By Tom Lamia I write on the day of the memorial service for George H.W. Bush. Today and during the preceding four days, many have spoken privately and publicly of the remarkable character of Bush 41. A connection between his character and the effect of his service in World War II has been noted as
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Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies That Matter
Best in Film 2018 I spent a lot of time watching movies this year, just as I did in the streets protesting! I see my role as a critic as sharing with you those creative works which made me feel human, helped me identify with the feelings of others and inspired me to have hope.
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
TO ALL MY FELLOW ‘CREATURES OF HABIT’: MAY YOU, AND ALL THE READERS OF WVN, HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR—maggie b All photos by Maggie Berkvist, with the exception of photo bottom right credit: Laurence Edelman.
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Bird of the Year 2018
By Keith Michael As the National Audubon Society wraps up this Year of the Bird 2018—bringing international attention to the plight of countless bird species and the effects of climate change for us all—it is time, once again, here in the West Village, to celebrate our local ecosystem with the 13th Annual Bird of the
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IN AND OUT
Open Top Openings: Encore 1 Little West 12th Street (between Gansevoort Street and Ninth Avenue) When I spoke to Harold Moore a few months ago about his just-opened French spot Bistro Pierre Lapin, he explained that French food had fallen from favor in New York but that recently it was making a comeback, following the
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Caruso’s Quips
By Charles Caruso Sex is undignified. Often the people in our fondest memories don’t even remember the event. Booze tastes good and it makes us feel good. What more do you want? When we’re children the priests tell us we have souls. When we’re students the professors tell us we have intellects.When we’re old, the
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Tech Tips & Tricks
By Hank Kee Topic of the Month: Why All the Robocalls? Because they’re cheap! You can now call anywhere in the 50 states 24/7. If you’re getting more robocalls now you’re not alone. The reason for the proliferation is that technology has made it cheap. The sheer number of people that scammers can reach makes
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Caruso’s Quips
By Charles Caruso Too much is just right. Christmas lights: Signals of love and loneliness. The moon is useless. At least the sun warms us and lights things up. The moon doesn’t want to get involved. It just floats around up there aimlessly and then suddenly disappears. Some people are linguini, others are rigatoni. We
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IN AND OUT
Correction: in the October In & Out, we reported that Toosh, a shoe store at Bleecker Street (east of 7th Avenue South) was closing. We hear from the owner that it is not, and a further check reveals that it is very much open. We apologize for the error. High rents and real estate taxes
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Holiday Decorations in the West Village
West Village Images by Joel Gordon Other examples can be found on my website www.joelgordon.com. Photo credit © Joel Gordon 2018—All rights reserved.
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Tech Tips & Tricks
By Hank Kee Topic of the Month: Shopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping days of the year, and they officially kick off holiday shopping online. Before buying anything online, there are two tools you should use to make sure you’re getting a good deal. www.camelcamelcamel.com is an Amazon product price tracker. It
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Goodnight Irene, I’ll See You in My Dreams
The Death of Maria Irene Fornes, Genius Greenwich Village Playwright—1930-2018 By John Gilman Maria Irene Fornes, known to her friends and peers as just Irene Fornes, was unpretentious and fun loving, but at heart a serious playwright. For many years Irene lived in a loft-sized apartment filled with books stacked to the ceiling as well
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Not “The Duck”
By Keith Michael I throw a (small) handful of kibble across the floor. Millie takes up her cue to hit the boards for her famed “corgi kibble dance.” The Prelude: Two rapid spins. Act I: Pick up only one kibble, toss it in the air, pursue (into a far corner if necessary). Act II: Methodically
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West Village Original: Jenny Tango
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is artist Jenny Tango, born Florence Exler in Brooklyn in 1926. A visual artist working collaboratively and individually in painting, communications media, artist’s books and comic strips, Tango received both a BA and MA from Brooklyn College. A former educator with a list of both solo
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Then & Now: Bleecker Playground Park
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Pick any public park, and it has a story to reveal about what it once was, and how it came to be a parkland in a densely built metropolis. In this ‘bird’s-eye’ rooftop view, Hudson Street heads straight south from the Meat Market district, with Bank Street intersecting in
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Tech Tips & Tricks
By Hank Kee Topic of the Month: Do You Know Who Has Your Personal Data? Besides Facebook and Google, do you know who has your data? What are they doing with that data? Have you heard of Google Timeline? What is Google Timeline? I recently received an email from Google Timeline. Google has information on
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IN AND OUT
Correction: in the September In & Out, we reported that Ghandi Café (283 Bleecker Street east of 7th Avenue South) appeared to have closed. Not so! We apologize for the misinformation. The big news this month was that the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) had a hearing at City Hall on October 22. The
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Ready to Eat
By Caroline Benveniste The retail activity on Hudson Street waxes and wanes with the seasons. Sometimes many of the restaurants and shops on one block close en masse (like Bespoke Kitchen, Tavo and La Maison Supreme), and other times improbably fancy stores open on a formerly bleak block (Günter Seeger, Sherri B and Martial
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First Class
By Keith Michael I feed my first of the month stamped envelopes of bills into the big blue mouth of the mail box on the corner and, of course, jiggle its jaw (as my mother taught me) to be sure that my envelopes haven’t gotten stuck in its craw. Yes, I still pay bills with
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Notes from Away: Judicial Notice
By Tom Lamia Like you, perhaps, I spent time recently watching the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I have views on this sort of thing that are deeply associated with my past life as a lawyer. I went to Harvard Law School, graduating in the mid-1960s, a classmate and friend of Stephen
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Then&Now: The Greenwich Village Theater
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Greenwich Village and the area of Sheridan Square was a popular tourist destination during the 1910s and 1920s, helped by the development of the West Side subway line in 1918. The Greenwich Village Theatre was originally built for the Greenwich Village Players, who, like the Washington Square Players, were amateur
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Mia Says
Mia Says: It is easier to hate than to love, making love more precious and longer lasting. Photo by Dusty Berke.
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Tech Tips & Tricks
By Peter Rooney Topic of the month: Safety There are many scams online, but perhaps the most insidious is the “Scareware” scam: “Your computer has been infected, but we can help.” How it works: A window pops up about a legitimate-sounding antivirus software program like “Security Tool,” and alerts you that your machine has been infected
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IN AND OUT
Retail may be struggling, but some brands have decided that the way forward is to improve customer experience, and one approach is to add food and drinks to the mix. Another trendlet we continue to observe is the proliferation of Asian restaurant openings in the Village. The item that received the most press this month
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Yes, Virginia…
By Keith Michael …there is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. How do I know this? Because I’m looking at one right now “doing its sapsucker thing” on the trunk of a ginkgo tree at the end of my block. But I can’t “prove” that I’m seeing one, because every time I raise my camera to try to
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Caruso’s Quips
By Charles Caruso Thought on 9/11 – Politics plus religion equals blood. There’s a little click in the air when early afternoon turns late. The first letter of the Times logo looks like Trump in profile. On a rainy day it’s OK to curse the TV weatherman. An apartment is not a home. A house
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
THE FAMILY NEIGHBORHOOD, where everyone has either pets or kids—and sometimes both! All photos by Maggie Berkvist.
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Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies That Matter
OCTOBER 2018 October is New York Film Festival month. The festival has just begun as you read this. As soon as director Kent Jones announced this year’s programming a collective sigh of relief was heard from critics and NYC film lovers all over town. This year NYFF turns away from premiering major Hollywood studio releases
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In and out
August was a surprisingly busy month—and since I was away for a couple of weeks I was particularly grateful to WestView readers for their observations. There were two major cocktail bar openings, a couple of restaurants, and the first shop to open in one of the properties that Brookfield purchased on Bleecker Street. Chelsea Market
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West Village Original: Carmen Grange
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is Dr. Carmen Grange, born in 1922 in Colón, Panama, to Jamaican parents working in the Canal Zone. Grange studied pre-med at Trinity College in Dublin and returned to the U.S. to do her residency, eventually opening a practice on West 13th Street. A resident of
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Tech Tips & Tricks
By Peter Rooney Welcome to a monthly column to help you turn your computer into a friend, brought to you by one of the oldest computer clubs in the world—right here in the West Village. We are the New York Amateur Computer Club, http://www.nyacc.org. Each month we’ll explore a technical topic, and attempt to answer
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Caruso’s Quips
By Charles Caruso The man in the seat gets the heat, the fame or the blame. ___ Dogs are not as stupid as cats think. ___ In these mass shootings, pity the gunman too. Think of the hell the poor devil went through before he cracked. ___ Geography is history. ___ New sex site: Orgasm.com
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Then & Now: Ninth Avenue Meatpacking District
By Brian J. Pape, AIA THEN: On May 4, 1927, Hudson Street, in this view looking south from West 14th Street, shows the Herring Lock and Safe Company Building on the right (c.1849; northern third, c.1854-60). It was a five-story “Flatiron-type” factory, built in “Vernacular/Neo-Grec” style for Col. Herring, which is still virtually intact. The
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Jim Fouratt’s HAVE YOU HEARD!
SEPTEMBER 2018 VOTE AS IF YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT! If you are a registered Democrat in New York it is important to vote in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2018. I also know that most people in the City ignore the primaries. I know from personal experience. When I replaced Arthur Schwartz who
