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9/11 Lawyers’ WTC Evidence Can’t Be Ignored
By Dusty Berke On April 9th a PRNewswire press release went out to over 3,000 mainstream media announcing that a nonprofit organization of over 30 attorneys along with many 9/11 Family members were going to file a formal Petition the next day with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York demanding a
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Jim Fouratt’s HAVE YOU HEARD?
AUGUST 2018 Let’s start with some GOOD NEWS: Cynthia Nixon will be the Working Families Party’s candidate for State Assembly, competing for the seat with Deborah Glick, who has held the office for 25 years. While everyone I know tells me they are voting for Nixon in the Democratic Primary in September, when Nixon is
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“The Glory of God is a Human Being Fully Alive.”
By Fr. Graeme Napier Thus, down the ages, sings St. Irenaeus, the second-century bishop from the little Aegean sea town of Smyrna who had heard the preaching of the soon-to-be-martyred Polycarp—a disciple of John the gospel-maker, to whom St. John’s in the Village is dedicated. Before I went to Oxford to study mathematics and philosophy
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Driven
By Roberta Curley She stoops like those toughened memories saddling her back unashamed of the fabric she braided even pondering a comeback her blood courses and races like a thoroughbred in its paces but her breath whirrs and hums sleep bearing peace which numbs tho vintage consolation prizes ring – a flaming peach sunset in
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Celebrating Mae West at the Jefferson Market Library
By Michele Gouveia “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” —Mae West With her double entendres, voluptuous figure, and distinct Brooklyn accent, Mae West became one of the most famous and imitated women of the 20th century. This year marks the 125th anniversary of her birth, and to celebrate the
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Vacation!
By Christina Winholt Do you want to take your vacation twice? How about a dozen times? Is it possible to relive your vacation as many times as you would like if you practice being in the moment while you are laying by the pool, hiking your favorite mountain, or seeing the sights? One of the
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Notes from Away: Maine’s Test Case
By Tom Lamia After having his nose and jaw broken by his drunken father, an 11-year-old boy ran from his Lewiston, Maine home never to return. Living on the streets, with French as his first language and not attending school, he survived, but with memories, one supposes, that were not charitable towards all. Of his
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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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Tech And Creative Hub Developments Around Greenwich Village
By Ananth Sampathkumar, with Brian J. Pape July 10th was a big news day for two important developments around Greenwich Village. The first breaking story was about the new Tech Hub being proposed at 124 East 14 Street (between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue). Back in February 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the new
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West Village for Kids
By Yalini Anne Sampathkumar, 9 The West Village has lots of fun things to offer for kids all ages. Here are a few good places to visit with kids. Jefferson Market Library: Jefferson Market is a wonderful library. It has lots of activities like book signings, learning about animals, crafts, and games every Friday. On
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Oh, Baby
By Keith Michael August is when a wave of baby birds appears in the trees, on the park lawns, and from the windowsills. Recently fledged, their metronomic chirps to “Feed me, feed me” are a familiar sound of summer. My corgi Millie’s metronomic bark to “Feed me, feed me” is, likewise, a familiar sound of
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IN AND OUT
July is usually a slow month, but this year there was lots of activity. In particular, the Village has become more of an Asian food hub with the opening of three Chinese restaurants and one Japanese ramen bar; and another Japanese restaurant is in the works. Open TOP OPENINGS Junzi Kitchen (170 Bleecker Street at
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Don’t Just Sit There, Resist—Part IV: Take the House!
By Alec Pruchnicki If you think President Trump’s performance in Helsinki was great, and the direction of the nation is just peachy, this article is not for you. This is for people who consider Trump a danger to the country and the world, and are desperately looking for a way to resist. There is a
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Class War in Greenwich Village: Mini Versailles or Senior Housing with a Garden?
By Jim Fouratt Recently, when I called attention to the possibility of “class war” over a city-owned lot on Elizabeth Street, I was half joking. In 2012, when Councilwoman Chin was being pressured by both Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn to approve the massive NYU expansion in her district, Chin finally relented, after
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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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The West Village
By Lorraine Gibney Every person who has walked through the West Village understands that this place is unique. My family arrived in New York during the time of the Revolutionary War. Fortunately, much of our history during the 1800s was documented by my first cousin James Riordan Sr. Needless to say, the West Village has
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Developments at Hudson River Park – Celebrating 25 Years of Piers
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP On May 30, 2003, the first completed section of Hudson River Park (HRP), which began in 1999, was officially opened to the public in the West Greenwich Village portion from Pier 45 to Pier 51; and Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) is celebrating, even while it struggles to meet
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The Impracticable Life of NYC’s Street Vendors
By Milad Momeni New Yorkers. We love the hustler. We venerate the feisty businessperson who lays it all down for their dream. Nevertheless, as the city becomes more gentrified and the police omnipresent, the amount of available space for poor people who work for themselves is slowly diminishing. This tendency is even more visible if
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Caruso’s Quips
By Charles Caruso Roof workers are good company on a grey morning. ___ How to lose 120 pounds in one day: get divorced. ___ Another day, another dolor. ___ When you stay at a hotel you’re sleeping on a bed that a complete stranger slept on 24 hours before. ___ We hear a lot about
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In Limbo at the West Village Houses
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Every year in June, West Village Houses (WVH) elects the entire board to a one-year term. This June 26th election saw several members leave and new members join the board. As our readers know, the issues facing the 420 shareholders, in the 42 buildings of WVH lining the west
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West Village Images by Joel Gordon – Jefferson Market Garden Flowers
Tucked away in the shadow of the Jefferson Market Library, from April to October, this beautiful, well-kept garden oasis is open to the public. Situated on a triangular city block, this 0.4-acre garden has been under the care of community volunteers since its inception in 1974. From 1931 to 1973 the Women’s House of Detention
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CB3 Resolution Aids Beth Israel’s Demise
By Penny Mintz July was a very busy month for getting people to sign an order to get candidates on the ballot for the Democratic primary on September 13th. So it was a slow month for the work of the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel (CCSBI), a 12-member organization of community groups that have
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Comment: You Can’t Stop a Problem Unless You Admit to It
On July 14th, I received a two-page letter via the US mail. The following was just one small part: “The reason I am writing this is as follows: I have a friend who has an acquaintance on the Greenwich House Advisory Board of Directors. According to her, Greenwich House plans to close its 50 year
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Honesty as a Business: A Prophetic Coincidence
By George Capsis Oh, wow, I read in the July 22nd Sunday Times that Exxon discovered a gushing oil reservoir off the coast of Guyana, and that the Independent one time colony of the Dutch and British made up of former African slaves and indentured Indian workers, with a population of only 800,000, will inevitably
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Penny Mintz Takes on Governor Cuomo In Disguise
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Over the last few months, WestView readers have been kept abreast of the efforts to keep Beth Israel Hospital open thanks to the reporting done by Penny Mintz, a 40 year resident of West 11th Street. Penny has been the Chair of the Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital, a group
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Feds To NYCDOT/MTA—Hold Up On 14th Street Plan! DOT Says—Do It Sooner!
The last month we saw lots of conflicting information released about the plans developed by the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), to address the impact of the April 2019 shutdown of the L Train for a (“planned”) 15-month repair of the Canarsie Tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The developments
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Saving Humberto
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Humberto Gonzalez Bernal has lived at 88 Horatio Street, in a 250 square foot studio, since 1957, shortly after, at the age of 26, he arrived in the US from Cuba, a country then living under the brutal US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. He always harbored a dream of returning to Cuba,
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Correction
Hello George: Just reading your article about Maison Kayser closing, and $70K per year doesn’t seem that bad for a corner location on Bleecker. Did you mean $70K per month? —Jack Howard Editors Note: Yes. The rumored rent was $70K per month. Keep us honest— WestView welcomes letters of correction.
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More Trouble for Jessica at the 6th
Dear George, It started as just another day in the neighborhood but ended in the E.R. For our local cops, it’s easier to shoo the fly, rather than remove the garbage. Residents in Distress has been there cleaning the streets since we began. Recently, you all read about my latest false arrest. I’ve continued to
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Adventures with Adri & Oli
Dear Editors: Adri & Oli are NYC’S most recent power-duo! You can catch the two singer-songwriters serving the community with an undeniable zest for life and music. They believe in sharing deeply personal experiences to inspire others, provide hope and create unity. Adri & Oli met December of 2016. Olivia had recently finished undergoing chemotherapy
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In: Cross Street Praise
Dear Editors: I love Ms. Benveniste’s useful and interesting “In and Out” page, but I especially wanted to thank her for including cross streets in the addresses she gives (“west of Sixth Avenue,” “between Bleecker and Bedford,” etc.) That makes it so much easier to get an idea of where a store is located. So
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Doesn’t Belong In WestView
George, Bigoted opinions (Mayhem in Little Tijuana, July 2018) should not be allowed space on the pages of WestView News. In his “Briefly Noted” letter, a Mr. Gilman calls the corner of 6th Avenue and West 4th “Little Tijuana,” “because of the crowds and the porn shops and Papaya Dog… Young men and women, sometimes
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Praise for Captain Phelan
Good Morning Dad, I just read the article about lieutenant Hanson written by Captain Phelan. It was exquisitely written and perhaps one of the top 5 articles I have read since WestView’s inception. Articles like this contribute to the greatness of America. Please applaud Captain Phelan for me. —Doric Capsis
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Transportation Trouble
Dear Editors: In the March 2018 issue of WestView News, a letter writer lamented the bike lanes that have been added to city streets and implied this is unfair to cars and drivers and is “inefficient.” The idea that cars are more efficient than bicycles is not based in reality. OK, a gas powered machine
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Open Letter to Roy Leavitt, Executive Director of Greenwich House
Roy—When I asked you why you needed $180,000, and were you in a financial hole, and what were you going to do with the $180,000, you gave me: “The funds allocated will cover leasing expenses for the agency’s administrative operations instead of using the facilities currently occupied senior center.” You should have been more direct
