Ringing out nine years

Friends of the Jefferson Market Library Bell are having a party in the Jefferson Market Garden from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on Thurs., June 2, celebrating the ninth year since the bell regained its voice after a long silence. The event will also celebrate the completion and installation inside the Jefferson Market Library of a bronze plaque listing the supporters who made the bell restoration possible. Ol’ Jeff, as the 12,000-pound bell is fondly known, was cast as a fire bell in 1851 and was hung in the Jefferson Market Courthouse, designed by Jefferson Withers and Calvert Vaux in 1874, according to Cynthia Crane Story, chairperson of Friends of the Bell. Jefferson Market, at 450 Sixth Ave., is providing the food at the June 2 reception for Village neighbors and bell supporters.