The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
February 9, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 6
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For whom the bridge tolls; New push to make Verrazano fee two-way BY COLIN MIXSON
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ew booth-less toll technology leaves Republican congressmembers with no more excuses for maintaining the Verrazano Bridge’s unfair one-way toll structure, local advocates say. Lower Manhattan dwellers have long argued that the unbalanced fee
sends cash-strapped truckers from the outer boroughs and beyond flooding into their neck of the woods. “We’ve been waiting 30 years for this tech to evolve,” said Sean Sweeney, executive director of the Soho Alliance. “The time is now. Lets seize it!” The current one-way bridge TOLL continued on p. 5
‘Watchdogs’ barking mad about B. DeVos being Education chief PHOTO BY REBECCA WHITE
BY AMY RUSSO
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espite this week’s confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Department of Education secretary, educators, students and parents across New York City rallied against the contentious pick that they see as a threat to public education.
In the week before the final vote, school kids across the city and their parents sent a slew of letters to U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, urging them to stop DeVos, eventually meeting with staffers of both senators to voice their concerns. Lizzie Scott, a Brooklyn parDOGS continued on p. 10
Elizabeth St. Garden members gave Mayor de Blasio a workout on his way into the Prospect Park YMCA , urging him to visit the Nolita green oasis before he O.K.’s an affordable housing plan that would destroy it forever. See Page 3.
‘We won’t go backward!’ Gays rally vs. travel ban BY ANDY HUMM
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.G.B.T.Q. people have protested and celebrated outside the Stonewall Inn since the Rebellion in 1969. But on Sat., Feb. 4, in subfreezing temperatures, thousands filled the streets of Stonewall Place to condemn President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority nations — standing up for Islamic people within and outside the com-
munity who have been singled out for persecution by the new administration. “L.G.B.T.Q. people have been fighting oppression for time immemorial,” said openly gay Councilmember Corey Johnson, who represents the Village and Chelsea. “So, when we see an administration come after vulnerable communities,” Johnson said, “we feel it deeply and personally. We are declaring with one voice that we are
in this together.” Johnson was one of the lead organizers of the protest, endorsed by more than 60 groups and scores of elected officials. Jamila Hammami, executive director of the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, said, “I am not a single-issue person. We are under surveillance. We worry about bombings. We worry about Islamophobia in our own community.” RALLY continued on p. 8
Haden-Guest K.O.’s Trump in b’day bout ............p. 2 Op-Ed: It’s time to can Electoral College ......... p. 13 Their Rogue won...................... p. 6
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