By Roger Paradiso Starting October 19th with THE LOST VILLAGE premiere at the legendary Cinema Village Theaters, we did community panel discussions after each screening. Sponsored by WestView News, we ended up doing 8 panels in that first week. But none was more memorable than the night Doris Deither came to visit. She has been
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City Council Announces Legal Action for Public Review of Two Bridges Proposal
By Brian J. Pape, AIA In the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side, on the East River just north of the Manhattan Bridge, JDS, Extell, CIM, L+M, and the Starrett Group are planning five new residential towers. The collection of towers will include over 3,000 units, with retail spreading across the base of
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A Sad Farewell to Beloved Cornelia Street Café
by Karen Rempel On January 1, 2019, hundreds of patrons and performers from every decade of the Cornelia Street Café’s 41 years of creative explosion gathered for a final burst of celebration and communion. Many took the stage on the final evening, including the luminary award-winning recording artist Suzanne Vega. She sang “Tom’s Diner,” which
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L Train—14th Street Project Update and Aftermath
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP After months of valiant and sustained efforts to save their neighborhoods from an ill-advised MTA/DOT scheme for an L Train shutdown planned to start April 2019, local citizens persuaded Governor Cuomo to seek a 3rd opinion from engineers. Engineers recommended alternate plans, which do not require full shut-downs. Since
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Jefferson Market Library Offers Environmental Justice Course
Mark your calendars and sign up for the new (free) Environmental Justice and Community Action course brought to you by Jefferson Market Library University Programs of the New York City Public Library. Registration opens to the public on January 29 at 10:00 am and closes on February 11 at 8:00 pm. Students may register online, in person
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IN AND OUT
January was a quiet month for openings and closings. One trend we observed was that a number of shops that opened in challenging locations closed just as quickly. Chelsea Market/Gansevoort Market Update Big Mozz took over the Very Fresh Noodles spot in Chelsea Market (Very Fresh Noodles moved in to the larger space vacated by
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Don’t Just Sit There, Resist – Part IX: Impeach, Indict, or Both?
By Alec Pruchnicki The road to impeachment is clear. A combination of public scandals, congressional investigations, and Mueller findings will result in a long list of potentially impeachable offenses; the House will impeach; and the Senate will either develop a backbone and decide on the evidence whether or not President Trump should be removed, or
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Mayor de Blasio Waves His Baton Over New York City
By J. Taylor Basker At Symphony Space, punctuated by cadences of applause, our Mayor revealed his new orchestration of the citizens of NYC. In his sixth State of the City speech, Bill de Blasio promised New Yorkers a better life. NYC should be a model for the rest of the country that is descending into
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The Nicest Jewel Thief Drops In…
By George Capsis Carol Yost sent an article from the Post about an international jewel thief who lived, until he was arrested on October 24th, in a “$10 million dollar townhouse on West 4th Street.” Wait—West 4th is just up the corner from 69 Charles; so I e-mail our photographer, Joel, to take a picture
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Then&Now: That Gay Street!
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP In the 17th Century Wouter van Twiller operated a brewery here before this tiny street was laid out in the early 19th Century. The first documented mention of Gay Street appeared in the Common Council minutes of April 23, 1827. Gay Street was widened in 1833. 1820s period houses
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Paving the West Village: A Historical Primer
By Tom Lamia Something odd is happening in the West Village and other long-neglected areas of our city. New life is coming into throwback street paving and its importance to economic development. After decades of neglect for the old technologies, urban street paving is becoming a hot topic among politicians and urban planners. Historic New
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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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Somebody Just Shot My Neighbor!
By George Capsis I got a call from one of my readers who has now become a friend, to say a murder had just taken place on Bedford Street and I had met the man who had been murdered. I had been sitting out last summer at a small table near the kitchen of a
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Why Do Google and Hi-Tech Firms Expand in the Lower Westside?
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP For those who have lived or worked in our area, the answer is obvious; we love the charm, character, mish-mosh of building styles and sizes, and the crazy streets, like nowhere else in the city. But are we loving it to death? Landmarked properties and districts help some areas,
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9/11 Tiles for America Memorial Gets Gallery Bus
The 9/11 Tiles for America finally has a home. Now we need your help to secure a permanent parking permit so we can make it official. On 9/10/2018, a white Bluebird Library bus pulled into a legal metered space on 7th Ave and Greenwich to greet the Father Mykal Judge walk and celebrate the return
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City Planning Rolls Out Information Sites Called ZAP and POP
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Attending a training seminar in December at the relocated and remodeled Department of City Planning (DCP) offices at 120 Broadway, the infamous Equitable Insurance Building, one gets a sense of history and how the city has changed over the years. The DCP is the source for much information about
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27 Christopher Street’s Private Makeover
By Ananth Sampathkumar, Partner NDNY Architecture + Design 27 Christopher Street has been home to some illustrious residents. The beautiful Neo-classical building was built in 1911. Designed by Joseph Duke Harrison for the Switzer Institute and Home, the structure was a Catholic school till the New York Foundling took it over and named it the
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Celebrating Installation of New Jane Street Garden Fence
Officials joined the Jane Street Block Association (JSBA) and West Village Committee (WVC) to celebrate the installation of a new garden fence made possible by a grant from Speaker Johnson. From left: (in blue jacket) Bill Castro, Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner; Brad Hoylman; Debra Glick; Gale Brewer; Corey Johnson; Susan Sipos of the WVC; behind
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City Council Supports Single-Payer Health Act
By Penny Mintz The changes in store for Beth Israel are temporarily on hold. Mt. Sinai is deferring its application to the Department of Health for a certificate of need, which the state must approve before the changes can be made. According to Arthur Schwartz, who is pursuing a lawsuit against Mt. Sinai and the
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Gourmet Garage Dies as Rent Hits One Million
By George Capsis A couple of people called me to say Gourmet Garage was closing—wow! Sure, I, who grew up in the Depression, found the prices larcenous, but the breads were good and if you didn’t want to travel up to Trader Joe’s—that was about it… And bang—when you read this they will be closed.
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Doctors and Diagnosis—Short an Operating Room
By Siggy Raible What follows is one reader’s very accurate portrait of a typical emergency situation. What seems to be left out in talking about the logistics of getting a patient from 13th Street to Lenox Hill is the pain and anxiety of the patient. I know because I had an identical experience. I had
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Jerusalem: No Winners
TAGS: POLITICS, NEWS, OPINION By J. Taylor Basker I have lived and worked in the Middle East since 2007, teaching at an American university in Amman, Jordan. I’ve made frequent trips across the River Jordan to visit Jerusalem, relatives in Israel and friends in Palestine. The first time I entered Israel I was shocked to
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A 70 Year Old Sock Dies
By George Capsis I have black socks in my top dresser drawer that have more holes than sock, no kidding. But let’s start at the beginning—70 years ago in high school—when, each lunchtime, I sat with a small group of quiet friends. One of our group, Steve, listened more than he spoke. But what I found
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How to Talk to the City
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP WestView News receives letters from readers who ask how they can get through to city agencies to try to correct problems. One example is from Abel Montez who wrote, “As I explained, what is outrageous is that now the NYC Parks Department is claiming jurisdiction over that area where
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ALERT—CB2 Hearing
Habitat for Humanity will present revised plans for senior housing and a garden on the Elizabeth Street public land designated for senior housing. December 5 at 6:30 pm • PS 130, 143 Baxter Street
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550 Washington May Get Googled
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP As we reported in last month’s issue, 550 Washington Street is quickly moving forward after years of trial and error. And a prediction by Dean Shapiro, Oxford’s vice president of real estate, appears to be coming true: Hudson Square (as the neighborhood is called) is attracting an “educated, technically
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Selling Christmas Trees in Manhattan
By Joey Fortune Like the tides, some things in life are predictable yet unstoppable. Days never cease, while seasons follow seasons with impeccable reliance. As humans, we’ve adapted to this and in our hubris, created our own events to show the universe that we are also in command. We have given birth to holidays. Yes,
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My Grandfather, A Doctor in the Early 20th Century
By Jane Heil Usyk How would you like to be able to phone your doctor and get someone real on the other end, your doctor or his/her nurse, and make an appointment for a few days in the future without having to wait interminably for recorded messages not intended for you, and numerous irrelevant instructions? How
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On Saving Our Hospitals
By Penny Mintz In September, I reported that State Senator Hoylman and State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein had met in August with members of the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel (“CCSBI”). Hoylman and Epstein promised to take two affirmative actions to help make the process of review of hospital closures more transparent and responsive
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L Train Shutdown and Beth Israel Closure Litigation Proceeds
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Almost as though related by fate, two community-based lawsuits addressed to attacks on the fundamental livability of our community proceed in parallel through the Court system. Both cases involve a fundamental decision by government to largely ignore the needs of our community and proceed while giving “lip-service” to the concept of
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Marcus Welby is Dead
By Alec Pruchnicki, MD During the 1970s when Marcus Welby, M.D. was on TV, I seldom watched it. But, the image of Welby as the kindly, dedicated family doctor we were all familiar with, was well known. This image persists in our memories whether it’s a retired doctor or doctor’s daughter (see WestView September 2018
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“I Have What?” A Toxic Diagnosis
By A. I. Freeman At this year’s annual physical, the doctor entered the examination room with a grim expression. He said, “Tests confirm you have the onset of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” I was shaken. “My gosh, I have T.D.S.! How serious is it?” He replied, “Only Stage One. I’ll share a patient’s history: He was a retired Navy SEAL, a burly rugby prop with Stage Three T.D.S. After taping
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Don’t Just Sit There, Resist—Part VII: Elections Have Consequences
By Alec Pruchnicki The wheels of justice are slow to move, but when they do they grind exceedingly small. —popular axiom. The people of the country have done our part, for now, and produced a Democratic House of Representatives. Many of the congressional investigations of the Trump administration that have been undermined, if not completely
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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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Teddy Capsis Wraps Up Brilliant College Career
College of Holy Cross Senior Teddy Capsis earns All-Patriot League honors for the second time in his career, after previously being a second team selection in 2017. He started all 11 games for the Crusaders at defensive end this season, totaling a team-best six quarterback sacks for 30 yards and 15 tackles for loss for 56
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Glyphosate in Greenwich Village?
By Robert Klein Jr. Glyphosate is used more than any other herbicide in the world, thanks to Monsanto (now Bayer), and it has been detected by laboratory testing in the urine of nine out of ten Americans. It has even been found in breast milk at concentrations much higher than the legally allowed limit for
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What to Expect When You are Renovating
By Ananth Robert Sampathkumar, Partner—NDNY Architecture + Design Your first renovation project can either be a wonderful adventure, an expensive endeavor or a slow burn through hell. Preparing yourself before taking on such a task can save time, money and even reverse the accelerated aging process that construction projects tend to inflict. Here are a
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New York Tradition: Celebrating the Holidays in Washington Square with Tree Lighting and Song
Celebrate your favorite winter holiday—be it a Pagan Winter Solstice rite, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or Christmas—at December in Washington Square, when The Washington Square Association offers two chances to sing yuletide carols in downtown’s historic park. The Association provides the annual 45-foot Christmas tree just south of the Arch that will be lit for the season
