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Scoopy’s, Week of April 17, 2014

SCOOPY MEW
Scoopy the cat was The Villager’s office mascot in the paper’s early days. In fact, there were a number of Scoopys over the years.
Photo by Scoopy
Photo by Scoopy

Fallon Niagara ?uestions? What exactly went down when Jimmy Fallon reportedly got caught in the middle of a brawl at rocker Jesse Malin’s Niagara bar on Thursday night we may never know. A band — no, not ?questlove and The Roots — had just finished playing when things apparently got out of hand. The Daily News said “The Tonight Show” host was “pretty shaken up” and “was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and chaos erupted him.” Yet, the same article noted, “A witness said Fallon was peripherally involved in the 10:30 p.m. imbroglio, but his connection to the combatants, if any, remained unclear.” All we know is that Fallon was looking like a pretty serene dude in this selfie taken while chilling with East Village Facebook phenom Shawn Chittle

Stiles Citi Bike: The U.K.’s Daily Mail Online really went over the top Monday with a same-day report on a sighting of actress Julia Stiles spinning around the Village on a Citi Bike. But the Mail was far more focused on Stiles’s fashion style than her cycling style. “She wore a transparent patterned long-sleeved mini-dress over a black tank top, stockings, and pair of leather booties while on the ride,” the Mail said, “a pair of aviator sunglasses…and gold necklace around her neck which had a crescent moon shaped pendant on it. … [She had] her medium-sized black leather purse in the basket of the bike… . The actress was also seen walking on the same day, but this time wearing a white denim jacket over the ensemble.” Julia’s mom, Judith Stiles, The Villager’s former sports writer, confirmed that her famous daughter is a big fan of the Big Apple’s new bike-share transportation system, and that she’s been riding bicycles forever. “Yes, she loves the Citi Bike program,” Judith e-mailed us from her pottery studio on Cape Cod (while wearing a sensible, comfortable ensemble, we assume). “Her dad used to ride her to P.S. 3 on his bike back when hardly anyone used bikes to get around.”

corey-and-lenaFace(book) the nation: Since this Scoopy’s column seems to be pretty celebrity oriented this week (Scoopy TMZ?) and since we’ve mentioned Facebook, let’s not forget about the City Council’s most Facebook friendly member. Of course, we’re talking about Corey Johnson. On April 7, “CoJo” posted this selfie of himself and Lena Dunham of “Girls” at the Point Foundation Gala at the Public Library’s main branch on 42nd St. (The foundation empowers promising L.G.B.T.Q. students to achieve their full academic and leadership potential.) Johnson’s Facebook posts never fail to inform and amaze. Back on March 9 he shared the story of his his biological father, who had just passed away. His real dad left Johnson and his mom when the future councilmember was just a baby. Johnson’s dad was born in Korea to an American G.I. and a Korean woman and put in an orphanage. He was adopted as a young boy by an American couple who took him to the States for a better life. “I never was able to meet him in person,” Johnson shared on FB. “But we were able to speak many times over the phone these past few years and I got to tell him that I wasn’t angry, resentful or hurt. I got to tell him he didn’t have to worry, that I had a great life because of my mother and stepfather. He told me he loved me and that he wished he could have changed the past. … With no regrets, no remorse and with an open heart, I say, thank you, David Johnson and wish you peace.” Whoa! What a story! As they say, “Thanks for sharing.”

Warning to Witkoff: West Village activist Jean-Louis Bourgeois called us to say he’s now finally ready to stop Steven Witkoff’s 150 Charles St. residential project right in its tracks. O.K., so admittedly the building’s 16-story superstructure — planned to contain 98 luxury units — has already been fully built. “It may be built, but I call it the ‘Ghost Castle,’” the scion of legendary “spiders” sculptress Louise Bourgeois scoffed. “No one is going to be able to live there. There’s a major sewage problem. We’re going to bring at least one suit.” He said he wasn’t at liberty to give us more details right now.

CORRECTION: An article in last week’s issue of The Villager, “Chelsea raises Cain over church air rights sale for jumbo tower,” incorrectly cited an April 2012 document, filed through the city’s Department of Finance, as a deed of sale for the air rights to 126 W. 16th St. That document referred to a previous agreement regarding air rights transfers at the site, but had no bearing on any sale. The article also incorrectly stated that the Einhorn Development Group received city approval for the purchase of air rights from 126 W. 16th St. — but that was based incorrectly on an earlier statement by the developer to a local resident, and such city approval is not legally required for a private air rights sale.