I just watched Channel 11 News and it was moving and heartbreaking. I can't find a link to put up on this site but heart breaking. If you have any knowledge that will help catch the murderer call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. A friend of the victim spoke of him as loved, a father, an electrician and a bouncer, much loved and he will be missed greatly. Eric Pagan rest in peace. Condolences to the family and all loved ones.
Someone interviewed said the murderer was not from the neighborhood and the weekends in the East Village the area is invaded by people not from the neighborhood and the vibe is crime is up.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/08/23/2009-08-23_deadly_shooting_at_east_village_bar_bouncer_killed_2_wounded_outside_forbidden_c.html
For those not famialir with East Village politics, warning please hold your nose. The community board #3 is called the "community bar" not board and I was told this my a political activist located uptown in Harlem.
The community board chair, for years David McWater owns so many bars, I call him the bar czar of the East Village and when you go to a community board meeting do not count on them introducing themselves and explaining their role in the community. I had even heard a rumor he used to be the head of SLA3 for CB3 which is hard to believe.
I went to CB3 meetings and complained about too many bars and too many dorms and not once did he or anyone state for the record that the chair owns bars and FYI, I know when I attended meetings they took minutes so I have proof to back it up.
The last meeting I attended David McWater, Susan Stetzer and Lisa Kaplan -- Rosie's right hand woman all shushed me for speaking up when Christine Shakespeare, high priced community liason for NYU who admonished Andrew Berman for singling out poor NYU since poor old NYU is not for profit. I responded NYU is being singled out because you Mega Dormed the EAST VILLAGE to death!
Ask me if I would ever vote for Rosie again, ever? The answer is no. I never attended another meeting again. It is "run" -- it is a club and the majority of the community are not welcome. They want to run the community and know we the people of New York did not vote for the community board members and their public members are picked by them. It is their show and the community is not invited.
I do know the mayor and Scott Stringer did not think it was a conflict of interest and did not follow up on my complaints and another community members who pointed this out to me about CB3 not updating their signs. Rosie knew the story and she clearly did not think McWater running CB3 was a conflict of interest. Be confident I complained to 311 about all of the above and contacted Stringer. Again all of the above are people I would never vote for again, ever. City Hall is so riddled with conflicts of interest unless The New York Post exposes them, we the people of New York cannot get "the conflict of interest board" to actually do their job! The grosses conflict of interest at City Hall was the mayor and Quinn pushing a city council tainted by a corruption investigation to vote on whether the mayor and they themselves could stay on another term and denied us, the people of New York a referendum thereby stomping on democracy! So why should the mayor and anyone care about a conflict of interest at the community board level regarding nightlife and bars which rank at the top of community concerns. I will never forget attending CB3 meetings and it taught me there is no democracy there just a club and most people are not welcome one way or another, not welcome; kind of like NYU and all the developers with their supersizing and invisible neon signs to the community "not welcome". Be confident NYU wants to run everything and would run the community boards CB2 and CB3 and everywhere in the City, NYU has it's ever expanding campus.
We need a complete overhaul of city gov. and watch dogs because we do not have transparency and accountability.
The investigation at City Hall is on going and I believe if investigators could go back in to the past they would find more corruption and if the investigators visited the East Village I would have some questions for them. One would be if they think it is a conflict of interest to have a man that owns so many bars as chair of CB3 and I would ask them how "Pour House" across from Webster Hall managed to slip past the community with no notices that I ever saw and get 2 full bars?
Yes, there has been another tragic death related to a bar and in the East Village, below the E. Village above in Chelsea remember the horrific rapes and murders of Imette St. Guillen and Jennifer Moore. There was the recent case of the rape cops and how many rapes go unreported because the victims are too traumatized to come forward because they drank too much (date rape drug?) and woke up with a terrible pain and no memory or with a memory they want to forget. My brain is so tired and I just got off a bus and borrowed some one's computer to write this. I can't remember the name of the young woman -- I fear she was raped and murdered also picked up at a Chelsea club only it appears her murderer has hidden her body so well they have still not discovered her body. I just got home... her name is Laura Garza.
Any bar that is a good neighbor is welcome and there are new bars that are good neighbors but there is no escaping the casualties of nightlife.
I am exhausted. In Tompkins this morning I filmed Guiseppie Logan playing sax and a friend of his tried to suck my life force from me as he talked down his nose at me telling me I couldn't understand him because he is an artist, implying I am not. I an artist. This older man that condescended to me and dissed me plied me for information about the benefits of YouTube like I was Bill Gates.
The mayor never put the people before $, he never put the people he supposedly represented before the almighty dollar and he will be surprised by the lack of votes he will receive. If he wins he will barely win. He wins because people feel there is no one else to vote for so what kind of win is that but denying us a referendum was criminal in my opinion and he flushed democracy down the toilet. The community board based on my horrible experiences with community board 3 who at times did not update their one little sign on the side of a phone booth near where 2nd Avenue Deli used to be -- if I said near the bank you wouldn't know what corner I am talking about -- but they did not update their sign for months when they were having their supposedly important zoning meetings where we the public were not really invited because they wanted to pretend they were some how heroes in their own minds. Look how many developers busted thru zoning.
Thank goodness scandals are being exposed at City Hall -- we just need a more exposing and most of all we need to reclaim democracy from City Hall to the community boards so the people are being represented not ignored and worse turned off. Many don't know the community board exists but in the East Village if you find someone who does most have written them off and with the most unflattering terms.
