MEET THE NEW PARK CHIEF: Sarah Neilson, above, the new administrator of Washington Square Park and director of the planned Washington Square conservancy, if it can actually be called that (see below), introduced herself at the Wed., May 1, meeting of C.B. 2’s Parks and Waterfront Committee. Because the expressive-matter vendors issue, which [...]

MEADOWS BUCKS THE PRESSURE: City Council District 3 candidate Alexander Meadows recently told us that he has been asked, in strong terms, to drop out of the race for Christine Quinn’s Chelsea/Village seat. The Cuban-American candidate told us two individuals have asked him to do it, and that one is an elected official currently serving [...]

CONSERVANCY’S COMING: As you can read in this week’s issue, in an exclusive talking point from Bill Castro, the Parks Department Manhattan borough commissioner, plans are moving rapidly ahead to create a conservancy for Washington Square Park. The issue will be on the agenda of the Community Board 2 Parks and Waterfront Committee meeting on [...]

‘JUNCTION,’ IT’S A GAS, GAS, GAS: Oh, sure, everyone’s talking about the Tribeca Film Festival. But let’s not forget about the Soho International Film Festival, at which “Junction” just took home the grand jury prize — the best competition film of the festival. Matt De Matt, at far right, with cast members in the photo [...]

DARK RIDERS: After our bike was stolen on Avenue B a few months ago, we were psyched to finally recently get some new (used) wheels on craigslist and get back rolling on the bike paths. But as we hit the Hudson River Park bike path in the Village the other evening, we found it very [...]

 ACTION AT LAST AT OLD P.S. 64? East Village journo Sarah Ferguson called Monday to tell us she had just walked by the former CHARAS/El Bohio (the old P.S. 64), at 605 E. Ninth St. near Avenue B and seen a woman posting up a copy of an application to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to [...]

THIS TIME, IT’S NOT ABOUT FRIENDS: Arthur Schwartz has announced he’s running for male Democratic district leader for Greenwich Village, the West Village and South Chelsea, a position he held from 1995 to 2005. Saying his experience in politics left him cynical, Schwartz said he “had to take a break and step aside” in ’05 [...]

Maloney for ‘Ms. Mayor’: Saying Christine Quinn will be “the first woman mayor of the greatest city in the world,” Congressmember Carolyn Maloney proudly endorsed the City Council speaker Monday at the site of a major Downtown voting bloc, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. “Anyone with brains and hard work can get the job [...]

FRIENDS DIRECTOR’S EARLY EXIT: A.J. Pietrantone has left his position as executive director of the Friends of Hudson River Park a few weeks earlier than he had planned. He was slated to depart at the end of this month, but told us he left due to “really, an internal matter — it was internal to [...]