Volume One, Issue 27, March 23 - 29, 2007
The Buzz
BEND IT LIKE PECKHAM: It appears that Daniel Peckham, the rent-stabilized holdout featured in last week’s front-page story in Chelsea Now, has been without electricity since Saturday, the day after the article hit the newsboxes. After emailing his landlord, Jerry Tauber of Chelsea Partners, on Monday and getting no response (“Calling his posted emergency number yields nothing, so email is your only shot”), Peckham called the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, who sent two inspectors to his apartment at 3 p.m. that day. “They were rude and would barely speak to me when I asked them questions and told them what was going on,” said Peckham, who added that after checking two out of the three non-working outlets in his bedroom, they insisted the arthritic tenant move a large 50-pound mirror bolted to the wall and blocking the remaining outlet, which he never uses. “I’d also just had my gall bladder removed and clearly shouldn’t have been lifting anything, which I told them,” said Peckham, “but they wouldn’t help and insisted they couldn’t issue a no-electricity violation without verifying all the outlets, which is B.S., since HPD had issued a violation to Tauber before, after verifying only one outlet in my apartment.” Peckham then emailed supporters and local elected officials, outlining the incident, then received an email from HPD on Tuesday evening, apologizing for the “mix-up” and pledging to cite the violation. “I told the inspectors on their way out, ‘I hope you enjoy the landlord’s money,’” said Peckham, “though tenant activists and politicians have all told me, ‘Never say “corruption” if you ever want them to help you.”
HOLY HOT-AIR BALLOON!: Hudson River Park has had its fair share of wild-and-wooly amusement—witness the trapeze school, skateboard park and heliport—but could a hot-air balloon be next? Possibly, says C.B. 4 District Manager Bob Benfatto, who tells us of an application by one David Salamon, of Long Island, to the board’s Waterfront & Parks Committee to build and run a ride featuring a giant gondola suspended high in the air by a hot-air balloon—with the entire contraption rising 400 feet in the air. The gondola would hold up to 30 passengers, and the ride would last 10 minutes, netting four trips an hour, according to Benfatto. “Evidently, these things are done around the world. Turns out the guy just appeared out of nowhere at a committee meeting in February. No one knew of him, and he came totally unprepared, without the required presentation materials,” he said. The committee informed Salamon of the materials he needed to prepare and encouraged him to return at the March 15 committee meeting, which he then signed up to do. According to Benfatto, he never showed up. In an interview this week, Salamon refused to comment on the proposed project, saying only, “We’ve had a few media outlets call us, but it’s a bit premature to talk about it right now. I’ve spoken to my partner, and we agree that we’d rather not talk about it just yet, given that we haven’t gotten permits yet—it could be detrimental to our project if we do. But when it’s on more solid ground, I’ll be sure and get in touch.” Benfatto seemed incredulous at this response. “The committee wasn’t against the proposal. But not showing up, now that might be detrimental to his project.”
THE COMMIE STAR RISES IN THE WEST: West Side, that is. The clipping service for the U.S. Communist Party must have had a workout last week. Right after the Chelsea Now cover story giving a mini-history of the 67-year-old organization—including its current status as a landlord—BlogChelsea announced the results of its investigation of the party’s renovations at 235 West 23rd Street: “Yes, that bright orange flag you see—where once flew banners of protest and resistance —is for a company called Dumann Realty! Hello, commies: You are against private ownership of property!” Then on Monday, the York Times headline chimed in with “Communist Party USA Gives Its History to N.Y.U.,” describing in detail the hundreds of thousands of documents the party had entrusted to NYU’s Tamiment Library. With this much stardom, we can half-expect Libero della Piana, the party’s communications guru, to show up next on a red carpet.
Got something you think is Buzzworthy?
O.K., Buzzster, give us a call at our newsroom at 646-452-2464 or 646-452-2467, or e-mail us at news@chelseanow.com.
