Seeing red: So what’s the story with those red CitiBikes that sport “Annie” on their fender? Spotting one is about as rare as espying a northern hairy-nose wombat. Dani Simons, director of marketing and external affairs for NYC Bicycle Share LLC, explained, “The red CitiBikes are to promote the new movie remake of ‘Annie.’ CitiBike actually has a cameo in the movie, so this was a special arrangement with Sony Pictures in light of that.” There are exactly 50 of the “Annie”-branded CitiBikes out on the streets, Simons said, adding, “We don’t have any other plans for other specially branded bikes.”
Top cop at chamber: Police Commissioner William Bratton will be the main speaker at the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming “Safe City, Safe Streets” lunch. At the event, on Thurs., Dec. 11, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at Manhattan Penthouse, 80 Fifth Ave., Officer of the Year Awards will also be given out to members of the Finest from the Sixth, Ninth, 10th, 13th and Manhattan South precincts. For more information and tickets ($75 to $100), visit SafeCitiesSafeStreets.eventbrite.com .
In the bag? An article in last week’s issue of The Villager stated that the Citizens Committee would do a giveaway to shoppers on Mon., Dec. 8, of 200 large cotton tote bags opposite the C-Town, at E. 12th St. and Avenue C, the go-to supermarket for many Alphabet City seniors on fixed incomes. The location is in the district of Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who, as of last week, wasn’t on board with legislation co-sponsored by Councilmember Margaret Chin to charge shoppers a 10-cent surcharge on single-use plastic and paper bags. The Citizens Committee, which supports the proposal, later clarified that the action actually had only been set for sometime during the week of Dec. 8. This Tuesday, Saleen Shah, a Citizens Committee organizer, confirmed that it will now happen on Fri., Dec. 12, at 9:30 a.m. across from the C-Town. They are still holding out hope that Mendez will join them at the bag giveaway, though it’s been more than a week since they last spoke to her people about it. Nevertheless, they plan to forge ahead with the tote distribution. Peter Kostmayer, C.E.O. of Citizens Committee, will be there along with local students from P.S./M.S. 54, urging constituents to avoid paying the 10-cent fee by getting into the habit of bringing their own reusable bags. If she’s a no-show, they’ll call on Mendez to support the bill. Shah added, “We will also encourage our environmental-minded grantees in the district to arrange for face-to-face meetings with Councilmember Mendez and directly mention that they are beautifying her district and that plastic bag pollution is a nuisance and that this bill addresses their concerns.”
