The Villager

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

July 27, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 30

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Survey says? C.B. 2 to release online poll on future of Pier 40

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

S

o far, a series of meetings by a Community Board 2 working group focusing on Pier 40 have not exactly been going gangbusters in terms of drawing crowds of local residents.

To solicit more ideas and concerns about the planned redevelopment of the sprawl-

ing W. Houston St. pier, C.B. 2 now will be sending out an e-survey. Tobi Bergman, chairperson of the board’s ad hoc Future of Pier 40 Working Group, said the survey will be going out next week.

Few details were available at press time about the survey’s actual contents or exactly PIER40 continued on p. 6

Silver seeks Supreme solution: Lawyers say case vs. him weaker

BY MARY REINHOLZ

S

heldon Silver, the once-powerful New York State Assembly speaker turned criminal defendant, still shows he has the savvy of a street-smart power broker. He wants his lawyers to get him a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court in the aftermath of a July 13 decision

by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit tossing his conviction on corruption charges.

The Associated Press reported late last week that Silver defense attorney Steven Molo has notified the three-judge appellate panel in Manhattan of his plan to request a SCOTUS reSILVER continued on p. 4

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Beating the heat in Washington Square Park with some help from an umbrella, hats and the cooling mist of the fountain. For more photos, see Page 5.

Trust in Pier55 parley as new lawsuit is filed

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

L

ast Friday, The City Club of New York and two of its members who are leading waterfront activists — Tom Fox and Rob Buchanan — filed a new lawsuit in federal court against Barry Diller’s ambitious $250 million Pier55 project on the Greenwich Village waterfront.

This Monday, the plaintiffs met with representatives of

media mogul Diller and the Hudson River Park Trust to see if a solution can be worked out under which the high-profile “arts pier” can proceed.

As envisioned by its supporters, Pier55 would sit offshore at W. 13th St. and be connected to the mainland by two narrow pedestrian bridges.

The 2.7-acre pier would sport an undulating, foliage-covered landscape, plus three performance spaces that would host

numerous performances that would be a mix of free and ticketed. In what would be a gift to a public park of historic proportions, Diller would fund most of the project’s construction cost, plus program the pier’s performance spaces and fund the pier’s ongoing maintenance through a nonprofit group, Pier55 Inc. The project’s supporters laud Pier55 as an opportunity PIER55 continued on p. 8

Arthur Stoliar, 90, first C.B. 2 chairperson ...... p. 10 Sal Albanese says, ‘Restore our democracy’.. . p. 13 ‘Heavy metal’ photographer .. p. 18

www.TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Sound off!

IN THE FLESH ON FORSYTH: At an opening of nude self-portraits by Savannah Spirit at the Mulherin Gallery on Forsyth St., Spirit — an artist, photographer and curator, above center — was joined by “XMen” actor Bruce Davison, left, and actor Malcolm McDowell of “Clockwork Orange” fame, right.

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July 27, 2017

Write a letter to the editor news@thevillager.com

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POLICE BLOTTER Salvation stabbings Police responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress in front of the Salvation Army building, at 120 W. 14th St., on Mon., July 24, at 9:13 p.m. When they arrived, they found two male victims, both conscious: a 42-year-old with stab wounds to the chest and a 32-yearold with lacerations to his right armpit.

According to a police source, witnesses pointed out the perpetrator to the officers. The suspect fled, but the cops caught him after a brief foot chase.

E.M.S. removed the two victims to Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition.

Douglas Gaston, 50, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of reckless endangerment, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and three counts of menacing. Gaston reportedly had initially used a pair of scissors to menace a 15-year-old male. When he was arrested he had three weapons on him: scissors, a box cutter and a cane.

Hamptons holdup The weekend got off to a bumpy start for a group of Hamptons-bound passengers when the seaplane they were in

crashed into the East River on Fri., July 21, around 5:30 p.m.

Police said the plane was departing the E. 23rd St. marina and had risen about 10 feet in the air, when it crashed into the water due to a damaged left wing. A Police Department Harbor Unit boat responded and removed the 10 passengers from the partially submerged plane. A Fire Department boat towed the damaged plane back to the marina. All the passengers — no doubt eager to get out to the East End and start their revelries — refused medical attention.

July 19, at 9:06 a.m. A female store employee, 34, told police that two individuals entered the store, and one started putting items in a backpack while the other put items into a large Dunkin’ Donuts bag. When an employee approached and told them to stop, the pair allegedly began to attack the employee, plus cashiers, by throwing carts and water bottles at them. They stole a total of $330.33 worth of items, but police caught up with them.

Joseph Tejada, 20, and Dezire Wenner, 17, were arrested for felony robbery.

Man vs. cars A man was seen causing damage to cars in front of 505 Laguardia Place on Fri., July 21, at 3:27 a.m., police said. The suspect was observed kicking and punching a 2017 white Lexus and a 1999 white Honda. Upon further investigation, several dents were found on both vehicles, along with footprints from the suspect’s shoes. The damage is expected to be more than $250 for each vehicle, according to the police report.

Stephen C. Hwang, 25, was arrested for felony criminal mischief.

Ambulance attack An E.M.S. medic was assaulted by the victim he was treating on Sat., July 22, at 6:50 a.m., according to police. The incident happened on Horatio St. inside an ambulance. The suspect punched the 60-year-old medic in his chest and the arm, shoulder, back and ribs with a detergent bottle, breaking two of his ribs.

Kenneth Perry, 29, was arrested for felony assault.

Rite Aid robbery According to police, the Rite Aid at 501 Sixth Ave. was robbed on Wed.,

Vendor violence

Nab subway suspect

A man didn’t want to pay a food vendor operating outside of 40 E. 14th St. for his meal before receiving it and then attacked the vendor. Police said the assailant asked to buy food from the victims’ cart on Sun., July 23, at 2:30 a.m. but when he was told he had to pay first, a verbal dispute started. The suspect then punched the 65-year-old victim in the mouth, causing him to suffer bleeding and a swollen lip.

Youssef Rahali, 59, was arrested for misdemeanor assault.

Police announced an arrest in a June 18 assault on the J train platform in the Delancey St. station that saw a 65-yearold man punched, and then, after he had fallen to the ground, punched and kicked into unconsciousness.

Police said that, pursuant to an investigation, Andrew Flores, a 19-year-old homeless man, was arrested July 20 for second-degree assault.

Tabia C. Robinson and Lincoln Anderson

Jefferson Market Garden

Free Summer Music August Sundays 5-7 pm Featuring

Women in Jazz

August 6th Bogna Kicinska

Quintet

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August 13th Greenwich House Faculty & Friends

String Quartet

August 20th Arcoiris Sandoval

August 27th Miki Yamanaka

Sonic Asylum Quartet

Quartet featuring

Melissa Aldana July 27, 2017

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July 27, 2017

SILVER continued from p. 1

view on behalf of his client, who continues to remain free on bail.

Silver, a 73-year-old Democrat and lifelong Lower East Side resident, still faces federal charges that he abused his former office as speaker to obtain nearly $4 million in purported kickbacks and bribes disguised as legal referrals from two law firms that had retained him as counsel. He was found guilty last year of seven felonies, including extortion, honest-services fraud and money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni slapped him with a 12-year sentence.

Caproni has a mandate to preside at a second trial for Silver, even though the Court of Appeals judges ruled that she erred in giving jurors in his first one overly broad instructions on what constitutes a corrupt official act. To buttress their ruling, they cited a 2016 SCOTUS decision overturning the corruption conviction of Bob McDonnell, a former Republican governor of Virginia, and his wife, Maureen.

The McDonell decision narrows the definition of bribery. However, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals judges said government prosecutors did have sufficient evidence to prove Silver’s case at another trial.

Justin H. Kim, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District, has said he’s looking forward to his office trying and convicting Silver a second time. He made his intentions known again in a letter to Caproni dated July 24. “The Government intends to re-try the defendant, and believes it is in the public interest for that re-trial to occur promptly,” Kim’s letter states, in part.

Kim notes that his office does not seek further review of its decision on Silver’s conviction, but points out that “the defendant” has notified the Second Circuit that he plans to file a motion to stay the mandate, “pending the filing for a writ of certiorari [the record of the case from the lower court] to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Kim’s letter goes on to state that Silver’s motion to stay the mandate is due on July 27 and concludes: “The Government plans to oppose the defendant’s motion and, if the motion is denied, will seek to reschedule a re-trial at the Court’s earliest convenience.”

Sources in the Justice Department say Southern District prosecutors had considered appealing the Second Circuit decision on the Silver verdict, but decided to try him again.

That may not be so easy to pull off the second time around. Several prominent figures in New York’s legal community say that Silver’s case has been weakened by the dismissal of his conviction and was flawed from the get-go.

“I don’t know any judge or lawyer who expected [Silver’s] conviction to stand,” said Manhattan attorney Emily Jane Goodman, a former New York State Supreme Court justice. She added that most of the attorneys she knows regard Silver’s alleged misdeeds in public office to be eth-

FILE PHOTO BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL

Former A ssembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was swarmed by photographers and repor ters as he left federal cour t in Lower Manhattan in November 2015, after being found guilt y on all counts in his corruption trial. Following the verdict, he was immediately stripped of his political position.

ical lapses more than criminal conduct.

Goodman, however, doubts that SCOTUS will accept Silver’s case.

“But if they did, they are not going to order the case dismissed,” she opined in an email to this reporter. “The U.S. prosecutors will fight this vehemently and the boss — [U.S. Attorney General] Jefferson Sessions or his successor — will never voluntarily back off trying a heavyweight Democrat imo [in my opinion].

“Even if they now view the case as substantially weaker, they’ll still let it go to a jury so they have jurors to blame if they lose the case.”

Defense attorney Molo was not available for comment, but his co-counsel Joel Cohen told The Villager that Silver’s prosecution “never should have been brought.” He acknowledged that the former Assembly speaker was not acquitted by the appellate panel, but noted that the three judges ruled “he could have been acquitted by rational jurors if they had been properly charged. The prosecution should have anticipated the McDonnell decision,” he added.

Famed criminal defense lawyer Murray Richman of the Bronx, also known as “Don’t Worry Murray,” said he had predicted the reversal of Silver’s conviction early on and had told several reporters “that this case is bulls---.”

Richman, who has defended disgraced politicians, mafia figures and hip-hop artists, including rapper DMX — recently

charged with income tax invasion — believes that the government’s case against Silver has been “greatly diminished.”

Prosecutors, he said, will have a hard time gathering witnesses, including “the old doctor.”

He was referring to Dr. Robert Taub, a cancer researcher at a Columbia University clinic to whom Silver funneled $500,000 in two state grants in 2005 and 2006.

Silver had recommended that Taub refer patients suffering from asbestos-related mesothelioma to Weitz & Luxemberg, a leading personal-injury law firm that had put Silver on its payroll around 2000.

Silver received about $3 million from his share of the referrals.

Taub’s testimony was at the heart of the government’s case, even though the doctor, who agreed to testify in exchange for no prosecution, admitted during crossexamination by Molo that he did not have an “explicit” agreement with Silver to exchange referrals for grants, according to The New York Times.

A second alleged quid pro quo scheme

by Silver concerns about $700,000 he received in referral fees from the small Downtown law firm of Goldberg & Iryami for steering the tax appeal business of real estate developers Glenwood Management and the Witkoff Group. In return, Silver allegedly arranged for favorable legislation in Albany on rent regulations for the developers.

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Park does a body good during heat wave

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

The Washington Square Park fountain was a cool spot to hang out during this past week’s heat wave.

Perhaps not surprisingly, body painters from Human Connection Arts also chose the occasion and location to do their thing.

TheVillager.com

July 27, 2017

5

C.B. 2 to release online poll on Pier 40’s future PIER40 continued from p. 1

which e-mail lists will be used to distribute it — though, obviously the C.B. 2 list will be used.

In a recent interview, Bergman told The Villager, “We decided to do a survey to give a broader segment of the community a chance to weigh in, because the turnout at these meetings hasn’t been huge — because there hasn’t been anything on the table. Usually people start coming out [to meetings] when there’s a plan on the table.”

Although the Hudson River Park Trust, the waterfront park’s governing authority, has had one or more representatives at the meetings, which have been going for a few months now, so far no concrete plans have been broached by the Trust. What is known is that the Trust wants to redevelop Pier 40 to generate more revenue for both the massive W. Houston St. pier’s maintenance and the wider park, in general.

The Trust has tried, without success, to find ideas for the pier for more than a decade now. Two previous requests for proposals, or R.F.P.’s, from developers for plans to redevelop Pier 40 both went bust after the community opposed the proposals. Those failed ideas ranged from the world’s largest oceanarium during the first R.F.P. to a Cirque du Soleil-centered “Vegas on the Hudson” plan by The Related Companies during the subsequent R.F.P. This past May, a deal was closed under which the Trust is selling 200,000 square feet of unused development rights from Pier 40 to the developers of the St. John’s Partners project at 550 Washington St. That project will see the old St. John’s Terminal redeveloped into a new residential-and-hotel complex with a significant amount of affordable housing included.

But Pier 40 still has remaining air rights, and if the pier’s current threestory pier shed is demolished, even more development rights will be available to build new structures on the pier.

“The difficult thing,” Bergman said, “will be to try to figure out how to protect the park from another overblown development project” without totally impeding the Trust from trying to redevelop Pier 40 at all.

The main goal of the Trust right now, he said, is to modify the park’s governing legislation, the Hudson River Park Act of 1998, to allow commercial office space to be built at Pier 40. Currently, under the legislation, space equal to 50 percent of the pier’s footprint must be reserved for recreational park use, while the rest of the pier can be used commercially to generate revenue for the park.

“What the Trust has made clear over the years is that they want as much flexibility as they get,” he noted.

But if what the Trust proposes is out of scale, no doubt there will be com-

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July 27, 2017

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

At a meeting on Pier 40 two months ago, a leader of the Downtown United Soccer Club presented some of the league’s ideas for the pier, including a modest commercial use — adding a cafe — and increasing the amount of playing-field space.

munity backlash.

“If it’s huge, there will be resistance,” Bergman assured. “Scale is a huge issue.”

The former C.B. 2 chairperson and longtime local youth sports and parks activist noted that the pier has a floorarea ratio, or F.A.R., of 2 — meaning that if all the pier’s original development rights were still intact, the entire 15.4-acre pier could be covered solidly with two stories of floor space. Subtracting the 200,000 square feet that were sold to the St. John’s Partners project for $100 million still leaves the pier with a lot of usable development rights.

“You end up with half the floor area of the Empire State Building,” Bergman offered for comparison. “That’s what you could put there. What would be left would be 1.15 million square feet — the Empire State Building is 2.25 million square feet.

“And if you put offices there, you will have to have a certain amount of ancillary stuff — restaurants, cafes, coffee shops,” he noted.

The “density of the office space” will be a key issue, he predicted.

“If 10,000 people are working there, that would be a disaster,” Bergman warned. “Five thousand sounds like it’s still a lot.”

On the other hand, what the pier currently has — recreational park uses (its sports fields) and parking — are uses that have less impact and are less dense in terms of numbers of people on the pier.

Ultimately, Bergman pointed to the language of the park act as the guideline for any redevelopment of the pier.

The legislation, he noted, says that “to the extent practicable,” the park will generate income through park commercial uses for the park’s maintenance

and operation. (“It is intended that, to the extent practicable...the costs of the operation and maintenance of the park be paid by revenues generated within the Hudson River Park and that those revenues be used only for park purposes. Additional funding by the state and the city may be allocated as necessary to meet the costs of operating and maintaining the park.”)

Looking at it another way, Bergman said, it isn’t — or shouldn’t be — a question of how much money the Trust wants to milk out of Pier 40, “but what can the park and the community take?”

“We don’t want to fight it again.

That’s why we’re doing this,” he said of the working group’s goal of having recommendations for Pier 40 in place by the end of this year.

What is not wanted is another failed R.F.P., which would be “strike three” for Pier 40 after two previous processes tanked, he stressed.

“That would make chances even less likely it’ll happen,” he said. “We want a successful park / commercial project that can generate funds for the park.

But,” he added, “the purpose of the park is not to raise money. The park’s commercial part has to be compatible.”

Personally, Bergman said he would have preferred some residential development as a way to raise funds for the park. Around five years ago, a group he helped spearhead, Pier 40 Champions — a coalition of the local youth sports leagues — proposed the idea of building two luxury residential towers near the bike path at the foot of Pier 40 as a revenue generator. But it never got off the ground due to lack of political support. Like office use, it would have needed a legislative amendment, since the park act doesn’t allow residential

use. The leagues wouldn’t have built the towers, but they just suggested the idea.

“I thought the answer was a limited amount of residential,” Bergman reflected, “but the politicians didn’t want that, so we conceded that.”

Meanwhile, the Trust is not helping clarify things, in that it isn’t giving any real specifics on what it wants to see at Pier 40.

The Villager asked a Trust spokesperson if she could provide some more details about what the authority is envisioning, but she replied, “On Pier 40, the Trust respects the community board’s process and is not commenting at this point.”

At least one thing that is very clear, though: Bergman doesn’t want any of the potential office employees on Pier 40 thinking they’ll get insider dibs on the pier’s coveted courtyard or rooftop artificial-turf sports fields.

“They should have no special access to the fields,” he stressed. “No, not the same access to the fields as everyone else, because they already will be dominating the pier. Those fields are there for the community — not to make the pier more attractive to a commercial office use. I think that they would really have to be at the end of the line.”

Another big concern for the local leagues, like Greenwich Village Little League and Downtown United Soccer Club, and local schools that use the pier is that the playing fields never shut down.

However, the fear is that a massive Pier 40 project could close the pier for several years, meaning the leagues will have to scramble to find alternative field space.

“They should not close down the fields for construction,” Bergman stressed.

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July 27, 2017

7

Trust in Pier55 parley as a new lawsuit is filed

A design rendering for Pier55, which, as planned, would sit off of W. 13th St., connected to the shore by t wo pedestrian bridges. The pier would have an undulating, landscaped sur face and three per formance spaces, but its use would not be “water-dependent,” a federal judge ruled.

PIER55 continued from p. 1

for an incredible public / private partnership. Meanwhile, its opponents deride the grandiose scheme, mockingly referring to it as “Diller Island” and “Dilligan’s Island.”

In their newest lawsuit, the plaintiffs charge that an alleged “permit modification” for Pier55 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued last month to the Trust — the Hudson River Park’s governing state/city authority — after some tweaks were made to the pier’s design is invalid because the Corps instead must issue a completely new permit for the plan, which would, in turn, necessarily involve a whole new public review process.

Setting the stage for the current situation, in March, in a stunning decision on the first lawsuit, federal judge Lorna Schofield ruled for the City Club plaintiffs and rescinded the Army Corps’ previous permit for the project. In a strongly worded decision, Schofield said the Corps’ determination that the basic use of Pier55 was “water dependent” was wrong and a violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Pier55 would essentially be used for performances and recreation — but not fishing, boating or swimming or any other water-based uses — so there’s obviously no reason it needs to be on the water, the judge said.

Last month, with the news that the “permit modification” had been issued

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July 27, 2017

for the slightly redesigned Pier55, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Mario Cuomo and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer all issued enthusiastic statements urging that the glitzy billionaire-backed project be allowed to go forward.

Then, last week, The New York Times reported that de Blasio had personally reached out to Douglas Durst — the wealthy developer and former chairperson of the Friends of Hudson River Park — phoning him to ask that he drop his financial support for The City Club’s lawsuits against the project.

Durst had long been suspected of funding the lawsuits, but there had never been proof — that is, not until The Villager, in May, got Durst to admit on the record that he had, in fact, financially backed the litigation.

The Villager’s big scoop came about after Michael Novogratz, the current chairperson of the Friends of Hudson River Park — the 5-mile-long park’s leading private fundraising group — during a lengthy interview, repeatedly told the newspaper he was certain Durst was funding the court challenges.

“It feels like a conspiracy,” Novogratz said then, “by funding by Durst and a group of old guys [The City Club plaintiffs] who still want to seem relevant.

Durst seems obsessed with the park.”

Novogratz has slammed The City Club plaintiffs as a group with “crusty, petty grievances” while calling Durst “not very patriotic” for fighting the Pier55 plan.

‘We’re hopeful that we can reach common ground.’

Tom Fox Fox, in turn — who prefers to refer to himself as an “old lion” — back then told The Villager to just call up Durst and ask him, and, yes, Durst finally admitted that he had financed the suits — though he declined to say exactly how much money he had given. As for why Durst had been keeping a low profile, the developer said, “The reason I did not want my name involved is I did not want this to be a personal battle between me and Barry Diller.”

Fast-forward to this Monday’s meeting. Fox said he couldn’t talk about it in great detail due to the fact that it’s now an ongoing negotiation, and that the parties are hoping to work things out, but he did give a general sense of the effort’s goals.

“We met yesterday, and we’re going to meet next week,” he said. “I’m not at liberty to discuss [specifics]. We’re

looking at ways to mitigate our concerns about Pier55 — and they’re listening.

We presented a series of suggestions, and they’ll come back next week and let us know what they think of them.”

A veteran waterfront park activist, Fox led the Hudson River Park Conservancy, the Trust’s predecessor, and was intimately involved in the West Side riverfront park’s early planning. He was also a former board member of the Friends. He and Durst both had a falling out with the Trust’s leadership and left the Friends in 2012.

Fox said neither Diller nor Novogratz were at Monday’s meeting with the Trust and Diller reps, and he declined to get into details on who was there.

“There were 10 of them and seven of us,” was all he would say. “It was a chance to change pace. We actually met with principals.”

He said the Trust reached out to them before they filed the new lawsuit last Friday. Whether the fact that they were going to file the suit prompted the meeting, he said he could not say.

“We’re hoping to see if we can find some common ground,” Fox stressed.

In a nutshell, he said, describing The City Club’s position, “This permit is a new permit because the old permit was vacated. It can’t be a modification of a permit that was thrown out [by Judge

PIER55 continued on p. 14 TheVillager.com

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July 27, 2017

9

Arthur Stoliar, 90, first chairperson of C.B. 2 ing the creation of the West Village Houses — lowrise, middle-income housing in the Far West Village.

Stoliar was a founding member of the Jane Street Block Association. He was an active member of the Village Independent Democrats political club and

BY LEE STOLIAR DUFRESNE later of the Village Reform Democratic Club, a breakaway faction from V.I.D. whose members supported rthur P. Stoliar, the first chairperson of Ed Koch. He was an ardent supporter of Koch.

Manhattan’s Community Board 2, died Stoliar was an electrical engineer in electro-optics peacefully at his Jane St. home of natural and infrared technology at Sperry Gyroscope — causes at age 90 on July 9. which became Unisys — specializing in Cold War He had Parkinson’s Disease, which made his last military defense, where he did what he considered to five years quite hard for him, but he was staunch, be the most important work of his life, though beweathering every new difficulty with grace. cause it was classified, he never described it. He reBorn March 13, 1927, in Brooklyn, Stoliar gradu- tired in 1993. ated from Midwood High School in 1943. He served Arthur and Joan were dedicated catch-and-release in the Navy in World War II, then went on to gradu- fly-fishing anglers who traveled extensively to fish ate from City College in 1948, with a master’s degree throughout the U.S., Canada, South America the from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (“Brooklyn U.K. and Europe. They invented the first soft-sided Poly”). fly-tying kit. Due to high interest among fellow travelStoliar married Joan Kramer, a book designer, in ing fishers, they put it into production and created 1953. They settled first on Bank St. and in 1957 they a company, The Fly Tyer’s Carry-All, LLC (now The moved to Jane St., where they eventually bought the Folstaf Company). Over the years they would invent building they lived in and remained there for the rest and manufacture many more items for anglers. Most of his life. notable among these inventions was the Folstaf® He was the first chairperson of Community Board wading staff in 1970, the first folding wading staff 2, covering Greenwich Village and Lower West Side. on the market, which is still considered the industry Also chairperson of the board’s Waterfront Commit- standard. The company has been run by Arthur’s tee, he was a vigorous and influential opponent of daughter Lee since 1999.

Westway, the highway-and-landfill megaproject.

A fervent conservationist, Arthur Stoliar was a One of the early members of the West Village longtime board member of the Theodore Gordon FlyCommittee, Arthur Stoliar, along with others, includ- fishers, a member of Trout Unlimited, and a founding ing Jane Jacobs, fought successfully to establish land- member of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Musemarking to protect the historic neighborhood from um. He was director, following the death of founder destructive development. He was a leader in nurtur- Joan Stoliar, of Trout In The Classroom, a program in which elementary and high school students at both ends of the New York City watershed learn stewardship of clean rivers and streams by raising trout — which only survive in clean water — from egg to fry in classroom tanks. Annual year-end field trips to release the fry (with state Department of Environmental Conservation permits) in Upstate streams celebrate the students’ MAIL TO: One Metrotech Ctr North, 10th floor • Brooklyn, NY 11201 success. Stoliar ensured the program’s continuaYES! I want to receive The Villager every week of the year. tion by gifting it to Trout Unlimited, a national organization.

CHECK ONE: New Subscription Renewal In Roscoe and Livings(New Subscription $29•Renewal $24, for 52 weeks, ton Manor, N.Y., Arthur by check or credit card, will be added to your current subscription) and Joan developed Project Access, a volunteer / Name: community-based methAddress: od of creating switchback pathways to provide City: State: Zip Code: access to prime fishing Email: Phone: waters to anglers with Card Type: [ ] Visa [ ] Mastercard [ ] Amex [ ] Discover impaired mobility.

Card Holder’s Signature: Arthur Stoliar was a patron of the MetropoliCredit Card Number: tan Opera — often ridExp. Date: Security Code: ing to performances clad in a tuxedo, his wife in a gown, on their Lambretta motor scooter — as well as the Roundabout

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July 27, 2017

Ar thur Stoliar on a Segway on his 80th bir thday trip to San Francisco. He also enjoyed riding a Lambretta motor scooter.

Theatre. He loved Woody Allen films and Cole Porter lyrics.

He was a cruciverbalist and an oenophile, an amateur banjo and harmonica player, a pioneering city gardener and award-winning composter, who for years hosted field trips to his backyard red-worm composter by 3- and 4-year-olds from West Village Nursery School, which his grandchild had attended.

Stoliar was an irrepressibly social person and a terrific dancer. He was a member of what The New York Times dubbed “The Beatrice Inn Dining Club,” for years eating there six nights a week (because it was closed on the seventh). After The Beatrice closed and he was widowed, Arthur became a regular at Tavern On Jane, where he was known to frequently dine with a different woman each night. Other nights he would bring with him a small Tensor lamp that he would plug in so he could work on The New York Times crossword puzzle. Though he lost sight in one eye during a cataract surgery mishap, he read Proust’s “A La Recherché de Temps Perdue” on his Kindle in his 89th year.

Arthur was predeceased by his wife, Joan, in 2000, and his son, Evan, in 2004, and is survived by his daughter, Lee Stoliar Dufresne, son-in-law Leonard Dufresne, and grandchild Abby Dufresne. His memorial service was July 13 at Riverside Chapel, at W. 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave. TheVillager.com

Last Mass passed, effort to save church goes on

PHOTO BY MELINDA HOLM

St. Veronica’s was packed for its final Mass last Sunday.

BY MELINDA HOLM

I

t was a packed house for the last Mass at St. Veronica’s on Christopher St. this past Sunday. Built

by Irish longshoremen and platform workers that labored on the nearby docks, the Catholic church’s cornerstone was laid in 1890 and early services were held in the basement until the church was completed in 1903.

In its heyday, St Veronica’s, located on the block between Greenwich and Washington Sts., ministered to 6,500 parishioners. It was built in a Gothic Revival style, with an unusual oval shape to maximize space for the faithful. The church had a rectory, which since 1985 has housed the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Theresa’s order of nuns that give dignity to the dying, and a church school, now a private school. The church’s exterior is landmarked.

There is an effort underway to save the church.

In his closing words, Monsignor Kenneth Smith, who pastored St. Veronica’s from 1990 to 2001, spoke of the AIDS Memorial that was established at the church in 1991. Along the base of the first balcony are hundreds of small plaques bearing the names of those who died. At a time when many churches were insensitive to those who died of AIDS, Smith opened the church to interfaith services with, as he put it, “Protestants, Jews and those without religion that TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

The names of victims from the height of the AIDS crisis fill a memorial in St. Veronica’s balcony.

we might say prayer before carrying the ashes to the river.”

He reminded the packed congregation that St. Vincent’s Hospital was the epicenter of the AIDS crisis and where Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity ministered to the dying that they might die with dignity.

In Catholic tradition, St. Veronica wiped the brow of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa as he carried his cross to

Calvary. According to the Bible, his image imprinted on her veil, hence her name — Vera, Latin for “real,” and icon, Greek for “image.” While the relic may or may not be held in the Vatican, Veronica’s act of compassion is represented as the sixth station of the cross in all Catholic churches. Monsignor Smith recalled the hundreds of 9/11 survivors fleeing up the West Side Highway enter-

ing St. Veronica’s to find rest and solace.

Petitions have been sent to the Catholic Archdiocese of New York — and are now also being sent to the Vatican — to keep St. Veronica’s open as a church. A group called St. Veronica’s Moving Forward is spearheading the effort. There is also talk of trying to save the church as at least a spiritual space of some sort.

July 27, 2017

11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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Way to go, Coler and V.I.D.!

Don’t get your hopes up

To The Editor: Re “Affordable housing fight is also focusing on recovering units” (news article, July 20): Congratulations to President Erik Coler and the Village Independent Democrats Housing Committee for their incredible work in helping tenants to put destabilized apartments back under rent regulation, thus eliminating overcharged rents.

To The Editor: Re “Vlogger mayhem ‘worse than Supreme,’ locals say” (news article, July 20): Oh, please. Anyone counting on community boards, politicians or the N.Y.P.D. to take the side of the public versus businesses will be sorely disappointed. Case in point is Spiegel Cafe, a bar on the corner of First Ave. and Second St. The owner has two passions: motorcycles and making money.

Every Tuesday night since August 2016 the bar — in violation of Community Board 3’s own regulations — has run a “Two-Wheel Tuesday” event. Fifty bikers block the street and sidewalk every Tuesday night, gunning their engines and racing around the block all night. Many of us have complained, but C.B. 3’s and the N.Y.P.D.’s position is just like “Hogan’s Heroes” ’ Sergeant Schultz: “I see nothing! I know nothing!”

Annette Zaner

Pop-ups bad for business

Your Community News Source

To The Editor: Re “Vlogger mayhem ‘worse than Supreme,’ locals say” (news article, July 20): Last Thursday, rapper Kendrik Lamar opened a three-day pop-up shop just a block away from where the Logan Paul pop-up was. The police put up barricades for crowd control.

Although the crowd was considerably smaller, local stores were empty; business goes down, the people running the shops say, when these crowds gather. And, again, police had to be deployed here.

Lora Tenenbaum

Must stop pop-ups!

Call 718-260-2516 or e-mail pbeatrice@cnglocal.com

We cover “The Cube”!

To The Editor: Re “Vlogger mayhem ‘worse than Supreme,’ locals say” (news article, July 20): This Kendrik Lamar pop-up event was a total nightmare for the neighborhood. I’ve never seen so much uncollected garbage, and the kids who came in for this were incredibly noisy and rude. An entire block was off limits to residents, and an area of about three blocks in every direction was trashed.

How dare New York City and the Fifth Precinct, in particular — with their constant semiofficial permitting of each and every quality-of-life assault on Little Italy — allow these horrors in our neighborhoods?

Sam Hurwitt

Bill Barkum

Saving small businesses To The Editor: Re “Freeze shop evictions: Advocates and candidates” (news article, July 20): I’m running for public advocate because the city I love is disappearing and I know that another four years of the same leadership and it will be gone. My campaign is all about connecting the dots between the small-business crisis.

David Eisenbach

The memory lane of signs To The Editor: Re “Windows into the past, ghost signs are faded memories of Village” (news article, July 20): I am so delighted to walk down the memory lane of signs. I am devastated that we do not give such treasures their rightful place in history, culture and art.

Thank you also for the wonderful memories of Anaïs and Hugo, my next door neighbors in Washington Square Village. I will never forget her magical entrances

LETTERS continued on p. 14

IRA BLUTREICH

Case in point: Silver, Cosby and O.J. 12

July 27, 2017

TheVillager.com

End legal corruption; Restore democracy in N.Y.C.

TALKING POINT

BY SAL ALBANESE

N

ew York City should be in the vanguard of political reform.

We know that the federal and state governments are broken. Payto-play is on steroids in New York City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was under several investigations. While he was not criminally charged, the U.S. attorney and the Manhattan district attorney concluded he acted “unethically.” This is too low a bar for the mayor of New York City, and we shouldn’t stand for it.

The chart on this page highlights that the bulk of the mayor’s campaign funds — 65% — have been raised from real estate developers and their lobbyists — billionaires and millionaires. It’s no wonder then that, throughout the city, we have unfettered development, zoning without planning, historic districts being overrun and hypergentrification.

Locally, the Rivington House scandal resulted in a nonprofit health facility being converted into luxury condominiums with a huge windfall for a developer.

Community gardens, like the Elizabeth St. Garden, are being threatened, and huge towers are going up all over the

Research and compilation provided by the Alliance for a Human-Scale Cit y (w w w.humanscale.nyc), and reflects the mayor’s total donor pool for the first seven repor ting periods of the current re-election campaign.

area. And no one in the Village wants the bloated New York University expansion

PHOTO BY REBECCA WHITE

Mayoral candidate Sal Albanese in the Elizabeth St. Garden. Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to develop affordable housing on three-quar ters of the Little Italy green oasis. But Albanese suppor ts saving the garden / community gathering-and-activit y spot, calling it a “no-brainer.”

TheVillager.com

plan to go forward; that plan was soundly rejected not only by just about every single community group in and around the Village, but by Community Board 2 and by many of N.Y.U.’s own faculty. I publicly came out against the plan years ago.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg gave almost carte blanche to developers to build, build, build. The people who voted for Bill de Blasio thought they were voting for a progressive reformer who would put a stop to real estate rule. How wrong they were.

But none of this will change, no matter who is the mayor, until we reform our legally corrupt political system itself.

Fortunately, I support and will implement a plan called Democracy Vouchers that will eliminate pay-to-play and bundling of funds by lobbyists and people who do business with the city.

It’s a plan that the city of Seattle has already put in place. The idea is brilliant in its simplicity: Each registered voter receives four $25 vouchers from Seattle’s city government, and can “spend” them by donating to any candidate she or he supports. This is the first year that Seattle is embarking on the voucher program; so far, it seems that lower-and middle-income districts are participating at a good rate, and more candidates are running.

The Seattle vouchers program will also motivate candidates to interact with people of average means and listen to neighborhood concerns in a new way.

The program allows everyone who is a registered voter the opportunity to equi-

tably participate in funding candidates.

As a candidate for mayor and a former legislator, I can testify that, right now, people running for public office spend most of their days raising money from deep-pocketed and often conflicted interests. As a result, we have a compromised government. This must end.

I have pledged not to accept funds from real estate developers and lobbyists.

I want to get to City Hall with the support of New Yorkers whose sole interest is good government and good policies.

We don’t need federal or state permission to adopt governmental reforms. Democracy vouchers, nonpartisan elections and lobbying reform are all possible under charter revision.

But to make these changes, we need a mayor who is willing to actually begin to change the system. Few are willing to do this because, the way the system is now, it favors both major parties and, particularly, candidates who are wealthy — who have a lot of connections to high finance and real estate — as well as incumbents.

We live in the greatest city in the world and we should have a political system that fosters democracy and can a serve as a model to the rest of the country.

Albanese is a Democratic candidate for mayor. He has already been formally endorsed by the Reform Party, and is that party’s mayoral nominee. Find out more about Sal Albanese and his campaign at sal2017.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ SalAlbaneseNYC .

July 27, 2017

13

Trust in Pier55 parley as a new lawsuit is filed PIER55 continued from p. 8

Schofield].”

In short, the lawsuit charges that the Trust and Diller now need to “go back to scratch with public hearings” for the project.

Fox, Buchanan — who builds and rows traditional Whitehall boats — and the club have two main beefs against Pier55: first, that the plan was hatched in secret and that there was “no transparency” to the process; and, second, that the Trust failed to do an in-depth environmental impact study for the project.

The Trust contends it did adequate public outreach and review for the Pier55 plan.

The Trust previously did a lower-bore environmental assessment for rebuilding Pier 54, and then used that study for Pier55. The Trust subsequently ripped the crumbling concrete decking off Pier 54 — its former primary performance pier — and focused its energies on building Pier55 in a totally new footprint between the old wooden-pile fields of Piers 54 and 56.

“Our pretense is that this is a new project — not a reconstruction of Pier 54,” Fox asserted.

Furthermore, the Trust’s recent modifications of the Pier55 plan would affect the impact that the project, if built, would have on the surrounding area, the activist maintained.

“With the modification of the permit,” Fox noted, “they said they can’t have trees on the island because there’s not enough carrying capacity [on the pier].

They had said trees would mitigate the noise from the pier — but there are no trees on the island now. … They’re going from poured concrete [in the tops of the piles] to driven piles.”

The project’s earlier “pot”-style support piles — with mushroom-shaped tops — would have allowed areas for trees to root, but the traditional driven piles which would now be used instead — which would not have poured concrete for their tops — would not be able to accommodate trees, according to Fox. It was precisely this poured-concrete technique that was problematic under the Clean Water Act, Schofield had ruled, since this “flowable concrete” represented “fill” that could have impacted the Hudson River estuarine sanctuary.

The Corps’ new so-called “modified permit” was granted after the Trust removed these special “pot” piles calling for flowable concrete to be poured anywhere where they appeared from the waterline and below.

But now Fox is hoping that the two sides can come to an agreement. “[The hope is] to see if everyone sitting at the table can do something that’s in the public interest,” he said. “Right now, we’re working together. We’re hopeful that we can reach common ground and

14

July 27, 2017

that our concerns will be ameliorated.

“It’s good to be working with people instead of against people for a change,” he said. “I’m sure both sides think it’s better to be working together. It’s apparent that they’d like to move the project forward — and that’s the way compromises are reached.”

A Trust spokesperson said the authority hopes to restart construction on Pier 55 in “mid-August.” Fox said his understanding is the Trust wants to start Aug. 15. Currently, all that has been built is a small deck overhang along the bulkhead — the Manhattan seawall — off of W. 13th St. and some pile supports for one of the bridges that would extend to the island, which if the island never does get built, would no doubt be dubbed “a bridge to nowhere.”

‘It’s remarkable the Trust has to negotiate with people who in no way represent the views of the community.’

Michael Novogratz Another Trust spokesperson offered a comment on the latest lawsuit and the negotiations with The City Club.

“While we believe these new claims to be without merit,” he said, “we look forward to working toward a constructive resolution in the near future.”

Meanwhile, Novogratz, a high-powered financial tycoon used to winning, is still steamed at The City Club and Fox and Co., yet hoping for the best.

In a statement this week, Novogratz said, “It’s remarkable that the Trust has to negotiate with people who in no way represent the views of the community.

But I hope they can make some progress, because the neighborhood, and New Yorkers, want this park built.”

Meanwhile, though negotiations are now underway, after its filing last Friday, The City Club’s latest lawsuit is active.

The suit’s preliminary statement starts by declaring, “The Hudson River Park Trust’s end run around the Clean Water Act — and around this Court — must fail.”

The suit charges that the Trust, “rather than try to justify why it insists upon building a quasi-private performance venue in a protected Estuarine Sanc-

tuary…sought to avoid the need for a [Clean Water Act] permit by redesigning the project. Without any notice to the public, the Corps again acquiesced and issued a new permit modification. … The new permit modification…is unlawful. … The barrier to non-water-dependent construction in a special aquatic site is meant to protect environmentally sensitive waters by discouraging unnecessary development that does not need to be located in the water.”

In addition, the suit states, a section — Special Condition D — of the permit that the Corps issued to the Trust in 2000 for the construction of the entire Hudson River Park, in general, forbids any increase in the “historic load-bearing capacity of any piers to be repaired or reconstructed [and] is designed to shield the environmentally sensitive Hudson River from unnecessary in-water development. … The purpose of Special Condition D, according to the Corps, is

to limit the scale of development on the piers and along the waterfront.”

The implication is that Pier55 would have a higher load-bearing capacity than the old Pier 54.

“Compliance with Special Condition D is mandatory,” the plaintiffs state, “and this project is precisely the kind of activity Special Condition D was designed to stop by limiting capacity to avoid ‘largescale development on the piers and along the waterfront.’ The Corps’ clear failure to consider Special Condition D makes the permit modification unlawful.

“Furthermore, [the Trust] can only obtain a permit modification if there is a valid permit,” the lawsuit’s preliminary statement continues. “But there is none. … Because there is no valid permit to modify, the Corps was required to review [the Trust’s] application as an application for a new permit — which requires public notice, an opportunity for public comment and a public hearing.”

Letters to The Editor LETTERS continued from p. 12

into the elevator and his bon vivant beret and ascot.

Judith Chazen Walsh

Gate gratitude To The Editor: Re “Windows into the past, ghost signs are faded memories of Village” (news article, July 20): Thanks for the memories and remembering the Village Gate. The sign is a landmark.

Bob Dylan did hang at the Village Gate but never actually performed there.

Sharon D’Lugoff

Starbucks isn’t hip!

To The Editor: Re “Starbucks outrage boils over on Avenue A” (news article, July 20): Starbucks is for the imaginationdeprived, for a nation of lockstep sheep stuck in a rerun loop at the switch gate.

Starbucks is a trough for trilobites dancing on the edge of existence as we melt in a forest of paper cups. I pity the fool who relies on chains for cool.

To those who are blind to culture, look out. On Avenue A, faux scarecrows will put a hex on fops who nonchalantly pay lip service to independence, while sipping corporate squid existence.

Keep history alive! Make more his-

tory! Be original. Don’t be a consumerbot.

After all, would you rather live at the mall or on the strip? Or in a real neighborhood that’s a real link to the really real hip?

Jeff Wright

Church was family To The Editor: Re “Last Mass looming for Christopher St.’s St. Veronica’s Church” (news article, July 6): It is a very sad moment for my family, the Mullinses. My dad Ed was a longshoreman, as were several of his brothers. They all attended St. Veronica’s School, and were dedicated parishioners of the church for nearly 100 years.

St. Veronica’s parish was a refuge for many immigrants that arrived in New York. I will forever cherish the memories that I share with my cousins, uncles, aunts and my dad at this very special place of prayer, peace and refuge.

Marlene Mullins 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 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes.

The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.

TheVillager.com

Photo by Jason Marr

Hip to Hip Theatre Company, seen here in a 2016 production, has “Free Shakespeare in the Parks” in rep through Aug. 20.

The entertainment is as free as the air Outdoor theater, five-borough-style

BY TRAV S.D. A few weeks ago, one might have been forgiven for predicting that free outdoor productions in New York, in particular those of Shakespeare plays, would soon be heading for the hills.

The Public Theater’s controversial Trump-themed production of “Julius Caesar” inflamed passions throughout the entire country. Many theaters received angry letters despite having no connection with the Public, “Julius Caesar,” or even Shakespeare. Nothing daunted, numerous NYC theaters are continuing to ply their trade throughTheVillager.com

out the rest of this summer, free of charge, at a park near you.

In spite of all the angry op-eds and the loss of some corporate sponsorships, the Public Theater itself is midway through its 64th annual summer season of Free Shakespeare in the Park. On July 11, they opened a new production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Lear deBessonet and starring Phylicia Rashad, Robert Joy, and the husband-and-wife acting team of Annaleigh Ashford and Joe Tapper. This “fairytale fantasia” will be at the Delacorte Theater in

Central Park, 8pm, through Aug. 13 (enter at 81st St. & Central Park West or 79th St. & Fifth Ave.). Renowned cast members and an actual sit-down amphitheater mean that there is always substantial demand for the Public’s Free Shakespeare.

The normal procedure is to wait online for tickets at the box office, which opens at noon, on the day of the show. If “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” proves difficult to get into, the Public’s “Public Works” program will be presenting a musical version of “As You Like It” at the same venue from

Sept. 1–5, featuring a cast of 200 community members and professionals.

More information and tickets available at publictheater.org.

This wouldn’t be New York if the Public didn’t have at least a half dozen scrappy competitors waiting in the wings with their own free productions.

Here are a few others.

“Shakespeare in the Parking Lot” is the one with the most whimsical name, and, at 22 years old, it is already becoming an institution itself. Three OUTDOOR continued on p. 16 July 27, 2017

15

Photo by Richard Termine

The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s “The Three Musketeers” plays through July 30 in Marcus Garvey Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater.

OUTDOOR continued from p. 15

different theatre troupes have presented this series over its history; The Drilling Company has carried the baton since 2005. The company performs in the parking lot behind The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, located at 114 Norfolk St. in the Lower East Side (btw. Delancey & Rivington Sts.). Seats are available on a first come, first served basis; blankets will be spread out once seats are gone (you can bring your own chair).

Having already given us “All’s Well That Ends Well” this summer, their next production will be “Henry VI, Part 3,” presented Thurs.–Sat., 7pm, through Aug. 12. For those who prefer a greener location in Midtown, The Drilling Company is also offering free Shakespeare productions in Bryant Park, as well: “Twelfth Night” (July 28–30) and “The Tempest” (Aug. 25–Sept. 9). Go to shakespeareintheparkinglot.com for more details.

Meanwhile, the Queens-based Hip to Hip Theatre Company’s “Free Shakespeare in the Parks” will visit outdoor venues in all five boroughs as well as Jersey City and Southampton, Long Island. This season they are presenting “Measure for Measure” and “Henry IV, Part 1” through Aug. 20. Their Manhattan spot is the Harlem Meer in Central Park (110th St & Malcolm X Blvd.). They’ll be there at 6:30pm Aug. 9 (“Measure) and 16 (“Henry”). For details, visit hiptohip.org.

Over on the west side, Hudson Warehouse, which styles itself “The OTHER Shakespeare in the Park” will be presenting their version of “Henry V” at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in the Upper West Side’s Riverside Park from July 27–Aug. 20, Thurs.–

16

July 27, 2017

Photo by Jonathan Slaff

Aug. 5–Sept. 17, Theater for the New City’s “Checks and Balances, or Bottom’s Up!” tours NYC’s streets, parks, and playgrounds.

Sun., 6:30pm (W. 89th St. & Riverside Drive). Go to hudsonwarehouse.net to learn more.

Hudson Warehouse just closed their adaptation of “The Three Musketeers” on July 23, but if fans of the Dumas swashbuckler are very quick, they can catch the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s version, which plays at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park through July 30; Tues.–Sun., 8pm; Fri. at 8:30pm, rain or shine (enter the park at 124th St. & Fifth Ave., walk south to the venue). Of

the companies listed in this roundup, the Classical Theatre of Harlem is second only to the Public in prestige. The names of the performers may not be household words, but you have seen many of them: most have Broadway, film, and TV credits. To learn more, go to cthnyc.org.

For those who like a little exercise with their Shakespeare, there’s New York Classical Theatre.

Their new production of “Macbeth” will be presented in The Battery (meet at Castle Clinton; Battery Pl. at State St.). Audiences participate by walking from scene to scene in various locations within a threeblock radius. They also make special provisions for those who require special help getting around.

Open rehearsals happen through July 30; official performances run at 7pm July 31–Aug. 20 (excluding Thursdays). Their website is newyorkclassical.org.

If your taste in classics runs to the very ancient, the American Thymele Theatre presents its latest annual New York Euripides Summer Festival. This year the Hellenic-themed company presents “The Madness of Hercules,” July 31–Aug. 6, 6pm, at locations including East River Park and Marcus Garvey Park. Visit americanthymeletheatre.yolasite.com.

Lastly, sometimes it’s not the play but the concept which is the classic. Theater for the New City’s annual summer Street Theater tour is rapidly approaching the half-century mark. Every year they present an all-new, original musical production with an activist theme, and bring it to parks and other outdoor locations in all five boroughs. This year’s show, entitled “Checks and Balances, or Bottom’s Up!” is up Aug. 5–Sept. 17. It will be playing streets, parks, and playgrounds; see theaterforthenewcity.net for the full schedule.

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EPIC Players act on inclusion of the ‘alter-abled’ Intgrated company’s inaugural production capably challenges

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Guided by a vision whose ambition handily matches the scale of its name, EPIC Players theatre company is comprised of alter-abled actors, designers, and technicians who study, train, and work alongside their “neurotypical� counterparts.

This acronym-friendly troupe is so inclusive, EPIC (“Empower. Perform.

Include. Create.�) even found a way to embrace the palindrome. “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead� — playwright Bert V. Royal’s mostly bleak, totally unauthorized, 2004 imagining of the “Peanuts� gang during their difficult teenage years — will be the company’s inaugural Mainstage production.

As founder Aubrie Therrien, who also serves as the group’s executive artistic director, explained, “We chose ‘Dog Sees God’ for our first play to mirror the innocence of ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ and also give our actors living with developmental disabilities a chance to explore themes of sexuality, gender, and loss — issues they often struggle with, just like everyone else, but are never really given the opportunity to express. Too often these individuals are infantilized based on their differences; we wanted to change that.�

Advocating for a deeper understanding of the alter-abled is only one goal on the group’s agenda. “Ninety-five percent of characters with disabilities,� their website notes, “are played by able-bodied actors.�

EPIC wants to improve that statistic by providing its members with the tools to present themselves as a competitive, even preferred, choice in an industry where a sea of talent vies for a small pool of jobs.

While the company rehearses for its two yearly Mainstage productions, members also work to enhance audition preparation, scene study, on-camera acting, and “industry networking� (aka schmoozing) skills. Formal auditions are held once a year, but the general public has the opportunity to drop in on classes and workshops for $25 a pop.

Once accepted into EPIC, anyone can pitch a film, play, solo show, or other project to Therrien. That’s the roundabout way “Dog Sees God� got its director, David Bonderoff. “I was one of the founding members,� he recalled of nottoo-distant 2016, “but was not part of the production team. I auditioned as an actor, then had the opportunity to create an improv class,� which set the stage for his work at the helm of the play.

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Photo by Charlene Warner

L to R: Samantha Elisofon, Christian Patane, Gideon Pianko and Travis Burbee in rehearsal for “Dog Sees God.�

Bonderoff, who holds certificates in acting with the Stella Adler Studio and in improvisation with the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center, played the role of Beethoven in a production of “Dog� prior to graduating from Stony Brook University in 2015. “It was one of my first shows,� he said, while recalling how his own formative experience as an actor paralleled that of the cast he’s been directing. “It was a great environment for selfimprovement and learning,� Bonderoff said of the rehearsal process. “It gave us the chance to tackle conceptual things within the play, like actors’ motivations, and really getting down to raw feelings; things we don’t get to talk about when we’re not discussing it in terms of the characters we’re playing. We really discovered ourselves and our relationship with the people we’re working next to.�

The cast, Bonderoff noted, includes “people living with vision impairment, developmental disabilities including autism, and other general challenges.�

Developmental disability and autism, he clarified, “are found within a wide range of neurological characteristics, a spectrum that even includes people who are aligned with the term ‘neurotypical.’ It’s a spectrum because everyone is on it in some way.�

Bonderoff, whose approach to preferred nomenclature is less about being politically correct and more about respectful fluidity according to personal preference, said he considers himself

neurotypical — but quickly added, “If referring to myself as that were to make somebody uneasy, I would change the way I use the language. The way I see it, as a cis straight white male, I need to be more open to everyone else and who they are.� Echoing an exercise familiar to actors who tap into empathy as a means of character development, Bonderoff said, of relating to others, “I have no concept of what they are going through, so I do my best to listen, hear, and observe.�

Asked if alter-abled cast members brought any unique strengths to the process, Bonderoff referenced the play’s themes of isolation and disenchantment, along with its plot points of bullying and suicide. “This play covers a lot of fragile characters,� he noted, “with people just trying to do their best and live life. And these people [the actors]

are so honest; so true to themselves. I view acting as an expression of truth, and sometimes what we need to see on stage is not an actor putting on a show, but a real human being living in the moment. ‌ Our mission is simply to say, with the right amount of preparation, this population can put on a show that an audience will be invested in and impressed by.�

The EPIC Players, a resident company of Horse Trade Theater Group, will perform “Dog Sees God� July 27–Aug. 6; Thurs.–Sat. at 7pm, Sun. at 2pm.

At The Kraine Theater (85 E. Fourth St., btw. Bowery & Second Ave.). For tickets ($25, $20 for students/seniors/ military), visit epicplayersnyc.org. For audition & workshop info, email info@ epicplayersnyc.org. On Facebook: facebook.com/epicplayersnyc.

Theater for the New City • 155 1st Avenue at E. 10th St. Reservations & Info (212) 254-1109 For more info, please visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net

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July 27, 2017

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Heavy-metal photog makes ‘old-school Polaroids’

PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER

Rober t Kalman uses a vintage photo technique to shoot a por trait of celebrit y photographer Johnny Rozsa in Tompkins Square Park.

BY BOB KR ASNER

Y

ou may wonder, what is a retired elementary school principal doing in Tompkins Square Park with an old 4-x-5 camera, making images of East Village denizens using a process that dates back to the Civil War? Portrait photographer Robert Kalman, who has been shooting with large formats for 30 of his 45 years of camera

work, has only recently begun using a wet-plate process to exercise what he calls his “gift for making portraits.”

Invented in the 1850s, the operation results in a single image on a sheet of metal — aluminum, in this case. There is no negative: You can think of it as a more work-intensive Polaroid.

Briefly, the technique involves coating the metal with collodion, immersing it in silver nitrate and inserting it, while still wet, into a film holder, in the dark. The photo must then be shot in the next few

minutes, before the plate dries. Fifteen seconds later, the image is developed but still needs to be fixed, washed and dried, usually by his intern, Siri. (Yes, he has an assistant named Siri).

Setting up shop by the park’s Ninth St. entrance on Avenue A, Kalman and his wife, Linda, keep an eye out for possible subjects, who will receive both a digital scan of the original and a print.

Eventually, the images will probably be shown at the Soho Photo Gallery, at 15 White St., where he is a member, and

may possibly end up in a self-published book, as he has done previously.

A New York City native, Kalman now lives Upstate. What is he looking for in a subject?

“I want locals rather than tourists,” he said. “I want people with a certain presence. I can’t explain it, but I know it when I see it.”

For more information about Kalman, visit his Web site at www.robertkalmanweb.com

Rober t Kalman, center, shows East Villager Johnny Rozsa the finished product, to which Rozsa comments, “F---ing divine.” Rozsa’s companion and dog are at right.

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July 27, 2017

TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY ROBERT KALMAN

The finished photo por trait. The subject, Johnny Rozsa, was born in Nairobi and educated in England. He was introduced to Buddhism by Tina Turner in 1982 and is a longtime practicing Buddhist.

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Rober t Kalman with his wife, Linda Kalman, right, and his assistant, Siri Bur t.

July 27, 2017

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NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF RAD TECHNOLOGY MEDICAL SYSTEMS, LLC Authority ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/30/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/02/06. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Jeffrey B. Detwiler, 351 California St., 15 th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94104. Address to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Arts of Org. ďŹ led with the Division of Corporations, Dept. of State, Division of Corporations, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Vil: 07/27 - 08/31/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 915 ST JOHN’S HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/30/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 20 W. 22 nd St., Ste. 1601, NY, NY 10010, Attn: Drew Popkin. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Vil: 07/27 - 08/31/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LES PIZZA LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/13/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 152 Ludlow Street, 4A, NY, NY 10002, Attn: Adam Elzer. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/27 - 08/31/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF FILSOOF & ASSOCIATES LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 07/24/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: Joshua Filsoof, 10 West

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July 27, 2017

Street, Apt 31C, New NOTICE OF York, NY 10004.

QUALIFICATION OF Purpose: To engage in DCTMF LLC any lawful act or activity.

Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Vil: 07/27 - 08/31/2017 Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/11/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

LLC formed in NOTICE OF Delaware (DE) on QUALIFICATION OF 06/27/17. Princ. ofďŹ ce of FLOYD ROAD SOLAR LLC: c/o Mark Friedman, FARM, LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with 595 North St., Rye, NY Secy. of State of NY 10580. SSNY designated (SSNY) on 07/18/17. as agent of LLC upon OfďŹ ce location: NY whom process against it County. LLC formed in may be served. SSNY North Carolina (NC) on shall mail process to the 09/22/14. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC at the addr. of its LLC: 11 E. 44th St., Ste. princ. ofďŹ ce. DE addr. of 1200, NY, NY 10017. LLC: c/o Corporation SSNY designated as Service Co., 251 Little agent of LLC upon whom Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE process against it may be 19808. Cert. of Form. served. SSNY shall mail ďŹ led with DE Secy. of the process to c/o State, Div. of Corps., Corporation Service Co., John G. Townsend Bldg., 80 State St., Albany, NY 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, DE 19901.

12207. Cert. of Form. Dover, lawful ďŹ led with Dept. of the Purpose: Any Secy. of State, PO Box activity.

Vil: 07/20 - 08/24/2017 29622, Raleigh, NC 27626.

Purpose: NOTICE OF FORMATION Renewable energy.

OF THE BEAST 2017, Vil: 07/27 - 08/31/2017 LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY NOTICE OF FORMATION (SSNY) on 07/12/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY OF VICREY, LLC Articles of Organization County. SSNY designated ďŹ led with Secretary of as agent of LLC upon State of New York (SSNY) whom process against it on 07/01/17.

OfďŹ ce may be served. SSNY location: NY County. shall mail process to SSNY has been Sander Jacobs, 27 E. designated as an agent 65th St., Apt. 8B, NY, NY upon whom process 10065. Purpose: Any against the LLC may be lawful activity.

Vil: 07/20 - 08/24/2017 served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a NOTICE OF FORMATION copy of any process OF MIDDLEGATE against the LLC is to: SHERMAN LLC VicRey LLC, 1446 East Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with NY 15th Street Brooklyn, Dept. of State on 5/4/17.

NY 11230. Purpose: To OfďŹ ce location: NY engage in any lawful act County. Sec. of State or activity designated agent of LLC Vil: 07/20 - 08/24/2017 upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to NOTICE OF FORMATION the principal business address: 8 W. 40th St., OF MAR-ONE 4th Fl., NY, NY 10018, ASSOCIATES LLC Articles of Organization Attn: Harvey Abrahams. ďŹ led with Secretary of Purpose: any lawful acState of New York (SSNY) tivity.

Vil: 07/20 - 08/24/2017 on 06/09/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: Mar-One Associates LLC 301 E. 75th, Suite 4C New York, NY 10021.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 07/20 - 08/24/2017

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF TPS INVESTORS GP, LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/05/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/19/17.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation

Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674. Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of the State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/13 - 08/17/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF REDPOINT CYBERSECURITY LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/06/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, Attn: Managing Partner, 1375 Broadway, NY, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/13 - 08/17/2017 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ASSUREDPARTNERS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/28/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in North Carolina (NC) on 11/05/12.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543.

NC addr. of LLC: 3809 Computer Dr., Ste. 100, Raleigh, NC 27609. Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with Secy. of State, Elaine F. Marshall, 2 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601-2903.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/13 - 08/17/2017 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ASSUREDPARTNERS OF NEVADA, LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/28/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in Nevada (NV) on 12/16/16.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543.

NV addr. of LLC: 139 E. Warm Springs Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89119. Cert.

of Form. ďŹ led with NV Secy. of State, Barbara K. Cegavske, 101 N. Carson St., Ste. 3, Carson City, NV 89701.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/13 - 08/17/2017

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PARKER POHL LLP CertiďŹ cate ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 3/30/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLP may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLP is to: 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2440, New York, NY 10170. Purpose: To engage any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 06/29 - 08/03/2017

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF KEY SUCCESS LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 8/9/00. OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, NOTICE OF QUALIFICA935 Broadway, 5th Fl. TION OF QCRE VI, LLC NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Authority ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on any lawful activity.

Vil: 07/13 - 08/17/2017 6/19/17. OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 5/30/17. NY Sec. of State designated NOTICE OF FORMATION agent of LLC upon whom OF PARK AVENUE process against it may be SUPER CRAFT, LLC served and shall mail Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with process to: 101 Central Secy. of State of NY Park West, Suite 1F, NY, (SSNY) on 6/27/17. NY 10023, principal OfďŹ ce location: NY business address. DE adCounty. SSNY designated dress of LLC: 1209 as agent of LLC upon Orange St., Wilmington, whom process against it DE 19801. Cert. of Form. may be served. SSNY ďŹ led with DE Sec. of shall mail process to: c/o State, 401 Federal St., The LLC, 711 3rd Ave., Dover, DE 19901. Pur6th Fl., NY, NY 10017. pose: all lawful purposes.

Purpose: any lawful Vil: 06/29 - 08/03/2017 activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION Vil: 07/06- 08/10/2017 OF 41 BETHUNE OWNER LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with the NOTICE OF FORMATION Sect’y of State of NY OF JGC LEASING, LLC (SSNY) on 6/8/2017.

Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with OfďŹ ce located in NY Secy. of State of NY County. SSNY has been (SSNY) on 6/27/17. designated as agent of OfďŹ ce location: NY the LLC upon whom County. SSNY designated process against it may be as agent of LLC upon served. SSNY shall mail whom process against it process to: 639 Hudson may be served. SSNY St., Fl. 3, NY NY 10014. shall mail process to: c/o Purpose: any lawful act.

The LLC, 711 3rd Ave., Vil: 06/29 - 08/03/2017 6th Fl., NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF R/V FARLEY activity.

DEVELOPER LLC Vil: 07/06 - 08/10/2017 Authority ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on 6/13/17. OfďŹ ce location: NOTICE OF FORMATION NY County. Princ. bus.

OF LIGHT 18, LLC addr.: 210 Route 4 East, Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Paramus, NJ 07652. LLC Secy. of State of NY formed in DE on (SSNY) on 6/8/17. OfďŹ ce 3/11/16. NY Sec. of location: NY County. State designated agent of SSNY designated as LLC upon whom process agent of LLC upon whom against it may be served process against it may be and shall mail process to: served. SSNY shall mail c/o CT Corporation Sysprocess to: Cogency tem, 111 8th Ave., NY, Global Inc., 10 E. 40th NY 10011, regd. agent St., 10th Fl., NY, NY upon whom process may 10016. Purpose: any be served. DE addr. of lawful activity.

LLC: 1209 Orange St., Vil: 06/29 - 08/03/2017 Wilmington, DE 19801.

Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 06/29 - 08/03/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF HERO FRESH, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 03/07/2017. OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: UNITED STATES CORPORATION AGENTS, INC. 7014 13TH AVENUE, SUITE 202 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11228.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 06/22 - 07/27/2017 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS FUNDS DISTRIBUTORS, LLC Authority ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on 6/12/2017. OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 4/21/1999. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Attn: Chief Legal OfďŹ cer, State Street Financial Ctr., One Lincoln St., Boston, MA 02111, principal business address.

DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Vil: 06/22 - 07/27/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LATITUDE ADVISORY LLC Application for Authority ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/29/2014 OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. The address to which SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is to: The LLC, 16192 Coastal Highway Lewes DE 19958.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

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NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF C2 ENERGY CAPITAL LLC Authority ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on 4/21/17. OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: c/o Vantage, 55 5th Ave., 13 Fl, NY, NY 10003. LLC formed in DE on 9/17/14. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: National Corporate Research, Ltd. (NCR), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: NCR, 850 New Burton Rd., Suite 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with DE Sec. of State, 401

Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 06/22 - 07/27/2017 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF KOYA LEADERSHIP PARTNERS LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/22/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in Massachusetts (MA) on 04/12/04. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC: 44 Merrimac St., Newburyport, MA 01950-2580.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St.,

Albany, NY 12207-2543.

Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with Secy. of The Commonwealth, One Ashbuton Pl., Corp. Div., Rm. 1710, Boston, MA 02108.

Purpose: Executive search services.

Vil: 06/22 - 07/27/2017 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LAW OFFICE OF KATIA TEIRSTEIN PLLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/06/17.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 40 Powder Horn Rd., Cortlandt Manor, NY

10567. Purpose: The provision of legal services.

Vil: 06/22 - 07/27/2017 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a beer and wine, license, #TBD, has been applied for by Boris and Horton East Village LLC dba Boris and Horton, to sell beer, wine and cider at retail, in a cafe establishment, under the ABC law, for on-premise consumption at 195 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009.

Vil: 07/27 - 08/03/2017

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The New York City Board of Standards and Appeals has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, August 15, 2017, 1:00 P.M. session, in Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street, Borough of Manhattan. Applicant: Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP for FIT Student Housing Corporation, Community Board No.: 5, under BSA Calendar Number: 2017-14- BZ. Project Description for 230 West 27th Street, Manhattan, Block: 00776 Lot(s): 55: Variance (§72-21) to permit a one-story above-ground extension for a community facility (UG 3) which exceeds the maximum permitted community facility oor area and is contrary to ZR §33-10. C6-2 zoning district.

Vil: 07/27 - 08/03/2017

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How he rolls: L.E.S.’er rides vs. cancer

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL STRONG

Lower East Sider Michael Strong will be doing the New York-spanning Empire State Ride To End Cancer, star ting this Sunday.

BY BRENDAN KIRK

M

ore than 100 cyclists from around the country will embark on a sevenday 540-mile trek from Wagner College on Staten Island to Niagara Falls on Sunday to raise money for cancer research. All of the proceeds from the Fourth Annual Empire State Ride will go to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, one of the first centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.

Michael Strong, a Pratt Institute graduate and Lower East Side resident, with a design studio in Lower Manhattan, will be joining the pack this year. His journey with the Empire State Ride started with his support of a friend of his, Steve Mars, who had participated in the event before.

Then, after Strong recently witnessed his wife win a four-month battle with skin cancer and also experienced his best friend’s father-in-law lose his fight against pancreatic cancer, he decided — with a small amount of urging from Mars — that it was time to do his part in the effort against the disease.

Strong said he’s excited not just for the physical challenge, but also the opportunity to make some new friends along the way.

“Cycling is something that we’re going to be doing for seven days in between hanging out with our new best friends. Everyone is going to have a great day for seven days straight,” he said.

Originally from Appleton, New TheVillager.com

York, just outside Buffalo, Strong grew up familiar with Roswell Park.

He is excited to reunite with family and says that this is a “big push” for him. A self-described weekend warrior, Strong often bikes 70 to 100 miles in a day, his lengthy rides bringing him into New Jersey and sometimes Connecticut. However, he has never done this many days back to back and is excited to test himself.

“Getting fresh air is a nice escape for me,” Strong said.

The ride’s first leg is about 57 miles.

The cyclists will take the Staten Island Ferry to South Ferry and work their way up Manhattan’s West Side along the Hudson River greenway and Fort Washington Park greenway, crossing the George Washington Bridge to a campground near Stony Point. From there, participants will continue their trek north along the Hudson Valley until reaching Duanesburg on Day 3.

After spending the night at another campground, the cyclists will then cut west into central New York State, well on their way to Niagara Falls.

Strong is anticipating his wife cheering him on as he cycles up Manhattan and also greeting him at the finish line in Niagara Falls. The first three days are what he looks forward to the most — they are the days with the most uphill riding, something Strong describes as a weak point of his. The group’s Facebook page, however, serves as a strong support group and participants receive a lot of encouragement for the upcoming ride.

“Think of it as a bunch of 20-mile rides that you just string together in a day,” one rider explained.

A member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Buffalo’s Roswell Institute, with 3,263 employees, is entirely focused on preventing future cancer and curing existing cancer.

Organizers hope to raise more than $1 million to help in the development and foundation of cancer research initiatives, including carrying out Phase II testing for a new brain cancer vaccine named SurVaxM, advancing a research initiative to develop new therapies for ovarian cancer, and funding Roswell Park’s Center for Personalized Medicine, which develops and carries out genetic testing to enhance cancer treatment.

“By raising critically needed funds for research, our participants are influencing the future of cancer research and helping us take the next step toward creating a world without this disease,” said Bryan Sidorowicz, the event’s director.

Meals are provided for participants, and hydration stations are located every 15 to 20 miles along the route. The Empire State Ride brings together people who share the same goal: winning the fight against the deadly scourge of cancer. The unique and active challenge also aims to bring its participants closer together as they pedal through some of the most beautiful scenery in New York.

The Empire State Ride is open to riders of all levels and offers the option of riding between one and seven days. It even suggests a short route for riders unable to ride the 70-plus miles required on most days. To register, find information and donate, visit EmpireStateRide.com.

July 27, 2017

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ADVERTORIAL

TOP DRIVER DISTRACTIONS Using mobile phones Leading the list of the top distractions behind the wheel are mobile phones.

Phones now do more than just place calls, and drivers often cannot pull away from their phones, even when driving. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, studies have shown that driving performance is lowered and the level of distraction is higher for drivers who are heavily engaged in cell

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July 27, 2017

phone conversations. The use of a hands-free device does not lower distraction levels. The percentage of vehicle crashes and nearcrashes attributed to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening.

Daydreaming Many people will admit to daydreaming behind the wheel or looking at a person or object outside of the car for too long. Per-

haps they’re checking out a house in a new neighborhood or thought they saw someone they knew on the street corner. It can be easy to veer into the direction your eyes are focused, causing an accident. In addition to trying to stay focused on the road, some drivers prefer the help of lane departure warning systems.

Eating Those who haven’t quite mastered walking and

chewing gum at the same time may want to avoid eating while driving. The majority of foods require a person’s hands to be taken off of the wheel and their eyes to be diverted from the road. Reaching in the back seat to share some French fries with the kids is also distracting.

Try to eat meals before getting in the car. For those who must snack while en route, take a moment to pull over at

a rest area and spend 10 minutes snacking there before resuming the trip.

Reading Glancing at an advertisement, updating a Facebook status or reading a book are all activities that should be avoided when driving. Even pouring over a traffic map or consulting the digital display of a GPS system can be distracting.

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