Aunt Chelsea’s on her way p. 2
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 02
THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
SEPT 19 -
OCT 2, 2012
Mutiny on the waterfront as Durst pitches Pier 40 plan BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Taking a different tack to try to save Pier 40, Douglas Durst, chairperson of the Friends of Hudson River Park, is pushing an alternative plan to add valet parking and a high-tech campus to the massive but crumbling structure. Joining Durst in the effort is Ben Korman, the Friends’ vice chairperson and a partner in C&K Properties, which formerly ran the parking on the 14.5acre West Houston Street pier. Durst’s Pier 40 plan is at odds with the vision of the Hudson River Park Trust, the state-city authority that oper-
ates the 5-mile-long waterfront park. The Trust, along with local youth sports leagues, has recently been pushing for residential housing development on the key park pier. The youth leagues commissioned a Pier 40 study earlier this year that found that adding 600 to 800 units of high-end, rental housing on it would provide the greatest amount of revenue along with the lowest impact when compared with other types of development scenarios studied. Doing nothing on the pier
Continued on page 3
Hotel sale caps GTS ‘Choose Life’ strategy Photo by Donathan Salkaln, courtesy of Chelsea Reform Democratic Club
To the victor go the smooches: Outside of Mustang Sally’s, Quinn and Duane lay one on Hoylman — upon learning that he was declared winner of the primary for NY State Senator. See page 6.
Chelsea activist, always on the move, dies at 65 BY BONNIE ROSENSTOCK Longtime Chelsea activist and affordable housing advocate Phyllis Gonzalez died on Wednesday, September 12 at 12:28pm at the Elliott-Chelsea Houses — where she had lived for more than 30 years. She was 65. Gonzalez, who had been confined to a wheelchair since 1997, had crippling rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. The cause of
death was end-stage congestive heart failure, her daughter Marion said. Gonzalez’s career spanned multiple decades. She worked on a wide range of issues for her beloved Chelsea community, especially in her capacity as four-term president of the Elliott-Chelsea Tenants Association, where she touched many lives. “She loved this neighborhood, and she had to
BY SCOTT STIFFLER The recent sale of hotel property owned by The General Theological Seminary (GTS) marks the completion of the 194-year-old Episcopal institution’s efforts to bounce back from the brink of insolvency. In October of 2010, GTS ($41 million in the red) embarked upon a “Plan to Choose Life” debt elimination and endowment restoration strategy. Over the next two years, the building known as “2, 3,
help people,” said Marion. “She would go to court with you, help you with your paperwork. If you spoke Spanish, her Spanglish was perfect. If you spoke Korean, she would find somebody to translate. It was an imperative.” Since last November, due to failing health, Gonzalez was living
Continued on page 4
5 1 5 C A N A L STREET • N YC 10013 • C OPYRIG H T © 2012 N YC COMMU NITY M ED IA , LLC
4 Chelsea Square” was sold to The Brodsky Organization (a real estate development and management firm), along with the GTS tennis court property, an apartment building at 422 West 20th Street and the “West Building,” which is located within the Seminary’s garden (aka the “Close”). Last week, in what GTS hailed as the “successful completion” of its Plan, Brodsky and MCR Development — a
Continued on page 5
EDITORIAL, LETTERS PAGE 8
WE LOVE LINDA PAGE 21