Lost in translation:
Planning a run against Councilmember Alan Gerson next year — assuming term limits’ extension survives legal challenges and Gerson, in fact, is allowed to run again — Pete Gleason is trying to find out how he, like Gerson, can get a “Chinese name” on the ballot. In Chinatown, on bilingual ballots, incumbents have names in Chinese characters, but while some are phonetic translations, others are entirely new names altogether. For example, Gerson’s Chinese name is “Gor Arun,” which translates to “Friend of the Family,” Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver’s is “Glorious One” and former Councilmember Kathryn Freed used to be “Beautiful Flower.” It’s not exactly clear how one gets a personalized Chinese name, but Gleason says he hopes that his request for one — he said he’s thinking of “Vote for Me, I’m Chinese” — is rejected, so he can then make an issue out of it in a race against Gerson.
Truth behind the Chup:
We have now learned, on the word of a source extremely close to artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel — about as close as you can get, as a matter of fact — what Palazzo Chupi, the enigmatic name of his new, hot-pink high-rise on W. 11th St., really means. According to the source, it is Schnabel’s term of endearment for his current wife, and is derived from Chupa Chups, a popular brand of European lollipop owned by a multinational corporation.
An apple for Mike?
Whether to renew mayoral control of New York City’s public school system will be the subject of a forum on Wed., Nov. 12, at 6:45 p.m., in The Great Hall at The Cooper Union, 7 E. 7th St., at Third Ave. In 2009, the legislation that gave the mayor power over New York’s schools expires. The state Legislature will soon consider whether mayoral control has been successful, whether parents are more fully engaged and what the track record of mayoral control has been. Speakers will include Dolores Schaeffer, former president of Community School Board 1; Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters; and David Bloomfield, program head of Educational Leadership at Brooklyn College. Members of the public will be invited to share their opinions. The forum’s sponsors include Assemblymember Deborah Glick, as well as State Senator Tom Duane, City Councilmembers Chris Quinn and Rosie Mendez and the P.T.A.’s of Public Schools 3, 41, 89 and 234. For more information, contact Glick’s office at 212-674-5153.
A legendary night:
Village Care of New York will hold its 10th Annual Legends of the Village gala fundraiser on Mon., Nov. 10, at New York University’s Kimmel Center on Washington Square South at LaGuardia Place. Legends of the Village this year will honor actress and singer Phyllis Newman with the William F. Passannante Award. Also being honored are Samuel Burneson, who helped Village Care create some of the city’s first responses to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and restaurateurs Jimmy and Rocio Sanz, who will receive the Village Business Legends Award. Individual tickets are $250 and are available by calling 212-337-5743, or by visiting www.vcny.org. Village Care that night will also be unveiling its 2009 Legends of the Village Calendar, which features Dick Cavett, Lucy Cecere, Joel Grey, John Guare, Marshall Mason and Danny Irvine, Florent Morellet, Tom O’Horgan, Sharon Olds, Robert Patrick, Sheila Rule, Liz Smith and Phoebe Snow.
Zone around the Donald:
A “community input session” on the part of Hudson Square that still has not been rezoned is scheduled for Wed., Nov. 5, at 6:30 p.m., at the Manhattan Developmental Center, at 75 Morton St., activity room. The area in question, which has an M1-6, or manufacturing, zoning, includes the site of the 40-plus-story Trump Soho condo-hotel at Spring and Varick Sts., and is roughly bounded by Houston and Canal Sts. and Sixth Ave. and Hudson and Greenwich Sts. Among the issues to be discussed will be building heights, hotels and residential use.
Sakamaki it to me:
A small exhibition of Q. Sakamaki’s photos of Tompkins Square Park from the 1980s will be on view from Fri., Nov 7, to Tues., Nov. 25, at SB Digital Gallery, 125 E. Fourth St., between First and Second Aves. Sakamaki will be selling and signing his new Tompkins Square photo book and limited-edition posters and prints at the opening reception at the gallery this Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Lights out at Jefferson Market?
Jefferson Market, long a Sixth Ave. supermarket staple, has closed — but just temporarily, a sign in the window insists. To quote its message: “To all our friends. Sorry we had to close unexpectedly. Con Ed shut our lights off. We will reopen as soon as we resolve this issue. We expect to reopen in about three weeks. We are not closing.”
Correction!!!
An article last week on a community-led proposal for a scaled-down garbage-truck garage at Spring and Washington Sts. referred to it as Hudson Rise! But in reality it’s just plain old Hudson Rise. The community group the Sanitation Steering Committee was so excited! about the plan that its press materials said, “Introducing HUDSON RISE!” We should have realized it was just enthusiasm!!! for a great plan!!!
