By Penny Mintz Beth Israel Members of the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel met at Assemblyman Harvey Epstein’s office on February 7, 2019, to discuss the newest development in the ongoing Beth Israel saga. As an active member of PALM (Progressive Action of Lower Manhattan), Harvey Epstein had been instrumental in the creation of
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Brooklyn Hero of the Poor Now Speaks for All
By George Capsis Oh wow! Jumaane Williams won as Public Advocate and we interviewed him a few weeks ago as he sat in “my reading the New York Times chair” in our kitchen conference room at 69 Charles Street. We did not exactly endorse him as attorney Arthur Schwartz did, but asked him questions mostly
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Welcome Jumaane Williams!
By Arthur Z. Schwartz As we go to press, Jumaane Williams, of Brooklyn, is being installed as the City’s fourth Public Advocate. Besides chairing City Council meetings, the Public Advocate has rather undefined powers—but largely, it is the position of public ombudsman. Jumaane is an activist, a fighter, and an effective legislator (53 bills passed
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14th Street Busway. No? Maybe?
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Sometimes government drives all of us crazy. Even as someone who plays a role in government, and often finds himself in court suing the government, I find myself scratching my head. Late in 2017, our community was told, as part of the planned L Train shutdown, that 14h Street was going
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Weed Greed
By Stanley Wlodyka “What’s up man—you smoke?” When asked if his menu contained items besides marijuana, he offered, “I might be able to get some coke.” But that was an afterthought, and not part of his usual wares. A wide smile, every third tooth a golden one, communicated that this fella, though certainly up to
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The Motivation for Political Paintings
By Phil Levine When I turned 40 years old (34 years ago) and living in Denver, I had this conversation with myself. “Philip, you think you’ve been given the gifts of music and art but you haven’t yet opened those gifts.” From that day on I committed myself to doing just that and began taking
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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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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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Depressed About Trump? Go on Jury Duty
By J. Taylor Basker I received the dreaded letter demanding that I show up for grand jury duty right after the New Year. I had misplaced my response to their questionnaire that probably would have disqualified me, so I received a jury duty notice. I could have gotten out of it, but since it was
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It’s My Turn
By James Lincoln Collier In the recent rather rambling chase for the presidency, there seemed to be a good deal of feeling abroad that it was Hillary’s turn. Bill had had his innings, and despite a small misstep—if that’s the appropriate term—came out of it pretty well. The Bushes believed that it was Jeb’s turn—it
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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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Judge Block for Dinner
By George Capsis Some months ago, Nelly—the former chef and owner of the rent-rendered Lima’s Choice restaurant—asked us to host a dinner for Judge Frederic Block because of our larger eating area. But before we bought the lobsters, she’d found another location for the event where, unfortunately, there was not enough room for Dusty and me.
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Can Words Repair a Broken City?
By George Capsis Attorney Arthur Schwartz sent me an e-mail offering an interview with Jumaane Williams who is running, along with 22 others, for the post of Public Advocate. With election day fast approaching (Tuesday February 26th), I ask Arthur “does he have a chance,” and Arthur replied back “sure, he is number one.” Public Advocate is a
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Why I Am Voting for Jumaane Williams on February 26th
By Arthur Schwartz To date, the fact that on February 26 the voters of NYC will get to vote for the person first in line to succeed the Mayor hasn’t broken through most people’s consciousness. In fact, on Tuesday February 26th NYC voters get to go to the polls to choose a replacement for Tish
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Corey asks Subway Riders to Fund Race to Mayor
I’m writing to share some exciting news: I am thinking about running for Mayor of New York City. It’s a big decision, I know, but I love this City and am committed to making it a better place for all. As much as I love New York, we are capable of so much more. And
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Letter to Assemblymembers
Dear Assembly Speaker Carl B. Heastie and Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried, I am glad to learn that reproductive rights bills have passed. However, I’m very surprised to learn something about the reproductive rights legislation I had never imagined—namely that it covers abortion only within 24 weeks, and only for fetal nonviability or serious risk to
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An Open Letter To Speaker Johnson
As we have argued since the first announcement of the L Train tunnel repair plans, thanks to innovative, out of the box thinking by Governor Cuomo and his team of experts, there is a much more intelligent method for the Canarsie Tunnel repairs that keeps the L train running and that does not disrupt the
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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Seeks to Eliminate Serious Conflicts of Interest
By Carol Yost In an article on Friday, January 11th, published in collaboration with the nonprofit journalism publication ProPublica, the New York Times reported that the nonprofit Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, after being dogged by scandal, is officially taking steps to eliminate possible conflicts of interest. Earlier reports by the Times and ProPublica had generated
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Seniors in Our City Can Have Scary Choices to Make
By Arthur Z. Schwartz In mid-December I got a worried phone call from George Capsis. An older woman (who I will call Fran for purposes of this article) had found her way to George’s apartment, holding a clipping from WestView about another older woman who George had referred to me with a landlord problem. She
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Notes From Away: War Story
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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If Only God Had Money
By George Capsis Carol Yost, who scans the news with a mesh grid, sent me a Daily News article of November 26 that offered that tenants and developers “stand together” to push for changes in the rent law that will protect the safeguards in the original law of some 80 years ago. Hmm. Well, I do not
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City Council Proposes 18 Tenant Protection Regulations
By Carol Yost At long last, with a new Democratic majority in Albany, chances are better than ever to break the stranglehold the greedy landlords have held on our city. By hook AND by crook, saying they’re only trying to make an honest buck, they’ve managed to get laws that allow them to eliminate rent-regulated
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Don’t Just Sit There, Resist—Part VIII: The Trump Effect
For each action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. —Newton’s third law. By Alec Pruchnicki After the Electoral College put President Trump in the White House, it appeared that he had invigorated the Republican Party. Mainline Republicans were cowed by his political followers into being spineless enablers of his policies at the
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Jerusalem: No Winners
Hello George, I just want to thank you and WestView for publishing the article “Jerusalem: No Winners.” This article presents a viewpoint that most Americans will not see in the mainstream press. And that is one that suggests that there is an appalling, ongoing and illegal situation in Gaza of which many Israelis and most
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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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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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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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“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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The Story Emerges
By Tom Lamia Life everywhere has resembled a bad novel these past two years. Bad, but with all the ingredients needed for commercial appeal: good guys, bad guys and all shades of characters in between; intrigue worthy of Hitchcock; foreign malevolence on the scale of Peter Lorre; cryptic influences sure to be made known but
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Why I Am Voting for Cynthia Nixon (Not Deborah Glick) For State Assembly
Glick Has Not Earned Your Vote. Nixon Represents Change. Think About It! By Jim Fouratt In the September issue of Westview, I wrote that Cynthia Nixon, if she did not win her primary against Andrew Cuomo, would be a perfect candidate to run on the Working Families ballot for NY State Assembly opposing 28 year
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Cynthia Nixon for Assembly? Time for A Change
By Arthur Z. Schwartz There was not a single Assembly District in the State of New York where Cynthia Nixon did better against Andrew Cuomo in the September 13th Democratic Primary than our 66th Assembly District. Yes, our bastion of progressivism gave her 57.5% of the vote against a man who spent over $20 million
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Squirrel Hill: It Could Have Been Greenwich Village
By Arthur Z. Schwartz I have struggled throughout my adult life with the question of the Jewish religion, and the “proper” parameters of a Jewish identity. With a name like Arthur Schwartz, I will never get far from those ancestors who escaped the Russian Czar and arrived in the Jewish diaspora of NYC. I was
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Gentleman Jerrold: Our Fierce Warrior in the House
By Catherine Revland The NRA is Twitterpated over Congressman Jerrold Nadler. “To say it bluntly,” warns #AmmoLand, “the man would be a nightmare for Second Amendment supporters if the Democrats take control of the House.” Aside from being the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, with jurisdiction over the Department of Justice, the FBI,
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Indian Summer
By Tom Lamia As I write, in mid-October, I am feeling moderately pleased at having finished the bulk of my annual fall list of chores. The boat has been returned to its winter quarters in Newcastle, ten miles up the Damariscotta River. The son and grandson of its builder will look after it while the
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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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Don’t Just Sit There, Resist-Part VI: What’s Next?
By Alec Pruchnicki Get it through your heads. They’re dusting off the hot seat for me! Lee J. Cobb as Johnny Friendly in On the Waterfront. The panic that President Trump is exhibiting as his minions flip on him (Flynn, Cohen, Manafort and others) reminds me of the fictional corrupt union official at the end
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Why You Didn’t See Penny Mintz on the Ballot
By Penny Mintz If you are one of the 1,900 people, during those brutally hot days at the end of June and the beginning of July, who signed a petition to get me—Penny Mintz—on the ballot as candidate for Member of the Democratic Party State Committee, you may have noticed that my name did not
