Scoopy’s notebook

Sexton II: New York University president John Sexton will hold his second community town hall on Tues., March 30, at 6 p.m., at N.Y.U.’s Palladium Hall, 140 E. 14th St., in the multipurpose room on the third floor. The meeting is open to the public. Sexton’s first town hall with the community was last April. “It’ll be a continuation of where we were last time; just continuing to talk about our needs and the community’s needs and where they intersect and how we can work together,” said Michael Haberman, N.Y.U. director of government and community relations.

Don’t count him out: Despite recent comments by former Councilmember Stanley Michels in Scoopy’s Notebook that he had heard State Senator Tom Duane was no longer considering running for Manhattan borough president next year, Duane told Scoopy that’s not necessarily so. “I don’t know where that idea came from,” Duane said of the remarks by Michels, himself an expected B.P. candidate. “But I’m at the moment consumed with the Rockefeller drugs laws, civil marriage for gays and lesbians and the New York education budget, so I’m not making any announcements about borough president right now. I really have a lot on my plate. There’s breathing time.”

Develops a distaste: East Village developer Donald Capoccia has resigned his appointment to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in protest over President Bush’s proposal for an amendment banning gay marriage. “I am shocked that anyone would be supportive of a president who is endorsing this extreme measure,” The New York Times reported Capoccia as saying. Capoccia was one of 12 prominent gay and lesbian Republican fundraisers who met with Bush in Austin after his election.

Lone wolf: Just for the record, Councilmember Margarita Lopez told The Villager she would not have attended the Feb. 29 City Hall rally at which Council Speaker Gifford Miller and local gay and lesbian politicians and activists called on Mayor Bloomberg to order the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Calling the event “disingenuous,” Lopez said she feels the Council, not the mayor, controls the clerk. “I would respectfully disagree with her,” said Duane. “I’m just sad she wasn’t there.”

Scoopy thickens plot: The Villager and one of its former editors, the late Emeline Paige, who wrote Scoopy’s column for many years, are both mentioned over several pages in chapter eight of a new book, “Peninsula of Lies,” by Edward Ball, published by Simon & Schuster. Set in the South, the book is about Dawn Langley Simmons, one of the first men to undergo a sex-change operation, who, as Gordon Langley Hall, was a contributor to The Villager’s gossip columns. Simmons died a few years ago and Paige died last year.

Chamber picks: The Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce has selected its honorees for its April 29 Dinner Dance to be held at N.Y.U.’s Palladium residence: Norman Buchbinder will receive the Member of the Year Award; the Greenwich Village Youth Council will be named Humanitarian of the Year.

Correction: An item in last week’s Scoopy’s Notebook, reported that Nell’s nightclub, at 246 W. 14th St., will be expanding onto the second floor, but failed to mention that the club has been sold to investors from London. “They spoke about how it’s going to appeal to a different group,” said Carol Yankay, a member of Community Board 2’s Business Committee. “They promised to do very good things and address security.” But Yankay said she voted against giving a liquor license to the club, because “I felt that area has one [nightclub] after another…and it has problems, that corner.”

Electrifying: Those intrigued by last week’s articles on Nikola Tesla and the Tesla coil, can get a taste of a live Tesla coil demonstration by Gecko Saccomanno at “Tesla Mania,” Thurs., March 25, at 8 p.m., at Collective Unconscious at 145 Ludlow St.; Jamie Mereness will man the Tesla controls, with special guest FauxMaux in a tribute to Tesla. Admission is $7.