Li-Lac Chocolates, the oldest chocolatier in Manhattan, opened at 120 Christopher Street (near Bedford Street) in 1923. It was the brainchild of George Demetrious, a Greek immigrant who learned his chocolate-making skills in France. Li-Lac remained there until 2005 when the rent skyrocketed, forcing a move to its current location at 40 8th Avenue (at
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Jane Street Garden Remains Resilient as Ever
The Jane Street Garden was established in 1973 on the vacant and privately-owned, burned-out lot at Jane Street and 8th Avenue. The initiative was spearheaded by the Jane Street Block Association, under the leadership of Phyllis Katz and Jean Verral, and was designed by landscape architect Dan Stewart. In response to community activism, the City
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Vote to End Ugly
By George Capsis The raw three-story concrete MTA ventilation tower, located at 7th Avenue South and Greenwich Avenue, is such an inviting visual insult that a graffiti artist could not resist and relieved himself with red paint in fat letters. Now that its virginity has been despoiled, we can expect an orgy of graffiti. WestView
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Big Changes are Coming to Houston Street
The blocks of Houston Street east and west of Broadway are jam-packed with construction activity. The NYU Coles Gymnasium is being displaced for an NYU classroom and multipurpose high-rise at 181 Mercer Street designed by Davis Brody Bond and KieranTimberlake. Perkins Eastman’s design for the 606 Broadway office building will front Houston and will have
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Of the Park: Paul, “Birdman” of Washington Square Park
By Joy Pape and Brian J. Pape For the past 15 years, Paul has made regular sojourns to Washington Square Park (WSP) to commune with the pigeons and other little creatures in the park. When Paul first began these regular visits, he resided on Carmine Street, where he found that the squirrels and birds were
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GOBLINS AND GHOULS: A FAMILY AFFAIR
In the November 2016 issue of WestView, we only had room for one shot of the popular annual Charles Street Halloween Event. Since this was such a fun occasion, featuring families of many lively characters, we thought people would like to see some more photos from the event. All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
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Comparing Supermarket Prices in the West Village
Reported by: Caroline Benveniste and Maggie Berkvist The chart below provides a price comparison across six supermarkets in the West Village—Brooklyn Fare, D’Agostino, Trader Joe’s, Western Beef, Mrs. Green’s, and Gristedes. We focused on basic food products (whole milk, eggs, butter, white bread, ground chuck meat, and orange juice) and documented the lowest-priced brands in
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A LEGAL SURPRISE
A LEGAL SURPRISE : At a WestView News September 25th garden dinner given for Federal Judge Frederic Block, we learned that his guest, attorney Steve Zissou, had made the Times that morning defending Jon Cruz, a Bronx High School of Science teacher who paid for minors to pose in sexually explicit photographs. Seen arguing his
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Halloween 2016
Ten-year-old Athena Capsis had a request for her dad from her best pal at P.S. 41, “Heather’s father wants to use our house for a Halloween parade.” It was Heather Lee and her father, Ralph Lee, made theatrical masks and lived, and still lives, in Westbeth and he came around to explain… “I have people
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The West Village’s Most-Recently Married Couple
The West Village’s Most-Recently Married Couple: In a private ceremony at City Hall, Mr. Percy Mori wed his beautiful bride, Cristina Perez. Cristina holds a Masters Degree in Law and was born and raised in historical Toledo, Spain—the inspiration for Cervante’s Don Quixote. They will have a religious ceremony this December at a cathedral in
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MIA SAYS
MIA SAYS: I find that asking with an affectionate rub for an affectionate pat makes us both feel good. Photo by Maggie Berkvist.
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Maggie B’s Photo of the Month
HE’S FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES, luring a stream of delighted youngsters of all ages in Washington Square Park to try their luck at catching the ‘pretty bubbles in the air.’ Photo and text by Maggie Berkvist.
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Dr. Kaufman Offers Hospital Entry Plan
This could be our new hospital: Dr. David Kaufman recommends that the 15th Street Cancer Center, originally built by St. Vincent’s Hospital, be extended three floors in the Google buildiing rather than constructing a 70-bed hospital on 14th Street and 2nd Avenue. Photo by Ede Rothaus.
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MIA DOES
MIA DOES: Mia selecting photos for the August issue. Photo by Andreea Ioana Pantor
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We need new editors
“Sorry, George but as I learn more and more about how difficult it will be to teach troubled students, I realize they have to be my first obligation and I will have to give up editing WestView.” It was with pain I heard these words but Christy Ross has been such a fair, clear-minded, and
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Maggie B’s Photo of the Month
SUCH A PERFECT PLACE FOR A NAP: So warm, so peaceful! With the beautiful Jefferson Market Garden flowering around him, one could hardly blame this wee lad, in his elegant little cap, for being lulled to sleep by the mellow sounds of the adult guests happily socializing with one another, and with host Andrew Berman
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MARCHERS WITH A MESSAGE
To show their solidarity and strength after the massacre at the gay nightclub in Orlando, the Gay Pride paraders were determined to make this year’s event bigger and better than ever. And it was. And full of the usual festivities, too. But very noticeable also was a more serious, poignant note, reflected in the telling
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BERNIE SANDERS
Arthur Schwartz, WestView Contributor, was asked by Bernie Sanders to join him on stage at a rally held June 23rd at Town Hall. At his speech Sanders called on his supporters to run for offices large and small, across the US, to fight for an end to corrupting influence of money in politics, for climate
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Maggie B’s Photo of the Month
“NO! I WANT MY TREAT:” Before this Parking Garage changed hands a month or two ago, there was an employee—originally from Italy and a bit older than the rest—who kept an apparently unending supply of treats for the dogs passing by on their evening walks…especially if the person on the other end of the leash
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BUILDINGS ON ANGLE
Two buildings on West 4th owned by the daughter of billionaire George Soros—after 6 years, two architects and a rear building collapse—had the construction wall removed. The current rumor is they are for sale.
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WEST VIEW NEWS EXFOLIATES
WEST VIEW NEWS EXFOLIATES: The loyal and talented contributors to West View relaxed in the lush garden of Publisher George Capsis once visited by Sinclair Lewis who lived at 69 Charles for four years when he published his first novel. George invites all West Villagers to share Village memories and concerns at the next garden
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COCHRANE HONORED
On June 17, Council Member Corey Johnson presided over the co-naming of Washington Street and Sixth Avenue in honor of Sergeant Charles H. Cochrane. Sergeant Cochrane broke a major barrier by coming out as a gay veteran of the NYPD in 1981, and he went on to found the Gay Officer’s Action League (GOAL) the
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A NEW FIRST FOR THE STONEWALL
On June 27th, as a fitting end to this year’s Gay Pride weekend, it was officially declared the Stonewall National Monument—and the country’s very first honoring the LGBT community and their fight for gay rights. After an introduction by John Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, there followed a poignant little reminiscence by
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TO ENGAGE THE WORLD
TO ENGAGE THE WORLD—was how the five artists described what they were attempting to do in their June show at the Westbeth Gallery. Its title was “Unpacking the 21st Century” and on Saturday, the 18th, each of the five women gave visitors a guided tour of their own work, which addressed the current day problems
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