Buying coffee at McNulty’s, I was surprised to see a handwritten sign reading “Colombian coffee $90/lb.” I asked if anyone was buying it and was told, “Yes, it works out to about $3.00 per cup.” The coffee plants come to Colombia from Ethiopia. —Barbara Chacour
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Automat
Dear Editors: Being Boston-born and DC-domiciled, I must admit surprise at being reminded of an early childhood memory by a New York community newspaper! While I was too young to remember the heyday of the Automat (I was born in 1965), they still existed during one of my earliest childhood (toddler?) memories. In perhaps 1968
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Music of the Youth
Dear George, The February WestView article on “Johannes Brahms: The Working Musician” compelled me to forward my enclosed graphical commentary on the current, sad state of classical music, especially for the young audience. Incidentally, Styra Avin’s daughter, Allison Eisenger, was taught piano by my wife, Judy. As an aside: Paul Hindemith, a prolific 20th century
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Co-Dependent Nation
Dear Editors: The United States, and increasingly, the world, is being kept in thrall by the new president, Donald J. Trump. His lack of experience, combined with narcissistic demands, keep everyone on edge, trying to second-guess what he will say and do with uncalculated and, perhaps, irreversible consequences. He claimed that he’d follow campaign promises
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PeopleWay
This letter forms part of a dialogue involving the future of 14th Street in relation to the L Train shutdown planned for at least 18 months, beginning in 2019. Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit advocate for multi-modal transportation, has proposed that 14th Street be turned into a “PeopleWay.” This design would exclude private cars, carve exclusive
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WestView Online Access
Dear Editors: I just read the letter in February’s WestView News about print editions unfortunately ending up in the trash. I’d love to be signed up for the online edition. Thanks to you and your staff for all your work. —Drew Atkin Dear Drew, You may access the online version of WestView News by visiting
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Arthur’s Heart
This email exchange took place between community organizer Gil Horowitz and attorney/activist Arthur Z. Schwartz on February 9, 2017. Hi Arthur, In these dark days of challenge to American democracy, we need EXPERIENCED LEADERSHIP to move the PROGRESSIVE ACTION AGENDA WITHIN OUR PARTY and at the COMMUNITY LEVEL. We need A NEW HOSPITAL. I am
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PeopleWay Only Moves the Problem
Dear Editors: I read an article by Paul Steely White in the January 2017 issue of WestView about 14th Street, which promoted closing the street to private vehicles to form a “PeopleWay.” While I certainly appreciate Mr. White’s opinion, I respectfully disagree. While making 14th Street a “PeopleWay” might be pleasant, and help some displaced
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St. Vincent’s Closing
This letter is part of an ongoing conversation around the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital. The initial letter to the editor on this topic, from Dr. Alec Pruchnicki, appeared in the December 2016 issue of WestView in response to a November 2016 letter by Gary Tomei.
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Birds of a Feather…
Dear George, Liza, Andreea, and Darielle: I just picked up a (slightly damp) copy of WestView, and opened it to find—SHAZAM!—a gorgeous two-page layout of my Bird of the Year article!! Thank you so much for such an honored place in WestView. Thanks for the photo selection, evocative cropping, and beautiful arrangement. I am amazed.
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WestView in the Trash
Dear Editors: I enjoy reading your newspaper and appreciate the up-to-date neighborhood news. However, I noticed that it had not been around the neighborhood for a while. I found it just yesterday—in the trash. Then I found more in the trash! Whomever you charted to deliver this issue apparently ditched them all in the corner
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Siren-Free Zone
Dear Editors: I’d be glad to vote in favor of a hospital at Pier 40. However, I want to voice my concern about the potential for a constant stream of ambulance sirens on the West Side Highway (WSH). I anticipate that this will disrupt the otherwise peaceful West Village neighborhood we now enjoy at least
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We Need Affordable Supermarkets
Dear Editors: I’m in a state of shock! Last week, my husband and I decided to check out D’Agostino now that it has been “rescued” by John Catsimatidis, owner of Gristedes. It’s much closer than Western Beef and it would be more convenient for everyone in our neighborhood area to shop there. However, the prices
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Letter from Dr. Alec Pruchnicki, MD
This letter is part of an ongoing conversation around the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and the closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital. It is written in response to a letter submitted by Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the GVSHP, which also appears in this issue. The initial letter to the editor on this
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Take Another Look at Contributing Factors to St. Vincent’s Demise
Dear Editors: Like Dr. Pruchnicki, we lament the loss of St. Vincent’s Hospital and question what it says about our City that the hospital was almost entirely replaced by luxury condos. But the implication of the headline placed upon the December 2016 letter, which may or may not reflect the sentiment of the author—that preservationists
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Subscribing to WestView
Your newspaper is great! How can I subscribe? I’m not able to regularly get to a place that has free copies. —David Corkery Dear David, You have two options for subscribing to WestView News: (1) visiting our website (westviewnews.org) and clicking the “Subscribe now” button on the right-hand side, or (2) sending a check for
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Trump and the West Village
Dear Editors: I have a question for you: Will Trump’s Presidency make a difference in the West Village? That’s the question that has been on my mind for the past few days. Last month, I was elected President of the Village Independent Democrats (VID), a forerunner in the reform movement of New York. As President,
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Response to “The Trump Win and Our Lives”
Dear Editors: I absolutely agree with Arthur Schwartz in his article headlined “The Trump Win and Our Lives” that New York’s Democratic Party needs reform. But I think Schwartz neglects a couple of important points: First, Hillary Clinton didn’t lose. She won by more than 2.8 million votes. This is the fifth time in the
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Trump, Democrats, and the White Working Class
I am very disturbed by Arthur Schwartz’s demonization of Hillary Clinton because we “lost” the election for the alleged sin of failing to reach out to the “white working class” of Middle America. Let me remind him that WE WON THE POPULAR VOTE by almost three million votes. Also, how do we explain the losses
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Trump: A Survival Guide
I am sending this to as many friends, family, etc. that I can think of and ask that you pass it along to as many people as possible. It has been a sad and, quite honestly, terrifying few weeks. My initial reaction was to stop reading the news, give up the Times, and stick my
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Preservationists Should Be Ashamed, Not Proud, of Contributing to St. Vincent’s Demise
Dear Editors: Gary Tomei and the members of the Preserve the Village Historic District (PVHD) are proud that they limited the size of the condos on the St. Vincent’s site, helped establish the park across the street, and helped save the O’Toole Building. But you know what they didn’t preserve? A 160-year-old tertiary care hospital.
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The Black Derby
Dear George: I read your review of The Black Derby and thought I might take my wife there for a night out. However, upon checking the website, I discovered that the $12 hamburger is now $14! Did they raise the price thanks to your review or did you just err? If the former, you ought
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Three Lives is Here to Stay
Dear Three Lives & Company Customers: We have wonderful news to share with you: We are here to stay! As most of you know, our building was recently sold and, after a tenuous month-to-month situation, we have now completed negotiations on a new lease with the new owners. I have put signature to paper. We
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When They Closed My Hospital, My Physician Left: Lamenting Beth Israel and Local Healthcare of Yore
The recent article in WestView News about the closing of Beth Israel really needed the entire paper, cover-to-cover, to uncover what’s really happening. I’m a CABG patient. Anyone who doesn’t know what that is can be thankful. It’s an acronym for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting—a type of surgery done when arteries in your heart are
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ER Care and Urgent Care—Mutually Exclusive?
Many thanks for your article “Are You Having A Heart Attack?” in your October 2016 issue. How come hospitals are not providing BOTH ER care AND Urgent Care? Hospitals are losing revenues and are NOT providing appropriate care. If both ER and Urgent Care were in the same location, it would be a win-win for
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Ristorante Rafele
Hi Mr. Capsis, Hope you are having a lovely holiday weekend. As I am reading the review by Ms. Caroline Benveniste of Ristorante Rafele, I would like to point out a few things that are untrue: 1. 900 Degrees, the pizza restaurant that folded prior to the opening of Ristorante Rafele, was not a “dump”
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NO CLASS: St. Luke’s School Suspends the “Do unto others” policy for 1%
I’m amazed at the new low to which St. Luke’s School has sunk tonight, Saturday, September 17th. As if the church couldn’t do anything more distasteful than sacrificing its own historic buildings and the landmark neighborhood to tacky glass luxury condos, tonight the St. Luke’s School is renting out its playground to an obnoxious crowd
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A Growing Healthcare Hub
While walking down 7th Avenue, your readers may wonder, “What exactly is that gleaming, white, ship-shaped building towering over the street?” You may notice the emergency signs and think perhaps it is yet another new urgent care center. Let me be perfectly clear: Lenox Health Greenwich Village is no urgent care center, despite how it
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Loving WestView
Dear Mr. Capsis, I hope you’re doing wonderfully on this beautiful summer day! I’ve meant to write you this for a long time but reading the August issue of the WestView News made it an urgent matter for me. I was also under the assumption that you’d get laundry baskets full of fan mail and
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Turkish Commentary
Dear Mr. Capsis I read your article “Going Home to Turkey” with growing dismay. Beginning with your reference to Turks’ origins as “marauding” tribes whose (now paraphrasing) “only civilization could be carried in their saddlebags,” to progressively offensive comments that sound like they came from Donald Trump’s tweets, I feel compelled to write my first
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More Lost Supermarkets
Our article in the August issue reported on the loss of 15 supermarkets in the West Village over the last forty years or so. Here are a few more reported by our astute readers… When I moved to the Village in 1992, there was a supermarket on the north side of 14th Street between 8th
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We Get Letters…
“Oh wow George, we have had 13 Letters to the Editor; that’s way more than we have ever had. Maybe you want to write a few words about it,”…so spoke Christy Ross, our very kind Editor just starting her new job as a High School English teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. And, yes, 13 letters in
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Dr. Kaufman—A Man I Truly Admire
I just read the well written and thoroughly researched article by Dr. David Kaufman in the July issue. He expertly articulated how the loss of St. Vincent’s Hospital has affected the entire lower section of Manhattan on the west side and pointed out the fault of the city in allowing it to happen. I’m writing
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Kudzu Vines for Mulry Square
Thank you so much for the articles in your paper about the structure at the corner of Greenwich Avenue and 7th Avenue. You wonder how a designer can sit down with a blank sheet of paper (computer screen?), and this is the best they could come up with. One solution that comes to mind is
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Mulry Square Travesty
I applaud the new commitment of WestView News and George Capsis to tackle the travesty that is the MTA Mulry Square Ventilation Plant. My bedroom window fronts on this site so I have suffered through every stage of its construction for over three years, beginning in 2013. The preposterous claim by the MTA that the
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Bishop’s Crook Lamps
I read in The Times yesterday that the City is replacing 250,000 street lamps with LED lights. I hope they are referring to bulbs and not the street lamps themselves. It looked as if in some places they had already installed the modern serpentine lamps which we replaced with the Bishop’s Crook lamps. As you
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Monstrous Carbuncle
Thank you for your efforts to hold someone accountable for the contemptible new MTA structure. What a tragic scar to a street that is finally coming into its own. I jokingly told my husband that the design must have been from an MTA staffer. What a shock to read your paper and find out that
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Defining Transgender
I’m an avid reader of WestView News. I have learned and absorbed a lot from the perspective of the contributing writers over the years. And as a baby resident of the West Village—since 2003 living at WVH, which presents its own unique set of challenges that threaten renters and residents here especially right now—I appreciate
