EAST VILLAGER NEWS, OCTOBER 16, 2014 by Schneps Media

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

October 16, 2014 • FREE Volume 4 • Number 24

C.B. 3 committee backs community gardeners but city wants the lots BY ZACH WILLIAMS

ommunity Board 3’s Land Use Committee voted on Oct. 14 to oppose a proposed 16-unit housing project that would displace the Lower East Side’s Siempre Verde Garden. At issue are two cityowned land parcels — 181

Stanton St. and 137 Attorney St. — which currently are used by the garden on a temporary basis per a 2012 agreement between the gardeners and the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The department sought C.B. 3’s support for the city’s plan to divest SIEMPRE, continued on p. 23

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

alk about fast food! After just a quick six months, it could be the last supper for the Union Square pavilion restaurant — at least as far as its actually being located inside the historic structure. In a community news-

letter mailed to her constituents which they received last week, state Senator Liz Krueger reported that the new seasonal restaurant, the Pavilion Market Cafe, will permanently vacate the structure at the end of this season, which means right around now. PAVILION, continued on p. 21

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Union Square pavilion restaurant could be cooked, local pols say

Comic Con, as Batman would tell you, was seriously fun. See Page 10 for more photos.

Appellate Court rules full N.Y.U. project can proceed BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

n a stunning reversal in the community’s battle against the “N.Y.U. 2031” supersized expansion plan in the South Village, Tuesday a panel of Appellate Division judges threw out a January court ruling, effectively clearing the way for the entire, massive, nearly 2-million-square-foot, four-building project to move forward. Randy Mastro, of Gibson Dunn, one of the attorneys

for the community plaintiffs, immediately assured that they would appeal to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. In a statement, N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, said, “We are disappointed that the Appellate Division overturned the decision that would keep our precious Village parks — Mercer Playground, LaGuardia Park and LaGuardia Corner Gardens — protected from N.Y.U.’s unnecessary and ruinous expansion plan. However, we

will continue to seek justice in this matter and move on to the New York State Court of Appeals.” Many of the school’s faculty live on the university’s superblocks and dread, in the worst-case scenario, what they call a “20-year construction project,” if the full plan is allowed. Dismissively referring to “some strips of land,” university spokesperson John Beckman, hailed Tuesday’s N.Y.U. 2031, continued on p. 20

Tenant harassment fines toughened............page 6 How the Greenmarkets grew.........................page 8 Why Pink matters this month...........................page 13 ‘Nightmare’ in New York.............page 16 | May 14, 2014

www.EastVillagerNews.com

ES & MORE SINCE 1982 I P ! CO

incumbent Democrat Deborah Glick, Progressive Party challenger Alexander Meadows — both of whom happen to be V.I.D. members — and the Republican challenger, Nekeshia Woods. All three candidates live in the Village, though no one seems to know much about Woods. The Nov. 4 election is fast approaching, but The Villager is working to set up a debate. We know that Meadows, for one, wants it. Glick, of course, as the frontrunner, could play it safe and pull a Cuomo — ducking Meadows the way the governor repeatedly dodged Zephyr Teachout’s calls for a debate. But constituents want to hear the candidates speak on the issues — from Hudson River Park development-rights transfers to confronting sexual abuse in Albany and all the rest. Tony Hoffmann, V.I.D.’s president, said the club strongly supports having candidate debates, in general. It could be an epic night. We’re working on it.

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THE GREAT DEBATE TO BE: At their meeting

last Thursday, the Village Independent Democrats club, in addition to voting to endorse Green Party candidate Howie Hakwins for governor (see article, Page 4), also voted in support of there being a debate between the candidates running for Assembly in the 66th District. Those would include

IN MEMORY OF MIRIAM: The corner of E. Sixth St. and Second Ave. will be co-named this Sun., Oct. 19, for late East Side Councilmember Miriam Friedlander. Friedlander, who died in October 2009 at age 95, was a councilmember from 1974 to ’91 — obviously in the pre-term limits era — and lived on the block, at 314 E. Sixth St. The ceremony will start at noon.

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Miriam Friedlander at a rally in support of the old P.S. 64, at E. Ninth St. and Avenue B, being restored to use as a community center.

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October 16, 2014

Cars kills woman on Canal O n Tues., Oct. 14, at 4:08 a.m., police responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian near the intersection of Canal and Elizabeth Sts. Upon arrival, officers observed an unidentified elderly female, unconscious and

unresponsive, lying on Canal St. E.M.S. medics responded to the location and transported the woman to New York Downtown Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Further investigation revealed the pedestrian had

been walking northbound on Elizabeth St., crossing Canal St., when she struck by a gray 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee, traveling westbound on Canal St. and operated by a male, 64. The driver remained on the scene. There were no arrests. The investigation is ongoing. EastVillagerNews.com

Making, and breaking, barriers around the globe

PHOTO BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL

No, these weren’t otherworldly black monoliths and they weren’t for filming a sequel to “2001: A Space Odyssey” in La Plaza Cultural last Saturday afternoon. They were sculptures, by Toronto artist Ryan Legassicke, part of the installation “Shadows: Wall Disease.” There were five of them, life-sized representations of sections of walls “used to block access to public spaces.” Structures represented included the security fence used during the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto; the Berlin Wall; the border fence between Nogales, Sonora, and Arizona; the Peace Lines wall in Belfast, Northern Ireland; and the Israeli separation barrier on the West Bank. The structures will be available for public viewing at MoRUS, at 155 Avenue C, from Oct. 16-26 (though it might be a bit hard to fit them in the radical museum). “The physicality of these walls, and the ideologies they represent, stand in stark contrast to the space around it, a historic community garden. The exhibition highlights the importance of continuing to work to preserve public spaces as free and open community places,” said Bill DiPaola, MoRUS co-director.

Y O U T H O U G H T T H E Y RE PO RT E D THE G AS LE A K . T H E Y T H O U G H T Y O U D I D . “Smell gas. Act fast.” Those are the words we want you to remember. Don’t assume that a neighbor will call 911 or 1-800-75-CONED. Just leave the area immediately and make the call yourself. If you prefer, you can report a gas-related emergency anonymously. You don’t even need to be there when help arrives. Visit conEd.com for more gas safety information and take safety into your own hands.

EastVillagerNews.com

October 16, 2014

V.I.D. snubs guv, goes Green with Hawkins Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association PUBLISHER JENNIFER GOODSTEIN

EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON

ARTS EDITOR

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CONTRIBUTORS IRA BLUTREICH TEQUILA MINSKY JEFFERSON SIEGEL JERRY TALLMER

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The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue. Published by NYC Community Media, LLC One Metrotech North 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (718) 260-2500 • Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2012 NYC Community Media, LLC

October 16, 2014

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

hey endorsed charismatic upstart Zephyr Teachout against Andrew Cuomo in the September Democratic primary. And now the Village Independent Democrats are continuing to snub the governor. Last Thursday the historic Reform Democratic club voted to support Howie Hawkins in the Nov. 4 general election. While Teachout was a relative political unknown, at least she was a Democrat. What makes the Hawkins endorsement more unusual is that he’s a Green. However, like Teachout, he’s a strong opponent of fracking. The centerpiece of his campaign is a Green New Deal, under which the state would completely transition to renewable energy within 15 years. Last Sunday, Hawkins sent out an e-mail release, touting it as the first time ever the venerable Democratic club has backed a third-party candidate. “I know it is a bold move for any Democratic club to endorse outside the party,” Hawkins said. “But it makes sense as I’m the only candidate who will stand up for the 99% who are getting a raw deal from politicians. I am the only candidate who will ban fracking, and create millions of jobs by moving to 100% clean energy by 2030. And I’m the only candidate that will put a floor on wages with a $15 minimum wage. The endorsement makes sense as I am the only progressive running for governor.” However, speaking to The Villager this week, V.I.D. President Tony Hoffmann said it actually might not be the club’s first non-Democratic endorsement, though clearly it’s quite a rarity. “Some people have told me we endorsed John Lindsay when he was running for mayor back in the 1960s as a Republican or Liberal,” he said, “but certainly nothing since Lindsay.” Hawkins won 12 V.I.D.ers’ votes, while Cuomo got four, and seven members voted “no endorsement.” So, Hawkins essentially won by 12 to 11 — just enough for a majority. “He got it by one vote,” Hoffmann said. “There were certain issues that resonate very strongly in V.I.D., and I think those issues took the day: fracking, corruption — the Moreland Commission — willingness to tax millionaires and undo the cap on property taxes.” Hawkins won even though he wasn’t there to speak on his own behalf. Since it’s a Democratic club, they don’t formally invite non-Democrats to address the members, though if they do come, they can speak, Hoffmann noted. Speaking for Hawkins were V.I.D. members Jim Fouratt, John Bredin and Tom Connor. State Senator Brad Hoylman and V.I.D.’s Charles Stimson spoke for Cuomo. Hoylman touted Cuomo’s achievements, including winning marriage equality in New York and passing the

Palm cards for Howie Hawkins and his running mate, Brian James.

Safe Act gun-control law in 2013, and said Cuomo is following through on his pledge to try to get a Democratic majority in the state Senate. It was Frieda Bradlow who suggested that the club consider Hawkins. “He embodies many of our principles, including his strong support of labor and the working man,” Bradlow said. “His opposition to fracking is yet another way that he espouses our efforts.” Hoffmann admitted he was surprised when Hawkins’s name came up. He said he personally voted “no endorsement,” because, in addition to being a Democratic club president, he simply has never met Hawkins. In fact, according to him, only one club member has met Hawkins face to face. On the other hand, Teachout addressed V.I.D. twice. “I would say the basic scenario was exactly the same as Zephyr,” Hoffmann explained, “that people are dissatisfied with some of the moderate positions that Cuomo has taken — not same-sex marriage or the gun law, where he used his political capital and muscle to get those passed. But trying to go moderate — that doesn’t work well at V.I.D.” Asked if the club, in the run-up to the election, would be out campaign-

ing actively for Hawkins like they did for Teachout, Hoffman said it’s up to each club member to do what he or she wants. But he said they will be at the polls on Election Day handing out palm cards featuring Hawkins and his running mate, Brian Jones. Bredin, for one, is an enthusiastic Hawkins supporter. “Howie Hawkins represents the kind of strong progressive politics this club has historically stood for,” the longtime V.I.D.er said. “He’s a genuine friend of the working and middle classes.” Though nothing near the dynamic, high-energy presence of the photogenic Teachout, Hawkins nevertheless has solid progressive cred. In New York, he ran for Senate in 2006 and for governor in 2010, both times as a Green. Originally from San Francisco, Hawkins has an eclectic résumé. He has worked as a logger and carpenter and in solar and wind energy, and was an anti-apartheid activist. Hawkins is also reportedly a Socialist Party member, as well as a Green. For the last decade, he has worked as a truck unloader for UPS, where he is active in the Teamsters. EastVillagerNews.com

POLICE BLOTTER Woman in river On Wed., Oct. 15, at around 5:22 p.m., police responded to a 911 call for a person in the water in the East River near Rutgers Slip on the Lower East Side. A craft from the New York Police Department’s Harbor unit responded and officers removed an unidentified female in her 40s from the water and transported her to Pier 16, at the South Street Seaport, where she was pronounced dead on arrival by E.M.S. medics The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.

B’way bank robbery An unknown man robbed the Chase bank at 835 Broadway, at E. 13th St., on the afternoon of Mon., Oct. 6, police said. At about 3:22 p.m., the man passed a note to a 33-yearold bank teller stating that he had a firearm and wanted money. The teller complied and the perpetrator fled on foot with $4,740 in cash.

Police searched the surrounding area but did not locate a suspect. They said he wore gray clothes and sunglasses and is about 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 130 pounds, with curly hair and a light complexion. No age was given.

‘Mole man’ mystery Police sent Bomb Squad unit members to Bar Pitti, at 268 Sixth Ave., after an unknown man wearing a black baseball cap sprung out of a sidewalk hatch and threw a smoke bomb at the place on Fri., Oct. 10, around 5 p.m. There were no reported injuries and the squad deemed the device inert after arriving on the scene. As seen in a brief video clip posted on Gothamist, the suspect popped out of an M.T.A. subway emergency exit located in front of the bar, a few seconds later tossed the device — which spewed pink smoke — then ducked back into the subway system. He remains at large. He is described as light-skinned with blond wavy hair, and about 20 years old. He is wanted for reckless endangerment, a felony.

According to news reports, a gate that should have been closed at the bottom of the emergency exit had been left open.

Brass bottle bash Andikan Otu, 24, allegedly struck another 24-year-old, from New Jersey, with a bottle at about 2 a.m. on Sat., Oct. 11, in front of the Brass Monkey bar, at 55 Little W. 12th St. The victim suffered cuts to his face requiring stitches. Police arrested Otu, an Upper West Sider, following the incident and charged him with assault.

Where’s my wallet! A Bronx man, 32, arrived at work on Oct. 9 at 81 Christopher St., and went to the basement to change, and left his wallet there. He returned at about 2 p.m. to find the billfold gone. The next day he filed a report at the Sixth Precinct stating the wallet contained $300, plus a MetroCard, gym pass and medical insurance information.

Rental car rage A man arrived at National Car Rental, at 743 Broadway, on Oct. 6. just after 1 p.m., but was angered when employees told him he did not have an appropriate payment. According to a police report, the man said, “No one cares about my family?” then shattered a glass door with his foot. A security camera caught the incident, but the recording was not immediately available. Police said Kenneth Weliever remains at large and is wanted for criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

Lipstick lifter Store security at Rite Aid, at 501 Sixth Ave., caught a man, 47, stuffing his jeans with Revlon lipstick at about 2:30 p.m. on Mon., Oct. 13, police said. Police were called and arrested Vincent Groce, charging him with petty larceny, a misdemeanor. The lipsticks, valued at $110 total, were not recovered. The Rite Aid branch has been the victim of similar crimes recently, a report noted.

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EastVillagerNews.com

October 16, 2014

Developers just keep on bowling over the Village BY ZACH WILLIAMS

October 16, 2014

PHOTO BY ZACH WILLIAMS

y the end of the year, New Yorkers will be able to browse a new online listing of the city’s most notorious landlords. Mayor de Blasio signed into law on Sept. 30 changes to the city administrative code that will increase fines on landlords found guilty of harassment, as well as mandate that the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development publicly expose them on its Web site. Landlords found guilty of tenant harassment “by a court of competent jurisdiction” will now face a maximum fine of $10,000 per residential unit, up from $5,000 previously. Those found guilty more than once during a five-year period will receive a minimum fine of $2,000 per residential unit — again, twice the previous level. Their names will appear on the new online list, as will the associated building address. Such publicity will help deter building owners from illegally pressuring tenants, especially vulnerable senior and immigrant populations, said Councilmember Margaret Chin, who co-sponsored the legislation with colleague Jumaane Williams, of Brooklyn. “We want to send a stronger mes-

Mayor de Blasio approving a bill — co-sponsored by Councilmember Margaret Chin, left — to boost fines for tenant harassment

sage because tenant harassment is happening every day in my district and in the city,” Chin said in an interview. De Blasio said H.P.D. demonstrated a commitment to addressing tenant concerns during his tenure as public advocate, when he compiled a Worst Landlords Watchlist. A department

spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment. “There are a lot of good landlords out there. But the ones who don’t do the right thing need to feel consequences,” the mayor said before signing the bill into law. The measure passed the City Council on Sept. 23 unanimously, 49 to 0. The Rent Stabilization Association, which represents building owners, and the Real Estate Board of New York did not respond to requests for comment. Another bill signed into law Sept. 30 requires H.P.D. to compile a housing information guide. Building owners will have to publicly post notice of the guide as well. Among the issues to be included in the guide are owners’ responsibilities, housing discrimination, eviction levels, heat, hot water and repairs, as well as rental assistance for elderly and disabled tenants. The Lower East Side, Chinatown and the East Village are home to numerous tenants who have alleged harassment from landlords coveting their longtime apartments. With market-rate rents continuing to rise, there is plenty of incentive for landlords to use nefarious tactics to replace rent-regulated tenants with more profitable neighborhood newcomers, housing activists say. Tenants in these neighborhoods say landlords berate them, seeking to prove their primary residence is elsewhere. Tenants say building owners withhold needed apartment repairs for them, while conducting extensive renovations elsewhere inside the buildings, often making living conditions unbearable. As all this is going on, sometimes, landlords jack up their buyout offers from four to

six figures, showing how badly they want the in-place tenants out. State officials have taken action of their own in recent months. An investigation by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman into the business practices of Steven Croman remains ongoing. Meanwhile, as The Villager previously reported, Governor Cuomo issued a subpoena on Aug. 20 to Marolda Properties amid allegations that the company is using eviction proceedings, low buyout offers, poor building services and the denial of lease renewals to target elderly immigrants in the Chinatown area. But in Housing Court, it’s the landlord who more often prevails. Since 2008, when a law allowing tenants to sue over harassment was passed, landlords were found guilty of the charge only 45 times among roughly 3,600 cases, The New York Times reported on Sept. 30. However, settlements were reached in 810 of those cases, the Times noted. Williams said the new law’s passage marks a “turning point” for New York City tenants. “It’s not easy to fight and win in court,” Chin said. “It’s important for tenants to see they have a fighting chance.” The increased fines will go into effect 180 days from the bill’s signing into law on Sept. 30. The requirement for an offenders list will go into effect 90 days from Sept. 30. Some tenant activists dismissed the new law, saying the fines — albeit now doubled — are merely the “cost of doing business” for landlords. However, Jaron Benjamin, head of Met Council on Housing, said for many landlords, especially smaller ones, these penalties will indeed sting. EastVillagerNews.com

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN MCPHAIL PHOTOGRAPHY

Oktober partiers do their ‘wurst’ at Zum’s fest Zum Schneider — the Avenue C Bavarian bierhaus and restaurant — held a traditional Oktoberfest last Friday to Sunday on E. 23rd St. along the river. Dubbed “Munich on the East River,” it was billed as New York’s largest Oktoberfest ever. The action — including near-constant hefting aloft of huge beer steins for toasts, chants, songs...well, just about anything — happened under a 1,000-person-capacity tent in the Solar One space, as well as outdoors, which even sported a carousel. Washed down by all that beer, there was roasted chicken, grilled jumbo mackerel, potato salad and bratwurst. Sylvester Schneider, above left, the owner of the 14-year-old East Village restaurant, said, “The intention was to create an atmosphere that comes as close as possible to a traditional Munich Oktoberfest T:8.75” on the ‘wiesn,’ ” as in “fairground.” Tickets ranged from $25 to $100. Guests got to walk away with a free gift — what else? — an enormous stein.

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October 16, 2014

Seeds of today’s Greenmarket were planted in ’76 BY ALBERT AMATEAU

PHOTO COURTESY OF G.V.S.H.P.

arry Benepe, co-founder of the Greenmarket program, where farmers bring their products directly to city consumers, spoke last week about how it all began 38 years ago and how today it has grown to 60 markets in the five boroughs. Benepe, a planner and architect, led the event, held Oct. 7 at St. Brigid’s Church on Avenue B, and co-sponsored by Grow NYC, which now runs the city’s Greenmarkets, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Union Square, Tompkins Square, St. Mark’s Place and Abingdon Square are among the nearby locations where farmers from a 150-mile (and larger) radius arrive for their weekly outdoor rendezvous with their city customers. Celebrity chefs and restaurateurs join the thousands of shoppers who come to the markets for varieties of fruits and vegetables rarely found elsewhere. In recent years, producers of fresh meat, fish and whole milk in glass bottles have come into the markets. Greenmarkets, hugely popular from the beginning, were an idea whose time had come. Co-founding the program with Be-

Barry Benepe speaking at St. Brigid’s Church last week about the history of the city’s Greenmarket program.

nepe was Bob Lewis, a fellow planner who worked for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. “Bob Lewis and I were concerned that the spread of suburban development was eating up farmland and that our sources of food were moving farther and farther away,” Benepe explained. With Lewis responsible for reaching farmers and Benepe handling relations with government agencies and fundraising, the first Greenmarket

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project began in 1976 — dark days in municipal affairs. The founders received permission to use a vacant city-owned site at 59th St. and Second Ave., where the Roosevelt Island tram terminal was built a few years later. “It was a case of ‘location, location, location’ and we had an ideal location,” Benepe recalled. “It was a fenced lot between Bloomingdale’s and Alexander’s. We didn’t have to do any publicity; the newspapers and TV came to us to cover the opening. We were the good news after all the bad news of the day.” “If the 59th St. market hadn’t done so well immediately, we might have failed,” Benepe said. “In the summer of 1976, the Department of City Planning asked if we could open a Greenmarket in Union Square Park,” he said, recalling that the park had fallen on bad times and had become the local center for illegal drug deals. “S. Klein, a major discount department store, closed its store on Union Square where it had been for decades. The city thought we could help bring the neighborhood back,” Benepe recalled. The new market in the street-level plaza on the north side of the park had to contend with the menace of the drug trade and the general decline of the neighborhood. “It was not an easy success,” Benepe said. “It took three years for the market to catch on.” Union Square’s north plaza has a long tradition as a public venue. For decades it has been the site of political and labor union rallies. Each spring, flower and plant vendors would conduct a market in the space. The Union Square Greenmarket has become the flagship of the entire program, expanding down the park’s west side and doing business year-round four days a week — Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The third market to open in 1976 was in Brooklyn at Atlantic and Flatbush Aves. Before the first markets opened, Be-

nepe had to raise money for the program. “I went to Jack Kaplan, who was head of the J.M. Kaplan Fund,” he recalled. “It was appropriate because Jack made his money from his sale of Welch’s grape juice.” “We needed $35,000 and the Kaplan fund said they could give us $15,000,” he added. “They gave us $10,000, so we had to look for the rest. We got some from The Fund for the City of New York. The Council on the Environment of New York City, which later became Grow NYC, became our main sponsor.” At first, the Wholesale Grocers Association opposed the Greenmarket program. “They stopped their opposition when they found out that it was farm produce,” Benepe explained. “They didn’t care about that.” As the program became known, farmers far and wide wanted to join. “We had one farmer from Delaware who loaded a school bus full of melons and drove it to the city. He sold every one. But our farmers’ council said it wasn’t fair to bring in growers from far outside the region, so we narrowed the radius,” Benepe said. “The council doesn’t decide who joins the market, but we take their opinions seriously.” The farming region is centered on the Hudson Valley, but it is part of a larger system of valleys that extend from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York up to Massachusetts and west along the Mohawk Valley to the Finger Lakes. It includes what is known as the Black Dirt region of very fertile earth — “muck” as the locals call it — from Orange County, N.Y., through Sussex County, N.J. It is part of a centuries-old wetland that has been farmed since it was drained in the mid-19th century. Benepe has firsthand farm experience. “My father bought a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1938 when I was 10 years old,” he said. “It was not just a hobby, it was run to make it pay.” The New York City Greenmarket program has inspired similar enterprises in New Jersey, Long Island and beyond. Benepe, who had just returned from a four-week stay in Paris, proudly displayed a poster proclaiming a greenmarket opening in the French capital. Greenmarkets have become an important source of farm income, Benepe noted. “We’ve played a role in helping people get started in farming and remaining in farming,” he said. “The children and grandchildren of farmers who started with us are coming to the Greenmarkets. They see a future in farming.” EastVillagerNews.com

PHOTO BY CLAYTON PATTERSON

INTRODUCING TEKSERVE EXPRESS Same Great Service. None of the Wait.

American author Alan Kaufman, right, and German actor Thomas Saracher, who read aloud from a book of Kaufman’s translated into German.

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L.E.S. rocks the Sprach

We’ll Diagnose the Problem & Call You With the Details.

ustria’s Sprachsalz is an international festival geared mostly toward German-speaking readers and audiences. In total, 20 authors were invited to this year’s Sprachsalz, for an entire weekend, from Sept. 12 to 14, to give readings from their published books. The organizers are an experienced team of six people, some of them authors themselves: Magdalena Kauz, Heinz D. Heisl, Urs Heinz Aerni, Elias Schneitter, Max Hafele and Valerie Besl. A number of Americans that were invited to this year’s Sprachsalz came from the pool of winners from this summer’s Acker Awards, which were organized by Clayton Patterson, in New York, and Alan Kaufman, in San Francisco. The Villager was a sponsor

Pick it Up Once It’s Repaired.

of this year’s Ackers — which were held at Theatre 80 St. Mark’s — and produced a special booklet on the honorees. Kaufman was the conduit to the American authors at Sprachsalz, including Downtowners Ron Kolm, Patricia Smith and Steven Dalachinsky. Kaufman is the first author to have been invited twice to Sprachsalz. Sprachsalz translated his book “Jew Boy” into German, and he is on a book tour of Germany and Austria. Patterson was invited to show his biopic, “Captured,” and was one of the people who documented the festival. Patterson, the longtime Lower East Side documentarian, has said he plans to move at some point to Austria with artist Elsa Rensaa, his wife.

Jazmin: Marketer, Free Spirit, Tekserver

Austrian journalist Rolan Adrowitzer, left, at Sprachsalz with the Lower East Side’s Clayton Patterson, who Adrowitzer interviewed. EastVillagerNews.com

119 West 23rd Street • 212.929.3645 • tekserve.com October 16, 2014

Pow! Wham! Comic Con is a super-hit Demons, aliens and superheroes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including Super-Communist Man this year â&#x20AC;&#x201D; descended on the Javits Center last week for Comic Con, the annual comic book/sci fi/fantasy/horror/pop culture extravaganza.

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

October 16, 2014

EastVillagerNews.com

Board 3 focuses on rats, ramps and river tolls BY LESLEY SUSSMAN

ommunity Board 3 is working to help rid the East Village of rats — or, maybe more realistically speaking, at least sharply reduce their numbers. Susan Stetzer, the board’s district manager, announced at the Sept. 23 full-board meeting, that C.B. 3 will be participating in a Department of Health-sponsored pilot project to help deal with the neighborhood’s rampant rodent problem. “This will be a very intensive intervention, in which every single private and city-owned property in the pilot project area will be inspected for rat infestations,” she explained. The pilot-project area is bounded by the east side of Avenue A and the west side of Avenues B and C from E. Seventh St. down to Houston St., plus the area between Houston and First Sts. from Avenue A to Second Ave. Stetzer added, however, that there would be “no fines or enforcement attached to this pilot project.” A D.O.H. spokesperson said the agency “will target ideal rat environments” that promote large numbers of the critters and allow for fast reproduction, as well as rats that have been “resistant to previous pest-control efforts.”

EastVillagerNews.com

The process will include additional inspections of city-owned property by block-level surveys; treatment of the city-owned property by D.O.H. staff; and case management, in which D.O.H. will provide walkthroughs, thoroughly inspect, and work with owners and residents on any possible rat problems around shelters, vacant lots and the like. The initiative will have three case managers. They will be making appointments with property owners and residents, trying to get access to rear yards, arranging for meetings with block associations, businesses, restaurants, community gardeners and other stakeholders. For each impacted area, the agency will offer free training to affected groups, such as businesses and community garden organizations. On another matter, C.B. 3 also approved a resolution calling for all streets in its district to have curb cuts that will enable residents who use wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility aids, plus people with vision impairments, to more easily maneuver along the sidewalks. The board’s resolution said that, currently, many of the area’s sidewalks are “too dangerous for use by persons with disabilities.”

In addition, the board decided to delay a vote on a resolution in support of adding tolls on East River bridge crossings, under which the revenue would go toward transportation infrastructure improvements. A number of board members said more information was needed about

the potential impact such increased tolls would have on small businesses in areas like Chinatown, and how adding tolls would affect businesses and quality of life in communities located near the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, on both sides of the river.

CALL TO SUBSCRIBE 646-452-2475

October 16, 2014

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Bella has a plaque now, too, at 2 Fifth Avenue On Oct. 7, a new plaque was unveiled on the exterior of 2 Fifth Ave., commemorating former resident Bella Abzug, left, who served in Congress in the 1970s. Among those joining Abzug’s family members at the dedication were Villager Edie Windsor — the plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act and its prohibition on gay marriage — historian Blanche Wiesen Cook and local feminist writer Barbara Love, along with other friends and feminists. Now making a matched pair, a similar plaque for Abzug’s neighbor former Mayor Ed Koch graces the other side of 2 Fifth Ave.’s doorway.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Snark.Y.U.

Wheely have problems

To The Editor: Re “ ‘Drop the appeal!’ N.Y.U. project opponents cry” (news article, Sept. 25): Hey, John Beckman, why do you have to be so snarky when talking about those of us who oppose N.Y.U. 2031, both legally and morally? N.Y.U. has already cast a large black cloud over our neighborhood for the last few years and N.Y.U. will continue to do so until we win.

To The Editor: Re “In bike nirvana, trying to stay sane in the lane” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Sept. 25): One of the main bike-riding problems is that half the people who ride bikes in this city don’t know how to ride properly, thereby presenting risks to themselves, cars, pedestrians, etc. And the majority of the bike lanes are poorly designed. In a ridiculous kind of default design mode, all the lanes have too many grates and

Judith Chazen Walsh

IRA BLUTREICH

drain covers that were previously on the street itself. Plus, the cops never enforce blocked bike lanes. And most of the time if there is a road obstruction problem, it’s shunted into the bike lanes. I have ridden a bike for 30 years in New York — all boroughs — and most of the time I’d rather take my chances in the regular street than trust the bike lanes, particularly in Midtown Manhattan. Out in moving traffic, at least you know some clown in a huge S.U.V. actually wants to run you down! Having said that, it is truly the responsibility of the city planners to sort out a workable bike lane system. Many cities throughout the world have done it. Why not here? Incidentally, most of the bike paths that were installed up and down Manhattan are too narrow to ride safely two abreast. So please don’t do it! Peter Rippon 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 does not publish anonymous letters.

The mayor and Eva Moskowitz duke it out over charter schools — but who’s winning?! 12

October 16, 2014

EastVillagerNews.com

Why Pink Matters FROM THE PUBLISHER

terrible disease Thanks to the support of our advertisers, our on sufferers and media group is donating $7,500 — and will protheir loved ones vide free promotional services — to the Amerunderstands the ican Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against BY JENNIFER GOODSTEIN urgent need to Breast Cancer” campaign (makingstrides.acsevfind a cure. ents.org), whose annual October walk at locactober is Breast Cancer Awareness Month The good news tions in each of the five boroughs raised nearly and a time for all of us to redouble our efis that better ear- $6 million last year to help battle the disease. forts to eradicate the second-leading killer ly detection and Community News Group was proud to partof women in the United States. treatment thera- ner with Maimonides Medical Center, EastchesWhen my husband and I bought NYC Commupies are boosting ter Center for Cancer Care, Aviator Sports and nity Media in 2012 and, in June of this year, added survival rates. Events Center, Coney Island Hospital, Estée the Brooklyn-based Community News Group to We are pleased Lauder Companies, Flushing Hospital Mediour media company, we realized we were taking to note that some cal Center, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, on a big responsibility. Our publications reach of the best work Queens County Savings Bank, Winthrop UniBY JENNIFER GOODSTEIN more than a million New Yorkers each week, ofagainst breast versity Hospital, and all of last week’s advertisfering us a broad platform that numbers from the American O c to t osupport b e r i causes s The Cancer Society arerecognizing sobering: cancer is being ers in honoring and the Pink Ribbon Mo can impact our readersB and r e a swider t C a communities. ncer done in the met- campaign founded by the Estée Lauder Compaloo My husband and I are also a family that lives and Awareness Month ropolitan area. nies, now recognized as a worldwide symbol of fam works in New York City, we are to Our medical institutions are pushing the limits of breast health. andand a time forcommitted all me o f u s t owe r eserve. d o u - Our comgiving back to the communities possibility with their surgical excellence, playing We hope our Roughly embrace of430 the pink message will On bleCancer our efAwareness forts to pany’s support for Breast Month pivotal roles in discovering the genes that cause encourage our men readers to lose turn to their families will hea eradicate the secis just one step toward meeting that goal. breast cancer, leading to surgical techniques that and friends andtheir ask if lives they have to been screened or fert killer and famiLike most people, weond-leading have had friends are now treatment gold standards. offer to go with them for this critical, life-saving breast cancer One inAteight women level, is diagnosed o f w oincluding m e n i n tahclose e ly who have battled cancer, friend The the grassroots a groundswell of com- examination. United this year. withmunity breastsupport cancer in their lifetime. who has survived three boutsStates. with breast cancer. opt is financing critical breast cancer When myhas husband andthe I bought Anyone who watched impact of this studies with innovative fundraisers around town. Goodstein is president, Community News Group

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Estée rec- 16, 2014 boroughs raised nearly $6 million a n d t h e iEastVillagerNews.com r l o v e d o n e s are now treatment October 02gold - 15,standards. 2014 | www.gaycitynews.nyc | October 02 Lauder - 15, 2014Companies, now October

die every 24 hours.

Anne Ardolino, a.k.a. Anntelope, poet, dies at 69 OBITUARY

it’s not a choice they make it’s not a sin they commit it’s how they find themselves to be

BY JEROME POYNTON

I mean, think about it did you decide or did it just happen that you love your favorite color?

PHOTO BY CLAYTON PATTERSON

nne Ardolino was a poet. She was also a former user of ancient illegal drugs, a former sex worker and an extraordinarily kind human being. Her life was memorialized at the Marble Cemetery, at 41 ½ Second Ave., on Sat., Oct. 11. Ardolino spent 30 years, give or take, walking the streets of New York. Her former patrons ranged from rabbis to police. One rocky word in a sentence stream could prompt her to tell a story about real life on the mean streets, so often glamorized in contemporary culture. “Police. You know how many free blow jobs I had to give to police?” she said once in polite conversation around a small dinner table. Ardolino died on Sept. 11, 2014 — one month shy of her 70th birthday — at the hospice of Beth Israel Medical Center, recently reunited in love with her daughter, Stephanie Ardolino, and embraced and protected by her partner of 34 years, Daniel Joseph Zellman, who kept her safe throughout her last happy years. Adopted, Ardolino never knew who her birth parents were. “They talk about the rights of the birth parents,” she said. “They don’t talk about rights of the child; the right of the adopted child to know where they come from.” Anne Ardolino was not only somebody and something. She was a magnetic force that tugged one in a slightly different direction from where one thought one was going. A new direction. A slow steady magnetic pull, usually toward a more

Anne Ardolino.

spiritual and forgiving understanding of the world. Negativity Seeks Its Own Level (poem to LD) by Anne Ardolino (also known as Anntelope) having “walked at midnight” but not on the wild side she could fool herself into believing she understands when she should be thanking her lucky stars she’s never felt the pull like when the tides obey the moon so does the blood of the night people they are ruled by the monster in the corner of everyone’s eye

we’ve all seen it although it winks at some in a more familiar way than others I can smell its perfume each evening just as soon as the lightless air becomes moist enough to carry the odor of shadows the message is sent that’s when they all heed bats nocturnal insects creatures with red eyes and night vision they are compelled to obey the rules of their environment it’s the same with the night people children of the dark

Ardolino was easy to love. She was compassionate, caring and helpful to the neediest of her neighbors. She would spend hours with a wounded pigeon on street waiting for the pigeon rescue people. She viewed her former work on the street as value added social work. Honesty was her stock and trade. “Don’t you know how low you are?” a client once asked her. “And just think,” she replied, “as low as I might be, you have to pay me to spend time in your company.” She included this vignette in a poem titled “The Perfect Squelch.” It could also have been titled “The Perfect Sales Pitch,” as this customer went on to became a regular client. Her partner saw a Catholic priest in the hospice’s hallway making Monday rounds as Anne Ardolino lay dying. The priest was able to give her the Seventh Sacrament. This would be important to Ardolino and give her much peace and joy. Anne Ardolino was as Catholic as Dorothy Day — or N.Y.C. gangsterette Linda Twigg (who Ardolino was once hired to bodyguard). Ardolino was among the underground artists honored at this summer’s second annual Acker Awards. Ardolino is survived by her daughter, her partner Dan Zellman and many others. For more of Anne Ardolino’s poetry visit eastvillagepoetry.com/OldPages/Anne.htm .

Urban farmers are sprouting up along W. Houston St. Ananya Parekh, 7, a P.S. 41 student and Washington Square Village resident, sought out eggplant among the many vegetables she picked during the recent harvest at New York University’s “model farm” on W. Houston St. near LaGuardia Place. PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

October 16, 2014

EastVillagerNews.com

The ‘Price’ is right for Halloween Volume II is a cross-section of vintage Vincent

FILM Scream Factory presents

THE VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION II $79.97 Commercial Release on October 21 7 films on a 4-Disc Blu-ray set Bonus: audio commentaries, rare photos & archival materials, 32-page collector’s book Available in stores Also available at screamfactorydvd.com

BY TRAV S.D. (travsd.wordpress.com)

EastVillagerNews.com

COURTESY OF SCREAM FACTORY

he actor Vincent Price starred in films of every genre throughout his long career, but above all he will forever be associated with horror. Tall, mustachioed and cultured in a manner alien to all contemporary American movie stars, Price excelled at playing villains in the sort of campy Gothic horror film that reigned at the cinema prior to the slasher movie craze that took hold in the late 1970s. Just in time for Halloween, Scream Factory is releasing “The Vincent Price Collection II,” a 4-disc compendium for Blu-ray featuring seven of the late master’s spookier vehicles. As with the first volume, the set is a cross-section of work from different phases of his career. The picks are of equal quality and importance to those in the first release

Volume II of Scream Factory’s Vincent Price Collection has seven of the late master’s spookier vehicles.

— it is more of a continuation than a comedown. (Actually, Scream Factory would have to put out many such volumes until they ran out of excellent Price horror films). “House on Haunted Hill” (1959) was Price’s first collaboration with schlockmeister William Castle, an “old dark house” confection where insane millionaire Price locks a group of

friends and associates in a haunted house overnight and challenges them to survive the night in exchange for $10,000. “The Return of the Fly” (1959) was a big-budget shocker for a major studio (20th Century Fox) in which Price reprised his role from the original hit, his part now expanded into buzzing anti-hero. The Italian-made “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) was the first

of three film adaptations of Richard Matheson’s novel “I Am Legend,” in which Price struggles alone in a world in which everyone else has been transformed into a vampire. As in the first volume, this set contains several of the low-budget classics Price made for American International Pictures with Roger Corman. Two are from the so-called Poe Series: “The Tomb of Ligeia” (1964), considered by many critics and Corman himself as the best of the bunch, and “The Raven” (1963), a comical riff suggested by Poe’s famous poem, featuring Price and Hollywood veterans Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre as a trio of quarreling medieval sorcerers. “The Comedy of Terrors” (1963) goes even farther down the path to silliness, with Price, Lorre and Karloff being joined by Basil Rathbone and comedian Joe E. Brown in his last screen performance. And for sheer camp heaven, you cannot beat “Dr. Phibes Rises Again” (1972), the sequel to his camp hit of the previous year (which is included in the first volume of this Blu-ray series). The films are all in the most pristine, watchable versions currently available for home video, and this goes also for many of the extras, such as the trailers. While some of the bonus material, such as commentary by Roger Corman, has been previously available, there are new treats — including comments by Price historian David Del Valle, and Elizabeth Shepherd, co-star of “The Tomb of Ligeia.” And, best of all: from beyond the grave, introductions and “parting words” from Vincent Price himself. If you don’t go in for parties or trick-or-treating, you could do far worse than to barricade yourself in your dungeon this Halloween and spend 20 hours or so with this boxed set. —Additional research by Ian W. Hill October 16, 2014

A terrifying trek through NYC history and fiction This year’s ‘Nightmare’ is the stuff of urban legends

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BLASE

Subway breakdancers are the least of your problems, in this 1980s-era “Nightmare” scenario.

BY SEAN EGAN

ightmare” did not become New York City’s longest-running haunted attraction by remaining static or playing things safe. In each of its 11 years in operation, this adult-oriented haunted house company has switched things up, providing an entirely new theme and show. Most recently, the company’s examined the lives and crimes of some of America’s most notorious and violent serial killers in their back-toback houses called “Killers” and “Killers2.” Breaking from this series, the folks at “Nightmare” decided to play things a little more introspective this year, to terrifying effect. Simply titled “Nightmare: New York,” the new haunted house draws its inspiration from urban legends and true-life horror stories from the city itself. Tracing tales from early stories about witchcraft and cannibalistic natives all the way to modern fears of “super rats” that evolved in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, this haunted

October 16, 2014

house is a distinctly New York experience — though it is just as likely to unsettle and scare any out-of-towner who decides to trek down its path through the city’s history and fiction. Upon reaching the front of the line, you’ll be asked if you want to be marked with a large red X on your face, which indicates to the cast that you’re up for a “more intense” experience during your walkthrough. I opted to be branded with the scarlet letter, and honestly, while you’re here you might as well go straight in. Taking on a more active role in the proceedings and allowing the cast to get physical with you enhances the fun, and the terror and thrills of the performance (though if you opt out, these things are still plentiful). From the get-go, the house is intense, and doesn’t let up until the very end. Being guided through the winding halls of “Nightmare: New York” is a totally immersive sensory experience. The sound design keeps you on your toes even when nothing immediately intimidating lurks ahead. The touch

of a cast member, or a prop knife, or the multiple inflatable, claustrophobic tunnels on the skin is enough to cause panic. The dim lighting almost swallows you at times, but everything remains entirely legible and terrifying. It’s the perfect equilibrium: dark enough to feel momentarily safe hiding in the corner, but still dark enough to not see the horror lurking just behind you in said corner. Much of the credit for the success of “Nightmare: New York” lies in its production design, which is stellar throughout. Since New York is its narrative and thematic through-line, the house feels like a unified whole because of the world created by the designers. Though everything flows quite nicely, there are still a few exceptional standout set pieces. In one early highlight, groups are led into the room of an old mansion by a suspiciously genial butler — who proceeds to re-

HAUNTED HOUSE NIGHTMARE: NEW YORK

Produced by Timothy Haskell & Steve Kopelman Through Saturday, November 1 Hours vary daily At Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center 107 Suffolk St. (btw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.) Tickets: $30 in advance | $35 at the door Student Rush tickets: $20 (1 hour before, at the door) VIP tickets: $50 in advance, $60 at the door (front of the line access) Reservations & Info at nightmarenyc.com

NIGHTMARE, continued on p.18 EastVillagerNews.com

‘It’s Only A Play’ but you’ll like it THEATER IT’S ONLY A PLAY Written by Terrence McNally Directed by Jack O’Brien Through January 4, 2015 Tues. & Thus. at 7 p.m. Wed. & Sat. at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Fri. at 8 p.m. Sun. at 3 p.m. At the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre 236 W. 45th St. PHOTO BY F. SCOTT SCHAFER

(btw. Broadway & Eighth Ave.) For tickets ($77–$172.00), telecharge.com Visit ItsOnlyAPlay.com

BY SCOTT STIFFLER

esperately clinging to the notion that they have a Tony-caliber hit on their hands, a group of high-strung theater types puff their chests and lick their wounds in the bedroom of a lavish East Side townhouse as those all-important opening night reviews trickle in. Downstairs, “the party of the year for the play of the season” swells to capacity, as megastars and uninvited cast members from long-running Broadway hits come and go. This necessitates frequent visits to the bedroom from a just-off-the-bus theater world wannabe tasked with checking coats that serve as calling card sight gags (Tommy Tune’s is a tall and less-than-masculine fur; Lady Gaga’s is a noisy collection of see-through orbs). Relentlessly funny, breathlessly

EastVillagerNews.com

Modern times: Terrence McNally’s 1980s play is updated, with today’s famous names and trending topics.

McNally’s tale of a turkey is full of delicious hams paced and acted with salty gusto by a cast of high-end Sunday hams, Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only A Play” is a love letter to the theater masquerading as a death threat. By evening’s end, dozens of famous names (Liza!), trending topics (selfies) and media succubi (NYT critic Ben Brantley) are called out and knocked down a few pegs. Little harm is done, though. In the world of plays about plays, you only zing the ones you love — or at least know about (and in this realm, there’s no greater indignity than escaping public notice). That said, much disdain, possibly sincere, is heaped upon British imports (“The Phantom of the

Opera is closing,” screams a newspaper, “Positively last ten years!”), and the occasional dart has fast-acting poison on its tip (such as the ring of humiliating truth about used-to-begood Faye Dunaway. Ouch!). With one disappointing exception, the cast is in top form — world-class winners playing straw-grasping losers, for whom the Kryptonite of bad news has only temporary power to wound or weaken. Their misplaced confidence returns with the slightest bit of distance between them and a scathing review or a personal betrayal. Megan Mullally’s classy but clueless producer Julia Budder (who can’t

even quote Sinatra’s “New York, New York” correctly) is a living, breathing ambassador for the never-say-die attitude in the face of mounting disaster. As the sole bankroller of this “300-pound Butterball,” she alone can prevent yet another version of “Riverdance” from kicking her floundering production to the curb. Mullally elevates the show’s most thinly drawn character from simply ditzy to admirably determined. As sitcom star James Wicker, who’s just flown in from LA to support the playwright, Nathan Lane — always PLAY, continued on p.18

October 16, 2014

A love letter to the theater masquerading as a death threat PLAY, continued from p. 17

PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

dialing it up and never phoning it in — summons new variations on the slow burn, the knowing look and the sudden realization (especially good is his reaction to the true nature of those snacks he’s been gobbling). The Playbill gives no indication how former “Harry Potter” actor Rupert Grint came up with his supersizedeven-for-this-show portrayal of hypertense director Frank Finger — but if he’s ever seen “The Young Ones,” Mr. Grint needs to hightail it back to London, return his WhatsOnStage award and make a sizable donation to the estate of the late comedic genius Rik Mayall, whose 1980s Britcom character is alive and well and currently appearing eight times a week at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Due apologies if I’m wrong about that — but otherwise (to steal from McNally), shame, shame, shame on Rupert Grint. As lead actress Virginia Noyes, a teeter-tottering Stockard Channing fully embodies the stretched skin and pickled liver of a foul-mouthed Hollywood transplant. Nursing a pharmaceutical goody bag and a court-ordered ankle monitor, Channing

Bedroom as bunker: Rupert Grint, Megan Mullally, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, and Stockard Channing deal with opening night reviews.

brilliantly pantomimes a world of crumbling hopes and dreams as the brief but stinging review of Noyes’ performance is read aloud by another. Playing a theater critic who has no business being in the room, F. Murray Abraham (engrave his Tony now) capers about with glee, fueled by the slightest drop of others’ misfortune. Wakee, wakee Mr. Grint: Abraham’s

Win a Pair of Tickets to

VILLAGE JAZZ ALIVE Two hands would be on display when The Ann more than enough in most Hampton Callaway Trio pertowns, but it won’t get forms (witty between-song the job done if you want banter included in price of to count the number of admission). Village jazz venues offerThe winner of our ing classic, contemporary GIVEAWAY will receive and cutting-edge music two tickets, compliments until the wee small hours PHOTO BY BILL WESTMORELAND of this newspaper and the of the morning. A half-de- Ann Hampton Callaway Greenwich Village-Chelsea cade ago, the Greenwich completes the first handful Chamber of Commerce. Village-Chelsea Chamber of of Village Jazz Alive honor- To enter, send an email ees, at the annual event’s Commerce began to rec- fifth edition. to Jazz@TheVillager.com, ognize iconic jazz artists by along with your phone hosting Village Jazz Alive. This swanky, number (only enter once, please). A swinging, fall destination event pays winner will be selected at random, and tribute to singers, musicians, and comcontacted by phone on Oct. 20. If you posers who contribute to Greenwich want to guarantee attendance, visit bit.ly/ Village’s enduring music culture. VillageJazzAlive, where your purchase of This year, Ann Hampton Callaway VIP tickets will include a meet and greet joins the ranks of past honorees Odetta, reception with Ann and a signed CD. Art D’Lugoff, Randy Weston and Arturo Regular admission includes free drinks, Sandoval. Admired throughout the world appetizers and a performance by the Trio. as a singer, composer, arranger, lyricist, The event takes place on Wed., Oct. 22, producer and educator, Callaway’s dis7–9 p.m. at the Metropolitan Room (34 tinct voice and impressive range will be W. 22nd St., btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves.).

October 16, 2014

Ira Drew is masterful and inspired — with physical tics that recall a silent movie villain and a Tex Avery cartoon, boiled down to their essence then reconstructed into something equally unique and memorable. It’s the best performance of the lot, and that’s saying something. Newcomer Micah Stock, as coat check boy Gus, skillfully milks befud-

dled for most of the play, then cuts loose with an impromptu musical theater audition that makes the notion of seeing “Wicked” both unwelcome and unnecessary. Amid this loopy collection of broadly written and played characters, Matthew Broderick’s stiff and sober Peter Austin stands alone, if not exactly tall. Dressed in the duds of a noble bygone era (his father’s top hat, white tie and tails), the self-doubting M.I.A. playwright of “The Golden Egg” finally arrives at his own party. Fresh from a melancholy Broadway walkabout, he delivers the first of many soft-spoken platitudes about the dignity of a life lived in, and for, the theater. His earnestness soon becomes profoundly sad, because from what we learn about “The Golden Egg” as the play progresses, its author probably doesn’t have the chops to attain the theatrical purity he so greatly admires. Not covets, mind you, admires. For two hours and thirty-five minutes, Peter Austin is the only one in that bunker mentality upstairs bedroom whose steely resolve isn’t a product of selfish desperation. “Plays don’t pop up like toast,” he cautions, although the one he’s in is as well-done and delicious as it gets.

‘Nightmare: New York’ has plentiful scares and psychological depth NIGHTMARE, continued from p. 16

veal terrifying specters in a stately fireplace. Another set, a replica of a subway car circa the 80s, is simply stunning, and eerie in a way that hits close to home. The acting is also top-notch. Instead of letting the makeup and costumes alone carry the scares, the unique theme allows for a lot of the cast to sink their teeth into strange characters that go above and beyond the standard haunted house boogeyman fare. Many of the actors get a chance to embody distinctly warped individuals. One low-key, deranged man insists to guests that Gene Hackman used to serve him hard-boiled eggs. Another standout performance comes from an unhinged man in the subway, giving an intimidating rant while aiming a gun dead at you. Figures like these seem to have a psychological depth and sense of purpose that makes their scares stick — and when the characters aren’t quite as well-defined, at the very least they are suitably scary and/or gleefully gruff

and explicit when barking orders and administering threats of bodily harm. The whole thing is a blast that comes together to provide an adrenaline rush and a chilled spine. And yet, “Nightmare: New York” seems to be tapping into something deeper than just reiterating the city’s ghost stories. Towards the end of the tour, near the temporal present in the show, a hooded figure in modern clothes forces the group to put burlap sacks over their heads, and follow a rope to an uncertain fate, sensory deprivation heightening the terror of what’s to come. Suddenly you’re not in the world of the fantastical or the world of the past — you’re very much in the present, a part of your own interactive horror story. As you’re fumbling, being dragged along a rope by a madman, “Nightmare: New York” shows it understands that sometimes, our own expectations can disturb and unnerve more than any grotesque costume or special effect — and that the fear of being blind and vulnerable to danger in our own backyard is one that will linger long after Halloween passes. EastVillagerNews.com

Flesh, blood, guts and ghosts Spooky and just plain insane Halloween events BY SCOTT STIFFLER

THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: SEASICK

Soon to celebrate its silver anniversary, it’s just been announced that the cult TV show “Twin Peaks” is coming back for a nine-episode arc, EastVillagerNews.com

COURTESY OF DAVID LYNCH BURLESQUE

THE PINK ROOM: DAVID LYNCH BURLESQUE

PHOTO BY KL THOMAS

From haunted houses to slasher films, there are faster ways to go to hell this Halloween — but nothing worms its way into your brain and stays there quite like a Pumpkin Pie Show. Clay McLeod Chapman, who never met a car trunk he didn’t want to stuff a body into, excels at crafting sinister monologues that have all the simplicity of a good old boy’s campfire story and all the frustrating complexity of an onion whose toxic rot isn’t revealed until the final layer has been peeled back. We’re still reeling from last year’s collection, which included a protective mother whose little girl develops murderous, avian instincts. Then there was Chapman’s own (true?) story of his heterosexual awakening during a trip to see Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” Still…in…our… heads. This year’s edition is a departure in terms of performance style, but a welcome return to form in the blood and guts department. Rather than a collection of monologues covering a variety of gruesome scenarios, “Seasick” has one lone tale to tell. With music by Kyle Jarrow, the Pumpkin crew (Chapman, Hanna Cheek, Abe Goldfarb, Katie Hartman and Brian Silliman) portrays a group enjoying all the perks a luxury cruise ship has to offer. But when an outbreak of norovirus divides the passengers into haves and have nots, their sense of morality veers as far off course as the boat they’re floating in. That’s the decisive moment when “one family must fight for their survival onboard this sun-and-blood-drenched cruise into madness.” Not for the weak of stomach, we’ve been warned — and they’re not talking about the midnight buffet! Oct. 16–Nov. 1, Thurs. –Sat. at 8 p.m. At UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Pl., btw. First Ave. & Ave. A). For tickets ($18, $15 for students/seniors), call 888596-1027 or visit horsetrade.info. For artist info: claymcleodchapman.com.

The Pumpkin Pie five circle their wagons and lose their marbles, in “Seasick” — a tale of disease on the high seas.

The Log Lady gets an R-rated reboot, at the season opener of “The Pink Room: David Lynch Burlesque.”

in what we hope will be all of its strange and wonderful glory. Peaks Freaks jonesing to immerse themselves in the world of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s dark, eccentric and occasionally murderous small Pacific Northwest logging town don’t need to wait until 2016 — or subscribe to Showtime. Long before there where whispers of a small screen revival, Francine “The Lucid Dream” (an old soul with an eye for new talent) was producing “The Pink Room: David Lynch Burlesque.” This Downtown theatrical tribute began with a focus on “Peaks” but soon branched out into exploring other, equally unsettling, works from Lynch (including “Inland Empire” and “Lost Highway”). The Pink Room’s new season kicks off with “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Burlesque!” Preview your Halloween costume by showing up dressed as Agent Cooper or The Log Lady (and don’t be shy about putting a sexy spin on it). Booed at Cannes in 1992, “Fire Walk With Me” (Lynch’s big screen prequel, released after ABC pulled the plug on “Peaks”) is still a divisive topic among fans. It did, though, have one thing going for it: an R rating that allowed Lynch unfettered access to bare flesh and adult behavior too explicit for network TV. That’s the promise of Showtime in 2016, and The Pink Room on Oct. 24, 2014 (hosted by Schaffer the Darklord as Agent Gordon Cole, with performances by Amelia Bareparts, Apathy Angel, Bunny Buxom, Granny

Merchant’s House and back in time. Hear about life as lived in the mid1800s, by family members and servants who may not have left when their hearts stopped beating. Filled with creepy photos, unsettling audio and first-person accounts of paranormal encounters, these tours have a way of making believers out of skeptics. On Oct. 21, the ultimate skeptic, Dan Sturges, gives a “Ghost Hunting 101” lecture based on his many investigations of the house. Beginning every half hour from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., the 50-minute Ghost Tours ($25) happen Oct. 24, 25 and 28-30 (with a few kid-friendly versions available). Super-spooky version (including fourth floor servants’ quarters) is $35. Reservations highly recommended. Call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org. At Merchant’s House Museum (29 E. Fourth St., btw. Lafayette & Bowery).

Fluffer, Matt Knife, Nasty Canasta and Francine. Go-go by Seedy Edie). Fri., Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. At Parkside Lounge (317 E. Houston St. at Attorney St.). For tickets ($15), visit brownpapertickets.com. $20 at the door (cash only). Two-drink minimum, 21+ to enter. Also visit parksidelounge.net and francineburlesque.com.

GHOST TOURS AT MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM

A Merchant’s House Museum Candlelight Ghost Tour can be a touching experience, and not just on an emotional level. Over the years, more than one person has turned to see who gave them that gentle nudge, only to find nobody there. Take your chances, if you dare, on this room-by-room trip through the

October 16, 2014

Appellate Court O.K.’s full N.Y.U. mega-project N.Y.U. 2031, continued from p. 1

October 16, 2014

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

decision. “N.Y.U. is very pleased by today’s unanimous decision from the Appellate Division,” he said, “which strongly upheld the city’s and the university’s positions, reaffirmed that the approvals process was properly followed, and reversed the lower court’s designation of some strips of land on the superblocks as ‘implied parkland.’ The need for additional academic space is clear and has been reaffirmed by a faculty-led committee, and it is now also clear that the university has the legal right to proceed with this project.” The plaintiffs on the community lawsuit include numerous individuals and community groups, as well as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, plus lead plaintiff Assemblymember Deborah Glick. “This decision by the Appellate Court is disappointing and flies in the face of logic and common sense,” Glick said. “New Yorkers are desperate to maintain the little parkland and open space they have. The N.Y.U. 2031 plan disregarded the law when it came to the ‘alienation’ of parkland and will result in the razing of public green space that is essential for the community. N.Y.U.’s claim that their plan will somehow allow for more open space is laughable and completely inaccurate. “We will continue to press forward and appeal this ruling and look to the higher court to protect green space that has for decades been used by the community.” Alexander Meadows, who is running against Glick in the Nov. 4 election, also issued a statement. “I stand in solidarity with the students, faculty and my neighbors against today’s disastrous ruling regarding N.Y.U.’s expansion plan,” the Progressive Party candidate said. “Today’s ruling is a setback for our community but the fight is not over. “Justice Donna Mills’s decision in the lower court affirmed what we in the community have said all along: N.Y.U.’s expansion is unlawful and will destroy our neighborhoods. The state Legislature cannot give the public park strips on Mercer St. and LaGuardia Place to N.Y.U. without approval. The gardens and playground on the city-owned land N.Y.U. would co-opt were developed and have long been sustained by local residents on behalf of our openspace-starved neighborhood.” In a case viewed as potentially having wide-ranging ramifications for many city properties — namely those

Just a few weeks ago, community opponents of the N.Y.U. expansion plan rallied in force on LaGuardia Place, calling on the city and N.Y.U. to “Drop the appeal!” of Judge Donna Mills’s January ruling. The cast of “STOMP” joined the rally and added garbage can lid cymbals to the Fiorello LaGuardia statue’s clapping hands.

being temporarily used as open space — the de Blasio administration joined N.Y.U. in appealing Mills’s ruling. The panel’s decision came swiftly. Only last month, the parties had gone to court for the hearing before the Appellate judges. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs, N.Y.U. and the city made brief 15-minute arguments, then answered questions from the judges. In their Oct. 14 ruling, the Appellate judges panel were unequivocal in their thinking that the open-space strips along LaGuardia Place and Mercer St. — on the eastern and western sides of the university’s two South Village superblocks, between W. Houston and W. Third Sts. — are not parkland. Back in January, though, State Supreme Court Justice Mills had ruled that three of these strips were “impliedly” parkland, based on their years of use as park space and the city’s conspicuous treatment of them as such. In an affidavit submitted in support of the plaintiffs’ suit, former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern stated that, during his tenure, N.Y.U. had repeatedly blocked the Parks Department’s efforts to have jurisdiction of the city-owned strips formally transferred from the Department of Transportation to Parks. The strips were remnants from a street-widening project in the mid-20th century. Mills further said in her ruling that for the strips to be used by N.Y.U. in any way for its construction purposes — such as for staging areas or to facilitate access for construction vehicles to the construction sites — would be illegal unless these properties were first “alienated” by the state Legislature, which would make them not public parks anymore. But in Tuesday’s shocking aboutface, the Appellate Division panel of judges couldn’t have disagreed with her more. In their decision, they wrote, in

part, while citing various precedent-setting cases: “Where, as here, there is no formal dedication of land for public use, an implied dedication may exist when the municipality’s acts and declarations manifest a present, fixed and unequivocal intent to dedicate. In determining whether a parcel has become a park by implication, a court should consider the owner’s acts and declarations and the circumstances surrounding the use of the land. The burden of proof rests on the party asserting that the land has been dedicated for public use. “Here, petitioners have failed to meet their burden of showing that the City’s acts and declarations manifested a present, fixed and unequivocal intent to dedicate any of the parcels at issue as public parkland. While the City has allowed for the long-term continuous use of parts of the parcels for park-like purposes, such use was not exclusive, as some of the parcels (like LaGuardia Park) have also been used as pedestrian thoroughfares. Further, any management of the parcels by the Department of Parks and Recreation was understood to be temporary and provisional, pursuant to revocable permits or licenses. Moreover, the parcels have been mapped as streets since they were acquired by the City, and the City has refused various requests to have the streets de-mapped and rededicated as parkland.” In addition, the panel rejected the arguments the plaintiffs made in their own appeal to aspects of Mills’s ruling, including their contention that the entire, seven-month-long city review process — the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — should be redone from square one, since Mills’s conclusions fundamentally changed what could be built. “Further, the court correctly concluded that there was no need to restart the ULURP process to review

modifications reducing the project’s size and scale,” the panel stated in their decision. Under Mills’s January ruling, at least two, and possibly three of the university project’s buildings would have been unable to be constructed. However, Mills did rule that — unlike the three other open-space strips — the one containing the Mercer-Houston Dog Run in its southern half was not parkland, meaning N.Y.U. could proceed with its plans to use part of this strip to build its new “Zipper Building” on its current Coles Gym site. The community plaintiffs also appealed Mills’s ruling on this dog-run strip, but the Appellate panel upheld the State Supreme Court justice’s position that it is not parkland. Andrew Berman, executive director of G.V.S.H.P., expressed confidence that — based on previous legal precedent relevant to this case — the plaintiffs will prevail at the next level in the courts. “We believe the First Department panel made the wrong decision today in overturning Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills’s decision preserving and protecting New York City parkland, and allowing the city to give this land away to N.Y.U. for its deeply unpopular and bloated expansion plan,” Berman said. “Mills was correct in identifying this much-needed public green space as parkland which cannot be alienated by the city or N.Y.U. We continue to believe that the sanctity of this principle should be upheld, and we are confident that it will be upon appeal. “Since the City Council, City Planning Commission and borough president first gave away public park space to N.Y.U., and overturned longstanding deed restrictions, zoning protections and open-space preservation requirements to allow N.Y.U. to move ahead with its massive plan, we knew we were up against a lot,” Berman said. “But I believe that, in the end, the best interests of the city, the Village and even the university, as articulated by its faculty, workers and students who oppose this plan, will prevail, and the courts will halt N.Y.U. 2031.” The preservationist added that, adding insult to injury, the site of the current Morton Williams supermarket, at the corner of Bleecker St. and LaGuardia Place, which had been earmarked for a new public school as part of the university’s plan, is now set to revert to N.Y.U. control by the end of this year unless the Department of Education quickly commits to having a school there. “It just shows what a sham this whole plan was,” Berman said, “and how it benefits the university at the expense of the public and the community.” EastVillagerNews.com

Is it last supper for the pavilion restaurant? PAVILION, continued from p. 1

EastVillagerNews.com

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Under the contract with the city, the seasonal concession runs from midApril to about Oct. 15. There is a little wiggle room depending on which day the restaurant started operating in the spring. Instead, according to Krueger’s newsletter, from now on, the hotly debated eatery will be confined to the area right outside the pavilion — the exterior tables and chairs it currently has on the hexagonal asphalt pavers just north of the structure. (According to a source, however, this may also include exterior tables and chairs just to the east of the pavilion.) As for the pavilion itself, it will reportedly be returned to year-round public use as a part of Union Square Park — which is what, for the last half dozen years, opponents of the pavilion restaurant have doggedly fought for. The concession’s contract reportedly contains a clause allowing the city to cancel it at any time; so the operator probably has little choice but to concede to the city’s new terms. Jack Taylor, a member of the Union Square Community Coalition, tipped The Villager off to the news this Tuesday. “All we know is what was in state Senator Krueger’s newsletter,” he said. “Krueger and the other elected officials pushed de Blasio to reverse the agreement. After this summer season ends, in October, the restaurant will be limited to the blacktop area on the northern plaza. This will provide a buffer between the restaurant and the children’s playground. “It’s a partial victory, at least,” he said, “freeing up the pavilion, which we think should be for community use and programs, not a commercial entity. We’ve been fighting this since 2005.” A lawsuit spearheaded by U.S.C.C. seeking to block the eatery from use of the pavilion, went all the way to the Court of Appeals, the state’s high court, but ultimately lost. The opponents had argued that the pavilion first needed to be “alienated” by the state Legislature — making it no longer parkland — before it could be used for the private concession. Taylor wasn’t sure, but he said he thought that, under the revamped agreement, the restaurant’s kitchen, currently located in the pavilion’s basement, would be allowed to remain there. Not having any more information than what he read in the newsletter, he referred The Villager to Krueger’s office. Brad Usher, the state senator’s chief of staff, said he was actually the one who added the item about the pavilion restaurant to his boss’s newsletter. “As of Oct. 15 they’re supposed to be out of the pavilion,” he said, “and

A worker set up the outdoor cafe area of the Pavilion Market Cafe at Union Square on Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. Initially, the restaurant’s operator had planned to serve breakfast starting at 8 a.m. But business has been so bad, breakfast has been dropped from the menu and the place opens later, usually around 10:30 a.m.

after that will be on the blacktop...in the spring.” Usher said, according to the information he has, while the restaurant will be permanently bounced from the pavilion, he doesn’t know if the kitchen will continue to occupy the pavilion’s basement or not. At issue, however, is that there is nothing in writing yet from the de Blasio administration confirming what was verbally communicated months ago about the restaurant. “It was reported to me there was an agreement,” Usher said. “Do I have anything in writing? No. But when it was reported to me, it was that this is done. Given what I’ve seen, I’d be surprised if this is not a real deal.” According to Usher, Assemblymember Richard Gottfried’s Office actually has taken the lead on the issue. Wendi Paster, Gottfried’s chief of staff, said a meeting at City Hall occurred back around April between “a lot of elected officials and staff and people from the de Blasio administration.” Paster, who, unlike Usher, actually attended that negotiation, said she is waiting for confirmation of the agreement — which she said was a verbal commitment conveyed to her shortly after the meeting. “That’s what they said a few months ago, but we haven’t heard, or seen anything further in writing since April,” she said. Earlier this year, advocates pressured Mayor de Blasio to cancel the contract signed under his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg, for the pavilion restaurant. They noted that as public

advocate, de Blasio even wrote to the State Liquor Authority, urging that it deny a liquor license for the establishment. Yet, ultimately, the new mayor didn’t put the kibosh on the pavilion plan. But apparently thanks to the politicians’ ongoing pressure, he may have relented. Back in early May, when the 160seat restaurant first opened, the operator’s plan was to be open from 8 a.m. to midnight, complete with breakfasts in the morning. But, according to Geoffrey Croft, who ate there recently, business has been bad — so bad, in fact, that breakfast has been dropped from the menu. Croft said he went to the place a few weeks ago, and it was deserted of diners. “I was the only one there,” he said. “Several employees said business has not been good. They had over 100 employees, and they said staff ‘have left in droves.’ It’s hard to staff a seasonal restaurant, especially when business is bad.” Croft, the founder of NYC Park Advocates, has been a leading opponent of the pavilion restaurant plan. According to Croft, another local restaurateur who bid on the pavilion contract — yet with a plan to offer food at a lower price point than the winning bid — has declared the Pavilion Market Cafe “a disaster.” Under the new agreement, the fancy furnishings that Chef Driven Market, the parent company, installed in the pavilion — such as chandeliers and the bar — reportedly would now need to be ripped out.

Croft said the hope is that the kitchen also will be booted from the pavilion’s basement, so that it, too, can be returned to public park use for the community. “Details are still being worked out with the administration,” he said. One concern, he noted, is that, after removing the restaurant from the pavilion, the city might want to compensate the operator by providing it with more space outside on the northern plaza. That poses a new problem, the advocate said, since it could impinge on the plaza’s historic function as a place of public assembly for rallies, protests and free speech. “What we don’t want is to give them more land,” he stressed. He added that the restaurant’s contract isn’t being canceled per se, but that it’s a “change of venue” — the shunting of the eatery from inside the pavilion to outside it. As for the uses for the pavilion’s open-air top portion, advocates are thinking along the lines of bringing back children’s uses and former uses, like tango and a Brazilian short-film festival. In a similar pavilion in Columbus Park, the top open portion is “used 18 hours a day,” Croft said. Meanwhile, assuming the kitchen is forced to vacate the Union Square pavilion’s basement, that enclosed space could be used for things like pingpong, art classes and art exhibits, he added. Reached by phone late Tuesday afternoon, a hostess at the pavilion restaurant said a general manager was not available to speak just then. However, she confirmed that it’s true the eatery no longer serves breakfast. She declined, though, to answer questions on whether business has been bad and if staff have been deserting, saying that would be for the G.M. to respond to. However, the city’s Parks Department wasn’t ready to confirm this week — at least not publicly — if the pavilion restaurant will be moved outdoors. “The city will evaluate the pavilion’s performance during its first season, and make adjustments as deemed necessary to their operation moving forward,” said Parks spokesperson Phil Abramson. He added that the restaurant will operate until Oct. 31 since it opened a bit late, on May 1. According to a source, the city believes the restaurant had a successful first season, but won’t make a decision until the evaluation is completed. Croft, though, said there’s a simple solution. “The contract should have been canceled by the new administration so we don’t have go through all this,” he said, “and so that the interests of children and the greater Union Square community would be protected.” October 16, 2014

October 16, 2014

EastVillagerNews.com

PHOTO BY ZACH WILLIAMS

Thehbia Hiwot Walters, of H.P.D., left, told the C.B. 3 meeting that the city wants the garden property to be developed now.

C.B. 3 committee backs garden; City wants lots SIEMPRE, continued from p. 1

itself of the property so that William Gottlieb Management Company could develop the parcels, along with its adjacent parcel at 139 Attorney St. Three units of affordable housing would be included in the project, in return for which, Gottlieb would receive a tax abatement, in addition to the two parcels. But the C.B. 3 committee voted unanimously to urge H.P.D. to make the garden a permanent fixture of the neighborhood. Two committee members abstained from voting, though, contending that the approved resolution should address the issue more widely by urging H.P.D. to turn over more land for permanent community gardens. Three dozen garden supporters attended the meeting, some waving vegetable-shaped placards. A petition in support of the garden received more than 1,000 signatures in time for the meeting. Nonetheless, garden supporters were surprised that the committee voted in their favor. As part of the 2012 agreement with H.P.D., garden organizers signed a letter stating they would not oppose future development of the parcels. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so overwhelmed by the action of a community together,” said Claire Costello, a garden supporter. “Power to the people.” Thehbia Hiwot Walters, who represented H.P.D. at the meeting, told the committee that the time had come to develop the parcels, especially given the recent push from the city to expand its affordable housing stock. She said that while she understood the zeal with EastVillagerNews.com

which activists oppose the plan, the committee should consider the department’s position and the benefits of additional affordable housing. “My intent coming here was not to have a large fight, because I get it,” said Walters who did not mention the 2012 letter. An H.P.D. spokesperson said on Oct. 15 that the department is considering the committee’s vote, but did not elaborate on whether the proposed project remains viable. A Gottlieb representative did not respond to a request for comment. Where the department sees an opportunity to expand affordable housing — albeit on a small scale — the C.B. 3 members see the loss of a popular community garden in favor of project by a wealthy developer. Committee members agreed that the larger community benefits more from Siempre Verde Garden. “Three units isn’t worth it,” said Herman Hewitt. “Even if they permanently affordable, it’s not worth it... . The developer is getting the maximum benefit from that small piece of property.” Critics said that, besides destroying a neighborhood green space, the proposed building would block the windows of next-door apartments and simply would not be a good fit within the “L”shaped trio of lots. The project is currently in predevelopment, with H.P.D. officials negotiating details with the developer, a department spokesperson said last week. A public Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, would follow an agreement. There would be the possibility of allowing the gardeners to use another H.P.D. property on an interim basis, should one be available at that time, according to the de-

partment. The department spokesperson told The Villager it was “disappointing” that the gardeners were protesting the project. Garden supporter Elissa Sampson said the proposed project would not benefit the community the way the garden has since the 1980s. The lots’ mature trees attest to the garden’s presence since the time when many such properties were abandoned during the ’70s and ’80s, she said. “It’s a bad land use trade-off,” Sampson said last week. “When you have public land, it sets a high threshold for its best and most appropriate usage. In this particular case, the lots are unsuitable for development due to their small and irregular shape, and the small benefit to the community at large provided by an 80-percent luxury development.” Children learn the basics at Siempre Verde Garden, such as that “salads” grow outside and that raising tasty veggies requires some real physical exertion. On a recent visit, the cherry tomatoes and peppery arugula there looked as high quality as anywhere else. Nearby, though, a pile of flowers had wilted in their pots in the autumn cold. Costello said there were plans to hang these on street signs, but the Department of Transportation permit process proved too difficult. Through the garden, Costello has become friends with her neighbors and seen the joys of making a green oasis within a landscape of brick, concrete and asphalt. Within the last two years, she has led efforts that literally brought tons of unpolluted topsoil to the garden. “It’s just made me a happier person,” she said, “and it’s changed my life immensely.” October 16, 2014

October 16, 2014

EastVillagerNews.com