The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
July 6, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 27
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Muslim ban can’t stand, activists cry at Union Sq. protest BY K ARI LINDBERG
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lmost 100 people of all ages rallied on the evening of Thurs., June 29, at the northern end of Union Square after the U.S. Department of State issued new travel guidelines earlier that day. This followed the Supreme Court’s decision to enforce
part of the president’s Jan. 25 executive order that placed a ban on refugees and invalidated visas from specific Muslim countries, including Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The new travel guidelines implemented by the State Department allow people from the six majority-Muslim BAN continued on p. 6
Last Mass looming for Christopher St.’s St. Veronica’s Church BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y
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he last regular Mass at St. Veronica’s Church was held Sun., June 25, the same day as the Gay Pride March. Responding to lobbying by parishioners, however, a final Mass at the historic Catholic church will be held at noon on Sun., July 23. In part, this church is known
for responding to the AIDS crisis. A memorial with dozens of nameplates of parishioners or family members who died from AIDS is in the balcony of this beautifully maintained Christopher St. house of worship. “I feel that I’ll be lost,” said Nils Rios, a West St. resident who has been attending church CHURCH continued on p. 4
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
The amazing, multi-instrumental David Amram, 86 years young, played at the Cornelia Street Café’s 40th anniversar y celebration on the Four th of July. Amram — who used to hang out with the Beats and jam with Bob Dylan — regularly plays at the cafe once a month.
Locals Supremely irked by streetwear Co.’s events BY SCOTT R. A XELROD
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or an internationally renowned streetwear clothing and accessory brand like Supreme, it’s supremely difficult, if not impossible, to get anyone working in the small, sparsely stocked storefront shop at 274 Lafayette St. to talk about its products. Or, for that matter, talk about the fact that area resi-
dents have been venting their aggravation over the circuslike atmosphere that occurs every Thursday during the shop’s operating seasons, which run from February to June, and start up again from August to December. “These product launches have become a scourge for Soho and the Village,” said Joseph Gallagher, chairperson of the Community Board 2 Quality of Life Committee.
“The corporation launches a new product in Soho because they know the launch will attract chaos, hysteria and Instagram posts. It’s a gross exploitation of our neighborhood, and absolutely no benefit for the neighboring residents or businesses. “The Street Activity Permit Office, SAPO, has consistently granted permits for these SUPREME continued on p. 2
Fire smokes out Bleecker’s Atrium....................p. 7 Pre-Moxy Hotel memories of E. 11th St...........p. 11 Hawk has a talon for photos.... p. 5
www.TheVillager.com
Locals Supremely annoyed by streetwear Co. SUPREME continued from p. 1
events despite the community’s staunch opposition,” Gallagher added. This relationship between retail and residents wasn’t always this tenuous, as Supreme’s flagship shop, which opened in 1994, transitioned from targeting the more low-key skateboarding crowd, to drawing in droves of young “hypebeasts” — consumers who must have and are willing to pay a premium for the latest clothes, accessories, gadgets or Kanye West-designed sneakers. But after ongoing reports of violence, robberies, public urination and loitering, residential neighbors see Supreme as an unnecessary blight on the neighborhood, and would just as soon see it shuttered. The Villager spent the final Thursday of Supreme’s spring season speaking with customers lined up for the weekly “drop.” Sandwiched single-file between metal barriers on Crosby St., none offered their real names or wanted their faces photographed. And the fact that most of them admitted to not even showing up to purchase items for themselves, is another aspect of Supreme’s popularity; this enters into the world of secondhand retail entrepreneurs who buy up merchandise and then resell right it on the surrounding streets, online or through a network of secondhand stores in Chinatown and consignment shops that have popped up throughout the city. A 2015 video by Complex offered a firsthand look at those profiting off the Supreme resale market. And a 2013 article in The New Yorker about “flipping” Supreme merchandise was reportedly not received well by Supreme company founder James Jebbia. The weekly event — perhaps due to the presence of the press — appeared to have been reined in a bit, as a hired security team, working more like bouncers, kept customers literally and figuratively in line, and controlled the flow of the crowd onto Lafayette St. Most of the security personnel were friendly, but the scene was a bit reminiscent of
PHOTOS BY SCOTT R. AXELROD
Fans of Supreme line up on Crosby St., which runs parallel and around the corner from the store on Lafayette St. Most of those who line up are resellers. Ver y few keep Supreme merchandise for themselves other than the occasional backpack, hoodie or exclusive T-shir t.
SERV, an 18-year-old from Queens, shows of his Supreme “box logo” T-shir t. He claimed the white shir t with the simple logo is one of only 20 in the world, and that he paid $350 for it. It allegedly sells for more than $600 on the resellers market. SERV also claimed he was robbed of $10,000 cash during one eventful afternoon of reselling Supreme merchandise.
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HBO’s “The Wire,” where “steerers” or “cluckers” call out to a guard on an opposite corner to send over another batch of customers. Anyone seen loitering after making a purchase was presumed to be reselling merchandise and told to move to the opposite side of E. Houston St. The problems with the shop’s weekly takeover of the area, and the anger of local residents, are well established. But now, besides blocking streets and causing quality-of-life issues in Soho, the situation is affecting local public parks, as well. In May of this year, Bill Castro, the Parks Department’s Manhattan borough commissioner, wrote a sternly worded letter to Supreme’s Jebbia, regarding “unauthorized gatherings” it held at least four times in local public parks, including two in the Village area, since the end of last year. In each case, Castro said, Supreme failed to get a required “special event” permit and simply commandeered public park space for mass events. This happened on Dec. 5 of last year at James J. Walker Park, at Hudson and Leroy Sts., when, as Castro wrote, Supreme “barricaded and/or blocked off large areas of the park and invited hundreds of people onto the courts and surrounding areas of parkland. Your company not only prevented the public from accessing large areas of public space,” Castro chided Jebbia, “it failed to utilize safety and security measures appropriate to the size of the crowd and the location. “The nearby [Tony Dapolito] recreation center received multiple attendees with minor injuries,” Castro continued, “and your company’s conduct placed all attendees at serious risk of injury or death. NYPD was forced to shut down the park for several hours,” again denying the general public access to J.J. Walker Park, he noted. Yet, Supreme didn’t take the hint, hitting the Village with yet another renegade confab just a few months later. “Despite all of this,” Castro incredu-
SUPREME continued on p. 20
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POLICE BLOTTER ‘Shooter’ surrenders Ricardo Daniell, 31, the suspect in the May 27 shooting on W. 14th St. that injured four men, turned himself in at Greenwich Village’s Sixth Precinct at 2:45 a.m. last Thursday, police said. Daniell, of 120 W. 91st St., was charged with four counts each of attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a fi rearm and reckless endangerment. Earlier, on Mon., May 29, at 5:20 p.m., another individual, Paola Betances, also wanted in connection with the incident was arrested inside 233 W. 10th St. Betances, 22, of 78 Christopher St., was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of marijuana and criminal use of drug paraphernalia. According to police, on Sat., May 27, at 3:25 a.m., Daniell, rode up on an electric-powered bicycle and sprayed multiple gunshots at the four victims as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the High End Deli, at 318 W. 14th St., between Eighth and Ninth Aves., then sped off. The victims ranged in age from 35 to 42. Three were treated at Bellevue Hospital and the fourth refused treatment.
TheVillager.com
Police released surveillance video showing Daniell and Betances at the nearby Ipanema bar, at 252 W. 14th St., just east of Eighth Ave., before the shooting. Daniell is seen hopping onto an electric bike and zipping off eastbound down 14th St. Other surveillance photos show him having changed his clothes before the shooting. The shooting’s motive and the connection between Daniell and Betances were not immediately clear.
Killed by cab An 87-year-old man was fatally struck by a yellow S.U.V. taxi on Cooper Square at E. Fifth St. on Sun., July 2, around 9 p.m., police said. The taxi was heading southbound and the victim was crossing the street from east to west, police said. The victim died of his injuries at Bellevue Hospital. The hack, 47, remained at the scene. The victim was in the crosswalk but had “a steady ‘Don’t Walk’ signal,” according to police. The investigation is ongoing by the Police Department’s Highway Patrol Collision Investigation Squad. Police were withholding the name of the deceased pending family notification.
Hangar hurt
Sleeping car
According to police, a 51-year-old bouncer was assaulted outside the Hangar Bar, at 115 Christopher St., on Sun., July 2 at 11:09 p.m. The victim said that after escorting the suspect out of the place, she hit him with a sharp object on the left side of his face, cutting him. The bouncer was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. Marie Vasquez, 21, was arrested for felony assault.
A man was arrested for having a forged New Jersey license plate after police spotted him hanging out in his car across from 150 W. Fourth St. on Fri., June 9, at 1:30 a.m. However, he wasn’t collared until Sat., June 29. “Bought it from Craigslist,” he told cops. “I don’t even use that car, I just sleep in it.” Joshua McRea, 36, was arrested for felony forgery.
‘I’ll get my gun’
Bleecker beating
A man who refused to leave Troy Liquor Bar, at 675 Hudson St., early on Sat., July 1, threatened to start shooting, police said. The suspect was asked to leave the Meatpacking District watering hole several times but wouldn’t go. Upon being escorted out at 2:15 a.m., the suspect threatened a bouncer saying, “No, you don’t understand. I’m from East New York, I’ll go get my gun.” Jordan P. Horsford, 27, was arrested for misdemeanor menacing.
A man was punched and kicked by two men in front of 176 Bleecker St. on Mon., June 26, at 4:30 p.m. The pair punched the 26-year-old victim in the face and continued to kick him several times after he fell to the ground. The victim suffered a cut above the right eye and a broken tooth. Reuben Iyaji, 22, and Kerron Teixeria, 23, were arrested for misdemeanor assault. Police did not give a motive for the attack.
Tabia Robinson and Lincoln Anderson
July 6, 2017
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St. Veronica’s last Mass is looming Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association News Story, First Place, 2015 Editorial Page, First Place, 2015 Editorials, First Place, 2014 News Story, First Place, 2014 Overall Design Excellence, First Place, 2013 Best Column, First Place, 2012 Photographic Excellence, First Place, 2011 Spot News Coverage, First Place, 2010 Coverage of Environment, First Place, 2009
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EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON
ARTS EDITOR SCOTT STIFFLER
CONTRIBUTORS ALBERT AMATEAU IRA BLUTREICH TINA BENITEZ-EVES SARAH FERGUSON BOB KRASNER TEQUILA MINSKY CLAYTON PATTERSON JEFFERSON SIEGEL SHARON WOOLUMS
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CHURCH continued from p. 1
there for 25 years and is heartbroken it is closing. “I feel so comfortable here,” she said, shaking her head about where she might worship after July 23. Admittedly, the numbers of its congregation have dwindled since St. Veronica’s heyday. But Cindy Boyle has been one of the faithful there since 1980, and like Rios and many other regulars, is also devastated. Boyle explained that the church flourished with an Irish congregation when the Lower West Side’s former shipping piers were operating as a working waterfront, manned by Irish dockworkers. Back then, there were three or four Masses on Sundays. Since Boyle has been attending, she said, the numbers have stayed about the same. The parish was established in 1887, and the church built between 1890 and 1903. The interior has been kept up — the last paint job was just four years ago. Decades ago, the parish’s school building was sold (today, it’s the Village Community School), and the mortgage, which recently was paid off, offset the church’s expenses. Mother Teresa nuns bought the church’s rectory around the corner on Washington St. in 1985 and turned it into an AIDS hospice, which is still operating. Located in the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension, designated in 2006, the church’s facade cannot be changed, nor can the building be torn down without approval by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Yet the church’s interior does not have landmark designation, a representative from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation explained. There is no actual priest assigned to St. Veronica’s, which is a mission church of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard Church, at 328 W. 14th St.
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
St. Veronica’s Church on Christopher St. has an AIDS memorial inside of it.
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The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 Copyright © 2017 by the NYC Community Media LLC is published weekly by NYC Community 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: NYC Community 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 - © 2017 NYC Community Media LLC. PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
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A woman in a moment of prayer at St. In its heyday, many of St. Veronica’s congregants were Irish dock workers and their families. Veronica’s. TheVillager.com
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
Here, birdie birdie! A flurr y of photographers follow the doings of the East Village’s red-tailed hawks in Tompkins Square Park.
Photogs flock to Tompkins for red-tail hawks
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n any given day, if there’s decent weather, you can find avid birdwatchers in Tompkins Square Park, following the daily lives of the red-tailed hawks that live there. Professional and amateur photographers come by from all over the city. Lately, the eight-week-old (he was fully grown at six weeks) has been hanging out on the park’s fence, unperturbed by the cameras that come as close as 5 feet away.
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Muslim ban can’t stand, activists cry at protest BAN continued from p. 1
countries with “bona fide” family relations in America, such as parents or siblings, to get U.S visas, but they leave out grandparents, aunts, uncles and fi ancés or fiancées. The rally was hastily organized by the Council on Islamic-American Relations New York Chapter (CAIR-NY). Speakers included included Linda Sarsour, the high-profi le PalestinianAmerican activist; Murad Awawdeh, director of political engagement at the New York Immigration Coalition; and Naz Ahmad, the staff attorney at CUNY School of Law’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CLEAR). Awawdeh opened the rally directly asking the question: “What does a bona fide relationship with the United States mean?” Awawdeh provided two opposing defi nitions: His own defi nition and the one that the State Department presented. “To every ordinary individual, it would mean your grandmother, your grandfather, your fi ancées, your cousins, all your relationships that are bona fide to you,” he said. “But clearly the State Department does not feel that way.” Awawdeh affi rmed that the emergency response network comprised of the hundreds of activists, lawyers and supporters who congregated around airports following the president’s fi rst “Muslim ban” back in January is still in place and ready to be mobilized. “What we have been doing since the announcement is reactivating our ‘No Ban’ J.F.K. network, where we had over 1,000 attorneys come out and provide free legal services,” he said. Emphasizing a need to connect with those individuals or with family members directly impacted, Awawdeh exclaimed to the crowd, “We have activated our network and anyone who may believe that they are at risk, please e-mail JFKneedalaywer@ gmail.com or call the No Ban JFK Hotline number, 844-326-4940.” Afar Nasher, executive director of CAIR-NY, denounced both the partial ban implemented by the U.S. Supreme Court and the travel guidelines set down by the State Department as un-American. “This partially reinstated Muslim ban can’t stand,” Nasher said, “because it’s an affront to who we are, against our democratic values, against our American values.” Compared to previous rallies, most notably the Washington Square Park rally held on the eve the president issued his fi rst Muslim ban, the lack of local politicians this time gave the rally a much more grassroots feeling. Signs of the rally’s hasty organizing included its last-minute location
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PHOTOS BY KARI LINDBERG
Nearly 100 protesters rallied in Washington Square Park last Thursday evening and later attended a town hall meeting to denounce the U.S. State Depar tment’s new guidelines for a modified version of President Trump’s “Muslim ban.”
change from the originally planned Washington Square Park to Union Square and also is homemade signs: Some were made on loose-leaf paper, others created within minutes of receiving word the rally would be happening. A speaker representing the Democratic Socialists of America assured the protests will continue. “It’s not so much that the rallies are different, but that they keep happening,” he said. “They’re still public, and they show that this is not something that the majority of New Yorkers condemn or are willing to accept.” Solidarity, unity and support for all immigrants and those impacted by the State Department’s new travel guidelines regarding the six majorityMuslim countries were the unifying message. However, outside a town hall meeting at 18th St. and Fifth Ave. directly following the protest, two supporters of both the Muslim ban and the State Department’s travel guidelines held signs reading, “Back the Ban” and “Keep Syrians Out.” On Wednesday, the Daily News reported that a new survey by Politico / Morning Consult found that most Americans — or 60 percent — now support Trump’s crackdown on travel from the six majority-Muslim countries. Unlike a previous poll, however, this one did not phrase the question by referring to Trump, saying the ban was one of his policies or using the term “travel ban.” TheVillager.com
Bleecker blaze billows smoke, sickens resident
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blaze in the basement of The Atrium, a 10-story residential building at 160 Bleecker St., between Bleecker and Sullivan Sts., that started just before 10 a.m. Wednesday soon was billowing heavy smoke and became a three-alarm fire by 10:30 a.m. Thirty-three fire trucks with a total of 140 firefighters responded. The Bravest knocked down the flames and brought things under control by around 11:30 a.m. A woman who lives on an upper floor of the building was evacuated, right. Not feeling well, she was tended to by an E..T. medic. No one was transported to area hospitals for further medical care, a Fire Department spokesperson said. The fire’s cause is under investigation, but the spokesperson noted, “There was construction going on in the building.” The music venue Le Poisson Rouge is among The Atrium’s commercial tenants. DNAinfo reported that 160 Bleecker has been hit with repeated violations for illegal electrical work and that fire officials said construction materials for the basement’s renovation ignited in Wednesday’s blaze, causing the heavy smoke conditions. PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
A woman was evacuated from 160 Bleecker St. by Fire Depar tment medic s.
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PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Red-white-and-blue barbecue ’n’ canoe, too The flag was flying, hot dogs, sausages and veggies were grilling and Paolo Antunes, a patriotic Downtowner, was paddling his canoe — filled with water, and why not? — in Soho at Spring and Sullivan Sts. on July 4. The street celebration was organized by Paolo, who owns the canoe, and friends.
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July 6, 2017
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Albanese alternative
It takes a Villager. Your local news source
To The Editor: Re “De Blasio, Chin come under fire at town hall” (news article, June 29): Glad to see that de Blasio and Chin are being shown how much they are doing wrong for our communities. Does anyone think that they are really listening? I don’t. The appearance of Sal Albanese at the event makes me interested in his candidacy for mayor. Sylvia Rackow
Key issue for voters To The Editor: Re “Where do candidates stand on small business?” (news article, June 22): As always, Sharon shines a spotlight on a crucial issue effecting our city’s future and authenticity, but is too often overlooked. In a crowded election season, opinions on the Small Business Jobs Survival Act and unrestricted, un-investigated landlords say a lot about a candidate and will inform my vote. Some of the candidates didn’t mince words in their responses and proved that they are unabashedly on the side of small business. Thanks for the helpful read. Dodge Landesman
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Some landlords do care
Critics blast landmark bill as ‘anti-preservation’; Say ‘loophole’ offers little hope BY YANNIC R ACK
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contentious bill that will put deadlines on the city’s preservation agency to designate landmarks within two years was passed by the City Council last week. There was heavy opposition from preservationists and even initial disapproval from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission itself — but the measure might be moot due
to a loophole, according to its chief critics. The legislation, Intro 775A, mandates that L.P.C. vote within one year to designate proposed individual landmarks, and take no longer than two years to vote on proposed historic districts — limits that the bill’s opponents charge could lead to the loss of countless potential landmarks. LANDMARKS continued on p. 12
Hoylman pushes Albany to pass child sex-abuse reform, but Senate stalls BY MICHAEL OSSORGUINE
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he Omnibus Child Victims Act, or Senate Bill S6367, is the latest effort from state Democrats to reform the statute of limitations on victims of child sexual abuse. The bill, though still in committee, has momentum in the Senate as victims are stepping forward
and Senate Democrats are arguing against entrenched opposition. State Senator Brad Hoylman introduced the Senate version of the bill with several co-sponsors, including Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the leader of the Democratic Conference. ABUSE continued on p. 14
Lee Stoliar
No peace with Pier55 To The Editor: Re “Pier55 project still afloat as Corps modifies permit” (news article, June 22): I agree with Elaine Young. People who live near Pier55 were never invited to testify early on about this latest attempt to grab a chunk of the Hudson River to aggrandize themselves. In addition to being an eyesore, the sound of music that will emanate from Diller’s proposed entertainment center will float up and over the West Village — another horror. Let the river be a river.
The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
June 16, 2016 • $1.00 Volume 86 • Number 24
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from her no financial contribution — to which I was legally entitled — to the costly (to me) legal leasebreak document. We parted on good terms. Seven tenant-less months of terrible financial hardship for me ensued, during which I refused countless applications from nail salons, pizza joints and fumespewing dry cleaners. Imagine how it felt, one day, to find myself passing by my vacant store, walking behind some people who commented to one another that here was yet another example of a landlord whose rent-raising had forced out the beloved shop. C’est la vie. It’s unfortunate — and to me, personally dispiriting — that all landlords are assumed to be self-serving and exploitative. Some of us truly are not.
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MIN
Thousands of points of light: Monday night’s vigil stretched along Christopher from Waverly Place to Seventh Ave. South.
‘We shall overcome’: Vigils draw thousands to Village BY PAUL SCHINDLER
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n two vigils in the West Village on Sunday evening, one crowd numbering in the thousands, another in the hundreds voiced shock, grief, and anger over the murder of 50 patrons of an Orlando, Florida, gay bar in the early morning hours of the same day. Speaker after speaker emphasized that the violence cannot be isolated from a climate of anti-L.G.B.T. hatred that continues to persist across the nation, but also pledged to continue building community to respond to hostility and bigotry where it exists.
At the same time, both crowds rejected the notion that hate is an appropriate response to the violence and specifically called out efforts to pit the L.G.B.T. community against the Muslim community over a tragedy in which the shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, is reported to have phoned 911 just prior to the massacre and pledged his allegiance to ISIS. Ken Kidd, a member of Queer Nation New York, took the lead in organizing a rally outside the Stonewall Inn that drew several thousand people. “We come together because this is a community that will
never be silent again,” he sa “I ask every person to think someone you knew who w killed because of anti-L.G.B hatred. Think of a time wh you felt unsafe in your o community. And I want ev single one of you to think of what anyone else, not what I, but of what you can to change that.” Kidd said the L.G.B.T. co munity should draw stren from the 49 patrons of Pulse nightclub who w killed. “We must go forward love,” he said. Mirna Haidar, a represen VIGILS continued on
Graffiti artist tags Haring group in lawsuit ...... p. 1 Remembering Ramrod rampage of 1980.........p. 2 Here comes the sun energy...p. 18
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To The Editor: Re “Why it doesn’t have to be bleaker on Bleecker” (talking point, by Brad Hoylman, June 15): Hard as it may be to believe, some landlords are honorable people who support small businesses and are dedicated to preserving in our West Village all the best “Jane Jacobs” characteristics. I, a Jane St. native, am such a one. Owner of a small mixed-used building in the West Village, the commercial tenants I seek are only small businesses, of a nature that I think will enhance the block and neighborhood. In support of this, I offer leases that are well below market value, while still providing prompt attention and service to my tenants. A few years ago, my then-commercial tenant ran into extreme financial difficulties and notified me she’d have to close her business by the end of that month. I allowed her to break her lease and requested
Susan Brownmiller
Trump pit and pendulum To The Editor: Trump’s tweeting almost every day, venting his immediate dissatisfactions in a highly volatile way, is a serious indication of how emotionally disturbed — and, thus, disturbing — he is, even while living his fantasy of being the most powerful person on the planet. Since he is the Republicans’ unimagined “golden goose,” representing the G.O.P.’s innate greed and lust for absolute control, they do nothing but support him, removing the “balance of power” constitutional safety net. They can then proceed to unwind protections and people-support programs, leaving the U.S. LETTERS continued on p. 12
EVAN FORSCH
or email: pbeatrice@cnglocal.com
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My 11th St. story; How I became a New Yorker stone. After the burglary, I worried about walking east of Third Ave. for fear of getting mugged. But I soon learned there was more to the East Village than bars, thrift shops and Ukrainian clubs. I discovered Russo’s cheese store, Veniero’s bakery, Lanza’s restaurant and De Robertis all right around First Ave. Given my ItalianAmerican roots, I assured my mother that, although I hadn’t the time to cook, I could buy food like her homemade meals blocks away. I spent hours in Pageant’s Book and Print Shop, the Strand and nearby cinemas on Sunday afternoons. When N.Y.U. began its expansion, and was about to start construction on its E. Ninth St. dorm — then designated the tallest building in the neighborhood — I went to the community meeting at the Third Street Music School Settlement, glad for the diverse group banding together to fight development. Of course, we lost.
NOTEBOOK BY NANCY GENDIMENICO
T
here’s nothing left of my old apartment at 112 E. 11th St. except a sign on a wooden partition with the address. Behind that is rubble, a bulldozer and wide-open space between Third and Fourth Aves. I’d been monitoring progress of the demolition since the announcement was made last summer when Pan Am Equities sold what was once my home along with the neighboring building, 114-120 E. 11th St., to the Lightstone Group, a real estate developer. The site of my former home will become the Moxy Hotel, a Millennialoriented chain owned by Marriott. Back in 2008, these four 19th-century tenements had been considered for designation for landmark status. But when word came of the pending purchase in the spring of 2016, it was too late to reapply. Having lived in Manhattan for almost four decades, seven of them on 11th St., I mourn the loss of favorite shops, theaters and restaurants priced out of the neighborhood. Banks, national retail chains and hotels — the brands and companies able to afford the steep cost of doing business in Manhattan — have changed the face of the Village. Now a physical piece of my personal history, my life in Manhattan as a young striver, has disappeared with a few swings of the wrecking ball. Though it’s been 30 years since I lived on E. 11th St., my current apartment is four blocks away. Earlier this spring, I went to check out the demolition in progress. The crew watched me take photos. “I used to live here!” I yelled to them. A worker yelled back, “Sorry!” I wondered how the renters booted out last year had fared with six week’s notice. Where did they move given that reasonably priced rentals in the Village have gone the way of my old building? Yet fi nding a Manhattan apartment regardless of the era has always been daunting. When I arrived in 1980, I was in my mid-twenties. I chose to live Downtown, rather than the Upper East Side where my department store friends were, because my sister lived on Fourth Ave. and E. 12th St. East Village prices made it possible for me to live alone. I’d spotted the 11th St. apartment listing on a hot June weekend. My hunt had led me from one dump to TheVillager.com
The Ritz was never quiet and never closed.
PHOTO BY NANCY GENDIMENICO
The writer’s former building on E. 11th St., covered with scaffolding and ready for demolition. Local preser vationists and community activists had fought to save the handsome historic building and its neighboring building from the wrecking ball, protesting that both should have been landmarked. But instead the site will be turned into a trendy hotel catering to Millennials.
another with my rental budget set at $500. I remember calling about the studio from a phone booth, asking to see it before returning to Washington, D.C., where I was living at the time. I was relocating to New York the next month after getting promoted to my dream job, buyer at Bloomingdale’s. A woman answered, “You sound like a nice person. Come over on Sunday.” When I got there, the narrow foyer was fi lled with other “nice” apartment hunters surveying a sleeping loft, big closets and a renovated kitchen and bathroom for $400 a month. Realizing it would be scooped up quickly, I raced out of the building and hopped into a cab and zipped over to the realtor’s office. A guy with the same idea, around my age, insisted on sharing my taxi to the Upper East Side. He quizzed
me during the ride about what I did for a living. I knew he was asking to determine whether I would “qualify” to get the rental, assuming I earned less than him. He was wrong. When I got to the realtor’s office I was prepared — I had my employment verification letter and a new American Express card to show my good credit record. The apartment was mine! Then reality set in. I froze in the winter and sweated in the summer. My living room windows were nailed shut. But that didn’t block the street noise from The Ritz (now Webster Hall) nor the burglars who broke in with the very keys I’d provided to the super. This happened five months after signing the lease. When I replaced the locks, I refused to give my keys to Pan Am Equities, the landlord who sold the stretch of buildings to Light-
During seven years on E. 11th St., I’d fumble with New York living, my heart broken by the wrong move with a man or my career. Meanwhile, The Ritz was never quiet and never closed. Revelers spilled onto the street after hours and sometimes into our building’s tiny foyer. Stepping onto the sidewalk devoid of puke or blood the next morning after the club’s allnight parties was a rarity. I traveled for work, a sometime respite. After a long overseas business trip, often staying at hotel rooms larger than my 400-square-foot apartment, I was happy to be home, despite the grittiness of E. 11th St. While living there, I saved enough money to make my way out, as I had when I left my Pennsylvania hometown. By taking a job I’d soon despise, I earned enough for a down payment and bought a one-bedroom co-op apartment in 1987. But I could not forget about 11th St. Next year there will be a 13-floor hotel in its place. I will know what had been there before and how my time on 11th St. helped shape me into becoming a real New Yorker. July 6, 2017
11
The best medicine is being back at home
T
wo octogenarian local legends have returned to the neighborhood after stints in rehab. Doris Diether, the longtime Community Board 2 member, was spotted the other day back on Washington Square North, not far from her home, after two months out of commission following a fall. She spent time at Mt. Sinai Hospital, VillageCare rehab on W. Houston St. and Gouverneur Health. Meanwhile, Richie Gamba, “The Mayor of Spring Street,” is also back on the beat, and can often be found hanging out in his usual sidewalk spot between Sixth Ave. and Sullivan St. Gamba had a stroke in November, was in the Veterans Affairs Hospital for a
“The Mayor of Spring Street,” Richie Gamba, is holding cour t again on Spring St. PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Doris Diether is back on Washington Square Nor th and Waverly Place.
month, then sent to rehab at the V.A.’s St. Albans Community Living Center, which he said was terrible. Now he’s back, watching the street, holding court and looking as dapper as ever. “Everything still works,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye and a wink,
from his seat, which doubles as a walker, outside his building. Both Diether and Gamba are examples of New York City seniors aging in place. They draw energy from their communities and their connections with friends.
Letters to the Editor LETTERS continued from p. 10
and the world in a pit, with an unpredictable pendulum at the top. Sy Schleimer
idea of them were so awfully painful for my mother. They are known to cause problems for veterans with P.T.S.D. We should fi nd good alternatives as a compromise for those who want to see these displays. Eva-Lynn Podietz
F’works and stress To The Editor: Re “Wild fi reworks hurt wildlife” (letter, by Elizabeth Forel, June 29): I agree with Elizabeth Forel’s letter about the fi reworks. I have been in Central Park when the fi reworks go off, and my dog has totally freaked out. I, who am the child of a Holocaust survivor, never attended fi reworks as a child because the mere
12
July 6, 2017
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A strong slate of strained relations 2017’s NY Asian Film Festival is mindful of family matters BY SCOTT STIFFLER Bullets fly and swords are wielded in plenty of the crowd-pleasing, kinetic selections at 2017’s New York Asian Film Festival — but its deepest cuts come from the sharp tongues of those who know us best. Uneasy questions and murky answers about what makes, breaks, and heals a family are front and center in a number of outstanding selections this year, the first of which possesses numerous strengths independent of the queer content that garnered accolades after screenings in Berlin and its native Japan. Pining for a parent with nurturing instincts is the day-to-day routine of 11-year-old Tomo, a sullen latchkey kid beginning to wrestle with her own complicity in acts of petty prejudice inflicted upon a friendless classmate and a new ally from the adult world. Stung once again by a mother who responds to the pressures of single parenthood by giving herself to booze, men, and long periods of absence, Tomo arrives at the workplace of Uncle Makio, who takes her in — with a word of caution before they arrive at his door. Makio now resides with Rinko, a transgender woman with intriguingly firm breasts, a yearning for domestic bliss, and a maternal sense of how to pass along her use of needles and yarn as a purification system for toxic emotions (hence the means-what-it-says title: “Close-Knit”). Corners, closets, benches, and walls get a thorough workout as artfully framed go-to places of retreat and resolve in this latest entry from Naoko Ogigami, a writer and director whose comedic body of work has long placed her female characters in unfamiliar environments. This time, however, the strangers in a strange land aren’t tasked with running a new business in Helsinki (2006’s “Kamome Diner”) or plopped down on an island full of eccentrics (2007’s “Glasses”) — they’re beside us at school, in supermarket aisles, and at the dinner table, which makes the resulting culture clashes more sinister than quirky. Rinko, still negotiating her romantic relationship as well as a lingerTheVillager.com
© 2017 “Close-Knit” Film Partners
We are family: A trio bonds with the help of needles and yarn, in “Close-Knit.”
ing connection to a certain part of the male anatomy, suffers the most from this disparity. Effectively underplayed by pretty boy hetero heartthrob Toma Ikuta, audiences accustomed to a steady diet of transgender characters presented as outlandishly sassy, highly sexualized, or damaged beyond repair will be tempted to interpret frumpily dressed Rinko’s stoicism as a weakness — but the character’s restraint in the face of multiple indignities, and her glacial progress at bonding with Tomo, has a cleverly orchestrated effect on the impatient viewer: mounting outrage at how those with obvious differences are pushed to the margins, when they have every right to equal footing. During her early days of cohabitation with the couple, Rinko’s mother takes Tomo out to a restaurant and lets her know, with gangster-like intimi-
dation, that nobody messes with her daughter. (Note: every time she refers to her child in the feminine sense, quote marks are absent from both subtitle and tone of delivery.) Sadly, this seemingly enlightened cisgender woman — who proudly recalls buying pre-teen Rinko a bra — delivers the film’s most hurtful comment, made all the more brutal because she believes it to be a declaration of support. The fi lm is swimming in such moments, where cutting observations and powerful declaratives are intertwined, such as when, in the flip side of that restaurant scene, Uncle Makio (Kenta Kiritani) tells his niece the why, when, and how of falling in unconditional love with Rinko. Tomo (Rinka Kakihara) also takes a stand for something far beyond mere tolerance by visiting the gay classmate she
once snubbed, determined to validate his worth and push him toward selfacceptance. Guard down and chin up seems to be the best any given character in “CloseKnit” can offer to another or muster for themselves. Screenwriter Ogigami’s words, soft as yarn but tightly wound, make a convincing case that decency and determination are the only virtues powerful enough to move us forward. Sat., July 8, 8pm (Q&A with the director follows the screening). Japanese with English subtitles. 127 minutes. Elsewhere in the festival, “Mad World” refers to the inhospitable zone beyond the psychiatric rehabilitation facility that discharges former investment banker Tung (Shawn Yue), one year after a breakdown triggered by NYAFF continued on p. 18 July 6, 2017
17
NYAFF continued from p. 17
his stint as abused caretaker to his late mother. The transition is further complicated by his new roommate: the father whose abandonment contributed to his current mental state. Eric Tsang co-stars as the surviving parent, and will attend the film’s July 12 screening for a Q&A alongside director Wong Chun and screenwriter Florence Chan (Tsang also receives the festival’s 2017 Star Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement Award). On July 9, “Someone to Talk To” finds two couples at a government registration office; one filing for marriage, the other for divorce. Ten years later, their love/hate status has shifted — and the older sister of husband Aiguo (Mao Hai) announces her determination to marry. Tisch School of the Arts graduate Liu Yulin’s debut feature has its own connection to family: a screenplay written by her father, Liu Zhenyun, based on his 2008 novel, “One Sentence Is Ten Thousand Sentences.” Drawing from the deep well of fiction that tells us you can only go home again by getting knocked on the noggin, lapsing into a coma, and learning a valuable lesson, “Duckweed” does its “Wizard of Oz” quest thing very well, but also manages to spread a thick layer of subversive melancholy atop the save-my-parents/save-myself prime directive of “Back to the Future.” The result is an often light but consistently challenging rumination on destiny that refuses to shave the bittersweet edges off its arrogant antihero’s bid for redemption. It’s 2022, and gifted rally driver Tailang (Deng Chao) caps his victory with a venomous and very public criticism of Zhengtai (Eddie Peng), the father who refused to support his dreams. In a slow-motion crash sequence as bold as the rest of the film is restrained, Tailang’s car meets the business end of a speeding train and he wakes up back in 1998, the year before he was born. Rather than concern itself with the mechanics of time travel that made this possible, “Duckweed” gets right down to the serious business of ambition, interpersonal dynamics, and fatal flaws — groundwork that’s nicely established in a scene where Tailang is rescued from a skirmish by his shockingly spry and charismatic father, an entrepreneurial gang leader with terrible business instincts and the wrong taste in women. It seems Zhengtai has a fiancé whose maiden name is not that of the mother who must give birth before dad is sent to prison for six years, only to emerge as the twisted
18
July 6, 2017
Courtesy China Lion Film Distribution, Inc.
It’s a nice day for the right wedding: “Duckweed” sends an arrogant son back in time to make sure his parents get hitched.
© 2016 Entertaining Power Company
Sanitation workers also serve as a secret force tasked with sweeping Hong Kong’s bloodsuckers under the rug, in “Vampire Cleanup Department.”
©2016 Mad World Limited, courtesy of Golden Scene Co. Ltd.
Father and son share close quarters while trying to close the distance between them, in “Mad World.”
tormenter responsible for turning his now-motherless boy into the ungrateful heel of 2022. For the tail end of the ’90s, though, the trio become fast friends while the Tailang goes all out to ensure his very existence. What makes “Duckweed” so engaging has very little to do with how the future version of an unborn son maneuvers the right people to the altar. That’s enjoyable enough, yes; but its real appeal is rooted in the slight advantage director Han Han gives the audience over the main character. We’re always one step ahead when it comes to real-
izing that despite Tailang’s knowledge of impending events and his slowly emerging sense of empathy, some lives will be lost and others will be damaged; perhaps beyond repair. Waking up in the present to find his timeworn father at the hospital bedside, a tender moment of recognition between them provides a bit of hope, but stops short of delivering the brand of dewy kinship that made Dorothy Gale and Marty McFly’s homecoming such a pleasure to watch. That narrative choice is difficult to digest, but it sure does stick to the ribs. Sat., July
15, 12:30pm. Mandarin with English subtitles. 101 minutes. An anomaly relative to the more somber entries in this roundup, “Vampire Cleanup Department” never drops the ball in its desire to juggle gore and genealogy. Like the kindhearted teen whose newfound immunity to supernatural toxins gives him an edge in the fight against evil, “VCD” is a zippy hybrid with an unusual blood type coursing through the veins of its franchise-friendly mythology: Deep beneath a seemingly mundane garbage collection station, civil servants who sweep the streets by day spend their nights answering the call to keep Hong Kong’s robust population of undead in check. “When a person dies with injustice on a cloudy day, at a gloomy place, then he might turn into a vampire,” says Uncle Chung (a droll Richard Ng), who recruits naive and nerdy Tim (an appropriately named Babyjohn Choi) into the team’s rapidly aging ranks after a vampire attack reveals his nephew has inherited protective powers from his late mother (mom and pop, turns out, were Department bigwigs who died heroically). Trained in the ways of vampire fighting and soul reclamation, the dutiful but untested teen is sworn to secrecy (having refused a sip of memory-erasing tea that keeps the general public blissfully unaware). On his first mission, Tim comes fresh-face-to-putrefied-face with a female vampire. Lacking the heart to stab hers, a bloody good smooch turns Summer (Lin Min-chen) into a mute but perceptive beauty. The rest of the film plays out as a manic series of seismic shifts in tone, with Tim hiding his new love interest from the others, coaching her in the ways of humanity, and confronting threats on several fronts (a big bad vampire; a delusional grandmother; the upstart local authority determined to replace VCD with his own force). Transfused with injections of comedy, action, horror, and romance, directing team Chiu Sin-hang and Yan Pak-wing are so dead-set on entertaining you that the genre-hopping attention deficit disorder of their debut feature proves less of a distraction than a welcome asset. Sat., July 15, 10pm. Cantonese with English subtitles. 94 minutes. The New York Asian Film Festival runs through July 13 at The Film Society of Lincoln Center (165 W. 65th St., btw. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.) and July 14-16 at the SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd St., btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.). For tickets ($14; $11 students/ seniors), visit subwaycinema.com. TheVillager.com
Photo by Cilla Villanueva
Chris Harcum and Marisol Rosa-Shapiro as Martin and Rochelle Denton.
Thank You, Thank You, Martin Denton, Martin Denton Indie theatre’s faithful friend gets a show of support BY TRAV S.D. From 1997 through 2014 the New York theatre community, in particular its independent theatre, had an amazing life raft. A pioneering Internet entrepreneur and theatre-lover named Martin Denton, aided and abetted by his mother, Rochelle, wrote, published, edited, coded, and promoted the website nytheatre.com, which featured thousands of reviews, listings, blogs, interviews, and podcasts about the New York theatre scene. Over those 17 years the Dentons touched thousands of people’s lives: artists, audience members, arts administrators, journalists — everyone who cared about New York theatre. But they’d never BEEN theatre themselves. July 6-23, NYC-based indie theatre and film company Elephant Run District will present “Martin Denton, Martin Denton” at the Kraine Theater. The brainchild of writer and actor Chris Harcum, who plays Denton and numerous other roles, the show is directed by Aimee Todoroff and co-stars Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, who plays Rochelle, et al. Said Todoroff: “Chris and I were having dinner with Martin and Rochelle in their new digs in Asbury Park, NJ. Martin was on a tear, telling these great stories one after the other, and Chris said, ‘Someone should do a show about this.’ TheVillager.com
Martin said, ‘Who would play me? You?’ We all laughed, but the seed was planted. The next thing we know, we’re booked into the Kraine for July, and Chris is spending his weekends train-hopping between New York City and New Jersey to record interviews with Martin. One thing of note; the name of the play, ‘Martin Denton, Martin Denton,’ came about because Chris wanted to force people to say Martin’s name and remember it!” Harcum concurred, underlining the pivotal importance of the Dentons: “They have done so much for indie theater and changed the game in terms of arts coverage. In his time, Martin wrote and edited a combined total of over 10,000 reviews, published around 2,000 plays, plus hundreds of podcasts, and thousands of blog posts. He gave attention and appreciation to many artists early on, including Taylor Mac. As crazy and spread out as everything has been, the Dentons pulled things together. They worked round the clock nearly every day of the year.” To gather material for the piece, Harcum made three trips to the Dentons New Jersey apartment to interview them, resulting in over 400 pages of transcripts, which then had to be condensed, digested, fact checked, and placed in chronological order, with Denton himself acting
as the dramaturge. As for being turned into a piece of theatre himself, Denton is disarmed: “It has been one of the strangest experiences in my life; becoming someone else’s idea of who I am. I think Chris has been doing a very respectful job in writing these versions of myself and Rochelle; and that he and Marisol and Aimee are likewise doing a very respectful job bringing these versions to life on stage. But it’s kinda surreal for me because no matter what, it’s not the actual us! I am getting a real appreciation for how any public figure must feel when they are the subject of any kind of written or artistic portrayal. It’s untethering.” Longtime theatre fans are bound to be curious, for the piece chronicles Denton’s entire life story — from his childhood love for theatre to that moment when, as an accountant for the Marriott hotel chain, he started his site as an experimental whim… which then became the entire focus of his life… which then became the informational hub for thousands of theatre lovers and practitioners and the soul of a movement… to the moment when both he and the Internet environment had changed, and the Dentons altered the focus to play publishing, blogging, and the creation of an archive, all to be found at the current site indietheaternow.com.
Playing Denton, said Harcum, has been “a real marathon for me. It’s much more of a challenge than I expected. I am trying to give a three-dimensional portrayal of him. More like Frank Langella’s Nixon than Rich Little’s, if that means anything. Impressions are good for a shorter sketch comedy piece but I think they wear thin once you get the joke. So I needed to make choices I could sustain through this. I bring a lot of myself to it. … At a certain point, I had to stop thinking like a playwright and think more like an actor picking up a script from someone else.” As to the meaning of all this? “I just hope audiences will get an appreciation of the life and work of someone who truly loved the theater,” Harcum said. “At the end of the day, this is a story of someone falling in love with something, having a deep and intense relationship, and then having to let go a little in the end. I think artists will understand what this is like, and aficionados will also get this on a meaningful level.” July 6-23 at The Kraine Theater (85 E. Fourth St., btw. Bowery & Second Ave.). Thurs.-Sat. at 7pm; Sun. at 2pm. For tickets ($25, $20 for students/seniors), visit horsetrade.info. 90 minutes, no intermission. Also visit elephantrundistrict.org. July 6, 2017
19
Supreme holds ‘unauthorized’ events in parks SUPREME continued from p. 2
lously fumed in his May 2 missive, “your company held another unauthorized event at William F. Passannante Ballfield, Avenue of the Americas and Houston St., on March 13, again without obtaining a Special Event permit from Parks or coordinating with NYPD. It is believed that you subsequently held an event at Hell’s Kitchen Park on April 17 and then again yesterday, both times without obtaining a Special Event permit.” Castro concluded by warning that if Supreme continued to flout orders by Parks to cancel similar planned events in the future it would potentially face civil and/or criminal sanctions. The borough commissioner said the company also had to publicize the cancellations and post them on any social-media platforms where they had been advertised. C.B. 2 members recently voted unanimously to recommend that SAPO deny a permit request for a Supreme / Louis Vuitton event at a location at Bond St. and Bowery that the company estimated would bring more than 1,000 attendees flooding to the spot. C.B. 2 also requested that, for any further events, Supreme come before the community board with a comprehensive plan to “minimize
Local residents say Supreme’s Soho store brings a host of qualit y-of-life problems, many of which are left behind after the “hypebeasts” have gone.
or eliminate the unnecessary disturbances that have been plaguing our community for the past several years.” The C.B. 2 resolution added that the 20,000-square-foot four-level Louis Vuitton store on E. 57th St. would be
a more a reasonable spot for the event in question than the 2,100-squarefoot Bond St. location. Attempts by The Villager to contact Supreme regarding its contentious relationship with its Soho neighbors
The lineup in front of the Supreme store in Soho. Positions in the lineup are allotted by a lotter y held the Monday before in one of about a dozen parks. With a scaffolding up in front of the store, the sidewalk is nearly impassable.
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were unsuccessful by press time. Meanwhile, rumors of the opening of a second New York-based Supreme location in Williamsburg have started to make their way around social media.
Deal or no deal: Resellers of the latest Supreme gear promptly hawk their wares a stone’s throw from the store in hopes of turning a quick profit. TheVillager.com
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Robert Rambusch, 93, liturgical artist, designer
OBITUARY BY SHARON WOOLUMS
R
obert E. Rambusch, a liturgical artist, stained-glass designer and one of the four nationally recognized pioneers in the profession of liturgical design consultation, died May 23 at age 93. He was a Villager for more than 70 years. On the board of the Liturgical Conference and a founding member of major liturgical associations, Rambusch participated in the design and renovation of 24 U.S. and Canadian cathedrals and 400 churches and synagogues. Over the course of his 65-year-plus career, he won the major accolades and awards in his field, including the Frederick R. McManus Award from the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions in 2005, in recognition of his “significant contributions to furthering the liturgical renewal in the United States,” the Berekah Award in 2001 from the North American Academy of Liturgy, the Mathis Award from Notre Dame in 1983, and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) Award in 1979, for his “contribution to religious architecture.” Bob Rambusch worked for more than 35 years at Rambusch Decorating Company, the fi rm founded by his grandfather, Frode, in New York in 1898. He left in 1984 to found his own fi rm, Robert E. Rambusch Associates.
An example of Rober t Rambusch’s liturgical ar t work. Rambusch did post-graduate work at Le
Rober t Rambusch.
Centre de L’Art Sacre in Paris with founder Father Marie-Alain Couturier, a close associate of the artists Henri Matisse and Fernand Léger. These studies informed his approach to sacred art and worship spaces, embracing the principle that religious art cannot develop outside the artistic life of its time. He was appointed the international secretary of the Young Christian Students while studying in Paris. For Rambusch, social justice and charity were primary virtues. In 1948, he began working with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker serving those in need. He corresponded with Thomas Merton. In World War II, Rambusch served in the 45th Infantry Division under General George S. Patton in North Africa, Sicily and Europe. He participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, forcing the S.S. troops to give the rotting corpses a decent burial. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. In 2014, this writer facilitated an oral history with Bob Rambusch at the Jefferson Market Library. (See: http://oralhistory. nypl. org/interviews/bob-rambush- y0ehxf ) A resident of One Fifth Ave. and Greenwich Village since 1945, Rambusch spoke of the infectious spirit of the Village having formed him artistically, politically and socially. “It’s a haven for creative people,” he said, “the only place to live if you want to stay young.”
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A Westbeth ar tist lost this print when she left it propped against a wall outside the building’s Washington St. entrance for a few minutes on Wednesday.
Pickup on Washington St.; Print goes missing
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his matted, framed print, measuring roughly 36 inches by 48 inches, was left leaning against the outside of the Westbeth building along Washington St. between Bank and Bethune Sts. on Wed., July 5, for a few minutes around 2:20 p.m. and went missing. The artist resident, who was moving some of her possessions into the building, assumes the piece was probably mistaken for trash since it was covered with some ripped brown paper. A check with Westbeth security subsequently revealed surveillancecamera footage of man wearing a pink
polo shirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap walking off with the print in hand, heading southbound on Washington St. The artist wishes to remain anonymous. The print, which has sentimental value for the her, is a metaphorical representation of a book of poetry. It shows a woman holding earthly objects — such as rocks, shells and pinecones — and placing them into a river, in which they come to life and are illuminated. Anyone with information about the missing print can anonymously contact The Villager at news@thevillager. com.
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A Westbeth sur veillance-camera image shows a man walking off with the print. TheVillager.com
What a drag! Crossdressers march crosstown
Y
ou could call the Drag March, which happened on the evening of Fri., June 23, a dry run for the Pride March that following Sunday. That is, if it hadn’t been pouring rain. Prep time for the event was only slightly moist, as participants added last-minute makeup and danced to disco music in Tompkins Square Park, provided by a boom box with a portable mirrored ball. Outfits worthy of the legendary Wigstock festival included men in dresses and wigs, women in beards and moustaches and one man wearing just socks — umm, three of them — roller skates and not much else. The group sashayed out of the park chanting, “We’re here! We’re queer! We’re coming for your children!” as the rain started to get serious. A block later they were singing “It’s Raining Men,” enjoying every minute, heading toward Washington Square Park.
Bob Krasner
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
Revelers let it all hang out — or nearly all of it — and Lezzie Van Halen rocked out at the Drag March.
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July 6, 2017
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ADVERTORIAL
TOP DRIVER DISTRACTIONS Using mobile phones Leading the list of the top distractions behind the wheel are mobile phones. Phones now do more than just place calls, and drivers often cannot pull away from their phones, even when driving. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, studies have shown that driving performance is lowered and the level of distraction is higher for drivers who are heavily engaged in cell
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phone conversations. The use of a hands-free device does not lower distraction levels. The percentage of vehicle crashes and nearcrashes attributed to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening.
Daydreaming Many people will admit to daydreaming behind the wheel or looking at a person or object outside of the car for too long. Per-
haps they’re checking out a house in a new neighborhood or thought they saw someone they knew on the street corner. It can be easy to veer into the direction your eyes are focused, causing an accident. In addition to trying to stay focused on the road, some drivers prefer the help of lane departure warning systems.
Eating Those who haven’t quite mastered walking and
chewing gum at the same time may want to avoid eating while driving. The majority of foods require a person’s hands to be taken off of the wheel and their eyes to be diverted from the road. Reaching in the back seat to share some French fries with the kids is also distracting. Try to eat meals before getting in the car. For those who must snack while en route, take a moment to pull over at
a rest area and spend 10 minutes snacking there before resuming the trip.
Reading Glancing at an advertisement, updating a Facebook status or reading a book are all activities that should be avoided when driving. Even pouring over a traffic map or consulting the digital display of a GPS system can be distracting.
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