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Scoopy’s Notebook, Week of June 1, 2017

SCOOPY

‘Pier55, no jive,’ Trust says: Opponents fighting the Pier55 plan in the Hudson River Park have made much ado about an agreement Barry Diller signed earlier this year allegedly “capping” his financial commitment to the embattled project at $185 million. Yet, the price tag of the “fantasy island” pier is now being pegged at $250 million. What gives? ask Tom Fox, one of the City Club of New York plaintiffs who has been battling the project, and Richard Emery, their attorney. And who will pay all those extra millions — taxpayers? they ask. However, a spokesperson for the Hudson River Park Trust, the state-city authority that runs the 5-mile-long park, said Fox and Emery don’t have it quite right on this one. “One hundred eighty-five million dollars was never a ‘cap,’” the spokesperson asserted. “Instead, it is the amount that would come from the donor and is based on the detailed cost estimate that was developed for the project following the concept design phase. As previously noted, Mr. Diller/Pier 55 will be responsible for all [cost] overages. At the same time, the public contribution is capped at $20 million.” A nonprofit group, Pier55 Inc., would be created to operate and maintain the pier under the plan.

Sweet Jane doc: Former City Councilmember Carol Greitzer said she liked our editorial last week on the new documentary on Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City.” The film was about to end its run at the IFC Center last Thursday, but was extended. “Nice editorial,” Greitzer wrote us. “It apparently worked — ‘Jane’ seems to be held over at IFC! You left out one Villager making an appearance in the film,” she added. “There was a fast shot of my then-4-year-old daughter swinging her Raggedy Ann doll in Abingdon Square Park while Jane and I are talking in the background. I think you might have run that picture once in The Villager.” We were correct in noting that we had seen the late Rosemary McGrath in the film, making a speech against Moses’ plan for the elevated Lower Manhattan Expressway that would have bulldozed a path of devastation through Little Italy and Soho. “Yes, that was Rosemary,” Greitzer, who was interviewed for the film, confirmed. “Again, it was a fast shot, so one had to be alert — not even blink — to see it. I saw the film twice, and noticed a lot the second time that I missed the first.” Meanwhile, Judge Carol Feinman, who is a former chairperson of Community Board 2, noted that you can still see the fighting flick easily if it’s no longer playing at IFC. “I rented it on movies on demand on Time Warner, now Spectrum,” she noted.

Hanging out — kind of literally — at the Tompkins Square Park basketball courts, waiting to get into a pickup game. Photo by Bob Krasner

Christopher ‘clarifications’: Following our report in our May 4 Scoopy column that Jessica Berk and her elderly mom, Ruth, have agreed to take a buyout of $250,000 apiece for their 95 Christopher St. penthouse apartment, both Jessica and attorney Arthur Schwartz, who was representing Ruth, sent us messages to, well, clarify what they felt needed to be clarified. “At first I got kind of upset, then I decided two call Art,” Jessica wrote us. “He tells me he was kidding when he questioned if I were in Mom’s will. I’ve been left everything. Also, though Mr. Schwartz is a genius and helped out tremendously, he was not in court that day. The 26 pages [of stipulations] was tossed because the judge wanted me to settle (which I wouldn’t unless it was the prior stip) the case badly. Lastly, there was absolutely no difficulty arriving at a number — since I had always proposed those figures well before Arthur became her guardian. I just refused to be forced out of my apartment right away. So I asked Judge Lebovitz if the warrant could be stayed two years, which turned into 18 months. Thanks, maybe we need to not be this touchy!” For his part, Schwartz wrote, “Ruth and Jessica Berk each will be paid $250,000 on the date they vacate their apartment at 95 Christopher St. Ruth is a strong woman, and we will have to find her a new, wonderful place to live. Jessica wouldn’t be in a position to inherit Ruth’s share until after her death. Hopefully that will be many, many years from now.”

Close-knit community: Speaking of Christopher St., we’ve also enjoyed the colorful new crocheted “tree stockings,” which we saw on the block near the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

Tragic truck victim: Carol Wilson, co-chairperson of the W. Eighth St. Block Association, was good friends with Fern B. Jones, the local resident tragically killed by a private garbage truck on May 16 around 11:40 p.m. while crossing Eighth St. In fact, Wilson had been talking to her on the phone just 20 minutes before the accident. It sounds like Jones, who was 60 and lived on the north side of W. Eighth near Fifth Ave., was crossing Eighth St. at Sixth Ave. from north to south to get to the W. Fourth St. subway station to catch a late-night bus out of town. “My understanding is she was going to get a bus to North Carolina at the Port Authority — so going to the subway,” Wilson said. “She was going to visit her family. When I saw the age of the person and the time that it happened, I figured out who it was right away. I went to the police precinct, and they told me. … She was an intelligent person,” she reflected. “You saw that right away. … She was a personal friend.”

Market relief: A new Trader Joe’s is coming to Hudson Square, at the former Janovic paints spot at the northwest corner of Sixth Ave. and Spring St. This not only comes as very welcome news for this supermarket-starved neighborhood, but should also ease the crowds at the other Trader Joe’s stores on E. 14th St. near Union Square and on Sixth Ave. in Chelsea.