Volume 1, Number 34 | The Weekly Newspaper of Chelsea | May 11 - 17, 2007
The Buzz
IT’S A DOGFIGHT: It appears the loud bark coming from the Chelsea Waterside Park dog run got someone’s attention after all. Dog owners who showed up en masse to the recent park association meeting and were asked to take their complaints outside in a confab with Noreen Doyle, executive vice president of Hudson River Park Trust, were rewarded for their effort and esprit de corps when the toxic log responsible for many a dog’s illness was removed this weekend, within the week Doyle had promised. “This move directly resulted from our being organized,” said August Costa, a lifelong Chelsea resident and actor who as emerged as leader of the (dog owner) pack. “The log was toxic and dogs were getting sick, they were falling off the thing and getting hurt, it was laden with bugs, and it was falling apart. It had to go.” The other issue high on the agenda—heightening the steel fence enclosing the park—will also be addressed soon: Doyle is scheduled to attend an onsite meeting with Costa and a few other dog owners to see firsthand how the pups routinely scale the barrier at their own peril (several have been injured or killed by cars on Eleventh Avenue and the West Side Highway). “The fences could easily be doubled in height,” said Costa. “They’re actually designed for that.” At the meeting, Doyle will also be shown where dog owners want to lengthen the park (purportedly a grassy knoll at the northern end) to accommodate the throngs that arrive on the weekends. “I stopped bringing my dog on the weekends because of all the dogfights, which happen because the dogs are practically on top of one another,” said Costa, who added, “While there’s a lot of work to be done, the general feeling is, we have their ear now, which is huge. People no longer think they’re being disrespected.”
G.T.S.’s TOWERING ADVENTURE: It appears the General Theological Seminary will unveil the new designs for its now seven-story Ninth Avenue tower (and its five-story 20th Street building) to C.B. 4’s Landmarks Task Force on May 17 at 6:15 p.m., at Hudson Guild’s Fulton Community Center. According to C.B. 4 District Manager Bob Benfatto, G.T.S.’s land-use attorneys, from the firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, will go before Landmarks Commission informally on Friday May 11 to present the new design. Provided there are no major problems, they, along with G.T.S., will appear before C.B. 4. Bob Trentlyon, president of Save the Chelsea Historic District and a C.B. 4 member, promises to publicize the C.B. 4 gathering far and wide, guaranteeing a momentous turnout to an otherwise intimate committee meeting. “Look, we won on the height issue, so this doesn’t promise to be a big battle, and we hope the design is appropriate. If they come to us with another glass tower, we’ll be against it, but I sincerely hope everything goes well,” he said earlier this week. “I know the seminary is hoping to get down to the Landmarks Commission in June, so we’ll see.” Meanwhile, the Council of Chelsea Block Associations reached out to G.T.S. at the end of April, requesting that the seminary “sit down with a small group of Chelsea residents who are very knowledgeable about preservation matters” to discuss the new building plans before they are presented in their final form. But according to CCBA President Bill Borock, G.T.S. balked because of C.B. 4’s timetable, and would probably not arrange a meeting before going in front of Landmarks either. Borock said he’s looking for a good turnout at the C.B. 4 meeting next Thursday.
Sock it to him: Andrew Berman, of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said he’s been getting mucho kudos since being branded “a demagogue” by N.Y.U. President John Sexton for criticizing the university’s incursions into the Greenwich Village Historic District in Chelsea Now’s sister paper The Villager last week. “I’ve literally had dozens of people come up to congratulate me,” Berman said. “It’s a badge of honor.”
Va-vavoom! At 6 years old, Lotus restaurant and club in the Meatpacking District has become a veteran of the ever-changing New York nightlife scene. But who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Since last Halloween, Lotus has been hosting burlesque Tuesdays (they call it Gold Rush) in those awkward hours after the dinner crowd winds down and before the eager clubbers arrive. On a recent Tuesday, the show consisted of four 2-minute performances over the course of an hour. The show was extended a bit longer if you counted the fact that dancer Gigi Lafemme wandered the club and had a drink after her performance in her “costume,” which consisted of a few pieces of strategically placed black lace. Lotus has also been testing out theater Wednesdays and, according to co-owner David Rabin, plans to try jazz Thursdays soon.
My cousin, Vinnie: Gary Tomei, W. 13th St. 100 Block Association president, told us the big issue after the M.T.A. wrapped up their “big dig” on 13th St. is the big building by St. Vincent’s Hospital. “They’re going to put up that 18-story building,” Tomei said. “It’s going to be trouble. The Village is getting destroyed. What’s the point of having a landmarked district? We’re going to put up a very stiff resistance.” Tomei said the neighborhood shouldn’t be saddled with another high-rise just because St. Vincent’s — a.k.a. “St. Vinnie” in cop and E.M.T. lingo — plans to sell some of its buildings to help it emerge from bankruptcy. The hospital’s existing buildings could easily be upgraded — a new building isn’t needed, Tomei contended. “Just because they’ve been foolish before, everyone’s got to pay,” he said of St. Vincent’s. We didn’t even get a chance to ask how his daughter actress Marisa is doing.
