VOLUME 27, NUMBER 3 JULY 17-JULY 30, 2014

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SEAPORT TOWERS POWER:SURPRISING SUPPORT

BY JOSH ROGERS

Itll be another few months before the public gets to see how much the Howard Hughes Corp. has adjusted its proposed 600-foot tower at the South Street Seaport, but in the mean-

while, the tower has a lot more support than many observers thought.

Since the firm unveiled its proposal last fall, the tower to be built just outside the South Street Seaport Historic District has garnered near universal opposi-tion at public meetings, but on Tuesday, the Seaport Working Group, which includes leading opponents of the project, released a survey showing 26 percent of

BY L INCOLN ANDERSON

After previously voting no endorsement in the Democratic primary for governor, the Village Independent Democrats last Thursday recon-sidered their position, ultimately throwing their

support behind political newcomer Zephyr Teachout. Teachout, a Fordham law professor, entered the

Democratic primary in June after losing the Working Families Party endorsement to Governor Andrew Cuomo and after V.I.D., in a rebuke of Cuomo, had already voted 26-0 for no endorsement in the primary.

Although her poll numbers are pretty low, she is

proving to be popular with Downtown Democratic clubs like Downtown Independent Democrats in Lower Manhattan, which voted not to endorse Cuomo, and may soon give their nod to Teachout.

One factor in D.I.D.s snubbing of Cuomo was the governors role in the recently revealed secret M.O.U. (memorandum of understanding) to transfer $100 million worth of development rights from Pier 40 to the St. Johns Center site in Hudson Square.

Before last Thursday nights revote by the Village club, the contenders first had another chance to address the club. Stand-up comic turned political

Continued on page 12

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

A Water Day SplashIf you start with a cardboard kayak, theres bound to be a mishap or two, particularly if you want to race one. It was all in good fun last Saturday on Governors Island as part of the annual Water Day celebration around the harbor. Twelve teams raced with the makeshift vessels, but once again Stevens Institute took the title.

Cuomos progressive foe popular with Downtown clubs

Continued on page 5

2 July 17- July 30, 2014 DowntownExpress.com

is for Salamander Summers

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AN OFFER WE DIDNT REFUSEA big guy from the neighborhood

with a gravelly voice that sounded like it was straight from The Sopranos gave us a call this week and asked us to do him a favor.

Even though everything turned out to be exactly as it seemed, we werent too scared because the call was from Steve Schirripa, the actor and Battery Park City resident most famous for playing Tony Sopranos brother-in-law, Bobby Baccalieri.

Schirripa, who has lived at the north and now the south end of the nabe for over a decade, used to do fundraisers for P.S. and I.S. 289 where his children attended, even getting co-stars Michael Imperioli, Edie Falco and Steve Buscemi to play in a celebrity softball game.

And he loves B.P.C. as much as Bobby

loved his first wifes lasagna. Its like the suburbs of Manhattan,

he told us. You pay a price for it, but its getting better all the time. People are stunned when they come down here.

Speaking of lasagna, Schirripa want-ed to tell us about his new Uncle Steves tomato sauce, which he will be promot-ing at Battery Place Market, 77 Battery Place, Wed., July 23 from 4 7 p.m.

Its my moms recipe, but we made it better, he said of the organic, vegan, gluten-free and yes even kosher adjust-ments. She passed away last year so I dont know if shed agree.

I dont want to sound like a pitch-man even though thats what I am, but the sauce is really good.

As for The Sopranos, Schirripa told us he still gets asked about the series finale all the time. He thinks the meaning is simple.

My personal opinion is nothing hap-pened. What you saw is what you got, he said. Tony Soprano goes on living in New Jersey.

THE CUOMO CLUB?Some Downtown politcos long in

the tooth or up on local history perhaps noticed the generational shift in Village politics.

The more conservative (its all relative in Lower Manhattan) Village Reform Democratic Club formed 30 years ago as a vehicle to endorse Ed Koch for governor over Mario Cuomo, who got the nod from Kochs old club, Village Independent Democrats.

More recently, as in the last few weeks, V.R.D.C. has come around to the Cuomo family, endorsing Marios boy, better known as Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but V.I.D. had none of it going with Zephyr Teachout over the younger Cuomo.

SEAPORT NOISETheres been a lot of noise about

South Street Seaport development plans, but theres also been some about actual

noise as well.Howard Hughes Corp., the Seaport

mall operator and developer, moved its stage this year in deference to Southbridge Towers residents who had been complaining in years past, but the move did not work.

The firm received a good number of complaints this year about recent concerts.

We thought we had a handle on it as a solution by putting the stage near Water St. we thought good, problem solved, Phillip St. Pierre, the Seaports general manager, told a Community Board 1 committee this week. As it turns out, there was still a problem so were work-ing on establishing levels that everyone can live with.

I couldnt even hear my own TV and Im down on Pearl St., Southbridge res-ident Una Perkins told St. Pierre.

There was also a little noise about literal development noise. The committee was concerned about how long Hughes would be driving piles at Pier 17, which it plans to begin reconstructing in October.

The firms Chris Curry didnt have any answers, but neighbors were mildly reassured by the fact that no one at the meeting had noticed the test pile driving thats been going on lately.

Sopranos actor and Battery Park City resident Steve Schirripa.

July 17- July 30, 2014 3DowntownExpress.com

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4 July 17- July 30, 2014 DowntownExpress.com

SWEET SMELL OF MONEYThe whiff of cologne and its eye-popping pricetag

attracted shoplifters to two Downtown stores in the past week.

Police arrested a suspect, 45, for trying to take three bottles of Fierce cologne worth about $1,700 from the South Street Seaport Abercrombie & Fitch Sat., July 12 at 4 p.m. Police say he tried to conceal them in his bag, but an employee noticed and reported the crime.

The defendant does not fit the description of either of the suspects in another cologne caper two days later

in Soho. In that incident, two men took over $1,000 worth of cologne from the Diesel Black Gold flagship store at 68 Greene St., on Mon, July 14 at 1:30 p.m. Police say the stores security cameras were not working.

KNOCKED TO THE PAVEMENTA 19 year-old woman drinking coffee outside a

Tribeca cafe was slammed to the ground Monday by a man asking to bum a sip.

Police say the woman was drinking on a bench out-side Crave espresso cafe at 386 Canal St. just before 7 a.m, July 14 when a stranger who was about 5