By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Last month’s WestView News articles about NYC’s Gansevoort Market Waterfront and the 1811 Street Grid stirred several responses from readers, who sent their map copies or suggestions of archives of maps, for which we are grateful. I was asked to provide a follow-up with maps (of which there are
By Deborah Haffeman Greenwich Village has a new healthcare provider in town. NYU Langone Health has opened a multispecialty outpatient care center, located at 555 LaGuardia Place, for adult and pediatric patients. NYU Langone Medical Associates—Washington Square spans approximately 10,000 square feet, which includes 26 exam rooms and a dedicated pediatric floor. Village residents can
By George Capsis I was a bit surprised at my own shock and, yes, anger when I read in the New York Times that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced that the Turkish government would again take over the 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia—also called Church of the Holy Wisdom—and use it as a mosque. Turkish newspapers showed crowds cheering at regaining something they
Dear Readers of WestView News, I received three letters from our treasured readers regarding the poem “Code Blue.” I apologize to our community for offending and frightening some of you by publishing this poem. I am sorry to say that the poem slipped through the cracks three times, and was placed in the paper because
By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED AP Ironically, the plan for the geometric and regular Manhattan street grid was conceived within the very irregular and eccentric streets of the West Village, at 329 Bleecker Street, corner of Christopher Street, in the office of John Randal Jr., who was 20 years old when he began his
By Frank Quinn On May 14th the City Council published its report on Mayor de Blasio’s FY21 Executive Budget, announcing that “the NYPD budget has increased a minimal .07 percent.” On June 12th Council Speaker Corey Johnson joined seven other council members calling for a $1 billon cut to the NYPD budget. The eight members released
By Kambiz Shekdar We are witnessing an awakening against ancient and profound prejudices as the world issues a collective outcry of #BLACKLIVESMATTER. The call is reverberating across the LGBTQ community and is pouring out as a single voice denouncing all prejudice. George Capsis, the publisher of this paper recounts a telling story: in 1967, he joined
By Bob Cooley What started as a reaction to the murder of George Floyd, an African American man killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, quickly became the tipping point for residents, students, and activists of all ages and races who were protesting the long history of systemic inequality and police brutality against African Americans,
By Drew Davis The City Hall Occupation as of Friday, June 26, at the Brooklyn Bridge City Hall 456 subway stop. The vast majority of protestors were masked and socially distanced. Between June 23rd and 24th, City Hall Park transformed from a quiet green space into an occupation for racial justice. I headed in to
By George Capsis I read with a flick of surprise that Cory Johnson—now city council speaker and a pretty good bet as our next mayor—had joined with seven other council members in support of a bill to cut $1 billion from the police budget. A day or two later I got an email from somebody who wanted to
Barbara Thau and her father Roland Thau at Sevilla in the West Village. Photo taken by a waiter at Sevilla. By Barbara Thau I dreamed that I was on the Second Avenue bus headed downtown to meet my 86-year-old father for dinner. At least I was trying to get on the bus. It was evening. It
By Jesse Robert Lovejoy For a starting pitcher, the most dangerous inning is the first. He isn’t really warmed up, and he doesn’t know what’s working that day. If his fastball has life and his command is good, he can settle in, begin to mix in the curve, and cruise the first two times through
By Roger Paradiso I remember they used to play this con game, Three-card Monte. They played it over by the subway kiosk on Sixth Avenue and West 4th Street. You just need a cardboard box. Pull out the cards, shuffle the deck, and play Three-card Monte. Nobody ever won that game, right? I don’t know
By Chauncey Dandridge One of the things heavily lamented by members of the LGBTQ community currently, is that this will be the first time in fifty years that there will actually be no organized Pride March conjured up to light up The Big Apple in rainbow colors. Considering that last year, New York City celebrated
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. and Christian Kopfli We have heard about restaurants and their struggles in this pandemic, but few have heard about an atypical group of promising biotech companies that are private and in jeopardy. The unique biotechnologies these companies offer to help address COVID may perish as collateral damage. We are two of
On the evening of Saturday, May 30th, The Village became the stage for what appeared to be a well-orchestrated demonstration against police for the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd, ending with the skilled firebombing of several police vehicles. Covered by WestView News photographer Chris Manis, he was struck by what appeared to be a
By Drew Davis Every day we expect the news to provide a bird’s-eye view of New York City. But our city is a big place, and broad headlines often beg a simple question: what does this mean for someone like me, an individual among millions? To find out, I discussed the news and Greenwich Village
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. Our goal with any infectious disease must be to end it. In the case of HIV/AIDS, we missed game-changing opportunities and it continues to fester among us. Here, I provide the recipe to eradicate SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 for good. The early days of HIV/AIDS witnessed an unprecedented feat in science and medicine: Never
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Not long ago, Saint Vincent’s Hospital was one of the oldest and most revered hospitals in the city. Today, the need for a full-service hospital (ever since Saint Vincent’s closed in 2010 due to mismanagement and bankruptcy), is as great as ever, as demonstrated by the circumstances of the COVID–19 pandemic.
By Roger Paradiso Easter in the Village During a Pandemic: Part Two I came to the Village this past Easter Sunday, April 12th, to witness the devastating effects of the COVID-19 virus. I will leave it to the historians and media hosts to decide the true story of this virus and how it has put
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. Perhaps no one could have imagined that a new cousin of the same virus that causes the common cold could emerge to cause a global pandemic, but that is our reality today. Here, I provide a basic-level scenic tour of the science behind SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and its
By Roger and Anthony Paradiso “The closest thing it’s analogous to is when you know the order’s been signed for war and you’re waiting for the next shoe to drop. Is it a draft? Is it a bombing on the homeland? We’ve been isolated from so many things just by oceans and borders that
VIRUS DEATHS DEMANDS RESTORATION OF VILLAGE HOSPITAL. The number of West Village virus deaths has caused WestView publisher, George Capsis, to demand the restoration of a Village hospital to be paid for from the two trillion dollars the Federal government has committed to restore financial normalcy. Appropriately the new hospital will face St. Vincent
By Michael Dowling With the rapid increase in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York over the past month, Northwell Health remains focused on responding to the needs of the communities we serve. Additionally, we continue to believe “information is healthy, fear is not,” and we can all play a role in preventing further spread
“We have a common enemy and we will defeat it” Alex Hellinger, Executive Director, Lenox Health Greenwich Village (A division of Northwell Health) By Deborah Rizzi with Alex Hellinger According to Alex Hellinger, the battle is being fought by health care professionals—with support and TLC provided by local businesses, schools and Greenwich Village residents. “The Novel
By George Capsis “Dear George, Unfortunately, given the coronavirus concerns, tonight’s dress rehearsal has been cancelled. Please confirm that you’ve received this! We’re so sorry to deliver such bad news and will be in touch as we learn more about the re-opening of the show. Thank you! Alyssa” This came just hours before Friday the 13th, when
By Martica Sawin To step out of the elevator onto the fifth floor of the Whitney Museum into the newly installed exhibition Vida Americana Mexican Muralists Remake American Art is equivalent to walking into a time warp. One is back in Greenwich Village of ninety years ago when José Clemente Orozco was painting frescoes on
By Stanley Wlodyka Pablo was already an orphan when he decided to make his journey to the United States. His mother had died when he was seven and his father sometime before that, but he still had his brothers. It wasn’t until he crossed the border that he lost them too. He generously shared his
By Keith Michael Since March seems to be the new May this year with a want of even mildly wintry weather, an unzipped windbreaker is a sufficient alternative to my usual coat, down vest, hat, and scarf. Though by the time that you are reading this I hope that the West Village is cozily buried
By Catherine Revland Part 4 of “You Must Remember This,” a series commemorating the history of the West Village during World War II Some conspiracy theories die hard, especially the ones about catastrophic events that change the course of history. For example, take the rumor that President Roosevelt had advance knowledge of the attack on Pearl
By George Capsis Erik Bottcher, currently the chief of staff to City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (member for the 3rd district—which encompasses Greenwich Village and Soho), just announced that he is running to replace Corey, who will, hopefully, move on to become our next mayor. Wow. I asked Erik, “Why announce so soon?” since the
Penn South: An Experiment in Affordable Living By Bennett Kremen with Roger Paradiso Thirty years ago, my wife put us on a long waiting list and paid a $200 fee for a chance to buy a $25,000 two-bedroom co-op apartment in Penn South, located in Chelsea in New York City. “Two hundred dollars!” I grumbled.
By George Capsis In the more than five years that WestView News fought to save St. Vincent’s Hospital, one voice emerged as the spokesperson for the doctors, nurses, and hundreds of staffers that had spent years of their careers in the that massive collection of buildings that traced its history back to a small Catholic orphanage
By Hannah Reimann Lifethyme Health Market 410 Sixth Ave between 8th and 9th Streets Deepak Chopra says, “the highest expression of the law of Dharma is expressing your gifts and service to others.” When I asked Jason Bander, who opened Lifethyme Health Market with his dad, Stuart Bander, to describe his long-time workers and what
By John Kaliabakos Hundreds of community pharmacists and patient advocates from across New York protested at Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address in Albany. The protest was in response to Cuomo’s recent veto of legislation that would have kept rising prescription drug prices in check, protected doctors’ freedom to prescribe medications that are best for
By Bruce Poli My mentor and advisor at Bard College, Justus Rosenberg, a Polish Jew who speaks a dozen languages, turned 99 on January 23rd. He studied at the Sorbonne, taught Brecht in China, and socialism, revolution, theater, French poetry, languages, and general cultural classes including one of his favorites, “Ten Plays That Shook the
By George Capsis A month or two before Jonas Mekas died, he and his son Sebastian came to my kitchen table at 69 Charles Street to talk about raising money to fix up the Film Forum on Second Avenue and East 2nd Street. Jonas pulled from his briefcase a transcript of our first meeting 60 years
By Richard Gage, AIA, Architect When obtaining licensure, architects and engineers commit themselves to upholding their respective profession’s code of ethics. More than 3,000 architects and engineers are meeting this ethical obligation regarding 9/11. They are questioning the official reports of the collapse of World Trade Center Buildings 1, 2 and 7. These reports, published
