For those who would wish to pay condolences to the family, they will be
sitting Shiva at the home of David Spegal, Arthur’s partner, which is
located at 31 Bethune Street, Apt. 4R. They will be sitting Shiva on the
following days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Arthur’s memory can be sent to:

Masonic Brotherhood Fund
Att: Youth Foundation
71 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010

May He Rest in Peace.

Assemblymember Scott Stringer, a candidate for Manhattan Borough President, has started an extremely important and exciting discussion about the need and potential for the reform of Community Boards.

And now he’s graciously bringing the discussion to us: he’ll be available for questions about these reforms and any other issues like 30% affordable housing, or rezoning on Tuesday, July 12th from 6-8pm at our very own Grounded Cafe at (28 Jane Street, b/w West 4th and Greenwich Ave). This is not a fundraiser, so there is no charge, but it would be nice to support the cafe with a tea or smoothie!

The need for community board reform has recently become all too evident in our own community board (#2). Bob Rinaolo, owner of 2 liquor-licensed establishments in our hood finally stepped down from his role as the head of the board’s Business Committee where he had the right to approve or reject liquor license applications – but only after serving two years, and a full year after a ruling by COIB that his appointment was a conflict of interest.

And, Tobi Bergman and Jo Hamilton, two community activists were recently not re-appointed to CB2, shortly before the election, with no explanation. This kind of political maneuvering, ad-hoc removal without explanation and conflict of interest is part of what Scott Stringer hopes to reform if elected Manhattan Board President.

You can read more about Scott Stringer’s Community Board plan for reform here.

Mon, 7/11 @ 1pm, TRAFFIC&TRANSPORTATION
CB#2-Man. Board Office Conference Rm, 3 Washington Sq. Village, ground floor
1.* Discussion of 3rd City Water Tunnel Construction on Houston Street in CB 2 (includes Gansevoort and Houston & Clarkson St. locations).

Mon., 7/11 @ 6:30 PM, SIDEWALKS
Metro New York DDSO, 75 Morton St. Bet. Hudson & Greenwich Sts. Activity Center
1a.* New App. for revocable consent to operate an unenclosed sidewalk café for: Brass Monkey, LLC, 55 Little West 12th St., with 4 tables & 8 seats, DCA# 1198825;

Mon., 7/11 @ 6:00 PM, PARKS
CB#2-Man. Board Office Conference Rm, 3Washington Sq. Village, ground floor
1. Report Gansevoort Litigation and possible settlement.

Tues., 7/12 @ 6:30 PM, TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION
1.* Discussion of Transit Authority and DOT practice of detouring buses during street fairs on 14th Street to local residential streets (Chelsea Village Partnership).
2. Discussion of truck traffic in CB 2 area and possible strategies to combat it (Tri-State Transportation Campaign).

Tues., 7/12 @ 6:30BUSINESS
Metro New York DDSO, 75 Morton St. Bet. Hudson & Greenwich Sts. Activity Center
1a.* Apps. to the State Liquor Authority (SLA) for New License to sell liquor on-premise:
Supper Club NYC, LLC, 446 W. 14th St., NYC (b/w Washington & 10th)
Don’t both of the following already have liquor licences? What does that mean?:
Brian Galperin and/or John Perazzo or entity to be formed,30 Gansevoort St., NYC (at the corner of Gansevoort and Hudson)
DGNY Restaurant Group, Inc., 9 Ninth Ave., NYC 10014 (corner of 9th & Little West 12th)
Employee’s Only, LLC/American Bartending Institute of NY, Inc., 510 Hudson St. NYC 10014

Thurs., 7/14 @ 6:30 PM, ZONING & HOUSING
–NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Pl. Room 703
1.* Review of the proposed West Village Zoning by the DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING (posted on DCP’s web site http://www.nyc.gov)

Mon., 7/18 @ 6:30 PM, ENVIRONMENT
-CB#2-Man. Board Office Conference Room, 3 Washington Sq. Village, ground floor
1. Solid Waste Management Plan. 2. Water Tunnel #3. 3. Noise Code Update.

Tues., 7/19 @ 6:30 PM, JOINT MEETING OF 14TH STREET GANSEVOORT MARKET AREA COMMITTEE & TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
– Housing Works, 320 W. 13th Street, 4th Floor Dining Room C
1. Public Information Meeting-Gansevoort Market Evaluation and Visioning Workshop.

Thurs., 7/21 @ 6:30 PM, FULL BOARD
-NYU Silver Building. 32 Waverly Pl. Room 703
THE PUBLIC SESSION BEGINS AT 6:30 PM. SPEAKERS’ CARDS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM 6:00 TO 7:00 PM. Reports from the Chair, District Manager, Borough President, Standing Committees.

Mon, 5/2, 6:30pm, WATERFRONT COMMITTEE
AIA, 536 LaGuardia Pl. b/w W.3rd & Bleecker, Common Room 1st Floor
Gansevoort Pier recycling and transfer station proposal.

While there are compelling environmental reasons (the reduction of truck traffic through city streets) to establish marine transportation for garbage and recyclables, the prospect of up to 65 trucks per day, including private commercial carters at night, arriving to dump trash and recylables is not appealing.

According to an informative article in The Villager, “State legislator, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, is withholding support, at least for now. She told the Jan. 3 meeting that she resents the encroachment on designated riverfront parkland. “Community Boards 2 [covering the Village] and 4 [covering Chelsea] have the least amount of park space in the city,” said Glick. “To have it nibbled away by commercial uses and now nibbled away by municipal uses is a little weird,” she added.”

Mon., 5/2, 1:00pm, TRAFFIC&TRANSPO/14TH ST TASK FORCE
Man. Board Conference Room, 3 Washington Square Village, 1st Floor
The Great Dig (aka 3rd City Water Tunnel/Shaft 27B) in Seravelli Playground.

Click here for my rants on this project and the importance of getting involved. Seriously, we need community involvement in this or else it may go even more haywire…

Tues., 5/3, 6:30pm, 14TH ST/GANSEVOORT MARKET AREA
Housing Works, 320 W. 13th Street, 4th Floor Dining Room
Stop sign resolution for West 13th St. & 9th Ave (NE & NW Corners)
huzzah!

Mon., 5/9, 6:30pm SIDEWALKS, PUBLIC FACILITIES & PUBLIC ACCESS
DDSO, 75 Morton St. (b/w Hudson & Greenwich St.) Activity Center
Sidewalk seating licenses for PM and BAR AND BOOKS:
PM requests outdoor seating for 12 tables and 29 seats. As we all know, PM backs onto Horatio Street and there were major noise problems and community antagonism in the beginning that new management has really addressed quite satisfactorily (to my knowledge)… If the café seating is for the club, where in the world will they put the red carpet? More likely, café seating is indicative to me that the rumors of them opening a restaurant in the space next door might be true (rumors of Emeril float through the air). Restaurants can be good neighbors, but there are a ton of potential problems that make it really important for new restaurants to be in open communication with the community. Let’s get those lines open from the get-go and ensure a RESPONSIBLE neighbor!
Bar And Books on Hudson, between Horatio and Jane is also requesting a renewal for their sidewalk seating. I gotta say, I hate the smell of those stinky cigars as I walk by there, and next to children’s shops, no less… but I don’t really think there is anything that can be done about that. *long suffering sigh*

Tues., 5/10, 6:30pm, BUSINESS
DDSO, 75 Morton St. (b/w Hudson & Greenwi ch St) Activity Center
SoHo House – 24 9th Ave is up for renewal of their liquor license.

We learned at the Hotel Gansevoort meeting that a lot of the noise complaints issued to them should actually have been directed to soho house. Should we bring this up? Does it continue to be a problem, or have they followed the positive model set by Hotel Gansevoort in regard to controlling the noise during rooftop parties?

Thurs, 5/19, 6:30 pm FULL BOARD – Report of Nominating Committee
NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Place Room 703
Political Insanity
Ok, I can’t even begin to sum up the insanity of the board nomination and under-handed scheming and layers and layers of intrigue, some of which have been stripped away to reveal that: 2 CB2 board members and supporters of Macpherson (considered by many the candidate on the side of neighborhood activists, rather than just commercial concerns) were recently not re-appointed to the board by Manhattan borough President C.Virginia Fields. She refuses to state her reasons for not re-instating them. That sounds fishy given it takes two votes away from Macpherson and Fields is backing Derr for CB2 chairman. (are you confused and disgusted yet?)

There is a light at the end of the tunnel: CB2 member Brad Hoylman who initially was going to run for chairperson “agreed to drop out provided both MacPherson and Derr follow three reforms he is advocating. Hoylman is calling for full disclosure to the board of any correspondence between state or city agencies; that only a third of the Business Committee members be owners of liquor licenses or individuals in the nightlife industry; and that the 500.-ft hearing rule, or Padavan Law, be properly enforced for new liquor license applications.” That sounds like good common sense to me. Info and quote from the marathon article in The Villager for details on the sliminess of politics.

To see the full calendar (this is just a selection, I know, I know) check out the CB2 website.