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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, Vii ll V l l ag a g e, e , East Ea ass t Village, V i llag Vi llll a ag ge e,, Lower L ower ow o we err East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown Chinatt o ow w n and a n d Noho, an No N o ho h o , Since Sii n S ncc e 1933 19 1 9 33 33
October 19, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 42
Chelsea terrorist bomber found guilty on all eight charges BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC
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hmad Khan Rahimi was found guilty Monday on all charges related to a bomb that exploded last September on W. 23rd St. and injured 31 people, and for planting another device on W. 27th St. The federal jury took only
a few hours — two on Friday, ay, then reconvening on Monnday — to convict Rahimi on all counts. The eight charges es included use and attempted ed use of a weapon of mass deestruction, bombing a place of public use, and destroying and nd attempting to destroy property ty BOMBER continued on p.. 6
PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER
“Things” were looking prett y creepy at the annual Zombie Crawl in the East Village over the weekend. See Page 16 for all the fun, guts, gore and blood.
School reunion: Blaz wants to ‘reacquire’ the old P.S. 64 BY LEVAR ALONZO AND LINCOLN ANDERSON
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n a stunning surprise announcement, Mayor Bill de Blasio, at a town hall meeting for the Lower East Side and East Village last Thursday night, said his administration is interested in “reacquiring” the old P.S. 64, the former CHARAS / El Bohio, from developer Gregg Singer. “Decisions made a long time ago were a mistake,” de Blasio declared at the Oct. 12 event. “To place that building in the hands of a private owner was a failed mistake. So I’m announc-
Ai’s ‘Fence’ in full effect........p. 10
ing tonight the city’s interest in reacquiring that building. We are ready to right the wrongs of the past and will work with Councilmember Mendez and her successor to get that done.” Most in the audience of more than 300 people at The Island School, near the east end of E. Houston St., sprang to their feet and applauded the news. Returning the building to the community would most likely involve eminent domain, in which the owner would have to be paid fair-market value, which could be $40 million or more. The city would also be required to show a clear plan for the building’s future use to
regain possession of it. Co-hosting the town hall with the mayor were District 2 Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Mendez, a third-term incumbent cannot seek re-election next month due to term limits. Speaking later, a Mendez spokesperson said that the councilmember did not have any advance notification that the mayor was going to make the announcement. “That was the first that Rosie heard the news,” he said, adding, “It was the first her team MAYOR continued on p. 4
Johnson, Halasa get down to business............p. 15 Salvation Army buildings are landmarked.......p. 32 www.TheVillager.com