The Village Sun | February 2023

N.Y.U. center has array of uses, but no market

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

But can you buy a can of baked beans or a box of Cheerios?

Nope… .

New York University’s mammoth-sized John A. Paulson Center opened at the end of last month at 181 Mercer St., between Bleecker and Houston Streets.

The sprawling 735,000-square-

foot structure is named for billionaire hedge-funder John A. Paulson. As an undergraduate, Paulson attended N.Y.U., where he was valedictorian of the class of 1978, earning summa cum laude honors in finance.

Previously, the building, located just north of Soho, had been referred to by university officials as “The

Karen Cooper to step down as the Film Forum’s director

BY ALEX EBRAHIMI

There are four theaters at Film Forum. In one you’ll find the art house premieres. In the second you’ll find the repertory. In three and four you’ll find the most popular of one and two. And after July, after 50 years, at four different locations from the Upper West Side to the West Village, from Bogie to Bertoluc-

ci, you’ll find Karen Cooper, in her words, “spending more time in Paris.”

But that was toward the end of our conversation. The beginning started where the Film Forum started:

One screen in 1972.

The teller must’ve told the tale a thousand times. Green-as-grass col-

Legal Bleecker bud

Second adult pot dispensary opens

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

So far, the rollout of the pre-rolls has mainly been happening in Downtown Manhattan.

There are only two legal weed shops in all of New York State and they’re both in the Village area. Housing Works opened a pot dispensary at the end of December at Broadway near Astor Place as the first nonprofit organization to get a license. A month later, on Jan. 24, Smacked Village opened

on Bleecker Street, just west of LaGuardia Place, as the first reefer retailer with a justice-involved individual as its licensee.

The day before Smacked’s opening, its operator, Roland Conner, along with members of the Office of Cannabis Management, the New York State Dormitory Authority, Councilmember Christopher Marte and the special social-equity investment fund that is supporting the stores gathered at Smacked to celebrate the occasion and also to

explain why it matters.

Governor Hochul was expected to attend but didn’t make it. In a statement, she said, “This dispensary is the latest example of our efforts to build the most equitable and inclusive cannabis industry in the nation. As we continue to work toward righting wrongs of the past, I look forward to new dispensaries — owned by those most impacted by the overpolicing of cannabis prohibition — opening soon.”

Roland Conner and his son, Darius, at the media event at Smacked Village, the day before the pot dispensary opened to the public.

Photo by The Village Sun

Social-justice pot dispensary opens on Bleecker

Continued from p. 1

The opening of Smacked helps advance New York's goals of equity in cannabis licensing, which prioritizes providing licenses to people with a cannabis conviction or a close relative of someone with one. In Conner’s case, he did some time decades ago after being arrested for possession in a Rockaways public-housing development.

He previously owned and operated property management businesses in New York City for 15 years. He currently manages a transitional housing facility for two dozen men in the Bronx and told The Village Sun that helping the homeless will always remain his major calling. Operating Smacked with him are his wife, Patricia, and 25-year-old son, Darius.

“I am so excited to become a part of history as the first individual to open a legal cannabis dispensary in New York City,” Conner said. “Given my experience with cannabis, I never could have imagined that I would be opening a store like this. I’m grateful for the opportunity to open a business with my son and wife at my side and build generational wealth, working together, right

It was actually a “soft opening,” since the store reportedly will close on Feb. 20 for some final construction work. The initial opening was intended to help generate some initial capital for the store.

The location, at 144 Bleecker St., is part of the program sponsored by the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, which is working with the Social Equity Servicing Corporation, a subsidiary of the Dormitory Authority, to support the acquisition, design, construction and outfitting of locations for cannabis dispensaries to be operated by licensees. Authorized by Hochul and the state Legislature, the fund is a public-private limited partnership formed to position social-equity entrepreneurs to succeed in New York’s new adult-use cannabis industry. Managed by Social Equity Impact Ventures, the fund will help momand-pop, justice involved licensees meet the costs of establishing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries, including the identification and leasing of suitable retail locations and design, construction and fit-out of the spaces. The fund is committed to spending up to around $1 million per space on the outfitting of the stores. The fund is supported by up to $50 million in licensing fees and revenue from the adult-use cannabis industry and up to $150 million from the private sector that will be raised by the fund manager.

opening for her work holding informational meetings about the pot dispensaries and the overall program. Two other dispensaries are slated to possibly open in the area, one by the Doe Fund at E. 13th Street and Broadway, and the other by CAMP Life perhaps in the Meatpacking District. Fitzgerald did not have immediate updates on those applications. As for why the stores are opening in the Village, she said she personally didn’t know why, but that it’s understandable given that the area is a major destination for dining, nightlife and retail.

Another proposed dispensary, however, on E. Third Street, has been facing fierce community pushback since neighbors don’t feel the site, near the Third Street Men’s Shelter, run by Project Renewal, is appropriate. Two new dispensaries are slated for Community Board 5, which covers a slice of Manhattan running north of Union Square to Central Park South, she noted.

Although the dispensaries are legally prohibited from opening within 500 feet of a school, the fact that a new public school might conceivably someday be built at the site of the nearby Morton Williams supermarket, which is only 150 feet from Smacked, does not immediately appear to be an issue, according to O.C.M. officials. John Kagia, O.C.M. director of policy, said it was an interesting question, but that the state’s marijuana legalization law was basically modeled on the laws governing liquor licenses.

Some locals on Facebook said they were not crazy about the store’s name, Smacked, which means “high.” But that’s the name.

In emotional remarks at the dedication event, Councilmember Marte said his own brother and cousin were impacted by the justice system and a friend of his was fatally shot, all in connection with drugs.

here in New York. But this is not just about me and my family. This is about everyone who was harmed by the draconian drug laws of the past. New York’s commitment to righting those wrongs through the law is inspiring. I am proof of that commitment because I’m standing here today.”

Social Equity Impact Ventures includes former NBA player Chris Webber and business partner Lavetta Willis, with Bill Thompson, the city’s former comptroller, as one of its leaders.

Mar Fitzgerald, the chairperson of the Community Board 2 Cannabis Licensing Committee, received big applause at the

As for what was at the Bleecker location before, Fitzgerald gave the following rundown: “In 1644 the land the store sits on was owned by a free Black man named Clyn Manuel. In the 1830s it was the Italian restaurant, Mori that closed in 1937. It was occupied by the Free World House, a political organization, until 1946 — then it was another restaurant called Montparnasse. It was the Bleecker Street Cinema from the ’60s until 1991. Then Kim’s Underground video store, then Elbow Room. In 1993 it was divided into two stores, New University Pen & Stationery (which is still there next to the dispensary) and a Duane Reade. I think the drug store closed around 2016 and that space was vacant until Smacked Village opened.

“There’s going to be kids that look like me walking down this block,” he said. “There’s going to be opportunity here. It took a Village — Smacked Village — to make this happen. Whenever you try to do social justice in a predominantly white community, we could have protesters outside if it isn’t done right,” he noted. In a shout-out to Fitzgerald of C.B. 2, he said, “She was the one on the ground making sure when it opens its doors, it’s welcome. It’s loved.”

“I think it’s appropriate that it’s in the Village,” Fitzgerald said. “Downtown is where you want to be to shop, eat, have a drink, have a good time. It makes sense.” At the same time, she said, “This is a retail site. It’s not a bar or restaurant. This is not a hangout, not a party.”

Mar Fitzgerald, of the C.B. 2 Cannabis Licensing Committee, helped smooth the way for the new shop. Photos by The Village Sun

Former basketball star Chris Webber is part of the investment group managing the social-equity fund behind the shops.

When the NYCDOT and the Bike Lobby Marry

Missing Stats

They don’t care enough to have the proper statistics, which would include mandatory reporting of bike-pedestrian accidents. Those are not collected as part of our current laws. Only the police or Emergency Rooms have those reports, and many times a victim never even reports the crash because the biker does not have insurance.

We also don’t have a sense of the dollar value of the accidents, since neither the insurance companies, hospitals/doctors or police keep track of that. It is essential information in determining the drawbacks and benefits of biking.

Is biking really safe for pedestrians

Who knows? Those stats can tell us whether or not, and to the degree, what the interaction produces for the pedestrian in street crashes, and whether biking is safe for pedestrians and other parties. The public consistently express its outrage at the clear lack of our safety, and we get gaslighted and ghosted by the same actors, and even our public representatives, at ALL levels, who push biking.

Identify the Lawbreakers and punish them

The bike lobby and their political puppets don’t care enough about the public to require insurance, or licenses and registration too, and helmet laws. These are basic laws for identification and control/consequences of the City’s bikers. Licenses and registration indicate how the public can identify the worst actors and take action against them, for public safety, and helmet laws make sense according to settled science, AND common sense. And enforcement is also part of this program for safety.

If we can’t weed out the bad cyclists, how can we make cycling safe for all?

Deadly DOT Street Design

Currently the NYC Dept. of Transportation creates street and bike lane design that creates or increases danger. From the bike lanes that cut off access to the curb for all, including seniors, parents with kids, shoppers, schoolkids, patients entering doctors offices, etc. the bike lane is more important than that individual or family getting into or out of a vehicle. The madness extends to narrowing a street (by various design nonsense) so that emergency vehicles cannot pass, since there is no more room on the street for vehicles to pull over.

As a result, response times for emergency vehicles

have increased substantially. The DOT responds it is due to congestion. After taking away lanes of traffic from major thoroughfares, OF COURSE there’s going to be congestion, and more (danger). And it’s all courtesy of the DOT. Bike lanes are given priority to pass by hospitals, commercial areas, schools, supermarkets, etc. when the activity and curb cuts all indicate more chances for interaction with pedestrians and other modes of transport (delivery trucks, etc.) Worse, even construction sites can’t escape the priority of keeping a bike lane in an inherently dangerous and active site. In this case it’s dangerous for the bikers as well.

On 9th Street in Brooklyn, the ½-size 2 bike lanes on either side of the street were kept during a multiyear construction project to put elevators in for the subway stations. This increased the danger, and potential for danger for all. But only the elevators will be substantially used in the future and are necessary to provide for the needs of the community, both abled and disabled. The bike lanes? They’ll be the unsafe ½-size bike lanes with a dangerous pitch of a 15% downgrade, something that should have raised numerous red flags in the beginning. Even the bike lobby’s own PR publication, Streetsblog, didn’t like the design.

The DOT’s priority is not with safety, not with enabling needed elevators to the subway system, and isn’t with the community at large. So where is it? Stuck on the bike lanes.

Equity and Gentrification

Do you know now where the public rates in the DOT’s eyes? Underneath bike tires. Is that equitable when 98% of the public don’t use bikes? Is that equitable when blue-collar and ethnic neighborhoods tell the Community Board, DOT and their elected and appointed representatives that bikes lanes and Citi Bike don’t help them get to work, and imply gentrification?

Like the racks of unused Citi Bikes and bike lanes put in for NYCHA housing residents. Many of those developments were built in transit deserts and are only now getting attention from the gentrifying crowd and real estate industry? Many blue-collar workers don’t think taking a bike at 4 a.m. to their physically demanding job for 8 or more hours is the best idea ever. I’d think the bikes and bike lanes were to help gentrification, if I lived there too.

At no point does dumping unwanted modes of transit on a neighborhood imply equity. We all see

through the smoke and understands who benefits — the bike riders and the real estate industry.

Congestion (natural) or CONgestion (intentional)? Is it not enough that bike and bus lanes have increased congestion? Is more danger in the form of longer response times from emergency services, increased fire risk from electric bike batteries, and total street chaos causing mutilation and death from bikes acceptable? It is, for a small VIP minority of users and supporters with outsize (professional lobbying) voices and oodles of money to spread around.

It’s a CON. The DOT creates congestion. Then blames it to create more hazardous conditions.

The E-bike Dangers are real — and ignored

Even worse, during the push to get e-bikes legalized in NYC, amid the issue of the risks of exploding batteries and the risk of going too fast, the City Council never discussed these important public safety concerns at their legalization meeting.

So, to say that the bike lobby is about safety is completely false, not only for pedestrians and other users of the street and sidewalk, but for the residents and businesses that now store e-bikes or their batteries, and the emergency services that respond to CHEMICAL fires from those batteries, which burn hotter, stronger and longer and are much more of a risk to those responders than regular fuel.

Act Now and Tell Your Representatives

Don’t allow the DOT and company to tell you lies. Push back and tell your legislators that you need the proper statistics, proper licensing, registration and insurance, and enforcement, and a halt, or even reversal of ALL bike and bus lanes until a public review is done to see exactly what is safe, and what isn’t. And copy your request to your State Senator and State Representative too, and the Mayor and Governor. They can help on the State licensing side. And remember, if the bike lobby wants to be the 1%, getting VIP street priorities, they should at least be held accountable to the law, plus to covering the cost of the congestion for the rest of us who waste fuel and time indulging them in their fantasies.

Kimon Retzos Safety First Alliance Brooklyn

The bike lobby and their political puppets and supporters don’t care about you. Literally.

Contributors

Stephen DiLauro

Paul DiRienzo

Keith J. Kelly

Michele Herman

Milo Hess

Clayton Patterson

Mary Reinholz

Karen Rempel

Bill Roundy

Sharon Woolums

Jefferson Siegel

Kate Walter

Bus-ted! WestView editor arrested in tiles bus

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Aday after being arrested in her 9/11 Tiles for America Memorial Bus, Dusty Berke said she had no regrets about making a stand to protect the unique vehicle, though which some in the neighborhood deride as an eyesore.

According to police, Berke was arrested Tues., Jan. 17, around 12:30 p.m. at Greenwich Avenue and Seventh Avenue South as she refused to get off of the bus as it was being hauled away by a New York Police Department tow truck.

A police spokesperson said there had been “multiple complaints about an unregistered bus” parked for at least several years at the location. The bus has been rooted there for six years.

Berke was charged with obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct.

Berke, 61, lives at 69 Charles St., the building owned by George Capsis, the publisher of WestView News, two blocks away from the bus’s former parking spot. In November, Berke became the paper’s editor after its staff and some of its contributors defected to start a new paper, New WestView News, which was most recently renamed Village View. According to the defectors, it was Berke’s increasing power at the paper — and her embrace of conspiracy theories — that drove them off.

Design Layout

“I got a call from somebody in the neighborhood saying they’re trying to tow the bus,” Berke recalled, saying she immediately ran right over. She pleaded with the cops to let the bus stay.

“I told them, ‘You can’t tow the bus. The tiles will fall over and break. They’re loose on the shelves.’”

Berke said she boarded the vehicle, but that the police, who were from the 6th Precinct, told her she had to get off of it.

“I said, ‘I’m in a legal, metered parking space,’” Berke said. “‘Why are you towing it?’ I said, ‘I don’t consent to leaving the bus, it’s private property.’”

A female officer told her they were taking the bus away because its registration had expired.

“I said, ‘It expired there years ago,’” Berke retorted.

“They handcuffed me and carried me off the bus and put me in a squad car,” she said. “They didn’t want to arrest me. But I was adamant that they couldn’t move the bus without damaging the tiles. … I told them, ‘Arthur’s attacking George. He’s trying to steal the paper — now they’re attacking me.’”

Berke subsequently wound up spending eight hours at the Greenwich Village precinct because she resisted being fingerprinted or having her mugshot photo taken.

“I said, ‘I’m not a criminal. I was just protecting the 9/11 Tiles Memorial,’” she said. “‘I don’t belong in the police database like a criminal.’”

Berke related that, in response, police told her they would then be forced to send her to get a psychiatric evaluation and then on to central booking a.k.a. The Tombs. However, she said she became concerned about Capsis, who is 95 and whom Berke basically looks after, though she insists she is not technically his caretaker.

“I got worried about George,” she said.

So she relented and was fingerprinted and let her photo be taken.

She said they had been trying to send the new monthly issue of WestView News to the printer on Tuesday when the bus brouhaha broke out.

Berke was furious at her nemesis, Arthur Schwartz, for prominently calling attention to the bus on the letters page — she termed it an “ad” — of the January issue of New Westview. The paper’s inaugural December issue listed Schwartz as senior editor, though the January print issue curiously lacked a masthead stating who the editors, staffers and contributors are. Meanwhile, the “old” WestView News listed lightning-rod Berke as the editor in November, but not in the December/January issue.

“Arthur put a full-page ad in his paper attacking me,” she accused, adding, “For me, the people who attacked the bus committed a crime.”

Although the 6th Precinct has apparently not done much enforcement against the bus in its half-dozen years there, Berke said she’s doled out her share of fines.

“I’ve paid a fortune on it in tickets over the years,” she said. “They booted it once. That cost $2,500.”

However, she said, “I believe the 6th Precinct left it there over the years because it was the right thing to do.”

Deputy Inspector Stephen Spataro, the Village precinct’s commanding officer, said the action was in response to “community complaints.”

“We had that vehicle towed after numerous community complaints,” he said. “People were also reaching out to elected officials complaining about it. It was towed because it was unregistered, uninspected, parked the wrong way [facing Uptown] and had over $5,000 in unpaid summonses. Our requests to move the vehicle voluntarily went unanswered for years. Dusty was arrested after she refused numerous orders to leave the bus as she remained on it in an effort to prevent us from towing it. She was released shortly after on a desk appearance ticket.”

The bus had been parked there for six years, but the meter was not being fed, according to police. Photo by The Village Sun

10-4! Det. Jaime Hernandez retires from 9th Pct.

After more than three decades serving in the New York Police Department, all of it at the East Village’s 9th Precinct, Detective Jaime Hernandez retired to rousing applause from fellow officers and community members on Tues., Jan. 31. In an N.Y.P.D. tradition for longtime members of the force, Hernandez — a community af-

fairs officer for much of his career — was saluted in a “walkout” in front of the E. Fifth Street station house, where the precinct’s members were mustered for the occasion. After giving remarks and being thanked by appreciative community stakeholders for his work over the years, he rode off in a special green N.Y.P.D. cruiser.

Bus-ted! Editor arrested in 9/11 tiles bus

the idea of taking them on a national tour. Another group of the 9/11 tiles are housed in the Jefferson Market Library and are not under Berke’s control.

Berke and a friend bought the Blue Bird specialty bus six years ago for $10,000 on craigslist. It was previously a mobile library in the Midwest, and its built-in bookshelves came in handy for storing and displaying the 9/11 tiles. However, the bus is really only open to the public one day a year, on the anniversary of the devastating terrorist attack that killed 2,753 people in Lower Manhattan. As well as the tiles’ protector, Berke is also a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, in that she believes 7 World Trade Center was brought down by a so-called controlled demolition.

it up.

“And, hopefully, we’ll roll it in with the blessing of the city,” she said. “Real Villagers really care about the tiles,” she maintained. Berke noted that the bus could also be

a resource during emergencies since it has a P.A. system and TV screens.

“My next move is to bring in a solar generator,” she said. “It could be a solar-powered command station in an emergency.”

Continued from p. 4

Spataro added that, while the bus was parked in a metered spot, the meter was not being fed. As for whether any local politicians had directly complained about the vehicle, he said to check with local politicians.

Berke got involved with the 9/11 tiles when Hurricane Irene was about to sweep into town back in August 2011. The tiles had been created at a nearby store, Our Name Is Mud, after the World Trade Center attack. The small, glazed squares had been left hanging on a chain-link fence ringing a Metropolitan Transportation Authority parking lot on the corner, and Berke feared they would be blown off and damaged by the storm.

Basically, Berke simply took possession of a large portion of the hundreds of tiles that had been on the fence. Some are in the bus, some are stored in a warehouse. At one point some years ago, Berke was trying to find a nearby brick-and-mortar space to display the tiles, and was also said to be mulling

Asked for comment on Berke’s being busted onboard the bus, Schwartz said he was not involved — and instead singled out a letter writer.

“I have never had anything to do with her bus,” he said. “Never spoke to anyone official about it. It is true that in the last New Westview (now Village View) in the letters to the editor section, someone named Hamilton Frazier Moore published correspondence with Glick’s Chief of Staff Tracy Jackson about the bus. As I said, I was not involved.”

Of course, Moore did not “self-publish” the e-mails — it was someone’s call on the paper’s editorial side to run that correspondence.

As for Berke, she said she plans to get the 9/11 tiles bus out of the police tow pound and restore it to where it was.

“I have every intention of bringing it back to that spot — where it belongs,” she declared.

She has some flashy chrome hubcaps she plans to put on the vehicle’s wheels to snazz

The tiles are stacked on the bus’s shelves, but not fastened down, so Berke worried they would be damaged when the bus was towed. Photo by The Village Sun

Photos by Bonnie Rosenstock

Film Forum’s Cooper to step down after 50-year run

lege grad writing for a movie magazine interviews two movie buffs about their indie movie house. The folding chairs. The projector the size of a toaster. Parisian ciné club meets the Upper West Side. Only, you didn’t have to be a member to watch the movies. Karen Cooper meets Film Forum. Only, it wasn’t anything the green interviewer asked… .

“They asked me to take over and that’s how it started,” she told me matter-of-factly.

Bringing up Andrew Sarris’s metaphor of “the forest and the trees” to distinguish Hollywood from the directors, I then asked: “It takes a vision to be a director. Does it take vision to run a movie theater?”

She checked me.

“Well… ’vision‘ sounds pretentious,” she said just as matter-of-factly. “I’ve always just shown what I like.”

Whether you’re on Andrew Sarris’s side or Pauline Kael’s, it’s not a matter of fact, just a matter of movies. But if it’s the forest and the trees out in Hollywood, the fallen leaves landed in theaters like the Film Forum, the Bleecker Street Cinema, the New Yorker. Naturally, I asked about the Thalia.

“What about Ursula Lewis?”

“My mother had an apartment just down the street from the Thalia!”

She told me about a double bill she’ll nev-

er forget. “Grand Hotel” (1932) and “Dinner at Eight” (1933). Not just any double bill. Before Marilyn there was Harlow. Before any of them there was Garbo. She was so thrilled, she asked someone in line to hold her place so she could run over and tell her mother, “You gotta see this!”

She checked herself later in the conversation: “I’m not one of these movie buffs,” going on to say, “If you want to talk history, talk to Bruce Goldstein.”

Second screen, third location.

After Cooper took the reins of the Film Forum in ’72, the nonprofit theater moved Downtown to Vandam Street in ’75, and with a grant from the Ford Foundation in ’80, a two-screen Film Forum was built on Watts Street. In the late ’80s, Bruce Goldstein met the Forum. The repertory of Goldstein met the art house of Karen Cooper.

It’s the kind of balance necessary to the survival of these kinds of theaters. And not just between Old Hollywood and New Hollywood. With the madness of the ’60s and ’70s overshadowing the country, the avant garde was being overshadowed by documentaries like “Harlan County, U.S.A” (1976) and the ones Cooper was premiering at the Film Forum. Theaters like the Charles on Avenue B suffered. At any rate, Lower East Side immigrants were too busy working to go see Warhol’s 12-hour shot of the Empire State Building.

Well, one morning around ’89 Cooper was coming in to work when construction workers drilling the Watts Street sidewalk were in her way.

“What are you doing?” she asked them.

“Drilling for core samples.”

That’s when she knew the Film Forum’s days were numbered. In very short notice, the landlord was selling the site. When Ursula Lewis’s landlord threatened not to renew the lease of the Thalia to a single woman after her husband died in the ’50s, she managed to remain until she retired to Palm Beach in the ’70s. What remains of the two-screen Film Forum is a big glass ghost on Watts Street.

Third and fourth screen.

Film Forum became a three-screen theater when it arrived on West Houston Street in 1990. And in 2018, as a result of a major renovation, a fourth screen was added.

It’s at the West Houston location where I stood in line for “Paris, Texas,” by Wim Wenders, a member of the New German Cinema that Karen Cooper championed.

Standing in line. Movie posters on the walls around us. The young pointing at them and quoting lines from their lectures. The old quoting lines from the movies themselves.

It was like the scene from Cooper’s memory of the Thalia. Or maybe more like the scene from “Annie Hall.” Only, if Woody Allen were in this line, it wouldn’t have been a balance

between young and old, but a debate between “separate the art from the artist” and “separate the artist from consciousness.” Or, more likely, and mercifully, the ones who recognize him and the ones who don’t.

Sitting down in the theater is like opening an old book. Nothing like the sweet smell, even if it’s just the paper’s decay. It’s when you finally sit in the theater that the generations go down with the house lights. Something that the cinema of distractions — television in the ’50s to video in the ’80s to streaming services today — can’t replace, even if theaters like the Film Forum went extinct tomorrow.

The movie filling the rectangle up there is Fordian in its vastness. It’s so vast, you don’t know where to go. Might as well be empty. And that’s what makes you search. Dean Stockwell saying, “There’s nothing out there,” as Harry Dean Stanton looks out at the desert. John Wayne standing alone in the doorway as the Sons of the Pioneers sing, “What makes a man to wander?” It’s like what Shakespeare called “the undiscovered country.” But whatever you’re searching for, whatever you find, if you’re searching for the undiscovered movie, you’ll find Film Forum.

If you’re feeling tired of life, Go to the picture show.

If you’re sick of troubles rife, Go to the picture show.

You’ll forget your unpaid bills, Rheumatism, and other ills, If you’ll stow away your pills, And go to the picture show!

— Thomas Curtis Clark’s 1914 poem “An Effective Remedy,” (Photoplay magazine)

Succeeding Karen Cooper, in turn, as Film Forum’s director on July 1 will be Sonya Chung. She has a 20-year history with Film Forum, including as its director of development for five years beginning in 2003. Chung left the film world for a period to write and publish two novels: “Long for This World” (2010, Scribner) and “The Loved Ones” (2016, Relegation Books). She taught literature and writing for three years at Columbia University and nine years at Skidmore College. In early 2020 she was appointed Film Forum’s deputy director, after which she helped program and promote its virtual cinema program during the COVID shutdown period.

“I have the highest regard for Sonya,” Cooper said. “She has superb taste in films and impeccable judgment on a wide range of administrative issues, ranging from finance to personnel. Knowing she was ready and willing to become director gave me the luxury of stepping down at a time when the theater is financially solid, ceding to a woman who is both intellectually astute and ethically grounded.”

“I count it both a great honor and great responsibility to bring Film Forum into its next stage,” Chung said. “Karen Cooper is an extraordinary leader: She has demonstrated what 50 years of unwavering excellence yields — a rigorously, lovingly curated cultural space that generations of New Yorkers consider indispensable.”

Karen Cooper’s programming formula is not that complicated. “I’ve just always shown what I like,” she said.

Photo by Henny Garfunkel

New Petco attracts its first animal: Scabby, the rat

BY MARY REINHOLZ

Petco’s flagship New York store has yet to relocate into the historic Tammany Hall building at 44 Union Square East, despite its corporate parent signing a lease last April and a “cake-cutting” party heralding the impending move to three floors a few months ago, said a manager at the current store at 860 Broadway. The Petco is also supposed to include a pet hospital.

The manager declined to comment on the delay or why the storied “union rat,” known as Scabby, was now standing outside the landmarked Tammany building, a towering symbol of protest against nonunion labor still at work renovating the site. It’s been there for the past two months.

“Shame on Petco and Schimenti for contributing to the erosion of area standards for New York City Carpenters by allowing Nevco to work on their jobs,” read one of the pamphlets from the 20,000-member-strong New York City District Council of Carpenters, referring to the San Diego-based pet supply chain; its contractor, Schimenti Construction; and Nevco, its subcontractor.

In January, a Schimenti boss, on the second floor of the building, stated, “We don’t have anything to say,” according

to a guard, who walked up to get his comment because the elevators still aren’t working and The Village Sun was not permitted to join her. Construction workers in flooring and other specialties walked by, most of them in their 20s.

“They get low pay and no benefits,” said Peter Brereton, a representative and member of the New York City Carpenters Union Local 2287. He noted that it’s not illegal to have a nonunion shop, but faulted Petco for “requiring nonunion labor” when it signed up with Schimenti.

“We want to bid for jobs,” he said.

Brereton said he is still in talks with Schimenti and the Canadian Pension Plan, one of Petco’s owners. Petco has been valued at $4.6 billion.

Representatives for Petco and Reading International, which owns Tammany Hall, did not respond to calls for information.

Tammany Hall was once the scene of labor gatherings. Margaret Cotter, Reading’s executive vice president of her family-run firm and head of its real estate division and the subsidiary, Reading Tammany Owner, LLC, purchased the building in 2001 from Local 91 of the Ladies Garment Workers Union. That union had owned Tammany Hall since 1943.

Chase Bank and the assassination of Tortuguita

BY BILL TALEN

The Church of Stop Shopping is working with “1000 People 1000 Trees” in a continuing resistance to the city chainsaws in East River Park, which have downed 500 trees so far. A vigil by 100 of us took place in the park on Fri., Jan. 27, remembering the Tortuguita, the forest protector assassinated in his tent on the 18th, in the Weelaunee Forest outside Atlanta, Georgia. Our own JPMorgan Chase, through a “police foundation,” is razing the Weelaunee to make way for the nation’s largest training facility for police, derisively called “Cop City” by the mostly Black residents who live around the 90acre pine and oak forest.

On Jan. 18, the Atlanta police shot and killed the 26-year-old Earth defender, whose given name was Manuel Teran, a nonbinary person of Venezuelan heritage. Tortuguita was part of a tent community resisting harassment by Atlanta police. The superintendent called the campers “domestic terrorists.” No body cams or dash cams were turned on and explanations by police have been vague and shifting. Vigils are taking place throughout the world for Tortuguita, which means “little tortoise.” The Republican governor, upping the fear campaign, has declared a

“state of emergency.”

Cop City will offer dormitories and a movie theater, a “mock village” to rehearse raids, a driving course to practice chases and special-explosives training. It would be the largest police boot camp / school in the U.S. and it is a formal step into cult-like isolation from nonpolice, like Scientology with loaded guns. A financial supporter of this militarizing boot camp is the New York celebrity banker Jamie Dimon, C.E.O. of Chase Bank. He presents a liberal image, but Chase is the top bankroller of fossil fuel projects of

the American banks and gave $4 million to the New York City Police Foundation during Occupy Wall Street in 2011. John Richert, Chase Bank’s head of regional investment banking, serves on the board of the Atlanta Police Foundation, a key Cop City funder. Cop City’s project budget is put at $90 million.

With the armored riot police lurking in the shadows of the pine and oak forest like a guerrilla war, there is a “We dare you to question us” quality to the way police are handling the tragic event. There seems to be an open reinstatement of the secrecy

of the thin blue line. And the assassination of Tortuguita will now forever be the founding gesture of this “School of the Americas” turned inward. Maybe they like that. They act as if they have the right to the land and to the lives of the defenders of the forest.

This open killing of this earth defender takes places as we mourn new police victims on a daily basis, Tyre Nichols to the Scorpion cops in Memphis, Keenan Anderson, disoriented, tasered and soon dead from a heart attack, Anthony Lowe, Jr., a double amputee shot while sitting in his wheelchair.

In the case of Tortuguita in the Weelaunee forest, he wasn’t just up against trigger-happy cops, he was faced with the power of a New York big bank.

The Church of Stop Shopping invites you to our “Occupy Chase, the Radical Lunch in a Tent,” a nonviolent sing-along while camping inside the Rockefeller Center Chase Bank on Fridays, from noon to 1 p.m. These are easy-to-learn gospel songs with radical Earth lyrics. No violence of any kind, only love, as we convert the executives, teller, security people and customers… . Earthalujah! Contact senior church officials to join us: Revbilly@revbillly.com.

persona is Reverend Billy.

Talen’s activist and

The union rat is making a stand outside the new Petco store currently being built out at 17th Street and Union Square East. Photo by Mary Reinholz

performance

Reverend Billy (Bill Talen) at his Earth Church’s tent at the Rockefeller Center Chase Bank. Photo by John Quilty

N.Y.U. center has array of uses, but no market

Continued from p. 1

Zipper,” for its zipper-teeth-like appearance when viewed from above. Naturally, of course, it was always expected the edifice would be named after a wealthy donor. That happened in December, when N.Y.U. announced the Midtown-sized structure plunked in the middle of the Village would be named for Paulson, who donated a whopping $100 million to the project.

Paulson played a key role in the 2007 U.S. subprime mortgage disaster, when he urged Goldman Sachs to market risky home loans, even as he bet against mortgage-backed securities, earning him $4 billion in the process. He was, in turn, though, sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, ultimately settling by paying $300 million to the U.S. government and $250 million to investors, one of the biggest Wall Street penalties in history.

Paulson was also a critic of Occupy Wall Street.

“The top 1 percent of New Yorkers pay over 40 percent of all income taxes, providing huge benefits to everyone in our city and state,” he said, in part, in a statement in October 2011. “Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City and continue to grow.”

According to a press release, the Paulson Center, “provides a platform for pedagogical exploration with state-of-the-art performing arts, athletics and academic facilities that meet the ambitious sustainability goals set by N.Y.U.’s climate action plan. The multiuse facility includes more classrooms than any other building on campus, a new commons, first-year and faculty residential towers, and theatrical and musical performance and rehearsal spaces.”

The building was designed by Davis Brody Bond and Kieran Timberlake as “a vertical campus.” There are 58 classrooms, a new gym for N.Y.U.’s NCAA Division III men’s and women’s basketball, fencing, volleyball, wrestling and squash teams, plus a six-lane pool and an elevated, two-lane running track.

As for performing arts, there are three theaters, including a proscenium theater, an orchestra ensemble room / recording studio and support spaces for the Tisch School of the Arts and Steinhardt School of Music.

Three residential towers are already housing 407 first-year students, plus include 42 faculty apartments.

The building’s commons area is a lightfilled gathering and study space “for the N.Y.U. community.”

The state-of-the art center sports 25,000 square feet of green roofs, both for students to enjoy and to reduce the building’s environmental impact.

The Paulson Center also boasts bird-friendly design. Customized, fritted glass — the windows are dappled with light-colored markings — minimizes bird strikes, as well as reduces solar gain, or the heating of

the glass by the sun.

Replacing the former Coles Gym with the new Paulson Center has also resulted in an “improved pedestrian” corridor along Greene Street. (The creation of this extra-large “superblock” back in the mid-20th century essentially demapped Greene Street.) In addition, a new playground for toddlers was included as part of the project.

The Paulson Center is part of the plan for the N.Y.U. so-called “campus core” that was hashed out more than a decade ago. Responding to community complaints about the growing university unpredictably eating up parts of the Downtown community, N.Y.U. said it would confine its local growth to its two South Village superblocks. However, currently, the university says it does not have plans in the near future to build three other buildings that were envisioned as part of the so-called “N.Y.U. 2031” core project.

As part of the rezoning for the two supersized blocks needed to allow construction of the four new buildings, N.Y.U. initially promised the community that, if the Morton Williams supermarket at LaGuardia Place and Bleecker Street had to be moved, it would have a home in the Zipper Building (Paulson Center). But, as it turned out, in the zoning’s final approval, agreed to by the university and the City Council, that pledge was quietly removed.

As a result, now N.Y.U. says the Paulson Center’s 735,000 square feet of space is all booked up and there is no room for the Morton Williams market, which currently occupies 14,500 square feet — equal to just 2 percent of the Paulson’s total space.

In the meantime, the Department of Education is now mulling whether to build a 100,000-square-foot, citywide public school for special-needs students at the supermarket site, which would displace the key, full-service market the community relies on. D.O.E. has until the end of this year to make its decision.

A community petition demanding the supermarket stay where it is or be relocated nearby has gathered 7,500 signatures. In response, N.Y.U. has said it will work with local politicians to ensure the Morton Williams stays in the area.

John Beckman, a university spokesperson, president for public affairs, basically blamed the lack of a supermarket in the Paulson Center on the city’s indecisiveness on whether to put a new school on the block.

“As part of the 2012 city approvals to build the 181 Mercer St. building, the School Construction Authority was given until the end of 2014 to declare its intention to build a public school at the Morton Williams supermarket site or forgo the site,” Beckman said. “The S.C.A. did not declare such an intent by the end of 2014. However, local elected officials and community representatives asked that the deadline be extended, twice, and N.Y.U. agreed, ultimately pushing the deadline back a total of seven years to the end of 2021.

“During that period, N.Y.U. began the design and then, in 2016, the construction of the Paulson Center building. Originally, providing space for a supermarket in the building, though not required under the approvals process, was a prime option; however, in the absence of any indication from S.C.A. during those many years of design and construction

about proceeding with a public school on the Morton Williams site, the building was completed without a supermarket because there was no reason to believe that Morton Williams would not or could not continue at its current location. Given that, it made no sense for the university, which has many pressing academic space needs for the Paulson Center — a building that was reduced in size through the approvals process — to leave an unoccupied commercial space in the building. In fact, because there was no word from S.C.A., the university assumed Morton Williams could stay in place where it has been, and N.Y.U. renewed its lease in good faith in early 2021.

“The first word that S.C.A. had an interest in building on the supermarket site finally came late in 2021, in November — seven years after the original due date, long after the design phase of the Paulson Center was over, and indeed after the building’s structure was completed,” Beckman noted. “The Paulson Center is now open, with student residences occupied and classes going on. It is wholly committed and fitted out for needed academic facilities.

“We remain committed to working with local elected officials, as we have previously indicated, on addressing the supermarket issue.”

However, former Councilmember Alan Gerson, a co-leader of Save Our Supermarket (S.O.S.), was not buying Beckman’s answer that the design process was too far along to change it once the supermarket issue started heating up. He said N.Y.U. must live up to its commitment.

“There’s always time to change the building’s design,” he said.

The Paulson Center, viewed from Mercer Street, above, was formerly known as "The Zipper" for its design resembling the familiar fastener. The tower at left includes faculty apartments. Two other towers are for first-year student housing. Photo by The Village Sun

New affordable rehearsal space in Meatpacking

BY THE VILLAGE SUN

As any performing artist knows, cheap rehearsal space is hard to come by in New York City, particularly in Downtown Manhattan. On top of that, the pandemic forced the closure of many rehearsal studios.

Now, however, thanks to a unique collaboration between Community Board 2, a real estate company, a developer and a quartet of theater companies, the Meatpacking District is home to a brand-new, affordable rehearsal space.

On Jan. 24, officials and members of groups that are part of the effort gathered to celebrate the new West Village Rehearsal Co-op. Located at 60-74 Gansevoort St., the 1,500-square-foot space is fully A.D.A.-compliant. It’s actually already been open a few months.

You enter from the sidewalk through a nondescript doorway sandwiched between a colorful Louis Vuitton pop-up store on the corner of Washington Street and another chic boutique to the east.

With a 99-year lease, the location is dedicated for cultural use for the next generation and beyond. The hope is that the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op will not only provide necessary support to artists in the West Village but also create a blueprint for the development of similar studios throughout the city.

The organizations are partnering to ensure the facility supports the work of 1,500 artists annually and is programmed 50 weeks a year. The new rehearsal studio was also made possible through the support of the Hyde & Watson Foundation and the Thompson Family Foundation.

Giving remarks at the dedication were Councilmember Erik Bottcher; David Gruber, the chairperson of the C.B. 2 Gansevoort Arts Advisory Committee; developer Jared Epstein, of Aurora Capital Associates; and

representatives of the four theater groups: Randi Berry of IndieSpace, Robert Lyons of New Ohio Theatre, Kristin Marting of HERE Arts Center and Daniella Topol of Rattlestick Theatre.

New Ohio, HERE and Rattlestick are all based in the West Village.

Located in Astoria, IndieSpace, according to its mission statement, “centers independent theater-making in New York City, and provides radically transparent, responsive and equity-focused funding, real estate programs, professional development and advocacy to individual artists, theater companies and indie venues.”

Six months out of the year, the space will be devoted to artists working with the three C.B. 2-based theater companies. The rest of the year, the rehearsal room will be available for IndieSpace artists at no more than $10 per hour or, in some cases, free.

The idea for creating the space as a giveback to the community arose from the C.B. 2 review process for Aurora Capital’s so-called “Gansevoort Row” redevelopment plan for the south side of Gansevoort Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets.

The community and Village Preservation (then still known as Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation) bitterly fought the project, which required an upzoning in order to vertically enlarge the strip, which is located in the landmarked Gansevoort Historic District. But the developer prevailed and was allowed to build up the site, albeit in a historically contextual way.

Gottlieb Real Estate, which owned the buildings, partnered with Aurora on the development project.

Gruber of C.B. 2 was instrumental in making the whole arrangement come together. The ceremony was a proud moment for him.

“This is a really big deal,” he said.

Although the studio has been operating for a few months already, the ribbon was officially cut on Jan. 24.

Photo by The Village Sun

C.B. 2 member David Gruber, right, and Carla Hoke-Miller, the director of theater programs and partnerships for the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, at the dedication of the new space.

Photo by The Village Sun

Three Kings Day, one camel and CHARAS

BY BONNIE ROSENSTOCK

Three Kings Day (Los Reyes Magos), also known as Epiphany, is celebrated on Jan. 6 throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It is the day that the three kings followed a star and brought gifts to the baby Jesus. In the Puerto Rican community of Loisaida this day was especially significant because of Angie Hernandez’s comeback “Gifts of the Magi” and the long-awaited hope that CHARAS might also find its way home.

“Gifts of the Magi,” written and directed by Hernandez, was performed before an overflowing crowd of adults and children at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, at 131 E. 10th St., for the first time with a live audience at the church since 2009. Last year, the performance was recorded without an audience, edited and then streamed due to the COVID pandemic. (This was the 10th year live at the church and 11th year total, counting the pandemic.)

Hernandez, who was battling cancer and chemo at the time, mounted the show with the loving support of the community and cast, which gave her strength and inspiration. This year, although still not cancer free, at rehearsals she looked stronger and more energetic and with a full growth of hair. Unfortunately, being immunocompromised,

she contracted COVID and wasn’t able to attend the performance, but her signature on the ever-evolving tale of the birth of Jesus was undeniable.

When originally performed at CHARAS/El Bohio, on E. 9th Street between Avenues B and C, it was five minutes long, meant to accompany gift-giving to local children at the behest of Carlos “Chino” García, co-founder of the beloved cultural center. Now the bilingual production weighs in at about 45 minutes with more characters, music and dance.

Frank González, a local entrepreneur, community leader, co-founder of LES CommUnity Concerns and Loisaida Wellness and a chaplain, played the High Priest this year (adult Jesus last year). Speaking about his second appearance in the show, he said, “It’s tradition, it’s culture, it’s history, and I’m superproud to partner with Angie Hernandez and Chino García, who were the ones who told me about the great history of this event.”

David (Daso) Soto, a musician, singer/songwriter, community organizer and founder of Piragua Art Space, at 367 E. 10th St., and one of Hernandez’s four children, portrayed the evil King Herod.

“It’s been a way for our mother to not only engage the community, but also engage her children, grandchildren and family,” he

said of the performance piece. “Some people have barbecues. My mother puts together a play. It’s a beautiful way to celebrate a biblical story that has to do with celebrating Christ.

“We had a tough upbringing, but through Christ there’s been a transformation for her, so she wants to share that love and unity through this play,” he said. “My role is a symbolism for the challenges we face in life, and despite the Herods of the world, we get to celebrate new life.”

His youngest brother, Ivan Calcano (who played the Astronomer), flew up from Jacksonville, Florida. Calcano is a singer, writer, producer, vocalist with Sealed by Christ and owner of Asaph Elements, which provides audio recording equipment.

“I’ve been a part of this from the beginning. I stopped when I moved to Florida, but I wanted to surprise my mom.” He noted, jokingly, “It’s a lot longer than the original five minutes.”

The festivities kicked off with a parade starting from the Loisaida Center, at 710 E. Ninth St., at 3 p.m. García led the procession in a car draped with the Puerto Rican flag, followed by five women from Batalá, a local all-women Afro-Brazilian percussion band. Walking and dancing behind them were community members, local activists, small business owners and spiritual leaders, among others. The parade wended its way

toward the church for the 4 p.m. performance, with a special stop at the old P.S. 64, the former home of CHARAS, to celebrate building owner Gregg Singer’s court-ordered forced sale amid foreclosure on the property.

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, who represents the Lower East Side, said he still remembers when the community arts center was evicted on Dec. 27, 2001.

“It was such a terrible loss,” he said. “Now we have an opportunity to try to get the mayor to commit to getting this building back for all of us. There’s a very small window to do that. Our community needs a center that we can use for our children, our families and our neighborhood.”

García and Reverend Frank Morales echoed those sentiments.

“We’ll do everything we can to get it back,” said Morales, who grew up in the nearby Jacob Riis Houses.

Just as last year, a camel held court in front of the church, thanks to Soto’s efforts. The five-year-old dromedary named Chesney resides Upstate at Clover Hill Farm in Newburgh, and spent a few hours delighting onlookers.

After the performance, children from the Henry Street Settlement and other local organizations were ushered outside to the courtyard and rewarded with a gift from the three magi.

King Herod (David Soto) and his wife Mariamni (Caridad de la Luz, “La Bruja,” executive director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe) performing in Angie Hernandez’s “Gifts of the Magi.” Photo by Bonnie Rosenstock

If you’re looking for half-baked conspiracy theories, don’t read The Village Sun…

If you’re looking for regurgitated agency press releases, don’t read The Village Sun…

If you’re looking for cutesy blog posts about trivial stu , don’t read The Village Sun…

But if you’re looking for real, local community news, arts, columns and more that you’ll nd nowhere else, then….

‘Centering’ a market

The first, glaring fact about New York University’s new Paulson Center on Mercer Street is that, well, it’s simply enormous — 735,000 square feet.

There’s a lot packed into it. It includes a block-long gym and a six-lane pool, which are spanned by three huge trusses that support the building, which contains classrooms, three theaters, an orchestra room in which you can hear a pin drop, two large gathering spaces and green roofs, topped by three towers, two for student housing and one for faculty housing. Of course, we probably left a few things out.

The architects actually left some of the available buildable square footage on the table, so there would be more light and air between the towers. As a result, the views from every single residential room — whether for students or faculty — are amazing; they all offer vistas in at least two, maybe three directions over the mostly low-scale surrounding area. Basically, Airbnb would love to get these rooms on its list.

As for community benefits, the ground-floor entry plaza is open to the public. Also, the second-level, large interior plaza will be open to the public for some events. We’re trying to find out if the gym will be open to nearby community members, as with the former Coles Gym.

Those dismayed by N.Y.U.’s juggernaut-like, ever-increasing presence in the Village area — which includes most locals — won’t care about all these things. Their basic reaction is it’s simply too big, inappropriate for here. During the building’s planning process, Andrew Berman, the executive director of Village Preservation, slammed the structure, then known as “The Zipper,” as better suited for Midtown. Yet, thanks to a rezoning by City Hall, the Behemoth project got the go-ahead.

And, in terms of what is and isn’t in Paulson, there’s a glaring omission: no supermarket. During the rezoning a decade ago, the university pledged that, if the Morton Williams supermarket, at Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place, was displaced due to new development, then the store would have space in the “Zipper” / Paulson. Yet, this proviso was absent from the final rezoning.

Now, as you can read in The Village Sun’s current issue, N.Y.U. is claiming the School Construction Authority dragged its feet on whether to build a new school at the market site — and so the design process, and then construction, of Paulson simply moved forward amid this lack of clarity.

However, the Morton Williams is only 14,500 square feet — just 2 percent of the new center’s total area. Couldn’t a “flex space” simply have been incorporated into the project to accommodate the market, in case the city approved the school?

A tentative plan for a 100,000-square-foot, citywide, special-needs school has been floated, with a deadline of the end of this year for the city’s decision. Meanwhile, the university and local politicians say they’re working to find a space for the market at or near its current location. The fact remains, the market’s spot is likely a prime spot for development of some sort. By one estimate, it’s worth $65 million.

However, the 24-hour market’s value to the community is immeasurable, as seen during the pandemic and as continues today. It’s that area’s only centrally located, full-service supermarket. Had N.Y.U. really made its pledge to the community in good faith, such a contingency space surely could have been included in the project. So, while N.Y.U. might win some awards for this building, its breaking its promise on the supermarket means it’s going to have to solve this dilemma to win any honors for being a good neighbor.

The fentanyl’s coming…

To The Editor:

Re “Illegal pot peddlers are chill as legal stores start” (news article, January): You can’t just operate an illegal, unregulated liquor store or pharmacy. You can’t buy moonshine from a truck on the street. Unfortunately, someone is gonna have to die from fentanyl-laced gray market product before it gets anyone’s attention. I will only shop at a regulated store and look forward to them.

Jack Stevens

Leave illegal sellers alone

To The Editor:

Re “Illegal pot peddlers are chill as legal stores start” (news article, January):

Dream on. People have been buying weed in much worse conditions for decades. What we have now is much much better. Just leave other people alone. They’re not hurting you.

Uncle Bud has a truck in my neighborhood, which last year used to be the

only game in town but which is now just one of 25 places to buy weed in the area. And they’re still charging like they’re the only game in town. They don’t pay rent, so they should charge less. Plus they’re cranky guys, not nice.

Mindy Lonsier

Celebrate, don’t appropriate

To The Editor:

Re “Cornelia appropriation”: The curious case of “Cornelia Street” and the cafe” (arts article, January):

Robin built an extraordinary venue that benefited so many people for so many years. That legend should be celebrated — and not appropriated by someone who clearly doesn’t understand the sense of community, art, generosity and life that the cafe — and the Village, in general — stood for.

Kramer Kramer

Craft and creativity

To The Editor:

Re “Cornelia appropriation”: The curious case of “Cornelia Street” and the cafe” (arts article, January):

I still have the Cornelia Street Cafe’s original wood bar. I sold it to them 40 years ago and bought it back when the place closed. Mark, a homeless ex-Navy radioman, took it apart board by board and lovingly cleaned each piece like a precious keepsake. The affection that the place earned over its lifetime showed that it well deserved such a treatment.

Creative expression needs to be treasured and places that permit it, as well. The Village was known around the world for its historic role in this regard, from Walt Whitman to the musicians and poets at the Cornelia Street Cafe. Celebrating that proud history should be applauded. (With due regard for those who accomplished this.)

Steve Stollman

The Village Sun welcomes readers’ letters of up to 250 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, clarity, grammar and factual accuracy. Anonymous letters will not be run in the print edition. Send letters to news@thevillagesun.com.

It looks just like a dream…

The Little Italy Merchants Association recently illuminated Mulberry Street with a light installation, “Sogno Americano” (“American Dream”), featuring the lyrics of the famous ’50s song “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” (“In the Blue Painted Sky,” better known as “Volare,” meaning “fly”). The project was curated by Tiziano Corbelli, the artistic director of Seven Ars, created in Naples by craftsman Antonio Spiezia of Ceit Europea, and sponsored by LIMA. Rossana Russo, LIMA’s president and the owner of Lunella Ristorante, at 173 Mulberry St., said the lights evoke the spirit of Italian immigrants who came in search of fortune, including her own parents, who owned the restaurant before her. “My family immigrated to Little Italy in the late 1950’s,” she said. “As a first-generation Italian, when I saw the lights for the first time, I was instantly transported. With each line of the song, I envisioned the emotions the immigrants felt…this feeling of opportunity...the feeling to fly!”

Photo by The Village Sun

Together we can tackle climate crisis

TALKING POINTS

BY DEBORAH J. GLICK

Iam extremely excited to be named chairperson of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee.

We are challenged to address the interrelated issues that have created today’s climate crisis and do so in a comprehensive fashion. The state has had a Climate Action Council that has mapped out aggressive but necessary goals for both reducing gas emissions by 40 percent and increasing our renewable energy capacity by 70 percent by 2030.

Achieving greater capacity will require a rapid expansion of renewable energy production throughout the state but must not utilize prime farmland, which we increasingly need for food production. Additionally, offshore wind production must address concerns about migratory birds and protection of Atlantic fisheries. Any expansion of electrical energy use must come with strengthening our grid, which might include developing microgrids to guarantee

reliability.

At the same time, we must stop poisoning the earth. The dramatic reduction in pollinators, both bees and birds, is of great concern because our plants, trees and crops rely on their natural work to keep our ecosystem functioning. Reducing dependency on the use of pesticides and herbicides is critical, but there are myriad chemical compounds in all our everyday products that are harmful to our environment and human health. Curtailing these chemicals will be as difficult as reducing our use of plastics, which are the byproduct of fossil fuel production.

The work to reduce, reuse and recycle products, packaging and clothing is an enormous task and is as difficult as reducing our food waste. However, anything not recycled or composted goes into our landfills, where over time they degrade and emit methane gas, or flow into our waterways. The first plastics identified in our oceans were found in the early 1970s. We have done too little to address this and now our oceans are filled with plastic debris.

We can and must make a difference. We can ensure that more lawns and road right

of ways are planted with natural grasses and wildflowers, giving pollinators food sources and places to regenerate, and to provide buffer lands to reduce flooding and to help survive periods of drought. These will not require the application of pesticides and herbicides as turf lawns do. We can press for expansion of composting programs that are required as recycling currently is.

We must ensure that communities that have borne the brunt of environmental degradation get additional attention and resources to rebuild healthful communities. Whether it’s childhood asthma or equitable access to fresh foods, responding to environmental justice concerns must be front and center in our conservation work.

Every step is an important one. The banning of single-use plastic bags has removed most of these from our streets and trees. So, we see that our actions can have positive results. As we move toward different ways of operating, we will open new career paths and our high schools and community colleges can play an important role in the workforce development that will be needed for the new jobs and industries that

will emerge. As the former chairperson of the Higher Education Committee, I know that our state is particularly well suited to respond to both the necessary research work and to the training of individuals to make a cleaner and healthier environment a reality.

Glick represents the 66th Assembly District, which includes the East and West Villages, Tribeca, and Soho. She is the chairperson of the Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation.

Up turnout: Hold elections even-numbered years

BY CITIZENS UNION

Citizens Union has issued a report outlining the benefits of moving New York City’s municipal elections to even-numbered years. The move would bring elections for city offices in line with gubernatorial or presidential elections.

Municipal elections in New York City, which are currently held in odd-numbered years, have consistently seen lower voter turnout than elections held in even-numbered years. Consolidating municipal elections with presidential or gubernatorial elections will increase voter turnout, giving more New Yorkers a say over who governs them at the local level.

“For every one person who votes in the mayoral general election, two vote in the presidential election,” said Betsy Gotbaum, the executive director of Citizens Union. “Though we’ve taken positive steps to increase the number of voters who participate in our elections, we need to do something bold and transformational to ensure more of our neighbors have a say in who is making the decisions that impact our city.

“Moving our municipal elections to even-numbered years is the easiest way to increase the number of New Yorkers voting in races for key city offices. This will lead to an electorate that is more reflective of the diversity of our city.”

Since 2001, New York City mayoral elections have averaged a turnout of 29.5

percent. Turnout has decreased in every election since the turn of the century, reaching a historic low of 23 percent in the 2021 general election. This lags behind gubernatorial elections, which have an average turnout of 35.6 percent, and presidential elections, which have an average turnout of 60.8 percent.

Throughout the country, cities that hold elections in odd-numbered years have lower average turnout than cities that have consolidated their local elections with statewide or presidential elections. In recent years, many municipalities have made the switch from holding elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, including Phoenix, AZ, Austin and El Paso, TX, and Baltimore, MD. Turnout rates in these cities have increased by as much as 460 percent. Los Angeles held its first election in an even-numbered year this past November and saw voter turnout nearly double.

Consolidating municipal elections with gubernatorial or presidential elections will also lead to a more diverse electorate. Citizens Union’s analysis found that majority-minority Assembly districts in New York City saw the sharpest turnout increases in even-numbered years compared to odd-numbered years. The data suggests that if New York moved its mayoral election from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, turnout gains would be highest for communities of color and younger voters.

“Odd-year municipal elections are a relic of the 19th century that does not fit New York City’s vision of an inclusive democracy,” said Ben Weinberg, director of public policy at Citizens Union. “Our research shows that moving local elections to even-numbered years would help narrow participation gaps, particularly among voters aged 18 to 29 and in majority-minority districts, and would increase turnout in both citywide and local council races.”

The move would also reduce election administration costs and give the New York City Board of Elections ample time to adequately prepare between major elections.

This change will require an amendment to the New York State Constitution. Changes to the election law, including whether to extend or shorten the terms of incumbent officeholders by one year, will also be needed.

Our report, “Moving Municipal Elections to Even-Numbered Years,” is based on independent analysis of turnout data, experience of other cities and existing scholarly research. It reviews the benefits and challenges of moving municipal election years in various aspects.

To read the report, go to citizensunion.org.

Deborah Glick.

BY CAROLINE BENVENISTE

The themes this month were Italian, Mediterranean, cannabis and fast-casual. Asian restaurants opened and closed. There are also a couple of French restaurants in the works.

Open Top Restaurant Openings:

In October 2021 I walked by the empty storefront on Sixth Avenue that used to house the Tri-Rite Deli and saw two gentlemen outside collecting signatures for a liquor license application. I struck up a conversation and learned that they were planning to open a Balkan restaurant called Balkan StrEAT at 353 Sixth Ave. (between W. 4th Street and Washington Place) and were shooting for the first half of 2022. The opening finally happened on Jan. 24, 2023, and it was definitely worth the wait. One of the owners, William Djuric, had a Serbian father and spent his summers there growing up. He said that even then he had a dream of opening a restaurant in New York where the ćevapi (grilled Serbian sausage) would taste like the ones in Serbia. To this end he attended culinary school and spent time working in restaurants. He decided on the West Village because his father, who was an artist, had a studio on Greenwich Street and when William was young he spent time in the area. He was also looking for a place with energy, and one that would survive the pandemic and he felt the East and West Village fit the bill. With his partner, Jason Correa, who also worked in the restaurant industry, they decided on a fast-casual format. Inside the restaurant are screens with four menu categories: Grill (Roštilj), Bakery (Pekara), Balkan Specialties and Salads. In the grill section, in addition to ćevapi, there are hamburgers served on lepinja rolls, which were described to me as a cross between a pita and an English muffin and are baked fresh in-house. (On my way out I got a plain lepinja to go and was given some kajmak, a Serbian clotted cream, which they make in-house, to eat with it.) The baker hails from Belgrade, and if you sneak to the back, you can see him preparing filo. It starts in a ball that looks like pizza dough, but then

Comings & Goings

gets expertly stretched until you can read a newspaper through it. After this magic has been performed, the filo is used to make the bureks. Bureks come in many shapes and sizes (and spellings, since sometimes they appear as boureks), but these are made in a round mold and cut into four wedges and are sold whole or by the slice. There are a number of fillings, including cheese, spinach and cheese, and potato and onion, as well as other vegetarian and meat options. The dough is crispy on the top and chewy in the middle, and they are maybe the best bureks I’ve ever had. Other baked goods include jelly donuts, hot dog rolls that look like giant pigs in blankets, and a spiral ham and cheese roll. On their second day of business there was a steady stream of customers in spite of the wintery mix outside. On their opening day, they had to close early when they ran out of food. They are already working on their second project, which will be in the East Village and will have table service.

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele (2 Bank St., at Greenwich Avenue) has opened in the space that used to previously house three restaurants: Barraca, a tapas restaurant, Macondo, a tapas/taco spot, and LIPS, a drag bar in the basement. The pizzeria is a Neapolitan import, but unlike the original, which was founded in 1870 and which only serves two pizza options (marinara and margherita), the new restaurant has a large menu and three different venues. Read more about their pizza in the “West Village Pizza Roundup” in this issue of The Village Sun.

Also Open Nerea (89 Greenwich Ave., between Bank and W. 12th Streets) is a beautifully decorated Mediterranean/Italian spot with elaborately plated dishes and some unusual ingredients (24K gold leaf, Parmesan foam).

Gen Korean BBQ House (150 E. 14th

Street, at Third Ave.) is a new, all-you-caneat Korean barbecue restaurant originally from California, and now with locations in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Hawaii and the Philippines. For $31, diners have two hours to grill and eat a selection of meats. Previously, 5 Napkin Burger and Tamam falafel (both from restaurateur Simon Oren) occupied the space. Urbanspace Union Square, a new food hall, has opened at Zero Irving (124 E. 14th Street, at Irving Place). For more details on the offerings, see the Jan. 6 Village Sun online article: “Food hall opens at Zero Irving a.k.a. E. 14th St. ‘Tech Hub.’”

Panera To-Go has opened at 110 University Place (between 12th and 13th Streets). This shop's format is slightly different from the regular Panera stores, with more prepackaged options and a different, more hightech ordering system. This block of University Place is becoming a to-go hub, with the imminent arrival of Serafina Express next

door. The first of these fast-casual versions of the Serafina restaurants opened at 402 Sixth Ave. (at W. Eighth St.) this past July. Do Not Feed Alligators (337 Bleecker St., between Christopher and W. 10th Streets) is a cafe with coffee, tea and pastries, a garden and art books. The idea came from Swiss photographer David Shama, who published a book by that name with photographs from his travels in the South, particularly in Florida’s “Alligator Alley."

Retail and Services:

The Village is currently the epicenter of the legal pot business. Housing Works Cannabis Co. opened at the end of December at 750 Broadway (near Astor Place). It is New York’s first legal recreational cannabis dispensary. Another dispensary opened on Jan. 24 at 144 Bleecker St. (west of LaGuardia Place), and in February the Doe Fund will open a dispensary at 835 Broadway (at the corner of E. 13th St.). Time Out quoted

Cevapi with yogurt sauce at Balkan StrEAT

Photo by Max Flatow/Balkan StrEAT

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is gettting a slice of the action. Photo by Caroline Benveniste

Pljeskavica, a beef Balkan-style burger, at Balkan SrtEAT.

Kid Brother’s pizza at Urbanspace will wiggle your stache. Photo by The Village Sun

Going bonkers for Balkan StrEAT; Village is Cannabis Central as dispensaries open

one of the Doe operators saying: “We want people to spend 15 to 20 minutes learning, but we will balance that with serving people who are going to Regal Cinema and want to run in to get a gummy.” That may not be an issue anymore since many outlets have reported that the Union Square Regal Cinema is slated to close soon due to the company’s COVID-related bankruptcy filing. The Village Sun further reported that there could soon be a Meatpacking dispensary too (“Pot dispensary to open on Bleecker St., maybe in Meatpacking, too," Jan. 9). In healthier news, Club Pilates has opened a location at 389 Sixth Ave. (between Waverly Place and W. Eighth Street). They offer classes, as well as individual training sessions, and are offering a free introductory class on their Web site.

Closed

Daisies – Better Burgers (516 Hudson St., between Christopher and West 10th Streets) opened in the long-empty Benedicts space in October 2021. They hoped their “Sustainable, From Farm To Burger” approach would be a draw but, unfortunately, after just over a year they have closed. Mr. K Japanese and Street Food (152 Seventh Ave. South, between Charles and Perry Streets) is gone. A sad note on their door explains: “As we had difficulty running our business in the past few months, unfortunately we’ve made the most difficult decision to CLOSE our business. We THANK YOU for all your support over a year and we would like to apologize if we have made any mistake.” Panca (92 Seventh Ave. South, between Bleecker and Grove Streets), a Peruvian cevicheria, has announced on their Web page, “After 13 years we are sadly leaving the West Village. Pls visit our Brooklyn location opening in early spring.” Italian restaurant Solaro (13 Carmine St., at Sixth

Avenue), which opened in late 2019, has shuttered. This seems to be a cursed space for Italian restaurants as Giulietta’s Cantina Club, which was there previously, did not last very long, either. Jo Quality Dry Cleaners (56 Seventh Ave., between 13th and 14th Streets) has closed and a sign on the door is directing customers to New Spring Cleaners at 45 Eighth Ave. (near W. Fourth Street).

Coming Soon

There are two future openings that I am particularly excited about. First, Kerber’s Farm Provisions, a beloved cafe, farm and farm store in Huntington, LI, is opening a small shop at 264 Bleecker St. (between Morton and Leroy Streets). They are known for their pies, biscuit egg sandwiches, baked goods and provisions. Second, the Roman restaurant empire Roscioli is opening a location at 43 MacDougal St. (at King Street). In Rome, I have been to their bakery, pizza restaurant and main location, which resembles Sogno Toscano (at 17 Perry St.) during the day, with wine, cheese and salumi plates, in a space that also doubles as a salumeria. In the evening, the more formal and top-rated downstairs restaurant opens. It is not clear what the format of the NYC Roscioli will be, but whatever it is, it will undoubtedly be delicious. ZZ’s Clam Bar, a raw bar from the Major Food Group, is coming to the old Highlands space at 150 W. 10th St. (near Waverly Place). The Major Food Group also operates a number of other restaurants, including a ZZ’s on Thompson Street, Carbone, Torrisi, Parm and others. Highlands, a popular Scottish gastropub, closed in June 2020 because of difficulties brought on by COVID. Chez Stanley, a new French restaurant, is planning to open at 93 Greenwich Ave. (between W. 12th

and Bank Streets). According to their application for a liquor license, “Chez Stanley will be a casual restaurant inspired by the neighborhood bistros of Paris.” Little Owl – The Venue operated at that space from 2010 to 2021. Another French bistro is slated to open in the spring: Libertine, at 143 Christopher St., at Greenwich Street, will replace Village stalwart Gaetana’s. In advance of their opening, the Libertine team has been holding pop-ups at restaurants around town. REYNA New York is a Mediterranean tapas bar imported from Toronto that opened recently at 11 E. 13th St. (between Fifth Avenue and University Place); soon, a hidden cocktail lounge called Le Louis New York will materialize inside the space. Van Leeuwen, which seems to be opening locations all over the city, is taking over the old Sushi West space at 556 Hudson St., near Perry Street.

Moved/Other

In the coming months, Moustache Pitza, which has been on Bedford Street for 32 years, will be moving from its current location at 90 Bedford St., near Grove Street, to 29 Seventh Ave. South (between Bedford and Morton Streets). Read more about their pitzas in this month’s “West Village Pizza Roundup." Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Market, which for many years had been at 93 University Place (between 11th and 12th Streets), has now reopened at 202 W. 14th St. (west of Seventh Avenue), where short-lived Korean restaurant Zusik once was. Mr. Z Dim Sum Inc. (313 Sixth Ave., between Bleecker and W. Fourth Street) is gone, and new signage and a note in the window promised that Spicy Sichuan was coming at the end of December. However, two notices on the door call this into question: The first states that Mr. Z Dim Sum Inc. owes more than

$77,000, including four months' rent, and the second is an eviction notice with a demand for a $2 million judgment. Things are not going well just south of there, either: Marie Blachère (301 Sixth Ave., near Bleecker Street) was recently shut down by order of the commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene. There appears to be extensive construction going on inside, and the manager at their Great Neck, Long Island, location said they hope to reopen the West Village bakery in the coming weeks. The bakery had already been shut down in August 2019 for health code violations but reopened quickly after some repairs. On the same block, Chickenhawk (319 Sixth Ave.), which we featured in last month’s “Comings & Goings”) is having a special promotion in February: For the whole month, their signature Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich will be available for $5. Lisabetta’s, 240 W. 14th St., between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is the new name for what used to be 240 NYC. The menu has not changed much — it features pizza, pasta and seafood. Favorites include the gnocchi trio

with three different sauces, and the burrata and vodka pizzas.

Serving up chicken sliders at Urbanspace, a new food court in the Zero Irving building. Photo by The Village Sun

Urbanspace has the major food groups covered: pizza, bao and waffles. Photo by Max Flatow/Balkan StrEAT

The new Housing Works dispensary is high on cannabis cravers’ shopping list.

Photo by Caroline Benveniste

The upper crust: West Village pizza roundup

BY HANNAH REIMANN AND CAROLINE BENVENISTE

AVillage Sun favorite, Two Boots Pizza (101 Seventh Ave. South and 42 Avenue A) will always be at the top of the list as a great and convenient place to grab a slice, with its unique toppings (Italy and Louisiana!), gluten-free options and plentiful offerings for both vegetarians and carnivores.

Eytan Sugarman’s West Village branch of Made in New York Pizza (561 Hudson St.) is here to stay, with plenty of regulars for lunch and late into the night. Make sure to try the Grandma slice and the often Instagrammed pepperoni (aka ’roni cups).

Founded in 1929 and still world-renowned, John’s of Bleecker Street (278 Bleecker St.), which has been serving pizza in the Village since 1929, remains reliable and tasty. John’s brick oven, which was at the original pizzeria on Sullivan Street and was taken apart and carried to Bleecker Street, is fueled by coal.

New restaurants featuring brick-oven pizza have cropped up recently, so we were tempted to visit a few between November and the end of January. We also returned to a Village mainstay we had not been to in a while.

The Neopolitan L’Antica Pizza Da Michele (2 Bank St.) is chic and elegant, with a long bar, a separate area for oysters and other crudo, a large minimalist dining room near the gas-fired brick oven shipped in from Naples and a club-like basement party room. L’Antica has the makings of a neighborhood and destination gathering place, exceptionally clean and exciting for the eyes and palate. The Fiori de Zucca (zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta), burrata, roasted tomato and basil oil are scrumptious, delicate and picturesque, while the classic Margherita pizza with imported fior di latte (a cow’s milk cheese made in the style of mozzarella) is chewy, thin and tasty. We also enjoyed the exceptional tiramisu, which is more silky pudding than cake-like, flavored with a very high-quality Marsala wine. Founder and C.E.O. Francesco Zimone painstakingly designed the interior and transformed this

corner of Greenwich Avenue at Bank Street into a supremely classy, multifaceted and reasonably priced eatery. There are dozens of delicious dishes, including eight pizzas, five salads, four pastas and various salads, boards and seafood mains. The wine list is exceptional and there’s a decent selection of amari for cocktails and digestifs. Pizzas are large and thin, very shareable and filling.

Newcomers Fonzie’s Pizza pop-up at Jack and Charlie’s No. 118 (118 Greenwich Ave.) and Daddies Pizza (450 Hudson St. at Morton Street), as well as Pizzeteria Brunetti (626 Hudson St. near W. 12th Street) all have wood-fired brick ovens. The wood imparts a unique, flavorful taste to the ingredients and the dough is chewy with good crunch in the crusts. Each place has its own take and style, of course.

Fonzie’s crushed meatball pie (one of the specials) is to die for with a great San Marzano tomato sauce, not too much cheese and pistachio-arugula pesto. The Margherita is always available, also excellent. These are lunchtime pizzas, takeout only on Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. for now, and well worth the trip. There are weekly specials and the TLC of generations-old family recipes and knowledge of Italian cooking by Chef Ed Cotton. Please read the full review of Fonzie’s Pizza in The Village Sun’s November 2022 issue.

Daddies Pizza has two wood-fired brick ovens, turning out dozens of pizzas every night for in-house customers and for delivery. Owned by the brilliant Frank Prisinzano, the same proprietor who created the fun, superyummy and wildly popular Frank (88 Second Ave. near Fifth Street) and Supper (156 E. Second St.), Daddies has quickly gained both a huge following and local criticism. In fair weather, there is barely any sidewalk space to walk around Daddies due to the long outdoor sheds and busy sidewalk service. However, the sheds are well-heated (even hot, at times) and we suspect that they will be well-used for weekend winter dinners. There are only a few tables inside the actual restaurant and there is an extensive menu typical of the great style and imagination of the owner. The mixed response includes folks who live on Morton Street who are less eager to try the food due to the new crowds in their neighborhood that Daddies has attracted in fair weather and the scores of people coming from near and far via IG posts, word of mouth and Prisinzano’s excellent reputation. The sheds were less than half full for lunch on a cold December day. The 12-inch pies are very good and we thoroughly enjoyed the Foccacino Robiola, a stuffed pie that’s like a sandwich of thin, crunchy pizza dough with a generous filling of robiola cheese and Prosciutto di Parma.

The Margherita is equally high quality. We really appreciated returning to Brunetti and sampling the personal size (12-inch) pizza pies there. The Margherita is totally delicious, thin but not floppy or too wet, with exceptional taste and consistency. We also liked the Quattro Formaggi pie. The small, well-lit room has plenty of windows on the street and is cozy on cold days. There’s a full menu of wine and various appetizers, mains and pizza. The clam pie is extremely popular, although we haven’t tried it yet. We look forward to spending more time at Brunetti as locals on an early weeknight since it looks like this place may be packed every weekend. There are more than 200 5-star reviews since October.

Lastly, we wanted to mention that Moustache (90 Bedford Street, near Grove Street) has a nice selection of its very popular pitza, spelled this way because the homemade dough is the same dough as that of the big, warm, hollow, puffy pita bread served there. The sauce is also homemade, cooked like pasta sauce, and cooled before being spread on the pie, then topped with a rather dry mozzarella, adding to its unique taste. It’s been loved by locals and visitors for more than 32 years. As can be read in this issue’s Comings and Goings, Moustache will move a few blocks away in early spring to 29 Seventh Ave. South.

Brunetti’s Margherita pizza. Photos by Hannah Reimann

L’Antica’s founder and C.E.O., Francesco Zimone.

Daddies’ Foccacino Robiola.

pressed support for imprisoned Russian antiwar protesters.

The anti-Ukraine side charges that the Maidan Revolution of 2014 empowered neo-Nazis, drawing a line back to Stepan Bandera, a former far-right leader who today continues to be a divisive figure.

“They’re echoing the whole Nazi-coup line, Ukraine-is-fascist line,” Weinberg scoffed.

In addition, another reason given for opposing the Ukrainian resistance is Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Ukraine War, in black and white Comic strip aims to ‘debunk Russian propaganda’

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

F or most Americans, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a clear-cut act of aggression that must be condemned. They naturally support Ukraine and also the West’s arming of the Eastern European nation to help it defend itself against its much-larger neighbor.

However, some on the far left, as well as on the far right, openly support Russia or just oppose America and European nations helping arm Ukraine. They give a variety of reasons for their position — among them that Putin is allegedly waging a war to “denazify” Ukraine or that aiding Ukraine will lead to the worst-case scenario, nuclear war.

Trying to cut through all the confusion, as they see it, two East Villagers — comic-book artist Seth Tobocman and political journalist Bill Weinberg — recently teamed up to produce an informative comic strip simply titled, “Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? Debunking Russia’s War Propaganda.”

In black and white, it’s 14 pages long. Weinberg provided the text and Tobocman the art. Politically, they themselves are both on the far left.

Artist Tamara Wyndham, Tobocman’s partner, inked the comic strip’s images, which were penciled by Tobocman. She also contributed a piece under

her comic art byline, Tamara Tornado, “Hands and Heart,” for the strip’s back cover.

“It was Seth’s idea,” Weinberg said. “Seth approached me — to his credit. I’ve been blogging about this every f—ing day practically and ranting about it on my weekly podcast, on Countervortex, for months now, since the invasion and even before.”

As for how the war is going, he said, “Ukraine’s been kicking a– and Russia’s in retreat. The fear is, though, Putin’s going to draw Belarus into it and it’ll be like a pincer.”

As for how things might end, Weinberg offered, “I’m with Yogi Berra: I don’t make predictions — especially about the future. I just know I’m on the side of Ukraine. I’m on the side of an anti-colonial struggle and self-determination. But certainly Ukraine is doing much better than was expected in March.”

However, in terms of who is winning the war of popular opinion, it’s less clear. Although the majority of Americans back Ukraine, Weinberg said the number of those who don’t is higher than most realize.

“My guess is 40 percent for the country as a whole,” he said, “given that Fox News is also basically in Putin’s pocket. On the left — and the right — the figure is much higher.

“The pro-Russia position is hegemonic on the left,” he noted. “ANSWER, Code Pink, Noam Chomsky, The Nation magazine, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), Democracy Now — they are all, blatantly or with some degree of slipperiness, toeing the Moscow line. Me and my friends are the dissidents.”

As for why that is, there are several reasons, he said.

“We call them ‘tankies,'” he explained of the Russia supporters. “They’re still rooting for Moscow today even though Putin is not a communist: He’s a f—ing fascist.”

The term “tankies” comes from when Soviet supporters stood by Moscow as its tanks rolled in to suppress the Hungary Revolution of 1956 and, later, the Prague Spring uprising of 1968.

Weinberg was outraged that antiwar groups — or the “pro-Putin tankies,” as he called them — rallied in Times Square on the weekend before Martin Luther King Day against what they called the “U.S.-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.”

“ANSWER and Code Pink are supporting f—ing Putin,” he fumed, “taking a prowar position. Martin Luther King would not be down with that.”

“They’re saying Ukraine has to give up territory in the interest of world peace,” he said. “There’s been this very, very glib nuclear threat. I don’t even like to use the f—ing word. … The notion that Ukraine’s surrender will make the world a safer place is completely ahistorical, and is a betrayal of the Ukrainians living in the territory that would be ceded to Russia. What right do you have to bargain away another country’s territory?”

He slammed the pro-Putin crowd, in general, as “indoctrinated fools.” Part of it, he explained, stems from a distrust, on both the left and the right, of mainstream media.

“These people are so indoctrinated,” he said, “they will even look to RT — which is Russian state media, it’s a propaganda arm of the Kremlin —for alternatives to mainstream media.”

Weinberg noted that, while prominent leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky made a name for himself by calling out the coverage of leading mainstream media outlets like The New York Times, the media universe — and the variety of political opinion — has expanded exponentially since then.

“What Chomsky started doing in the ’60s was a worthwhile project — the whole notion of critiquing media slant,” he said. “But he has become part of the problem. He did not keep up with the times and how the media landscape changed with the Internet. It’s not just The New York Times and the three big networks anymore. That was the era of the Cold War and the U.S. supporting right-wing dictatorships. Now there are plenty of democratic revolutions that the United States has thrown its support behind, if for its own purposes. Portraying the Maidan Revolution as a U.S.-supported, right-wing coup is a denial of reality. Chomsky is now basically saying Ukraine must capitulate to Russian aggression in the interests of global stability. Which amounts to support for Putin, however much he may deny it — so f— him.”

Some Ukraine foes argue that Russia’s invasion is justified because of Eastern European countries falling under the

Meanwhile, Weinberg and his friends held a smaller rally in the rain in Union Square a few days later, at which they ex- Continued on p. 18

Part of a page from “Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? Debunking Russia’s War Propaganda.” (Illustration by Seth Tobocman)

Ukraine War comic strip ‘debunks propaganda’

Continued from p. 17

sway of NATO on Russia’s border, to which Weinberg retorted: “Why are we supposed to be concerned about Russia’s security and not Ukraine’s? This is the politics of might makes right — and is antithetical to everything that Martin Luther King stood for.

“There isn’t any doubt in my mind that if Martin Luther King was around today,” he declared, “he would be protesting Russia’s aggression — not protesting the U.S.’s aid to Ukraine.”

In December, The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, at 155 Avenue C, at E. 10th Street, put up an international art exhibit, “Stop the Invasion,” about the war, curated by Tobocman and Wyndham. The comic strip is part of the show.

While Weinberg’s focus is on dissecting the politics of the invasion and breaking down who is behind which side, Tobocman’s has been on the art show. But he also found time to illustrate the comic strip.

“Basically, I had been aware of Bill Weinberg as someone on the American left who had been one of the few people who had been consistently warning about Putin for the last 10 years,” he said. “Bill is an important voice.

“My main focus is to create a forum where Ukrainian and Russian artists can express their point of views,” he said of the larger art show concept. “Tamara and I got involved with Ukraine because artists in Russia wanted to do a show.”

Initially, though, in the backlash to the war, there was opposition to having any show of Russian artists in New York. Instead, one exhibit, called “Glory to Ukraine,” opened at Shalom Neuman’s IF Museum/Academy in Easton, Pennsylvania. Art for the show was curated from behind the Iron Curtain by Tobocman and

Natasha Konyukov, a Moscow artist, and from America by Neuman. Neuman,who formerly ran the Fusion Arts Gallery on

the Lower East Side, also toured with the exhibit through Prague, Paris, Warsaw, Verona, Berlin, London and Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, a separate show, “Perevort” (“flip,” meaning “revolution,” in Russian), was held at two secret locations in Russia, in St. Petersburg and Moscow, plus a city in Armenia.

These were then followed by a third exhibit — at last, after a year, in New York City — “Stop the Invasion,” still currently up at MoRUS. In addition to Ukrainian and Russian artists, there are works by Palestinian and Israeli artists in the Avenue C show.

As for his own view of the war, Tobocman said, “I don’t know when it will end but I know how it will end — they’ll go home. They could go home next year or they could go home in 20 years. It’s the same as Vietnam, as Afghanistan, as Iraq. It’s the same as the British in India. Eventually, the Russians will go home. It is imperialism and colonialism. They could go home in 100 years or they could go home now. The result will be the same. It does not work to colonize people now.”

As for the pro-Russia lefties, Tobocman explained, “They see the United States as the big problem in the world, so they support anything the United States is against. There’s a long history between people on the left and Russia — so there’s that, too.”

On Fri., Jan. 27, Weinberg and Tobocman were at MoRUS to give a live reading and slide-show presentation of the comic strip, as part of a night of multimedia presentations and performances for the “Stop the Invasion” show. Katie Halfin, a Ukrainian performance artist, was there, as well.

For a digital version of the “Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine?” comic strip, go to countervortex.org/why-did-russia-invadeukraine/.

Antiwar groups like Code Pink oppose the United States and European powers arming Ukraine so it can defend itself against the Russian invasion.

Parts of pages from “Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? Debunking Russia’s War Propaganda.” Illustrations by Seth Tobocman)

Hieroglyphics, world jazz pioneers, keep hitting it

BY NOAH AUGUSTIN

Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics are an unorganized group, never having a set roster. They transport their maracas and shakers in paper gift bags and never know how they’re going to get from rehearsal to the show. That’s what’s killing them, but it makes the music good.

The 46-year-old Californian world jazz ensemble reunited for the first time after a six-year break on Oct. 24 to play at the Nublu club’s Jazzfest on Avenue C. On Jan. 16 they played there again, now as part of the New York Winter Jazz Festival.

“Can we hit that again — just better this time,” Apfelbaum told the band as they rehearsed for their October show at trombonist Josh Roseman’s place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Seeing Apfelbaum in his element is a sight to behold. He wriggles around the room giving the musicians their rhythm, imitating the sound of their instruments, playing the melody on his black and red melodica.

Everyone was just there to jam and party — it’s not like they’re going to cash in much at the show anyway. It’s jazz, after all. Few play to make money and those who do usually don’t have much of it. Most play because they love to play.

The whole crew was on deck in October, some original members and some new. Peck Allmond, trumpet; Josh Roseman, trombone; Jessica and Tony Jones together since ’70s Berkeley High, alto and tenor sax; witty Norbert Stachel, baritone sax; Viva de Concini and David Phelps, guitar; Mali Obomsawin, bass; Charlie Burnham, violin; Aaron Johnston and special guest Haitian percussionist Tiga Jean-Baptiste on the drums.

The MLK Day roster was a bit different, with Noah Garabedian on bass, Marcelo Perez on drums and Sana Nagano on violin. Tiga was in Senegal.

It’s a big group, too big for jazz nowadays. Their size makes them a management disaster when it comes to touring, along with Apfelbaum not known for being the most organized group leader. With record deals no longer being much of a thing, the ensemble only has to contend with the occasional session every half a decade or so. This doesn’t tarnish the impact they’ve had on the genre.

Before the Hieroglyphics world jazz didn’t exist. There was American jazz and African jazz, Latin jazz and European free jazz — Apfelbaum wanted all of it. He and the Hieroglyphics brought world jazz to the stage in ’77 at Berkeley High, in Berkeley, California, where half of the band is from.

Apfelbaum, 62, is a prodigious figure himself. Over his four-decade career,

the multi-instrumentalist has worked with all of the top artists in the global music world. He toured with everybody from O.J. Ekemode’s Afrobeat All-Stars to Don Cherry’s Multikulti, recorded with Moroccan Masters of Jajouka, Phish jam-band leader Trey Anastasio, renowned poly-genrist John Zorn and about two dozen more.

Despite all that, Peter Apfelbaum never gained the popularity of the aforementioned musicians. That just goes to show the number of skilled artists who live, die and are forgotten, if ever even known.

The atmosphere on MLK Day was bright and the music was freewheeling. Everyone was having a good time. Surprisingly, the Hieroglyphics managed to get an audience of maybe 300 people, mostly young and there to drink and dance to the music. The more common jazz audience today is 100 or so middle-aged or older folk only listening because they’re in the jazz field, each one knowing the other.

Stachel and the Joneses carried the melody on the sax while David Phelps and De Conscini, always smiling, played it out on the guitar. Tiga and Johnston were missed. At October’s show, Tiga, who combines Haitian, West and East African, as well as indigenous Australian rhythms, played off of drummer Johnston, nodding his head to smooth doubles.

Marcello Perez, a young member also

from Berkeley who took over percussion at the Winter Jazz Fest show, got the love of the crowd with his solo bit on the drum set.

Apfelbaum, as always, was bouncing around one minute with a red rope of dangling bells, the next with his melodica, the next on the keyboard, the next with his sax, the next on the flute.

They ended the same way they started, playing a Moroccan song called “Titi Wa,” with Apfelbaum on the melodica.

It was a classic Hieroglyphics performance; it wasn’t new but hasn’t gotten old. Nublu owner Ilhan Ersahin must have enjoyed it since he wants the orchestra as a monthly staple at the club. There’s also talk about a possible Hieroglyphics album with Ersahin’s in-house label, although knowing the band it’s not likely to happen.

Everyone had to get home after the show to rest up for the day jobs that pay the bills. Most, like Apfelbaum, teach. A few have their solo careers or other bands. David Phelps drives a school bus, so he had to get up bright and early the next morning.

Only passion, or obsession as Phelps calls it, keeps Peter Apfelbaum and the Hieroglyphics ever ready for another round.

Peter Apfelbaum jamming on his signature melodica.

Photo by Noah Augustin

Skill and skulls: Clayton Patterson goes Louis Vuitton

For one day in December — thanks to Rob Cristofaro, the founder of Alife, the Rivington Street streetwear store, who hooked it all up — Lower East Side documentarian Clayton Patterson had the chance to decorate a Louis Vuitton pop-up window in the former Barney’s store space at 61st Street and Madison Avenue. His partner in the project was Zachary Lau, 14, an aspiring photographer whom Patterson and local lenswoman Destiny Matta are mentoring. Added into the window’s mix were skulls that Zachary and his father, Chi Lau, collect.

BY ZACHARY LAU

My mother loves Louis Vuitton. My father and I collect skulls. On the surface, these two ideas appear to be incongruent. However, with Clayton Patterson’s display at Louis Vuittton the two worlds merged. And that is the hallmark of a great artist and curator, isn’t it? To take two separate ideas and join them in a delightful way.

When my father and I arrived at the window, I noticed the perfectly painted pink walls with flawless white paper perfectly tacked on. Clayton, with his immense experience with aesthetics, decided to partially tear it down and create jagged edges. I walked outside to the staging area and started loading Clayton’s embroideries, art, books and sculptures. Along with these items I brought in three skulls from our private collection, a large white column, a small white cube and a red, blue, black and brown cloth. I handed the embroideries to Clayton’s friend and set designer Ed and we got to work.

Clayton and my father draped the red and blue cloth over the column. I placed the three skulls on the side of the pillar and Clayton distributed the sculptures among them. Shortly after setting up the column, we began to arrange the display on the cube. We draped the brown cloth over it and put up Clayton’s set of hats. Along with these items we added a photo of Clayton and Elsa. Another lesson learned about loving people.

On some level, I did not know how this would all come together and how it would be received by the intended audience. Clayton is a self-described “maximalist.” He included EVERYTHING in this display. He had multiple posters about tattoos, embroideries with tribal themes, books about gangs and

our skulls. Among the clean-lined, minimalist displays, our jagged-lined “maximalist” display appeared organic and unique and it was honest. It’s honest because this is a display window into Clayton’s creative heart and soul.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the display window was Clayton Patterson and Clayton Patterson embodied the Lower East Side. The Lower East Side is tenement buildings, cheap food, immigrants and graffiti. It’s dirty, gritty and at times dangerous. However, it is also bubbling with creativity, beauty and soul. In contrast, Madison Avenue is clean, pretty and sterile. It is made up of sets of orderly parallel lines that never cross each other. With tribal skulls, designed chaos and his scraggly beard, Clayton brought Essex Street to Madison Avenue.

Zachary Lau, left, and Clayton Patterson in the Louis Vuitton pop-window that Patterson designed.

Photo by Chi Lau

Putting up Patterson’s embroidery. Photo by Chi Lau

Clayton Patterson and Zachary Lau outside the completed window. Photo by Chi Lau

The Laus’ skulls were a centerpiece of the display.

Photo by Zachary Lau

Karen’s Quirky Style: Happy Hooking at the Liberty Inn

BY KAREN REMPEL

Love for sale? Last August, I learned the sad news that the Meatpacking District’s last remaining “short stay” hotel, the Liberty Inn, was up for sale. I hadn’t been aware of the inn, though I’d walked past it many times. But I was devastated that Manhattan was losing another tree in the garden that gave the Big Apple its original sin.

The Liberty Inn beckons people to liberate their lustiness. Built in 1908 as a hotel for sailors, the inn is a red-brick pizza slice of a building, the lone occupant of a tiny triangular block beside the West Side Highway, just below West 14th Street. It’s been in business under this name for more than 40 years, with features “tailor-made for romance.” Though perhaps “romance” should be in quotes as well. Previously, it was the Hide-a-Way Motel, operated by the current owner’s father. Until the mid1980s, the hotel shared the building with The Anvil, a famed gay nightclub.

If you know me at all by now, you can well imagine what I did next…booked a room to check it out for myself!

Amy, Phil and I booked into the hotel as a threesome for this month’s photo shoot. They arrived ahead of me at 2 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, and were told that threesomes are not allowed in the hotel. But I had read about this on Yelp, so when I got there, I knew what to do.

I had to wait a few minutes while a couple checked in and another relaxed-and-happy-looking couple checked out after their nooner. Daisy, the blonde, obdurate desk clerk said, “Only two people in a room,” to which I said, “How about

if I book two rooms?” That was the trick — pun intended. The hotel will allow afternoon threesomes in one room if you pay for two rooms (at $95 each). She relented. But she told me that evening threesomes are not allowed, as the parties tend to get too noisy, with a lot of drinking. Liberty is crumbling.

Once in the room, we were surprised by the green light, which seemed sci-fi but actually turned out to be flattering. We marveled at "The Liberator" sex chair. Speaking of a lot of drinking, we did some of our own, bringing along bottles of Proseco and blueberry port.

I was surprised the hotel was still operating, given the massive press coverage of the sale offer last August. The longtime owner, Edward Raboy, was asking more than $20 million. Daisy told me there had been a lot of buyers coming to look at the place in January, and one of them is considering converting it into a nightclub. Perhaps all is not lost, and the days of The Anvil will return.

Style Notes

• Zip It vinyl micromini skirt with front zipper and silver loops. Purple Passion, 211 W. 20th St.

• Purple cotton off-the-shoulder tee. Judi Harvest Chelsea studio sale.

• Pleaser transparently invisible dancer shoes. Hustler Hollywood, 41 W. Eighth St.

• Black wide net fishnet stockings. DSW, 40 E. 14th St.

• Barbell-tipped copper wire hoop necklace. Barre3, 11 W. Eighth St. Rempel is a New-York based writer and artist. For her past columns and more Philip Maier photos see karensquirkystyle.nyc.

West Village model Karen Rempel’s “Happy Hooker” gives the green light at the Liberty Inn, the Meatpacking District’s last remaining “short stay” hotel. Photo by Philip Maier

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TAQUERIA TALKING

HEAD: We pulled up on an electric Citi Bike in front of Empellon Taqueria on W. Fourth Street on a recent Saturday night only to find the bike dock there totally jampacked without a single open spot. It figures for the Village on a weekend night. David Byrne also happened to be standing outside in front. He was hard to miss in an eye-catching, orange safety jacket. We’re guessing this was not one of his famous cutting-edge garments — like his iconic white “fat suit” from “Stop Making Sense,” the Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film — but probably simply functional, for nighttime cycling safety in the city. We told him we’re a big fan of his music, his “How Music Works” book that we bought at the Strand when it came out, the awesome “Brazil Classics” collections he put out back in the day — still some of the more beautiful music we’ve ever heard. His companion, a dark-haired woman in an olive-drab bicycle helmet, was unlocking her ride from a street pole. Byrne ducked back inside the eatery for a minute. We checked our phone to see if we could locate a free Citi Bike dock somewhere reasonably nearby. Before we even looked up again, the pair had whisked off on their bikes into the night. The man can fly. We didn’t even have a chance to ask him how he liked the tacos. We don’t know where they were heading, but it likely wasn’t “The Road to Nowhere.”

RIVERA RUMOR: The rumor that Carlina Rivera is getting ready to run for Congress is not true — at least, according to her. Some people lately were saying that she plans to move to Brooklyn and run for Congressmember Nydia Velazquez’s seat, if the latter ever decides to step down. But we bumped into Rivera at Assemblymember Harvey Epstein’s

political mixer at the National Arts Club and she totally denied it. She said she’s definitely running for City Council in 2023. Due to redistricting, her current term is only two years, not the usual four. We actually thought that, at one point, we even overheard her saying, “Threepeat.” Meanwhile, Frank Gonzalez of Loisaida Reality and Loisaida CommUnity Concerns is running for East Village Democratic district leader.

JUDICIOUS MEETING: We also saw state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal at the N.A.C. get-together. “The governor might sue us,” the Judiciary Committee chairperson told us of the Democrats’ battle with Governor Kathy Hochul over the nominee for the state’s top judge. “The nominee has been rejected by the state Senate,” he said. “We await the next steps from the governor — specifically, whether she will request the Committee on Judicial Nomination to solicit new applicants.”

He said he and his husband, David Sigal, are loving our paper’s coverage (in thevillagesun.com) of the WestView News soap opera. “He hit me,” he recalled of when publisher George Capsis slapped him during an emotional meltdown over the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital. As for his own name change, he said, “I actually changed it when we got married in 2013 but never used it professionally until our girls raised the issue and took a vote whether I should change it. They won. It went into effect Jan. 1.”

CORNELIA CONNECTION: Well, Cornelia Street Cafe has met “Cornelia Street.” Robin Hirsch reported that he recently had a sit-down at Tea & Sympathy, on Greenwich Avenue, with Simon Stephens, the playwright behind the new Off Broadway musical, and that things went swimmingly. The upshot is that Hirsch, the impresario of the late, beloved Village venue — which may or may not be the basis for the show — will give a reading of some of his “Cafe Stories” at the Atlantic Theater’s Stage 2, on W. 16th Street in Chelsea, on Mon., Feb. 13, a “dark night” at the theater, as they say in the trade, and actually the day before the show officially opens. Also participating will be Stephens and Mark Eitzel, who did the music for “Cornelia Street” and who may sing, we’re told. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information and tickets, visit eventbrite. Actually, this wasn’t the first meeting between Hirsch

and Stephens. As we reported in last month’s issue of The Village Sun, the English playwright hung around with Hirsch and soaked up the atmosphere at the Cornelia Street Cafe four years ago during its final days. Then, totally out of the blue, last summer Hirsch found out to his surprise that Stephens had written a musical called...“Cornelia Street.” As for what Hirsch will read on the 13th, he said it will be three selections, including one about “dish drying” in Stockholm eateries after graduating from Oxford, which taught him that restaurants, like theater, are a kind of performance. Another story will be about Stanley, the American tennis pro, who likens Hirsch’s cafe to a watering hole in Nairobi he knows that “the whole passes through.” The third story will be Hirsch’s recollections of a homeless man who used to sleep on the Village cafe’s front doorstep in its early days, whom Hirsch showed kindness to and who, in turn, regaled him with his knowledge of Shakespeare. Hirsch is looking for a publisher for this latest set of writings of his, titled “The Whole World Passes Through, Vol. II.” But, in honor of his late friend from his Oxford days Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, Hirsch, when he reads them in public, calls them “Cafe Stories.” “Terry was always at the cafe when he was in New York,” Hirsch recalled. “He said, ‘Why don’t you just call it ‘Cafe Stories?’” And he did.

PERCOLATING: Isabel Celeste, the mother of actress Rosario Dawson, recently started running the 5C Cafe, at Fifth Street and Avenue C.

THE JEFFERSONS: Library and garden lovers can enjoy a twofer on April 30, when the Jefferson Market Garden will hold a joint benefit both for itself and the Jefferson Market Public Library. They’re doing it this way because if the library held a benefit, the money would go into the New York Public Library’s general coffer. This way, the garden, which is a nonprofit, can make a contribution directly to the historic Sixth Avenue library branch. Lending local cachet to the event will be Sarah Jessica Parker and Justine Leguizamo.

SAY HER NAME: We were wondering who came up with the name Mathilde, for the octogenarian London plane tree that was recently felled in East River Park, due to sewer work being done as part of the coastal resiliency project. As we found out chatting with folks after one of Reverend Billy’s recent hoedowns at the Earth Church, it was

musician John Plenge. He and Rita Garcia are also squirrel protectors. They have put up five squirrel houses in the park, to help the shell-shocked critters, who have lost half of their habitat thanks to the resiliency destruction.

NO DANCERS...YET: Ray

Alvarez turned the big nine oh on Jan. 1. “I don’t feel any different,” said the Avenue A egg cream maestro of Ray’s Candy Store, at Seventh Street and Avenue A, a.k.a. Asghar Ghahraman. So far, though, there hasn’t been a birthday party to celebrate, complete with neo-burlesque dancers on the countertop, one of Ray’s annual traditions.

NOT RUNNING? It’s hard to believe, but apparently former Councilmember Alan Gerson actually is not making a political comeback. “People constantly ask me. ... Never say never,” he told us. In the meantime, he said he’s busy with his legal work for the Chinese American Planning Council and other local groups. Asked if he had a position on the WestView News versus Village View (formerly New WestView News) hyperlocal newspaper battle, Gerson said, “As long as we have The Village Sun, that’s all we need.” Sadly, Gerson related, tragedy recently struck when a participant, Josue Lopez-Ortega, 15, in his nonprofit, Sophie Gerson Health Youth, was killed by gunfire in the Bronx. Gerson said the teenager loved the organization’s tennis program.

UNNATURAL FEELING:

Commodities Natural Market on First Avenue was closed on Jan. 26, with a marshal’s notice stuck on its door, stating, “The landlord has legal possession of these premises.” “I don’t know what’s going on but this is the most popular natural food store in East Village,” said Lesley Sussman, who tipped us off. One online site says, “Temporarily closed.”

TALE OF THE PAPE: Speaking of WestView News and Village View, architecture reporter Brian Pape tells us that he has cast his lot with the latter. He complained that WestView did not publish his December article on time. He said the February issue of Village View will feature some of his street photos, so it sounds like he’s starting off slowly. On the other hand, Alec Pruchnicki is giving both sides a chance: He’ll be submitting articles to both papers and then seeing how it goes. He’s not ready yet to abandon George Capsis, the embattled 95-year-old publisher of WestView. “George has always run my stuff,” he said.

Talkin’ tacos: David Byrne.

Photo by The Village Sun

N.Y.U. gym flood more than a dribble but ‘not submerged’: Spokesperson

BY THE VILLAGE SUN

The recent “bomb cyclone” really slam dunked the basketball courts at New York University’s new Paulson Center. The rapidly plummeting temperature during Christmas weekend caused pipes near the outside walls of the new 181 Mercer St. building to freeze and leak.

A local tipster called to say that the new courts were “submerged” after the university shut off the heat, and that the damages were in the realm of $10 million. However, John Beckman, a university spokesperson, said that’s all inaccurate.

“N.Y.U. did not ‘turn off the heat to its buildings,’” Beckman said. “Given that N.Y.U. closes its offices and operations and its nonresidential buildings from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3, we turn the thermostats down to 60 degrees during this period. This is common

practice at universities, and a longstanding practice at N.Y.U.; it saves energy and money to reduce the thermostats in unoccupied buildings.”

He stressed that it was the bomb cyclone not fiddling with the thermostat that unleashed the floodwaters, noting, “It is hardly uncommon for pipes near outside walls of buildings to freeze and leak, even in heated buildings. This is not a phenomenon unique to N.Y.U., and it’s what happened in the Paulson Center.’

“The basketball courts at the Paulson were not ‘submerged,’” he insisted. “There was water from a burst pipe; importantly and regrettably, some of that water infiltrated the subflooring beneath the basketball court floor. That presents issues for the flatness of the court floor, and, after review and efforts to dehumidify the court floor and subfloor, we have decided to proceed with replacement. Those repairs will be undertaken during the current semester.

“The replacement cost [for the courts’ flooring] is not $10 million,” he added. “That’s several times the anticipated cost, which we believe will be covered by insurance. We are working with our insurer.”

Glick’s picks: Maybe time to move on from Jones, Barkley

For those fans who are disappointed that the team didn’t go further in the playoffs, one only must look to the quality of the quarterbacks on the other teams that were more successful. While Daniel Jones, the Giants quarterback, has improved tremendously this season, it is hard to see him as anything other than a second-tier QB. Saquon Barkley, the team’s premier running back, has made an impressive return from a past injury and had a great season, but running backs have limited careers.

If you follow her tweets, you know that Assemblymember Deborah Glick is an avid pro football fan — especially of her hometown Giants. And her commentary is usually spoton. Although she hasn’t been tweeting much about it lately, she’s definitely still watching football. The Village Sun asked the veteran Albany pol for her take on the Giants’ season.

BY DEBORAH J. GLICK

For Giants’ fans, this was a terrific season with a chance to play in a wildcard game, the first level of playoff games. This is the first time since 2011 that the Giants had an opportunity to play in any playoff game. This season’s success is largely owing to our new coach Brian Daboll. He came to the Giants from the Buffalo Bills where he was the offensive coach on a very successful team. He has made an immediate impact on the team’s confidence and greatly improved the level of play, perhaps more than we could have hoped.

These two players, Jones and Barkley, may have reached free agency where they can negotiate a new contract. Both players think their performance this year merits a significantly larger compensation package, but I am not so certain that their future value to the team is worth dedicating so much of the team payroll when there are many other critical positions to fill.

There were bright spots on the defensive side of the ball. Kayvon Thibodeaux is a rookie linebacker, a first-round pick, who has already demonstrated why he was a much sought-after new player. Along with nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, Thibodeaux has given the Giants a real quarterback-rushing duo that we have long needed.

However, the Giants still suffer from too few high-quality receivers, and without two strong capable receivers and a quarterback with better instinct and more accurate passing, the New York Giants will continue to be a second-tier team. But good fans always hope that next sea-

son will be the winning season. Glick, who represents the 66th Assembly District, is a Greenwich Village resident and football fan. (SportsLogos.net)

The Paulson Center’s new basketball courts were being spiffed up in early January two weeks before the building’s grand opening. Photo by The Village Sun