By Pago Habitans * I was sitting in Washington Square one evening when a string of skateboarders whizzed by. They were mostly young people, but at the tail end was an unlikely older figure doing his best to keep up with the pack. It was, of course, my elusive friend Brother Ben. He recognized me,
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Lifetalk With Roberta Russell: Basking in the Sunshine of Love
By Roberta Russell I am always on the lookout for others who want to join me in the ongoing endeavor of embracing the rigors of arriving and staying at the right weight and enjoying a healthy lifestyle. It is easy to find people who want to lose weight, but very hard to find those who
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A Walk in the Park
By Keith Michael It’s Tuesday evening after work and the temperature has passed that imprecise degree which brings out the throngs to indulge in the warmth of the sunset. Accompanied by a lively band of Crows cawing overhead, I too have marched to Hudson River Park for the same reason and to see what birds
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo As the year started, we were hopeful it would be a better one than the two that preceded it. There were still many mourning the deaths of relatives and friends, and there were still COVID patients, but thanks to the vaccines, and the government mandates regarding masks and obligatory vaccination for most
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Then&Now: NYU’s Main Building Washington Square
By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Then: The University of the City of New York was incorporated in 1831 as a nondenominational modern university, supported by private donations. The University Building, shown above, was constructed in 1832-35 as the first and only original building for the campus, at the entire Washington Square East blockfront between
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LOCAL STREETSCAPES: 95 Morton Block
By Brian J Pape, AIA Built for manufacturing and warehousing ca.1911, this building dominates the full block of Washington Street, and sports a roof terrace with unobstructed Hudson River views for now. 95 Morton Street is the main lobby address for the office uses in this 220,000 SF, fully leased building. Capital Real Estate Ltd.
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Notes from Away—A Golden Opportunity
By Tom Lamia Oh the fighting that is going on in the trenches of party politics as the midterm elections approach. Both the House and the Senate are on the tipping point of losing (or gaining) a majority of members who would join together to deny the minority a voice in running the country. Whether
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LOCAL STREETSCAPES: St. Luke’s School
By Brian J Pape, AIA Are you thinking that you just read about the St. Luke’s school completing their expansion work, and now we’re seeing more construction work? You are right. In 2020, St. Luke’s School did complete their classroom expansion, adding a couple of floors above the existing two-floor structure, which in the photo,
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LETTERS May 2022
A Complicated Assignment Editors: Thanks to F. Quinn for keeping Wash. Sq. Park in the news (A Complicated Assignment, April issue); but it’s really not that complicated. Salary of NYC Parks Dept. Deputy Director is $80K+. Average annual salary for Park Enforcement Patrol person is $40K. Our tax $$ “at work”?? Obviously not. There
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Spring Dumplings
By Keith Michael It’s the one-year anniversary of Millie’s sudden departure from the West Village. For those of you who might be novices to my articles, Millie was my corgi confidant-in-birding since 2012, a grumpy sidekick through more than 100 of my WestView avian ramblings. Irascible was my favorite adjective conjured to soften the edges
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Then&Now: Fleischmann & Co. Headquarters
By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP THEN: The Fleischmann family, owners of Fleischmann & Co., producers of America’s first distilled gin and commercial yeast, had purchased property within the Historic District Extension, at the southeast corner of Washington and Perry Streets, in 1883-84. Charles Louis Fleischmann (1834-1897) and his brother, Maximilian (1846-1890), were Jewish immigrants
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LETTERS
Washington Square Park Skateboarders Cry Foul as Police Begin Crackdown Dear Editors: Having read Sophia Astor’s piece, “Washington Square Park Skateboarders Cry Foul as Police Begin to Crackdown,” I was disappointed that the police are choosing to enforce a “no skating rule” in the park. I’ve been regularly going to the park most afternoons, as
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LOCAL STREETSCAPES: 775 Washington St. and W. 12th St.
This former two-story parking garage and commercial structure, ca. 1924, at 775 Washington Street aka 371 West 12th Street, is undergoing major alterations that eliminate the truck ramps, and give it new layouts for a three-family luxury redevelopment. The property site is 21,170 square feet, and includes 21,170 square feet of unused development rights. Its
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IN AND OUT
This month saw a strong French presence arriving in our area. A beloved pharmacy closed, but many new businesses are planning a spring opening. I made it to two new eateries on the day they opened, and at one of them, my companion and I were the first customers, arriving, I’m embarrassed to say, about
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Joan’s Shanghai
By Joan Klyhn Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s and ’40s of the 20th century. I am primarily writing it for myself, extending it to my friends, and now to the many people who have shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. Internment, by Phyllis Jack
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Notes From Away: Direct Democracy II
By Tom Lamia “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” As I mulled over what tack I might take in again addressing the institution of direct democracy (see Notes From Away: Let the People Decide, February 2022), the quoted words came to me from somewhere in my past. The
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LETTERS
Will More Bus Lanes Solve Traffic Problems? The polemic, Will More Bus Lanes Solve Traffic Problems For New York City? (New York Times, February 12, 2022) misses the point of why seniors like me ride buses. It has nothing to do with bus speed, but with trip time, comfort and convenience. Trip time is determined
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LOCAL STREETSCAPES: 76 8th Ave. at 14th St.
From the outside, this could be seen as another luxury condo project, since the large square picture windows are a favorite trend in luxury developments around the city. One Jackson Square is in fact the high-end apartment house abutting this development to the south (right) of this development, and they lost the use of some
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Joan’s Shanghai
By Joan Klyhn Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s and ’40s of the 20th century. I am primarily writing it for myself, extending it to my friends, and now to the many people who have shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. War Time: Joan’s story
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Notes From Away: Let the People Decide
By Tom Lamia Worried about partisanship deadlocking the legislative process? Looking for a way to confront Trumpism with kryptonite? Say no more. In the finest of American traditions, when all roads to political action are firmly closed by a unified group allied around a single idea, single interest or single individual and no amount of
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LETTERS: February 2022
We Need a Hospital! Dear George, Good to see you’re still fighting the good fight. I refer, of course, to your front-page article in January’s WestView News … “Our Kids Need A Hospital.” I have been hemming and hawing about the need for a hospital to serve Greenwich Village, the West Village and points south
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Style on the Street Meets “Style on the Stoop”
YULIYA RICKY HOPE MCKENZIE STEPHANIE SARA KATIE ANDREW Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco.
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
A Happy Surprise….. Our stretch of Bleecker Street looking more truly festive than it has in many a moon. Photos by Maggie Berkvist.
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A View from the Kitchen
By Isa Covo What season is this? I shall tell you in case you have not noticed, it is COVID-19 season. That is almost all we talk about: what variant is more prevalent, which one is more contagious, which is more deadly, are vaccines effective since there are breakthrough infections? And on and on. Well,
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IN AND OUT
While there was a healthy number of openings, and no permanent closings we are aware of, December saw many restaurants close temporarily due to rising COVID cases in the city. Some were short staffed due to COVID, and others closed after exposures to customers who later developed COVID symptoms. Some restaurants planned re-openings after the
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Joan’s Shanghai
By Joan Klyhn Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s and ’40s of the 20th century. I am primarily writing it for myself, extending it to my friends, and now to the many people who have shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. The Chit Book System
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Then&Now: Village Community School
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Then: Looking west along West 10th Street, the original Village Community School (VCS) at 272 West 10th Street, between Greenwich Street and Washington Street, and its previous expansion to the west, occupies the entire block front, including the playground space at the near corner. VCS is a private
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Bird of the Year 2021
By Keith Michael It’s a wrap on 2021 and time for the 16th Annual West Village Bird of the Year Awards: The Millies! After the virtual 2020 Zoom ceremony, we are thrilled to be back in person at the traditional LIVE location on this selfie-ready corner of West 4th and West 12th Streets where my
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Weekly Livestream with Civic and Community Leaders
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. Days before his 94th birthday on December 20, 2021, WestView News publisher George Capsis was my first guest on a new weekly meet & greet interview series simulcast on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn. As a community leader for much of his almost 100 years on earth to date, George has many
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Notes From Away: Travel Troubles
By Tom Lamia In my life so far I have done a lot of traveling and a lot of relocating. None of it troubled me as I enjoyed it for the color and variety it brought to my life. In the present moment, however, travel of any amount gives me the jitters. To be completely
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George as Mentor
Dear George, WestView readers know how fortunate we have been all these years to be the readers for George Capsis, editor, whose passion has been to run a newspaper…but they may not know about your talent and generosity as a mentor. In 2013 I wrote a thank you letter to you about how your advice
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Style on the Street: Getting “RED”Y for the Holidays!
ANITA JOHN GILMAN & ROBERT HEIDE SANTA’S ‘LIL HELPER LILI MR. SNOWMAN SAM Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco.
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Maggie B’s Quick Click
HEIGH-HO, HEIGH-HO, IT’S OFF TO PLAY WE GO—at the Bank Street playground. Photo by Maggie Berkvist.
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A View From the Kitchen
By Isa Covo No question, winter is upon us here in New York. The little huts which are the extension of restaurants, even when equipped with heaters, do not seem that appealing for a night out with friends. It is best to stay home and watch a movie, read a book, and brush up on
