Volume 77, Number 8
July 25 - 31, 2007
Editorial/Op-Ed
Keep traffic-plan momentum rolling
Congestion pricing is not the only way to reduce traffic, but it is the only realistic way to expand bus and train service and protect fares from going too high. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, with the help of a forgiving federal government, was able to put his day of reckoning off a little bit.
Letters to the Editor
Scoopy's Notebook
Talking Point
N.Y.U.’s number-one growth need is a second campus
By Andrew Berman
On June 28, New York University invited the community to view its new, long-awaited strategic planning process. Having hired a team of architects and planners, N.Y.U. says it is taking a long-promised look at its expectations for growth and change over the next 25 years, and sharing with us what they find. The doors to Hemmerdinger Hall were opened, and the public was given an opportunity to hear and be heard by N.Y.U.
Editorial Cartoon
Police Blotter
Scene
Obituaries
Patrick Joseph Shea, 82, salesman traveled world, settled in the Village
By Albert Amateau
Patrick Joseph Shea, a Village resident for more than 40 years, died April 20 of pneumonia in his home on W. 14th St. at the age of 82.
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Villager photo by Nick Brooks
Punks slam-danced and crowd-surfed above the mosh pit during a punk concert in Tompkins Square Park last Sunday afternoon.
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Jerry the Peddler makes pitch for permit, but Parks isn’t buying
By Lincoln Anderson
Since 1986, Jerry Wade has been the go-to guy to get permits for punk concerts in Tompkins Square Park. Wade, known to most by his nickname, “Jerry the Peddler,” applies for the permits from the Parks Department; then, usually someone else handles the rest, from booking the bands to bringing in a stage. Wade then hangs out in the park by the concert in case anything comes up.
 Forget the wigs, Moby to rock HOWL! arts festival this year
By Lincoln Anderson
HOWL! will happen.
After the HOWL! Festival of East Village Arts went on hiatus last summer, the board of directors of the Federation of East Village Artists recently voted to put on the extravaganza from Sept. 5-9.
 Antics out of hand, L.E.S. Jewels faces hard time
By Lucas Mann
The man known to those around Tompkins Square Park as L.E.S. Jewels has become, through his belligerent antics and affection for cameras, a rather notorious, high-profile figure.
Kessler is Eye and Ear’s president
The board of directors of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, 310 E. 14th St., recently appointed D. McWilliams Kessler as its new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Joseph P. Corcoran, who recently retired after 13 years as president and C.E.O.
Greenmarket sprouts in South Village
Grade-A award
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NEWS
 Yet another subway plan fans fears in Mulry Sq.
By Albert Amateau
Villagers are bracing for another construction onslaught from New York City Transit, which intends to build an emergency ventilation plant at Mulry Square to serve the Eighth Ave. and Seventh Ave. subway lines.
Brits retreat, plan new street-sign campaign
By Lucas Mann
On July 10, the Transportation and Traffic Committee of Community Board 2 did the unthinkable. They managed to say no to a group wielding the ultimate weapon of argument: a British accent.
 Velazquez: Funding war should be taxpayers’ choice
By Lincoln Anderson
After the recent failure of another attempt by Congress to set a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Congressmember Nydia Velazquez has decided it’s time for a new approach.
Ancient tree is cut down after branch falls on woman
By Lincoln Anderson
After a woman was seriously injured when a very large branch fell on her in Stuyvesant Square Park on Mon., July 16, the Parks Department cut the tree down. By last Thursday morning, all of the huge old tree had been chainsawed down in sections, with the last remnants waiting to be carted off in trucks.
 Lightning strike is a real shock on quiet MacDougal St.
By Lincoln Anderson and Jefferson Siegel
The torrential rain on the morning of Wed., July 18, was punctuated in the South Village with a brick-blasting lightning strike on MacDougal St.
Amoroso is appointed president of St. Vincent’s Medical Centers
Henry J. Amoroso was chosen as president and chief executive officer of St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers last month to succeed Guy Sansone, who has been president of the St. Vincent’s system for the past 18 months while the institution has been reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act.
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VILLAGER ART & LIFESTYLE
 Potter mania on Mercer St. at final book’s release
By Joe Orovic
Witches and wizards waving wands or carrying brooms were out in full force last Friday, as the countdown clock ticked away from six hours to zero. After two years of anticipation, a parade of Potter maniacs invaded Soho for the midnight release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book about the boy wizard by J.K. Rowling.
A frame shop enters realm of fine art
By Nitasha Tiku
After hours at Gallery 225, owner Peter Wallach and curator Victor Friedman stood gazing at a series of color photographs of the Coney Island boardwalk taken earlier this year. In one, a squat brick building with the words “Shoot the Freak” stenciled across its side was juxtaposed with the façade of Cha Cha’s Bar & Café (“Entertainment for the Hole Family”).
Ice cream program gives a taste of responsibility
By Audrey Tempelsman
Just desserts are served at Alphabet Scoop, an ice cream store run by The Father’s Heart Ministries that employs Alphabet City’s at-risk youth.
Sports
 Big row on waterfront as kayakers convene at pier
By Jefferson Siegel
If you’ve ever spent a summer day by the Hudson River and dreamed of being on the water, but your ship hasn’t come in yet, don’t despair. Downtown Boathouse on Pier 40 offers free use of kayaks on weekends and holidays all summer long.
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 Magic without the hat
By WILL McKINLEY
As I walked into the SoHo Playhouse on a recent Friday evening to see a performance of Sam Eaton’s “amazing evening of magic and mentalism,” I was greeted by a tall, spiky-haired woman named Janet.
An ear for girl talk, and an eye for angry young women
By Rachel Fershleiser
From “The Vagina Monolgues” to “Sex and The City,” American mainstream culture seems to have figured out that women not only think about genitalia and blowjobs, we talk about them too.
 A big top for mature audiences only
By Nicole Davis
When Spiegelworld took up its summer residence at the South Street Seaport last year, it was hard to believe the tented venue would live up to the picture the press releases painted.
Koch on Film
“Live Free or Die Hard” (-) From the moment the screen lights up until over two hours later when the screen goes black, there is unending action, violence, shooting, deaths, car chases, an elevator falling and roads buckling worse than any seen in any earthquake.
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (-) I have not read any of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, and I have only seen one other Potter movie.
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THE GROWN-UPS PLAYGROUND Audience suggestions spur a hilarious night of unpredictable improv with host Joy Newman featuring a rotating cast of New Yorkers including Kathryn Dunn, pictured above, right, Angela Modena, Tino Estaban and others. Every Saturday at 6pm. THE NEW YORK COMEDY CLUB, 241 E. 24th St., bet 2nd & 3rd Aves. 212-714-8275. Grown-Ups_Playground@hotmail.com. www.MySpace.com/Grownups_Playground. $10 cover plus 2 drink min.
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