Dear Readers of WestView News, I received three letters from our treasured readers regarding the poem “Code Blue.” I apologize to our community for offending and frightening some of you by publishing this poem. I am sorry to say that the poem slipped through the cracks three times, and was placed in the paper because
By Nancy Davidoff Kelton My father died in 1997 at age 88, yet he wakes me up some mornings and guides me through my days. On Father’s Day and every day, particularly now, I am grateful for his gifts which include: A sense of humor: It goes beyond tilting our heads upon seeing Aunt
By Lynn Pax “Get yourself grounded and you can navigate even the stormiest roads in peace.” Steve Goodier We live in a nature-deficient society. It is estimated that we spend 93 percent of our day indoors. We live far above the earth in high-rises, wear synthetic clothing and plastic-soled shoes, and we cover recreational areas with
By Russell Saray Our doorman opened our plywood-covered front door at 299 West 12th Street. The car service idled at 5:00 am. Low flying helicopters drowned out the chirping birds in Abingdon Square across from the building. The curfew prevented us from leaving any earlier. I worried we wouldn’t make the 6:45 am ferry to
By Kieran Loughney Isolation. Lockdown. Seclusion. Words now part of my daily conversation bring me back to a time when these terms had a different context. I return in my mind to a place where another invisible enemy was confronted. A place where there were strict limits on personal freedom and no assurance of a
By Dan Schlesinger The New York Amateur Computer Club holds free monthly meetings open to the public at NYU. Presentations cover computer technology and trends. Currently, during the coronavirus pandemic, NYACC meetings are online via Zoom. At the April NYACC meeting, ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor Dina Schlesinger interviewed Elizabeth, her online student
By Alec Pruchnicki The dramatic, and sometimes deadly, confrontations between civilians and the police reminded me that growing up in The Bronx we also had a set of rules of engagement when dealing with police. I came from a working-class area, Arthur Avenue. We had no particular love of the police, and they returned the
By Toby Bellin In 1985 I attended my first meeting as a supportive care volunteer at St. Vincent’s. The class of 24 was a very mixed group—a pre-med student, an actress, a writer, a lawyer, two nuns, a businesswoman, among others. The speaker at this first meeting was Marc, a classmate who had offered to
FDR-Style Program Urgently Needed to Address Looming Post-Covid Housing Crisis By Diane Sare, Candidate for U.S. Senate-NY 2022 The national news media is filled with stories about the extreme anxiety of renters and property owners wondering will happen when it is declared that the COVID-19 Pandemic has abated and there is no more forbearance on
By Hannah Reimann I spent two weeks in June on Vinalhaven Island, Maine. Reachable by ferryboat from Rockland, it has a year-round population of 1200. The only guideline for out-of-state visitors at that time was to quarantine for 14 days. I could walk on the shore or wilderness near our family cottage, alone. I complied
By Ariel Kates Each year, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we celebrated Village Apothecary as one of our outstanding awardees. In 1983, Michael Konnon—pharmacist, businessman, activist, and community
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP THEN:: #1: Robert Moses’ Westside (aka Lincoln) Highway construction was built from 1929-1937, when the Hudson River docks were bustling with maritime and commercial activity. Prior to the elevated expressway, this stretch was known as “Death Avenue” for the many injuries caused by the trains and trucks on
By Birgitte Philippides-Delaney and Chandra/Jo Sgammato The West 13th Street Alliance is grateful to continue serving our neighborhood and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic with Virtual Community Events in the month of July. Local residents, whether at home in New York, or far away, have enthusiastically participated in our events over Zoom during these past
By Anastasia Kaliabakos Mankind’s relationship with horses dates back millennia to when a horse’s ability to carry a human was first discovered. This use of horses has had a tremendous impact on their relationships with man on an individual level, and on humanity’s progress as a whole. Horses have been used throughout history as assistants
By Robert Heide The bigger than big book entitled simply Warhol by Blake Gopnik just published by Ecco, a Harper Collins imprint, is 39 pages short of 1,000, took over ten years to write, and is an astute comprehensive biographic study that is overflowing with practical, insightful information which focuses hard on the life and
Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke, Heidi Russell and Karilyn Prisco.
Mid-Lockdown New York’s Artists Take Back the Streets By Katie Cercone As Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the May 25th police murder of George Floyd flared across the nation, with blockbuster images of looted Targets and shattered storefronts in their wake, Soho’s luxury brand retailers rested assured their fortresses of status-symbol high price tag
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor A year ago in this column I told you about a stop-you-in-your-tracks dress by Engineered by Andrea T, based on a painting called Dominion Day by James Kerr. Recently when Andrea told me she was making couture face masks, I immediately asked her if she could make me one
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor It’s amazing to me how quickly New Yorkers adapt. Masks seemed so alien at first, and now we do our patented one-second glance to diss someone for not wearing one… As we enter Phase Two, masks are as essential as ever in high-traffic areas and situations where we can’t
By Roberta Curley How about those old bags? Plastic shopping bags that are supposedly banished. Supermarket baggers dole them out like life-preservers on the Titanic. New York City is drowning in plastic. Has the law prohibiting perilous plastic shopping bags been repealed? Why not resuscitate more plastic bottles into reusable carry bags? Pandemic or not—plastic
Executive Director, Charles Schleien By Hannah Reimann Our new West Village neighbors on Perry Street, Steve and Alexandra Cohen, have made many philanthropic efforts for their communities, especially towards healthcare including the Cohen COVID 19 Response Initiative, Cohen Lyme & Tick Borne Disease Initiative, plus numerous other programs including an arts initiative. They have been
By Christina Raccuia, MA. ED, LMSW During the three months of dealing with the coronavirus we have had a daily dose of fear, uncertainty, grief, and death—compounded by physical distancing/isolation and economic devastation. These conditions can trigger myriad emotions and it is understandable that most of us are feeling either stressed, anxious, sad and or
By John F. Early Many out-of-town visitors to the West Village, as well as locals, have seen the young man who usually sits on the sidewalk in front of the CVS on Sheridan Square. Tanned from homelessness rather than, sadly, the Hamptons, John is personable and charming nevertheless. He and I have been chatting for months. In
By Carol F. Yost On May 12, 2020, an op-ed appeared in the Daily News with the title, “Why I Slept on the Subways: They Were a Safer Refuge for the Homeless the Public Holds in Contempt.” It was written by Denis Dugan, who identifies himself as a homeless man. One paragraph reads: “With too
By Keith Michael It’s the afternoon of the longest day of the year: Saturday, June 20th, the summer solstice. With me safely typing at my computer, Millie has declared that she is off-duty: corgi-flat to the floor, eyes closed, ears back, nose to the corner. This is distinctly different than her various seemingly feng shui-inspired
THERE’VE BEEN SOME CHANGES MADE: SOME SAD – like the many, many West Villagers we’re losing SOME HAPPY – like the re-opening of the playground AND SOME … a mixed blessing perhaps?? All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
By Bruce Poli In 1978, Gilbert Baker—who called himself the Gay Betsy Ross—hand dyed the first LGBT Rainbow Flag to fly in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. He was rumored to have been inspired by Judy Garland’s Over the Rainbow, and the iconic symbol of the ‘nation’ of gay rights has had a
There’s Flash Dance. Dirty Dancing. And then there’s CoviDance. By Mia Berman Maybe I’m not as agile as Ginger Rogers. I admit it. I never partnered with Fred Astaire or Baryshnikov. And maybe I didn’t have the moves of Shakira. But what I did have was an idea. When the Covid pandemic hit, I began
By Jennifer Brozost Throughout this pandemic—this time of fear, uncertainty and frustration—I have been scared. Scared of what the future holds, scared of getting sick, and scared to leave my house to get groceries to feed my family. At the start of the shutdown I went to the supermarket and had a complete panic attack
By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Development in NYC takes a long time, and it may also have to weather Great Recessions. Such is the case for 90 Morton, aka 627 Greenwich Street, once an abandoned, eight-story printing warehouse. When architect and developer Peter Moore and KMG Partners paid $37.8 million for the site in
By Debra Camitta Imagine you changed careers and started a new business and then suddenly the World and New York City went on pause. Like many others, that is what happened to me. What didn’t go on pause was my great love for flowers and creating floral designs. My passion for flowers started when I
By Lynn Pacifico Until the birth of my sister when I was four, my family lived in a little two-bedroom house that was owned by a great aunt. My brother, a year younger than I, shared a bedroom with me, his crib across the room from mine. A special relationship formed between us there, a
By Isa Covo How do we measure time? 8+ minutes: On my treadmill, and I am not a champion runner, 5 minutes, I begin perspiring, 6 .5 my breath is a little labored, my pulse is faster, 8 minutes I am parched, 8.5 I have to stop and drink some water. 30 seconds: I start
New York City entered Phase 2 of its re-opening on Monday June 22nd. Among other things, during this phase, restaurants are allowed to offer outdoor dining. They did not have much time to prepare – the mayor only confirmed that outdoor dining would proceed on Friday, June 19th. Restaurants wishing to participate in the program
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. Since the first Gay Liberation marchers took their first steps in the West Village on June 28th, 1970, “Pride” has gone from a protest march to a glitter-filled sparkle parade. We are grateful for so much to celebrate, and are confident that re-focusing the energy of the annual NYC Pride parade
By Jesse Robert Lovejoy The last time this happened was 50 years ago. The president and the generals appeared on TV nightly, reporting scores of victories and overwhelming body counts. The media bought the story. Vietnamese villages were incinerated, and towns were carpet-bombed. Thousands of young Americans bled and died in the rice paddies. The
By Tom Lamia The small gathering of Mainers on an inlet facing the open Atlantic near me bears the name of a Civil War General of great fame. A Medal of Honor winner and mild-mannered professor, Joshua Chamberlain did as much to preserve the Union and define grace in victory as well as courage in
Erik Larson’s new book intimately explores Churchill and Britain during the Blitz By Eric Uhlfelder BOOK REVIEW: THE SPLENDID & THE VILE Eric Larson’s remarkable account of Winston Churchill’s first year as Britain’s Prime Minister when Germany unleashed the Luftwaffe against England in 1940 is a read to be savored. The Splendid and Vile, Larson’s
