By Karen Rempel My love affair with New York began in Washington Square Park. I parachuted into the Washington Square Hotel on my first trip to New York in 2014, drawn by the fact that the Rolling Stones and both of the Dylans had stayed there. Within minutes of ditching my bags, I was walking
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Catch and Release
By Karen Rempel My publisher George thinks his dating stories are better than mine. “Men can roam more freely than women. I’ve been all over the world.” He told me he dated a French woman (in France), the heiress of a famous line of Armagnac. She lived in a castle, and sadly rejected his offer
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February News and Events from Project NYC and the West 13th Street Alliance
By Chandra/Jo Sgammato Project NYC and the West 13th Street Alliance continue our work as we come into 2021 and the new opportunities offered by the COVID-19 vaccines and the new administration in Washington. Our Virtual Community Events will continue. But as soon as it is safe, we will all be together again in person,
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The Day the Village Stood Still: The Invasions and the Inauguration
By Roger Paradiso I have gone many decades without experiencing an invasion. To deal with two of them in one year is too much to bear. First the COVID-19 invasion, and then the invasion of the U.S. Capital Building. Thank God we have a new president; the inauguration will lead us to better days and
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Some Goose
By Keith Michael Millie is still sleeping off the exertion from her star appearance presenting the Bird of the Year Awards 2020, so I’ll have to give her a pass for this month’s article. I must say that she looks content, curled in her corner by the door with corgi-shaped fur-bunnies snuggled around her. If
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IN AND OUT
This month we observed a new phenomenon—some restaurants have decided to hibernate for the winter. It makes sense, since with the combination of temperatures plummeting and indoor dining banned, it’s not clear how much business there will be in the near future. There is no guarantee that those that are hibernating will actually re-open, but
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo As I write this, America has entered a new era, one I hope will be successful, especially since the former one was a failure. The lesson we learned here is that we must always hope for what we want, but we must also act. I applaud all the eighty million who voted
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GREENWICH VILLAGE LEGENDS: Alex Haley
Civil Rights Historian of the West Village By Bruce Poli Sheridan Square, long considered the heart of the West Village, is home to three of the great community themes of civil rights. There’s most visibly the Stonewall Inn and Stonewall National Monument—hallowed ground of the 1969 birthplace of the gay rights/LGBT movement. There’s the mostly
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LETTERS
Foreshadowing Q-Anon I read with interest Diane Sare’s spirited defense of Lyndon LaRouche. I don’t profess to know his history very well but my interest was piqued. I do well remember the ubiquitous presence of his acolytes in airports during the ‘80s (pre-TSA). They hung banners with slogans like Feed Jane Fonda to the Whales and Nuke the Gay
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Local Finds. Local Love.
Support some of our favorite West Village shops and designers. Curated by Karilyn Prisco New York Chemists 77 Christopher St Mario Badescu “Facial Spray With Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater” newyorkchemists.com t.d.e. 385 Bleecker St “Pastel Pink Micro Bag With Long Strap” Made from 100% saffiano leather. Custom monogram thedailyedit.com diptyque 377
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Style on the Street: West Village, Will You Be My Valentine?
Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. LECKIE EVERLEIGH ASHLEIGH EBI, BREANNA AND BRENDAN THE GRIGGS EMMA DANA AND WILMA KARI Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco.
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Karen’s Quirky Style
By Karen Rempel When I was a little girl, I loved playing dress up. In Canada we had a show called Mr. Dressup that was on every weekday morning from the time my family got a television until the mid-90s. His puppet friends Casey and Finnegan were part of the fun, but the moment I
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Home on the Range
By Roberta Curley I bet Obama’s pajamas are the cat’s meow mine make me look like a pregnant sow the Former President is so neat and trim he must sleep in silk robes which bear justice to him my “lazing” gear is ancient and polyester I’d only bare it if I were called to sequester
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Joan’s Shanghai
By Joan Klyhn Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s and ’40s of the 20th century. I am primarily writing it for myself, extending it to my friends, and now to the many people who have shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. The Market This was
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Bird of the Year 2020
By Keith Michael We’ve slammed the door on 2020! Of course this presentation of the 15th Annual West Village Bird of the Year Awards, “The Millies,” will be broadcast on Zoom rather than from the traditional in-person location on the tourist-confounding corner of West 4th and West 12th Streets where my Bird #1, a rosy-hued
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West Village Streets, By Any Other Name
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP These Village streets, by any other name, would be just as charming. But since New York has a habit of changing names, some of our streets have been known by other names over the years. Since colonial times, Villagers hired surveyors to lay out their streets and plot
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Style on the Street: 2020 QuaranTeam All-Stars
MVP Matchup Front Line Heroes Dynamic Duo Triple Threat Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco. Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured.
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Local Finds. Local Love.
Support some of our favorite West Village shops and designers. Curated by Karilyn Prisco Reiss 309-313 Bleecker “Skylar” Wool-blend fabrication, notch lapels and double-breasted silhouette reiss.com POOLSIDE “The Holly Mini” Feather fringe, half-moon party tote wearepoolside.com IG: @wearepoolside Marine Layer 316 Bleecker “Soko Sayo Cuff” Woven knot detail that’s instantly iconic. Handcrafted in
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
DOING OUR BEST TO “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!” All photos by Maggie Berkvist. ….Whether shopping for a tree from the Romp Family’s annual stand on Jane Street, or welcoming back Sam Mercado’s holiday mural at D’Agostino’s, marveling at the fact that the can collector is still on the job every Monday night, and that
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Then&Now: 601 Washington Street
By Brian J Pape, AIA THEN: The meat packing industry of Manhattan developed around the Gansevoort Market for many years, but the demand for fresh products to serve butchers, grocers, restaurants and food processors meant that related businesses spread to nearby neighborhoods as well. Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors is one example. Anthony LaFrieda learned
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Notes From Away: Collins’ Chance to Lead
By Tom Lamia I have spoken often in this monthly column about Maine, my home for the past six years. I have contrasted Maine characters and characteristics, with their counterparts in the West Village. Over time mental images of New York and the West Village have receded, while impressions of Maine have moved to the
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo 2020 is over, but what problems started in this past year will not be over yet at the start of 2021. Trump still has not accepted his loss, after numerous ballots have been counted over and over with various methods yielding the same results. Whoever said, and apparently it was not Einstein,
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IN AND OUT
This month we have been reflecting on how some shops and restaurants have managed to be successful in these very difficult times. One example of a business that is doing well in spite of challenges is Sullivan Street Bakery. As restaurants closed and tried to control costs, Sullivan Street Bakery saw orders from them decrease,
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GREENWICH VILLAGE LEGENDS
Martin Berger: Progressive West Village Champion By Bruce Poli Martin Berger, one of the founders of the Downtown Independent Democrats, Vice President of Village Independent Democrats, and a great advocate of civil rights, was a progressive attorney who had West Village values written all over him. And for the West Village he loved, he did
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January News and Events
By Chandra/Jo Sgammato And now, it is 2021! Project NYC and the West 13th Street Alliance wish our neighborhood, our city, our country, and our planet a better year ahead. Let us join together in hoping for an end to the pandemic and a return to normal, or at least a “new normal,” manifesting lessons
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The Day the Village Stood Still: Happy Holidays in a Pandemic
By Roger Paradiso As the holiday shopping continues online at a feverish pace, the brick-and-mortar stores in the Village watch in envy. These are supposed to be the days they make over 50-75 percent of their revenue for the year. The streets are deathly quiet except for weekends when some decent crowds appear. But once
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LETTERS
Small Business Owner Appreciates Support It was such an amazing experience to have met Karilyn Prisco, who immediately supported my small business at a local street bazaar on Bleecker and Carmine off 6th Avenue that has been running for over ten years. Most small businesses are struggling during this very intense pandemic and these opportunities
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Karen’s Quirky Style
By Karen Rempel I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like flying since we got the news on November 7 that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been elected the leaders of our country. The cheers, honks, and bells ringing through the streets of the Village made New York seem like herself again—electric and
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
A FEW BRIEF SHINING NOVEMBER MOMENTS 11/3 – WE VOTED 11/7 WE WON ! … sort of 11/25 AND FINALLY IT WAS OFFICIAL All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
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Notes From Away: Community
By Tom Lamia The election is over but the post-mortems are in a full gallop, seeking rationalization for what turned out to be close when a skunking would not have surprised. The goal now is to use the message of this one to win the next one. The challenge is to identify what happened, sort
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Tit for Tat
By Keith Michael “Let’s Go!” I’m thinking, “Spit! Spot!” in the voice of Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins, but I don’t say it out loud. Oh, if only a “Spoonful of Sugar” could make “the medicine go down” for Miss Millie with her corgi-advancing-years-arthritis kicking in. Arthritis’s actually kicked Millie in for years now, though
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West Village Original: Michael D. Minichiello
By Michael D. Minichiello It was in the October 2008 issue of WestView that George kindly published my first West Village Original article. Since then, I’ve written 90 such profiles of long-time West Village residents and George has published every one. The time seems right to now bring the series to a close. As such,
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo Nine months ago our lives suddenly changed, and nobody seems to know how long it will continue this way. In the short term it could be a good thing; we become better acquainted with our homes, we do some clearing out of our files long neglected, we dig out the articles we
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IN AND OUT
A new book, Walking Manhattan Sideways: Side Street Businesses That Have Stood the Test of Time will probably be of interest to In & Out readers. In 2011, Betsy Polivy had an idea to walk the entire original Manhattan Grid — from 1st Street to 155th Street. She traversed the side streets from the East
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