Met joins PSLL on opening day

Mets player Jerry Blevins joined the Peter Stuyvesant Little League at Con Ed Field on Saturday morning for a ceremony following an annual parade through Stuyvesant Town. (Pictured) Blevins with girls from one of the league’s two district teams (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

On the sunniest opening day the Little Leagues of New York City have seen in years, the Peter Stuyvesant Little League, celebrating recent district-wide wins, marched triumphantly through Stuyvesant Town, circling the Oval and then heading onto Con Ed Field on Avenue C.

The annual parade and kickoff celebration took place on Saturday morning, with the PSLL also celebrating another coup — the first-ever visit from an active member of Major League Baseball, the Mets’ Jerry Blevins.

For the past decade, the league has had a tradition of having a former player come to the field to give the kids a pep talk. Previous guests have included Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson.

Seth Coren, the league’s new president, introduced Blevins as “the most reliable pitcher in the bullpen, contributing to a historic 11-1 season.” He also joked that Blevins was also “an internet sensation” for stirring up some controversy when he said “Field of Dreams” wasn’t among the top 10 baseball movies of all time.

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Letters to the editor, Apr. 19

Cartoon by Jim Meadows

MTA BUSted

I’ve been waiting half an hour at E 14th and B
but some buses are arriving now. I count three.
I take the first bus because the others hang behind
and although it’s somewhat crowded, no one seems to mind.
I even find an empty seat to rest my happy rear
but when this girl gets on the bus, my heart is filled with fear.
With an iPhone in her left hand and hot coffee in her right,
this wobbly girl stands over me. It turns my fear to fright.
I’m worried that this bus will lurch and she will spill her drink
all over me and I’ll get burned while she will barely blink.
Luckily my stop is near, but when I rise to leave,
I almost have an accident which no one could believe:
I slip on a banana peel. But while falling to the floor
A man reaches out and saves me, then he helps me to the door.
The driver seems robotic; he’s oblivious to all:
the smelly foods, obstructive walkers or my recent fall.
I finally leave this “Bustaurant.” I’m happily on my way!
Thank God I have no further need of the MTA today!

John Cappelletti, ST

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Editorial: Make Epstein an Assembly member

On April 24, there will be a special election in which voters of the 74th Assembly District will choose their next Assembly member. There are four candidates on the ballot, but we are solidly in camp Harvey.

Harvey Epstein, a social justice attorney, is no stranger to the community he hopes to represent. Over a decade ago, when residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village were being issued residency challenges like they were going out of style, it was Epstein who ran a free legal hotline for tenants. More recently, he served for five years as a tenant member of the Rent Guidelines Board and in two of those years, the board issued rent freezes for tenants signing one-year leases and low increases for those signing two-year increases.

If someone wants to top that act, they’ll need to get a rent freeze for three years or a rent rollback. (And hey… please do try!) But since none of the other candidates have yet managed to demonstrate how they’d be a better champion for affordable housing, we don’t see why voters should favor someone’s campaign promises over someone’s results.

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Man charged with bag snatching and violent mugging on First Ave.

Stuyvesant Town Dunkin Donuts

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Police have arrested a man they say punched and robbed a man on First Avenue and also snatched a woman’s bag at the Stuyvesant Town Dunkin Donuts.

Raymond Velez, 23, allegedly walked up to a table at Dunkin Donuts at 266 First Avenue last Wednesday at 9 p.m. where the victim was sitting and grabbed her purse, which contained three credit cards.

Ten minutes later, police said he was walking near 253 First Avenue when he allegedly grabbed the second victim who had cash in his hand. Police said that Velez attempted to throw the victim to the ground and in the scuffle, Velez allegedly punched the victim in the mouth and he sustained a bruise on his lip and a cut on his hand.

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Residents grieve for downed trees

Tree stumps line the south end of the playground on Friday. (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

SPS says removals were for resident safety

By Sabina Mollot

Though it did come with warning, a number of Stuyvesant Town residents were nonetheless unprepared for the moment when trees that were nearly as old and as tall as nearby buildings began getting sawed down and carted away.

The old oaks’ removal was explained by management in an email on Friday (and in a prior email blast) as being necessary due to disease and decay. Additionally, StuyTown Property Services CEO Rick Hayduk added in the Friday email to tenants, they’d be replaced in June by Princeton elms and the remains of the oaks would be mulched. Still, for some residents whose windows overlook Playground 1, the removal of the 18 mature trees around it hit home as hard as the loss of an old friend.

“As I speak I hear a chainsaw cutting down a 70-year-old tree,” Stuart Strong, a resident of 330 First Avenue told Town & Village on Friday. Strong, who was horrified, added, “They’re sturdy as anything. We’re looking at stumps that used to be oak trees. I don’t see any decay. They provide environment and enjoyment.”

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Man charged with lewdness in ST building

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Police arrested a man who allegedly exposed himself to a woman in a Stuy Town elevator after he followed her into the building early on Saturday morning.

The victim told police that she was entering 610 East 20th Street at 2:16 a.m. when 27-year-old Anthony Ashley allegedly came into the building behind her. She said that when she got in the elevator, Ashley entered the elevator behind her. When they were inside, he allegedly unzipped his pants and exposed himself.

Police said that Ashley is not a resident of the building. He was charged with public lewdness and trespassing.

Police Watch: Teen arrested for Blue Smoke robbery, Driver charged with alleged vehicular assault

The five robbery suspects seen at Blue Smoke restaurant in Flatiron

FIFTH TEENAGER ARRESTED FOR BLUE SMOKE ROBBERY
Police arrested a fifth teenager for the robbery at Blue Smoke restaurant at 116 East 27th Street on March 18. Police said that the teens approached a host in the restaurant around 7 p.m. and claimed they were raising money for a basketball team before grabbing cash from the victim and fleeing. When the victim chased after them, one of them hit him in the back of the head. The fifth teen was charged with robbery for the incident inside the 13th precinct on April 11 at 10:37 a.m. His name is being withheld due to his young age.

DRIVER CHARGED WITH HITTING PEDESTRIAN ON SECOND AVENUE AND 23RD STREET
Police arrested 23-year-old Kenneth Rowe for alleged vehicular assault at the corner of First Avenue and East 23rd Street on April 13. The victim told police that he was crossing East 23rd Street near Second Avenue at around 3:30 p.m. and was in the crosswalk when Rowe allegedly started turning. The victim told police that Rowe saw him and spoke with him, then allegedly revved his engine and struck him, causing an injury, but was arrested a block away from the incident.

MAN ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING OFFICER AT BELLEVUE
Police arrested 39-year-old Jamar Moore for alleged assault of a peace officer inside Bellevue Hospital at 462 First Avenue on April 10 at 1 a.m. Officers were restraining Moore inside the hospital when he allegedly head-butted the officer intentionally, causing minor bruising and swelling to the area above his eye. Police said that Moore has previously been arrested for assaulting an officer, as well as for petit larceny and transit crimes.

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Maybe next year for participatory budgeting

By Sabina Mollot

Over the past week, many City Council members, including Speaker Corey Johnson, have been cheering the fact that this past week, April 7-15, was a window of community voting on how to spend $1 million.

The money, part of allocated funds for different districts, was included in a program called “participatory budgeting,” in which constituents, including children, get a say in how the money gets spent, like improvements to parks, libraries or senior centers.

However, not all districts were included in the program and District 4, spanning from Stuyvesant Town to 98th Street, had no participatory budgeting. Note: This isn’t extra money, just funding set aside from a council member’s budget.

We reached out to City Council Keith Powers’ office to ask why his constituents didn’t get a say, and according to a spokesperson, Liz Peters, the reason is that he would have had to enroll in the program last year, and at that time Powers wasn’t in office yet. However, she said, Powers would look into the process for next year, because he thinks it’s an “innovative idea,” one that was started by the Progressive Caucus, of which he is the vice co-chair.

Powers wants to make it easier for candidates to run

Council Member Keith Powers has introduced a package of campaign finance legislation that would ease paperwork burdens on smaller campaigns. (Photo by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

On Wednesday, freshman Council Member Keith Powers turned some of the more frustrating experiences of being a candidate into a package of campaign finance bills aimed at making it easier for candidates to run for office.

The council member said he expects that tweaking the current regulations will lead to less burdensome paperwork, specifically for first-time candidates who don’t expect to rake in big bucks.

“I discovered while running that you had to jump over a number of hurdles to run for office,” said Powers. “(The legislation) can make it easier without undermining any safeguarding around public dollars. So they don’t have to commit all their rime to fundraising, but actually talking about issues.”

The first bill, which lists Diana Ayala as a co-sponsor, would allow candidates to get matching funds for smaller contributions. Currently, a candidate needs a minimum of 75 donations from donors within the district that are at least $10 each. The bill would change the minimum donation needed to qualify for matching funds to $5.

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Rivera talks SBJSA, homelessness, L train shutdown and 14th St. tech hub

Council Member Carlina Rivera speaks about a “21st century” version of the SBJSA as well as other issues at an event at Almond in Flatiron, hosted by the Union Square and Flatiron BIDs. (Pictured) Rivera with NY1 reporter Michael Scotto (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

New Councilmember Carlina Rivera spoke with NY1 reporter Michael Scotto in an event at Almond Restaurant in Flatiron at the end of March, focusing on small businesses, the upcoming L train shutdown, homelessness and the planned tech hub for Union Square.

The event was a community breakfast hosted by two neighborhood BIDs, the Union Square Partnership and the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership.

As she previously mentioned in a roundtable with Town & Village, Rivera said that she supports a “21st-century version” of the Small Business Jobs and Survival Act, clarifying further at the recent breakfast that she partially meant taking online shopping into consideration.

“We need to consider how we shop, but we also need to consider that the piece of legislation we introduce, as of last term, was 20 years old,” she said. “The way we’ve shopped has changed dramatically in 20 years so I think giving the small business owner the ability to negotiate is important. (The 21st-century version) is taking into consideration mixed-use buildings, and making sure that Small Business Services does a better job at marketing the resources they have available, along with the Department of Consumer Affairs.”

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Assembly candidate’s rage against the Democratic machine

Reform Party candidate Juan Pagan has run for local office a handful of times. (Photo courtesy of candidate)

By Sabina Mollot

The special election for the seat representing the 74th Assembly District is less than two weeks away, but one of the four candidates on the ballot is still hoping to get his name out there.

That candidate is Juan Pagan, a resident of Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village, who is running against three others from his own neighborhood. Also running are Democrat and Working Families nominee Harvey Epstein, Republican Bryan Cooper and Green Party candidate Adrienne Craig-Williams.

Pagan, 62, who worked in corrections at two points in the 1980s and 1990s, has run for office a handful of times before. Then, as well as now, he did it in part to protest “the machine,” or more specifically, the Democratic Party, which, he is arguing, chooses its favorites while edging out perceived interlopers. He first ran in 2006 against Brian Kavanagh for the Assembly seat he’s running for now, that Kavanagh ended up winning and holding onto easily for the next 11 years, before switching to the State Senate. Pagan ran again in 2010, 2012 and 2016. He also ran against then-Council Member Rosie Mendez in 2009 and for the seat again in 2017 once it opened up, though it was handily won by Carlina Rivera.

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Robbers steal victim’s hat, threaten him with knife at Union Square Park

Sketch of the second suspect

Police are looking for a pair of muggers who pulled a knife on a teenager at Union Square Park.

On Thursday, April 12 at 5:40 p.m., the 18-year-old victim was about to go into the subway when one of the men grabbed from behind and pulled off his red baseball cap. The two began to argue and struggle over the hat when the second suspect pulled out a knife and menaced the victim with it before he and the other man fled with the cap.

The first suspect is described as a white male. The second suspect is male, white, in his 20’s to 30’s with very short hair and facial hair and about six feet tall. He was last seen wearing a tan or brown jacket, dark pants and a baseball cap.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Update: The Post reports the cap was a “Make America Great Again” hat worn by a Danish tourist.

Don’t fall for this rotten apple phone scam

apple logoBy Sabina Mollot

The latest phone scam to irritate New Yorkers struck this past week, with numerous residents of Stuyvesant Town reporting they were called by someone claiming to be from Apple.

Susan Steinberg, president of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, said she received at least six of those calls on Sunday, and while she wasn’t fooled, “It’s enough to make you want to pull the phone out of the wall,” she said.

A bunch of neighbors also reported receiving the same on the association’s Facebook page over the weekend.

Like with similar scams in which the caller pretends to be from the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Treasury and Microsoft, recipients receive a call from an automated voice, instructing them to call back.

In this case, callers are informed that their iCloud account has been hacked and their data is in jeopardy. Steinberg first got called in the morning, getting a barrage of followup calls throughout the day.

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Opinion: Great American Pastime

By former Assemblyman Steven Sanders

On Saturday morning, a great community is tradition will be renewed. Led by President Seth Coren, the Peter Stuyvesant Little League baseball season kicks off its 62nd year. It will be preceded by the parade of players and their parents starting from First Avenue at 20th Street and finishing at the Con Ed baseball facility at Avenue C and 16th Street.

In the early 1960s I played in our Little League organization. But in those days, we were homeless. We did not have a field to call our own. We played on the West Side of Manhattan and on Randall’s Island in the middle of the East River. But thanks to the partnership with Con Edison, land adjacent to the East River was developed into ball fields and became home to our local teams which have grown to over 60 teams more than 700 youngsters and scores of adult volunteers coaching, umpiring and taking care of the grounds.

Baseball is the Great American Pastime. It connects families and generations to each other. To underscore that point, when World War II began in the dark days of 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote to the baseball commissioner and asked him not to suspend Major League Baseball games while this country fought for the salvation of civilization. Roosevelt believed that baseball was that important to the American spirit.

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Reminder: Little League parade this Saturday

The PSLL girls’ championship team members at Con Ed Field for last year’s parade. (Pictured) Olivia Sheh, Julianna Fabrizio, Sarah Acocelli, Camile Bernard, Dorie Levine, Amanda Haspel and Jordan Hayduk (Photo by Sabina Mollot)

REMINDER: The Peter Stuyvesant Little League will hold its annual parade and opening day ceremony on Saturday, April 14. Players and their families gather at 8:15 a.m. and begin marching at approximately 8:30 a.m., starting from 18th Street and First Avenue to the Con Edison Field located at East 16th Street and Avenue C. A brief ceremony will be held at the Con Edison Field from approximately 9-9:30 a.m.