VOLUME 6, NUMBER 26 NOVEMBER 06, 2014
THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CHELSEA, HUDSON YARDS & HELL'S KITCHEN
Volume vs. Quality, as Affordable Housing Plan Evolves BY EILEEN STUKANE May 2014 saw the unveiling of Mayor de Blasio’s “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” to build or preserve 200,000 affordable apartments within New York City. Chelsea Now has committed to following the progress and availability of affordable housing in our neighborhoods. Through interviews and from news that emerged during October’s “Let’s Talk” panel discussion on Affordable Housing, hosted by District 3’s Councilmember Corey Johnson, it is clear that the mayor’s plan is being undertaken seriously and broadly. “Let’s Talk” brought together Commissioner Vicki Been of the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development (HPD), Sarah Desmond, executive director of Housing Conservation Continued on page 6
Beautiful Nature, Gritty Cityscape
Ellen Bradshaw’s oil paintings of the High Line and its surrounding area take viewers from the lush colors of early June to the stark white of a first snowfall, in an exhibit at Pleiades Gallery through Nov. 22. See page 18.
Photo by Scott Stiffler
Dormant Veterans Day Observance Gets ‘Doughboy’ Reboot An annual wreath-laying ceremony, held from the 1920s through the 1960s at the foot of a monument dedicated to World War I soldiers and sailors, will be revived this year. See page 24 for “Home Front” — a special Veterans Day section appearing in all of this week’s NYC Community Media publications.
Vigil Decries ‘Toxic Environment’ at General Theological Seminary BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC Drizzle could not dampen a candlelight vigil held in support of the eight “forcibly resigned” faculty members of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) on the evening of Oct. 29. Over 20 people gathered in front of the seminary’s gate (on W. 20th St. btw. Ninth & Tenth Aves.) to advocate for a “safe space” in what has been a turbu-
lent time for GTS. After trying for a year to work with the new dean, Reverend Kurt H. Dunkle, eight of the ten faculty members sent a letter to the seminary’s Board of Trustees on Wed., Sept. 17, to address what Reverend Amy Bentley Lamborn termed a “toxic environment,”
‘Chelsea Now’
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