Pete Davies, a neighborhood activist, joined scores of visual artists and performers at Community Board 2′s recent Parks Committee meeting to question and protest Parks Department rules affecting expressive matter vendors in the city’s parks. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER  |  Puppeteer Ronny Wasser-strom and artist David Evirett-Carlson were nervous. They had just emerged from a Community Board 2 Parks and Waterfront Committee meeting on May 1 where Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner Bill Castro had faced a room full of expressive-matter vendors who were not shy about expressing their questions and grievances with the city’s parks rules and regulations.

Castro wanted to allay their fears about the “clarified” rules issued by the Parks Department on April 2. This clarification stated that as of May 8, musicians and other performers in parks would have to abide by the same rules as expressive-matter vendors of visual art. The rules state that in four heavily trafficked Manhattan parks — the High Line, Battery Park, Central Park and Union Square — musicians and other performers would have to set up their stations on a limited number of medallion-marked spots, just as those who sell paintings, photography, books and newspapers are already required to do.

In other parks, however, according to the written rules, the requirement is that expressive-matter vendors must stay 50 feet away from any monument and 5 feet away from any park bench, tree, wall, fence or sign, among other restrictions.

Despite Castro’s attempt to reassure the C.B. 2 audience, Wasserstrom and Evirett-Carlson figured they had just one week in which to continue to make a living busking in the city’s parks before a crackdown on expressive-matter vendors, like themselves, might slap them with substantial fines and the possibility of arrest. After May 8, they weren’t sure what would happen.

Though Castro’s remarks applied to all of the city’s parks, the particular one under discussion that evening was Washington Square Park, whose 9.75 acres have traditionally been a haven for musicians from all over the city, and indeed, from other parts of the country and other countries, as well.

Castro explained that “the slight adjustment” to the Parks Department’s rules announced on April 2 “is not going to affect musicians who come to the parks to play, with one exception.” He said it would be fine to sit on a park bench with an instrument case and donation can.

“You don’t have to be ‘X’ feet away from this or any of that jazz,” he stated.

The exception would be if a performer wanted to sell a lot of CDs, he said.

“You can sell those without a permit, but you have to get a stand so that people don’t trip over them,” Castro said. “As in the expressive-art rules that we issued a couple of years ago, you have to get a stand. It can be up to 8 feet wide. But if you’re sitting on a bench and you’re playing and you have the CDs on your lap, that’s fine. It’s so that you don’t obstruct things. It’s so that you’re not interfering with people.”

Castro said that the Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers who are charged with administering the rule would be informed in advance so they could “explain it to people, because it can be confusing.”

After hearing this, many of the expressive-matter vendors in the room said they were still confused.

A member of the audience asked Castro, “Would you put it in writing?”

“Yes,” Castro replied. “We’re doing a question-and-answer sheet that we’re going to be handing out.”

Tobi Bergman, a member of the C.B. 2 committee, said part of the audience’s confusion and distress stemmed from what had happened a few years ago when, he said, there were actually quite a few summonses issued “to people who didn’t expect them, because they were doing things that they had normally done when summons were not issued.” Bergman asked Castro to clarify what had happened at that time and why it happened.

“Somebody went off physically and enforced the strict letter of the law,” Castro replied. He indicated that that had not been Parks Department policy and that it had been a PEP officer who took matters into his own hands.

Colin Huggins, who plays a grand piano under the Washington Square arch, said that the summons issued to him in 2010 did not come from a single PEP officer.

“It was from all of them,” Huggins said, “and even Ray Brown [PEP director of operations] himself came up to me, and I have him on film saying it, ‘If you don’t take your piano out of here right now, you’re going to jail.’

“We want to make sure that there’s something in the rules to really clarify that this isn’t going to happen again,” Huggins said. “It wasn’t just a small incident. It was over a long amount of time, and I don’t think I was the only one who was threatened to be put in jail.”

Robert Lederman, who has been suing the Parks Department in federal courts for years over infringements to the free-speech rights of expressive-matter vendors, told the audience that Castro’s statements were at odds with Parks’ stated, written rules. He assiduously videotaped Castro’s comments at last Wednesday’s committee meeting.

“If you’re selling art, if you’re accepting a donation while doing a performance, you’re an expressive-matter vendor,” Lederman said. “And you therefore have to follow all of the expressive-matter vendor rules. The 2013 amendment, which they claim clarifies that, says the same exact thing [as rules put forth in June 2010], slightly reworded.”

Lederman took issue with Castro’s statement that the rules would not apply to performers in Washington Square Park. The activist called that “selective enforcement.”

“We’re going to arrest or summons every single artist that even tries to sell one picture in the park, but we’re going to let an unlimited number of performers basically do anything they want?” Lederman asked rhetorically. He said that Castro’s statements that evening directly contradicted sworn statements in a suit that Lederman has brought against Parks and that is now before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In its defense in that suit, Parks is saying that the rules are being applied equally to performers, visual artists and, indeed, to expressive-matter vendors of all kinds.

“Commissioner Castro,” one C.B. 2 member asked, “if someone feels they are being harassed, what kind of recourse do they have? Is there a phone number they can call?”

“Yes,” Castro replied. “They can call 311 obviously. They can call my office in Manhattan, 212-408-0201, or they can write or call the Parks commissioner.”

As she left the meeting, community board member Frederica Sigel remarked that Castro had come there to clarify the rules, but despite several hours of discussion, there was just as much confusion as ever.

“This struck me as a ‘ruly’ group,” she said of the expressive-matter vendors in the audience, “as opposed to an ‘unruly’ group. I think that most of them would try to obey the rules if they understood what they were.”

Ours is a park-starved district. We rank second to last in the city in terms of green space per 1,000 residents. But in the last year, even in this time of significant budget constraints, we were able to improve the quality of these few treasuries we do possess.

Larger initiatives took place at some of our favorite neighborhood locations. The redesigned and rehabilitated Bleecker St. Sitting Area was reopened. Reconstruction of the beloved ballfield at J.J. Walker began and should be completed in June. The third (and final) phase of the renovation of Washington Square Park — including the field house, mounds play area, large dog run and perimeter sidewalks — commenced and is expected to be completed this summer.

Similarly, a long-running project, Adrienne’s Garden at LaGuardia Place — also referred to as “A Garden for the Little Flower,” in honor of Fiorello LaGuardia, after whom the street was named — should soon see the arrival of the remaining play equipment, which is being custom-built based on unique designs created by local schoolchildren. We hope to see Adrienne’s Garden open in April.

In addition, we also worked diligently to reopen as quickly as could be done, the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center — our district’s only indoor rec center — and the all-important playing fields at Pier 40 after they were both closed due to damage from Hurricane Sandy flooding.

Our committee also assists with programming public spaces, as demonstrated this year with efforts in Petrosino Square — which featured two temporary art installations with more to follow in 2013 — and on Pier 45, the Christopher St. Pier. Though the pier is managed by the Hudson River Park Trust, we helped recruit art exhibits and public performances that were presented on that wonderful jetty over the water last summer.

In addition, The C.B. 2 Parks and Waterfront Committee spends a significant amount of effort participating in the review of large land-use proposals, and we have had some significant such projects recently, including the St. Vincent’s redevelopment, N.Y.U. core expansion and Hudson Square rezoning.

One such result will come to life in 2013, as we will see the groundbreaking for one of the most significant additions to open space in our neighborhood in memory — the St. Vincent’s Triangle Park. This space will be transformed from a closed, private, locked area into a beautiful public open space, featuring the moving and powerful New York City AIDS Memorial in the northwest corner.

In Hudson Square, where open space is extremely tough to find, we are campaigning for the creation of a new indoor recreation center.

Other initiatives in the coming year include redesign and renovation of DeSalvio Playground, at the corner of Mulberry and Spring Sts., which has been driven by a tremendous, dedicated and energetic group of local residents. Also Father Fagan Park, on the east side of Sixth Ave. at Prince St., is being redesigned. And  benches will be installed in three other small parks along Sixth Ave., plus a new comfort station in recently rehabilitated Seravalli Park, on Hudson St. between Gansevoort and Horatio Sts.

Further into the future, we are looking forward to the development of new public open space on top of four water-shaft construction sites, including at Hudson and Clarkson Sts. As the Department of Environmental Protection’s efforts on the shafts wind down, we are pushing for more progress in officially turning these spaces over to the Parks Department to begin the planning and design process.

In addition, it is expected that Duarte Square, at Canal St. and Sixth Ave., will be developed and will include a new park in conjunction with a residential development. Meanwhile, Soho Square, at Spring St. and Sixth Ave., will be renovated by the Hudson Square Connection BID.

On an ongoing basis, we will continue our efforts to encourage Parks to place a greater emphasis on replacement of trees in vacant tree pits. We have seen improvement in some parts of the district, but will strive to get as many empty spaces filled with new trees as possible.

Finally, and very critically, we will continue to work to protect and expand the active playing fields in our neighborhood — including those at Pier 40 — to handle the increasing demand from families in our growing community.

I am sure I speak for all members of our committee when I say that we are aware and appreciative of the beauty of the community in which we are so fortunate to live. We see it as our job and our opportunity not just to protect what exists, but to continue to enhance and effectively expand it through creation of new public spaces.

Caccappolo is chairperson, Community Board 2 Parks and Waterfront Committee

Rachel Lavine.

BY RACHEL LAVINE  |  What does it mean to be the New York Democratic State Committeewoman for the 66th Assembly District, a long title for a political position whose duties are obscure to most voters? It entails two principal duties.

The first is voting for candidates for statewide office at the New York State Democratic Convention; this allows them to bypass the onerous (and expensive) process of collecting the required number of signatures of registered Democratic voters, county by county, throughout the state.

The second duty, equally dear to the hearts of policy wonks like myself, is the drafting, promulgating and passing of resolutions by the 360-member body of the Democratic State Committee. These resolutions help to shape the State Democratic Committee position on current political issues, as well as serve to educate and lobby Democrat leadership, on a range of current concerns, such as fracking.

As the State Committeewoman for the 66th A.D., I am fortunate in having a particularly important vote, because in the State Committee not all votes are created equal. Those of us who represent heavily Democratic districts such as ours have the “weight” of our vote correlated to the number of Democratic voters who cast ballots during the most recent gubernatorial election. Since our Assembly District has one of the state’s highest Democratic turnouts, I, thanks to my fellow voters, have one of the “heaviest” votes — equal to or greater in weight than the combined vote of some Upstate counties! Which means that when Democratic candidates for statewide office are seeking to obtain the required minimum of 25 percent of the total State Committee vote, they actively seek the votes of State Committee members such as myself.

I am particularly proud of my role as the major force in getting the State Committee to support, after many years of opposition, first domestic partnership, and then same-sex marriage, many years prior to Governor Cuomo’s historic advocacy of marriage equality and the passage of that important legislation.

My most recent political work has been in opposition to hydrofracking. I have twice drafted resolutions, which I put forward at two separate Democratic State Committee meetings, demanding that there be a ban on hydrofracking in New York. Both resolutions garnered substantial support from the State Committee membership, from both Upstate and Downstate. The first time the resolution was killed in the Executive Committee, based on a voice vote, despite calls for a roll-call vote. As a result, the second time I brought in members of the Sierra Club and of Upstate communities who have been adversely affected by fracking; they explained what the environmental consequences would be, and rebutted some of the economic arguments made about fracking — in particular, the argument that fracking is good for economically stagnant or depressed areas.

While the pro-fracking faction, led by then-state Democratic Party Chairperson Jay Jacobs, had the opportunity to bring in proponents of the supposed benefits of fracking, they failed to do so, instead relying on that old political sawhorse, “Just trust us.”

When it became clear that we had organized sufficiently to move the resolution out of the Executive Committee, Chairperson Jacobs tabled — in my opinion, illegally — the anti-fracking resolution at the general meeting, again based on a voice vote.

While that tabling of the anti-hydrofracking resolution was, of course, unfortunate, in some ways it ultimately turned out to be quite productive. While my anti-fracking resolution was “voted” down, there was active opposition from the floor, as well as media attention during and after the vote, which highlighted not only the issue of hydrofracking, but the meeting’s disregard for procedural due process. There is no doubt in my mind that the issue of hydrofracking received far more media attention as a result of the state party’s refusal to allow a proper vote.

Governor Cuomo’s subsequent decision to more thoroughly study the many implications of fracking — environmental, economic and health-related, is likely a result of our efforts.

And as I write, there is a breaking news report that Nirav Shah, commissioner of the state Department of Health, has announced that the department needs more time before a decision can be made on whether fracking should be permitted in New York, due to “the complexity of the issues.” While some may see this as a cynical ploy to defuse the increasing momentum of the anti-fracking movement in New York, we can also see it as a hopeful indicator that the voices of reason and of science are having an impact.

It’s clear from both an environmental and health perspective, that fracking is a dangerous activity that will permanently despoil our land. So it’s all for the better if we can persuade our elected officials to make their decision based on facts and science, not the greed of the natural gas industry.

On a more personal level, as the mother of a young boy, I have started to experience both the good and the bad of New York City education.

And as the very proud spouse of Roberta Kaplan, who is arguing the historic case of Windsor v the United States before the Supreme Court this month, I am watching with with excitement and hope the culmination of the L.G.B.T. community’s fight for marriage equality. In this case, Edith Windsor, an 83-year-old widow (and Villager!) was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate tax upon the death of her spouse, because her spouse was Thea, not Theo.

Ms. Windsor is arguing that the equal-protection clause of the Constitution requires the federal government to recognize all legally valid marriages, including those of New Yorkers, thus entitling same-sex spouses to the more than 1,000 federal rights benefits now available only to heterosexual spouses. A victory in Windsor’s case will be a victory for fairness, decency and justice — and truly reflective of the values of our Village community.

File photo by Jefferson Siegel
Keen Berger.

BY KEEN BERGER  |  Victory! Victory! Victory! It was a very good year, with three great victories, all many years in the making.

DISTRICT LEADER

The most astonishing one is the new public middle school at 75 Morton St. Six years ago, local parents and Assemblymember Deborah Glick spotted it — a building belonging to New York State, about to be empty and sold. We rallied, begged and lobbied, but the city’s Department of Education did not bid, claiming neighborhood schools were not overcrowded.

Then came years of disappointments: long wait lists; the state took 75 Morton off the market; we lost our only middle school (on top of P.S. 3), only to have those rooms filled with younger children; politicians told a community board meeting to forget 75 Morton because it was “dead in the water.” But we didn’t forget. And in March 2012 the state and the city — City Council Speaker Chris Quinn, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott — miraculously agreed that 75 Morton would be a city school.

Much more must be done: contracts, lawyers, plans, budget, construction. But parents and the community are pushing hard. (I chair the 75 Morton Street Task Force, co-sponsored by Community Board 2 and the Community Education Council for District 2). Our new 75 Morton school will open by September 2015.

The second victory is national. We will never have to say, “President Romney.” More crucial is the victory in the U.S. Senate. We all knew Kirsten Gillibrand would win (hurrah!). But my favorite prognosticator, Nate Silver, predicted that three Senate candidates I worked for (Tester, Heitkamp and Carmona — that’s Montana, North Dakota and Arizona) would lose. Yet two of them won: I am proud.

I also cheered for my birth state, Minnesota. I knew Senator Klobuchar would win, but I told my daughter — Rachel Stassen-Berger, political reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune — that marriage equality needed to win in Minnesota and that their rigid voter ID proposal should lose. She said, “Mom, I am a journalist, not an advocate. I must be fair.” I answered, “Just report the facts, the voters will do the rest.” She did and they did.

The final victory is also the most personal. Brad Hoylman has been my co-district leader for seven years. Together, we judged judges; we debated issues and candidates; we advocated progressive causes; we attended dozens of events with the Village Independent Democrats, the Village Reform Democratic Club, the Manhattan Democrats, and so on.

I listened when Brad first thought about becoming a father. I admired a sonogram on his iPhone (only a speck, but he thought it was beautiful). I was thrilled at Sylvia’s birth; I enjoy her now, as a toddler.

When Brad decided to run for state Senate, I cheered and worried. I went to his headquarters to give campaign advice and I saw that he was brilliant and dedicated — as usual. No more worries. His victory was no surprise, just another joy. I also am happy that County Committee voted 55-4-2 for Jonathan Geballe as Brad’s replacement as district leader.

So — three victories. I hope for more. We need better Election Day procedures. (Those lines in September were terrible.) We need paid sick leave and a living wage for workers. We need Hudson River Park to thrive without threat of luxury housing or pier collapse. We need to re-elect Jonathan Geballe in the upcoming primary election. But all those past victories make me realize that more are possible. Last year was good. Onward!

Berger is the female Democratic district leader for the 66th Assembly District, Part A

DISTRICT LEADER

I am going to address three subjects. For starters, I am thinking about water, water that gives us life, and water that can threaten us. And the question on my mind is whether we are going to allow questionable short-term fixes that endanger, and potentially sacrifice the future, long-term health of this community, this state and this planet. What are we leaving for the next generation, and the several after that?

We know that we are mostly water, and that the earth’s surface is mostly water. As the exploiters of our planet’s resources, we must be the stewards of that precious life source and life-sustainer.

Immediately before us is a crucial decision: Whether this state will allow hydrofracking, a drilling process to be used on the Marcellus Shale in our rural Upstate areas to tap natural gas, but which carries risk and danger. The drilling — which uses a toxic stew of chemicals pumped underground to tap the trapped gas — will poison natural mountain water that quenches the city’s thirst, along with the pure well water that grows our organic produce and livestock Upstate.

We are well aware of the need for development, jobs and business Upstate — although how much of this much-touted benefit would actually help our Upstate cousins is itself questionable.

We are waiting on a state health study and proposed hydrofracking regulations from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, both of which are questionable for lack of public review and comment. Ultimately, the governor will decide.

The Upstate communities that will be first affected by drilling are deeply divided by this questionable industrial practice — not only the invasive drilling, but also the intensive rumble of truck traffic on narrow country roads, the overlay of pools of toxic discharge and the resultant air, noise and visual pollution.

Much of our Greenwich Village community has stood united against any hydrofracking in New York State. If, like me and like the Village Independent Democrats, many of our electeds and a multitude of water protection and other environmental groups, you feel our water is too important a resource to risk, contact the governor and ask him to ban hydrofracking in New York.

Over the past decade or so, our community has been blessed with a new treasure: the Hudson River Park. The Hudson River Park Act engendered the novel idea that the park would be self-funding, and it was envisioned that one of the chief funding producers would be Pier 40, the 15-acre former Holland-America pier at West Houston St. Pier 40 now serves as a parking lot and sports field, but is not generating the anticipated fees and has become a funding drain because of needed maintenance and repair. What to do?

The community has been stymied, with various redevelopment schemes (such as big-box stores) being rejected. But the current proposal to amend the park act to allow tower residential housing — which would be sited in the park, next to Pier 40 — is misconceived. It is the classic lure of short-term infusion of cash with long-term hazard.

Fortunately, Deborah Glick and other elected officials, and many citizens stand against this wrongly conceived proposal. First, residential on the waterfront ignores the evidence of climate change, rising seas and extreme weather. Two hurricanes in two years is a message from Mother Nature, and we are foolish to ignore it by putting more housing in harm’s way. Second, if dwellings are built on Pier 40 the park’s resources will necessarily be drawn to protecting and serving that one piece of property, even more so if it is the dominant funding source for the park. Also, once residential is permitted on parkland, each future funding need will bring another call for more luxury residential in the park as the answer.

More promising is the Durst plan for adaptive commercial reuse of the current pier structure, which preserves sports-field space for children and adults, and which will bring in a mixed use of business and entrepreneurial activities. The capital cost is far lower. Together with other funding sources — such as the proposed neighborhood improvement district, or NID — this will spread the obligations and reduce the impact.

I am one of the attorneys on the lawsuit to stop the proposed Spectra 30-inch-diameter, natural-gas pipeline, currently aimed at the Gansevoort Peninsula, the surrounding park and the adjoining residential neighborhood. The lower court decided against the suit and the decision to appeal is currently being considered. I am writing this less as a litigating attorney, and more as a Greenwich Village resident, which I have been for 35 years.

The central point of the suit, and of the multitude of environmental groups and individual petitioners who brought the suit, is whether the Hudson River Park Trust did its duty by completing a full environmental review as required by state law. A full environmental review would not gloss over the pending, life-threatening arrival of radon — which contaminates the gas — of safety from explosion and of other hazards of the pipeline.

I am proud of the many Villagers who have stood together to demand that government abide by its own laws and ensure that the environmental regulations enacted to protect ourselves, our children and our community from harm are properly followed.

Geballe is male Democratic district leader, 66th Assembly District, Part A

William Kelley, the Village Alliance business improvement’s executive director, left, with a member of Archangel Security at Taste of the Village last September. Since its inception, the annual food-tasting fundraiser has donated more than $400,000 for horticultural, sanitation and public safety services for Washington Square Park.

BY WILLIAM KELLEY  | As we begin our 20th year in operation, the Village Alliance would like to thank our neighbors, merchants and friends for your continued support.  Last year was a particularly challenging one for our merchants, in light of the lengthy power outage and damages caused by Hurricane Sandy. But the spirit of resilience and cooperation shown by the community during the crisis and the subsequent recovery was, and continues to be, truly inspirational.

BUSINESS

The Alliance is busy year-round caring for trees, tree pits, hanging baskets and other public landscaped areas in the Central Village. In 2012 we cared for trees along Sixth Ave. and also repaired much of the crumbling bluestone pavers that have become a nuisance for businesses, property owners and pedestrians alike. This past fall we secured the support of Community Board 2 to request a city budget line item to replace the bluestone with more durable concrete that is attractive and easier to maintain. However, we have a long road ahead to make this funding request a reality.

In 2012 the Village Alliance piloted a visual-merchandising grant program for businesses to make storefronts and window displays more attractive and competitive in the retail marketplace. The initial project at Economy Foam & Futon, at 56 W. Eighth St., was recently completed.  The windows were provided with attractive vinyl signage and a modern art display highlighting the store’s main staple of foam. We look forward to our next project at 29 W. Eighth St. and to working with other merchants as projects are identified.

The Alliance is pleased that the city’s Department of Transportation approved our request to extend metered parking times on Eighth St. from one hour to a maximum of two hours, allowing more time for shopping and dining on the commercial corridor. This has been a desire of merchants for many years and we anticipate the change will be made during the first half of 2013.

For the past 10 years the Village Alliance has utilized the Police Department’s Paid Detail (staffing by off-duty police officers) to cover two fixed posts three to four days per week.  After a detailed program evaluation in 2012, our board and staff agreed that a private contractor would accomplish more than Paid Detail for our public safety program in several key ways: by acting as an extension of the Alliance’s staff during evening hours to provide additional eyes on the street; by regularly checking in with merchants to assess safety concerns; by interacting with visitors, noting concerns, answering questions and requests for directions; and by providing constructive feedback in daily reports to inform meetings with police and property managers.

This past fall, the Alliance issued a request for proposals (R.F.P.) for a public safety contractor, and recommended Archangel Security International, which began full coverage five days per week this January. Archangel’s telephone dispatch can be reached at 347-432-6572 for any nonemergency safety concerns. (Emergencies should always be referred to the police at 911.)

With the launch of the new villagealliance.org in 2012, the Alliance has created a single online destination from which you can plan your Village adventure. The site is a free opportunity for local businesses and cultural organizations to have additional Web presence, offer incentives to residents and list events. We have also created fun and unique neighborhood itineraries as well as a new blog, the Village Beat, to showcase the vicinity.  Also in 2012 we launched a Twitter feed (@VillageAlliance) and Facebook page (Facebook.com/TheVillageAlliance), which continue to organically grow at a rate of about 10 percent per month.

Last September the Village Alliance produced the 10th Annual Taste of the Village benefit for Washington Square Park, offering an opportunity for local restaurants to connect with and provide samples to more than 400 guests at our most successful event to date. Together we raised almost $50,000 for park sanitation, horticultural and public safety services.

To raise awareness among residents of the importance of patronizing the Village’s small businesses, last fall the Alliance implemented three new “shop local” campaigns. The first, a Back to School promotion targeting thousands of N.Y.U., New School and Cooper Union students, was distributed during each university’s Welcome Week.  Second, the Alliance created a succinct and user-friendly shopping-and-dining map for the district.  And finally, our first-ever Village Holiday Gift Guide featured one-of-a-kind gift ideas found throughout the Central Village. The Village Alliance distributed thousands of maps and gift guides to local apartment buildings, businesses, tourist and university information centers, and also through social media and villagealliance.org.  If you would like a copy of the Village Map & Guide, stop by the Village Alliance Information Center at 8 East Eighth St.

Looking ahead in 2013, the Village Alliance will focus on placemaking activities, retail-attraction initiatives and community events in addition to improving our core services. The city will begin construction on a redesigned Astor Place/Cooper Square this spring, and we will be conducting interviews and workshops on programming ideas in preparation for unveiling this new civic space in 2014. Our “Positively 8th Street” retail open house event is slated for spring, along with plans for a Village Coffee Crawl to coincide with the opening of Stumptown Coffee Roasters. A multiday festival celebrating the unique cultural heritage of Eighth St. is also planned for summer.

Kelley is executive director, Village Alliance

PERSPECTIVE

I love living in the Village. I have great neighbors and it’s been a wonderful community for raising my four children. The scale is amazing by Manhattan standards. The streets are empty by Manhattan standards. The liberal attitudes of my neighbors are refreshing.

I never cease to be amazed how in 2008, Barack Obama carried our neighborhood in his primary against Hillary Clinton, the only community in the state where that occurred that wasn’t a majority black or Hispanic. We are less racist, less homophobic, more green and eat more nutritious food than almost anywhere in the U.S.A. People speak to each other in the streets, and street musicians still play classical music on the corners.

Yet, our most recent community board census shows only 2 percent of the Village and Soho is African-American, and a similarly small percent is Hispanic. This is in a city that is majority minority. New York City now has 1 million Asian-American inhabitants, but if Chinatown weren’t partly in our census tract, we would be 0.5 percent Asian. So as liberal as we are, we live in one of the most lily-white, segregated communities in the nation.

When I moved to the Village, a number of big buildings were “turning co-op.” But most people still lived in rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments. And those people were often at the heart of the arts and intellectual community: musicians, fine artists, opera singers, cabaret performers, dancers, actors and writers — people whose pursuits were nourished by a low-rent, low-rise community with reasonably priced food, clothing stores, shoemakers and even entertainment.

But there aren’t very many rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments left. Studios in walk-ups cost $3,500 a month. A one-bedroom condo goes for around $1 million. Commercial rents are so high that only high-end outfits can locate here. One of my favorite hangouts, the University Diner, on 12th St. and University Place, just closed, and the landlord wants $125,000 per month for a lease. Although we occasionally hear the words “affordable housing” out of elected officials’ mouths, there is very little of that. And it is hard for landlords to charge lower rents since the city has ratcheted up real estate taxes to obscene levels: Small buildings like townhouses pay $70,000 to $100,000 per year in taxes, and the city doesn’t care if the tenants are rent-stabilized.

This is an interesting political moment, similar in some ways to 25 years ago. In the early ’90s, Deborah Glick got elected to the Assembly, and Tom Duane to City Council. His chief of staff was Christine Quinn. A few years later, Duane moved to the state Senate and Quinn took his place on the Council. Now Duane has left the Senate and Quinn is either moving up or out.

Glick holds on after 23 years, much like her predecessor, Bill Passannante, did, looking to remain relevant, playing off some effective work she did in the past.

This could be called the “New New Politics Era,” which followed the New Politics era ushered in by Ed Koch and his cohorts in the Village Independent Democrats, who drove Tammany Hall to its grave.

Duane, Glick and Quinn promised to be the most liberal crew we ever had representing us. But under their watch (unlike during the New Politics Era, marked by heroes like Jane Jacobs, the landmarking of Greenwich Village, and the creation of West Village Houses), affordable housing disappeared, zoning variances that allowed large, oversized development became increasingly frequent, and we lost St. Vincent’s Hospital and a spate of historic structures in the West Village; meanwhile, we gained the multimillion-dollar condos built by the Rudins and Related Companies, while N.Y.U. took over more and more of the Central Village.

The Village has become more of a community of families with children, but the creation of school seats has lagged behind, forcing many parents to send their kids to private schools. We had a spate of park renovations, and Hudson River Park opened up (over Deborah Glick’s objection), but money to maintain those parks has had to be raised privately.

Neighborhood store after neighborhood store has closed, only to be replaced by multiple Marc Jacobs, Duane Reades and lots of expensive bistros. And instead of opening politics up in the community to a new, young generation, the trio have kept it a closed club. (Although Brad Hoylman did push his way in.)

None of the three is happy with our three present City Council candidates, Yetta Kurland, Corey Johnson and Alexander Meadows; these newcomers aren’t part of their club and they are looking to find a candidate who is. They all supported Hillary for president when their constituents were excited about Obama.

Crumbs thrown off by developers, like the 75 Morton St. school, the Foundling School and the AIDS memorial park, were minor contributions from developers beginning multibillion-dollar-profit projects.

Yes, we have Andrew Berman of G.V.H.S.P. and Terri Cude fighting N.Y.U., and Tobi Bergman with Pier 40. But advances have been few and far between.

The Village of Ed Koch, Jane Jacobs, Verna Small and Bob Dylan and Stonewall is no more. It is a lovely place to live, but has lost a lot of its soul.

Schwartz is Democratic state committeeman for the 66th Assembly District

COMMUNITY

E.V.C.C. traces its roots to the struggle over the former P.S. 64 / CHARAS building, at E. Ninth St. and Avenue B. E.V.C.C. along with other community groups, Community Board 3 and elected officials advocated for landmark designation for this building and its return as a community resource. The former school was designated a New York City landmark in 2006, but continues to sit unused.

Our community has many needs that this building could help serve. We have serious

concerns that a recent Department of Buildings filing applying to convert the building into a dormitory shows no sensitivity to these needs.

Last summer we testified in opposition to a proposal from Icon Realty to add a floor to each of four buildings at 329-335 E. Ninth St. While the proposal was unfortunately approved, we will continue to monitor development at these sites by a new owner, Kushner Companies.

Our raising an alarm led to a partial stop-work order at the former Cabrini Center Nursing Home building, when we were able to bring a neighbor’s images of precarious working conditions and the groundwork for what appeared to be an undisclosed seventh floor to the city’s attention.

In the past year, E.V.C.C. worked with neighbors and preservation groups in successfully advocating for two new New York City historic districts: the E. 10th St. Historic

District on the north side of Tompkins Square Park and the East Village / Lower East Side Historic District, located along the southern portion of Second Ave. and eastward to Tompkins Square Park on Sixth and Seventh Sts. The districts are a great complement to a 2008 contextual rezoning of much of the East Village and Lower Side, for which the E.V.C.C. was an early advocate.

Through our Get Local! shopping initiative, E.V.C.C. emphasizes the importance of local shopping in sustaining the local economy, creating a creative and unique environment, and keeping more money within our community. Our annual Get Local! Guide is a free resource to help businesses and shoppers support more than 400 independently operated retail stores. Copies of the sixth edition are can be downloaded at our Web site:

www.evccnyc.org and found at participating businesses.

E.V.C.C. is advocating for “formula retail zoning” that would require that stores be unique, and prohibit chain retailers from opening stores that follow the exact same formula as their other locations.

Volunteer with us! Whether you’re an expert or you want to meet your neighbors, join us in building community. Visit www.evccnyc.org or call 212-979-2344.

Romanoski is managing director, East Village Community Coalition

BY DAVID GRUBER  |  This past year we have seen many changes at Community Board 2.

In June our then Chairperson Brad Hoylman chose not to stand for a second term and instead run for the vacated state Senate seat of Tom Duane, which he did successfully.

BOARD TWO

I was honored to be elected chairperson after that.

I said to folks before I became chairperson, that one of my main goals was to prepare Board 2 for a new generation of leadership moving forward, and we are on our way. More than 25 percent of the current board members have been on C.B. 2 less than 18 months.

All but two of our committees have new chairpersons or co-chairpersons. Two newly created task forces have brought other faces into leadership positions.

We are truly a battle-tested, experienced board, having gone through the massive St. Vincent’s/Rudin, N.Y.U. and Hudson Square ULURPs in the past 18 months — more than some neighborhoods do in years and years, or forever for that matter.

We have learned much about both the technical and political processes of large, complex zoning and land-use projects.

I cannot say that much of our community was happy with the New York University outcomes, but it was a great learning experience on how the process really works in the final, endgame stages.

What has happened is that many, many board members have stepped forward and become more active and involved. All boards tend to have just a handful of its members run it, but we have really worked hard to open spaces up for others to be more fully engaged in the issues facing our board.

Of course, that also means that the experienced veterans need to be in place to mentor the new board appointees — by having them write resolutions and then critiquing them, by bringing a wider base of the board to meetings with community groups and elected officials, so they are exposed to the inner workings of the planning and decision-making process.

Two committees — Parks and Waterfront, along with Sidewalks and Street Activities/Film Permits —have been created by merging committees, so that we have fuller agendas throughout the year, rather than seasonal peak periods, and thus a more meaningful experience for our members.

We have created two very effective and focused task forces, including the 75 Morton Street Task Force, jointly run with Community Education Council District 2, which combines appointed and public members to ensure that our promised new school at the currently state-owned facility doesn’t get stalled by bureaucratic delays and inertia. This task force has reached out to a cross-section of stakeholders for creative ideas and suggestions on what kind of school we should have there.

We are a battle-tested board, having gone through three massive ULURPs in the past 18 months.

The other task force concentrates on beaming a spotlight on our nonprofit theaters and performing-arts organizations in the district. Many theater companies and actual brick-and-mortar theaters have had to fold their tents the past few years due to rising rents, as well as the general economic downturn.

Last year we had a variation of a pub crawl: We opened four local theaters and had owners, directors, actors, stage designers and lighting experts on hand to explain how plays are produced and staged. About 100 people went from theater to theater, weaving through West Village and Soho streets, accompanied by local tour guides who spoke about interesting buildings and Village folklore.

We are currently at the final stages of the massive Hudson Square rezoning. This special zoning will transform the character of much of our district’s southwestern section. We are fighting hard to make sure that the proper amenities, such as sufficient open, active-recreation space, required by law are, in fact, created to accommodate the expected increase of 7,000 to 8,000 new residents in a formerly manufacturing zone.

This will be our third major land-use project in C.B. 2 in under two years and it is the last one that is in the pipeline for the foreseeable future.

So we turn our attention to the Hudson River Park, and our beloved Pier 40, the main open space and active recreational center for our community. Both the pier and park are in desperate need of an immediate influx of cash, not only for ongoing operations, but for basic structural maintenance and repairs, most urgently, for Pier 40’s aging support piles, which are quickly coming to the end of their useful life. This requires a massive amount of capital.

Everybody agrees that something needs to be done quickly and the debate of just what course of action is best for the long-term health of this precious resource is being hotly discussed, with many different approaches being put on the table. The active financial involvement of the city and state is fundamental to this process, and all of our elected officials are truly engaged in the process.

We are looking forward to and very excited about the opening in the next few years of the new Whitney Museum, now under construction in the Gansevoort Historic District (Meatpacking District). Many feel that the Whitney will be a neighborhood-changing building, with other, smaller museums, galleries and art-related businesses to follow.

After St. Vincent’s — where we used to meet —— closed we were kind of a nomadic community board, moving from one gracious host to another for the last two years. Finally, Scholastic has generously allowed us to use their state-of-the-art, large, comfortable auditorium for our monthly full board meeting. This has been a real lifesaver for us and, as I have said repeatedly, we do important work for our community and we need a space commensurate with that work.

So we have had a full, overflowing plate this year, but this board has met the challenges and will continue to do so moving forward.

–  Gruber is chairperson, Community Board 2

A map showing the area Trinity is proposing rezoning to allow residential use. The rezoning would also add height caps for new construction.

Calling Hudson Square’s zoning “outmoded,” Trinity Real Estate wants to rezone a major portion of the district to allow residential use.

With the change, Trinity expects 3,000 to 3,500 new residential apartments over ten years would be added to the neighborhood — not counting the district’s few existing legal residential units.

The plan’s centerpiece is a new, 429-foot-tall, residential tower at Duarte Square, on property owned by Trinity. Helping alleviate local school overcrowding, a 420-seat, K-to-5 public school would be included in the tower’s base. Trinity would build out the school’s raw space for the Department of Education.

Currently, residential use and schools are not allowed in Hudson Square’s M1-6 (manufacturing zoned) district. Neither are cultural uses currently permitted.

Tonight, Thursday, Trinity Real Estate will present the rezoning concept plan to Community Board 2’s Land Use and Business Development Committee. Three days earlier, Trinity gave The Villager an exclusive advance presentation.

Trinity officials who showed the plan asked not to be quoted by name in this article.

In short, Trinity feels there’s “a strong desire” for some residential use in the district.

In addition, Trinity is seeking height caps for new construction in Hudson Square. The caps are being described as “a modest downzoning.”

Along wide streets, like Canal, Hudson and Varick and Sixth Ave., there would be a height cap of 320 feet, or 32 stories. For commercial use, the maximum floor area ratio, or F.A.R. (which determines how much square footage can be built.) would be 10, with current bonuses for including public plazas and arcades eliminated.

On these wide streets, residential F.A.R. would be 9, which would get a bump up to 12 F.A.R. with the inclusion of 20 percent affordable housing.

Currently, the whole district’s F.A.R. ranges from 10 to 12. Plus, there’s no height limit — which is how the Trump Soho condo-hotel could be built to 490 feet, equivalent to 49 stories, by acquiring air rights from adjacent buildings and using a plaza bonus.

On narrow streets, like Greenwich and Spring Sts., and other east-west streets, the height cap would be 185 feet, about 18 stories, and on mid blocks the F.A.R. would be lowered from the current 10 to 6.5, but could rise to 8.5 with affordable housing included.

On Broome and Watts Sts., however, the F.A.R. would be even lower, 5.4, but could rise to 7.2 with the affordable-housing bonus. The height cap would be about 12 stories.

The tower Trinity hopes to build at Duarte Square — at the wide-streets intersection of Canal and Varick Sts. and Sixth Ave. — at 429 feet would be taller than other new construction. The public school in it would occupy four stories and be 100,000 square feet, and would not count toward the project’s F.A.R. Trinity would build out the school’s core and shell — and then give the space to the city for free — and rent free, for perpetuity.

Trinity is also obligated to build a park on part of the property at Duarte Square as part of the development.

A prime concern of Trinity is to preserve the jobs of current commercial tenants. Under the scheme, existing buildings of more than 50,000 square feet could not be residentially converted. If a commercial building of more than 50,000 square feet were demolished, then there would have to be a “1-to-1 replacement” in the new building — meaning it would have to have at least 50,000 square feet of commercial space. Buildings less than 50,000 square feet could be residentially converted, and the expectation is that many would be. According to Trinity, under the rezoning, about 90 percent of the existing square footage in the neighborhood would be preserved as is.

Also, under the proposed change, new nightclubs would not be allowed to open in Hudson Square. Big-box stores would be banned, as well, with an exception for supermarkets.

Bounded by Sixth Ave. on the east, the Hudson River on the west, Houston St. on the north and Canal St. on the south, Hudson Square was formerly known as the Printing District. Located west of Soho and north of Tribeca, it lacks both those neighborhoods’ renowned cachet. Yet, in recent years, as new businesses have moved into the area, Hudson Square increasingly has become an energetic and hip, media and creative hub. Foot traffic — at least during the day — has shot up.

Trinity Real Estate wants to increase, not only residential occupancy, but also retail in Hudson Square. Right now, the neighborhood turns quiet with empty streets at night and on weekends. Lunch options are few. Trinity would like to make it a “24-hour community.” Residential use would increase foot traffic, helping sustain retail. However, luring chain-store-type or high-end retailers is definitely not the goal.

Specifically, Trinity is seeking a rezoning for the area north of Canal St., east of Sixth Ave. and Varick St. over to Hudson St. and then across Spring St. over to Greenwich St. and up to Houston St.

Trinity is, unquestionably, the area’s major stakeholder; it owns 40 percent of the neighborhood’s built space and closer to 50 percent if the land Trinity leases to others is included. (The Saatchi & Saatchi building, at 375 Hudson St., for example, is on Trinity property but is owned by Tishman Speyer.)

Meanwhile, Hudson Square’s retail vacancy rate, 30 percent, is very high, despite having one of the lowest retail rents in Manhattan. Other areas, like the World Trade Center and the Hudson Yards, have commercial subsidies, but Hudson Square does not. As a result, property owners are turning to hotels — a number of nondescript ones having recently popped up in the neighborhood, along with the towering new Trump Soho condo-hotel at Spring and Varick Sts. Yet, hotels generate a lot of traffic, which is a concern of Trinity Real Estate.

In addition, Trinity had a bad experience with a hotel project on one of its own properties: The planned Viceroy hotel, to be built atop the gutted shell of a warehouse at 330 Hudson St., never panned out. At great expense, Trinity itself had to seal up the vacant shell.

And SEIU is reportedly having trouble finding a buyer for its former union headquarters building at Sixth Ave. and Grand St. Without residential use, converting the building into another hotel might be the only option.

Under the proposed rezoning, a special permit would be needed for new hotels with more than 100 rooms.

Trinity doesn’t want to attract so-called destination retail — like Soho’s glitzy boutiques and the large stores lining Broadway. Rather, Trinity hopes to attract small and mid-sized retailers and restaurants — mainly to service its own commercial tenants and the increased number of residential tenants that would populate the neighborhood due to the rezoning.

Currently, Hudson Square’s residential occupancy is about 4 percent. With a rezoning allowing residential use, Trinity hopes to boost this figure to 25 percent. Two mixed-use neighborhoods that Trinity sees as comparable to Hudson Square, Park Ave. South and the Flatiron District, have residential rates of 38 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

All of Trinity’s profits go to support Trinity Church as well as Trinity’s charitable mission throughout the city, focused on neighborhoods like Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Harlem, the South Bronx and the Upper West Side. Except for its actual church building, Trinity pays property taxes on all its real estate holdings.

With reporting by John W. Sutter