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"From the smallest birthday party to the largest concert, special events take place every day in New York City parks. If you want to have any activity in a City park with more than 20 people, or where you would like to reserve a specific area within a park, you need to apply for a special event permit."
Once more the time has come to clutch our pearls and put on our marching pumps and make Manhattan a place worth being in again.
The Drag March in New York City emerged 20 years ago at the Stonewall 25 commemoration when the organizing committee for that event asked that drag and leather folk to leave their wardrobes at home. Instead of buying into this attempt at "normalizing", the Drag March celebrated Gay Spirit in all of its' manifestations and became the most authentic celebration of all that Stonewall truly was and is.
With the summer in full swing, a lot of our clients are coming back to New York, and we wanted to take a moment to give an explanation for a term that has been and will inevitably be thrown around while they're here.
Three reasons why we don't call our clients "crusties"
1) The term "crusty" is derived from "Crust Punk," a punk movement started in the 1980s out of England with followers who referred to themselves as "crust punkers." Being a "crusty" is like calling someone a Deadhead. 99% of our clients do not refer to themselves as crusties, so we don't either. The term gets thrown around a lot in the East Village because it's a quick way to define a group of folks who look a certain way, but that doesn't make it accurate.
2) When asked, "What do you consider yourself?" — almost everyone told us their name. The first time I asked someone that question, I felt like an idiot because I know that personally, I don't walk around introducing myself as, "Hi, I identify as a white female and my name is Andréa." I start with my name.
3) Our clients are individuals, and most of them are trying to transition out of their current situation. It may not always look like it to outsiders, but there are many complex issues right under the surface that each person copes with in their own way. Tagging someone as "crusty" deepens the stigma and does not promote positive change.
We're The Space at Tompkins, a harm reduction organization whose mission is to help homeless travelers move towards improved health and self-sufficiency. We've been doing this since 2009.
In court documents, Steven L. Einig, a lawyer for a company called Centech, which holds the building’s mortgage, stated that Yippie Holdings, which bought Number 9 along with a nonprofit called the National AIDS Brigade, had failed for more than five years to make payments on the $1.4 million mortgage.
A lawyer for Yippie Holdings, John Diffley, said in an e-mail that his clients “were compelled into foreclosure with payments being rejected” by Centech as part of a scheme or plan to take over the building.
I wanted to thank you and all your readers who have helped with the fundraising effort for Akkas Ali, the florist who was severely injured in the horrific car crash on East 4th Street and 2nd Avenue on June 19.
I am pleased to say that, at the completion of our first week of fundraising, we have raised $11,792 from exactly 200 donors. This is an amazing accomplishment, but it is only a start. We need to raise a lot more before the fundraiser ends on July 20, and the first week is typically the easiest.
Here are three ways to help First, go to www.giveforward.com/akkasali and make a donation of whatever you can afford. Second, when you make your donation, leave a little message of support for the family when prompted to do so (the family has been reading these messages and says they are a source of rare joy during these difficult times). Third, and perhaps most important, PLEASE use whatever methods you can (including email and social media) to help spread the word about this fundraising effort.
Thanks to everyone again for their kindness and generosity!