No credit where it’s due: Credit to ace reporter New York Times reporter Michael Wilson for a lot of good work in sleuthing out the story behind The Villager’s report last month of an unidentified man found dead in a car parked on E. 12th St. between Avenues A and B at the end of August. read more here »

Garden good and bad: There’s a lot going on at the Elizabeth St. Garden, most of it good, but some of it troubling. On the positive side, last week the French street artist JR created a really cool mural on a wall on the garden’s northern side in a show of support for preserving the read more here »

She walks the line: Spotted at the “Mile-long Opera” on the High Line Friday night was Susan Sarandon. The outspoken Downtown actress was wearing a floppy black newsboy hat  and toting a black messenger-style bag and moving briskly through the crowd. She paused at the High Line amphitheater overlooking 10th Ave. to take in the read more here »

Sock it to us: As he is wont to do, Norman Scherer was out selling Hawaiian shirts on Washington Square North at a street fair last Saturday. Buy a shirt for $10 and get a free bar of natural soap. Hey, it’s a good deal! Like the rest of us, Scherer, a Downtowner-turned-Jerseyite, said he read more here »

Getting down to business: The Small Business Jobs Survival Act will finally have its day — the question is, will it be “rigged”? The City Council’s Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on the long-stymied bill at City Hall on Mon., Oct. 22, at 1 p.m. Steven Barrison, of the Small Business Congress, said read more here »

Never mind the bollards: Back in July, the state Department of Transportation installed the first bunch of new security bollards at a few points along the Hudson River bikeway, such as at W. 30th St., outside the heliport, and at W. 40th St., another spot with commercial traffic crossing the path. Signs posted along the read more here »

Tiles tour bus: We hear that Dusty Berke, who has possession of many of the original 9/11 memorial tiles that formerly hung on the chain-link fence at the corner of Seventh Ave. South and Greenwich Ave., has bought a “huge van,” presumably to take them on tour. As far back as five years ago, Jimmy read more here »

Possible council contenders: We’re already hearing some names who might be interested in running for City Council in District 3 in a few years. Corey Johnson will be term-limited at the end of 2021. District Leader Arthur Schwartz said he’s among them. He’s a little concerned about his health, especially after having a heart scare read more here »

How sweep it was: Sent to us by Jeannine Kiely, president of Friends of Elizabeth St. Garden, is this photo from the 1980s of former City Councilmember Kathryn Freed, with Richard Caggiano, left, and Stephen Parlus cleaning up the desolate vacant lot that would one day bloom into the beautiful garden. Freed, who is now read more here »