In what promises to be a long process, Community Board 2 recommended last week that the City Planning Commission reject New York University’s (NYU) 2031 expansion plan in Greenwich Village. Although the decision was announced during CB2’s full board meeting, the gathering quickly turned into a community rallying cry against the Downtown university’s real estate development plans for two large plots it owns, bordered by West Houston, West 3rd and Mercer Streets and Laguardia Place.

“This is the end of the beginning…and there is a lot more work to do,” noted Community Board 2 Chair Brad Holyman to the crowd gathered at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street. “Some say that we are not rich enough, not powerful enough to take on [an organization] like NYU…If you had told Jane Jacobs that, she wouldn’t have stopped a highway [from being built through Soho].”

Almost 700 local residents from Greenwich Village and its environs were packed into the sub-floor auditorium, cheering Hoylman’s opening comments. The list of speakers topped out at 115, and media from online to print to NY1 attended to hear the community admonish NYU’s development goals.

NYU has become not only a beacon of higher education but a behemoth when it comes to Downtown New York City real estate. The school first established its Greenwich Village presence in 1835 and later moved the main campus to the Village after selling its Bronx University Heights location in 1973. Today, says CB2, NYU is “the landlord for one of the largest stocks of affordable housing in the area.”

The Greenwich Village portion of NYU’s expansion plan, which includes adding square footage in Brooklyn as well as possibly Governor’s Island, would add 2.4 million square feet to the existing main campus and would include faculty residences, student dormitories, an athletics facility, a hotel and retail spaces. The plan includes creating four new buildings on two “superblocks,” which are for the most part residences right now.

For CB2, there are a host of concerns associated with this plan, including the bulk and density of the development changing the character of the Village, 20-plus years of proposed construction and the acquistion of city-owned park strips.

The plan calls for rezoning the area, which CB2 says will greatly alter the character of the Village. The height of the proposed buildings, ranging from 186 to 333 feet, would dwarf the buildings currently on the property, which are around 160 feet. While NYU says there is less than one acre of open space in this area, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) claims there is actually a total of 7.8 acres. The GVSHP estimates the plan will eliminate over one acre of open space, and the height of the proposed buildings will cast shadows on the remaining open parcels.

CB2 added that the new project would attract 10,000-12,000 additional people on a daily basis and house between 1,500-2,000 residents.

“The plan is opposed by NYU’s neighbors, its faculty, its students and many of its own alumni,” added GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman in a statement.

“NYU appreciates the community’s feedback to date and believes that our five-year dialogue with our neighbors has already yielded tremendous results,” said NYU Vice President Alicia Hurley in a statement.

“Thus far, in response to the community’s requests, we’ve produced a strategic plan that helps our projected growth on space needs; allows us to grow our footprint, with a full half of our projected growth on space outside the Village; and provides park land and open space and the donation of a $23 million location for a new public school.”

As Council Member Margaret Chin pointed out in a statement, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will now have to hold a hearing on the plan. Stringer has until April 11 to submit a recommendation to the City Planning Commission, who will begin their review that same day.

DANGEROUS INTERSECTION GETS TRAFFIC LIGHT
The Tribeca intersection of Duane and Greenwich streets has finally received a traffic light, first approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in October 2011. The light, which was officially welcomed to the neighborhood when Council Member Margaret Chin, State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Borough President Scott Stringer and CB1 Chair Julie Menin unveiled it on Feb. 22, signals relief for many advocates and members of the community.

Chin said, “I want to thank [the] DOT for recognizing and responding to the needs of a growing community. It is important to constantly evaluate and revise our traffic environment to make sure the safety regulations that are in place are adequate to protect pedestrians.”
Chin’s sentiments were echoed throughout the community. Nelle Fortenberry, a mother of two children and a past president of Friends of Washington Monument Park, reacted earlier this month to the construction of the light, saying, “We are thrilled for every preschooler on their way to the park, every elementary student en route to school, every elderly resident crossing to and from Independence Plaza and the thousands of neighborhood residents who have traversed Greenwich daily at their own risk. Safer days are ahead.”

The intersection has been the scene of numerous accidents involving pedestrians. A recent victim was a 3-year-old boy, who was struck by a taxi while crossing the intersection with his mother last fall. The DOT subsequently agreed to install the light and a new crosswalk.
Prior to this, their stance had been that the Duane and Greenwich intersection did “not meet traffic flow standards for a traffic light.” Now, pedestrians will receive 25 seconds to cross the street, is a welcome grace for Tribeca residents both young and old.

CITYWIDE

TIME WARNER AND MSG REACH AGREEMENT
Just in the knick of time, New Yorkers are celebrating the agreement reached between Time Warner Cable and MSG Network. The well-publicized resolution, which ended a blackout that had forced Time Warner subscribers to forego MSG content—including the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers and the surging New York Knicks—was at center court this week as leading city officials continued to campaign for fair play.

State Sens. Daniel Squadron and Tony Avella have promised to take another important step in ensuring New Yorkers’ longterm enjoyment of their favorite television programming with the introduction of a new bill into the state Senate Feb. 29.

Avella has spoken at length about the unfair negotiating tactics of service providers and networks, saying, “The people who get the most affected are the customers,” whom the senator believes “need to know that their cable franchise will provide the proper programming.” The bill proposes mandatory arbitration hearings by the Public Service Commission in disputes between major cable networks and service providers.

STRINGER CALLS FOR END OF STOP AND FRISK
Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, joined by a diverse coalition of elected officials, community and religious leaders representing all parts of Manhattan, held a rally Feb. 26 hailing the Manhattan Borough Board’s recent unanimous vote approving a resolution demanding reform of the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk policy. The borough president called for a citywide campaign against the program, which he said unfairly targets black and Latino men.

“Stop and frisk as currently practiced is not just an outrage in communities of color, it is a stain on the conscience of our entire city,” said Stringer. “Today I am standing with a broad coalition of Manhattanites—members of all 12 Community Boards, people from east side and west side, downtown and uptown, and we are all speaking with one voice, demanding an immediate reform of stop and frisk in New York City.”

The borough president pointed to statistics showing that the NYPD recorded nearly 700,000 stop and frisk encounters in 2011, a record and a 600 percent increase since 2002. Police failed to find a gun in 99.9 percent of these encounters and failed to make an arrest in 94 percent of these cases. Nearly 86 percent of the stops targeted black and Latino men.

“In large parts of the city, today’s stop and frisk policies have made entire communities feel like suspects targeted by law enforcement instead of citizens protected by it, even if they have done nothing wrong,” said State Sen. Daniel Squadron. “As it’s practiced, stop and frisk has created a climate in which young black and Latino men and their families have a fundamentally different relationship with the NYPD than other New Yorkers.”

Tourism Up by 800,000
According to the Downtown Alliance’s 2011 Year in Review, 9.8 million tourists flocked to Lower Manhattan’s major museums, events and attractions last year—800,000 people more than in 2010.

“Tourism is thriving in Lower Manhattan like never before,” said Elizabeth Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance. “While business travelers remain a significant market element, the growth of leisure visitors and special events has had a significant impact on the industry.

“The secret is out: Lower Manhattan is a destination of choice in the region, nationally and around the world, for leisure and business travelers alike.”

The growth–an 8 percent increase over 2010–reflects growing interest in all that Lower Manhattan has to offer and comes in a citywide tourism boost. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, recently announced that New York City ended 2011 with a new record 50.5 million visitors, with visitor spending reaching an estimated $32 billion.

“This past May, we launched the Get More NYC: Lower Manhattan campaign to highlight the Downtown neighborhoods to visitors from around the world,” said NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta.

“As a result of our efforts to attract visitors to New York City, we not only reached a record 50.5 million visitors in 2011 but helped create a significant, positive impact for Lower Manhattan,” he continued. “This area has seen an incredible resurgence in the last decade and will, no doubt, continue to be a focal point for visitors from around the world. We look forward to continuing to work with all our partners to ensure that visitors and New Yorkers take advantage of all Lower Manhattan has to offer.”

The National September 11 Memorial Plaza, which opened in September 2011, has been a significant draw to the district, attracting 1 million visitors in its first three and a half months alone.

“More than 1 million visitors have traveled to the National September 11 Memorial since its opening on the 10-year anniversary, honoring and remembering those we lost in the 9/11 attacks,” said 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels. “The Memorial is already an important part of this historic neighborhood and its visitors are helping make Lower Manhattan thrive.”

Other museums and attractions in Lower Manhattan include the River to River Festival, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the South Street Seaport Museum, among many other cultural institutions.

According to Downtown Alliance research, the number of tourists visiting below Chambers Street was 7 million in 2008, grew to almost 8 million in 2009 and reached 9 million in 2010.

Tribeca

Military Fams and Art Institute Provide Scholarships
This week, aspiring artists received another glimmer of hope when The Arts Institute, which has a location on Beach Street, forged a partnership with Military Families United to offer spouses of Armed Forces members a $25,000 scholarship to study at any one of the Arts Institutes schools.

Up to four scholarships will be given each year, and the spouses of those on active duty, active National Guard and reserves, as well as the spouses of those killed on duty post-9/11, are eligible. The deadline for applications is March 15.

Citywide

Investigating NYPD Accident Response
On Feb. 15, Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, spoke at length to a City Council hearing focused on the NYPD’s accident response and enforcement of traffic rules relating to cars, bikes and trucks.

White spoke of the dangers that motorists and cyclists pose to pedestrians and to themselves, as well as the potential for the NYPD to crack down on reckless driving. He called for the formation of a special task force within the department, stating, “Simple amendments to department policy won’t solve [department deficiencies relating to traffic protocol].”

New York State Sen. Daniel Squadron and Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh have also proposed a bill to the State Legislature that would specifically authorize police officers to issue violations for accidents involving pedestrians and for careless driving, which is currently not department policy.

Photos by Patricia Voulgaris | Text by Marissa Maier

Delancey Street, the main thoroughfare in the Lower East Side and the feeder onto and off the Williamsburg Bridge, is known for its congested traffic, especially during rush hour. The cacophony of horns and frustrated shouting isn’t an unfamiliar soundtrack for a walk down this street at these peak times. And some would argue that pedestrians fare even worse, with long crosswalks—some as long as165 feet—paired with short traffic signals.

After a handful of fatalities over the past year—most recently Dashane Santana, a 12-year-old who attended nearby CASTLE Middle School—along with numerous vehicle and pedestrian accidents, the Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled a proposal Wednesday, Feb. 8, to make Delancey Street safer. Introduced by Community Board 3’s Transportation and Committee Chairman David Crane, Josh Benson of the DOT presented a slideshow of the proposed changes to a group of local residents, representatives of elected officials and CB3 members.

“It is rare to see a government agency move so quickly,” said State Sen. Daniel Squadron, who spoke to the group at the end of meeting. “We know what a crisis Delancey is…this change taking months and not years is a big deal,” he added.

According to the DOT’s research, there have been a total of nine fatalities and over 700 vehicle, cyclist and pedestrian injuries from 2006-2010 on Delancey Street from the Bowery to Clinton Street. The presentation showed many pedestrian accidents were caused by turning vehicles not yielding to pedestrians, as well as long crosswalks and pedestrians not having enough time to cross.

With its access to the Williamsburg Bridge, Benson also pointed out that Delancey in many ways can seem like a highway to drivers, and the job of the DOT is to transform the thoroughfare into something perceived as a neighborhood street.

While the DOT has already implemented many safety measures on the thoroughfare—like creating safety islands and bicycle lanes and installing countdown clocks—more is needed and seems to be addressed in the new plan. The multilayered plan includes shortening the crosswalks, clarifying lanes of travel for drivers, altering signal timing and enhancing the bridge entrance, measures that can be quickly implemented without requiring structural changes to the road.

In mockups of what the updated intersections might look like, Benson showed painted, extended sidewalks with planters clearly demarcating where the sidewalk ends. This, Benson noted, would help shorten the distance pedestrians must travel to cross the street. Of the 19 crosswalks being looked at, Benson said 14 will be shortened. He highlighted the Clinton Street intersection, which will decrease by 49 feet from its current 165 feet.

Currently, the outer lanes of traffic are very wide, though not wide enough for parked cars and moving lanes of traffic, but better aligned road markings should clarify this issue. Left turns have also been cause for concern, and the plan includes eliminating three additional left turns—almost nine intersections already have left turn bans. Benson noted that the DOT also plans to open Clinton Street to vehicles to gain access to the bridge.

While many praised the plan, which the DOT hopes to enact in June, some suggested measures be implemented now to make the street safer. April Lewis, with the group Manhattan Together, brought up the question of why the light times couldn’t be tweaked significantly now to give people sufficient time to cross. Benson pointed out that much longer lights could exacerbate traffic congestion, since a longer light at one intersection will create a shorter signal length at another crosswalk. He noted this plan could impact the flow of traffic and possibly lead to unsafe conditions for pedestrians. He did note, however, that the DOT is looking into lengthening the lights by a few seconds.

Others worried that allowing access onto the bridge from Clinton Street would also worsen traffic issues on the Delancey. Another attendee suggested creating signage showing people that they can cross at Pitt Street, a safer crosswalk, since most of the vehicular traffic has already gone onto the Williamsburg Bridge.

At the meeting, Crane noted that the committee didn’t need to make any decisions about the plan that evening. The committee discussed it further at a Wednesday, Feb. 15, meeting and are likely to vote on the plan next month.

ASSAULT REPORTED AT BOWERY SUBWAY STATION
A 29-year-old man, Michael Torres, has been charged with physically and sexually assaulting a woman on the J/Z platform at the Bowery subway station on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

Early in the morning, around 1 a.m., police say they received a 911 reporting that a 36-year-old Asian woman had been attacked at the MTA station at Bowery and Delancey streets. According to police reports, the woman had taken the J train uptown from Canal Street to the Bowery stop. When she got off the train, as she was about to get on the escalator, a man grabbed “her around her neck, covered her mouth and told her not to scream.” Police say the suspect, Torres, was armed with a screwdriver. He then reportedly dragged his victim to the end of the platform and threw her on the tracks. In the subway tunnel, he allegedly beat, sexually assaulted and tried to rape her. When the woman heard an MTA worker coming down the tracks she began to scream and Torres ran off.

The MTA worker stayed with the victim while they called 911 and EMS responded at the scene. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for wounds on her mouth, ribs and back, say police.

Torres was later tracked down and arrested on charges of assault in the first degree, attempted rape, a criminal sex act, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. Police reports confirmed that at the time of the incident, Torres was living at the Andrews Hotel, a century-old flophouse at 197 Bowery. Other publications have reported that Torres has a record with police that dates back to 1996, with roughly 27 prior arrests. As Torres has yet to be arraigned, the DA had no further comment on the case.

GONE IN 60 SECONDS
Never leave your bags unattended, even in the safety of your own vehicle. Last Wednesday, Feb. 4, a 23-year-old New Jersey man and his 21-year-old female companion returned to his parked car on King Street at 4 a.m. to find the car broken into and the woman’s bags stolen. She reported to police that the missing items included a $450 Donna Karan watch, a $1,400 emerald and gold necklace and a $2,200 Gucci bag. The guy didn’t fare much better—he lost $635 in cash, a $300 GPS system and his wallet, which held his debit cards.

THE THREE MAN HEIST
We had always believed petty crimes were a one—two at the most—man job, but hard times, we guess, call for group efforts. Last week, around 12:35 in the afternoon, a plainclothes officer saw three men, ranging in age from their forties to their fifties, try to rob a subway passenger on the ACE platform of the Canal Street station at Canal and Church streets. As a 58-year-old man was boarding the train, one of the thieves lifted his jacket, while the other one reached into his coat pocket and the third and final thief acted as lookout. It seems the lookout was the weak link in this robbery chain, as all were soon arrested.

Illustration by Evan Soares

FAMOUS ARTISTS’ BUILDING GAINS LANDMARK STATUS
The Westbeth Artists Community, located in the West Village, has had its historic landmark status approved by the City Council, saving the 19th-century building complex from having its historic status stripped by City Council members and being sold to commercial developers. Westbeth was the headquarters of Bell Telephone Laboratories before being converted into low-cost living space for artists in 1970. It was one of the first examples of adaptive reuse of industrial buildings. Famous former residents include actors Vin Diesel and Robert De Niro and musician Gil Evans.

CHINATOWN

COUNCIL APPROVES DANNY CHEN RESOLUTION
Five months after Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, of Chinatown was found dead in Afghanistan of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the City Council voted in favor of a new resolution calling upon the Department of Defense (DOD) to prevent similar future deaths.

Chen, who was bullied and abused by his fellow servicemen for six weeks, was found dead in his guard tower in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Resolution 1188, which was proposed in honor of the former private, asks the DOD to closer examine its policies on cultural diversity and sensitivity and to impose more effective training regimens for military personnel to prevent discrimination and harassment of servicemen and women of all ranks.

“We need to know that our sons and daughters will not be victimized by their fellow soldiers at home or at war,” said Council Member Margaret Chin, a primary sponsor of the resolution.

BATTERY PARK

STATE-OF-THE-ART MARKET OPEN
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the new Battery Place Market opened at 200 West St. to serve some of the best grab-and-go food in New York City. The state-of-the-art space, located on the Hudson River side of the Goldman Sachs Building at 240 Murray St., offers sandwiches made with the best ingredients possible on bread from some of the best bakeries in the city.

Also available will be custom coffee blends and artisan pastries. Robert Sckalor, the executive chef, has been given carte blanche to source the best local organic fruits and vegetables from farms local and exotic to populate a diverse and ever-changing menu.

“We have sourced from the best bakers, meat and fish purveyors to obtain the best ingredients in the marketplace so that every one of our customers can eat healthy, but tasty, food that they can get quickly, hot and fresh,” said Sckalor.

Lower Manhattan

J&R Jr. Grand Opening
There’s a baby boom in Lower Manhattan and downtown retail icon J&R Music and Computer World is giving birth to a new store just to serve this growing population: J&R Jr. According to New York City Department of Health statistics, there were more births in 2010 within the boundaries of Lower Manhattan’s Community Board 1 than any other district in Manhattan.

With a grand opening scheduled for Feb. 11-13, J&R Jr. will be a 15,000-square-foot, one-stop shopping and social destination for the community at 1 Park Row, co-located with the other J&R stores.

The brick-and-mortar location will feature more than just baby goods. Jason Friedman, founder of J&R Jr., says, “As long standingmembers of this community, we wanted to create an inviting space for residents to gather, share experiences and gain valuable parenting and consumer information.”

Catering to an initial age range of 0-9 years old, J&R Jr. will carry hundreds of items including strollers, high chairs, car seats, activity centers, bags and educational toys.

CITYWIDE

REPORT SHOWS DECLINE IN COMMUTER EXPERIENCE SINCE 2009
Straphangers are speaking out against a decline in service by the MTA. Transportation Alternatives surveyed subway and bus riders about the quality of their commutes, and an astounding 61 percent reported that their commutes have gotten worse since 2009.

A missive released by the nonprofit highlights the effects of the loss of two subway lines, 36 bus routes and 570 bus stops since Albany cut funding for the cash-strapped transportation giant.

“After years of declining transit funding from Albany and the resulting service cuts, our commutes have gotten worse. From higher fares to longer wait times to overcrowded trains, transit riders have seen the quality of their commutes drop precipitously over the last three years,” said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White.

In the three consecutive budget eliminated since 2009, state officials have eliminated $260 million in dedicated transit funding, which resulted in the service cuts and ever-increasing fares, despite New York City already having the highest fare burden nationally. White urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to stick to funding the struggling public transit system in coming years.

iTHEFTS CONTINUE
“If you see something, say something” has become the motto of New York City in recent years, and the phrase was given new vigor last Saturday at 5 a.m. A subway passenger reported to police that he saw a 29-year-old man steal a $250 iPhone from the jacket of a sleeping passenger. Police eventually arrested the man near Whitehall Street; according to police reports, he is known to the precinct.
A few days before, a 25-year-old woman was waiting on the C train platform around 9:30 p.m., killing time on her iPhone, when an 18-year-old man snatched it from her hands and ran off.

A RUDE AWAKENING IN ZUCCOTTI PARK
While we thought the eviction of Zuccotti Park—and the implementation of new rules by owner Brookfield Properties—had put the kibosh on sleeping in the park, it seems at least one napper went undetected. A 21-year-old woman visited the park on New Year’s Eve, set her bag down and fell asleep, only to wake up and find her backpack missing. The stolen items included a $10 USB drive, $60 in books, $15 in notebooks and a Bank of America card. The woman only reported the crime to police recently.

CRIME STOPPERS: $2K REWARD TO NAB BUILDING THIEF
Police are on the hunt for a thief whose M.O. is using fire escapes and rooftop patio doors to enter people’s apartments Downtown. Starting in late September of last year, the thief has used this method to steal property, which he then hides in shopping bags as he leaves the building. The perp has been caught on tape at several locations; police describe him as a Hispanic male in his late twenties to mid-thirties, with close-cut hair and a stocky build. NYPD Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2,000 in cash for information leading to his arrest. If you have any information about this case, call 1-800-577-TIPS.

STORE HIT FOR SECOND TIME
A pricey Prince Street clothing store was hit again by a band of thieves. According to police, the group snagged $2,274 in merchandise from racks at the back of the store and fled the shop on foot. An employee saw the group getting into a white Ford van with Florida license plates.
The stolen loot included $1,586 in jeans, $342 in sweatpants and $319 in shirts. The store had already been robbed in the last few weeks.

—Compiled by Marissa Maier

A Wedding of Hope
When Diamond Jones and Michael Thomas were married on Sept. 9, 2011, one might say that their wedding was a little unorthodox. They did get married in a 19th-century chapel, and hundreds of guests bedecked in their finest watched as Diamond, in her wedding gown, glided down the aisle.

The chapel, however, was located in the Bowery Mission, a two-building complex on the Bowery that houses the organization of the same name that supports homeless and poor New Yorkers. The guests were a collection of homeless men and women from the Mission and other shelters throughout the city, some of whom Michael and Diamond knew through their volunteer work, while others were complete strangers. The dress and the guests’ attire was “practically donated,” said Diamond, who paid a little over $100 for a $10,000 gown. Almost everything surrounding the big day, dubbed the “Wedding of Hope,” was donated, from the food at the reception to the flowers and makeup.

For Diamond, her volunteer and advocacy work for the homeless was inspired by her own experience as a young woman living on the streets of Manhattan. A few months after arriving in New York City from Virginia in her early twenties, Diamond found herself sleeping in hotel lobbies and doorways while working a minimum-wage day job. Her lifeline came in the form of a good-paying position with a nationwide bank.

And of the wedding day, Diamond said, “It was magical—a lot of work, but it was such a relief that our dream wedding came true.”

Blue Valentine
The first time Jennifer Stanton (née Lambert) saw her husband, Phil, his hands and head from the neck up were covered in blue paint. Phil, a co-founder of the Blue Man Group, was performing at a theater in Astor Place in the early ’90s just as the group was gaining enough popularity to make a living.

During the show, the time came for Phil and his two fellow performers to weave their way through the audience. Jennifer found him hovering over her.

“He looked me in the eyes and—this is so corny, but I thought, ‘His eyes are so amazing,’” she recalled. “I watched him for the rest of the show.”

A few months later, in 1993, Jennifer and Phil finally met face to face—and this time he was in drag. As part of a Broadway Cares event, the Blue Man Group was set to perform En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind.”

“He came gliding across the aisle in patent leather high heel boots, short shorts and a long opera cape and, I swear to God, I thought I was going to pass out. I thought he was stunning looking, confident and uninhibited. He came up to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Phil. I’ll be your date for the evening,’” she said. “From that first day, there was never a question of ‘Are we together?’ It was just, ‘This is it.’”

The bridge in time from that first sighting to their first meeting almost reads like an old-fashioned courtship. After the Blue Man Group performance, Jennifer, at the time a cast member of a Guys and Dolls revival on Broadway, admitted to her fellow cast members that she “had a crush on a Blue Man.”

Months later, at an event at Gracie Mansion, a publicist connected to both shows egged Jennifer to write Phil a note. On a Gracie Mansion cocktail napkin, Jennifer wrote “some smart things about the show,” said Phil, and left her name and the address of the theater where she was working.

“I was intrigued. I wrote a letter and dropped it off at the theater,” Phil continued. “She called me on April 1, 1993, and we talked for three hours.”

The pair set themselves up on a “blind date”; Jennifer would meet him at his rehearsal space and help with the choreography for the Broadway Cares event. On that first date, they traversed Downtown Manhattan, from a sushi restaurant on East 9th Street—Hasaki, still there—to a bar in Nolita and then around Tribeca, where Phil lived at the time.

Over 15 years later, the Stanton duo has become a quartet with sons Cove and Scout and they continue to live Downtown. Through several other costume changes—and new projects like The Blue School, which Phil and Jennifer co-founded—they have stayed by each other’s side.

MAN IN SUBWAY CONCEALS BOXCUTTERS
Sometimes when a petty item is stolen, it’s better to step down than engage with the thief. Early in the morning, around 4:15 a.m., last Saturday, a 29-year-old man was arrested for not only stealing a $25 baseball cap but for carrying three boxcutters on him. Earlier, a 28-year-old man had reported to police that his Champion baseball cap was stolen clean off his head while waiting for the uptown 2 train. When he tried to reach for it, the thief said he had a boxcutter on him and then walked to an upper level of the station, where police shortly arrested him.

iTHEFTS CONTINUE
“If you see something, say something” has become the motto of New York City in recent years, and the phrase was given new vigor last Saturday at 5 a.m. A subway passenger reported to police that he saw a 29-year-old man steal a $250 iPhone from the jacket of a sleeping passenger. Police eventually arrested the man near Whitehall Street; according to police reports, he is known to the precinct.

A few days before, a 25-year-old woman was waiting on the C train platform around 9:30 p.m., killing time on her iPhone, when an 18-year-old man snatched it from her hands and ran off.

A RUDE AWAKENING IN ZUCCOTTI PARK
While we thought the eviction of Zuccotti Park—and the implementation of new rules by owner Brookfield Properties—had put the kibosh on sleeping in the park, it seems at least one napper went undetected. A 21-year-old woman visited the park on New Year’s Eve, set her bag down and fell asleep, only to wake up and find her backpack missing. The stolen items included a $10 USB drive, $60 in books, $15 in notebooks and a Bank of America card. The woman only reported the crime to police recently.

CRIME STOPPERS: $2K REWARD TO NAB BUILDING THIEF
Police are on the hunt for a thief whose M.O. is using fire escapes and rooftop patio doors to enter people’s apartments Downtown. Starting in late September of last year, the thief has used this method to steal property, which he then hides in shopping bags as he leaves the building. The perp has been caught on tape at several locations; police describe him as a Hispanic male in his late twenties to mid-thirties, with close-cut hair and a stocky build. NYPD Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2,000 in cash for information leading to his arrest. If you have any information about this case, call 1-800-577-TIPS.

STORE HIT FOR SECOND TIME
A pricey Prince Street clothing store was hit again by a band of thieves. According to police, the group snagged $2,274 in merchandise from racks at the back of the store and fled the shop on foot. An employee saw the group getting into a white Ford van with Florida license plates.

The stolen loot included $1,586 in jeans, $342 in sweatpants and $319 in shirts. The store had already been robbed in the last few weeks.

—Compiled by Marissa Maier