Winka worries: A condo owner at the new Winka Dubbeldam-designed building at 497 Greenwich St. tells us tenants are doubly angry that the striking looking, curvy-glass-walled, high-priced Hudson Square development isn’t finished yet. A promised gym and wine cellar still aren’t done and the entranceway looks like a hardhat zone — though these were all supposed to be completed a year and a half ago. “Chinese workers” are walking in and out all the time, but no progress seems to be being made, she said. “We have a big hole in the middle of the building — that’s where the gym was supposed to be,” the owner said. “It’s false advertising.” Dubbeldam actually lives in the building, which she also designed. Residents say it’s not Dubbeldam — “she did her job,” noted the tenant — but the developers that have dropped the ball.
Mendez gets hooked up: Rosie Mendez, the new city councilmember for the Second District, which stretches from the Lower East Side to Murray Hill, was appointed chairperson of the Council’s Subcommittee on Public Housing on Jan. 18. She also will sit on four other committees: Housing and Building; Health; Land Use; and Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, as well as the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Preservation and Maritime. Mendez said she’s happy with her appointments. “I feel it will be busy,” she said. “It will be dealing with a lot of the pressing issues we have in this district and in this city.” Mendez’s office phones are up and working and the general office number is 212-677-1077. The office e-mail is still being set up, but e-mail is not currently retrievable at her district office. “We are not fully e-mail accessible at this time. When we are, we will advertise an e-mail address,” said Lisa Kaplan, Mendez’s chief of staff.
CamboDian confusion: Susan Goren called us to say that she has no involvement in the supposedly secret New York University materials showing the Washington Square Park fountain aligned with the arch that were allegedly created before the Art Commission’s approval of moving the fountain. “A, I don’t know what it was talking about. And B, I was in Vietnam, not Cambodia,” Goren said of last week’s Scoopy item about her. In fact, Jesse McNab called to tell us it was actually her, not Edy Selman, who claimed at the Art Commission to have seen this image, which McNab said was in ads in the Post in December and showed the fountain plaza raised to ground level. We asked N.Y.U. about the purported P.R. piece, but never heard back.
Don’t be fooled: New York University professor Mark Crispin-Miller will kick off the campaign season at Village Independent Democrats’ next general membership meeting on Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Greenwich House on Barrow St. just east of Seventh Ave. S. After speaking on “The Current Crisis,” about the subversion of democracy and the right’s efforts to disenfranchise Americans, he will sign copies of his latest book, “Fooled Again”…. In other news, V.I.D. has opened its Perry St. clubhouse doors to help the striking N.Y.U. graduate students, and many N.Y.U. classes are being held there.
Wears flag proudly: Eric Wallach’s new show, “The Blue Bunny,” closed last month the day after it opened at P.S. 122. If it was any consolation, Wallach also recently wrapped up the legal proceedings related to another performance of his earlier last year: when he enacted a mock crucifixion atop a traffic light at Astor Pl. to protest the Iraq War. Wallach also got back the American flag he wore like a sarong for the protest. He tells us as he left Police Headquarters with the flag wrapped around his neck like a scarf and flashing peace signs, an officer remarked, “That’s not how you treat the flag.” “I do,” said Wallach. To which the officer — apparently predicting Wallach’s speedy return — said, “See you next week.”
Who let the dogs in? Garrett Rosso, manager of Tompkins Square Park’s First Run, said aggressive behavior is way up lately at the run for large dogs. Four dogs have been seriously injured in recent months, with, in one case, police transporting a grievously injured dog to the veterinary hospital. Dog owners are getting bitten too. Hint: If your dog’s too aggressive, don’t take it in the run!
