The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Village, Low Lower w er e East Side, 1933 Soho, Union Square, Chinatown and Noho, Since e1 19 93 33 3
September 7, 2017 • $1.00 Volume 87 • Number 36
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District 1 candidates debate without Chin; Marte cool under fire BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
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it y C ou ncil member Margaret Chin missed a lively debate among her three primary-election opponents last Thursday at Judson Memorial Church in the Village. She probably didn’t miss, however, being savagely
attacked by them regarding her record, which no doubt would have been worse were she there. As previously reported, Chin ducked out of last week’s Villager newspaper-sponsored debate for the District 1 DemDEBATE continued on p. 8
Westbeth starts work on $40 million project to fight future flooding PHOTO BY Q. SAKAMAKI
BY LEVAR ALONZO
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estbeth, the renow ned Village artists’ haven, will be ready this time when the next superstorm hits. On Aug. 4 work began on the largest construction project in Westbeth’s history, and residents are already seeing scaffolding going up. More than $40 million from
the Build it Back program has been allocated to Westbeth to prevent damage from future storm flooding and mitigate what Superstorm Sandy wreaked five years ago on the complex’s basement space, which housed many of the artists’ works and equipment. Formerly home to Bell laboraWESTBETH continued on p. 5
After the administration announced DACA’s end, pro-immigrant protesters descended on Foley Square, where 12 were arrested, including Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, with “Defend America” banner, second from left, above.
Outrage erupts over DACA change BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y
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t 11 a.m. on Tues., Sept 4, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced — as anticipated — that the Trump administration would not renew the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which was introduced by former President Barack Obama’s executive order five years ago.
Sessions said DACA would end in six months, giving Congress time to formally act. DACA provides temporary legal status to vetted young adults who immigrated to the U.S. before age 16 with their undocumented parents and who are themselves undocumented. Referred to as “Dreamers,” the 800,000 individuals covered under DACA have been protected from deportation and issued
work permits and Social Security numbers. Following the announcement, immigration advocates amassed on both sides of Fifth Ave. outside Trump Tower to protest. Thirty-four were arrested after sitting in the street and blocking traffic. In what might have been called unofficial complicity, the police then set up barricades to shepherd DACA continued on p. 4
Skenazy goes crazy on GMO opponents ........... p. 12 Summer’s-end scenes from Coney Island ....... p. 13 Ex-commish’s loco find..........p. 22
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