Photo by edenpictures. Via Flickr Commons.

By Paul Bisceglio

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*Update*: An NYPD spokesperson announced on Wednesday that Greg Smith was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.

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South Village resident Jessica Dworkin, 58, was killed on Monday morning when the rear of a tractor trailer hit her and dragged her two blocks under its back wheels. According to witnesses, she attempted to cross Sixth Avenue on a foot scooter at the same time the 18-wheeler was making a right turn onto the avenue from West Houston Street. The truck swept her into its wheels.

Witnesses attempted to alert the unaware driver, Greg Smith, who finally stopped at Carmine Street.

“There were a dozen people running up the street screaming and telling him to stop,” witness Christian Cruz told the Daily News. “He didn’t notice. I saw all the blood and couldn’t look anymore.”

Another witness told the Daily News that once Smith realized what was going on, he rushed out of the truck. “He put his hands on his head like, ‘What did I do?’ He started screaming and crying.”

According to police, Smith is not expected to be charged. Dworkin was pronounced dead at the scene.

Soho Alliance director Sean Sweeney said that “everyone knew” Dworkin around Soho and Greenwich Village. Craig Walker, a longtime resident and friend of hers, told DNAinfo that she moved into her Thompson Street apartment back in the 1970′s.

Dworkin was an eccentric and sociable artistic type who spent a lot of time traveling the street on her scooter, according to Sweeney. Her taste for thrift store clothing made her easily stand out.

“She had a shabby finery to her clothing,” Sweeney told New York Press. “She was a bit of a hoarder — very fashion conscioius, in her own unique way.”

She was even known to change her outfits as many as four times a day, according to Michael Robinson, a Soho store manager who saw her almost daily for 23 years. She was a “fixture in the neighborhood,” he told DNAinfo.

One Soho resident who wished to remain anonymous mentioned rumors that Dworkin had recently been fighting eviction because of hoarding, but that neighbors came to her support and helped her to stay.

“She was well liked,” affirmed Sweeney. “She was a real neighborhood character who gave flavor to the neighborhood.”

Lopez-backed candidate, Councilman Erik Martin Dilan, falls short

by Alan Krawitz

The 2012 Democratic primary in the newly created 7th District. which includes parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Lower East Side, was billed by many to be one of the toughest challenges of Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s 10 terms in office.

But, that storyline fell short as Velázquez easily won re-nomination as the Democratic candidate by nearly a two-to-one margin over her most serious threat, City Councilman Erik Martin Dilan, who was backed by Brooklyn Democratic Chair and longtime political rival Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

The race, in which Velázquez captured roughly 58 percent of the vote to Dilan’s 31 percent, was plagued by very low voter turnout across the city and state. Total turnout was between 12 and 14 percent, which is possibly due to the unusual primary date of June 26. The primary is usually held in September, but a federal judge changed the date earlier this year to allow military voters to get their ballots in with enough time for the general elections in November.

Velázquez, who will now face off against conservative candidate James Murray in November, was pleased with the primary win.

“I’m honored the working families of New York have placed their confidence in me again,” said Velázquez in an emailed statement. “Together, we can continue our work to make housing more affordable, strengthen local small businesses and create jobs throughout our city.

Sean Sweeney, director of the SoHo Alliance and a member of Downtown Independent Democrats (DID), saw the win as a rejection of local party politics.

“The people’s choice vetoed Vito’s choice,” Sweeney said, referring to Lopez’s backing of Dilan.

Jeanne Wilcke, president of the DID, offered an even more pointed assessment of Lopez’ support for Dilan.

“A vigorous political advocate and organizer is one thing. A bully is another,” Wilcke said. “Vito Lopez has a PR problem. Perception is that he is the bully and it is pay-to-play politics in his circle.”

In response to his defeat, Dilan said in an emailed statement, “While it wasn’t a personal win, it was a victory for the communities of the 7th Congressional District, including my home of Bushwick. For the first time in decades, there were real discussions about the issues our communities face. It was enlightening to take part in a race with candidates from all walks of life with great ideas for how we as a community and country can move forward.”

With regard to his future plans, Dilan added, “As far as where I go from here, for now I am committed to completing my time in the City Council. However, I will continue serving my community and will always look to the best means by which to do so.”

Libertarian-leaning challenger economist Dan O’Connor, who placed third in the race with about 8.2 percent of the vote, lamented that the city’s political apparatus is inhospitable to outside candidates.

“The political machine in New York City is so tightly knit, making it impossible for a non-establishment candidate,” O’Connor said.

Moreover, O’Connor believes political cronyism is a persistent problem. “There are so many favors going on and backscratching that they collectively block off outsiders…I raised almost $75,000 and shook countless hands; the political machine in New York City, by its very nature, rejects non-establishment candidates for office,” he said.

While O’Connor said that he has no immediate plans to run for future office, he reiterated his call to reform the system.

“The political system is broken and needs to be fixed,” he said. “I will certainly be engaged in trying to influence the political system, in one way or another.”

George Martinez, Occupy Wall Street/hip-hop activist and proponent of the “Bum Rush the Vote” style of do-it-yourself campaigning said he was pleased with the outcome of the race, despite his last-place finish that garnered about 3 percent of the vote.

“It was a privilege and honor to be part of the democratic process,” Martinez said.

He also noted that getting almost 3 percent of the vote was “remarkable” given the small amount of funds they raised—just under $10,000—and the relatively short duration of the campaign, only about three months.

“We accomplished showing people that the Occupy model can work. The ‘Bum Rush’ campaign style of getting people into politics and money out will continue,” he said. “Our do-it-yourself style of democracy will continue.

“Our campaign was all about getting people involved in the political process. I think we did that and we will keep doing it going forward.”

What’s going on with the long-awaiting plan to put a Business Improvement District in SoHo? A hearing was supposed to be held on the proposed BID this spring, but it has never materialized. One source involved in pushing the BID says that Manhattan Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who is supportive of the proposal, is having some trouble getting a hearing scheduled with New York City Council Finance Chairman Domenic Recchia, noting that Chin is one of the Council’s more soft-spoken members and Recchia is consumed with budget season. A spokeswoman for Chin confirmed that no hearing has been scheduled, but did not comment on the reasons why. The BID has also faced a lot of opposition in SoHo, most notably from Sean Sweeney, director of the SoHo Alliance.

The New York Post reported that Hernandez told police he “lured the boy with candy, stabbed him, cut up his remains and put them in plastic bags.” Hernandez is said to have worked in the area at the time of Patz’s disappearance, and the Post writes he had admitted to killing a child to several family members and others. While police were looking for new leads in the basement of the Prince Street building, at the intersection of Spring Street, a relative of Hernandez reportedly called police.

This timing of this news is particularly interesting as Patz went missing on May 25, 1979, almost 33 years to the day of Hernandez’s arrest. Patz, who lived with his parents and two siblings on Prince Street had begged his parents to walk along to catch the school bus on nearby West Broadway. He was last seen walking to the stop that morning.

Patz soon became the poster child of missing children across the country, and thanks to the tenacity of his parents, he became the first child to have their face on a milk carton.

Sean Sweeney, Director of the SoHo Alliance and a longtime neighborhood resident, recalls when SoHo was filled with artist lofts and industrial retail stores at the time of Etan’s disappearance. The residents were a very close knit community, he said.

“When Etan Patz disappeared, his mother contacted all the other mothers. There wasn’t a lamp post south of 8th St. that didn’t have his missing child poster on it,” said Sweeney. “I think part of Etan being so well known was that his parents were tenacious. His father was a photographer and they had a good picture of him. At the time, missing children were barely reported in the news or not at all.”

Update:

During a public statement to the press yesterday evening, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed the arrest of arrest of Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., for murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz.

Hernandez who worked as a stock boy at a bodega and lived in an apartment on W. Broadway. According to his 3 hour confession to police, Hernandez lured Etan into the bodega, located on 488 W. Broadway,  with the promise of a soda before choking him to death. He then placed the body in a plastic bag and tossed it in with the garbage.

“Earlier this month the NYPD missing person’s squad received information from an individual which led them to identify Hernandez as a person of interest in Etan’s disappearance on May 25, 1979,” said Kelly. “In the years following Etan’s disappearance, Hernandez had told a family member and others that he had, quote, done a bad thing and killed a child in New York.”

Forensics teams from both the NYPD and the FBI assembled at 7 a.m. yesterday morning at the basement of 127 Prince St. at Wooster St., which according to reports currently serves as a storage space for the Leslie/Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Police say new evidence led them to search the property. Several stores on and near the property, including a Lucky Brand store and the boutique Wink, have been closed to facilitate the investigation.

The building was originally searched in 1979 when it housed a carpentry workshop. Othneal Miller, who used to live in the building’s basement apartment, used to reportedly pay the young Patz to do minor chores around the building. At the time of Etan’s disappearance, the basement had a dirt floor where officials hope to find personal effects or human remains. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne stated that the case is still being treated as a missing person, and not a homicide.

The joint investigation began in 2010 after Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance reopened the case after the parents of Etan, Stanley and Julie Patz who still live in Soho, petitioned Vance to find out the fate of their son. Tim Flannelly, of the FBI’s New York Field Office, stated that a combination of new and reexamined evidence led them to search the property.

Work has begun in earnest, but is painstakingly slow. The NYPD plans to work around the clock and expects to complete their search of the 13’x62’ property within the next four days. Investigators are currently mapping out the unused basement before the meticulous removal of the drywall and cement floor. At press time, they have begun removing bookcases from the room.

“We’re going about this very carefully, to make sure that if any evidence is found it will be preserved for forensic testing,” said Flannelly.

The six-year-old Etan became the poster child of missing children everywhere, and thanks to the tenacity of his parents, was the first child to have their face on a milk carton during the 1980s. No one was ever prosecuted in connection with Patz’s disappearance.

Sean Sweeney, Director of the SoHo Alliance and a longtime neighborhood resident, recalls when SoHo was filled with artist lofts and industrial retail stores at the time of Etan’s disappearance. The residents were a very close knit community, he said.

“When Etan Patz disappeared, his mother contacted all the other mothers. There wasn’t a lamp post south of 8th St. that didn’t have his missing child poster on it,” said Sweeney. “I think part of Etan being so well known was that his parents were tenacious. His father was a photographer and they had a good picture of him. At the time, missing children were barely reported in the news or not at all.”

Click below for the predictions:

Margaret Chin, City Council member

Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

Nancy Shafer, Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival

Gene Russianoff, Staff Attorney for the Straphangers Campaign

Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York

Daniel Squadron, New York State senator

Sean Sweeney, Director of the SoHo Alliance

Alicia Salzer, M.D. & Leslie Miller, M.D., Co-Founders of Medhattan

Mark Miller, President of the LES Business Improvement District

Adam Lisberg, Editor of City and State (a Manhattan Media publication)

Gary Malin, President of Citi Habitats

Julie Menin, Chair of Community Board 1

Susie Lupert, Vice President of Housing Works

Sam Miller, President of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Jessica Chao, Interim Director of the Museum of Chinese in America

Michele Thompson, Director of the 92YTribeca

Vallejo Gantner, Artistic Director of P.S. 122

However, residents will continue their fight to stop unbridled commercialization, particularly in opposing a proposal by mega real-estate developers to establish an unnecessary and unwelcome Business Improvement District (BID) on Broadway from Canal to Houston streets. The developers’ BID proposal met with dogged resistance in 2011 from Soho’s residents, businesses and property owners, as well as the community board, two local newspaper editorial boards and elected officials. The prediction is that it will die in 2012. R.I.P.

Soho’s traffic problems and failing transportation infrastructure will be addressed, like the crumbling crosswalks along the length of Greene and Mercer streets and the potholes that have never been repaired in well over a century on Wooster and Crosby streets.

Clueless tourists will continue to block the sidewalks in 2012.