BY LINCOLN ANDERSON  |  Tenants and housing activists, joined by Councilmember Rosie Mendez, rallied on E. Third St. near Second Ave. Monday to protest the landlord’s move to kick out tenants from 17 apartments in three adjacent tenements.

In recent years, East Village landlords have been chasing out rent-regulated tenants with such legal-but-dubious means as “demolition eviction” and “owner occupancy eviction.” However, in this latest case, the tenants are actually paying market-rate rents.

It’s a mystery exactly what the thinking is of the landlord, Abart Holdings. But affected tenants at Nos. 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St. say they suspect it’s because Abart is planning to sell the three buildings — which have 72 units total — and that offering them with 24 percent of the units vacant would sweeten the deal for the buyer. It’s suspected Abart would renovate the empty apartments, installing granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances and the like, enabling the new owner to jack up the rents further beyond the current $2,500 or $3,000.

Married couple Greg Essenpreiss, 40, a social worker, and Sue Palchak, 38, a hair stylist, received notices from the landlord that their lease would not be renewed. They’re supposed to vacate by next week.

“We’re not leaving,” Essenpreiss declared. “My wife and I have lived in the East Village 15 years. We didn’t move here just because we thought it would be cool — we love the East Village.”

David Moster, an N.Y.U. religion graduate student, shares “a very small three-bedroom” in one of the buildings with two roommates. They pay $3,000 a month. They, too, received a notice saying their lease won’t be renewed.

“We should have the right to live in our homes and we should be able to stay here, no matter what,” Moster said.

Councilmember Mendez said things must change. The state Senate Republicans are making laws affecting the city’s housing, and “they don’t give a s— about us!” she fumed. Pressure needs to exerted in Albany, as well as on the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, she said.

– Video by Liza Béar

Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Science teacher Vicki Sando, left, and Principal Kelly Shannon on top of P.S. 41, where a green roof should be sprouting as soon as the next couple of months, though possibly not until the fall.

“We’re pretty much at completion,” said P.S. 41 Principal Kelly Shannon. “The issue is that the rest of the building went under construction.”

The outside facade of the 55-year-old school at 116 W. 11th St. needed repointing, windows had to be replaced and the parapet and auditorium ceiling needed repairs.

“The roof can’t get a certificate of occupancy until that’s completed,” said Shannon. “But the greenery is in a nursery and is ready to be planted.”

P.S. 41 had hoped to open the green roof this spring, but it now looks like it will be June or July at the earliest, and possibly not until the fall.

“Our fifth graders are disappointed because they were here when we first started this process, and it was our hope that they would have the opportunity to be up there before they graduated,” said Shannon. “We’re still pushing for it, but we’re not sure it’s going to happen.”

In addition to its pedagogical benefits, the green roof will provide much-needed outdoor space for the overcrowded school. P.S. 41 currently has 781 students and is on a lottery system for admission. It had to jettison its pre-kindergarten classes two years ago because there was no room for them. Next year, Shannon anticipates having about 800 students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

“We couldn’t build any higher on the building. We didn’t have the weight-bearing capacity,” Shannon said. “As schools become more crowded, there has to be an opportunity for kids to be outside and be part of their natural surroundings. Given that they’re crowded in other ways in the building, to know that there’s this additional spacing is really heart-warming for us — to know that we’ve provided another venue for our kids to learn in.”

Vicki Sando, the parent of two former students at the school and now a part-time science teacher there, spearheaded the green roof project and has been its constant booster since its inception. She will coordinate how the green roof is used and maintained once it opens.

A central section of the roof will be used as classroom space, with side sections set aside for an herb garden and as an on-site nursery, she explained.

“Our goal at P.S. 41 is to have a lot more science,” Sando said. “Scientists are saying that we could be facing the next mass extinction of species in 50 years because of climate change, overpopulation and loss of habitat. Our children will be making the decisions on how to protect them or how not to protect them. If they do not have an interest in it, I fear there will be a huge loss of wildlife.”

The long road toward opening the green roof has allowed time to develop ways to integrate it into the curriculum.

“For the last school year, we’ve been acclimating the science cluster teachers, as well as classroom teachers, to see how we can take the existing curriculum of New York State and utilize the roof for learning,” Shannon said. “We carefully designed the roof with that in mind, so that the students can observe and explore and do some experiments on the roof.”

The school’s science teachers — Joaquin Rodriguez, who teaches the upper grades, and Allison MacCallum, who teaches the lower grades — have already started to reference the green roof in their teaching. A recent project involved comparing the soil that will be used on the green roof to soil that the students made from a mixture of sand, gravel, rocks and humus.

“We experimented with growing bean plants in both kinds of soil and we made predictions,” MacCallum said. “We discovered that both soils worked well. The differences that we saw were based on how much water they were getting and how much light. The kids recorded the results in their journals.”

Because of interest in the green roof, the school has started an Urban Eco-Club that meets once a week before school. The first meeting was on May 3 with 30 children participating.

“We had to turn kids away,” MacCallum said. “We did a PowerPoint presentation on the green roof. The kids asked questions about the kinds of birds that might come to the roof, the kinds of insects, whether we would see any nests.”

Some history was woven into the meeting, too.

“We talked about the origin of ‘green roofs’ and that they go back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,” Sando said.

The green roof has cost $1.7 million to design, build and plant. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer allocated $650,000 in city capital funding to the project. An equal amount came from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. State Senator Tom Duane came up with $200,000. Additional funding came from private donations.

Stringer sees the P.S. 41 green roof as a prototype that could be implemented in other public schools. In December 2010, his office organized a symposium at P.S 41 entitled, “Educational Green Roofs Construction & Curriculum Considerations for N.Y.C. Public Schools,” to discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing green roofs in public schools.

His office also facilitated meetings with the School Construction Authority.

“The S.C.A. was initially skeptical about the project,” said Sando. “They had never done anything like this. Scott Stringer’s office was a tremendous help to us.”

Other help has come or will come from corporations, businesses and nonprofit organizations that have offered advice, funding and, in the case of two local restaurants, Gramercy Tavern and Bobo, a willingness to buy the herbs that the students raise.

“The goal is not to make a lot of money but to have the kids understand how business works,” Sando said.

“We anticipate working with corporations and companies that are into environmental sciences,” Shannon added. “They would provide volunteers, services and equipment that might be needed. One of our major partners is Organic Valley, along with National Wildlife Federation.”

Sando said that she and Shannon had already talked to the National Wildlife Federation about having an event at the school for some of their major supporters, so that “we can reciprocate for everything they’ve done for us so far.”

Pedagogues are also eyeing the P.S. 41 green roof with great interest.

“We’ve worked with Columbia Teachers College and The New School,” Shannon noted. “There are many universities interested in having their science departments participate because we’d be an on-site lab that they could utilize. They could try out curricula here, as well as offer us support in training and upkeep and maintenance with interns and volunteers.

“We’ve tried to make this as much as possible a community effort,” the principal said, “because this kind of project entails that everyone be vested in it.”

Photos by Tequila Minsky

Councilmembers Rosie Mendez, at mic, and Margaret Chin were among the many elected officials who spoke in praise of Harry Wieder at the ceremony.

About 100 neighbors, fellow activists and friends joined elected officials at the Lower East Side corner on Sun., May 7, for the street co-naming ceremony.

A tireless advocate for the rights of gays, people with disabilities and seniors, Harry, 57, was killed on April 27, 2010, when he was struck by a cab while crossing Essex St. near Stanton St. after a Community Board 3 meeting.

“Despite everything he did to make this a safe city, he lost his life in a tragic accident,” said Rosie Mendez, City Councilmember for District 2, who first named Harry to the community board.

She recalled walking with Harry from one meeting to another one day when he stopped to talk to a child who was staring at him.

“I’m a short adult,” Harry told the curious youngster, who was the same height as he was, explaining why he had facial hair and that he had to use crutches because of other problems.

Mendez recalled that Harry told her, “Children are curious and if you don’t explain things, someone else might give them misleading ideas.”

“He always made his opinion known, whether you like it or not,” Mendez said.

However, not all of Harry’s causes have been realized yet. Mendez noted that seven people in wheelchairs at the ceremony could not manage to get from the street to the sidewalk at Sara Delano Park without help because the curb was too high.

Two of Harry Wieder’s relatives traveled from afar to attend the street co-naming ceremony. They were joined by Zach Brommer, an aide to Assembly Speaker Silver, right.

Thomas Wieder, Harry’s cousin, who now lives in Israel, noted that Harry’s parents were Holocaust survivors and doted on their only son. Harry’s mother, Charlotte, 88, was too frail to come in from her home in Queens for the street co-naming. However, Thomas Wieder told the gathering that a photo of Harry with President Bill Clinton has a place of honor in Charlotte’s living room.

“He told Clinton that if he wanted to be photographed with him, he’d have to bow down,” said Thomas, noting his cousin’s “great and edgy sense of humor.”

Margaret Chin, District 1 City Councilmember, who appointed Harry to the community board in 2009, recalled that she first met Harry when she was director of Asian Americans for Equality.

“He was always polite but we were always arguing,” said Chin, who co-sponsored the Council street co-naming resolution with Mendez. “He also told me which were the best restaurants on the Lower East Side.”

State Senator Tom Duane said he didn’t argue with Harry.

“I thought he was right all the time,” said Duane. He recalled Harry’s advocacy for people with AIDS and his membership in Disabled in Action and the 504 Democratic Club — advocates for people with disabilities.

“He described himself as a disabled, gay, Jewish, leftist, middle-aged dwarf who ambulates with crutches,” Duane said.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn laughingly remembered a Harry story and in the next breath recalled his appearance at a City Council hearing on toilets.

“His testimony was hilarious, brilliant and right on the point,” Quinn recalled.

Zack Bommer, an aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, presented an Assembly proclamation honoring Harry Wieder’s efforts on behalf of the neighborhood.

State Senator Daniel Squadron, who represents Lower Manhattan, the Lower East Side, most of the East Village and part of Brooklyn, recalled that Harry confronted him when he first ran in 2008.

“He asked me why I was running, and I told him what I stood for,” Squadron said. “He looked at me for a while and said, politely, ‘You’d better not be lying,’ ” Squadron said.

Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh paid tribute to Harry’s extraordinary commitment and energy.

Former City Councilmember Margarita Lopez, now a New York City Housing Authority board member, recalled Harry’s commitment to making life better for everyone.

“He fought for the right things 24/7,” Lopez said, adding, “Harry, you’re a giant.”

Ronnie Billini led a group of ACT UP members in a version of her performance piece “Harry in a Hurry,” in tribute to Wieder’s involvement since the early 1980s with the AIDS direct-action group.

Harry’s best friend, Marvin Wasserman, a former member of Community Board 3, recalled that it has been two years “since Harry went out with a bang, not a whimper.” Wasserman said the recently passed New York State marriage-equality law and the city’s new requirement for handicap-access taxis are tributes to Harry’s efforts.

The cord for unveiling the co-named street sign failed to work properly at the end of the ceremony, so Michael Schweinsburg clambered up the light pole to complete the job. It was an appropriate conclusion to an event honoring a short giant who was pursued his goals to the very end.

File photo

The Hudson River Park Trust plans to replace deteriorated concrete slabs on the northeastern section of Pier 40’s roof. The $6 million job should be starting soon. The pier needs a total of $100 million in repairs.

A skeptical-sounding Glick told the newspaper she’s concerned the Hudson River Park Trust is trying to “frighten and stampede” people into accepting residential use on the massive W. Houston St. pier. The park might well need some emergency repairs in spots, she acknowledged. But she said she’s concerned this is just a case of real estate developers trying to make a grab for Pier 40 while the grabbing’s still good during Mayor Bloomberg’s final years in office.

As The Villager first reported last week, a recently completed “Pier 40 Development Feasibility Study” by HR & A Advisors and Tishman/Aecom examined various development scenarios in terms of both revenue-generating potential and traffic impact on the pier, the park and the surrounding area.

The study was commissioned to “give direction” to the Trust on Pier 40, but the Trust isn’t recommending any specific plan for the pier yet.

Of the combinations of uses studied, the report found that adding 600,000 square feet of rental apartments (about 600 apartments), plus a 150-room hotel, to the 14.5-acre pier would yield the most revenue for the park, yet have the least traffic impact.

The housing would have to be rental because the Trust isn’t allowed to sell property. According to a source, rents would be high end — around $7,500. Bob Townley, director of Manhattan Youth, who saw the presentation, said the residential option featured massing studies with several 15-story towers or one 30-story tower. The lower of the two heights would be in line with Morton Square, a large residential development that’s near the pier and is about 15 stories tall.

The residential/hotel scenario would still have car parking, but somewhat less than the 1,400 parking spots currently in active use on the pier.

Not surprisingly, the study found that entertainment and destination retail uses were at the high end of the spectrum in terms of impact, in that they would generate the most visitor trips to the pier, comparatively speaking.

Pier 40 wouldn’t really be in demand for office space, the study concluded, since the site is located relatively far from transportation, plus across a highway.

The study is confidential. A few weeks ago it was presented to members of a community-based task force that is examining ways to increase financing for Pier 40 and Hudson River Park as a whole. However, task force members were not given copies of the report to keep.

Park needs funding

Hudson River Park is supposed to be self-financing, and Pier 40 has been generating about 40 percent of the park’s annual revenue. Yet city and state capital funding to complete the remaining 30 percent of the park’s construction has dwindled in recent years. In short, the Trust needs $200 million to complete the park.

Meanwhile, Pier 40 itself is crumbling and needs $100 million in repairs. Recently, the Trust found that Pier 54, at W. 13th St., is also in bad repair, and closed off 70 percent of it.

To allow residential and/or hotel use on Pier 40, the language of the 1998 Hudson River Park Act would have to be modified. The Trust also would like to be able to issue longer leases than permitted under the park act. Currently, it can only issue a 30-year lease for Pier 40, which isn’t long enough to make projects there viable for developers.

However, the Albany legislative session ends in June, leaving a very narrow time frame if these changes are to made during this year’s legislative session. The Trust, reportedly, and certain leading park advocates, are eager to see the changes made during this session.

Glick — whose district contains Pier 40 — is a key player and would need to be won over if there are to be any legislative changes.

Glick: Follow the law

The assemblymember emphasized that, in her understanding, according to the park legislation, a public hearing must be held for major changes proposed for the park — with 30 days’ prior notice given — followed by another 30 days for public comment.

“The Trust has painted a dramatic picture of the pier falling into the water, although it turns out that wouldn’t happen for years to come,” Glick said. “My concern is that they’re asking for dramatic changes, but don’t seem to have any plans for public hearings — and the legislation requires significant changes to be vetted through the public, not just a task force of 25 or 30 people.”

(For more of Glick’s thinking on the idea of residential use on Pier 40, see her talking point in this week’s issue, on Page 21.)

Arthur Schwartz, chairperson of the Hudson River Park Advisory Council, said, “I’m not sure that seeking legislative change requires the 30-day hearing.”

Schwartz e-mailed the relevant section of the park act:

In the case of any proposed significant action affecting the park or community, including the adoption of, and any amendment to, the general project plan or the annual financing plan, the trust shall: (a) hold a public hearing on not less than 30 days’ advance public notice; (b) solicit and consider the views of Manhattan community boards one, two, and four, the planning commission of the city of New York, the advisory council, elected officials representing communities neighboring the park, and interested groups and individuals, allowing not less than sixty days following the notice of the proposed action for the submission of such views. 

“I don’t think a request for legislation is a ‘significant action’ under the law,” Schwartz said. “Nevertheless, the Trust has asked the advisory council to hold a public meeting, in conjunction with the three community boards, to react to the recommendations of the task force.”

Meeting in a few weeks

That public meeting — on proposed park changes, including for Pier 40 — will be at the end of this month or early next month on a date still to be determined.

Vivian Liao, a Trust spokesperson, said, “The Trust is working to schedule a public meeting, not a public hearing. The New York State Legislature does not require that a public hearing be conducted before it can act. If in the future, the Trust decides to amend the park’s General Project Plan in order to allow a use or other activity that was not previously contemplated, that juncture would be the trigger for a significant action hearing pursuant to the park act.”

Lee Alman, another Trust spokesperson, added that the key point is that state Legislature can make changes to the park act without a “significant action hearing” being held first. If the park legislation were to be changed — say, to allow residential use — and then the Trust actually decided to move forward on the idea of adding housing in the park, that would require a hearing, he said.

“The ideas the Trust is discussing with the Legislature are about tools they want in their toolbox, for lack of a better metaphor,” Alman said. If the Trust then decided actually to use any of these new “tools” — longer leases, bonding authority, removing building restrictions — only then would a “significant action hearing” be triggered, he added. Alman said the purpose of the advisory council meeting in a few weeks will be to discuss all these issues.

Schwartz is also chairperson of Board 2’s Waterfront Committee, which will be discussing the new developments regarding Pier 40 and the park.

“I have also added the issue to the May 21 Community Board 2 Waterfront Committee meeting, so that C.B. 2 can pass a resolution on the issues at its May 24 full-board meeting,” Schwartz noted.

Squadron weighs in

As for the state Senate, the pier is in Daniel Squadron’s district. The idea of the G.O.P.-led state Senate rejecting a plan to build market-rate housing in the park — or anywhere, for that matter — doesn’t seem likely. But Squadron says his position has traditionally been against such an idea.

“I’ve long been opposed to housing in a park to fund a park,” Squadron said. “Last summer I negotiated a first-of-its-kind agreement to fund Brooklyn Bridge Park based on the increased property values around the park. Whatever the conclusion, this is the time for creative thinking to ensure the long-term viability of Hudson River Park.”

Stadium still kicking around

In addition, about a month ago, representatives of Major League Soccer gave Trust officials and the task force a presentation of the league’s proposal for a 25,000-seat stadium on Pier 40.

Schwartz said he may ask MLS to give a presentation next month to the advisory council — which has a partial overlap with the task force in terms of its members.

(The soccer stadium scenario wasn’t analyzed in the Pier 40 study because the MLS pitch to the Trust and the task force came sometime after the Pier 40 study was already underway. However, the “impact” of the stadium on Saturday evenings during soccer season would clearly be off the charts.)

Although it’s not clear that the soccer stadium has much local support, it does have political clout behind it. Emily Giske — vice chairperson of the New York State Democratic Committee and a close friend of Council Speaker Christine Quinn — is a lobbyist for the MLS plan. However, Schwartz assured he’s not being pushed to allow the soccer group to present to the advisory council.

“No one is pressuring me,” he stated.

‘Cast a wide net’

An approach of “cast as wide a net as possible for potential uses” for the Pier 40 study was encouraged by the three local youth sports organizations that funded the initiative — Pier, Park and Playground Association (P3), Greenwich Village Little League and Downtown United Soccer Club.

Saving the pier’s sports fields is critical to the leagues. Under the residential/hotel scenario, 70 to 80 percent of the pier’s footprint would be covered by playing fields.

For his part, Brad Hoylman, C.B. 2 chairperson, agrees with the idea of looking at all possible uses. Asked what he thinks of the concept of residential/hotel use on Pier 40 and whether the park act’s restrictive language should be modified to allow it, Hoylman said, “Everything needs to be on the table at this point. It’s a complicated issue that will require a great deal of input from the local community, advocates and our local elected officials.”

Other revenue raisers

Another change the Trust reportedly wants concerns Pier 76, the 4-acre pier at W. 36th St. near the Javits Center, where the Police Department tow pound is now located.

“The Hudson River Park Act said the N.Y.P.D. needed to make best efforts to remove the tow pound at Pier 76,” spokesperson Liao said. “The park was to receive half of the pier, and half was to be developed commercially for the city. We are asking for the entire pier to come to the Trust and that any revenue generated go toward maintenance and operations of the park.”

In addition, the Trust would like to be allowed to issue tax-exempt bonds, which would let it borrow money, creating a stable income for park repairs. Again, a legislative change would be needed.

Yet another revenue-generating idea for the park is a “park improvement district,” along the lines of a business improvement district, or BID. This hybrid “PID” would extend out from the park two or three blocks into the surrounding neighborhoods; it would provide supplementary services, such as tending the West Side Highway median, for one, which is in sore need of some upkeep. Property owners would be assessed a small tax to fund the “PID.” City Council approval would be required to authorize the district’s formation.

A similar concept for a High Line improvement district failed a few years ago, after property owners and residents in Chelsea balked at the concept. However, the Friends of Hudson River Park, the park’s main private fundraising organization, is still behind the improvement district plan.

“The BID is still being explored, and the Friends of Hudson River Park continues to talk to property owners about the idea,” Liao said.

The Village Independent Democrats political club held its 55th Annual Awards Gala at Colors Restaurant, at 411 Lafayette St., on Thurs., May 3. Among the honorees was Gale Brewer, the Upper West Side city councilmember, above with plaque, with, from left, District Leader Brad Hoylman, V.I.D. President Jonathan Geballe, District Leader Keen Berger and former District Leader Tony Hoffmann. Brewer has declared she’s running for Manhattan borough president. The club cited her “progressive and passionate public service.” Also honored was Norman Siegel, the prominent civil rights attorney, below. Other honorees included Friends in Deed, an organization assisting people facing life-threatening illnesses; Yvonne Sherwell, for her work on behalf of tenants’ rights; and Annette Zaner, “for a lifetime of community activism.”

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Photo by Scoopy

Drivers, start your engines! Community Board 2 Chairperson Brad Hoylman recently opened an account with the state Board of Elections, paving the way toward launching a campaign for Christine Quinn’s District 3 City Council seat. Hoylman told us this week the act isn’t an official announcement that he’s running, but that “it’s the first step for any campaign.” The next step would be to open an account with the city’s Campaign Finance Board. “I definitely have a serious interest in the Third District Council race,” Hoylman told us. “I hope to run a positive campaign based on my record in the community and the ideas I have to improve our public schools, fight for tenants and increase services for seniors, among other issues,” he added. Two other expected candidates in the 2013 race — C.B. 4 Chairperson Corey Johnson and activist Yetta Kurland — have similarly opened accounts for campaign finances; however, a possible fourth candidate, Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, reportedly has not. In addition, we heard from a little bird that, if Hoylman runs, he’ll step down from his job as executive vice president and general counsel at the Partnership for New York City. He acknowledged as much, telling us, “I think a campaign of any sort, for me would consist of a complete commitment to the race. So, yes, I would have to leave my job and devote myself full time to it.” Similarly, we heard, again from an observant birdie, that Berman would have to step down at G.V.S.H.P. if he decides to run. But when we asked him about it recently, Berman told us he was surprised we had even heard this, since it was subject of a confidential discussion among the society’s board members. (Well, apparently, there’s a leak of “historic proportions” on the board!) Anyway, the preservationist told us, the whole thing was “hypothetical” at this point.

Chin not scared: Angling for perhaps yet another rematch, Pete Gleason, a member of the Downtown Independent Democrats political club, in February, threatened to challenge Councilmember Margaret Chin in a primary election next year due to her apparent support of the Broadway Soho Business Improvement District. Back then, Gleason told City & State, “Margaret Chin is one Chinese opponent away from losing.” But Kelly Magee, Chin’s spokesperson, noted Gleason has already twice lost in primaries for District 1 — even once running with D.I.D.’s support — so it’s “No new news here.” However, the following month, attorney Gleason’s attempts to help the “Hockey Mom Madam” hit the front pages of the tabloids. We haven’t heard anything about him running for Council since — though maybe he’s just been too busy with all his new legal work.

A sin to take fins: Speaking of elections, it could cost her some votes in Chinatown, but Chin has introduced a resolution supporting state legislation banning the sale of shark fin. Shark-fin soup is a much-loved delicacy among Chinese people. But to obtain the coveted ingredient, sharks are overfished and brutally stripped of the prized projections, then tossed — rudderless and bleeding — back into the ocean to die. (Sounds a lot like Downtown politics!)

Pot activist getting burned: Paul DeRienzo gives us the latest news on Dana Beal, and it’s not looking good for the Bleecker St. Yippie icon and medical marijuana activist. “Dana is in a lot of trouble,” DeRienzo reports. “He goes on trial in July in Nebraska. They moved him there last week. The trial is for bail violation — not pot — for getting busted in Wisconsin.” Beal is facing a maximum sentence of six years. He was first arrested in Nebraska while trucking what he said was medical marijuana cross-country. He was then subsequently collared in Wisconsin doing the same thing again. There’s no trial date for the Nebraska pot bust yet, according to DeRienzo. “His lawyer in Nebraska advised him to plead to the bail violation charge, but Dana declined,” he said. “He wrote me saying he plans to make a political case out of the charges, which his lawyers and friends think is unwise. But that’s his choice and maybe he’s right — it’s his life after all.” According to DeRienzo, Beal had a second heart attack a couple of months ago in Wisconsin and received a stent. He also sent DeRienzo a copy of the book he’s writing in jail, basically his life story, titled “Letters of Transit.”

Corrections: In last week’s “A Salute to Union Square” special section, an article on education developments in Union Square incorrectly stated that The New School’s new University Center, at Fifth Ave. and 14th St., will be seven stories tall. It will be 16 stories — and, in fact, is slated for a topping-off ceremony next Thursday. Also in the Union Square special section, an article on the area’s tech boom said Yelp recently has taken 3,000 square feet of office space in the neighborhood, when it’s 10,000 square feet.

Photo by Tequila Minsky

If it wins the preservation grant, St. Mark’s Church would use the money to fund the repair and restoration of its cast-iron portico over its E. 10th St. front entrance.

You can vote for your favorite place once a day from now until May 21 by registering at  www.partnersinpreservation.com. The top three vote-getters would get their preservation projects funded.

“Of course, I hope we win, but all the places have great history and deserve a share in the prize,” said Roger Walters, the junior warden of the St. Mark’s vestry and historian of the church on E. 10th St. and Second Ave.

St. Mark’s Church was built in 1795 and has gone through renovations and changes over the years, including after a devastating 1978 fire.

St. Mark’s is asking Partners in Preservation to fund the repair and restoration of the cast-iron portico over the E. 10th St. front porch.

“It was built in 1858 when cast iron was all the rage,” said Walters. The design is attributed to James Bogardus, an early proponent of cast-iron construction. “Three years ago there was an attempt to restore the portico, but it needs to be stripped, cleaned and we might have to replace corroded sections,” Walters said during a Sunday open house tour last week. The final cost of restoring the portico is hard to estimate before any work begins, but it could run between $250,000 and $300,000, Walters added.

Reverend Winnie Varghese, who became rector of St. Mark’s three years ago, said the diverse congregation has been growing and is now three times what it was when she started.

The state’s legalization of same-sex marriage last year was an important milestone for St. Mark’s. The church’s first ceremony for a gay marriage took place on Sept. 10, 2011.

“We had done blessings for partners before, but that was the first marriage,” Varghese said.

St. Mark’s had lost its mission as a church for a few years and no one took care of the building, said Varghese.

“We had hoped our resident arts groups would take a lead in the preservation, but that didn’t happen,” she said. “Now we’re reclaiming our identity as a strong, progressive congregation and we’re able to take responsibility for it,” she added.

The church and its yards are what’s left of the extensive “bouwerie” (plantation) that the New Amsterdam governor, Peter Stuyvesant, bought in 1651 from the Dutch West India Company. He built a Dutch Reformed chapel on the site in 1660 for plantation workers and their families, and his body was interred in a vault under the chapel when he died in 1672.

His great-grandson, Petrus Stuyvesant, donated the property in 1773 to the Episcopal Church with the stipulation that a new chapel be erected. The cornerstone was laid on April 25, 1795.

The steeple, designed by Martin Euclid Thompson and Ithiel Towne, was erected in 1828 and the cast- and wrought-iron fence attributed to Thompson was installed in 1838.

Two sculptures of Native Americans (“Aspiration” and “Inspiration”), carved by Solon Borglum, brother of the creator of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, were acquired in the 1920s by Rector Norman William Guthrie.

Under the East Yard and West Yard are vaults of prominent families who attended St. Marks in the 19th century. Among those buried within are Petrus Stuyvesant, the department store merchant A.T. Stewart, Nicholas Fish, Abraham Schermerhorn, Elizabeth Beekman, U.S. Vice President Daniel Tompkins — the namesake of Tompkins Square Park — and Mayor Philip Hone.

Partners in Preservation is a joint program of American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has given $6.5 million since 2006 to preservation projects in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, Boston, Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum is competing for a Partners grant to help preserve its 1863 tenement at 97 Orchard St. Apartments in the building, which remain much as the museum found them in 1988, have been untouched for about 50 years.

“They need to be carefully stabilized and preserved for future visitors without diminishing their historic integrity,” said Kira Garcia, the museum’s public relations manager.

The Jefferson Market Library, built between 1874 and 1877 on Sixth Ave. in the angle formed by Greenwich Ave. and W. 10th St., is also seeking a Partners grant to replace the entrance doors on Sixth Ave.

The Henry St. Settlement, whose offices are still located in its original 1832 federal row houses at 263, 265 and 267 Henry St., is also among the 40 contestants. The settlement is seeking funds to develop a model for a sustainable retrofitting of the original buildings.

The National Museum of the American Indian, in the U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green, wants Partners in Preservation to fund the renovation of first-floor office space to create a classroom for the museum’s education program.

The High Line park also hopes to get Partners funding to restore the “Tenth Ave. Square” sunken overlook deck and to repair the stairway at that location. The New York Central railway viaduct — on which the new High Line park  has been developed — was opened in 1933. The elevated railway was in use until the 1980s.

A graffiti mural for the Beastie Boys’ MCA has already gone up at E. Seventh St. and First Ave. MCA, real name Adam Yauch, died Fri., May 4, at age 47. In addition to being part of the pioneering hip-hop trio, Yauch was a video and film director, a Buddhist and a vegan. He championed the cause of Tibetan independence, and organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Cram Concepts did the mural.

Two scammers, described only as Asian women, approached their latest victim, 62, at Doyers St. and Bowery at noon on April 30 and told her she had an evil spirit and needed her jewelry to be blessed.

They approached an 85-year-old victim at 9 a.m. April 25 in front of 193 Eldridge St. and fled with her jewelry, which they said they would bless.

At 11 a.m. on April 18 they fled with the jewelry that they offered to bless for a 63-year-victim at an unidentified Chinatown location.

Three suspects, described as Asian women in their 40s, approached a victim, 63, at Orchard and E. Houston Sts. at 10 a.m. April 14, told her they needed to perform a ritual for her and demanded her jewelry and cash. They also told an 81-year-old victim at 9:15 a.m. on April 4 that they needed her property to remove bad luck from it. At 9:30 a.m. on March 29 they asked another victim, whose age was not disclosed, for her property to remove evil spirits.

Anyone with information on the suspects should phone the N.Y.P.D. Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or report it online at  www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577. All tips are confidential.

Guilty in parking punch
A Manhattan jury found Oscar Fuller, 35, guilty of third-degree misdemeanor assault for punching a woman in the face on Feb. 25, 2011, during an argument over a curbside parking space on E. 14th St. between Avenues A and B. Fuller is to be sentenced June 18. The argument started when Fuller tried to park in a space that the victim, Lana Rosas, then 25, was trying to hold for a friend’s car. Fuller punched the victim and knocked her to the pavement where she struck her head. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital and was in a coma for a week. The victim is still undergoing rehabilitation.

Fuller fled the scene but witnesses remembered his license plate number and told police, who arrested him in Queens four days later.

Groping charge goof-up
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Monday dismissed charges against Karl Vanderwoude, arrested April 14 and charged with groping four women in Lower Manhattan, the Village and the Upper East Side over the previous two months.

“The defendant is not the person who committed these acts,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Rooney told Judge Erica Edwards.

D.A. investigators discovered that Vanderwoude had valid alibis for when the incidents occurred at the Chambers St. subway station on March 30, at King and Varick Sts. on Feb. 26, on Second Ave. near E. 67th St. on Feb. 27 and on E. 62nd St. near Park Ave. on Feb. 26. Witnesses misidentified Vanderwoude in a lineup. A Dutch native who works for a financial firm, Vanderwoude conducts Bible study in his Park Slope apartment.

“I still love New York,” he told reporters at Criminal Court after the charges were dropped.

Sex attack on teen
Ramon Fernandez, 43, was charged with getting a 14-year-old girl drunk around 8:30 p.m. Sat., April 26, and sexually attacking her in the Baruch Houses building where he lives, police said. The suspect was arrested a few hours later in his apartment, where he was in possession of an undisclosed quantity of marijuana.

Armed delivery
A resident of 171 Thompson St. answered a knock on his door at 2 p.m. Sat., May 5, and opened it to a man in a FedEx uniform who hit him on the head with a handgun and pushed his way in with two accomplices in FedEx uniforms. They demanded money and jewelry and fled with $2,000 in cash and an iPhone.

Shopper unzipped
A New Jersey woman shopping at the All Saints Warehouse store, 76 Wooster St., around 1:45p.m. Sat., May 5, discovered that someone had unzipped the bag she was carrying over her shoulder and stolen her wallet with $50 in cash and credit cards. She learned later than an unauthorized credit charge of $104 had been made for a MetroCard.

Chinatown takeout
Police are looking for a suspect who stole two laptops, an iPad and an iPhone on March 30 from an office on the fifth floor of 59 E. Broadway. The suspect, who was caught on surveillance tape, also entered an office on the sixth floor of 98 E. Broadway at 11:50 p.m. March 28 but fled empty-handed when an alarm went off.

The same suspect entered a Baxter St. building on the afternoon of April 19, made his way to a fifth-floor apartment and fled with a 32-inch flat-screen TV through the lobby and out the front door. He was described as being in his late 20s with short black hair, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds, last seen wearing a white Yankees jersey, blue jeans and a black backpack with orange stripes.

Meatpacking mobile theft
Police arrested Khalid Sasdeq, 33, shortly after 4:10 a.m. Fri., May 4, in front of 18 Little W. 12th St. for taking a cell phone from a 33-year-old male victim. The suspect refused to be handcuffed and was charged with resisting arrest and robbery.

Bag robber gets rough
A man grabbed the handbag of a woman, 61, on Eighth Ave. at 14th St. around 11:22 p.m. Fri., May 4, but she wouldn’t let go, police said. A minute later, he grabbed the bag of a 23-year-old woman who was passing by and knocked her to the pavement. Witnesses identified the suspect to police, who arrested Tyrone Gonzalez, 23, for robbery. The younger victim hit her head on the pavement when she fell and was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, police said.

 Anchors away
A woman patron of Anchor Bar, 301 Spring St., left her bag on a table for five minutes around 3 p.m. Sat., May 5, and returned to find it had been stolen with her iPhone and credit cards, police said.

Brief joyride
An Armonk, N.Y., man parked his 2009 white Porsche in the Edison Parking garage at 272 Spring St. around 8:11 p.m. Fri., April 4. He later discovered that someone had driven it around the block and abandoned it in front of 284 Hudson St. two blocks from the garage.

Car break-in
A Staten Island man parked his car on Broome St. between Sixth Ave. and Varick St. around 2:30 p.m. Sat., May 5, went shopping for two hours and returned to find the rear passenger-side window broken and his laptop, which had been on the floor, stolen.

Motorbike gone
A man who parked his 2009 Kawasaki motorcycle on the southwest corner of Sixth Ave. and Watts St. at 9:30 a.m. Mon., April 30, discovered several hours later that it had been stolen.

Albert Amateau

The Service Member Anti-Hazing Act, which U.S. Congressmember Nydia Velazquez is introducing to Congress this week, would require all branches of the U.S. military to more effectively combat hazing through targeted policies and training.

The federal bill comes on the heels of 301 U.S. soldiers’ suicides last year alone and a total of 1,100 soldiers’ suicides during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, according to Velazquez.

The bill’s direct impetus, however, was the March 22 congressional hearing at which military officials revealed that the military lacks a systematic means of tracking hazing — commonly defined as persecution or harassment with meaningless, difficult or humiliating tasks.

“After listening to the answers to my own questions, I wasn’t satisfied that the Department of Defense and the military was doing enough to prevent future hazing incidents,” Velazquez said at a press conference held at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association offices in Chinatown.

“We cannot bring Danny Chen back,” she said, “but we can try to find some good in this tragedy by preventing future hazing incidents, and this is exactly what we’re pursuing by introducing this legislation.”

Under the law, hazing awareness would be integrated into all soldiers’ training regimen, and each military branch would have to create and implement rules to curb the misbehavior when it occurs. The law would also require the military to collect data on the number of reported hazing incidents and profile information on the individuals involved. Military officials would also have to assess whether corrective action was taken.

The U.S. secretary of defense would report these findings to Congress on an annual basis, according to Velazquez.

The legislation also calls on each military branch to set up an anonymous hotline for soldiers victimized by hazing, so that they’re not intimidated from seeking help. The law would also enable harassed service personnel to be transferred out of their units more quickly, “so they may get out of a bad situation before a tragedy happens,” Velazquez said.

The legislation would also mandate a hazing oversight panel to review, monitor and make recommendations about the issue. The panel would comprise the secretary of defense, the heads of each branch of the military and outside stakeholders, including women’s, ethnic and minority advocacy organizations.

Finally, the law directs the defense secretary to implement a diversity training program, in which all members of the military would have to regularly participate.

Liz OuYang, executive director of OCA-NY, a lead advocate in the Chen case, sung the bill’s praises, saying hazing and the lack of accountability for it poisons America’s national security.

“It leads to divisiveness, lowers soldiers’ morale and tarnishes the U.S.’s reputation for being a protector of equality and democracy,” she said. “We know that our military can do better, and I ask with the public to work with Congresswoman Velazquez and the Army to improve these measures.”

Speaking in Chinese, Su Zhen Chen, Private Chen’s mother, said she hopes the public will support Velazquez’s legislation, “so that this never happens again to another family.”

Army officials declined to comment on the legislation.

The bill will be introduced in Congress later this week once the House formally reconvenes. Passage of national laws such as this one can take anywhere from weeks to months. A Velazquez spokesperson wouldn’t comment on the time frame for the bill’s passage other than saying that it’s a “priority” for the congresswoman.

Courts-martials starting
The courts-martial of the eight soldiers purportedly involved in Chen’s death are set to begin Thurs., May 17, according to military officials. Staff Sergeant Blaine Dugas will be tried for dereliction of duty and making a false statement, among other violations of Army rules. He faces maximum punishments of eight-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, in addition to demotion of rank, forfeiture of pay and expulsion from the Army. The other soldiers’ trials have yet to be scheduled.

Meanwhile, OCA-NY has made significant headway in its card campaign commemorating Chen’s birthday, which is on May 26. The cards are due by Mon., May 14. Participants making their own cards are asked to send them to OCA-NY, P.O. Box 3233, Church St. Station Post Office, New York, N.Y. 10018.

As previously reported, OCA-NY is also organizing a cultural event set to take place on Thurs., May 24, at Pace High School, near City Hall. Featured artists will include R&B singer Taiyo, photographer Corky Lee and spoken-word artist Kris Lew, among others. For more information, contact OCA-NY Executive Director Liz OuYang at oca-ny@oca-ny.org .