By Hannah Reimann WestView News was very fortunate to have Shen, a Chinese intern, on board with our team last Summer. Since his return to China in September, Shen and I have corresponded. I received the information below from him via email last night. We hadn’t communicated since before the pandemic broke out and I
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Wiggins In Love
By Michael Astor Guy Wiggins remembers the song that he and his wife Dorothy first danced to. It was Frank Sinatra’s “You Make Me Feel So Young.” “Nobody dances anymore. Back then, any time of the day, you just put on a record and danced. And that’s how you began to make love—one move led
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Music in the Time of Corona
By Hannah Reimann ShiZ’ka at St. John’s in the Village ShiZ’ka, a gifted and expressive pianist from Japan, performed a concert of varied periods and styles at St. John’s in the Village on Saturday, March 20th. The concert’s coinciding almost exactly with the closing of all non-essential businesses, places of worship, performance venues and other
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How High Can 200 Amsterdam Go?
By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Many WestView readers have commented on the Clarkson Towers project as being much too big, and impossibly tall, when all other developments along West Street have been limited to 16 to 18 stories. Is there any way to contest this intrusion? On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, something
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A Washington Square Journey
The Arch Up Ahead By Nancy Davidoff Kelton In 1960, on my third New York trip from Buffalo, I went to Washington Square Park to see beatniks. My parents’ excitement explaining their unconventional clothing, values, and Greenwich Village homes aroused mine. “See that arch up ahead,” my father said, ten blocks away on the bus.
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Village Icon Vincent Livelli Turns 100
By John Livelli One of the West Village’s most storied residents—author, raconteur and world traveler Vincent Livelli, hits the century mark on April 9. Still youthful and active, Livelli is a respected expert on Latin music, and was long a professional salsero himself. His sense of adventure has taken him around world as a pioneer
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How the Coronavirus is Affecting Local Businesses
By Anthony Paradiso The Coronavirus has had a profoundly bad impact on local businesses everywhere, but especially in New York City, which has the most cases of any major city in the country. Many Bleecker street shops have either been closed or remained open in a limited capacity. Some have not had a customer walk
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The Big Shutdown on Broadway
By Robert Heide Just before the fear of the spread of the coronavirus shut down all 41 of the Broadway theatres in New York on March 12, I attended a preview performance of Girl From the North Country, written and directed by the Irish playwright Conor McPherson, which incorporated the music and lyrics of
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Ghost Hospital to Rise from the Dead?
By Penny Mintz Beth Israel is warehousing 600 commissioned hospital beds that can quickly be brought into use to treat COVID-19 victims. Right now, Beth Israel is a ghost hospital. It is dead but not buried, and it is still haunting Mount Sinai. On Saturday, March 21, 2020, a Mount Sinai spokesperson informed
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To Depend on Blood
By Maria Hadjidemetriou It is challenging enough to go through this pandemic when you are healthy, to keep positive throughout the day while working from home, homeschooling your children, hearing the devastating new death toll and finding that balance. Now imagine going through this pandemic and you are an individual that depends on blood transfusions
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Judy Richheimer, 70, past president of Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, Dies of COVID-19
With great sadness, we announce that Judith Lauren Richheimer died this morning. Judy was a longstanding member of Chelsea Refort Democratic Club (CRDC), ten-term executive vice president, program maven and twice president of the club. She was inquisitive, challenging, erudite, a champion of the reform tradition and a fierce advocate for a wide range
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Union Square Market
A Gathering Place for Health and Community at a Time of Uncertainty, Alive and Well By Hannah Reimann Like our beloved Village stores, Lifethyme Health Food Mart, Health and Harmony and Elm Wellness, The Union Square Greenmarket is treasured by those looking for organic and high-quality products and produce at this uncertain time. Cooking at
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Restaurants Reel and Rally in New York’s West Village: The Final Night and the Day After
By Karen Rempel Two days ago, on Monday, March 16, Notify NYC announced that “Starting tonight at 8 PM all movie theaters, small theaters, nightclubs, and commercial gyms will close until further notice. All restaurants, bars and cafes will be limited to takeout or delivery services only.” Sign up for this free NYC service which provides to-the-minute alerts on
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Charles Busch—The Confession of Lily Dare
By Robert Heide The melodrama play by the prolific writer, actor, director, novelist and super-drag performer and cabaret star Charles Busch produced by the production group known as Primary Stages entitled The Confession of Lily Dare stars Busch in the title role as Lily Dare. Primary Stages has presented many new interesting plays at the
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Who Is William Sydney Porter?
By Richard Eric Weigle Do you know Who William Sydney Porter is? Well, if you do not, you are not alone. Maybe some of you know him simply by the name O’Henry. He is the author of hundreds of short stories usually with an ironic twist or a surprise ending. The Ransom of Red Chief,
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Free Hatha Yoga for the Mind, Body and Soul
By Marithelma Costa People say that New York is not the best city for growing old. Baja California and Florida have better weather; México’s San Miguel de Allende is much cheaper; Madrid offers huge discounts at concerts, plays, museums, and films; and Paris is always Paris. Nevertheless what can be true for most of the
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Super Hero IV: Hiss…Boo
By Robert Kroll Winter is winding down. The flush of leaf buds is emerging. We’ve survived the cranking, clanking pipes of the cold season—many of us shivering, others of us living in sauna-like hells of our own (or our steam boiler’s) making. When taking over the reins as superintendent of our Brooklyn brownstone cooperative in
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Chelsea Piers Fitness is More Than a Health Club
By Anthony Paradiso Chelsea Piers is a great gym located on West 20th Street at Hudson River Park in Chelsea. There are five different sports venues at Chelsea Piers including Sky Rink, a Field House, the Golf Club driving-range, Bowlmor, and Chelsea Piers Fitness—the largest of those facilities. The general manager of Chelsea Piers Fitness—Chelsea
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Love Me Hug Me, an Alzheimer’s Themed Pop-Up Exhibition
By Hannah Reimann 139 Wooster Street New York, NY 10012 Between Houston and Prince Streets Walking up Wooster Street a few weeks ago I happened to notice Love Me Hug Me, an Alzheimer’s-themed pop-up exhibition. I was my dad’s caregiver when he lost his memory and I’m aware that there are over five million people
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West Village Original: Stephen Hall
By Michael D. Minichiello This month’s West Village Original is painter Stephen Hall, born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1954. A resident of Westbeth, Hall has exhibited throughout the U.S., India, Japan, Korea, and Mexico. His work is part of numerous corporate and private collections and has been featured in major motion pictures, music videos, and
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New York Transit Museum: Buried Treasures?
By Brian J. Pape, AIA After having visited the two New York Transit Museum galleries of rotating exhibits and retail stores in Manhattan, where the Grand Central Terminal store has free admission, as does the store at 2 Broadway at Bowling Green, I was excited to hear about a new vintage photography exhibit. But Streetscapes
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Bachelor & Bachelorette Auction to Cure AIDS
By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. On Valentine’s Day weekend, Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA) held its first “Love Labs” Bachelor and Bachelorette Auctions at Henrietta Hudson and Club Cumming—lesbian and gay bars, one in the West Village and one in the East Village. Why a dating game to help cure AIDS? The leading edge of
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PHHPC Imposes Conditions on Beth Israel Closure
By Penny Mintz On Thursday, February 6th, 2020, the full Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) met to vote on the recommendation of its Establishment and Project Review Committee. On January 23th, 2020 the Establishment Committee had voted to conditionally approve Mount Sinai’s application for a Certificate of Need that would enable Mount Sinai
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Yes Virginia, You Can Legally Go to Cuba!
By Philip Levine The good news is that last year new laws regarding US travel to Cuba went into effect. It is still 100% legal for Americans to travel to Cuba under the new guidelines. Americans can visit Cuba on tours with family or friends if they are arranged by a U.S. based tour operator—which describes my
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Sixth Precinct Community Council
By Frank Quinn Village residents are invited to 6th Precinct Community Council meetings on the last Wednesday of each month. Meetings begin with a report from Deputy Inspector Robert O’Hare, followed by a speakers list and Q&A. There’s a distinctly local vibe at the meetings, where police refer to offenders by first name, and you
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Classical Music Concerts in the Village
Concerts for Seniors, Students & Everyone By Gordon Gilbert The Strathmere Ensemble St. John’s in the Village Saturday, January 18, 2020 What a pleasant surprise to learn about the abundance of music being presented each month at St. John’s in the Village! This January, there are about two dozen events scheduled in the church itself
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Everything You Need to Know About Japanese Woodworking
By Robert Kroll You can always tell when you’re in the presence of a Japanese woodworker: They usually have ten fingers. They have ten toes. (This woodworker has nine toes, but that’s another story.) But their hands and feet show the inevitable effects of their efforts to turn wood into comfortable furniture: cuts, scrapes, abrasions,
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Senator Sherrod Brown Comes to the Village
Through his new book, Brown urges progressive nationwide reforms By Eric Uhlfelder At the funeral of New York Senator Robert Kennedy in June of 1968 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, his brother Ted tearfully struggled to recall his slain brother as a man “who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to
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Reverse Deportation of Jean: Here’s How
By Donna Schaper Ever Feel like you can’t do anything good? You can. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Send this article to Virginia from the Village you Love. Jean Montrevil was deported, abruptly, picked up outside his home, while heading to work on January 16, 2018. He had been detained before, ten years
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Uno, the One Who Stole Our Hearts
By Leslie Adatto Remember Uno, the irresistible 15-inch tall beagle with long, floppy ears and the jaunty gait, who took the Westminster dog show by storm in 2008? He howled at the judge and charmed the massive Madison Square Garden crowd, before being crowned the country’s top dog and winning Best in Show. Uno continued
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What is Integral Yoga?
By Chandra/Jo Sgammato Are you a New Yorker or even a yoga practitioner with that question? When you pass the Integral Yoga Institute, which has been at 227 West 13th Street for almost 50 years, do you ever wonder? What exactly IS Integral Yoga? Integral Yoga is a complete system to transform your life. Yes,
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The W Hotel Sign: A Hazard to Humans and Fish
By J. Taylor Basker In 2005 the Applied Development Company and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide began construction on a new W Hotel in Hoboken, along the city’s southern waterfront on the Hudson River facing Manhattan. Designed by the architectural firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, it was only the fourth hotel in the country
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No to Wall, Yes to Bridge
By Barry Benepe In a gracious retreat from a misguided proposal to build a 20-foot high concrete wall enclosing a parking garage over the railway tracks against the High Line alongside the Western Yards below 33rd Street, Related Companies has returned to their earlier proposal to grade the lawn down to the edge of the
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Back-Tracking at Hudson Yards
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Stephen Ross, founder and chairman of The Related Companies, has been doing some back-tracking lately at Related’s Hudson Yards, the largest new development in the United States and the city since the Rockefeller Center development in Midtown during the Great Depression. After Community Board 4 got a preliminary presentation recently
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Your immediate action is needed to save Beth Israel
I have written to you in the past about PHHPC, the state board that advises the Department of Health on plans to enlarge or diminish hospitals. Well, the state board is meeting this Thursday, January 23rd, to consider Mount Sinai’s plans for closing the current Beth Israel and replacing it with a much smaller, new
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Breaking News: Governor Cuomo Vetoed 8-Story Building on Pier 40
As WestView was about to go to press on December 31, Governor Cuomo vetoed the legislation which would have allowed an 8 story plus office building to be built on Pier 40. In his veto message he highlighted the need for green space in Manhattan. My threat to sue over the structure was carried broadly
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Greenwich House Announces New Chief Executive Officer
By Andrea Newman Greenwich House’s Board Chair Jan-Willem van den Dorpel has announced that Darren S. Bloch, has been named Chief Executive Officer, beginning January 2020. Speaking on behalf of the board, Mr. van den Dorpel expressed, “We are looking forward to Darren Bloch leading Greenwich House as we continue to build on a legacy
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Clarkson Towers Promises Affordable and Senior Units
By Brian J. Pape, AIA Patient visits doctor and asks, “How am I doing?” Doc: “I have good news and bad news.” Patient: “What’s the good news?” Doc: “Your knee surgery went very well.” Patient: “Yeah. What’s the bad news?” Doc: “You have lung cancer.” We have good news and bad news about the new
