‘Weekend Update’ update: Two weeks ago, Tina Fey, during a special “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update” edition, announced that neo-Nazis would be gathering in Washington Square Park that Saturday. But other than a friend of our Global Village columnist Bill Weinberg, no one claims to have seen any alt-righters in the Village park or, for that matter, anywhere else Downtown that day. Additionally, in a story that got some online coverage, the far-right-wingers had planned — but then canceled — a protest march against Google in Chelsea for firing an employee who wrote a screed charging that women can’t code. Weinberg, meanwhile, said he kept checking the park for signs of any alt-righters, but found none. There were a few antifa there waiting for them, too, he added. A friend of Weinberg’s, however, said she saw a group of skinheads with German shepherds marching down the Bowery toward E. Houston St. Asked about that alleged sighting, Captain Vincent Greany, commanding officer of the East Village’s Ninth Precinct, told us, “We didn’t have any reports on anything you described nor did we witness any of it.” Similarly, a Police Department spokesperson told us that cops were not aware of any alt-right contingent marching around anywhere and that, even if they had done so, there were no arrests, which would have left a record, at least. The neo-Nazis can’t carry guns here to protect themselves anyway, like they did in Charlottesville, so hopefully they will just stay the hell away.
Gerson gets out there: Former City Councilmember Alan Gerson is back in the news, helping lead a rally this past weekend outside the First Romanian Synagogue on East Broadway to decry hate graffiti that was scrawled on the house of worship. “KKK” and “F—” were recently found scrawled on the building’s entrance. At the Sunday event, Rabbi Shumel Spiegel “erased the hate” by painting over the offensive words. Gerson is hoping to get the Democratic State Committee’s nod for the special election to fill former state Senator Daniel Squadron’s seat. However, the Downtown Independent Democrats on Tuesday announced they have endorsed District Leader Paul Newell to succeed Squadron. D.I.D.’s Sean Sweeney said Gerson is counting on support from Chinatown’s United Democratic Organization and Shelly Silver’s Truman Club, but that would only give him 15 percent of the County Committee. “Newell is at least at 40 percent with D.I.D. and the Lower East Side Democrats,” Sweeney assured. Two others are also vying to be the committee’s pick for the November general election, including Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh. Word is that the committee members will vote on Sept. 17, in Manhattan, since it is the larger part of the Manhattan-Brooklyn Senate district.
Once-loud Voice: Former City Councilmember Carol Greitzer noted that in all the coverage of the demise of The Village Voice’s print edition, she didn’t see anything about the key role the newspaper played in covering the Reform Democratic movement of the 1950s and ’60s — especially the rise of the Village Independent Democrats. “The Voice was very important in our 1961 victory over Carmine de Sapio,” she recalled, “because Mary Nichols was covering all the community stuff we were doing. Dan Wolf wrote a lot of good editorials. He was a very good writer. Ed Fancher was supportive. People talk nostalgically about the ’60s music and drugs, but they don’t talk about the upheaval in politics.” Back then, the Voice was a real community paper, as well. “Oh yes, it was very local,” Greitzer said. “The Villager was covering a lot of things, the library,” she said, referring to this paper’s effort to save the Jefferson Market Courthouse and convert it into a public library branch. “But the Voice kind of front-paged everything.” On another telling note, Harry Siegel, in his Daily News column, pointed out that current Voice owner Peter Barbey — a newspaper-and-apparel empire heir — lives in none other than the Greenwich Lane, the despised luxury condo that replaced the former St. Vincent’s Hospital. Barbey owns a 4,000-square-foot apartment there worth $26 million, Siegel reported. How strangely ironic, given the Voice’s community roots. And then to see how few print ads the paper has lately, and barely a single page of classifieds… . For the record, Starbucks C.E.O. Howard Schultz owns the Greenwich Lane’s priciest unit — a $40 million penthouse.
Why she did it: Erin Hussein recently dropped out of the City Council race for the Second District. We asked her why, and she told us: “My campaign was never about me. It was primarily about the [“tech hub”] rezoning and also about the Small Business Jobs Survival Act and making it easier for children with disabilities to access services and education. I’m not convinced I can win outright given the existence of a machine-backed candidate, and it’s crucial that a candidate committed to the rezoning and the S.B.J.S.A. wins. This may be our last shot at saving this neighborhood from becoming a bunch of high-tech office buildings with Starbucks in every lobby.” (And Starbucks C.E.O.’s in every penthouse!)
Rosie’s still running: Rosie Mendez will be term-limited out of the City Council at the end of this year, but she isn’t leaving politics. She’s running for her former job, Democratic district leader. If her former legislative aide Carlina Rivera — who recently held the district leader seat — wins the Council seat, then she and Mendez will basically have swapped positions.
Celebrating Sam: La Mama will celebrate the life and career of Sam Shepard as part of the company’s Coffeehouse Chronicles on Sat., Oct. 7, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the Ellen Stewart Theatre, at 66 E. Fourth St. The tribute, emceed by Jean Claude van Itallie, will feature live and video tributes to Shepard, along with rare footage, photos and posters from Shepard’s plays.
Correction: The original version of our Aug. 10 article “Squadron resignation shakes up landscape; Special election likely” incorrectly stated that Brian Kavanagh previously lived in the E. 30s and last year moved down to an apartment on Avenue A at E. First St. In fact, according to Kavanagh, he has lived at 248 E. Second St. near Avenue C for four and a half years, since March 2013. He petitioned to be on the ballot and was re-elected to the state Assembly while living at that address in 2014 and 2016. He previously lived on E. 26th St.
