By Beverly Rubik The telecom industry wants to deploy 5G antennas (small cell antennas and power supplies) in our neighborhoods and near our schools and places of work. Over the summer of 2019, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint officially began rolling out this untested technology in New York City without the informed consent of residents. There
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West Village Original: Anita Lo
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is chef and cookbook author Anita Lo, born in Detroit in 1965. From 2000–17, Lo owned the Michelin-starred restaurant Annisa on Barrow Street. She has appeared on Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, and Chopped; in 2015, she became the first female guest chef to cook
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My Two Cents
By Millie (AKA Keith Michael) I’d like to set the record straight. There’s a lot of backstory here. Let me tell you about a conspiracy of good fortune today. A package was delivered this morning and left unopened right near his desk. Perhaps the vibration of setting down the box (I think it was a
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Let’s Get Real About Aging
By Gail Evans I’m tired of the advice so easily dispensed during the holiday season to reach out to older relatives and neighbors who may be lonely. I’m tired also of advice to elders to “be more socially active,” as though that would magically lessen their loneliness. There’s nothing wrong with these “tips” as such.
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Older, Alone, & Would Welcome Help? There’s Visiting Neighbors!
By Gail Evans Since 1972, Visiting Neighbors (VN), a small organization in the West Village has relieved the loneliness and supported the independence of thousands of older Villagers and seniors in Chelsea, Tribeca and other communities south of 30th Street. It does this by providing services seniors need to remain connected with others and to
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Who’s Bringing the Water Bottles?
By J. Taylor Basker It is now December as you read this, but before Veteran’s Day in early November the Christmas items and commercials began to inundate us. The irony of celebrating the birth of the baby Jew, Jesus, in Bethlehem, while Israel is bombing Gaza killing children, imprisoning children in Bethlehem as well as
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Christmas is Around the Corner
By Gordon T. Hughes II It’s December, and that brings the holidays—all kinds of holidays, so depending on your background you’re probably celebrating one of them this month. For me it’s Christmas. This brings a great deal of pressure, what with gifts to be selected. I love Thanksgiving—no presents, no pressure, just food, really good
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Is Pier 40 in Jeopardy?
By Anthony Paradiso Since I like to write about sports George asked if I would write on exactly which sports groups are using Pier 40, the biggest and commercially most important of the Hudson River Park park piers (some 15 acres). Before it’s corroding piles and falling concrete ceilings began the Pier was earning $6
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Praise for The West 13th Street Alliance’s Community Event Offerings
By The West 13th Street Alliance When the board of directors of the West 13th Street Alliance embarked on a program of community events this summer, the goal was to strengthen connection among neighborhood residents. Comments from some of the many residents who have attended confirm that the events are also educational and fun. About
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Guns and Country
By Tom Lamia I recently attended my 55th law school reunion. I would not criticize you if you looked away at this point thinking, “Okay, Boomer, what else is there to read in this fine West Village newspaper?” Stay, dear reader; there might be something for you here if you suffer, as I do, from
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Super “Hero” II – The Wire
By Robert Kroll My trial by fire as a co-op building super came within days of moving into our cozy studio apartment on Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights. My apartment looks onto the street through four tall picture windows, unobstructed by utility poles and the attendant wires. Or at least so I thought. Fact was, there
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Kitchen Recipes : Greek Soup
By Isa Covott This soup is very popular in Greece and is always served when people return home from Midnight Mass. Because it’s so popular, it’s also served year round. There is a version with lamb, this one served at Easter. The Greek Jewish population adopted it and you can find it served often among
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In & Out by Caroline Benveniste
There is a renaissance of sorts for Hudson Street around 11th and Perry Streets with two flashy openings, and the soon-to-open Dante West Village across the street. Bleecker Street also has fewer empty storefronts, but most shops did not seem all that busy during the Shop Bleecker event in late November. Top Openings Small Door
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Ellen Stewart’s Centennial
La MaMa Ellen Stewart. Photo by Vernon Smith, 1972, courtesy of the La MaMa Archive/Ellen Stewart Private Collection By Robert Heide I first met Ellen Stewart (she was born November 7th, 1919, and died January 13th, 2011, and would have been 100 in 2019), the founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company, in her
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Northwell May Host Lab to Cure AIDS; AIDS Memorial May See AIDS Cure
The 2019 Gay Pride parade drew thousands to the Village, here shown in front of Northwell Health’s facility. Photo by Ismael Ramirez. Northwell May Host Lab to Cure AIDS By George Capsis Iran-born Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., the president of the Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA), speaks with precision and clarity that the end goal
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Johnathan Blake’s Explosive Debut as Bandleader at the Village Vanguard
By Karen Rempel I first saw Johnathan Blake at the Village Vanguard in October 2015, where he was playing drums with Ravi Coltrane’s quartet. I was completely blown away by the intensity of his performance, and by the unique percussion elements he added. His dominance as a drummer was evident even to the neophyte I
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AIDS Memorial May See AIDS Cure
By Kambiz Shekdar Thirty-forty years ago, thousands of gay men were abandoned and left to die of AIDS in New York City’s St. Vincent’s Hospital. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA) announced plans to build its AIDS cure incubator at the former site of the St. Vincent’s AIDS
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Northwell May Host Lab to Cure AIDS
THOUSANDS MARCH TO A SINGLE MESSAGE – CURE AIDS: The 2019 Gay Pride Parade marchers advance toward what had been St. Vincent’s Hospital’s main building (on the right), where thousands died, and the Northwell Medical complex (across the street on the left) which may house a laboratory to cure AIDS. Photo by Ismael Ramirez. By George Capsis
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Centennial for Uta and Ellen
By Robert Heide 2019 is the year that both Uta Hagen and Ellen Stewart, two great ladies of the theater, have been honored and celebrated when each would have turned 100. In the world of dates, Uta Thyra Hagen, actress and teacher, was born June 12th, 1919, in Göttingen, Germany, and died in Manhattan January
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The Great Hack (2019)
Film Review by Roger Paradiso –Facebook ads used by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 totaled 66,000. –Facebook ads used by the Donald Trump campaign in 2016 totaled 5.9 million. For those of you who are wondering how Donald Trump and his corrupt team stole the last election, this is a good film to see.
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Beth Israel Forum on Monday, November 4th
By Penny Mintz Few people have any leverage over the large political goings on in Washington or Albany. But when it comes to quality of life issues here in our community, there is a chance, right now, to have an impact. Mount Sinai/Beth Israel (MSBI) has plans for Beth Israel Hospital and the medical services
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Then&Now: The Weathermen Bombsite—18 West 11th Street
By Brian J Pape, AIA THEN: The Greek Revival townhouse at 18 West 11th Street was originally built in 1845, one of four houses on the block built by Henry Brevoort Jr. for his children. It was later (in the 1920s) the home of Charles Merrill (of Merrill Lynch), whose son, the poet James Merrill,
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Visitation
By Keith Michael My phone vibrates on my desk. I hit “Send” on a work email before checking the message: Text? Gmail? Facebook messenger? Instagram notification? Millie’s photograph, of course, is the wallpaper on my phone. Her doe-like corgi eyes look up out of the palm of my hand, virtually, ever-hopeful for a treat. Tapping
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Hindsight: The West Village Committee in the Sixties
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Today’s residents of the West Village owe a lot to the activists who lived here before us. They say “Hindsight is 20/20,” but we still speculate on “what might have been.” Google the still active committee, WestVillageCommittee.html, and you’ll find a little history and their current activities, but you have
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Notes From Away: Maine History Lesson
By Tom Lamia As the State of Maine heads into its annual state of hibernation, I leave you with a few odd facts (culled from the internet, an unreliable source). For example, did you know… That well into our nation’s existence, Maine was an orphan: Neither its borders nor its sovereignty were established; Those contesting
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Talking Dirt in The Village
By Aaron William Perry, with Joanie Klar Our village—The Village—is the most fertile ground of American culture: magnificent, gritty, thoughtful, proud. Long before vogue terms like influencer or cultural creative entered popular parlance, generations of the most thoughtful, creative, and influential figures generated great turns in the evolution of our culture. Here, we walk atop
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Take the Reins and End the Slaughter
By Anastasia Kaliabakos Approximately 100,000 horses are transported annually across the United States border to be slaughtered for the sake of human consumption. People seeking to profit off of these magnificent animals cram them into crowded trucks without food or water—oftentimes for over 24 hours—to meet their demise in slaughterhouses, where many are gruesomely dismembered
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Bell Labs’ Second-Best-Kept Secret
By Catherine Revland Part Two of a series, You Must Remember This, about World War II and its relevance to our times “How do you manage genius? You don’t.” —Mervin Kelly, director of Bell Research Labs In the industrial Monopoly game of the 1940s, Bell Labs and Western Electric were Boardwalk and Park Place, an
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West Village Original: Denise Marsa
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is singer/songwriter Denise Marsa, born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1954. In addition to a decades-long career in the music business, Marsa owns Key Media Group, a public relations and marketing firm. She also mentors young singers and bands in navigating the industry. On November 26th,
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November Means Thanksgiving in the West Village
By Gordon Hughes I sit on an outside bench at Cafe Panino Mucho Gusto in a heavy shirt, and there’s a chill in the air. As I enjoy my coffee on these fall mornings, I contemplate the things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving. Being able to live here in the West Village tops my list.
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo What do we think about when we think about November? There may be other guesses, but there is one essential one and that is Thanksgiving. There is the meal of course: the turkey, cornbread, many vegetables, different pies (usually pecan and apple). There are also the guests—those who live nearby and others
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A New Store for Li-Lac Chocolates
By Caroline Benveniste In the December 2016 issue of WestView News we ran an article entitled “The Best of Food Shopping in the West Village” in which we listed our favorite food stores. Somehow, we neglected to include a chocolate category and our readers quickly alerted us to this oversight. And, of course, the winner
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The Village Speaks Out on Single Payer Healthcare
By Alec Pruchnicki, MD On Sunday, October 6th, residents of Greenwich Village and much of lower Manhattan had a chance to speak out on the possibility and advisability of bringing a single payer healthcare system to New York State (my article in WestView News last month was, “Want Single Payer in New York? Speak Up!”).
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Super “Hero”
By Robert Kroll There are around a quarter million co-op living units in “The Naked City.” There are around 80,000 supers running them. Every one of those supes has a fantastic story to tell. I will be telling at least some of these. I plan to tell the stories of my Brooklyn Heights brownstone. Nine
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A Public Housing Primer
The Housing Act of 1937 was intended to improve living conditions in cities and create quality public housing for low- and middle-income families. But after several iterations of the bill, two critical pieces were inserted. First, the Act passed with coverage for only the lowest income residents, due in part to fear that middle-income housing
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Let’s Get Real About Aging
By Gail Evans My husband and I are in our eighties and, yes, we’re slowing down. We tire more easily, take longer for daily chores, and complain about aches and pains. Still, we’re getting by. But what if our health changed or we suffered a life-changing illness? We and our concerned family would face a
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The Rise of ADA Litigation in New York
By Samuel G. Dobre, Esq. The need for a local online newspaper became dramatically evident last month when we got a call from the popular Sandwich Shoppe on Greenwich Avenue that they had been “served” with a nine page legal brief which explained in nearly undecipherable legal gobbledygook that they were not in compliance with
