November 2015 If you think an important movie opens every other day in NYC, you are right, It is fall and the Harvey Weinstein template is in full boom. The Bank street resident reinvent how Oscars were perused. After 1999 when Shakespeare in Love won 7 Oscars, Harvey had decided to hold its release until
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Faicco’s Italian Specialties
By Caroline Benveniste Faicco’s on Bleecker is definitely worth a visit for, among other things, their divine sopressata which Eater critic Robert Sietsema says is “every bit as good as anything you can get in Italy, perhaps better.” The Faicco story begins in Italy and is a complicated one that goes back 115 years, involves
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A Paris Boulangerie in the Village
By David Porat Maison Kayser appeared and opened to the public on Oct 1 at the corner of Bleecker and Christopher, looking a bit like it has always been there. Where did it come from and what makes it different from other bakeries—that allows it to assume important and expensive real estate and prosper? Started
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Greenwich House Music School to Host International Piano Competition Winners
By Joseph Salas Select winners of the Stecher and Horowitz New York International Piano Competition will return to Greenwich House Music School’s Renee Weiler Concert Hall for a series of three concerts from October through February. The New York International Piano Competition is a weeklong biennial competition open to pianists, aged 16-21, of all nationalities.
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A New Chef and a New Beginning
By David Porat Nighthawks on Christopher was previously reviewed and was in search of an identity, which has been found with a new Chef and a new angle for the menu. Mediterranean seafood, very fresh and prepared simply is something that is not overly available in the West Village similar to some mid-town restaurants. Thanks
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Pretty Bird
By Keith Michael As Millie and I round the corner onto Washington Street, we flush a nursery school of sparrows scrounging for breakfast. Rather than straining at her leash to chase them, Millie seems to step back, looking up in amazement, from her corgi-point-of-view, that there are so many. The sparrow party explodes only to
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John Lindsay Remembered
By Barry Benepe When John Lindsay was elected I looked forward to New York City turning a corner and recovering from its image as a crime ridden city from which aspiring white people were leaving for the hinterlands as fast as their autos and mortgages could carry them. Mayor Lindsay not only responded to white
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Realationship Clues
By Ron Elve There are major connections between language, feelings and behavior. For example, the partner who speaks in terms of “my marriage, my children, and my house” as opposed to “our marriage, children, house” reveals a clue about the reality of the relationship. Saying “my marriage” could mean the person feels alone in the
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Sherlock Holmes’ One Night in Greenwich Village
By Clive I. Morrick Early in 1903, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson disembarked in New York City where they had reservations at the Brevoort Hotel on lower Fifth Avenue. Det. Joseph Petrosino of the NYPD’s Italian Squad met them and took them to his office at the 11th Precinct at 205 Mulberry Street. Petrosino was
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Science from Away: A Science Story
Mark M. Green (sciencefromaway.com) In 1936, as tensions leading to the second world war were ratcheting up, a small company located in Philadelphia, Rohm and Haas, that had been started by a German chemist, learned that something new was afoot at the parent company in Germany, Rohm AG—some new kind of plastic, later to
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Untitled With A Name
By John Barrera When I heard the restaurant at the new Whitney Museum was called “Untitled,” my first thought was that they must not have come up with a name that they’re happy with yet. I know how stressful restaurant openings can be, and thought the name wasn’t that important. These thoughts were fleeting and
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The New Chelsea Market Baskets
By Caroline Benveniste Walking through bustling Chelsea Market today it is hard to remember a time when it did not exist. In the early 1990’s, virtually the only restaurant in the Meatpacking District was Florent, and the High Line Park didn’t open until almost two decades later. The changes to the neighborhood began in 1993
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Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies that Matter
October 2015 The Stonewall Rebellion took place in Greenwich Village in 1969. Hollywood director Roland Emmerich and Broadway Playwright Jon Robin Baitz have released Stonewall the movie. Because it happened in the WestView News neighborhood and the event changed history world-wide, I have decided to change my normal format and just review one film
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Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies that Matter
NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL (NYFF53) Spent 10 days and nights watching movies, attending talks and public conversations and then thought what do I want to alert my readers to that will open over the next few months .. (hopefully) … here you go a ..please clip to your fridge door .. full reviews when
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Science from Away: The Forgotten Organ
By Mark M Green (sciencefromaway.com) Prokaryotes have been called “The Unseen Majority.” These microscopic organisms constitute 60-100% of the estimated total carbon in all plants on earth. Bacteria are prokaryotes, which are found in all places, from the atmosphere to the polar-regions to the soil of the earth to the deepest oceans and in all
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Mrs. Green’s Comes to Town
By John Barrera I find no pleasure in walking into a four-day-old restaurant or grocery store and trying to catch them on their heels as they try to figure out where the salt is. So, I was reluctant when George asked me to write about the prepared foods at the new Mrs. Green’s grocery store.
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Free as a Bird
By Keith Michael Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all. This Mother Goose rhyme’s sentiments never lulled me to sweet-dreams. (I wonder if I ever mentioned that to my mother.) As if
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Radical Political Thought at Jefferson Market University
Saturdays, September 26, October 3, 10, 17, 24 – 3 pm to 5 pm What was political radical thought in nineteenth-century America? This course, Reform in the Age of Capital: Radical Political Thought in the United States, 1829–1877, will focus on the content of the radical political thought in the period historian Eric Hobsbawm named the “Age
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New Waves at Jefferson Market University
Saturdays, September 19, 26, October 3, 10, 17 – 3pm to 5 pm The mid-twentieth century is considered a major turning point for independent filmmaking when young directors with small budgets flourished. This course, New Waves: an International Study of Modern Cinema, takes a world tour to explore some of the most famous 1950s and1960s
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West Village Original: Erwin Lerner
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is playwright and screenwriter Erwin Lerner, born in the Bronx in 1935. The author of such plays as “Dilemma,” “Katz’ Poem,” and “Happy New Year, Love,” Lerner served in the Air Force as a cryptographer for four years before moving back to New York and, eventually,
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Are You Staaalled?
By Ron Elve If you are stalled (whether it be at work, school, or even life), odds are you know what your next step should be, but you are guilty of fatal neglect/avoidance. If this is you, try the following tips to try to get unstuck: Break your task down to the simplest of achievable
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When Horses Ruled NYC A series on historic stable/carriage houses: Chumley’s at 86 Bedford St.
By Brian J. Pape, AIA The famous Chumley’s is slowly crawling back to business after eight years in limbo, a phoenix rising from the rubble of 2007. When the former speakeasy for literati finally re-opens this Fall, the ghosts of e.e.cummings, Faulkner, St. Vincent Millay, O’Neill, Steinbeck, Dreiser, Fitzgerald, among many others, will hardly recognize
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35XV The Invisible Building
By Barry Benepe I saw a building in the air When I looked, it wasn’t there It wasn’t there again today I wish that building would go away Apologies to William Hughes Mearns I Saw a Man upon the Stairs Walking east from Sixth Avenue on the north side of 15th Street alongside a gorgeous
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Now Get Out
By Keith Michael Summer is golden. Millie hruffs inside from a sweltering walk, shedding a trail of fur-wisps behind her. Corgis were bred for herding in northern climes. New York summers are not that. Once in the door, she dashes to the bathroom for her water bowl, tags rhythmically jingling on the rim as
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Bringing Poetry to the People
Greenwich House Joins with Poets House By Joseph Salas The New Country By Edith Merle cold and unwelcoming as unrelenting as the falling snow blaring fire engine sirens unfamiliar sounds—the foreign language unheated apartments devoid of hot water year round summers—a distant memory sounds or ripened mangoes beckoning the children falling to the ground
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Food is love
By John Barrera Have you ever cooked for someone and noticed the other person’s face? I can almost guarantee that person was smiling. How about a conversation with your mother telling her you’ll be coming to visit soon? Most times that conversation would include something about making your favorite meal or maybe visiting your
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Summer in the City: Not a Bad Place to Dine
By David Porat August in the city, with weather being cooperative, is a great time to enjoy restaurants that are not as easily available at other times of year. Between reservations that are generally easier to get and the very successful NYC and Co. promotion, Restaurant Week, you can enjoy good food, good value, and
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Science from Away: Short Stories about Serotonin and More
By Mark M Green (sciencefromaway.com) Simon N. Young began teaching at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in the early 1970s and went on to become Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. He also sat on committees, which decided who gets money to do what research—a professor of considerable influence. Just about when
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Raffetto’s—A Century Link to the Village’s Past
By Caroline Benveniste When you enter Raffetto’s, you might be greeted by the sound of the guillotine. Not just one swift thwack, but repeated chopping. In the back of the store the ninety-nine year old pasta cutting machine chops away, cutting to order four different widths of pasta, from linguine to wide fettuccine. The one
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The Lost Cinemas of the West Village: It’s A Wrap (Part Two).
By Clive I. Morrick Remembering some favorite West Village cinemas which I and many readers have known but are now lost to us. The Eighth Street Playhouse, 52 West 8th Street, now a Beth Israel Medical Center Walk-In (and former TLA Video store), 1929-1992. One commentator has written that the loss of this cinema
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When Horses Ruled NYC: 53 Christopher Street “The Stonewall Inn”
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Many in the West Village neighborhood celebrated this June when the Stonewall Inn was listed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which voted unanimously to approve landmark designation of the Stonewall Inn at 53 Christopher Street, the first such site the Commission has landmarked based solely upon LGBT history.
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West Village Original: Peter Carlaftes
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is writer and performer Peter Carlaftes, born and raised in the Bronx. He has published works in all genres: playwriting (including the spoof “Spin-Dry”), comic writing (the recent “A Year on Facebook”), and collections of poetry (including “Drunkyard Dog”). In addition, he and his partner,
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Tips to Enhance Enjoyment
By Ron Elve Savoring life’s enjoyments before, during and after life experiences can enhance and add significantly to overall feelings of wellbeing. One way to do this is to focus mentally on the positive—including details of small joys, such as good weather. We tend to go overboard with the negative (road rage and other
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Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies that Matter
August used to be the month that studios dumped all the films that had failure written all over them or the month when indie films and docs with niche audience potential were slotted. But our good neighbor on Bank street Harvey Weinstein upended that cinema game plan when he made a new template called March
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Science from Away: Kathleen Lonsdale—Against all odds.
By Mark M. Green (sciencefromaway.com) Benzene with six carbon and six hydrogen atoms plays a critical industrial role, and is a theoretical model for understanding all of organic chemistry. Although the shape of this key molecule, proposed around 1860 as a hexagon of carbon atoms, has to be certainly known to understand these
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Street Smarts
By Keith Michael I’m outside of my usual West Village haunts, walking up Sixth Avenue from downtown. (Millie is at home, paging through the latest New Yorker to see if there are any cartoons or humorous bits about corgis.) This is hardly as far from my usual streets as was a recent
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When Horses Ruled NYC
A series on historic stable/carriage houses: 271 W 10th Street By Brian J Pape In the May 2015 issue, we inaugurated this series with a study of 129 Charles Street, ca. 1897. Readers also saw an ad for recent “House Sales,” one of which is 271 West Tenth Street, another stable building between
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The Lost Cinemas of the West Village: It’s A Wrap (Part One).
By Clive I. Morrick I had intended to write one article on some favorite West Village cinemas which I and many readers had known but are now lost to us even before I discovered the Sheridan, Carmine, and Fugazy cinemas (WVN Vol. 11, Nos 4-6). So here it is, in two parts.
