Volume 74, Number 29 | November 24 – 30, 2004
Scoopy’s notebook
GLID we’re not in Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Republican Party, playing hardball against Democrat Brad Carson in a tight Senate race against Republican Tom Coburn, sent out a press release during the campaign intended to smear Carson for having given money to the 2001 City Council race of Brad Hoylman, current president of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats. The release was titled: “Carson’s financial contributions to openly gay candidate sparks [sic] questions for Oklahoma voters;” and noted prominently: “Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats’ goal is to legalize same sex marriage across USA.” In the release, Rick Buchanan, spokesman for Oklahoma Victory 2004, challenged Carson to fully refund $2,500 in congressional campaign funds given by Carson to support the “openly gay” Hoylman’s campaign. Hoylman and Carson are friends from their time at Oxford as Rhodes scholars. While Carson isn’t gay, the Oklahoma G.O.P.’ers, with their press release, sought to imply he was. “I knew he was gay,” Carson said when the Hoylman contribution became an issue. “I really don’t care who you sleep with. I care what you want to do. Brad is a good man and so I was happy to support him.” Carson said he was not aware of Hoylman’s association with GLID, and Carson pointed out that he is on record as against gay marriage. Carson in the end lost in a bitter race to Coburn, who said during the campaign — among other outrageous things — that abortion doctors should be subject to the death penalty.
In the media: The New York Post reports that a 20-story, 150-room Sheraton hotel is coming to 66 Charlton St. It will be called the Four Points Soho Village and will be moderately priced. The opening is planned for sometime in 2006…. We hear Channel 5 (FOX News) may have picked up on The Villager’s article on the Meat Market getting more streetlights. The news channel was planning to interview Meat Market activists Jo Hamilton and Florent Morellet and Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee chairperson Hoylman.
Heard at the Ear: Word on the street in front of the Ear Inn is that work on the foundation of the Philip Johnson-designed tower at the corner of Spring and Washington Sts. will start in January. Rip Hayman, owner of the historic John Brown House with the bar on the ground floor, said they have braced the wall and hope it holds during the construction. “We found some old bones,” Hayman quipped.
Pizza mania: No one has given Scoopy credit for breaking the story of Joe’s Pizza leaving its space on Carmine St., but it has since blown up into pizza news of major proportions. Of course it was David Gruber, president of Carmine St. Block Association, who originally tipped us off. Pizza blogs — yes, there are several of them — have been burning up the Internet over Joe’s moving down the block and the new pizza place that will replace it at its former spot. The Post, Observer and Curbed Web site have also all done articles. Clearly, people are hungry for pizzeria news. Moving into Joe’s old spot will be a pizza place named DeMarco’s from the owners of the legendary DiFara’s of Midwood, Brooklyn.
Tail-waggin’ tidings: Gail Fox, co-chairperson of the Union Square Community Coalition, tells us that Nicole Barth, chairperson of the Union Sq. Park dog run, and her husband, Neal Thompson, welcomed their new baby, Charlotte Barth Thompson, 6 pounds, 3 ounces, on Nov. 1, sometime after 7 p.m. Their canine companions, Maggie and Winnie, also welcomed the newbie.
Blinded with science: A Villager article last week on New York University’s new life sciences building project noted that yeast have 8,000 genes, but failed to note how many genes humans have — 25,000 to 30,000. (Such comparisons are what genomics is all about, after all.) Also, Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, did not say “but the science building is built,” as he was quoted, but “The science building has come before” N.Y.U.’s hiring of a development planner.
Snail mail continues: Susan Stetzer, Community Board 3 district manager, said it’s not correct that the board is no longer mailing out its agenda of monthly meetings. The board still does mail out 300 agendas to community groups and others — but they are mailing out fewer of them.
