Volume Number 1 Issue Number 10 / Devember 1 - 7, 2006
The Buzz
Park party: Officials will hold a ribbon-cutting to open the Hudson River Park’s Chelsea North section on Mon., Dec. 11, at Pier 66 at W. 26th St. The rebuilt Pier 66 will include a large, functioning, decorative waterwheel that will spin with the river’s tidal currents, as well as a new boathouse for kayaks.
Get Stewart: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District has received the O.K. from the Justice Department’s solicitor general to appeal radical attorney Lynne Stewart’s light 28-month sentence for aiding terrorism meted out by U.S. District Court Judge John G. Koetl. The U.S. attorney had asked for a sentence of 30 years for Stewart. Pat Levasseur, Stewart’s defense committee head, said the sentence appeal could take up to a year. The sentences of Stewart’s two co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Mohamed Yousry, are also being appealed.
Not-to-be-missed meeting: Andra Mooney, co-chairperson of the 300 West 21, 22, 23 Sts. Block Association, informs us that the association’s annual meeting will be Mon., Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., at St. Paul’s German Lutheran Church, at 315 W. 22nd St. Guest speakers will include Ed Kirkland from Community Board 4, giving an update about the Allerton Hotel renovation; Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Historic Preservation talking on the disputed Trump Soho condo-hotel project and what it means for Chelsea; Joshua David on the High Line park project; Bob Trentlyon on Hudson River Park progress; and Mary Swartz of the 400 West Block Association on the General Theological Seminary development plans. A Tenth Precinct representative will also attend. All are welcome…. Also, Mooney says, save the evening of Dec. 18 for holiday caroling; carolers will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of 360 W. 22nd St.
It’s in the bag: JASA (Jewish Association for Services for the Aged) volunteers will personally deliver holiday treats to more than 100 homebound seniors this holiday season. The gift bags will be delivered on Wed., Dec. 13, by teams of volunteers, old and young alike, to elderly residents of Penn South, a 10-building complex of moderate-income cooperative apartments between 23rd and 29th Sts. and Eighth and Ninth Aves., that has been designated an official NORC, or naturally occurring retirement community. JASA’s gift bag delivery will bring holiday cheer and practical comforts — hats, scarves, tea, healthy snacks and holiday cards — to the seniors. Families, students, professionals and retirees will come together to deliver the bags. The event will kick off on Thursday, when JASA volunteers will gather in the Penn South Community Room to assemble the gift bags and create holiday cards. The gift bags were funded in large part by the generous donations of several local Chelsea businesses.
Toussaint’s on a roll: Greenwich Village State Committeeman Arthur Schwartz, one of the city’s top union lawyers, tells us he’s confident Roger Toussaint, though facing a challenge, will win re-election as head of the Transport Workers Union. Schwartz said the fact that three candidates are running against Toussaint should dilute the opposition vote enough to insure he wins. Schwartz is acting as the union’s election council, and will be making sure that the election — done by 40,000 mail-in ballots — is on the up and up. We hope this won’t mean another midwinter transit strike if Toussaint gets re-elected.
