A benefit for the victims of the March 26 East Village gas explosion and fire drew a capacity crowd of 200 people to Theatre 80 St. Mark’s on Sunday night and raised $11,000. Taken together with a $36,000 contribution by Sting and others by Yoko Ono and Gertrude Stein of the Boris Lurie Foundation, the effort — led by writer Alan Kaufman — has raised more than $50,000. The funds will be given to GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side), the local tenant-advocacy group that has been working with residents displaced by the disaster. The evening’s headliner was the legendary Patti Smith. “As I was getting dressed today, I touched everything I put on,” she said after taking the stage, “my T-shirt, my socks. I imagined what it would be like to go off to work or to shop and everything was gone — photos of my daughter…perhaps even my beloved cat.” Check thevillager.com for full coverage of the night.
