Village voters stream into
polls on Election Day
BY MARK HALLUM, ROBERT
POZARYCKI AND TEQUILA
MINSKY
Polls across Manhattan opened at 6
a.m. Tuesday morning for Election
Day, the fi nal chance for New Yorkers
to have a say in the 2020 presidential
election between Donald Trump and Joe
Biden, along with other down-ballot races.
After a successful early voting period
in which more than 1.1 million voters cast
their ballots between Oct. 24 and Nov.
1, long lines of voters were nonetheless
reported at many polling sites on Nov. 3
when voting began.
At St. Anthony of Padua Church in
SoHo, the line began forming before the
crack of dawn. They braved dark lonely
streets, with a bit of a chill, to get in line
to vote prior to when the polls on election
day opened at 6 a.m.
Greenwich Village resident Gerald Liu
with his service dog arrived at 5 a.m.; he
was the fi rst in line.
“I think I arrived too early,” he said,
realizing that the rush to wait in line or at
least at this hour wasn’t as extreme as Early
Voting lines had indicated. The second in
line arrived at 5:15 a.m.
When some of these very early arrivals
were asked why didn’t they participate in
early voting, they echoed a common sentiment
— they wanted to vote “on election
day.”
One West Broadway resident said, “I
wanted to make my thumb purple.” And
where do they do that? “Afghanistan,”
was his response. During elections in Afghanistan
following Operation Enduring
Freedom, voters there dipped their fi ngers
in ink to show that they had participated
in the election.
Parents with a couple of children in
strollers were among the very early line
waiters. Local community activist and
Adelaide Hart, 5 exits a privacy booth with her mother Davina Moore as she
votes on Election Day at the James Weldon Johnson Community Center in
Harlem on Nov. 3, 2020.
former Greenwich Village District Leader
Keen Berger arrived as the poll opened
and offered those in line her renowned
chocolate chip cookies.
Tuesday’s poll sites in Lower Manhattan
were quiet as voters, who clearly cast their
ballot early, trickled in and out.
At JHS 56 in Chinatown, the poll site
had only seen about 100 visitors by 10:30
a.m. — a big difference from the hour-long
lines that wrapped around the entire block
during the early voting period.
BY BOB KRASNER
A beautiful fall day, a
fabulous setting and
dogs in costume — what
a perfect way to lift your spirits
these days.
In lieu of their traditional fundraising
Harvest Festival, which
was cancelled due to rain, the
Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita
threw its fi rst Pet Parade on Halloween.
Overseen by MC’s Elise
Fife and the garden’s executive
director Joseph Reiver, more than
50 dogs made their way down the
runway, competing for prizes donated
by local vendors such as the
Polka Dog Bakery, Wine Therapy,
La Colombe, McNally Jackson,
Whiskers Holistic Pet Care and
Happy Paws, among others.
Sharks, spiders, superheroes
and sea serpents strutted past
the judges, but Sonia Price led the
pack with her chihuahuas Jugui
and Lola — as a sunfl ower and a
bee — took fi rst prize.
Reiver, who noted the invaluable
assistance of organizers
Kathy Brunner and Patricia
Squillari, said that the day “went
wonderfully!” He continued,
“People were so excited about it,
they want to make it an annual
tradition.”
Even Beetlejuice will sit still for
Elizabeth Street Garden’s
Halloween pet parade marches on
Some of the participants in the Elizabeth Street Garden Halloween pet parade on Oct. 31, 2020.
a treat. Somehow, being dressed
as the Elizabeth Street Garden
was not enough to win. He did
get an honorable mention. The
winners ! First place went to Jugui
( a sunfl ower ) and Lola (a bee)
to the delight of their Bee Keeper,
Sonia Price.
However, that may not be
possible if the city gets its way.
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
Currently, the garden is waging
an existential legal battle against
the city to stay where they are.
Despite the availability of a
larger, undeveloped city owned
lot nearby, there are plans to
tear up the garden and put up a
building that would be a combo of
residential and luxury retail.
“We raised some money today,
but we have another hearing
coming up in November and we
need to raise as much as possible,”
Reiver explained. ” We need this
kind of open space more than
ever.”
More information about the
garden and ways to support its
existence at elizabethstreetgarden.
com.
This trio did not get the judges’
blessing. The garden’s Executive
Director Joseph Reiver and
parade MC (standing) checks
in with the judges (L-R) Ella
Barnes, Selwyn Garraway, Peter
Lynch and Shazat Shawan. Some
witches are cuter than others.
Elise Fife had the honor of announcing
the contestants on the
runway. Gizmo, as a bear, kept
his feelings in check after winning
third place. All over but the
barking. Apparently dog owners
do sometimes begin to resemble
their pets.
4 November 5, 2020 Schneps Media