Erik Botcher, the Chief of Staff for City Council Speaker, Corey Johnson, called George Capsis, the publisher of WestView News, to say the City had awarded the paper an unprecedented grant of $5000 to support its enormously popular Free Concerts for Seniors program. “You ought to let people know the City supports you,” offered a
-
-
News Staff Truncated
By George Capsis Oh, wow. The Daily News sacked half of their reporters in just ten minutes— bang, just like that. Sure, the villain is digital media. While I’m watching the CBS six o’clock news, Dusty is watching the alternate media on her iphone. The Times is almost bereft of ads. They do full page
-
Battle on Barrow Street—A Victory for Organized Villagers
By Jane Heil Usyk Well! It has been quite a week; several meetings, two demonstrations, petition signing, and who knows what next week. Here is how it played out: on Monday, July 9th, I went to the senior center, Greenwich House, at 27 Barrow Street to see “The Big Knife,” one of the many excellent
-
If You Can’t Fix It, Lie – NYCHA gives a course in lying and even has a textbook
By George Capsis I clicked on the TV to find Mayor de Blasio, in front of a gaggle of terribly young City Council members, competently running down the council’s achievements as the session apparently came to an end. With only the slightest change in tone he slid into what was happening to the New York
-
Maison Kayser Closes
They are picking them off higher on the vine by George Capsis Oh, wow. I got a call from Peruvian born, Nelly Godfrey, who lost her restaurant on the corner of Christopher and Bedford in a years’ long struggle with our very own king of evil landlords, Steve Croman. By the way, Croman has just
-
If You Can’t Fix It, Lie
NYCHA gives a course in lying and even has a textbook By George Capsis I clicked on the TV to find Mayor de Blasio, in front of a gaggle of terribly young City Council members, competently running down the council’s achievements as the session apparently came to an end. With only the slightest change in
-
14th Street Fight Moves Forward
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Elevators coming to 14th Street and 6th Avenue On June 18, the 14th Street Coalition and Disabled in Action announced a big win in their joint lawsuit versus the MTA, NYC Transit, and the NYC Department of Transportation: Within the next four years, four elevators will be installed on the corners
-
Larcenous Landlords Use the Law to Oust Tenants
By George Capsis Oh wow. On March 22nd the Times did a massive article (like 4 pages) on the emerging breed of amoral landlords that use rent regulations and an indifferent overworked bureaucracy to oust rent regulated tenants. Most tenants get hooked by failing to pay their rent but a new breed of heartless, larcenous
-
New Models for Senior Share Living in the Village
By The Compassionate Caregiver What if we all could have the opportunity to live the last years of our lives in peace, comfort and tranquility, and to die surrounded by loved ones in a safe and familiar place? Soon there will be more seniors on the planet than there ever have ever been in history.
-
Sounds of the Great Religions
By George Capsis The dramatic, almost theatrical interior space of St. Veronica invites imaginative uses and we came up with The Sounds of the Great Religions, a survey of great musical moments from the world’s great religions. Having been exposed to the Greek Orthodox church (my father was Greek, my mother a Lutheran German), I
-
Two Takes on Cynthia
Vanity, Thy Name is Nixon By Alec Pruchnicki “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Cynthia Nixon has as much experience in government as President Trump did when he entered the White House. She has less experience in setting educational policy than Betsy DeVos did when she became Secretary of Education. Success, even
-
A Quick and Current History of Your Christopher Park
By Scotty Elyanow Christopher Park, the triangular park located at the intersection of West 4th, Grove, and Christopher Streets with Seventh Avenue to the West and Waverly Place to the East was created back on April 5th, 1837 due to demand for an open space from the local residents after overcrowding and a major fire
-
Ready to Write Checks to Save Pier 40
By George Capsis Oh wow, a Crain’s New York article from April 24th quotes Hudson River Park Trust engineer, Steven Perker on just how they are going to encase the 3,600 corroded steel piles now shakily holding up the 15 acres of Pier 40 (the largest pier in the Hudson) to allow it to provide
-
5Pointz Decision, Part 2: The Tuesday Morning Massacre
By Catherine Revland On March 14th, the lecture room at the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park South was packed with artists, attorneys, curators, art dealers, critics, and historians to hear a discussion about the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).The speakers were Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block (who spoke to the broader subject of
-
Lawsuit Filed to Stop L Train Shutdown
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Ever since discussion of the L Train Shutdown, scheduled for April 2019, began, people affected have felt run over by the Government, be it the MTA, which is in charge of the subway part, or the NYC Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the street configurations above-ground. We in
-
How Cynthia Can Become Governor
By George Capsis “There is a beautiful young lady out here who wants to see you— do you want to talk to a beautiful young lady?” called my wife Andromache (Maggie) from the hallway on her way to put out the garbage. I shouted back that I was always interested in talking to a beautiful
-
From TAKI 123 to High Art: The 5Pointz Decision (Part 1)
By Catherine Revland Last month, when the art world learned that Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block had awarded maximum damages totaling $6.7 million to 21 aerosol artists whose work had been destroyed by a developer, the response was laudatory: “This will change perceptions of an art form for generations to come;” “A milestone for
-
Ramsey Clark at 90: America’s Most Liberal Attorney General and Veteran West Villager (Part 1)
“The greatest crime since World War II has been U.S. foreign policy.”—Ramsey Clark By Bruce Poli Ask me why I live in the West Village, and I might say, “Because people like Ramsey Clark live here.” Considered one of America’s most liberal Attorney Generals, Ramsey Clark, who served in the Department of Justice during the
-
Dr. Davis, We Need Frankness Not PR
By George Capsis I had an “Oh, wow!” moment when I read in the February 5th Villager article that Mount Sinai is “…‘leaning toward’ building an extra four floors atop its [newly proposed] mini-hospital…” This building would wrap around the shabby gray New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai at 14th Street and
-
Preparing for Parish Closures and Mergers in New York City
What is remarkable about the following article, written by Jamie L. Manson in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), “Preparing for Parish Closures and Mergers in New York City,” is the publication date—January 29, 2014—because the article could have been written this morning. Manson’s article is about the closing of Catholic churches in New York and
-
Music I Grew Up With… and Starting A-Fresh:
A Primer for the February Concert at St. Veronica By Michael Feldman When I was a young lad, just getting my feet wet in the enormous repertoire of classical music, I recall my first expedition to the Sam Goody record shop. (Was it on 49th Street?) To this day, I remember the recordings I picked
-
God at the Drafting Board
By George Capsis If God sat down at the drafting board to design a perfect solution for seniors now living alone in a five-story walk-up, with an ancient dog that has to go four times a day, what would He come up with? He would have a nice, fresh-faced youngster offer a strong arm to
-
Welcome to 2018
By Arthur Z. Schwartz 2017 was a horrific year. Trump took office on January 20th, and within 11 days, I had a heart attack! (This is true, but I am joking about the correlation.) He took office on that date and made sure the world would never be the same again. I don’t like writing
-
We Need Our Own Andrew Carnegie
By George Capsis On December 23rd, WestView gave another concert, our second at St. Veronica. Despite the rain, you came and again in great numbers and filled all the seats in the main sanctuary. Some had to again climb into the balcony—a full house! There is no doubt now that superb classical music played by
-
What Do You Want Corey to Do?
By George Capsis What does it mean for the readers of WestView that 35-year-old Corey Johnson will, on January 4th, become the Speaker of the New York City Council, letting slide through his guiding fingers a City budget of $86 billion? He will be the second-most powerful man in City government. What do we really need
-
Only 15 Minutes of Your Time
By Catherine Revland His name is fairly common, so I’ll just call him Gene P. He was on the list of go-see’s from the booker at my first modeling agency. I was in my twenties then, a fledgling model/actress from the Midwest, new to the Big City and incredibly naive. The booker, an aging Twiggy
-
John Capsis, Greek Journalist and Politician, Dies
By Pantelis Kapsis John Capsis, who passed away on Monday, November 13th, was a notable journalist and politician. He was born in 1929, into a family of journalists. During the 1967 military junta in Greece, Capsis was sent to prison for his “controversial” ideas and writings. After the fall of the junta, he became the
-
An Act of Faith
By George Capsis “Nobody will come. Nobody.” I could visualize this scattering of puzzled attendees in the vast pews of St. Veronica’s which can seat as many as 750. “It will be a disaster,” I thought, “A disaster.” When I arrived, the first notes of that disaster sounded. Our ad for the concert listed ‘7:00
-
A Little More of St. Vincent’s Returns: Northwell opens new ambulatory surgery center.
By George Capsis I first heard the Limerick accent of Michael J. Dowling four years ago as he stood on the stage of P.S. 41 where my wife and I had sent our three kids, and where I had been the President of the PTA. Dowling was trying to reassure a packed auditorium that the
-
Music at St. Veronica’s Receives Praise and Funding
By George Capsis “It is a magnificent idea,” offered one West Villager with a check for $100 for the first concert of Music at St. Veronica’s on Saturday, November 25th at 7:00 p.m. “Dear folks: You are wonderful and brilliant and WE LOVE YOU!” was followed by a check for $50. Another letter stated, “As
-
Barry Diller Asks Me to Print His Words
By George Capsis Below, I have included my (slightly revised) email exchanges with Valerie Combs—the Senior Vice President and Head of Communications at IAC—between October 25th and 27th. These emails conveyed my attempts to meet Barry Diller in person. Hi George, I run communications for IAC, and wanted to get this to you on
-
Diller Island is Dead
By George Capsis At 7:00 a.m. on September 22nd, I came out of the shower to a ringing phone and stood, still dripping, as Westview contributor Barbara Chacour announced with exhilaration, “Diller Island is Dead.” These were the very words printed on the front page of the New York Times article by Charles V. Bagli
-
Rally Demands—No Beth Israel Shutdown
By Arthur Z. Schwartz The fight to keep Beth Israel open took a major step forward on September 24th. Over 100 neighbors gathered outside the hospital to demand that it cease shutting down, that services be restored, and that nothing more be done without a thorough government review of the potential consequences of a shut
-
Your Own Concert Hall
By George Capsis You, and only you, reading these words, can have and give to others a 120-year-old marble-clad Gothic hall in which to hear the great music of the past and allow others to hear it for the next century or more… You can do that by attending the first concert at the Church
-
Lawsuit Filed – Stop Beth Israel Closure!
By Arthur Z. Schwartz On August 30, 2017, as promised, a lawsuit was filed to block the further closure of Beth Israel Hospital, and to restore the services already cut. The lawsuit, titled George Capsis et al v. Howard Zucker as Commissioner of the N.Y. State Department of Health, addresses the ruse pursuant to which
-
Will We Get St. Veronica’s?
By George Capsis As I waited for a ham sandwich at an outside table at Eric’s Restaurant on Hudson Street, I became aware of a gray-haired (and as I confirmed later) Irish-American lady walking towards me, trying to figure out if I was indeed the ‘George of WestView’. “Are you George?” she asked, followed by,
-
The Happy Marriage of Pier 40 and Pier 55
Michael Sorkin is My Doppelganger If I could have convinced myself to do the math, I might have become an architect and, if I had, I would now be Michael Sorkin. I mean, he does exactly what I find myself doing—telling NYU how to better expand its campus and badgering Barry Diller to make his
-
We Get a Concert Hall
By George Capsis Oh wow! In the 15 years I have been producing WestView, we have never received such heartfelt support for an idea we proposed as we have for converting the now locked St. Veronica’s Church into a concert hall for classical music—including a plea from a locked-out parishioner. We sent an elaborate proposal
