By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor My fashion sense was influenced by the ’80s glam metal scene, which was fomented by the punk rock scene in NYC in the ’70s. The Velvet Underground was Andy Warhol’s house band, spawning Lou Reed’s shattering Rock n Roll Animal in 1973. At the same time, Jean-Michel Basquiat was
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Although deeply rooted in Greenwich Village, CAS’s roots go deeper and wider than that. Looking back at some early social service efforts, German educator Friedrich Froebel opened the world’s first kindergarten (the word translates as “children’s garden”) in Blankenburg, Germany in 1837. This was a radical move, as children
Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco.
By Keith Michael It’s the summer birding doldrums. I’m sitting on a shady bench in Hudson River Park. An unexpected boat regatta just sailed upriver, flags flying, horns celebrating. A decade ago, Millie would have pulled me to the park this Sunday afternoon and demanded to be lifted up onto this bench —too high for
HERE TODAY … JULY 9, at the corner of Greenwich Street and West 12th, I discovered a ‘Work in Progress’ by artist Myra Lobel. By JULY 12 the second panel was finished And then, on JULY 15, I arrived to find a very different kind of work in progress And on the 16th the panels
By Isa Covo 2020 should have been a great year. We talk of 20/20 vision, well this year it was certainly lacking. The government was aware of COVID’s existence since late 2019 but did not consider it as contagious as it turned out to be. Even the medical establishment did not realize the danger to
In addition to more re-openings this month, there were also a number of actual openings, something we’ve not seen much of since early this year. And we noticed some signs of additional openings to come. Sadly, as expected, a number of places have decided to close permanently as a result of the challenges they’ve faced
By Charlie Caruso No trust, no trust. Sexual love comes and goes. Family love lives forever. Why do TV audiences scream like maniacs? AARF: an organization for elderly dogs. Football playoffs should be played in summer not February when everyone including the fans are exhausted. To avoid reality watch the TV news. The first letter
By Roberta Curley I can still hear her slurping from Liza’s collapsible bowl, never declining a sip— tho longing to tumble and roll. A “little lamb”—face full of hope, ears flip-floppy, eyes black and bold. Six pounds of fluff, never glum nor gruff, Mia offered petters sensory pleasure. Now she illuminates city skies—a beacon day
Publisher’s Apology 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
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP THEN:: #1: Robert Moses’ Westside (aka Lincoln) Highway construction was built from 1929-1937, when the Hudson River docks were bustling with maritime and commercial activity. Prior to the elevated expressway, this stretch was known as “Death Avenue” for the many injuries caused by the trains and trucks on
Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke, Heidi Russell and Karilyn Prisco.
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor A year ago in this column I told you about a stop-you-in-your-tracks dress by Engineered by Andrea T, based on a painting called Dominion Day by James Kerr. Recently when Andrea told me she was making couture face masks, I immediately asked her if she could make me one
By Roberta Curley How about those old bags? Plastic shopping bags that are supposedly banished. Supermarket baggers dole them out like life-preservers on the Titanic. New York City is drowning in plastic. Has the law prohibiting perilous plastic shopping bags been repealed? Why not resuscitate more plastic bottles into reusable carry bags? Pandemic or not—plastic
By Isa Covo How do we measure time? 8+ minutes: On my treadmill, and I am not a champion runner, 5 minutes, I begin perspiring, 6 .5 my breath is a little labored, my pulse is faster, 8 minutes I am parched, 8.5 I have to stop and drink some water. 30 seconds: I start
New York City entered Phase 2 of its re-opening on Monday June 22nd. Among other things, during this phase, restaurants are allowed to offer outdoor dining. They did not have much time to prepare – the mayor only confirmed that outdoor dining would proceed on Friday, June 19th. Restaurants wishing to participate in the program
By Tom Lamia The small gathering of Mainers on an inlet facing the open Atlantic near me bears the name of a Civil War General of great fame. A Medal of Honor winner and mild-mannered professor, Joshua Chamberlain did as much to preserve the Union and define grace in victory as well as courage in
By Roger Paradiso The plague is still with us. It is a natural born killer. In addition to researching other viral and bacterial killers, scientists, doctors, and disease control laboratories around the world are searching for a cure and vaccine for COVID-19. Until these are found, the Village will be lost in the fog of
Mia Says: It takes a very good dog indeed to walk without a leash. Photo by Joel Gordon.
TINY STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION was a real morale booster. After their disheartening lockdown in early April, discovering these favorite neighborhood casualties back up and running felt like an encouraging step in the right direction. All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
By Keith Michael I’m still wearing a mask and Millie doesn’t seem to care. Contrary to true corgi watchfulness, as attentive as Millie is to every movement and nuance of routine, the addition of a mask hasn’t made any impression on her whatsoever. Her ears and eyebrows still perk up when hearing the same
By Brian J Pape, AIA The June 1969 rebellion against police harassment by the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, at the eastern end of Christopher Street, helped to launch a national gay rights movement and make Christopher Street the social and cultural center of New York’s lesbian and gay community. Today, almost all of the
Never flirt with the boss’ girlfriend. You must ask the right question of the right person at the right time. Great books usually make lousy movies. A father cannot be the friend of his daughter’s lover. Some people are tea, some are coffee. Football will end as inevitably as smoking, and for the same reason.
By Gordon Hughes Rudyard Kipling once wrote, “And a woman is only a woman but a good Cigar is a Smoke.” Now, reciting that line today will lead to one of a few results: it will get you tossed out of most social functions, confuse the women you are with, or get you sued in
By Alexey Kim Due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the most-anticipated fashion events of the year, the Met Gala helmed by Anna Wintour, that usually takes place on the first Monday in May, has been officially cancelled. Leave it up to the NYC drag queens to take matters into their own hands and keep
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor Everyone who loves fashion knows that The First Monday in May is the highlight of the year, when the glitterati put on their most fantabulous creations and head up the red carpeted steps into the Met. (Check out the wonderful film Ocean’s 8—which premiered at Alice Tully Hall in
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.
By Isa Covo Still quarantined, or confined which I like better. So what I observe from the window are sunnier days, more (but not excessive) car traffic, a bit more pedestrian traffic depending on the time of day. At night the streets are still empty of people and the number of cars decreases. Also, for
Last month I took a break from In & Out so I could work on the Village Directory. But this month In & Out is back, with a new opening, a number of recently re-opened spots, and a couple of closings. Some of the trends we’ve noticed are family/large format meals, restaurants pivoting to selling
By Gail Evans “The pandemic has amplified ageism,” read the headline in the May 1st Los Angeles Times. “It’s open season for discrimination against older people.” If anyone can speak to ageism, it’s my friend Jack Kupferman, I thought. So, I called and asked him to weigh in. Jack is President of New York City’s
By Tom Lamia On the road to partisanship, we have traveled all but the last mile. If there is no off-ramp to be found before or at the November elections many, if not most, of our representatives in Washington, D.C., in our state capitals, and in the cities, towns and special purpose districts throughout the
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is editor, college professor, and avid bird watcher Andrew Rubenfeld, born in Beth Israel Hospital in 1946. Since 1981, he has been a professor of literature at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey where he teaches courses on American nature and environmental writing. Rubenfeld co-edited
By Keith Michael As a devoted bird watcher, the question often flies my way, “Why do you like to watch birds?” (Of course, now it comes with lots of arm waving from six feet away and with gymnastic eyebrow action from above a mask.) The brisk answer is, “Why not?” But the curl-up-on-the sunny-opposite-ends-of-adjacent-benches response
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor In these days of social distancing, I couldn’t get my dear friend Dusty to take my picture. So this month’s column is my first selfie, taken using a mirrored elevator. And of course with all clothing stores closed, I needed to call on the contents of my fab four
Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco.
By Tom Lamia My nature is to be reclusive, so the experience that we all have had for the last two months—staying inside when possible, staying away from others, staying vigilant—has not been an intolerable ordeal for me. Human contact is necessary at times, though, as we have all found. The rules of my confinement
Mighty man with all his nukes has been crowned by a corona before he could put up his dukes. The man in the seat gets the heat, the fame or the blame. Get mad not sad. Anger is better than depression. Afghanistan-another lost war. We’re getting out. The Taliban is staying. The Taliban wins. One
