Beth Israel Hospital Staying Open—What Should It Look Like?
By Arthur Z. Schwartz The fight to save Beth Israel Hospital—which has now been won—is about to enter a new phase: the decision about what […]
The Perils of Indifference
By Arthur Z. Schwartz I was born in the 1950s, part of a family tree which had escaped Czarist Russia even before World War I. […]
Thoughts About Racism, Our History in Greenwich Village, and the Tasks Ahead
By Arthur Z. Schwartz It now seems like a long, long time ago, but it was only last June, after the horrific murder of George […]
Being Black Isn’t a Crime
By Arthur Z. Schwartz It was almost Christmas Eve when I sat down to write my last WestView News piece for 2020. I have a […]
Vija Saved From the Government
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Vija Vetra, a Latvian dancer, is the oldest resident of Westbeth. She is 97 years old. Yet she still travels around […]
Our Neighbors At NYCHA – New Crisis With Paint
By Arthur Z. Schwartz October saw more revelations about the extent to which public housing residents, especially children were being exposed to lead. And what […]
Westbeth Super-Senior Scammed—Don’t Fall for Social Security Fraud
By Arthur Z. Schwartz A 97-year-old Westbeth resident (name withheld for privacy), who we will call Val, an active dancer who still performs internationally, got […]
Update: 14th Street Busway: Court Allows DOT Busway for Now. The Fight Isn’t Over.
By Arthur Z. Schwartz In what has become a fight between the rights of Village and Chelsea residents against a callous, uncaring City bureaucracy, an […]
Book Review: Crimes and Punishments: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge
Crimes and Punishments: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge By Frederic Block ABA Book Publishing, Chicago, 210 pages, $34.95 In U.S. District Judge and […]
Google Lease Opposite Pier 40 Big Loss for Our Community
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Folks who follow Pier 40 doings may remember a few years back when there was great noise and cheering for the […]
Polly’s Folly Will Be Adjudged This Month!
Disability Rights Lawsuit Against the MTA to Follow By Arthur Z. Schwartz I spent 24 years on Community Board 2. During those 24 years I […]
Captain O’Hare: PO Israel Torres Has Got to Leave the 6th Precinct!
By Arthur Z. Schwartz It isn’t often that I write about cases I lose, but this month I just must. During the third week of […]
Big Victory for All Tenants
By Arthur Z. Schwartz The plight of renters, both rent-regulated and non-regulated ones, has long been part of New York City lore—steep rent hikes, shoddy […]
DOT Finally Comes to the Table!
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Flash: After nearly a year of refusing to have face to face negotiations with the 14th Street Coalition, which has led […]
Why I Am Supporting Bernie—Again
By Arthur Z. Schwartz On a cold Saturday, the first weekend in March, I trekked out to Brooklyn College to attend Bernie Sanders’ announcement that […]
Adult Protective Services—Don’t Ignore Them
By Arthur Z. Schwartz Last month I wrote about a woman referred to my office by WestView who, besides being terrorized by her landlord, had […]
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 […]
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 […]