The Villager - November 29, 2018

V i s i t u s o n l i n e a t w w w .T h e V i l l a g e r. c o m

THE November 29 , 2018 Volume 88 • Number 46

Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, e, Soho,, Union U n io Un i o n Square, S q ua Sq u a re r e , Chinatown Ch C h in i n at ato ow w n and an a n d Noho, No N o ho h o , Since S nce 1933 Si 19 •

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Chris Quinn ‘seriously considered’ advocate, but she isn’t running

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

C

hristine Quinn definitely plans to keep advocating — just not as New York City public advocate.

The former City Council speaker recently issued a statement, saying she had seriously considered running for public

advocate, but in the end, decided not to throw her hat in what could well be a crowded ring in a special election — likely to be held sometime in February.

Quinn represented the Council’s District 3 (the VilQUINN continued on p. 7

Chinatown ‘Car’-nage as minivan drivers kill two, injure many more PHOTO BY DAVID SHANKBONE

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

D

rivers of 2015 Toyota Sienna minivans claimed the lives of two people in Chinatown over the past two weeks.

On Thurs., Nov. 15, around 12:50 p.m., police responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian struck

at Bayard St. and Bowery. Upon arrival, they found a 90-yearold woman, Ngan Leung, of 10 Confucius Plaza, conscious and alert complaining of pain.

E.M.S. medics transported her to Bellevue Hospital Center, where she succumbed to her inCARNAGE continued on p. 11

Christine Quinn’s political comeback will have to wait. She has announced she’s not going to run in the special election for New York City public advocate, likely to be held sometime in Februar y.

‘Tombs’ turnaround City moves jail site 3 blocks north

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

O

n Wednesday, the city backtracked on locating a jail at 80 Centre

St. City officials told The Villager the de Blasio administration plans to return to its original plan to locate a jail at Manhattan’s existing detention complex at 125 White

Gear up for Camp Fair! .........p. 26

St. at the Manhattan Detention Complex, known as “the Tombs.”

The city had been pitching constructing a 430-foot building at 80 Centre St. as a part of its larger project to close Rikers Island and drastically reduce the city’s jail population. The Manhattan District Attorney’s offices, the city’s Marriage License Bureau,

and other offices are currently housed at 80 Centre St. But, the costs associated with relocating those offices within Lower Manhattan proved more burdensome than originally believed. Instead, according to a mayoral spokesperson, the city plans to demolish The Tombs and PRISON continued on p. 3

Memorial for peace activist McReynolds ........ p. 17 Bringing out the animal in Andy Warhol ......... p. 19

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November 29, 2018

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City moves jail site slightly north, to The Tombs PRISON continued from p. 1

site its new Manhattan borough-based jail there.

“It’s crucial that we close Rikers Island and transition to a smaller, safer borough-based jail system as quickly as possible,” mayoral spokesperson Natalie Grybauskas said in a statement. “We found that the challenges associated with relocating various offices at 80 Centre St. would make siting a jail there far more complicated and more costly than we originally anticipated. As we met with the community, it became clear that the original site we considered better addressed their needs without costly challenges created by using 80 Centre, and we are reverting our site selection to the Manhattan Detention Complex.”

The other four boroughs’ locations for their new jails will remain the same, according to a city official.

The Manhattan jail is a part of a larger project to close Rikers Island and open four borough-based jails in all boroughs — except Staten Island — to reduce the city’s jail population to 5,000. This year, the jail population has averaged around 8,200 — the lowest in three decades and 12 percent less than last year.

The city emphasized the goal to close Rikers by 2027 still stands, but the public review process, known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, will be pushed back by about three months.

When the location was originally changed from White St. to Centre St. in August, the city argued that The Tombs was inadequate to meet the new jail’s needs of 1,500 beds since the location currently only has 1,000 beds. Furthermore, the city said in scoping documents that The Tombs’ facilities were outdated, falling short of modern detention facilities in terms of inmates’ space, sunlight and social spaces.

PHOTO BY COLIN MIXSON

The city has backed away from its plan to build a new 40-stor y jail at 80 Centre St., above, which currently houses the Manhattan D. A .’s Office and the Marriage Bureau, plus cour t-related ser vices. Instead, the city is now saying it will build the new high-rise jail three blocks nor th, at the current site of “The Tombs.”

To solve that problem, the city proposed tearing down 80 Centre St. and building a 430-foot building in its place.

The new plan will involve demolishing the Manhattan Detention Complex, and the borough-based jail will still hold 1,500 beds, according to a mayoral spokesperson. The maximum height of the new facility could be slightly higher than 500 feet, but the city is working

toward decreasing that height in the coming months.

For more than a year, the Downtown community had thought the borough’s “community jail” would be located at The Tombs. But then in August the city told local stakeholders at an insiders’ meeting that the city planned to tear down 80 Centre St. and build a 430foot jail there instead. Chinatown activists have since blasted the city for changing the location and Downtown politicians have criticized the city’s process.

In a statement, City Councilmember Margaret Chin said sees the latest location change as “a sign that the community’s concerns and input about the future of this facility matter.”

“By focusing the conversation on this existing detention site,” she said, “we can ensure that this facility remains near the courts, and Columbus Park will no longer be placed under the shadow of a proposed 40-story jail at 80 Centre St. “Let’s be absolutely clear,” Chin stressed, “this moment would not be possible without elected officials, advocates and residents fighting to increase opportunities to engage in this process. There remains a great deal of work to be done to make sure that true community engagement is achieved.”

Borough President Gale Brewer said in a statement, “The administration needed to change course on the location for the new facility, but the core problem here was that City Hall wanted to announce its plan before engaging with the community on how to craft it. I hope that in the coming weeks and months, City Hall will engage in a more bottom-up process that builds support in Chinatown and Lower Manhattan, makes people feel like they were actually heard, and improves the plan — instead of repeating the mistakes that got us here.”

‘Fearless Girl’ set to take on Stock Exchange

BY COLIN MIXSON

T

he Financial District’s beloved “Fearless Girl” statue was uprooted from her post at Bowling Green Tuesday night in preparation for her eventual move to outside the New York Stock Exchange later this year.

The pint-sized bronze icon, which was installed during the 2017 Women’s March, staring down the park’s other famous statue, “Charging Bull,” was replaced by a plaque featuring two shoeprints. The plaque also bears an inscription reading, “Fearless Girl is on the move to the New York Stock Exchange.

Until she’s there, stand for her.”

Her sudden disappearance follows Mayor Bill de Blasio’s promise earlier this year to move “Fearless Girl” — and “Charging Bull” — in response to safety concerns that lower Broadway’s heavy traffic posed to the statue’s hoards of selfie-seeking fans, who clustered precariously on the narrow cobblestone plaza where she was formerly located.

In addition to gaining notoriety as a feminist icon, “Fearless Girl” can also be seen as a wildly successful marketing stunt by advertising firm McCann New York on behalf of multibillion-dollar investment firm State Street Global

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Advisors. State Street commissioned the statue from sculptor Kristen Visbal to advertise its SHE index fund, which features a slew of gender-diverse companies.

Within the first 12 hours of its installation, “Fearless Girl” generated more than 1 billion Twitter impressions, and earned more than $7 million worth of free marketing for State Street within the first 51 days, according to an analysis by Apex marketing Group.

But the girl statue had one notable detractor in the form of “Charging Bull” sculptor Arturo Di Modica. The artist filed suit against State Street in April last year claiming “Fearless Girl” was derivative of his work, and demanded damages for violating his legal rights.

“The statue of the young girl becomes the ‘Fearless Girl’ only because of the ‘Charging Bull,’” read a letter Di Modica’s legal team sent to State Street.

“The work is incomplete without Mr. Di Modica’s ‘Charging Bull,’ and as such it constitutes a derivative work of the ‘Charging Bull.’”

The mayor’s press office did not immediately reply to messages left asking if “Charging Bull” would be moved, and when.

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PHOTO BY COLIN MIXSON

Left in “Fearless Girl” ’s former place on Bowling Green is a plaque with two small footprints telling people they can “stand for her” and what she represents.

November 29, 2018

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Police Blotter recovered $207 cash. There were no injuries. Hugo Romero, 31, was arrested for felony robbery. He is also known to local police under the alias Humberto Gonzalez, and was found to have an active warrant for his arrest.

FIRST PRECINCT Fight and flight Cops arrested two men for allegedly trying — though failing — to fight their way out of a Cortlandt St. department store with stolen goods on Nov. 17.

Security claims the suspects nabbed about $75 worth of hats and fragrance from the store, between Church St. and Broadway, at 12:30 p.m., and that a brawl ensued after the guards tried to stop the alleged thieves.

Security suffered some cuts and bruises amid the fracas, but managed to reclaim the stolen goods and detain the suspects long enough for police to arrive, and book them on felony robbery, cops said.

Write and wrong Cops are hunting the letter-writing thief who fled empty-handed from a Broadway bank on Nov. 15.

A teller at the bank, between Spring and Broome Sts., told police the wouldbe robber sauntered up and passed him a note around 11 a.m., which read “Robbery. Push money. No die [sic] packs. Fast so no one gets hurt, killed.”

The thief continued to bang on the window, shouting, “Hurry up!” but eventually lost his nerve and fled without pilfering any cash, cops said.

Package perp A thief reportedly looted packages from the lobby of a Duane St. apartment building on Nov. 11.

The crook lingered by the front door of the building, between Staple and Hudson Sts., until a resident walked out at around 8 a.m., giving him a chance to stick his foot in and then slink inside, cops said.

The thief lingered in the lobby about 10 minutes, collecting five packages in a clear, plastic bag, before absconding with about $300 worth of stuff, according to police.

Socked on Sixth On Sun., Nov. 25, around 8 p.m., a woman told cops she was involved in a domestic dispute in front of 333 Sixth Ave., near W. Fourth St., according to a police report. The woman was arguing with a man who then broke her phone over his knee and kicked it. The woman said the altercation continued and the man punched her in the face and pushed her to the ground. The woman was bleeding from the lip and had back pain. Dennis Robles, 33, was arrested that day for felony criminal mischief.

COURTESY N.Y.P.D.

This man is not an Uber driver, but a robber, according to police.

He allegedly recently fleeced a man he picked up in his car on the Lower East Side.

p.m., according to police. An 18-yearold male employee was working at the time when a man punched him, causing a cut to his lip. The employee refused medical assistance at the scene.

Brandon Trainer, 30, was arrested for misdemeanor assault.

NINTH PRECINCT Uber imposter Police said that on Sun., Nov. 11, around 3:30 a.m., a man posing as an Uber driver picked up a 25-year-old “fare” on E. Houston St. between First Ave. and Avenue A. The driver asked to borrow the victim’s Apple iPhone 6 to use the GPS, and the victim, who sat in the front passenger seat, gave it to him. The dubious driver also lifted the victim’s wallet, containing a credit card and a debit card, without the victim’s knowledge. Later that day, the individual made an unauthorized purchase for $650 using the stolen credit card at a Walmart in North Bergen, N.J. The suspect is described as black, roughly in his late 20s, with a medium build and dark complexion, last seen wearing a black baseball hat, a black bubble jacket, black jeans and black boots. A surveillance photo allegedly captured him at the Jersey Walmart.

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, on Twitter at @ NYPDTips or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.

All tips are confidential.

Bad hotel visit A man entered an employees-only area at the Walker Hotel on Tues., Nov. 20, around 8 p.m., and then the manager’s office, and was asked to leave many times, without complying, by employees of the hotel, according to police. The guy also reportedly had a bar tab for $34.84 at the hotel, at 52 W. 13th St., that he refused to pay. A responding officer observed the man, 28, in possession of a gravity knife in a “lungable area” — meaning within the suspect’s reach — on the table next to his possessions. When the officer tried to arrest the man, he resisted by twisting and tensing his body and flailing his arms. Dalante Levine, 28, was arrested for felony burglary.

Turkiss tussle SIXTH PRECINCT Pret a punch-ay An employee was attacked inside Pret a Manger at 821 Broadway, near E. 12th St., on Tues., Nov. 20, at 3:45

There was an attempted robbery at Turkiss, a Turkish restaurant at 104 MacDougal St., on Thurs., Nov. 22, at 3:10 a.m., police said. According to an employee, a man grabbed money from the register and then tried to flee. But there was then a physical struggle with employees who tried to stop him. A responding officer searched the man and

10TH PRECINCT Beautiful boost There was a shoplifting incident in the CVS at 81 Eighth Ave. on Thurs., Nov. 22, at 8:40 a.m., police said. A man took a lot of products off the shelf, reportedly 95 items of various beauty products valued at $890, and fled on foot. The case remains open and the man is described as black, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 170 pounds and bearded.

Tao triple ‘Pow!’ There was an assault in Tao Downtown, the nightclub at 369 W. 16th St., on Sat., Nov. 24, at 1:30 a.m., according to police. A man punched another guy three times in the face after being asked to move his jacket. The victim had cuts to his lip but refused medical treatment. Kadi Agueros, 47, was charged with misdemeanor assault.

iRip-off A man bought an iPhone XS Max for $850 from a seller named Samantha through an app called Letgo, according to police. The two agreed to meet for the transaction at 34th St. and 11th Ave. on Mon., Nov. 19, at 10 a.m. The buyer, 21, arranged the meeting for that time because it was just before his Megabus was leaving for New Jersey.

The seller arrived in a silver car, then left immediately after the money and cell-phone box were exchanged. When the man opened the box there was no cell phone, just two Capri Sun juices.

The case remains open and the seller is described as 25, Hispanic/White, weighing 135 pounds, and with long straight brown hair.

Chevy break-in A man parked his 2018 white Chevy Equinox in front of 333 W. 17th St., outside the Lab School and Museum School, then went home, police said.

When he returned the next morning on Sat., Nov. 24, to go to his in-laws, the man, 57, saw that the right passengerside window was broken and the dash camera, valued at $110, was taken.

Gabe Herman and Colin Mixson

The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 Copyright © 2018 by City Media LLC is published weekly by City Media LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. 52 times a year. Business and Editorial Offices: One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. Accounting and Circulation Offices: City Media LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. Call 718-260-2500 to subscribe. Periodicals postage prices is paid at New York, N.Y. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Villager, One Metrotech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Annual subscription by mail in Manhattan and Brooklyn $29 ($35 elsewhere). Single copy price at office and newsstands is $1. The entire contents of newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2018 City Media LLC.

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Quinn not running...now 3'' #/& 6$-+% 7'/5

QUINN continued from p. 1

lage and Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen) and was Council speaker from 2006 to 2014. She ran in the Democratic primary for mayor in 2013, but after starting out strong, finished third, and was then term-limited out of office.

For the past three years, she has headed the nonprofit Women in Need (WIN), assisting homeless women and children.

In a statement on Fri., Nov. 16, Quinn said, “After giving serious consideration to a run for public advocate, I believe the greatest impact I can have on the direction of this city is to continue attacking the twin crises of homelessness and affordability through my current role. We’re witnessing a historic rise in homelessness in our city and, as C.E.O. of WIN, I look forward to driving reforms that can help thousands of families struggling every day.

I will continue to be an outside voice who challenges the status quo, holds officials and agencies accountable, and demands more effective policy that is rooted in compassion. I will continue to do what I have been doing for the past three years — representing and fighting daily for the New Yorkers who need it most: the forgotten women and children living in the city’s shelter system. “I am urging all of the candidates who run for [public advocate] to make homelessness and affordability the central issues of this upcoming campaign.

New York City families truly need every public advocate they can get. “I want to thank all of those who have encouraged me to run, and for the confidence they have in me,� Quinn added. “Rest assured, I will continue to aggressively fight on behalf of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, who want nothing more than an affordable place to call home and an equal opportunity to build a future for themselves and their children.�

As a fellow Village elected official, state Senator Brad Hoylman is a longtime political ally of Quinn’s.

Asked for comment on her announcement, Hoylman told The Villager, “I can understand why she isn’t running for public advocate. Chris is already serving the public by running the city’s largest provider of shelter for homeless families. You don’t need elective office or a title to make a difference in people’s lives.�

Village Democratic District Leader Arthur Schwartz, however, was decidedly less complimentary in his take on the news. “Christine Quinn has always been an enigma to me,� he said. “She had great promise as a progressive leader, but was corrupted by her eight years as New York’s second-most powerful elected official. It is good to see that she is not going to run, and become the Schneps Community News Group

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PHOTO BY DAVID SHANKBONE

Christine Quinn.

focus of the campaign, which instead, I believe, will focus on new leadership for the future of New York. This fight, I believe, will come down to [Brooklyn] Councilmember Jumaane Williams versus [Bronx] Assemblymember Michael Blake.�

Schwartz, who is an attorney, is not exactly a disinterested party, though.

He is Williams’s counsel in the upcoming public advocate special election.

Other expected candidates for advocate include former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Upper West Side Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, Obama administration veteran Dawn Smalls, and Nomiki Konst, formerly of “The Young Turks.�

The office will be opening up because the current public advocate, Letitia James, was elected New York State attorney general earlier this month.

Eric Schneiderman stepped down as attorney general in May after publication of a New Yorker article documenting his allegedly physically abusive relationships with several women and his alleged excessive drinking.

Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political consultant, said Quinn is snubbing advocate partly because it’s too risky, in that, a second major loss would be too crushing. “I think it was part that she doesn’t want the job,� he said, “and she has another agenda. Maybe she’ll run for mayor again in 2021 — or comptroller or maybe borough president, which are a good fit for her. “She already ran [for mayor] and lost,� Sheinkopf said. “Why put yourself in a position where you might lose, and if you lose, you’re finished? So, if you don’t have a clear shot... . If she did lose, it would end her career.�

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Board 2 nixes Village school’s expansion plan

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

C

ommunity Board 2 voted against the Village Community School’s pitch to enlarge its current site with another three-story building last Tues., Nov. 20.

The Village Community School, a K-8 school with about 350 students, has applied to the Board of Standards and Appeals to amend a 2001 variance to build out its property.

The building addition, designed by Marvel Architects, would include science and technology labs, a wood shop, a new gym and rooftop play yard, plus additional classroom and office space for the school’s students, whose parents shell out nearly $48,000 a year for the private school. The enlargement would be 43 feet tall with an open-air structural enclosure on the roof that would bring it to 60 feet, which would be shorter than the school’s two existing buildings.

C.B. 2 recommended the B.S.A. deny the plan unless the school’s Greenwich St. playground (on which the school is proposing to build its three-story addition) is “substantially retained,” the school presents alternative plans, the amount of the school’s students is COURTESY MARVEL ARCHITECTS

Keep blowing, Trump!

You can’t dim the spirit

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Hanukkah star ts Sun., Dec. 2, and ends on the evening of Mon., Dec. 10. The Jewish holiday, which lasts eight nights and is known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates how a supply of oil that was supposed to last only one night miraculously lasted more than a week. This menorah montage, above, spotted in a the window of the Balloon Saloon, on West Broadway in Tribeca, perhaps offers a new spin on the holiday — how the oil lasted even despite the blowhard bloviating of President Trump!

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November 29, 2018

A rendering of the proposed Village Communit y School addition at Greenwich and W. 10th Sts.

capped at its current number, and if lotline windows at a neighboring residential condo building are preserved.

The plan’s opponents include neighbors at a five-unit condo building at 692 Greenwich St., where 32 lot-line windows would be impacted by the school’s project proposal.

“We’re not looking to fight with [V.C.S.], but we also aren’t pleased with being ignored,” said Alan Chapell, a resident of the building. The school’s approach, he said, “has been full-speed ahead with both middle fingers up, as far as I can see.”

A concern for Chapell are the nearly three-dozen lot-line windows that would be blocked by the new school building.

He fears his rooftop would be less usable and views could be impacted, and argues that the school could design a building that would not impact his windows as much if the proposed gym were smaller.

“There’s certainly a feeling of entitlement here,” Chapell said. His daughter, now in college, went to a high school without a gym, he noted.

“Space is at a premium and you make do,” Chapell said. “I don’t think [my daughter’s] life was any less robust because she didn’t have a gym at all.”

The Village school says its growing student body needs the additional space, and V.C.S. parents have testified in support of the project at C.B. 2 meetings.

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“While we never run out of new, inspired ideas at V.C.S., we have run out of room to implement them,” Eve Kleger, its head of school, said in a written statement. “Experiential and collaborative learning needs space, especially for our intensive STEAM curriculum.

This addition will ensure that V.C.S. can continue to offer the best educational opportunities for our students well into the future.

“We have put a lot of thought and consideration into making sure we get this right — not only for our students but also for the Greenwich Village community,” Kleger continued. “We’ve been on this block for almost 50 years. This neighborhood is our heart and soul. We want to continue to serve it well — as educators and as good neighbors.”

The 692 Greenwich St. residents and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have sought counsel from Michael Hiller, who has frequently represented preservationist and antidevelopment groups, including in an ongoing Uptown fight over construction of the planned high-rise Sutton Place Tower project at E. 58th St. Chapell wants the Village school to propose a different design that could still meet the school’s space needs.

“It’s hard to believe,” he said, “that the programmatic needs of the school can only be met with that one exact design [out] of all the potential designs.”

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Amid Pier 40 ďŹ x, Trust will â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;minimizeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; impact

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he Hudson River Park Trust is making headway on its renovation plan for Downtownersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sports haven, Pier 40.

Since repairs began in late April on the pierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roughly 3,600 piles â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the steel columns upon which the pier sits â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Trustâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contractors have repaired about 700, or 20 percent of them, so far, according to a Trust spokesperson.

So far, the seven-phase construction project currently has two contractors on site working on phases one and two, which together are budgeted at $21 million.

The Trust will put the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next two phases out to bid shortly, according to a spokesperson. An additional aspect of the project involves removing a collapsed former combined-sewer outfall, for which the contractor is also already on site.

The $104 million project to repair the W. Houston St. pierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pilings is being funded mostly by $100 million the Trust received last year after selling 200,000 square feet of development rights a.k.a. â&#x20AC;&#x153;air rightsâ&#x20AC;? from the pier to the St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Building development project across the West Side Highway.

Shortly after the repairs began, Trust President Madelyn Wils told The Villager the corroding piles are just one facet of the larger infrastructure issues

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Young ball players at a Greenwich Village Little League opening day a few years ago at Pier 40.

May. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is just current work.â&#x20AC;?

Fear over the future of Pier 40 comes up in myriad community issues for Downtowners. Recently, the Village Community School cited Pier 40â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precarious future as a part of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planned gym expansion. At a meeting this month about Battery Park Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

at Pier 40. In recent years, the Trust has completely redone or replaced the pierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entire sprinkler system and all its fire alarms, plus added a new firesuppression system, along with new lighting in the garage. Bricks on the northside of the pier-shed building also still need to be repaired. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m talking millions and millions and millions of dollars,â&#x20AC;? Wils said in

EAST SIDE COASTAL RESILIENCY PROJECT Join us for

Chinatown â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;carâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;-nage CARNAGE continued from p. 1

juries on Wed., Nov. 21.

A preliminary investigation revealed a 66-year-old man was driving a 2015 Toyota Sienna eastbound on Bayard St. attempting to make a left turn onto the Bowery, when he struck Leung in the crosswalk.

The driver remained at the scene and the investigation remains ongoing by the New York Police Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Collision Investigation Squad.

Then, on Mon., Nov. 26, around 6:47 p.m., another pedestrian was killed and numerous people injured when a driver who was backing up plowed into a crowd on a Chinatown sidewalk at Forsyth and Division Sts. Police said a 56-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The preliminary police investigation determined that Henry Herman, 70, of Satmar Drive of Monroe, N.Y., was operating a 2015 Toyota Sienna in reverse on Forsyth St. against the flow of traffic when he lost control of the vehicle, jumped the curb and struck a 7 pedestrians. The driver remained at the scene and was taken into custody.

He was charged with failure to yield

Schneps Community News Group

resiliency plan to protect its ball fields, Downtown Soccer League members raised concerns that local field space would be further squeezed if playing fields in Battery Park City and at Pier 40 go offline simultaneously.

The Trust has said that large areas of the huge courtyard field at Pier 40 are not expected to close during the pile repairs, though parts of the pierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deck â&#x20AC;&#x201D; upon which the field sits â&#x20AC;&#x201D; may have to be drilled with holes as access points for divers and equipment to reach the piles.

Since April, no portions of the pier have had to be closed, a spokesperson said.

The process of how the piles are repaired is at the crux of whether or not field space would go temporarily offline.

After cleaning a pile of algae, a steel cage is installed around it. A fiberglass jacket around the steel cage is then filled with concrete. Divers repairing the piles are limited by how far away from the pier they can work, particularly when pumping concrete into the fiberglass jacket.

A Trust spokesperson said the Trust has â&#x20AC;&#x153;promised to notify field users in advance and to continue to endeavor to minimize field disruptions, if any such construction is needed.â&#x20AC;?

AN INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY MEETING

to pedestrians (seven counts), failure to exercise due care, unsafe backing of a vehicle, and driving on/across a sidewalk.

The investigation is ongoing by the Collision Investigation Squad. The name of the deceased was being withheld pending family notification.

Captain Michael R. Gulinello, Fifth Precinct executive officer, or second in charge, said, in part, the driver was on Forsyth St. heading toward Division St. and â&#x20AC;&#x153;then began to back up on Forsyth St. toward Canal St. in an attempt to park his vehicle. As he approached the parking spot, the vehicle accelerated, striking several people on the sidewalk near a fruit stand. One male was pronounced deceased at the scene, two are listed in critical condition, two are listed with severe injuries and two are treated and refused further medical aid.â&#x20AC;?

In a statement, Councilmember Margaret Chin said, in part, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pedestrian safety is among the primary issues facing Lower Manhattan, but there is no reason that we should view this tragedy as an inevitable consequence of living and walking in our city. More must and can be done to create a safer environment for New Yorkers simply trying to go about their day.â&#x20AC;?

to engage and hear updates on the project and the vision for East River Park and other enhancements!

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November 29, 2018

11

Letters to the Editor

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Covering Manhattan in more ways than one

WWI centennial To The Editor: I would like to acknowledge the (Episcopal) Church of St. John in the Village for its Requiem Eucharist service honoring the centenary of the World War I Armistice, held on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. It was fitting to remember in a solemn manner those men who perished 100 years ago.

After the service, many of us went to the parish hall, where Kenneth Davis, a New York Times-bestselling author, talked about his latest book, “More Deadly Than War,” which is about World War I and the Spanish Flu. I bought a copy.

Among other facts and figures, the church bulletin states, “The USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than combat (53,402) because of the outbreak of Spanish Flu. More than six thousand New Yorkers perished.”

As for the West Village, a nice woman named Darla pointed me to the printout “Honor Roll of The Men of Greenwich Village who died in the First World War.” I count 195 from our immediate area.

There is no record here about women, but I suspect they performed equally significant yeoman service as nurses.

To read more about the 100th anniversary of WWI, I suggest an article in the October 2018 issue of Smithsonian Magazine, “Is All Still Quiet on the Western Front?”

Finally, a personal note. A practicing Catholic, I can’t recommend this Episcopal church with full throat, as it were, but I liked the cushioned kneelers very much.

John Early

Help us with Gmail To The Editor: Re “Google and Co.’s to spread the wealth, give out microgrants” (news

PRINT DIGITAL EVENTS 12

November 29, 2018

article, Nov. 22): Wouldn’t it be nice if Google also expended money — a substantial sum — to establish a 100-person department with a 1-800 number to respond to calls from the hoi polloi who are having problems with their Gmail and help them out?

Alan Flacks

Fanaticism and fascism To The Editor: “Down with Trump! Up with women! We like Ike!” (picture story, Nov. 15): Who needs due process, habeas corpus, presumption of innocence, or a trial by jury when we have such righteous inquisitors, like this “artist” and her model? This is what occurs when an aggressive movement seeks political and social change, and abandons facts, logic and objectivity.

It always turns into fanaticism — and real fascism, not what the other nitwit protesting Trump calls “fascism.”

Look in the mirror if you dare.

Carl Rosenstein

What the L? Monitor our air, too!

To The Editor: Re “Air monitors planned for Lshutdown bus routes” (news article, Nov. 15): Don’t we also need air monitors on nearby streets that will be used by the vehicles that normally cross town on 14th St.? I live on 17th St., the first one-way westbound through street above 14th, and I’m really concerned.

Martha Gotwals

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Something’s the ‘matter’ here To The Editor: Re “Air monitors planned for Lshutdown bus routes” and “L project is hell on E. 14th St. shops” (news article, Nov. 15): I have a question that needs to be presented to the city and the Department of Transportation based on what was said by the city about the air monitors and what they would be measuring.

The article about the air monitors said that the city is committed to measuring PM 2.5 particulate matter from diesel bus emissions.

It also also said that they are monitoring PM 10 particulate matter at Ltrain-related construction sites, such as at Avenue A. Why isn’t there any mention about measuring the vehicular emissions that will be increased on the side streets north and south of 14th St., which would have substantial increased vehicular emissions because vehicles would be going there due to 14th St. being turned into a dedicated “busway”?

This is surely a gross oversight on the part of our city and our city agencies.

Bill Borock Borock is a member, 14th St. Coalition

E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words, 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.

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Talking Point

Drug dealers operating freely in Wash. Sq. Park

BY BERNARD MCELHONE

I

have to wonder about our neighborhood newspaper and our local politicians. No one on The Villager staff appears to have noticed the booming drug trade on the west side of Washington Square Park, where pills, LSD (they claim), crack and heroin are for sale all day and night, supplementing the pot market that is a longtime fi xture at that location.

The trade has spilled over to the stoops of Washington Place and Waverly Place, where the drugs are frequently delivered to customers. All the action is in the open: counting out pills, hand-offs of packets too small to be pot, the bicycle guy who replenishes dealers’ supplies. In the early mornings, dealers often deliver drugs to the bedsides of those just waking on park benches.

Greenwich Village’s reputation for being open to all has taken on a new, debased meaning, encouraging homeless crack addicts to cluster full time on the corner of Washington Place and along the western walk inside the park. When not fouling the sidewalk or sleeping on the sidewalk and benches, they argue loudly about precise ownership rights to small quantities of the products to which they have devoted their lives. Violence is common, though it does not yet include gunfire — unless we include the dealer who mistakenly shot himself about a year ago.

The Villager wags an indignant fi nger at kids who gather annually to hit one another with pillows, or to dress in Santa costumes and get vomitingly drunk. Yet it does not see — certainly does not crusade against — the 24/7

criminal market that has seized a sizable corner of our neighborhood park.

Likewise, our local politicians, who have a speech or press release ready for every occasion, are silent about this very significant decline in our quality of life. During a recent meeting at Judson Church, a half-dozen publicsafety employees, including the Sixth Precinct commander, acknowledged the problem and noted that the courts rarely penalize the occasional dealers who are arrested.

Gale Brewer, the only elected official to attend the meeting, exposed her inner Marie Antoinette by suggesting that neighbors attend the court proceedings to let the judges appreciate our distress. As the borough president seems not to know, judges sit before crowded rooms every day, with no knowledge of who is in the seats. Perhaps she also does not know that many constituents have day jobs, which do not allow for repeated court visits when cases are postponed. Or maybe she was just blowing us off.

With the colder weather, the illicit trade in and around the park has dropped off a bit — but they’re still out there, in plain sight.

Is The Villager silent about this failure of government because it is bad business to criticize local elected officials? Are our local elected officials silent about the deteriorating conditions in their district because they fear being accused of police-state tendencies? Who knows what motivates such reality avoidance? Most important: Who is left to protect the interests of ordinary Village citizens?

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Matrimonial market On a recent Saturday, newly weds, fresh from t ying the knot at Xavier Church, on W. 16th St., decided to use the nearby Union Square Greenmarket, filled with all foods fall — like squash, beans and pumpkins — as a backdrop for some photos and clowning around.

McElhone is a resident of Washington Square West

Sound off!

Write a letter to the editor news@thevillager.com Schneps Community News Group

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November 29, 2018

13

Westbeth is honored with a G.V.S.H.P. plaque

BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

T

he latest plaque to grace the portal of the Westbeth Artists Housing complex in Greenwich Village completes a trifecta of acknowledgements that recognize the historical significance of 55 Bethune St. Early Tuesday afternoon, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation unveiled a plaque honoring the building’s history as a place of soundtechnology innovation and as a groundbreaking home to artists.

Dedicated to provide affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations in New York City, Westbeth comprises the full city block, bounded by West, Bethune, Washington and Bank Sts., and takes its name from two of these streets. Nearly 400 artists and their families live in Westbeth. Artists use their homes to make art, and musicians and dancers practice in their studios.

The building complex, built from roughly 1860 to 1934, originally was the home of Bell Telephone Labs from 1898 to 1966. Many technological innovations were developed or advanced there, including radar, television and video telephones.

The original High Line freight rail line ran through the complex’s eastern side, and the rail bed is still carved through and visible in this former industrial landmark building.

In 1970, it reopened as Westbeth, an early example of large-scale adaptive reuse of an industrial building.

This latest Westbeth Artists Housing plaque sits to the right of a Historical Physics Sites plaque, indicating the building is on the Register of Historic Sites of the American Physical Society.

A red medallion installed this September by the Historical Landmarks Preservation is dedicated to dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, whose dance studio was in Westbeth.

At this week’s plaque dedication, Nancy Gabor, vice president of the Westbeth Artist Residents Council, or WARC, listed a panoply of programs and activities that weave residents together, as well as contribute to their being part of other artistic communities and Village activities.

Senior wellness classes — yoga, singing, sound healing and improvisational acting — are free and open to the public.

Pen Literary Quests hosts readings in Westbeth apartments; Open House New York/Open Studio offers historical building tours and a self-guided tour of artists’ studios; Westfest Dance Fest combines site-specific dance with a curated performance in the Martha Graham Dance Studio.

The new Westbeth Icons Project honors senior artist residents who continue working beyond their 80s. Because of

14

November 29, 2018

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

From left, Nanc y Gabor, vice president Westbeth Ar tist Residents Council (WARC); Pat Jones, Westbeth board chairperson; Andrew Berman, G.V.S.H.P. executive director; Joan Davidson, president emeritus of J.M. Kaplan Fund; and Domhnaill Hernon, Nokia Bell Labs head of experiments in ar t and technology.

The new G.V.S.H.P. plaque honoring Westbeth after its unveiling at the dedication.

ists which stands together in times of emergency, like Hurricane Sandy, which hit us hard. We mourn together as older residents pass on, and also celebrate in times of joy.

“Affordable rents have created homes where we can live, work, raise families and share our triumphs and struggles together.”

Residents are looking forward to

its aging community, Westbeth legally qualifies as a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community a.k.a. a NORC. The take from an annual flea market run by the complex’s Beautification Committee goes toward building improvements and funded the iron-and-glass canopy over the Bethune St. entrance.

“It is a privilege to be a part of Westbeth,” said Gabor, “a community of artTVG

Westbeth’s 50th anniversary in this coming year.

Other speakers at the dedication included Andrew Berman, executive director of G.V.S.H.P.; Patricia C. Jones, Westbeth board chairperson; Joan Davidson, president emeritus of the J.M. Kaplan Fund; and Domhnaill Hernon, head of experiments in art and technology at Nokia Bell Labs.

Schneps Community News Group

Scrappy composting effort gains another site

BY GABE HERMAN

A

small but dedicated group gathered at Sheridan Square in the early morning cold last week for a ribbon-cutting for a new city composting drop-off site.

The site, at Christopher St. and Seventh Ave., will be open every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. It will complement another nearby composting site, at Waverly Place and Sixth Ave., open Thursdays also from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

“These are small things we can do to really be part of a solution to our overwhelming problems,” Christine DatzRomero, co-founder and executive director of the LES Ecology Center, said at the Nov. 20 event.

There are now 11 drop-off sites in Lower Manhattan, Datz-Romero said.

A Lower East Side resident since 1980, she started a local recycling program back in 1990 — before the city started recycling — and has also been at the forefront of the composting movement.

The compost materials collected in the Village will go to the LES Ecology Center’s processing site in East River Park.

“What we’re really proud of,” said Datz-Romero, “is the materials we collect travel, at most, four or five miles, get processed and come back to green the community.”

There were some recent holdups in the city’s composting rollout, which Datz-Romero attributed to a need to increase awareness about composting, instead of just placing the brown bins to peoples’ buildings.

“We need to get more education out there to really get people to partici-

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

Erik Bottcher, Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s chief of staff, far left, joined fellow Villagers in cutting the ribbon on a new composting drop-off site last week.

ticipating in composting would further the cause.

“Let’s try to help recruit our buildings to participate in this program,” she said. “Curbside pickup is even easier than walking it two blocks to a dropoff.”

Buildings with at least 10 units can

pate,” she said.

Bridget Anderson, the Department of Sanitation’s deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability, thanked Datz-Romero for her local leadership, and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson for his support and funding. Anderson noted there are now 150 compost drop-off sites in the five boroughs, which meets the city’s goal for this year.

“We want composting to go to the masses,” she said. “We want everybody doing this. This is a way to get started.”

She added that more buildings par-

sign up to have their compost picked up by the city.

“We live in trying times,” noted Speaker Johnson in a statement to The Villager. “Composting is one of those things that we can do that will have an outsized impact. It’s a very effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because it decreases fossil-fuel consumption from waste transportation. So, bring your fruit and veggie scraps, all kinds of food, but also flour, spices, eggshells, flowers, houseplants, coffee grounds, old tea bags. Become part of the solution, we need you. The planet needs you.”

Johnson’s Chief of Staff Erik Bottcher was at the ribbon-cutting and noted that he lives on Jones St. and this new site will make things much easier for him.

“My freezer’s been filling up with compost because I’ve had to go to Abingdon Square on Saturdays, and it just seems so far sometimes,” he said, referring to a another composting drop-off site.

Another local resident, Katherine Sharp, who lives on W. 10 St., agreed about the new site’s convenience. “It’s nice to have it here and not have to go to Union Square,” she said. “I think this is great. I’m going to put the signs up in my building and tell my neighbors. Every little bit helps.”

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November 29, 2018

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People Peace activist McReynolds will have Judson memorial

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; among the elements

M

A

memorial for peace activist David McReynolds will be held Sat., Dec. 1, from noon to 3 p.m., at Judson Memorial Church, at 55 Washington Square South, at Thompson St. McReynolds, 88, a longtime East Village resident, was found dead after an apparent fall in his railroad flat at 60 E. Fourth St. on Aug. 15.

Speakers will include members of the War Resisters League, the Socialist Party, family and close friends.

There will be an extensive display of photos of and by McReynolds from historic actions and movements, including Ban the Bomb from the 1950s, Vietnam War demonstrations, antinuclear and disarmament actions of the 1970s to the present and more. Also on view will be posters from McReynolds campaigns for president of the United States.

Of course, the event will also be a reunion of activists from significant demonstrations of the past. And there will be food, including favorites of McReynolds.

For more information or to RSVP,

David McReynolds speaking at the Left Forum in 2009.

e-mail McReynoldsMemorial@gmail. com .

Those on Facebook are asked to select â&#x20AC;&#x153;GOINGâ&#x20AC;? on the McReynolds Facebook event page if they plan to attend.

atthew a.k.a. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fireâ&#x20AC;? was sitting on a wall amid the Union Square Holiday Market the other weekend. Although he had not paid for a vendors stall, he had something he was eventually hoping to sell â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a natural staff of wood into whose sides he was carving dragons with a sharpened stone.

He planned to make it into a shade structure by using some umbrella fabric, and sell it for $500.

A â&#x20AC;&#x153;foster-care kid from Virginiaâ&#x20AC;? in his early 20s, he had been camping the past few weeks in a hammock in the Bronxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pelham Bay Park. Street names are significant, he said, noting he chose his, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fire,â&#x20AC;? because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the genesis of everything.

At one point, a group of police surrounded and questioned him about what he was doing there. After hearing him out, they told him if he kept his staff on his lap and not poking out into the walkway, he could stay.

Before The Villager snapped his photo, he flicked on his face mask â&#x20AC;&#x201D; seemingly not to conceal his identity, but just because, well, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of fierce to wear a face mask.

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Lincoln Anderson

Matthew a.k.a. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fire,â&#x20AC;? an unconventional vendor in the Union Square Holiday Market.

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17

Transportation

2nd Ave. subway set to add 3 more Uptown stops

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a â&#x20AC;&#x153;milestoneâ&#x20AC;? for the Second Ave. subway project on Mon., Nov. 19.

The Federal Transit Administration issued a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Finding of No Significant Impact,â&#x20AC;? or FONSI, in its environmental review of the Q line project, which will add three subway stations north of 96th St. The FONSI was based on a Supplemental Environmental Assessment, an update to a 2004 environmental review. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is an important milestone that puts us a step closer to providing a long-overdue subway to serve the people of East Harlem,â&#x20AC;?

M.T.A. Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber said in a statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the environmental approval in place, we can move into a new phase in the effort to secure federal funding for this important project. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urgent to build Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 so East Harlem can begin to receive the same benefits Phase 1 has delivered for the Upper East Side.â&#x20AC;?

Phase II of the Second Ave. subway project will extend the Q train from 96th St. and Second Ave. to 125th St. and then west to Lexington and Park Aves., where the Q will

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connect with the Lexington Ave. line and Metro-North railroad.

Stations will be built at 106th St. and Second Ave., 116th St. and Second Ave., and 125th St. and Lexington Ave. Elevators will be added at the 106th and 116th Sts. stations.

The 125th St. station already has an elevator. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The F.T.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), released today, isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite true â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mention the positive impacts,â&#x20AC;?

Borough President Gale Brewer said in a statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Increased city and regional transit access, shortened commutes, and reduced overcrowding on the Lexington Ave. line are all reasons why the Phase II extension of the Second Avenue Subway into East Harlem will have a tremendously positive and significant impact.â&#x20AC;?

The new line will cut commutes by up to 20 minutes a day by reducing crowds on the Lexington Ave. line, according to the M.T.A. Phase 1 of the project opened in 2017, nearly a century after the city first floated the Second Ave. subway plan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have already seen extraordinary success of Phase 1, and the M.T.A. must move forward as quickly as possible to build the full-length Second Avenue subway up to 125th St. and then down to Lower Manhattan,â&#x20AC;? Congressmember Carolyn Maloney said in a statement.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

From left, “Orangutan,” “Big Horn Ram” and “Frog,” Andy Warhol, silk screen, 38 in. x 38 in. each, 1983. Loaned from National Museum of Wildlife Ar t, W Y. ©2018 Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Ar ts / Ar tists Rights Societ y, NY. Cour tesy Ronald Feldman Galler y, N Y.

Ukrainian Museum show brings out animal in Andy

BY JUDITH A. SOKOLOFF

T

hink you know all of the many dimensions of Andy Warhol after seeing the splendid Whitney Museum retrospective? You’re in for a surprise when you visit the Ukrainian Museum in the East Village. This gem of a museum, located on a quiet stretch of E. Sixth St. between Second and Third Aves., is showing Warhol’s stunning “Endangered Species” portfolio.

The influential pop artist, designer, fi lmmaker, photographer, publisher, businessman, celebrity — who would have turned 90 this year — also cared about protecting threatened animal species.

Stand in the center of the gallery and take in these imposing animals — the black rhinoceros, African elephant, silverspot butterfly, Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, Pine Barrens treefrog, Grevy’s zebra, a flying bald eagle, giant panda, orangutan, sea turtle and Siberian tiger, the latter now numbering just a mere 500.

Then move in for a close-up and see how Warhol uses his intense, energetic colors and lines to create these magnificent images — in a sense, making the creatures celebrities as he did with his commissioned human portraits. The glaring animal faces challenge you to save them.

The 10 silk-screened panels of wildlife (38-inch squares) were commissioned in 1983 by Ronald and Frayda Feldman of Feldman Fine Arts, now the Feldman Gallery on Mercer St., and shown that year in the American Museum of Natural History. Warhol created 50 portfolios for the Feldmans and an additional 100 sets that he donated to animal conservation organizations to auction for fundraising. “Sea Turtle” was created a couple of years later and is a slightly different size.

How did this stirring exhibit, which opened in October, come to the Ukrainian Museum? Museum project manager Hanya Krill-Pyziur was “floored” when she fi rst saw the exhibit at the

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Morris Museum in Morristown, N.J. “I felt very strongly about bringing the prints here,” she said.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, turned out to be a willing lender.

And what is Warhol — son of Carpatho-Rusyn (a.k.a. Ruthenian) peasants from the hamlet of Mikova, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), — doing at the Ukrainian Museum?

“The museum doesn’t limit itself to Ukrainian art,” explained Krill-Pyziur, who grew up in this neighborhood, once teeming with Ukrainian families and shops. “It’s not unusual for us to have cross-cultural exchanges with neighboring countries and ethnicities.”

(For an authentic Ukrainian experience, visit the fi rst-floor exhibit “Timeless Treasures,” recently acquired Ukrainian folk costumes and textiles.)

Warhol would feel at home in the museum — located close to his avant-garde beginnings. At the Dom, once the Polish National Home (later the Balloon Farm, then the Electric Circus), at 19-25 St. Mark’s Place, he and fi lmmaker Paul Morrissey ran a nightclub in the late Sixties. At this hub of uber-hipness, the Velvet Underground regularly performed as part of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a multimedia experience.

Meanwhile, at the Fortune Theater, at 62 E. Fourth St., Warhol showed his porn series “Andy Warhol’s Theater: Boys to Adore Galore.”

It seems he also stayed in an apartment on E. Sixth St., about a block from the Ukrainian Museum. (You can rent the place through TripAdvisor.) With its contrasting Eastern European and bohemian ambiances — some of which remain — the East Village reflected Warhol’s own identity.

Another perspective of Warhol is revealed in a side exhibit, thanks to the involvement of artist James Warhola, Warhol’s nephew. Personal artifacts belonging to Warhola and other family members provide an intimate view of Uncle Andy TVG

and bring to light artistic inspirations from his Ruthenian Pittsburgh youth. On display are early drawings by Warhol, family photos, signed Campbell’s soup labels that he gave to relatives, and his fi rst camera — a Kodak Baby Brownie Special.

Also on view is Warhol’s fi rst commissioned illustration job on his arrival in New York City: drawings for a 1949 Glamour magazine article, “Success Is a Career at Home.”

There’s a copy of “Holy Cats,” a book illustrated and written by his mother, Julia Warhola (she loved to draw cats and angels), which Warhol produced in 1957. An artistic influence, his mother actually signed a number of his early commercial designs with her decorative calligraphy. He lived with Julia, and many cats, almost until her death 1972.

In the museum’s charming giftshop you can buy a copy of James Warhola’s book, “Uncle Andy’s,” recounting childhood visits to Warhol in Manhattan.

For a fi nal treat, Krill-Pyziur brought out Julia’s prayer book, not yet on display, which she carried from Mikova in 1921 and used every day in her Byzantine/Greek Catholic practice. Warhol, too, remained religiously involved until his death.

Slipped into the pages were prayer cards, a photo of Julia herself, notes and an embroidered cross.

The book was passed on to Warhol, then other family members. When the original cover wore away, Julia rebound the book in silver cardboard from a Chivas Regal box. How very Andy!

“Andy Warhol: Endangered Species,” at the Ukrainian Museum, 222 E. Sixth St. (between Second and Third Aves.), through Feb. 17. Museum hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $8 adults, $6 seniors, $6 full-time students; free under age 12. For more information, call 212-228-0110 or visit www. ukrainianmuseum.org .

November 29, 2018

19

The night Big Apple Circus was a total drag

BY BOB KR ASNER

W

hat drag show is not a circus? Bianca Del Rio ruled the ring on Halloween at Lincoln Center, where she served as both ringmaster and master of insults in a special one-time edition of the Big Apple Circus.

Mixed in with some fabulous acrobatic performances were drag sets by Kameron Michaels (as Cher), Stephanie’s Child and Violet Chachki, the latter who combined the two disciplines — as a drag queen who did her own aerial act.

But the crowd applauded loudest for Del Rio, who interrupted her monologues to acerbically abuse various audience members in a most politically incorrect way. Many of those spectators were in costume and happy to participate in the costume contest.

Surrounded by a wild group of contestants, Del Rio still managed to be the center of attention. And she remained so, giving the boot to a competitor dressed as Bianca Del Rio. There was obviously only room for one on that stage!

PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER

Stephanie’s Child per forming at the Drag Circus at the Big Apple Circus.

“Duo Fusion,” by Virginia Tuells and Ihosvanys Perez.

212.254.1109 / www.theaterforthenewcity.net / 155 First Ave bet 9th & 10th

Violet Chachki doing an aerial routine.

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November 29, 2018

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Directed Peter Schumann

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Eats

Historic, healthy pizza and fare on St. Mark’s

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

I

f you’re looking for truly authentic and healthy Italian pizza and food with traditional flavor from the old country, look no further than the East Village’s Tramonti Pizza.

Headed by chef Giovanni Vittorio Tagliafierro, the small restaurant at 130 St. Mark’s Place, between First Ave. and Avenue A, opened nearly two years ago and is still going strong.

The co-owner and co-chef is Diego Matute. Manager Luca Dombre will make you feel right at home.

The pizza here is definitely a slice above — or maybe, put more accurately, a slice of history. Tramonti, Tagliaferro’s native village on Italy’s scenic, hilly Amalfi coast, boasts more than 1,000 years of history in pizza-making. Tagliaferro himself is the fourth generation of a pizzaiolo, or pizza-making, family. He refuses to use ingredients such as oil, sugar, brewer’s yeast or pig’s fat in his pizza dough. The dough is left to rise for no less than 36 hours to allow for a highly digestible and light crust.

The dough for the place’s signature marinara pizza is not your average pizza crust; it includes a mix of millet, barley, rye and whole-wheat flour.

This is one of the restaurant’s so-called “Untouchables,” several signature pizzas that cannot be altered because of their ancient recipes connecting them to Tramonti.

Moreover, the imported Re Fiascone San Marzano tomato sauce does not contain oil, pepper, garlic or sugars — just some fresh basil; it also has 40 percent less salt than other common tomato sauces, making Tramonti-style pizza

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Chef Giovanni Vittorio Tagliafierro with a photo of the nunner y atop the hills in Tramonti, where the pizza restaurant gets its special liqueur for its chocolate eggplant desser t.

the lowest in calories in the world.

Also featured on chef Vittorio’s menu are typical Tramonti recipes dating back to the 15th century. One of these is past’ e patane, a handmade dry spaghetti broken in half, boiled with potatoes and then sautéed with extra virgin olive oil,

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Tramonti’s chocolate eggplant desser t — the eggplant gives it a crunch, and it’s doused in dark chocolate and it also features the Tramonti nuns’ “secret sauce.”

garlic, basil and parmigiano reggiano.

Another, a dessert, is melanzane alla cioccolata — layers of eggplant covered with dark chocolate and drizzled with a special limited-batch liqueur only made by the nuns in the mountains of Amalfi.

As Tagliaferro explained, the only way to get this precious liqueur is to make the trek to the nunnery — and they always make you wait for it awhile.

PHOTO COURTESY TRAMONTI PIZZA

Tramonti’s marinara pizza, one of the restaurant’s series of “Untouchables,” ancient pizza recipes that cannot be altered.

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A typical meal at Tramonti Pizza — an appetizer, pizza and glass of wine — will set you back about $25 or $30.

The East Village eatery seats 29 and features a casual décor. It’s open daily, Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 12 a.m.; and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. Call 212260-1441 or visit tramontipizzanyc. com.

November 29, 2018

23

Manhattan Happenings tonsquarenyc.org. FREE

PRECINCT COUNCIL

Nov. 25 to Dec. 8, “A Christmas Carol in Harlem”: The Classical Theatre of Harlem presents “A Christmas Carol in Harlem,” directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, at Aaron Davis Hall, at the corner of 135th St. and Convent Ave. Tuesday through Saturday shows are at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday matinees will be at 1 p.m. Tickets $45 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For more information, visit www.cthnyc.org.

Mon., Dec. 3, 7 p.m.: 19th Precinct Community Council meeting at 153 E. 67th St. Wed., Dec. 12, 7 p.m.: 7th Precinct Community Council meeting at 19 ½ Pitt St.

COMMUNITY BOARD

Wed., Dec. 5, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Meatpacking District’s “Very Merry Holiday Hours” features 40 local businesses and retailers offering exclusive discounts up to 30 percent off with complimentary beverages and snacks.

For more information, visit www. meatpacking-district.com/events/verymerry/. FREE

Wed., Dec. 5, 6:30 p.m., Community Board 4 monthly full board meeting at Hartley House, 413 W. 46th St. Tues., Dec. 5, 6:30 p.m., Community Board 7 monthly full board meeting at Mount Sinai West, 1000 10th Ave. at W 59th St.

COMEDY

COMMUNITY

Thurs., Nov. 29, 6:30 p.m., “Why Your Train is F*cked: Trash, Rats and Track Fires”: Caveat, a Lower East Side bar and venue at 21A Clinton St. between E. Houston and Stanton Sts., features special guest Sarah Meyer, chief customer officer with M.T.A. New York City Transit, for a “deep dive into the history of the M.T.A.” comedy show hosted by the co-founder of Alchemy Comedy Theater in South Carolina, Meg Pierson, and comedian and Justin Williams, a history professor at City College of New York. Tickets $15 advance purchase, $20 at the door.

Doors 6:30 p.m., show 7 p.m. Age 21 and over.

Tues., Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m., Pier 97 Interactive Design Workshop: The Hudson River Park Trust hosts a design workshop to shape the future of Pier 97 at W. 57th St. The interactive workshop will be held at VIA 57 WEST, 625 W. 57th St., in the second-floor basketball court.

Mon., Dec. 10, 7-8:30 p.m., East Side Coastal Resiliency Interactive Community Engagement Meeting: The city’s Department of Design and Construction holds a community meeting about the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. Doors open at 7 p.m. at Gouverneur Health, 227 Madison St. between Jefferson and Clinton Sts. Dinner will be provided. Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Fujianese interpreters will be present. For special-needs assistance, call 718-391-2411 or e-mail resiliency@ddc.nyc.gov by Dec. 4.

HOLIDAY Fri., Nov. 23, to Mon., Dec. 24, East Village Stand Holiday Market kicks off this Friday on the corner of Seventh St. and Avenue C. On Fri., Nov. 23, Till Behler will lead a shakuhachi zen flute performance from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The market features various vendors selling glassware, picture frames, smoked sea salt, chocolates and cookies, jewelry and ornaments and more. Food and refreshments provided. For more information, contact eastvillagemarket@

24

November 29, 2018

One of the many posters and other items on display at a South St. Seapor t Museum exhibit on the golden age of ocean liners.

juno.com. FREE

grandcentralterminal.com. FREE

Sat., Nov. 17, to Mon., Dec. 31, Holiday Market at the Oculus: Westfield World Trade Center features the Holiday Market at the Oculus, turning Lower Manhattan into a “winter wonderland.” The market will feature specialty shops, live performances from Nov. 26 to Dec. 9, and happy-hour specials and eateries. For more information on the full holiday program, visit www. westfield.com/wtc/holiday. FREE

Thurs., Nov. 15, to Mon., Dec. 24, Union Square Holiday Market at the South Plaza in Union Square Park.

Hours Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.urbanspacenyc. com/union-square-holiday-market.

FREE Wed., Dec. 5, 6 p.m., Washington Square Tree Lighting: The Washington Square Association hosts as the Rob Susman Brass Quartet will perform holiday songs as holiday lights are turned on. The Association will provide songbooks to sing along, and Santa Claus is expected to make an appearance, candy canes in hand. For more information, visit www.washing-

Mon., Nov. 12, to Mon., Dec. 24, Grand Central Holiday Fair at Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, 89 E. 42nd St. at Park Ave., featuring 40 artisan vendors. Hours Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.

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Thurs., Nov. 29 and Thurs., Dec. 13, 7 p.m.: “Extended! Kendra Cunningham This Could Be You”: Brooklyn-based comedian Kendra Cunningham performs her “one-woman show” at the cabaret club, Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St. Cunningham’s bit will reveal her Boston-bred Irish Catholic family history and “balancing humor with honesty.” Tickets $15. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.donttellmamanyc.com.

HISTORY Sun., Dec. 2, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., The House On Henry Street Special Weekend Exhibit Hours: Henry Street Settlement is holding Sunday hours of its historical exhibit, which illuminates the settlement’s social activism and HAPPENINGS continued on p. 25 Schneps Community News Group

Manhattan Happenings HAPPENINGS8 continued from p. 24

work on issues of urban poverty and public health from 1893 to present. A holiday apple fritter cooking demonstration will be held at 11:30 a.m. Public historian Katie Vogel will lead tours at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. RSVP at www.henrystreet.org/exhibitweekend.

FREE Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., “Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 19001914” (ongoing): The South Street Seaport Museum, at 12 Fulton St. between South and Front Sts., features an exhibition revealing the dichotomy between first- and third-class passengers aboard ships in the early 20th century.

Exhibition is included with museum admission. Tickets, $12.

ARTS Ongoing until Dec. 31, “The Feminine Mystique”: Uptown artist Pamela Goldman’s Renaissance-inspired work is featured at Cornelia St. Cafe, 29 Cornelia St., until Dec. 31. The restaurant’s hours are 10 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., Sunday to Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit www.pamelagoldmanfineart. com. FREE Sun., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., “Sparkle: An All-Star Holiday Concert”: The seventh consecutive holiday show features Tony Award nominee Max Von Essen of “An American in Paris” and “Anastasia,” Tony Award winner Daisy Eagan of “The Secret Garden,” HBO’s “Girls” and the first national tour of “The Humans,” and several other stars.

TV personality Scott Nevins will host the show alongside Brian Nash as music director and arranger. The holiday concert proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund. Event held at The Cutting Room, 44 E. 32nd St. Doors at 6:30 p.m., event at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30 for bar seating. General admission is $65, premium seating $90, and gold table $1,000. Dinner and bar menu have a $20 minimum per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.purplepass.com/SparkleNYC. Thurs., Dec. 6, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., American Indian Community House Benefit Concert: A.I.C.H. is holding a fundraiser concert at St. Peter’s Chelsea, 346 W. 20th St., between Eighth and Ninth Aves. Vendors will also sell works from Native and indigenous artists. Suggested donation $25 regular and $15 for elders and students. DONATION BASED Schneps Community News Group

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Last year, the holiday tree could not go in its time-honored spot under the Washington Square Park Arch because of a cage-like ar t installation by Ai Wei Wei there, causing the tree instead to be set up near the park’s fountain, above. This year, however, the tree will be set up under the arch once again.

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November 29, 2018

25

K I D S & E D U C AT I O N

PHOTO BY FUSE

Get cooking now on your children’s summer-camp plans at Camp Fair.

With Camp Fair, your family’s summer-camp plans will be smooth sailing.

It’s time to start your summer camp search now

BY MIA WEBER

T

hough it may be starting to look and feel more like winter every day here in New York City, it’s actually the perfect time to start thinking of sunnier days — especially if you’re a city parent planning to send your child to summer camp in 2019.

With so many options — sleepaway camps, day camps in the city, day camps outside of the city, and specialty camps, to name a few broad categories — the search process can be overwhelming, especially for parents new to the process. New York Family’s signature Camp Fair series — presented in partnership with the American Camp Association, New York & New Jersey (ACA NY-NJ) — aims to help

26

November 29, 2018

local parents connect with scores of ACA-accredited camps for children of all ages.

The Camp Fair series runs from December through April, with the first Fairs of the season slated for the weekend of December 8-9, 2018. The Sat., Dec. 8, Camp Fair will take place on the Upper East Side at St. Jean Baptiste High School (167 E. 75th St.), and the Sun., Dec. 9, Camp Fair will take place on the Upper West Side at BASIS Independent Manhattan (795 Columbus Ave.); both will run from noon to 3 p.m. All Fairs are free and open to the public (though preregistration is encouraged), family-friendly and feature a mix of 30 to 50 different camps. (Exact camps vary by date and location.)

Though walk-ins are welcome, par-

ents are encouraged to preregister online (newyorkfamily.com/camp-fairs/ registration) to reserve their spot for their date and location of choice. Plus, this year, for the first time, the Camp Fairs will be running a special contest for Camp Fair attendees who preregister: One lucky Camp Fair attendee who signs his or her child up for one of the camps featured will win $500.

Be sure to preregister today to increase your chances of winning.

Aside from helping parents get the lay of land regarding the types of camps out there for kids from ages 3 through teens, the Camp Fairs present an ideal opportunity for parents to get face time with an unrivaled variety of real camp directors (from top-tier camps, like 92Y and Asphalt Green in the city, and Camp Quinebarge and TVG

Camp IHC outside the city) and get all their summer camp-related questions answered by true experts.

Before visiting a Camp Fair, consider what type of experience you are looking for your child to have at camp. The more questions you ask, the better you will be able to understand if a camp is the right fit for your child. Also keep in mind that the more open you are with camp directors, the better informed you will be when it comes to making a decision. Parents are encouraged to inquire about camp mission statements, facility and amenity offerings, pricing, special-needs services, activity menus, camp session length and more.

To learn more about the Camp Fairs, and to preregister, visit newyorkfamily.com/camp-fairs.

Schneps Community News Group

PRESENTED BY

Plan a Summer of Fun!

SPONSORED BY

NEW YORK FAMILY . , /

Saturday, Dec 8, 2018, 12-3pm UPPER EAST SIDE St. Jean Baptiste High School 167 East 75th Street Sunday, Dec 9, 2018, 12-3pm UPPER WEST SIDE Basis Independent Manhattan 795 Columbus Avenue

Win $500 for Camp this Summer New York Family Media will pay the camp of your choice up to $500 for your child to attend a summer camp in 2019.

The camp must be an exhibitor at the Camp Fair.

You must be Preregistered and Attend the Camp Fair to win! % ! & $ " # $ !

Register Today at NewYorkFamily.com/Camps Schneps Community News Group

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November 29, 2018

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REAL ESTATE 5% 1%

8% 2%

FINANCIAL CRISIS, LOWER MANHATTAN

5%

2008

13%

3%

10 YEARS AFTER THE

7%

55% FIRE

35%

OFFICE OCCUPANCY IS MORE DIVERSE THAN

55%

35% FIRE

1%

EVER

14%

2018

15%

15% 20%

Lower Manhattan occupancy by industry data provided by Jones Lang LaSalle

FIRE

Government

Professional Services

213,881 Private Sector Employees

Flexible Space Providers

Sign relocation deals Federal economic stimulus bill passed 4 WTC breaks ground Lower Manhattan private sector employment low 199,491

2009

Fashion & Retail Trade

Signs major deal to relocate from Times Square to One WTC National September 11 Memorial dedicated on 10th Anniversary

2008

TAMI

2010

Office leasing rebounds to 5.9 MSF

Sign relocation deals 32% of new leasing from TAMI sector

One WTC tops out

2012

Signs deal to relocate to Brookfield Place

Sign relocation deals

2013

2014

Other Services

243,805 Private Sector Employees Peak since September 11

Brookfield Place's redeveloped retail opens

Sign relocation deals

4 WTC opens

2011

Private sector employment reaches 227,069

Education, Healthcare & Nonprofits

2015

Westfield WTC retail opens FIRE's share of office occupancy drops to 37%

2016

Download data

Sign relocation deals

Commits to NYC HQ in 4 WTC

2017

3 WTC opens

2018

A Lower Manhattan real estate repor t by the Downtown Alliance BID tracks the diversification of the area’s office tenants.

‘TAMI’ companies are filling up FiDi spaces

BY COLIN MIXSON

C

ompanies in the technology, advertising, media and information fields are snatching up leases in the Financial District left and right. In doing so, they’re outpacing the Downtown neighborhood’s traditionally dominant players, investment firms and insurance agencies.

Lower Manhattan continues to expand and diversify in the wake of 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, according to a recent real-estate report released by the Downtown Alliance business improvement district.

“It’s amazing that Lower Manhattan has diversified its economy so rapidly in an expanding market,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin.

“This kind of shift is more often seen over several decades. But here in Lower Manhattan, we’ve witnesses significant growth in just 10 years.”

Businesses representing the so-called “TAMI” fields, short for “technology, advertising, media and information,” and including PR Newswire Cision, visual-effects company Frame store, and Undertone, a digital advertising com-

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November 29, 2018

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pany, represented 35.2 percent of all new leasing activity to date this year.

Meanwhile, financial, investment and real estate businesses, which are grouped together as “FIRE” industries, fell behind, with only 15.6 percent of new leases during the the same time frame, according to the Downtown Alliance.

FIRE industries still represent the lion’s share of occupancy in Lower Manhattan, but their share of Downtown office space has fallen from 55 percent in 2008 to 35 percent today.

The amount of space occupied by TAMI businesses, meanwhile, has tripled from 5 percent to 15 percent over the past decade, according to the Alliance report, which noted that 41 percent of the World Trade Center campus, which includes One, 3 and 4 World Trade Center, is now filled by companies in the TAMI fields.

WeWork, a shared workplace provider, netted the single largest lease this year, signing a deal to occupy a nearly 77,000-square-foot space at 85 Broad St. Schneps Community News Group

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November 29, 2018

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November 29, 2018

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November 29, 2018

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