The Villager Express - January 3, 2019

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

S S E R P X E

January 3, 2019 Volume 4 • Number 1

The Paper of Record for East and West Villages, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Soho, Noho, and Chinatown

MULCH ADO

ABOUT MULCHFEST

Page 11 PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Former Councilmember Rosie Mendez helped kick off Mulchfest.

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Page 18 PHOTOS BY SARAH FERGUSON

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Gottlieb getting active, but not on Dispensary

BY GABE HERMAN

E

ven as the Village changes all around it, the historic Northern Dispensary continues to sit steadfast and vacant on its own triangular island. The building has been that way for decades, due to a restrictive deed from the 19th century and ownership by a real estate company known for buying Downtown properties and then sitting on them.

William Gottlieb Real Estate, however, has been slightly more active recently, developing some of its properties in the Village and Meatpacking District.

Starting about six years ago, there have even been internal renovations done on the Northern Dispensary, at Waverly Place and Christopher St. And it was recently used for a fundraising event, according to Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The Northern Dispensary opened in 1831 and included a deed that it must be used for medical care for the “worthy poor.” Further restrictions were added by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which bought the building in 1990, before selling it to William Gottlieb in 1998. Those prohibitions include performing abortions and “any obscene performances on the premises or any obscene or pornographic purposes,” according to The New York Times.

The Dispensary, called “Northern” because at the time it was in the city’s upper reaches, for more than a century treated patients as a medical clinic, including Edgar Allan Poe in 1837 for a head cold.

By the 1960s, it had transitioned into a dental clinic. The clinic was sued in the 1980s for refusing to treat a man with AIDS. Financial trouble led to the clinic’s closure, and the Archdiocese planned to make it a facility for AIDS patients, but some local residents disapproved and the idea was scrapped.

That eventually led to the sale to Wil-

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The small triangular Nor thern Dispensar y, located on an island just east of Sheridan Square, has sat vacant for more than two decades.

reporting how the project was facing strong opposition from neighbors.

Gottlieb also owns the buildings on the south side of Gansevoort St. in the “Gansevoort Row” project. That project — to raze parts of the commercial block and rebuild it higher — faced strong opposition, as well as a lawsuit.

Berman said the company has also received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to develop a new building at 540 Hudson St., near Charles St., the location of Bill Gottlieb’s former office.

Berman said of the Gottlieb company’s increased activity, “It’s been building over the last several years. I wouldn’t describe it necessarily as sudden, but from a long period of zero activity, they’ve definitely started to amp up.”

Berman said plans for the land-

liam Gottlieb in 1998 for $760,000.

The Dispensary has been vacant ever since.

Gottlieb was known for eccentricities like his shabby dress and driving a station wagon with broken windows. He bought up many properties but hardly renovated any of them, and refused to sell. He died in 1999, and around 100 buildings, with an estimated total value of up to $1 billion, went to his sister Mollie Bender, who was also reclusive and did nothing with the properties.

Mollie died in 2007 and now her son Neil Bender runs the company’s operations.

In recent years, the company has started to act on some properties, though, according to Berman of G.V.S.H.P. He noted the company is redeveloping the Keller Hotel, at Barrow and West Sts., which The Villager covered in 2017,

marked Northern Dispensary, however, which is located in the Greenwich Village Historic District, remain unknown.

“I know that they rented it out, for one or two events,” he said, which he thought might have been a fundraiser for a nonprofit of some kind. “We haven’t seen many signs of activity [there] in the last year or so.”

Two construction permits issued in 2013 remain posted on one of the Dispensary’s windows, referring to repairs of the chimney, and “roof renovations consisting of roof replacement.”

“We know that a couple years ago they hired somebody to take a look at the building in terms of how structurally sound it was,” said Berman, “and it seems as though some efforts were made to kind of make sure the building was being physically maintained, which is encouraging.”

Even nearby locals, including shop owners along Christopher St., are perplexed by the empty edifice. Across the street, a woman working at Personal Touch Cleaners said she knew nothing about the place but had wondered why it was empty.

A few doors down at clothing shop Laina Jane, the eponymous owner said she couldn’t remember the building ever being occupied, despite her owning the shop since 1988. She said it would help the area if the structure were put to some use.

“It’s such a waste,” Jane said.

William Gottlieb Real Estate did not respond to requests for comment about its plans for the Northern Dispensary.

Andrew Berman said of the Dispensary, “It’s a very special building, it’s a very historically significant building.

We ideally would like it to be occupied and used productively.”

Johnson is also public advocate for two months

BY GABE HERMAN

C

orey Johnson can add the title of public advocate to his impressive résumé, though he will only hold this role for the next two months.

By law, City Council Speaker Johnson became the city’s public advocate on Jan. 1, when Letitia James left the post to become New York State Attorney General. This past weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio set Feb. 26 as the date for a special election for public advocate.

The nonpartisan race so far includes more than 20 candidates and others exploring a possible run.

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porary position, and says, “The Public Advocate acts as an ombudsperson for all New Yorkers — a government official who champions the public and ensures government is responsive to their needs.”

The public advocate is next in the line of succession if the mayor can’t fulfill his duties, and the position has been a launching pad for its previous occupants, including de Blasio, who was advocate from 2010 through 2013 before becoming mayor.

The winner of the February special election will serve as public advocate for the rest of the year, and another

Speaker Johnson tweeted on Dec. 31, “As of tomorrow, I will become the Acting Public Advocate for NYC. I plan to take this role and its responsibilities seriously, because New Yorkers deserve nothing less.”

Issues that Johnson plans to spotlight as the city’s advocate include the state of the subways, plus how well city agencies respond to resident complaints through the 311 system, according to The New York Times. He then plans to hold hearings as Council Speaker about those 311 issues.

Johnson’s City Council Web page has been updated to include his new temTVG

election next November will be held to see who will serve the remainder of James’s term, which runs to the end of 2021.

The special election may be the first to see new campaign finance regulations that were passed by voters this past November, which modified the amount of public funding each candidate can get and the caps on individual donations. The reforms were originally supposed to take effect in 2021 but the City Council passed legislation late last month applying them to the upcoming February special election.

Januar y 3, 2019

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Police Blotter SIXTH PRECINCT Village murder A Village man was fatally shot inside his apartment at 110 Bedford St. on Sun., Dec. 31, around 4:56 p.m., police said.

Police responding to a 911 call of a person shot went to Apartment 5A and found Jonathan Berlin, 62, with a gunshot wound to the stomach.

EMS responded and transported the victim to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead. There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

Police are reportedly investigating whether the slaying was drug related.

Gothamist reported that the victim’s wife was in the apartment at the time of the shooting, and that drug paraphernalia, including scales and pot, were found on the scene.

A source told The Villager that Berlin lived there more than 20 years and was Israeli born, but this was not confi rmed by press time. Cops reportedly entered the building with hammers and a pickaxe.

One neighbor was away when the incident occurred, and her roommate returned later on Dec. 31.

“This is the fi rst building I’ve lived in without a doorman,” the roommate said, noting her parents’ concern when she moved in about living in a non-doorman building.

six males, two of whom were teens.

The other attackers’ ages are unknown.

The six toughs broke the man’s right rear-view mirror, dragged him from his car and scraped up his left ear.

FIRST PRECINCT PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Police removed evidence from the homicide scene at Bedford St. near Christopher St. on Dec. 31.

Crackdown A man and woman, both 24, were arrested Sun., Dec. 30, for allegedly shoplifting at a West Village Gristedes, at 3 Sheridan Square. Police found the woman to be in possession of two crack pipes and a “push rod” with alleged crack/cocaine residue. She also had an active warrant. Police said the shoplifters stole three cans of Lysol, whipped chocolate mousse, pumpkinflavored yogurts and a chocolate milk.

Nikes nabbed A man stole three pairs of Nike Air Force 1’s from a 17-year-old, threatening him by saying, “I have a gun,” according to police. On Wed., Dec. 19, just after 7 p.m., the teen left a store with three pairs of shoes totaling $775.

The alleged robber walked up to him and asked to buy the flashy footwear, but then instead, swiped the shoes, pushed the teen, and said he had a gun. The perp fled on foot eastbound on Howard St. and then northbound on Broadway, according to police.

The robber was last seen wearing gray jeans, a black jacket, a red hat and black sneakers.

Spring St. burglary A burglar busted down the front door at a 36-year-old woman’s apartment at 300 Spring St. on Mon., Dec. 17, robbing her of $8,375 in property while she was at work, police said.

The woman had a motion-sensing camera in her home, which snapped a photo of the robber there around 11:15 a.m. that Monday. The thief stole an Apple Macbook Air, Apple watch, Ralph Lauren Ricky and Oliver Peoples Sunglasses, a Kindle and fi ne jewelry, including a Hermes bracelet and David Yurman diamonds.

Outnumbered Six hoodlums allegedly dragged a 45-year-old Queens man from his car and beat him up on Christmas Day around 8:30 p.m. on the northwest corner of Laguardia Place and Bleecker St. When the victim tried to call 911, one grabbed his cell phone and ran off, according to police. That evening, police arrested two teenage boys, 14 and 17 years old.

The man was reportedly in his car when he got into a verbal dispute with

Sydney Pereira and Tequila Minsky

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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Don’t roll it! Fewer permits in ‘L-poca’ zone

BY GABE HERMAN

A

s part of the preparations for the feared potential “L-pocalypse,” or L train shutdown, city agencies are coordinating to minimize other potential disruptions in affected areas.

The mayor and agency commissioners gave an update at a recent town hall event.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Councilmember Keith Powers held a town hall on Dec. 19 in Council District 4, which includes the Upper East Side and Stuyvesant Town. A questioner brought up whether the city would be trying to limit unrelated projects in the areas affected by the L shutdown, which is slated to begin April 27.

De Blasio asked Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, who was in attendance, to field the question.

Trottenberg said D.O.T. has been “working closely” with the Mayor’s Office, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, or MOME, and the city’s Department of Buildings “to look at all the upcoming projects. And one thing we’ve discovered, it’s a huge task,” she said. “We’re looking at hundreds of filming projects, construction projects, and all the agencies have been coming together to go carefully through that list, figure out which ones we can pull in, move, etc.”

Trottenberg said this focus includes the areas immediately around the L train, including 12th through 16th Sts. in Manhattan.

“Certainly, I’ve been talking to my fellow commissioners,” she said. “Believe me, we are very focused. All of us we want the buses to move, bikes to move, we want traffic to be safe.”

The mayor added, “I think this is a good example where extra transparency would be comforting and clarify-

VILLAGER FILE PHOTO

If, as expected, the L train is shut down in Manhattan for at least 15 months star ting in late April, the cit y plans to issue fewer film permits in the zone in and around 14th St.

was happy to add more blocks to that list if people felt that more deserved to be on it.

Powers added that he appreciated Commissioner Menin’s work to resolve concerns in the district about filming.

Citywide, the film industry is an $8.7 billion industry. More than 8,200 film permits were issued last year alone, with 46 percent of those in Manhattan.

Obviously, construction projects have far greater potential impact on traffic than brief film shoots.

ing for people. Where we are diverting away from the area purposely, giving people a sense of how and why that’s happening.”

Commissioner Julie Menin, of MOME, provided some specifics related to L train planning. “On the film permit issue, we’re intentionally down 18 percent in the Council district,” she said of Powers’s District 4. “We’ve been working very closely with the councilmember. We have 54 blocks on a hiatus list where we’re not issuing any permits for six months.” She added she

Asked later about what D.O.B. is doing to restrict construction projects in the affected zone during the expected L train shutdown, spokesperson Joe Soldevere said the agency is working on it, but didn’t give specifics.

“D.O.B. is working in close cooperation with our partner agencies to ease any disruptions during the shutdown,” he said. “The city will have further information on its preparations in the coming weeks.”

Bedford tenants get ‘classy’ in rent-reg fight

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

A

n ongoing lawsuit between residential tenants in a Village building and their landlord was boosted to class-action status last month after a judge formally gave the suit class certification.

Back in 2017, the Housing Rights Initiative and the Village Independent Democrats discovered the landlord of 28 Bedford St. had taken advantage of a tax break meant to help owners make upgrades to their below-market-rate properties. The tax benefit, known as J-51, requires that landlords keep all of the particular building’s units in the rent-regulation program.

But just three out of 32 units were

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program to date, according to his nonprofit.

Rudd Realty agreed to give tenants rent refunds and return the units to rent regulation back in 2017, but the official class certification could help more tenants. H.R.I. estimates the tenants could be owed a total of between $1 million and $2 million.

In 2009, the court case Roberts v.

Tishman Speyer required that all buildings benefiting from the J-51 tax break be 100 percent below-market-rate.

“Here we are nine years later and the problem has yet to be resolved,” said Carr.

Carr said H.R.I. has found 1,000 buildings illegally benefiting from the J-51 tax break.

rent-stabilized at 28 Bedford St., according to the lawsuit filed by the law firm Newman Ferrara against Rudd Realty and the Creative Industries Corporation. “[The class certification shows] this is clearly the justice system recognizing that this is something that went wrong,” said Erik Coler, a board member of H.R.I. and former president of V.I.D. “This class certification validates that this is a serious case.”

Rudd Realty was unable to comment due to the holidays.

Aaron Carr is executive director of the Housing Rights Initiative, a nonprofit watchdog group. H.R.I. has brought more than 50 class-action lawsuits focused on the J-51 tax benefits TVG

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s enforcement strategy was a letter from the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal to landlords, urging “voluntary compliance.” However, thousands of units were not re-regulated by landlords by the deadline the governor set to do so, ProPublica reported in 2016.

“That’s a weak enforcement policy,” Carr said. “That is a hands-off enforcement approach which got us into this problem in the first place.

“You can’t let the governor off the hook,” Carr said, adding that D.H.C.R. is a state agency. “It’s on the governor to ensure that this is being done,” he stressed. “All we’ve heard from the state government is crickets.”

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‘End Rikers’ commish: Transparency needed

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

T

he independent commission that originally spearheaded a plan to close Rikers Island released a progress report late last month. The update details how the city can meet its goals to reduce the city’s jail population by more than 3,000 people.

The report comes just a few months before the city is expected to begin the public review process known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, for its plans to site a community-based jail in each borough, except for Staten Island.

The project is a part of a larger plan to close Rikers Island’s facilities by 2027, reduce the city’s jail population to around 5,000 people, and create a more humane jail system.

The commission’s report says the city has not been transparent enough with the community, and recommends reducing the jail system’s total bed capacity from 6,040 to 5,500, as originally recommended by the commission. The report recommends designing smaller facilities and re-examining siting a fifth one in Staten Island to reduce each jail’s size.

“Reducing the number of beds will also help achieve the goal of smaller facilities that fit better with the neighborhoods,” said Tyler Nims, the executive director of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. “[That] is something that many of the communities have expressed concerns about.”

FROM THE REPORT “A MORE JUST NEW YORK CITY”

Under Mayor de Blasio and the Cit y Council, the cit y is determined to close Rikers Island, above, and replace it with new jails in the individual boroughs.

The shift to neighborhood-based jails has sparked intense community pushback in recent months. This recently led the city to change the planned location of the Lower Manhattan jail, which is now expected to be at 125 White St. at the Manhattan Detention Complex a.k.a. “The Tombs.”

However, Nims added, “it’s much more than moving the real estate of jails in Rikers Island to other places.”

“The next year is really going to be

a decisive one both in Albany and here in the city as the land-use process goes forward,” he said.

The report recommends passing state legislation to end cash bail, implementing stronger laws for speedy trials and discovery, and limiting jail time for alleged parole violations, all of which Nims said appears more likely with the new Democratic majority in the state Senate.

The commission estimates these re-

forms could reduce the city’s jail population by more than 3,000 people.

Already, the city has managed to reduce the jail population by more than 1,500 persons in the past two years.

“In the big picture,” Nims said, “there’s been a lot of positive change that has happened over the past couple of years, and I think that we are really getting closer and closer to being in a position where the Rikers jails can be shut down.”

Report: Create alliance on E. Side resiliency

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

E

ast River Park is expected to undergo massive changes in the coming years.

As early as March 2020, the city could begin burying the park with 8 feet of soil, closing it for three-and-ahalf years, in order to rebuild the park anew to protect thousands of nearby residents from coastal flooding and storm surges.

But with all the new changes also comes skepticism that the city would be able to meet its deadlines. A new report commissioned by research and design firm Rebuild by Design and local affordable housing organization Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) says communities bordering East River Park should form an alliance to ensure the community’s voice is listened to.

The idea is that an “East River Park Alliance” would be a more organized entity, bringing together many of the East Side’s myriad park groups. The $1.45 billion project to redo East River

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Park would benefit from such an alliance’s input and help on the new, rebuilt park’s facilities, spaces, programming and ultimately maintenance, according to the report.

The report draws from examples of other stewardship groups, such as the Bronx River Alliance and the Building Bridges Across the River group in Washington, D.C. The Bronx River Alliance began as an all-volunteer organization in the 1970s to clean up and restore the Bronx River. But it later morphed into a formal nonprofit and has secured an eco-friendly building for community and school groups, environmental research, storage for canoes and kayaks and Parks Department use.

Meanwhile, D.C.’s Building Bridges Across the River has secured millions of private funds to preserve affordable housing and implemented an “Equitable Development Plan” — an effort to prevent gentrification once the elaborate 11th St. Bridge Park, often likened to the High Line, is completed.

But some Lower East Siders were al-

ready skeptical of creating such a stewardship group. They feared a lack of transparency without true community engagement, some said at a mid-November Community Board 3 meeting, when Rebuild by Design announced it would release the report.

But the goal of such an alliance would be to avoid becoming the typical kind of stewardship group that is often criticized by communities for a lack of transparency, according to the report.

Amy Chester, Rebuild by Design’s managing director, wrote that the recommended model is to be “community-oriented and avoid or mitigate externalities that can arise from nongovernmental stewardship models such as gentrification, privatization of park resources, and amenities that lack affordability.”

An immediate strategy would be to work on a construction phasing plan for the city’s resiliency project — one that could keep East River Park from going off-line all at once for the construction. Parks is currently working on such a plan, though details have not TVG

been released, a spokesperson previously told The Villager.

“There’s not a lot of other parkland around — certainly [not] with active recreation fields, so that’s going to be important,” said Carter Strickland, the state’s director of The Trust for Public Land. Strickland worked with James Lima Planning + Development on the report after winning a request for proposals, or R.F.P., put out by Rebuild by Design and GOLES this summer.

“Any working group or alliance would be busy almost immediately,” Strickland said.

The alliance would start as a working group and later be structured to coordinate with the city through a paid alliance staff and director. The report estimates necessary funds for a formalized alliance would be between $200,000 and $250,000 a year for staffing, a Web site launch and administrative support.

“We’re just giving the community tools,” Strickland said. “We’ll see what the community does with it.”

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Fir sure: Another Mulchfest is revving up

BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

P

arks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver joined a bevy of other city officials last month to officially declare Mulchfest a part of the city’s holiday tradition.

The idea is also to encourage New Yorkers to make eco-friendly mulching a family activity, instead of “pine-ing� for their trees postholiday.

It might have seemed a little early to kick things off, but the goal is to get the public into the spirit with new branding and a new campaign to bid holiday trees “fir-well� now that the season is coming to an end.

Mulchfest’s new look celebrates New Yorkers’ post-holiday tradition of carrying, carting or dragging their trees to a local park for mulching.

An illustrated cast of diverse characters are shown using bikes, strollers, teamwork and other creative methods to get their trees to the chippers, where their evergreens can be turned into mulch to help reduce waste, and protect and nourish other trees and plants throughout the city.

With a total of 68 sites, including parks and Greenthumb gardens, New Yorkers can drop off their trees between Jan. 4 and Jan. 14. Dates have been extended this year for those who celebrate Three Kings Day. On the final weekend of Mulchfest, Jan. 1314, at 31 chipping sites, people can also get a bag of mulch to take home.

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Former City Councilmember Rosie Mendez got a bag of mulch from Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver after chipping a Christmas tree at Washington Square at the kickoff of Mulchfest last month.

Mendez is now Borough President Gale Brewer’s community liaison.

Weather permitting, the Department of Sanitation will collect and compost clean trees left curbside from Wed., Jan. 2 through Sat., Jan. 12. Silver made a point that these trees should not be in a bag, but should remain “naked.�

The mulch is used in planting beds and community gardens around the

city. Mulch maintains tree and plant health by deterring weeds, retaining moisture, preventing compaction, adding nutrients to the soil and keeping roots warm.

In recent years, Parks has been mulching between 25,000 and 30,000 trees annually.

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Former Councilmember Rosie Mendez shows how it’s done at the kickoff of Mulchfest last month.

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EDITORIAL

What’s new Y

ou may have noticed some changes lately with our Manhattan newspaper group — The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express.

As of mid-September, we are now part of Schneps Media.

We already were the New York City metro area’s largest community newspaper group when we were NYC Community Media / Community Newspaper Group.

Now we’re even bigger.

As with any ownership transition, there are going to be some changes. One terrific one is that we now have more reporters than before, which is helping us expand our coverage.

In turn, that additional staffing is going to allow us to do more daily online posting, so that we will be even more of a go-to daily news resource for our readers.

We are currently ironing out some technical production aspects to allow us to ratchet up our daily posting to higher levels — but we will get there quickly.

Also, significantly, in terms of our online presence, we will soon be launching a single unified Web site that will bring together all of our Manhattan newspaper brands, under which you will find content for all of our papers serving the borough.

Again, this will create a stronger, more dynamic online site for our award-winning papers and a more powerful news resource, in general, for readers.

Some of our sites were stronger than others, so by combining them, the idea is that “a rising tide will lift all boats.” Plus, readers won’t have to jump around between different pages, but will find everything they were looking for — and more — in our “one-stop” site.

We’re very excited about launching this powerful new Web site.

In short, our goal increasingly is to become your source for the best and latest local Manhattan news, features and arts reporting in your neighborhood, as well as events listings.

More to the point, in an age of shrinking media, one area continues to thrive — community news. That’s because people crave local news, they’re passionate about it. They want to read about news that directly affects their lives and their communities.

So we are still here, and we intend to stay here, doing what we love doing and what are readers want.

Important to note, our print editions also are still going strong, as the enjoyment of reading and simply holding expertly designed pages in one’s hands (no battery needed!), and visually appreciating well-displayed photographs and good design, has not faded. And many hope it never will.

On that note, we’re also striving to bring even greater attention to design detail to make our print products look even better. And, of course, we continue to feature stunning photos — by some of the best photographers New York City has to offer.

In short, yes, we’ve been going through some changes, but we believe they’re making our products even better. Nothing stays the same forever; we all must change with the times. But in an era of dramatic media shrinkage, we’re thriving — and we are always aiming to improve.

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Letters to the Editor Landlord always wins To The Editor: Re “At last, small business bill has a champion” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Dec. 20): Small businesses desperately need rights — especially during the lease-renewal process.

We at RedEye Coffee just got booted out by our landlord, another small business who was subleasing space to us. Subleases are extremely common in New York City because they are actually affordable. During lease negotiations, our landlord tried to increase the rent by 20 percent. We did our best to fight back, even soliciting the help of the community, which supported us, but in the end, the landlord always wins.

All the local politicians talk about supporting small businesses, but they never do what really needs to be done — because, if they did, the Real Estate Board of New York would run another candidate against them.

But times are changing and the public is getting more and more outraged when their favorite businesses close: Cornelia Street Cafe, Tortilla Flats, Coffee Shop and now in Clinton/Hells Kitchen, RedEye Coffee. And they know someone is to blame.

When will the politicians see that it is actually in their interest to be on the side of the people?

Marni Halasa

The pictures don’t lie To The Editor: Re “A new chapter for public libraries has watchdog growling” (news article, thevillager.com, Dec. 27): We love the quote: “A library spokesperson said there were never plans for a wine bar or any alcohol to be served at Schwarzman... .”

Really?

See the pictures we put up at Citizens Defending Libraries by Googling: “Article In The Villager On What’s Happening To NYC Libraries Featuring

SOUND OFF! REPORTER SYDNEY PEREIRA

Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS

CONTRIBUTORS IRA BLUTREICH BOB KRASNER TEQUILA MINSKY MARY REINHOLZ PAUL SCHINDLER ART DIRECTORS JOHN NAPOLI MARCOS RAMOS

CEO & CO-PUBLISHER JOSHUA SCHNEPS

ADVERTISING CLIFFORD LUSTER (718) 260-2504 CLUSTER@CNGLOCAL.COM

EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON

CIRCULATION SALES MNGR. MARVIN ROCK TVG

Citizens Defending Libraries - Some Contradictions Are Picture Perfect.”

Michael D.D. White White is co-founder, Citizens Defending Libraries

For your information To The Editor: Re “A new chapter for public libraries has watchdog growling” (news article, thevillager.com, Dec. 27): The New York Public Library C.O.O., Iris Weinshall, is also known as Mrs. Chuck Schumer.

Michael Conway

A natural disaster To The Editor: Re “Flood of concerns over E. Side resiliency redo” (news article, Dec. 13): The new plan seems like it was designed by people who observed the riverfront using Google Maps only. Eight feet of fill will extirpate all biodiversity in the East River Park: Our (very preliminary) list includes more than 300 species, from spring ephemerals to trees, pollinators and birds.

Naturalists do not object to sharing the park with athletes, but the athletic fields should not be driving all decisions about the East River Park’s future.

Amy Berkov E-mail letters, maximum 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.

Write a letter to the editor

news@thevillager.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES GAYLE GREENBURG JIM STEELE JULIO TUMBACO ELIZABETH POLLY PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

Published by Schneps Media One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (718) 260-2500 Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2018 Schneps Media

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Scene

Art project pipes in poetry for pedestrians

BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

W

hat looks like a yellow submarine periscope peeping out at the Ruth E. Wittenberg Triangle at Sixth Ave. and Eighth St. is, in fact, the New Poetry Jukebox, installed in late October.

The Jukebox plays poetry on demand, and a lover of verse need just press a button to hear a poem or reading from the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, Hart Crane, Grace Paley and Jane Jacobs, as well as 11 more American poets and literary figures.

It’s not the first installation of its kind.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ireland, Scotland, Bulgaria and Germany have all experienced their own site-specific versions of the Jukebox.

The person between the “poetry periscopes” is Ond ej Kobza, a Prague-based cafe owner and cultural activist with a passion for poems and literature in general and live events in nontraditional places. Working with him on the project is his colleague and cultural manager Michaela He ková.

On the Poetry Jukebox Web site they write, “We believe that listening to the original voices of poets is one of the most beautiful and inspiring experiences a city can offer.”

Animating public spaces is also one of their goals through their Czech project Piána na ulici (Pianos on the Street), which has placed dozens of pianos and chess boards in public arenas.

The featured poems and poets (and songwriters, novelists and activists and their readings) on the Sixth Ave. Poetry Jukebox reflect artists that have called the Village home, including Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Love is Not All”; Sara Teasdale, “Barter”; Denis Levertov, “The Pilots”; Grace Paley, “Mother”; James Baldwin, “Sonny Blues”; Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”; Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”; Jack Kerouac, “The Beat Generation”; Gary Snyder, “Turtle Island”; Diane di Prima, “Ave”; Anne Waldman, “Pressure”; Amiri Baraka, “Our Nation Is Like Ourselves”; Gregory Corso, “Mariagge”; Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Evil”; Wystan Hugh Auden, “Tell Me the Truth About Love”; Mark Twain, “The Voice of Mark Twain”; Hart Crane, “The Brooklyn Bridge”; Jane Jacobs, “Neighborhoods in Action”; and Frank O’Hara, “Lana Turner has collapsed.”

The project is supported by Czech Tourism in the United States in partnership with the city’s Department of Transportation and the Village Alliance Business Improvement District.

Another Poetry Jukebox with 20 contemporary New York City-based poets is located in the East Village, at Six E. First St. Its selection was compiled with the help of the next-door HOWL! Happening gallery.

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PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Sebastion listened to a reading by James Baldwin at the Sixth Ave. Poetr y Jukebox.

Rick Hill meditated on the periscope that offers poetr y.

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The Jukebox’s poets and writers all have a connection to the Village.

Januar y 3, 2019

13

From the Bench

Courting support for seat on a higher court

Judging by the recent turnout at the Village Independent Democrats’ holiday par t y at Frieda Bradlow’s home on Charlton St., a lot of sitting judges are running for a higher cour t. But, after all, that’s often the case. Two of them were Jennifer Schecter, an acting New York State Supreme Cour t justice, above left, who is running for a seat on the Supreme Cour t, and Civil Cour t Judge Louis Nock, who is also running for state Supreme Cour t.

Sign up for low or no-cost health insurance today!

Get free in-person enrollment assistance in your language.

Open Enrollment in New York continues through January 31.

Call 311 Text CoveredNYC to 877877 Visit nyc.gov/GetCoveredNYC

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HEALTH Doctors have tied hear t health to the abdomen, and having extra pounds around oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s middle can be detrimental to cardiovascular well-being.

Banish belly fat to improve your health

T

he way to a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart may be through his or her stomach in more ways than one. Doctors have tied heart health to the abdomen, and having extra pounds around oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s middle can be detrimental to cardiovascular well-being.

Excess visceral fat in the belly, something doctors refer to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;central adiposity,â&#x20AC;? may have potentially dangerous consequences. While the link between belly fat and heart health has long been associated with men, women may be even more vulnerable to the adverse health effects of belly fat. A study published in March 2018 in the Journal of the American Heart Association examined 500,000 people between the ages of 40 and 69. Participants had their body measurements taken, and then were kept track of for heart attack occurrence over the next seven years.

During that period, the women who carried more weight around their middles (measured by waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio or waist-to-height ratio) had a 10 to 20 percent greater risk of heart attack than women who were just heavier over all.

Belly fat is particularly dangerous because it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just include the insulating, or subcutaneous, fat under the skin. It is largely visceral fat that also surrounds the organs in the abdomen.

Harvard Medical School reports that visceral fat is metabolically active and has been strongly linked to a host of serious diseases, including heart disease, Schneps Media

diabetes, cancer and dementia. Visceral fat is like an endocrine organ that secretes hormones and a host of other chemicals linked to diseases that can affect adults. One substance is called retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), which has been tied to an increased risk of coronary heart disease. In 2015, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that normalweight people with excessive belly fat had a higher risk of dying of heart disease or any other cause compared with people without central obesity.

The online health and wellness resource Medical News Today says doctors determine belly fat to be a problem when a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waist measures 35 inches or more and a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 40 inches or more. MRIs also can be used as a fat analyzer and will be judged on a scale of 1 to 59. A measurement of 13 and under is desirable.

As people age, they may have to make more drastic changes to their diets and exercise regimens to counteract changes in their metabolism. Eliminating sugary beverages, watching portion sizes, counting calories, doing moderate aerobic activity daily, and choosing healthier foods can help tame visceral fat. Also, doctors may recommend those who are stressed to try stressbusting techniques since stress also may be tied to excessive belly fat.

Belly fat should not be overlooked because its presence can greatly increase a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risk for various diseases.

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It’s just been one of those (holiday) weeks!

Please check thevillager.com for Scoopy’s Notebook!

Happy holidays!

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“Green Window,” by Jason Stopa, 2018, 27 inches by 22 inches, oil on canvas, above. “Bubble Brothers,” by Osamu Kobayashi, 2017, 112 inches by 120 inches, oil on canvas, left.

Painting, sculpture...blurred boundaries

BY NANCY ELSAMANOUDI

T

he show “Plush Paint” is a crazy, fun, weird collection of sculptures by Susan Carr and paintings by Osamu Kobayashi and Jason Stopa at Next to Nothing on the Lower East Side.

This show is very much about paint and all of its goopy, drippy, globby, heavily layered, bumpy, thick or thin, slick, bold, sly, flat, subtle and intensely pigmented possibilities.

Carr’s magnificent, brightly colored, freestanding sculptures and wall pieces are made mostly of oil paint and wood. The wood she uses typically comes from repurposed found objects that are then cobbled together to make the basic shape of the sculpture. Basic shapes, like triangles, squares, circles and rectangles, as well as patterns, like dots and stripes, tend to be the primary building blocks of her visual language.

Carr paints the wood surface of her pieces as if it were a surface for painting. Yet, she also works with paint as if it were resin, wax or clay.

Her work has an affinity with painters like Mardsen Hartley, R.B. Kitaj and Tal R, as well as contemporary artists working in clay and ceramics today like Rebecca Goyette, Ana Weider Blank and Joanne Greenbaum.

The surfaces of Carr’s sculptures are heavily, obsessively layered with thick impasto. Pieces such as

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doors, windows or gates, or as paint“Warrior” and “I Have Measured ings or a mirror within a painting.

My Life Out in Carrots” read as a kind of three-dimensional paintThere is a long history of artists ing or a kind of “painting in the making paintings that contain paintings or mirrors in them. These range round.” Her sculptures tend to be from the usual suspects — Matisse uniformly covered in thick impasto and Picasso — to Vermeer, Van that has been layered on slowly Eyck and Velazquez. over time.

At the same time, there is a gritty Like Carr, Stopa works with kick in these works that speaks to thick impasto paint, yet differently. contemporary culture. Stopa pairs The thick lines Stopa paints over neon pink and lime green with black the mostly flat surfaces of his paintings are precariously awkward. At and rancid yellow. These paintings first, the thick lines look somewhat seem to be informed by punk, inlike glued-on collage elements — “ Warrior,” by Susan terior design, textiles, architecture cords or ropes. But then you notice Carr, 2018, 13 inches by and a pop sensibility.

Kobayashi’s paintings similarly the paint is still very much wet in 21 inches, oil on wood. seem to be informed by popular culsome areas. There are also odd moture, comic books, advertising, video ments, where it looks as if he was squeezing out toothpaste or rolling out some neon games and anime. His works are a little wonky, in a poised, gratuitously elegant way — like a slightly Play-Doh. Like a number of his contemporaries, such as crooked bow tie. A sly humor undergirds his paintJonathan Lasker and Keltie Ferris, Stopa plays on ings. This is especially true in “Bubble Brothers,” a this ambiguity by deliberately creating confusing or monumental 10-foot red, blue and yellow painting surprising moments in his artwork. For instance, of two hugging doughboys, painted in the colors of his paintings “Exit/Entrance” and “Green Win- the ultimate superhero, Superman.

“Plush Paint: Please Do Not Pet, Caress, Fondle” dow,” feature large rectangles in their middle that look like post-it notes stuck in a sketchbook. These on view at Next to Nothing, 181 Orchard St., bestrange passages can be read possibly as figures, tween E. Houston and Stanton Sts., until Jan. 20.

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Shocked rocks squat in return to her roots

The former East Village squatter jams with John Warner, a fellow former squatter.

BY SAR AH FERGUSON

M

ichelle Shocked helped rock in the New Year at C Squat on Monday night. The Grammy-nominated folksinger turned up at a party hosted by the Museum of Reclaimed Space (MORUS) to perform a raucous take on her 1988 song “Graffiti Limbo,” backed by radical ’zine artist Seth Tobocman and his band, Continuation of Struggle.

Shocked said she connected with Tobocman by chance, after the Guggenheim Museum contacted her about her song. It tells the story of artist Michael Stewart, who was beaten to death by New York City transit police in 1983 after he was caught tagging at the subway stop at First Ave. and 14th St. The Guggenheim is planning another retrospective of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who made a painting about Stewart’s murder. Shocked said the curators there wanted to understand why this young man’s death had such an impact on local artists at the time.

“It was like I had to educate them about the way the underground worked back then,” said Shocked. She said she was inspired to pen her song about Stewart’s murder after reading about it in Overthrow magazine and seeing a mural that Tobocman painted in Stewart’s honor on the corner of Ninth St. and Avenue C. “I could only remember the name

PHOTOS BY SARAH FERGUSON

Michelle Shocked in her customized Rangers jersey. She admits she knows nothing about hockey and removed the first “R” and “S” from “Rangers.”

212 - 254 - 1109 | www.theaterforthenewcity.net | 155 First Ave. NY, NY 10003

Beltsville/Rockville Part 1: Attack of the Giant Pu**ys from Outer Space and Rise of the Goatman Alien Angels Written & Directed by: Matt Okin Thur -Sat 8PM, Sun 3PM December 27 - Jan. 13

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Written & Directed by: Exavier Wardlaw Thur - Sat 8PM December 27 - Jan. 12

Betty & the Belrose Written & Directed by: William Electric Black Thur - Sat 8PM, Sun 3PM Janaury 31 - Feb. 17 TVG

Seth, so I had to look him up on the Internet,” Shocked said of Tobocman, who she worked with briefly in the 1980s doing benefits around issues of housing and police brutality. After they reconnected, she and Tobocman decided to collaborate for the MORUS gig.

“Being here tonight is really great, it’s like the community welcoming me back,” Shocked said after performing at the former East Village squat. “I feel like a homecoming queen.”

Before she made it big in the folk scene, Shocked toured with the Yippies and Rock Against Racism and lived in a squat on E. 10th St. “There was no roof, just clear plastic sheeting, and at night the rats would run across it,” Shocked recalled. “They’d be looking down at you and you’d be looking up at them,” she laughed.

After switching up from “anarchist skate punk” to born-again Christian, Shocked elicited a storm of controversy when she made what were widely construed as homophobic remarks during a 2013 concert in San Francisco.

Shocked insisted her words were misunderstood, and she’s been slowly rebuilding her career since then.

Now “more sober than sober,” Shocked didn’t stick around to party at C squat. Instead, she took off in the rain on a motorized scooter to meet up with some Africans in Brooklyn who were “watching the new year come in.”

“That’s more my speed these days,” she smiled.

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19

Manhattan Happenings

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND FORT GANSEVOORT, N.Y.

“Black Star Era,” by Keith Duncan, 2017, 24 inches by 18 inches, acrylic on fabric mounted on canvas.

“Snowball Stand,” by Keith Duncan, 2014, 28 inches by 22 inches, acr ylic on paper.

BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

ARTS Keith Duncan: “The Big Easy”: Fort Gansevoort, at 5 Ninth Ave., features works by Keith Duncan in his latest collection, “The Big Easy.” The New Orleans-based artist’s show opens Thurs., Jan. 10, and runs through Sat., Feb. 23. Duncan’s paintings are inspired by Southern influences, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and African-American history. For more information, visit http:// www.fortgansevoort.com/. FREE “Charles White: A Retrospective” will be on display through Jan. 13 at the Museum of Modern Art on the third floor. This the first major exhibit devoted to this seminal AfricanAmerican artist in more than 30 years, according to MoMA. More than 100 works, including drawings, paintings, photographs and other archival materials, spanning White’s full career from the 1930s through his death in 1979, will be on display. Tickets $25;

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students $14; seniors $18. Children 16 and under, free. For more information, visit www.moma.org/calendar/ exhibitions/3930?locale=en.

events/programs/met-live-arts/battlehip-hop-in-armor-3.

Tavche Gravche: The jazz quartet Tavche Gravche performs at the Museum at Eldridge St., Sun., Jan. 6, at 6:30 p.m., merging Macedonian and Mediterranean melodies in the museum’s historic sanctuary. Tickets $25; students and seniors $15. For more information, visit www.eldridgestreet. org/event/tavche-gravche/.

Lexus LF-1 Limitless Concept: The Lexus LF-1 Limitless vehicle is on display, flaunting its “unrestrained luxury,” at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – NYC Gallery, 412 W. 14th St., through Sun., Jan 20. For more information visit www.meatpacking-district.com/ events/lexus-lf-1-limitless-concept/.

FREE

COMEDY

“Battle! Hip-Hop in Armor”: Hiphop dancers will meet knights in armor in a dance performance commissioned

by MetLiveArts with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Arms and Armor Department and South Bronx dance organization Dancing in the Streets on Sat., Jan. 11, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at The Met Fifth Ave., at 1000 Fifth Ave., Gallery 371, the Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Arms and Armor Court.

Future performance dates are Feb. 8, March 22, April 12 and June 7. Free with museum admission. For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org/

“On this day…”: Caveat, at 21A Clinton St., features comedians Nicole Pasquale, Sandi Marx, Jacqui Rossi, Calvin Cato and Eva Kirkman in a show of nostalgia based on Facebook memories and the Timehop app, which shows what users posted in the past years ago. Hosted by Angel Yau and Ross Brunetti, Thurs., Jan. 3, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets $10. For tickets, visit https://www.caveat.nyc/event/on-thisday-1-3-2019.

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MOVIES Movies at 53rd — “Runaway Train”: The New York Public Library screens the 1985 thriller “Runaway Train,” starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts and Rebecca De Mornay, at the 53rd St. Library, 18 W. 53rd St., Community Room on Fri., Jan. 4, at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2019/01/04/clonemovies-53rd-movie-name-year. FREE At the Movies — “Crazy Rich Asians”: The New York Public Library screens the new movie “Crazy Rich Asians” at the Fort Washington Library, 535 W. 179th St., Sat., Jan. 5, at 2 p.m.

For more information, visit www.nypl. org/events/programs/2019/01/05/ movies-crazy-rich-asians. FREE

BOOKS Reading: Gaby Dunn’s “Bad With Money”: Author Gaby Dunn appears in the city on Wed., Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, with Josh Gondelman of Schneps Media

Manhattan Happenings PROFESSIONAL Tuesday Talks — Women’s Werk: The Battery Park City Authority hosts a lecture for dreamers, freelancers and entrepreneurs for a meet-and-greet and panel session with women who are “gig economy pros” — workers in shortterm jobs — on Tues., Jan. 15, 7 p.m., at 6 River Terrace. For more information, visit https://bpca.ny.gov/news/ events/. FREE Spanish Conversation Circle: The New York Public Library’s Grand Central branch, at 135 E. 46th St., holds a meet-up for intermediate or high-beginner level Spanish speakers to practice Spanish conversations on Tues., Jan. 8, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2019/01/01/spanishconversation-circle. FREE

that led German, Irish, Chinese, Eastern European and Italian immigrants to emigrate to New York in the 19th century. SJ Costello, a senior educator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, will explore these themes, focusing on Bond St., developed in the 1820s by German immigrant John Jacob Astor. Reservations required. To register, visit https://71712.blackbaudhosting.com/71712/The-NEW-NewYork-Immigration-1820s---1880s--An-OverviewLectures-and-Book-Talks or e-mail rsvp@gvshp.org or call 212475-9585x35. FREE

COMMUNITY BOARD Community Board 6 holds its monthly full board meeting at N.Y.U. School of Dentistry, 433 First Ave., Room 220, Wed., Jan. 9, at 7 p.m.

HISTORY “The NEW New York: Immigration, 1820s-1880s”: The Merchant’s House Museum and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation hold a discussion on Wed., Jan. 9, 6:30 p.m. at Cooper Union’s Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square at E. Seventh St., about the factors

PRECINCT COUNCIL Seventh Precinct Community Council meeting at 19 1/2 Pitt St., Wed., Jan. 9, 7 p.m.

19th Precinct Community Council meeting at 153 E. 67th St., Mon., Jan. 7, 7 p.m.

WIN EXPR

Gabby Dunn will be leading a discussion of her new book on managing money at The Strand on Jan. 16.

Showtime’s “Desus and Mero,” and again on Thurs., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd St. Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., with Akilah Hughes of HBO’s “Pod Save America.” Admission for the Strand’s Jan. 16 event is either buy a copy of “Bad With Money” or a $5 gift card. To purchase tickets, visit https:// www.strandbooks.com/event/gabydunn-bad-with-money. Admission for the 92nd St. Y’s Jan. 17 event starts at $30. To purchase tickets, visit https:// www.92y.org/event/bad-with-money.

ESS

KIDS Festa Em Português: The Battery Park City Authority holds family workshops to celebrate Portuguese-speaking countries through music and art for kids 4 and older at 6 River Terrace, Sat., Jan. 12, 4 p.m. Pianist Renato Diz will perform “I Will Play Your Soul” in an interactive, improvised piece. There will also be an art workshop to create azulejos (“tiles” in Portuguese), inspired by those in Lisbon, Portugal. For more information, visit https://bpca. ny.gov/news/events/. FREE

Is giving away passes to the biggest Broadway fan convention of the year.

January 11–13, 2019 at the New York Hilton Midtown in NYC

Write a letter to the editor news@thevillager.com

$

10 00

per pass / $

20 00

total value

These exclusive passes are SOLD OUT and cannot be purchased!

This is your only opportunity to get them!

$

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Enter for your chance to win by visiting

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Polar Plunge less chill, still lots of fun

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

With air temperature in the 50s, the water around 45 degrees, sunshine and music on the boardwalk, thousands took the Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island on New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day.

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Eats

Peace in: Ghandi Cafe back open on Bleecker St.

ALDABERTO RODRIGUEZ / INSTAGRAM

Tangy chicken tikka massala is among the favorites on the menu at Ghandi Cafe.

BY GABE HERMAN

A

fter closing for renovations early in fall 2018, Ghandi Cafe reopened last month and continues to serve its tasty Indian cuisine.

The cafe, at 283 Bleecker St., offers a self-described “authentic Anglo-Indian cooking style.” The cozy, hole-in-thewall shop just east of Seventh Ave. opened in 1999.

When the eatery was shuttered several months back, a sign in the window said, “Sorry, we are closed for renovation.” But some wondered if it would be the latest local favorite to be run out of the area by increasing rents and another big chain store coming in.

On Instagram, a Yankees fan named Todd Hayes posted a photo of himself with a sad look in front of the shuttered Ghandi Cafe on Sept. 18. “Soul crushing....” he wrote, “all the way to Manhattan, cab ride to the West Village to eat at his favorite Indian place before the game... and CLOSED for renovations.”

But in mid-October a small sign appeared in the window, stating matterof-factly: “Ghandi Cafe, Inc. Re-Opening Soon.”

Sure enough, they are now back open, after a sleek redesign of the interior that feels more minimalist, with mostly white chairs, tables and walls.

But the menu is the same, thankfully, including personal favorites like mixed

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The Ghandi Cafe’s space is narrow but its taste is big.

PHOTO BY FA.RIAH / INSTAGRAM

Samosas and more tantalize at the Bleecker St. Anglo-Indian-st yle eater y.

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vegetable curry, chicken tikka, dhansak curry, which is cooked with lentils and spinach, and vegetable samosas. Other favorite dishes according to its menu on Seamless include chicken tikka masala, vindaloo curry and butter chicken, which is cooked with cream, almonds and butter. All dishes come with basmati rice.

When dining at the cafe, complimentary mukhwas is served at the end of the meal, with fennel seeds, some candy-coated, for a sweet meal capper and breath freshener.

Ghandi Cafe has generally positive reviews on social media, with one Instagram post from yum_inthecity writing next to a mouthwatering food pic with curry dishes, naan and rice: “Probably one of the best curry I’ve ever had in the city.”

On Facebook, Llajjaira Gomez wrote in a review, “I have been coming here for years, the food and service are still amazing!” And Robbie Hayes wrote, “Oh my, I stumbled upon this gem by chance and I’m so glad that I did. First impressions are it’s very small (narrow) but who cares about that, the service was impeccable. And as for the food, wow, it was absolutely fantastic. So tasty and fresh.”

Ghandi Cafe offers delivery, but be warned that it can sometimes take a very long time, even well over an hour, depending on how busy the place is.

More information can be found on its Web site, www.ghandicafe.org .

Januar y 3, 2019

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25

Real Estate

Starchitect Hadid’s $50M penthouse for sale

BY MARTHA WILKIE

R

emember when far West Chelsea was mostly warehouses and nightclubs, or as The New York Times put it in 1987, “the largely uninhabited far west”?

Today it’s transformed, thanks to an influx of galleries, which was followed later by an explosion of commercial and residential development — much of it spurred by the success of the High Line.

One of the most expensive and architecturally significant (the two decidedly don’t always go together) homes now for sale is the penthouse at 520 W. 28th St., a new residential building by famed architect Zaha Hadid.

When I studied architectural history in college, Zaha Hadid was a rock star.

Her designs swooped and flew in strikingly original, gravity-defying ways.

Hadid, who was born in Iraq, trained at the Architectural Association in London. She was the fi rst woman and fi rst Muslim to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize (along with many other prizes and honors) and became an international “starchitect.”

Most of her work isn’t residential, but rather large-scale major buildings — art museums, an opera house, an aquatics center for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The building at 520 W. 28th St. was Hadid’s fi rst, and sadly last, in New York City. She died during its construction, of a heart attack.

The 11-story building with 39 units has all the modern amenities, including a 75-foot lap pool, IMAX screening room and helpful robots, which (theoretically) will fetch your summer clothes from storage or arrange for a car.

Julie Lasky beautifully described the design in The New York Times in 2018: “Achieving the liquid effect of her architecture — the rounded corners and smooth, sculptured surfaces — takes skill and a pile of money. The bendy 520 West 28th Street facade was trimmed in 954 pieces of handcut and hand-ground stainless steel.

A lobby mural consists of elephantine slabs of marble carved with a water jet.”

Is one of the most ridiculously expensive apartments in the city actually that amazing?

Penthouse 37 is spread out over three levels, on 6,853 square feet, linked by a spectacular swirling staircase. It has five bedrooms, 6.5 baths, and a 2,218square-foot terrace with incredible views. The night I was there, it had just snowed, and the High Line was a

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Januar y 3, 2019

IMAGES COURTESY CORCORAN REALTY

The penthouse at Zaha Hadid’s 520 W. 28th St., next to the High Line, is spread over three levels.

The living room in the Zaha Hadid penthouse apar tment sits on the unit’s second level. The staircase at left winds up to the rooftop and also down to a lower floor.

really imagine who would live there.

Perhaps a rock star or foreign oligarch would use it as a pied-à-terre?

With five bedrooms, you’d think it’d be good for a family with lots of kids and dogs. But it’s hard to imagine spoiling that sleek, perfect look with the detritus of family life. Apartments like these seem to exist on a different plane, not for us mortals.

But if you’re interested in Penthouse 37 at 520 W. 28th St. — or just interested in looking — visit https: //w w w.corcoran.com /nyc-

magical, ghostly, pure white wonderland.

I loved the bathroom with its dramatic, huge white bathtub. And sitting in the big leather chair in the office made me feel like a titan of the business world. The living room was glamorous and I’d love to attend a fabulous party there.

But in the end, would I want to live there? No. I admire the design without fi nding it warm and welcoming or homey — which is what you want in a home. Or at least, I do. Actually I can’t TVG

real-estate/for-sale/chelsea-hudsony a r d s / 52 0 -w e s t-2 8 t h - s t r e e t- ap tph37/5590272 .

So what’s in West Chelsea for a bit less than $50 million?

In the glorious London Terrace Towers, which has been a Chelsea stalwart since 1929, here’s a nice studio co-op with a completely separate bedroom alcove for $565,000. I’d rather swim with my neighbors in an Olympic-size pool than alone in a lap pool. (https://w w w.elliman.com /newyork- cit y/465 -west-23 -street-12kmanhattan-ukvewlj) At 460 W. 23rd St., here’s a onebedroom, one-bath in the Chelsea Historic District with a gorgeous patio, wood-burning fi replace, and high-tech Google Home controls for $750,000. ( ht t p s : //w w w.c omp a ss. com / listing /460 -west-23rdstreet-u n it-br-ma n hatta n-ny10011/85447993662115697/) For rentals, a new building at 507 W. 28th St. offers a studio at $3,675 per month with use of a roof deck, pool, fitness room, recreation room and children’s play area. (https:// www.507westchelsea.com) And if you’re in need of a lovely furnished house in Chelsea, check out this wonderful kitchen in a four-story 1901 row house with a 400-squarefoot garden for $22,000 a month. (https://www.corcoran.com/nycreal-estate/for-rent/chelsea-hudsonyards/351-west-30th-street/5563946) Schneps Media

E3227<5 27@31B=@G TUXEDOS

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) 232-7273 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

SERVICES

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 Media

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