I have written to you in the past about PHHPC, the state board that advises the Department of Health on plans to enlarge or diminish hospitals. Well, the state board is meeting this Thursday, January 23rd, to consider Mount Sinai’s plans for closing the current Beth Israel and replacing it with a much smaller, new
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Fragile Explosion: Jazz in the Village and Beyond
Fragile Explosion: Nina Simone A new American Jazz Musical by Michael Monasterial Sabrina Kershaw and a fine cast wowed the audience last night at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher St. Sabrina’s superb performance, at turns fierce, shy, and breath-taking, brings Michael Monesterial’s brilliant book to life and poignantly, movingly tell the story of Nina
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Breaking News: Governor Cuomo Vetoed 8-Story Building on Pier 40
As WestView was about to go to press on December 31, Governor Cuomo vetoed the legislation which would have allowed an 8 story plus office building to be built on Pier 40. In his veto message he highlighted the need for green space in Manhattan. My threat to sue over the structure was carried broadly
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Karen’s Quirky Style
You might not recognize me this month with my new hair color. Even though the color has changed with each month of this column, this time it is a real surprise. Brunette! When she first saw it, my friend Rhonda at LifeThyme said, “Karen, what happened, your hair is normal!” She was shocked. The brunette was inspired
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Horton Foote: American Master Playwright
By Robert Heide The first time I met Horton Foote was at a Christmas party in Greenwich Village, at an old-time apartment building on Washington Square North, hosted annually by actress and Berghof Studio teacher Rochelle Oliver. Attendees included Uta Hagen and Matthew Broderick, who both lived in apartments upstairs. Horton Foote came with his
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Movie Review: The Report
By Roger Paradiso Adam Driver plays Daniel Jones, a staffer for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) chaired by Senator Diane Feinstein, played by Annette Benning. She is asked to create a report on the FBI and CIA’s Detention and Interrogation program created during President Bush’s War on Terror. The Report is a reckoning
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
Last January the Quick Clicks layout sent special greetings to “My Fellow Creatures of Habit”, including these stalwarts who are still going strong, bless them: And still i get to enjoy my cozy cocktail hour—thanks to the wonderful people who spoil me rotten at Left Bank, who gave me a permanent reservation on my
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West Village Original: John Gilman
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is author and journalist John Gilman, born in Honolulu, Hawaii. With his life partner Robert Heide, Gilman began writing the two-page centerfold for the Village Voice in the 1970s and, one thing leading to another, ended up as co-author of many pop culture books that focused
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Power of Peace
By Roberta Curley Not a touch nor itch scratched no accolades galore no bloom of youth nor summer’s fire no chorus of weeping for the world no smile of deep surrender nor love-strewn potpourri no verge on euphoria nothing compares to the bliss of being at peace with oneself
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The Bus Stop Cafe
By Gordon Hughes Immigration is such a hot topic today. I guess this is an issue that has always faced us as a nation going back to the Know Nothings of the 1830’s, 40’s and 50’s. There have been those that see immigrants as a threat to our country, and those that see them as
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My Friend Wegmans
By Nancy Davidoff Kelton As a Village resident who does not own a car, I plan to make my first shopping expedition to the Brooklyn Wegmans when I rent one at the end of January to attend a family holiday party on Long Island. I am more excited about the ride home and stopping at
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Greenwich House Announces New Chief Executive Officer
By Andrea Newman Greenwich House’s Board Chair Jan-Willem van den Dorpel has announced that Darren S. Bloch, has been named Chief Executive Officer, beginning January 2020. Speaking on behalf of the board, Mr. van den Dorpel expressed, “We are looking forward to Darren Bloch leading Greenwich House as we continue to build on a legacy
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The West 13th Street Alliance’s Upcoming Community Events for 2020
By the West 13th Street Alliance The West 13th Street Alliance is pleased to announce its initial 2020 Community Events offerings. On Thursday, January 30th from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Lenox Health GV (200 West 13th Street) we are proud to invite the New York Aquarium’s Director of Communications John K. Delaney for a lecture called
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The Jefferson Market Library Presents: Anne Bronte: A Woman of Courage
By Miriam Canfield In celebration of the Bicentennial Birthday of Anne Brontë, The New York Public Library’s Jefferson Market branch will present a staged reading highlighting her life and writings on January 24 and 25. Anne Bronte: A Woman of Courage, is sponsored by Frank Collerius, Library Manager of The Jefferson Market Library, in collaboration
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A Parisian Preschool Expands in the Village
La Petite Ecole will double its classes in September 2020, much to the delight of Francophone and Francophile families. To book a school tour: call (646) 504 9694, or visit www.lpeny.com
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Style on the Street: Keeping Winter Bright
By Dusty Berke New Yorkers carry the cold in stride, and with holiday festivities to get to, you can be sure to see plenty of color and style on the street. Here are a host of Villagers keeping the winter bright. Left to right: White Chocolate: Jeanne is rockin’ her winter white pumps and jeans
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Westbeth Winter Exhibit Heat Zone
Winter is a cold, grey, often depressing season to endure. Westbeth’s Winter Exhibit was a hot, eclectic mix of visual arts media that heated you up with pleasurable aesthetic experiences in four rooms of painting, sculpture, photography and multi-media art! As an open group show of Westbeth visual artists, it presented diverse works that were
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Want More in the Roaring Twenties?
By Stanley Wlodyka Perhaps start by acknowledging that abundance is present in the most unexpected ways. Unexpected because it’s disguised as something else, something unwanted and sometimes discarded. But even that is by design: it sits there watching the multitudes pass by, waiting for the one who recognizes its hidden value. 55 Bethune Street was
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“Every Winter was a Valley Forge”
By Catherine Revland This is the third article in a series, You Must Remember This, about World War II and its relevance to our times. “To POTUS: The scene has darkened swiftly…The weight may be more than we can bear” (intercepted cable from Churchill to FDR, read by the German High Command, 1941). “The Fuhrer
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Then&Now: Lower Fifth Avenue
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP THEN: Once the most fashionable high-end residential neighborhood in the rapidly expanding metropolis, lower Fifth Avenue was home to wealthy and influential residents who fought to improve the military parade grounds built over the potter’s field burial grounds. On the far left of this archival panoramic photo from the
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Clarkson Towers Promises Affordable and Senior Units
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Patient visits doctor and asks, “How am I doing?” Doc: “I have good news and bad news.” Patient: “What’s the good news?” Doc: “Your knee surgery went very well.” Patient: “Yeah. What’s the bad news?” Doc: “You have lung cancer.” We have good news and bad news about the new
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Notes From Away: Maine Tough
By Tom Lamia It is a new year. This one promises less than most. Despite our venerable Constitution, and a history of grit and valor, we seem to be losing our way. The current malaise could be temporary, the after effect of Obama hubris meeting Trump reality, and all will be sorted out in the
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Off the Beat Sports: Sky Rink’s All Stars Team Third in Nation
By Anthony Paradiso In 1969, the twin-rink ice arena called Sky Rink opened its doors to the public at Pier 61. It is one of the three major facilities at Chelsea Piers that has an entire pier to itself. It was renovated in 1995 and is the only indoor ice arena in Chelsea, and the
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Bird of the Year 2019
By Keith Michael We are standing under the canopy of a cloudy winter sky on the corner where the 14th traditional presentation of the Annual West Village Bird of the Year Awards, “The Millies,” is held. This tourist-confounding intersection of West 4th and West 12th Streets is where a rosy-hued House Finch was heard and
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My Date with Jimi Hendrix and Mrs. Maisel
By Gy Mirano Wondering around one of my favorite New York neighborhoods, the West Village, I found the Music Inn. There’s nothing like getting lost in the historic cinematic streets, and being welcomed by period facades where classic New York jazz clubs, trendy boutiques, surviving mom and pop stores, and some of the most fun
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo 2020. Twenty years ago we left a century so full of contrasts: there were the two world wars, racist segregation, lynching, the blood-drenched ends of colonialism, the Vietnam war, the end of most kingdoms, the rise of Nazism and its brutality, the concentration camps, revolutions, the killing of a young and popular
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IN AND OUT
Open 232 Bleecker 232 Bleecker Street at Carmine Street The Dig Food Group, the parent company of fast casual chain Dig Inn has opened 232 Bleecker, its first full-service restaurant in the space that used to house Trattoria Spaghetto. The chef, Suzanne Cupps, was previously at Untitled at the Whitney, and before that at beloved
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Mini Melanie and Hot Bread Kitchen Incubates
By Caroline Benveniste There is a new stand in Chelsea Market called Mini Melanie and when you find it you will be astounded at the elaborate display of intricate mini sweets. There are cakes and truffles and cookie cakes and mini cupcakes and cake pops. The offerings are colorful, fun, and delicious. Mini Melanie is
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Engineers Pledge $45,000 Reward for Refuting WTC7 University of Alaska Study
By Brian J Pape, AIA On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 disaster, structural engineer Ibrahim Soudy, Ph.D., pledged $10,000 to any qualified American professional structural engineer, physicist, or physical science engineer to refute successfully the University of Alaska study “A Structural Reevaluation of the Collapse of World Trade Center 7,” which would be decided
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Collective Conviction Is a Brand of Truth
Absolutely nothing gets people so instantaneously and uncontrollably angry as when somebody blandly recites a “conspiracy theory” as if it were true. Of course many of these recitations come from people who only watch FOX News and unquestionably believe in the Deep State, so we can understand the uncontrolled rejection. A conspiracy fissure opened in
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Expert ORTHOPAEDIC INSIGHTS Lenox Health Greenwich Village: Understanding the Difference Between Sprains and Strains
Service Line: Orthopaedics Thought Leader: Dr. Daniel Seidman A strain and sprain can look and feel similar. No matter how many times you roll, bend or twist your ankle, it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. If you think you have a minor or moderate sprain or strain, you can treat
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Waning
By George Held I raise the blind at dawn, ten degrees Out there, and I see the half moon Low in the cobalt southwest. The day waxing and the moon waning, Like my life, like my arrhythmic heart. How many more cycles to fullness Will I see that old moon achieve, That lifetime
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Let’s Get Real About Aging
By Gail Evans On December 3rd I met with 85-year-old George Held in his West Village apartment to interview him about aging. He taught in the English Department at Queens College for 35 years and was a Fulbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule. Held is also a prolific poet, editor, translator, essayist and book
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Silvernest and OATS Celebrate and Improve Aging
As part of WestView News’ ongoing efforts to improve the lives of seniors in the West Village and to create community for all ages in our neighborhood, I interviewed Wendi Burkhardt, CEO of Silvernest, a national online home sharing service, and Thomas Kamber who created the celebrated Senior Planet and OATS (Older Adults Technology Services).
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January 2020 Classical Concerts in the Village
Saturday, January 18, 2020 7:00 pm WestView News Concerts presents The Strathmere Ensemble “Vivaldi meets Telemann in the Village” St. John’s in the Village 218 West 11th St., New York, NY 10014 Telemann String Quartet Vivaldi Violin Concerto from “The Four Seasons” (Spring) Vivaldi Violin Concerto from “The Four Seasons” (Autumn) Telemann Don Quixote suite
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Disappearing Diamonds? Diemut Strebe’s Redemption of Vanity at NYSE
“I’m wearing a 20-carat diamond on my necklace. What, you can’t see it? Believe me, it’s gorgeous!” Imagine if all our jewelry was invisible. What would it be worth? Artist Diemut Strebe wanted to find out the answer to this question. What is the intrinsic value of an object? Of a work of art?
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CAP Beauty, Farm to People and Farm Vegetable Program for Seniors
CAP Beauty, NEW YORK FLAGSHIP + SPA 238 West 10 Street, New York, NY 10014 (212) 227-1088 A facial at CAP Beauty is a full-sensory experience leaving one feeling extremely relaxed, nurtured and looking great. Esthetician/healer Crystal Greene provided me with a deep facial massage and treatments from CAP Beauty’s select arsenal of all-natural and
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Make 2020 the Year to Cure AIDS
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., and Drew Davis Thank you to all those who joined Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA) at the Free From AIDS Gala on World AIDS Day 2019. We put forward an unforgettable night for supporters of a cure and we’d be honored if you, too, would team up with us. If
