The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since 1933
May 11, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 19
0
15465
10500
9
Flirting with the Devil: Atzmon and ‘tyranny’ of free speech in E.V. BY SAR AH FERGUSON
W
hat is the relationship between the Left and Free Speech? And is some speech so beyond the pale, that it’s wrong to even engage in debate? These questions took center stage last Sunday during a political forum held at The-
atre 80 St. Mark’s. The panel was titled: “The Post-Political Condition: Trump, Brexit, the Middle East…What Next?” But the real controversy was over its organizer, jazz saxophonist and author Gilad Atzmon, who’s been accused of peddling Holocaust revisionism and anti-Semitic theories ATZMON continued on p. 18
Town hall’s calls: More Beth Israel hospital beds, single-payer plan BY LESLEY SUSSMAN
P
ressure continued to mount last week on Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital officials to halt or slow down their four-year plan to downsize the historic healthcare facility and relocate it to a new, much smaller four-story facility adjoining the New York
Eye and Ear Infirmary at E. 13th St. and Second Ave. At a “People’s Town Hall Meeting” last Thursday attended by leaders of various citywide activist groups, politicians and scores of residents, hospital officials were accused of “quietly and secretly, piece by piece” using a little-known HEALTHCARE continued on p. 27
PHOTO BY MILO HESS
Governors Island exploded with color, henna tattoos and fun on Sat., May 6, at the Holi Hai spring fest. The annual Hindu happening celebrates happiness, good’s victor y over evil and the repairing of broken relationships.
Trump trumps all issues at Johnson summit event BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
C
orey Johnson announced the winners of his district’s participatory-budgeting voting at a “West Side Summit” at the Whitney Museum on Tuesday night. But it was the councilmember’s fiery comments about fighting Donald Trump that won the evening’s strongest applause. After giving a lengthy re-
cap of his accomplishments in District 3 over the past year, Johnson turned his focus to Trump, urging people to keep up “the resistance.” As he did at a rally in Washington Square Park in January, Johnson once again slammed Trump as a “pathological liar” — but this time his litany of accusations went even further. “In the not-too-distant future, Americans of all stripes
and people around the world are going to ask each other, what did you do in 2017?” Johnson said. “What did you do when an authoritarian, autocrat, demagogue, pathological liar rose to power, pitting Americans against Americans, debased fundamental social institutions, pushed societal norms to the side, fired the F.B.I. director and U.S. attorneys, colluded with SUMMIT continued on p. 6
Anti-Trump artist hammers Angry Buddhist....p. 11 Theater owner on why he hosted Atzmon........p. 12 Union Sq. special section....... p. 13
www.TheVillager.com