Hell's Kitchen Online 10/10/99

[kitchen]

Hell's Kitchen Online                               10/10/99
http://hellskitchen.net "All the News the Times Won't Print"
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IN THIS ISSUE...

1. Way Out West!
2. Does Food Emporium Discriminate?
3. Costco on 55th Street could bring more traffic and hurt small retail stores
4. Opponents threaten suit over 14th Street 'Costco Fresh' (Crains)
5. McBurney Y reported eyeing Armory site (Villager)
6. Prostitute Found Strangled 46th/11th (Spirit)

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WAY OUT WEST!

* Must be good for something. Walking by the West Side Animal Hospital on Ninth Avenue near 50th
Street a few days ago, we noticed a cage in the window, the bottom of which was lined with paper
pretending to be a local newspaper opened to a center spread with photos of a political birthday
party. Sure enough, there was some animal dung smeared on several appropriate spots.

* Is there another reason Gerald Schoenfeld, Chairman of the Shubert Organization, is attempting
to block the sale of the Lyceum Theater and the planned Broadway Hall of Fame and Spirit of
Broadway? According to insiders, the leased Air Rights from the Lyceum (used by the Bertelsmann
Building next door) fills the Shubert's coffers to the tune of about $700,000 per year. If left
empty, it takes about $300,000 to maintain the landmarked theater, so the Shuberts walk away with
a hefty profit. These same sources tell us that Gerry Schoenfeld gets a yearly bonus directly tied
to Shubert's profit. If Bertelsmann buys the Lyceum, no bonus for Gerry! Maybe that's why Alan
Eisenberg and Actors' Equity went along with Schoenfeld until others cried foul.

* Ray Haupt send us this letter:

It is so good to see and hear people from Hell's Kitchen all the way out here in Missouri. I was
born in Polyclinic Hospital (no longer around) in '72 and lived across the street until my family
moved to the 'burbs (Keansburg, NJ - Hell's Kitchen South) around the age of 7. My family still
has the other apartment on 9th Ave between 51st & 52nd and my Grandmother still works in the
switchboard room at St. Clare's Hospital. Someday in the near future I plan on moving back. My
decision is somewhat validated when I see that the people still take pride in the old
neighborhood.

* Has neighborhood traffic improved any? Seen any cops giving tickets lately? Remember the Hell's
Kitchen Traffic Enforcement Blitz of May '99. Despite promises, the police gave one ticket in the
neighborhood as part of the Blitz. This week the papers are all over the double-parking blitz,
which supposedly goes over to Ninth Avenue. The City has convened a "Midtown Traffic Task Force,"
but task forces are usually put together as a way of not doing anything and the real problem is
the police not enforcing existing laws.

* Speaking of doing nothing, there was a Midtown South vehicle double-parked for quite some time
in front of Zanzibar (9th & 45th) Saturday night around 10 p.m. Wherever the vehicle's officers
were, and whatever they were doing, they certainly weren't making any attempt to quiet the racket
coming out of Zanzibar's open doors.

* Stile's Market (at 352 West 52nd Street) received a strong vote of confidence at last week's
Community Board 4 meeting. The vote appeared unanimous supporting Stile's application to the NYC
Board of Standards and Appeals seeking a variance so it can continue to operate its Fruit and
Vegetable tent in a residential zone. Next step is the BSA Hearing (date tba).

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DOES FOOD EMPORIUM DISCRIMINATE?
by Georgette Spelvin
Hell's Kitchen Shopper

FOOD EMPORIUM on West 43rd Street in Manhattan has higher prices than Armonk, an affluent
community in Westchester. All Food Emporium stores do not charge the same prices for the same
items. For example Bokar Coffee is $9.99 in Armonk, but the same item is $10.99 at the West 43rd
Street store.

Prices on 43rd Street appear to be escalating at the rate of 10 to 40 cents and up weekly. Store
managers are helpless to explain this price gouging as they indicate the orders come from the main
office. Must shoppers go from one Food Emporium to another to get the best price on each item?

Shoppers beware if you choose to shop at Food Emporium, check your register tape and check the
expiration date on each item. Do not buy any edible product without an expiration date.
 
On West 43rd Street, the ice cream freezer cases are not always kept cold enough to store ice
cream. Remember e-coli bacteria can develop in any food product when improperly stored.

Products advertised in Food Emporium circulars are not always available. Yes, rain checks are
given, but until that item comes in, you -- the consumer -- can make a profession of daily
checking for that item. It is against the law to advertise an item you don't have.

Recently Charmin toilet paper was on sale, but not in all stores as stated in the circular. After
checking Food Emporium stores we found the toilet paper sale in only the better neighborhoods.
What constitutes a better neighborhood?

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COSTCO ON 55TH STREET COULD BRING MORE TRAFFIC AND HURT SMALL RETAIL STORES
Why are west side elected officials being quiet?
by William Strzempek

I am becoming uneasy that the press increasingly mentions the possibility of Costco building a
megastore in Hell's Kitchen on 55th Street, and yet that reportage has yet to include statements
of opposition or concern from West Side elected representatives. The press, meanwhile, has
reported Councilmember Quinn's and Senator Duane's opposition to Costco building on 14th and 23rd
Streets.

Hell's Kitchen should not be a dumping ground for this store.

Clinton/Hell's Kitchen needs development that includes the neighborhood in its planning. According
to news stories, this superstore refuses to include parking in its development plan and the store
itself is so big that its developers are trying to hide its massive size by putting part of the
building underground. This does not serve our community well.

While the store may go underground, its patrons will not. They and their vehicles will be coming
and going on the neighborhood streets, causing worse traffic and congestion on streets already
overburdened with the crush of the commuter tide from Times Square and Midtown, the crush of
theater-goers from the suburbs and New Jersey, and the crush of tourists on double-decker busses.

I am equally worried about the impact this megastore will have on small businesses in the Special
Clinton District.

Our small businesses anchored this community and made it livable through its trials against drugs,
prostitution and gentrification.  But now, thanks to the juggernaut of the "new" Times Square,
these small businesses are facing such extreme real estate and competition pressures from chain
stores that many of them will not be able to survive and participate in our flourishing
neighborhood, despite the fact that they are the pioneers who made the neighborhood desirable in
the first place.

I believe we owe it to our small businesses to stand by them now as they stood by this (and other)
neighborhoods in the past. We must take a long hard look at what impact a megastore in the bosom
of our community would have on our veteran Mom and Pop establishments. I believe our efforts ought
to be in strengthening and preserving independent small businesses, not allowing chain and
megastores to overwhelm our unique neighborhoods.

If Costco is determined to move into one of our neighborhoods on the west side, I hope our elected
officials will permit them to do so only if they agree to take great measures to ensure that they
do not disturb the quality of life of residents already living here. I encourage our officials to
fight to see that parking and traffic considerations are not giving short shrift in the Costco
discussions, and if that means forcing Costco to go through ULURP, by all means, make that happen.
We will have a stronger neighborhood for the trouble.

Still, in short, I believe that Hell's Kitchen does not need the traffic, congestion and real
estate pressures that Costco would bring to this neighborhood. Hell's Kitchen DOES need the mom
and pop independent stores that Costco would drive out of business.

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OPPONENTS THREATEN SUIT OVER `COSTCO FRESH'
The Crain's Insider
October 11, 1999

Community activists working to block a Costco Co. supermarket at the new development planned at
the 14th Street Armory are threatening to sue the developer, Orda Management Corp. Critics are
hoping the threat of litigation will persuade Orda to lease the retail space in the project to
smaller retailers.

The opponents say a megastore on that site would violate Orda's sale agreement with the state. In
a letter to Orda, opponents say the supermarket, dubbed "Costco Fresh," is "completely
inconsistent with present activity on West 14th Street." Orda closed on the Manhattan site two
weeks ago, officially taking title from the state. Because the location is zoned for commercial
use, Costco doesn't need government approvals to lease the site, which limits the options of their
opponents.

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MCBURNEY Y REPORTED EYEING ARMORY SITE
The Villager, October 6, 1999
By Albert Amateau

McBurney YMCA officials offered only slender hope this week to elected officials and housing
advocates who demanded a suspension of an approaching deadline on a decision to sell the Y's
95-year-old 23rd St. property.

A delay could close a window of opportunity for the Y to acquire another Chelsea location for a
new center, said George Banks, chief financial officer of the YMCA of Greater New York at an Oct.
4 meeting. One of three potential sites for a new Y is in the development that will replace the
14th St. Armory.

Although YMCA officials declined to confirm or deny the possibility, City Councilmember Christine
Quinn and Katherine Gray, chairperson of Community Board 4, said executives of Orda Management,
developer of the Armory site, had told them the Y was seeking space in the proposed complex
between Sixth and Seventh Aves. Orda did not return phone calls on the subject.

The Y is apparently a rival of Costco, the bulk grocery retailer, for space in the redeveloped
Armory. Quinn and State Senator Tom Duane, along with Wendi Paster, representing Assemblymember
Richard Gottfried, said they much preferred the Y for the Armory site and would support a McBurney
branch there.

But they were disappointed when McBurney officials would not guarantee a suspension of an Oct. 31
decision deadline to allow more not-for-profit housing developers to propose alternatives that
would save affordable housing in the 24th St. residential wing of the present location. Quinn and
Duane walked out of the October 4 meeting in anger.

Gray contended that the Y's Request for Proposals process inherently discourages not-for-profit
developers who depend on combinations of government and foundation funding that take time to
arrange.

McBurney officials, however, have been saying that operating a residence is no longer part of the
Y's mission. The residential wing on the 24th St. side of the Y has 250 rooms, all with shared
bathrooms, of which about 30 are occupied by long-term tenants. Some of those tenants have been
residents for more than 30 years.

Gray and housing advocates from the Chelsea Housing Group and Goddard Riverside Community Center
won a partial commitment from Y officials to meet again on Oct. 14, to discuss a possible six-week
deadline extension. But Y officials made it clear that if a delay jeopardizes a deal that would
allow the agency to build a new center in Chelsea, they would make an immediate decision.

Susan Cohen, an attorney who works with Chelsea Housing Group, indicated that the group would file
a lawsuit to enjoin an immediate sale and "stop the train from leaving the station."

Paul Custer, an executive of the YMCA of Greater New York and former director of McBurney, said
one of 11 respondents to the Y's Request for Proposals has offered to buy the 23rd and 24th St.
buildings for more than the $21.6 million suggested.

Even if the sale of the two buildings earns such a sum for the Y, the agency would have to raise
as much as $10 million more to rebuild somewhere else, Y officials have said.

Other respondents include a hotel operator who offered to buy the 24th St. wing; a not-for profit
housing developer who also seeks the 24th St. property, and a school dormitory agency which also
seeks the 24th St. property. A health club operator who wants both buildings and "a spiritual and
cultural group" seeking both buildings, were other respondents.

Y officials said they were bound by agreements with the 11 respondents not to disclose their
identity. The Y is also bound not to disclosed locations of the three new site possibilities for
McBurney.

The Y sent Requests for Proposals to more than 50 developers, including Orda Management, Rockrose
Development, The Related Companies and Jack Resnick & Sons. Banana Bungalow, a for-profit operator
of youth hostels -- that was previously rumored to be interested in the Charas/El Bohio
arts-center building in the East Village -- and Esplanade Hotel, a residence for the elderly on
the Upper West Side, also requested R.F.P’s from the Y, though it was not known if they sent
proposals back to the Y.

Non-profits receiving requests included Common Ground, Help USA, Community Access and Project
Renewal. Audrey Cohen College, United Roumanian Jews of America. The Rudolph Steiner School and
American Sufi Muslim Association also received requests. Other developers, including three more
not-for profits, paid visits to the site but decided not to respond, Custer said.

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PROSTITUTE STRANGLED
Woman found dead in Eleventh Avenue factory
Manhattan Spirit, October 6, 1999
By Cara Buckley

Just after 5 p.m. on Monday Sept. 13, a young woman was found dead in the desolate back staircase
of a huge, nearly vacant building at 636 Eleventh Ave. Her body was discovered by Eric Jean-Marie,
a 39-year-old sculptor whose studio backs onto the stairwell. No arrests have been made in the
case, which police are treating as a homicide.

A strong smell drew Jean-Marie to the murder scene, where he found the woman, later identified as
22-year-old Dania Garcia, naked and pale, lying between two filthy cushions. Her whole face was
blackish-purple. One eye was half-open, staring dully at nothing. A lone running shoe lay four
steps up from her body. With one foot, Jean- Marie kicked aside the cardboard that was covering
her chest. Then, he said, “the smell went through my brain.” He raced back up to his studio and
dialed 911.

Neighbors said Garcia had been missing since late Friday evening She lived with her mother barely
one block from the crime scene.

The official cause of Garcia’s death was gagging and strangulation, said a spokesperson for the
New York medical examiner’s office. Because the investigation is ongoing, no additional details of
the murder were released.

The building’s superintendent, Mario Hernandez, said he came across used condoms, cushions and old
syringes in the back stairwell where Garcia’s body was found. The stairwell was swept clean and
taped off by police after the murder was discovered.

People living and working in the area remember Garcia as being beautiful and sweet. “She was not a
violent person, she was very peaceful,” said Frank Kid, 32, who runs the candy store 47th Street
that Garcia went to often. “She used to run up credit with me. Last week — the week before she
died — she came in and paid the 30 cents she owed me for some lollipops.”

But area residents and workers also said that Garcia was a crack addict, and turned tricks to
support her habit.

Luis Lopez, 39, who has operated the freight elevators at 636 Eleventh Ave. for the past 15 years,
used to pass Garcia on his way to work. “I saw her grow up,” said Lopez. “She was very small,
slim, with a cute face.” But in the past few years she had grown too thin, said Lopez, and her
teeth had started to break. Lopez said it was because she smoked so much crack. “it happens:’ he
said. “Your bones become brittle.”

Neighbors said they knew Garcia by her street name, “Pebbles,” and that she usually worked on 45th
and 46th streets between Ninth and Tenth avenues.

It is rare for a woman to work the streets near her home because of the stigma associated with
prostitution, according to Priscilla Alexander of Frost’d, a local sex workers’ advocacy group.

Police say prostitution has declined on the West Side in the past six months due to an increase in
enforcement and the closing of Club Edelweiss, which was heavily frequented by prostitutes. The
majority of midtown Manhattan’s prostitutes now cluster around 28th Street and Lexington Avenue.

Most men seeking the services of prostitutes on the West Side are from New Jersey, and arrive
through the Lincoln Tunnel, according to police and local community workers.

Garcia’s murder marks Clinton’s sixth homicide this year — a threefold increase over last year’s
January-September period.

The building where Garcia was found is a former German candy factory built in 1907. It is massive,
stretching the full length of Eleventh Avenue between 46th and 47th streets, and dwarfs everything
around it. its back stairwell is a popular Spot for prostitutes, their johns and addicts.

Only a handful of tenants are left at 636 11th Ave. The building’s longtime owner, Herman Stern,
recently sold the building to a large Internet company. The buyer’s name is not yet public.