Rave review: In Lorcan Otway’s photo story in our May 21 issue on Woody Allen shooting on location in the Village for his new movie, the actor described as “an unidentified cast member” in the caption was none other than Howard Kissel, the longtime Daily News writer. Kissel called us last week to say how terrific he thought the photo was — and to ask for Otway’s number since he really wants to buy it. Until two years ago, Kissel was the News’s theater reviewer; now he’s their cultural critic. What he really wants to do, though, is act — which is why he needs Otway’s photo. “It is quite simply the best, I think, picture that I have ever had,” Kissel marveled. He said the casting agent for the film said she might be able to get him other work. So, Kissel joined SAG, but he still needs a knockout photo. “I never had a headshot,” he told us. “Normally, I can’t bear to look at pictures of myself. I keep this [photo by Otway] on my desk and keep looking at it. I just love this, and I think it would be great for my new career.” As for the scene he was shooting when Otway snapped the photo, Kissel would only say, “We’re chatting with Larry David, sitting at a table at Café Mogador.” Some of the lines were improvised, he noted, because that’s “the feeling” that Allen likes. However, not wanting to be overly optimistic, Kissel noted he might never even make it to the screen: “As we know, anything can end up on the cutting-room floor.” The columnist had a bit part as Allen’s manager in “Stardust Memories,” which, he recalled with a sigh, was 28 years ago.
Brad brings the peace: Nobody — simply nobody — is challenging Brad Hoylman for Community Board 2 chairperson this year. The board’s nominations committee has recommended that Hoylman and all the board’s other officers — Jo Hamilton, first vice chairperson; Bo Riccobono, second vice chairperson; Sheelah Feinberg, treasurer; Susan Kent, secretary; and Elaine Young, assistant secretary — all be re-elected. The elections will be on Thurs., June 19, but it sure doesn’t sound like there’s going to be any competition. Candidates can always be nominated from the floor, though.
Sign of the times: A decades-old mural of the neighborhood in the Breevoort East’s lobby at 20 E. Ninth St. will be removed if the building’s co-op board has its way. Word is that the building’s board is made up of “a group of young people who are focused on modernizing the lobby.” Yet, we hear there’s “considerable opposition among shareholders,” a core of whom would like to keep the artwork. The mural was created in the early 1960s and is a depiction of Village life at the turn of the century, featuring the Washington Square Arch and lower Fifth Ave. “Since this mural is clearly visible from the street, I believe that its removal should be of interest to the general Village community,” one co-op owner e-mailed us. “I have lived in the Village my entire life and know that residents of this community oppose unnecessary changes that diminish the historic nature of this unique community.”
