By J. Taylor Basker Frank Romano, part-time resident of Greenwich Village, peace activist and professor of law in France, was arrested and deported from Israel recently. He is on a team of lawyers preparing a complaint for the ICC (International Criminal Court) accusing Netanyahu and Lieberman of criminal violation of the rights of Bedouins whose
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Should Abner Be Deported?
By Stanley Wlodyka In the waiting area of the offices of Judson Memorial Church by Washington Square Park, a boy of around three or four sits on the floor, diligently creating a work of art with crayons for the wall behind him, which is filled with children’s drawings of houses, animals, families, and other happy
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If I Were Pope
By Donna Schaper I would pray, papally, about what it means to be a Christian. I would take all of my fears of fraud with me. I would ask about the end game—and whether revenge or punishment ever got anybody, anywhere, closer to Jesus. I know the punishmentalists and literalists love to “get back” and
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Keeping Ancient Greek and Latin Alive
By Anastasia Kaliabakos Latin and Greek are dying. These beautiful languages, once studied by the most elite and forward-thinking scholars, have been pushed into the background in schools across the globe in favor of “more useful” modern languages; however, it is of vital importance to maintain, if not increase, the world’s passion for classics. Knowing
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Two by Two
By Keith Michael Honking and braying, a Canada Goose family flies across the promenade in front of us onto the lawn. Millie seems nonplussed as the geese immediately get industrious at their grass maintenance routine. Corgis are herding dogs, but maybe the geese are already orderly enough that Millie doesn’t feel the need to intervene,
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DOT Finally Comes to the Table!
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Flash: After nearly a year of refusing to have face to face negotiations with the 14th Street Coalition, which has led the Greenwich Village Community response to plans to shut 14th Street down to all but buses during the now cancelled L Train shutdown, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) leadership
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Congestion Pricing & Access-a-Ride: Tech Breakthroughs
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Have you adjusted to the “Sharing Economy” yet? In NYC, the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) is supposed to control the ride-hail world, but what has happened? Well, this has been a year, or decade, of turmoil in the ride-hail/ride-share world. The TLC oversaw 143,674 for-hire vehicles in 2015,
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Food Scrap Collection
By Ede Rothaus As one of the most environmentally aware neighborhoods in New York City, the West Village continues to further its efforts to ‘reuse reduce recycle.’ A strong example of this is our local food scrap and curbside organics collection program. Funded by the New York City Council (and its Speaker, Corey Johnson) for
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Jackson Square Park Reopens After Extensive Renovation
By Michael D. Minichiello On April 2nd at 11:00 a.m., City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and others will preside over a newly renovated Jackson Square Park, the triangle formed by Horatio Street and Eighth and Greenwich Avenues. Among other events at the ceremony, three new pin oaks will be planted to join the older ones
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MTA Taking the Piss on L-Train
By Stanley Wlodyka MTA employees were caught urinating in public while conducting work on the L Train on 14th Street near Third Avenue on Sunday, March 10th. They created a makeshift porta potty by hanging a piece of white cloth over the open rear doors of a work truck. MTA employees would disappear behind the
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Hey Mt. Sinai: What’s the Plan?
By Penny Mintz At several public meetings in 2016 and 2017, Mt. Sinai/Beth Israel announced its plan to shutter Beth Israel Hospital and replace it with scattered out-patient services and a new 70-bed hospital in a two-story building on East 13th Street. It took steps toward this goal with the piecemeal closure of four hospital
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Corey Johnson’s Vision for City May Need Glasses
By J. Taylor Basker Corey Johnson, City Council Leader, delivered his State of the City speech presenting his proposal ‘A Case for Municipal Control and a Comprehensive Transportation Vision for the Five Boroughs’ telling us what every New Yorker already knows. “Smart, well-developed transportation policy can significantly improve economic conditions and enhance public safety and
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Do Not Legalize Sex Work!
By Carol Yost Two op eds about the current state of affairs in the field of sex work appeared recently, a week apart, in the Daily News. The one published March 1, 2019, by Melanie Thompson, a sex trafficking survivor, was given the title “Hell no to legal prostitution.” On March 8, 2019, the op
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All We Can Afford Is Memories
By George Capsis Perhaps nothing has so suddenly dramatized the loss of the “old” Village as the sale of the building in which the beloved White Horse Tavern has sat unchanged since 1880. Generations and generations of young and not so young people have eased their way into a chair or booth there to sip
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Rage, Rage Against Croman
By Cynthia Chaffee and Mary Ann Miller Whenever a New York restaurant closes, look under the nearest rock and you’ll usually find Steve Croman, the notorious landlord who just spent several months in jail—not at Rikers where he was supposed to go, but at the Manhattan correctional center, a.k.a. “The Tombs.” Add to the mix Eytan
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Adult Protective Services—Don’t Ignore Them
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Last month I wrote about a woman referred to my office by WestView who, besides being terrorized by her landlord, had been contacted by Adult Protective Services (APS) and was now more scared of APS putting her in a nursing home than she was of her landlord. APS, which is part
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A West Village Generational Story: Dr. Charles Dorato
By Allyn Freeman Consider the many stories fictional or fact about the West Village in novels, short stories, magazines and newspaper articles. Remember those involving tales written about the bohemian lives of Village artists and writers. Recall the narrations of Village nightlife with anecdotes about jazz clubs, watering holes, and potluck parties in walk up
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Empty Nest
By Christina Raccuia The “empty nest” refers to the physical and psychological change in the family when a child leaves home or goes away to college. For about 18 years, we as parents have invested ourselves in the emotionally consuming process of raising a family—and suddenly one day the children leave home. As the nest
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Imparting the Wisdom of the Elders
By David Giller & Helene Abrams Remember the ’60’s and ’70’s? Our generation was so powerful back then…not willing to accept that things are the way they are just because they’ve always been that way. We stood up for what we believed in and we changed the world for generations to come. Then, we got
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Tourism in New York City
The New York Times reported recently that New York City tourism has been rising steadily for years. At least 67 million are expected this year, boosted in part by Gay Pride events centered around the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. New York City tourism is 50% higher than it was in 2007, when Mayor
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Interview with Rebecca Schosha from the Jefferson Market Library
By Yalini Anne Sampathkumar, 10 Jefferson Market Library has a great collection of kids’ books and some of the nicest librarians. I look for Rebecca Schosha every time I come. She is one of the librarians, who always gives me a warm greeting. I decided to interview her about the children’s section of the Jefferson
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A Child’s Stay in the Middle East
By Carol Yost In the early fall of 1955, when I had just turned 10, my family went to Syria on a grant under a 1948 law called the Smith-Mundt Act, or the U. S. Information and Educational Exchange Act. It was designated “an act to promote the better understanding of the United States among
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Cutting Edge
By Keith Michael We’re bumping up and down on that end-of-spring seesaw when weather forecasts careen between a balmy 60 degrees with blue sky one day to below freezing with a nor’easter and wintry mix pending the next. Deciding how many layers to put on or take off is a cardio-sport. On days like this,
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Hunting for Treasures at Home
By Annette Benda Fox, Fox Gallery NYC Spring cleaning can be an adventure of discovery! What if your grandmother’s teapot is worth $500 or even $50,000? We have all been surprised by discoveries like that on Antiques Roadshow. Maybe it’s time to find out if you have hidden treasure. Perhaps you need funds or more
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Sexual Abuse by Men of Respected Standing in Religious Faiths is Nothing New
By Carol Yost Twenty-five years ago, Sister Maura O’Donoghue, a Medical Missionary of Mary in County Clare, Ireland, submitted a report to the Vatican about the alleged sexual abuse of nuns by priests in 23 countries. The Vatican put it aside. She told of one religious superior in Africa who was asked by local priests
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VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
By Bernadette Alexander Glaucoma runs in my family on my mother’s side. My mother, grandmother, siblings and even third cousins have it. Although I was diagnosed over twenty years ago, I didn’t lose my vision until April 2017. It was devastating. I had a successful career as both a state administrator and Senior Workers Compensation
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Fiftieth Anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District Celebrations Throughout 2019, Big One April 13-14
By Andrew Berman The landmarking of most of Greenwich Village took place on April 29, 1969. In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), an organization originally founded in 1980 to protect and care for the Greenwich Village Historic District, will be holding celebrations and programs throughout the year,
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5G—Is the Price of This Progress Too High?
By Elizabeth A. Kelley, Executive Director, Electromagnetic Safety Alliance, and Director, EMFScientist.org. The 5th Generation wireless communication infrastructure is being deployed at breakneck speed across the nation, with promises of faster speed, lower latency, greater connectivity and seamless coverage guaranteed with low-Earth orbit satellites. The Federal Communications Commission and 22 U.S. states have issued regulations
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5G: The Next Generation of Wireless Communication: Village Residents May Want to Get Better Informed About 5G Technology
By Sarah Dowson As you walk around the West Village today, look up: utility and light poles and building walls and rooftops are now relatively clear of anything attached. But, in 2019, telecommunications companies may begin installing the next generation of wireless technology: 5G, or fifth generation, to enable the internet of things (IOT) and
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Death By Architecture
By Ananth Sampathkumar Partner NDNY Architecture + Design New York is going through an architectural renaissance right now. The most famous architects from around the world are designing bespoke buildings and infrastructure for the city. The new designs range from museums to skyscrapers and even waterfront piers. The West Village has benefited from the signature
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Diller Island Update
At last year’s State of the State, Cuomo allocated $50 million in funds for the waterfront park, which has been under segment-by-segment construction for more than two decades, and this year he is kicking in $23 million more to help finish it. As WestView reported in 2016, it will cost taxpayers $40 million to build two
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14th Street Busway. No? Maybe?
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Sometimes government drives all of us crazy. Even as someone who plays a role in government, and often finds himself in court suing the government, I find myself scratching my head. Late in 2017, our community was told, as part of the planned L Train shutdown, that 14h Street was going
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Weed Greed
By Stanley Wlodyka “What’s up man—you smoke?” When asked if his menu contained items besides marijuana, he offered, “I might be able to get some coke.” But that was an afterthought, and not part of his usual wares. A wide smile, every third tooth a golden one, communicated that this fella, though certainly up to
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Eviction by Property Tax
DEATH AND TAXES—A cry of pain from George Capsis Neither can be avoided but one can offer considerable and protracted pain. So when I received a very well written plea for help from a neighbor who was facing an impossible-to- pay jump in real estate taxes to almost $51,000, I sent an e-mail to Chief
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Remembrances of The Lost Village: Doris Deither the fighter
By Roger Paradiso Starting October 19th with THE LOST VILLAGE premiere at the legendary Cinema Village Theaters, we did community panel discussions after each screening. Sponsored by WestView News, we ended up doing 8 panels in that first week. But none was more memorable than the night Doris Deither came to visit. She has been
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Life on Earth in Perspective
By Josef Eisinger © In 1930, during the early days of radio broadcasting, Albert Einstein admonished a radio audience in Berlin not to consume the fruits of science with as little intellectual curiosity as a cow chewing its cud devotes to botany. Since that time almost a century of astonishing scientific and technological advances have
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Wintry Mix
By Keith Michael “Baby, it’s cold outside.” I’ve used that as a title before, but it’s apropos this morning. I’m holding the front door open to the street and Millie is standing on the landing, procrastinating, glancing back at the now closed inner door, feeling the chill, damp air on her nose. After repeated encouragement
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Can the Village Help Save Democracy?
By John Bredin There are few places in America, or the world, with the active civic life of Greenwich Village. Where else would a 90-year-old zoning maven named Doris Diether, who puts the big shot developers in their place, be feted like a celebrity by an overflow, dignitary-studded crowd at Judson church—as she was last
