In the News: The Argument Against Margaret Chin

••• The Villager endorsed Christopher Marte for city council—and strongly denounced incumbent Margaret Chin: “Chin has had her two terms, and now—we respectfully say—it is time for her to leave. She’s been good on senior issues, among others. She’s looking out for AAFE and her support base. But she has glaringly failed to represent her whole district on all of its issues. Honestly, we’ve never seen such a disconnect between a local politician and her community.” (There’s quite a bit more along those lines.)

••• To wit: When the Broadsheet asked Chin about the biggest issue facing Tribeca, she came up with the Worth Street and Chambers Street reconstruction projects (the latter of which was completed more than two years ago). Here’s Marte’s response to the same question: “a) Preserve and expand Tribeca’s Historic Districts, b) prevent out-of-scale developments that will erode this landmarked neighborhood and c) preserve affordable housing, particularly for long-term senior residents who helped Tribeca grow into the community it is today.” —Broadsheet

••• Thefts, including one at gunpoint, in the Tribeca Trib police blotter.

••• Artist Rosalyn Drexler, who lives in Tribeca, has had quite the life: “In a wide-ranging interview with the Village Voice, Drexler recounted some memorable, and wild, moments, including watching vaudeville acts and Busby Berkeley movies in her youth, and the time Franz Kline was so impressed with her first exhibit, in 1960, that he exchanged one of his ink drawings—splashed on pages from a New York City telephone book—for a small sculpture of hers. She recalled hanging out with John and Yoko and meeting Fred Astaire in their hotel room, and how one of Warhol’s ’13 Most Beautiful Boys,’ Freddie Herko, starred in her musical Home Movies shortly before he gave his final performance, by dancing naked out the window of a fifth-floor Cornelia Street apartment.”

••• Business of Fashion: “IMG Fashion, a division of super-agency WME-IMG, has announced an alliance with Spring, the creative agency and production company, with a goal to turn the latter’s Spring Studios in Tribeca into a new hub for New York Fashion Week. […] ‘NYFW: The Shows’ will relocate in February 2018 as a venue for runway shows, presentations, events and retail pop-ups.” Which reminds me…. When Community Board 1 approved the liquor-license application for Spring way back when, there was a long list of stipulations, including a community advisory committee—to monitor said stipulations—that I don’t think ever happened, but it’s starting up now. The advisory committee is to be discussed at this Wednesday’s Licensing Committee meeting, so if you’d like to throw your hat in the ring, contact CB1 as soon as possible. The full list of stipulations is here.

••• Delighted to see Ato restaurant get a rave from New York magazine.

 

5 Comments

  1. Agree with the Broadsheet. They neglected to mention how Margaret Chin approved of NYU’s plans to expand. Also of note: her lack of support for the preservation of the Elizabeth Street Gardens. She talks a good progressive game but is, in fact, regressive.

    • And unless enough people downtown get out and vote today for someone else, say Chris Marte, she will likely get a huge turnout from her base in Chinatown which will give her a third term.

  2. People from the Lower East Side had called her out on her racism at the waterfront, her refusal to pass the Chinatown Working Group plan.

  3. Chinese and did not vote for Chin.

  4. My husband is Chinese, so I’m Chinese by marriage. Neither of us voted for Chin. We supported Marte.

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