The Village Sun | April 2024

Pages 6-7

Highway to hell — or heaven?

Congestion pricing hits roadblocks

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

With America’s first-ever congestion pricing plan set to start in June, intense pushback is building — notably including from the man who originally set the scheme in motion, former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In addition, four city councilmembers — Carlina Rivera, Christopher Marte, Erik Bottcher and Keith Powers — representing Downtown and Lower Manhattan recently quietly expressed their concern about the toll plan’s impact on residents living in the congestion zone — all of Manhattan south of 60th Street. Under the plan, all of this area is officially deemed the Central Business District

— though locals living in much of it have always considered it simply to be…their home.

Basically, the politicians asked that transit improvements funded by the new toll should be first made in the CBD before other parts of the city, and also that there be a deeper residential discount program than the limited one currently planned.

In a March 7 letter to Janno Leiber, the M.T.A. chairperson and C.E.O., the four pols wrote, “As representatives of residents who live below 60th street and in the heart of the Central Business District, the successful implementation of congestion pricing and a program that is equitable to our constituents is a top priority for us. … [W]e ask that the finalized regulations focus on addressing

residents’ concerns in the program’s immediate impact area, including a residential discount program and allocating funds towards projects and programming to improve the Central Business District transportation network. … [U]sing the revenue generated [by congestion pricing] to address the Central Business District transit network first would go a long way in alleviating the growing pains during the shift away from their current methods of transportation.”

However, Lower East Side activist Tommy Loeb, a plaintiff in a community lawsuit against congestion pricing, panned the letter as “late to the game after all decisions have been made and no plan to make change. Classic cover your a--.”

Lots of lawsuits

Meanwhile, the lawsuit to which Loeb is a party, plus several ones by other plaintiffs — including by New Jersey, the United Federation of Teachers, the Staten Island borough president and the N.A.A.C.P. — are all pending.

On March 11, in an opinion piece in the New York Post, former Governor Cuomo flat-out declared it was “time to hit the brakes” on congestion pricing. As governor, he advocated for the novel traffic plan, signing it into law in 2019. But now he says he opposes it — at least at this moment.

Continued on p. 6

Photo by The Village Sun

Fence down and flowers in at L.E.S. garden

BY PHYLLIS ECKHAUS

The green refuge at the corner of Stanton and Norfolk Streets — the Children’s Magical Garden — abounded in joy and local media on the afternoon of Sun., March 10, as gardeners celebrated the happy resolution of their long legal fight to reclaim disputed land from real estate developer David Marom.

Ten years to the day since garden members first filed suit, a cheering crowd of children and community gardeners tore down the hated fence that had blocked off the contested lot.

The fence had obstructed one-third of the open green space and endangered the mulberry tree central to its ecosystem.

Ecstatic drumming by Batala, the all-women Afro-Brazilian percussion ensemble, marked the momentous occasion. Children planted blooming hyacinths, pansies and other flowers in planters where the fence had been.

The garden was founded 42 years ago by Lower East Side activists who salvaged abandoned, dangerous, garbage-filled land to build it. Garden members had claimed the disputed lot through the legal doctrine of “adverse possession,” which grants title to land by dint of continuous and conspicuous occupation.

Garden President Kate Temple-West told The Village Sun that when the fence went up, it was “one of the hardest days of my life.” She recalled startled and distraught children cry-

ing, and a place of serenity suddenly becoming a battleground. “I am really happy to be putting the past behind us,” she said.

Following three months of settlement negotiations, Marom in early March deeded the disputed land to the garden, officially in honor of his late mother. The garden’s press release characterized Marom as “visionary” and included his claim that he had been “unaware” the land was disputed when he bought it.

Yet, as The Village Sun has previously re-

Pols push state to hold firm vs. titanic 5G towers

BY THE VILLAGE SUN

Call it the battle of the two towers — no, not Tolkien but telecommunication, as in, digital.

The State Historic Preservation Office has ruled that a pair of planned 32-foot-tall 5G cellular towers slated for 100 Horatio St. and 100 Jane St. in Greenwich Village would have an “adverse effect” on the area’s “historic resources.”

In addition, Boldyn Networks, the private company installing the contentious, supersized columns around the city, has pulled back from four other sites it was considering: 771 Greenwich St., 445 West St., 807 Greenwich St. and 100 Gansevoort St., Village Preservation reported.

City Hall has contracted with Boldyn to install 2,000 of the futuristic-looking, three-story structures citywide.

Also, on March 8, local politicians — state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Deborah and Councilmember Erik Bottcher — jointly wrote to SHPO Deputy Commissioner Daniel Mackay, urging him to “reaffirm” the agency’s decision specifically against the two disputed structures.

“As elected officials representing the

neighborhoods located in Manhattan’s Community Board 2, we support your findings that the proposed LinkNYC 5G towers at 100 Horatio Street and 100 Jane Street are incompatible with the adjacent historic districts,” they said. “We write today to request that you reaffirm your decision and reject the current request to reverse this determination.

“As we wrote in our letter of December 20, 2023, we believe that due to their size and design, these 32-foot-tall towers should not be sited within or close enough to visually impact historic districts or individual landmarks in our area. The proposed tower at 100 Horatio Street is directly across the street from both the Greenwich Village Historic District and the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The proposed tower at 100 Jane Street is directly across the street from the Greenwich Village Historic District.

“The towers,” the pols wrote, “would negatively impact the historic character of these districts, and we urge the SHPO to reaffirm its findings that the towers will have adverse effects and should not be sited at these locations.”

Village Preservation noted that Boldyn Networks has argued that the leaves from street trees would block the views of the unsightly structures.

ported, the deep-pocketed developer aggressively litigated against the adverse-possession suit, sought $20 million in unsuccessful defamation claims against garden defenders, and allegedly trashed the garden as late as last October, when a precedent-setting order by the judge forced him to remove part of the fence. At that time, Marom reportedly vowed to continue his efforts to extend the fence.

The developer did not attend the Sunday celebration, which organizers framed as an

occasion of release, a welcome opportunity to remove literal and metaphorical fences. Aresh Javadi, a garden activist and executive director of the More Gardens! Fund, urged celebrants to feel their connection to the earth and let go of internal blocks to positive change.

Temple-West described the moment as both remarkable and ordinary — like nature itself: “To me, to finally have the whole garden back together feels like a miracle unfolding. But I remind myself it’s a common miracle — it’s as natural and as miraculous as birth — as natural and miraculous in our time as a tree growing as big as it can possibly grow, living as long as it can possibly live.

“It’s the common miracle of people coming together, rolling up our sleeves and working toward a shared vision for our community.”

Lissette Perez, the garden’s executive director, told celebrants how her oldest daughter, Lola, first “dragged” her into the garden six years ago because she saw a swing. Perez attended a garden meeting that weekend, and was stunned when her questions and suggestions were “not only listened to but put into action. It was the first time,” she said, “as someone who came here 10 years ago from the Bronx, that I felt like I could impact my community.” She said she immediately felt empowered to make change for herself, her children and her neighborhood.

Continued on p. 4

Hot java: Fire breaks out above historic Caffè Reggio

BY STEPHEN DiLAURO

Akitchen fire blazed in an apartment above the famed Caffè Reggio on MacDougal Street in the early evening of Sun., March 24. Firefighters’ arrival led to an evacuation of the building, according to residents.

“It was about 7:30. I smelled smoke and opened my door and the halls were full of smoke. I closed the door and called 911,” said one resident, who preferred that his name be withheld. “They were here before I could get my shoes on.”

According to F.D.N.Y. Battalion Chief Rockefeller, the fire was in the kitchen of a second-floor apartment. It apparently spread when something forgotten on the stove caught fire. No one was injured, Rockefeller said.

Dozens of firefighters were on the scene. Hoses were deployed to douse the flames. This led to water damage to the apartment below and to the historic sidewalk cafe. The extent of the damage inside the cafe was limited to three tables in the back corner. A full damage assessment was expected to take place the next day, according to owner Fabrizio Cavallacci, who owns both the cafe and the building.

Crowds gathered on the sidewalk on both

sides of the renowned thoroughfare to gawk. The cafe was back in full service, minus three tables, half an hour after the F.D.N.Y. left.

Caffe Reggio is famed as the first purveyor of cappuccino in New York City. The historic cappuccino machine used in the cafe’s early years is on display, next to the tables. It was undamaged.

Lissette Perez, the garden’s executive director, far right, and Kate Temple-West, its president, to the left of her, were joined by other gardeners in tearing down the hated fence.

Photo by Liv Scott for More Gardens!

Firefighters responded to the scene at MacDougal and W. Third Streets.

Photo by A. Cianciulli

pill to swallow: Pols slam plan to close Beth Israel Hospital

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

LCaroline Benveniste Everynight Charley Crespo

Stephen DiLauro

Paul DiRienzo

Alex Ebrahimi

Michele Herman

Milo Hess

Lynn Pacifico

Clayton Patterson

Mary Reinholz

Sharon Woolums

Jefferson Siegel

Kate Walter

ocal politicians, healthcare workers and area residents rallied again outside Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital on March 24, stressing the historic healthcare hub is critical for Downtown and Lower Manhattan — and warning that nearby hospitals would be unable to pick up the slack if it closed.

Mt. Sinai plans to shutter the Gramercy-area hospital by July 12, though the New York State Department of Health still must officially approve the closure plan.

The health giant says M.S.B.I. is a massive money drain and, if not taken offline, would drag down its whole hospital network.

Keeping up the heat, area elected officials turned out in force at the rally, showing a united front to save the essential facility.

Congressmember Jerrold Nadler said, “We’re here today to say, in no uncertain terms, that the closing of Mt. Sinai Beth Israel would be devastating for the whole area, leaving a massive gap in our emergency and healthcare system, particularly for low- and moderate-income Medicaid users. It would leave a gaping hole for 400,000 people. Where will the people go? Bellevue and N.Y.U. [Langone] are already overburdened and stretched thin. We need answers.”

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein accused Mt. Sinai of not operating in good faith regarding the 125-year-old Beth Israel.

“Ten years ago, when Mount Sinai bought this hospital,” he stated, “they said they were here to make sure we had adequate healthcare in our community. Just a few years later, they started their closing plan. Was it their plan from the beginning to take the value out of the community and deprive 400,000 New Yorkers of adequate access to care?”

Councilmember Chris Marte noted that one of the garden’s victorious court arguments referred to the roots of its mulberry tree — that they were deep and long and extended throughout the disputed lot. He compared the strength of the tree’s roots to the strength of Lower East Side activists, “so strong we’re able to prevail,” he said. “This should give us hope that, no matter how long it takes, no matter how much money is against us, we can and we will win.”

Epstein noted that in 2019 nearby Bellevue Hospital had 550 patients staying in its beds overnight but that now the number has swelled to more than 850 per night.

“Bellevue is bursting at the seams,” he warned.

Similarly, Councilmember Carlina Rivera said Bellevue has seen an increase of “hundreds of births” per year since M.S.B.I. moved out its own maternity ward. In fact, she said, Bellevue — to address the increase in patients now and expected in the future — “wants to expand its footprint.” But she said it’s unwise to allow one public healthcare facility to get so overburdened, particularly one that serves the needy.

“We are tired of healthcare services being moved to other locations and the West Side,” she said. “We are scared. We need adequate, comprehensive healthcare for Lower Manhattan.”

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, who led

the rally, said, “If you learned anything from the pandemic about what New York needs most, it’s more beds, more investment, more healthcare access.”

Assemblymember Deborah Glick called it “unacceptable” for Mt. Sinai to buy the hospital, at E. 16th Street and First Avenue, a decade ago and then turn around and say, “Well, the facility is older.”

“Did you not have an inspector?” she scoffed.

In December, at the politicians’ urging, the state Department of Health issued a ceaseand-desist order barring Mount Sinai from doing any further piecemeal cuts of services until D.O.H. gives its verdict on the application for the full closure.

In February, Arthur Schwartz, the Greenwich Village activist attorney, filed a lawsuit against the plan to abruptly pull the hospital’s plug, arguing Mt. Sinai had been doing it already in a stealthy, segmented manner, to skirt having to get the state’s O.K.

Yet, Glick declared, “This hospital is still being stripped of services. It is unacceptable.”

Assemblymember Grace Lee characterized the garden’s legal success as “making the Lower East Side a little more magical.”

State Senator Brian Kavanagh observed that locals need more than housing, healthcare and transportation: “We need dirt, we need trees, we need open spaces,” he said. “This is a great and wonderful victory for the kids who made this matter by being here.”

Perez said she looks forward to input from children and the community as the garden moves ahead to make full use of its full space, noting, “We have a whole section to construct.”

State Senator Brian Kavanagh said, as part of the closure plan review, state D.O.H. and Mt. Sinai must be “transparent” and fully assess the impact of the complete loss of the hospital or even just a reduction of its services.

Despite the D.O.H. cease-and-desist against service reductions, he noted, “Time and time again, Mt. Sinai violated the order.”

“This process is broken,” he said.

Also condemning the closure plan and calling for the hospital to be saved were state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Tony Simone and Councilmembers Christopher Marte and Erik Bottcher.

A phalanx of local politicians rallied to save Beth Israel Hospital, including, from left, Kristen Gonzalez, Harvey Epstein, Jerrold Nadler, Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Deborah Glick. Office of Harvey Epstein

Tompkins ‘shooter’ nabbed; 50 prior arrests

BY SARAH FERGUSON

Police arrested the man they believe is responsible for two shooting incidents in Tompkins Square Park in March that left two innocent bystanders seriously wounded.

Waldemar Alverio, a 38-year-old homeless man who had been staying at the Project Renewal homeless shelter on the Bowery, was picked up on Delancey Street on Tuesday afternoon and charged with three counts of attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment in connection with both shootings.

He was held without bail and was set to appear in court on April 1.

In the first incident on Sat., March 16, Alverio allegedly got into a dispute with two men who chased him through the park and pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to a witness cited in the criminal complaint.

As the two men were walking away, Alverio allegedly pulled out a gun from his crossbody bag and fired multiple shots, missing his assailants but striking two bystanders who happened to be in the area just east of the Avenue A playground — then filled with parents and young children.

One bullet struck a 56-year-old woman from Illinois in the hip. The woman, who was reportedly visiting her son in New York City to watch

him run a half-marathon, instead had to undergo hip-replacement surgery due to her injuries.

Another bullet struck the buttocks of a 26-year-old male, fracturing his pelvis. Both victims were treated at Bellevue Hospital.

Then on March 21, Alverio reportedly fired off five to seven shots at a man near the chess tables at Seventh Street and Avenue A. He reportedly missed the man, but a bullet pierced a window across the street, above Niagara bar.

In both incidents, Alverio fled the park by bike. Police said they are still ascertaining a motive for these brazen daytime shootings, though one police source said they believe the disputes involved drugs.

But local police were already quite familiar

6th Precinct continues to hit drug dealers

BY THE VILLAGE SUN

Police officers from Greenwich Village’s 6th Precinct are keeping the pressure on drug dealers along Sixth Avenue and other spots in and around Washington Square Park.

“We will continue to aggressively remove dangerous and illegal drugs off of our streets,” Captain Jason Zeikel, the precinct’s commanding officer, declared on X. “Listening to our community, we will continue to aggressively pursue drug dealers on the 6th Ave corridor.”

The precinct’s X page recently showed photos of dozens of small packets and containers of

confiscated street drugs from busts made at Sixth Avenue and Third Street on March 23 and at Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.

And the crackdown is not limited to highly addictive and dangerous hard drugs, like crack cocaine, fentanyl and heroin. Local cops are also making busts at unlicensed marijuana shops and seizing their goods, as seen in a March 6 post on X sporting a photo of a huge haul of weed products.

“If you are interested in buying cannabis,” Zeikel advised, “buy it from a New York State-licensed dispensary not an illegal smoke shop.”

Happy Passover!

with Alverio, who has been arrested more than 50 times since 2010. A detective quoted in the complaint said he recognized Alverio from “frequent interactions” in the park and said he arrested him for burglary in 2021. (Police also ID’d him by the distinctive tattoo of his name “Waldemar” on his right hand that was visible on the surveillance footage police retrieved from cameras operating outside the park. The cameras posted inside the park were reportedly broken at the time of the shootings.)

The N.Y.P.D. could not confirm at press time whether Alverio was on parole at the time of the park shootings, or whether any of his prior arrests involved guns or violent assault. But he appears to be exactly the kind of “recidivist,” or repeat offender, that Mayor Adams says the city and lawmakers need to target to get a handle on rising street crime — and

public perceptions of crime in New York City.

Last week the 9th Precinct posted on X/ Twitter how it is stepping up foot patrols inside the park, and on Wednesday evening there was a police van parked in the center oval — a move cheered by all the parkgoers that The Village Sun spoke to.

“I’m glad that the cops are back patrolling the park again, but it shouldn’t take two innocent bystanders getting shot for them to give us the attention that that park needs,” said Abby Ehmann, a longtime resident who owns the bars Lucky and Hekate on Avenue B.

But even with increased patrols, parkgoers said they still don’t exactly feel “safe.”

“It’s a step in the right direction, but something’s gotta change,” said Matt Impastato, who was hanging in the dog run with his Rhodesian Ridgeback. “There’s more and more instances of random, unprovoked violence,” he noted, citing the latest trend of young women being sucker punched by strangers on the street. “And the other commonality is it’s been people with a prior record of arrests or mental health problems,” Impastato observed.

“They keep quoting statistics that crime is down, and I want to believe them, but there is just one shocking incident after another, and I don’t have much faith in the mayor to fix it,” remarked Dan Isaacson, a book editor who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. “This won’t be solved until unless they get all these guns off the street,” he added.

A police van was parked in the park on the night of Wed., March 27.

Photo by Sarah Ferguson

Highway robbery or streets savior?

Continued from p. 1

“Many things have changed since 2019 and while it is the right public policy, we must seriously consider if now is the right time to enact it,” Cuomo said. “New York City still hasn’t recovered from COVID; office occupancy is still at only 48.9 percent. For many, traveling to the city is no longer a necessity — and for some it is an unwelcome hardship.

“What impact will an additional $15 entry surcharge have on New York City’s recovery in this moment — when the migrant crisis, crime, homelessness, quality of life and taxes are all pressing problems?

“More important, the policy’s success hinges on people’s confidence that mass transit — which is still operating 29 percent below pre-pandemic ridership levels — is a safe alternative.”

In his column, Cuomo also slammed “local leaders” for not demanding an independent environmental impact study for the scheme or insisting that the revenue raised be “put in a lock box for more transit police” and for stopping fare beaters, who are draining millions from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority each year, he noted. Cuomo comeback?

Charles Komanoff, a leading advocate for New York City congestion pricing, for one, was disappointed by Cuomo’s aboutface. There are rumblings Cuomo is eying a possible run for mayor.

“I think it’s ill-timed, ill-conceived and illfated,” Komanoff said. “The sad thing is he’s desperately trying to stay politically relevant. And seeing the jitters [about congestion pricing], he’s thinking it may help him. But it won’t stop congestion pricing.”

A Harvard-educated Tribeca resident who “refounded” Transportation Alternatives in 1986, Komanoff prides himself on his “Balanced Transportation Analyzer,” an Excel spreadsheet that can spit out 160,000 “equations.” On Oct. 10, 2017, at a high-powered meeting at the Empire State Building, at their request, he presented the device to Cuomo staffers and the city and state Department of Transportation and M.T.A., to help them, as he said, “frame” the congestion pricing plan, convincing them to move ahead with the bold idea.

Komanoff called Cuomo “brilliant” for deciding to set a firm “revenue target” for the M.T.A. under the plan. That means the toll rates can’t really be lowered and exemptions must be kept to a minimum.

“If you’re going to raise a billion dollars a year, it has to bite,” Komanoff said. “It means it’s going to price some drivers off the road — and that’s going to decrease traffic.”

As for the resistance, he shrugged, “The same thing happened in London and Stockholm. Within a year, it’s going to be accepted.”

Other laws that “upended the status quo,” as he put it, from the pooper scooper law to the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, were eventually accepted as part of everyday life, as the traffic fee will be, too, Komanoff assured.

“Congestion pricing is like a slam dunk for New York City,” he enthused. “Trucks will come in faster and have fewer parking tickets. There’ll be less traffic, less honking, less aggression.”

Small trucks will pay a $24 congestion toll, large ones $36. All overnight rates would be 75 percent less.

Komanoff basically accused the plan’s opponents of ignorance.

“It’s sad,” he said. “They don’t know how to run [traffic] numbers, they haven’t run the numbers. This is not a back-of-the-envelope thing.

‘Some will take a hit’

“A few hundred or a few thousand people will take a hit,” he conceded. “Some will have to dig into their pockets and pay — but they will get a faster commute, fewer traffic snarls, more places to park.”

For residents in the zone who use their cars for work, such as to carry equipment or tools to jobs around the metro area, Komanoff said to get creative. For example, they could “store” tools at spots outside the zone or double up their loads to make fewer trips.

Told that, East Villager Chris Ryan, a movie technician who is married to former City Council candidate Allie Ryan and is another plaintiff in the community lawsuit, hit the roof.

“I literally have a small futon mattress, heater, extension cord and changes of clothing in my vehicle due to the odd, unpredictable hours, weather conditions, safety concerns and scenarios I face,” he said. “I rarely know what borough I will land in — ranging from Staten Island Boy Scout camps to Far Rockaway beaches, the Bronx and everything in between — and often don’t know what county or state we will be working in. But no matter where I go, I return home to the Central Business District residential zone and get billed $15. And 3 to 5 grand a year is not a simple inconvenience for a working-class family of four.”

London calling?

While residents in London’s congestion zone get a 90 percent toll discount, Komanoff said that would not work here.

“There’s five times as many people” in Manhattan’s congestion zone as London’s, he said, noting, “If you were to do that, you’d be taking away a noticeable chunk of the [M.T.A.] revenue.”

In addition, drivers from the boroughs would complain that an exemption for Manhattanites

cles, such as Uber and Lyft, over the past decade. This has flooded the streets with around 80,000 vehicles, many of them plying Manhattan’s CBD. In fact, in 2019, according to New York City D.O.T., FHV’s comprised a whopping 30 percent of “Manhattan core traffic.” Last October, City Hall tried to exempt electric vehicles from the FHV cap, but a temporary restraining order is blocking that move, thanks to a lawsuit by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Komanoff filed an affidavit in support of the lawsuit.

TransAlt’s take

Transportation Alternatives, the group Komanoff revived in the ’80s, is one of the biggest supporters of congestion pricing.

living in the zone was unfair, Komanoff said, calling it “bad optics.”

“They would resent it,” he said. “It would be untenable.”

The plan is that New Yorkers who earn less than $60,000 annually can apply for a tax credit to offset the congestion toll.

Another oft-heard complaint is that elderly or other New Yorkers who need to drive to hospital appointments, for example, will be socked by congestion pricing. To which the transit advocate said, “Most of ’em can take a bus or train. If they’re driving grandma to Sloan Kettering for chemo or whatever, the trip is only going to take 20 minutes instead of 40 — and that’s going to be good for grandma sitting in the front seat.”

‘To raise a billion a year, it has to bite.’

— Charles Komanoff

Business impact

But others, like Susan Lee of New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax, another community lawsuit plaintiff, warn of the traffic toll’s impact on businesses, specifically restaurants in Manhattan’s Chinatown. In response, Komanoff did a study, holding a clipboard outside Great N.Y. Noodletown, at 28 Bowery, during lunchtime one day last May. In a half hour, 32 diners came on foot or by subway, three by bike and two by car or taxi. He admitted it was a nice spring day, which encouraged walking and biking.

Basically, Komanoff said he has studied Manhattan congestion pricing exhaustively and is confident it’s the right call.

“I know more about this thing — its benefits — than anyone on the planet,” he declared.

Of course, a major reason for New York City’s congestion has been the explosion of for-hire vehi-

Emily Jacobi, T.A.’s Manhattan organizer, said, “New York City is the most traffic-congested city in the United States — and this congestion fills our air with pollutants, harms our pedestrians and bike riders, traps our emergency vehicles in car traffic, and costs our metro area well over $20 billion annually. The status quo is deeply inequitable — especially for lower-income New Yorkers or New Yorkers of color, who are less likely to own cars and significantly more likely to ride transit to work. With fewer cars in the Central Business District, it will be easier for shipping and freight to make more deliveries in less time, ambulances to speed to hospitals, and workers who rely on cars to work more efficiently. New York City must implement congestion pricing now because driving a personal vehicle into Manhattan comes with real costs for everyone — especially our youngest and oldest New Yorkers, who are especially impacted by traffic crashes and asthma from car exhaust.”

Former Councilmember Kathryn Freed, who is also part of the class-action lawsuit against congestion pricing, agrees with Cuomo that now is not the time for the scheme.

“Yeah, he’s saying everything we’ve been saying,” Freed shrugged of Cuomo’s op-ed.

As for Komanoff, she retorted, “Charlie doesn’t understand because it’s not his air and his health that are being impacted.”

L.E.S. traffic increase

As Freed wrote in a talking point in The Village Sun this past December, congestion pricing actually would increase traffic and pollution on the Lower East Side along the F.D.R. Drive between the Brooklyn Bridge and E. 10th Street, since the Drive — like the West Side Highway — would not be tolled.

“I do have 9/11-related respiratory problems. If he knew that his air quality was going to get 19 to 26 percent worse, he might be a little concerned about it,” she said of Komanoff. “Why is it always the areas that are people of color or where people are older who always get screwed?”

She added, “Allowing the 85,000 Ubers to drive in this area for free — they will be polluting.”

Meanwhile, the Lower East Side, where Freed, who is also a retired judge, lives on Grand Street is a transit desert. It’s at least a 15-minute walk for her to reach a subway station (Delancey/ Essex Street, which does not have an elevator and is not scheduled to get one). Plus, she feels the transit system currently is not even safe.

Subway safety

“Just last week, three people got pushed in

Transportation guru Charlie Komanoff, 76, outside Ess-a-Bagel at Peter Cooper Village, where he had just biked to drop off his homemade chili to his mother-in-law, after having pedaled from his home in Tribeca to the Upper West Side to visit his sister. His final leg would be back to Tribeca.

Photo by The Village Sun

Congestion pricing hits roadblocks

front of the subway,” she said. “The problem is a lot of people are afraid to go into the subways. I won’t go into the subway at night, I’m an older woman. There are so many people with mental problems. We need to solve that problem before people go back into the subways.”

Like others, Freed is skeptical that the M.T.A. would even make good use of the congestion revenue. She noted some recent agency clunkers on everything from supposedly fare-beater-proof turnstiles that failed to new subway cars without doors in between them — meaning no escape from disruptive or reeking passengers.

“Does anyone really expect these guys to come up with a proposal that works?” she asked.

Meanwhile, Freed continued, people who have automobiles in Manhattan have them for a purpose.

“They have cars because they have relatives to visit or for medical visits,” she noted. “It’s not easy to drive a car in Manhattan. I drove a cab for a while. I lasted like nine months. People drive in the city when they have a reason — you don’t do it for fun.”

Like others, Freed warned congestion pricing will spark an exodus.

“The middle class will leave,” she said. “They showed that they’ll leave during COVID. What are they turning Manhattan into? A place for healthy young people who can ride bikes, who can walk a mile to the subway. Anyone who has a disability, anyone who is older is going to leave.”

Komanoff suggested Freed just “get a beater” bike to ride to the subway. However, she has a condition that makes it unsafe for her to bicycle.

‘It’s like a war on car owners.’

— Meredith LeVande

M.T.A. not bending

Regarding the community lawsuit, Jack Lester, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the M.T.A. is not compromising.

“The M.T.A. is adamantly opposed to any sort of settlement,” he said.

Lester said five cases against congestion pricing — two from New Jersey, three from New York — were recently combined in a New Jersey court.

“The magistrate asked that everyone submit proposals, which we did,” he said. “She reported to us that the M.T.A is against any settlement.”

The New York City community lawsuit’s key point is that a full environmental impact statement, or E.I.S., for congestion pricing must be done.

The attorney said the toll would be “devastating” for people on fixed incomes or living paycheck to paycheck — and that this should have been studied under an E.I.S.

“The problem with saying most people who have cars are wealthy is there’s no data to support that,” Lester said. “What about an E.M.S. worker, teacher, musician? The number of people that will be horrendously impacted is endless.” Without an E.I.S., he said, “We can’t point to any statistics that will tell you exactly what the impacts will be.”

According to city D.O.T., in 2019 half of all vehicle trips into the Manhattan CBD were by those earning $100,000 or more, with only 5 percent earning under $25,000.

‘E.I.S. is essential’

Instead of an E.I.S., the M.T.A. only conducted a less-rigorous Environmental Assessment Statement, or E.A.S.

Meanwhile, Lester said, other revenue-raising alternatives for the M.T.A., such as bond issues or using the real estate surplus tax, have not even been considered.

“They did a voluminous E.A.S., that’s true,” he said. “But all the findings of impacts were ignored. The M.T.A. either came to the wrong conclusion or chose to ignore it.”

In short, the M.T.A. declared the E.A.S. findings showed that implementing the plan would have “no significant impact” and left it at that. And yet, for one thing, all the E.A.S. scenarios found that pollution and traffic would rise along the F.D.R. Drive, as Freed has noted.

April 4 in district court in New Jersey will be the first chance for a judge to weigh in on the contentious congestion pricing issue. The New York City community lawsuit will be decided in a New York court. Lester said all the cases will be decided by June.

“Congestion pricing is unprecedented,” he said. “It’s been undertaken nowhere else in America. Is the M.T.A. using the good citizens of New York as guinea pigs? It’s a very paternalistic, government-knows-best approach.”

Teacher’s torment

Meredith LeVande, another one of the local lawsuit plaintiffs, lives on the Lower East Side and works as a music teacher for special-needs kids at seven different Bronx public schools. Sometimes she travels to more than one school per day.

Six mornings a week, she loads her Honda with two guitars (she brings two so she doesn’t have to stop to fix a string if one breaks), a speaker, wireless mic, cables and classroom props, then drives one block to the F.D.R., and zips up to the Bronx.

“Twenty years ago I tried to take a strippeddown version of my gear on a subway — and I got stuck in the subway doors,” she said. “And there are no elevators [in the station]. There’s no way to carry all of this stuff on the subway — and the subway is close to a mile from my home.”

Plus, she said, even if she could physically

manage it, she is not comfortable lugging all her gear to the subway in the early mornings when it’s still dark out. Her car is protection.

“There were kids beating each other up on the street and I Instagrammed it,” she said. “I have seen people brandishing weapons. If you have a lot of equipment, you’re not in a position to defend yourself.”

LeVande attended an M.T.A. public hearing on congestion pricing in late February. She bristled when a member of the agency’s Perma-

nent Citizens Advisory Committee stood up and called car owners “privileged.”

“Most New Yorkers cannot afford to own or regularly drive a car,” the PCAC member, Kara Gurl, testified. “It’s not at all unreasonable to ask those with the privilege of owning their own private vehicle to pay for the negative impacts they inflict on New Yorkers — fumes and pollution, unsafe streets and roads, constant noise and congestion at all hours of the day.”

Gurl branded car owners against the traffic toll “entitled traffic-lovers.”

“I’m not privileged enough to afford housing near the subway,” LeVande retorted. “It’s much more affordable to own a car than for me to pay $2,000 a month more in housing. I just find that a completely elitist statement.”

In fact, she said she moved to the Lower East Side from Washington Heights for cheaper rent.

“I service students that really, really need me, marginalized children,” LeVande said. “It makes a difference in their lives. I’ve been labeled a privileged polluter just because I drive one block [to get onto the F.D.R. Drive] to drive to the Bronx.

“This is like a war on people who own cars,” she fumed, “and, like, if you own a car you’re destroying the world. The idea that if you own a car, it puts you into the top 1 percent of wealth.

“This is America,” LeVande said, indignantly. “I think we’re going down a very dangerous slope if government is going to say, you don’t have a right to drive home without paying us.

“It’s something,” she said, “that literally keeps me up at night.”

After driving up from the Lower East Side, Meredith LeVande carries and pushes all her gear to one of the several Bronx public schools where she teaches music to specialneeds kids.

Courtesy Meredith LeVande

EDITORIAL

For whom CP tolls

Jimi Hendrix sang about trying to break through “Crosstown Traffic” — but that was nearly 60 years ago, long before more than 80,000 Uber and Lyft app-hail cabs compounded New York City’s congestion chaos.

The Big Apple’s first-in-the nation congestion-pricing plan is currently being challenged by numerous lawsuits, and it remains to be seen if anything from these will stick. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to kick off the fees in late June.

After the M.T.A. on March 27 finalized the toll fees, Tribeca-based transportation guru Charles Komanoff trumpeted, “NY congestion pricing is a big deal…changing the twin paradigms of motordom and polluter impunity.”

Yet, now even former Governor Cuomo, who initiated the plan, says it has not been adequately studied — and is calling for a full environmental impact statement, or E.I.S. We agree. There are simply too many questions about potential negative impacts, including traffic displacement and economic hardship for both residents and businesses.

Ideally, the $1 billion raised annually for the M.T.A. really would improve subway and bus service, leading to faster, safer mass transit. However, the M.T.A. is viewed — and rightly so — by many as a black hole for taxpayer dollars.

Also, the number of violent and deadly incidents in recent years has scared off many from using the subway. The idea that CP will make some drivers take mass transit seems wishful thinking until subway safety is vastly improved.

In 2023, fare evasion alone cost the M.T.A. $700 million — a problem both the M.T.A. and police must tackle. That amount nears the revenue CP is meant to raise.

While CP advocates note most New Yorkers don’t own cars, and that drivers tend to be wealthier — and could eat the toll — there’s no question this plan would disrupt and financially impact many thousands of residents’ lives, in particular, those who live in the so-called Central Business District — shockingly defined as all of Manhattan south of 60th Street. This area, in fact, has some of the world’s most iconic RESIDENTIAL neighborhoods, like Greenwich Village, the East Village, Lower East Side and, yes, Soho, too. Seemingly responding to criticism, the M.T.A. has now quietly changed its name to the Congestion Relief Zone.

Meanwhile, residents in London’s CP zone get a 90 percent discount — even as its zone continues to be congested.

Also, the M.T.A.’s traffic data for its CP studies was collected pre-pandemic, and traffic and transit use have changed significantly since then. Manhattan office vacancy remains around 50 percent.

App-hail companies, like Uber and Lyft, stand to profit immensely by this plan. There is a radical reshaping of transportation going on in New York City. As critics say, “Follow the money.”

The M.T.A. plans to reassess CP after a year or so. But, we agree with the community lawsuit represented by attorney Jack Lester: CP’s environmental and economic impacts should have been fully studied beforehand — in a full-scale E.I.S., as opposed to a less-rigorous environmental impact assessment.

Still, we support CP’s goals: cleaner air, quieter and safer streets (what about all the e-bikes, though?) faster mass transit, fewer cars in our RESIDENTIAL district.

Tom Fox, a visionary who helped create Hudson River Park, backs CP. As for Lower East Side activists’ concerns it will increase pollution and traffic along the F.D.R. Drive, as the E.A.S. confirms, Fox — who also founded New York Water Taxi — countered: “There won’t be more pollution. The wind blows from the west.”

Wind patterns or not, though, congestion pricing seems a leap of faith, especially when done without an E.I.S.

LETTERS

Save newspapers

To The Editor:

Re “Save local news!” (editorial, March):

I could not agree more. The New York Local Journalism Sustainability Act would provide tax credits to local community-based newspapers for hiring local news reporters. It is important to lobby Governor Kathy Hochul, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, along with your local state lawmakers, to support this critical legislation.

Daily and larger newspapers concentrate on international, Washington, Albany, business and sports stories. They have few reporters covering local neighborhood news.

Community newspaper readers patronize advertisers; they provide the revenue to help keep them in business. Let us hope there continues to be room for everyone, including The Village Sun.

Larry Penner

Beloved businesses

To The Editor:

Re “Village Cigars won’t be weed shop or bank” (news article, March): I consider Village Cigars a major landmark, sign and all. Please keep it the same way!

When I was a designer at Connoisseur magazine in the ’80s, we ran a feature on a brilliant miniaturist who had created a perfect miniature model of Village Cigars. We’ve lost too many

Flower power

landmark sites, such as The Riviera, Chumley’s and more. Perhaps plaques showing the history and signage of these places, so embedded in our lives, should be placed outside of any businesses that replace them.

Stephanie Phelan

Do better, Eric

To The Editor:

Re Interview with Mayor Eric Adams (news article, March):

I had high hopes for Eric Adams. Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize he is unable or uninterested in solving our city’s problems.

E-bikes must be licensed. Many who use them are trying to make a living. However, others who use them are facilitating crime. And they should be required to have insurance.

I’ve loved Washington Square Park since adolescence and spent considerable time enjoying the music and performances and feeding the squirrels. Unfortunately, the overpriced Bloomberg redesign, the overdevelopment of N.Y.U. and the arrival of the park conservancy (which the former Manhattan borough Parks Department commissioner told me to my face would never exist) have turned a magnet for tourists and locals into a local nightmare. Now it is dangerous and, as I am aging in place and disabled, I no longer go there.

The mental health crisis is real and the migrant crisis has worsened it.

I support outdoor dining, but the Central Village is filthy and we need sanitation to step up. And there are now often as many as two illegal smoke shops on a single street — taking revenue from the legitimate ones. Turning over enforcement to the sheriff without adding staff is a joke.

When a police officer is finally spotted giving a ticket to one of these bicycle miscreants, I predict a crowd will gather to applaud the officer.

Make no mistake, Transportation Alternatives is the villain in this piece, having taken over the transportation committees of our community boards and having bought and paid for our City Council and mayor. Join the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (EVSA) and fight back.

Ron Wisniski

City failed Merle

To The Editor:

Re “Merle Ratner, 67, longtime peace advocate is killed while crossing street in East Village” (news article, March):

Merle did everything right: She crossed the street in a marked crosswalk with the pedestrian “walk” sign illuminated. The driver who killed her did everything wrong: He took a left turn and didn’t yield to her, driving over her and crushing her to death. Merle is dead and the driver walks free.

That’s a failure of two city agencies: the N.Y.P.D., which let the driver go, and the Department of Transportation, which never made this intersection safer for pedestrians. There are many possible tools: pedestrian islands, extended crosswalks, different timing for pedestrians and vehicles.

Right now our only hope is for congestion pricing, which will lower the amount of vehicles traveling on our streets, making them safer.

Choresh Wald

Justice fighter

To The Editor:

After the warmest U.S. winter on record, spring is here and flowers and trees are blooming from the East Side to the West Side, including pink c amellias in the Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village.

I could go on and on, but I’ve made my point. I was not a fan of Bloomberg, but at least he had managerial skills and could run NYC.

Susan Goren

E-bike enforcement

To The Editor:

Re “NYC must regulate micro-mobility vehicles” (talking point, by Maria Danzilo, March):

The regulation of all e-vehicles via licensing and registration is a commonsense response to the chaos and danger every New Yorker who dares to walk anywhere in our city experiences every day. And it ain’t just delivery workers.

Every day more Citi Bikes hit the streets driven by entitled, uncivil, selfish riders who know the rules but break them anyway because they fear no consequences. Enforcement is the only answer. Write tickets. Impose fines. Collect fines.

Re “Merle Ratner, 67, longtime peace advocate is killed while crossing street in East Village” (news article, March):

This is a devastating loss. Merle never stopped working for justice for Vietnam and people affected by America’s devastating use of Agent Orange as a chemical weapon during the Vietnam War. We need to remember the mark chemical weapons leave for generations to come. It’s not a bell you can unring. I know she would have continued working for all of her life, had she been able to live it. Rest in Power, Merle.

Lailah Hanit Pepe

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.

Photo by Susan Silver

Kickin’ out the jams at the Fillmore East

BY HARRY PINCUS

The passing of Wayne Kramer of the MC5 in February, as well as the Grammy tribute to Tina Turner, took me back to the long ago. All I could think of while watching the tribute was the actual Tina, and her magnificent legs, as they pounded the stage like jackhammers, surrounded, of course, by the Ikettes, and the now reviled Ike. I will always see her as she appeared from my vantage point in the balcony of the Fillmore East.

I recently mentioned the Fillmore to someone who lives on Sixth Street and Second Avenue and had never heard of it. This is a shame, and seemed inexplicable until I realized that I was already middle-aged when this person was born. I guess they’ll never enjoy the rice pudding at Ratner’s while watching the entire cast of “Hair” cavorting at the next table, but then again, it’s always wiser to be young.

Back in the era of free-form radio, when I was a teenager, my devotional object was a beige AM/FM Panasonic that invited the Beatles, the Stones and the collective cultural explosion into our otherwise desultory existence. The DJ’s had names like Rosko and the Night Bird, and they read poetry in dulcet tones. Rosko debuted Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” by playing “Lay Lady Lay” 29 times. When one of the purring DJ’s offered free tickets to see a band called the MC5 at the Fillmore East, I called the radio station immediately and managed to get tickets.

Some high school pals and I had already ventured into the Cafe Wha? on a Saturday afternoon, and even a head shop or two. The psychedelic posters were thrilling, bathed in black light, and I’d proudly purchased a huge, garish belt buckle in a Kings Highway head shop called the Id, which we called the Yid. It was a first step toward the real exotica of the Lower East Side, and I couldn’t wait for my free tickets to the Fillmore.

My girlfriend had to come up with an elaborate scheme to escape her parents, and when she and I emerged from the subway kiosk at Astor Place, we entered another world. The Summer of Love was ending, but the seed of revolution had been firmly planted.

A friend told me a story which describes the scene back then. He was getting high and drinking wine with some junkies and street people in front of St. Mark’s Liquors at about 4 in the morning, when a young woman in feathers and furs approached the group. She seemed kind of agitated when she realized that the liquor store was closed, and asked the group if they knew of a liquor store that might be open. One of the junkies laughed at her, and said, “Yo, honey, there ain’t no all-night liquor stores.” The woman in feathers and furs asked if she could share a hit from his bottle, and was once again re-

buffed. Finally, my friend stepped in. “C’mon,” he said, “give her a drink. That’s Janis Joplin.”

I was a clean-cut 16 years old when my girlfriend and I marched wide-eyed down St. Mark’s Place, past the Diggers’ Two Dollar store, the sitar store and the old Balloon Farm, which was now called the Electric Circus. Gem Spa, a corner candy store known for its egg creams at the corner of Second Avenue, had by now become a nexus of hippies, winos, speed freaks, bikers, runaways, narcs and bug-eyed tourists.

Exhilarated and terrified, we hustled down Second Avenue toward Sixth Street and the temple of rock that was the Fillmore East. It had opened in 1925 as the Commodore Theatre, designed in the Medieval Revival style as one of the many theaters along the Yiddish Rialto that was Second Avenue. By now it was the reclamation project of Bill Graham, a tough Holocaust survivor who fled destruction as an 8-year-old, wore a wristwatch on each wrist, and didn’t hesitate to issue blotta boy commands to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. A blotta boy was a gangsta in Yiddish, and Bill Graham was all of that and then some.

I’d heard the MC5 anthem, “Kick Out

capitalism. A free benefit at the Fillmore for the Columbia University strikers, featuring a performance of the play “Paradise Now” by the Living Theatre, had devolved into a disaster when Bill Graham told the incensed audience, “The theater belongs to me because I pay the rent.”

We strode excitedly past the pot dealers and speed freaks, and into the exotic old Yiddish theater lobby, which was dimly bedazzled with colored lights and a panoply of feathered hippies in all their finery. Everything was a blur, and the swirl of lights grew even dimmer as the smell of weed and patchouli oil thickened on each level, as we approached our appointed seats. The theater was amazingly high — the seating, I mean — and yet you weren’t very far back from the stage. The Fillmore was ornate, dark and extremely mysterious, and I wondered who might have performed here, or if my beloved grandfather had once sat in this house.

The MC5 was a ferocious band of revolutionaries out of Lincoln Park, Michigan, featuring Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith, future husband of Patti. Influenced by Beat poets, Black Panthers and a White Panther named John Sinclair, they must have sympathized with the Motherf---ers over Bill Graham’s profit motive.

the Jams,” but it didn’t mean as much to me as the melting, womblike reality of the Fillmore itself. We were surrounded by throngs of kids who were as excited as we were to get free tickets from the radio station. The Fillmore was inundated with teenage girls in bell-bottoms and furs, weed sellers, acid trippers, macramé weavers, runaways, speed freaks, guitar freaks and all manner of stoned freaks.

The theater was amazingly high — the seating, I mean.

Unbeknownst to us, the radio promotion had provoked a turf battle between Bill Graham and a neighborhood collective called the Motherf---ers. The conflict revolved around the profit motive and the offbeat rock entrepreneur, who was threatening to turn a profit out of the old Yiddish theater. The neighborhood bikers and flower children promoted anarchy and opposed

Just as the music was about to begin, the doors of the Fillmore flung open with a thunderous crash and Bill Graham, who had been personally guarding the place, had his nose broken by The Motherf---ers, who knocked him out with a chain. They streamed up the aisles toward the stage, where they began wailing away at the MC5 with their clubs and chains. When the assault had finally subsided, the MC5 roared into their iconic “Kick Out the Jams, Motherf---er” and the concert was on!

I couldn’t believe it, and I couldn’t believe that I had brought my girlfriend, an innocent 15-year-old from Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, to this place. I eventually assumed that the whole thing had been some sort of a dream, but it was actually a fabled event. Rolling Stone magazine reported that the concert concluded when Bowery bums, winos and stick-wielding 11-year-old children ran wild onstage, after the band fled Uptown in a limo destined for Max’s Kansas City.

Every generation has its heroes and myths, and the sweet syrup of nostalgia goes down as easily as an egg cream from Gem Spa. For three bucks we saw Elton John jumping on his piano until dawn, and Eric Clapton onstage with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. Was our music really better than what I heard on the Grammys? I don’t know, but it’s probably unfair to open any random page of lyrics from Bob Dylan and compare it to what we hear today.

Pincus is an award-winning artist and longtime Soho resident. This is an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, “Artist Proof.”

Janis Joplin performing on March 8, 1968, on opening night at the Fillmore East.

Photo by Frank Mastropolo

Tom Walker, 76, stalwart of Living Theatre

BY JOANIE FRITZ ZOSIKE

Thomas Scott Walker, a 50-year veteran of The Living Theatre, died on Jan. 29. He was 76.

Walker was found in his sixth-floor walkup on E. 10th Street in the East Village by his best friend, Jerry Goralnick, a longtime Living Theatre actor. Walker had lived in that same apartment since the 1980s. Everyone in the community knew him and he was always ready to stop on the street and chat with anyone, everyone.

In fact, Walker was a total man-abouttown. He knew everybody in the Downtown art scene and everyone knew him. An avid follower of art, poetry, movement, music and literature, he was always ahead of the curve artistically and politically.

When he wasn’t on stage, Walker was checking out the scene and his radar was infallible. He was a catalyst, turning his friends on to all the trends and curiosities he encountered. He recommended that his friend Jerry check out the Church of Stop Shopping, and soon Jerry was working with Reverend Billy.

For my listening pleasure, he turned me on to Angelique Kidjo and Baaba Maal, poetry, literature. Tom’s mind was a sponge, and his retention of information was awe-inspiring and…well, kind of freaky. He was a font of information, a result of his unlimited passion for knowledge — so much so that he was often referred to as a “walking encyclopedia.”

A Cornwall, Connecticut, native, the young Tom Walker was already recognized in the undergrad theater world at Yale University. He played Malvolio in “Twelfth Night” and Biedermann in Max Frisch’s “The Firebugs.” But conventional theater left him restless. He’d

read Ken Brown’s article about The Living Theatre in City Lights Journal #3 (Kenneth H. Brown authored the company’s 1963 benchmark production, “The Brig”) and was ignited. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Brown, who passed away in 2022.

Walker first encountered The Living Theatre (TLT) at Yale in 1968 during their threeweek residency kicking off their American tour.

“It was as if the circus had come to town,” he recalled. “At the final performance of ‘Paradise Now,’ when Julian Beck shouted, ‘The theater is in the streets!’ the packed house stormed the theater exits. Fearing Judith Malina would be trampled to death, I hoisted her onto my shoulders and carried her to safety. I became a Living Theatre groupie. While summering in Europe, I met up with them. I was also at the free Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park and saw the Berliner Ensemble in East Berlin. In Oslo, Norway, I did a seminar with Eugenio Barba’s Odin Theater and met Grotowski, Andre Gregory, George Bartenieff, Joe Chaikin. I was streaming through life in my steady way.”

Walker joined The Living in Brazil in 1971, spending prison time with them when the government entrapped them on a cannabis charge. He acted in such productions as “Prometheus,” “The Money Tower,” “Seven Meditations on Political Sado-Masochism,” “Antigone” and “Frankenstein.” From the late ’80s until his death, he was a lead actor in works such as Elsa Laske-Shuler’s “I & I,” Armand Schwerner’s “The Tablets,” Hanon Reznikov’s “Anarchia,” Judith Malina’s “Korach” and “We Are Here” and numerous other productions.

Walker’s influence on the world of experimental theater spread far beyond The Living. He fell in love with the work of the Dar a Luz production of “Tight White Right” (1992), di-

rected by the legendary Iranian director Reza Abdoh. He was fascinated by Abdoh’s cutting-edge style, his use of prerecorded sound and stark scenography. Walker subsequently appeared the next year in Dar a Luz’s “Quotations from a Ruined City.”

He also graced two productions conceived by visual artist/master puppeteer Theodora Skipitares, portraying Luigi Pirandello in “Six Characters (A Family Album)” in 2016 and Thomas Jefferson in “The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker” in 2020, a work with which he was also greatly enamored due to its distinctive mixed-media mise en scène, as well as the cross-cultural nature of the piece.

Additionally, Tom acted with and mentored members of Al Limité Collective, co-founded by Monica Hunken, Leah Bachar, Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li, Philip Santos Schaffer, Soraya Broukhim, Jessica Daugherty, Cypress Atlas and Brad Hamer, on international and local projects, all of whom became fully formed (as Tom would say) theater workers during several Living Theatre productions before forming their vital young theatrical company.

A lifelong supporter of the Black Panthers, Tom was a dedicated ally in the struggle against racism and an active proponent of L.G.B.T.Q.+ rights. It might appear that Walker was able to slide into any situation he admired or that captured his imagination, but it was actually that he made himself essential and indispensable while remaining humble and authentic — a rare combination.

Tom Walker had a long, deep relationship with St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, where he participated in services, led poetry workshops with colleague Larry Marshall, and sang with the choir under Jeannine Otis. He was universally loved for his gifts and valued even more as a congregation member. The church held a beautiful memorial in his honor on Feb. 17. The feelings in the room were so palpable that it was clear how far and wide Tom Walker’s influence, energy and fellowship spread across multiple communities in the East Village.

Walker’s last production was the cross-cultural endeavor “Rosetta,” directed by TLT alumnus Yossef K. Junghan, in collaboration

with Brad Burgess, TLT artistic director, performed in Gwangju, South Korea.

“Tom was treated like a rock star in Seoul,” Burgess recounted. “He finally got the recognition he deserved. He was very optimistic about the future.”

Although Walker dealt with ailments, his sudden passing came as a shock to his entire community. As befits a person of his theatrical stature, the tributes came pouring in.

Director Theodora Skipitares recalled him as a “talented soldier in the nonviolent revolution, consummate actor, historian for The Living Theatre and loving mentor.”

“He embodied the erotic enigma of the human body and its presence,” said Carlo Altomare, a member of Alchemical Theatre and TLT. “He understood the deliberate moment of the Artaudian actor.”

Lois Kagan Mingus of TLT and Action Racket Theatre recalled, “Once on tour while exploring a forest in Europe, Tom and I walked over the border. Feeling completely safe with Tom, we calmly backtracked. After 36 years sharing theater and the world, I told him how much I loved him. I’m glad I finally did.”

Martin Reckhaus of Loretta Auditorium and TLT, said of Walker, “I hope that the clarity of your voice will be heard in every theater’s last row.”

“When he sang, it was a sermon. When he performed, his long arms extended, his imposing figure took over the stage,” said Monica Hunken, co-founder of Al Limité Collective and a TLT member.

Garrick Beck, Judith Malina and Julian Beck’s son and Tom Walker’s contemporary, recalled him as “a kindhearted, truly humane human being. Let there be beautiful remembrances that bring us joy; let there be Tom in the ever-living theater of our lives.”

Poet Valery Oisteanu said, “History will long remember you, the Artaud of the East Village. Your soul still glows with glorious fires of rebellion.”

Since its formation in 1948, hundreds of people have joined and left The Living Theatre. Why did this remarkable person stay? Devotion? Dedication? Attachment? Of course. But, at root, Tom was an anarcho-pacifist man of action. He would have made a great Don Quixote, with his impressive stature and handsome visage, his earnest, powerful voice, by turns soothing and convincing. He exuded a sense of urgency in an inexplicable world.

“Theater is not a mirror to reality, but a hammer to shake it. We are catalysts. We go in, we do our thing, we leave. We stir up feelings. The Living Theatre is in the hope business. We are the combatants for peace.”

— Thomas Scott Walker

* * *

Zosike has authored seven plays and four solo theater works, and performed extensively with The Living Theatre for 25 years. She currently directs and performs with DADAnewyork and is a co-founder of Action Racket Theatre.

Tom Walker as Moses in “Korach,” by Judith Malina, at The Living Theatre on Clinton Street. Photos TLT archives

“The Tablets,” by Armand Schwerner, adapted by Hanon Reznikov, at The Living Theatre on E. Third Street, with actors, from left, Willie Barnes, Tom Walker, Sheila Dabney (on Walker’s shoulders), Michael St. Claire and Henry McWilliams.

BY CAROLINE BENVENISTE

As is usual in the spring, there are lots of openings — with a couple of them on Greenwich Avenue. Most of the openings were either Asian or Italian (including pizza), and some of the new spots were from established operators.

Top Openings:

Serpentine — 64 Greenwich Ave., between Seventh Avenue and Charles Street

Niamh Conway is no stranger to the West Village. She is the longtime owner of two Irish bars in the neighborhood, Fiddlesticks Pub and The Galway Hooker. She explained that as she was getting older, she wanted to have a place where her friends would enjoy hanging out — and so, Serpentine was born. It is named after its serpentine-shaped bar and has a calmer, more upscale vibe than her other establishments. The cocktails are original and delicious, like the Rejuvenate, with tequila, pickled jalapeno, Cointreau, guava, turmeric, cardamom, agave, lime and black lava salt. She selected attractive glassware to enhance the experience. The small food menu is fun, with items like Lobster BLT and Tuna Tartare. The space previously housed The Village Sandbar and, before that, The Meatball Shop. San Sabino — 113 Greenwich Ave., at Jane Street

When Benny’s Burritos closed, the space did not stay vacant long. It was immediately leased by the owners of Don Angie next door. Their new restaurant focuses on seafood, but not traditional Italian preparations. For example, one of their more striking dishes is Shrimp Parm, which comes to the table with three large shrimp heads peering out of the dish. Immediately upon opening, reservations (which go live at 9 a.m. a week before) were snapped up. The bar is reserved for walk-ins and the full menu is available. As of now, there are not the long lines that form every day at 4 p.m. at Don Angie.

Also Open:

Mama’s Too (325 Bleecker St., between Christopher and Grove Streets) has finally opened. This popular Upper West Side pizza spot immediately drew lines, like its neighbor, L’Industrie, just around the corner on Christopher Street. Here, the slices are mostly square, and, according to early reviews, they are just as good as the ones at the original location. In Chelsea Market (75 Ninth Ave., between 15th and 16th Streets), Maki a Mano, which bills itself as “a unique multi-concept restaurant blending diverse aspects of Japanese cuisine and culture,” has opened in the space that briefly housed French restaurant Le Song, which had the same owners. The restaurant is tripartite: There is a handroll area, a bar area (yet to open) and a convenience store/shave ice stand. The owners operate other restaurants and stands in Chelsea Market, including Very Fresh Noodles, Bar Suzette and Big Tings. Two different kinds

Comings & Goings

of bao are now available in the East Village: at Gold Bao (68 Cooper Square, between E. Seventh and Eighth Streets) you can get steamed and pan-fried buns and mini-buns.

At Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (15 St. Mark’s Place, between Second and Third Avenues), in addition to the buns, there are soup dumplings that come in different colors and with various fillings, including truffle and luffa. Savta (259

Bleecker St., near Cornelia Street), according to its Web site, is “West Coast Inspired with a French Twist.” When we walked by the place the other day, right before it opened, we met the French chef, who trained in Paris. All’Antico Vinaio, the popular Italian sandwich shop, has opened its fourth location in the city (and second in the Village) at 89 Seventh Ave. South (between Barrow and Grove Streets). The space was at some point Organika, and then a Cuban restaurant called Cuban Cuisine had signage up in 2020 but never opened. It is nice to see some activity on this block that is mostly empty storefronts, with the most recent closure being Jekyll and Hyde

Closing/Closed:

Daily Thread (50 W. 14th St., between Fifth and Sixth Avenues), a discount clothing store, has closed. A sign on the door announces that their four New Jersey locations

are still open. Nat’s on Bleecker (170 Bleecker St., at Sullivan Street) has shuttered. The owner, Natalie Freihon, still operates the popular Nat’s on Bank, and recently opened Nat’s Mountain House in the Catskills, about two and a half hours from the city. Before Nat’s on Bleecker, the long and thin cursed location housed fast-casual Chinese spot Junzi Kitchen, which then morphed into Nice Day Chinese during the pandemic before closing in 2022. I was delighted that my favorite Chinatown dim sum restaurant, Dim Sum Go Go had opened a branch in the East Village (221 First Ave., at 13th Street). I managed to visit a few times before it abruptly closed. The subterranean coffee shop Ad Hoc Collective (13 Christopher St., at Gay Street) is not currently open. A sign on the door states: “Ad Hoc is taking a pause to rest for the new year. Please visit us at sister shops: Rosecrans, Paquita and West10West.” Flip Sigi (131 Seventh Ave. South, at W. 10th Street), which called itself “The Original Filipino Taqueria,” has a sign on the door saying, “After 8 years, and serving over 1,000,000 customers, it is with a heavy heart that we need to say goodbye to our West Village location.” In 2021 they moved from their original location on Hudson Street to the larger location on Seventh Avenue South. They encourage customers to “check online for on-line ordering and future locations.”

Coming Soon:

There is signage up for Burgerhead (353 Sixth Ave., between W. Fourth Street and Washington Place) at the storefront where Balkan StrEAT used to be. I ran into William Djuric, the owner of Balkan StrEAT, and he told me that the new spot would be a great burger place for the neighborhood. With Djuric involved in the new place, I have high hopes for it. For a long time, Whalebone had popped up at 328 Bleecker St. (at Christopher Street), but now that it’s gone, the space will be shared by Bandit, a running store, and Rhythm Zero, a coffee shop, both with locations in Brooklyn. Lilysilk, a clothing store that sells mostly silk products, is opening at 654 Hudson St. (between W. 13th and Gansevoort Streets).

According to a large handwritten sign in the window at 434 Sixth Ave. (between Ninth and 10th Streets), a “General Store for Great Stuff made within 100 miles of NYC” is coming soon. Another sign encourages people who make “cool stuff” to get in touch by sending an e-mail to Caroline@TheLocavore.com.

Other:

Marie Blachere (301 Sixth Ave., near Carmine Street) is retrenching: The bakery section remains open, but the cafe section next door with seating is now for rent. Crumbl (195 Bleecker St., near MacDougal Street) sported a yellow Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sticker on its window. According to the official restaurant inspection document, there were critical violations involving, “Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment’s food or non-food areas.” Two other signs on the window promise, “We are making some necessary repairs! We’ll be ready to serve you again soon” and “Closed for maintenance until further notice.” Figure Eight (18 Cornelia St., between W. Fourth and Bleecker Streets) — the American-Chinese restaurant from the folks at Silver Apricot — has started serving Afternoon Tea brunch. The tea, which is $88, comes in regular and vegetarian versions, and features tea, pastries and unlimited sandwiches. Some of the sandwich offerings are Ginger-Scallion Soy Poached Chicken, Corned Beef Egg & Cheese and Shrimp Toast. Zazzy’s, the pizzeria at the corner of Seventh Avenue South and W. 11th Street, traded in the large letters on its sign for a much smaller and more tasteful marquee. Shortly thereafter, Roma Pizza, which recently opened at Sixth Avenue and W. 11th Street with little flags and glaring lights (that made it look a bit like a used car lot), turned off the brightest of the lights and replaced the large litup signs with small, temporary-looking banners. No one seems to know if these changes were mandated by some city agency.

We appreciated your help this month. We love to hear from you, so please keep writing to us. You can reach us at vsuncandg@gmail.com.

Hot buns, steamed or pan fried, at Gold Bao.

Original and delicious: the Rejuvenate at Serpentine.

The line outside Mama’s Too.

Photos by Caroline Benveniste

ARTS

WOW! Loisaida Center goes Nuyorican

BY RACHEL deARAGON

The three-year closure of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe for a major reconstruction project has not stopped this Lower East Side cultural powerhouse! Nuyorican has brought its wide variety of creative endeavors into collaboration with other local organizations. The result is true cultural dynamism.

WOW! (Women Orators Wednesdays) is a performance space where women speak freely. Moving the rhythm of the feminine from the sweet to the bitter, from the raging to the soft, the voices of women ring out powerfully. This event is held at the Loisaida Center, 710 E. Ninth St., the first Wednesday of each month. Poets are given two to four minutes in front of the microphone. The room is still; the orator is heard. Younger and older — in English, Spanish or whatever language you need to speak — the room is listening.

Men are welcome. This is not an atmosphere of exclusion. It is not a place to compete, but one in which to grow. Snap your fingers to say, “That was a thought well said.”

Felicia Cade hosts, stepping in for Caridad de la Cruz, who brought her Women’s Open Mic to the Loisaida Center, a space as welcoming to all as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Solpreme also hosts an open mic at Loisaida.

Many of the women who step forward to deliver meaningful reflections on the many sides of women’s experience at WOW! are participants in the Saturday writing workshops offered from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Langston Hughes House, at 20 W. 127th St. The program is another Nuyorican Poets Cafe outreach, hosted by poet Felicia Cade.

The spirit of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe integrates seamlessly with an organization whose neighborhood roots and mission parallel the Nuyorican in time, place and

vision. The Loisaida Center, founded in 1979, is an organization which cultivates the self-expression of the young as it teaches, archives and infuses the history of the Spanish-speaking community on the Lower East Side through the arts.

Like Nuyorican, The Loisaida Center was primarily built by artists from the Puerto Rican community who saw the importance of creating avenues of self-expression within a context where their voices were not being heard.

Loisaida is a perfect partner! Alejandro Epifanio Torres is the executive and artistic director, a practical visionary and the spirit that is energizing the Loisaida Center. Through the MUJER (Media Used for Justice Equity and Respect) program, Loisaida Center has responded to the talent and ambition of the young by giving them a unique opportunity to become part of an independent media production project, while

learning technical recording studio skills at the Loisaida TV Studio. (Loisaida TV is a live-stream YouTube channel.) So often dreams can seem out of reach to young people whose horizons are obstructed by poverty and a lack of opportunity. The Loisaida Center builds bridges that make “dreams deferred” into “dreams possible.”

Nuyorican Cafe has not just closed for “Nuyoricanstruction”! It is repositioning itself within a community that embraces the power of art to change the world. On every last Monday of the month, you can dip your spoon into Rome Neal’s Banana Pudding Jazz Jam (another Nuyorican signature event) now at Theater for the New City, at 155 First Ave. Or catch a Nuyorican poetry slam at the Bowery Poetry Club, at 308 Bowery, hosted by JRose, every Monday night at 7 p.m.; or at the International Center of Photography on a Thursday, every other month (the next is on May 9).

WOW! host Felicia Cada a.k.a. “Rise Felicia.”

Grace, one of the performers, reading from her notebook.

Participants in the March WOW! open mic event at the Loisaida Center.

Photos by Ron M. Trenkler-Thomson

TNC gala shines spotlight on theater itself

BY CLAUDE SOLNIK

Monday is traditionally the day when theaters are dark, stages are empty and performers take a break, providing a kind of industrywide intermission. It is also a day when events designed for performers and the theatergoing community often take place.

So, about 200 people, including performers, donors and simply fans of one of New York City’s longest-going and truest homes to new work, united Feb. 12, as Theater for the New City held its 21st annual Love N’ Courage benefit at the Players club on Gramercy Park South.

Phoebe Legere emceed and performed at the event where Charles Busch sang, Penny Arcade (the evening’s honoree) and TNC’s Street Theater cast performed and students in the theater’s after-school cultural arts program belted out a song.

TNC Creative Artistic Director Crystal Field, an impresario who has helped bring so many actors and creators’ work to the public, spoke about the East Village theater’s performers, its mission and ongoing role in presenting new work.

It was at once a night to showcase theater and performers and, for a moment, to appreciate, and financially and spiritually support, the theater itself, such an essential element for talent and audiences.

Performers repeatedly singled out co-founder Field, as well as TNC itself, located at 155 First Ave., at 10th Street, for her role in nurturing creativity, careers and craft, helping them find a voice that otherwise might never have emerged.

TNC board member Mary Tierney put it simply, saying the event was held at the Players club, a landmark, “just like Theater for The New City.” While theaters themselves don’t typically get applause at performances, many paid tribute to the theater, its leaders and staff.

“Crystal was right there rooting for me” over the years, Legere said, calling her a mentor, as the evening began. “Let’s make some theatrical magic,” Legere declared, before launching an evening of performance interspersed with praise.

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, chairperson of the Council’s Cultural Affairs Committee, announced a grant for the theater to support the building itself, and called Crystal Field a “a visionary and a pioneer” who had created a “special place” with “heart and grit.”

“Theater for New City is a garden that allows us to create with freedom and abandon,” playwright and director Melanie Maria Goodreaux said. “I appreciate everyone who has paved the way for all kinds of stories, in all its diversity, to find the humanity that we all crave and the company and people that we all crave at Theater for the New City.”

Performers talked about how TNC has been there for them, providing a kind of artistic home and a loyalty that translates into opportunity.

“Crystal said, ‘Write a play and I will produce it,”’ Charles Busch said of his debut as a playwright.

Field was not only there at the beginning, but over the years, just as Busch has remained loyal to the theater that helped him grow.

“Crystal produced my very first play, ‘Rise,’ when I was very young and it was a terrible play, but she never lost faith in me,” Busch said. “Over the years, every time I’ve been totally traumatized by my experience in showbiz, I would retreat to Theater for the New City and each time my hopes and dreams have been restored.”

Actor F. Murray Abraham provided a $1,000 check as a form of financial support for this Downtown theatrical institution.

The cast of “Ella the Ungovernable,” by David McDonald, performed in another memorable moment at the event, which also included an excerpt from “The Boy Who Listened to Paintings,” by Dean Kostos and Paul Kirby.

The Yip Harburg Rainbow Troupe performed songs by “Over the Rainbow” lyricist and librettist Yip Harburg, whose grandson, Ben Harburg, is a member of the group. Carol Tandava Arts’ Whimsical Hips gave a belly dancing performance.

Brianna Bartenieff said she was working on her first play, which she said would be presented at Theater for the New City.

Penny Arcade, though, may have best summarized the night, indicating TNC provides not just a place to be heard, but a

way for performers to discover themselves.

“At Theater For the New City, I started to find my voice,” the spoken-word artist said. She then launched into a performance,

a tribute to her talent and to TNC’s and Crystal Field’s ability to give people a place and the space to find themselves and be found by audiences.

The evening’s honoree was Penny Arcade, the famed actress, poet, essayist, spoken-word artist and former Andy Warhol Superstar.

Photos by Jonathan Slaff

TNC’s Crystal Field, right, honored City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who was actually last year’s honoree but missed the event because she was giving birth.

Small pooches in a big city need protection

BY LYNN PACIFICO

The smallest dog I’ve had was 23-pound, 13-year-old Daisy Rosebud. Harry, my large Arctic mix, and I adopted Daisy after her owner died.

Daisy was a big flirt. One day she saw a hunky German Shepherd on the sidewalk and flagged her tail in front of him, but he was aggressive. They both froze. Time seemed to stand still. Harry, looking hard at the GSD, let out a loud deep growl. The GSD slowly turned and left. My heart was in my throat. Harry, a friendly sweet dog, protected both Daisy and me, as I would have tried to save Daisy if the GSD attacked her.

No longer having a large, intelligent, protective dog makes me fear having a small dog again. A recent occurrence in our neighborhood underscores this fear. A woman with her small dog in her arms was walking on the sidewalk when a leashed Chow Chow jumped up, grabbed the woman’s dog out of her arms and mauled it. The small dog, seriously hurt, was rushed to the hospital. This poor little dog might never be the same, even if she recovers 100 percent physically. The small dog’s owner will also never be the same. How could they not be fearful?

A friend has a 9-pound male dog. We walked our dogs together and the little male

dog and my 65-pound Pax became friends. Pax and I were visiting them. I was petting Pax when the tiny dog, with teeth bared and growling, attacked her. Pax responded but I stood up holding Pax by her collar, lifting her off the ground. The tiny dog received only a scratched eye. Pax, with her powerful pitbull jaws, could crush large raw bones like crackers. If she had gotten the little dog’s head… . Once a small dog is in a large dog’s mouth there is damage done. We never walked our dogs together again. Dogs exist because their ancestors were

good at catching prey. Without this instinct, they and their pups died. Small dogs’ quick little movements can trigger prey drives. An adolescent dog might never have displayed a prey instinct until, one day in the run, it gets an urge to chase and catch a small dog. They do not yet know this is not allowed. The adolescent dog’s owner is not prepared to handle this situation because it had never happened before.

Small dogs are killed in “all-sizes” dog runs. This is why I lobby for separate runs for small dogs. Our newest is the dog park on Gan-

sevoort Peninsula. I asked that each of Gansevoort’s runs have two gates as a safety feature after I was cornered one night in the Leroy Street run. With a large, threatening, mentally ill man at the only gate, there was no way for me to get out until Pax made him leave. But what if I had had an old or smaller dog?

I recently passed by the Gansevoort run and saw that the gate between the run for large dogs and the one for small dogs was open and dogs of all sizes were running between both runs. Unless the owner of a small dog knows each dog at the scene, this is playing Russian roulette with the small dog’s life. Even if the larger dog’s owner says it is not aggressive, it might be an adolescent about to engage in a prey drive.

Dog runs are a necessity for raising wellbehaved, socialized canine citizens in the city, since without a way to release their energy and play with others, our dogs would be much more aggressive and destructive. We see our dogs as the sweethearts we snuggle, and 1,000 to one, dogs use their survival instincts to protect themselves and their pack, like my Harry and Pax did. But flukes happen. It is so traumatizing to see and hear a small dog being hurt that witnesses rarely return to a run afterward. Protect your small dog. Please keep the Gansevoort gate closed.

Pacifico is a fourth-generation Villager who loves dogs, nature and New York City.

Small dogs can be vulnerable to larger, untrained dogs’ prey drive. Photo by Lynn Pacifico

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Not going swimmingly: ‘Dap’ pool still closed

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Will this finally be the summer the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center’s outdoor pool reopens?

In the words of the center’s namesake, the late Tony Dapolito a.k.a. “Mr. Parks and Playgrounds” of Community Board 2… “Fugheddaboudit.”

It’s been four summers that the beloved Greenwich Village swimming hole has been closed as the rec center, at Seventh Avenue South and Clarkson Street, has been undergoing drawn-out repairs. The project was first budgeted at $4 million to $6 million — but ballooned to $17 million after the structure was found to need a more drastic rehab.

According to a Parks spokesperson, “The Tony Dapolito Rec Center pool will remain closed for summer 2024. During the summer, we encourage patrons to visit Hamilton Fish pool — 1.5 miles away — at 128 Pitt St., at Houston Street.”

(Speaking of fish, the Clarkson Street pool sports a colorful Keith Haring aquatic mural from 1987.)

The Parks Department’s outdoor pools are free of charge for summer swimming.

A projects tracker on the Parks Web site says “The Dap” work is scheduled to finish by this April. That had one Village Sun reader excited at once again “taking the plunge” into the classic swimming spot. (Actually, no diving allowed.)

“I’ve been following the progress and it says completion by April 2024,” Beth Joy Knutsen said. “Are they saying it won’t be done? That would be seriously fakakta after three years,” she said, using the Yiddish word for “messed up.”

But the project tracker needs updating since the building’s very viability is hanging in limbo. Per the Parks spokesperson, “We are continuing the emergency structural stabilization work at Tony Dapolito Recreation Center while we evaluate the facility. We will keep the

community board updated as we move forward with evaluating the facility and next steps.”

The project completion date was first set for 2020, but then extended three times. In July 2022, Jorge Prado, Parks deputy director of architecture for capital projects, told the C.B. 2 Parks Committee that the work’s scope had significantly expanded.

According to the minutes of the committee meeting, “Four rounds of probes have uncovered, during what started as a somewhat limit-

ed project presented to our committee, serious structural degradation. These findings forced both an expanded project scope and the Department of Parks and Recreation to close the building and pools. This extra work, along with the COVID closure and construction pause, has extended the project that started in 2019 beyond the target reopen date of 2020, then 2021, then 2022 — now the target date is summer 2024.

“The discovered structural deficiencies are to the west facade, the north facade and the dome above the gym (a Guastavino arch structure). The Parks Department is going to oversee the execution of the additional scope of work to stabilize the severely deteriorated facades and secure the areas in order to allow opening of the rec center. The pool cannot open until the west facade is stabilized and critical pool repairs are executed.”

In addition, Prado back then said Parks has been exploring tearing down aged rec centers and replacing them with new ones, like the Chelsea Rec Center, at a cost of around $160 million. However, that would be for a cleared lot. The Dapolito center, which was constructed around 1900, would need to be demolished, making the project cost “significantly higher.”

The committee minutes also noted that one local complained the rec center’s being offline so long was causing “a quality of life issue,” attracting homeless people, drug use and trash.

The Dapolito Rec Center has been closed since 2019. In 2014, its outdoor pool was repaired and its Keith Haring mural repainted thanks to The Keith Haring Foundation. Photo by Jonathan Kuhn, NYC Parks

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