The pews of Middle Collegiate Church were packed on Sunday morning as more than 400 people worshiped in hooded sweatshirts in honor of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
“We are wearing hoodies in solidarity with all those who seek justice,” associate minister Chad Tanaka Pack told the group at the beginning of the “Wear A Hoodie to Church” service, urging those with hoods to put them on.
The sight of worshipers dressed similarly to the demonstrators who flooded Union Square last Wednesday might have been disconcerting if not for Middle Collegiate’s credo: “Welcoming. Artistic. Inclusive. Bold.” The church on Second Avenue espouses a commitment to economic, social and LGBT justice, and was one of the houses of worship that opened its doors to Occupy Wall Street protesters after Zuccotti Park was cleared by police in November. Read more…
The Times follows Matt Green, the man who walked from Rockaway Beach, N.Y. to Rockaway Beach, Ore., as he strolls through the East Village during his epic quest to walk every single street in New York City.
Jared MalsinVideo depicting the arrest of Mesiah Hameed. Note: explicit language.
Daniel MaurerA woman protests the arrest of Mesiah Hameed earlier in the day.
Multiple arrests – five of which were witnessed by The Local – occurred this afternoon during a march protesting police brutality organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement. The arrest of a teenager drew outrage when she was carried to a police van with her bra exposed.
Susan Howard, the New York City chapter coordinator for the National Lawyers Guild, said that an estimated 21 people were arrested during Occupy-related activities throughout the day, with “about a dozen” arrested during the march from Zuccotti Park to Union Square. The police were not yet able to confirm a number of arrests.
Videographer Paul Davis, who witnessed the arrest of Mesiah Hameed on Mott Street below Prince Street around 2:50 p.m., said the teenager was obstructing police movement before she was detained. “She was blocking the scooters from going,” he said. “Civil disobedience. Somebody grabbed her, one of the deputy inspectors.” Read more…
She’s been called “NYC’s biggest killjoy,” and now she’s looming larger than ever. Last Tuesday at Community Board 2’s S.L.A. Licensing meeting, longtime activist Zella Jones publicly unveiled the NoHo-Bowery Stakeholders, a group of heavy-hitters that will act as a united front in helping to determine the course of the historic neighborhood – with Ms. Jones as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Two years in the works and modeled after similar organizations in Baltimore and San Francisco, the non-profit 501(4)c consists of 250 paying members, including residents of NoHo, local real estate and business owners, and non-profits such as the Merchant’s House Museum and La MaMa.
At Community Board 2 meetings, where Ms. Jones and her loose coalition of concerned neighbors were once the neighborhood’s scrappy watchdogs, they’ll now be part of what Ms. Jones likens to “A Team of Rivals,” Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book about President Lincoln’s cabinet.
“We have some really powerful people – some of whom traditionally have squared off against each other for a variety of reasons, from out-of-scale development to landmarking to nightlife proliferation – all involved for the benefit of NoHo,” she said, adding that the group’s members range from “purist” property owners who began their NoHo careers in artist-in-residence lofts to the more recent arrivals living in the sleek new properties on Bond Street. Read more…
The plot thickens. A new note (at leastthe fifth of its kind) posted in the window of the law office of Zenon B. Masnyj details a board meeting of an undisclosed credit union in which members were pressed to disclose charitable donations. “As elderly people subjected to two dozen introductions, financial reports and calls for applause that would make a Tupperware hostess blush, testily waited to get their free lunch he read off the names of dozens of charities that the credit union claims to have given money to,” the item in all-caps reads. And the mysterious credit union critic isn’t done yet: the note hints at a trip by board members to Europe may have been an unnecessary expense.
The Daily News notes that city officials “will be watching like a hawk Saturday” as Occupy Wall Street protesters rally in Union Square Park. Police once again barricaded the park last night – according to @OccupyWallStNYC, four people were handcuffed. The Occupied Wall Street Journal chimes in with a photographic history of Union Square demonstrations, from suffragettes to anarchists to war protesters.
The Daily News has a closer look at the penthouse apartment in the A Building at 425 East 13th Street featuring a shiny metal slide connecting its two floors. The apartment’s owner, professional poker player Phil Gafford, left the US after the enforcement of laws regarding the playing of online poker became more stringent. Prospective buyers can go all in on the four-bedroom apartment for $3.99 million. Read more…
Mere hours after opponents of N.Y.U.’s expansion plan rallied on the steps of City Hall, they get a big boost from Michael Kimmelmann, the architecture critic of the Times. “Common sense and the billions of dollars that the project would cost suggest the university would be hard pressed to build half of what it’s outlining during the next decade or two,” Mr. Kimmelmann writes, calling for a scaled-back version of the project that would build only two of the proposed buildings and include additional green space. Meanwhile, The Daily News ran an editorial earlier this week strongly in favor of N.Y.U., as well as an op-ed last week by former Mayor Ed Koch that supported the plan.
As if blind dates aren’t awkward enough. A 20-something man stole a 50-year-old woman’s cell phone and wallet after going on a date with her in the Lower East Side on March 9, the police said.
The victim reportedly arranged a night out with the alleged thief — who may be named Hayden — over the internet. The pair parted ways at the Second Avenue station, and then the victim realized her items were missing. The police described the suspect with corn rows in his hair as roughly six-foot-one and around 165 pounds.
Earlier this week The Local’s crime blotter, “Police and Thieves,” reported two cases of victims taking their dates home for the night, only to be robbed in the morning.
Stephen Rex BrownAndrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society, opened the press conference today.
Around 90 opponents of N.Y.U.’s controversial expansion urged Borough President Scott Stringer to disapprove of the plan, reiterating their longstanding claims that it would overwhelm the neighborhood and destroy much-needed green space.
“This kind of development is character-defining in all the wrong ways,” said Simeon Bankoff, the executive director of the Historic Districts Council and one of over a dozen speakers at the rally this afternoon. “This plan will not build up this section of the Village, it will destroy it.” Read more…
The police say they have arrested an East Village man accused of forcibly touching an 11-year-old girl. Kerry Abrams, 54, allegedly fondled the child at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Gramercy on March 7, then fled the scene. Police were able to retrieve surveillance camera footage of the suspect, who now faces charges of sexual assault.
Looks like Berliners liked the idea of the BMW Guggenheim Lab even less than certain East Villagers did. Atlantic Cities reports that the project’s May opening in Berlin has been scrapped due to protests and threats over the idea that the project would gentrify Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood.
Struggling to find a way to prevent her business from closing, Kate Halpern, the owner of Kate’s Joint, is considering adding another ingredient to the menu of her vegetarian restaurant. “I hate to admit it, but put bacon on it, and they will come,” Ms. Halpern told the Wall Street Journal. As previously mentioned, she’s trying to raise about $30,000 to keep the doors of her joint open.
A luxury condo building going up at 250 Bowery has released a price list for its residences. Designed by Morris Adjimi Architects, the 24-unit building will offer one- and two-bedroom condos starting at $700,000 and three-, four- and five-bedroom penthouse apartments beginning at $2,700,000. Read more…
More than a thousand people rallied in Union Square on Wednesday evening with the parents of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager who was shot dead in Florida in late February. The protest, dubbed “A Million Hoodies March for Trayvon Martin” on Facebook and elsewhere, attracted an angry and racially diverse crowd of New Yorkers.
“We’re not going to stop until we get justice for Trayvon,” Tracy Martin told the crowd of his son, according to The Lede. “George Zimmerman took Trayvon’s life for nothing.” Mr. Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, shot the teenager after telling a 911 dispatcher he had seen a “black male” who “looks like he’s up to no good.” A controversial self-defense law has kept him from being charged. Read more…
The Police Department has released stomach-churning footage of alleged Occupy Wall Street demonstrators dumping a disgusting mix of what is said to be human waste in a bank and a stairwell last week.
According to the police department, surveillance cameras captured protesters on March 14 dragging a tub filled with a mix of urine and feces into a public plaza at Nassau and Cedar Streets at 8 p.m. They then poured the concoction down a stairwell. About 20 minutes later, another camera caught a man dumping waste inside of a Chase Bank on Water Street. A witness gave investigators the license plate number of the van allegedly used to haul the smelly brew, and two days later they arrested 25-year-old Jordan Brooks Amos of Philadelphia. Mr. Amos is charged with unlawful possession of noxious matter, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and criminal possession of a weapon due to a stun gun that was allegedly in his vehicle.
The gross video was immediately met with shock — and some skepticism — on Twitter.
Jared MalsinThe Local’s raw footage of this morning’s events. Yoni Miller, 18, is dragged off and arrested around the 4:00 mark. Video contains explicit language.
City Room reports that a total of six protesters were taken into custody during this morning’s clashes between police and Occupy Wall Street protesters in Union Square. Charges include resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration. Meanwhile, a non-Occupy demonstration protesting what many say is a lack of justice in the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin is slated to occur in the park this evening.
Development company YYY Third Avenue reportedly signed a 99-year lease for the Karl Fischer-designed apartment building that is being built at 78-84 Third Avenue. The Real Deal estimates that lease payments for the future nine-story building are about $1 million a year. The lease was signed in April of 2011 but property records did not reflect the transaction until last Wednesday.
The residential building at 532 East Fifth Street is quickly nearing completion and will offer a haven for green-minded renters. The 10-unit building will offer two-bedroom apartments with a Street Easy Listing quoting the rent at $4,495 per month, a small to price to pay for moving into a place with the “new apartment” smell.
Vanishing New York reports that the iconic “Chow Mein” and “Jade Mountain” signs that hung outside of the Second Avenue restaurant of the same name until 2007 have been recovered. Someone known only as Kathleen from Canada retrieved the signs from a Bronx contractor’s stockpile and has placed them in storage until they can be repaired. Read more…
Jared MalsinA demonstrator taunted officers with a doughnut on a string.
At least one person was injured and another arrested when police confronted Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in Union Square early Wednesday morning.
Shortly after midnight, police moved protesters, some of which had been sleeping in the park since Saturday night, off of the south steps of the square and onto the sidewalk before sweeping through the encampment and rousting reclining protesters.
Police arrested activist Yoni Miller, 18, of Brooklyn, dragging him away by the shoulders. In an interview with The Local moments before his arrest, Mr. Miller said, “I think we will eventually be arrested.” Read more…
Here’s the latest installment of “Police And Thieves,” The Local’s regular roundup of crime. What follows are the latest reports from Feb. 28 to March 11, sorted by the type of incident. Plus: Our map of all of crime since Jan. 15.
Two men were bloodied during a brawl with eight others on March 2. The two victims told the police they were throwing down at the corner of Third Avenue and East 12th Street at around 12:30 a.m. when the 24-year-old was stabbed four times and the 27-year-old was sliced across the chest. Both were treated at Bellevue Hospital.
That same night, another brawl between four guys one block away. The 25- and 26-year-old victims told the police they were in an altercation at around 4:30 a.m. at Third Avenue and East 11th Street. That’s when at least one of the suspects managed to slash the former in the head, and the latter in the hands. Both were treated at Bellevue Hospital. One of the suspects fled on foot, the other took off in a car. A police source said both stabbing incidents involved patrons of Webster Hall.
A cyclist was slashed in the face for no apparent reason on March 8. The 22-year-old victim said he was riding on the sidewalk on Avenue D near East 10th Street at around 9:30 p.m. when he was cut from behind.
A pair of drinkers beat up the bartender at Doc Holliday’s on March 11. The 39-year-old victim told the police that he spotted a woman walking out of the bar with a beer at around 1:45 a.m. When he told the woman she could not take the booze on the street she smashed the bottle over his head, cutting his forehead. That’s when another bar-goer joined in the melee and started punching the victim in the head. Police arrested both suspects.
Good morning, East Village. And happy first day of spring!
The folks at Blue & Gold tell the Post that Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is disputing $17,604 worth of purchases at the Bowery boutique. The store says he disputed charges to his AmEx Black card after he tried to return outfits he had purchased for his niece and was told he could only receive store credit.
Gothamist hears more about the forthcoming CBGB music festival, though nothing concrete: “For now, we can tell you that Duff McKagan (Guns n’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) has expressed interest and could potentially be one of the headlining acts—the venue and the musician have a mutual appreciation for each other.”
Real Deal reports that Nina Munk, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of “Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner,” has purchased a historic townhouse designed by the architect who went on to design St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Grace Church. The 3,380-square-foot townhouse at 25 Stuyvesant Street went for $3.7 million. Read more…
Could Union Square be the next Zuccotti Park? Earlier this afternoon, a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters said that they had decided to attempt an indefinite occupation there, although few were confident that police would allow them to stay for long.
“We reached consensus today to try to make this a permanent occupation,” said Darah McJimsey, a 23-year-old activist who came to New York from California in November to join the Occupy movement full-time. “Although we’re aware of what we’re up against, and we’re going to draw on our skills as far as being mobile.”
The decision to launch an open-ended occupation of Union Square was made by 20 to 30 activists who came there after police forcibly dispersed around 500 people from Zuccotti Park on Saturday. The Union Square group, which has spent two nights there, appears to have attracted support from the broader movement. Occupy Wall Street’s website now features a call to “Occupy Union Square.” Read more…
A little over a month after Superman climbed the George Washington statue in Union Square Park, an Occupy Wall Street protester – wearing a keffiyeh instead of a cape – climbed onto George’s horse early this morning and held court for about 40 minutes. NY1 has footage of police officers escorting the man to an ambulance after he finally came down, and reports that about 50 protesters spent the night in the park.
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards. Read more »
