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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
August 4, 2016 • $1.00 Volume 86 • Number 31
Coles demo kicks off N.Y.U. project, triggers community concerns By ALEX ELLEFSON
N
.Y.U. may have triumphed in the courtroom — surviving a legal challenge last year to its ambitious development plan on two South Village superblocks. But now locals will see if the university makes good on its promise to be a good neighbor when construction
gets underway. The first phase of the project, called N.Y.U 2031, starts this month, when the university begins tearing down Coles Gym, at 181 Mercer St., to make way for a much larger multi-purpose facility. The demolition work is expected to continue for a year — and the N.Y.U. continued on p. 4
Village View is looking at exit from affordable co-op housing program Photo by John Penley
BY ALEX ELLEFSON
F
or more than half a century, residents at the Village View cooperatives enjoyed the benefits of the Mitchell-Lama program. Qualifying tenants could buy an apartment in the sprawling East Village complex for well below market rate. And tax
exemptions helped keep maintenance fees low. However, shareholders are now mulling whether to withdraw from the affordable housing program — considered one the most successful at providing homes for middle-income people. The decision to withdraw would allow residents to Housing continued on p. 3
The par ty’s over! Bernie Sanders suppor ters protesting outside the Democratic National Convention carried a coffin representing the death of the Democratic Par ty — which did not nominate their candidate.
From the seats to streets: Reflections on the D.N.C. BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
H
illary Clinton got a post-convention bounce in the polls, and local Democrats — admittedly, not all, though many — were feeling similarly uplifted by last week’s Democratic National Convention. The convention was highlighted by soaring speeches and idealism. And after all the xenophobia and fear-monger-
ing on display in at the Republican National Convention, Lenny Kravitz rocked the D.N.C. stage, urging Americans to put aside their differences and “Let Love Rule.” Members of the New York Democratic Delegation had a front-row seat on it all, since they hail from Hillary Clinton’s adopted “home state,” earning them pride of place right by the stage. Most of the elected officials attending from the Down-
town Manhattan area were Clinton delegates. Although among them was notably District Leader Arthur Schwartz, Bernie Sanders’s New York campaign counsel. Meanwhile, fresh from covering — and protesting at — the R.N.C. in Cleveland, former East Village activist John Penley was stirring things up at the D.N.C. in Philadelphia — again covering it, and D.N.C. continued on p. 8
Graffiti great gone wild: LA II’s nutty night......p. 6 L.E.S. loses Al Orensanz and Heshy Jacob. . . . . .p.12 Glick goes gonzo on Trump.....p. 2
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