BY LINCOLN ANDERSON  |  Irving Bender, who was married to Mollie Bender, sister of William Gottlieb, the late Village real estate magnate, died Oct. 17 in Highland Beach, Florida. He was 91. At the time of his death in 1999, Bill Gottlieb owned 148 buildings and three restaurants, spread largely over the West Village and [...]

OBITUARIES  |  Dominick Danzo, known as the Mayor of Thompson St., died at Easton Memorial Hospital in Easton, Maryland, on Oct. 11. He was being held by his daughter and son-in-law and passed into the arms of his beloved spouse, Carmella.-He was 97. He was born in New York City to Angelina and Rocco Danzo. [...]

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON   |  John Evans, an East Village artist who created a collage every day for nearly 40 years, died on Oct. 5. According to Pavel Zoubok, who represented him at his Chelsea gallery, Evans died of a sudden heart attack, following an extended battle with hydrocephalus. He was 79. Evans was born [...]

BY TROY MASTERS  |  Donald Suggs, who spent a lifetime engaged in progressive causes, died of a heart attack on Oct. 7 at age 51. A former associate director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and program director at Harlem United, an AIDS organization, Suggs was a founder of People Using Media [...]

BY ALBERT AMATEAU  |  Fellow poets and friends of Sarah Zenis met last week to celebrate the life of their beloved mentor, who presided at Greenwich House’s poetry workshop every other Tuesday for the past 20 years until she died on Sept. 11 at the age of 97. There was lots of laughter as her [...]

BY JEROME POYNTON  |  Bill Heine, an influential figure in the 1960s Downtown art and social scene, died on Sept. 15 at Kingston Hospital after a long illness. He was 83. He was born Bill Mossman, the son of a popular radio show personality. Upon his mother’s divorce, Bill took the name of his second [...]

BY ADAM BERK  |  David Berk, a lifelong West Villager and entertainer, died on Aug. 28 at age 80. Berk was born in the Bronx to Chaim and Frances Berk, and moved to Sheridan Square at the age of 2 1/2. As a youngster, he frequently could be found playing football or stoopball in Washington Square [...]

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON  |   Former Genovese crime family mob boss Matthew Ianniello, a.k.a. Matty the Horse, died on Aug. 15 at his home in Old Westbury, Long Island. He was 92. Ianniello was born in 1920 in Little Italy. Legend has it, he earned his nickname by knocking down an older, opposing pitcher at a [...]

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON  |  A memorial for radical feminist Shulamith Firestone drew 100 to 150 people to St. Mark’s Church on E. 10th St. on Sunday. Along with Firestone’s family members, many prominent figures in the women’s movement from the 1960s and ’70s were in attendance. “Feminists flew in from all over the country,” said [...]

BY NATHAN RILEY   |  The gay rights movement changed history, and it changed Lew Todd from a private person into a public servant who helped integrate L.G.B.T. New Yorkers into the city’s political life, as well as the inner workings of its government. Todd, decisive, pragmatic and amiable, left his mark on New York [...]