In the stars: Don’t say Melissa Mark-Viverito doesn’t believe in transparency! In response to our request, the City Council speaker readily shared with us the fortune that she got from the all-knowing Zoltar outside Gem Spa during the recent “Follow Me Friday” event she and Councilmember Rosie Mendez led to help businesses still impacted by the Second Ave. gas explosion. Zoltar — well, at least this time — appears to have been eerily on target. “…[M]y dear outspoken one… You have a very sharp tongue… You are of a generous disposition… You have a keen mind. Try to improve it. [Ouch!] Your best friends like you for your ready wit. …” However, Zoltar’s fortune concludes with a cryptic piece of advice: “Try to cultivate a red haired person. Therein lies a great deal of happiness for you.” Hmm… Had this fortune been disgorged a couple of years ago, we might have asked if that was then-Speaker Christine Quinn. Mark-Viverito definitely does look stylish in a red dress, so maybe Zoltar — well, at least this time — is onto something.
Emergency name change: The executive director of the new Lenox Hill HealthPlex, Alex Hellinger, tells us that the facility will be changing its name to Lenox Health Greenwich Village. The name change was required as a result of an agreement between North Shore-LIJ Health System — the regional health giant that runs the Seventh Ave. and W. 12th St. medical complex — and Healthplex, Inc., a dental plan administrator covering 3.4 million people in New York State. It’s expected that signage and marketing materials using the Lenox Hill HealthPlex name will be removed or replaced before Nov. 15, 2015. The six-story medical hub is anchored by Manhattan’s first and only freestanding emergency department, which is open 24/7. North Shore-LIJ has filed a formal application with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to change the building’s signage.
Congrats! Former Villager reporter Sam Spokony is moving on after a year’s stint as Councilmember Margaret Chin’s communications director. He’s now working for Phil Singer’s Marathon Strategies, which specializes in communications and crisis management, and whose clients have included Madison Square Garden, as well as global brands Yahoo! and Walmart, and political heavyweights Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Andrew Cuomo.
Sex sells: Christopher St. writer Robert Heide is miffed to report that while Boots ’N’ Saddles’ relocating to a new home off of his street is a good thing, its replacement is not what people were hoping to see. The gay bar had become a quality-of-life issue for some neighbors due to its uproarious drag queen lip-syncing nights, but eventually found a new, larger space nearby to move to. “Boots ’N’ Saddles left, but what are we getting there?” Heide said. “A porno shop…that’ll be open all night long, 24 hours, fluorescent lights. It’s an eyesore, in my opinion.”
Corrections: Last week’s Scoopy’s Notebook item on Gigi Li running against Jenifer Rajkumar for Democratic district leader incorrectly stated that Li is also running for her third one-year term as chairperson of Community Board 3. In fact, Li is running for a fourth term as the leader of C.B. 3. … In addition, last week’s article on the cash mob event for merchants hard-hit by the March 26 Second Ave. gas explosion incorrectly referred to last Friday’s Shabbat dinner as a Seder, which only occurs during Passover.
