Baldwin gets serious at Judson
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Actor Alec Baldwin will be at
Judson Memorial Church in the
Village on Thurs., June 20. But
he won’t be doing his uproarious portrayal
of Donald Trump in comedy skits
with the cast of “Saturday Night Live.”
Instead, he’ll likely be signifi cantly
more serious. Because the topic will be
serious. Plus, Baldwin says he’s not doing
the Donald anymore anyway.
In fact, Baldwin will be moderating
a panel discussion called “Whither the
Village?” which, according to an event
fl ier, will focus on “the future of this
iconic New York neighborhood.”
The panelists will include Donna
Schaper, the Washington Square South
church’s senior minister, along with
Andrew Berman, executive director of
Village Preservation (formerly Greenwich
Village Society for Historic Preservation),
and Allyson Green, dean of
New York University’s Tisch School of
the Arts.
The event’s goal is “to dream a little”
– that is, to brainstorm about how to
stem the tide of gentrifi cation that is
blotting out the historic Village.
“The story is we’re trying to make
relationships with our neighbors about
what to do next,” Schaper explained.
“Alec Baldwin has become a friend of
Judson in many ways. He wants to be at
home someplace.”
The Donald-imitating actor, who
lives in the Village, is not a member
of the congregation, however, Schaper
said.
“He’s been around the church, he
hangs out with us. We share a lot of
progressive positions, as you know,” she
said of Judson and Baldwin.
Actor Alec Baldwin doing his “Saturday Night Live” Donald Trump impression
at a massive rally in January 2017 outside the Trump International
Hotel at Columbus Circle.
In fact, according to the minister, it
was while walking past the famously
progressive church when just 10 years
old that he felt an immediate connection
to the place — and to the Village.
“He likes the front sign,” Schaper
said, of the historic church’s outdoor
message board that bears thought-provoking
aphorisms.
“Alec talks about walking by in 1968
and saying, ‘This is where I belong, this
is my people,'” she said. “We work really
hard on those signs. He saw the
Eisenhower quote: ‘Beware the military
industrial complex.’ And, so, he basically
made the Village his home when
he saw that.”
Schaper said while Baldwin saw the
sign, it took him some time before he
returned to the iconic Village house of
worship and hotbed of activism. After
PHOTO BY MILO HESS
marrying his wife, Hilaria, they moved
to the Village from the Upper West Side
in 2011. He’s had a relationship with
Judson for around the last two years.
Meanwhile, the quote by “Ike” hasn’t
lost its power.
“It’s become a truth,” Schaper noted.
“Why do we have the wars? They’re
very profi table for people.”
One thing the June 20 event won’t
be is for bashing N.Y.U., something
that was at a fever pitch not too long
ago when the university was pushing its
plan to construct four new buildings on
its South Village “superblocks.” That
megaproject was ultimately approved
over the community’s fi erce opposition.
“We’re hoping to have intelligent
conversation,” Schaper stated. “No yelling
at people. It’s getting very boring.”
She said she approached Baldwin to
moderate the discussion “because he’s
famous and we’re not.”
Speaking of N.Y.U., the event’s topic
will be, as Schaper put it, “how to keep
the Village as Village as possible, given
that there’s one large institution here
— and how can the bigness benefi t the
Village.”
Another topic could be specifi c ideas
about taking back street space for pedestrians,
or as she put it, “What about
closing University Place, Washington
Square or Union Square to traffi c? It
would be good for businesses on University
Place.”
Getting N.Y.U. on board with this
kind of thinking and planning is an objective
for her.
The event is also a way for the church
to raise both its profi le and some bucks
for renovations. Judson is currently putting
on new roof tiles — in the original
red color. Now a growing congregation,
they are able to install “100-year tiles”
instead of the current cheaper ones,
which only had a 30-year life.
Also part of the picture, Schaper
noted, is an activist group called Bricks
and Mortals, which works with small
churches and, like Judson, embraces a
model of “citywide creative reuse of sacred
sites — because it’s the only land
left in the city, the churches, the synagogues.”
She’s very bullish on the upcoming
discussion.
“I think it’s a real opportunity to stop
gentrifi cation,” she said.
“Whither the Village? A Panel Discussion
at Judson Church,” Thurs., June
20, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., 55 Washington
Square South, tickets $20. Tickets are
available at https://whither.eventbrite.
com.
2 men are found dead in Downtown parks
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Two men have been found dead in
Downtown parks over the past
week, police said.
On Thurs., June 6, about four minutes
after noon, police responded to a call
of an unconscious male inside Union
Square Park, in the vicinity of Union
Square West and 15th St.
The offi cers found the man both unconscious
and unresponsive. Responding
E.M.S. medics pronounced him
dead at the scene.
Police have not released the man’s
name, age or other information. Per police
protocol, his name won’t be put out
publicly until his family is notifi ed, and
a police spokesperson said that has not
happened yet. Apparently, however, the
man did have ID on him.
Three days later, on Sun., June 9,
around 9 a.m., police received a call
for an “aided male” — a catchall term
for someone needing help — at Father
Demo Square Park, at Carmine and
Bleecker Sts. Responding offi cers found
a man unconscious and unresponsive lying
on a bench at the location. E.M.S.
pronounced him dead at the scene. The
police spokesperson said this individual
did not have any ID.
The medical examiner will determine
the cause of each man’s death and, for
each case, an investigation is ongoing.
Robert Jackson, a Sixth Precinct
community affairs offi cer, said that in
the Demo Square death, “There doesn’t
seem to be any foul play or drug overdose.
The fi rst report doesn’t mention
it.” He said it’s possible it was a natural
death, but couldn’t confi rm that.
As for the Union Square death, he said
the initial report was short on details.
COURTESY NYC PARKS DEPARTMENT
A man was found dead in Father Demo Square on the morning of Sun.,
June 9.
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