physically or scoioeconomically,� Berman said. “They look more like Hong Kong or Miami than New York City, and they are among the least affordable, most rapidly gentrifying parts of the city.�

Again, is this a trade-off we’re willing to accept? New Yorkers’ resounding answer is no.

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