The Doo-nald: Donald Trump may be continuing to score high in the polls, riding high on a wave of outrageous bluster, putdowns and xenophobia. But at least one local graffiti artist, Hanksy, thinks The Donald is, well, full of it, as a new mural on Orchard St. just south of Canal St. attests.
Another lost Cos: New York University has just become the latest addition to the list of schools that have distanced themselves from comedian Bill Cosby. The Village university has dropped the Cos’s name from a film workshop for high school students. The Future Film Workshop, a free program, until recently bore the name of the once-popular entertainer, whose reputation has melted faster than a Jell-O pudding pop in the past year after decades of sexual assault allegations against him by dozens of women came to light. “The Future Filmmakers Workshop has removed the Cosby name in light of recent events. The university is not commenting further,” Matt Nagel, an N.Y.U. spokesperson, wrote in an e-mail. According to the school, Cosby supported the workshop early on by staging a series of benefit concerts in the mid-to-late 1990s. The university’s decision to quietly remove William H. Cosby from the title was first reported by the student-run N.Y.U. Local on Tues., Sept. 1. The online news outlet found that the university’s Web site featured a page for the program until as recently as Aug. 17. It has now been taken down. Among the schools that have officially distanced themselves from the disgraced comedian so far are Central State University of Ohio, Temple University in Philadelphia, High Point University in North Carolina and Spelman College in Atlanta, according to The New York Times.
Yo, Brooklyn! We hear that the D’Agostino supermarket in The Archive building, at Christopher and Greenwich Sts., is going to be replaced by Brooklyn Fare. According to the Web site of Brooklyn Fare, which also has an outlet in Hell’s Kitchen, the market’s goal is to be “Your 21st-Century Neighborhood Grocer.” Brooklyn Fare, says the site, is “a place that you and your family will come back to again and again for gourmet groceries, deliciously prepared meals and more. A place where you’ll find the prices and processes of a modern-day supermarket, plus the perks and services of an old-school neighborhood grocer.”
Gone garden: We got a tip last week — really, a plea for coverage — from Stephen DePiero, a volunteer gardener at Village View, at 60 First Ave., that the residential complex’s management had informed him they planned to plow under — make that pave over — his garden. According to DePiero, management allowed a rat infestation problem to get out of control, was getting fines and, as a result, wanted to take away his backyard piece of paradise. Well, it didn’t take long. Last week the garden was summarily cemented over. Villager reporter Lesley Sussman tried to check it out, but the co-op manager declined to return phone calls and the co-op association president sent an e-mail saying he was on vacation and unavailable.
An El of a cliffhanger: In an article in last week’s issue about the closing of Charlie Mom Chinese restaurant, the article’s writer, LindaAnn Loschiavo, noted that in 1892, two disgruntled Sixth Ave. landlords sued the Metropolitan Elevated Railway Company, charging it for lost income, as well as the loss of the peaceful enjoyment of their abode, due to the “steam, smoke, cinders and vibrations from the overhead trains.” Some readers might have wondered how the lawsuit turned out. Loschiavo, who is the unofficial historian of the Central Village area, tells us: “Mr. and Mrs. Hoops fought in court for years and years. After exhausting every judge at the Jefferson Market Courthouse, they went to the Supreme Court and Appellate Division. Both buildings at Sixth Ave. and 11th St. — where Charlie Mom was — were mentioned in the lawsuit. Testimony came from people who sold and rented Sixth Ave. buildings between Waverly Place to 12th St. — to testify for the railroad or to testify for Maria Hoops. The Hoops lost. Realistically, how could they have won? Every other Sixth Ave. landlord would have followed with their own lawsuit against the El, right?” As for Loschiavo, who is known for her annual Mae West tribute and play at the former courthouse, which is now the Jefferson Market branch library, she said, “I’m saving pictures of all my happy theater cast parties at Charlie Mom.”
Time to boogie! Speaking of Trump, John Penley, who co-organized last month’s Campout New York Post in Tompkins Square Park to protest the SkyWatch police tower that had been there, is ready to vamoose because of the caustic candidate. “Doing some serious thinking and have pretty much decided that after I attempt to do one more anti-rich real estate developer and housing protest in N.Y.C., I am going to try once again to go back to Playa Zipolite,” Penley recently posted on Facebook. “I think I will be able to afford to leave in Jan. or Feb. and at that time I will shut all this social media stuff down and be an aging beach bum for awhile again. That’s the plan because I am absolutely sick of the U.S.A. Any country that would seriously be considering Donald Trump as its leader is one seriously insane place. I will return for the convention protests but then leave again. I’m 63 and have spent too much time tilting at windmills… . Time to buy a boogie board and hit the surf.”
