With a star-studded performance on September 15 in the Meatpacking District. Cornelia Street Café comes home to the village! Come join in for the fun and music: September 15, 3-7 PM Gansevoort Plaza, Gansevoort Street & Little West 12th Street
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A Night Out with Noel Coward, Steve Ross and KT Sullivan
By Robert Heide The great New York singer Steve Ross—dubbed the “Crown Prince of New York Cabaret”—with the dynamic, amazing KT Sullivan—the artistic director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation—appeared in the past month of August in a show devised and written by Barry Day entitled Love, Noel—The Songs and Letters of Noel Coward. The program
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Smalls Jazz Club—25 Years of Bringing Up the Jazzcats
By Karen Rempel Smalls Jazz Club, in the cellar at 183 West 10th Street, makes an incalculable contribution to jazz music every day, incubating hundreds of talented young jazzcats since its inception in 1994. Owner and jazz pianist Spike Wilner tells us a bit about the history of the club as Smalls celebrates surviving and
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Puppet Master Penny Jones: 90 Years Young
By Stanley Wlodyka “Toby!” the gaggle of toddlers scream, some incessantly and with all their might pointing at the puppet stage, where the head of a pint-sized pup appears from behind the curtain. Toby snatches a feather from the cap of the master of ceremonies. Dressed as the pied piper in a frock pocked by
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Magic Time! Art & Ephemera of the Caffe Cino
By Robert Heide Following on the heels of my last article entitled “The Legendary Caffe Cino Designated a NYC Landmark” for the August 2019 edition of WestView News along came an invite to attend a dual exhibition at the ClampArt Gallery at 247 West 29th Street. Opening night was August 15 and the exhibit of
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The Creative Genius of Diana Broussard
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor Diana Broussard is a creative force of nature. She’s a true pioneer in fashion design, from Calvin Klein’s eponymous underwear for women to the latest in wearable tech—exclusive, sleek handbags with customizable video displays. She has worked with some of the biggest names in the business, including Dior and
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Karen’s Quirky Style
By Karen Rempel, Fashion Editor “Karen’s Quirky Style” is all about expressing my inner joie de vivre through color and fun combinations of clothing and accessories from different sources and time periods. I love walking down the street and seeing people’s faces light up with delight at the unexpected sight before their eyes. (Namely, moi.
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Style on the Street: Cool as Watermelon
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor Last month we looked at how the men handle the heat in the city, so this month it’s the women’s turn. Here are three unique takes on New York summer fashion—with fab black footwear. FLARE (photo left): Daniela Diletto and her son Luca pause on their stoop on the
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Millenary Moche Nights at the Hendricks
By Gy Mirano When Peruvian artist Julio Granados was last in Lima he received a call from New York confirming he had been selected to paint a mural in the heart of Manhattan. The honor had been a long time coming and well-deserved. It is a joy to view his work—which is lyrical, lighthearted, and
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Health, Wellness & Beauty
By Hannah Reimann Several stores in the West Village cater to shoppers like me who prefer to avoid toxic ingredients, to know what they’re putting on their skin and into their bodies, to be safe from contaminants, carcinogens and to protect their health. Since products in these stores tend to have a high price point,
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Long Island Fire Commissioners Call For 9/11 Review
For the first time ever, an elected government body in the United States has stated that it is “beyond any doubt” that explosives—and not just plane impacts and fires alone—were responsible for destroying the three World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Fire commissioners from the Franklin Square and Munson Fire District, located just
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A September Ritual
By Gordon Hughes Just like the swallows that return to Capistrano, New Yorkers return to the West Village at the same time every September. As I was sitting outside on one of the benches at Cafe Panino Mucho Giusto having my usual cup of joe (with some skim milk) on an early September morning, I
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Then&Now: Seventh Avenue South/200 West 11th Street
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, Architecture Editor THEN: This site, addressed 192 Seventh Avenue South in the 1940 tax photo, was on a forlorn thoroughfare because the Seventh Avenue extension below West 12th Street cut a swath through the established neighborhood, leaving odd walls, yards and slivers of lot sizes, like this one just south
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Last Licks
By Roberta Curley Eating ice cream is like breathing. It jumpstarts day and night. I mourn summer’s end. It often spells doom for free flowing ice cream. Licking each novel flavor keeps me from obsessing over my jewelry stash. Jewelry may be heavy but it’s not fattening. It is said: “a thing
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Department of Health Set to Consider Plan to Close Beth Israel
By Penny Mintz On July 22, 2019, Mt. Sinai submitted an application to the State Department of Health for a certificate of need (CON) to build a 70-bed hospital on Second Avenue between 13th and 14th Street. If the plan is approved, the Beth Israel Hospital building on First Avenue and 16th Street will be
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Is the Bubble About to Burst?
By James Henry Where do bubbles come from anyway? With storm clouds looming over the economy, evidence of over-heated, over-inflated markets is accumulating. Many analysts believe we are on the edge of a bubble that’s about to deflate. Having lived through these booms and busts before should make us step back and ask—where do these
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
NOT ALL OF US LEAVE TOWN IN AUGUST. MANY OF US APPRECIATE THE CHANCE TO RELAX AND ENJOY PEACEFUL PLEASURES. VISITORS COME TO EXPLORE AND SOME PEOPLE FIND THERE’S STILL WORK TO BE DONE. All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
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St. John’s Resurrects Its Lost Fence
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Pastor Mark Erson, of St. John’s Lutheran Church at 81 Christopher Street, wrote to let us know that “after 21 years of being behind an 8-foot fence, we have restored a good portion of the [church’s] original fence” in front of the main church entry. It seems that 21 years
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NYU Development on Mercer Street Rises
By Brian J. Pape, AIA New York University’s (NYU) scope of development for their enlarged Greenwich Village campus includes razing the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center at 20–40 East Houston Street and constructing a massive 750,000-square-foot complex bordered by Houston Street, Mercer Street and Bleecker Street, located directly to the east of I. M. Pei’s
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo …the days grow short when you reach September… …and the leaves turn to gold… Those words are from a beautiful song, with music by Kurt Weil and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson; it is a little sad too, as it focuses on aging. Time seems to be galloping after a certain age, even
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IN AND OUT
This month saw only one opening, a couple of closings and a couple of moves, with much of the activity centered around Asian spots. As usual, the fall will bring some anticipated openings. Open Omakase Room by Maaser 321 Bleecker Street between Christopher and Grove Streets A new omakase spot has opened on Bleecker Street
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Renovating 35 Perry Street: Thomas Merton Lived Here
By Brian J. Pape, AIA American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion, Thomas Merton wrote more than 70 books, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism. Merton developed his faith while living in New York City, not often thought to be conducive to spirituality. Merton was born on January 31st, 1915, in Prades, France, to Owen,
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In the Catbird Seat
By Keith Michael Meew. Meew. Meew. Presumably, that’s how the Gray Catbird got its name. At some point in ornithological history when the omnipotent Bird Naming Caucus convened on a backyard summer porch, someone drawled, “Oh, you’re ranting about that bird braying like a cat? I just call it that damn gray cat bird.” Done.
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What Has Happened to the Doctor-Patient Relationship?
I have been practicing internal medicine for 24 years and have seen a lot of change. I started after HMOs were already around, so I was not in medical practice when a physician billed a patient and the insurance company sent a check for that amount (or a portion of it). HMOs were conceived when
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Notes From Away: Deja Vu
By Tom Lamia Margaret Chase Smith was a US Senator from Maine whose life and political career offer proof of the power of independent thinking and the courage to act on it, even in the face of demands for loyalty to party doctrine. Just a few words of background should be enough to make the
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Current Events Café is Back at Jefferson Market Library
By Nancy Aravecz Jefferson Market Library’s political discussion group, Current Events Café, has resumed its monthly meetings in the branch’s newly reopened space. The popular program, which meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 6:00 p.m., was on a brief hiatus during the library’s temporary closing this past spring. A part of the
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Seventy-Six Eighth Avenue Development Revealed
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, Architecture Editor The busy southeast corner of Eighth Avenue and West 14th Street will get a substantial improvement over the previous two-story “taxpayer.” Surprisingly, the 120-foot-tall structure has shrunk two floors and 7,000 square feet from earlier designs submitted by Gene Kaufman Architect, P.C. (GKA). Seventy-six Eighth Avenue, in this
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What is the 14th Street Fight Really All About?
By Arthur Z. Schwartz From screaming headlines to picketers chanting on West 12th Street, the real issues about the West 14th Street Busway Plan, and the fight against it, are quite simple. The first is a question of community input into City planning. Despite the vitriolic assertions that the fight against the 14th Street Busway
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View From My 91st Floor Window
By Karin Batten In 2001 I had just moved to the Westbeth artist housing community, in the West Village, two months prior to the 9/11 attack. On the day of 9/11 the primaries for mayor were going on. I had just changed my district in New York City so I was re-registering to vote. I
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Rebirth of a Jewel: Eero Saarinen’s Landmark TWA Terminal Has Been Restored as the Centerpiece of a New Hotel at JFK
By Eric Uhlfelder It’s not easy finding your way in. The AirTrain appears to let you off close. But it’s a long walk before you can figure your way into the Terminal’s iconic access tubes. Parking doesn’t get you any closer, unless you’re willing to walk down an inbound car ramp and cross access roads.
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“Wild West” Ad Culture on Facebook Targets Youth
IMAGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA POSTED BY THE SAN DIEGO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER, @mxdavidmx and @darrow81. In a first of its kind, Facebook has been co-opted to advertise a pharmaceutical drug. Like Russian influence on the U.S. election, the use of social media targeted at vulnerable populations raises important questions. By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D.
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AIDS Prophylactic Touted as Cure
By George Capsis One of the newest members of the WestView family is Kambiz Shekdar whose business card offers he is a Ph.D. and as such worked at the Rockefeller Institute on an invention which then evolved into the creation of the Research Foundation to Cure AIDS of which Kambiz is the President. His foundation
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Mia Says
Mia Says: The better you listen to a complaint the better you can answer it. Photo by Dusty Berke.
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Correction
I’m sure you’re aware of it by now but you were a full four (4) years off when you mentioned Lincoln’s assassination in “1861.” It was, of course, April 1865, at the start of Lincoln’s 2nd term. Sorry about poor Hamlin, too! Marc Wallace Yes, of course, you are right and I apologize to
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New Monthly Series in WestView
Dear Editors, A few years ago I received an email from a reader in response to an article I was researching for this paper. “I happened to see your request in WestView about work at the West Street location of Bell Labs during the Second World War,” he wrote. “Fortunately for you, I was a
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Friendly Ideas for Hudson River Park
Dear editors: The August article (Why) Build a Full-Size Field on Gansevoort Park? about the excellent public presentation July 24 of Hudson River Park’s plans for the Gansevoort Peninsula, noted that several key issues are yet unresolved. Since it may be several more weeks before we hear of the next stage of planning, I offer
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Bike Lanes
Interesting stuff in the August issue of WestView News. The letter from Bill Pullano on the bike lanes on 12th and 13th Streets was especially well informed and balanced. We need him as a writer for WestView. The simplistic DOT/MTA view on bus speeds instead of total trip duration and comfort ignores what travelers must
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Shakespeare and Company
I love Caroline Benveniste’s column. This is a question for her. What ever happened to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore that was supposed to open at 450 Sixth Avenue, in the old Jefferson Market space? —Christine Tralongo Christine, Thanks for writing to us. I was also wondering what had happened. I just called the
