The Villager - April 5, 2018

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The Th T h e Pa P Paper ap pe e r of o f Record R ec e c or o r d for ffo o r Greenwich Grr ee G een nw w iicc h Village, V lll ag Vi a g e , East Eas ass t Village, a Vii llllag V l age e,, Lower L ower East Side, Sii d S de e, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown So S oh ho o, U Un n io ion S Sq qu ua a re r e , Ch C h in hi ina att own o w n and ow a n d Noho, N o ho No h o , Since Sii n S ncc e 1933

April 5, 2018 • $1.00 Volume 88 • Number 14

Residents, disabled groups suing to stop ‘arrogant’ L train plan

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

I

t’s either “L yes!” or “L no!” — depending on your point of view — as a federal suit to block the city’s L train shutdown plan was filed in federal court Tuesday morning.

Opponents of the plan held a press conference on April 3

at Lenox Health Greenwich Village, at 13th St. and Seventh Ave., to announce their legal effort to stop the Canarsie Tunnel repair plan, along with related mitigation efforts, including the so-called 14th St. “PeopleWay.” The suit contains two main LAWSUIT continued on p. 8

Who ... is the Village Serial Farter? Answer is blowin’ in the wind

BY GABE HERMAN

L

ocals have dubbed him the “Serial Farter.” But while many pedestrians have been startled while passing by him by his sounds of passing gas, little else is known about the mysterious flatulating figure.

In recent months, a man has been walking through Greenwich

Village playing fart noises from a machine as he passes people, according to witness accounts. The general consensus is that he does not say or do anything otherwise to stand out.

“He just kept walking with no acknowledgment that anything had happened,” said local resident FARTER continue continued on p. 21

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

An Easter Paradegoer was having a bloomin’ good time on Fifth Ave. outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday.

Activists are cautiously hopeful on ‘N’life Mayor’ But boss Menin inspires confidence

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

L

ower East Side, East Side and Chinatown community groups are cautiously hopeful about the city’s newly appointed “nightlife mayor,” Ariel Palitz. Their hope, however, stems more from her boss, Julie Menin, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, than Palitz herself.

The fiery debate on nightlife between a myriad of neigh-

A bid of the Hotel Chelsea ..... p. 16

borhood stakeholders extends back at least two decades. It’s also the type of conflict that the new Office of Nightlife was instituted to mediate. But for these Downtown neighborhoods, Palitz as the office’s senior executive director reignites flames of when she was on the State Liquor Authority Committee of Community Board 3. Many see her as a figure responsible for an oversaturation of bars and clubs in the Lower East Side and

East Village, and often point to her history as an owner of the now-closed Sutra Lounge, formerly at First Ave. and E. First St., a bar that was criticized for receiving excessive 311 complaints. Palitz has contended the complaints came from one person, yet at that bar, she also racked up $30,000 in fines, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

In a conference-call interview with The Villager, Palitz NIGHTLIFE continued on p. 5

Just the fax, ma’am; Doris was on the case.......p. 2 Cuomo budgets $50 million for Hudson Park ....p. 3 www.TheVillager.com

Well, all we know at this point is that it just seems to be a “T” thing and to involve a chain store.

DIALING DORIS: As we recently reported, Doris Diether, the legendary zoning maven of Community Board 2, was without a working landline and was making do with her fax phone.

We recently spoke to Diether, 89, on her normal phone, which had finally been fi xed after a month on the fritz, and we got the 411 from her. Basically, in addition to battling it out with the phone company over whether she owed any money during the outage — which occurred over portions of two months — she told us she was surprised that, even while using the fax phone, she was harassed by scammers. Of course, as usual, Diether did her best to sleuth them out and get the goods on them.

In one con attempt, a guy called asking her to pay $300 for a trial of DIRECTV, assuring she could get her money back if not satisfied. Yeah, right! “I was being hesitant, as usual,” Diether related,

PHOTO BY SCOOPY

Feeling oppressed: Dana Beal outside of Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books on Carmine St. a couple of weekends ago.

noting she stayed on the line with the jerk for a half an hour. “You know, I try to get the information from them,” she explained. “They’re very persistent, they called four times on two different days.” First, they called from San Antonio, then the next day from somewhere in Ohio. In a separate scam, some dopes were trying to get her to give them $850 for a MoneyGram in connection with vacant land in Florida that she actually owns. “I don’t know

what they wanted it for,” she said, adding that the land is “buildable.” Per her routine, Diether plans to give the info to the state Attorney General’s Office.

And that’s the fax.

OFF-TARGET: Now we’re hearing that, in fact, it’s actually a Target — and not a Trader Joe’s, as we reported last week — that is being courted for the vacant former Mrs. Green’s supermarket space at Bethune and Hudson Sts.

THE BEAL DEAL: As Mary Reinholz reports in this week’s issue, Dana Beal was surprisingly at the book reading for Pat Thomas’s new Jerry Rubin coffee-table tome on Carmine St. the other weekend. “I’m starting the Dennis Perrone Museum and Big-Top Pot Supermarket,” the Yippie veteran told us after the event, adding, “It’s going to be the Trader Joe’s” of marijuana. (Not the Target, we hope!) Beal was recently arrested for trying to truck pot out of Northern California — a mere few weeks before the state legalized weed.

What’s up with his trial? we asked him.

Basically, he explained, he’s a small fish. “It’s being, like, delayed because they don’t have enough judges,” he said. “They don’t have the bandwidth to cover this. We had 22 pounds. Your average bust is 220 pounds there.” The former Bleecker St. resident stomped back into the bookstore, muttering about how pot is legal in California now, so why is he even on trial at all?

WAY TO GO, RENZO: The photo of the unidentified young boy sitting in front of artistic posters at the antigun march in last week’s issue was of Renzo Castrucci, who lives in Bullet Space, a former East Village squat. The posters were made by students in a School of Visual Arts class taught by his father, Andrew Castrucci.

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April 5, 2018

TheVillager.com

Gov gives H.R.Pk $50M

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

S

howing he’s serious about fulfilling his pledge, made in his State of the State address earlier this year, that he would fi nish building the Hudson River Park if re-elected to another term, Governor Mario Cuomo has included $50 million in capital funds for the waterfront park in the annual state budget.

According to Gotham Gazette, the budget also “includes language to ensure that New York City makes the phased and matched investments necessary to get the job done.�

Tom Fox, one of the City Club of New York members who sued the Hudson River Park Trust over Barry Diller’s Pier 55 plan, was heartened by the news. Last October, the City Club plaintiffs agreed not to file objections to new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for the Diller project in exchange for Cuomo’s pledge to fi nish the 4.5-mile-long park between Chambers and W. 59th Sts., and also to include funding for restoration of wetland areas. The budget includes $1.5 million for restoration of “soft areas� along the park’s shoreline. “It appears he kept his word,� Fox said, “and so did we. In this day and age, shaking hands can still work.�

However, many more dollars will be

Governor Andrew Cuomo has committed to completing the Hudson River Park if elected to a second term.

needed to complete the park. The most recent figure given by the Trust is that it will take $619 million to get the job done.

The Trust declined comment, but Connie Fishman, executive director of Hudson River Park Friends (formerly Friends of Hudson River Park), issued a statement. “We are grateful for the $50 million promised by the governor and approved by the state Legislature,� she said. “Combined with the potential funds from the sale of [park] air rights, this will go a long way toward com-

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PARK continued on p. 4

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April 5, 2018

FILE PHOTO BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

From left, Maria Hr ynenko, Athanasios Ioannidis, Michael Hr ynenko, Dilber Kukic and Andrew Trombettas handcuffed behind their backs at their arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Cour t in Februar y 2016. They were indicted that month in the East Village building explosion. Michael Hyrnenko died last September at age 31. The case continues against the four remaining defendants.

Sept. start for 2nd Ave. gas-explosion trial

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he case for the 2015 East Village explosion is expected to go to trial Sept. 24. Ahead of the projected trial date, both parties will suggest questions for jury selection on June 25, the judge on the case, Kirke Bartley said on Friday.

The fatal fiery blast at 121 Second Ave., at E. Seventh St., killed two, injured 12 and ultimately leveled three buildings back in March 2015. After nearly a year of investigation, five individuals were indicted in

February 2016: Maria Hrynenko, the building’s owner; Athanasios Ioannidis, an unlicensed plumber; Dilber Kukic, a general contractor; Andrew Trombettas, a licensed plumber; and Michael Hrynenko, the building manager and Maria Hrynenko’s son. Last September, Michael Hrynenko died at 31, leaving the remaining four defendants’ fate in the hands of the New York County Supreme Court.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charges that the five individuals were involved in rigging up an illegal gas delivery system, which the build-

ing’s residents were unaware of for multiple years. The conspirators skirted regulations and took shortcuts that proved deadly, according to District Attorney Cy Vance. The deadly raging fire was caused by a “foreseeable, preventable and completely avoidable gas explosion,” Vance said in a statement back in February 2016.

Building owner Hrynenko hired Kukic as a general contractor to renovate 121 Second Ave. Kukic, in turn, hired Ioannidis to do some plumbing work — but Ioannidis was not professionally licensed. Trom-

bettas, though, was a professionally licensed plumber.

Prosecutors said that Ioannidis fudged paperwork submitted to Con Edison and the city’s Department of Buildings using Trombettas’s license. The “gassiphoning” system they configured ultimately led to excess gas flowing to the point where an employee at the Japanese ground-floor restaurant, Sushi Park, could smell the odor. The explosion occurred just after an inspection by Con Ed. All the defendants except for Trombettas are charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Cuomo ponies up for Hudson R. Park PARK continued from p. 3

pleting the park’s northern section. We’d like to thank the governor for his commitment to completing Hudson River Park in the next few years, and our local elected officials for supporting us throughout this process.”

Assemblymember Deborah Glick said the city and state should commit to funding the park over the long term — not just to fi nishing its construc-

tion.

“It is a good step,” Glick said of the $50 million, “but it is intended to pay for capital build-out, while a major part of the expense has been repairing storm damage and keeping up with maintaining a heavily used park. We can never build ourselves out of the ongoing expense of this waterfront park. I would hope that the governor and mayor recognize the true long-term cost of the park is also a pub-

lic responsibility and should not be shouldered solely by commercial developments in the park.”

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he will do his part to ensure the city upholds it end of the bargain in funding the park.

“The Hudson River Park is one of our community’s most vital assets,” he said, “a green oasis on a West Side that is otherwise starved of parks.

For too long, it hasn’t received

the funding from state and local sources that it deserves.

The $50 million capital allocation by Governor Cuomo is a game-changer. Now, we in city government must meet our obligations and support a park that has given our community so much. One of my top priorities as speaker is to ensure, by the end of my term, that the build-out of Hudson River Park is fully funded and that the park is on strong fi nancial footing for decades to come.”

TheVillager.com

Activists are cautiously hopeful on ‘N’life Mayor’ NIGHTLIFE continued from p. 1

and Menin said that, in the coming months, they plan to listen to those skeptical of whether the former bar owner will be evenhanded. The office will schedule a town hall in each borough, as mandated by the position’s founding legislation, and dozens of smaller meetings around the city with all stakeholders.

“I’m also really considering every day as part of my listening tour,” Palitz said. “Quality-of-life concerns will always be front and center for our office, as well as what the industry itself is needing in order to help it stabilize and to provide more of a cultural contribution to the city. But whether it be within the town halls or the smaller meetings, all stakeholders have a seat at this table at MOME.” Her first public outing so far was in Bushwick by way of the NYC Artist Coalition.

Palitz recognizes she has some critics in the community.

“Obviously, their concerns are important to me,” she said. “All I can really say is that my intention is to address their concerns by coming up with viable solutions and addressing all concerns and making positive and meaningful change for all stakeholders.”

She said she could promise this all day long, but the best way to change skeptics’ minds “is to give me the opportunity to show them that this is going to be a meaningful office.”

Community groups are waiting to see when Palitz will come and speak to them. Though Palitz was appointed less than one month ago, Diem Boyd, director of the Lower East Side Dwellers, is waiting to see if Palitz — who lives in the East Village — will face community groups on her own turf.

Boyd feels the community’s concerns have been ignored, specifically, regarding the oversaturation of bars and clubs. Her group coined the moniker “Hell Square” for the nine-block area between Houston and Delancey Sts. and Allen and Essex Sts. that boasts 62 full liquor licenses, according to the Dwellers. Boyd wonders how Palitz will address the area’s excessive 311 complaints, traffic and sanitation problems, such as vomit and urine from overserved partygoers.

“It’s just a free for all,” Boyd said.

Since many of these partygoers don’t live in the neighborhood, they don’t consider the consequences their overnight behavior has on residents, she said.

Watchdogs charge laws preventing this oversaturation don’t seem to be enforced, including ensuring that bars are not located within 200 feet of schools and churches and restricting a fourth bar from opening within 500 feet of three others.

Even Councilmember Carlina Rivera said she had to stop walking her dog in “Hell Square” because of sanitation issues, specifically, the increasing amount of trash and vomit left behind on Saturday and Sunday mornings. But, Rivera — who represents District 2, covering the East Village and part of the Lower East Side — said solutions are not necessarily simple.

“It’s not just pushing bars down the street or telling people to go smoke somewhere else,” she said.

Instead, communities need responsible nightlife operators who work to “perpetuate a more responsible culture,” she said.

Rivera said she doesn’t think the nightlife office will affect the process of the city’s local community boards at all. She has high hopes for Palitz. The two served together on Community Board 3, which covers the East Village and Lower East Side, and Rivera said she considers Palitz a friend.

“She knows that I’m watching her, but also supporting her,” Rivera said. The goal of the new department is to focus on conflict mediation and promote the industry, according to Rivera. “We know it will cer-

TheVillager.com

Former East Village bar owner Ariel Palitz is the new head of the city’s Office of Nightlife.

The new Office of Nightlife is under the umbrella of Commissioner Julie Menin’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Enter tainment, or MOME.

tainly be challenging to do both, but I certainly think it’s possible and I’m looking forward to working with her.”

Menin met with various groups from the Lower East Side, East Village and Chinatown for an impromptu meeting on March 14. Menin’s history of finding a balance between promoting on-location filming in the city and avoiding nuisances for residents during her tenure as chairperson of Lower Manhattan’s Community Board 1 and then as head of MOME, is reassuring for Boyd and others.

Menin’s experience, in Boyd’s view, “shows she has the ability to thread the needle between the quality

of life and public safety of residents and business interests.”

Threading the needle, or finding that balance, is what Palitz and Menin hope to do.

“We’re going to listen to concerns and where there are hot spots around noise,” Menin said. “We want to be able to intercede in a really value-added way by immediately reaching and speaking with community stakeholders, speaking with enforcement agencies, and speaking with the nightlife industry.”

“We are really approaching this in a holistic way,” Palitz added. “That is the way this office is designed.

In order for us to come up with any comprehensive plans or ideas, that listening tour really needs to take place.”

The intention is that, through the listening tour, they can gather more information to present a strategic plan. People may want that plan now, she acknowledged, but it’s a process that needs to be gone through.

“It’s going to take some time for us to really build or create that based on what we’ve learned,” she said.

The March 14 meeting with Menin was an assurance of “checks and balances,” for Jan Lee, the director of The Chinatown Core, a quality-of-life group.

Lee worked with Menin in the past on a film-shoot issue on Mott St., but he said his group cannot speak in regard to Palitz and only knows what other groups have said about her. But his organization is no doubt concerned about the continuing proliferation of bars in Chinatown.

“She came personally and she was ready to take what the neighborhood had to throw at her, and that’s really what we want,” Lee said of Menin. “We wanted to know that someone who has a history of being favorable to bars,” he said of Palitz, “and who has a history of being very outspoken about the liquor and hospitality industry in favor of it — that there is some checks and balances that we could voice to someone who has a longstanding history dealing with community issues.”

But despite the deep-rooted caution some groups have about Palitz, there are others in the community who believe she is a great choice.

“She has a great deal of integrity and is a hardworking person,” said Robert Perl, president and C.E.O. of Tower Brokerage.

“She’s not two-faced in the least.”

Palitz worked as a commercial broker with Perl for the past two years at his East Village-based real estate company. Although she left the company after getting appointed to her new $130,000-a-year position, she still has a few deals in the works, he said. He said these were made before she was given the “nightlife mayor” position, they’ve been fully disclosed to the government, and all she will likely do is pick up a check from Tower’s office once the deals close.

Her critics, including the Dwellers, are just a “handful of people,” he shrugged.

David McWater, former chairperson of C.B. 3 and an East Village bar owner, also called Palitz an “excellent choice” for the position. McWater worked with Palitz for years while on C.B. 3.

“I think she wants to do a good job,” he said. “It means a lot to her. … She can look at a situation and know what the problem is.”

As for the problematic nightlife operators, McWater added, it’s just “one percent that do ridiculous stuff that alienate segments of the population.” Between the tourists and the residents living upstairs above the bars, it is an ongoing “tug of war” in the city, he added.

NIGHTLIFE continued on p. 6 April 5, 2018

5

POLICE BLOTTER Knife and K2 Police said they found a man lying on the ground near the subway station entrance at the northeast corner of 14th St. and Sixth Ave. on Wed., March 28, at 8:10 a.m. They searched him and found that he had an 8-inch kitchen knife wrapped in a blanket, as well as an alleged K2 synthetic-marijuana cigarette in his jacket pocket.

Dembo Sanyang, 28, was arrested for felony criminal possession of a weapon.

Rubber fingers ruse A “Level 1 mobilization” — with up to a dozen responding officers — reportedly was called after possible human remains were found in a plastic bag at 23rd St. and Avenue C near the F.D.R. Drive on Mon., April 2, around 12:30 p.m.

But the remains turned out to be phony.

According to police, the suspected bloody parts were rubber fingers. The New York Post reported that a cleaner emptying a trash can in a municipal parking garage was fooled by the deceptive digits, which also included what appeared to be a hand.

Investigators and representatives from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded and declared the fingers find a false alarm.

Lunge break A husband lunged at his 38-year-old

wife during a visit to her house at 220 Sullivan St., on Fri., March 30, at 9:20 a.m., police said.

The guy had come over to visit his 9-year-old son. The boy was subsequently put in the custody of the Administration for Children’s Services and taken to his aunt.

Juan Uribarri, 49, was arrested for felony menacing.

Helped himself A man walked through the unlocked front doors of 102 Christopher St. and stole packages on Fri., March 30, at 11:30 a.m., police said. The man went into the building’s vestibule and hallway and removed residents’ packages. A Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn, a protein shake and a brazier were all stolen.

Charles Grahm, 57, was busted for felony burglary.

Venmo no-no A woman was notified on her cellphone that her Venmo account was used at the CVS store at 360 Sixth Ave., at Waverly Place, on Sat., March 31, at 12:30 p.m., according to police. When she got the message, she realized she did not have the card with her. There was a total charge of $205.95.

Kevin High, 47, was charged with felony grand larceny.

Tabia C. Robinson and Lincoln Anderson

‘N’life Mayor’ is a first NIGHTLIFE continued from p. 5

The Office of Nightlife has plans to gather feedback from other cities with so-called “nightlife mayors.” For instance, Menin said she met with Amsterdam’s nightlife mayor a few months ago. The office there was able to help reduce noise and nuisance complaints, as well as reports of violence, according to Menin. But New York City is so unique, it faces its own specific challenges and opportunities, she noted.

“You can look at a lot of other cities, but there is obviously no city like New York,” she said. “There is no other city that’s comparable to New York.”

For Palitz, her position as nightlife mayor has pushed her to work on a citywide level, which is a change from her previous experience in the private sector. She looks forward to serving all boroughs, she said, describing herself as “New York-centric not Manhattan-

6

April 5, 2018

centric.”

“I am looking forward to taking what we’ve learned in Manhattan and applying it to the boroughs,” she said, “to have more strategic planning and ideas to prevent some of the community conflicts that may have arisen, and really learn from the successes and failures.”

She wouldn’t detail the failures she may have learned from during her stint at C.B. 3. But she later added in an email that one problem-solving success she had was alleviating noise from morning deliveries and customers at Freeman’s Restaurant, on Rivington St. The restaurant sits at the end of a cobblestoned alley, so noise would echo up toward residents.

“My suggestion was to change the delivery trolleys to have rubber wheels and remove the bench,” she said. “It’s not a systemic solution, but my goal was to recommend achievable improvement.”

TheVillager.com

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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.

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April 5, 2018

7

Residents and disabled groups are suing to stop LAWSUIT continued from p. 1

charges: that government has failed to conduct an environmental impact statement, or E.I.S., for the plan, and that it fails to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. A coalition of more than two-dozen Village and Chelsea block associations, along with two disability-rights groups, are petitioners in the suit, which is being brought by Village attorney Arthur Z. Schwartz.

At the press conference, Schwartz blasted the failure to do required environmental studies as “arrogant,” and said the traffic schemes in the plan were cooked up by misguided transportation “zealots.”

The petitioners include the ad-hoc 14th St. Coalition — the group of Village and Chelsea block associations and building co-op and condo boards that has been meeting regularly to organize against the plan — individual block associations covering blocks between 12th and 18th Sts., the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, the Flatiron Alliance, and two large apartment buildings — the Victoria, at 7 E. 14th St., and the Cambridge, at 175 W. 13th St. — along with Disabled in Action and the 504 Democratic Club, the city’s leading political club for disabled individuals.

Defendants named in the lawsuit include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit and the New York City Department of Transportation, plus the Federal Transportation Administration.

The F.T.A. is included because, the suit alleges, the agency has “failed to enforce compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),” even though the L tunnel repair work is a $1 billion federally funded project.

Attorney Schwartz argues that, under NEPA, because federal funding is involved, A.D.A.-accessible elevators must be installed at L stations as part of the project.

The suit also charges the M.T.A. / NYC Transit and city D.O.T. with failing to conduct an E.I.S. under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, and the City Environmental Quality Review Act, or CEQRA. “Despite all sorts of community meetings and obscure modeling, no E.I.S. has been done,” Schwartz charged. “It’s incredible to me, as a lawyer with 40 years experience, that this is a $1 billion project and the M.T.A. and D.O.T. did not do an environmental impact study. It’s almost the epitome of arrogance — because when you do an E.I.S. it requires more work, but it requires transparency and community engagement.

“Although all the L stations in the shutdown are being upgraded,” he continued, “at least five of these stations

8

April 5, 2018

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Attorney Ar thur Schwar tz, left, spoke at the announcement of the lawsuit against the L subway shutdown plan on Tuesday. Edith Prentiss, of Disabled in Action, right, and members of the 14th St. Coalition also spoke. Both groups are among the many par ties to the lawsuit.

will not be made A.D.A.-accessible.

“The residents, the leaders of this community have decided to go to court to stop the plan because government should be required to do the required input and studies.”

These studies, the attorney added, “would require consideration of alternatives, and develop analysis and statistics that would be reviewable at public meetings and at court — that could be challenged, as in Westway. Striped bass numbers were fudged in Westway,” he noted. “Here, we believe they have fudged the number of cars that go down 14th St.” Schwartz was referring to how the $2 billion Westway tunnel-and-landfill project on the Lower West Side was defeated in the mid-1980s due to environmental concerns. As for allegedly “fudged numbers” on 14th St. traffic, Schwartz and members of the 14th St. Coalition contend that the D.O.T. data excludes trucks from its figures — plus is more than 10 years old.

If the city’s mitigation plan goes through, Schwartz added, “There will be more traffic on Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Aves. and on the side streets.”

He added that for-hire vehicles, like Uber, are currently clogging up Manhattan’s streets more than anywhere else, especially Downtown. And, with the closure of St. Vincent’s in 2010, there is no nearby hospital, other than Beth Israel all the way over on First Ave., meaning increased traffic would

be putting people’s lives at risk.

“The plans of D.O.T. could be a matter of life and death,” he warned.

‘An E.I.S. requires transparency and community engagement.’

Arthur Schwartz

In addition to compelling the agencies to conduct an E.I.S. and for the M.T.A. to install handicap-accessible elevators at L stations, the suit also seeks to stay any funding for and work on the Canarsie Tunnel shutdown project.

Schwartz, of the law firm Advocates for Justice Chartered Attorneys, is also the Village’s elected Democratic district co-leader.

The city hopes to close the East River L tunnel for 15 months for repairs starting in April 2019. This would set off what has been nicknamed the “Lpocalypse,” causing a mad commuter scramble of displaced L straphangers.

The city’s proposed transportation mitigation measures would see 14th St. transformed into a “busway” without cars during rush hours, if not for even longer periods, while roadway space on 14th St. would be taken away to increase pedestrian space; a two-way protected crosstown bike lane added on 13th St.; a flotilla of small ferries sailing back and forth between Williamsburg and Stuyvesant Town; and a fleet of 70 diesel-powered buses per hour motoring over the Williamsburg Bridge that would link to Downtown local subway hubs, as well as to 14th St., where the busway would be filled with even more newly purchased diesel-fuel buses.

Many Village and Chelsea residents fear that displaced car traffic from the 14th St. “PeopleWay” would overwhelm their narrow historic streets, while 13th St. residents and City and Country School parents vehemently oppose the novel two-way crosstown bike lane.

Judy Pesin and Julianne Bond, two leaders of the 14th St. Coalition, also spoke at the press conference.

“We believe there’s strength in numbers,” Pesin said of why the coalition formed two months ago. “These plans were devised with just the commuters in mind. We’ll be impacted by them 24 / 7. The businesses will also be impacted.”

“The D.O.T. has not been interested in listening to us until now,” Bond said.

She added that, even now, trucks already are going down side streets that have “No Trucks” signs, implying that it would be even worse under the city’s mitigation plan.

Pesin said the “rush hour” periods for the 14th St. busway plan to exclude cars from the street seem to keep growing.

“We’ve seen anywhere from 16 hours a day to 21 hours a day,” she said. “I’m not sure what universe that exists in.”

Most people consider rush hour to be 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., “not 16 hours a day,” she added.

“We also believe the D.O.T. data is based on 2005 numbers, which is way before the for-hire vehicles,” Pesin added. “And we need solid data to have a real plan. We can’t come up with alternatives until we know what we’re facing.”

Similarly, Schwartz questioned the need for widening the sidewalks on 14th St. “They say there is going to be this crush of people,” he said. “A lot of us don’t understand where this crush of pedestrians will come from.”

Meanwhile, he noted, the traffic data that D.O.T. recently released — which is just tables of raw numbers and times — is “incomprehensible to most people.”

Under the city’s plan, 14th St. would be narrowed to two lanes of traffic, with LAWSUIT continued on p. 9 TheVillager.com

L subway shutdown plan, ‘busway’ and bike lane LAWSUIT continued from p. 8

a passing lane in the middle, while University Place would be closed to traffic between 13th and 14th Sts., and much of Union Square West would be closed to traffic. “So cars will be zigzagging all around,� Schwartz said. “There are all kinds of bottlenecks that are created.�

According to Schwartz, D.O.T. is now saying it would move the bike lane from the south side to the north side of 13th St. — but now people on that side of the street are upset about it.

Edith Prentiss, a member of Disabled in Action, rolled up to the podium in her wheelchair to give her remarks. She said the L train serves an area with a number of facilities serving the disabled and that the area has a high density of disabled individuals, such as residents at Penn South and other large developments. “Look at Canal St.,� she said. “Try getting across Canal St. in a wheelchair — forget it. If you’re going to close the subway for [15] months, I think that’s enough time to put in elevators.�

In Manhattan, the L line currently has elevators at Eighth Ave. and Union Square, and is now getting ones installed at First Ave., but doesn’t have elevators at Sixth and Third Aves., and the current shutdown plan does not include adding them there.

“This would be an excellent opportunity for the M.T.A. / NYC Transit to actually look at deficiencies in the system,� Prentiss said, “instead of trying to just patch the bleeding wound.�

In addition, state Senator Brad Hoylman has said, if anything, electric buses, not diesel, should be used in any mitigation plan, while some local environmental advocates say ultra-low-pollution, renewable natural gas buses, though more expensive, would be even better. The city is purchasing 200 diesel buses to deal with the expected L shutdown.

Schwartz and Pesin added that they expect the Grand St. Democrats political club to join the lawsuit since Lower East Siders are concerned about the increase in bus traffic and pollution due to the mitigation plan.

Schwartz said that the M.T.A. and D.O.T. could start right now and easily do an E.I.S. in plenty of time and still be able to begin the L Canarsie Tunnel repairs in April 2019. However, he said, an even-better option would be for the tunnel repairs to be done only at nights and on weekends, which would lead to far less disruption.

Schwartz stressed that the M.T.A. has made it clear that the repair of the Canarsie Tunnel is not an emergency situation and that the tunnel’s structural integrity is not at risk — so there is no pressing need to do the job as quickly

as possible. “I don’t know why they have to opt for the most severe option,� he said.

Answering his own question, Schwartz said he believes the L shutdown scenario and related mitigation measures are being driven by “zealots� who want to use it as a form of congestion pricing — basically, by making it harder for drivers to get around the area. “These people have a vision,� he said. “There are some zealots in the New York City Department of Transportation. But they can’t get congestion pricing. They can’t limit the number of forhire vehicles.�

But Schwartz said D.O.T. is wrong to think that making it harder to drive in Downtown Manhattan will lead to cars simply vanishing from the streets. “That theory has no basis in New York City,� he said, “because most of the cars on our streets now are for-hire cars and trucks. These people get paid to sit in traffic.�

Stanley Bulbach, from W. 15th St., said the plan to widen the sidewalks on 14th St. is actually just a gift to landlords and developers, “so they can put seats out� for cafes. “This has nothing to do with the subway,� he declared.

Schwartz said the sidewalk widening obviously would be a permanent

change, though D.O.T. is declining to say so. “It’s not temporary. They have no plan to ever, ever go back,� he stated.

He and Bulbach also both said that an increase in traffic would impact the infrastructure of the side streets they live on — Bulbach referring to a problematic asbestos-covered steam pipe and a gas main underneath 15th St. “The building I live in was built in 1840,� Schwartz said of his W. 12th St. home. “It wasn’t built to withstand that traffic going by 24 a day. The street has a cast-iron water main.�

In response to the lawsuit, a D.O.T. spokesperson said, in a statement: “The crisis stemming from next year’s closing of the L train tunnel is not just an issue for north Brooklyn and Greenwich Village. This unprecedented challenge will be felt citywide, requiring hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to think about their commutes and their streets differently. “D.O.T. and M.T.A. will continue to work with stakeholders over the next year to improve the plan. This follows extensive community outreach since the closure was announced.�

City agency officials have previously stated they do not feel an E.I.S. is needed for the project because it allegedly complies with all environmental requirements.

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For more information, please call New York University, 631-268-6931 or email aml836@nyu.edu TheVillager.com

April 5, 2018

9

Three other candidates

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he 74th Assembly District seat is up for grabs — and a special election will determine who will be the district’s new assemblymember.

But there are more candidates than just Democrat Harvey Epstein on the ballot. Three others will run in the special election for the seat, scheduled for Tues., April 24.

The seat opened up after former Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh resigned from his post after winning election to the state Senate last year. The East Side district stretches from the Baruch Houses south of E. Houston St. through the East Village and Stuyvesant Town to just north of the United Nations.

Bryan Cooper, the Republican candidate; Juan Pagan, running on the Reform Party line; and Adrienne CraigWilliams, representing the Green Party, will be listed alongside Epstein on the ballot. The Villager profiled Epstein two weeks ago.

In interviews with The Villager, the three candidates besides Epstein detailed their platforms.

Cooper is a staunch G.O.P.’er — and proud of it. Some people ask him: “Are you crazy or are you nuts?” He says, No; he believes in choice and independence, and that programs such as SNAP a.k.a. “food stamps” and WIC (food assistance for low-income families) should help people get back on their feet, but they’re not a permanent solution.

“We’re not mean-spirited people,” he said of Republicans. “We just want people to have independence.”

Cooper ran for this seat in 2014, losing to Kavanagh by 70 percentage points. Despite the district’s history of voting blue, Cooper said, “I feel like I have a good chance at winning this.”

Cooper’s key issues are school safety and improving public housing. He’s been a resident of the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D for nearly two decades, and has seen issues involving proper trash disposal, heating, hot water and broken front doorways. Sometimes, he added, housing isn’t made accessible to people with wheelchairs.

But in Cooper’s view, the New York City Housing Authority has the needed funding to fi x all these conditions.

“There’s too much waste,” he said.

“There is a lot of money in the NYCHA budget. The problem is where is it going.”

Regarding school security, Cooper said that not only should safety officers be armed and trained like New York Police Department cops, teachers should be trained and armed, too. He said he would vote and advocate for metal detectors in schools, bag checking and wanding with handheld detectors.

When The Villager asked if he would be concerned that students of color

10

April 5, 2018

Br yan Cooper is running as a Republican.

would be overpoliced if school safety officers were trained like the N.Y.P.D., he said these are “different times.”

“Better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.” The “kumbaya progressive stuff” has to go, he said. With gun-control laws already on the books, he added, “Why do we need more? Just enforce the laws that we have.”

Cooper emphasized, however, that he is not a man of talking points.

“I want to represent you, but I want to represent you in a way that you want,” he said. “They don’t have the authority to go up into Albany and sponsor bills and be a part of bills without the feedback of people,” he said of politicians.

“That’s disrespectful.”

Juan Pagán might be running as a Reform Party candidate in this election, but he said he’s a Democrat at heart.

“I’m a hardcore Democrat,” he said.

“I was born a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat on the Lower East Side here my whole life.”

He has run for office several times as a Democrat, including in 2006 and 2012 for Assembly and a run for City Council District 2 in 2009. In 2006 and 2012, he ran for Assembly. He accused the Board of Elections of tossing him off the ballot illegally in the 2012 election through a minor technical error in his campaign paperwork.

Since he has previously been unable to win over what he called the “party bosses,” he turned to the Reform Party.

In a special election with no primary race, it was his only shot at getting on the ballot. But in Pagán’s view, his being on the ballot actually offers voters two Democrats to choose from.

A longtime Loisada resident who has lived in public housing for several decades, he said he has an intimate knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting NYCHA developments.

ASSEMBLY continued on p. 11 TheVillager.com

also vying for an open East Side Assembly seat ASSEMBLY continued from p. 10

One specific proposal he described to keep public housing affordable is to exclude people on a fi xed income from rent increases.

“This is happening to the entire NYCHA developments across New York City,” he said. “This story is repeating itself hundreds and thousands of times.”

Criminal justice reform is another priority. As a former Corrections officer in Upstate prisons, he said he believes criminal justice reform must include more rehabilitative programs to help formerly incarcerated individuals obtain jobs, housing and mental health services. Plus, closing down the Rikers Island prison complex and replacing it with several smaller jails around the city has to be dealt with carefully becuase it’s a huge project, he warned.

“There has to be a holistic approach to dealing with offenders,” he said.

Although Pagán has lost elections for this seat before, the Reform Party gave him a newfound hope. When he was nominated by the party, he said he thought, “Good, I can get back into the fight again.”

Adrienne Craig-Williams joined the Green Party during Jill Stein’s 2012 presidential campaign. She said her political passion was ignited by the death

Juan Pagan has the Reform Par ty line.

The Greens’ candidate is Adrienne Craig-Williams.

of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a 16-yearold American citizen who was killed by an American drone strike in Yemen in 2011. For her, the drone strikes revealed the “moral failings” on the part of the U.S. government.

“I thought that was crossing a line, and that really activated me politically,” she said. “And then to see during the 2012 [presidential] election that people weren’t responding to the facts on the

ground of what I thought was obvious moral failings.”

Six years later, she is sticking with the party, finally running for office herself.

“Most Green Party people are activists first, politicians second,” she explained. That, in part, and the Greens’ platform are why she stayed with the party after Stein’s 2012 election. She volunteered to work on Jabari Brisport’s

campaign for City Council in District 35 (Fort Greene / Prospect Heights), later receiving a stipend as his treasurer. Local elections, rather than Stein’s national campaign, drew her closer to politics.

“My experience with the City Council campaign made me see how nice it is to be in a local election where you can actually talk to a lot of the people affected,” she said.

Craig-Williams is still currently working as an elementary school teacher at the Earth School in the East Village.

She’s a self-described vegan, intersectional feminist and anti-racist activist.

Her key positions are fighting for equitable education and climate-change resiliency in her district.

“We need to put in more resilient infrastructure,” she said. “And we need to do it now, so it’s more equitable, rather than scrambling when another storm hits.”

But without more political experience than volunteering, she has had to tackle learning everything from being a campaign treasurer to creating fliers to speaking at rallies. She expects the biggest question about her will be her relative lack of political experience.

But, noting she’s not a part of a “party machine,” she said, if elected, she could tackle issues often cast to the wayside, such as climate change and education.

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BOOK ONLINE April 5, 2018

11

Radical vets recall Yippie-turned-Yuppie Rubin

BY MARY REINHOLZ

I

n a posthumous salute to a man from a revolutionary era, about 40 left-wing radicals like Dana Beal, Larry “Ratso” Sloman and Aron “Yippie Pie Man” Kay crammed into Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, at 34 Carmine St., on a sunny Saturday afternoon. They had come to hear reminiscences about the life and times of Jerry Rubin, the late former Yippie leader-turned-Yuppie investment banker who is the subject of a coffee-table biography

by Pat Thomas called “Did It!” “Generally, we get together at funerals but this is more like a book party,” mused Kay, 68, who had taken a seat on one of the folding metal chairs set up on March 24 at Unoppressive, which shares its space with Carmine Street Comics. He observed that there were few females of a certain age present, telling The Villager that the Yippie movement of yore had been, “I hate to say it, very male-dominated.”

Thomas said that he tried to make up for that gap by including in his book about 20 statements from women, like Judy Gumbo, widow of Yip Stew Albert, Rubin’s best friend; and Nancy Kershan, Rubin’s longtime girlfriend, noting he had been told that both female activists would “kick my ass” if he didn’t.

Conspicuously missing at the event was Dylan garbologist A.J. Weberman, once a member of an anarchist group called the Zippies that feuded fiercely with the older Yippie leadership during the 1972 Democratic and Republican conventions in Miami. In “Did It!” subtitled “From Yippie to Yuppie: Jerry Rubin, An American Revolutionary,” Weberman claimed in his statement that he went after Yippie co-founder Ed Sanders, then the legendary leader of The Fugs rock group in the East Village, for allegedly calling Weberman a cop on a radio show. At the time, both radical groups were under surveillance by the F.B.I.’s COINTELPRO program for their antiwar activism. “[Weberman] is too chickens--- to come,” opined octogenarian satirist Paul Krassner, another co-founder of the Youth International Party and former editor of The Realist magazine, who was live-streamed into the bookstore from his home in Southern California.

Krassner, who wrote a front-page Los Angeles Times review of “Did It!” last summer, told the West Village gathering that Sanders dismissed Weberman’s claim in the book that Weberman had put sugar and his own urine in the gas tank of Sanders’s Land Rover in retaliation for Sanders’s alleged comments on radio.

“I asked Sanders about it and he told me it wasn’t true,” Krassner said. He described Sanders as “one of the most honest people I know” and characterized Weberman as a “liar —second only to Donald Trump.”

Contacted by e-mail, Weberman explained that he was a no-show because “I was finishing the book, which I felt was more important. Plus, you are not allowed to talk bad about another Jew who is dead,” he said of Rubin, who died in 1994 after being struck by a car on Wilshire Boulevard, not far from his penthouse apartment in Westwood, California.

“Plus, Krassner was not there, just on Skype,” he added. “Aron [Kay] took my place and he counts as two. How do I know this? One time I wanted to put out a contract on him and the Mafia wanted to charge me double,” Weberman joked, referring to Kay’s ample girth.

Several weeks earlier, Weberman said that he stood by his story about “trashing” Sanders’s car and so did Thomas, a music producer and author of another book called, “Listen Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power, 1965-1975.”

Thomas, born in the 1960s, looked like a mere boy

12

April 5, 2018

PHOTO BY MARY REINHOLZ

Bookstore owner Jim Drougas live-streamed Paul Krassner into the shop on his laptop.

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Author Pat Thomas with his new Jerr y Rubin coffee-table book “Did It!”

among his elders at Unoppressive as he played a series of audio recordings that captured Rubin during his time as a counterculture icon — joking and putting on a young Phil Donohue, who interviewed him during a break in the Chicago 8 conspiracy trial. Deadpan, Rubin told the somber broadcast journalist, “I want to ask you a question. Didn’t I meet you on the street in New York and you sold me dope?”

Thomas also played portions of Rubin’s speech in 1985 when he had long since become a successful businessman after the Vietnam War ended and was speaking at a “Yippie versus Yuppie debate” — one of a nationwide series — with his more famous rival Abbie Hoffman. Rubin’s voice was startlingly clear as he stated, “If you still think of the old slogan, ‘Tune in, turn on and drop out,’ then you’re going to be on [Hoffman’s] side. If you believe time is money, then you may be more tempted toward my side,” he said to background applause.

Krassner said that Thomas decided to write about Rubin because there had been six biographies published about Hoffman.

Thomas, however, insisted that he also wanted to “right some wrongs” leveled against Rubin, who had

been pilloried by some lefties for leaving radical politics and becoming a capitalist, attracting attention (and ridicule) for touting social networking at trendy nightclubs like Studio 54 and promoting nutritional drinks.

“Jerry did not become a Republican,” Thomas noted. “He did not vote for [Ronald] Reagan,” the writer explained in his effort to rebut “fallacies” about Rubin.

“He was very much like Tom Hayden, a liberal Democrat” who put on a suit and tie. “Jerry never actually sold stocks and bonds. Jerry was marketing green energy, marketing solar panels and ecology and things.

“On the day he got hit by a car” in 1994, Thomas continued, “He was having a meeting about giving money to kids in Compton,” a city with high employment in southern Los Angeles County. “What I’m trying to say is that Jerry kept a social conscience.”

A woman seated in the front row at Unoppressive asked: “Did he make a lot of money?”

“He made a decent amount of money, yeah,” Thomas replied. “He wasn’t a zillionaire, but Jerry made enough to have a swanky apartment off Wilshire Boulevard.

He was on Wilshire” when fatally hit in traffic.

He was “jaywalking” at the time, someone else said.

New York Yippie leader Dana Beal, free on bond after his arrest late last year on pot-trafficking charges in Northern California, was reportedly overheard asking Thomas about Rubin visiting Charles Manson in jail before Manson went on trial for his role in the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and her friends by the so-called Manson Family. According to “Do It!” Rubin met Manson with folksinger Phil Ochs. The two later described the notorious cult figure as “one of the most poetic and intense people we have ever met.”

That episode occurred when people in the counterculture initially believed the Manson Family had been framed by the authorities because of their hippie status.

“The Jerry Rubin-meeting-Manson thing is overblown,” Thomas said in a Facebook message to this reporter. “Basically, Rubin and Phil Ochs visited Manson thinking he was innocent — then realized he was twisted.”

One of the more poignant moments at the Carmine St. event occurred when Thomas played a recording of LSD guru Timothy Leary pleading with Rubin to “come back” to life when Rubin was in a coma and dying at the UCLA Medical Center at age 56.

During brief audience comments after Thomas’s talk, Beal noted of the counterculture, “We needed Charles Manson liked we needed a hole in the head.”

Kay added that hippies used to get invited to the celebrity parties in L.A. before the Manson murders.

“After Manson,” he said, “hippies didn’t get invited to rock-star parties anymore. There was good stuff to smoke there. And there was a lot less hitchhiking — you couldn’t get rides after Manson.”

A woman in the audience added of Rubin, “Although he died from jaywalking, he had cancer. It came out that he knew he might die of cancer. But he didn’t commit suicide. Abbie Hoffman committed suicide. Phil Ochs committed suicide.”

Thomas later sold 29 books out the 30 he had brought with him, most reduced from $50 to $35, according to Unoppressive bookstore owner Jim Drougas.

Based on the success of the event and the fact that he can now get Krassner live-streamed into the store, Drougas later said he is thinking about regularly hosting talks with Krassner joined by other influential figures.

With reporting by Lincoln Anderson TheVillager.com

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April 5, 2018

13

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Homeward bound no more

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To The Editor: Re “Never backward! But a change of direction for the Pride March” (news article, March 29): Sorry to read this. Over the years, the March has changed routes, but each year when it crossed 14th St. it would amp up. The cheers would grow louder, the music would fill our narrow Village streets and dancers would gyrate a little harder. There was a beautiful sense of coming home. It’s hard to imagine it will be the same in Madison Square.

Stacy Walsh Rosenstock

C.B. 4 on Pr. 57: ‘Google it!’

Your Community News Source

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

We cover “The Cube”!

To The Editor: Re “From park pier to horizontal ‘office building’” (talking point, by Tom Fox, March 22): Manhattan Community Board 4 recognizes Tom Fox’s strong feelings regarding the development of the Hudson River Park and the Hudson River Park Trust. However, one point in Mr. Fox’s talking point cannot stand uncorrected.

In his column, Mr. Fox wonders “how the Trust can present a revised land-use proposal for Pier 57 to Community Board 4 without having a plan to describe where different uses will be and how they will function, be accessed, managed, etc.” C.B. 4 would never give its assent to any project, whether in Hudson River Park or elsewhere in our community district, without holding a public meeting to give the public and the members of C.B. 4 an opportunity to learn about the plan, ask questions, suggest improvements and generally consider the project in detail.

On Feb. 8, at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Waterfront, Parks and Environment Committee of C.B. 4, the Trust, RXR and Google gave an informational presentation on a revised plan for Pier 57. The time and location of the meeting, and the items on the agenda, were announced with proper notice. The meeting featured an extensive PowerPoint presentation with accompanying explanation

by Seth Pinsky of RXR and William Floyd of Google. The committee, as well as the public in attendance, had an opportunity to ask questions about the different uses of Pier 57 and how they would function and be managed. Based on the presentation to the committee, the full board of C.B. 4 voted unanimously at its March 7 meeting to send a letter expressing approval of the proposed plan. Further, if the plan changes at all, C.B. 4 would expect the Trust to

IRA BLUTREICH

reappear before the Waterfront, Park and Environment Committee.

Incidentally, a similar presentation, with full opportunity for questions, was made to the Hudson River Park Advisory Council, which is currently chaired by a C.B. 4 member, at its meeting on March 19.

Again, C.B. 4 takes its responsibility to hold public and transparent meetings seriously and welcomes all community stakeholders to attend and advocate their concerns.

Burt Lazarin Lazarin is chairperson, C.B. 4.

Lowell Kern Kern is co-chairperson, C.B. 4 Waterfront, Parks and Environment Committee

Be optimistic on S.B.J.S.A. To The Editor: Re “Small business advocate’s odds on vote for S.B.J.S.A. are small: 50 to 1” (news article, March 29): Not all small business advocates feel as pessimistic about the Small Business Jobs Survival Act. So far, Speaker Johnson has kept his promises. We called for the original bill to be submitted and it was. We called for a public hearing on the bill and the speaker has gone on the record with a promise to do so. Our coalition, Friends of S.B.J.S.A. (http://sbjsa.com/), is committed to respecting the legislative process, and so far we are cautiously optimistic. We should be building public support and interest in the fight for the S.B.J.S.A. rather than prejudging the battle as futile.

David Eisenbach

Yippies’ frustrating feuding To The Editor: Re “Yippies vs. Zippies: New Rubin book reveals ’70s counterculture feud” (news article, Feb. 25): I was present for much of those times, though not actually involved.

The “little guys” who made up the bulk of the movement were dismayed, and often bewildered, at the machinations and rivalries among the leadership.

Whatever the infighting, we all agreed on the goal of overthrowing the entrenched power of “the establishLETTERS continued on p. 23

Starring Andrew Cuomo, Bill de Blasio, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Quinn!

14

April 5, 2018

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Canadian newsprint isn’t the enemy: Tariffs are

TALKING POINT

BY DAVID CHAVERN

E

very day at the News Media Alliance headquarters, a stack of newspapers arrives for the staff and myself. But with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission currently considering tariffs on Canadian newsprint, those days of screen-free reading could be coming to an end.

The fact that newsprint is being threatened is the work of one newsprint mill in the Pacific Northwest, NORPAC. In August 2017, NORPAC petitioned the Department of Commerce to begin applying tariffs to newsprint imported from Canada, claiming the imported paper was harming the American newsprint industry.

But NORPAC is not acting in the best interests of newsprint consumers or the U.S. paper industry at large — it is acting in its own interest and no one else’s.

The buying and selling of newsprint has always been regional without regard for the border. Consumers of newsprint — from newspaper and book publishers to tele-

PHOTO BY THE VILLAGER

The Villager, like other New York State communit y papers, would be hur t by new tariffs on Canadian newsprint.

phone directory manufacturers — tend to buy newsprint in their region, close to their printing operations. The printers who typically utilize Canadian newsprint are those in the Northeast and Midwest, where there are currently no U.S. mills operating.

But those regions are not newsprint deserts because of unfair trade by Canadian paper mills. Rather, newsprint mills shut down or converted to producing other, more profitable paper products when the demand for newsprint fell, something that has been happening steadily for decades.

Since 2000, the demand for newsprint in North America has dropped by 75 percent.

But affordable Canadian paper has helped keep the printed news alive and flourishing well into the 21st century. With

new tariffs, though, many smaller newspapers will feel their belts tightening. The combination of preliminary countervailing and antidumping duties increase the cost of imported newsprint by as much as 32 percent, and a number of newspapers have already experienced price increases and a disruption in supply. If the International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce make these tariffs permanent in the coming months, it could lead some small local publishers to cut their print product entirely — or even shut their doors.

Some, like NORPAC, may argue that by imposing duties on Canadian imports, we’re saving American jobs and boosting our own economy. But while that may sometimes be true for other industries, the opposite is true of newsprint.

What we’re seeing with the newsprint tariffs is not a government acting to try to better the economy for its citizens. Instead, it is “political arbitrage” by one private investment group — where it is effectively looking to use the U.S. government to tax local and community newspapers across the country in order to bolster its own bottom line.

When considering whether to take NORPAC’s claims seriously, D.O.C. excluded input from U.S. newsprint mills owned by Canadian companies — specifically Resolute Forest Products and White Birch. Excluding manufacturers who, dur-

ing the period of investigation, had three functioning newsprint mills in the U.S. because they have sister mills in Canada, shows an unwillingness to understand the borderless newsprint industry and the restructuring that has taken place in recent decades.

If the tariffs on Canadian newsprint are allowed to stand, we’re not only risking a centuries-old relationship with our neighbors to the north, but we’re putting our own U.S. news industry in jeopardy.

While the big national and regional papers may have less trouble finding the funds to keep their print editions coming, we could see small publishers lose footing, and those tiny local papers are some of the most vital members of our news community. Under the right conditions, those papers can find a way to maintain their footing — but if the newsprint industry can’t support them, those communities will become news deserts, and that’s a future none of us want.

We may not be able to save the entire industry by keeping tariffs off our paper, but we can keep it thriving while we reposition ourselves for the years to come. Having affordable newsprint will help us do that.

Chavern is president and C.E.O. of the News Media Alliance. He has spent 30 years in executive strategic and operational roles, and most recently completed a decade-long tenure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

New York kids should be free to be Free-Range RHYMES WITH CRAZY

BY LENORE SKENAZY

O

h, to be as ahead of the curve as Utah!

That state just passed the firstin-the-country Free-Range Parenting Law, based on the movement I founded, Free-Range Kids. The law guarantees that parents who choose to let their kids play outside, walk to school, wait briefly in the car (under some circumstances) or come home with a latchkey will not be considered “negligent.”

Why would anyone need a law like that?

Because being investigated or even arrested for giving kids some old-fashioned, unsupervised time is now something parents have to worry about, thanks to two recent developments: 1. The belief that any time kids are out of their parents’ sight, they’re automatically in grave danger.

2. Cell phones.

Here’s the toxic scenario: A passerby sees a child outside on his TheVillager.com

or her own. This has become so rare, it is like spotting a lemur escaped from the zoo. So what do they do?

They whip out their phone and dial 911.

Then they pat themselves on the back — after all, they just “saved” a child — and off they go. Do they stop and make sure the child is actually O.K.? Of course not!

All that matters is that they made the call.

They’re on a moral high.

What happens next can involve anything from a shrug by the cops, to a warning to the parents, to a Child Protective Services investigation, to an actual arrest.

For example, the state of Illinois cited Natasha Felix for neglect after she let three children, ages 5, 9 and 11, play in the park next to her home, where she could see them from her window. She checked on them every 10 minutes, but a passerby thought the kids were unsupervised, and called Child Protective Services. It took two years of fighting before a state appellate court overturned the finding of neglect.

Or there was the Omaha woman who was taking her niece out of the SUV and was shocked when the wind blew the door shut with her keys and the child inside. The car locked! The aunt, the girl’s mom, and two other relatives frantically tried to open the door using a hanger and

screwdriver, and when they couldn’t, they called 911. The cops arrived, broke the window, and got the child out, safe and sound. Then they ticketed the mom on “suspicion of child abuse by neglect.”

There have been other stories of families investigated for letting their kids, 10 and 6, walk home from the park in Silver Spring, Maryland; a South Carolina mom thrown in jail for letting her 9-year-old play in a popular sprinkler park without her; a Connecticut mom clapped in handcuffs when she overslept and her son, 8, walked to school on his own. And closer to home, a dad here in Central New York was investigated for letting his 9-year-old wait in the car with her 6-year-old (snoozing) brother, while he ran an errand.

These are not crazy decisions that endanger kids. Even waiting briefly in cars is safe. Kids who die in cars were forgotten there for hours, not waiting a few minutes while their parents picked up the dry cleaning. (And, actually, more kids die walking across parking lots than waiting in cars, so why do we criminalize the safer of the two alternatives?)

As for abduction — the rarest of crimes — our crime rate today is back to what it was when gas was 29 cents a gallon. Back then, we didn’t arrest parents who let their kids walk home from the park.

Decent, loving parents should not have to worry about being second-guessed by authorities excessively worried about unlikely dangers. Especially since not giving kids any independence turns out to be dangerous in its own right.

Peter Gray, one of the co-founders of my new nonprofit, Let Grow, has been studying the connection between free time and child development for decades.

He’s a professor of psychology at Boston College and author of the text book “Psychology” used at colleges across the country, including Harvard. He has determined that when kids have all their time structured and supervised by adults — parents, teachers, coaches and tutors — they don’t get a chance to develop the skills that make them healthy, well-adjusted adults. Skills like creativity, compromise and problem-solving.

“Nothing we do, no amount of toys we buy or ‘quality time’ or special training we give our children, can compensate for the freedom we take away,” Gray has written.

“The things that children learn through their own initiatives, in free play, cannot be taught in other ways.”

Parents must be allowed to give that freedom back to their kids.

Utah paved the way. Let’s make New York the next state to go Free-Range.

April 5, 2018

15

Street salvation: Hotel Chelsea doors auction

BY CARY ABR AMS

W

alking along W. 23rd St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves., one is confronted by the scaffolding and construction work that has gone on continually at the Hotel Chelsea since 2011. As dumpster loads fill up outside the hotel, architectural details from the place, along with relics of the building’s rich historic past, are carted off to distant dumping places.

Jim Georgiou, a former tenant of the hotel from 2002 to 2011, was resourceful enough to preserve a portion of this debris, 55 doors that formerly graced the Hotel Chelsea’s rooms. Many iconic figures from America’s literary, film, music and art worlds dwelled behind these doors.

Georgiou’s labor of labor will not go unrewarded as an auction of these doors organized by Guernsey’s Auction, at 65 E. 93rd St., will be held the evening of Thurs., April 12. A pre-auction viewing of the doors will be held at Ricco / Maresca Gallery, at 529 W. 20th St., from April 5 through April 12. Absentee bidding will be available on www. liveauctioneers.com and www.invaluable.com .

Georgiou fondly recalls how much he enjoyed living at the iconic hotel, the friendships he formed with many of its tenants, and the close bond he developed while living there with the Bard family, the hotel’s former owners. He reveled in what an inspiring place he felt the hotel was while living there.

Yet, he was evicted in 2011 in a dispute with the new owners as they sought to clear the building of its former tenants. He struggled to find a new location to live that would accept him as a tenant along with his beloved dog, Teddy.

As a newly homeless person, he would gravitate to the hotel, missing his former home and neighbors. But, ironically, in the process of living on the street, he noticed the hotel’s doors being discarded.

Through painstaking effort, he managed to move and store these doors, believing them worthy of a proper home.

Georgiou realized the historical importance of these doors behind which many vaunted episodes of American cultural history occurred, where many memorable works of art were created.

Georgiou, for example, had lived in Room 225, which had once been Bob Dylan’s, as well as Dylan Thomas’s room, in the past.

He began the lengthy, laborious task of researching the history of who had occupied the rooms behind each of the doors he recovered. Many of the portals were whitewashed, without numbers to identify them and so were impossible to attribute.

Yet, behind some of the doors that still bore visible room numbers resided a lengthy and illustrious list of American luminaries, including Dylan, Jimi

16

April 5, 2018

PHOTO JOAN PIEKNY

Jim Georgiou, a former Hotel Chelsea resident who became homeless, recovered the famed place’s doors from the garbage as it was being renovated.

It was in the Hotel Chelsea’s Room 424 where Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen had their rendez-vous.

“ We’re door-jambin’, jambin’, oh yayuh...”: Bobs Marley and Dylan rocked Room 211.

Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Leonard Cohen, Humphrey Bogart, Bob Marley, Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, Jackson Pollock, Herbert Huncke, Janis Joplin and W.E.B. DuBois. An impressive list, indeed.

Georgiou’s passion and deep respect

for the history and cultural significance of the Hotel Chelsea are evident in speaking with him. He celebrates the genius of Stanley Bard, the hotel’s former owner who was instrumental in cultivating the status of the place as an artistic incubator of sorts. Countless

tales document Bard’s generosity in catering to the quirky lifestyles of the artists who flocked to the hotel during his lengthy tenure of managing it.

Much of the art that formerly graced the hotel’s halls was traded in lieu of rent with Bard, or given to him outright as gifts. Through salvaging the doors, Georgiou hopes to honor the creative energy that transpired at the hotel.

“I lived in the Chelsea Hotel for 10 years,” he said. “I loved that place, its history, my neighbors who lived there and Stanley Bard, who allowed it all to exist as it did. I appreciated the uniqueness of the place, all of the creativity which took place there both in its past, and while I lived there. I was grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it. I certainly grew as a result of being in that cultural milieu. That will always be a part of who I am. These doors, and the auction of them, is my way of honoring all this, of giving thanks in some small way. I hope that people will continue to be educated as to the history of the Chelsea Hotel and its unique nature.

I want to provide them some sense of what transpired behind these doors.”

Through exhaustive research — ranging from extensive reading of books about the hotel and the people who lived in it, to consulting with former residents and visitors, as well as those who still reside and work there — Georgiou has been able to authenticate that the doors’ provenance is the hotel. Plus, a major auction house is sponsoring their sale, and a reputable Chelsea gallery is showing them pre-auction. The Guernsey Web site includes a bibliography of books Georgiou used in his research.

However, for half of the doors, he can only state with assurance that they hail from the hotel, but not who lived in those particular rooms. Nevertheless, each classic portal is “a piece of the Chelsea.”

The starting auction price for the doors is $5,000 each.

Georgiou has decided to donate a substantial portion of the proceeds from the auction to City Harvest, a nonprofit organization that pioneered food rescue in 1982. As the seemingly endless Hotel Chelsea renovation continues, those interested in the building’s rich historic heritage can visit Ricco / Maresca Gallery to view the doors behind which genius once reigned. Perhaps you might be fortunate enough to encounter Jim Georgiou, have him regale you with a bit of the hotel’s history, and share a bit of his love of his former home.

As for his current home, Georgiou has managed to find a small room that he can afford at a four-story S.R.O. (single-room occupancy) building, with a bathroom in a shared hallway, on Seventh Ave. near W. 20th St. TheVillager.com

Photo by Michael Wakefield

Our Lady of Pre-Code Cinema: Charles Busch as Lily Dare.

‘Lily’ is the latest by eternally ephemeral Charles Busch ‘Dare’ to be taken for a limited time only

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Twenty-four times for “The Confession of Lily Dare” — the latest from actor, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and drag legend Charles Busch — sure seems like a scant amount. And yet, in this age of on-demand streaming platforms and everlasting social media posts, the fleeting nature of what goes on at Theater for the New City (TNC) suits our lady in question just fi ne, thank you.

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“One could think it’s sort of a dotty thing to do, because we put a lot of effort into these,” said Busch, of the many blink-and-miss-it productions he’s brought to Crystal Fields’ iconic East Village venue over the years (including 2012’s Biblical epic “Judith of Bethulia,” with Busch as the morally sound, titular heroine).

“When I want to rekindle a sense of pure joy in putting on a show,” Busch said, “which often happens when I start feeling low ebb and want to pull

myself up, other people might take a stiff drink. For me, I put on a play.

I have a very loose relationship with Crystal. I just call her up before there even is a play, and ask her if she has a couple of weeks when one of her theaters is available.” Demonstrating a steadfast commitment comparable to what might account for the longtime presence of those in his own creative ensemble (actors Christopher Borg and Jennifer Van Dyck, along with director Carl Andress, are on

board for “Lily Dare”), Busch noted of Fields, “She produced my very fi rst play when I was extremely young… and she never lost faith in me. And so I return, often.”

Although he granted our interview request with no grand effort required (and let the clock run well past the chunk of time we asked for), Busch doesn’t court review coverage for his shows at TNC. He doesn’t have to.

LILY DARE continued on p. 18 April 5, 2018

17

LILY DARE continued from p. 17

They’ve long sold out by word of mouth, buoyed in more recent years by updates on his Facebook page.

Still, some potential audience members see the limited run and the small house and need to be advised not to miss the boat. “People always think it’s a workshop,” Busch observed with benign bemusement, “and I have to explain, ‘No, this is it.’ It just so happens twice, we have actually transferred these plays commercially [“Shanghai Moon” and “The Divine Sister”]… But honestly, there’s never any ulterior motive or agenda. It’s just do it 24 times, take the pictures, and then move on.”

The cumulative effect of this ethic is a body of work that seems like a mirage, albeit one with real pleasures. “The last one we did [at TNC] was my version of ‘Cleopatra.’ I wrote it so quickly, and we performed it so quickly, and since nothing really appeared in print about it, sometimes I think, did I really play Cleopatra or did I just have a dream that I was in ancient Egypt? It’s just so ephemeral. I mean all theater is, but particularly in this case… that aspect, I fi nd rather moving and fascinating.”

Armchair analysts might fi nd it interesting to note that just under a year into the Trump presidency, the playwright set about writing his current project, grounding it in an era of permissiveness cut short by conservative backlash. Asked if the subject matter connects to our current political climate, Busch said, “I certainly have passionate feelings about what’s going on today. But as a writer, I don’t know if that’s really in my wheelhouse to do contemporary satire. There are other writers who are much better suited to that kind of material… I do think everything you write is personal, whether you know it or not. Certainly my emotional state is reflected in whatever I’m writing.”

Set along California’s lusty Barbary Coast during the turn of the 19th century, “The Confession of Lily Dare” takes its title character from the sheltered life of a convent girl to success as a cabaret chanteuse to serving as the madam in a sting of brothels to the downwardly mobile lot of a “drunken waterfront hag,” as Busch put it.

It’s all in the spirit of the story arc found in what came to be known as the “confession fi lm” genre.

“There was a spate of movies between 1931 and 1933,” Busch explained, “that centered around a female character who suffered all sorts of romantic tribulations, and had an illegitimate child who she gives up for their own good.” During this period, American films were “free from any moralistic limitations on stories of adultery, and a woman didn’t have to be punished for her sins. The language could be racier. There were intimations of homosexuality among the minor characters. They weren’t censored, and it was an exciting thing.”

Then the pendulum swung back. “Catholic groups were appalled by the open sexuality,” Busch noted, “so the motion picture community decided to police their own works, because they were worried that other groups would come in and police it for them.”

Thus, the confession fi lm had its day during the last bastion of pre-code picture making. But you don’t have to be cinephile enjoy your night out at the theater.

“I like to think that if you’ve never seen a motion

18

April 5, 2018

Photo by Michael Wakefield

Playwright and leading lady Charles Busch (seen here) assures you’ll need no prior knowledge of the “confession film” to enjoy his latest.

picture before,” Busch submitted, “you can have an awfully good time at ‘The Confession of Lily Dare.’

I do think if you have a fondness for classic fi lm, certainly you would notice details. But I really don’t think there’s a single laugh in the play that’s predicated on your familiarity with the particular movie genre.”

Audiences familiar with his body of work, however, are likely to recognize the source of those laughs. “Humor, the best humor to me,” Busch said, “is self-recognition at the noble foolishness of people trying to do the right thing and failing — but trying so hard; just the folly of human existence.”

What’s more, the playwright assured, you can make those post-show dinner plans with confidence.

“Most of the movies, for the 1940s, were under two hours,” Busch noted. “And in the ’30s, it could be 80 minutes. So when I’ve done a parody, I see no reason to make it much longer than the original movie would be… at two and a half hours, you lose your welcome. And I like to get to the restaurant before it closes.”

Not long after “Lily Dare” closes, Busch returns to the road. “Like most careers, there are changes and chapters,” he said of his cabaret act. “They happen before you know you are doing it.” With longtime accompanist and “marvelous arranger” Tom Judson at the piano, “It’s almost like a two-person show,” Busch noted, “because he sings duets with me… and it’s been so fun. My god, we’ve been to at least 27 different cities and four different countries.”

Over the past six years, Busch has refi ned his approach. “In a creative situation, the question you should ask yourself is, ‘What do I have to offer?’ I think that’s a little healthier than, ‘God, I can’t do this.’ So when I fi rst stated doing cabaret, I said, ‘I’m a playwright and a storyteller. I’ll go about it that way. It doesn’t matter if my singing is a little sketchy. I’ll choose songs I can really act and do a lot of anecdotes in between.’ ” But as Judson’s arrangements became “more complex and demanding,” Busch recalled, he made “the move, about a

year ago, to take some singing lessons, which really helped a lot. And now I’m really singing… It sounds rather obvious, and yet, it was challenging for me.”

As an interpreter of song prone to favor playwriting mode, he conceded, the lyrics “have always been more important to me than the melody. But to use the melody as an expressive tool, as well as the lyrics, was something I had to trust.”

Be it Barcelona or South Bend, Indiana, Busch seems to encounter the same faces likely to be found in the house at Feinstein’s/54 Below, here in Manhattan. “Every audience is all New Yorkers.

Wherever I’ve gone, it really seems to happen,” he said. “In Paris, I was determined to learn a French song — in French. I worked so hard on this Edith Piaf song, and it turned out there wasn’t a single French person around. They were all from Yonkers.”

Busch and Judson will tour again in the summer (heads up, Sag Harbor, among other places). In the meantime, TNC audiences hoping for a tune or two will not walk away disappointed, as, after all, Lily does go through her cabaret entertainer phase. “I was searching for an old song,” he recalled, “and Tom said, ‘Well, I’ll just write you one,’ and he wrote this most perfect song, called ‘Pirate Joe’ that is just every song Marlene Dietrich ever sang.” Cast member Kendal Sparks, as Mickey, plays Judson’s “rather complicated arrangement,” while Busch, of course, sings — “which is ironic,” he noted, “because we have, in the cast, Howard McGillin and Nancy Anderson, who are two of the most accomplished musical theater performers around. Howard has played the Phantom of the Opera for more performances than anyone else, ever, and Nancy, among her many credits, recently stood by for Glenn Close in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and went on one night, spectacularly. So it’s a little embarrassing, that they keep their mouth shut and I’m the one doing the singing.” Lest one think these high achievers are shooting daggers at their leading lady, Busch noted, “I think they’re relieved. They don’t have to worry about their voices, or getting a cold. Musical theater people are thrilled when all they have to do is act.”

As for Busch, it seems as if another act is in store for his 2000 Broadway hit, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.” Bette Midler and Sharon Stone are currently attached to the long-awaited screen adaptation, and the playwright is optimistic. “At the moment,” Busch said, “it’s looking very good. We have a wonderful director [Andy Fickman]. But I can’t tell you when the cameras are going to start cranking.”

Circling back to his upcoming cabaret work, Busch said that although “a lot of people think of me as a drag performer,” he’s “recently stopped being in drag during in my act, because it seemed like the more I was unveiled, the better it is.”

“The Confession of Lily Dare” is presented through April 29; Tues. at 7pm, Wed.–Sat. at 8pm and Sun. at 3pm; Sat., April 7 at 3pm. In the Johnson Theater at Theater for the New City (155 First Ave., btw. E. Ninth & 10th Sts.). For tickets ($25 general admission), call SmartTix at 212-8684444 or visit smarttix.com. To be placed on the waiting list for sold-out performances, call TNC at 212-254-1109. Venue info at theaterforthenewcity. net and artist info at charlesbusch.com.

TheVillager.com

A birthday ďŹ t for a princess â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at a pauperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s price From cupcakes to caffeine, claim your complimentary bounty

BY CHARLES BATTERSBY I strut through Union Square in my $750 cocktail dress, and take a sip from my $10 coffee, careful not to smudge my professionally applied lipstick. A gentleman hands me a free cupcake as I walk by. Other people give me food, cosmetics, and beverages because... Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m special! Am I a movie star? A princess? A social media influencer with a million followers? No, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m special because Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m The Birthday Girl â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and today, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m living the sweet life for free. All it takes is some comfortable shoes, knowledge of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighborhoods, and an email address I was willing to hand over to data miners.

Stores, restaurants, and small businesses offer free stuff to people celebrating their birthday, usually with some strings attached. I spent my special day trying to turn the tables on them, and collect as much birthday loot as possible while avoiding the cunning stratagems from online marketers.

I started with Rent the Runway, whose flagship location is right off Union Square (30 W. 15th St.; renttherunway.com).

This company will give you a $30 credit toward a rental dress for your birthday â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but you must sign up for the $30 a year â&#x20AC;&#x153;Proâ&#x20AC;? subscription. The subscription provides free shipping and insurance on orders, and is balanced out with the $30 credit. I used it for a couture Badgley Mischka cocktail dress and spent the entire day wearing $750 worth of â&#x20AC;&#x153;freeâ&#x20AC;? sequins.

First on the birthday To Do list was grooming. Benefit Cosmetics (benefitboutiques.com) has several â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brows A-GoGoâ&#x20AC;? salons in New York, including one in Chelsea (177 Seventh Ave.). At any time during the week of your birthday, you can get a free brow waxing (but tipping is polite).

Next was the 119 Fifth Ave. location of Sephora (sephora.com), where I had my choice of several free cosmetics items.

This required registering for their free â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beauty Insiderâ&#x20AC;? account, but no purchase was necessary. While there, I took advantage of their free mini-makeovers to have the makeup around my eyebrows touched up.

Nearby, on Sixth Ave., between W. 14th and 15th Sts., a Pinkberry yogurt is on the same block as a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. Both forced me to jump through online hoops before getting my free frozen treats. Baskin Robbins required me to register at baskinrobbins. com, and to bring a printed copy of the coupon. Pinkberry also required me to TheVillager.com

Photos by Lizzie Pepper

Suffer for beauty with a free waxing at Brows A-Go-Go.

register an account online at pinkberry. com, and to download their app onto my phone.

Sugared up, but in need of caffeine, I turned to Starbucks. They give you a free cup of coffee on your birthday, but you have to sign up for their â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gold Starâ&#x20AC;? program at starbucks.com, and actually buy something from a Starbucks before your birthday rolls around. At the Union Square Starbucks (they have locations at 10 Union Sq. E. and 25 Union Sq. West), my barista was quite happy to help me concoct a wildly extravagant cappuccino monstrosity for free.

Union Square is ground zero for gaining birthday loot. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Sephora, NYX, Fresh Cosmetics, Starbucks, Dunkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Donuts, Panera Bread, Chipotle, and Au Bon Pain in a convenient ring around the park â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all of which have freebies for people who join their online rewards program. I made the circuit in less than an hour.

A pleasant surprise was the Union Square Chipotle (117 E. 14th St.). I wandered in, flashed my â&#x20AC;&#x153;Birthday Princessâ&#x20AC;? sash and was promptly given a complimentary meal for me and my guest. No need to visit chipotle.com or even give them my email.

Another hotspot of freebies is Penn Station. Hooters, at 115 W. 33rd St., will give you a free plate of chicken wings if you register for their â&#x20AC;&#x153;eClubâ&#x20AC;? online at originalhooters.com. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get the wings to go, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay because the Hooters girls will gather round your table and sing you a birthday song. On the same block as Hooters is another Sephora, a Sbarro pizza (free slice with purchase of beverage), and, right next

to the Penn Station entrance on Seventh Ave., a tiny Sprinkles Cupcakes kiosk.

Register online at sprinkles.com, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll give you a cupcake to go.

In the East Village, the International House of Pancakes (235-237 E. 14th St.) serves up a free stack of pancakes on your birthday, as well as a free stack just for signing up for a Pancake Revolution account (at ihop.com). Edible Arrangements (ediblearrangements.com) will give you a box of goodies, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a catch: You need to spend $29 on their products before your birthday rolls around. The store manager at their 100 St. Marks Place location took pity on me and let me have a few chocolate-covered strawberries, anyway.

After eating all these free meals, I needed to burn off some calories. In the West Village, right across the street from the LGBT Center is the Integral Yoga Institute NYC (227 W. 13th St.; iyiny.org). On your birthday, you and a pal can take a free class. Uptown and in Williamsburg is CorePower Yoga

(corepoweryoga.com), which gives you a week of classes for registering on their site, plus an additional free class for your birthday. Birthday girls who want to earn their birthday spanking can get a free class at the 520 Eighth Ave. location of StripXpertease, which has exotic dance fitness, and even naughtier classes (stripxpertease.com).

Many of these companies were on the level and tossed me a gift, no strings attached â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but most of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;freeâ&#x20AC;? offers came with a catch. Some required me to fork over my email address. Others demanded I buy something before getting the freebie.

We spoke with Gabe Carey, Junior Analyst at PCMag (pcmag.com), about whether these offers are worth the potential consequences. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The moment you hand over your personal information to a company, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re putting yourself at risk of identity theft,â&#x20AC;? Carey said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chain retailers, like Best Buy and like Starbucks, will tell you they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pawn your data to third parties, and unless thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a massive loophole in their user agreement, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re probably telling the truth. What they fail to disclose to you upfront, because they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t legally obligated to, is that data breaches â&#x20AC;&#x201D; such as the infamous Equifax one that took place in the middle of last year â&#x20AC;&#x201D; can put you at risk of your personal information going viral. As 4,000 cyber attacks happen every day, you have to ask yourself if that danger is worth the occasionally discounted Frappuccino.â&#x20AC;?

My royal birthday provided me with a couple hundred dollars of goods and services, but it also provided market researchers with information on my dining habits, makeup choices, exercise routines, and fashion sense. It was worth it for my special day â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but according to Carey, â&#x20AC;&#x153;After that initial transaction takes place, you are no longer the customer.

Instead, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve become the product.â&#x20AC;?

Theater for the New City â&#x20AC;˘ 155 1st Avenue at E. 10th St. Reservations & Info (212) 254-1109 For more info, please visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net

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April 5, 2018

19

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NOTICE OF FORMATION OF CDD UNLIMITED LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/24/18.

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, NY 11228.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05 2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF RRT BUILDERS, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 10/31/17.

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: RRT BUILDERS LLC, 20E 35th St. Suite 8J, New York, NY 10016.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05/2018 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF SUPERVALU PENN, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 2/15/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

Principal business address: 11840 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. LLC formed in Pennsylvania (PA) on 03/21/17.

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: C T Corporation, 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011. PA address of LLC: 600 N. 2nd St., Ste 401, Harrisburg, PA 17101.

Articles of Formation ďŹ led with PA Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, PO Box 8722, Harrisburg PA 17105-8722.

Purpose: wholesale grocery distribution.

Vil: 03/08 - 04/12/2018

20

April 5, 2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF CASCIATO 2018-5 LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/26/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC: 941 Park Ave., Apt. 10A, NY, NY 10028.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Chris Casciato at the princ. ofďŹ ce of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 04/05 - 05/10/2018 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF ICS OPPORTUNITIES II LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/16/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/13/18. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC: c/o Millennium Management LLC, 666 Fifth Ave., 8th Fl., NY, NY 10103. 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: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/29 - 05/03/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF AOK HUNTINGTON LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with the Sec. of State of NY (â&#x20AC;&#x153;SSNYâ&#x20AC;?) on 03/16/18.

OfďŹ ce location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to the LLC, 888C 8th Avenue, Suite 536, New York, New York 10019.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/29 - 05/03/2018

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF TWIN LIONS MANAGEMENT LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 1/29/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

Principal business address: 351 E 84th St. Apt. 21F, New York, NY 10028. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 1/11/18. 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: 351 E 84th St. Apt. 21F, New York, NY 10028.

DE address of LLC: 2035 Sunset Lake Rd, Suite B-2, Newark, DE 19702 .

Articles of Formation ďŹ led with DE Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, 401 Federal Street, NOTICE OF DE 19901.

QUALIFICATION OF HHC Dover, Purpose: any lawful act RIVERDECK, LLC Appl. for Auth. ďŹ led with or activity.

Vil: 03/29 - 05/03/2018 Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/16/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY NOTICE OF FORMATION County. LLC formed in OF BRIDGET MARMION Delaware (DE) on BOOK MARKETING, LLC 02/26/18. Princ. ofďŹ ce of Articles of Organization LLC: 13355 Noel Rd., ďŹ led with Secretary of 22nd Fl., Dallas, TX State of New York (SSNY) 75240. SSNY designated on 1/03/2018.

OfďŹ ce as agent of LLC upon location: NY County. whom process against it SSNY has been may be served. SSNY designated as an agent shall mail process to c/o upon whom process Corporation Service Co., against the LLC may be 80 State St., Albany, NY served. The address to 12207-2543. DE addr. of which SSNY shall mail a LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., copy of any process Wilmington, DE 19808. against the LLC is to: Cert. of Form. ďŹ led with BRIDGET MARMION Secy. of State, 401 BOOK MARKETING, LLC, Federal St., Ste. 4, 301 East 22 St, Apt 3P, Dover, DE 19901. NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Purpose: Any lawful To engage in any lawful activity. act or activity.

Vil: 03/29 - 05/03/2018 Vil: 03/29 - 05/03/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 308 EAST 38 OWNER 4D, LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on 2/1/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 560 5th Ave., 3rd Fl., NY, NY 10036, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF SAUCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Y FOODS LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/17/18.

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: Saucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;y Foods LLC, 400 East 50th Street, #2D, New York, NY 10022.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF EVERYBODYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DARLING, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 02/14/18.

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, NY 11228.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 8 BND LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/1/18. OfďŹ ce location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 7 Bond Street, #4C, NY, NY 10012. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF CASCIATO 2018-4 LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/26/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC: 941 Park Ave., Apt. 10A, NY, NY 10028.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Chris Casciato at the princ. ofďŹ ce of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 04/05 - 05/10/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF MOUNT SINAI SOLUTIONS, LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with NY Dept. of State on 2/20/18. OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Mount Sinai Health System, Attn: General Counsel, 150 E. 42nd St., 2nd JM 260 BROOK DR Fl., NY, NY 10017, prin- NOTICE OF FORMATION MEMBER LLC cipal business address.

OF JACETEC, LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with the Purpose: any lawful acArticles of Organization SSNY on 03/14/18. tivity. ďŹ led with Secretary of OfďŹ ce: New York County.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 State of New York (SSNY) SSNY designated as on 02/02/18.

OfďŹ ce agent of the LLC upon location: NY County. whom process against it has been may be served. SSNY NOTICE OF FORMATION SSNY OF 61 LEX OWNER, designated as an agent shall mail copy of LLC upon whom process process to the LLC, 271 Madison Avenue, Suite Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with NY against the LLC may be 401, New York, NY Dept. of State on served. The address to 10016. Purpose: Any 1/23/17. OfďŹ ce location: which SSNY shall mail a NY County. Sec. of State copy of any process lawful purpose.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 designated agent of LLC against the LLC is to: upon whom process United States Corporate against it may be served Agents, Inc. 7014 13th NOTICE OF and shall mail process to: Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, NY QUALIFICATION OF Purpose: To SILVERSTREET RE LLC 560 5th Ave., 3rd Fl., NY, 11228.

Authority ďŹ led with NY NY 10036, principal engage in any lawful act Dept. of State on 3/6/18. business address. Pur- or activity.

Vil: 03/15 - 04/19/2018 OfďŹ ce location: NY pose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1385 York Ave. #16D, NY, NY 10021. LLC NOTICE IS HEREBY formed in DE on NOTICE OF FORMATION GIVEN 2/21/18. NY Sec. of OF STRAW PARTNERS that a license number State designated agent of LLC 1308254 for a beer, LLC upon whom process Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with wine and liquor license against it may be served Secy. of State of NY has been applied for by and shall mail process to: (SSNY) on 3/7/18. OfďŹ ce Ephesus Corp d/b/a Cogency Global Inc., 10 location: NY County. Seven Hills E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, SSNY designated as Mediterranean Grill. to NY 10016. DE addr. of agent of LLC upon whom sell beer, wine and liquor LLC: 850 New Burton process against it may be at retail in a restaurant Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE served. SSNY shall mail under the Alcoholic 19904. Cert. of Form. process to: Charles Beverage Control law at ďŹ led with DE Sec. of Rand, 320 5th Ave., 7th 158A West 72th Street, State, 401 Federal St., Fl., NY, NY 10001. New York, New York, Dover, DE 19901. Pur- Purpose: any lawful 10023 for on premises pose: any lawful activity. activity. consumption.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 Vil: 04/05 - 04/12/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF DIMANCHE CREATIVE, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/05/18.

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: Dimanche Creative, LLC. 188 Avenue B, #1, New York, NY 10009.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/15 - 04/19/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF VBP HEALTH, LLC Arts. of Org. ďŹ led with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/02/18.

OfďŹ ce location: NY County. Princ. ofďŹ ce of LLC: 5030 Broadway, Ste. 821, NY, NY 10034.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. ofďŹ ce.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/15 - 04/19/2018 PI BETA PHI FHC - NEW YORK ETA, LLC Authority ďŹ led SSNY 12/22/17 OfďŹ ce: NY Co LLC formed OK 11/2017 exists 1833 s MORGAN RD Oklahoma City OK 73128. SSNY design agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served & mail to 1154 Town & country commons dr town & country, Missouri 63017 Cert of Regis Filed OK SOS 421 N.W. 13 St #210 Oklahoma City OK 73103 General Purpose Vil: 03/08 - 04/12/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PASSWORD CONSULTING SERVICES, LLC Articles of Organization ďŹ led with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 12/27/12.

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, 175 Varick St, New York, NY 10014.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/08 - 04/12/2018 TheVillager.com

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF PLF GROUP, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/20/18.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/06/18.

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

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cullen and Dykman LLP, Attn: Andrew Nitkewicz, Esq., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05/2018 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Liquor License, serial number 1307010, for beer, wine, and spirits has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine, and spirits at retail in a bar/tavern under the Alcoholic Beverages Control Law at Nordstrom Inc, located at 235 W. 57 th Street, New York, NY, 10019, on premise consumption.

Nordstrom Inc. Vil: 03/29 - 04/05/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF KIRA STOKES FIT LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/13/18.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: eResidentAgent, Inc., 99 Washington Ave., Ste. 805A, Albany, NY 12210, also the registered agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Vil: 04/05 - 05/10/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 416 WASHINGTON GARAGE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/31/18.

Office 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, 125 Park Avenue, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/08 - 04/12/2018 NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION OF FORWARD AIR SERVICES, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/20/17.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 9/5/17.

SSNY designated as an agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. 10 East 40th Street, 10th Floor, New York NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Road Ste 201 Dover DE 19904. Cert of Form. filed with Delaware Secy of State 401 Federal St Ste 4 Dover DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF DANA STREET ADVISORS, LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/19/18.

Office 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: Dana Street Advisors, LLC, 245 East 63rd St. Apt 620, New York, NY 10065.

Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF CRUTCH-FREE LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 02/20/18.

Office 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: CRUTCH-FREE LLC, 2 W 111TH ST. #2D, NEW YORK, NY, 10026 Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

Vil: 03/01 - 04/05/2018 NOTICE OF FORMATION OF ZOLA CAPITAL LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/28/18.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Jeff Eller, Accel Capital, 65 W. 36th St., 12th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 04/05 - 05/10/2018 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an on-premise license, #TBA has been applied for by 188 Allen St Inc d/b/a Cheese Grill to sell beer, wine and liquor at retail in an on premises establishment.

For on premises consumption under the ABC law at 188 Allen Street New York NY 10002.

Vil: 04/05 - 04/12/2018 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN That a license, #Pending has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer and wine at retail in VicRey, LLC DBA: Made Fresh Daily under the Alcohol Beverage Control Law at 226 Front Street, New York, NY 10038 for o n - p r e m i s e s consumption.

VicRey, LLC D/B/A Made Fresh Daily.

Vil: 03/29 - 04/05/2018

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF DEN III LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/26/18.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Bronson Law Group, P.C., 630 Third Avenue, 5th Fl., NY, NY 10017-6705.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 04/05 - 05/10/2018 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Liquor License, serial number 1307702, for beer, wine, and cider has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine, and cider at retail in a Members Only Club under the Alcoholic Beverages Control Law at Korea Society Inc., located at 350 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017 on premise consumption.

Korea Society Inc. Vil: 04/05 - 04/12/2018 JM 260 BROOK MANAGER LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/14/18.

Office: New York County.

SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 271 Madison Avenue, Suite 401, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Vil: 03/22 - 04/26/2018 CHAPPAQUIDDICK LLC Arts. of Org. filed w/ SSNY 3/6/18. Off. in NY Co. SSNY desig. as agt. of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, C T Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Vil: 03/15 - 04/19/2018

PUBLIC NOTICE The Board of Trustees of Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School will meet on Wednesday, April 11th at 147 Saint Nicholas Avenue, New York, NY 10026. The meeting is open to the public.

Vil: 04/05/2018 PUBLIC NOTICE: 2 ND AVENUE - 116 TH STREET 597 AT&T Mobility, LLC is proposing to collocate antennas on an 80-foot building at 212 East 117 th Street, New York, New York County, NY. Public comments regarding the potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30-days from the date of this publication to: Amanda Sabol – CBRE, 70 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains, NY 10604, whiteplainsculturalresources@cbre.com or (914) 694-9600.

Vil: 04/05/2018 TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The shady Village Ripper has a fondness for cutting the cheese amid the trees in Washington Square Park.

Who is Serial Farter?

FARTER continued from p. 1

Amy Reeder, who has encountered him three times since December near Washington Square Park. “No looking back, no slowing down or speeding up, no shrinking in embarrassment — and the lack of reaction felt eerie given the circumstances.”

Despite the eeriness, Reeder is a fan.

“I think the whole thing is awesome,” she said. “The guy is a hero.

I goof off in this city. Nothing’s more fun than making strangers your audience, and they love it, too.”

Reeder has not seen the serial farter’s face but said he is white, tall, college age and “very plain and straightlaced — the polo-shirtwearing type.”

Reeder’s most recent experience came on Mon., March 23, which is when she also decided to write a post about it on Nextdoor, a neighborhood messaging app. Within hours, many other locals had shared their own encounters with the Serial Farter. Others rejoiced that Reeder’s original post was the best online post they had ever read.

Tiffany Gifford was among those who quickly added to the Nextdoor conversation. She and her husband fell prey to the Village Fart-Ripper about six months ago near Sheridan Square. Gifford said the man seemed to break wind loudly as he walked toward them.

“I looked at my husband immediately and we both started laughing,” she recalled. “Then my husband said, ‘That couldn’t have been real — it had to have been a fart machine.’”

Gifford agreed with her husband that the sound must have been mechanical.

“It sounded too ‘perfect,’” she said. “Who knew there could be a ‘perfect’ sounding fart?”

Colleen White and her husband encountered the Serial Farter twice near Washington Square Park.

“To be honest, my first thought was, ‘Was that you?’ to my husband, who farts quite often and

thinks it’s hysterical every time,” she said. “But when I looked at his face, I realized it was the guy who rushed right past us. Of course we laughed and it was a great little moment of ‘Did that just happen?’”

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s chief of staff, Erik Bottcher, found the online discussion about the Serial Farter and liked the story so much that he passed it along to The Villager.

“When I caught wind of this, I immediately thought of The Villager,” said Bottcher, who couldn’t help himself when it came to all of the pun possibilities. “While other papers may have turned the other cheek, The Villager knows hot news when it sees it.”

The general consensus among the Serial Farter’s “victims” is that the whole thing is an innocent stunt.

“It definitely was not menacing,” said Marvin Camillo, who encountered the man six months ago at Downing St. and Sixth Ave. Camillo said he knows others who have had run-ins with the cheesecutting culprit and believe that he is conducting a social experiment of some kind.

Camillo said the man should be allowed to go about his business.

“Harmless, in my opinion,” he said. “We got way too many things to focus on than a guy walking around with a machine.”

Reeder agrees that the Serial Farter is conducting his own study or sorts.

“Clearly, he’s in it for the social experiment,” Reeder reflected. “I would guess he wants to become a New York personality, and I’m O.K. with aiding that.”

Gifford sees it only as a positive for the neighborhood.

“I think it’s fun to think that maybe an N.Y.U. student or artist is playing a lighthearted prank,” she said, “or even doing some kind of human behavior study in the Village. We live in New York — it only adds to the fun. I hope to encounter him again!”

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Lost weight to gain health

A

nnabelle Jimenez knew that she needed to make a change. In 2015, she weighed close to 400 pounds, was experiencing high cholesterol, high blood pressure and was borderline diabetic. All signs pointed toward a potentially devastating cardiac emergency. Since then, the 37-year-old Queens mother has embarked on a life-changing journey to improve her health before it is too late.

This month, Jimenez reached an important milestone: She has lost 175 pounds, which means she shed nearly half of her body weight in less than three years.

“I’m determined to be around for my son,” Jimenez said. “I want to show him how to be healthy. I won’t let him fall into an unhealthy lifestyle.”

Jimenez admits that her extended family has a long history of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and hypertension. According to the American Heart Association, those risk factors increase a women’s likelihood of a heart attack or stroke.

On Aug. 29, 2015, Jimenez underwent a relatively common form of bariatric surgery called gastric bypass surgery, a surgical procedure that makes the stomach smaller and reroutes the intestines. After her surgery, she completely reformed her eating habits and started a regular workout regimen.

“I began eating clean and searching for healthier options,” she said. “I never thought I would say this, but I now have a personal trainer and I currently work out six days a week, doing kickboxing and a program called Warrior Fitness Boot Camp.”

Jimenez also influenced her husband’s and son’s lifestyles, as well.

“At home I am now very strict with what I feed my loved ones,” she said.

“I do not deprive them of food they enjoy, but I look for healthier options, like fruit and vegetables. I always tell them that a diet is temporary, but a lifestyle change is permanent. We’re all in this together!”

On March 2, Jimenez received the

Annabelle Jimenez received the New York Lifest yle Change Award presented by Mac y’s at the 2018 Go Red for Women Luncheon last month.

New York Lifestyle Change Award presented by Macy’s at the 2018 Go Red For Women Luncheon.

“As a national sponsor of the Go Red For Women movement, Macy’s is proud to present the New York Lifestyle Change Award to Annabelle because she is an inspiration,” said Molly Langenstein, executive vice president and group business manager for Macy’s Ready-to-Wear.

The American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign is a year-round movement that harnesses the energy, passion and power women have to band together to collectively wipe out heart disease and stroke, the number-one and numberfive killers of women, respectively.

“Receiving the Lifestyle Change Award and participating in the Go Red For Women Luncheon was a momentous step on this journey,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez said her experience has given her a new-found passion to help and encourage others to take control of their health. She is currently working to obtain her certification to become a personal trainer and weight-loss specialist.

“There is so much enjoyment when you are able to reach your goals,” she said. “I honestly believe that once someone is serious about changing their life and takes on the challenge of enduring a difficult road, success can be achieved.”

To support the Go Red For Women movement in New York City, please visit nycgored.heart.org

Letters to The Editor LETTERS continued from p. 14

ment,” which had dragged our nation into unjust wars, and had created and supported a system that discriminated against people based on their income and their color.

Roy B. Scherer E-mail letters, not longer than 250 TheVillager.com

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.

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