Village’s Diether honored for activism
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
While fashionistas were recently showing off
their wildest creations and tying up traffi
c around the Metropolitan Museum, a
heartfelt gathering was taking place just a bit farther
Uptown on Fifth Ave.
On the Museum of the City of New York’s piazza
overlooking Central Park, community organizers and
labor activists mingled for a simple reception, entertained
by the New York City Labor Chorus. They
gathered to recognize stellar women among their
own.
Labor Arts started the Clara Lemlich Awards ceremony
on the 100th anniversary of the deadliest industrial
fi re in New York City, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory Fire in Greenwich Village, in which 146
garment workers died.
Each year, the event honors fi ve women over age 80
working most of their lives in the tradition of those
who sparked reforms in the Triangle fi re’s aftermath.
Clara Lemlich led a life of activism and impact,
continuing from when, at the age of 23 in 1909, at
The Cooper Union’s Great Hall, this immigrant interrupted
union labor leader Samuel Gompers shouting,
“I have something to say!”
Her inspiring speech led to an unexpected vote to
strike, which would become known as the Uprising
of 20,000. The awards honor those who follow in her
footsteps.
“These women are entirely inspirational,” said
Esther Cohen, co-founder of the event, greeting the
packed room. “They are strong and certain and intelligent
and unexpected and fi ghting still!”
Among the fi ve recipients was Village icon Doris
Diether, introduced by housing activist Katie Goldstein,
the daughter of Donna Schaper, pastor of Judson
Church.
Diether, 90, Manhattan’s longest-serving — 52
years — community board member, is not shy when it
comes to going up against powerful fi gures. She started
her lifetime of activism with a protest against Robert
Moses over a plan to do away with Shakespeare
This year’s Clara Lemlich Award recipients, from left, Doris Diether, Dr. Melissa Freeman,
Ronnie Eldridge, Philoine Fried and Elba Cabrera.
in the Park.
During her acceptance remarks, Diether talked
about organizing strategies. She and her activist
friends — including, notably, Jane Jacobs — divided
the Village into mini-regions, each one with a group
of neighbors similarly committed. When important
hearings took place, each activist showed up with
numbers of Villagers taking a stand.
Another honoree was Melissa Freeman, a Harlembased
doctor, granddaughter of a slave. She has been
practicing medicine since 1961, and is on the front
line of opioid-addiction treatment. Elba Cabrera, a
supporter of Latino artists, who, with her two sisters,
changed New York’s cultural landscape, particularly
the Bronx, also received an award.
At age 102, the oldest recipient this year was
Philoine Fried, daughter of legendary labor leaders
Bessie Abramowitz and Sydney Hillman. She worked
for decades with the Jewish Labor Committee and is
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
a founding member of the New York Labor History
Association.
Lifelong feminist and former politician Ronnie Eldridge
was among this year’s youngest honorees. Eldridge
advocated for women as a special assistant to
Mayor John Lindsay and was the only female in Governor
Mario Cuomo’s cabinet and later represented
the Upper West Side in the City Council from 1989
to 2001.
“There were a few of the previous honorees in the
audience over 100!” Cohen glowingly noted. Indeed,
among them were Bea Klier, 102, an early scientist,
as well as Naomi Replansky, a prize-winning poet/
activist, who turned 101 on May 23.
A plethora of speakers connected to civic commitment
by work, politics, family and heart gave remarks.
In the spirit of Clara Lemlich, attendees affi xed buttons
provided that read, “I have something to say!”
Trader Joe’s coming to A; Pols want deliveries
BY GABE HERMAN
As local politicians continue to press Trader
Joe’s to restore its delivery service in Manhattan,
the grocery chain said it is expanding its
Downtown presence with a new location in the East
Village.
Trader Joe’s announced on May 13 that it would be
opening a new store at 432 E. 14th St., between First
Ave. and Avenue A, nearer to the Avenue A side.
“We’ve consulted our maps and compass and have
found a terrifi c location for a store in New York (East
Village), NY,” the brief announcement on the company’s
Web site read. “We’ll continue to post new details
about the store and its opening here, so please
check back for updates.”
The opening date is simply listed as “TBD.” This
will be the ninth Trader Joe’s in Manhattan.
This new address is right along the path of work
on the L-train tunnel repairs. Though, as this paper
recently reported, the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority has said that construction debris won’t be
extracted from the tunnel at a major staging area near
Avenue A, as was originally planned.
The new Trader Joe’s would also be close to a new
subway entrance/exit at Avenue A, which is being
constructed for the First Ave. L-train station.
In other local Trader Joe’s news, following the
chain’s ending its Manhattan delivery service on
March 1, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams added
his name to the list of local offi cials calling on the
company to reinstate the service.
Williams sent a letter, dated April 30, to Trader
Joe’s C.E.O. Dan Bane, asking that deliveries be restored,
“on behalf of New Yorkers dealing with mobility
issues who depend on this service.” Williams
wrote that this includes the elderly and others who
can’t easily carry heavy bags home.
Many constituents have told the public advocate
they were forced to switch from Trader Joe’s to a delivery
service, Williams noted in the letter.
“Affordable grocery stores in New York City are
sadly not accessible in every part of our city,” Williams
added. “Trader Joe’s delivery service helped numerous
families access groceries. Please reconsider
restoring this important service.”
Assemblymember Deborah Glick also weighed in,
writing to Bane on April 23. The veteran pol noted
that she represents Greenwich Village, the East Village,
Soho and Tribeca — “all communities that are
served by a nearby Trader Joe’s grocery store.”
“New York City, like much of the United States,
is experiencing a growing senior population and our
society will be forced to fi nd ways to cope with that
social change,” Glick wrote. “Beyond government,
private enterprise and many areas of commerce will
need to adapt to best serve the new realities that a
large senior population will bring to this country.
“That is why many of my constituents, particularly
those who are older or who have disabilities, rely on
the grocery delivery program,” she continued. “In
fact, this is a relatively common service that is offered
by grocery stores throughout New York City, where it
can be diffi cult to carry a large number of groceries
by foot from the store to your home. … This change is
compounded by the reality that within New York City
the fastest expanding grocery chain happens to be
Trader Joe’s, and Downtown communities are growing
to rely on these locations to a greater degree.”
Other local leaders who have asked the Trader Joe’s
C.E.O. to reconsider include Council Speaker Corey
Johnson and state Senator Brad Hoylman.
Schneps Media TVG May 23, 2019 3