Chelsea Now - November 7, 2019

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Chelsea VOLUME 11, ISSUE UE 44

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 Y YA A R D S & H E L L’S K I T C H E N

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Tribeca Trans statue debuts Page 3

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Tribeca statue celebrates transgender comm.

BY GABE HERMAN

A

new sculpture unveiled on Monday in Tribeca Park is dedicated to the transgender GNC (gender non-conforming) community.

The ten-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture is in the shape of a butterfly. It’s by visual artist Rubem Robierb as part of his “Dream Machine” series. Each work in the series is named for a person, whether famous or forgotten, who lived or died fighting for their own dreams or the dreams of others.

This piece is called “Dandara,” named for a transgender woman who was murdered in Brazil in 2017 at age 42.

“We are all here for the right reasons, we are all here because we care,” said Robierb at the Nov. 4 ceremony in Tribeca Park, which is just below Canal Street where West Broadway and Sixth Avenue converge.

Robierb thanked everyone for coming to the event and referenced the work’s tribute to Dandara and the transgender GNC community.

“This is a monument for dreamers,” Robierb said.

“Imagine yourself between these wings, close your eyes and make a wish. See yourself in a place where dreams come true.”

Sam Champion, the ABC weather anchor who is married to Robierb, hosted the event. He said the sculpture is a place for all people to come and share dreams. “We’re the same and there’s strength in that,” Champion said.

Another speaker was Peppermint, a transgender woman from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” who is an actress and activist. “I never dreamt of such a beautiful day,” she said. “I feel blessed and thankful to be one of the first to lay eyes on this beautiful sculpture.”

Peppermint said that going back decades; there has often been a lack of visibility for the LGBT community and negative images associated with transgender women.

“It’s pretty clear to see how that can serve as a barrier to

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The sculpture will be in Tribeca Park until May 4, 2020.

someone seeing themselves in a positive light,” she said.

She added that transgender women are gaining more visibility but are also victims of violence at increasing rates, including in Brazil and the U.S. Peppermint noted of the sculpture being dedicated to Dandara, “To have her name and essence carry on is such

a beautiful thing.” She said she hoped the sculpture could be the beginning of others having a space and knowing that dreams can be realized. “Hopefully this can be the beginning of change we need to see,” she said.

The “Dandara” sculpture will be at Tribeca Park until May 4, 2020.

‘Harry Smith at the Chelsea Hotel’ packs LES theater

BY SHARON WOOLUMS

H

arry Smith at the Chelsea Hotel, a black comedy with a feminist underbelly, was read at Dixon Place on Oct. 23 to a packed audi-

ence.

Set in 1970, it follows the mysteriously fraught love story of Bix and Gwinn, and moves on to scenes in the salon-like atmosphere of their friend Harry Smith.

It’s set in some famous hangouts of the era — Max’s Kansas City’s back room, a Chelsea Hotel suite art opening with few buyers, the El Quijote Restaurant, and later Harry’s room at the Chelsea, where he regales friends, artists, and other visitors with his wideranging intellect and abrasive wit. The dialogue is peppered with satirical talk about art, relationships, auras, and money.

Here wordplay is rampant, repartee razor-sharp.

Though this is a portrait of the irascible and charming Harry Smith, author-director Terese Coe’s late friend and mentor, she describes what she sees as a feminist motif in it: “Gwinn’s salary as editor-writer with the underground press is a pittance. So-called friends begin joking that she should become a prostitute. She refuses and finds ways to make them look ridiculous in return. Harry teases her as well, but later relents when he sees she is not about to be railroaded into something she refuses to accept.”

“You couldn’t help but laugh, even when, inevita-

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IMAGE BY VERONICA MARINO

“Harr y Smith at the Chelsea Hotel.”

bly, Harry insulted someone — even you — in the early 70s.” It was a time when “politically correct” speech had not yet been invented. Harry teases and taunts Gwinn, as do others, but Harry defends her.

Cain Perry plays Harry Smith; Cordis Heard is his

companion Peggy Biderman; Brianna Fragomeni is journalist Gwinn; Brandon Culp is poet Claude Pelieu; Jody Prusan is actress Fania; Tim Mullins is Bix; J.L. Rey is the possible patron; and Nicholas-Tyler Corbin is Jerry. Cordis Heard, founder of Red Harlem Readers, was especially impressive in her role as Peggy Biderman.

Theater-goers who had known Harry personally said Ms. Coe’s introduction of Harry to the audience before the play was an authentic portrait of him: “Harry was a living lesson in how to survive as an artist and satirist at a time when young people needed that paradigm and practice. He was fond of playing Brecht-Weill’s Mahagonny, the opera from which he was making a Manhattan-based film, or else Woody Guthrie; he sometimes displayed his collection of Navajo costumes, his adeptness with string figures, and always his whip-smart wordplay and mockery,” she said.

“It was a subculture of the counterculture, and Harry had a huge circle of admirers,” Coe said. “Folkrock musicians showed up as if on a pilgrimage, many of them aware he had put together the first compendious ‘Anthology of American Folk Music,’ which came out on Folkways in 1952. They said it had influenced their music.” In fact, it’s often agreed that Harry Smith’s “Anthology” paved the way for the entire folk music revival of the early 1960s as well as for the development of folk-rock music.

November 7, 2019

3

Mock trial in Tribeca punishes bad landlords

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

N

ew Yorkers indicted city landlords for criminal and civil crimes against tenants’ rights during a mock trial hosted by the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition in Tribeca on Oct. 30.

“We want to also indict the federal state and city as co-conspirators for their rezoning laws … the tax breaks they give landlords … and for allowing harassment,” said mock juror Iris Morales, who is a former member of the Young Lord civil rights group. “We also indict the banks that support these abusive practices.”

The mock court hearing at 125 Barclay St. was held roughly a week after the coalition released a list of New York City’s worst evictors, which placed Philip Wischerth from the LeFrak Organization, which owns the Queens apartment complex LeFrak City, at the top.

The list is comprised of 10 landlords who accounted for 2,182 evictions in the city last year.

Some of those testifying included tenants of buildings owned by the landlords featured on the Worst Evictors list.

Tenants also testified against the

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL NYC COALITION.

New Yorkers filled the basement of 125 Barclay St. to take “bad cit y landlords” to task for their poor treatment of tenants.

Office of Court Administration for their culpability in what they argue is an unjust culture in the city’s housing courts.

“We all know housing courts are not a place of justice,” said Marilyn Mullins, a Community Action for Safe Apartments leader. “They are often hostile

and confusing places for tenants.”

During the hearing, tenants stated 12 demands for the city, including passing legislation to expand the city’s Right to Counsel law to include all zip codes, to place a moratorium on evictions in the winters and for an investigation into those on the coalition’s Worst Evictors list.

The Eviction Defense Network, a group to fight against evictions, was launched during the tribunal.

“Evictions are wrong,”said Juan Nuñez, from the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition.” We have to resist them in every way, shape and form.”

Legislators debate future of e-cigarettes in NYC

BY ALEJANDR A O'CONNELL-DOMENECH The future of e-cigarettes and vaping devices remains unclear after lawmakers heard from school officials, medical experts, business groups and city and state officials during a Nov. 4 hearing in Manhattan.

The hearing, co-sponsored by senate education committee chair state Senator Shelley Mayer and state Senator Kevin Thomas, coincided with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that the legal age to purchase any tobacco products in the state will rise from 18 to 21 as of Nov. 13. Recently, a New York court also placed a temporary injunction on a bill banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the Empire State.

Some lawmakers supported legislation regulating the industry while others called for a ban of the devices in light of the recent deaths caused by vaping-related illnesses.

“It’s a dangerous product that has not been properly vetted by the FDA,” said state Senator Brad Hoylman. “Why should be be allowing its use at all in New York State?”

State Senator Liz Krueger supported banning tobacco products “regardless of their form at this point.” Krueger,

4

November 7, 2019

Close-up photo of female holding e-cigarette with smoke. Indoors

the prime sponsor of a bill to legalize marijuana in New York state, clarified that although she continues to support marijuana legalization, she did not want to create a future health crisis.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control reported, there have been 1,888 cases of vaping related illness in the United States. Brad Hutton, deputy

commissioner for the New York State Department of Health, pointed out that 156 of those sickened were New Yorkers.

According to the CDC, the majority of vaping-related lung illnesses have been connected to black market marijuana products. Experts at the hearing said that investigators of the epidemic

are still unable to definitively link the illness and deaths to one ingredient or source.

The majority of those who testified at Monday’s hearing spoke of the need for legislation to combat the growing number of school-aged children vaping or using e-cigarettes. They also backed existing legislation to ban the sale of ecigarette flavors.

“This has led to an emergence of a belief that e-cigarettes are not harmful,” said Abe Baker-Butler, co founder of Students Against Nicotine and high school student from Rye. According to Hutton, 27 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes in 2018 — a 164 percent increase from 2014 numbers. Other city and state officials said that more than 40 percent of high schoolers regularly vaped.

“It’s like comparing two bombs and asking which is more explosive,” said Hutton in comparing regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes. “They are both very dangerous to health.”

Bodega and convenient store representatives argued that a full ban of the products would have adverse effects on former combustible cigarette smokers who switched to e-cigarettes. Legislators repeatedly asked if there was validity to the claim that e-cigs are safer than traditional cigarettes.

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November 7, 2019

5

Police Blotter 6th Precinct Greenwich Village

Costly bites at the Apple Store

Chocoholic goes on a rampage A woman started an argument with an employee at the Max Brenner chocolate shop, at 841 Broadway, then started throwing items in the store, according to police.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 1:15 a.m., a 19-year-old employee said she was cleaning, when a woman came in and started an argument. The dispute allegedly escalated when the woman threw a wooden chair at the employee and missed, causing damage

to the chair.

The woman also threw salt and pepper shakers at the wall, breaking them, and knocked over an iPad and iPad holder, according to officials. She then allegedly knocked over and broke a table valued at $300.

There were no injuries reported from the incident. Police said that the woman, Danielle Patterson, was arrested for attempted assault, a felony.

-Gabe Herman

Midtown South Precinct Man stabbed after argument

Homeless man knifed at E. River Park

Officials are looking for three men after a pair of thefts inside Greenwich Village restaurants, according to a police report.

The first incident was on Friday, Sept. 27, around 6:15 p.m. inside Baby Brasa, at 173 Seventh Ave. A 23-yearold woman was inside when she hung her purse, with her wallet inside, on the back of her chair.

The woman realized her wallet, containing cash and credit cards, had allegedly been taken, and she then went home. A police investigation found that unauthorized charges were made at the Apple Store at 401 W. 14 St. The second incident was on Friday, Oct. 4, around 6:40 p.m., at the Favela Cubana restaurant, at 543 LaGuardia Place.

A 43-year-old woman was seated inside with her purse hanging on the back of her chair.

At some point during the evening, the woman discovered that her wallet, containing $100 and credit cards, had allegedly been taken. An investigation found that unauthorized charges were made at the same Apple Store, at 401 W. 14 St. -Gabe Herman

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

A

homeless man was stabbed while sleeping in East River Park on Sunday, Nov.3, authorities said.

According to police, the 28-year-old victim was resting on the stage of the park’s amphitheater when an unknown man came up to him and stabbed him twice in the left hip at roughly 8:15 p.m.

After the attack, the assailant fled westbound on Cherry Street, police said.

The victim was transported by EMS to Bellevue Hospital and is currently still being treated for his puncture wounds.

Officers from the 7th Precinct were currently still searching for the assailant as this story went live Monday morning.

Backpack taken from vehicle on Elizabeth A man took a backpack out of an unsecured vehicle at 301 Elizabeth St. this summer, police said.

On Monday, July 29, around 12:08 p.m., the thief allegedly took the backpack, belonging to a 33-year-old man, from the vehicle’s front seat. The man then fled on foot west on Elizabeth Street.

The items in the backpack included a credit card, $3,300 in American cash and $350 in Euros.

The man wanted for grand larceny is described by police as Hispanic, bald, and he was last seen wearing a red shirt, blue jean shorts and white sneakers.

-Gabe Herman

Two men assaulted another man following an argument in front of 235 W. 42 St., police said.

The incident occurred on Friday, Oct. 25, around 10:30 p.m. During the assault, one of the men allegedly stabbed the victim, a 30-year-old man, in his right arm and torso. The two men then fled on foot west on West 42 Street.

The victim suffered a collapsed lung and a lacerated bicep. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

The first man is described by police as Hispanic, 18 to 22 years old, and last seen wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, red sneakers, and with a black backpack.

The second man is described as Hispanic, 18 to 22 years old, with a beard and his hair in a ponytail, and last seen wearing a light-colored hooded sweater with the words “pink panther” on the front, blue jeans and black sneakers.

-Gabe Herman

Woman groped at 42nd St. stop A woman was groped in the subway on Sunday, Sept. 22, according to police.

Around 7:10 a.m., a 22-year-old woman was walking up the stairs inside the subway station at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, when a man allegedly touched her backside.

The man fled the scene in an unknown direction.

-Gabe Herman

The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 Copyright © 2019 by Schneps Media is published weekly by Schneps Media, 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: Schneps Media, 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 - © 2019 Schneps Media.

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November 7, 2019

7

Williams wins, props passed, judges elected

BY THE VILL AGER STAFF

M

anhattan residents headed to the polls on Nov. 5 to choose their public advocate, a slate of judges and answers to five ballot questions — but not many of them showed up to do so.

Yet another election in New York City was marred by incredibly low turnout. About 13% of registered voters citywide cast a selection in the public advocate race, which was at the top of every ballot.

Incumbent Jumaane Williams, the Democrat elected in February from 17 candidates in a special election, easily bested Republican Councilman Joe Borelli of Staten Island and Libertarian Devin Balkind with relative ease, gaining 77.84% in favor of the incumbent.

Meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly approved five proposed changes to the City Charter — with every question getting a “Yes” vote from 70% or more voters.

New York will join more than a dozen other cities and countries that have adopted a ranked-choice model. The approved proposal will set that new ranked system in place for elections beginning in 2021.

Voters also passed a referendum to expand and strengthen the authority of the Civilian Complain Review Board (CCRB), the group that is charged

PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams cruised to victor y in his re-election bid on Nov. 5.

with investigating reports of police misconduct against civilians.

Tuesday’s vote also approved a mea-

sure that in part extends the ban on how long former city officials and appointees must wait before lobbying their old agen-

cies, from one year to two.

The fourth approved proposal would allow the city to create “rainy day fund” in its budget and set minimum budgets for public advocate and borough president offices.

And the fifth measure approved relates to land use and requires the city to submit detailed project summaries to the relevant borough president, borough board and community board at least 30 days before the application is certified for public review. It also gives the local community board additional time to review the project.

Finally, Manhattan voters elected a slate of judges to the Civil and Surrogate Courts.

Three Democratic judges took victory last night in the 1st Judicial District’s Supreme Court Race: Martin Shulman took 117,593 votes, Shawn T. Kelly had 115,875, and Jennifer Schechter received 126,458 ballots. All of the other 3,525 votes went to write ins.

Two civil court county judges, Ashlee Crawford and Robert Rosenthal also prevailed unopposed in Manhattan — Crawford with 136,775 votes and Rosenthal with 115,187.

Meanwhile Anna Lewis E. Grace Park, and Erik L. Gray separately won the 3rd, 4th, and 9th Civil Court districts too.

They were elected without opposition.

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Just 1% turnout in ďŹ rst early vote

PHOTO : MARK HALLUM/AMNEWYORK

BY MARK HALLUM

E

arly voting apparently made little difference in shaking off the indifference of New York City voters.

The recent trend of remarkably low voter turnout in the five boroughs didn’t seem to get a boost from nine days of early voting, according to figures from the city’s Board of Elections. What started out on Oct. 26 only yielded a cumulative total of 60,110 voters by the time early voting closed on Nov. 3, the Board of Elections reported.

Less than 40% of registered voters in New York City participated in the 2018 midterm elections, and just 23% turned out for the 2017 mayoral elections.

Early voting is expected to help reverse the downward trend in voter turnout in the years to come.

But the program didn’t appear to make a positive impact on the 2019 race, and some recognized early on that the rollout of early voting was not without its flaws.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had called the state legislation to adopt early voting “a chance for us to reinvigorate our democracy,� at a Queens County Democrats pre-election party on Oct. 29 and touted how easy it was for him to vote himself. “I glided into my poll site in Brooklyn and I was out of there in like, five minutes, and it is going to open up a world of opportunity where a lot of people previously thought that voting was not something that they could focus on or take time for, now they’re going to have every opportunity, weekends and weekdays and all sorts of different times when they can vote,� de Blasio said.

Few New Yorkers, however, took the mayor’s advice, as the BOE data indicated.

Manhattan came in with the highest number of early ballots cast at 19,865, followed by Brooklyn at 17,976, Queens at 13,129, the Bronx with 4,893 and Staten Island garnering 4,247.

Those numbers are a far cry from the total number of active and inactive registered voters in the five boroughs, according to state Board of Elections data. The totals are as follows: Manhattan, 1,197,797; Bronx, 833,172; Brooklyn, 1,637,055; Queens, 1,282,887; and Staten Island, 319,473.

When analyzing the city and state data, amNewYork determined that only 1.14 percent of all registered New York City voters participated in early voting across all five boroughs this year.

For New Yorkers, the races on the ballot may not have been much of a draw.

The lone citywide race, for public advocate, was assumed by many to go to incumbent Jumaane Williams, who won the seat in February. There were also five ballot proposals on changes to the City Charter.

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O’Neill retires after 3 years as commish

PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill with Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing the top cop’s resignation.

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he nation’s largest police force will have a new leader in December when current Chief of Detectives, Dermott Shea, replaces the outgoing Commissioner James O’Neill, who formally announced his resignation Monday in favor of an undisclosed private-sector job.

O’Neill simply said it was “his time� to move on despite questions of recent controversy regarding the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the Eric Garner case or the spate of police-involved shootings and suicides. “It weighed heavily on me, but I felt that this is my time,� O’Neill said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said his decision to name Shea as O’Neill’s successor – rather than seeking new leadership outside the NYPD – was based on a personal conviction that the department is going in the right direction with new inroads made within the community through programs such as the Neighborhood Coordination Officers initiative. “[O’Neill] led a transformation that many people felt was impossible ‌ The relationship between our community and our police is fundamentally different than it was a few years ago. This is a safer city and a fairer city,â€? de Blasio said. “In 2018, 15,000 fewer people were arrested than five years earlier and we got safer.â€?

O’Neill spent 37 years in the NYPD and the last three years as its commissioner. He will leave the department at the end of November, O’Neill said.

Shea, from Sunnyside, Queens, started his career in the NYPD in 1991 and has since climbed through many facets of the agency before being appointed to his current role under the leadership of former Commissioner Bill Bratton, who stepped down in 2016. “This is a tremendous honor and a tremendous responsibility, and I’m grateful to the mayor for this privilege to serve,�

Shea said.

The current chief of detectives came under fire earlier this year after a WABC-TV investigation found that the NYPD undercounted the number of rape incidents in recent years. Shea said he would have a dialogue with concerned groups in the future.

Shea’s top cop appointment, however, did not sit well with some in the legal community.

Tina Luongo, Attorney-In-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society, was nonplused by Shea’s appointment to top cop in the city, explaining that it was another failure on behalf of the de Blasio administration to seek a transparent, community driven decision in terms of law enforcement. “Yet again, this Administration has failed to consult the community on a decision that will affect the lives of millions of New Yorkers. This city needs a Commissioner who is dedicated to transparency and accountability, committed to community engagement, and champions reforms in the face of opposition from police unions and others that are invested in the status quo,� Luongo said.

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TODAY Today is yours for the taking. And AARP is here in our community, helping you make the most of it. Whether you’re a family caregiver looking for some support or have ideas to help improve your neighborhood, we’re here to connect you to the tools you need.

So go make today and every day the best it can be, New York City.

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Learn how at aarp.org/nyc November 7, 2019

11

Editorial New York voters must do better

G

oing into Election Day 2019, there was an expectation among those connected to city politics that turnout would be abysmal — as most off-year elections are in New York City.

There were no major races to speak of — just one citywide election for public advocate, a handful of district attorney races that were virtually uncompetitive, several judgeships in each borough and five ballot questions. You might say it was the calm before the 2020 political storm.

However, the one wild card in this election was the arrival of early voting in New York City.

The city’s Board of Elections set up dozens of polling sites across the five boroughs and opened them for nine days ahead of the Nov. 5 election, giving every New Yorker a chance to cast their vote on their schedule, at their convenience.

But when all was said and done, the city BOE reported, just a little more than 60,000 New Yorkers bothered to participate in early voting this election cycle.

As of Nov. 1, according to the New York State Board of Elections, there were 5,270,384 registered voters in the five boroughs.

The turnout was a little more than 1 percent of the entire registered voter population in New York City.

The city worked hard to inform people about early voting, buying ad space in print and digital media, and engaging in social media campaigns. And yet, early voting barely moved the needle.

It was a harbinger, of course, for weak turnout on Election Day itself.

When all was said and done, in combining the early and Election Day ballots, about 13.7% of all registered New York voters participated in the 2019 general election — yet another poor showing for democracy in The Big Apple.

We know this was a very boring election cycle, and many of us are already looking ahead to 2020. We’re also very confident that more New Yorkers will take advantage of early voting next year when the stakes are far higher.

But come on, New York.

We need to do better than 1 percent early voting this year, or 13.7 percent total turnout this election cycle, or the 23 percent turnout in the 2017 mayoral election.

“Every vote counts” is the mantra for every election, and it’s true. All of us need to realize that every election is incredibly important, and not participating is an abdication of our civic duty.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best: “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”

Anna Clark and Al McGrath at a 1989 fundraiser. (Villager photo by Tom Sullivan)

The front page of The Villager on Jan. 12, 1989, included a photo from a fundraiser for a LaGuardia memorial project, which Friends of LaGuardia Place hoped would lead to a statue for Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia on the Greenwich Village block.

Pictured in the photo is Anna Clark, one-time secretary to LaGuardia (1882-1947), who was mayor from 1934-45 and who was born at 177 Sullivan St. in Little Italy. On the right is Al McGrath, president of the Friends group.

The object in the center is a model of the Neil Estern sculpture which the group hoped to install. The statue would be unveiled in 1994 and is still on LaGuardia Place, between Bleecker and West Third streets.

— Gabe Herman

Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER CEO & CO-PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF REPORTERS

CONTRIBUTORS

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PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

Published by Schneps Media One Metrotech North, 3rd floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (718) 260-2500 Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2019 Schneps Media

12

November 7, 2019

VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS ROBERT POZARYCKI GABE HERMAN ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL MARK HALLUM MICHELE HERMAN BOB KRASNER TEQUILA MINSKY MARY REINHOLZ PAUL SCHINDLER MARCOS RAMOS CLIFFORD LUSTER (718) 260-2504 CLUSTER@CNGLOCAL.COM GAYLE GREENBURG JIM STEELE JULIO TUMBACO ELIZABETH POLLY

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Op-Ed

Letters to the Editor

Finding secure retirement for all working New Yorkers

BY DEBR A ROBLES For New Yorkers who have spent our lives working hard, retirement should be the time we finally get to relax and enjoy our families and free time. But for too many of us, retirement is out of reach.

I’m 62 years old. I’ve been working since I was 16. For many of those years I had access to a pension and other retirement savings accounts, and I was able to put money away.

But when my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, I had to stop working so I could care for her. Like the many other Boomers who find themselves in similar situations, instead of saving for retirement, I had to take money out of my savings to stay afloat.

Now I’m back in the workforce, but this time around I couldn’t find a job that offers a retirement savings plan. I’m not alone. Millions of New Yorkers are in the same boat. In New York State, over half of all private sector employees 18- to 64-years-old lack access to a workplace retirement savings plan. The number is over 60% for Millennials (18 to 34 years old), higher than any other age group. Many of us wonder: will retirement ever be within reach?

That’s why I support the Retirement Security for All legislation that Councilmembers Ben Kallos and I. Daneek Miller introduced in the City Council last month.

Under their proposed law, employers with more than five employees would enable workers to deduct a percentage of their pay to retirement savings accounts. Employees would

be able to opt-out at any time. An estimated 2.8 million working New Yorkers would get access to a retirement plan and employers wouldn’t even have to pay for it – the city would cover the costs of setting up the plans.

This is exactly what we need.

According to AARP’s “High Anxiety” report, over one-third of Gen-Xers and over 40% of Boomers have no retirement savings at all. We know that people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if they have access to an employer-sponsored plan. Council Members Kallos and Miller’s plan is just the solution we need.

People clearly want to save for retirement, and they know that they should. But in my experience, most working New Yorkers are busy taking care of themselves and their families, and it’s hard to even know where to get started to set up a retirement plan.

If passed, Retirement Security for All wouldn’t cost businesses or taxpayers. I know that many small businesses in New York are also struggling. So one of the things I like about this legislation is that no public money will go into the accounts, and it doesn’t require employers to contribute. All they’d have to do is handle the paperwork. I think most employers want their employees to be financially secure and would be happy to do this small thing to help make it happen.

As a lifelong New Yorker, I want to see my city do right by its residents. Passing Retirement Security for All is a smart and simple way to help us enjoy the retirement we deserve.

Debra Robles lives in East Harlem.

Quite the view...

PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL

A bird’s eye view of the 49th New York Cit y Marathon run on Nov. 3.

Schneps Media

SAVING THE WATERFRONT Seven years ago, the East River swamped the FDR Drive and reached the edge of my building on the Lower East Side. The five days after Sandy were traumatic: power and communications down, dark streets and radio reports of the elderly stranded in the taller buildings of Co-op Village where I live.

I am haunted by images of hundreds swarming white vans to charge phones, of people carrying buckets of water along Grand Street and floating cars careening under the Williamsburg Bridge.

These memories coordinate with the City’s concerns on protecting thousands with planned infrastructure in the 100-year flood plain overlapping a swath of the Lower East Side.

The City of New York has worked on a plan whose first component is before the City Council. It’s a good start, adequately funded by the city and the federal government.

It’s called the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) and we should approve it.

Approve it, because it makes a park for the next century - a landscape that protects people and plants.

Approve it, since it will create a universally accessible, continuous landscape - removing awkward ramps, steep stairs and bike resistant paths.

Approve it, because it’s not a hard seawall but soft, integrating its flood protection into a landscape - not on top of one.

Criticism has focused on its construction and the city needs to continue answering questions regarding interim recreation fields and storm protection as well as retaining historic components like the Seal Park, while promoting its quality design.

Caught between painful memories of post-Sandy conditions and a healthy skepticism of local government my view of the plan is not without concerns.

However, I maintain that city partners and their designers, engineers and environmental experts will deliver the protection we deserve.

We need to remember what we endured and how we rely on a city to survive the kind of de-

struction it left when we evaluate projects of this kind.

A universally accessible park with trees that can survive a salty, swollen East River, embedded in a natural berm providing flood protection, is a good plan and demonstrates our urban design ingenuity.

We should support the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project and ask the City Council to approve its ULURP application.

William J. Rockwell

CHECKING THE FACTS Regarding the bill to ban overnight parking for garbage trucks on city streets: DSNY should fact check before commenting. The trucks parked on 10th Street do not provide services to this area–they are assigned to garbage services above 14th Street. This lack of knowledge does not give us much confidence.

Susan Stetzer

BLAMING RIVERA On the special permits for hotels near Union Square: City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera has reneged on every commitment she made in her campaign regarding preservation and opposing over-development and out of context building in the area south of 14th Street.

She has clearly been a stooge for big real estate money and the corrupt de Blasio administration from day one of her tenure on the City Council.

What a major disappointment she is.

Josh Shapiro We always welcome your comments and concerns! Leave a comment on a story at thevillager.com, send an email to news@thevillager.com (subject line: Letter to the Editor), or write to Letters to the Editor, The Villager, 1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn, NY 11207.

All letters and comments are subject to editing. Names may be withheld upon request, but anonymous letters will not be considered for publication.

November 7, 2019

13

ICE still prowling outside courthouses: report

BY ALEJANDR A O'CONNELL-DOMENECH

F

ederal Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents continue to arrest immigrants in and around court houses across New York, according to data from the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP).

So far this year, the IDP has tallied 112 incidents of courthouse operations, including arrests and ICE agent sightings. Of this number, 23 have occurred in and around courthouses in Brooklyn, 22 in Queens, 12 in Manhattan, 10 in the Bronx and 2 in Staten Island, according to IDP. In April, the New York State Office of Court Administration issued new rules that prevent federal immigration agents from making arrests in courthouses without a judicial warrant. IDP claims that agents have disregarded those rules, with 28 of the 112 reported courthouse arrests occurring after April 17.

Since the new rules took effect, the IDP reported, agents have arrested or have been seen near a courthouse four times in Brooklyn, eight in Queens, six in Manhattan, three on Staten Island and two in the Bronx. Outside of New York City, agents have arrested or have been spotted near a courthouse five times.

AP PHOTO/GREGORY BULL, FILE

Despite state effor ts to stop them, ICE agents continue to arrest immigrants at local cour thouses, according to a repor t that the Immigrant Defense Project announced Tuesday.

The nonprofit announced its findings after including them in an amicus brief filed with the Southern District of New

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York in support of a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Letitia James.

Her litigation, filed in September, aims

to stop ICE courthouses arrests.

Forty other organizations joined IDP in filing the amicus brief.

Immigration activists have argued that ICE’s police force creates a culture of fear. According to a survey that IDP conducted of 1,000 immigrants of family of immigrants currently dealing with the court system, 60 percent said that if they were a victim of a crime, they would avoid going to court out of fear of being arrested.

Moreover, 50 percent said that they avoided calling the police because of a fear of ICE intervention. “The lawsuits, court rules, and community opposition send a unified message that New York will not tolerate ICE’s increased targeting of people at courthouses,� added Alisa Wellek, executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project. “The federal government’s systematic racist policies that target Latinx and Black New Yorkers and other communities of color is inhumane and unjust and it’s time to put a stop to it once and for all.�

During the first two years of the Trump administration, the nonprofit has documented a 1,700 percent increase in ICE arrests and attempted arrests in New York state.

The federal Department for Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment.

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Bohemian artists going strong in East Vil.

BY BOB KR A SNER

Y

ou can count Ruth and Valery Oisteanu among the lucky ones. Still married after 46 years, still making art and still living in the East Village apartment they moved into in 1975.

When they met by chance on the street in Israel, they had already beat the odds. Ruth had been raised from infancy in NYC but was born to Holocaust survivors in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. Valery had recently escaped Communist Romania (by way of Italy) when they connected in 1972. Though Ruth went home and Valery traveled through Europe, they were reunited in NYC a year later, married in a few months and began life together on the Upper East Side.

Thanks to their friend John Evans, a collage artist in the East Village, they found their home on Second Avenue. The two-bedroom apartment wasn’t in great shape and the neighborhood was, according to Ruth, “pretty awful!” She explained, “There were junkies on every corner, drug dealers on every other corner and hookers in between the corners.”

“We took the place as is,” said Valery. “No new paint, nothing. We filled the place with street furniture, art and mannequins. We funked it up!”

“You didn’t go east after sunset,” noted Ruth, “but the neighborhood was full of energy, art and crazy people. It was a great place to live.” It probably didn’t hurt that their spacious digs had a rent of less than $300. The landlord, they said, was happy to have “normal tenants.”

For 34 years, Ruth drove to the Bronx to teach at a public school (first grade,

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Ruth Oisteanu and Valer y Oisteanu at home.

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Ar t from friends, mementos, and their own ar t mix are ever y where in the apar tment of Ruth and Valer y Oisteanu.

Ruth, who has two master’s degrees, was also creating art. She considers her collage work “a hobby,” but she has an impressive portfolio of work behind her. Also a jewelry maker, she has seen her beadwork exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design, among other places.

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER The pair participated fully in the East The living room/dining room of Ruth and Valer y OisVillage art world of the 80’s. The legteanu. endary music scene figured in as well.

“Danceteria, Mudd Club, whatever was then English as a second language) while Valery cu- happening, we were out there!” says Ruth.

Not just a visual artist, Valery has been writing rated art shows, wrote poetry, created collages and wrote about the art scene for “Soho Arts Weekly” and reciting his poetry since his days in Romania. (which became “Cover Arts”) in the 80’s, “NY Arts The Acker Award-winning author has produced ” in the 90’s and “The Brooklyn Rail” in the 2000’s. more than a dozen books (in English), some venturHe was, briefly, in a classroom as well, teaching sci- ing into short fiction and collage. Not content with ence and art. “As far as elementary school went, the written word, Valery frequently makes use of he wasn’t teacher material,” explained Ruth. “He his booming voice to perform his work, sometimes should have been working at college level.” to the accompaniment of live music. Back in the Schneps Media

day, on stage at the Pyramid, he coined the word “Jazzoetry” to describe his performance.

When not at home at their bohemian digs, which were frequently the site of art shows, salon-style gatherings, recitations, dinner parties, concerts, and who knows what else, they made a point of traveling when they could. Not content to just take snapshots, they shot video that went beyond the usual tourist subject matter.

In Bali, they “got into a wedding ceremony, a cremation ceremony, a tooth filing ceremony,” relates Ruth. A two and a half hour documentary, “Rhythms and Rituals of Bali,” was the result. It ended up being a very popular item when it was shown on Romanian TV. These days, the couple lives in a neighborhood that is very different from the one they moved into, and the apartment has changed as well. They bought the place when it went co-op in the late 80’s and watched the streets begin to clean up in the 90’s. Forced by a burst pipe to renovate in 2003, they stayed at the Chelsea Hotel for a couple of months while their found furniture became history and bookcases designed by Ruth were installed.

The guest room became a studio. Art, a mix of their own and their prominent friends, still fills the rooms and family photos mingle with inspirational imagery everywhere.

Valery sums up how they view the East Village now. “Although we have a bit of a bland corporate invasion,” he muses, “we still have a fabulous community of writers, performers, filmmakers and artists.”

Ruth and Valery Oisteanu will be participating in a group art show, “Unseen” at the Theater For The New City, 155 1st Ave. which began on Nov. 4th running to Jan. 2nd, with a reception on Nov. 13th from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Valery Oisteanu has a solo show up now at the Ottendorfer Library. He will be giving a talk about the work on November 30th from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

November 7, 2019

15

Hudson River Park party a real smash!

BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

B

right sun warmed the November chill. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful Sunday at Chelsea Waterside Park, 11th Ave and 23rd Street, when throngs of families flocked to the second annual fall festival of pumpkin smashing hosted by Hudson River Park.

A Chelsea mom stacked six big but shrinking pumpkins into her shopping cart while others carted their pumpkins in strollers or schlepped them in Trader Joe’s bags.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY TEQUILA MINSKY

Lots of concentration, taking aim, and with all their might — a smashing great time.

Kids donned protective goggles and, weaponized by metal bats, contemplated their attack. Parents offered pointers. Then the assault against each pumpkin, perched on a tree stump, began. A pumpkin might go flying off, to be placed again for another offensive. Moms’ and dads’ superior muscle power at times was employed to bring on cracks among the ribs and each child enjoyed as much time as needed to mangle and squash their squash.

This is the second year of the smashing pumpkins fall festival, a project of the Hudson River Park Community Composting Program, which maintains in the park seven organic matter/kitchen scraps compost drop-off points between N. Moore and W. 44th Street—available 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

The Park’s Composting Center at 34th Street mixes these collected food scraps with the Park’s horticulture waste —a half-ton of weeds, branches, and other plant waste daily generated by the Park-—into reusable compost that keeps plants, trees and shrubs healthy.

By the fest day’s end, the chopped-up pumpkin pulp found its way to the 34th Street Composting Center. (Last year, the fall festival collected 1000 pounds of pulp.) The festival wrapped up around 2 p m.

Amidst smiles, countless children’s faces were artfully decorated by the time they left the park, and all who attended could only say they had a PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY “smashing good time!”

Waiting in line to smash the pump[Community Compost drop off points are: Pier kins.

25 at N. Moore St. near the Pier 25 Play Area; Pier 40 at Houston St. near the Leroy Street Dog Families from Brooklyn and Queens Park; Pier 51 at Horatio St. near the Pier 51 comjoined local residents and one mother fort station; 14th Street Park at the southwest corand daughter traveled two hours from ner of 15th St. and 10th Ave; Chelsea Waterside Connecticut for this post-Halloween PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY fun. Baby strollers lined a park path.

Local State Senator Brad Lots of concentration, taking Park at the 23rd St. and 11th Ave entrance; Pier 76 Fueled by sugarcoated apple cider do- Hoylman, right, and family aim, and with all their might at 34th Street and 12th Ave in Hudson River Park’s Compost Center; Pier 84 at W. 44th St. near the - it’s a smashing great time. nuts, parents and children patiently wait- joined in the fun.

Pier 84 Dog Park] ed to beat the heck out of their pumpkins.

After the comSmashed and smithereened posting event, chards moved on to be further Hudson River pulverized by a team of volunPark said that a teers. record number With free apple cider and of pumpkins had coffee also provided, this spur been smashed. of Hudson River Park hosted This year’s event a crafts table, a leaf scavenger saw 1,200 peohunt, and face-painting opple smash 380 tions, while audiences, bathing pumpkins, acin sunshine, enjoyed interactive cording to the performances by Story Pirates. park, which Furthermore, there is more generated over than one way to demolish a PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY 2,000 pounds PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY pumpkin! of pumpkin for Standing inside the bed of a dump truck, Cheered on and safeguarded compost, douwith cheering from Hudson River Park, PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

by Hudson River Park staff, atop a dump trunk, kids get ready for the big propel — anothThere was also face- bling last year’s kids smashed their pumpkins by the force of proer way to smash a pumpkin. painting at the event. amount. pelling them from above to cement below!

16

November 7, 2019

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Another awesome Village Halloween march The Village Halloween Parade on Oct. 31, the largest of its kind in New York City, brought together thousands of costumed spectators who colorfully celebrated the holiday with costumes reflecting sci-fi, cinema and politics. — Photos by Milo Hess

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November 7, 2019

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November 7, 2019

19

Eats

Tribeca biz creates granola for a good cause

BY GABE HERMAN

L

uv Michael, a nonprofit that produces granola and trains and employs people with autism, opened its first Manhattan commercial kitchen and learning center in Tribeca on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The 3,000-square-foot space is at 42 Walker St., just below Canal Street, and also includes a small retail kiosk.

Luv Michael was founded in 2015 by Dr. Lisa Liberatore, who was inspired by her son Michael, who has autism and was unable to work after the age of 18. Luv Michael’s website notes that every year, over 50,000 people with autism age out of the school system and are unable to find meaningful employment.

Liberatore, who is also president of the company, wanted to create a place where Michael and others with autism could be trained and educated in the culinary field, with the goal of giving enough experience to then have jobs. “Luv Michael Co. was never designed to be a charity or provide young autistic adults with ‘something to do,’� according to Liberatore. Rather, she said the mission has been to “provide a meaningful culinary vocation for the Autistic population and to produce exceptional gluten-free and natural products.�

The company employs ten “granologists,� all of whom have autism, and who work and train full-time, five days a week until they are ready to participate in the manufacturing process.

COURTESY LUV MICHAEL

“Granologists� working to create Luv Michael’s granola.

The employees learn through a five-point curriculum that was developed with a combination of autism education and culinary specialists. It’s also based partly on the New York State food handler’s license exam.

The granola is organic, nut-free and locally sourced.

Luv Michael distributes its granola to a number of companies, including Starbucks, Fresh & Co., JetBlue, D’Agostino Supermarkets, and more than 60 other retailers in the New York City area. More information about the company can be found at luvmichael.com.

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November 7, 2019

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Manhattan Happenings

Get out and enjoy Manhattan this week, Nov. 7-13 Thursday, Nov. 7 Kids Bulb Planting Day 2 Children ages 5 to 10 can help plant the thousands of bulbs that have been delivered to Washington Square Park.

Please reserve a ticket for your child; parents do not need tickets.

3:30 to 5 p.m. at Kids PlaygroundLarge in Washington Square Park, 5th Ave., Waverly Pl., West 4th St., and Macdougal St., www.nycgovparks.org.

Free.

Friday, Nov. 8 Black Magic: Five This performance, which is a take on the African American and Latino LGBTQ community’s Vogue Femme art style, transcends the stage. Newsome tracks the dancers’ movements and projects the data on a screen during the show. 7:30 p.m. at New York Live Arts Theater, 219 West 19th St., www. newyorklivearts.org. $15-25.

Saturday, Nov. 9 Beautify Fort Tryon Park with New York Cares Volunteer to help beautify Fort Tryon Park through weeding, removing invasive species, and planting. Please register with New York Care before the event. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Anne Loftus Playground, 4746 Broadway, www.nycgovparks.org. Free.

Mozart and Takemitsu This program will combine Toku Takemistu’s piece with Ravel’s Pavane pour une Infante Defunte in a unique way. 8 to 9:45 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 Monroe St., www. nycpmusic.org. Free.

Sunday, Nov. 10 Historic Walking Tour of 19th Century Noho Walk along the same streets that the Merchant’s House’s Tredwell family walked in the 19th-century during this walking tour of Noho. 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Merchant’s House Museum, 29 East 4th St., www.nycgovparks.org. $15, free for Merchant’s House Museum Members.

ReCreate. RePurpose. & ReUse. Schneps Media

PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES

Enjoy a fun-filled day at the Union Square Autumn Block Par ty on Nov. 10.

Pop-up Shop antique and vintage goods from local creators at the Grand Bazaar. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Grand Bazaar NYC, 100 West 77th St., www.grandbazaarnyc.org. Free.

Union Square Autumn Block Party Enjoy a fun-filled day of food, vendors and entertainment in the heart of Union Square. Sponsored by the Union Square Partnership. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 17th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South. Free admission.

Monday, Nov. 11 Bilingual Sing Along Put your voice in this Mandarin Sing Along! 11:30 a.m. at Tompkins Square Library 331 East 10th St., www.nypl.org

Veterans Day Parade Salute all who served during the 100th edition of the annual march.

Kicks off at 11 a.m. from the corner of Fifth Avenue and 26th Street, marching north to 46th Street.

sual Arts College Fair Talk to representatives from colleges and universities with performing and visual arts programs to get ahead on your college search. 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center 655 West 34th St., www.nacacfairs.org.

Free.

Tuesday, Nov. 12

Wednesday, Nov. 13

Morning Fitness at Fort Tryon Park Trained professionals will lead this morning hour of exercise, focusing on stretching, strengthening muscles, and walking. 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Heather Garden in Fort Tryon Park, Cabrini Blvd. and Fort Washington Ave.., www. nycgovparks.org . Free.

FASTNET: Plein-Air Drawings at Fresh Kills Park Draw your vision for Staten Island’s developing Freshkills Park through this opportunity at the Arsenal in Central Park. As you draw, consider how the past, present, and future interact to create and recreate the landfill park. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Arsenal in Central Park, 830 5th Ave., www.nycgovparks.org. Free.

New York City Performing and Vi-

What’s going on in your neighborhood? Tell us!

Email your events for our calendar to news@thevillager.com November 7, 2019

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Highlights of trick-or-treating on the streets of East Midtown

PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST MIDTOWN

A werewolf ready to sink his teeth into Halloween.

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

O

n Halloween, over 100 local businesses in partnership with East Midtown opened their doors and passed out candy to children dressed up as werewolves, witches, superheroes and yes, even the 4 train.

For the last five years, the East Midtown Partnership has hosted the Halloween fun and boasts having welcomed 13,000 families with children under 12 since they first started hosting the holiday event.

Besides trick-or-treating, families had their faces paint-

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ed, take spooky photos and show off their looks during a costume contest hosted at the partnership’s welcome tent at the plaza outside 919 Third Avenue.

This year, East Midtown took the event to new level and called on attendees to donate to the nonprofit ‘WEEN DREAM, which gives costumes to children with special needs, those who face homelessness, recently experienced trauma or who are in the foster care system.

Many families taking part in yesterday’s Halloween fun brought costumes to donate to other families in need across the city.

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Real Estate

Prices plummet in Turtle Bay & East Midtown

BY SHAYE WEAVER

T

urtle Bay – East Midtown saw the highest number of price drops across all New York City neighborhoods in October, according to a report by RealtyHop.com.

The real estate website looks at important quantitative metrics provided by its rental site, RentHop, that has “a trove” of rental data.

In its most recent report, RealtyHop says that the Turtle Bay – East Midtown neighborhood saw 245 price drops, which is up 19 percent from 206 in September, the report states. The Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill followed closely behind with 225 price drops in October.

Manhattan neighborhoods in general had the most price drops across the city, including Hudson Yards-Chelsea-Flatiron-Union Square, Upper West Side and the West Village.

The top five addresses that saw the highest dollar price drop were all in Manhattan, in fact. One address in particular, 990 Fifth Ave., dropped $12,250,000 — a 23.6 percent drop in price. The Cen-

tral Park penthouse apartment with five bedrooms and five bathrooms is listed

by Sotheby’s for $39.7 million.

Long Island City/Queensbridge-Ravenswood took the top spot as the neighborhood with the highest median dollar price drop in October with a decrease of $2 million. SoHo/TriBeCa/Civic Center/Little Italy had a median price drop of $200,000 while the Bronx’s Morrisania/

Melrose saw a prices drop by $150,000.

The Upper East Side and Brooklyn’s Starett City were No. 4 and 5 on the list with $130,000 and $100,000 median price decreases, respectively.

For more information, RealtyHop. com also has an interactive map where you can search each neighborhood’s price drops.

The Villager Sales Guide Listings selected at random. Courtesy StreetEasy.com and Google Maps GREENWICH VILLAGE

East 12th Street

SOHO

Charlton Street

LOWER EAST SIDE

East Houston Street

CHELSEA

West 29th Street

Under $1 million 39 East 12th Street #203 Price:$739,000 Studio Bathrooms: 1 Broker: Corcoran

Under $1 million 246 Spring Street #3509 Price:$995,000 Beds: 1 Bathrooms: 1.5 Broker: Corcoran Group

Under $1 million 415 Grand Street #E1801 Price:$950,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 1 Broker: Corcoran

Under $1 million 420 West 23rd Street #7C Price:$999,900 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 1 Broker: Sothebys

Under $3 million 60 East 13th Street #2W Price: $2,900,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Broker: Brown harris Stevens

Under $3 million 110 Charlton Street #28E Price: $2,820,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Broker: Corcoran Group

Under $3 million 252 South Street #41A Price: $2,785,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Broker: Extell

Under $3 million 144 West 18th Street #4N Price: $2,295,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Broker: Corcoran

Under $5 million 644 Broadway #3W Price: $4,600,000 Beds: 3 Bathrooms: 2.5 Broker: Corcoran

Under $5 million 46 Mercer Street #7W Price: $3,500,000 Beds: 3 Bathrooms: 3 Broker: Capital Realty Investors

Under $5 million 287 East Houston Street Penthouse Price: $4,995,000 Beds: 3 Bathrooms: 2.5 Broker: Corcoran

Under $5 million 515 West 29th Street #4S Price:$4,250,000 Beds: 2 Bathrooms: 3 Broker: Corcoroan

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Nightlife

City Winery pop-up location gets new holiday menu

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

Sound off!

C

ity Winery will be updating its Rockefeller Center wine garden with a holiday menu and decor starting Nov. 8.

The garden, which first opened in July, serves as a pop-up location for the urban wine and performance venue and will continue to serve customers with a new holiday-themed menu until the end of the 2019 holiday season.

City Winery is placing heating lamps and blankets throughout the garden to keep customers warm as they enjoy holiday drinks like regular or spiked apple cider, mulled wine and hot chocolate.

Guests can also enjoy holiday-themed dishes or City Winery’s long list of on tap wines and craft beers inside of two fullservice heated igloos.

In August, City Winery moved from its long-time home in Soho to Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 and will open again in 2020.

Write a letter to the editor news@thevillager.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY WINERY

Cit y Winer y’s temporar y pop-up location will be on the plaza of Rockefeller Center.

In Partnership with:

The Everything Autism & conference and resource fair will be a guiding map to inform parents, educators and caregivers with resources they may not have access to.

REGISTER NOW:

Fair & Conference Monday, November 18, 2019 9:30am - 5:30pm

+RWHO 3HQQV\OYDQLD Ť 6HYHQWK $YH 1HZ <RUN 1<

www.newyorkfamily.com/everythingautism Hear from our experts discussing:

Communication & Mindfulness Health, Science & Environment Parent Journeys What are my childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational rights?

A legal perspective Schneps Media

Integrating Methods of Learning Navigating Independence, Self Direction, & Financial Planning

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