This article marks three years of writing for WestView. Thank you, George. 2013 was a good year for birding in the West Village, and, indeed, was a memorable birding year in general. Millie looks up at me from the sidewalk (which as a corgi she has no choice because she’s so short) as though she

“Where shall we walk today?” was my daily question to Maggie who, after lung surgery, couldn’t walk more than a block or two, and one of our frequent targets was the Rite Aid on Hudson and Charles Streets. When we made it to the door, I would grab a shopping cart as a walker (no

Bill de Blasio’s stance on charter schools may feel like a bitter pill to swallow for charter advocates,after Bloomberg championed charters for the last 12 yearsas a key remedy for fixing an ailing school system. In de Blasio’s view, however, charter schools are only a small ingredient inhis formula of education policiesthatportend a major shift

When I was the10-year-old child of itinerant bohemian parents in the West Village, being Jewish to me was Kathe Kollewitz lithographs of thin women and hungry babies in your living room; Pete Seeger records on your hi-fi: If I had a Hammer, This Land is Your Land, There Once Was a Union Maid (who never

One of the best ways for a newspaper to make money is to give a conference. Everybody from the Times on down does it. However, perhaps one of the most profitable are those given by Crain’s Health Pulse, a publication aimed at the business of medicine. I attended one in Brooklyn and it was packed;

Who would have predicted the results of September’s primary election in the doldrums of last summer, when a shape-shifting of Bloomberg into Quinn was all but inevitable?The outcome would have been a double shock if we had known about it then. Not only was it a win for Bill deBlasio but a transcendent moment in

COMING SOON? The rumor is true; Mrs. Green’s Natural Market, the Westchester chain specializing in natural foods, plans to open a branch, their first in New York city, in the space at 99 Bank, on the corner of Hudson; it was vacated two months ago by Duane Reade. Company headquarters has confirmed that a lease

“George, hey George, Bill de Blasio here. I just wanted to offer my condolences. I heard the very sad news and just feel bad for you and want to let you to know I am thinking of you and admire you and admire your spirit and just hope you are hanging in and if I

If you go to Abingdon Square Green Market on Saturdays, you’ve probably visited the Muddy Farm booth on the east side of the square. The produce at Muddy Farm is stunning, plainly organic, and consciously locavore. You may already know that you usually have to arriveearly before the eggs sell out—and no wonder—they’re the most

CORRECTION:   In the WVN October issue, the front page article “When To Ask a Politician For a Favor” included a photo caption incorrectly stating that the West Village needed 1,000 new elementary schools seats, when, as reported by WVN Education Editor Sara Hendrickson in her October article (also on the front page), the projected shortage is for 1,000 elementary school

At last you can read my version of the “slapping.” I was on every news channel and in all the papers (even the Greek ones) and made all the news blogs; even today, a week later, WNYC is still talking about it – “The campaign week started with a slap.” However, the slap really started

Greenwich House Music School Welcomes its New Director Meet Rachel Black, Greenwich House’s newly appointed Music School Director,a native of Mississippi and a classically trained actor and MFA graduate of the American Conservatory Theater. Before taking the helm of Greenwich House’s 108 year old Music School in June, Ms. Black was the General Manager of

When principals and teachers usher in their students on the first day of school September 9th, parent coordinators will be a magnet for parents, that go-to person who can answer almost any question, get almost anything done, and listen with almost unlimited patience. Along with serving as the connective tissue between parents and schools comes

How often does an urban city have the opportunity to build a city within a city? If it’s lucky, once. New York City has achieved this twice, with the development of the Hudson Yards. We may all remember the first time involving the luscious 96 acres of Battery Park City, which started with a landfill

“Life’s a banquet,” famously roared Auntie Mame, a West Village avatar by way of the woman who inspired her, the man who created her. Paraphrasing the words that followed, there were no poor suckers starving to death at the recent record-breaking 2013 Summer Fancy Food Show (SFFS) at Javits. The Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) massive

An enlightening mayoral forum on education was held on June 14th at Murry Bergtraum High School near City Hall, co-sponsored by Class Size Matters, NYC Kids PAC, and other parent organizations. Six candidates participated, including Democratic front-runners Bill de Blasio, John Liu, and Bill Thompson. Notably absent were Christine Quinn and Anthony Weiner, and none

For the better part of the 20th century, the block bordered by West, Washington, Bank, and Bethune Streets was the site of Bell Telephone Laboratories, the world’s largest and most profitable privately owned company, ever. Much of its success can be attributed to the policy of Bell’s research department to hire brilliant scientists and engineers,

As a developer, Steve Witkoff spoke before the Charles Street Association guests in the elegant 150 Charles showroom. He smilingly confessed that he was indeed a “Villager,” living here after law school, frequenting the Bagel Shop on West 4th Street and now will be returning as a tenant to what may be the most elegant

“You’ll never get a hospital,” declared Michael J. Dowling in his Limerick accent,receiving a roar of rage from a packed West Village audience at PS 41. This was after North Shore LIJ and Rudin were successful in the bankruptcy court over the 11 buildings of St. Vincent’s for a mere $230 million in April, 2011.

During the opening night curtain call for Culture Project’s current production ofShaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto, Allan Buchman, Founder & Artistic Director of The Culture Project, announced that their main stage theater, currently known as 45 Bleecker Street, would be renamed the Lynn Redgrave Theatre. A naming ceremony and commemorative gala will

Only months after protracted zoning battles had finally set boundaries for the new Foundling School (PS 340) at Sixth Avenue and 17th Street, the school finds itself yet again in a cross-fire. The Foundling School,so named since it will be located on the first six floors of the Foundling Hospital once construction is completed, is

Death of a son prompts $1 million grant for new hospital It was as if somebody were out there making things happen. I received a call on a Sunday from Steve Witkoff whom I had met briefly, maybe four years ago. He quickly began to tell me of the drug overdose death of his son.

Dear Editor, The photo accompanying this article says it all! What mastermind in the City administration arranged to have so many bike racks placed in the street in front of the entrance to 175 West 13th Street, a busy apartment building? These racks block the ingress and egress to the building and thus, apparently violate

By Henry Stern The frustrated plot to seize political power is a staple of both history and fiction. From Guy Fawkes’s gun powder plot in London in 1605 through the party switches and seizure of power in the New York State Senate in 2009, politicians have sought to improve the outcomes of elections through various

“There is a beautiful young lady that would like to meet you,” Andromache called from the hall and in walked Sarah Jessica Parker; I found myself giving her a hug. She had met Bill de Blasio that morning and offered, that if he wanted to become mayor, he needed to get WestView behind him. I

“In strategic sessions, Ms. Quinn can speak colorfully of other law makers, often saying, ‘I’m going to cut his balls off.’” This Christine Quinn quote appeared in the New York Times on March 26 and documented her flat-out bullying and even vindictive rage directed at controlling City Council members. In one instance cited by the

I have compiled the start of a list of places which is below, alongside photographs of local restaurants. This is not an easy thing to do based on all the great places to eat in our neighborhood. I included restaurants I have reviewed and was happy to receive several responses from our readership with recommendations

“Just imagine…” This was the slogan created over five years ago when a group of determined community activists launched a highly successful campaign for the 75 Morton Street School. The ideal building has finally been secured, so now parents and community members can design their dream school, with good odds that it will come to

Daily News reporter Denis Hamill interviewed an ambulance driver from the closing Long Island College Hospital who had responded to call from a heart attack victim with only minutes to live. “I administered aspirin and nitro and forwarded his EKG by computer to the surgeons who read it and prepared the operating room to open

As someone who is often asked where should we eat and as a community service, to help highlight what where to spend money on good food, we are putting together a list of where to eat in the West Village. These are not meant to be the most expensive places but the best in terms

As candidate for mayor, John Catsimatidis pledges to restore an emergency room to the West Village Like me, John Catsimatidis, who owns Gristedes and is a Republican contender for mayor, was, and perhaps still is, a middle class Greek American kid who grew up on 135th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. We did not

Whenever my French friends visit New York, they ask me whether to go to the Empire State Building or Times Square first. It takes some explaining to convince them to skip both and to instead head to my home neighborhood, here in the West Village. “Don’t you just go there to buy shoes?” they ask.

Dear Editor, I too stayed in the Henry IV hotel in Paris – up two flights to the lobby, and then three more to our room (or so it seemed). The door to the room didn’t close properly, the sink had a drip, there was only a broken down ¾ bed. The toilet was indeed

Billionaire Developer Resigns To Pursue Alternate Pier 40 Plan Douglas Durst is no stranger to controversy or success. His family (Douglas is the third generation to run his real estate development business) fought the redevelopment of Times Square, but eventually built its signature building, the Conde Nast Building at 4 Times Square, the most environmentally

Historian Catherine Revland asks if some ancient migration was West to East In his book, Songlines, Bruce Chatwin visited remote groups of Australian aborigines that each sang a song with the same melody but a different verse, one that described the natural features of their home territory. When all the verses were put together side

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn just exhibited another example of her blatant misuse of power in furtherance of her own ambitions. Quinn’s Tammany Hall-style of governing has threatened our democratic electoral process for 2013. That should worry all New Yorkers as they now begin to focus on who may become the city’s new