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The Paper per of Record for Greenwich Village, Vii llll a ag g e, e , East E as a s t Village, Vii llll ag V Vill age e,, Lower L ower East Eass t Side, Siiide S d , Soho, Union Square, Chinatown Chinatt ow w n and an a n d Noho, N o ho No h o , Since Sii n S ncce c e 1933 19 1 9 33 3
November 23, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 47
C.B. 2 floats idea to increase ferries along the West Side BY REBECCA FIORE
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t its Thurs. Nov. 16, meeting, Community Board 2 unanimously voted to strongly urge the city’s Economic Development Corporation to look into adding more ferry service on the Lower West Side to serve the area’s evergrowing population.
Shirley Secunda, the C.B. 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee chairperson, said the simple reason behind the resolution is the need to expand transit for city dwellers and commuters alike. “We’re requesting a study be done,” Secunda said. “There’s FERRIES continued on p. 4 PHOTO BY SARAH FERGUSON
Ottomanelli noose plea was baloney: Ex-worker’s lawyer BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
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n Sept. 19, Joe Ottomanelli pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct in an incident at Ottomanelli & Sons Meat Market this spring, in which he was accused of giving a black deliveryman a noose. He pled to a violation, ation, not a
crime. It was considered a slap on the wrist, given that the original more-serious charge he was arrested for was aggravated harassment. Meanwhile, the attorney for a former Ottomanelli employee who was fired in the wake of the incident, told The Villager NOOSE continued on p. 3 NO
‘Big Sonia’ parks it at Quad .....p. 2
Protesters — many of them paid actors — slammed Aaron Sosnick at a rally last Friday in suppor t of developing the old P.S. 64 on E. Ninth St. as a university dorm. Sosnick, a wealthy hedge-funder, is a leading opponent of the project.
Trumped-up rally used hired actors BY SAR AH FERGUSON
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eveloper Gregg Singer has made plenty of tone-deaf appeals in his efforts to convert the old P.S. 64 school building on E. Ninth St. into a college dormitory. But his latest gambit — hiring a lobbying firm best known for backing Donald Trump’s projects — appears to be backfiring. As The Villager reported last week, Singer is paying Gotham Government Relations $12,000 a month to lobby for his stymied dorm deal. Gotham is the PR firm that helped launch Trump’s presidential campaign by paying actors to cheer for him as he made his fateful descent down
the elevator at Trump Tower. Gotham appears to have used the same tactic — and the same casting firm — to hire actors to boost turnout at the rally they staged at City Hall last Friday in support of Singer’s latest dorm plan. The Daily News obtained an e-mail offering people “$50 CASH” to “beef up attendance” for a rally called by the newly formed group “East Village Cares.” The e-mail called for “individuals of all ages who currently live in the East Village / Lower East Side,” or have “close friends / relatives in the area” to “speak and advocate about the neighborhood” and “protest blocking the
development of college dorms at the old P.S. 64 building located at East 9th Street and Ave B.” Nicole Epstein, an associate with Gotham, told The Villager she had “had no knowledge whatsoever” of the e-mail and suggested it could be an effort to “sabotage” their campaign. That seems a stretch considering the e-mail appears to have come from someone associated with Extra Mile Casting — the same firm that Gotham G.R. hired to provide “support” (i.e. actors) for Trump’s presidential announcement in 2016. The e-mail directed anyone interested in participating in the dorm rally to visit EastVilRALLY continued on p. 10
Possible fetus found in bank deposit box...........p. 4 Kids flip over Pier 40 ‘Release of Fishes’.... .......p. 9 www.TheVillager.com