By Brian J. Pape, AIA Costas Kondylis was the creative force behind so many built works it is hard to catalogue them. For West Villagers, the J.D. Carlisle Development’s One Morton Square, completed in 2004, is our most prominent example. As you may recall, it was flooded during Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge, overwhelming West Street
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Documenting the Village and Beyond
A Review of Berenice Abbot: A Life in Photography. WW Norton, 2018. Author, Julia Van Haaften. By Lisa E Davis, PhD Browsing the shelves of that Left Bank bookstore, in sight of the Seine and Notre Dame, which preserves the name of expatriate American Sylvia Beach’s original Shakespeare and Company (1919-1941), I found a real
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Westbeth Honors Merce Cunningham
HONORING A LEGEND: On September 20th, a ceremony honoring Merce Cunningham took place at Westbeth Artists Housing. Cunningham occupied the 11th floor of the former Bell Laboratories building for decades, choreographing over 80 dances during his time there. In attendance was world-renowned dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who recalled fondly the countless hours he spent at Westbeth bringing
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Mickey Mouse Turns 90
By Robert Heide MICKEY FOR PRESIDENT: On November 18, 1928, the black and white Walt Disney “talking” cartoon Steamboat Willie opened at the Colony Theater in New York. Although there had been other cartoon stars that preceded Mickey, such as Felix “the Cat,” it was the Mouse who took the spotlight back then and forevermore.
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Take Five: Max Dolgin Has Got It From Here
By Stanley Wlodyka Last month’s Westbeth Gallery show “A Diamond Jubilee” featured seven artists over 75 years of age who exhibited a wide variety of artwork: masks, puppets, paintings, photographs, and even politically charged embroidery. Judy Lawne, a photographer who came up with the idea for the show, wanted the opening to live up to
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Starmaker—The Interview Covers
By John Gilman It’s a time-honored tradition for writers to have a big kick off “launch” for their books—maybe a book-signing, a cocktail party, or an exhibit. In the case of Rizzoli’s Richard Bernstein: Starmaker—Andy Warhol’s Cover Artist, published last month, it was extravagantly all three. Kicking off New York’s Fashion Week, an opening night
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“Are You Jewish?”
God Sends a Kosher Editor Oh wow, a $35,000, roughly 40 foot house-bus, in front of United Cigar and Christoper Street is blaring Yiddish music—this I gotta see. What I find is a very young rabbi waiting to step out and greet young men who look Jewish and return them to the kosher path. A
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West Village Original: Carmen Grange
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is Dr. Carmen Grange, born in 1922 in Colón, Panama, to Jamaican parents working in the Canal Zone. Grange studied pre-med at Trinity College in Dublin and returned to the U.S. to do her residency, eventually opening a practice on West 13th Street. A resident of
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West Village Original: Catherine Revland
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is writer and author Catherine Revland, born in 1940 in Fort Ransom, North Dakota and raised in Fargo. Formally educated and trained as a writer, with over 40 years experience writing for a variety of print and online media, she is also a regular contributor to
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The Value of Knowing Nothing
By George A. Davidson A few years after graduating in the class of 1967, I returned to Columbia Law School to judge a moot court along with Professor Willis L.M. Reese. After the argument, Reese told me that it had been his privilege to work with two brilliant men in his life, Austin Wakeman Scott,
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West Village Original: Vincent Livelli
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is Vincent Livelli, born in Brooklyn in 1920, baptized at St. Anthony’s on Sullivan Street, and raised in Greenwich Village. A former professional dancer, he held jobs as cruise director on ships for over 20 years where he pioneered the growth of on-ship entertainment. Despite being
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She Was Always Ready to Sing
By Jess Berk I still can’t believe she’s gone. For most of my life my entire world has been about engaging in various battles with, for, or about her—so much so, that a film was made about us. “The Genius and the Opera Singer”—shown at Sundance and the Tribeca Film Festival—detailed our nearly lifelong battle
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Ruth Berk, Village Cabaret Singer and Owner, Dies at 94
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Ruth Berk, who would have turned 95 in August, passed the morning of June 8 at Beth Israel Hospital. The cause of death was heart failure, complicated by a stroke. Berk was a long time Village cultural figure. After an early career as an opera singer, she and her husband Leo
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‘Tis the Wedding Month of June
By Jane Heil Usyk June is wedding month, and this month Eddie is getting married. That sounds odd, because Eddie was two years old in the video I just saw, the one I am giving him for his wedding. My cousin Stuart made the video in 1986, which, to me, doesn’t sound that long ago.
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My Friend Eric Schneiderman
By Arthur Z. Schwartz On April 10, 2017, I texted a politician whose thoughts about running for Governor had been cut short by Cynthia Nixon’s candidacy, and said, “Don’t go home. #MeToo is going to get Eric Schneiderman soon.” On May 7 my premonition came true. Eric and I had been friends. We were both
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So, You’ve Been Away
By Gordon Hughes The other morning I was enjoying a cup of coffee at Cafe Panino Mucho Gusto, when of all things, I ran into a pal and neighbor—not from the Village, but from Chester County (where I have a horse farm). I was so surprised to see him in this foreign location, but what
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Clarifying My Maternal Ancestry
By Allyn Freeman Last November, I ordered a DNA kit from My Heritage, an assay that would disclose my DNA along the matrilineal line from mitochondrial samples. In effect, I would learn my mother’s lineage, and nothing about my father’s background, which is a different test. The company charged a $12 shipping and handling fee,
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June 6th — 50 Years Since RFK’s Death
On June 6, 1968, a year of intense turmoil in the U.S. and in the world, our country, still reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King, watched in horror as Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down. RFK was not just John Kennedy’s little brother. At the time of his death he was New York’s
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Ruth Berk, Village Cabaret Singer and Owner, Dies at 94
Funeral – Sunday June 10 – 11AM – Greenwich Village Funeral Home Ruth Berk, who would have turned 95 in August, passed this morning at Beth Israel Hospital. The cause of death was heart failure, complicated by a stroke. Berk was a long time Village cultural figure. After an early career as an opera singer,
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Teddy Capsis
The College of Holy Cross conducted their annual Spring Football game on April 14, 2018. Holy Cross’ new football Coach demonstrated a positive mind set by providing a free football clinic to the children of Worcester, MA before the game. After the Spring game all of the children were invited to come on the field
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“A Magical Moment”
Ralph Lee takes the stairs whenever possible. At 84 years old, he climbs six flights from his own apartment on the 4th floor of WestBeth Artists Residency to visit a friend and collaborator on the 10th floor. There’s not a bead of sweat on his forehead, not even a hint of a gasp. He might
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Romo the Road Warrior, A.K.A Mr. Magic, Also my Dad
The following is a speech given at a memorial service for Ron Morris, longtime West Village resident: One of the things my dad valued most in this life was friendship, and I know he’d be delighted that such a wonderful community of friends convened here tonight to honor and remember him. He was a great
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The West Village as Muse for an Environmental Artist
By Michael D. Minichiello Even though he loved to draw from an early age, California-born artist Nick Lamia was originally on a very different career path. “I was pre-med in college,” he says. “Then I went into environmental science and ecology, thinking I would go into environmental law. However, on the very day that I
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Dame Ethel Smyth: Still Fighting for Equality 100 Years Later
By Benjamin McCoy, Nicholas Young, Kate Katigbak, and Jeanne Wikler Over a century ago, British composer Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) created her generation’s version of the Women’s March and #TheFutureIsFemale. Now, more than 100 years later, the Cecilia Chorus of New York will give Smyth’s last work, The Prison, its North American premiere on May
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Ramsey Clark: Living Legend of the Great Society
By Bruce Poli “The measure of your quality as a public person, as a citizen, is the gap between what you do and what you say.” “Most faults are not in our Constitution, but in ourselves. “ “A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take from you.” West Villager Ramsey
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Briefly Noted
Sylvia Ross-Epstein Sylvia Ross-Epstein, 82, resident of West 4th Street since 1968, passed away Friday, March 9, 2018. She was born August 25th, 1935, in Statesville, North Carolina to the late Clarence Ross and Sarah Johnston Ross. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Martin Epstein; sons, Jeffrey Ross
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The Planets Aligned
Hi George, I have to share with you something that happened shortly after my article came out in the WestView News. As I mentioned in the article, I have an Internet radio show called “Food for Thought”. We had been promised by the station owner for many months that our photo (the one that was
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Paper Trail
Feb. 23, 2018 Twisp, Washington Dear George, I always enjoy getting the WestView News in our mailbox here on the other side of the country. We put it on our coffee table beside our local Methow Valley News in front of the wood stove, which, these very cold days, always has a fire flaming away.
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Arlene Gottfried’s “KISS, Halloween Parade, West Village, 1978”
Arlene Gottfried’s artistic legacy continues in a solo exhibition entitled “A Lifetime Of Wandering,” which is on view from February 28th to April 28th at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in Chelsea. Gottfried, a longtime resident of Westbeth, passed away in August of 2017. Her photography is best known for its humorous and empathetic views of
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No Stopping This Train
By Stanley Wlodyka You’ve seen her. Just as you lift your hand to grab her attention and offer help, she swoops down like an Olympic weightlifter and picks up the stroller, baby and all. She turns around, impatiently blows at a strand of hair that’s fallen out of place, and looks right through you. “Come
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Ramsey Clark at 90: America’s Most Liberal Attorney General and Veteran West Villager (Part 1)
“The greatest crime since World War II has been U.S. foreign policy.”—Ramsey Clark By Bruce Poli Ask me why I live in the West Village, and I might say, “Because people like Ramsey Clark live here.” Considered one of America’s most liberal Attorney Generals, Ramsey Clark, who served in the Department of Justice during the
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We Still Need Beth Israel
By Penny Mintz City Council Member Jumaane Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat running for lieutenant governor, spoke with Progressive Action of Lower Manhattan (PALM) members in late January. He presented progressive credentials quite impressively and answered questions about the threatened closing of Beth Israel Hospital’s main building at 1st Avenue and East 16th Street. But Williams
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West Village Original: Peter Leitch
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is jazz guitarist Peter Leitch, born in Ottawa in 1944 and raised in Montreal. Leitch released his first solo album in 1981 and then about 15 more over the years. As a sideman, he has recorded with Jeri Brown, Oscar Peterson, Woody Shaw, and Pete Yellin,
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New Exhibition by Nick Lamia
This piece is based on a press release published by Jason McCoy Gallery on February 23, 2018. Nick Lamia lived at 54 Charles Street and studied at the New York Studio School. He currently teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
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Great American Playwright Maria Irene Fornes
A New Documentary Captures Her Incredible Journey from Cuba to Paris to a Life in Greenwich Village By Robert Heide I first met the playwright extraordinaire Maria Irene Fornes in the Village in 1965 at the Caffe Cino on Cornelia Street where my play The Bed was having a successful run. She was introduced to
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The Jar
By E.N.J. Carter My mother never talked about Ireland. My uncle, who she crossed the Atlantic with as a teenager, said she had a tough time of it. Who wants to be suddenly told that you have to leave your country and your friends? To have the feeling that it was too dangerous for a
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