Manhattan Express - July 11, 2019 by Schneps Media

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MIDTOWN, UPPER EAST & WEST SIDES

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 13

JULY 11 – 24, 2019

ON A ROLL Board backs C.P.W. protected bike lane Page 6

COURTESY N.Y.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

A schematic rendering of Central Park West before and after the planned installation of the protected lane.

MONUMENTAL PROTEST Historian calls suffrage statue ‘racist’ Page 6 Jacob Morris, director of the Harlem Historical Society, says the women’s suffrage monument planned for Central Park is racist and must be redesigned.

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July 11, 2019

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PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Watching the women’s soccer stars through the Stars and Stripes.

Grand canyon for women’s soccer team BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

ith wild cheers from adoring fans, a whirlwind of confetti, the mayor and the governor in tow, purple hair, tattoos and some swigs of well-deserved bubbly, the victorious U.S. Women’s National Team rolled up lower Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes Wednesday, from Battery Park to City Hall. The talented, spirited and inspiring soccer squad won the Women’s World Cup in France on Sunday, defeating the Netherlands, 2-0. It was a repeat for the U.S. women’s team, which also won the World Cup in 2015. Megan Rapinoe, the team’s leader, won the tournament’s Golden Ball award as its best player, and was also the star of the parade. Rapinoe has said the team won’t go to the White House to meet President Trump, but will instead visit Capitol Hill to meet with Senator Chuck Schumer, Congressmember Alexandria Osasio-Cortez and others. “This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better, we have to love more and hate less,” Rapinoe told the crowd. “Listen more and talk less. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place.” Praising her team’s diversity, she said, “We got pink hair and purple hair. We got tattoos and dreadlocks. We got white girls and black girls and everything in between. We got straight girls and gay girls.” Fans along the route sported signs for and chanted for “Equal pay!” The U.S. Women’s National Team is paid less than the men’s soccer team, even though the women have had more success — not to mention generate more revenue for U.S. Soccer. Schneps Media

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Megan Rapinoe, left, and teammates riding up the Canyon of Heroes with the World Cup trophy.

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Young fans packed the parade route.

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PHOTO BY MILO HESS

Another gooooaaaaal? Could it be? July 11 - July 24, 2019

Police Blotter 19th Precinct Parking rage A man attacked a driver for allegedly taking his parking spot, police said. On June 27, at 2:37 p.m., an Upper East Side man parked his van on E. 95th St. Right afterward, a man he did not know approached the van and claimed that he had been about to park in the spot. According to police, the second man, claiming he had “just stepped away for a second” from the parking spot, got irate, grabbed the driver by the shirt and punched him in the right eye. The assailant then got into a white work van and drove off in an unknown direction.

Fruity robbery A man working at a fruit stand at the southwest corner of Second Ave. and E. 93rd St. was robbed on June 27, according to police. On that day, at 8:05 p.m., the man was working when someone came up from behind him, snatched $300 from his back pocket and then shoved him to the ground. Police said the thief, who appeared to be in his late teens, then ran eastbound toward Third Ave. The victim was able to get up and

followed the young robber for a short distance but was unable to catch him. The man only suffered a small bruise to the elbow from the incident.

returned some of the items in her bag to their respective shelves. Yet, the shoplifter still attempted to leave the store with the remaining items in her bag. When the D’Ag employee tried to stop her from leaving, the woman his hand and cut his skin with her fingernails before fleeing. She made off with six Hershey’s chocolate bar packs of six and eight Kit Kat packs of six.

Ice cream thief A teenager was arrested for stealing an ice cream from the Rite Aid at 1849 Second Ave., at E. 96th St., police said. On June 29, at 6 p.m. a 36-year-old employee spotted a 15-year-old boy taking an ice cream from one of the store’s refrigerators and placing it in his pants. The youth then tried to walk out of the store without paying. According to police, the worker stopped the boy and took the ice cream from him at the exit. The boy responded by punching the employee in the face and chest. Police arrived shortly afterward and arrested the minor. The ice cream was worth $6.

Noted: Bank robbery A man robbed a Chase bank at 126 E. 86th. St. by passing a note to the teller, said police. On June 24, at about 9:10 a.m., a man slipped a note to a teller asking for money. After the teller reportedly gave the man $1,000, he ran out of the bank in an unknown direction.

20th precinct

Candy caper

Crime of the Century

On June 24, a woman reportedly took off with some candy from the D’Agostino supermarket at 1074 Lexington Ave., at E. 76th St. According to police, at about 4:53 p.m., an employee witnessed a female take items from the store’s shelves and place them in her backpack. The employee tried to stop the woman, who

The Century 21 at 1972 Broadway, at W. 66th St., was robbed of $1,946 worth of merchandise one night last month, police said. According to police, on June 20, at about 10 p.m., a woman set off the store’s security alarms as she tried to exit the place with a stolen suitcase filled with 60 stolen items, mostly

clothing.

Hard cell Two young boys had their cell phones stolen on June 21, according to the 20th Precinct. Cops said the two brothers, ages 13 and 11, were standing outside of 316 W. 71st St. around 4:22 p.m. As they stood there, a man approached them from behind and took the 13-year-old’s cell phone from his hand. Shortly afterward, the 11-year-old dropped his cell phone, which the thief, who was around age 20, quickly picked up before taking off in an unknown direction.

Delivery downer A delivery truck driver had his belongings stolen from his vehicle while it was parked outside of 200 W. 70th St., just west of Amsterdam Ave., according to police. On June 20, at about 11:17 a.m., the driver stepped out of the truck and left it unlocked as he made a delivery. When he returned, he noticed that his wallet and his red iPhone XS were gone.

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

Crook dupes seniors with ‘arrested grandson’ scam BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

olice are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who is possibly scamming older residents, with at least one of them in Manhattan so far. According to police, the first incident occurred June 2, around 10:30 a.m., when an 82-year-old Queens resident received a phone call from a stranger saying that the senior’s grandson had been arrested. The mysterious caller told the man he needed to pay his grandson’s $10,000 legal fees in cash. The grandfather agreed to pay the caller outside of the senior’s home. A second similar incident occurred on June 12, at 10 a.m., when a 93-year-old woman on Manhattan’s Upper East Side received a phone call from an unknown male caller stating that her grandson had been arrested and she needed to pay his legal fees. The woman agreed to pay the caller

$9,500 in cash outside of her home near Madison Ave. and E. 86th St. The third incident occurred June 15, at 3 p.m., again in Queens, when a 94-year-old man received a call from an unknown man stating that is grandson had been arrested and asking for legal fees to paid in person and in cash. The senior man agreed that the caller could come to his home and he would pay him $9,500. Police describe the man wanted for questioning as between the ages of 20 and 30, and last seen wearing a dark track suit with animal-print stripes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on on the Crime Stoppers Web site, WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All tips are strictly confidential.

COURTESY N.Y.P.D.

Police say this guy has been scamming seniors.

For more news & events happening now visit www.TheVillager.com 4

July 11 - July 24, 2019

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Board backs C.P.W. protected lane BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

he Upper West Side’s Community Board 7 voted in favor of a protected bike lane along Central Park West at its July 2 full-board meeting. The decision was met with an eruption of cheers inside the packed meeting room, at the Goddard Riverside Community Center, where many bike-lane supporters held yellow signs reading, “Board 7, do the right thing.” Before community board members voted on the resolution, Edward Pincar, the Department of Transportation’s Manhattan borough commissioner, and Nick Carey, senior project manager at the D.O.T. Bicycle and Greenway Program, presented the department’s plan for the bike lane, which would run between W. 59th and W. 110th Sts. To create the bike lane, D.O.T. would need to remove 400 parking spaces along the avenue’s eastern side. Pincar, Carey and Ted Wright, D.O.T. director of Bicycle and Greenway Programs, had first presented the plan at a June 10 C.B. 7 Transportation Committee meeting, at which some residents expressed concern that the bike lane would cause traffic congestion. The trio received pushback from car-owning or cardependent residents when they revealed that installing the bike lane would mean losing parking spaces. That pushback only intensified at the July 2 full-board meeting, where bike-lane opponents repeatedly interrupted the D.O.T. officials and community board members

COURTESY N.Y.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

A schematic rendering of Central Park West before and after the planned installation of the protected lane.

with hisses, boos and loud demands for an environmental impact study. “A lot of Upper West Side families are struggling just to survive,” said car owner Laura Jenkins, on the verge of tears. “The subways don’t work properly. I go borough to borough and I have a child, and I can’t afford not to have my car. ” She added that the cost of parking garages in the neighborhood was also out of her price range. “We need our parking spots,” she declared. “Do not take away our parking spots.”

But bike-lane boosters and cycling activists from groups like Streetopia and Transportation Alternatives were equally as impassioned. Activists repeatedly called for “Safety now!” Some bike-lane-backing residents even compared the critics to climate-change deniers for failing to recognize the connection between cars, a lack of protected bike lanes and the city’s rising number of cyclist deaths. During a particularly tense moment, Chelsea Yamada, a Transportation Alternatives member, held a photo of a ghost bike in the air and shouted “Data denier!” when community board member Jay Adolf tried to speak about his proposed amendment to the resolution. Adolf’s proposal called on D.O.T to conduct a study six months prior to any construction on the bike lane, to examine the effects that eliminating 400 traffic spots would have on resident and transient parking. The amendment failed to pass. The push for a Central Park West bike lane started last year after the death of Madison Lyden, a 23-yearold Australian tourist who was forced to swerve her bike into oncoming traffic and was hit by a garbage truck. Upper West Siders, bicycle safety activists, C.B. 7 and local politicians, including Assemblymember Richard Gottfried and Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, called on D.O.T. to create a two-way protected bike lane. According to D.O.T.’s Pincar, the department will monitor the bike lane on a quarterly basis for the next year. Construction on the bike lane will start immediately.

Harlem historian: Suffrage statue ‘racist’ BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

acob Morris just wants to tell the truth and he wants the city to do the same. The Harlem-based historian is pushing for a redesign of the forthcoming Central Park monument honoring the women’s suffrage movement. As currently designed, the monument is racist, Morris charges. Morris has drafted a resolution for Manhattan’s Community Board 11 calling on the City Council, the Mayor, the Public Design Commission and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to suspend all taxpayer money allocated to the monument. That is, until the monument is made to reflect what Morris says is a balanced and accurate depiction of the fight for women’s suffrage that “incorporates the role not just of white women but all women.” Morris is not a member of C.B. 11. His resolution also calls for including “a historian on the panel to ensure the optimum functioning of our Public Design Commission,” so that the commission can improve its mission to deepen public knowledge of contributions made by “under-acknowledged peoples to our society and include a ‘Truth in Labeling’ as criteria for approvals.” The statue would go on the park’s Literary Walk and is currently slated for installation in the summer of 2020. It is being funded with $500,000 from a New York Life Insurance Company Challenge Grant, $100,000 from Borough President Brewer and $35,000 from City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, c0-chairperson of the Council’s Women’s Caucus and chairperson of the Council’s Committee on Women. The Parks Department announced plans in 2017 for a monument honoring women’s suffrage movement leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan

July 11 - July 24, 2019

Jacob Morris, director of the Harlem Historical Societ y, says the women’s suffrage monument planned for Central Park is racist and must be redesigned.

B. Anthony, and selected sculptor Meredith Bergmann’s proposed design for it. The design features women’s-rights activists Stanton and Anthony working alongside each other at a desk, with a lengthy scroll falling toward an old-fashioned ballot box below them. In honor of the breadth and diversity of the movement, the scroll will be inscribed with names and quotes of other women who took part in the fight for women’s rights. Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Ida B. Wells, Anna MEX

Howard Shaw, Lucretia Mott, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Alice Paul are some of the women that will be listed. But the design has received criticism from some historians who believe that it depicts a a slanted and inaccurate history. “It purports to honor Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as champions of universal women’s suffrage,” said Morris, the director of the Harlem Historical Society. “They were not. They were champions of white women’s suffrage.” Both and Anthony and Stanton used racist rhetoric and valued the concerns of white Protestant women over those of of black women, as well as black men, and were generally elitist, Morris and others charge. Morris would support adding more figures to the monument, including Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells. But above all, he wants the Public Design Commission to go back to the drawing board and create a monument that is “more inclusive” and “accurately labeled.” After presenting his case to C.B. 11, including a letter of support from fellow historian David Levering Lewis and articles from historians Martha S. Jones and Nell Irvin Painter, Morris spoke with Deputy Borough President Matthew Washington and Councilmember Rosenthal to air his concerns about the problematic statue. According to a spokesperson, Rosenthal has no plans to rescind her $35,000 allocation at this time. “Our office really looks forward to a community process which leads to a statue that celebrates women’s suffrage and the diverse movement that achieved it,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail. Brewer’s office declined comment for this article. C.B. 11 is scheduled to vote on Morris’s resolution in September. Schneps Media

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July 11 - July 24, 2019

Groper ‘poster boy’ in 70th arrest BY GABE HERMAN

serial subway creep has been busted and indicted in yet another alleged incident — and the city’s top cop has had enough. According to the New York Post, it’s the man’s 70th arrest, and Police Commissioner James O’Neill is now calling for the revolting recidivist to be banned from the subway system. Police said that on Wed., June 26, around 8:50 a.m., a 37-year-old woman — an offduty traffic officer — was on a Manhattan-bound L train, heading from Bedford Ave. to First Ave., when Giovanni Verdelli, 67, placed his hand under her dress and rubbed her genital area. Verdelli, who is homeless and goes by “Gian,” stands 6 feet tall, weighs about 200 pounds and has long saltand-pepper hair. The woman and the abus-

COURTESY N.Y.P.D.

Giovanni “Gian” Verdelli was recently arrested for an alleged subway groping incident. He has a long record of such offenses.

er both left the train at First Ave. and E. 14th St., where the victim took a photo of the man on the platform. The offender then fled the location. The off-duty cop was reportedly not injured during the incident. On Fri., June 28, police arrested Verdelli. He was charged with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and sexual abuse. This Tuesday, a grand jury indicted him in the latest incident. According to the Post, it was only six months ago that Verdelli was sprung from prison for a similar crime, after serving nine months. In that case, in August 2017, he reportedly rubbed his erect penis up against a woman’s buttocks on the B train at the Broadway/ Lafayette St. station. The tabloid said he is a Level 2 sex offender and that most of his dozens of past arrests were for sexual abuse.

Soho/Noho: Non-artists, retail remain focus BY GABE HERMAN

t the June 13 presentation of recommendations in the Envision Soho Noho process, it was emphasized that the evaluation of zoning options was just beginning, and would continue throughout this year. As the process continues, local groups and advocates are pushing their agendas, including on whether to legalize non-artist residency and enforcement of retail size limits in Soho. One such group is the Fix Soho/ Noho Coalition, comprised largely of landlords and several big propertyowning firms in the city. One member of the group, Margaret Baisley, a Soho loft owner who has been a real estate lawyer in the neighborhood since the 1970s, recently told this paper she and the coalition were concerned that a pathway for non-artists to live in Soho was not laid out at the presentation. Fix Soho/Noho believes more than “95 percent” of Soho residents are not artists — which local artists dispute. “The vast majority of people who live here want to be able to live here legally,” she said. The preliminary recommendations only included temporary amnesty for current non-artists in Soho. “I think, frankly, that would kill the community in Soho as we know it,” she said. “There aren’t enough artists to

July 11 - July 24, 2019

buy or rent these spaces.” Baisley, who lives in Brooklyn, pointed to recent construction and maintenance work done on her building, and was skeptical any artists could write checks for the high costs that it required. “We can’t turn the clock back,” she said. “I know it’s romantic to talk about the 1980s when there were galleries and many artists everywhere.” Baisley supports grandfathering in the neighborhood’s current artists. “No one wants to throw artists out,” she said. But she added the majority of residents should also have protections. “We’re the ones who keep this place going economically, and we’re who should receive some recognition from the advisory committee,” she stressed. She argued that zoning based on peoples’ occupations is discriminatory. Baisley also opposes restricting retail stores to 10,000 square feet, which the preliminary recommendations outlined, albeit with some exceptions. “Because this is a mixed-use district,” she said, “we need many kinds of retail, not just small retail.” She said there are good, responsible retailers that are larger than 10,000 square feet, and that the taxes paid by retail help property owners to pay their “outrageous” taxes and to maintain their buildings.

Baisley said there is still room for negotiation on these issues, and that the Fix Soho/Noho Coalition is continuing to meet with local politicians and officials and advocate for its views. Meanwhile, Sean Sweeney, director of the Soho Alliance, said he was fine with non-artists living in the area. “We just want the artists protected,” he said. “We don’t care if non-artists move in.” Based on advisory meetings so far, Sweeney believes non-artists, in fact, will be allowed to live legally in Soho. He wants the area to be kept as a manufacturing-zoned district, though, protecting artists by not letting neighbors complain about noise or odor issues coming from artists doing their work. “The best way to preserve artists and yet have non-artists move in, is to maintain the manufacturing zone...and yet allow non-artists to move in. But they just can’t complain,” he said. Sweeney also predicts the definition of a certified “artist” will be broadened beyond fine artists — to include “makers” or “creative people” and Web designers, for example. Sweeney said he’s O.K. with that, and with including others — like dress designers, architects and writers — and letting all other professions into Soho, but with a preference to creative people to keep the area’s creative vibe. “People still come here from Europe MEX

and they still think it’s kind of creative,” he said, “and if it becomes doctors and lawyers and bankers, it’ll lose that. So we want to maintain that as a creative neighborhood, in which doctors, lawyers and dentists are allowed to live.” Sweeney said he is also fine with the current retail zoning, but is willing to extend ground-floor retail through the entire neighborhood, since 95 percent of Soho stores are now retail. “So we’re not going to turn the clock back,” he said. “Fine, so we’re giving them that concession.” At meetings, Sweeney said, Real Estate Board of New York members said they wanted unlimited retail sizes. Asked if that meant 100,000 square feet, the REBNY reps nodded, he said. “I said a can of worms is going to open up,” Sweeney said he predicted. “We were happy the way it is,” he said of the existing zoning. “It’s very successful, it’s the second-highest retail neighborhood in the city. “But we’re willing to be realistic,” he said, referring to non-artist residency and expanding ground-floor retail. “But they’re getting greedy,” he added. Recommendations will be issued by consultant Jonathan Martin in late August, Sweeney said. That report will go for review to Community Board 2 in October. Zoning changes would then likely undergo the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP. Schneps Media

Mt. Sinai, Martha Stewart team at Union Sq. BY GABE HERMAN

t. Sinai Health System is adding to its Downtown presence by expanding its Martha Stewart Center for Living, which treats older patients, to Union Square. COURTESY MT. SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM The new facilAmong those at the recent ribbon cutting for the Mar tha Stewar t Center for Living were, from left, state Senator Brad Hoity, which opened lyman; Dr. R. Sean Morrison, the Ellen and Howard C. Katz chairperson of Mt. Sinai’s Brookdale Depar tment of Geriatric s in mid-June at 10 and Palliative Medicine; Mar tha Stewar t; and A ssemblymember Richard Gottfried. Union Square, between E. 14th and 15th Sts., comes after a “significant leadership gift” from Stewart, according to a Mt. Sinai announcement. The center’s first location, opened 12 years ago, is on the Upper East Side, at 1440 Madison Ave., at E. 99th St. The aim is for the new Union Square facility to be a holistic center for patients and their caregivers. The new health hub offers primary care and specialists from more than 20 fields, including cardiology, gastroenterology, cancer, orthopedics, dermatology and rheumatology, plus radiology and physical-therapy services. The center also has yoga, tai chi, music therapy, nutrition planning, and fall prevention programs. Lifestyle icon Martha Stewart said the new Union Square center will offer “world-class care” and is needed now more than ever. “My partnership with the Mt. Sinai Health System continues to evolve as we expand services of the Martha Stewart Center for Living to Downtown Manhattan, where the needs of older adults are currently underserved,” Stewart said. “When we opened the first Martha Stewart Center for Living in 2007 at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in Upper Manhattan, we introduced the nation to an innovative model of comprehensive care for older adults. “From now until 2030, 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 each day,” she added. “This is the perfect time for leading academic medical centers and philanthropists to partner in improving care for this population and their parents. The new Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mt. Sinai-Union Square will be a destination for the unprecedented numbers of aging Americans to receive world-class care.” Stewart’s gift for the first center, in 2007, was inspired by her mother, Martha Kostyra, who led an active life until age 93. The Upper East Side location also provides holistic care for older people, with the focus on giving them the best possible quality of life. Patients at that facility have had half as many emergency-room visits as other seniors, according to Mt. Sinai, along with shorter hospital stays and 50 percent fewer hospital readmissions. A geriatrician by training, Dr. Jeremy Boal is president of Mt. Sinai Downtown and also executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Mt. Sinai Health System. “By placing the facility in Union Square,” Boal said, “we’re creating a one-of-a-kind resource for older adults and their loved ones in the area, ensuring access to the full spectrum of services designed for these individuals. It’s a model we know works, decreasing unwanted emergency-room visits and improving wellness, as seen in our Uptown Center for Living. I am grateful to Martha for her commitment and proud to offer this new facility to our communities.”

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July 11 - July 24, 2019

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PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Alterna March reboots to Pride roots BY BOB KR ASNER

t’s said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it — but the Reclaim Pride Coalition, organizers of the Queer Liberation March, planned to do exactly that. Fed up with what they call the corporate takeover of the Heritage of Pride March (the big one), they put together an alternative. “It’s a march, not a parade,” explained photographer Dustin Pittman, who attended the first New York City gay-rights march in 1970. “This brings it back to its roots.” With no floats or corporate sponsorship, Sunday’s alternative march took the same route as the first, from Sheridan Square to Central Park. Enthusiasm and handmade signs were the hallmark of pretty much every group involved, from the artists with the Howl! Happening gallery to the Revolting Lesbians. Songs were sung (“Which Side Are You On?”) and chants were heard (“Off the sidewalk! Into the streets!”) all the way along the route, from what activist lawyer Norman Siegel estimated were 40,000 participants by the time they reached the park. “There are 15 times more people here than I expected!” exclaimed activist Gene Fedorko, who was also there in 1970. “The energy is magnificent,” he enthused. “I’ve been crying all morning.” Gay rights were just part of the agenda, as placards proclaimed the fight against all forms of injustice, including subjects such as abortion, ICE, sex workers, the N.R.A., white supremacy, Black Lives Matter, the rights of the incarcerated and even hairstyle appropriation. “Stop stealing our haircuts,” read one lesbian’s sign. The day culminated with a rally on the Great Lawn, a mix of comedy, political messaging and music. Organizer Leslie Cagan explained that the alternative march’s $200,000 budget was raised from foundation grants, fundraisers and personal donations. “We were committed to making it a community event,” Cagan said. Volunteers were also part of the equation, including the many who stayed behind to help clean up, as a

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result of a request from the stage. Entertainment provided by BETTY, Justin Vivian Bond, John Cameron Mitchell and Kevin Aviance was balanced by the impassioned speeches of Cecilia Gentili and Larry Kramer, among others. Kramer, the legendary playwright and AIDS activist, had a sobering message for the crowd. “I’m approaching my end, but I still have a few years of fight in me,” he said. These days, he noted, he is fighting against those who are spending their time looking for drugs and sex, rather than fighting to “make our world a better place.” “I love being gay, I love my people,” he said. “Please give me something to be proud of again, in these dark and dangerous days.”

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Performance ar tist Brent Ray Fraser spread the love around at the firehouse on W. 10th St. TVG

Larr y Kramer, seated in wheelchair, with, from left, organizer/stage manager Jackie Rudin, David Webster, Kramer’s husband, and Rollerena, the legendar y roller-skating drag queen. July 11, 2019

Guest Editorial

MANHAT TAN

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We pledged ‘Never Forget’ BY CAROLYN B. MALONEY

ast week, we lost an incredible New Yorker — an American hero — N.Y.P.D. Detective Luis Alvarez. I vowed that we would finish his last mission — to take care of the 9/11 community. On Friday, the House scheduled to finally vote to fully fund and make permanent the Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund to take care of every first responder, construction worker, volunteer and survivor who is now sick, plus the spouses left alone and the children left without parents because of illnesses caused by 9/11. In honor of N.Y.P.D. Detective James Zadroga — the first person to die from 9/11 illness — F.D.N.Y. Firefighter Ray Pfeifer and N.Y.P.D. Detective Luis Alvarez, who dedicated their last breaths to fighting for the 9/11 community, and for all the heroes who are still dealing with the effects of 9/11 each and every day, we will get this done and send this bill to the president’s desk. We have a double moral obligation to these heroic men and women. Not only were they there for us in one of our nation’s darkest hours. But our government told all those who worked on the pile and lived, worked and went to school near Ground Zero that the air was safe to breathe, and the water was safe to drink when it wasn’t. They are

sick because of us. Last month, Congress heard from Anesta St. Rose Henry as she testified in front of the House Committee on the Judiciary, sitting in front of two of her children that she is now raising alone. She lost her husband Candidus Henry less than a month earlier to glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer, connected to his time working on the pile at Ground Zero. She told us and the American people about Candidus, and the hole he left behind — a hole only made larger by the fact that, because her husband died this May instead of two years ago, she and her family will not receive a full award from the Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund because the fund is currently facing a budget shortfall. But we will fi x that by passing this bill. Not only does the Never Forget the Heroes Act fully fund and make permanent the V.C.F. for the future, but it also directs the special master to revisit all the reduced awards paid out to the 9/11 community because of the shortfall. After 9/11, we vowed to “Never Forget” and with that, we made a commitment to make sure every 9/11 first responder, survivor and their families never have to go without the support they need or deserve. It is the very least we can do as a grateful nation.

FILE PHOTO BY RENA COHEN

Creating the LaGuardia Gardens in 1982.

n article in The Villager’s May 20, 1982, issue reported that many LaGuardia Place residents were continuing to oppose a new community garden near the corner of Bleecker St. running down the block toward W. Houston St., even as gardeners were beginning to prepare the plot for planting all types of vegetables. The issue was not the veggies, but the new 8-foot-high, 170-foot-long and 42-foot-wide chain-link fence

around the garden. Many residents felt the narrow sidewalk strip left between the garden and the Grand Union supermarket would become a “muggers alley,” and would “make it easy” for ne’er-do-wells to hide. There was also concern about the police having access to the supermarket if something went wrong there. The garden remains there to this day, and was able to survive a threat of development by New York University.

Maloney is congressmember, 12th District.

SUBJECT: “The problem with Pride” (guest editorial, by Elissa Stein, 7/4/19) SUMMARY: Village activist Elissa Stein expresses her frustration with the Pride March, arguing it’s dominated by corporate sponsors and product giveaways. Swelled by Stonewall 50 and WorldPride, the March’s size tripled and it lasted 12½ hours. Writes Stein: “Someone needs to be the grown-up in the room and cap the number of par ticipants [and] set a time limit... . Local residents and streets should not be subjected to this level of noise pollution, barricading and destruction.”

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July 11, 2019

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Op-Ed

Just say No to East Side ﬂood plan; I did BY PAUL DERIENZO

n Tues., June 25, Community Board 3 voted 33 to 3 with 1 abstention to approve, with conditions, the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. An “October surprise” dropped on the community last autumn, the E.S.C.R.P. would close East River Park for at least three-and-a-half years. It would raise the 57-acre park by 8 to 9 feet above its current level and place the lip of the park nearly 17 feet above the East River. The result would be, for many, a riverside park in name only. Those are some reasons I decided to vote No on the project. A few days earlier, though, I had voted for it at a C.B. 3 Parks Committee meeting, at which board members did a phenomenal job of crafting a last-minute alternative. But, in the end, I could not approve a city project that made a mockery of transparency and community involvement. E.S.C.R.P. includes moveable metal walls, supposedly to block water from flanking the project and flooding the park from the west. Gouverneur Gardens would have to cede land along Montgomery St. for a wall that the Mitchell-Lama coop building would then apparently have to care for and insure. The wall’s ability to protect the E.S.C.R.P. from nature’s flanking maneuver isn’t a sure thing. Questionable fi xes and the complete closing of a popular park for many years are not my only concerns. One glaring omission from the E.S.C.R.P. is the chance to separate combined sanitary- and storm-water sewers that allow sewage to spill into the river during heavy rains. That missed opportunity is evidence that the city was more concerned with costs than environment. I attended many public hearings on the new plan and saw resistance everywhere. Even New York City Housing Authority residents, who felt they had the most to lose from another flood, harbored doubts about the city’s true intentions. After the breathtaking shift by the Department of Design and Construction — suddenly scrapping the previous, community-approved resiliency plan — why wouldn’t the public have doubts about the city’s long-term commitments? The community plan envisioned the park as a wetland absorbing the rising sea, while using the F.D.R. Drive as a backstop for a flood wall that would have been created. It’s basically an approach that is being successfully implemented around the world. On the other hand, the city’s project uses tons of dirt from who knows where, which, during the construction phase, will raise dust clouds and pollute the air in a neighborhood with some of the highest asthma rates in the country. E.S.C.R.P. continues the traditions of Robert Moses, who built the highway 80 years ago. Moses’ vision of a car-centric city still haunts New York. Consider the death of a young bike messenger hit by a truck two weeks ago, only to be followed by a young artist fatally struck by a cement truck as she was cycling just last week. City representatives admit one more big storm might take down the elevated portions of the F.D.R. Why wait for another disaster? Removing the current structure and replacing it with an engineered buffer to protect against rising seas is a small price to pay to save New York from human-caused climate change. DeRienzo, besides being a member of C.B. 3, is news director at listener-sponsored radio station WBAI in New York City. Schneps Media

Letters to the Editor D.O.T.: The new Robert Moses To The Editor: Re “Judge blocks 14th St. busway” (news article, July 4): We are absolutely delighted with Judge Rackower’s fair and reasonable decision to grant our request for a temporary restraining order and to compel Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and her Department of Transportation to support their claims of essential need for vehicular restrictions on 14th St. by providing the required hard data prescribed under the law. We are also deeply appreciative of Attorney Arthur Schwartz’s tireless efforts on our behalf. For those that thought mere dialogue with Trottenberg and D.O.T. would produce a reasonable result, we hope that the lesson was learned. It is indeed unfortunate that it takes a lawsuit to compel the city and D.O.T. to balance the needs of tens of thousands of local residents and businesses with those of a limited number of transient commuters in the name of unsubstantiated minimal improvement to crosstown bus service. Anyone who would suggest that to demand an equitable balance of accommodation between locals and commuters is elitist, hypocritical and uncaring is clearly continuing the disingenuous agenda of dictating to our neighborhoods and communities how we should live in our homes. It is quite evident that the 14th St. busway is Trottenberg’s Robert Moses-type assault on our neighborhood in the improve name of questionable improveice. When ment to bus service. utdown the L-train shutdown uickly was averted, she quickly changed gears w ith

substitute reasons for continuing with the 14th St. plan; something she publicly advocated at each and every alleged community outreach. It is also clearly apparent that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could care less about the busway, otherwise it would have submitted a legal brief objecting to the T.R.O. and/or appeared in court to make its case. The fact that the M.T.A. is remaining silent speaks volumes about D.O.T.’s misrepresentations that this would disrupt the M.T.A.’s careful Select Bus Service route planning. This is Mayor de Blasio’s and Commissioner Trottenberg’s agenda 100 percent, as Andy Byford, president of the New York City Transit Authority, clearly could care less about banning certain vehicles from 14th St. Julianne Bond and David R. Marcus Bond and Marcus are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the 14th St. busway and founding members, 14th St. Coalition; Bond is the coalition’s former co-chairperson; Marcus is a former steering committee member.

Hands off University Place To The Editor: Re “Baldwin gets serious at Judson” (news article, June 27): I have lived on University Place for 40 years. No, Reverend Donna Schaper, closing all of University Place to cars would not be “fun and different.” It ferent. would be hor-

Rober t Moses, the city’s former Planning czar, saw several of his highway and redevelopment megaprojects defeated by determined Village residents. Now, plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the 14th St. busway plan are calling the current Depar tment of Transpor tation’s actions heav y-handed, dismissive of the local communit y and, well, Moses-like.

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rendous. The residents of University Place have been opposed to this troublesome idea for many, many years and yet New York University keeps pushing it. The local businesses want to take over our beloved University Place by putting their cafe tables in the street. We already have enough noise issues from N.Y.U. students now. If Community Board 2 wants to make University Place better, bring back the M1 bus! Deb Friedman

Right on, Richard! To The Editor: Contrary to a letter in your June 27 issue (“Vax vote outrage,” by Carolynn R. Meinhardt), I applaud Assemblyman Richard Gottfried’s principled stand against the unconstitutional repeal of the religious exemption for vaccinations. I know many people who have sought a religious exemption because their children experienced serious reactions following a vaccination series. These parents initially tried to obtain a medical exemption, but that’s nearly impossible because of the intimidation of doctors, who fear losing their licenses if they don’t adhere to the idea that vaccines are “safe and effective,” as we are constantly told by pharmaceutical manufacturers and the Centers for Disease and Control. These parents now face either risking further harm to their kids by resuming the vaccines (50 shots by age 6, roughly 72 by age 18 — something my generation never had to contend with) — or losing the right to attend school. Gottfried is on the right side of democracy. Consuelo Reyes E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 MetroTech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published. July 11, 2019

Census query blocked, Trump ﬁghts on BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

utside of City Hall Park, a buzzing crowd recently celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to block the citizenship question from the 2020 Census. At the June 27 rally, sign-waving members and allies of the coalition group New York Counts 2020, listened to local politicians, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, nonprofit leaders like Stephen Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, and city leaders, like Julie Menin, the Census director for New York City, speak to how the decision was a victory for democracy and the rule of law. “Today the Supreme Court upheld what each and every single one of us here knows, that every single person in this country, in this state, in this city, deserves to be counted, deserves to be represented and not silenced,” said Murad Awadeh, vice president of advocacy of the New York Immigration Coalition. An eruption of cheers followed his remarks. Critics of the citizenship question say that it will deter noncitizens from filling out the form and thus skew Census results in favor of Republicans. According to Menin, what is at stake for New York by adding the question is $700 million worth of federal funding for state programs, like public education, public housing and Medicaid. Menin also stressed that an undercount in New York could mean the loss of two congressional seats. In March 2018, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross approved plans to add the question, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” to the 2020 Census against the recommendation of the Census Bureau. The question has not been asked on a U.S. Census since 1950. In April of last year, New York State led a group of 18 states, 10 cities and four counties and the U.S Conference of Mayors in a lawsuit against the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau to try to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census. Later that month, several other states filed similar lawsuits. The Supreme Court’s June 27 decision stated that the Trump administration’s Department of Commerce could not add the citizenship question to the Census form because the reason it later gave for doing so was a lie, according to Vox. The ruling, however, allowed for the Trump administration to present a more legitimate reason for including the question. Trump, though, was under a time crunch since the the Census Bureau only had until June 30 to finalize the Census form. On July 2, Ross announced that the Commerce Department would print the Census form without the

July 11, 2019

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Julie Menin, the Census director for New York, spoke at the rally outside of Cit y Hall Park.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

A group of young activists attended the Census 2020 rally outside of City Hall Park.

citizenship question. But the next day, Trump tweeted otherwise and considered using an executive order arguing a constitutional need to add the question, according to the Washington Post. Although speakers at the rally expressed confidence that the citizenship question would remain off of the Census form, they worried about another hurdle: response rate.

According to Menin, New York State had a 61.9 percent self-response rate to the Census questionnaire while the national response rate was 74 percent. According to Menin, part of the reason New York’s response rate was so low was because a lack of community education about the importance of the census. This time around, that will not be the case, according to Menin. Her TVG

office plans on going to community board meetings, neighborhood meetings and houses of worship and “every pocket of the city” to speak about what is at stake with an undercount. “Every neighborhood can and must do better,” said Menin. ” It is the single most important step one can take to ensure that their respected community gets the funding it deserves.” Schneps Media

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July 11, 2019

Give us a break! Mom-and-pops to city BY MICAEL A MACAGNONE

ouncilmembers, merchants, restaurateurs and small business advocates recently rallied on the City Hall steps to slam the crushing fees and regulations that they say are making it ever harder for mom-and-pop shops to survive. Councilmember Mark Gjonaj, chairperson of the Council’s Committee on Small Business, led the Wed., June 26, rally, which was swelled by more than 100 business owners. The event was punctuated by bilingual chants, including “Wake up, City Hall!” “Salve Nuestra Bodega!” (save our bodegas), “Our Jobs Matter!” and “También Somos Inmigrantes!” (we are also immigrants). Gjonaj mostly addressed the burdensome regulations, taxes, fines and fees put on small business by local government. “Since the arrival of the retail chains and online shopping, small businesses have shut their doors after years of providing services to their

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Bronx Councilmember Mark Gjonaj, left, led the rally against burdensome regulations and fees for small businesses.

local communities,” he said. “Furthermore, it has become harder for startups to survive: Approximately 50 percent of small businesses and 80 percent of restaurants never make it past year five. The local small business industry has changed and small businesses are in danger. Owners are struggling to keep their dream and livelihood alive.” The protesters specifically expressed their opposition to a paidvacation measure that the mayor an-

nounced in January. The legislation has not gone anywhere in the face of strong opposition, would apply to businesses five employees or more. However, according to a June survey of more than 1,470 New York City small business owners across all five boroughs, 79 percent of them said they can’t afford to provide employees with two-weeks paid vacation; 80 percent are concerned they would have to lay off employees, reduce hours or scale back operations if their business

is required to provide the benefit; and 93 percent of small business owners are opposed to an unfunded mandate for two-weeks paid vacation. There were also — as at previous Gjonaj-led rallies about small business — mention of the long-stymied Small Business Jobs Survival Act. Activist Marni Halasa, an S.B.J.S.A. advocate, held up a sign slamming Council Speaker Corey Johnson, claiming he was “anti-immigrant,” “pro-developer” and “anti-jobs.” While Johnson, in 2017, did claim to support the S.B.J.S.A. in a Twitter post, since becoming speaker he has removed his name as a co-sponsor of the legislation. A spokesperson previously told this paper that, as speaker, Johnson is more discriminating about which bills he attaches his names to. Other speakers included Andrew Rigie, of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, who emcee’d the event; William Rodriguez, president of the National Supermarket Association; Frank Garcia, chairperson of the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

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July 11, 2019

New building for New Museum BY GABE HERMAN

he New Museum will be adding a new building. The Lower East Side art museum — which focuses on contemporary art — announced details of its plan for a second building, which will rise next to its current location. The new addition will be at 231 Bowery, at Prince St. Sporting seven floors, it will enclose 60,000 square feet, including 11,000 square feet of exhibition space across three floors of galleries. It will double the museum’s overall exhibition space. The galleries will be on the second, third and fourth floors, and be able to connect with existing galleries in the original building. Ceiling heights will be aligned, to allow for bigger exhibition spaces, though the galleries will also be able to be used separately. The new building’s ground floor will include an 80seat restaurant, an expanded lobby, a bookstore and a public plaza. The fifth floor will house NEW INC, an arts organization that the museum calls a cultural incubator and includes people in such fields as the arts, business and urban design. The sixth floor will have a studio for an artist-inresidence and a forum space for events. Events will also be on the seventh floor, as well as educational

tions; studio space for artist residencies; and international partnerships and collaborations with peer institutions around the world.” The New Museum opened 12 years ago. It bought the current building next door, which has 50,000 square feet, for additional space for various programs. The new building at that site is to be designed by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), a Dutch firm, along with Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, and in collaboration with Cooper Robertson. “Since the New Museum opened on the Bowery in December 2007, the museum has become an international cultural destination welcoming millions of visitors,” said Lisa Phillips, the New Museum’s director. “We are thrilled to work with OMA to adCOURTESY OMA A rendering of the New Museum’s planned new dress our current and future needs, and selected them building, at center right, which will be just to for their exceptional response to our brief, their civic passion and future thinking. The OMA design will the right of the museum’s original location. provide seamless connectivity and horizontal flow between the two buildings, expanded space for our world-renowned exhibitions, and access to some of programming. “The building gives us the opportunity to continue our most innovative programs that the public curto experiment with new formats and models around rently cannot see.” The new building will be named after Toby Devan various areas of programmatic focus,” said Massimiliano Gioni, the New Museum’s artistic director. Lewis, a longtime trustee of the museum, following a “These areas include new productions and ambitious lead gift of $20 million, which is the largest donation new commissions; contextual exhibition presenta- in the museum’s history.

Finger-lickin’ Ethiopian at Queen of Sheba BY GABE HERMAN

ueen of Sheba has been serving Ethiopian food in Hell’s Kitchen for nearly two decades, and is still going strong with a wide array of tasty dishes from owner and chef Philipos Mengistu. Before Mengistu moved to America in 1990 with dreams of opening an Ethiopian restaurant in New York City, he learned the craft in a restaurant that his parents ran in Addis Ababa. He even imported his mother’s berbere hot sauce from Ethiopia when he opened his own restaurant here in February 2001. The small restaurant, at 650 Tenth Ave., at W. 46 St., has an intimate atmosphere, with a few tables in the front and a bar, and a slightly bigger area in back with more seating. The chicken, beef, lamb, fish and vegetarian dishes are all served with injera, a sourdough flatbread with a spongelike texture. All dishes are served over a rolled-out piece of injera, and several more rolled-up pieces of the bread are brought, as well. The injera is filling and the dish portions

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

Two big pieces of tilapia over injera bread.

July 11, 2019

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PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

A beef sambousa appetizer at Queen of Sheba.

are generous, so skip a meal beforehand to maximize the experience. It’s encouraged to eat with your hands — picking up portions of the foods by using pieces of injera — so the tables are not set with any utensils. A fork, knife and spoon will be provided if asked for, but you might get a disappointed look from the server. Appetizers, ranging from about $5 to $9, include sambousa, which are dough pockets with some spiciness and filled with either beef or lentils; avocado salad; tomato salad; and azifa, which has lentils, onions and chili peppers mashed in a mustard vinaigrette. Main dishes range from about $14 to $20, and there are also lunch specials, and 20 percent off the first online order. The restaurant is open seven days a week. More information can be found at shebanyc. com. Schneps Media

Manitoba’s punk bar closes after 20 years BY TINA BENITEZ-EVES

ne of the last punk rock bars in the East Village has closed. Manitoba’s, first opened by The Dictators frontman Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba in 1999, shut its doors for good on Tues., June 25. For the past 20 years, visitors to 99 Avenue B, between E. Sixth and E. Sevenths Sts., found a rock ’n’ roll dive bar in New York City plastered with iconic photographs of The Ramones, Blondie, The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and beyond from punk’s stratosphere. The bar’s photo booth captured many a drunken, loving moment. Meanwhile, the place’s cushioned, sunken seats conformed to your bottom and kept you in place, as at any moment you might catch Manitoba himself pop in — most likely barking about his beloved Yankees. On the two screens, the odd ’60s sexploitation or music films and concerts played beneath the music from the bar’s jukebox, filled with punk classics and even some Motown, doo-wop and Elvis, in between. Anyone could create their own punk rock “mixtape” while downing the beer-and-shot special. “The bar, in the 20 years, was a rollercoaster,” Manitoba told this paper. “At times, it rode high. At times, it went straight down at 180 degrees. Toward the end, there were nights when there was very little money coming in and no one watching the bar enough.” Manitoba admitted the bar had financial difficulties for a while, which ultimately led to its closure last month. The lack of a proper manager didn’t help. “I took a salary in order to survive,” said Manitoba, who lost his DJ job on E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt’s SiriusXM channel, the Underground Garage. “I came by more often and watched the door on the weekend, but I couldn’t always be there,” he said. “What we needed was a trustworthy and hard-working manager. As the bar got smaller, we couldn’t pay for this.” It’s another loss of a piece of the New York punk era. Manitoba said losing the bar has been a blow, along with the double whammy of what feels like the end of a longtime friendship with the guitarist. “With the bar closing, there’s a sadness,” he said. “It was my clubhouse, and the clubhouse isn’t there. And it’s the real end of my relationship with Little Steven after 40 years. He lost so much money, and he was getting madder and madder at me.” Van Zandt was a majority owner of the bar, according to Manitoba. When the place originally opened, Laura McCarthy was a partner with Manitoba and covered more of the bar’s behind-the-scenes business. McCarthy is part owner — along with Jesse Malin, Tom Baker and Don DiLego — of Coney Island Baby, a bar and live-music venue that opened last April in the former Hi-Fi space on Avenue A. Schneps Media

PHOTO BY TINA BENITEZ-EVES

Manitoba’s bar was a mainstay on Avenue B for t wo decades, and a favorite of punk-music fans.

FILE PHOTO

Dick Manitoba gave it his best shot, but couldn’t keep his eponymous Avenue B bar open.

album, inspired by a photo his son took of the couple when he was 10 years old. Manitoba’s bar may be gone, but Handsome Dick is going strong. He’s a few weeks away from signing his first solo

“In a nutshell, my bartender called me and said ‘Richard there’s no money in the bag,’’’ Manitoba said of the bar’s final day. “And I just said, ‘I guess the bar is closed.’” The Bronx-born Manitoba, 65, is focusing on raising his 16-year-old son, his child with ex-girlfriend Zoe Hansen, Manitoba’s former manager and bartender. In February 2018, there was an alleged physical altercation between the couple. The case was later resolved in court and Manitoba pled guilty to disorderly conduct. The two have since parted ways after an 18-year relationship. Manitoba is now living with their son in the East Village, and Hansen lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend. Manitoba says that his relationship with Hansen today is nonexistent, with the exception of his son’s communication and visits with his mother. Manitoba even wrote a song, “8th Avenue Serenade,” for his upcoming TVG

album, the 13-track “Born in the Bronx.” He has a book deal, and wants to grow his “You Don’t Know Dick” podcast. And he has a one-man show he wants to take “Off-Off-Off” Broadway. Manitoba’s spirit will also live on through its Web site, which he’ll keep updated with posts about personalities, events and news and stories behind the iconic photos that lined the bar’s sticky walls. Perhaps the bar may eventually even get a second life. Manitoba said he’s been floating an idea to McCarthy. “I have been talking to her about giving me a spot in the worst bar, where I can have a Manitoba corner,” the veteran punk rocker said. “People who don’t have the Manitoba’s Bar anymore could go there. If I can make that work, that’s great.”

July 11, 2019

Obituary

Poet Steve Cannon, 84, of Gathering of Tribes BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

oet Steve Cannon, the legendary founder of the East Village’s A Gathering of the Tribes, died at 2 a.m. on Sun., July 7. He was 84. Cannon was rehabbing from a broken hip at the VillageCare Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, at 214 W. Houston St., across from the Film Forum. He had fallen and broken his hip in his East Village home on June 12, after which he had surgery at the Veterans Affairs Hospital on E. 23rd St. and First Ave. He transferred to VillageCare on Sat., June 29, according to poet and friend Melanie Maria Goodreaux. Goodreaux said Cannon went to the V.A. for surgery because he was a former paratrooper. She had seen him the Tuesday before he died. “He said he was bored in the hospital and he was really looking forward to going home,” she said. “He was still talking, still laughing, and we were still talking about art. “He was there to rehab his hip,” she said. “He had to learn to stand and walk around. He was going to be in rehab about a month.” But three days before he died, his condition took a turn for the worse. Cannon was sent to the intensive-care unit at the V.A. Hospital Saturday night. Among those at his bedside in his last hours were his daughter Melanie Best and poets Bob Holman and Chavisa Woods. Also there during the final week were poet Steve Dalachinsky and artist/writer Yuko Otomo. According to those with him in his final days, Cannon apparently had an abscess that burst. Indeed, Woods, who was with Cannon in the ambulance to the I.C.U., said she believes the cause of death was septic shock. East Village performance artist David Leslie said Cannon had been suffering from a bed sore when he recently visited. “He had a cyst or some sort of abscess,” he said. “He said he had gotten like a bed sore on his ass, which needed to be cleaned up.” Leslie said that he had, by coincidence, been visiting Cannon with some friends just about 40 hours before his death. Cannon had been sleeping, and so he woke him up. “Steve seemed perfectly fine. He was joking and in good spirits,” he said, “and the next thing I heard, he had died.” But Goodreaux said, although people are saying sepsis, she thinks it was simply Cannon’s age combined with the serious hip injury. “If he wasn’t blind, they probably would have let him out by now,” Leslie added. “People get out with a broken hip. But you wouldn’t want a blind person stumbling around with a broken hip.”

July 11, 2019

Steve days.

Cannon

his

younger PHOTO BY SARAH FERGUSON

Steve Cannon at the finale of A Gathering of the Tribes in its former space on E. Third St. in 2014.

Cannon went blind from glaucoma in the late 1980s. He was born in New Orleans, the youngest of 12 or 13 children, and raised by his grandparents. He moved to New York City in the early 1960s. Early on, he collaborated with black artistic luminaries novelist Ishmael Reed and artist David Hammons. In 1990, Cannon created the East Village/Lower East Side literary magazine A Gathering of the Tribes, and soon afterward turned his East Village home into the Tribes literary salon and art gallery. In 2014, Cannon was forced to vacate the space, though he had thought he had an agreement to live there until he died. “It’s the end of an era,” said Holman, the founder of the Bowery Poetry Club. “The Gathering of the Tribes was just that, where all artists were welcomed under one roof. He embodied the generosity of art. Artists who were doing it, or artists who didn’t know they were artists. There was an ever-welcome mat at Steve’s doorstep. His was the ‘In’ that always had room. The loss is incalculable. “And now we’re in the new New York, which seems to be looking everywhere — technology, globally — but is missing the human contact, which is what Steve saw everywhere. He was the ‘Great Connector’ — the person at the center of the tribes.” Holman said that even in his final years, in his Habitat for Humanity apartment on Avenue D, Cannon’s place remained a gathering spot. “There was a constant stream of visitors,” he said. “The door was unlocked, as it had been on Third St. There was always someone there.” It was East Village journalist Sarah Ferguson who found Cannon that apartment after he lost Tribes, Holman noted. Similarly, Woods said, “He was magnetic, magnanimous. He created the most open space I’ve ever participated in — for better and for worse. He was expansive, warm, explosive, energetic, eccentric and strange. He really believed in the mis-

sion of bringing people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives together for the purpose of creating art and community. And sometimes it was really messy and sometimes it was spectacular.” Cannon was known for his tough love toward young poets. Poet/playwright Liza Jessie Peterson posted a fond recollection on Facebook of Cannon at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe shouting at young poets to dispense with the introductions and explanations of their work and “Just read the damn poem!” “He was definitely a guide. He gave counsel,” Peterson said. “He was just on the surface like that — really mean, a strict teacher. But he brought out the best in you. He was tough, he wasn’t mean. He just raised the standard. He gave us, like backbone, courage, to get up there and just, ‘Read the goddamn poem!’ … He would just scream it.” Sitting at the corner of the bar, Cannon was the toughest critic in the place. “It was like Steve’s sacred spot at the bar,” she recalled. “This was in the ’90s, you could still smoke inside. He was just this Lower East Side cat. He just had a keen ear. When you’re blind, it heightens the other senses. He didn’t want no bull crap: Just get up on that microphone.” Today a playwright and actress, Peterson has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for her acting in her play “The Peculiar Patriot.” Goodreaux noted she knew Cannon for 27 years, ever since arriving in the city. “When I moved to New York in the late ’90s, I would read the newspaper to him in the morning, and his e-mails and books,” she recalled. “Not just me — many, many people read to him.” This January, Cannon published a book of Goodreaux’s poems, “Black Jelly,” and Goodreaux said his impact as an independent publisher must be acknowlTVG

edged. “I think he’s one of the most important publishers in the history of the city,” she stated. On top of that, Cannon was always simply encouraging people to write and hone their chops. “If we went to a movie, he’d say, ‘Write a review of it, put it up on a Web site,'” she said. “He was constantly pushing people to write. He wanted to educate people and he wanted them to understand the importance of being an artist. But he was also down to earth. “He went to every play I ever had,” she recalled. “He was constantly hungry for art.” Woods, who worked for Cannon for seven years and said he was her longtime mentor, is the author of four books, including “Things To Do When You’re a Goth in the Country.” She said she would often read entire books for him in one sitting, sometimes lasting up to eight hours. Afterward, they would discuss them, and he would talk about the authors’ writing and share anecdotes if he knew them personally. Holman noted that one thing Cannon regularly had read to him was The Villager newspaper, of which he was a fan. “It was his newspaper,” he said. “The Villager was a regular part of his literary diet, for sure. That and The New York Times, the London Review of Books. He was a true intellectual, an intellectual of the people.” Cannon was married twice. His son from his first marriage died in his teens from hemophilia. Cannon was the adoptive father of five daughters from his second marriage to the late poet Zoe Angelsey. He has at least two sisters living in New Orleans. Details were not immediately available about a memorial, but friends said there might be something this week, and that they are working with the family to plan a memorial later, possibly in the fall. Schneps Media

Manhattan Happenings “SUMMER SENIOR SPACE” “Exploring the Original West Village”: Join the W. 13th St. Alliance for a lecture by Alfred Pommer, West Village author and historian. A native New Yorker, Pommer has been a selfemployed licensed New York City guide since 1990. He has created more than 20 Manhattan neighborhood walking tours, focusing on architecture and history, with several tours also featuring gargoyles. Pommer is the author of four Big Apple neighborhood guide books published by The History Press (Arcadia) that explore local districts’ history and architecture. Wed., July 17, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m, at Lenox Health Greenwich Village, 200 W. 13th St., sixth-floor conference center. For more information, visit www.nycwalk.com. Free. Bird Bingo: In collaboration with the Church of the Village, the W. 13th St. Alliance will offer bird-themed bingo. The winner gets a Neapolitan dinner for two at Rossopomodoro, at 118 Greenwich Ave. Tues., July 15, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., at 201 W. 13th St. Free. “Spend Less and Live Abundantly!” Eating Healthy on a Budget: In collaboration with Integral Yoga Institute, the W. 13th St. Alliance offers a lecture by Karen Ranzi, a health coach and educator, about plant-based and raw food. Ranzi is an award-winning author, motivational speaker, natural-foods chef and feeding therapist, providing support for individuals and groups in creating happier, healthier lives through a whole-foods lifestyle. She has studied nutrition and health for more than 30 years. Thurs., July 11, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Integral Yoga Institute, 227 W. 13th St. Free.

MOXY HOTEL HEALTH Moxy Hotel: Soulga Yoga: Soulga Yoga incorporates Vinyasa Yoga flow and barre classes with creative music to give an overall sensory experience for both the mind and body. DJ class themes change frequently, so make sure to check @soulganycyoga to fi nd your favorite music. Classes are first come, first serve. To reserve a free spot, visit https://www.gosesh.co/c/soulgayoga. Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at Moxy Times Square, 485 Seventh Ave., at W. 36th St. Free. Get MNDFL at Moxy Chelsea: SweatAtMoxy presents MNDFL for a morning meditation practice all the way up to The Fleur Room rooftop lounge at Moxy Chelsea. “Come for the morning sit, skyline views, and new medi-friends,” as the promo says. Each class will feature one MNDFL meditation type: breath, emotion, intention or heart. Daily Dose, a healthy-meal deSchneps Media

“Aya of Yop Cit y,” a 2013 French animated movie, tells the stor y of a young African girl who gets into a tough situation after she gets pregnant.

Pier 45 (Christopher St. Pier). Batchelor’s music is influenced by Jamaican ska, reggae and rocksteady. Fri., July 12, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free.

livery service, will provide complimentary breakfast. Wed., July 17; Wed., July 24; Wed., July 31, from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at Moxy Chelsea, 105 W. 28th St., at Sixth Ave. Spots are confirmed on a first come, first basis. Reserve on Eventbrite through the Moxy Web site. Free.

SALSA ON THE PIER Sunset Salsa with Talia: Every Tuesday in July and August, learn and/or dance salsa in the Hudson River Park with Talia Castro-Pozo. Beginner lessons are from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and open dance is from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Pier 45, at Christopher St. Free.

PERFORMANCES Broadway in Bryant Park: The most popular shows on and Off Broadway perform their biggest hits each summer in the Midtown park. Join hundreds of fans on the lawn and enjoy favorite Broadway tunes. Arrive early and you can catch rehearsals. Every Thursday until Aug. 15, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m on the Bryant Park lawn, W. 41st St. and Sixth Ave. Free. River rocksteady: Courtesy of the Hudson River Park Trust, Kevin Batchelor will give a sunset performance at

VIVE LE FRENCH FOOD! French Restaurant Week is July 8 to 21. Visit https://www.frenchrestaurantweek.com/ for prix fi xe deals at a wide range of restaurants. TVG

MOVIES “Aya of Yop City,” Fri., July 12, 8:30 p.m., at Tompkins Square Park “Finding Nemo,” Mon., July 15, doors 6:30 p.m. Movie starts at sundown. Rooftop at Pier 17, 89 South St. “When Harry Met Sally,” Wed., July 17, 8:30 p.m., on the Pier 63 lawn, in Hudson River Park, at W. 23rd St.

COMMUNITY BOARD Community Board 2 full board meets Thurs., July 18, public session starts at 6:30 p.m., at P.S. 41, 116 W. 11th St., auditorium. Speakers’ cards will not be accepted after 7 p.m. Community Board 8 full board meets Wed., July 17, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at the New York Blood Center, 310 E. 67th St., auditorium.

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Dept. for the Aging fights loneliness with robotic pets, friendly visiting and more After serving as a senior adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio, I am honored to serve as the new commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging and to serve the city’s 1.6 million diverse older adults. I plan to highlight and address critical priorities for older New Yorkers, like social isolation. In a city of nearly 9 million people, many will endure loneliness – especially as they age. In fact, 1 in 5 older adults is socially isolated, which can lead to depression and a decline in physical health. Carrolyn Minggia, 64, is among them. She battles a syndrome that causes her immune system to attack her nerves. Since the death of her aunt, whom she moved to New York to care for, she also battles loneliness. We recently gave Minggia a robotic dog to ease that loneliness. The dog has sensors, responds to touch, barks and nuzzles and provides comfort. But technology isn’t the only way to fight the widespread problem of

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exchange in which strong bonds are formed between visitors and program participants. Older adults who wish to explore options outside of the home can visit more than 200 senior centers across the city, many representing the languages and cultures that make New York City strong. The centers are safe places to socialize, have a meal with friends, take fitness and wellness classes, enjoy art classes, and attend cultural activities. Senior center membership is free to anyone age 60 or older. The Department for the Aging also plans to launch a campaign that highlights the problem of social isolation in order to encourage more people to explore resources that are available to them through the City of New York. If you are isolated, call 311 for more information about available services. The Department for the Aging is here to help.

Image courtesy of Ageless Innovation social isolation. Low-tech approaches, like acknowledging and greeting people or checking on older neighbors, go a long way. In 2017, we launched our ThriveNYC Friendly Visiting Program, which pairs trusted and trained volunteers with isolated older adults. In just a few years, we have provided more than 50,000 hours of in-home visits. Beyond those visits, the program allows for intergenerational

MEX

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. Prior to joining the de Blasio administration, she served in executive leadership roles with AARP, EmblemHealth and other organizations. She also served as New York’s first Latina Secretary of State.

July 11 - July 24, 2019

July 11, 2019

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July 11, 2019

Real Estate

You can’t help but feel you’re one of the 1 percent in this pad in the former JP Morgan building.

A two-bedroom apar tment currently on the market at The Beekman.

Living in FiDi, surrounded by history BY MARTHA WILKIE

best retail and gastronomical experiences in Manhattan.” The Beekman Hotel and Residences, originally Temple Court, was built in the 1880s as offices, and was recently converted to a hotel and condos. Go have a drink there and check out the incredible nine-story atrium.

ou would think the Financial District is all about money, but historically, it’s all about the Revolutionary War — Federal Hall, Trinity Church, Fraunces Tavern. Amy Kennard works at Fraunces Tavern and is a fan of the neighborhood. “Amid the skyscrapers of Manhattan, it’s rare to find early American history and the historic atmosphere preserved as well as it is here at Fraunces Tavern,” Kennard said. “You can share a meal in the same place where Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton ate just a week before their duel, and have a drink in one of Washington’s favorite restaurants before heading upstairs to see the very room where he gave his farewell toast to his officers.” Until fairly recently, few people actually lived in FiDi, but today thousands call it home. If you walk around in the morning, you’ll see businesspeople in suits rushing to work alongside dog walkers in sweatpants. Not much residential architectural fabric remains from the 1700s. But conversions of historic buildings and new construction offer intriguing opportunities. Eleonora Srugo is an agent with Elliman, representing the amazing Beekman Residences. “With history and architecture rooted in the Gilded Age and Art Deco era, the Financial District is the bustling essence of all that is New York City,” Srugo said. “With narrow cobblestone streets and Wall St., the area has been revitalized with the

July 11, 2019

Beekman Residences currently has on the market a two-bedroom, twoand-a-half-bath with amazing views. “As one of top places to live, the condo features hotel amenities and two world-renowned restaurants,” Srugo noted. $3.85 million. (Elliman.com/new-york-city/thebeek man-residences-5 -beek manstreet-manhattan) In the former JP Morgan building, directly across from the New York Stock Exchange, is a one-bedroom, two-bath with gorgeous views and all the modern amenities. For sale or rent. $1.3 million or $5,500 per month. (Brownstoner.com/listing/RUTE161698/financial-district-ny-10005/) A one-bedroom, one-bath in a 1903 former office building on Greenwich St. has a 24-hour doorman. $745,000. (Brownstoner.com/listing/TERR A HOL DI NG S -19 4 67878 /120 greenwich-st-apt-4h-financial-district-ny-10006/)

Ver y apro-Poe: The bottom of The Beekman’s nine-stor y atrium. TVG

A one-bedroom, one-bath in a 1920s building on South William St. has elegant windows. (Brownstoner.com/listing/CITIHABITATS-7001218/21-s-williamst-4e-financial-district-ny-10004/) Schneps Media

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