Chelsea Now - August 1, 2019

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Chelsea VOLUME 11, ISSUE 31

AUGUST 1, 2019

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

Peninsular park Gansevoort design features field — and beach! P. 6 COURTESY JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

A scheme for Gansevoor t Peninsula, in the Village’s nor thwest corner, includes a slightly undersized spor ts field, a park and more.

Hotel Chelsea check-in Renovation drags on as tenants dig in heels p. 8 PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

The years-long renovation project at the Hotel Chelsea continues as holdout tenants hang on to their apar tments.

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Hot spot ‘wrecked block’: Neighbors

BY GABE HERMAN

E

ven amid all the bustling nightlife in Soho, one restaurant in particular is causing a lot of local headaches.

Several neighbors say that for the past couple of years, Piccola Cucina, an Italian restaurant at 75 Thompson St., between Spring and Broome Sts., has hosted loud parties, often late into the night that spill out onto the sidewalks.

Locals say the big parties can include singing, clapping, cheering and even banging pots and pans.

This is despite the June 2016 resolution by Community Board 2 for the place’s liquor license, which stipulated that music must be kept inside, at a background level, and that there would be no promoted events or use as a nightclub, lounge or tavern.

One neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said the restaurant is listed on a party Web site, and one night she saw a big white bus from New Jersey pull up and let a group into the restaurant. It was labeled “party bus” and sat outside the restaurant with the engine idling for hours.

“It’s like a club scene,” said Natalie Swan, another neighbor. “The party scene is their trademark. It’s what brings people in, what they’re known for.”

Piccola Cucina installed big glass doors facing the sidewalk, which the C.B. 2 resolution stipulated must be closed by 10 p.m. every night. But neighbors say the doors often stay open later and let music blast out to the street and nearby apartments.

TEQUILA MINSKY

A group outside Piccola Cucina on a recent Friday around 11 p.m.

who asked to remain anonymous. The C.B. 2 resolution called for the restaurant to close by midnight every night of the week.

Residents say the business leaves garbage cans out front, causing the area to stink, and the sidewalks are often filthy after a night of partying at the place.

Locals told similar stories of talking with the owner and getting a dismissive attitude about their complaints.

The C.B. 2 district manager did not respond to questions about whether

“It’s a loud, boisterous establishment,” said Christine Calabrese, who also lives nearby. She said there could sometimes be multiple birthday parties — as many as three or four — there in one evening.

Calabrese and others described large groups that end up outside on the sidewalk, blocking pedestrians and forcing them to walk in the street, and smoking and leaving cigarette butts everywhere.

The parties can sometimes go until 2 a.m., according to another neighbor,

the community board is aware of complaints about Piccola Cucina.

When the restaurant was contacted by this paper about the neighbors’ complaints, a manager responded with a message from “Piccola Cucina Group” that said when music is played there during weekend parties, it’s always with the doors closed.

“We always keep cleaned and peaceful our space,” the response said.

The message added that people smoking outside or being drunk, plus all of the garbage on the street, is not coming from Piccola Cucina.

“There are a lot of problems in the neighborhood,” the restaurant group said.

Several neighbors said that repeated calls to 311 were useless and that it typically would take hours before police responded to the scene to address the conditions.

Another neighbor, Tequila Minsky, who is a contributor to this paper, has been in touch with a Neighborhood Coordination Officer (N.C.O.) at the First Precinct regarding the restaurant.

Around July 10, the officer said that he spoke with the place’s manager about closing the doors and windows and ensuring that the sidewalk was passable. The manager reportedly said she also would speak to the night managers about these issues.

The N.C.O. told Minsky that police would continue to monitor the situation and that an open dialogue with the restaurant would continue. And he said if there is still no progress, he would see what enforcement action could be taken.

Adios, Ricky! Puerto Rico’s governor resigns

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELLDOMENECH

G

overnor Ricardo Roselló announced his resignation late Wednesday night in a video posted on Facebook.

His resignation comes after mass public outcry on the island and impending impeachment proceedings.

Three attorneys commissioned by Carlos Mendez Nunez, the president of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, found five different offenses meriting impeachment. According to The Daily Beast, the offenses include illicitly using public resources and services for partisan purposes and allowing contractors and officials to misuse public funds.

In the live-streamed message, Roselló said that his resignation would take effect Fri., Aug. 2.

The governor’s resignation comes after two weeks of mass protests on the Schneps Media

They waved Puerto Rican flags, chanted, danced, banged on pots and pans, played panderos and guiros (tambourines and gourds) and danced, calling on the beleaguered governor to abdicate and to support those back on the island. Two other solidarity protests were held at Union Square the week before, with each protest larger than the last.

“The blanket of fear has been removed and people are coming together,” said Power Malu, from NY Boricua Resistance, one of the groups that organized solidarity protests in the city.

“This is not something new. This is a decades-long situation,” said Malu, a Lower East Sider, referring to political corruption and hardships the island has endured because of its colonial status.

Monday’s protest, lasting more than three hours, ended in dancing and chanting at Grand Central Station after protesters marched in the pouring rain waving flags, chanting, and in one case,

island that saw an unprecedented number of people take to the streets. Islanders rode on motorcycles, horseback, jet skis and even took over a cruise ship in order to call on the embattled governor to step down. His announcement late on the evening of July 24 makes him the first governor to resign in the island’s history.

Protests were sparked after Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism leaked 889 pages of text messages between Governor Roselló, cabinet members and 11 advisers that included homophobic and misogynistic remarks.

The texts came shortly after two members of Roselló’s administration were arrested by the F.B.I. in connection with a corruption scandal.

Solidarity protests have also taken place around the globe. The most recent rally in New York City, on Mon., July 22, saw hundreds of members of the Puerto Rican diaspora and allies gather at Columbus Circle in the rain.

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thrusting wooden machetes in the air.

Their cries of “Ricky renuncia y llevate la junta” (“Ricky resign and take the board with you,” “the board” referring to the Financial Oversight and Management Board) and “Yo soy Boricua pa’que tu lo sepas” (“I’m a Boricua so that you know”) could not be silenced.

The procession of protesters won supportive cheers from onlookers as they battled the rain.

Governor Roselló said that his successor would be Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez, whom Puerto Ricans are calling on to resign, as well, due to corruption allegations. Vázquez is next in line because of the secretary of state’s resignation last week. Protests on the island continue.

“I hope that the people of Puerto Rico truly get their voice and get the opportunity to choose whoever they want to represent them,” Malu said.

“This is an opportunity for Puerto Rico to imagine their future.”

August 1, 2019

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Police Blotter her back. The man then fled through the turnstiles and to the street, heading in an unknown direction.

Anyone with information should contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline.

SIXTH PRECINCT

Woman mugged There was a late-night attack and robbery on Grove St., in the West Village, on Mon., July 22, according to police.

At 11:55 p.m., a 24-yearold woman was entering 26 Grove St., between Bedford and Bleecker Sts., when an unknown man grabbed her by the neck and forced her to the ground.

The mugger took the woman’s backpack, containing her cell phone, $40 and credit cards.

The robber then fled in an unknown direction. The woman suffered minor injuries to her lower back in the incident.

Police released a surveillance image of a man wanted for the robbery. Anyone with information should call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips can also be submitted on the CrimeStoppers Web site at WWW. NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @ NYPDTips. All tips are strictly confidential.

NINTH PRECINCT

Followed her in Police said that on Fri., July 26, around 1:45 a.m., a stranger followed a 21-year-old woman inside her building, in the vicinity of Avenue A and E. 12th St., and continued to follow her to her apartment. He then forcefully pushed his way inside her apartment and threw her to the ground.

The New York Post reported that the woman was returning from the store.

But the man fled the location after hearing the victim’s roommate in the apartment. He was last seen fleeing on foot in the vicinity of 11th St. and First Ave. There were no reported injuries or property taken during the incident.

The suspect is described as an adult black male, with a slim build, brown eyes, a beard and a short black afro.

He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweat jacket, black pants, a white T-shirt, black sneakers and carrying a black backpack.

Anyone with information should contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline.

10TH PRECINCT

Deli knife There was an assault inside the Deli Market, at 200 W. 40th St., between Seventh and Eighth Aves., on Wed., July 3, police said.

Around 8:40 p.m., a 27-year-old man was buying items, when another man stabbed him in the abdomen.

The attacker then fled in an unknown direction. There was no reason given for the attack.

The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Police released surveillance images of the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

Tunnel vision

13TH PRECINCT

A man stole a pair of $480 sunglasses from Nieman Marcus, at 20 Hudson Yards, last month, according to a police report. On Thurs., July 25, at 4:45 p.m., surveillance showed a man taking a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses and then leaving the store. The next day, Nelson Oscasio, 63, was arrested for petit larceny.

The same man was arrested after stealing another pair of sunglasses from a different store in the Hudson Yards area, on the same day he was arrested for the Nieman Marcus theft, according to a police report.

An employee said that on Sat., July 26, around 5:40 p.m., inside Fendi, at 500 W. 33rd St., at Tenth Ave., a man walked into the place, grabbed a pair of sunglasses and stuffed them inside his shirt. The shoplifter then left the store with the Fendi sunglasses, valued at $515.

Surveillance-video footage was available. Nelson Oscasio was arrested on July 26 for petit larceny, again.

Sidewalk assault There was an early-morning assault and robbery last week on E. 23rd St., according to police.

On Tues., July 23, at 6:10 a.m., a 34year-old man was walking west along the street, when a man demanded money and threw him to the ground.

The stranger then punched the victim several times in the face and took his cell phone, along with $200 and credit cards.

The attacker fled east along 23rd St. The victim suffered cuts to the left side of his face.

Anyone with information should contact the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline.

Subway sleezo Police said they are looking for a man in connection with a forcible touching incident in the subway in late June.

On Thurs., June 27, at 3:25 p.m., a 20-year-old woman was riding a Downtown R train through the Union Square train station, when she saw a man playing with his exposed privates, according to police.

The woman then left the train at Union Square. The man followed her up the platform staircase, lifted up her skirt and placed his private parts on

MIDTOWN NORTH

In-home robbery A man was robbed in his apartment building at 49th St. and Ninth Ave., according to a police report.

On Thurs., July 11, around 7:05 a.m., a 30-year-old man was inside his

apartment, when he was approached by an unidentified man who asked for money. After the victim refused, the man punched him in the face and took his cell phone, before fleeing in an unknown direction.

The victim suffered cuts to his nose and hand, and treated by EMS at the scene.

Police did not say how the mugger got inside the victim’s apartment.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers.

MIDTOWN SOUTH

Kimchi creepy There was a forcible touching incident last month inside the Food Gallery 32, a food court at 11 W. 32nd St., between Fifth Ave. and Broadway, in the Koreatown area, according to police.

On Sun., June 23, around 10 p.m., a man touched a 23-year-old woman’s buttocks. When the woman confronted him, the man smiled at her and walked out of the location. He then fled on foot westbound on 32nd St. The man was last seen inside of the 34th St./Herald Square subway station.

Anyone with information should contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline.

19TH PRECINCT

Straphanger masturbator Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man wanted for exposing himself on the train.

According to police, on July 24, around 1:45 a.m., a 33-year-old man on the 6 train witnessed a fellow passenger masturbating. The witness detrained from the car at E. 86th St. and then notified police about the incident.

The subway creep remained on the subway.

Anyone with information should contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline.

Gabe Herman and Alejandra O’ConnellDomenech

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Field of dreams (how big?) at Gansevoort the north and south edges of the 19thcentury landfill; the recently installed Spectra high-pressure gas pipeline, and the Fire Department road and turnaround that has to accommodate the largest fire trucks, which connects to the fireboat station at Gansevoort’s northwestern corner.

As currently conceived, the park would include a ball field with artificial turf in the center of the space, oriented east-west and elevated somewhat above the level of the manmade peninsula. The building housing the M&O, restrooms and concession would be on the inland side and broken into three separate low-slung structures to allow for views between them, with a single green roof above. To the north the designers envision a series of salt marsh “nooks”; the unavoidable

BY MICHELE HERMAN

V

acant 5.5-acre chunks of prime Manhattan landfill with river views on three sides don’t come along often. I went to a Community Board 2 presentation at the Greenwich Village Middle School, at 75 Morton St., last week to learn more about what’s in store for the one at Gansevoort Peninsula near the northwestern edge of the Village.

This rectangular parcel that juts into the Hudson is in the process of becoming part of Hudson River Park now that the Department of Sanitation facilities that used to sit on it have been demolished.

Needless to say, different constituencies are drooling at the possibilities being presented by the new section of the park. Actually, to judge by those in the audience of roughly 100 who spoke up during the question-and-answer period after the presentation, there are mostly two constituencies: the large, well-organized school soccer-team community (parents, coaches, league directors and after-school program organizers) fighting for the biggest possible ball field, and assorted others quietly advocating on behalf of passive green space.

Some things at C.B. 2 never change.

The faces of the soccer proponents were mostly new since I last attended a meeting, but their ardor was the same as ever. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the civil, even good-natured tone of the meeting.

The first brave, witty soul to speak out for passive green space began his statement by saying, “Can I risk being lynched?” The second said to the soccer people, “I know you’ll win, but a ball field is exclusionary. I’m advocating for everyone else. As we teach our kids: You have to share.”

The Hudson River Park Trust, the park’s governing state-city authority, hired James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture firm known for connecting city dwellers to nature and for integrating culture and history into its designs, to come up with a concept.

Field Operations’ presentation followed up on the initial one in March, with a third scheduled for Sept. 4. The design process is somewhere in the middle stages, which means there is a basic concept and many lovely color sketches, but still some wiggle room as the designers continue to refine the concept and respond to community feedback. According to Noreen Doyle, the Trust’s executive vice president, Gansevoort’s construction budget of $50 million is in place and the building of the park is expected to take one and a half to two years.

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COURTESY JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

A rendering of the “Upper Beach” at Gansevoor t, playing paddle ball and relaxing in view of David Hammons’s “Day’s End” sculpture.

A space of 5.5 acres (an acre smaller than Union Square) may seem like a lot, but Lisa Tziona Switkin, senior principal at Field Operations, explained that the designers and engineers have to work with a large number of conditions and givens. The givens include passive recreation, no commercial uses or development, a beach, a maintenanceand-operations building, a comfort station, a concession and a permanent art installation by David Hammons — sponsored by the Whitney Museum of American Art — that is at once enormous and unobtrusive, because it’s a stainless-steel ghost frame of the pier shed that once stood on the peninsula’s southern edge.

The conditions consist of unexpectedly lively wave action on Gansevoort’s south side, as revealed by underwater modeling, which makes the dream of an actual sand beach unachievable. Instead there will likely be sand yielding to new riprap (loosely packed rocks or concrete chunks) at the shoreline. Other conditions include the C.S.O. regulator (the underground sewage drainage system); unstable soil (the technical term, Switkin explained, is “pudding”) on both

COURTESY JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

A rendering of Gansevoor t Peninsula redeveloped with a park and spor ts field, viewed from the southwest.

fire road leading to the Fire Department boat stationhouse, softened with lawns and gardens; an outdoor “gym” with exercise equipment, and a dog run that, at 250 feet, would actually be long enough for running. To the west there would be furniture — including seating — and trees, a rolling lawn for sunset views and a picnic grove. To the south there would be kayak access (though no rentals), tidal pools for education and exploration, and the beach. Switkin said she hopes some of the trees would be willows, which can thrive in CNW

sandy soil.

The aforementioned wiggle room in the design comes down mostly to the size of the ball field. As young soccer players grow, they require bigger fields, with designations that correspond to kids’ ages. There is plenty of room on Gansevoort for baseball and for two U-10 (“under age 10”) soccer practice fields. One U-11 fits comfortably, and one U-12 fits. The trouble is that a U-13 field — which is full size for middleand high-school kids but still not big enough for regulation playoffs — does not fit on the peninsula without cutting into some of the passive features and probably eliminating the space for the outdoor gym.

The soccer supporters are pushing hard for the largest field. Jacqui Getz, principal of the 75 Morton middle school, wrote a letter of support, noting the school will be adding an additional grade in the fall for a total of 900 students.

“We have no access to a field; there’s a shortage,” Getz wrote. “Kids commute two hours [back and forth] to East River Park to play an hour of sports.

We urge the full-sized field so we can serve the local community.”

Others chimed in with evermore dire statistics. There are only four U-13 fields in the city. There are only three gyms Downtown to serve nine schools.

Those fields are booked seven days a week for 10 hours, so overused that they have become unhygienic. Downtown Soccer League will have to turn kids away for the first time.

What’s more, virtually all those overbooked fields are slated to close soon for work or renovation. East River Park, with its playing fields, is expected to be off limits for four years due the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. Meanwhile, the figure being tossed around for the eventual redevelopment of Pier 40, at W. Houston St., with its huge playing field, is eight years.

Switkin and Doyle both took pains to assure the audience that the U-13 option is on the table.

“We are not trying to be evasive,” Switkin said. “The large field is an option but it’s not as fully developed yet.

We are hoping for consensus tonight.”

There were also many questions about drainage of the field, since Gansevoort Peninsula flooded during Hurricane Sandy, and the artificial turf fields at Pier 40 get soaked and unusable when it rains.

Sounding like a prophet, Kevin Quinn, the Trust’s senior vice president, said, “This field will drain, so help me.”

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Hotel work drags on, tenants hold on

BY CARY ABR AMS

T

he Hotel Chelsea, constructed over a roughly two-year period between 1883 and 1884, was founded on the principles of Charles Fourier, a 19th-century French philosopher. Fourier espoused the utopian ideas of creating a cooperative community on the ideals of trust, caring and mutual support among its members.

Though lacking such a well-defined set of philosophical beliefs, Stanley Bard, whose father bought an ownership stake in the hotel in 1947, was a major influence in continuing Fourier’s legacy at the hotel. Under Bard, the hotel further increased its reputation as a bohemian refuge, a place where artists and creative types flocked, congregated, lived their lives, created masterpieces and formed a family of sorts.

The rows of brass plaques gracing the hotel’s entrance honoring celebrated former residents attest to this fact.

Bard began working at the hotel as a plumber’s assistant in 1957, and assumed the reins as manager and part owner in 1964 when his father died.

Over the next 40-plus years, Bard managed to create a truly unique venue, unlike any other in America. He supported the creative types who flocked to the hotel, be they guests or those who chose to make the place their permanent home.

Many artists describe how Stanley Bard allowed them to stay on, even as the amount of rent they owed grew.

The hotel’s lobby and walls became a gallery of artwork traded for back rent, bartered or given to Bard out of love and generosity by resident artists.

In a shocking coup of sorts, minority co-owners ousted the Bard family from their management role on June 20, 2007. Ira Drukier of BD Hotels, who was part of the group unseating Bard, remarked that, “with a little work, the Chelsea can once again become a crown jewel of New York City.”

The last 12 years have witnessed an epic struggle, a fable of the forces struggling in the transformation taking place in New York City.

Certainly, the new owners imagined they would be able to clean house, rapidly evict the many long-term tenants who made the hotel their home, quickly renovate the building, and capitalize on its cultural cachet and historic significance. Yet, the tenants banded together, organized, retained legal representation, and ultimately won their right to remain in their homes under the New York State tenants’ rights laws.

The owners have struggled, as well, with ownership changing hands three times during the dozen years. Cost overruns, work stoppages, lengthy delays, and the fact that the hotel remains occupied have made the renovation process appear endless.

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August 1, 2019

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

While the renovation effor t continues, the Hotel Chelsea’s entrance is closed, with a temporar y entr y way located to the east.

More than 40 tenants have remained.

They say they have survived through more than a decade of harassment, along with uncertainty as to their status, noise, dust, pollution, mice, leaks, loss of electricity, floods, lack of elevator service and possible asbestos exposure. Against all odds, they endure.

On July 30, 2011, guests were informed the hotel would be closed for a year for renovation. Eight years later, the building’s facade remains clad in scaffolding, as renovation continues.

Declared a New York City landmark in 1966, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, the distinctive Victorian Gothic, red-brick facade with flower-ornamented iron balconies is protected, while jackhammers wreak havoc within. The longawaited early-2019 promised hotel reopening date has come and passed.

Certainly, the owners hope to capitalize on the hotel’s magical name, its cachet, its power as a place where so many works of genius were created. Jim Georgiou, a former resident of the hotel who was evicted when the new owners assumed the reins, realized this fact, when he astutely preserved 52 doors from hotel rooms that were being discarded in dumpsters outside the hotel.

Georgiou convinced Guernsey’s Auction Gallery of the importance of these

artifacts, and individual doors sold for up to $100,000 at their May 2018 auction, which drew worldwide attention.

Georgiou is a passionate advocate for the history of the hotel, as he speaks eloquently on the sense of love, trust and community he experienced while living at the hotel.

In speaking to tenants for this article, I sensed a kind of weariness. Fatigue has set in among them, which is understandable. Perhaps the tenants and current owners have struck a kind of truce, accepting the hotel’s transformation, its next incarnation. One longterm tenant, a writer and curator, when asked about the current status of the hotel, responded, “I no longer discuss the Chelsea Hotel.”

The renowned artist Phillip Taaffe, his wife, Gretchen Carlson, and their children remain in their ninth-floor apartment, the same one that was noted composer Virgil Thompson’s home from 1940 until his death in 1989. One of the few apartments not chopped up into smaller units during the Depression, it stands as a relic of the hotel’s former grandeur, with much of its original architectural detail still in place.

Suzanne Lipschutz, a famed decorator and antiques dealer, a.k.a. Second Hand Rose, faced the daunting task of moving apartments to facilitate the renCNW

ovation. Her unique wallpaper-decorated home disappeared, as she worked her magic anew in her new space.

Ed Hamilton is the in-house Chelsea Hotel chronicler, who maintains the informative blog Living With Legends.

The blog provides a daily record of people and events at the hotel. Hamilton also wrote a book-length history of the hotel, “Legends of the Chelsea Hotel.”

He continues to live there with his wife, Debbie Martin, in the 220-square-foot S.R.O. (single-room occupancy) unit, sans kitchen — they share a hall toilet — that they first moved into in 1995.

And Lola Schnabel remains in the apartment first rented by her father, noted artist Julian Schnabel.

Passionate Chelsea Hotel advocate Artie Nash remains in Room 205, Dylan Thomas’s former home when in New York. A sign on his window facing W. 23rd St. still proclaims, “Bring Back the Bards.”

Stanley Bard’s art collection, including work by Christo, Larry Rivers, Phillip Taaffe and Tom Wesselman, was auctioned in May 2017. Sadly, Bard died in February 2017, in Florida, far from the hotel he lovingly managed.

Yet, the current owners promise to return the artwork that once graced the hotel walls, and promise to honor the hotel’s vaunted history.

And Dan Courtenay, who runs Chelsea Guitars — a mainstay, occupying one of the hotel’s storefronts for nearly 30 years — has been allowed to remain.

And a friend related that the room where Vali Myers, the noted Australian visionary artist who lived at the hotel part of each year, would be allowed to stay as a shrine of sorts to her, as she had left it at her death in 2003.

Meanwhile, longtime tenants fought the owners’ attempt to establish a rooftop bar. El Quijote, the well-known ground-floor Spanish restaurant, which operated in the hotel for 80 years and closed last year, is slated to reopen.

The current team of owners, Richard Born, Ira Drukier and Sean Macpherson, appear intent on completing the renovation and reopening the hotel.

Certainly, the marketing efforts will look to capitalize on the hotel’s rich past. In our celebrity-conscious age, surely, many will seek to bed down in the room where Dylan wrote “SadEyed Lady of the Lowlands,” the fabled bed where Leonard Cohen had his tryst with Janis Joplin, the space where Andy Warhol filmed “The Chelsea Girls.”

The more macabre types will request the suite where Sid Vicious secured his place in infamy.

Whether these artists’ spirits have been chased off by the din of jackhammers and clouds of dust remains to be determined. Certainly, the presence of the remaining long-term hotel tenants will do much to ensure some connection to the hotel’s storied past.

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August 1, 2019

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Union Square Community Coalition presents:

Drawing in Union Square with Jon Rettich, local artist Second Sunday of each month, July through September, 1–4 pm

SUNDAY AUG. 11TH & SEPT. 8TH FROM 1–4 PM Bring your own sketch materials (In a pinch we’ll have some supplies you can use.)

Bring a stool for your convenience or use park benches.

Bring water to hydrate.

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

The sign of an anti-vaccination protester who made it into the rent-laws town hall.

‘Anti-vaxxers’ try to mob rent forum

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELLDOMENECH

A

round 150 “anti-vaxxer” protesters jammed the N.Y.U. College of Dentistry lobby last Wednesday evening — trying to get into a town hall on rent laws.

The July 24 event was intended as an opportunity for the public to learn more about the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. On hand to answer questions were state Senators Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger, Assemblymembers Harvey Epstein and Deborah Glick, and Councilmembers Keith Powers, Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers.

But the phalanx of protesters were there instead to decry a bill passed this year ending nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations in schools. The protesters also railed against a bill proposed by Krueger that would allow teenagers as young as 14 to be vaccinated without parental consent.

Though some of the protesters were able to enter the auditorium, many were held outside by police or stayed outside the building. The sound of people pushing against the auditorium door and shouts of “Let us in!” occasionally interrupted the forum.

Protesters who made it inside periodically shouted out, booed and asked, “What about our children?” at legislators as they answered questions, before being hushed and told to “get their own event” by others trying to learn about the new tenant protections.

The bill banning nonmedical vac-

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ALL LEVELS WELCOME. FREE TO ALL. Location: Gandhi Statue For more information call: 212-613-6235

Hope to see you there!

cination exemptions was sponsored

by Hoylman in the state Senate and Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz and signed into law in mid-June. It repealed a section of New York State public health law that allowed parents or guardians who hold “genuine and sincere religious beliefs” against vaccinations to forgo immunizing their school-age children.

“This is an anti-religion bill, antifamily bill and anti-constitutional,” said one of the protesters, a member of New York Alliance for Vaccine Rights. A New York judge recently rejected a try to block the law in a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

The protester said she traveled from her home on Long Island just to protest at the town hall, and that she and other alliance members — in an attempt to repeal the law — were planning to protest at every future public appearance of any of the politicians who voted in support of the bill.

The push to end nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations in New York came after measles outbreaks in Brooklyn and Rockland County, in predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities that had been reluctant to vaccinate their children, in part due to “anti-vaxxer” propaganda claiming the vaccines cause autism and are made from aborted fetal cells, according to The New York Times.

Since last September, there have been 637 confirmed cases of measles in New York City and 372 confirmed cases elsewhere in the state.

UnionSquareParkCommunityCoalition.org

Do you know THESE MEN?

Edward Pipala

Francis Stinner

Gennaro “Jerry” Gentile

If you have information regarding alleged abuse or its cover-up involving these men, CONTACT US.

The NY Child Victims Act may be able to help you!

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52 Duane Street, 7th Floor New York, NY 10007

August 1, 2019

11

Guest Editorial

A childcare revolution

BY SCOTT STRINGER

F

or too many New Yorkers, the American Dream is slipping further and further away. The affordability crisis we’re currently facing is fueled by many factors. But the cost of childcare — which can be more than $21,000 a year for an infant — is one major driver that must be tackled with every tool we have.

A single mother with a full-time $15 minimum-wage job would have to spend more than two-thirds of her income for a market-rate slot in a childcare center (serving children up to age 3), leaving her with less than $850 a month for rent, to put food on the table, pay medical bills and meet other basic needs. A mere 7 percent of families with infants and toddlers in the city get any government support to offset those soaring costs.

In fact, half of our city’s neighborhoods are “childcare deserts,” with a ratio of childcare capacity to children of less than 20 percent. Compared to the other boroughs, Manhattan has among the fewest neighborhoods that meet that definition. However, higher-income communities, like Gramercy and Chelsea, have a higher supply of childcare centers while lower-income communities tend to have access to more family daycare providers, generally a more affordable option for families. In Washington Heights, there are only enough center spaces for 1 percent of neighborhood children under 2.

Research shows 80 percent of brain development occurs before age 3, so it is imperative that, during these critical years, every child has a chance to succeed.

That’s why I unveiled NYC Under 3 to deliver the largest local investment in childcare in the United States for families with children under age 3 and to bring the childcare tab down to zero for families who need the most support. Because, in the richest city in the richest country in the world, every family should have access to quality affordable childcare. Together with state Senator Brad Hoylman, Queens state Senator Jessica Ramos and Brooklyn Assemblymember Latrice Walker, we’re proud to have introduced legislation to make this investment possible.

NYC Under 3 would triple the number of infants and toddlers in publicly-funded care from about 23,000 to 84,000 and empower roughly 20,000 parents — mostly mothers — to join or re-enter the workforce, injecting an additional $540 million a year in wages to our city’s economy.

Let’s open doors, so that every child in every community has a fair chance.

PHOTO BY ROBERT OTTER

This photo, looking east along Bleecker St., shows the Bleecker St. Cinema and Washington Square Village, in the background, to the east of LaGuardia Place. The “superblock” apartment complex — today owned by New York University — was built in the late 1950s, while the 1959 film “Room at the Top” is billed as a “classic” on the theater marquee, which, combined with the vintage cars, likely dates the photo to the 1960s. The Bleecker St. Cinema went out of business on Sept. 6, 1990.

Stringer is New York City Comptroller.

STORY: “‘Anti-vaxxers’ try to mob rent laws forum” (posted on thevillager.com 7/29/19) Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER CEO & CO-PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF REPORTER CONTRIBUTORS

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12

August 1, 2019

SUMMARY: More than 150 protesters — decrying the New York State Legislature’s removal of the religious exemption for childhood vaccinations — tried to crash an Upper East Side town hall meeting hosted by local politicians about the recent changes to the state’s rent laws. Only a few protesters made it inside the crowded forum, but they were disruptive and prevented tenants from learning fully about the rent laws.

VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS LINCOLN ANDERSON GABE HERMAN MICHELE HERMAN BOB KRASNER TEQUILA MINSKY MARY REINHOLZ PAUL SCHINDLER JOHN NAPOLI MARCOS RAMOS CLIFFORD LUSTER (718) 260-2504 CLUSTER@CNGLOCAL.COM MARVIN ROCK GAYLE GREENBURG JIM STEELE JULIO TUMBACO ELIZABETH POLLY

REACH: 326 as of 7/31/19.

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Op-Ed

Hudson Yards: Bigbucks panic room

BY MATTHEW SZULMAN

N

ew York is famously known for its fast-changing landscape, and the newly reinvented Hudson Yards, located in Midtown Manhattan, is no exception. After a few short years of planning and construction, Hudson Yards is up and running.

New Yorkers with deep, eight-figure pockets can finally find their dream one-bedroom for a cool $4.3 million. Penthouses go for up to $32 million to buy, and if you’re inclined to rent, a two-bedroom apartment goes for $9,000 a month. But what makes this different from other billionaire enclaves?

For starters, $25 billion — including $6 billion in tax breaks and government assistance — was allocated to create this city-within-a-city. Along with being nicknamed the “New West Side,” Hudson Yards has developed itself into the 1%’s Fortress of Solitude. The other 99% are free to wander around the streets — gaping and gazing in wonder at the beauty of it all.

The way we view safety and climate in recent years has given rise to how city planners build their cities, forcing designers to create more intricate ways of shielding the public from manmade and natural disasters. In the case of Hudson Yards, changes aren’t cosmetic; rather, they are infrastructural.

The ones responsible for these dramatic changes are Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the architecture firm that oversaw the project, and designer Thomas Heatherwick, who prioritized safety above all else for its wealthy tenants. Designed to be virtually impenetrable, the neighborhood is expertly crafted to ward off superstorms and terrorist attacks.

Hudson Yards’ engineers wanted the complex to be adequately prepared in diverting every conceivable issue their buildings could face. This includes an intricate electrical system that could still operate during a blackout, as well as an internal rainwater collection system that can gather and redirect water accumulated during floods to avoid property damage.

Superstorm Sandy in 2012 caused tenants and property buyers in Manhattan to be more cautious about where they rent and own their retail spaces and homes. Hudson Yards’ architects are well aware of this concern and, therefore, built their mechanical systems on higher floors. And they installed stormproof submarine doors that can be sealed to stave off the aforementioned flood damage.

Starting to sound vaguely familiar? Sounds like a giant panic room, no? It’s not your average apartment complex, no matter what angle you look at it from.

Hudson Yards includes its own private power plant, so office lights and computers can remain on even during a city outage. The buildings have been built several stories above ground and sea level, significantly mitigating flood risks.

Hmm…self-contained apartments above sea level that only the superrich can access and be safe in from doom… .

The makers of Hudson Yards are at least doing one thing right by striving toward environmental protection. Waste chutes are installed in the development’s residential buildings that separate occupants’ trash, recyclables and organic waste, and its kitchens are equipped with choppers and grinders to further reduce food waste.

Perhaps the city’s wealthy are holding their cards close to their chest and going into survival mode. Their response to a potential apocalypse is a sad-but-true reminder that rich can avert disaster while the rest of us fend for ourselves.

Szulman is a Brooklyn resident and P.R./content coordinator at Passfeed, an online social shopping app.

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Letters to the Editor Pack it in, Blaz!

To The Editor: Re “Hey, Bill! Can the campaign” (editorial, July 25): Mayor Bill de Blasio for president belongs in the comics section.

Democrats Governor Andrew Cuomo and de Blasio have a lot in common with the late Republicans Governor Nelson Rockefeller and New York City Mayor John Lindsay, along with Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The same is true for the late Democrat Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor Ed Koch.

Cuomo, like his father Mario, Rockefeller and Pataki, and de Blasio, like Lindsay and Guiliani, will never come close to winning any primaries, let alone the White House.

Better to spend your time packing, Bill, for moving back to your old Park Slope, Brooklyn, home when your term ends in December 2021.

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

A homemade kayak over turned — but it was a good day for a dunk — at the Cit y of Water Day cardboard kayak race under the Brooklyn Bridge’s Manhattan side on July 13. The Water front Alliance and South St. Seapor t Museum were among organizers of the harbor-wide day of events, sponsored by Howard Hughes Corporation.

Fire Island, Paul stated his final wishes. He said he wanted to be cremated and his ashes rolled up in a joint to be smoked by his friends.

Larry Penner

‘Angel’ on Ave. A To The Editor: Re “‘Angel’ buyer saves E. 10th St. Boys’ Club house” (news article, July 25): I represent an affordable housing group in the Lower East Side and send our deepest appreciation to whoever, in his or her private life, provided this exceptional action on behalf of the community.

For those of us who cannot, but have the will to do something similar for our community, we thank you.

Herman Hewitt Hewitt is president of the board of directors, Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association.

Smoke ’im if you got ’im To The Editor: Re “Paul Krassner, 87, Yippies co-founder, editor” (obituary, July 25): I knew Paul Krassner. Your reporter Mary Reinholz wrote a great obit that totally captured this unique character.

In the summer of ’69 on

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Emily J. Goodman Goodman is a retired New York State Supreme Court justice.

Alan Flacks

Martial arts good for girls

No KrassnerTrump link To The Editor: Re “Paul Krassner, 87, Yippies co-founder, editor” (obituary, July 25): I must take issue with the notion that counterculture pranksterism paved the way for post-truth Trumpism.

What Krassner did was real satire — not fake news.

It is obvious that Trump represents the backlash against the cultural and political advances of the ’60s. He is using Hitler’s Big Lie technique. Krassner and the Yippies were tweaking those in power with biting satire. They are opposites.

Rex Weiner was an early inspiration. I read his great stuff in High Times as a teen. But he is reading this one wrong.

Bill Weinberg

Kallos will roll To The Editor: Re “Kallos/D.O.T.

safety forum draws 3” (news article, July 25): Ben Kallos will organize a better turnout as Manhattan borough president. And he’ll have those helmets, always a draw and a real safety gift.

bike-

To The Editor: “Dr. Sutton on keeping girls in sports” (Youth and Education article, July 25): Martial arts trained my neuromuscular system so that, as I age, I can wake muscles up quickly. It trained me in self-discipline and concentration, and the competition was mainly with myself, my own ability. I cannot recommend martial arts enough for girls (and boys, too).

Lynn Pacifico

E-mail letters, maximum 250 words, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-2292790 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.

August 1, 2019

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PROGRESS REPORT

A historic year for New York State

BY BR AD HOYLMAN

but it took the new Senate Democratic majority to pass legislation I carried with Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal that the Republicans blocked for years: S.2440, the Child Victims Act, which allows people who were sexually abused as children to seek justice against their abusers.

The TRUST Act: Last month, Governor Cuomo signed into law my bill S.5072A, the TRUST Act, which enables New York to furnish state tax returns of elected officials — including the president of the United States — to requesting congressional committees.

Protecting Hudson River Park: A bill I sponsored with Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, S.6281A, will help Hudson River Park save millions in insurance costs in the wake of the Oct. 31, 2017, terror attack on the Hudson River bikeway and spend more on the green spaces we love, by requiring New York to indemnify the park for any lawsuits that arise out of incidents that occur along the Route 9A bikeway and greenway adjacent to the park.

Banning floating billboards: Another bill that I sponsored with Assemblymember Gottfried, S.6541A, bans floating digital billboards from the state’s navigable waters, including the Hudson and East rivers.

U

nder the new Senate Democratic majority, the 2019 legislative session was one of the most transformative sessions in New York State history, positively impacting many people in our district.

We enacted historic protections for tenants; protected our environment by passing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act; protected abortion rights by enacting the Reproductive Health Act; expanded the lifesaving school speed-camera program; addressed our imbalanced criminal justice system by reforming our discovery and speedy trial laws, eliminating cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, and decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana; reformed our electoral process by authorizing early voting and closing the LLC loophole; took action to prevent gun violence by creating Extreme Risk Protection Orders and banning bump stocks and ghost guns; strengthened laws prohibiting sexual harassment and protecting equal pay in the workplace; passed the DREAM Act to make undocumented students eligible for financial aid; and stood up to President Trump’s politically motivated

COURTESY BRAD HOYLMAN’S OFFICE

State Senator Brad Hoylman, center, with A ssemblymember Richard Gottfried, to the left of him, standing with tenant activists.

pardons by closing the “double jeopardy” loophole.

The state Senate passed 53 bills for which I was the lead sponsor. I’d like to tell you about some of them.

The Child Victims Act: The former Senate Republican majority talked a big game about protecting crime victims,

L.G.B.T.Q. legislation: Thanks to the new Senate Majority, the Senate passed its first L.G.B.T.Q.-specific legislation since the 2011 Marriage Equality Act. Bills I sponsored that passed both houses include S.1047 (GENDA), which I sponsored with Assemblymember Gottfried and prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression and covers transgender people under the hate crime statute; S.1046, which I sponsored with Assemblymember Deborah Glick and bans so-called “conversion therapy” of minors; and S.6573, which I sponsored with Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell and bans the so-called “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense.

Protecting public health: Legislation I passed to protect the public health of New Yorkers included S.2994A, which banned nonmedical exemptions to vaccination, the abuse of which likely contributed to this year’s outbreak of measles in New York State; S.301A, which I sponsored with Assemblymember Rosenthal to discourage and reduce e-cigarette use among minors; and S.439A, which limits the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals.

Hoylman is state senator for the 27th District (Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown, Hudson Yards, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Hudson Square, Noho, East Village, Stuyvesant Town/ Peter Cooper Village)

Mt. Sinai is transforming care Downtown

BY DR. JEREMY BOAL

M

odern healthcare is evolving. No longer are monolithic hospitals sustainable or even desired. Nationwide, hospitals are closing at a rate of roughly 30 per year, as healthcare turns to new models that focus on keeping patients out of hospital beds and in ambulatory, outpatient settings. In response, hospitals need to be nimbler and more adaptive, and founded in the technological and medical advances of today.

That’s why, at Mount Sinai, we are building a new $1 billion vision and platform for care in Downtown Manhattan. This vision is centered around a new, state-of-the-art Mount Sinai Beth Israel (M.S.B.I.) hospital, but this transformation does not stop at its doors. Instead, we are investing in services and programs that reach into the community to serve you where you need it most: close to home.

Last week, this vision took a major step forward as we filed Certificate of Need (C.O.N.) applications with the

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New York State Department of Health for the new M.S.B.I., an enhanced and fully integrated New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and a new Mount Sinai Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center.

The new M.S.B.I. will feature all-private inpatient beds, cutting-edge cardiac and neurologic interventional services, an operative platform, and a state-ofthe-art emergency department. The facility will be integrated with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (N.Y.E.E.) — a nearly 200-yearold institution that provides world-class care and education in ear, nose, throat and ophthalmologic care. This integration will enhance and revitalize services available at N.Y.E.E., including a 24/7 eye trauma emergency department and access to state-of-the-art imaging, pharmacy and laboratory services.

Alongside the construction of the new hospital, we are also making the single largest private investment in behavioral health in New York’s history — a $140 million commitment to create the Mount Sinai Comprehen-

PHOTO BY CLAUDIA PAUL/COURTESY MOUNT SINAI

Dr. Jeremy Boal, president of Mount Sinai Downtown.

sive Behavioral Health Center. As one of the city’s largest mental healthcare providers, we firmly believe that treatment of mental illness and substanceuse disorders is critical to improving the overall health status of all our communities. This one-stop setting for psychiatric, addiction, physical health and TVG

social-service needs will be located on the Lower East Side (in the former Rivington House) and connect our Downtown patients with a holistic model of care that preserves all the existing behavioral health and addiction services that M.S.B.I. currently provides — and adds nearly a dozen more.

Our existing Union Square facility, which is currently being renovated, co-locates over 30 unique specialty practices. And, in addition, it recently opened the Martha Stewart Center for Living, as well as a new seven-day-aweek urgent-care program.

The transformative nature of this plan is in the interconnection of our entire river-to-river network of 20 separate locations below 34th St. This represents an entirely new approach to the delivery of care for New Yorkers, and our commitment to adapt our health system to make sure our patients can get the care they need, when and where they need it.

Boal is president, Mt. Sinai Downtown, and executive V.P. and chief clinical officer, Mt. Sinai Health System.

August 1, 2019

15

Making Progress.

Former teacher, consumer champion, equal rights activist.

Progressive Democrat Representing NY-12 in Congress.

2019 SO FAR: s Won an 18-year ďŹ ght to make the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund permanent with $10.2 billion. s #ONTINUED EARNING straight â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;? from the NRA FOR l GHTING GUN VIOLENCE s /BTAINED FEDERAL funding for L train repairs AND ADVOCATED FOR air quality AND safety measures. s Led House passage OF HER BILL FOR WEEKS OF Paid Family Leave FOR ALL &EDERAL %MPLOYEES s )NTRODUCED THE Equality Act TO ban discrimination FOR GENDER ORIENTATION s 6OTED FOR THE Humanitarian Standards Act TO protect those in CBP custody. s )NTRODUCED THE Never Again Education Act TO fund Holocaust education. s Fought for AND testiďŹ ed AT the ďŹ rst Equal Rights Amendment Hearing in 36 years, CONTINUING A CAREER LONG COMMITMENT TO ITS RATIl CATION

LEARN MORE:

COMING UP:

@ CarolynBMaloney @ CarolynMaloney

s Protecting consumers AND ďŹ ghting corruption WITH THE Corporate Transparency Act SOON TO BE INTRODUCED Overdraft Protection Act. s 3TRENGTHENING AND expanding healthcare coverage lowering prescription drug prices. s Co-sponsoring the Green New Deal AND Medicare for All.

Arch â&#x20AC;&#x2122;nt yah glad to be reading your community newspaper?

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PROGRESS REPORT

Fighting climate change on all fronts tion and embrace scientific research to plan for a future that allows our society and economy to cope with this new reality.

The New York City subways are a crucial part of our shared infrastructure.

Ensuring that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is adequately funded and is improving service, access and efficiency is an objective of the state government.

In the 2019 state budget, the Legislature provided $1.65 billion that will support $25 billion in new bonded capital funding that will be dedicated to the 202024 M.T.A. Capital Plan. The $1.65 billion is being paid for with revenue from congestion pricing, online marketplace taxes and real estate taxes.

Some improvements in the subways and with the M.T.A. require additional legislative approval. This session I worked with the M.T.A. to pass a bill allowing for the expansion of a subterranean easement under Grand Canal Court Park at Sixth Ave. and Canal St. This will enable the M.T.A. to expand a power substation along the A, C, E, B and D subway lines, allowing for a

BY DEBOR AH J. GLICK

O

n July 18, Governor Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act into law, thus ensuring that New York will embrace the most ambitious climate goal in the United States.

This is a major step undertaken by the state Legislature at a time when the national political rhetoric of the Trump administration is to deny the effects of climate change while many in this country suffer. New York is the fourth most populous state in the U.S. and has the thirdlargest economy. Other state legislatures may fall behind in addressing the negative effects of climate change on farming, infrastructure, housing, the economy and wildlife. But in New York we have taken action to achieve the goal of an economy-wide net-zero carbon-emission objective.

In recent weeks we witnessed violent swings in the weather here in New York City. Clearly, the effects of climate change are upon us and will only continue to have increasing dramatic effect on our daily lives. The widespread flooding on Manhattan’s West

Deborah Glick.

Side during Superstorm Sandy, and the recent incredible images of flash flooding in Brooklyn following a heat wave and localized blackouts serve as unfortunate reminders. In reality, our infrastructure is fragile, outdated, and ill-equipped to deal with climate instability. We can marshal government ac-

greater power supply that will allow for the operation of trains closer together and therefore more frequently.

In addition to threats to our infrastructure, reports released this summer show a global epidemic of marine life dying or being threatened by the proliferation of plastic in the world’s oceans.

In turn, research suggests that microplastics in oceans are ingested by fish and then eaten by humans, contributing to the plastic levels in our own bodily systems. New York has taken steps to confront this issue by discouraging behavior that further propagates single-use plastics. Banning styrofoam takeout containers and single-use plastic shopping bags are steps toward changing our personal behavior for the good of humanity.

Those who are able should work to reduce the use of unnecessary plastics, like utensils, straws, cups and storage containers.

Extreme weather events, rising water levels and the strain on infrastructure can all be directly traced back to the net-warming of our planet. Our city and state will continue to endeavor to ensure that we preserve a sustainable way of life for future generations.

Glick is assemblymember, 66th District (Greenwich Village, Soho, Noho, Tribeca, Little Italy, Hudson Square, part of the East Village)

Things are going great on Eighth St.

BY WILLIAM KELLEY

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he past year has been one of celebration and capacity building at the Village Alliance. Over the past 12 months we marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Greenwich Village Historic District, as well as the Stonewall Uprising, which initiated the L.G.B.T.Q.-rights movement.

During these momentous occasions, our hard-working street teams have been dedicated to the small details that improve quality of life for everyone — be it sweeping up sidewalk debris, removing graffiti, clearing snow from street corners, caring for greenery or tracking antisocial behavior.

To improve service delivery in these areas, the Village Alliance has now digitized our street conditions and maintenance reporting, ensuring that the beautiful and historic Greenwich Village streetscape and welcoming spirit of the neighborhood shine through.

Beyond quality of life improvements, the Village Alliance also advocates for

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and promotes local businesses that contribute to our neighborhood fabric.

We firmly believe our small businesses are a prime reason that Greenwich Village remains a desirable place to live and visit, and we work tirelessly on their behalf.

This past year we launched a mobile app for our popular Village Access Card program, unlocking merchant incentives for a new group of neighbors who prefer to use mobile devices for their shopping and dining experiences. The mobile app is a critical tool to drive additional foot traffic to Village businesses and will allow merchants to more efficiently build relationships with their customers. Find out more at www.villageaccesscard.com .

As core services and marketing initiatives define our role in the neighborhood, the Village Alliance also produces and hosts events aimed at bringing the community together. Whether it is a networking event, a fundraiser, a lecture or art program, we strive to showcase local businesses, creative tal-

COURTESY VILLAGE ALLIANCE

William Kelley, the executive director of the Village Alliance BID. ent and academic institutions for both a local audience and the world beyond.

Our popular street festivals and

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performing-arts showcases continue to draw a diverse mix of residents and visitors to the neighborhood who flock to perennial favorites like the Positively 8th Street Festival, Creativity Cubed and Astor Blaster events. Our new partnership with Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater brought new creative energy to Make Music New York, Friday Night Cabaret and Astor Alive! performances.

Over the past quarter-century, the Village Alliance has been a major force in cleaning up our streets, beautifying public spaces and promoting the best the Village has to offer. Looking ahead to the next few months, we are exploring the possibility of a seasonal market at Astor Place, as we continue to engage in new ways to activate what was once merely a transitory space and now delights the community with a variety of free programs for all ages.

Kelley is executive director, Village Alliance business improvement district.

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City Winery Pier 57 move on tap

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

C

ity Winery, the Hudson Square music hot spot, will be closing on Varick St. on Aug. 1.

But it won’t be “the day the music died”: The tunes-and-vino venue will be reopening in January in a stunning new setting at Pier 57, at W. 15th St., in Hudson River Park.

Owner Michael Dorf currently has a lot brewing — or, rather, fermenting. He opened another City Winery in Rockefeller Center last month, has one opening in Philadelphia next month, and is very excited about soon uncorking yet another location — City Winery Hudson Valley, located on 22 acres near Newburgh, N.Y. “It will be the perfect wedding and event space, only 90 minutes from New York,” he said.

But he said it’s not going to be a Woodstock concert-like venue.

“I don’t think it will snowball into a Woodstock,” he said. “People wouldn’t want that. It’ll never be Bethel Woods.”

City Winery has eight locations around the country, including a smallish spot, City Vinery, at Pier 26, in the Tribeca section of Hudson River Park.

As for the Pier 57 space, it will have about the same number of seats — 300 — as Varick St. As has been his practice, the musical acts will continue to get the majority of the ticket revenue.

City Winery’s business model, in turn, is to make money on the sale of wine and food. In one of the business’s hallmarks, the wine is made on site. To be a true “bonded winery,” each location must produce more than the federal minimum of 600 gallons of wine per year.

The grapes mainly come from California. Dorf said New York’s grapes unfortunately can’t compete with those grown in sunny California, and flying them in from places like Australia is costly.

Although the musical acts will continue to get most of the ticket revenue, Dorf will have to pay to the Hudson River Park Trust what he called the “crazy rent” at Pier 57.

He said he didn’t want the actual figure printed in the paper.

He was told he had to vacate the Varick St. space after Trinity Real Estate sold the entire block to Disney, which will develop a new headquarters building there. However, Trinity Church — whose extensive property holdings were deeded to it by the English crown in colonial times — had previously encouraged him to invest in improvements in the Varick location, as he tells it. Dorf was working on adding a second-floor space, when Trinity abruptly closed the Disney deal, and Disney promptly sent him an eviction letter, leaving Dorf feeling burned.

He is currently suing Trinity to recover the money he poured into upgrading the space.

“All we are trying to do is recover the investment we made flying on their promise,” Dorf said of Trinity. “We just want them to be a mensch and deal with this morally and ethically. Is that too much to ask of a church?”

Dorf, originally from Milwaukee, said he “felt a connection to New York” ever since he was 16.

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August 1, 2019

COURTESY MICHAEL DORF

It’s been a barrel of laughs, good times and great music at City Winer y on Varick St., but Michael Dor f is pulling up stakes to head to Pier 57 in the Chelsea section of Hudson River Park.

After launching a record label back home — Mr. Bloodstein’s Knitting Factory — he opened the Knitting Factory, his first New York music venue, in 1987, after moving to the city when he was 23.

After a few years on E. Houston St., he reopened the place in Tribeca, on Leonard St. At the Knitting Factory, he focused on avantgarde multi-genre music.

“Sonic Youth played a lot,” he said, of “The Knit.”

“Early They Might Be Giants. It was where Beck had his first show in New York. Ornette Coleman, Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards. We had Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson.”

Dorf was such a purist, he even turned down Phish when they gave him a demo tape, telling them they sounded “derivative of the Grateful Dead.

We’re going for more avant-garde music,” he told the now-famed jam band.

“I had this bizarre integrity of wanting to have avant-garde music,” he said. “I was one of the biggest schmucks in all of music. That month, I also turned down Harry Connick, Jr. I said it sounded too much like straight-ahead jazz. But that’s where my head was at. If I had my 57-year-old brain in my 23-year-old body at the time, I would have given them the gig.”

Following the closing of the Knitting Factory,

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Dorf gave it some serious thought and came up with a whole new direction and business model.

“Eleven years ago, I set up City Winery,” he said.

“I thought, ‘What’s going to draw a roomful of people similar to me and fill a room with people that want to see music?’ The singer-songwriter model really fills that role very nicely.”

The food and beverages were an important part of the mix. City Winery features fare like flatbreads, burgers, risotto balls and duck tacos, plus its homebrewed wine, which Dorf refers to as the world’s oldest true “craft beverage,” predating beer.

The types of acts that have defined City Winery at Varick St. have been the likes of Steve Earle, Suzanne Vega, Joan Osborne, Joan Armatrading, Los Lobos, Squeeze.

“The Crosby, Stills and Nash guys, we’ve had them all separately,” Dorf said. “They’re going to tour and play until the day they die. They love it so much, and they love their audience. And we’re the perfect venue for them.”

Part of the formula is seating, with drinking and eating, rather than standing.

“The audience that loves David Crosby is also 60 or 70 years old,” he noted. “They don’t want to stand.”

Dorf was happy to hear that Steve Earle will be DORF continued on p. 19

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Monumental Village cleaning effort

The “Little Flower” gets a big pedicure — and overall maintenance job — with an application of protective hot wax.

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON AND TEQUILA MINSKY

S

tatuesque figures recently were looking their buffed best with a fresh-faced glow in the Village. No, it wasn’t Model Week — but you might call it Monuments Week.

Staff and summer apprentices from the Parks Department’s Citywide Monuments Conservation Project held a special Village preservation week from July 15 to July 19.

The bulk of their activities involved the annual care of the Washington Square Arch. Running two lifts — one 80 feet tall — they reexamined and “sounded”

the arch’s stonework (tapping it with a mallet to test for stability), cleaned it gently with pressure washing, and repointed any areas of observable mortar loss.

The park’s Garibaldi and Holley monuments, plus the nearby Fiorello LaGuardia statue on LaGuardia Place, also were spiffed up, with pressure washing along their bases and ledges.

The finishing touch for the statues and monuments was a “hot waxing,” to protect the metal from the elements.

The supervisors of the Parks monuments conservation crew have strong backgrounds in preservation, and other staff have relevant backgrounds in the arts.

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Having a blast cleaning the Garibaldi monument’s nooks and crannies.

Power cleaning the Washington Square Arch on July 16.

In vino ’n’ music veritas DORF continued from p. 18

headlining September’s Village Trip festival concert in Washington Square Park.

“If you want to talk about someone who lives and breathes integrity, that is Steve Earle,” he said. “His music, his work, he’s speaking his truth. He’s not shying away from it. Musically, I love his music.”

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defines intimacy.”

That said, he noted he will be paying, literally, “100 times” the rent he was when he opened the Knitting Factory on Leonard St. in 1987.

That rent spike is, in part, what has been driving music out of the city, in addition to changes in how music is distributed.

“New York real estate is not fully inflation,” he noted, “it’s another level.

All I know is that we found a model, and according to our Excel spreadsheet, we can afford to rent — just barely.

As for Pier 57, Dorf said it’s going to be tremendous.

“I hate to say ‘the best live-music venue in New York,’ but f— it, I’ll say it,” he said of the Chelsea waterfront space. “I looked at no less than 100 locations, this was the best.

“I think we’ve figured out a model between big and small venue. At the same time, you can look in the eye of the performers and vice a versa. That TVG

But most live-music venues can’t. The survivors have an opportunity to make money. You just have to figure out the right model.”

Music venues started shifting to Brooklyn, he noted, “but Brooklyn real estate overtook too quickly. You have a lot of music now in Nashville and Hudson Valley.”

Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers will be playing City Winery, on Varick St., on Mon., July 29, and Tues., July 30, and Joan Osborne will be closing it down on Wed., July 31.

August 1, 2019

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Eats

Pig and Khao: Southeast Asian on L.E.S.

BY GABE HERMAN

O

ne of the Downtown restaurants participating in this summer’s Restaurant Week is Pig and Khao, a Lower East Side spot at 68 Clinton St. that serves Southeast Asian fare, including Filipino and Thai dishes.

Pig and Khao opened in fall 2012. Owner and chef Leah Cohen is a “Top Chef” alum, and the influence of her Filipino upbringing is felt strongly throughout the small restaurant.

The dinner menu includes “small plate” options, such as Thai mushroom salad, baby octopus paksiw, ka prow (with stir-fried beef), Malaysian butter prawns and grilled sirloin. Prices range from $15 to $19.

“Large plate” options — priced from $27 to $35 — include barbecued baby back ribs, Malaysian fried chicken and whole fried fish.

There is also a brunch menu, including steak and eggs, sizzling corned beef hash, longonissa Sizzling corned beef hash at Pig and Khao. sausage, green papaya salad and

COURTESY PIG AND KHAO

brioche French toast.

The space is modestly sized, with 74 seats, including some counter seating, and features an open kitchen. The colorful interior features several artworks on the walls, which all give the place a lively Lower East Side vibe.

Pig and Khao has an overall Yelp rating of 4 out of 5. “All around, the food was pretty good,” one reviewer wrote, saying that portion sizes were good and dishes had a lot of flavor.

“It is a smaller establishment so the tables for 2 are a little cramped and it did get quite loud,” the person added.

Another reviewer said she recently went to Pig and Khao during Restaurant Week and that it was a good deal and the food was “excellent.”

She added, “The highlights were papaya salad and corn sumtum.

The three flavor prawns are packed with… well, flavor!”

During the summer Restaurant Week, which goes until Aug. 16, the brunch deal at Pig and Khao is $26 per person and $42 for dinner.

More information on the restaurant can be found at pigandkhao.com.

FREE SHOWS IN EAST RIVER PARK

AUGUST 8 - AUGUST 11 8/8: CRUMB I PHONY PPL I PURR 8/9: ELISA MONTE DANCE I PLUS A PRE-SHOW DANCE WORKSHOP 8/10: THE MOUNTAIN GOATS 8/11: EDDIE PALMIERI I BABY POWER I DJ LUCHO I DJ EDDIE BATIZ

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August 1, 2019

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Manhattan Happenings THEATER “Hannah Senesh”: This one-woman show, with music and song, presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, tells the true story of Hannah Senesh, a heroic young Jewish woman who escaped from Axis-allied Hungary in 1939 to British Mandate Palestine. There she joined Haganah and then bravely volunteered for a daring special-operations mission to parachute back into Europe to save Jews from the Holocaust. Starring Lexi Rabadi. Written and directed by David Schechter. Tickets start at $49.

Performances July 29 to Aug. 18 at The National Yiddish Theatre at The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 36 Battery Place.

POETRY “Sonnets From The Tower”: A poet visits The Tower of London and, in turn, is visited by 27 ghosts from various years and centuries in the tower’s history: male and female, birds and four-footers, children and seniors, famous, infamous and everyday folk.

Each spirit speaks to the poet in a 14-line, Elizabethan-style sonnet, the form immortalized by Shakespeare.

Written and performed by William Henry Koch, Jr., St. Peter’s Chelsea playwright-in-residence. Performances benefit St. Peter’s Chelsea/Theatre of the Elephant. Suggested $10 donation at the door. Sun., Aug. 11, 3 p.m. and Mon., Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. Performances at St. Peter’s Chelsea, 246 W. 20th St.

RUNNING Central Park run: Back for the second year, the New York Road Runners’ Manhattan 7 Mile takes on a unique course in Central Park. Stick around after your race to enjoying the postrace festival, including yoga, a live DJ, lawn games, ice pops, a vintage car great for photos and more. Registration is $37 and can be completed on the New York Road Runners Web site.

Aug. 4, 8 a.m., in Central Park.

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Lexi Rabadi stars in “Hannah Senesh.”

MARKET

FOOD

Fulton Stall Market: Sunday Outdoor Market, every Sunday at Pier 17 Square, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Nov. 24. Now in its fifth season, the market features a rotating cast of local small-batch specialty food producers in a famed waterfront setting between Pier 17’s new restaurants and the South Street Seaport Museum’s historic ships.

NYC Restaurant Week runs through Aug. 16. A two-course lunch is $26 and three-course dinner is $42. Participating restaurants can be found on https:// w w w.nycgo.com /restaurantweek .

PERFORMANCE

FILM Movies under the stars: Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy the magic of the movies under the stars at the 19th annual Central Park Conservancy Film Festival. “Moonstruck” (1987) — a perennial fan-favorite outdoor summer film — tells the story of a Brooklyn widow engaged to a mama’s boy, who falls in love with her fiancé’s brother.

Gates open at 6:30 pm. Film begins at dusk. All movies are captioned. Wed.,

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Lola Lovenotes will be doing live graffiti at Lincoln Center on Sat., Aug. 3.

Aug. 14, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Landscape between Sheep Meadow and the 72nd St. Cross Drive in Central Park.

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Lincoln Center Out of Doors: A variety of free music and dance performances across the plazas of Lincoln Center, running through Sun., Aug. 11. On Sat., Aug 3, from 11 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., enjoy “Move the Crowd: A Day of Hip-Hop and Culture,” featuring live graffiti by Lola Lovenotes for the whole time, the roots-jamming Brown Rice Family at 11 a.m., poet/ educator Najee Omar at 1 p.m. and high-energy dancing and spoken word in “VIBEZ,” by Soul Defined, who “turn their bodies into drums,” and invite the audience to join into their free-flowing storytelling. Performance schedules can be found on the Web http://www.lincolncenter. org/out-of-doors.

August 1, 2019

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DFTA, Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC honor friendly visiting volunteers Friendly Visiting Program has provided nearly 28,000 hours of service to homebound older adults in the past 12 months The New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA), Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC, nonprofit Services Now for Adult Persons, and nonprofit Citymeals held a recognition reception for Friendly Visiting Program volunteers who visit isolated older adults in Queens.

Homebound older adults are often at risk of profound social isolation and loneliness, which can lead to mental and physical health challenges. The Friendly Visiting Program, one of two initiatives that DFTA operates in partnership with ThriveNYC, matches welltrained volunteers with older adults for in-home visits that can lead to lasting friendships and offer intergenerational exchange.

The program aims to improve the overall quality of life for older New Yorkers.

Leadership from the Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC, Services Now for Adult Persons and DFTA celebrate volunteers.

Volunteers provided nearly 28,000 hours of visits over the past

Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC

12 months, and there have been more than 43,000 visits since the program launched in January 2017.

“It brings me great satisfaction to know I am helping someone achieve their goals. I’ve been visiting Flora once a week for two years. Earlier in her life, she did beautiful bead work. Now, I help her make jewelry — she does the designs and I put on the clasps,” said Friendly Visiting Program volunteer Carol Hart.

“Meeting Carol every week on Wednesday is fun, and it helps me think about new jewelry. It makes me feel very creative, and I did not have that before,” said Flora

Sanilahijani, 66, who receives visits.

Thirty-one percent of older adults participating in the Friendly Visiting Program suffer from depression and/or anxiety. Of those assessed six months after participating in the program, 56% indicated a reduction in social isolation, and 43% indicated a reduction in loneliness.

“Social isolation is a silent but dangerous epidemic that can be prevented,” said DFTA Commissioner Lorraine CortésVázquez. “Through senior centers and initiatives like the Friendly Visiting Program, we are committed to helping older New Yorkers

connect with their communities, neighbors, and friends in a city that has so much to offer.”

“ThriveNYC is committed to innovative strategies that bring mental health support to those who have historically been underserved in new and creative ways,” said Susan Herman, Director of the Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC. “We thank our Friendly Visiting volunteers for partnering with us and for delivering tens of thousands of hours of support to aging New Yorkers in need.”

“Services Now for Adult Persons is proud to be a provider in the Friendly Visiting service network.

Over the years, SNAP has found that the program has not only improved seniors’ quality of life, but has also enriched volunteers’ lives as well,” said Paola Miceli, Chief Executive Officer and President of SNAP. The Friendly Visiting program is currently accepting volunteers, especially in the Bronx. Call 311 for more information about volunteering or receiving Friendly Visiting Program services.

Supporting older crime victims through services and advocacy New Yorkers off all ages should ommunities feel safe in the communities they helped buildd over the years. That's whyy I will be joining the New York City Department for the Aging's Outreach Team along with the NYPD as we distribute tribute informational materials als across the City for Nationall Night Outt Ni ht O Against Crime on August 6.

Every day, our Elderly Crime Victims Resource Center supports and guides victims as they seek compensation for out-of-pocket expenses and as they interact with law enforcement, local courts, mental health professionals and others.

In each borough, we partner with community-based providers to deliver services close to home in many languages.

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day. Yet we increasingly hear abo older adults being about vict victimized during these daily life activities. They are being targ targeted for assault, robbery, fina financial scams or neglect by peo they may or may not people kno These crimes are know. una unacceptable and outrageous.

We W are all aging. As a soci Through the ThriveNYC ety, we need to own that fact! mental health initiative, the We must protect and respect City of New York has also the rights of generations that created the Crime Victim have come before us, not Assistance Program with the allow them to be treated as NYPD and Safe Horizon, prey. which places an advocate in If you are an older crime every precinct to better assist victim or know an older victims. victim, please contact our Walking on a street alone, Elderly Crime Victims taking the subway or sitting in Resource Center at 212-442the privacy of one's home is 3103 or call 311 for more what New Yorkers do every information.

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Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. Prior to joining the de Blasio administration, she served in executive leadership roles with AARP, EmblemHealth and other organizations. She also served as New York’s first Latina Secretary of State.

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Council O.K.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s retail-vacancy tracking bill

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etail vacancies remain an ongoing issue throughout much of the city, including in Downtown Manhattan, in areas like the East Village and West Village, such as along Bleecker St. Now the City Council has passed a bill that will create a database of retail spaces and their vacancy status, and which requires merchants to register storefronts with the city as part of the process.

The bill to create the vacancy database, which would be the first of its kind in the country, was introduced this year on March 13 by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side, and Council Speaker Corey Johnson, whose district includes Chelsea, Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitchen, the West Village and Midtown West.

The three local politicians said the bill would help address the crisis of empty storefronts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fi x a problem when you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even begin to measure it,â&#x20AC;? Brewer said after the bill passed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This database will be a boost for business owners looking for possible places to rent, those facing lease negotiations, and countless other possible services, which is why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m proud the Council voted to pass this bill today.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Storefront Trackerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; legislation will require citywide tracking of commercial storefront and second-floor spaces for the first time,â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;providing comprehensive data on commercial strips at risk, the location of every vacant storefront and more. This essential information will be the basis for solutions which help keep small businesses in our communities.â&#x20AC;?

Speaker Johnson joined Rosenthal in stressing the importance of small businesses to the local economy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Passing legislation to address and help mom-andpop store owners is vital,â&#x20AC;? Johnson said after the bill passed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and today we are approving several proposals to help businesses by providing much-needed support and information. Currently, the city lacks the data necessary to make informed policy decisions and the storefront database bill will tackle this issue head on.â&#x20AC;?

Some small-business advocates, however, were less optimistic about the billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on the problem.

Kirsten Theodos, co-founder of TakeBackNYC, which advocates for mom-and-pop shops, said she has no problem with collecting information about retail vacancies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But it is perplexing why a bill counting vacant storefronts was fast-tracked and passed in just four short months,â&#x20AC;? she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;while the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, a bill that would actually stop the closings by addressing the unfair lease-renewal process, had a hearing eight months ago and since then there has been zero movement toward a vote.â&#x20AC;?

Theodos was also critical of how Speaker Johnson has been handling the vacancy issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is very sad that the speaker had the time to withdraw his name from the S.B.J.S.A., a bill he proclaimed in 2018 he was a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;proud sponsorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of, be a co-sponsor of this recent bill â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that will not stop the crisis of good businesses from closing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and quietly reshuffle the deck on the Small Business Committee; but he does not have the time or political will to pass progressive legislation like the S.B.J.S.A.â&#x20AC;?

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Real Estate

Repairing or replacing brownstone doors

BY LIZ SADLER CRYAN

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ith their intricate woodwork or simple curved moldings, brownstone front doors have graced many an Instagram post, magazine ad and movie set. They are the focal point of a brownstone or row house facade. But many have been damaged by years of sun exposure or neglect, or replaced altogether with a cheaper alternative.

Consider these expert tips on how to give your brownstone front doors a facelift: “If it’s something minor, I tell people it’s gonna be a repair,” said Vaughan Scully, of Heights Woodworking. “If it’s warped, then you have a problem.

We go over there and take a look at what we have. When it comes to doors, if you have a very unique or high-quality door, or a door with some unusual features or a lot of decorative elements, or maybe very large, or in an unusual size, or something that’s historic, that’s the kind of place where it makes sense to restore it. You’re never gonna make it exactly the same way.”

For a door with 12 square pieces of beveled glass and a curve at the top, Scully applied a new veneer, panels and moldings around the glass. He added wood to the bottom so it would reach the saddle.

“That customer saved probably $7,000 by fi xing his old door up compared to getting a new one,” Scully said.

“A new door would have been $16,000 to $17,000.”

But sometimes a new door makes sense.

“There’s other cases where it’s not really worth it if you have a door that’s lesser quality –- maybe it’s pine, maybe it’s painted,” Scully noted. “Restoring it is gonna cost about $5,000 and new it’s gonna cost $7,000. You’re putting quite a bit of money in something that’s not gonna be new when you get it back.”

Building a brownstone door from scratch costs about $10,000 and takes four to six weeks, as long as it can it be hung on the existing doorjamb, said Nate Shellkopf, of southside.workshop.

“Once you take the jamb out, it’s a can of worms opened up all over the floor,” he said. “I try and save it any time I can. For a door, jamb installation and casings, a reproduction can cost

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PHOTO BY SUSAN DE VRIES

Repairing or replacing a historic brownstone’s front doors can become a costly prospect if cer tain measures are not taken.

Brownstone Wood Restoration, started making doors at age 14 in Naples, Italy.

He’s now 77.

“A lot of times, over the years, the doors have been painted over or varnished over. So a lot of people call me to bring back the original color of the wood, [and I] sand, repair or replicate missing parts,” Battiloro said. “In the event that the front doors are not repairable, we will duplicate the original design. Sometimes, they just have a door from Home Depot, so what we ask the customer to do is look on their block for original doors. Nine times out of 10 we just look at the door next door and we just replicate it.”

Salvaged doors are another option when the original door is missing -– but they can turn out to be more work and

$15,000 to $20,000.”

Shellkopf refers to tax photos and neighboring brownstones when the original door is missing. Working in his Sunset Park, Brooklyn, studio, he uses stave core construction to build his doors from scratch, using pieces of eastern pine glued together to create the core, and mahogany or other high-quality wood veneers on the outside. Steel knives can cut intricate trim work.

“When the top of the door is round, it requires radius work — that ups it a notch,” he said. “To run a molding at a radius takes some skill to do. When you’re doing a brownstone door with radius work, there’s only a few of us who do it.”

Vincent Battiloro, of The Finest

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money than homeowners anticipate.

“If you don’t get something that’s very close to the opening that you have, you’re in for a lot of work,” Scully said.

“If you buy a door that doesn’t fit the opening that you have and you’re not gonna change the opening — which means taking out the frame, cutting into the wall and building a new frame — you will probably have to cut or modify the door by adding or removing from the side, top or bottom.

“You should line up a person to install first and go with them to pick it out,” he said. “They’ll know if it’s gonna work or not.”

This article was first published in Brownstoner, a sister Schneps Media publication of The Villager.

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