Write on!…? Well, in case you were waiting breathlessly to find out, the official election results are finally in and the names of the 84 write-ins, the legible ones at least, for judicial delegate in the 66th Assembly District have been released by the city’s Board of Elections. There was one write-in vote each for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Mike Blumberg, Brian Lehrer, Ayo Harringon, Ayodelene Harrington, Ayo De Le Harringon, Terri L. Cude, Teri Cube, Paul Newell, Paul Noell, Dennis Gault, Dennis J. Gault, Robert Pinter, Sara Romanoski, Tony Hoffman, Dan Alterman, Alexander Meadows, Marc Wallace, Marc William Wallace, Wei Hi Tjong, Wei Li Tjong and Wei Lit Jong, plus 14 were recorded as “Unattributable Write-In.”
Election snooze…umm…news: Speaking of elections, this Election Day, Tues., Nov. 3, there won’t really be much to speak of on the ballot — mainly uncontested candidates for Supreme Court justice. “Next year we will have four elections to make up for this year,” said Tony Hoffmann, former president of the Village Independent Democrats club. “April 19 will be the presidential primary, June will be the federal primary, September the state primary and November the general election.”
Go Westbeth, young picker: Since this election will be a dud, write-in candidates — real, ridiculous, imaginary — and everyone else looking for some Election Day excitement might as well head over to the Westbeth Flea Market aka the Westbeth Basement Sale. In addition to Nov. 3, the flea market will be in effect Nov. 6-8 and 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Enter at 55 Bethune St. (elevator) or 137 Bank St. (stairs). All proceeds from the flea market go to projects that beautify Westbeth and the public areas surrounding the historic artists’ housing complex. For more information, contact Gina Shamus, a member of the Westbeth Beautification Committee, at 212-691-1574, or westbethfleamarket@gmail.com .
Go west, young tower: When the Police Department’s SkyWatch tower appeared in Tompkins Square Park in July, it nearly started a riot, and was taken down after just a week. Meanwhile, the “eye in the sky” recently landed in Sheridan Square, yet seemingly without any ado. An anonymous dedicated Twitter account, NYPD Tweet Tower, duly noted the watch post’s West Village presence. But Detective Jimmy Alberici, Sixth Precinct community affairs officer, told us, “I didn’t get any complaints. It’s going to be moving around Manhattan,” he said of the erector set-like elevated box. “I think every community is going to get it for two weeks.” As for why the thing was put in Sheridan Square, he said, “That’s our busiest area…but nothing specific.” … Alberici also was on the detail for Pope Francis’s historic Mass at Madison Square Garden the other week. “This is my third visit,” he said, reflecting on his papal policing over the years. “The first time, I was a rookie working the crowd. Now I’m higher up.”
Halloween light: A ghoulishly good time for all is the goal at the 42nd Annual Village Halloween Parade along Sixth Ave. between Spring and 16th Sts. on Sat., Oct. 31, from 7 p.m. to midnight. The uplifting theme of this year’s extravaganza is “Shine a Light.” On the event’s Web site, Jeanne Fleming, the parade’s artistic and producing director, in explaining the theme, quotes Dr. Martin Luther King: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.” Says Fleming: “Bring the light! Bring the love! Shine Your Light! Join us! Hallelujah Halloween!” This year’s lineup includes puppets created by Basil Twist’s studio and others, music by the Hungry March Band and the On the Lam Band, plus more than 50 other musical troupes. Lineup (only for those in costume) will be at Canal St. and Sixth Ave.
Desnudas, fauxcade…O.M.G.! Last week’s Scoopy’s item on the Times Square Task Force’s plan to create a “Times Square Commons” incorrectly said that the idea is to transfer the jurisdiction of the plazas from the Department of Transportation to the Parks Department. In fact, the plazas would stay under D.O.T. control, but the agency would have more power to regulate activity on the spaces. In addition, the item noted that it’s been reported that a key part of the Commons plan — to segregate the desnudas, Naked Cowboy, Batman and Elmo, plus CD hawkers, hop-on-hop-off tour bus ticket sellers, etc. in clearly defined boxes or strips — is being challenged as unconstitutional by civil rights attorneys, and so might well be scrapped. However, City Councilmember Corey Johnson and his fellow task force members disagree that the idea is illegal, and have not given up on it, said Erik Bottcher, Johnson’s chief of staff. “Despite Ron Kuby and Norman Siegel’s claims, time, place and manner restrictions á la Times Square Commons are constitutional and have survived court review,” Bottcher said. … In addition, the caption in last week’s article on the M.T.A.’s “fauxcade” at Mulry Square incorrectly stated that the structure’s gaping window frames would eventually be “prettied up.” As reported in an expanded version of the article on thevillager.com, M.T.A. spokesperson Kevin Ortiz confirmed that, yes, that it is the final look. So those blank, bombed-out-looking windows?… Yup, that’s it. The fauxcade is there to conceal an emergency subway exhaust-fan plant. How did we get to this point? As the more in-depth online article explains, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, four years ago, told M.T.A. NYC Transit that this particular site never really had a full row house on it, but rather had utilitarian, service-type buildings or perhaps just a partial row house, owing to the cut-through that created Seventh Ave. South, but that even that building was not used residentially. The structure should reflect its purpose, the L.P.C. advised NYC Transit, rejecting a design for a full fauxcade that would have covered the structure’s exterior to make it look like a phony Federal-style building. So — we got this! Some of the 9/11 tiles that used to hang on the chain-link fence around the site might be slapped into the cement at the structure’s base — that is, presuming they can be located, much less retrieved, at this point. Last we heard, a couple of years ago, the tiles’ unofficial tender, Dusty Berke, had removed them for “safekeeping,” to an undisclosed location. As for the request of Community Board 2 that NYC Transit at least try to soften the facility’s raw concrete exterior with some Boston ivy, Ortiz said they can’t do it because it would encroach on a neighboring property, but that they are doing everything else C.B. 2 wants, including planting a tree in the triangular space in front of the fauxcade. Shirley Secunda, C.B. 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee chairperson, said while NYC Transit is saying now that they are working with the board, just getting them to agree to the tree was a major effort.
