SCARY BID HEARING: A date has at last been set for a hearing on the proposed Broadway-Soho Business Improvement District. Scheduled on Halloween, Wed., Oct. 31, at 10 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, it’s technically an “oversight” hearing, according to Kelly Magee, communications director for Councilmember Margaret Chin. “There will not [...]

ON THE MARCH! The grand marshals for this year’s N.Y.U./Community Board 2 Children’s Halloween Parade include some real newsmakers. The trio includes John W. Sutter, The Villager’s former publisher; David Gruber, chairperson of C.B. 2; and Malina Webb, the head of the university’s Student Senate Council. Who knows what these three will be talking about [...]

SHOCKING FEAT: Magician David Blaine is set to electrify the Hudson River Park— and himself — at an event called “Electrified: One Million Volts Always On.” The three-day, three-night stunt will take place on Pier 54, at W. 13th St., and will start on Fri., Oct. 5. A trailer shows Blaine, 39, suspended between two [...]

MEDIA SHAKEUPS: The New York Times is ending its three-year partnership with New York University under which they collaborated to produce The Local East Village community news site. The Times is also backing out of its other “hyperlocal” operation with CUNY in Brooklyn. Oh well, there goes all that free student labor! Meanwhile, the Village [...]

LIGHTING IT UP: N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan fired their latest volley against the university’s 2031 mega-development scheme on Wednesday evening — but it was noiseless, since it was a light show. On behalf of N.Y.U. FASP, “The Illuminator Team,” who used a truck with a projector on top, spent a couple of hours [...]

A VOICE OF CONCERN: We received a phone message on Tuesday from a person who did not leave his name, but the voice mail sounded distinctly like the very distinctive voice of none other than Mayer Vishner himself. The former Yippie and L.A. Weekly editor said, and we quote, “The people at the LaGuardia Corner [...]

WANTED WOMAN: Over the past few days, a disgruntled East Villager has been posting anonymous fliers around the neighborhood that portray Susan Stetzer, Community Board 3’s district manager, in a rather unflattering light. The roughly typed fliers claim that Stetzer is “Wanted: For assault on our civil liberties,” and call her both an “unelected meddler” [...]

THE KOCH FACTOR: Former Mayor Ed Koch will be stumping for Obama. “I’m campaigning for him in Florida after Labor Day,” Hizzoner told us. The Democrats also want him to visit other states beyond the key Florida battleground and Koch is game. “I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” he said. Although Koch bucked [...]

‘CONVERTING’ INTO A PARK? A group of West Village residents have filed suit to stop the construction of the Witkoff Group’s 98-unit residential development at 150 Charles St., site of the former Whitehall Storage building. The developer was granted zoning waivers because the project included a conversion of the former, full-block warehouse building. But, the [...]

THE MOSAIC TRAIL…: Mosaics are hot right now — from the new sign at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, on Avenue C, to the new mosaic murals at the East Village’s Sirovich Senior Center, on E. 12th St. As usual, Jim Power, the East Village’s “Mosaic Man,” is working away on a bevy of [...]