The Villager, Dec. 20, 2012

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Sloshed Santas invade! p. 15

Volume 82, Number 29 $1.00

West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Hudson Square, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

December 20 - 26, 2012

Ditching Friends, Durst to pursue own Pier 40 plan BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Three months ago, Douglas Durst unveiled an alternative plan for Pier 40. Then, in recent weeks, the high-profile developer declared the aging West Houston St. pier’s piles could be repaired for as little as around one-third of what the Hudson River Park Trust has been saying — or just $30 million versus $80 million. Capping things off, last

Photo by Stacy Walsh-Rosenstock

Beating guns into plowshares About 50 people, including an interfaith group of religious leaders, gathered in Washington Square Park in a chilly drizzle last Sunday evening to hold a candlelight vigil for the victims of the tragic Connecticut school shooting. The clerics demanded stricter gun control.

Kurland announces her run, and says she gave up her gun BY LINCOLN ANDERSON On Dec. 10, Yetta Kurland announced that she’s running for City Council in the Third District, for the seat currently held by Speaker Christine Quinn, which stretches from the West Village up to Hell’s Kitchen. Three years ago, riding a wave of voter backlash over Quinn’s enabling the extension of term limits despite two voter referenda against it, Kurland made an impressive showing against the powerful Council speaker, winning 31 percent of the vote to Quinn’s 53 percent. It was

always expected Kurland would make another run for the seat. Kurland, a civil rights attorney, raised her local profile as a champion of fighting to save St. Vincent’s Hospital and then, after it closed, to try to get a replacement hospital. Within days of announcing her candidacy earlier this month, Kurland nabbed some prime endorsements, including the 38,000-member Transport Workers Union (transit workers union) and Local 1180 of the Communication Workers of America. Other candidates in the Council

contest include Corey Johnson, chairperson of Community Board 4, and Alexander Meadows, a member of Community Board 2. Although there has been much interest in whether preservationist Andrew Berman will jump in the race, it’s still unknown what his plans are. The Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation director did not respond to several requests for comment by press time on whether he intends to run or not. Meanwhile, last Saturday evening,

week, Durst resigned as chairperson of Friends of Hudson River Park, the waterfront park’s main private fundraising arm. In a statement sent to The Villager last Friday morning, Jordan Barowitz, Durst’s spokesperson, said of the prominent builder, “He is still deeply committed to the park, but he has a different vision from the

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City denies D-SNAP expansion, angering Downtown politicians BY SAM SPOKONY Area politicians are slamming the city’s decision not to continue or expand a federally funded program that provides food benefits to people affected by Superstorm Sandy. Until its application period ended on Dec. 18, the Disaster Supplemental Assistance Program (D-SNAP) was available to eligible Manhattan residents within the 10002 zip code — nearly all of the

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5 15 CA N A L STREET • N YC 10 013 • COPYRIG HT © 2012 N YC COMMU NITY M ED IA , LLC

Lower East Side and part of Chinatown — as well as those within Coney Island and Red Hook in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway in Queens and parts of Staten Island’s southeastern shore. D-SNAP, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides replacement benefits for food stamp recipients who lose food in a disaster, while also extending ben-

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EDITORIAL, LETTERS PAGE 12

JAZZ ODYSSEY PAGES 16 - 17


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