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Trading Tradition for Cash
“A 15-story apartment house behind St. Luke’s!” I repeated, stunned at the thought of the nice clerical caretakers of our historic 1821 church exhibiting Rudin-like greed. How could they do it? As the church development officer, John Donnelly, revealed the plan to exchange the vow of poverty for renting luxury apartments to Wall Street winners, [...]
Full StoryPresidents Day 2014
Late February 1860. Nearly two weeks before, Abraham Lincoln had turned 51 years old. He had been thinking back to the time of George Washington and the United States Constitution. On Saturday, February 25, 1860, Lincoln was staying at Astor House, at Vesey and Barclay Streets. He reckoned as how he had never worked harder [...]
Full StoryTesting in Schools: Villagers and Experts Compare Notes
What exactly are the “stakes” behind high stakes testingin city schools that has caused such anuproar? In the Bloomberg era, the stakes werequite high,where tests could determine if a student repeats a grade, a teacher is fired, or a school closed.The Parent Action Committee (PAC) at PS 3 in the West Village, long known for [...]
Full StoryPOST OFFICE
AT LAST: As of January 18th, almost three months to the dayafter a speeding BMW hit the back of a taxi, sending it crashing into the front of the building,the Hudson Street Post Office was back in business. Having spent the interim working at the Varick Street branch, our old friends Debra, Mr. Martinez, and [...]
Full StoryCapsis Bench
“I HAVE TO SIT DOWN NOW”: The bench dedicated to Andromache (Maggie) Capsis moves closer to reality as architect Brian Pape readies a proposal for approval by the Community Board and then the Department of Transportation. The new program, City Seats, replaces parked cars for sitting areas. Rendering by Brian J. Pape.
Full StoryNew developments at historic Church of St. Luke in the Fields
Since 1822, the Church of St. Luke in the Fields has been the steward of an historic block on Hudson Street. We have long cherished our role preserving the gardens, townhouses and the church itself and we are delighted that the West Village community also treasures them. St Luke’s, like all responsible organizations, desires to [...]
Full StoryJudge Rules Against NYU Expansion Plan
Decision in lawsuit blocks major portion of massive building project On January 7th, Judge Donna Mills ruled against NYU’s massive 20-year expansion plan in the lawsuit by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and dozens of other community and preservation groups, handing a stinging [...]
Full StoryMayor De Blasio’s Plan to Increase Taxes on High-Earners
In the recent mayoral campaign, then-candidate Bill de Blasio’s signature proposal was to address New York’s “tale of two cities” – the extremely rich versus everyone else – by increasing the City’s income tax rate for people with incomes over $500,000, from 3.9 to 4.4%. The revenues would be used to fund universal pre-kindergarten, plus [...]
Full StoryFor Pete Seeger
The next time any of us walk West in the Village and come to the banks of the Hudson River, we can see that it is getting cleaner every year, and that fish are swimming in it again and that if someone should fall off a boat or take a short dip in the hot [...]
Full StorySuch A February Face
“Why, what’s the matter, That you have such a February face, So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?” – William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing Something’s up. The pigeons are circling Abingdon Square, not so unusual for a Saturday morning. Yet there’s an extra oomph to their flight, a roiling of positions within the [...]
Full StoryWest Village Original: David Amram
This month’s West Village Original is composer, conductor, and author David Amram, born in 1930. He’s written over 100 orchestral and chamber music works, as well as Broadway musicals, operas, and scores for such films as “Splendor in the Grass” and “The Manchurian Candidate.” His latest composition, “Greenwich Village Portraits,” debuts at Le Poisson Rouge [...]
Full StoryChefs Prepare to Wow Village Neighbors
A who’s who of New York City’s culinary talent has started to sharpen their knives and flex their creative food muscles in preparation for the 12th Annual Taste of Greenwich House. On Monday, March 10, some of the city’s most innovative restaurants will join Greenwich House with its supporters, friends, and neighbors at the Metropolitan [...]
Full StoryAbu Dhabi and beyond
My love for architecture drew me to the United Arab Emirates. My last visit there was in 2004 where I stayed in Dubai for a week, being mesmerized on the vision its leaders have in developing cities for industries to thrive, locals to live, and tourism to be catered to. I knew that going back [...]
Full StoryOnce Again Gun Control
With the amount of ink that has been spilled in the matter of gun control, you would think that we might have reached some sensible conclusions. Yet once again, on this subject stupidity continues to glow like lights on a Christmas tree. The most recent rush of brain fever comes from Federal Judge William Skretny [...]
Full StoryHow Does it Feel to be on Your Own?
Llewyn Davis on MacDougal Street in 1961 The lyric of what is probably Bob Dylan’s most famous song poses the question – “How does it feel to be on your own, a complete unknown – like a rolling stone?” In this apocalyptic song, Dylan is certainly not referring to Mick Jagger or any of the [...]
Full StoryThen & Now: Little West 12th Street, West of the High Line
By Amanda Davis, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation On the other side of the High Line, just outside the Gansevoort Market Historic District, sits two old three-story rowhouses at 53 and 55 Little West 12th Street. Now home to the Brass Monkey, a popular restaurant and bar, the two little buildings sit by themselves. [...]
Full StoryTheatre Threads – David Amram and the Cornelia Street Stadium
My friend Doug Yeager, a music manager and longtime folky said, “You gotta see him to believe him.” So there I sat in the dark, a candle the only atmospheric light, waiting for a guy I’d met briefly years ago, had heard about for years, but had never seen work. He was known as a [...]
Full StoryJim Fouratt’s Reel Deal: Movies that Matter
We are writing this column from Park City, Utah in the middle of Sundance Film Festival‘s 30thanniversary. Sundance remains the single most important film festival in North America. Its dedication to independent film making has remained the core mission that Robert Redford first proclaimed 30 years ago when it was a small festival in a [...]
Full StoryCatalogue of Sublime Horror
SnackBar If you look up the recipe for slime, it usually involves a bottle of Elmer’s Glue, Borax Powder, and a few drops of food coloring for the more ambitious. The result is something between the bounciness of jelly and the elasticity of chewed gum. Gumminess, sliminess, and gooeyness are textures that give many people [...]
Full StoryRose Champagne
Rose champagne is an occasional delight and in a couple of weeks, we’ll certainly see an uptick in requests. There is a standing discussion on which are the best and the same three are always mentioned – one of Champagne’s oldest houses Ruinart, Laurent Perrier (LP) and Billecart-Salmon. Not everyone may agree, but if you [...]
Full StoryWestView Letter February 2014: Open Letter to Governor Cuomo
Open Letter to Governor Cuomo Dear Governor Cuomo, I have seen many advertisements on television describing tax relief for businesses in an attempt to attract them to New York. Will this work? Virtually every state offers businesses tax relief to attract them, and many of these states, especially those with very conservative political leaders, can [...]
Full StoryVID Monthly Meeting
On Thursday January 9th, the Village Independent Democrats (VID) held their monthly meeting in St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christopher street. The meeting started with a report from Democratic district leader Keen Berger on a variety of topics of local interest. This was followed by a forum on Secretary of State John Kerry’s negotiations for [...]
Full StorySaint Luke in the Clouds
The new development proposed for the parking lot next to the St. Luke’s School gymnasium and over the school itself has produced a decidedly negative reaction from its neighbors in the West Village. Most of this has been directed at the 15-story Toll Brothers buildingcontaining 46 apartments, entered from100 Barrow Street. However, the two-story rooftop [...]
Full StoryWestView Letter February 2014: Dear Editor,
Dear Editor, Thank You for the trip down memory lane in your paper last month. Sadly, a Guardian was appointed without my participation by Judge Kennedy. Since she also chose the attorney for me despite my objections, one could conclude that there was “something funny” going on. My daughter tells me that many people stopped [...]
Full StoryConfessions of a Lawrence Block Addict
In mid-January, our neighbor, the mystery writer Lawrence Block, hosted a launch party at the Mysterious Bookshop on Warren Street for his latest book, The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. Many die-hard fans appeared, as did I and other assorted friends and neighbors. He signed books, but I didn’t buy a copy, because I already [...]
Full StoryCuomo and de Blasio Seek Health Care for the Poor
“Cuomo has asked the Obama administration for a waiver allowing him to spend $10 billion in Medicare money to change the way health care is delivered to poor New Yorkers,” offers the Times. De Blasio suggests that some of this money could be used to save the Brooklyn hospitals, while TV news shows anxious African [...]
Full StoryHouse Calls
A very competent visiting nurse supervisor was outlining their service to Maggie after the cancerous portion of her left lung had been removed and she, the nurse, brightened as she said “And we know of a podiatrist who makes house calls to cut your toe nails.” (Older people cannot contort nor see their toe nails [...]
Full StoryWestView Letter February 2014: Dear Editor,
Dear Editor, A very large and inappropriate building is being proposed for 7th Avenue South between Charles and West Fourth. This is further proof, that developers seeking healthy financial return don’t care about the historical integrity of a neighborhood, they don’t care about the inhabitants, they don’t care about destroying and darkening an entire block, [...]
Full StoryAir Rights Transfer and the Hudson River Park: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Last November, Governor Cuomo signed the Bill to Amend the Hudson River Park Act, allowing for the potential transfer of 1.6 million square feet of air rights over the Hudson River to developers so they can build even taller residential and commercial towers overlooking the park. In a local Village paper (not this one), Paul [...]
Full StoryWestView Letter February 2014: Dear Editor,
Dear Editor, Professor Hill pointed out in his letter to OEM (Office of Emergency Management) that storm surge barriers have worked very well both here and abroad. SSBs in Stamford, New Bedford and Providence worked well against Hurricane Sandy while we were being enveloped. Not to at least let Army Corps of Engineers study SSBs [...]
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