YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CHELSEA, HUDSON YARDS & HELL’S KITCHEN
Postal Workers Put Their Stamp on ‘Action’ BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC On May 14, the sun shone brightly on the steps of the James A. Farley Post Office, between W. 31st and 33rd Sts. on Eighth Ave., as postal workers rallied for a “National Day of Action.” Across the country, as well as in Chelsea and the Bronx, the workers rallied for their unions, better service for customers and to stop what they say is the continued privatization of the United States Postal Service (USPS). “We’re coming out to get information to the American people,” said Jonathan Smith, Continued on page 3
Activists: City Lacked Plan When Closing Clinic BY DUNCAN OSBORNE Following a meeting with senior staff at the city’s health department, some AIDS activists are saying the department never had a plan to replace the services that were lost when the agency closed its Chelsea sexually transmitted disease clinic for a two-year renovation. “It’s public health malpractice,” said James Krellenstein, a member of ACT UP New York, following the May 15 meeting, which was convened by City Councilmember Corey Johnson, who chairs the Council’s Health Committee and represents Chelsea. “It’s like closing a firehouse in the middle of a burning Continued on page 4
ALL THE RIGHT (FLAMENCO) MOVES See page 21.
Photo by Zach Williams
Randy Morris lives alongside the West Side Highway within a self-made bicycle trailer, where he crafts handmade guitars.
Curbside Homestead, and Hope, for Former Chelsea Merchant BY ZACH WILLIAMS Musician and craftsman Randy Morris makes his home and work alike on a nondescript stretch of curb alongside the West Side Highway, a few hundred feet north of the newly opened Whitney Museum. An unyielding desire for workspace brought him there after several years spent in residence at a transitional housing facility in the East 20s through the city’s Housing First homelessness strategy. In its harsh realities and isolation, life on the streets is hardly romantic — but in the case of Morris a purpose arose. Scraps of wood make guitars. Likewise, they form the skeleton of his handmade trailer home. Collecting bottles and cans earns the dough to buy what cannot be found in the streets of the Meatpacking District. Once upon a time he had a family, a daughter, and
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a business. He has not spoken to them for many years, said Morris, who did not offer reasons. But he has music and a knack for building with his own two hands. As he approaches his 60th birthday, he realizes that opportunities for a new life are diminishing — though he retains the mindset that with a specific type of help, he could emerge from his current station in life. “I just need that little jump start...other people’s things make me want to have them (but) by my own hands,” he said in an interview on May 17 while practicing a song entitled “Once I Loved Before.” He hardly enjoys living on the streets — but the solitude and space of his curbside homestead enables him to live on his own terms. That means working without
Continued on page 6 VOLUME 07, ISSUE 15 | MAY 21 - 27, 2015