Chelsea Now - December 6, 2018

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Chelsea VOLUME 10, ISSUE 49

YO U R W E E K LY C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S E R V I N G C H E L S E A , H U D S O N YA R D S & H E L L’S K I T C H E N

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Chelsea VOLUME 10, ISSUE 49

YO U R W E E K LY C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S E R V I N G C H E L S E A , H U D S O N YA R D S & H E L L’S K I T C H E N

DECEMBER 6 - 12, 2018

Fighting fraud and for your right to the right rent

BY WINNIE MCCROY

A

capacity crowd of 200 gathered at the New York Public Library on Wed., Nov. 28 for a town hall meeting, “Fighting for NYC: The Future of Rent Regulations and Tenants’ Rights.”

The event featured Comp-

troller Scott Stringer and state Senator Brad Hoylman, plus advocates Aaron Carr of the Housing Rights Initiative, Shelia Garcia of Community Action for Safe Apartments, and Delsenia Glover of Tenants and Neighbors.

TENANTS continued on p. 30

‘Nightlife mayor’ asks residents to ‘trust’ her office’s process

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

E

ast Village and Lower East Side residents dominated Manhattan’s Nightlife Town Hall on Wed., Nov. 28 — the fifth town hall on recently appointed Nightlife Mayor Ariel Palitz’s citywide

“listening tour.”

Some questioned the need for an Office of Nightlife altogether, accusing Palitz of being biased toward the nightlife industry because of her past as a bar owner.

“I don’t think we need an NIGHTLIFE continued on p. 7

COURTESY CITY COMPTROLLER’S OFFICE

State Senator Brad Hoylman, left, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer led a Manhattan town hall meeting on the state of residential rent regulation last week.

A blue dawn for rent regs in Dem Senate?

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

F

or the first time in a decade, Democrats will soon control the New York State Senate, holding a solid majority of 39 out of its 63 seats.

Democrats swept to power with wins in last month’s general election. Among the most notable victories were those

Rabbi writes on Sarsour ....... p. 13

over former members of the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of eight senators faulted for handing control to Republicans in recent years. Albany’s new political landscape could mean major changes in protections for residential tenants.

Tenant protections to close loopholes and strengthen rent regulation have repeatedly

passed in the state Assembly — but never the state Senate, much less with meaningful discussion.

“This is really tabula rasa, in a way, for the rent-reform campaign because nobody’s had to take positions really,” said state Senator Brad Hoylman. “It was a nonstarter, and SENATE continued on p. 3

Strand’s own story: Don’t landmark us! ........... p. 8 Carnegie pop-up a ‘Maisel’ hors d’oeuvre ...... p. 20

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A blue dawn for rent regs in Dem Senate?

PHOTO BY SYDNEY PEREIRA

In September, former City Councilmember Rober t Jackson, joined by Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, A ssemblymember Linda Rosenthal and Cit y Councilmember Ben Kallos, claimed victor y in his primar y challenge to incumbent state Senator Marisol Alcántara.

SENATE continued from p. 1

most of these deals were done behind closed doors.”

State Senator Brian Kavanagh echoed Hoylman.

“For the first time in many, many years, we’re going to be able to have a serious conversation where we’re not being held hostage by Republicans that control the Senate and are dependent on the landlords to continue to keep the majority,” said Kavanagh, who represents much of Lower Manhattan.

Policies passed in the Assembly — such as ending vacancy decontrol and the vacancy bonus, strengthening preferential rent, reforming major capital improvements — are top goals for some Democratic state senators, particularly since rent laws expire next June.

“If you ask me, there’s no way we don’t deal with housing regulation before June 15 because that’s a big date in the sky that cannot be extended or ignored,” said state Senator Liz Krueger.

“I think there is a giant need out there of people calling for us to take action and a new Senate Democratic majority conference hungry to deliver on these issues.”

Some politicians, including Krueger, Kavanagh, Hoylman and state Senatorelect Robert Jackson, support repealing the Urstadt Law of 1971, which prevents New York City from determining its own rules about rent regulation. But that option would be an entirely different pathway, one that Krueger said is an Schneps Community News Group

option that would need to be discussed further with advocates.

“If we were to pass ‘Urstadt repeal,’ we basically wouldn’t be passing most of the other rent and tenant protection bills that advocates talk about,” said Krueger, who has sponsored Urstadt repeal for years.

“In real life, it’s sort of an ‘either or,’ ” she said. “Either you go down the path of Urstadt repeal and it all falls back to the City of New York to make its own decisions; or you accept the existing reality that the state sets the regulation — but then you go to work to make sure you’ve actually improved [the laws] on behalf of people living in rental housing.”

Former Councilmember Jackson — who unseated Manhattan’s lone I.D.C. member, state Senator Marisol Alcántara — is confident the new Democratic Senate can pass legislation to protect tenants. The strong new majority of 39 Democrats was a “pleasant surprise,” and with Brooklyn state Senate Simcha Felder — a Democrat who has caucused with Republicans — the Dems would have 40 of 63 seats.

Jackson hopes Governor Andrew Cuomo would sign bills passed in both chambers on tenant protections. Last month, Cuomo signaled he would support ending vacancy decontrol, the New York Post reported.

“I would hope that the governor understands that there’s over a million [regulated] renters in New York City TVG

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Volume 2 | Issue 5

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Schneps Community News Group

‘N’life mayor’ asks for residents’ ‘trust’

GET GIFTING

NIGHTLIFE continued from p. 1

Office of Nightlife,” declared Carol Puttre-Czyz, a creative consultant who has lived in the East Village for three decades. “We need protection from nightlife. Isn’t New York City enough of a party city?” she asked.

Palitz emphasized early on in the evening that she herself lives above a bar in the East Village and urged that she can see all sides of the issue, despite what some may believe.

Quality of life, she said, is a “top and equal goal” to supporting what nightlife contributes to the city, creatively, artistically, culturally and economically. Palitz’s office estimates that nightlife contributes $48 billion to the city’s economy, supports roughly 300,000 jobs, and generates $700 million in tax revenue, according to preliminary numbers from a study the office will release by the end of the year.

Palitz conceded that there are reasons why people might mistrust the office’s intent.

“Because of the perception of who I am,” she said, “who this office is, and the advisory board, the only thing that will clarify [the office’s intentions] is time.”

Bowery Block Association member Michele Campo lamented that her block has become an “alcoholic theme park.”

“I liked the way it was before,” said Campo, who said she has lived on the Bowery nearly her entire life. “People wouldn’t come to visit me because they were afraid. But now, it’s an alcoholic theme park with trolling drunkards, people pissing all over.”

Campo pushed Palitz to answer when the “dreadful” behavior would be stopped and stipulations on liquor licenses enforced.

Palitz shot back, “Listen, you say that friends didn’t visit you because it was too dangerous, and now you like it better when it’s less dangerous?

“The whole purpose of creating the Office of Nightlife and having these meetings is to assess these issues,” Palitz added. “I ask for patience and trust.”

When Palitz was first appointed “Nightlife Mayor,” Lower East Side and East Village groups were tentatively hopeful something positive could come of the new position. But others felt optimistic since Palitz’s boss would be Julie Menin, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and a former chairperson of Lower Manhattan’s Community Board 1, with experience addressing quality-of-life concerns and dealing with film shoots on the streets.

Meanwhile, members of the underground nightlife scene, often dubbed Schneps Community News Group

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PHOTO BY SYDNEY PEREIRA

Ariel Palitz, the city’s “nightlife mayor” — with cit y agenc y officials behind her — addressing the town hall on nightlife last week.

the “DIY community,” called out the Police Department’s lack of transparency on its efforts to crack down on nightlife operating illegally — specifically, through the Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots, or MARCH, initiative.

“Some of these events can be attacked. And most of the time, these are events that are cultural hubs and observing creativity and honing diversity,” said Ian Orr, a promoter for ReSolute, who added that MARCH often also shuts down events that are operating legally.

Stephen Mills, program coordinator at the Mt. Sinai Men’s Sexual Health Project, said he works at sex venues and clubs, often in Chelsea, to provide free testing for H.I.V. and sexually transmitted infections, plus access to the H.I.V.prevention medication PrEP. “Nightlife places and spaces are a great way to cause a lot of social change, as well as education for a lot of different opportunities,” Mills said. He added of the Manhattan town hall that it “has been one neighborhood complaining most of the time.”

The Office of Nightlife was inspired, in part, by other cities, such as Amsterdam, that have established similar offices to navigate the battles between venue operators and residents. Palitz leads a staff of three along with a 14-person volunteer advisory board, whose members were appointed earlier this year. Her office will act as a liaison between several city and state agencies — including the Police Department, the State Liquor Authority and the Department of Buildings — to bridge gaps and create a space for discussions that have often played out at community board liquor license meetings and politicians’ offices.

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Strand owner’s tale on landmarking fight

You are invited to spend Advent & Christmas with Historic St. Peter’s Chelsea “The Christmas Church”

ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SERVICES Sunday, December 2, 2018, Advent 1

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BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he owner of the Strand Book Store is calling for the Landmarks Preservation Commission to scrap its plan to landmark her building, warning the designation would devastate the 91-year-old company.

The 11-story building, at 828 Broadway, two blocks south of Union Square, is under consideration for landmarking along with six other buildings after an uproar from preservationists about the approval of a 21-story “Tech Hub” on E. 14th St. between Third and Fourth Aves.

But the Strand’s owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, is fighting the designation to protect the bookstore from the “bureaucratic noose of the Landmarks Preservation Commission,” as she described it at a public hearing on Tuesday.

“We care deeply about [the building],” said Bass Wyden. Her father, Fred Bass, who died in January, saved money for decades to buy the building — anticipating the bookstore would not survive rising rents unless he owned the building itself.

Landmarking would burden the company with the extra process of getting additional L.P.C. approvals for any

Monday, December 24, 2018, Christmas Eve 7:30pm Christmas Carols 8:00pm Christmas Eucharist

Tuesday, December 25, 2018, Christmas Day 10:00am Christmas Eucharist

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changes or upgrades needed for the building, she said. It has already taken nearly two years for the store to make repairs after a manhole explosion right outside of it in early 2017, she noted.

Since then, the Strand has replaced all its front windows and front columns, and restored the facade with its original granite — which Bass Wyden said L.P.C. has lauded them for doing.

“There’s an irony, right?” she said.

The L.P.C., which has been chaired

by Sarah Carroll since September, will hold a second public hearing on the Strand in January.

“The Landmarks Preservation Commission will continue to work with the owner of 826 Broadway, home to the Strand Book Store, to address her concerns and ensure that this cultural institution endures,” the commission said in a statement. “L.P.C. successfully regulates thousands of commercial buildings across the city and we are sympathetic and responsive to their needs.”

An L.P.C. spokesperson countered Bass Wyden’s argument, saying technical expertise provided to building owners is provided at no cost. The spokesperson added that 95 percent of L.P.C. permits can be processed within 10 days.

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Please note that all the events listed are free and open to the public.

The Washington Square Association, Inc., founded in 1906, is one of the city’s oldest community organizations. For over 100 years, it has sponsored carol singing under the arch. Other activities concern the continued improvement of Washington Square, the Washington Square Music Festival, and the fostering of neighborhood spirit.

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December 6, 2018

H3387-010_CST23186

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Schneps Community News Group

Obituaries

Eileen Avezzano, 72, Soho cheesecake queen will be.” Two years ago, Holly and Bonnie took over operations of the bakery.

“This was her life passion,” Holly said of her mother.

“She privately battled leukemia for two years, never wanting anyone to worry,” she added. “Eileen was all about love, happiness and making the best of any situation life throws at you.

She has made a mark in this world, and will continue to through Eileen’s Special Cheesecake.”

Holly added about her mother, “She was the most giving person you could ever meet. I know people say that, but no truer words were ever spoken about a person. She never was negative. My mother was just a positive person all the time.”

Along with daughters Bonnie and Holly, Avezzano is survived by four grandchildren and several step-grandchildren.

Visitations were held on Nov. 27 at Greenwich Village Funeral Home, at 199 Bleecker St., and the funeral was held on Nov. 28 at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral on Mott St.

BY GABE HERMAN

E

ileen A. Avezzano, who founded and ran Eileen’s Special Cheesecake shop in Soho going back to the 1970s, died Nov. 23. She would have turned 72 on Dec. 4.

Avezzano opened the bakery in 1976 at 17 Cleveland Place, near Kenmare St. “It was before Cleveland Place was even on the map,” noted her daughter Holly Maloney.

“Eileen was an influential icon to this neighborhood,” Holly added. “She brought love and happiness to everyone that knew her personally, and she brought love and happiness to everyone through her cheesecakes. My mom was a very hardworking woman but she made time to stop and smell the roses.”

Avezzano was born in Philadelphia but lived in Hewlett, Long Island, for much of her life, where Holly and Avezzano’s other daughter, Bonnie Ponte, both grew up. However, Holly noted, “My sister and I were raised in this bakery.”

Eileen Avezzano.

Holly said Eileen’s grandchildren would also be in the shop during holidays.

“It is still very much family-owned and -operated,” she said, “and always

Anita Zonin, 86, of Artie’s hardware family

BY GABE HERMAN

A

nita Zonin, a lifelong Village resident whose family owned Artie’s hardware store on W. 14 St., died on Nov. 26. She was 86.

The cause of death was liver cancer, according to the family.

Zonin was born on Sept. 23, 1932, and grew up on King St. in the Village.

She was the last survivor of six sisters.

Her father, Salvatore Pernicone, owned Pernicone’s Butcher Shop on Sullivan St., and her mother, Josephine Catania, was a stay-at-home mom.

Anita and husband, Artie Zonin, were married for 65 years. They first lived on King St. after getting married, then moved to Hudson St., according to their son Brian. They then moved to Morton St. about 50 years ago, where they were living until Anita’s death. Artie continues to live there, and he also grew up in the Village, on Downing St. Anita and Artie had two sons, Brian and Arthur, and three grandchildren, Brianna, Michael and Kristen.

Anita was a bookkeeper at the hardware store, at 223 W. 14 St. between Schneps Community News Group

Anita Zonin.

Sixth and Seventh Aves., for 20 years.

Sons Brian and Arthur then bought the store and she continued to work there until it closed in 2014.

“Anita was hardworking,” Brian recalled, “always willing to help others, always elegantly dressed, kept a beauti-

ful home.”

Her son added that she was “strongwilled, independent and generous.”

Visitation was held on Nov. 28 at Perazzo Funeral Home, at 199 Bleecker St., and the funeral Mass was Nov. 29 at Our Lady of Pompeii Church.

CNW

Florence Amarosa

Florence Amarosa, lifelong Villager, dies at 99

BY GABE HERMAN

F

lorence Amarosa, a lifelong Greenwich Village resident who was an active member of the community, died Nov. 23 at age 99.

The cause of death was heart failure, according to her family.

Amarosa was born in 1919 on Sullivan St., and lived there until 1930, when her family moved to Carmine St., according to her son Michael.

Florence and her husband, Anthony, had one child, Michael, and she is also survived by five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Anthony died in 1995, just before his 82nd birthday. Florence was a homemaker, and Anthony was a teamster who drove a tractor-trailer.

“She was very strong-willed, a very strong personality,” recalled Michael. He said his mother was very active in Our Lady of Pompeii Church and its school, including its P.T.A., and also in local senior citizen programs. Florence traveled a lot, Michael said, including several times to Italy with Anthony.

“She was a great lady,” Michael said. “She loved her neighborhood, she loved her family, she loved her friends. A very caring individual.”

Visitations were at Perazzo Funeral Home on Nov. 25 and 26. On Nov. 27, there was a Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Pompeii Church and internment at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, N.Y.

December 6, 2018

11

Letters to the Editor

Schneps Community News Group

Covering Manhattan in more ways than one

Washington Weed Park To The Editor: Re “Drug dealers operating freely in Wash. Sq. Park” (talking point, by Bernard McElhone, Nov. 29): Whoa, you mean college kids can go to a local park to find weed? That has been happening in Washington Square Park for the last 65 years! It’s a park tradition, always has been, always will be.

Dodge Landesman

Victim of landlord greed To The Editor: The Mobile Spa on Bleecker St., across from Murray’s Cheese, is yet another welcome, valued and trustworthy neighborhood support service that is about to close its doors because their lease is up for renewal again, and this latest rent increase is more than they can absorb.

They have managed in the face of a series of earlier increases, but accepting this newest hike is not feasible.

Today’s landlords care only about lining their pockets, not the quality of the neighborhoods and life affected by their properties. Our government remains too mired in petty antagonisms to pass legislation to protect small businesses and their communities.

Sheila Haas

Landlords are the victims To The Editor: Re “Needed: A new Lower East Side Historic District” (talking point, by Richard Moses and Erik Bottcher, Nov. 22): Why don’t you just confiscate these properties and pay a fair market value instead of slowly strangling their owners? Rent control, rent stabilization, every city agency ticketing owners for every excuse possible, so that we are overloaded with paperwork — and now talk of store rent control.

One-third of a building’s income goes to real estate taxes, then there is repair and maintenance, water and sewer. A big fat mortgage used to renovate the building, fix the roof, pay for pointing of exterior walls, hallway renovations, and now it’s $25,000 to change a window after making these small nondescript buildings landmarks. Then, after there are a few piasters left over as profit, it is taxed at 39 percent at federal and 13 percent for state and city. This is how you slowly strangle

PRINT DIGITAL EVENTS 12

December 6, 2018

a class of people and eventually an entire country.

Sion Misrahi Misrahi is president, Misrahi Realty Corp.

Animals ‘humanize’ Warhol To The Editor: Re “Ukrainian Museum show brings out the animal in Andy” (arts article, Nov. 29): Delightful! Had not seen these wonderful Warhols!

The animals are, for me, very different from his more familiar work and much more human, oddly enough, than his more-well-known work.

Gloria Sukenick

Core-and-shell-shocked To The Editor: Re “The core and shell of a pledge on Bleecker St. school” (talking point, by Terri Cude, Nov. 15): What a travesty! As a member of the Community Education Council for District 2, I am deeply disturbed by this trend.

It’s yet another developer (and let’s be clear, N.Y.U. is a developer) promising scraps to the public in exchange for huge allowances, only to turn its back the minute it gets what it wants.

We have a city with crumbling infrastructure, including schools that are not suited for the last century, let alone this one. And yet we let the opportunity for a public-private partnership with N.Y.U. slip away?

On whose watch? Shame on you, N.Y.U.! Shame on you, School Construction Authority! Shame on you, Councilmember Chin!

There should be as much pressure as possible put on N.Y.U. to make good on these promises to the community. There should never be a major land deal that goes through ULURP without serious consideration for a new school. (Essex Crossing, anyone?). When schools are built with private money it frees up funds to build (or refurbish) schools elsewhere.

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

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Talking Point

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum before Shabbat services following the shooting in October at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Why I support Sarsour and the Women’s March

BY R ABBI SHARON KLEINBAUM

N

ow I’m doing a deep dive into the issues around the Women’s March and Linda Sarsour.

So here’s where I land on this. There are military-grade armed white supremacists emboldened and cheered on by the president of the United States.

These white supremacists have been building caches of arms for years in anticipation of a civil war/race war in the United States. These folks are anti-Semitic as a deep part of their racist view of history. They and their ideology are a very serious threat to all we hold precious in our lives.

Those of us on the broad spectrum of the “left” have a long history of chewing up those who share many, maybe even most, of our values rather than facing the most serious threats that are much more difficult to overcome. I value and respect Linda Sarsour — and I don’t have to agree with her on everything.

But that doesn’t make her anti-Semitic!

Linda Sarsour is NOT anti-Semitic.

Lord knows, I don’t agree with people in my family of origin or my family of choice on everything. But I want to stay engaged, in discussion, and keep Schneps Community News Group

resources or support to be close to a counterforce to that right-wing support and money. The progressive forces in Israel often feel abandoned by the progressive forces in the U.S. and Europe.

trying to learn more and make sure my reality is likewise respected. I know that the issue of Farrakhan is very, very disturbing. He is on record for a long time as an anti-Semite. And I would wish that those around him would forcefully denounce him. Ultimately, Farrakhan doesn’t have much power.

I know that Linda has distanced herself and I know that there are many who are in conversation with her about this. That’s an example of something that I would stay engaged with her about. But she herself, from what I have read, doesn’t share any of those ideas.

I’m also aware of the many in my own community who are DEEPLY racist, or anti-Muslim.

And then there’s the fact of her support of BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions). I personally don’t support BDS because I don’t believe in abandoning those progressive forces INSIDE of Israel who are fighting every day to make Israel live up to our best dreams and expectations.

Right-wing American money, like Shelly Adelson and Irving Moskowitz, is pouring in billions of dollars to support the Israeli right wing. And the left is leaving our counterparts without the

Linda Sarsour is an important voice in our world.

I am against the military occupation of Palestine and disagree with the strategy of boycotting those who are likewise trying to change Israel’s policies. I want to believe that it is possible to be a progressive Zionist. And BDS often ends up strengthening Bibi rather than weakening him.

I do believe that we should engage with, discuss and engage more. I think Congregation Beit Simchat Torah needs to be a place where all these ideas are robustly debated and people exposed to these ideas. I know there are some who charge C.B.S.T. with being anti-Semitic, self-hating and anti-Israel because TVG

I support the rights of Palestinians to enjoy the full dignity of their humanity.

And there are those on the left who refuse to come to C.B.S.T. because I support the right of Israel to exist. I don’t think supporting BDS is necessarily anti-Semitic, although I do think that it is sometimes used by some who ARE anti-Semitic as a weapon.

I believe that the future of Israel is bound up with the liberation of the Palestinian people. I live in a narrow place in this current world of polarization and heightened anger. And, as with many things, it’s not simple to achieve security and justice. It starts with deeply listening to the voices of all of us — and that’s not easy.

Linda Sarsour is an important voice in our world that I value, and I support the Women’s March. Even while we keep arguing, debating and demanding the most of all of ourselves — let us do it for the sake of heaven.

Blessings to all.

Kleinbaum is spiritual leader of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Chelsea, the world’s largest L.G.B.T. synagogue December 6, 2018

13

Transportation

M.T.A. is on track to decide on a fair hike

BY JOSEPH M. CALISI

I

t looks like there could be no light at the end of the tunnel for straphangers, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors may well put a fare hike into effect in March 2019. The board will make its decision official early next year.

Two years ago, the MetroCard base rate was kept at $2.75 but weekly and monthly MetroCard rates, as well as commuter railroads and tolls on bridges and tunnels, went up.

The M.T.A. stated, “The M.T.A. board will consider all public feedback before adopting any new fare structure, and as demonstrated in the past, the board is not limited to the proposals already put forward.”

As of last week, the authority was said to be choosing between two farehike proposals.

The first option would keep the base fare at $2.75 and eliminate the upfront MetroCard bonus for weekly and monthly fare cards while upping the 30-day “unlimited ride” MetroCard to $127 — an increase of $6.

Under the second option, the base fare would be raised to $3 and the

PHOTO BY JOSEPH M. CALISI

George Haikalis, president of IRUM and of Village Crosstown Trolley fame, testified against a fare hike at the M.T. A . board’s meeting on Nov. 27.

The Nov. 27 board meeting was held at Baruch College’s Mason Hall, at 17 Lexington Ave., at 23rd St. Many came to the microphone to testify. Among the

bonus raised to 10 percent, while the seven-day MetroCard would go up by $1, to $33. But this week the New York Post reported a fare hike is coming.

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speakers of note was Curtis Sliwa, who heads the Guardian Angels, a volunteer security force that patrols the subways among other areas within the city.

“Yesterday we had an historic event with the landing on Mars but on the same day, we had signal failures on our new No. 7 subway,” Sliwa said, dramatically.

Also testifying was George Haikalis, of the Institute for Rational Mobility (IRUM), who also supports bringing back a crosstown trolley on Eighth St. “IRUM strongly opposes the M.T.A.’s fare hikes,” Haikalis said. “A coherent strategy of ‘carrots and sticks’ is needed. Endless ‘sticks’ — like fare hikes combined with more ‘sticks’ like toll hikes — won’t do it.”

Haikalis urged the M.T.A. to work with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council and its partners in the metro area to launch a comprehensive study on how the region should fund its public transportation network.

With the pending financial shortfall within the M.T.A., the authority is looking at all options, including fare hikes and a workforce reduction to make ends meet.

CNW

Schneps Community News Group

HEALTH N.Y.U. face-transplant patient faces the public

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

M

ore than 11 months after a 25hour operation that gave him a new face, Cameron Underwood spoke publicly for the first time about the cutting-edge surgery.

“Thank you for not giving up on me,” Underwood told his supporters and families on Thurs., Nov. 29. “It hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it.”

As Underwood, 26, spoke, standing alongside him was the doctor who led the grueling operation, Eduardo Rodriguez, chairperson of N.Y.U. Langone Health’s Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Underwood suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his face, leaving him with major difficulties eating, breathing and speaking.

Mental health struggles drove him to attempt suicide — but his mother, Beverly Bailey-Potter, refused to give up. She happened to read a magazine article about the first face transplant Rodriguez had performed and immediately contacted him in hopes of giving her son a second chance at life.

Within 18 months — a record time in the U.S. — doctors identified a donor through LiveOnNY, an organ-recovery organization. The donor was William Fisher, a 23-year-old Manhattanite who died last year.

Fisher’s mother, Sally, said in a statement, “I don’t think I would have survived Will’s death if not for Cameron.

Cameron has his whole life ahead of him — and I love the idea that Willie is helping him have a better life.”

Just more than 40 face transplants have been performed worldwide since the first one in 2005, according to N.Y.U. Langone. Rodriguez and his 100-person-team reached unprecedented milestones in their second face transplant. For one, Underwood’s surgery was partly covered by a private insurer through his employer, which Rodriguez said is critical in making such operations the standard of care.

Underwood’s surgery involved a combination of reconstruction and transplantation on his upper and lower jaw, all 32 teeth and gums, the roof and floor of his mouth, lower eyelids and cheeks, plus his nose and sections of the nasal passage.

“It’s a very complex procedure,” Rodriguez explained. “The timing of that is incredibly crucial.”

Fisher donated several different organs in addition to his face. Two teams of operating rooms worked side by side for more than a day to procure Fisher’s

Schneps Community News Group

Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, right, spoke about the operation as photos of Cameron Under wood — from left, before his self-inflicted injur y, after the injur y and after the surger y — were shown.

PHOTOS BY SYDNEY PEREIRA

Cameron Under wood with Sally Fisher, the mother of the donor whose face is now Under wood’s.

heart, liver, kidneys, eyes and other tissues for research purposes.

But just days after Fisher’s death, when Underwood was readying to fly

crosscountry for his face transplant surgery, the infamous “bomb cyclone” snowstorm struck New York, canceling his commercial flight. But volunteer piTVG

lots that the hospital works with were able to fly Underwood to the city in the “nick of time,” Rodriguez said.

“If they would’ve been stuck in the storm, Cameron would not have received his transplant,” the doctor said.

His recovery was speedier than the first face transplant operation that Rodriguez performed. Underwood spent 37 days in the hospital compared to 62 days with Rodriguez’s previous patient.

Time in the intensive-care unit and rehabilitation was more than halved, from 51 to 23 days and 13 to 7 days, respectively.

“I guess the easy way to explain it would be [being] like a newborn,” Underwood said of his recovery. “How to position your tongue and your lips and all of that — and you forget how difficult that is. You have to really learn it all over again.”

Rodriguez hopes Underwood’s story encourages people to sign up to be an organ donor.

“When we’re gone from this material world and we’re in a better spiritual place, we still have the ability to provide material gifts that are life-saving,” Rodriguez said.

December 6, 2018

15

Psyched-up somehow for cold-weather cycling

PHOTO BY SAM BLEIBERG

A peloton without much on, save for their biking tights, pedaled through the freezing weather along the Chelsea section of the Hudson River bike path on Wednesday morning.

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December 6, 2018

TVG

Schneps Community News Group

From the Bench

EAST SIDE COASTAL RESILIENCY PROJECT Join us for

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

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PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Mar y V. Rosado proudly spor ted a “pussy hat� at the Village Independent Democrats’ fundraiser in May 2017.

practice. As a teenager, she organized a summer day camp for youngsters in East Harlem. Before her legal career, she taught in the New York City public schools. She was also a Fulbright scholar. Rosado is founder and president of Friends of the W. 59th St. Recreation Center Inc.

CARNEGIE HALL

PRESENTS

ϲ͗ϯϏͲϴ͗ϏϏ WD ,ĆľĹśĆšÄžĆŒÍ˛ ĆŒĹ˝Ĺ˝ĹŹÄšÄ‚ĹŻÄž ZŽƚƾŜĚĂ Ď°ĎŽĎą Ä‚Ć?Ćš ώϹƚŚ ^ĆšĆŒÄžÄžĆš

dĹšÄžĆŒÄž Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ Ä?Äž Ä‚ Ć?ĹšĹ˝ĆŒĆš Ć‰ĆŒÄžĆ?ĞŜƚĂĆ&#x;ŽŜ Ä¨Ĺ˝ĹŻĹŻĹ˝Ç ÄžÄš Ä?LJ Ä?ĆŒÄžÄ‚ĹŹĹ˝ĆľĆš Ć?ÄžĆ?Ć?Ĺ?ŽŜĆ?͘ Ĺ?ĹśĹśÄžĆŒ Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ Ä?Äž Ć‰ĆŒĹ˝Ç€Ĺ?ĚĞĚ͘ dŚĞ žĞĞĆ&#x;ĹśĹ? Ć?ƉĂÄ?Äž Ĺ?Ć? Ç ĹšÄžÄžĹŻÄ?ŚĂĹ?ĆŒ Ä‚Ä?Ä?ÄžĆ?Ć?Ĺ?Ä?ĹŻÄžÍ˜ ^ƉĂŜĹ?Ć?Ś͕ DÄ‚ĹśÄšÄ‚ĆŒĹ?Ŝ͕ ĂŜƚŽŜĞĆ?Ğ͕ ĂŜĚ &ƾŊĹ?ĂŜĞĆ?Äž Ĺ?ĹśĆšÄžĆŒĆ‰ĆŒÄžĆšÄžĆŒĆ? Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ Ä?Äž Ć‰ĆŒÄžĆ?ÄžĹśĆšÍ˜ dŚĞ Ć?ĂžĞ ĹľÄ‚ĆšÄžĆŒĹ?Ä‚ĹŻ Ç Ĺ?ĹŻĹŻ Ä?Äž Ä?Ĺ˝Ç€ÄžĆŒÄžÄš Ä?ŽƚŚ ĹśĹ?Ĺ?ŚƚĆ?͘ &Ĺ˝ĆŒ Ć?ƉĞÄ?Ĺ?Ä‚ĹŻ ŜĞĞĚĆ? Ä‚Ć?Ć?Ĺ?Ć?ƚĂŜÄ?Ğ͕ ƉůĞĂĆ?Äž Ä?Ä‚ĹŻĹŻ ͞ϳϭϴͿ ϯϾϭͲώϰϭϭ Ĺ˝ĆŒ ĞžĂĹ?ĹŻ ĆŒÄžĆ?Ĺ?ĹŻĹ?ĞŜÄ?LJΛĚĚÄ?Í˜ĹśÇ‡Ä?͘Ĺ?Žǀ Ä?LJ ÄžÄ?ĞžÄ?ÄžĆŒ Ď°ĆšĹšÍ˜

Feeling in the pink Mary V. Rosado is the Democratic judge-elect for New York State Supreme Court’s First District, after winning last month’s general election. She has been a Manhattan Civil Court judge since November 2013. Prior to being a judge, Rosado had 30 years legal experience at several law firms and in her own

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December 29 TH s 8 PM

Bolshoi Theater soloists Anna Aglatova, Stanislav Mostovoy, and Vasiliy Laduk sing with Yurlov Capella Choir and Bolshoi Symphonic Orchestra of Moscow Conservatory. Inspired by Medieval poetry, Carl Orff wrote his cantata Carmina Burana. To emphasize the power of this work and its philosophical and emotional meaning, the music will be accompanied by visual effects, including laser projections of art masterpieces housed in Russian museums from the Middle Ages.

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December 6, 2018

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December 6, 2018

hen a local restaurant is nofrills, with no Web site and in an unassuming spot, yet has been around for decades, you know the food has to be good. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the case with the Spanish restaurant El Castillo de Manhattan.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep in the Lower East Side at 207 Madison St., between Rutgers and Jefferson Sts., and just a block from the East Broadway stop on the F train.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a small place, midway up the block, with just 11 tables and a counter toward the back for ordering.

And there are many choices from the big menu, including sandwiches, salads, plenty of meats and seafood, and breakfast items like green banana with egg, salami and cheese. The place combines casual with sit-down, as you order at the counter and then are waited on at a table.

Local resident John Quinn, the former Democratic State Committee man, is a longtime customer. He said the restaurant has been there more than 40 years. He noted that the place has a new lease and its block is the last full block of tenements on Madison St. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been going for 30 years,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My favorite dish is asopado de pollo,â&#x20AC;? which is also called â&#x20AC;&#x153;chicken soupy riceâ&#x20AC;? on the menu. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Though everything is excellent,â&#x20AC;? Quinn added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very much a community place. Big

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lunch takeout.â&#x20AC;?

Festive Christmas decorations and lively music, along with the friendly staff, contributed to the warm atmosphere on a recent November night.

The place also features a television that was playing NY1 news, and an electronic jukebox in the corner.

There is some name confusion, as some online listings call it Castillo de Madison. This name also appears in the restaurant on one sign, but the outside awning and menu call it Castillo de Manhattan. Despite its lack of a Web site, the restaurant offers delivery on Seamless and Grubhub, and is called Castillo de Manhattan on both sites.

Quinn noted that all the food is prepared to order and â&#x20AC;&#x153;takes a while. Even soup is prepared individually.â&#x20AC;?

On a recent visit I tried the arroz con pollo, with a side of fried yellow plantains. The food was ready in about 12 minutes and did not disappoint. The portions were big, probably enough for two people, and delicious.

The total price was $13.25 for the meal, which included complimentary bread with butter. If you order a meat dish, you might have to watch out for an occasional bone. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s O.K., thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a sign that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real food.

El Castillo de Manhattan, 207 Madison St., 212-227-2892 (no Web site).

They accept credit cards and offer free delivery.

Schneps Community News Group

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A woman poses in front of Eduardo Kobra’s “27 Club,” at Forsy th and Rivington Sts. A tribute and a cautionar y tale, the mural features Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kur t Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, all of whom died at 27.

Artist rocks city with his rock-star murals

BY BOB KR ASNER

E

PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER

Eduardo Kobra at 12th St. and Avenue A working on his RunDMC mural during his recent visit to New York.

Schneps Community News Group

duardo Kobra, the politically motivated Brazilian street artist, spent the past few months making his mark yet again in New York City.

The artist, who has made walls his canvas in 16 countries, has been quite busy here recently.

Already a world-record holder for two of the largest murals in existence, he set out to create as many works as possible in New York City.

His “Colors of Freedom” project has resulted in works all over the city, with Mother Teresa and Gandhi in Chelsea, a 9/11 firefighter on the Upper East Side, and Ellis Island immigrants on City-AsSchool High School in the West Village, among others.

Instagrammers have been particularly

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drawn to Kobra’s Michael Jackson piece on 11th St. and First Ave., while his “27 Club,” at Forsyth and Rivington Sts., has also seen plenty of action. A tribute and a cautionary tale, the artist has beautifully depicted Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, all of whom passed away in their 27th year. This reporter caught him at work on one of his last projects in the city during his most recent visit, the Run-DMC mural at 12th St. and Avenue A. Kobra has since left New York, after completing 18 murals in five months.

The artist, in a post to his 600,000-plus Instagram followers, stated that his work is “an urge for peace” and for “all kinds of social justice, against racism, against violence.” He said that he left the Big Apple with “a feeling of accomplishment.”

December 6, 2018

19

Pastrami pop-up whets appetites for ‘Maisel 2’

BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

A

vintage Ford Fairlane and 1950s Buick were parked on Lafayette St. near Kenmare.

Fans on a line stretching around the corner of Broome St. and running to Cleveland Place drooled for pastrami, cheesecake, Dr. Brown’s soda and knishes —New York delicatessen fare.

It’s the pop-up Carnegie Deli at 201 Lafayette, “in operation” until Sat., Dec. 8.

During the first hour on Sat., Dec. 1, more than 200 hungry New Yorkers came through, the line having swelled hours before the actual 11:30 a.m. opening time. The promotion for the launch of the second season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is loaded with 1950s deli nostalgia, including a menu that boasts a pastrami sandwich for 99 cents.

The first season of the award-winning Amazon Prime TV show garnered 14 nominations and five Emmys —for writing, directing, lead and supporting actresses and comedy series. The second season began Wed., Dec. 5.

Snappy dialogue set in period 1958 New York is a recipe for fun entertainment as “Midge” Maisel, a middle-class Upper West Side housewife, makes forays into the edgy Downtown scene as a stand-up comic after her husband leaves her.

A lot of inspiration is taken from Joan Rivers for Midge’s character — she’s slightly softer but equally bawdy.

During the first season, Maisel gets arrested twice for lewdness on stage and has a few sympatique encounters with Lenny Bruce.

Actress Rachel Brosnahan (who, incidentally, is the niece of the late Kate Spade) plays the lead.

Happening Village venues of that era are recreated, particularly The Gaslight Cafe, which was at 116 MacDougal St. Others include the Kettle of Fish, Music Inn and the Village Vanguard.

The fourth episode of the first season touts a “Save The Square” rally, with Jane Jacobs at the arch in Washington Square Park. This reporter stumbled on the filming of that “Stroller Brigade”

Downtowners Carl Feinman and Judy Sommer ville dug into their pastrami sandwiches.

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

“Mike,” behind the takeout counter, with the menu on the wall, at the Carnegie Deli pop-up.

Deliver y boy “Frankie, from Howard Beach,” who said he rode his bike there, handed out menus as the line stretched to Cleveland Place.

episode in June 2017.

Back at the Lafayette St. Carnegie Deli pop-up, when “owners” Lou, Bernie and Max are asked, “How long have you been here?” the answer is “Since 1937.” (They’re actors, in character.)

Delivery boy Frankie, handing out menus along the line, said he was from Howard Beach and rode his bike all the way to Lafayette St. When this reporter told him she would e-mail him his photo, he asked, “What is that?” After all, the year is 1958.

Along with the black-and-white-tiled floor, tin ceiling and vintage menus posted inside, the long wall is covered with framed and signed celebrity photos to recreate the Carnegie Deli feel-

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

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ing. In fact, though, a month after the New York gastronomic icon closed in December 2016, all the actual photos were tossed out.

As “owner” Bernie schmoozed with the diners, some local Downtown denizens, Carl Feinman (from Southbridge Towers) and Judy Sommerville (from Tribeca), ordered “The Maisel” (pastrami and salami) while a friend ordered “The Susie” (turkey and coleslaw).

Cheesecake or a black-and-white cookie are dessert offerings at 50 cents.

When it came time for the bill, it read, “$0, It’s on Midge Maisel.” Instead donations were taken for the Lower Eastside Girl’s Club.

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Manhattan Happenings

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

PRECINCT COUNCIL 7th Precinct Community Council meeting at 19 ½ Pitt St., Wed., Dec. 12, 7 p.m.

28th Precinct Community Council meeting on the second floor of Touro College, 230 W. 124th St., Wed., Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m.

COMMUNITY BOARD Community Board 5 monthly full board meeting at Xavier High School, second-floor library, 30 W. 16th St., Thurs., Dec. 13, 6 p.m.

Community Board 6 monthly full board meeting at N.Y.U. School of Dentistry, Room 220, 433 First Ave., Wed., Dec. 12, 7 p.m.

COMMUNITY East Side Coastal Resiliency Interactive Community Engagement Meetings, Mon., Dec. 10, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Tues., Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.: The city is holding a community meeting about the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. Monday’s meeting will be held at Gouverneur Health, 227 Madison St., between Jefferson and Clinton Sts. Tuesday’s meeting will be held at the Hunter-Brookdale Rotunda, 425 E. 25th St., between First Ave. and the F.D.R. Drive. Both meetings will cover the same material.

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 West Village Chorale on Sun., Dec. 9, 5 p.m., hosts a seasonal concert at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, at Thompson St. For more information, visit www.westvillagechorale.org or contact westvillagechorale@gmail.com. To purchase tcikets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/3624081. Tickets in advance $25 general admission, $10 students. Tickets at the door $30 general admission, $15 students.

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

East Village Stand Holiday Market, through Mon., Dec. 24: At the corner of E. Seventh St. and Avenue C. 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@juno.com. FREE Holiday Market at the Oculus, through Mon., Dec. 31: 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 through Dec. 9, and happy-hour specials and eateries. For more information on the full holiday program, visit www.westfield. com/wtc/holiday. FREE Union Square Holiday Market, through Mon.,

24

December 6, 2018

Join Cr ystal Field, Theater for the New City’s executive and ar tistic director, for caroling and the annual lighting of the Tompkins Square Park Christmas tree at 4 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 9. Following tradition, there will be free hot chocolate, too!

Dec. 24, 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 “A Christmas Carol in Harlem,” through Dec. 8: The Classical Theatre of Harlem presents “A Christmas Carol in Harlem,” directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, from Nov. 25 through Dec. 8, at Aaron Davis Hall, at 135th St. and Convent Ave. Tuesday through Saturday shows are at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 1 p.m. Tickets $45 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For more inforTVG

mation, visit www.cthnyc.org.

HISTORY “Underground History: Celebrating the Centennial of the Field Exploration Committee and the Dawn of Historical Archaeology of New York City,” Thurs., Dec. 6, 6:30 p.m.: The New-York Historical Society and the Professional Archaeologists of New York City, Inc. host Hunter College anthropologist William Parry, P.A.N.Y.C. President Joan Geismar, chief historian for the Center for Women’s History Valerie Schneps Community News Group

Manhattan Happenings Paley, for a discussion about urban archaeology. Event will be located at the Skylight Gallery, New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West. Refreshments will be served. To purchase tickets, call 212-485-9268 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, or buy at the society’s admissions desk during museum hours, or online at www.nyhistory.org.

Tickets $15.

“The Seasons of Tompkins Square Park,” Sat., Dec. 8, 3 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: Slide projection of 58 images by Ana Marton: The New York Public Library will show a collection of photographer Ana Marton’s images from a winter day in 1990 of “Tent City” to the presentday park as a part of the East Village Arts Festival on the first floor of the Tompkins Square Library, at 331 E. 10th St. FREE Walking Tour: Gay and Lesbian writers and artists in the East Village, Sat., Dec. 8, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Tompkins Square Library manager Corinne Neary and street photographer Michael Paul will provide a free, one-hour walking tour visiting the former homes of poet Allen Ginsberg and the Pyramid Club, a part of the East Village’s drag and gay scene in the 1980s. Event hosted as a part of the East Village Arts Festival. Register either in person or

7 p.m.: The Cullman Center will feature Deborah Coen discussing her new book, “Climate in Motion: Science, Empire and the Problem of Scale,” with Daniel Kehlmann. Coen will speak at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in the Margaret Liebman Berger Forum, at 476 Fifth Ave. at 41st St. To reserve a seat, visit www.showclix.com/event/coenkehlmann/tag/nyplwebsite. Seating is not guaranteed without a reservation.

Unclaimed seats will be lost 10 minutes before start time. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. FREE

Deborah Coen and Daniel Kehlmann will discuss climate change and Coen’s book “Climate in Motion” on Mon., Dec. 10, 7 p.m., at the 42nd St. librar y.

by phone at 212-228-4747, or online at www.nypl.org. FREE

Book Club, “The Plot Against America,” by Philip Roth, Tues., Dec. 11, 5:30 p.m.: The New York Public Library’s Ottendorfer branch book club will meet at Tompkins Square Library on the first floor at 331 E. 10th St. to discuss Philip Roth’s novel, “The Plot Against America,” which follows a young Roth’s life if Charles Lindbergh won the presidency in 1940 instead of Roosevelt. FREE

MUSIC BOOKS “Climate in Motion,” Deborah Coen and Daniel Kehlmann, Mon., Dec. 10,

Accordion Festival: Sounds of the Lower East Side, Sun., Dec. 9, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.: In partnership with the Henry Street Settlement, the Museum

at Eldridge Street features accordionists James Keane, Ismail Butera, Angel “Arison” Gutierrez and host Bob Godfried. The accordion confab will feature tunes from Irish, Dominican, Balkan and Mediterranean cultures, as well as klezmer. The show will be at 12 Edridge St. For more information, visit www.eldridgestreet.org. FREE

KIDS & TEENS La Escuelita 15th Annual Book Fair, Wed., Dec. 5, and Thurs., Dec. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: La Escuelita 15th Annual Book Fair: La Escuelita, an Upper West Side dual-language preschool, hosts a book fair with Spanishlanguage children’s books for infants through sixth grade, at 225 W. 99th St. For more information, visit www.laescuelitanyc.org or the school’s Facebook event page. FREE Intersectional Feminism Teen Program, Mon., Dec. 10, 3:30 p.m.: The New York Public Library’s Muhlenberg Branch will host a discussion on the history of feminist movements and various waves of feminism, at 209 W. 23rd St. For ages 13 to 18 years old. Presented

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December 6, 2018

25

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

At the Jane St. Garden fence dedication, from left, Parks Borough Commissioner Bill Castro, A ssemblymember Deborah Glick, state Senator Brad Hoylman, Borough President Gale Brewer, Speaker Corey Johnson, Susan Sipos, Barr y Benepe, former and current Jane St. Block A ssociation Chairpersons Paula Fedderson and Kate Bostock-Shefferman, respectively, and Michael Talbot, West Village Committee president.

Sweet Jane fence: Garden free of its chain-link

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

J

ane St. residents were joined on Saturday by local politicians and Bill Castro, the Parks Department’s Manhattan borough commissioner, for a ribbon-cutting for the new fence around the Jane St. Garden, at Jane St. and Eighth Ave. Work began this past spring to replace the rickety old leaning chainlink fence with a new granite-curb and ornate steel fence. The sidewalk at the garden’s entrance was also fi xed up. The fence project’s total cost was roughly $400,000.

The garden has a long history. At one point, the city wanted to sell the plot for development, but the community fought off the plan.

The West Village Committee, made up of veteran activists, has long held sway over the green space. But a reenergized Jane St. Block Association is pushing for greater control and for making the garden more accessible to the public.

26

December 6, 2018

It was a long time coming, but the Jane St. Garden finally has a beautiful new fence and gate.

TVG

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December 6, 2018

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December 6, 2018

29

Real Estate

Fighting fraud and for your right to right rent TENANTS continued from p. 1

“New York City has an extraordinary, existential affordability crisis, and on June 15, 2019, New York’s rent laws, which cover 1 million apartments, will officially expire,” Hoylman told the crowd. “Rent regulation is the largest source of low-cost housing for low- and moderate-income tenants, yet a third of New York’s 2.5 million rent-stabilized tenants already pay more than half their income in rent.”

Hoylman traced this problem to the 1940s, when controls on rent were enacted to combat the post-World War II housing crisis. In 1947, New York State passed the Emergency Housing Rent Control Law. This law kept rent largely stabilized, until 1994 when the New York City Council implemented vacancy decontrol, allowing landlords to slowly move apartments toward market rate. In 1997, Albany legislators pushed through the Rent Regulation Reform Act, allowing regulated apartments to be decontrolled if the rent hit $2,000 per month, leading to the loss of 400,000 affordable units since 2005.

Stringer said the resulting roughly 62,000 people (including 24,000 children) currently filling homeless shelters was “not an accident.”

“This has been designed to create a city for the very, very wealthy, with enclaves for the very, very poor, and nothing aspirational in between,” he said.

Stringer added that the demise of Mitchell-Lama affordable housing was the beginning of the end, leading to developers “coming to communities you built and saying ‘Thanks a lot. Give us the keys and get out of New York.’

“We’ve had enough,” Stringer declared, “and we’re not going to let them do it anymore!”

The biggest problem empowering unscrupulous landlords, said Carr, is that laws meant to protect tenants are unenforced. Those laws include J-51, a tax benefit landlords receive for renovating apartment buildings. The J-51 stipulation requires that 100 percent of these apartments must then be rentstabilized — but they’re not, he said.

“Our organization in 2016 found that over a thousand buildings receiving J-51 tax benefits were out of compliance with rent-stabilization laws,” Carr said. “And the outcome is a city saturated with fraud — tax subsidy fraud, J-51 fraud, 421a fraud — across the board.”

This fraud is easy enough to spot. Visit the Department of Finance Web site, type in your address, and see if your landlord is receiving a J-51 tax benefit. If so, all units should be rent-stabilized; if they’re not, it’s fraud. Housing Rights Initiative has mounted more than 40 J-51 class-action lawsuits. But Carr said the New York

30

December 6, 2018

COURTESY CITY COMPTROLLER’S OFFICE

State Senator Brad Hoylman, left, and Comptroller Scott Stringer, to the right of him, were joined by tenant advocates at a town hall meeting last week on rent regulation.

State Division of Housing and Community Renewal should be doing this work, not “a nonprofit that has the budget of a nickel and a piece of lint.

“We need to keep pushing enforcement agencies to do their job, to enforce your rights and to uproot fraud, so they can muster the political will to solve this,” Carr declared.

Another method landlords use to raise rent is to make Individual Apartment Improvements, or IAIs, on vacant apartments, allowing a rent increase of about 2 percent. But landlords don’t have to submit receipts: It’s all on the “honor system.” Landlords can claim they spent any amount — even, as one of them asserted, $300,000 — on improvements. And despite being tasked with supervising affordable housing, D.H.C.R. freely admits on its own Web site that it doesn’t verify the truthfulness of the owners’ statements or the legality of rents.

Indeed, a recent government audit investigated 13,000 landlords and found 40 percent illegally overcharged tenants in rent-stabilized buildings.

“And that just completely makes sense, because why would they follow the law?” Carr asked. “No one is look-

ing, no one is forcing them to, and even good landlords are put at a competitive advantage when everyone around them is cheating.”

Yet another way landlords drive rents up is by Major Capital Improvements, or MCIs, annual rent increases of up to 6 percent charged for building-wide improvements. The increase is permanent — even after the repairs are paid off. Many unscrupulous landlords create shell construction companies, have them create large invoices for “repairs,” then submit these to D.H.C.R., which usually approves the claims. Then badactor landlords do low-cost improvements and pocket the cash.

“This is a huge problem because [they] have defrauded tenants, duped the government and stolen affordable housing from New York City,” Carr stated. “It’s more than just bad policy, it’s the legalization of fraud. And that’s why it’s so important to close these loopholes.”

There are several methods legislators and activists can use to close the loopholes allowing landlords to act fraudulently without repercussions. For starters, lawmakers can repeal vacancy decontrol. They can close preferential TVG

rent loopholes, which allow for future overcharges. And they can end IAIs. “And you didn’t even mention the vacancy bonus — the biggest driver of rent increases,” said Glover. That policy allows landlords to increase rent by 18 to 20 percent for a vacancy lease.

This has led to an increase of “eviction by harassment,” under which landlords repeatedly push tenants out quickly so rent-stabilized apartments convert to market rate.

Affordable housing also suffers due to Airbnb, problems with enforcement of the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, or SCRIE, and the lack of both transparency and enforcement by the New York City Department of Buildings, among other things. There is currently $1.5 billion in uncollected “quality of life” fines on landlords — and after three years, the city gives up on collecting.

Glover’s solution: universal rent control. She wants to remove geographic restrictions in the Tenant Protection Act, implement rent-control relief, end vacancy control, eliminate permanent rent hikes by means of MCIs and IAIs; eliminate the vacancy bonus; and make preferential rents — when a landlord charges a tenant below the maximum allowable rent — last the duration of the tenancy.

And forget about resolving your issues in Housing Court, which CASA’s Garcia called “an eviction mill” that landlords use to push renters out. Instead, she urged audience members to share information with neighbors, and push D.H.C.R. to make administrative changes. Hoylman pointed out that the City Council introduced a package of 18 bills meant to stop widespread landlord fraud.

But rather than waiting for new laws to be passed, Garcia said the average Joe would have better luck following two simple steps. First, check online to see if your apartment is rent-stabilized, and if you discover you’re being overcharged, reach out to D.H.C.R. to resolve it.

Then, organize a tenants association.

“If you have issues,” she said, “it is much easier to get them addressed when there are 30 people suing the landlord verses you by yourself. It’s so much stronger to submit a rent reduction when a group of 60 people are facing the same issue. It builds a power that is so much more than you just getting your initial issue addressed.”

Learn more about tenants’ rights at the 13th Annual West Side Tenants’ Conference, Sat., Dec. 8, at Fordham University School of Law, 150 W. 62nd St. For information or to RSVP, call 845-367-7003 or e-mail jfurlong@hccnyc.org .

Schneps Community News Group

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TUXEDO WORLD OF STATEN ISLAND 2791 Richmond Avenue, #6, Staten Island, NY 10314, (718) 698-4859 www.tuxedoworldsi.com

CATERING & VENUES

BAY RIDGE MANOR 476 76th Street, Brooklyn (718) 748-8855 www.bayridgemanor.com BAYSIDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 208 Totten Avenue, Fort Totten Bayside NY 11359 (718) 352-1548 email: siterental@baysidehistorical.org GRAND OAKS COUNTRY CLUB 200 Huguenot Avenue, Staten Island (718) 356–2771, www.grandoaksnyc.com GRAND PROSPECT HALL 263 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn (718) 788-0777, www.grandprospecthall.com HOLIDAY INN 39-05 29th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 (718 707-3700 www.holidayinnmanhattanview.com HUNTERS STEAK HOUSE 9404 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 238-8899, www.HuntersSteakhouse.com IL FORNETTO 2902 Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn (718) 332-8494 www.ilFornettoRestaurant.com PA-NASH EUROSOUL 144-14 243rd Street, Rosedale, NY 11422 (718) 917-6094 www.panashnyc.com THE PEARL ROOM 8518 - 3rd Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 833-6666 www.pearlroombklyn.com RECEPTION HOUSE 167-17 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY (718) 445-1244 www.ReceptionHouse.com SHERATON BROOKLYN NY HOTEL Contact Stephanie Mendez, Sales Mgr (917) 281-5550 stephanie.mendez@ sheratonbrooklynnewyork.com SHERATON LAGUARDIA EAST HOTEL 135-20 39th Avenue, Flushing NY 11354 (718) 670-7408 sales@sheratonlaguardia.com sheratonlaguardiaeast.com

SIRICO’S CATERERS 8015-23 13th Avenue, Brooklyn (718) 331-2900, www.siricoscaterers.net SOTTO 13 5140 West 13th Street, New York, NY (212) 647-1001, sotto13.com TERRACE ON THE PARK 52-11 111 Street, Flushing, NY 11368 (718) 592-5000 www.terraceonthepark.com THALASSA 179 Franklin Street TriBeCa, New York City (212) 941-7661, www.thalassanyc.com THE VANDERBILT AT SOUTH BEACH 300 Father Capodanno Boulevard Staten Island, NY, (718) 447-0800 www.vanderbiltsouthbeach.com WOODHAVEN MANOR 96-01 Jamaica Avenue Queens, NY (718) 805-8500

ENTERTAINMENT

HARRY’S HABANA HUT 214-09 41st Ave., Bayside, NY 11361 (718) 423-5049, www.harryshabanahut.com ND CIGARS INC. AKA LA CASA GRANDE CIGARS 2344 Arthur Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10458 (718) 364-4657, lcgcigars.com

FAVORS & INVITATIONS

UNFORGETTABLE EVENTS 2049 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, (718) 377-4535

FLORISTS

FLORAL FANTASY 3031 Quentin Road in Brooklyn, (718) 998-7060 or (800) 566–8380 www.floralfantasyny.com FLOWERS BY MASSENET Jamaica, Queens, NY (347) 724-7044, (718) 526-3725 HENRY’S FLORIST 8103 Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn (800) 543-6797 or (718) 238–3838 www.henrysfloristweddingevents.com MARINE FLORIST AND DECORATORS 1995 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn (800) 447-6730 or (718) 338-3600 www.marineflorists.com

JEWELERS

BOBBY’S JEWELERS 514-81 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 745-1725 BUONO JEWELERS 1250 Hylan Blvd., #6a, Staten Island, NY 10305 (718) 448-4900, www.buonojewelers.com

LIMOUSINE SERVICES

MILA LIMOUSINE CORPORATION (718) 232-8973, www.milalimo.com M&V LIMOUSINES LTD. 1-800-498-5788 1117 Jericho Tpke, Commack, NY (631) 543-0908 151 Denton Ave., New Hyde Park, NY (516) 921-6845 535 8th Ave., 3rd Flr., NY, NY (646) 757-9101 www.mvlimo.com

ROMANTIQUE/DOUBLE DIAMOND LIMOUSINES 1421-86 Street, Brooklyn, NY, (718) 351-7273 2041-Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island (718) 351-7273, www.rddlimos.com SOPHISTICATED LIMOUSINES Servicing the Tri- State Area, (718) 816-9475 www.sophisticatedlimousines.com

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO

FANTASY PHOTOGRAPHY 3031 Quentin Rd., Brooklyn NY, (718) 998-0949 www.fantasyphotographyandvideo.com NY PHOTO VIDEO GROUP 1040 Hempstead Tpke Franklin Sq., NY 11010 11 Michael Avenue Farmingdale, NY 11735 Office: 516-352-3188 Joe Cell: 516-445-8054 Peter Cell: 516-343-6662 www.nyphotovideogroup.com info@nyphotovideogroup.com ONE FINE DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS 459 Pacific St., Massapequa Park (516) 690–1320 www.onefinedayphotographers.com ZAKAS PHOTOGRAPHY info@zakasphotography.com www.zakasphotography.com

REAL ESTATE

DREAM HOUSE REALTY 7505 15th Avenue Brookyn, NY 11228 (718) 837–2121, carolynctrp@aol.com Carolyn Trippe, Lic. RE Broker

SALONS

PILO ARTS SALON 8412 3 Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 748–7411, www.piloarts.com

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COSMETIC & LASER CENTER OF BAY RIDGE 9921 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 833-2793 or (718) 833-7616 www.BayRidgeDerm.com ELITE WEIGHT LOSS 1316 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11229 (917) 444-3043, EliteWeightLossNY.com KHROM DERMATOLOGY & AESTHETICS 2797 Ocean Parkway, 1st Fl. Brooklyn, NY 11235 (718) 866-3616, www.josephlichterdds.com JOSEPH LICHTER, D.D.S. 1420 Avenue P in Brooklyn (718) 339-7878, www.khromMD.com OMNI DENTAL CARE 313 Kings Highway in Brooklyn (718) 376-8656, www.omnidentalcare.com THE VEIN CENTER OF THE VASCULAR INSTITUTE OF NY Dr. Natalie Marks 960 - 50 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 (718) 438-0067, www.vascularnyc.com

TRAVEL

JOLYN TRAVEL (718) 232-3139 (917) 797-7341

WEDDING EXPOS

BRIDAL AFFAIR (718) 317–9701, www.bridalaffair.com

WEDDING INSURANCE

TRI STATE INSURANCE BROKERAGE 277 Tarrytown Rd.,White Plains, NY 10607 (914) 607-7799 610 Crescent Ave., Bronx, NY 10458 (718) 618-7666 www.tsinsbk.com

TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DIRECTORY CALL (718) 260–8302 Schneps Community News Group

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December 6, 2018

31

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29

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Langdon Work Boot

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