They own the night?
We hear that a selfless group of self-dubbed “superheroes” are patrolling the streets of the city, “embarked on a crusade to rid New York of crime.” No, we’re not talking about Mysterion and The Coon from “South Park”… . These individuals have reportedly been focusing on the Village, particularly the Christopher St. area, which saw a rash of muggings in April, followed by a group of rowdy transgender kids invading a Dunkin Donuts and throwing around tables and a chair last month. These type of crime-fighting superheroes, who wear masks and costumes, have also recently been spotted in other cities, like Seattle and Cincinnati, where they go by names like Phoenix and the truly fearsome-sounding Shadow Hare. Some carry Tasers, nightsticks and handcuffs and wear Kevlar bulletproof vests. They have been making citizen’s arrests, or so they claim. The code names of the three superheroes walking the Village’s dark streets are reportedly Zero, Short Cut and Samaritan. A New York magazine reporter has been embedding himself with them and should have the full story soon. Asked for comment on the trio of mysterious masked crime fighters, Deputy Inspector Brandon del Pozo, the Sixth Precinct’s new commanding officer, said they’re asking for trouble. “Anyone is entitled to wear a costume,” he said. “It is extremely dangerous, however, to patrol the streets in a costume as a vigilante. Police officers have the training, resources, backup and legal indemnity necessary to effectively fight crime. If a person wants to become involved in local public safety, there are established community watch groups that afford the opportunity to patrol the precinct in partnership with the police. Qualified citizens are also welcome to become trained auxiliary officers for the N.Y.P.D.” Asked if Sixth Precinct police have actually espied the “caped crusaders,” del Pozo said, “We haven’t seen them, nor have we gotten any reports about them.” The volunteer Christopher St. Patrol is out monitoring the streets for criminal activity on Friday and Saturday nights, joined by a complement of Guardian Angels. “I have not seen any superheroes or anything like this,” said David Poster, the patrol’s president. “We’ve been patrolling Christopher St. for years, although we’re not known as superheroes.” Poster said the reason so much attention is being focused on the area right now is because a surveillance video of last month’s “Donut Riot” was shown on the TV news. “This has been going on for years,” he said. Another newspaper recently called him for information about the superheroes, too, he noted. “Are they female or male?” Poster asked. We told him, we don’t know. Meanwhile, he’s renewing his call for closing the Christopher St. Pier at 10 p.m., instead of the current 1 a.m. curfew, since he feels this will help keep things more under control.
Hizzoner on healthcare debate:
Former Mayor Ed Koch is strongly supporting the plan by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System for a free-standing emergency department and comprehensive care center at the former St. Vincent’s O’Toole Building on W. 12th St. He told us he doesn’t think it’s realistic at this point to expect there’s a chance for a full-service hospital to be restored in Greenwich Village. Asked if he thought Yetta Kurland and the Coalition for a New Village Hospital are just wasting their breath in their unceasing calls for a new hospital — more than a year after St. Vincent’s Hospital closed — he didn’t knock them, but said he doesn’t think they’ll succeed. “If she finds someone to put up the millions of dollars it would need, it would be wonderful,” Koch said of Kurland. “But I don’t think that she’ll find such a person. The state’s not going to do it — the state’s just closed a $10 billion deficit. … And what they’re doing for now is the best that can be done,” he said of the North Shore-L.I.J. plan for a new $110 million facility.
Free Tompkins flicks and music:
Free films will be screening in Tompkins Square Park on Thursday nights this summer. The series is presented by Two Boots Pizza and “the guys from Ella/Gallery Bar/Blind Barber,” sponsored by Epix. The movies start at sundown, with live music — by bands of all ages — about an hour before. There will also be poetry, raffle prizes to benefit the Lower Eastside Girls Club, dance, live art, pizza and a mini merry-go-round. The artist Zito will do a portrait for each of the films, which will be part of the pre-show raffle. “What will make this series really unique is the involvement of lots of folks from the community,” said Phil Hartman of Two Boots. On June 30, “Raging Bull” will be preceded by the music of Raging Bluegrass, with Gryphon & Odetta (special appearance by the Bowery Poetry Club’s PoemMobile); on July 7, the So So Glos will open for “Coming to America”; on July 14, Dog Soldier will play before “The Warriors”; July 21 will feature “Star Trek” and music by Moon Hooch, with live art by Free Art Society; on July 28 The Debonairs will perform before “Arthur”; Aug. 4, “Pope of Greenwich Village” and Elliot Sharp; Aug. 11, “Kickass” and Mamarazzi; Aug. 18, “Rosemary’s Baby” with The Luddites and East Village Dance Project; Aug. 25, “The Godfather” with Nuyorican Poets Cafe poetry slam and Raya Brass Band; and Sept. 1, “Stake Land” and Just Desserts.
Big branch brought down:
The Parks Department tells us that, after nearly two weeks, the big broken branch that was hanging high up in a tree near the Ninth St. and Avenue B entrance to Tompkins Square Park was finally removed Wednesday morning. We were starting to wonder — but admittedly it was large and pretty high off the ground, so it must have been a challenge to take down safely.
Help Beal make bail:
Aron Kay, a.k.a. “The Yippie Pie Man,” is putting on a new push to spring marijuana activist Dana Beal from jail in Wisconsin, where he’s being held on pot charges. Since the judge on the case, William Dyke, is refusing to lower the Bleecker St. Yippie’s $50,000 bail, and Wisconsin doesn’t allow bail bondsmen, Kay is proposing that the more than 1,200 people on the “Free Dana Beal Free Ourselves” Facebook page each pony up around $40 or $45 apiece, which would do the trick. “This is a ploy to railroad Dana to death,” Kay said of Dyke’s hard line. “Dana is 64 years old and not in the best of health. He is getting a raw deal! Therefore we the friends of Dana Beal must commit ourselves to the struggle for justice!” Checks and money orders can be made payable to Beal’s attorney, Bryon Walker, P.O. Box 10, La Farge, Wisconsin, 54639. Checks should be made out to “Dana Beal Bail.”
On the move:
The offices of Community Media (The Villager, East Villager, Downtown Express, Gay City News and Chelsea Now) will be moving, though only a few blocks away. Our new address, effective Mon., July 11, will be 515 Canal St., Unit 1C, 10013.
