TRUTH TELLER: Soho’s own James Solomon spent years putting together a riveting documentary on the infamous Kitty Genovese murder, “The Witness,” and now it’s finally opening at the IFC Center, on Sixth Ave. at W. Third St., on Fri., June 3. Solomon is best known as a writer for both TV and the big screen (“The Bronx Is Burning,” the HBO series about the Yankees and 1970s New York, and “The Practice,” as well as “The Conspirator,” a film about the Lincoln assassination). “The Witness,” which Solomon also co-wrote, is his first foray into directing. The film’s hero is Bill Genovese, the tragic victim’s wheelchair-bound youngest brother, with whom she shared a special bond. The film focuses on two questions. First, was the seminal New York Times article on Kitty’s murder in March 1964 overly sensationalistic — and, more to the point, was it extremely misleading? The article came to symbolize concerns over urban apathy and what is now commonly known as “Genovese Syndrome.” Second, the film answers the question: Who really was Kitty Genovese? For one thing, the film proves that the alleged 38 “eyewitnesses” that the Times article claimed watched the grisly murder but didn’t intervene were, in fact, in many cases only “earwitnesses,” in that Kitty and her killer were circling a block of buildings, which meant that they would have physically been out of view of many of these witnesses at certain points. A.M. Rosenthal, the legendary former Times executive editor, who even wrote a book in 1973 based on the story, “Thirty-Eight Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case,” is buttonholed in the film, and bristles at the mere suggestion that the original article could have exaggerated residents’ callousness. There are also interviews with other journalistic legends,
like Gabe Pressman and Mike Wallace, which definitely give a more nuanced perspective on the accuracy of the now-classic article. Bill Genovese lost his legs as a young scout in Vietnam when an explosive device was remotely detonated right after he had spotted it. Each time he is shown lifting himself into his chair, or hauling himself up a flight of stairs with his powerful arms in Kitty’s old Kew Gardens, Queens, neighborhood, the viewer feels a deep respect for his resolute quest — to find out the truth of who his older sister really was beyond a hollow media character. We find out she was lesbian and lived with her partner, that she managed a bar in Hollis, Queens, working its day shift, which started at 8 a.m., and drove a sporty red Fiat. In short, she was fun and interesting. She was also a very intelligent, popular girl when she was growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The famous photo that we have of her was in fact a mug shot, from when she was busted for taking bargoers’ bets on the horses for a bookie. Solomon and Bill Genovese first met through Andrew Blauner, the literary agent. But Solomon also had another deep bond with
Bill — in that he, too, lost a beloved sibling, his older brother, John Solomon, to leukemia, in 2010. An accomplished journalist, John Solomon also became a top blogger on homeland security and local emergency preparedness after 9/11. The brothers Solomon were top scholar-athletes at Collegiate High School on the Upper West Side, where they were both known as “Solly.” When John became sick, James resigned from Community Board 2, on which he had been an active member, especially on Chinatown issues, and put the film on hold for a several years, which is partly why it took so long to make. For fans of journalism and true crime stories — with a definite emphasis on “the truth” — “The Witness” is a must-see. Watch the film’s trailer.
CANDIDATES ASSEMBLE AT D.I.D.: As The Villager was going to press, the Downtown Independent Democrats club were voting on who to endorse for Assembly in the 65th District in the September primary election. Sean Sweeney of D.I.D. confirmed that Alice Cancel — who won the April special election to fill the seat left vacant after Sheldon Silver was convicted on federal charges — plans to run for re-election in the primary. “Yes, Alice is running,” Sweeney told us. “John Quinn came from the Lower East Side to my loft at a D.I.D. meeting last week to speak on her behalf, while she was in Albany. She originally told people she wouldn’t run after the special election, but has since changed her mind.” Quinn, a Democratic State Committee member who is Cancel’s husband, recently told us that Cancel had a flare-up of diabetes during the campaign, which had her second-guessing whether she should run again, but that she is now set on trying to hold the seat against a big field of candidates. No doubt, the D.I.D. vote will be a heated contest — mainly between District Leaders Paul Newell and Jenifer Rajkumar, who are both D.I.D. members. Neither district leader has been willing to step aside in their hunger to achieve higher office, causing a deep division in the club. Quinn has said it’s too late at this point, that the split will rip the club apart, though Sweeney says that’s overstating things. The race similarly has multiple Asian candidates, threatening to dilute the power of Chinatown’s vote in the heavily Asian district.
SCHWARTZ STONEWALLED: Over on the West Side, things are no less chippy — actually, more so — in the race for the 66th Assembly District primary election. The Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC last Wednesday strongly endorsed longtime incumbent Deborah Glick over challenger District Leader Arthur Schwartz — but not before Schwartz came in for some bruising questions from the pro-Glick crowd. A longtime Stonewall member who requested anonymity called us to gloat over Glick’s romp, noting that she is “an icon” in the club, as the state’s first openly gay elected official. He added that Schwartz was grilled by some club members on whether he supported banning outside income for state legislators, or at least capping it, or putting it in “a blind trust” while in office. Schwartz, who is running as a reformer, said no to all those ideas. “Deborah has come up with this one as her response to my challenge to her being an enabler of Sheldon Silver,” Schwartz told us afterward in a lengthy e-mail response. “She had three questioners planted to ask me about my position on outside income. One person — reflecting what Deborah said — stated that allowing elected officials to make outside income was at the root of corruption in Albany. That is so untrue,” Schwartz protested. “Sheldon Silver took bribes. Dean Skelos directed business to companies that hired his son. John Sampson embezzled money he was appointed to hold in escrow and then lied about it. Thomas Libous lied to agents from the F.B.I. who were examining his son’s hiring at a politically connected law firm. Malcolm Smith offered to bribe Republican leaders to put him on the ballot. Pedro Espada stole from a nonprofit to which he directed public money. William Boyland was convicted of bribery, mail fraud and extortion. William Scarborough used $40,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses and filing false claims for $40,000 in travel reimbursements. Shirley Huntley embezzled $87,000 in public funds and attempted to cover it up. None of this had to do with income earned from legitimate outside employment. Assemblywoman JoAnn Simon, who has a law practice similar to mine, though principally focused on disability discrimination, doesn’t agree with this ‘cap’ business either. Then there is the question of spouses. Brad Hoylman has no earned income other than his state Senate salary. (I’m sure he has lots of investments after years as counsel to the Partnership for New York City.) But his partner, David Sigal, is a highly successful filmmaker. Glick’s spouse, Leslie Sharpe, is a successful writer and educator. Deborah stated at Stonewall that assemblymembers should have no outside income. Same rule, she says for assemblymembers with no children, or six children. My principled response: The solution is full disclosure. Make tax returns public. Make legislators detail the sources of all of their income, so that conflicts are apparent. Understand, I have nothing to hide. My income fluctuates between $125,000 and $225,000 a year, depending on what cases settle. I need that money to pay tuition for two children, to pay for music lessons, gymnastics, summer camp, feeding four people, paying $40,000 per year in property taxes, helping my daughter with law school, and even helping my employed son out every once in a while, and paying $2,000 per month toward the cost of my mother’s assisted living. To set limits would bar both legitimate employment and bar political figures from being people with families. And, oh my — how about saving for the $400,000 each child will need to go to college! Deborah even planted someone to say that I was one of the most successful lawyers in New York. I expect to hear a lot more of that as she deflects questions raised about her support of Silver. I’m successful because I win a lot of good things — yes. Financially successful — I wish!” For her part, Glick — who has never had an outside job during her Assembly tenure — blasted Schwartz’s frequent references to his family as “coded language,” in that, in her view, it’s clearly an effort to portray himself as the only straight candidate in the race. “That’s ridiculous,” the district leader retorted. “Brad Hoylman talks about his daughter more than I do, and brings her to political events.” Meanwhile, Schwartz, while not nabbing the prominent gay club’s nod — which was expected — was endorsed by the Village Reform Democratic Club and Transport Workers Union Local 100 last week, and was previously endorsed by the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Zephyr Teachout, Yetta Kurland and Liz Abzug, among others.
ZONE OUT: Jeannine Kiely, chairperson of the Community Board 2 Schools and Education Committee, reported that the Community Education Council for District 2 recently voted against putting a “carve-out” affecting W. 12th St. and W. 13th St. residents into the zone for the new 75 Morton St. middle school. Instead, the zoned middle school for these blocks will be M.S. 104, Baruch, at E. 21st St. and Second Ave.
CORRECTIONS: Due to an editing error, last week’s article “Soho ‘firetrap’ party space flouts vacate order” said that the former Once Upon a Tart space had become Navy restaurant. However, Navy is located next door to the former tart shop space. In addition, the article stated that The Hub space is zoned for art gallery use, when, in fact, it is technically zoned for retail use. Also, the article referred to Sean Sweeney as “the self-described ‘caretaker of Soho.’ ” According to Sweeney, what he actually said was that he was the “director of the Soho Alliance — the caretaker of Soho’s zoning,” meaning the alliance is the “caretaker” and not him.
