The Villager - August 2, 2018 by Schneps Media

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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, Vii ll ll a ag g e, e , East E as a s t Village, V i lla Lower East Side, Soho, Union Sq Square, Chinatown 1933 qu ua a re re, C Ch h in hin i n atow ow w n and an a n d Noho, Since S

August 2, 2018 • $1.00 Volume 88 • Number 30

Whoa! Johnson calls for ‘cap’ on hail apps like Uber and a study BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

he City Council plans to crack down on the forhire vehicle industry, targeting app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft. The Council is expected to vote on a package of bills next week — with Speaker Corey Johnson’s backing — that

would halt the granting of new for-hire vehicle licenses for one year while the Taxi and Limousine Commission studies udies the impacts of the industry, y, for which licenses have more re than tripled since 2011. “This is the plan that we came up with and in UBER continued on p. 22

Silver gets 7 years in slammer, but it’s likely he will appeal BY MARY REINHOLZ

bout an hour before the second sentencing of former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a slew of press people packed the jury box in Room 443 of the U.S. District Courthouse at 40 Foley Square, preparing for a whitecollar crime story to unfold. nfold.

Paparazzi with cameras waited outside for a glimpse of the ailing 74-year-old defendant, a Democrat and son of Russian immigrants who has lived his whole life on the Lower East Side. He showed up around 1:15 p.m. on an overcast Friday afSILVER continued on p. 4 SIL

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Tic and Tac are still tumbling and tummling (as in, doing shtick) in Washington Square, but they let this acrobat, who they call “Michael Jordan,” do the big jump over the tourists for the finale. Their drummer keeps the beat in the background.

C.B. 2 focuses on ﬁlling in the empty storefronts BY GABE HERMAN

ommunity Board 2 has formed a new committee specifically to grapple with a shocking new reality impacting the Village / Lower West Side district: the blight of empty storefronts. The initiative was the idea of Terri Cude, the board’s

Back Fence’s Scinto, 88...........p. 6

chairperson. At the inaugural meeting of the C.B. 2 Economic and Business Development Committee, on Thurs., July 26, at the Little Red School House, representatives of local business improvement districts, or BIDs, outlined the retail health of the geographic areas they cover and discussed,

with community board members and locals, the problems and potential solutions to retail struggles. As vacancy rates were discussed, BID representatives stressed that each area has its own challenges and unique retail features. The Soho STORES continued on p. 23

M.T.A. holds hearing on L plan’s impacts...........p. 2 Filming the Tompkins Sq. Park riot of ’88..........p. 9 www.TheVillager.com

BLEW IT ON FARTER: Wow, did the Post’s Page Six get caught with its pants down on the Villager Serial Farter story, or what? This Wednesday the famous celebrity gossip page fi nally got wind of the story — which The Villager broke (at least, in print), months ago back in April in an article by Gabe Herman. And an article by Villager reporter Sydney Pereira then revealed the identity of the Serial Farter the very next month. He’s none other than Phil Boucher, a thirtysomething drummer in a “dormant” rock band who makes food deliveries to pay the bills. During down times on his day job, he likes to hang around Washington Square Park and prank people with his “Pooter,” a simple-yet-startling rubber squeeze toy that sells for $12.95, more technically known as “The Artificial Flatulence Maker.” He’s been doing it for years in cities all over the country. But cutting

the cheese locally in Washington Square is his fave. He came up and introduced himself to Pereira when she was standing by the arch reporting on the plight of Johan Figueroa González, the park’s former “Living Statue.” Heck, Boucher subsequently even “outed” himself with a video of himself in action. Hey, Page Six, what we’re trying to say is, this story is already, so to speak, in the can! We totally flushed it out, er...fleshed it out. Of course, it was — who else? — Erik Bottcher, Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s intrepid chief of staff, who first tipped us off to the elusive seeming gas-passer. Bottcher, who clearly has a nose for news, had spied reports about the mysterious Village (Fart) Ripper on Nextdoor, a neighborhood messaging app. Asked for comment on Page Six’s bringing up the rear — and how! — on this one, Bottcher told us, in an official statement, “Smells rotten. They’ve really ‘blown’ it! Villagers know who really ‘broke’ the story!” Frankly, all we can say about this whole thing is — Pfffff!

L OF A MEETING: Putting all that behind us, as it were...in much more serious news, let’s turn to the L shutdown chaos. So far, the community lawsuit filed over the L subway shutdown scheme’s so-called “alternate service plan” — i.e., the “mitigation plan” — has already resulted in the M.T.A.’s pledge to add a handicap-accessible elevator at Sixth Ave. and 14th St., and the Department of Transportation’s seemingly backing away from a two-way

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crosstown bike lane on 13th St. But the biggest result, of course, as attorney Arthur Schwartz will say, is that the two agencies fi nally agreed to do an environmental assessment, or E.A., for the project. That study could lead to an even-lengthier environmental impact statement, or E.I.S., being required. The two agencies are downplaying the E.A. as a “supplemental” study, but, as Schwartz notes, they basically did hardly anything on this front prior to the lawsuit. Anyway, along with doing the E.A., a public hearing is also a must. That hearing will be held Mon., Aug. 6, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2 Broadway, 20th floor. Members of the public wishing to comment must register on the M.T.A. Web site in advance by 7 p.m. on Aug. 6. Written comments may also be presented and submitted at the meeting. The official comment period for the E.A. is from July 20 to Aug. 19. In an e-mailed statement urging a big turnout Monday, Paul Groncki, of the 100 W. 16th St. Block Association, said, “At issue is the M.T.A.’s woefully inadequate environmental assessment that they claim is sufficient for them to proceed with their redesign of 14th St. We claim their [E.A.] does NOT even come close to addressing our impacted neighborhood’s environmental concerns. Our lawsuit demands a much more thorough environmental impact study — an E.I.S. — that is required by federal and state law. Also, in some significant news, Schwartz claimed that the federal funding for the repair of the L train’s Canarsie Tunnel tubes under the East River is “on hold” now that a genuine environmental study for the whole project is being done. When we asked spokespersons for D.O.T. and

the M.T.A. about that, they dismissed it outright, saying it’s just not true. But Schwartz sent us the relevant court document filed by the Federal Transportation Administration that notes that the money cannot be released until the M.T.A. and F.T.A. sign off on a “construction agreement,” which has not happened yet. In another letter submitted to the court, provided to us by Schwartz, a top M.T.A. official states that if it turns out the federal funding ultimately is not available, the city would seek it elsewhere and forge on with the project.

TRAVELING BAND: It turns out the reason we couldn’t get through to a live person at City Hall last week to ask someone about why Mayor Bill de Blasio hasn’t followed up on his pledge to buy back the old P.S. 64 — or hasn’t even spoken with any of the stakeholders — we now find out was because everyone from the Mayor’s Office was in Staten Island last week. It was “City Hall in Your Borough” last week, and Staten Island was it, a spokesperson told us. So they were only reachable by e-mail, we were told — though they didn’t answer us that way anyway, either. NEWS ABOUT THE NEWS: We hear the beleaguered Daily News will start jacking up its price to $1.50 as of next week. We’ll see if that really happens. But we’re told that would possibly be Tronc’s strategy to intentionally doom the paper, by driving down circulation, which would somehow get Tronc off the hook financially for slashing even more jobs, if they do eventually shut down the print edition.

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August 2, 2018

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City presents Two Bridges ﬂood-protect plan BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

he Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency recently presented 3-D models of flip-up barriers and flood walls proposed for the Two Bridges area as a part of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project. The 0.82-mile section of Two Bridges is considered fully funded — with $203 million allocated for the project. The city says it plans to prioritize the use of flipup barriers, so that the esplanade will remain usable, with views open for the community. The hands-on community meeting was intended for O.R.R. to hear feedback on the project, which aims to protect the neighborhood from storm surges after Hurricane Sandy flooded it nearly six years ago. Since then, major infrastructure improvements to protect the city from future storms have largely been done in a piecemeal approach, with older buildings being retrofitted and new buildings installing mechanicals on higher floors. However, construction of protective infrastructure along the waterfront has not yet begun. After years of involvement, Trever Holland, a member of Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side (TUFF-LES) and a Two Bridges Tower resident, said the de Blasio administration has come a long way regarding the design models. “The city is listening to the wishes of the residents,” Holland said. He added that he hopes the project limits permanent flood walls and opts for more deployable barriers and walls that flip up during storms and otherwise remain down 99 percent of the time. “We still remain a little concerned about what portion of it will have walls,” he added. As it stands, much of the nearly 1-mile stretch will have flip-up barriers, except for portions beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and west of Pier 36, which sports a threeblock-long pier shed that runs north of Jefferson St. The only visible part of the flip-up barriers would be posts sticking up from the esplanade — which would be where roughly 10-foot-tall barriers would be raised up before a storm. The steel posts, explained Lauren Micir, an associate at the engineering firm AECOM, can be meshed with design amenities, such as playgrounds, exercise features and lounging space. When lowered, the flip-up barriers lie flush to the ground. “We’ve been imagining, ‘What else could these [steel posts] be?’” Micir said at the Wed., July 18, presentation. “We looked at every open space, street, sidewalk, every possibility within this neighborhood,” she added. View corridors along Robert F. Wagner Sr. Place, Catherine Slip, Market Slip, Pike Slip and Rutgers Slip are where additional flip-up barriers could be installed to accommodate these access TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY SYDNEY PEREIRA

Lauren Micir, of AECOM engineers, right, explained how the posts for the flip-up barriers can be meshed with other design amenities.

points to the East River. “The view here is pretty spectacular,” Micir said. “We really want to preserve that connection.” Although much of the Two Bridges stretch is expected to have flip-up barriers, the city is proposing floodwalls in sections beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and the three-block stretch between Jefferson and Montgomery Sts., where Pier 36 is, according to the latest conceptual designs presented at the Two Bridges community meeting. At the Brooklyn Bridge, the walls would block off much of a Department of Transportation parking lot beneath the bridge, leaving the sidewalk open for use, according to a conceptual rendering. For the northern part of the Two Bridges area, the city is proposing a floodwall running along the F.D.R. Drive to the west of Pier 36 in place of flip-up barriers for three reasons: Views are already blocked by existing buildings; there is an existing wall and fence; and the floodwall is expected to have a lower required height, according to the city. The meeting included a free dinner, and community members asked questions about the 3-D models before returning to the roundtables for further discussion. The roundtable discussions — during which around 50 people discussed their ideas and feedback with L.M.C.R. staffers taking notes — largely focused on possible programming that could be added at Two Bridges. In a neighborhood lacking the public spaces and activity areas many believe it

needs, some expressed the desire for added playground space, picnic tables, a dog

run, an ice-skating rink and a pool. The expected influx of thousands of new residents based on four proposed Two Bridges towers, plus Extell Development’s One Manhattan Square, which is currently being completed, is expected to spark the need for even more extensive, quality public space on the esplanade. But underlying questions remain, such as who will maintain the walls and barriers to protect New Yorkers generations into the future? Another concern was who would maintain added public spaces funded under the Two Bridges project; Jonathon Gardenhire, a Smith Houses resident, suggested the city choose a nonprofit community partner to do it. The workshop was the fourth in a series with Two Bridges community members. Designs remain conceptual, but the city is aiming to build before the federal deadline to spend the allocated cash expires. “We’re not promising anything tonight, but we’re trying to have a conversation about what we want,” Jordan Salinger, O.R.R. senior policy adviser for planning, told the meeting. “We know that Sandy was five and a half years ago,” he added, addressing concerns that some feel they are no safer now than in 2012. “Continuing talking about that is the most important [thing] for us.”

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August 2, 2018

This time, Silver gets 7-year sentence Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association Editorials, First Place, 2017 Best Column, First Place, 2017 Best Obituaries, First Place, 2017 News Story, First Place, 2015 Editorial Pages, First Place, 2015 Editorials, First Place, 2014 News Story, First Place, 2014 Overall Design Excellence, First Place, 2013 Photographic Excellence, First Place, 2011

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August 2, 2018

SILVER continued from p. 1

ternoon, a straw fedora in hand, walking slowly, and then stood for screening inside the first floor of the august building, his face somber and showing signs of strain. Then, with his lawyer and two reporters tagging along (including this one), Silver, who had been the most powerful politician in the New York State Legislature before his 2015 arrest on corruption charges, took the elevator up four floors and entered the courtroom of federal Judge Valerie Caproni. She had sentenced him to 12 years after his first conviction in 2015. Back then, Caproni claimed she wanted to send a message to New York politicians that they could “spend their golden years in an orange jumpsuit” if they got greedy and abused the public trust. Silver’s first conviction was overturned on appeal. This time around, Silver was found guilty again of all seven counts of honest-services fraud and extortion in a two-week May trial. Caproni said she had decided against repeating her first sentence, stating it was “longer than necessary to accomplish the goals of sentencing.” Her second sentence lopped off five years from the first, giving Silver seven years behind bars, with incarceration to begin on Oct. 5. It’s punishment for illicitly obtaining some $4 million in referral fees from two Manhattan law firms in exchange for promoting state actions favorable to Dr. Robert N. Taub, a former Columbia University cancer researcher who served as the government’s star witness; and for two real estate developers, Glenwood Management and the Witkoff Group, who sought Silver’s support in obtaining tax legislation. Silver also made an additional $1 million by investing his illgotten gains, the government said. Caproni fined him $1.75 million for his felonies and said he must forfeit at least $3 million. “This crime was driven by unmitigated greed,” Caproni said of Silver’s two schemes involving the law firms of Weitz & Luxemberg and Goldberg & Irami. Weitz & Luxemberg, which handles mesothelioma cases, paid Silver $120,000 a year for an alleged no-show job as counsel, plus some $3 million for referrals over about a decade, many coming from the aforementioned Taub, who received two state healthcare grants promoted by Silver that totaled $500,000. Goldberg & Irami, a small Downtown law firm, paid the former speaker nearly $1 million, according to prosecutors. Jay Goldberg, one of the firm’s founders, had been Silver’s counsel in the Assembly and is a childhood friend. “The bottom line is that Silver wanted to seem to be a man of the people while using his public position to line his own pockets,” Caproni stated. She rejected a request for leniency by Michael Fineberg, Silver’s attorney, who requested that Silver “atone” for his crimes by a short sentence followed by public service, helping people navigate the state bureaucracy, “instead of warehousing him in a facility where he will wither away forgotten.” But Caproni clearly tempered justice with

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Former A ssembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, with his legal defense team, being escor ted out of federal cour t in Foley Square by U.S. marshals on Fri., July 27, after his sentencing on corruption charges.

mercy, after receiving a letter from the former pol, a prostate cancer survivor, saying he didn’t want to die in prison, and after reviewing an outpouring of support for him from family members, friends and constituents. She noted that when it came to constituent service, Silver conducted himself as a “gifted politician who went beyond the call of duty many times.” Her softer sentence surprised some in the legal community. Manhattan attorney Emily Jane Goodman, a former New York State Supreme Court Justice, told The Villager: “I don’t know why Judge Caproni decided to soften the blow but it was the right thing to do. Perhaps that elusive element of empathy — which is not sympathy and is not approval — kicked in. Of course she had to consider many different aspects: the probation report, input and letters she received, including from Sheldon Silver himself, his age and health, and years of public service despite the inglorious end. And maybe she saw the facts or strength of the case differently even though there was [another] conviction.” Federal prosecutors from the Southern District had sought more than 14 years jail time for Silver, which would have been the longest sentence for any part-time New York legislator caught in the crosshairs of the law. Nevertheless, Geoffrey Berman, interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District, a Republican donor to Donald Trump and a former law partner of Rudolph Giuliani, said he hoped the “fittingly stiff sentence sends a clear message: Brokering official favors for your personal benefit is illegal and will result in prison time.” Throughout the sentencing, which lasted more than an hour, Silver sat stoically beside his lawyer Fineberg. At one point, he rose to tell Caproni, “I ask for your mercy,” and later said he had “brought great distrust to New York government. I am extremely,

extremely remorseful,” he said, adding, “Going forward, I fear I will continue to be ridiculed, shamed by the stain upon me.” His words seemed to reflect the religious leanings of Silver, who is an Orthodox Jew. Several of his friends in court wore yarmulkes and Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, a neighbor of Silver and a supporter, addressed the judge before her sentencing, telling Caproni that Silver was “not a well man,” and asking her to remember his contributions to “the state and to his constituents.” Silver did not once admit to committing a crime. Even as the courtroom emptied, he lingered talking to friends, his wife, Rosa, nearby. Asked by The Villager if he intended to appeal, Silver replied softly, “Most certainly, we will appeal.” More than another hour passed before he came down the steps of the courthouse, holding onto a rail for support after a light rain had stopped, and announced he would not be offering any comment. As he headed toward a waiting car, Silver was immediately enveloped by a crush of frantic reporters on deadline. Newsday reported that Silver had told the paper he “felt fine” and didn’t expect to go to jail as he appealed “the whole case.” One lone picket stood not far away, identifying himself as a 19-year-old Fordham University student. He held a sign that read, “Lock him up!” Silver, who holds a law degree from Brooklyn College, began his career as an assemblymember in 1976, rising to become the Assembly’s speaker in 1994. He remained in that influential position until his arrest in 2015 when Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District, began prosecuting him aggressively. Silver reportedly first came under scrutiny of federal agents for failing to reveal his earnings as a lawyer as far back as 2006 on state discloSILVER continued on p. 21 TheVillager.com

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Ernest Scinto, 88, owner of the Back Fence

OBITUARY BY GABE HERMAN

rnest Scinto, who owned and ran the beloved Bleecker St. live-music venue the Back Fence with his brother Rocco from 1958 until its 2013 closing, died July 29. He was 88. Scinto’s health had been worsening the past three years from the effects of Parkinson’s disease, though his mind stayed sharp to the end, said his daughter Marilyn. Ernest Scinto grew up in Little Italy on Mulberry St. He was born on Oct. 28, 1929, “the day before the stock market crash, he always liked to point out,” his daughter Lori recalled. He attended Transfiguration School, on Mott St., for primary school, going on to Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. After getting an undergraduate business degree —“He was a proud Manhattan College graduate, he loved that school,” said Lori — he went to graduate school at New York University, working toward an M.B.A. But when his father died, he dropped out to take over the Back Fence with Rocco. The Back Fence, at Bleecker and Thompson Sts., was opened in 1945 by Ernest’s father, Ernest J. Scinto, and uncle Silvio. Before that, they had run the Pioneer Nut Club on the Lower East Side, which featured female impersonators. It was originally called the Back Fence Bar, but when the folk music scene hit the Village, the focus shifted to live music and it just became the Back Fence. Throughout the years, performances were mostly cover songs and mostly acoustic. “The crowd, they wanted to hear familiar songs,” remembered James Porcaro, Scinto’s son-in-law, who worked there as a bartender and manager from 1989 until its closing in 2013. “When they first started the music back in 1969, that was the folk era,” Porcaro recalled. “The neon sign outside said ‘Folk / Rock.’ ” He noted that some years later, as tastes changed, the sign would change to read “Classic Rock.” The bar featured a rotating group of about 30 musicians, who would play once or twice a month. Richie Havens and Tracy Chapman auditioned to play the Back Fence, and Mary Travers played once before going on to help form Peter, Paul and Mary. In a 2013 Villager article on the Back Fence’s closing, Ernest Scinto noted the quality of the club’s performers. “Bob Dylan lived down the street and used to come in and listen to the music,” he said. “Anytime anyone would recognize him, he would take off. No one became famous — but we had a lot of quality musicians. It’s a tough business: You not only have to be talented, you have to be lucky.” “The bar was known all over the world,” Porcaro said. “We used to kid around and call it the worldfamous Back Fence, but it really was. … There were so many tourists that came, and they found the Back Fence somehow and they all loved it.” Porcaro said the Back Fence had a special vibe. “The people that worked there, the music, the peanut shells on the floor, the sawdust on the floor,” he recalled. “You just don’t see places like that anymore. It was a special little bar.” “He was really a much-loved gentleman. He was just a kind person,” said Scinto’s daughter Lori. “He had employees at the Back Fence that worked there

August 2, 2018

VILLAGER FILE PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Ernest Scinto on the closing night of the Back Fence in September 2013.

most of their lives, 30-plus years.” Lori said that her father was a big reason for employees’ loyalty, in large part due to his generosity toward them. “He was really good to them, everything from Christmas bonuses,” she said, “he paid their Social Security for them, and other benefits that weren’t typical for a bar owner to do… . He was extraordinarily generous to his family, friends and employees.”

A gentleman, he was generous to his employees.

His son-in-law Porcaro noted that day to day in the bar, Ernest “was all business. He was my father-inlaw, yes,” he said, “but that didn’t give me any kind of special compensation, because if I did something that shouldn’t be done, he was right on me.” Outside the bar, though, Porcaro said that Scinto was the “nicest, most generous man that you could ever in your life meet. He was just a true gentleman. He was cut from a cloth that you’ll never see again.” “He just never had a bad thing to say about anybody, he was just so kind,” recalled his daughter Marilyn, who is married to Porcaro. “I don’t think anybody would ever have a bad word to say about him.” Beyond the connection people felt with the club, Lori said it connected people to each other. “A lot of people met their spouses there,” she said.

“My brother met his spouse there. Some of the musicians met their spouse there. So it was that kind of place, too, it was a real good gathering place. It had a nice feel to it.” Lori even recalled being her father’s date to the wedding of a longtime employee about six years ago. Despite growing up in the city and having his business there, Ernest preferred to live elsewhere and have some property, according to Lori. He and his wife, Florence, moved the family to Atlantic Beach, Long Island, in 1973, and they would move again in later years to Tenafly, New Jersey. He and Florence were married for 51 years, until she died in 2003. “It was all about family for him. He always wanted family together,” said daughter Marilyn. “My son the other day just said, Grandpop is the one that taught me to be a gentleman, because that’s what he was.” In the final years of the Back Fence, son Ernest Jr. took an increased role in running the business. “I’m 83, time for me to retire,” Ernest, Sr. told The Villager before the place’s closing five years ago. He noted that business had slowed due to the economy, and the landlord wanted a rent increase of 75 percent. “The rents all over Bleecker St. are going haywire,” he said back then. Lori recently was going through photos for the services for her father, she said, when she found a card from one of Ernest Scinto’s employees, written when the Back Fence closed. “Her last line was, basically, ‘It’s been a privilege to know you, and we should all strive to emulate the kind of person that you are,’ which I thought was so touching,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people say that about their boss, let’s put it that way.” Ernest Scinto is survived by his brother, Rocco; four daughters, Lori, Marilyn, Marie and Linda; two sons, Ernest Jr. and Michael; seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. There was a viewing at Greenwich Village Funeral Home, at 199 Bleecker St., on Tues., July 31, with a Mass the following day at St. Anthony’s Church, at 151 Thompson St.

TheVillager.com

POLICE B L O T T E R E.V. sex assault

Biden Bigelow spree

A woman told police she was sexually assaulted outside of an East Village bar by a man with a British accent early Sunday, police said. The incident, first reported by the New York Post, occurred at 1:45 a.m. near E. Second St. The victim, 21, was taken to Beth Israel Hospital. A police spokesperson told The Villager, “They agreed to walk to an apartment to make out. But she didn’t agree to anything further.” The woman lives near the site of the incident. Police initially had the incident logged as a rape, but subsequent news reports called it a sexual assault. Police said her attacker is a white male, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, with close-cropped hair. The Post added he wore a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and sneakers. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800-577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. Tips are confidential.

Caroline Biden, 31, former Vice President Joe Biden’s niece, apologized last Thursday for running up charges of more than $100,000 on a stolen credit card, for which she was sentenced two years’ probation, the Post reported. “I assure you I have made amends, full restitution, completed community service and nothing like this will ever happen again,” Biden told the judge. Biden’s felony conviction was thrown out in June for her illicit spree at Bigelow pharmacy, on Sixth Ave. between W. Eighth and Ninth Sts. She was allowed to plead to the lesser charge of petit larceny, the Post reported. She completed 10 days of community service at a children’s hospital and paid full restitution of nearly $111,000. Last year, Biden was arrested after using the unidentified victim’s card during one year at Bigelow. Biden reportedly had the card after the victim let her use it to make a $672 purchase.

Pain in the glass Thurs., July 26, around 1 p.m., a man was throwing bottles in the southwest corner of Washington Square Park, with his pants down, police said.

He also took a 21-year-old man’s phone from a table and fled. Police canvassed the area and arrested Bob Perry, 28, in front of 47 W. Eighth St., between Fifth and Sixth Aves., for grand larceny.

Le Souk swipe A woman told police she was at Le Souk restaurant and hookah bar at 510 LaGuardia Place, around 2 a.m. on Sat. July 21, when she noticed her wallet was missing. She had been at Le Souk since midnight, and last saw her wallet earlier that evening while at Agave restaurant, at 140 Seventh Ave. near Charles St. She said Le Souk was crowded and believed it was taken there. About 3 a.m., the woman, 35, called her bank to cancel her debit / credit cards. Around that time, a Chase Bank representative told her two unauthorized transactions had been made, one at IHOP for $94.72 and another at Good Stuff Diner, at 109 W. 14th St., for $158.55. Also stolen was $350 cash, an unlimited monthly MetroCard, the Luis Vuitton wallet worth $1,200, and a Tiffany gold diamond necklace valued at $7,500. The total value of all items taken was $9,171. None were recovered. On July 28, Jessica Giampino, 19, was arrested for felony grand larceny.

Gonzo cup throw An argument at Gonzalez Y Gonzalez restaurant and bar, on Mercer St. between W. Houston and Bleecker Sts., on Sat., July 28, around 2:30 a.m. ended with one man, 38, throwing a glass cup at another, 34, leaving him with cuts requiring multiple sutures, police said. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Luis Manzano-Cuervo was arrested for felony assault.

Phone ﬁlcher On Sat., July 28, around 9 p.m., a woman, 20, put her phone on a bench in the south part of Washington Square Park, and when she got up, it was gone, police said. The woman’s credit card was also in the cell-phone case. An area canvass was conducted, and an officer used the Find My iPhone app. The alleged thief was found inside 135 W. Third St., between MacDougal St. and Sixth Ave., and reportedly said, “I found this phone in the park.” All items were recovered. Miguel Miranda, 53, was charged with grand larceny.

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TheVillager.com

JUMP continued on p. 0 August 2, 2018

EDITORIAL

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR N.Y.U. encircling the park

Anyone there?

ew Yorkers are asking our elected officials to come up big on two key issues affecting people’s safety and their neighborhoods’ physical integrity. Unfortunately, in each case, our leaders, so far, are failing us. We’re talking about preserving speed cameras outside of schools and the need to add neighborhood protections around the planned “Tech Hub” on E. 14th St. That 120 of 140 speed cameras could go dark last week was an outrage, and is obviously putting the lives of children and others at risk. The day after the legislation expired, the New York Post, using a speed gun, confirmed drivers were already speeding again outside a school. Twenty other speed cameras are set to go dark at August’s end. Statistics show the cameras have reduced speeding and saved lives. The Assembly has pushed to double their number, but the state Senate has blocked the bill’s passage, with Simcha Felder trying to tack on adding an armed police officer in every school — a total nonstarter. Meanwhile, Marty Golden, another obstacle in the Senate, is a chronic scofflaw who has been caught speeding by the cameras numerous times. No question, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan could well have blood on his hands if he doesn’t call his members back to Albany ASAP, at least to extend the speed cameras and turn them back on, or better yet, increase their number. On the Tech Hub, Mayor de Blasio is simply not heeding the requests of the community and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera and her predecessor, Rosie Mendez. Certainly, that this 21-story building would include several floors for a digitalskills training center benefiting locals is terrific. But based on a July 10 hearing of the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, the administration is not budging on those requests. Rivera is pushing for a fourth floor to be earmarked for the digital-skills center, plus wants assurances it would actually be a place where the people she sees “walking down Avenue D” would be welcome and helped. Meanwhile, she and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation are begging de Blasio to ensure the surrounding wedge of neighborhood to the south, east and west is protected with zoning and / or landmarking, so the Tech Hub would not ratchet up local development pressure even higher. That pressure is real, as witnessed by the new building additions along that stretch of Broadway, or the new tower on the former Bowlmor site on University Place. In one encouraging takeaway, we learned that the crane would be sited inside the project’s footprint, so as not to impact traffic on 14th St., which would already be impacted by the L train shutdown. Maybe that’s a feasible model for other 14th St. projects, such as the two at Sixth Ave. The Council subcommittee is set to vote on the needed zoning changes this Thurs., Aug. 2, at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Land Use Committee the next day, and the full Council Aug. 8. Those dates could shift, but, due to the ULURP clock, the final vote will happen in the next couple of weeks. De Blasio must listen to the community and make the right call, so that it can be a win-win for everyone to be proud of.

August 2, 2018

To The Editor: Re “N.Y.U. buys 7-story residential building on Wash. Sq. Park” (news article, July 26): Many years ago — I repeat, many years ago — N.Y.U. stated at a public meeting that they wanted to have Washington Square Park as part of their campus. According to your article’s list of what they already own, it looks like they are almost there. Susan Leelike

Stadium still best idea To The Editor: Re “Bitter Twitter battle” (Scoopy’s Notebook, July 26): A bit disappointed with the designation “fanatical” regarding my efforts to get Assemblymember Glick to give the option of a soccer arena at Pier 40 a fair, or any, hearing. “Passionate” perhaps, “dedicated” or “committed.” “Fanatical” seems to imply that the concept was less a community ideal, intended to solve a range of complicated structural and financial Hudson River Park problems, than a purely personal one. I did then, and do now, believe it was the best compromise, and the best suited to prevent further developer giveaways, like the amendment authored by assemblymember. In fact, the idea was something new, actually possible and contextually consistent, rather than the massive developer giveaway Glick authored — a one-time, lowball deal for Pier 40, at that, which will now have to draw funds from other air-rights deals she enabled, and likely from pier development. Let’s remember that her actions have now opened the floodgate to one air-rights deal after another. Pier 40 itself, and the entire Hudson River Park waterfront across the roadway, will be inexorably altered, and its low-rise character lost forever, because of Assemblymember Glick. The developers won. I argue that will be her legacy. And for those who counter by listing all of her good works, no argument here. I have always given praise to Glick where praise is due. But I also argue that whoever sits in that seat should be expected to do those good works. It’s the “above and beyond” where genuine leaders are made. Glick’s almost immediate blocking of me from Twit-

EVAN FORSCH

ter was expected, even though my posts were respectful, if challenging. I challenge the assemblymember to produce the few tweets I made and let people decide. For instance, I asked her to assist me on my Freedom of Information Law request to the Hudson River Park Trust seeking to find out if the NFL ever paid their bill to the Trust for its Pier 40 rental, and to produce the contracts, so we could all see if there were any local hires. For this, and other like tweets, she blocked me. Still no answer from her, still no fulfillment of the FOIL from the Trust now four years later. Patrick Shields

Filomena’s ‘lovin’ spoonfuls’ To The Editor: Re “Filomena Vitrano, 96, the owner of The Bagel” (obituary, July 19): Filomena was so great! I used to go to The Bagel with my mom as a kid and continued patronizing it as an adult. I briefly thought I might have a crush on Filomena’s sister when I was 13. My order was French toast, mushy inside. I have memories of the family feel there, the quirkiness of the round red seats at the bar, the cook’s toupee, Elvelio and Nick, a group you never wanted to piss off! You adhered to certain constricts, like eat and get a move on. People were waiting outside. There was real maple syrup, not the plastic type. I went there for every breakfast at a certain age. When visiting home from Cali., I took every breakfast there I could over Christmas. I have missed her company for so long now and will continue to miss it. Mark Sebastian

Christina’s cakes were great! To The Editor: Re “Filomena Vitrano, 96, the owner of The Bagel” (obituary, July 19): Filomena was my mom. She would want everyone to know that her sister Christina Ierardi worked very hard every day baking cakes and muffins for The Bagel that were made with love and care. They would go so fast they were sold out in hours. Also her sister Jane Gazzola was loved by the customers, too. LETTERS continued on p. 10

TheVillager.com

Documenting the Tompkins Square riot of ’88

NOTEBOOK BY CL AY TON PATTERSON

ug. 6, 1988, started hot, as New York City was struggling with a multiday record heat wave. Elsa, Duke, our beautiful pit bull, and I were driving in our pickle-green ’79 Plymouth Fury, a car we purchased for $25 at a New York Police Department sale. We were visiting a bar owner Uptown who was a good customer of our custom Clayton Caps. We were doing a jacket back for him. Early in the evening, we had noticed a number of police cars, sirens blaring, lights flashing heading Downtown. This made me recall seeing a police gathering early in the week on Second St. just off of Avenue A. Something was cooking. It was Sunday night, and I normally went with Peter Kwaloff a.k.a. Sun PK, R.I.P., to document him as he got ready for his drag performance at the Pyramid Whisper Show emcee’ed by Hapi Phace. But today felt different. I decided to walk up Avenue A to check things out. This time Elsa, the woman I have been with since 1972, came with me. Something was happening in the park. I had my Panasonic AG 155 ½-inch consumer-available video camera with me. I started off documenting the march through the park, the scene by the band shell, a paddy wagonsized N.Y.P.D. communication van, cops hanging out, a couple jumping up and giving each other high fives. Turns out the weekend before a ragtag group of punks and anarchists hanging around at the front of the park had had some sort of conflict with the cops and the cops came out on the losing end. Captain McNamara, the Ninth Precinct commanding officer, later made a statement that this could not be allowed to go unaddressed. In short, he was going to kick some butt and teach the community a lesson in authority. To put a plan into effect, he used the Avenue A block association’s and Community Board 3’s complaints about the late-night noise coming from Tompkins Square Park, then got permission from the mayor to impose a curfew on the park. Add in Mayor Koch ordering a 1a.m. curfew for Tompkins Square Park and the game was now in place. Earlier in the evening, cops became a larger presence. The cowboys lined up on their horses blocking Avenue A at Seventh St. Protesters spilled out onto the street. Then riot cops blocked the entrance to the park at St. Mark’s Place. Now you had the natural start of a protest directed at the police — the cops on horses and the cops blocking the entrance became the focus. The protesters had a large banner reading, “Gentrification Is Class War Fight Back.” Jerry “The Peddler” Wade, who has real street skills and a reputation of being able to lead a mob, was in full force. As the clock struck 1 a.m., riot cops with batons swinging rushed into the front end of the park along Avenue A and started to beat people. In a few minutes, the front of the park was cleared. Chaos had taken over. Then, Captain McNamara, hoping to make a grand entrance, showed up with a patrol car, lights flashing, and stopped in the middle of Avenue A, screaming into a megaphone to clear the streets. By now he was a lone figure standing in the middle of the intersection, watching as mounted cops and foot cops chased and hit anyone who happened to be on the street. In the part I captured on video, the cops were pushing everyone up St. Mark’s to First Ave. Cops on horseback were running over people. Harris, a book peddler, TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY CLAYTON PATTERSON

Ken Fish, who owned a travel agenc y, was beaten by police on his way home from work during the Tompkins Square riot on Aug. 6, 1988. In an era before ever yone had cell phone cameras, this image, from the writer’s videotape, shows a bloodied Fish at Avenue A and E. Third St.

was run over. The mom of Chris Flash, The Shadow’s publisher, was knocked down. It was at this point that a foot cop, on dark St. Mark’s, hit a young black woman, cracking her head open, then taking her white boyfriend down. Later, Koch and Police Commissioner Ben Ward called the night a “police riot.” Koch went on to say he was bothered by all the criminal behavior that so many cops were engaged in. As the night went on, I captured many such criminal incidents. My tape got six cops criminally indicted. More than 100 people visited the hospital and made complaints against criminal behavior that cops had engaged in. By the

My videotape was a game changer

way, I do not believe there was one arrest. Later, a large number of lawyers took on protesters’ lawsuits and requested copies of my videotapes. I provided them all for free, of course, with no compensation for Elsa and me, even though the night cost the city $2.2 million, as told to me by an attorney from the Corporation Counsel (New York City Law Department). McNamara was no General Patton. He had completely lost control of the cops, the streets, and apparently his commander, Chief Darcy, had left the scene. Paul Garrin, a video artist, had a powerful 20-minute video of the night of police rage. There is a very famous shot of cops swinging at him while he’s on top of a van, with him screaming, “I am getting down! I

am getting down!” Police stomped on his video camera, but Paul was still able to recover the tape intact. Powerful stuff, and he got it to the TV news stations, which broadcast the tape continuously all day and night. I got Paul’s money shot: As he came down off the van, a cop grabbed him by the shirt and brutally slammed him into the Con Ed substation’s brick wall. Eric Shawn, Fox News’s reporter, heard I had a tape, and contacted me. He put something on the news and my world changed in an instant. I had F.B.I., captains from Internal Affairs, assistant district attorneys and other law enforcement people banging on my door, trying to get to my tape. It wasn’t going to happen the way they were demanding. I ended up in State Supreme Court. The state gave me a lawyer and I said, No, I do not want a lawyer, and fired the lawyer and stated, I will be pro se. I was sentenced to a continuing 90-day sentence until I gave them my tape. This may sound crazy, but I had total confidence in my very simple but strong argument. Also this was pre-9/11. Now we have lost so many of our individual rights. My argument was, “I am an artist. This is my art and it belongs to me. No you cannot have it.” I knew once it becomes evidence, it becomes government property and not mine. This I did not want. I said they could have a first-generation copy, not the original, and it was off to the Bronx House of Detention. There were two prisoners under central monitoring — myself and Larry Davis. Davis had shot six cops in the Bronx. “Central monitoring” means you had to be escorted by a ranking officer anywhere you went. I went to court in a separate bus, shackled and locked inside a small cage. I was on a hunger strike. Larry Davis and I both had Lynne Stewart, Bill Kunstler and Ron Kuby as our lawyers. This team got Davis off on the charges of shooting the cops. The Bronx jury believed him when he said he was dealing drugs with these cops, and they were coming back to kill him. In the end, the city got their copies of my tape. But 30 minutes were missing, which led to a whole new set of engagements. The cops said they were only trying to enforce a RIOTS continued on p. 10 August 2, 2018

Documenting the Tompkins Square riot of ‘88 RIOTS continued from p. 9

city-ordered curfew. On this night, though, the curfew had nothing to do with the riot. In the book “Resistance: A Radical Political and Social History of the Lower East Side,” another Ninth Precinct commander, Michael Julian, says that the homeless were allowed to stay in the park. In the same anthology, Ron Casanova, a homeless person living in the park, says they made a deal with the cops: The junkies, the homeless and others could stay in the park, as long as they keep out of the front section of the park. And the spin that the cops were all young and inexperienced wasn’t true. The cops I got indicted were career highway officers, a sergeant, other experienced officers, and none were new recruits. Helicopter cops were not 20 years old, the commanding officers were not newbies. McNamara and his boys were experienced, and Darcy was set to retire. It was McNamara and the commanders who caused the chaos and lost control. In documenting protests in the neighborhood, I got arrested 13 times, had teeth knocked out, was knocked unconscious. There was an attempt by two Ninth Precinct cops and two assistant district attorneys to set up palm card reader, Patrick Geoffrois, and me as participants in the Monica Beerle murder and dismemberment. Later, Daniel Rakowitz was arrested and charged with the murder. He was found not guilty by reasons of insanity. Thankfully, the case they were trying to build against us was so flimsy and ridiculous that it never got traction. There was a setup where Elsa and

PHOTO BY JOHN PENLEY

During the late 1980s, Tompkins Square Park’s sprawling Tent Cit y was home to hundreds of homeless people. A couple of denizens held a banner saracastically dubbing it “Trump Cit y,” referring to Donald Trump’s eponymous megadevelopment project planned on the West Side railyards south of W. 72nd St., which was facing stiff community opposition at the time.

I were given a limousine ride and accommodations to document the New Hampshire presidential election. Nobody knew Elsa stayed home. N.Y.P.D., F.B.I. and other enforcement authorities showed up with a search warrant. They took a blank tape from my Manhattan Neighborhood Network publicaccess cable TV show on which we had discussed the Rakowitz case. Imagine if they had gotten the riot tape. I have visited Daniel for 20 years trying to unwind what actually happened. My tape was a game changer in the history of the use of video cameras to

document protests. It is one thing to document. But without standing behind the documentation, it can more easily be neutralized as evidence. Standing up is step two. Appearing on “Oprah,” I pushed the idea of “Little Brother Is Watching Big Brother.” Fox reporter Shawn did a segment on the use of this new technology and the democratization of the media. The media always tried to minimize what I was doing by calling me an amateur — which is fine, because I want all the amateurs to realize they, too, can do what I did. All you have to do is do it.

One of the most consequential impacts that the 1988 Police Riot had on the N.Y.P.D. was the stunning revelation that something was seriously wrong with the force. Then David Dinkins became mayor and he changed the city more than anyone. He understood the problems in the N.Y.P.D. They centralized the Police Department. And he brought in the Mollen Commission to clean up the force; dirty cops had been shaking down drug dealers. Meanwhile, on the Lower East Side, the opposition continued for four solid years, with conflicts like the Memorial Day Riot and the May Day Riot, and hundreds of arrests. The conflicts involved the park, the homeless crisis, squat evictions. There were bonfires in the middle of Avenue A, injuries on both sides, court cases. In the end, they stupidly took down the band shell. The city ultimately would go on to sell 11 squats to the people living there. But the ones who won the most were the cops. Dinkins gave Giuliani a razor-sharp, military-ready N.Y.P.D. In comes Bill Bratton, the intellectual working with the Manhattan Institute, the think tank started by William Casey after he retired from running the C.I.A. Bratton brought in “broken windows” policing, shut down street corner activity, and with CompStat, focused commanders on keeping crime numbers down. This account of the park riots just skims the surface. As an immigrant from Canada, I viewed what I was doing as a duty to my new American community. The Lower East Side has become such a deep part of my being. I believe I have lived the American Dream. Fighting is a part of preserving the dream.

Letters to The Editor LETTERS continued from p. 8

I can’t say enough about my mom because she was like an angel who walked this earth. My Aunt Christina was the youngest of eight children and worked at the restaurant for 20 years. She was at The Bagel with Nick Spadafora when John Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash. At the time, anchorwoman Barbara Nevins of Channel 5 News was a regular customer. She asked my brother Peter if she could bring in the news crew to interview Christina and Nick about John Kennedy Jr., who was a regular at The Bagel while he was studying at N.Y.U. for his law degree. The crew came in and the interview was televised on Channel 5 News. Filomena told John after he failed his first test for the bar, she was glad because she would have him for another year. Robert T. Vitrano

August 2, 2018

Bagel was the Village To The Editor: Re “Filomena Vitrano, 96, the owner of The Bagel” (obituary, July 19): The Vitrano Family is Greenwich Village. Tony Russomanno took me to The Bagel in 1973. Christina made the most amazing cakes and pies — all flavor, no weight. I have no idea how she did it. Her son who died, John, worked there every single day from the mid-1970s until he moved to Florida in 1996. John kept the place orderly and very, very calm. Fil, John and Christina, Evilio and Nick had the gift of hospitality. They knew how to make you comfortable regardless of how busy it was and you could sit as long as you wished. The orange juice was squeezed to order. But the amazing dish was cheese and eggs. Somehow they made a perfect blend of cheese and scrambled eggs.

Their burgers and steaks came from the butcher on John St.; the meat was the best anywhere. My deepest regret is that my three daughters never got to go there; my first was born in 2002. Yes, it was the Village, it was New York at its most authentic. I loved every second of that life. Miss it more than anything. Walter Sabo

windows. They were guard dogs. One night his two black German Shepherds, under the careless “watch” of his son (not their trainer, who was the one who was supposed to walk them) tore my friend’s dog apart in the Washington Square Park dog run. When my friend went to his door to tell him, his younger son told Davis that he thought it was a scam. Like father, like son. Bonnie Slotnick

Davis’s scary dogs To The Editor: Re “Bruce Davis, founder, face of 1-800-LAWYERS” (obituary, July 19): I wouldn’t call him an animal lover. He kept two Rottweilers in his basement for years, and when another dog went by, they would repeatedly fling themselves against the windows, growling and barking. I really thought they might break the

E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 MetroTech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published. TheVillager.com

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August 2, 2018

TheVillager.com

A platform for artists to manifest their dreams The Living Gallery Outpost celebrates a year of commitment, passion BY PUMA PERL Last August, I was encouraged by a friend to attend the grand opening of The Living Gallery Outpost. People spilled out of the 250-square-foot space, shared food and songs on the bench outside, and gathered around the hand-created artwork (by building owner Antonio Echeverri) that surrounded a tree. Everywhere there was color and a sense of camaraderie, reflecting a foundation of friendship, community, and love — with a shot of serendipity. The BYO Art (Bring Your Own Art) exhibition demonstrated the commitment to providing space for experienced and emerging artists to share, devoid of competition or hierarchy. The space, at 246 E. Fourth St. (btw. Aves. B & C), is the second location of The Living Gallery, founded in Bushwick six years ago by visual and performance artist Nyssa Frank. She had initially been looking for a studio. “I had always wanted a multifaceted space,” Frank explained. “Growing up, I didn’t realize that you could be an artist and a teacher, for example. I always thought it was one or the other.” Her sensibility, from the start, was to involve the community, and “bring positive energy while taking gentrification into perspective.” To that end, she worked actively with the community, which is how she met and befriended Alexandria Hodgkins, a youth and arts specialist who was volunteering some of her time at Arts in Bushwick. At that gallery, Hodgkins also met Lower East Side native Joseph Meloy, an artist and muralist who later became her husband. The two were walking through Soho one day last June and spotted a hand-written sign for an “East Village storefront.” They followed up, called Frank, and the Outpost was born, co-founded by the three. Community events during the past year have included BYO Art, potlucks, monthly open mics, classes, and an artist residency program. Many neighborhood residents, attracted to the spirit of inclusiveness, have become involved. Frank noted that she “hated galleries as a child when my mother, who is an artist, used to take me. There was so much elite pretension, the second OUTPOST continued on p. 17 TheVillager.com

Photo by Bob Krasner

L to R, The Living Gallery Outpost’s co-founders Alexandria Hodgkins, Nyssa Frank, and Joseph Meloy at the opening day party. On the bench behind them, Gina Healy and Angello Olivieri make music.

Courtesy of the artist

Actor and musician Luigi Scorcia’s “Decayed Sunset” — from “The Artist Behind the Lens,” a Dec. 2017 show featuring photographers known for their expertise in other areas. August 3, 2018

Miracles made from simple materials TNC’s design team deserves props for the look of ‘SHAME!’

Photo by Trav S.D.

Prop designer Lytza Colon creates a piano for TNC’s 2018 Street Theater production.

BY TRAV S.D. We say it every year, but this time may be truer than in the past: We need Theater for the New City’s annual street theater production more than ever. In its 42 years of existence, this annual topical production — written and directed by TNC’s co-founder and artistic director, Crystal Field — has had much to sound off about: Reaganism, nukes, the excesses of capitalism, the evils of racism, and several wars. But nothing to compare to the present, when everything evil seems to be happening all at once, and a crucial midterm election is just three months away. This year’s edition, “SHAME! Or The Doomsday Machine,” will talk about all of that and more as it tours New York City streets, parks, and playgrounds in all five boroughs from Aug. 4 through Sept. 16. Longtime fans of this free, large-cast, smallbudget annual production will be glad to see many familiar faces amongst the cast and crew. Unlike most American workplaces, turnover at TNC and its street theater is low, the surest possible indication that the job is a labor of love. But some might say the biggest star of all in this show is not a human being, but a machine. That’s the scenic device affectionately dubbed “the cranky,” which provides the backdrops for every street theater production. The hand-cranked contraption (more formally known

August 3, 2018

Photo by Jonathan Slaff

From “Access Upheaval,” TNC’s 2002 Street Theater production: Everybody’s a puppet of a higher power, and the president of Worldcon Corporation is no exception. Hand puppet by Zen Mansley.

as a “running screen” or a “scrolling backdrop”) is very old school theater technology that allows 10 (9’ x 12’) painted backdrops to be positioned on the same piece of scrolled canvas, which can be changed quickly and efficiently during the production. According to TNC production manager (and cast member) Mark Marcante, the cranky takes four crew people to operate: two to crank it, and two to support it at the bottom. It comes apart and breaks down for travel, and needs to be clipped in the middle to prevent sagging. Scenic painter Mary Blanchard has been the principal designer for going on three decades. She points out that the use of moving panorama technology goes back at least to the early 19th century. Theatrical tradition informs every aspect of the street theater production, as each show embraces such diverse disciplines and styles as commedia dell’arte, puppetry, agitprop, vaudeville, mask, and the great American musical. Prop designer Lytza Colon, who’s been with the show for 10 years, demonstrates what makes designing for the street theater special when she shows

me a judge’s gavel she is working on for a courtroom scene. It is a clown’s gavel, made of foam, and easily five times larger than a naturalistic prop would be. “The street theater is epic realism,” Marcante said, channeling Bertolt Brecht, a major influence on Field. “Everything has got to be larger than life,” he noted, with Colon adding, “Plus, people have got to see it from the back [of the audience]!” It’s quite rare for Off-Off Broadway companies to achieve anything like the scale Theater for the New City puts into its street theater shows: A cast of 28, a crew of 10, and five live musicians (led by “SHAME!” composer Joseph Vernon Banks at the keyboard) are the hands-on company, in addition to a director (Field) with three assistants, and a design and production team of about a dozen. But making life easier in this daunting task is the fact that TNC has its own scene shop, and storage for hundreds of costumes and props. For a show like “SHAME!,” team members like Marcante and Colon (and costumier Susan Henley) have the luxury of pulling ready-made items from the

vaults. Some of it is quite fabulous; an Egyptian style sedan chair from a recent Charles Busch production, for example, is being repurposed for the current show. But playwright Field works strictly from her imagination, which means that much of the time, new elements need to be fabricated from scratch, and on a tight budget. Miracles are made from simple materials. A wormhole in space in a fantasy sequence is devised from black fabric and garbage bags, for example. But such is the spirit of play that in the whirl and excitement of performance those materials will be transformed into a phenomenon of deep space physics. And physics is the touchstone for this year’s show. Street theater veteran Michael David Gordon plays a high school physics teacher whose students hit him with difficult political questions like, “What’s your relative speed to prison if you are an American criminal or a Guatemalan immigrant?” Like many a street theater hero before him, the professor goes on a journey of discovery, takSTREET THEATER continued on p. 17 TheVillager.com

singer/performer who, with her partner Angello Olivieri, provided some of the music at the gallery opening. She also has a background in dance and costume design, but had never curated a show. Her idea was to provide a venue for friends who she considered great photographers, but who were known for their expertise in other areas. She called the show “The Artist Behind the Lens.” “I likened this experience to creating a set of costumes,” Healy said, “and I chose photos that I liked, hoping to make some money for everyone.”

Included were musicians Luigi Scorcia, Greg Holt, as well as this writer. Scorcia, who is also an actor, goes as far back as Max’s Kansas City with his band Luigi and the Wise Guys, and traveled the world as the late Johnny Thunders’ bassist. He remains active on the music scene, and while his friends are familiar with his photography skills, he had never shown in a gallery. “Being in the show brought back memories of how it was in the late ’70s and early ’80s, going to little pop-up shows and seeing my friends’ work. It was how we hung,

huddled, and met new people, and learned what was happening since there was no Internet or Time Out New York. The lovely curator Gina Healy hung two pieces of my work… nice to have your art bought, and to have memories of ‘Da Alphabet Jungle’ as it was.” Holt, whose current band is “Fiddler and the Crossroads,” was formerly the fiddle player for the Tampa Bay Lightning and, in 2016, was inducted into the International Blues Hall of Fame. He’s also attracted many admirers of his photographs and his use of color. “I really enjoyed displaying my artwork,” he said. “It’s a nice, clean space that was big enough for all six of us, plus a lot of local street traffic added to the charm (and sales!).” On Sun., Aug. 12, 1-6pm, the first annual Living Arts Festival will mark The Living Gallery Outpost’s first anniversary. Festivities include a BYO Art show at the gallery and an open mic, live performances, bands, face painting, and workshops at the Sixth St. and Ave. B Community Garden. More details available at facebook.com/ events/271201630301694. As co-founder Alexandria Hodgkins wrote in the press release, “We’ve had a year to experiment and see what people respond to. We definitely want to offer more opportunities for artists to show, develop their careers, and network in our space.” As per Nyssa Frank, “It’s been such an honor to house our gallery in a beautiful building, where the community has been so welcoming! This first year has exceeded my dreams on every level. I can’t wait for more!” The Living Gallery Outpost is located at 246 E. Fourth St. (btw. Aves. B & C). Visit thelivinggalleryoutpost.com and facebook.com/thelivinggalleryoutpost.

“The street theater is very important this year,” Marcante said, noting, “We’ve got this bully, this narcissist, turning the country into a Fascist state, separating children from their parents. It’s important that we get people out to vote in the midterms, to change this path we’re on.” Marcante, who is celebrating his 34th year with the street theater, is a veteran fighter who has lost none of his enthusiasm for the fight. He and the whole company will be giving their all to inspire us all over the city with performances through Sept. 16. Free and open to the public. Manhattan performances, all shows 2pm, include Sat., Aug. 4 at TNC (E. 10th St. at 1st Ave.); Sat., Aug. 11 at Tompkins Square Park (E. 7th St. &

Ave. A); Sun., Aug. 12 at the Central Park Bandshell (72nd St. crosswalk); Sat., Sept. 8, at Washington Square Park; and Sun., Sept. 16 at St. Marks

Church (E. 10th St. at 2nd Ave.). For the full schedule, visit theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212-2541109.

OUTPOST continued from p. 15

you walked in you were judged. We want people to feel comfortable. There is no hierarchy. It doesn’t matter if you are an artist for four days or 40 years.” The key criteria are passion and commitment to the work. “We provide a platform for emerging artists through exhibitions, screenings, readings, performance and more,” Frank added. “We are also always open to new ideas.” Not all of the artists are new to exhibiting. On my recent visit, the walls were covered with the black and white acrylic work of mat eis, a neighborhood inhabitant who was a semi-finalist for a residency. “I was walking by and saw this space, and inquired. I had never shared this body of work with anyone. I’d wanted to create a story of who I was ,but against a backdrop that felt empty and without context,” he explained, while making lemonade for visitors. “The subject of all of my pieces is the potential interplay between physical matter of different types. A shampoo bottle that tells the future… a flower that breathes like an organ. My work is part imagination and part observation of the diverse matter that sits unnoticed and waits patiently to be rattled into its own mystical clairvoyant existence.” Words and letters float through the paintings. In one piece, the word “help” is repeated and appears to release the letter “e” as if it could not be contained; above that, water drops fall freely from behind a faucet, which has the words “keep moving” on the spigot. Last December, East Villager Gina Healy went three for three in keeping with the vision of mounting new platforms, experimenting with original forms, and merging medias. Healy is a

STREET THEATER continued from p. 16

ing the audience with him. Among the show’s most telling didactic elements is a sequence in which a certain evil TV reality show host (Alex Bartenieff) is transformed into an African American, a woman, and a Middle Eastern immigrant and a welfare recipient, in hopes that he can learn a little empathy. And there is also a nod to Therese Patricia Okoumou, the activist who performed that eye-catching protest at the Statue of Liberty this past Independence Day. In a third scene, the ghost of Albert Einstein appears, and quotes from a famous letter he wrote to his daughter, in which he said that the most important energy force in the world is love. TheVillager.com

Image courtesy of the artist

An untitled work (acrylic paint on black paper, 20 x 20) by mat eis. “My process behind the work,” the artist said, “is very much about building a language.”

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

TNC’s Street Theater Co.

Shame! or the Doomsday Machine book and Lyrics by Crystal Field Music By Joseph Vernon Banks

all performances are FREE! FREE! FREE! Opens Sat. August 4th Right here on 10th Street August 3, 2018

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To Advertise Here Call: 646-452-2490 18

August 2, 2018

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August 2, 2018

TheVillager.com

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Silver is swarmed by the press after his second sentencing.

Silver gets seven SILVER continued from p. 4

WHY PAY MORE? CALL NOW 646-452-2490 TO ADVERTISE ALL YOUR LEGALS AND NAME CHANGES

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sure forms after an exposé in the New York Post. For more than a decade, Weitz & Luxemberg reportedly paid him $120,000 as an attorney “of counsel,” plus the aforementioned referral fees. In 2017 a three-judge state Appellate Division panel of the Second Circuit overturned Silver’s first conviction. They stated that Caproni had failed to instruct the jury on a narrower definition of corruption charges against public officials, in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling vacating a conviction for public corruption against former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife. Throughout his legal battles, Silver has remained free on bond. It’s not entirely clear whether he will be granted bail should he appeal his case. “Judge Caproni did not grant him bail pending appeal,” said Ron Kuby, the prominent criminal defense attorney. “She gave him a voluntary surrender date when he has to appear. If bail pending appeal is granted, it will have to be by the Second Circuit.” Kuby noted that getting bail under those circumstances would be an arduous undertaking. “He would have to demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, that he is not a flight risk and that his appeal raises a substantial legal or factual issue that is likely to result in the conviction being reversed,” Kuby

said. “He was able to demonstrate that in the first case,” Kuby said, referring to McDonnell’s case in the Supreme Court. “I think it is going to be a much harder task this time,” he offered. “While he will be free during his High Holy Days, 50 / 50 that he will spend Chanukah behind bars.” Paul Hovitz, a retired specialeducation teacher and vice chairperson of Community Board 1, has lavished praise on Silver over the years for his work on overcrowded schools and getting new ones built. He said his reaction to Silver’s second sentence is one of sadness. “I think it’s very sad that what will be remembered was bad and not what was so right in all of the positive things that Shelly Silver accomplished,” he said. “This is a sentence for a guy who’s older than me who has done so much for his [constituents]. I think Dr. Taub would have gotten those grants without Shelly,” he added. At the same time, he added, while talking on his cell phone en route to a C.B. 1 meeting, “He should have known better. It was a mistake Shelly made in deriving any benefit from the firm he was connected to.” Hovitz believes that Silver is a casualty of an “ambitious prosecutor,” referring to former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, “coming at a time when there is very little trust for political figures, and it was exacerbated by what’s going on in Washington, D.C, and in this country.”

August 2, 2018

Johnson calls for ‘cap’ on app-hail cars, study UBER continued from p. 1

my heart I believe it’s the best path forward,” Johnson said by e-mail. “Our goal has always been to protect drivers, bring fairness to the industry and reduce congestion.” In addition to the halt on issuing new licenses for any non-wheelchair-accessible for-hire vehicles, other bills would create a new license for high-volume transportation services with more than 10,000 trips a day, waive the license fee for wheelchair-accessible services, lower fines on livery cabs picking up in street-hail exclusionary zones and set a minimum payment for drivers. Uber — which supports the bulk of the proposals, though strongly opposes the license freeze — started an ad campaign on Twitter, TV and radio against the Council’s legislation. Early this week, it launched a so-called “App takeover,” which the Daily News first reported, calling on its app’s users to “Tell the City Council not to restrict your access to reliable transportation.” The company launched a hashtag campaign under #DontStrandNYC. Like Uber, Lyft vehemently opposes what both companies call a “cap” on licenses. The legislation, as it stands, is a one-year freeze on new licenses besides wheelchair-accessible licenses. Adrian Durbin, Lyft’s policy communications director, slammed the proposal to cap licenses as regressive. “It would take New York back to an era where you would have to stand on a corner and hope to get a ride,” he said. “It would be particularly problematic in the outer boroughs, and for people of color who historically have had a difficult time getting rides in traditional taxis.” Civil-rights groups rallied behind Uber and Lyft, The New York Times reported, saying that people of color have long faced difficulties hailing yellow cabs. Plus, in the outer boroughs, there are fewer yellow cabs, not enough of the new green cabs, and often inadequate public transit — gaps that companies such as Uber, Lyft and Via have filled. Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Council launched the Office of Inclusion within the T.L.C. to combat service refusal during the ongoing feud between the apps and the city. Another bill in the Council’s package of Uber regulations would create a new type of T.L.C. license for companies like Uber and Lyft. As currently construed, the legislation would require companies to submit a business plan, conduct an environmental assessment and provide data to the T.L.C. “One of the alarming things about that proposal is that it would require us to quote, unquote ‘justify the service we provide’ on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood or zip code-by-zip code basis,” Durbin said.

August 2, 2018

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Jennifer got into an app-hail car outside the Soho Grand Hotel Wednesday morning. The driver declined to answer when a photographer asked which company he worked for. More people were taking yellow cabs than app-hail rides at this location by a ratio of about 3 to 1.

Though the license-freeze legislation doesn’t directly remove services, Durbin added that the high turnover rate of drivers will, in fact, cause a decrease in services, especially in the outer boroughs, since the company won’t be able to readily add new licenses during the freeze. Driver job opportunities at Lyft would also shrink during the year-long freeze, he added. “We aren’t taking away any service that is currently being offered,” Johnson argued. “We are pausing the issuing of new licenses in an industry that has been allowed to proliferate without any appropriate check. And if anyone wants to put a new wheelchair-accessible vehicle on the road, they can do that. In fact, we encourage them to do that.” Councilmember Margaret Chin, who is co-sponsoring the bills that would freeze new app-hail licenses and increase driver wages, said she believes the measures would address congestion issues in Manhattan. “The time for us to take action to address congestion — while giving drivers from all sectors an opportunity to make a living — is long overdue,” Chin said by e-mail. “With roughly 2,000 new for-hire vehicles being added to the road every single month, more and more Lower Manhattan residents are forced to suffer from the traffic-safety and quality-of-life issues that stem from worsening congestion on our overburdened streets. “By putting a temporary cap to the number of new for-hire vehicle licenses,” she said, “we as a city can push the pause button to better understand how these vehicles are utilized, level the playing field for drivers, and ensure that our streets are safe for children and seniors — all while continuing to give riders from all five boroughs the option to use their transportation method of

choice.” Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who co-sponsors four of the bills, said she supports congestion pricing, but that a temporary cap on for-hire vehicles is necessary to determine a more permanent solution to address Manhattan’s congestion. “Since I entered office in January, increased traffic on our streets has been one of the biggest concerns that constituents in my district have let me know about,” Rivera said by e-mail. The added for-hire vehicles, she added, “are driving or idling on district side streets day and night, often without passengers, and they are keeping critical bus lines, like the M15 or M9, at a crawl while increasing environmental pollution as well.” In 2015, the city tried to regulate the industry, to no avail. But in recent months, six suicides by taxi drivers — including one in front of City Hall — have added to the urgency. A Council spokesperson said that the city cannot forget those six deaths, which he attributed to shifts in the taxi industry and the rapid growth of apphail companies. But Wednesday, Politico broke the news of a private conference call where Uber, Lyft and Via offered Johnson a deal: The companies would underwrite $100 million for a “hardship fund” for yellow cab drivers who have financially suffered from the decreased value of their medallions, so long as Johnson scraps the yearlong freeze from the package of bills. Johnson declined the deal, according to Politico. “We feel that the hardship-fund concept would actually directly address one of the key problems that policymakers seem to be trying to solve here,” Lyft spokesperson Durbin said, “which

is providing relief for those individual medallion owners.” Jennifer Fermino, the Council’s communications director, said Lyft and other companies can establish a fund without Council authority. “We don’t negotiate in public, but we can say that we are confident the bills that will be voted [on] will help drivers, reduce congestion and bring fairness to the industry,” Fermino said in a statement. “Lyft and other high-volume forhire vehicle companies are welcome to establish such a fund with a nonprofit and assist drivers who are experiencing serious financial difficulties. They don’t need any Council authority to do that.” Uber spokesperson Danielle Filson and Lyft’s Durbin called for congestion pricing as a true solution to traffic problems that have been exacerbated by the for-hire cab industry. Filson said the Council should pass a resolution in support of congestion pricing that would fund the city’s subways. “We must work together on real solutions New Yorkers agree will fi x the city’s subway crisis without stranding outer-borough riders,” she said in a statement. Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, echoed the call for congestion pricing, saying the legislation doesn’t address the root causes of the city’s traffic problem. Sifuentes said legislation to reduce “deadheading” — when drivers are driving around without any passengers — would be an example of a better regulatory approach than temporarily capping licenses. “So we freeze [licenses] for a year and then what?” Sifuentes said. “Freezing the status quo isn’t going to work for anybody. The question then becomes, ‘So what?’ “If we artificially suppress the number of vehicles available or create structures that incentivize going for the wealthy areas and not the outerborough areas, we’re going to have an equity problem,” Sifuentes said. He added that his organization is supportive of raising pay standards for drivers and waiving license fees for fully accessible vehicles. “At the end of the day, we’ve had congestion problems in Manhattan long before Uber and Lyft ever existed,” he said. “Have they exacerbated the problem? Yes.” But reducing the number of Ubers, Lyfts, Vias and the rest on the streets, he added, is “taking options away from people instead of doing the thing we should be doing, which is saying to people, ‘Fine you can drive in Manhattan below 60th St. if you want to. You’re just going to pay your fair share to do that.’ And that will change human behavior,” he said, “not by taking away an option, but by fairly charging people for taking that option.” TheVillager.com

C.B. 2 focuses on ďŹ lling in the empty storefronts STORES continued from p. 1

Broadway Initiative described having a 20 percent vacancy, while there is 15 percent vacancy in the Noho BID, and 10 percent in the Hudson Square Connection BID, whose representative noted that was sharply down from 30 percent in 2008. William Kelley of the Village Alliance, which is centered on Eighth St., Sixth Ave., Astor Place and St. Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place, noted that vacancy in their district was generally around 3 to 5 percent. However, he said, it was now up to 7 percent, the highest since the 2008 crash, which saw 40 percent of the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s retail spaces empty. BIDs are created when a strong majority of local property owners vote to form them; the property owners are then assessed a special tax by the city, which is then funneled back to the BID for it to provide supplemental city services, such as sanitation, security and marketing for the area. Questions from locals in the audience centered around how all of the empty storefronts could be filled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every situation is unique,â&#x20AC;? responded Mark Dicus, executive director of the Soho Broadway Initiative. He described longtime property owners, for example, that simply werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t getting offers for their spaces because of limited demand in the market. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not getting legitimate proposals at any price,â&#x20AC;? he explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting short-term but nothing long-term.â&#x20AC;? More flexible leases were discussed. Corey Kunz of the Hudson Square Connection BID noted a recent success, the Color Factory, an upcoming pop-up exhibit at Spring and Varick

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The new Casper mattress flagship store on Mercer St â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which also has a Broadway entrance, above â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is par t of the new trend in â&#x20AC;&#x153;experientialâ&#x20AC;? retail: People can pay to take a nap there.

Sts. The exhibit will have just a one- or two-year lease while providing an experience to customers that will draw more foot traffic to the area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think that flexibility is really important,â&#x20AC;? noted Kunz. Another flexible-lease idea was offering lower rents to start out, followed by revenue sharing and gradually increasing rents, to give new businesses a chance to gain momentum. A member of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce noted that some businesses in Brooklyn were al-

ready experimenting with this model. Cordelia Persen, executive director of the Noho BID, noted, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see in probably almost all our neighborhoods is this rise in experiential shopping, and so we have these big spaces and they attract fun activities.â&#x20AC;? Persen pointed to the recent addition of the new Casper flagship store, on Mercer St. between W. Houston and Bleecker Sts., which doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just sell mattresses but also offers customers a place to nap for a fee. Persen said a few other experiential retail stores were on

the way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That is really the future of retail, at least in our districts,â&#x20AC;? she stated. The panel was asked whether a vacancy tax might be effective, but Jennifer Falk, executive director of the Union Square Partnership, said she was against it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anytime a beloved business in Union Square closes, more often than not, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very distinct drama going on behind the scenes, with the ownership or with the business,â&#x20AC;? Falk said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just so many issues going on. I think an across-the-board tax for vacancy would just hurt.â&#x20AC;? Audience members expressed skepticism over whether Brookfield, which recently bought several buildings on Bleecker St., would be a beneficial retail presence. Maria Diaz, executive director of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, said that Brookfield had told her of planning to bring in small businesses, and staying away from chains. When concerns were still expressed about Brookfield, Diaz said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can only give you what they have said. They are not going to try to put in any chain storesâ&#x20AC;Ś . Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re curating art into some of their spaces.â&#x20AC;? Diaz said that Brookfield had been reaching out to local groups, including G.V.C.C.C. and the community board, and had wanted to come to that eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meeting. Topics raised for the new committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next meeting in September were to invite Brookfield, along with local big property owners, to hear about their perspectives and experiences with local retail.

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August 2, 2018

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