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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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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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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Mia Says
As an old dog I cannot always hear your love, but I can feel it. Photo by Dusty Berke.
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Fallen heroes Remembered
SQUAD 18 SALUTES at the time the first tower fell on 9/11. The FDNY broadcasts across their intercom for all of the firehouses on duty to salute at the times the towers fell.
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Sounds of the Great Religions
The Cathedral choir of the Greek Orthodox Church recreated their outstanding concert from Carnegie Hall at St. Veronica, lead by Archbishop Demetrios standing next to WestView publisher George Capsis and Father Santiago Rubio, who has invited this concert series to the shuttered church.
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Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns
West Village Images by Joel Gordon It is believed that the custom of making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween began in Ireland, and was named after the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs. It has also been suggested that the jack-o-lanterns originally represented Christian souls in purgatory, as Halloween is the eve of All Saints’ Day. “The Legend
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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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9-11 Tiles Gains Gallery
Unique Mobile Gallery: The commemorative tiles created shortly after 9-11 and displayed at the juncture of Greenwich and 7th Avenue gained a mobile gallery with over 2000 tiles. The gallery is seeking volunteer guides and memorabilia. Please call or e-mail Dusty Berke—info@tilesforamerica.org, 917-601-7137.
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USPS Stamp
September was all Westbeth all the time! The United States Postal Service unveiled the latest commemorative stamp in their Music Icons series on September 7th. The stamp features a photograph of John Lennon taken by rock n’ roll photographer and Westbeth resident Bob Gruen. Other residents fondly recalled days gone by when it wasn’t out of
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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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Hudson River Park Gets a Much-Needed Facelift
CONSTRUCTION AT PIER 45/CHRISTOPHER STREET
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West Village Images by Joel Gordon – Jefferson Market Garden Flowers
Tucked away in the shadow of the Jefferson Market Library, from April to October, this beautiful, well-kept garden oasis is open to the public. Situated on a triangular city block, this 0.4-acre garden has been under the care of community volunteers since its inception in 1974. From 1931 to 1973 the Women’s House of Detention
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West Village Images by Joel Gordon: Jefferson Market Library
OUR VILLAGE BEAUTY: For the last ten years I have been photographing the nuances of light during seasons, time of day and weather changes. As a photographer I feel the parts are greater than the whole; the beauty of the individual close-up of images of the Victorian Gothic architectural style of the Jefferson Market Library
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Cobblestone Repairs
The extensive cobblestone repairs on West 12th Street, between 8th Avenue and West 4th Street, took an evening respite on October 20, 2017. Anyone living in or traveling through the West Village has no doubt seen this pipe replacement work in progress on many streets for several months. The cobblestones will return to their proper
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Selected, Trained, and Motivated to Vanquish the Opposition
Teddy Capsis (Number 91) lunges onto the field for one of his best games of the new season on September 9, 2017. Teddy ended the game against Bucknell with one sack, one forced fumble, and one quarterback hurry, helping Holy Cross to snag a 20-0 win. The photo above is featured on the current Holy
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Remembering and Trying to Sustain the Church of St. Veronica
On July 23, 2017, the last mass was held at the Church of St. Veronica (149 Christopher Street, between Greenwich and Washington Streets). The church was built in the 1890s and completed in 1903 by Irish longshoremen and platform workers who labored on the nearby docks. The Gothic Revival church was built with an unusual
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Maggie B’s Quick Clicks
Weekends in the Chic West Village While the local IN crowd was OUT—at beaches and ball games, wherever—those of us left behind enjoyed the low-key charms around the corner. For instance…
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GOTTLIEB ON CHARLES
The billion-dollar Gottlieb real estate empire, legally wrested by nephew Neil Bender, may see this seven-story condo block on Charles and Hudson Streets. In August, it was turned down by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. In the rendering above, the building is shown with the new Charles Street Block Association planters but not with the
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UGLY INSPIRES BEAUTY
In an effort to prevent police officers from parking their private cars in front of the Bomb Squad on Charles Street, the New York Police Department offered large, ugly concrete blocks. This inspired WestView Publisher George Capsis to ask the paper’s Architecture Editor, Brian J. Pape, to design a planter cover, which was generously sponsored
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Happy Birthday, Ruth Berk!
Longtime Village resident Ruth Berk celebrated a glorious 94th birthday, Greek style, at Nisi Restaurant on Bleecker Street. Her guardian, Arthur Schwartz, threw the bash, which was attended by WestView’s own George Capsis, who brought Berk a silver double-heart necklace. She has been through a lot these past few years, as neighbors will recall, so
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Alien Skills
This conscientious scavenger of Asian ancestry gathers deposit bounty by using a bamboo pole over her shoulder.
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Yes, Labor Day HAS Arrived!
D’Agostino resident artist offers imaginative Labor Day window display evoking Roosevelt-era labor posters.
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Temporary Closing of Gourmet Garage
Gourmet Garage, located at 117 7th Avenue South (between West 10th and Christopher Streets), has announced a mid-August temporary closing. The building owner needs to install columns to reinforce the building in order to add additional floors for new residential apartments. (The accompanying rendering illustrates the design proposal by Cruzen Samton Architects.) The New York
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Civility Amidst PRIDE Celebration
On PRIDE Sunday, June 25th, amidst the very popular Annual PRIDE Block Party—which extends from Abingdon Park to 14th Street—a fire broke out. The weather was perfection and the festive, rainbow-attired crowd was in a great mood. The streets were jammed with revelers—a few obviously inebriated. Suddenly, a whiff of smoke blew by as sirens
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Remembering Victims of the Pulse Tragedy
Forty-nine people and the perpetrator, Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, were killed with an assault rifle one year ago at the Pulse gay bar and disco in Orlando, Florida in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. On June 12th, 50 people in white gathered on Christopher Street to mark the anniversary—an event organized by Gays
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World Refugee Day Finds New Meaning
On a recent June afternoon, the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, located on 5th Avenue, between West 11th and West 12th Streets, invited passersby onto its shaded lawn for a celebration of World Refugee Day. With live world music and free food from Eat Offbeat, the event commemorated the contributions and
