The Voice of the West Village WestView News VOLUME 16, NUMBER 3 MARCH 2020 $1.00 Erik Bottcher Declares Candidacy To Succeed Corey Johnson By George Capsis dollar you raise—wow, I forgot that. But Erik standing a very good chance of be- Erik Bottcher, currently the chief of staff hey, if you are in the city council you can ing not only our local city councilman to City Council Speaker Corey Johnson pass any law that all the other members but providing if not an open door then at (member for the 3rd district—which en- like; and certainly, they all liked the idea the least an open crack to the next mayor. compasses Greenwich Village and Soho), of $8.00 for every $1.00 your relatives or Wow again. just announced that he is running to re- friends give you (hey, maybe we will get Right now, Erik’s only announced op- place Corey, who will, hopefully, move on some political ads!). position candidate is Marni Halsa, a to become our next mayor. Wow. But here we are, a small 15-year-old strikingly healthy young woman who is I asked Erik, “Why announce so soon?” community newspaper still glowing with very opposed to the demolition of two of “SERVING THE PEOPLE OF COUNCIL since the election is more than a year off, our victory of getting Northwell Hospi- the buildings at Fulton Houses (a public DISTRICT 3 these past five years has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” said and he quickly explained that his opposi- tal to build an emergency heart operating housing complex that starts at West 16th Bottcher. “I’m excited by the opportunity to tion had announced months ago because room that can save heart attack victims in Street and 9th Avenue). The plan is that continue this work—and take it to the next the city gives you $8.00 for every election minutes, with our always-smiling friend continued on page 2 level.” Photo courtesy of Erik Bottcher. To Guarantee the Future You Have to Buy It Penn South: An Experiment years ago for as little as $7,500. A recent in Affordable Living purchase of a two-bedroom apartment for $149,995 reflects the huge increases in real By Bennett Kremen with Roger Paradiso estate taxes but is still far below market rate. We also pay “rent,” which, in a co-op, is Thirty years ago, my wife put us on a long called a maintenance charge. An average waiting list and paid a $200 fee for a chance studio’s maintenance charge here is $430- to buy a $25,000 two-bedroom co-op apart- $658 a month, for a one-bedroom apart- ment in Penn South, located in Chelsea in ment it’s $552-$899, and for two bedrooms New York City. “Two hundred dollars!” I it’s $830-$1,160. For those whose income is grumbled. “Who the hell ever wins one of above $96,564 there is a sliding scale main- those things?” Well, ten years ago—I blush tenance charge that cannot be more than to say—that’s exactly what happened for 200 percent above what is currently charged. us. And now I’m one of the luckiest people On May 19th, 1962 Penn South had in town, blessed to live in Penn South—a a grand opening attended by none other complex of fifteen 21-story buildings be- than President John F. Kennedy, Eleanor tween Eighth and Ninth Avenues, between Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller, and, most West 23rd and West 29th Streets, housing importantly, David Dubinsky, president of some five thousand residents. the International Ladies Garment Workers The Penn South complex is wide, well-lit, Union. It was the members of that union well-maintained, peaceful, and surrounded alone, through their weekly dues over years, by trees and shrubs and friendly people quite that ultimately got together the millions of satisfied with where they’re living. People I dollars needed to construct these well-made $200 A MONTH AND PARK VIEWS: for a $25,000 one time payment, an apartment in Penn South is perhaps the best apartment buy in the city. Photo by Roger Paradiso. know bought a one-bedroom apartment continued on page 5

Cuba Travel West Village At the Whitney Americans can now visit The Vida Americana Mexican Cuba on tours if they are Original Muralists Remake American Art arranged by a U.S. based exhibit is equivalent to walking tour operator Stephen Hall into a time warp

SEE PAGE 4 SEE PAGE 9 SEE PAGE 26 2 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org WestView WestViews Published by WestView, Inc. by and for the residents of the West Village. Correspondence, Commentary, Corrections

Publisher Executive Editor Cath Lab Matters shocked, stunned and appalled a few months You had answered that you favored a George Capsis Congratulations George. You have worked ago to look out my window one night to see two-state solution, which is really not an- Art Director long and hard for this. I am one long time these glaring LED lights strung up and down swering the question; besides, the Palestin- Kim Plosia West Village resident who is grateful for all the newest luxury high rise in Jersey City (The ians have hardly any land left for a state. Advertising Manager and Designer you do to make living here more comfort- Eclipse by Lefrak). A serious eyesore to any- I favor one state with equality for all, and Stephanie Phelan able and friendly. one looking across the river from the Village I know many others agree with me. But Traffic Manager PS I am a subscriber. or Chelsea. I have written to Corey Johnson first, Israel has to stop wantonly murdering Liza Whiting ­—Ruthanne Gereghty (getting only a form response), left messages Palestinians, including small children, and Photo Editor at Lefrak and even filed a complaint with the grabbing their land for settlements limited Darielle Smolian Thank you Ruthann. Your words of support Jersey City Department of Buildings. I am to Jews only. You said nothing about that. sure I am not the only one disturbed by this Photographers makes us realize again that we are a collective You then abruptly segued into a speech Maggie Berkvist voice for our West Village readers. light pollution so I am hoping that someone about antisemitism, which is a serious Chris Manis —George can do something about it. problem but has NOTHING to do with —Walter Boxer Associate Editors what I asked about. Criticism of Israel has Justin Matthews, Anne Olshansky NOTHING to do with antisemitism, al- I’ve Seen The Light Open Letter to though ever so many politicians have made Comptroller evil and sneaky insinuations that it does. Jolanta Meckauskaite And It Ain’t Pretty Representative Carolyn Maloney I want you to come clean on this, Carolyn Architecture Editor I wrote the Letter to the Editor, below, that Maloney. You have done many good things, Brian Pape you published in the February 2017 issue. Dear Representative Maloney, but you can’t cover up the criminal actions Fashion Editor Your February 2020 issue has a long article I sat in the front row, just to the left of cen- of Israel, or the complicity of our country Karen Rempel on page 8 about the hazard caused by the ter facing you, when you spoke at a recent with them. The US pours billions of dol- Film and Media Editor lights of the W Hotel sign across the river meeting of the Village Independent Demo- lars into the Israeli war machine, so that it Jim Fouratt in Hoboken. Something must be done to crats in order to secure the group’s endorse- can fight—whom? The helpless Palestinian stop this unnecessary light pollution af- ment of your campaign for re-election. people who have every right to live on their Food Editor own land. This is their homeland, Repre- David Porat fecting us in the far West Village. Afterwards you took my hand warmly and said you liked my long necklace of chil- sentative Maloney. As long as you do not Music and Eldercare Editor My apartment faces the towering buildings dren’s tiny wooden toy animals from India. oppose this, you are complicit. You have Hannah Reimann across the river in Jersey City. While I can But I had asked you a question about how washed your hands in innocent blood. Regular Contributors mostly only see their higher floors and not you saw Israel-Palestine. I forget my exact —Carol F. Yost J. Taylor Basker, Barry Benepe, the river itself, the views of the open sky and words but I referred to the vicious treat- 212 West 16th Street, Apt. 1-E Caroline Benveniste, Charles Caruso, sunsets are important to us West Siders. I was ment of Palestinians by Israel. New York, N Y 10011-6194 Jim Fouratt, John Gilman, Mark. M. Green, Robert Heide, Thomas Lamia, Keith Michael, Michael D. Minichiello, Penny Mintz, Brian J. Pape, Joy Pape, Bruce Poli, Alec Pruchnicki, Christina Raccuia, Hannah Reimann, Karen Rempel, Catherine Bottcher continued from page 1 row of once identical townhouses all built more and better maintained public hous- Revland, Martica Sawin, Donna Schaper, new buildings, when completed, will of- in 1866, where the real estate taxes vary ing, but I don’t know that if you just ar- Arthur Z. Schwartz, Stanley Wlodyka fer 70 percent of the nice new gleaming from over $51,000 to $100,000—with rived in New York after graduating from a We endeavor to publish all letters received, apartments to market rate tenants and 30 the richest owner paying the lowest tax. college in Kansas the City will rent you an including those with which we disagree. percent will be reserved for those who can Some years ago the city created a com- apartment in public housing. The opinions put forth by contributors to WestView do not necessarily reflect the only pay the much lower public housing mittee to look into this type of sprawling We have, perhaps, half a million or more views of the publisher or editor. NYCHA rates. fiscal injustice but it evidently proved to elderly New Yorkers that are trapped in WestView welcomes your correspondence, This 70-30 share is a proposal that was be too complicated; I don’t know if the rent-stabilized apartments. Some can no comments, and corrections: conceived by the Obama administra- committee still meets. But—and here longer make the stairs and need 24-hour www.westviewnews.org tion, but Marni Halsa believes that pub- is the thing about having a friend who care, but they are not getting it. Two years Contact Us lic housing should only be for people who needs your help to get elected to the ago we proposed a new kind of apartment (212) 924-5718 cannot, and perhaps will never be able to, city council—I can ask Erik right now, building—Senior Share—with apart- [email protected] afford anything approaching market rate “Would you please create a fair, equitable ments divided at the kitchen and bath, rents (we have come to know them as and transparent means of assessing and with one side for the senior and the other NYCHA tenants). She also believes that collecting real estate tax?” for the two kids just out of college who rich New Yorkers should be taxed to pay OK, the big thing right now is hous- help the senior to the doctor visits, do the for public housing. ing—apartments are outrageously ex- shopping, and make the morning coffee; But wait, here we are, just about the pensive. A friend, after three years of and in return for these services they enjoy last old fashioned for-real newspaper in searching, was delighted to find and rent an affordable rent. Our architecture edi- Greenwich Village, and our always-smil- a two-room apartment in a well-kept tor, Brian Pape, did a rendering of such an ing friend Erik Bottcher is running for city and ideally located century-old tenement apartment on one of our front pages and council; and when you run for office you building for $1,925 a month with a bro- within minutes we got our first call from a have to say what kind of legislation you kerage fee of $3,495. But her private WC senior, “I’ll take one.” are going to campaign for, what problems was on the first floor in a public hallway. OK Erik, build the first senior share you are going to correct, and how you are There was a time when you got out of apartment building in America. going to make this community better. (I school and went to the Village and found So, readers of WestView: sit down and forgot to ask him for his platform and after one or two roommates, rented an apart- key what sort of legislation or action you I hung up, still elated, I found myself writ- ment and began your life. No more —even want your new city councilman to perform ing one for him.) Brooklyn is too expensive. and we will print the best in our next issue. MIA SAYS: Lavish compliments are the most effective weapon. Photo by Dusty Berke. Right here on Charles Street we have a Erik’s opposition, Marni Halsa, is for You know what you ought to do, Erik. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 3 Sixth Precinct The Other Side of Bail Reform By Philip Yee examine these offenses. One aide tried to lecture me on how misinformed of the par- Community Council Recently, legislation was passed to make it ticulars of the law I was, and assured me easier for you to stay out of jail while waiting that violent felons do not qualify for auto- for trial if you could not make bail. Here, a matic release under bail reform. The teeth retired sergeant of 33 years of service with the being knocked out is a misdemeanor. NYPD speaks about the intended results. There are negotiations taking place re- garding reworking bail reform law in Al- Bail reform is not working, as several high- bany. The mayor acknowledges that bail profile assaults by released individuals have reform has led to an increase in crime. The occurred in the neighborhood. I understand Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance what the law was meant to accomplish— Jr. stated that his office is overwhelmed young and financially disadvantaged people with cases. would not have to sit in jail until trial or ad- The bail reform law needs to be adjusted; judication of their cases. However, serial as- recidivist misdemeanor assault defendants saulters with mental health issues have been should not be released automatically, for released and have shortened the timeline starters. The impact on the criminal justice between their assaults. system should be considered. On January 8th, 2020, Eugene Webb, a The state officials that we perfunctorily VILLAGE RESIDENTS ARE INVITED TO 6TH PRECINCT MEETINGS: Brad Hoylman, man in his 20s, punched, and later kicked, vote for seem to want to expose their con- NY State Senator (left) and Eliza Orlins, NYC Public Defender, The Legal Aide Society. Photo by Frank Quinn. a woman in the back of her head at Varick stituents to more opportunities to be vic- and Houston Streets. The woman had two timized by crimes. I don’t want to go back By Frank Quinn clients often plead guilty just to avoid jail. teeth knocked out. Later that day Webb to the ‘80s and ‘90s crime-wise. I’m in my That description contrasts with the case attacked another woman near Grand Cen- late 50s and can’t recover from a punch as Village residents are invited to 6th Precinct of Anthony Manson, recently arrested in tral Station. Two days later Webb was ar- well as I was able to in my 20s or 30s. Se- Community Council meetings on the last Greenwich Village. Records show he’s been rested for aggressive panhandling. He was rial assaulters usually victimize people who Wednesday of each month. Meetings be- arrested 75 times since 1991, with two released on each charge as per bail reform. don’t fight back—woman, the elderly, and gin with a report from Deputy Inspector stints in prison. Two days before Christmas I urged our state representative’s office to immigrants. Robert O’Hare, followed by a speakers list Manson was busted for three burglaries he and Q&A. There’s a distinctly local vibe at allegedly committed in Brooklyn but was the meetings, where police refer to offend- released on Christmas Day due to the new ers by first name, and you may hear some- law. He was arrested on January 3rd in two thing intimate about an otherwise imper- more break-ins. Prosecutors sought to have sonal situation. him held on $15,000 bail during his Janu- After attending regularly for about a year, ary 4th arraignment but he was freed on su- this writer was disappointed by the gener- pervised release. According to court papers, ally low attendance. But 2020 began with early on January 15th Manson was found a well-attended meeting reviewing New inside Center Stage Optique at 45 Seventh York’s bail reform law. Many residents be- Avenue, where he had smashed the door, came aware of this new law late in 2019 with a suitcase filled with $3,995 worth of when judges began implementing it, but sunglasses and a rock. “And he hit me again it’s been discussed at 6th Precinct meetings when we got him again,” said Commander since last spring when it was signed. Back O’Hare. Manson was arraigned the next day then polls showed that 55 percent of New but released again without bail. Yorkers supported it, but a recent poll indi- While people had strong views on both cates 59 percent are now opposed. sides, there was a productive and respectful Law enforcement professionals argue that discussion at the council meeting. Com- the reforms decrease public safety because mander O’Hare reported that the 6th judges no longer have discretion to keep Precinct was one of only two precincts in violent and repeat offenders off the streets. Manhattan South below 59th Street that But advocates say cash bail unfairly incar- had a decrease in burglaries and robberies cerates poor people accused of crimes when in 2019. But, unfortunately, “we’re trending those with money can buy their freedom. the wrong way” according to Commander Eliza Orlins, a NYC public defender and O’Hare, as those numbers are rising in the local resident, spoke about how her clients first months of 2020. feel they’re presumed guilty when accused of a crime because they can’t afford cash bail. To receive email about future 6th Precinct She described how a three-day stay in jail can meetings, send your info to 6thpctcommu- lead to the destabilization of a person’s life— [email protected] (note: this is only to they can lose their apartment or their job, or receive information—there are no replies to a single parent might lose their child. These questions).

IF THIS PAPER MAKES YOU THINK We will print your thoughts in the next issue Send your letter to [email protected] • 69 Charles Street • New York NY 10014 4 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Yes Virginia, You Can PHHPC Imposes Legally Go to Cuba! 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 Commit- tee had voted to conditionally approve Mount Sinai’s application for a Certifi- cate of Need that would enable Mount Sinai to build a 70-bed facility to replace the 650-bed Beth Israel Hospital build- DR. HOWARD BERLINER explaining why he ing on First Avenue and East 16th Street. was going to vote in opposition to Mount However, three conditions were imposed Sinai’s application for a certificate of need on that conditional approval. from the Department of Health, which is The first condition requires Mount Si- required before Mount Sinai can build the nai to submit a plan that would help pa- 70-bed replacement facility and then sell tients navigate the evolving Mount Sinai the 650-bed Beth Israel Hospital to the health system. This plan must be accept- highest bidder. Dr. Berliner has written and CARS FROM THE 1950’s in Havana today. able to the Department of Health and lectured widely about public health and must be provided to the department within health regulation. He is a Professor of Health Policy and Management and Chair company, 1WorldArtTravel, has been op- 90 days of PHHPC’s approval letter. Sec- By Philip Levine of the Department of Health Policy and erating tours for over 25 years. I’ve brought ond, no later than 90 days before the new Management at SUNY Downstate Health The good news is that last year new laws hundreds of Americans to Cuba every year 70-bed facility opens, Mount Sinai must Sciences University. regarding US travel to Cuba went into ef- since 2013, including members of the Art provide the Department of Health with a fect. It is still 100% legal for Americans to Students League of New York, the National comprehensive transition plan, including travel to Cuba under the new guidelines. Association of Women Artists, and others. a communications plan, that is acceptable in size is not enough to make up for the lack Americans can visit Cuba on tours with Tour highlights include the following: vis- to the DOH. Third, within 18 months of of acute-care beds in that area.” He added family or friends if they are arranged by a its and talks at studios of famous artists in PHHPC’s approval letter, Mount Sinai that it is great to have primary care clinics U.S. based tour operator—which describes a country where artists are allowed free ex- must submit documentation of its explora- and other practice plans, but “those don’t op- my company 1WorldArtTravel. I will ac- pression; museum exhibits (both contem- tion of the possibility of opening a birthing erate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Dr. company you, lodge with you, help arrange porary and traditional); private tours of center. The documentation must include a Berliner finds that Mount Sinai’s ER plans air travel, coordinate travel visas, obtain universities and special landmarks of cul- business feasibility study, potential site lo- for Lower Manhattan are “just scary.” the general class license we need, and cre- tural and historic significance; meetings cations, review of quality and safety con- Finally, Dr. Berliner does not believe ate the itineraries required by the Treasury with ceramic artists and tobacco manufac- cerns, and consideration of birthing center that the addition of a birthing center is a Department. turers (where you get to see the full process governance models. sufficient resolution of the problem of ac- Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba of creating the finest cigars in the world). Two members of PHHPC opposed the cess to maternity care that was created in under the conditions of 11 different cat- There is no limit to how many cigars (or application. One, Dr. Howard Berliner, who Lower Manhattan when Mount Sinai egories that reflect the activities travelers how much rum) you can bring home. is a professor at SUNY Downstate Medical closed the highly successful maternity unit will engage in while in Cuba. The category We will also visit: Las Terrazas, an eco- Center and chair of that hospital’s Health at Beth Israel. my company selects is “Support for the community declared a biosphere reserve by Policy and Management Council, voiced Chairperson Kraut instructed the PHH- Cuban People.” I have a custom-designed the United Nations; Organoponico Vivero three serious concerns about Mount Sinai’s PC members that their determination group tour for New Yorkers ready to go in Alamar, a huge organic farm within the application. First, Dr. Berliner pointed out must be based on three criteria: whether a January 2021. A private university-trained city limits of Havana; Cojimar, the fishing that a large number of acute-care beds have project is needed, whether it is financially expert on Cuba will accompany us every village that inspired Hemingway to write already been removed from Lower Manhat- feasible, and whether the applicant has the day. We will be lodging at the Hotel Capri, The Old Man and the Sea; Fusterlandia, the tan, which has a growing population and character and competence to carry it out. just two blocks from the ocean and with creation of painter and ceramic artist Jose experiences the largest daily surge in popu- Guaranteeing the healthcare of New York- breakfast feasts unlike anything you’ve ex- Rodriquez Fuster (considered the Picasso lation of any place in the United States. He ers is, apparently, not among the concerns perienced anywhere. There are comfortable of the Caribbean) who turned his whole did not think that removing another 500 that PHHPC is charged with considering. and spacious rooms and a gym on the top neighborhood into a unique work of pub- beds and replacing them with a 70-bed fa- Tracy Raleigh, a DOH official who does floor overlooking the city of Old Havana. lic art where he decorated over 80 houses cility “is adequate in a part of New York City research and background work for PHH- We will have our dinners at paladares, with contemporary imaginative murals and which is growing in population.” PHHPC PC and prepares DOH recommendations which are private family-owned restaurants domes to suit the personalities of his neigh- Chair Jeffrey Kraut, who is the executive to the Council, promised that, in view of located in gorgeous palatial-like settings. bors (reminiscent of the work of Catalan vice president of Strategy and Analytics at public concern about the application, the Not too long ago, Havana was one of the architect Antoni Gaudi). Northwell Health, asked if he would “rather department will report back to the full most beautiful cities in the world. You can For me, the special highlights of the tour have the St. Vincent’s outcome?” Dr. Ber- PHHPC regarding Mount Sinai’s compli- still see that beauty shining through the have always been the many Cuban artists, liner replied that luxury housing was not ance with the conditions imposed on the faded European style architecture. And musicians, and ordinary folk I’ve been for- the only option. Mount Sinai could, for ex- council’s approval. you can see and ride in one of the many tunate to meet and get to know. The people ample, be required to build a 150-bed acute- After the application passed with two cars dating back to the 50’s, all beautifully of Cuba are warm, exude joy, and truly love care replacement facility. PHHPC members voting to oppose, near- maintained. So yes, you can take a ride in a having Americans visit their island. Dr. Berliner also took issue with Mount ly half of the people in the audience got up ‘57 Chevy or the car of your choice! Sinai’s emergency room plan. “The ER is and left—an indication of the continuing As your neighbor on Bank Street, my Visit 1worldarttravel.com overcrowded today,” he said, “and the increase level of public concern. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 5

Penn South continued from page 1

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Spring is Coming! Thinking about change? Call your neighborhood broker Scotty for a no pressure consult

Ask me about our incredible Compass Concierge Program for Sellers

For inquiries on the state of the sales market downtown whether buying or selling, please THE PENN SOUTH COMPLEX. Photo by Elvira Zagrebylova. contact me for a fair analysis.

21-story buildings all around me. They built come private in a wildly booming real estate them proudly, so they could live in dignity market that could make many of us millions close by their work near New York’s famous of dollars. When vacating our apartments, Garment District—now a shadow of its ear- we retrieve only the equity we paid, nothing Scotty Elyanow lier days—where thousands once labored at more. No profit, none, is made in this com- Long time West Village sewing machines or wheeled dresses and furs plex. And, ten percent off the top is not go- Resident/Broker/ through the crowded streets of the West 20s ing into someone’s pocket, thus cutting our Community Volunteer westvillagebroker.com M: 917.678.6010 and 30s. After work they had a short walk rents mercifully. That, along with property Lic. Associate RE Broker [email protected] villagescotty back to their homes in Penn South and had tax breaks established fifty years ago by the a decent life. A few still live here and some state and city, make Penn South an afford- of their families are thriving, protected in able place to live for working class families place by our rent laws and the co-operative and seniors. Penn South’s by-laws guaranteeing every- And I believe there’s a lesson to be learned one democratic rights and limited nonprofit here. The failures of NYCHA, and the an- agreements pertaining to our apartments, guish of productive middle-income people, and guaranteeing strict affordability now many fretting over their housing, may be and into the future. “We need that so much addressed by what’s been worked out at today,” said my neighbor Vivian Traiman. Penn South. Having ownership where we “We’ve got so much to protect here, not just live makes a positive difference in how we our apartments but our cooperative services handle ourselves in these building. We are too—our workout rooms, our art clubs, our deeply involved in how things are run, and community garden.” our democratic by-laws help us keep it that There is much more that makes Penn way. The city, of course, can’t grant unlim- South a comfortable place to live—like the ited real estate tax breaks to everyone, but inestimable comfort of our Program for it could create a graduated progressive real Seniors, respected nationwide. For those estate assessment that could slow down run- families with children, Penn South has two away luxury gentrification and, instead of model playgrounds, a wonderful toddler’s giving Hudson Yards seven billion dollars in room, annual picnics, and a security force tax abatements, could make grants available keeping an eye on them. The co-op by-laws to those whose incomes are modest, and to allow only our residents to elect our board middle class individuals as well, for setting of directors members who receive no salary; up many places like Penn South. they all volunteer. And it’s amazing how ef- Yes, on a bright day, when I’m feeling most ficiently this system is working. Everything’s kindly toward New York, I truly wish all in our kept in order, the trees are pruned, the heat- hard-driving city could live as we do at Penn ing is perfect. I’ve seen few other large in- South. As I look out on my terrace at the re- stitutions, banks, schools, or churches do- cent newcomer to the neighborhood, Hudson ing a better job administrating to the needs Yards and all their mega expensive apartments, of five thousand complicated people in a I thank God, my wife, and the International complicated city. Other old values, many Ladies Garment Workers Union for this won- out of style, persist at Penn South. Most derfully affordable place to live in Chelsea. striking is the deep desire to keep this com- munity affordable for those that will follow Bennett Kremen’s novel “The Performance” A Frencb Language and Contemporary Art School us, affording them some control over ever is available on Amazon under his name. Starting at 2 years old escalating rents and neighborhood gentri- Roger Paradiso is a contributor to WestView Greenwich Village 7 West 10th Street | Upper West Side 159 West 82nd Street fication. Often, we’ve voted to keep this a News and a filmmaker whose latest film is Join a tour call or email 646 504 9694 | [email protected] limited equity co-op, not allowing it to be- “The Lost Village.” 6 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org The Tech Giants: Google, Facebook and Their Sinister Ways How You Can Survive in creative artworks of people who were never Believe it or not, I don’t want to fight endangerment,” and “videos that someone compensated for their work. Facebook. I would welcome their partner- this Orwellian Quagmire else owns the copyright to,” among other ship. But right now, they aren’t even main- harms. What about someone who violates of Greed, Selfies, Posts RP: Villagers with children want to know: taining the bare minimum of what should one or more of these guidelines? “You- pass for a safe and secure online environ- and Porn would you let YouTube be your kid’s baby- Tube may at any time,” their terms of ser- sitter while you’re not home? ment; and that cannot stand. vice continue, “without prior notice and in By Roger Paradiso RV: This is actually a very serious question Look at it this way: if I opened a store on its sole discretion, remove such Content that many parents do not think about near- Bleecker Street selling guns, opioids, boot- and/or terminate a user’s account for sub- There are many people fighting for our ly enough. In addition to the make-up tu- leg DVDs, and children, it would be shut mitting such material in violation of these rights and lives in this internet jungle. I torials, music videos, cat videos, and movie down in a day. How is it that Google and Terms of Service.” That all seems pretty spoke to Ruth Vitale, a former founder trailers one can find on YouTube, there is Facebook are allowed to facilitate an on- clear, and Facebook’s terms have similar and co-president of Paramount Classics a dark side that is just as big—a cesspool line marketplace for the same exact illegal language. That’s why it’s so shocking that and President of Fine Line Features when of hate speech, terrorism propaganda, con- goods with impunity? these platforms remain active hubs of ac- independent film thrived. In 2013, Ruth spiracy theories, fake news, and violence. tivity like piracy, illegal drug sales, and a and her team took on the crusade of fight- We know that pedophiles use YouTube to RP: You say that Google is the largest lot of hate, because they already pledged ing pirates and other strange creatures on lure and exploit children, and to network search engine in the world and a monopoly. to police things like that, and they’re sim- the internet. The organization she heads with each other. Even worse, we know that What is the dark side of Google in their ply looking the other way. is named Creative Future because she YouTube has known this as well, FOR quest to dominate the internet world? still believes in the creative power of art- YEARS, and has looked the other way. In RV: According to Statista, Google handles RP: What kind of help are we getting from ists in the (currently dystopian) world of addition to all this, YouTube has a perverse, almost 88 percent of all search queries with Congress in protecting us Villagers from social media. Facebook is supposed to be yet shockingly prevalent, community of us- no other search engine obviously coming the modern-day robber barons called FB bringing the world together and Google is ers who create videos with the sole intent even close in market share. It is indisput- and Google? supposed to be making it easier to search of disturbing and frightening children. So, ably a monopoly, and that might be the RV: Well, until 2016 we had a small num- the web. Unfortunately, these Silicon Val- in short, absolutely not—I would never source of all our problems. Google has no ber of allies in Congress who understood ley giants are doing some very bad things leave a child alone with YouTube! incentive to change. That leaves regulatory that Google and Facebook were bad for also. For one thing, they are too big. forces as the only way to stop them. And our democracy. Then we saw how the Forbes lists Alphabet (Google’s par- RP: Hollywood anointed Zuckerberg and even with Congress being very aware of the Russians used social media to manipulate ent company) at number 4 among digi- Facebook as the kings of the new world or- issues, that will take years. the election, and how Cambridge Ana- tal companies on the planet; Facebook is der in their overly praised film “The Social The dark side of Google’s monopoly lytica and Facebook worked together to number 10. Google has an estimated 1.7 Network” way back in 2010. How has FB power in both Search and streaming steal data and manipulate all of us. And billion users worldwide; Facebook has 2.4 affected the film business? (through their sibling YouTube) is that it then the waterfall of bad news and nega- billion active users worldwide. Both com- RV: If YouTube has a dark side, Facebook forces everyone to agree to the terms they tive press started, which continues to this panies are positioned in every continent is equally dark. White supremacists, terror- set. If you’re an advertiser on Search or day. So now we have more and more allies on this planet and in almost every coun- ists, pedophiles, Russian bots, drug dealers, a musician on YouTube, if you want the in Congress who understand that some- try. Inside Google are small companies illegal gun sellers, and large-scale piracy world’s largest audience, you must “nego- thing needs to happen to regulate these like YouTube, Chrome, Android, Google networks have one thing in common— tiate” with them. And, as you can imag- monopoly platforms. Maps, among others. Facebook has Insta- they all have a home on Facebook. Cyber ine, that negotiation is more like a robbery gram and WhatsApp among other com- pirates are using their Watch Party tool to than a negotiation. This lopsided nego- RP: What can Villagers do to protect them- panies. host illegal movie marathons for thousands tiation is just one side effect of Google’s selves and their families from the dark side of viewers, and Facebook Groups are wide- unchecked monopoly power, but it affects of the internet? ROGER PARADISO: Ruth, what is Google ly used for sharing stolen movies. Just like almost every business and every worker in RV: Stay away from it! Take a walk on the doing that keeps you up at night? YouTube, Facebook knows all this. They’ve America. West Side Highway [Hudson River Park] RUTH VITALE: What aren’t they doing that known it for years, and they’ve made bil- and enjoy the fresh air. See a movie at the keeps me up at night? I have to tell you, lions of dollars by fueling this Wild West RP: You mentioned in your latest issue of Angelika! Go to Three Lives and buy a I used to feel just like most people—that frontier. Creative Future that Facebook and You- book. Support creative livelihoods with Google was an important and essential part So how does that affect our business? Tube’s terms of service are all they need to your hard-earned dollars, if you can afford of the internet and had changed the world We absolutely cannot compete with free. keep criminals of all kinds off their plat- to. As much as the internet has changed for the better. But this job has opened my And, if most people spend a good chunk forms. Could you please explain? the world for the better, the current state of eyes to their immense lobbying effort on of their day on platforms like Facebook, RV: It’s not all they need, but it would the internet is broken. And do not let them Capitol Hill, an effort aimed at disman- where they can search for content and find be a very good start—if only because it tell you otherwise. tling the copyright protections that cre- free pirated versions of our movies, why wouldn’t require any new laws to be passed. ative people rely upon, as well as ruthlessly would anyone pay? All they would have to do is honor what Next month we will talk to Ruth and protecting the legal immunities that allow they have already promised all of us. Take Creative Future about copyright issues as them to profit from illegal content, wheth- RP: What is FB doing that drives you to YouTube’s terms of service, for example. well as the newest human right called data er it’s piracy or opioids or hate speech or keep fighting them? They couldn’t be clearer; they require that rights. The MIT Technology Review states, terrorism. RV: Just like Google, Facebook spends mil- the user agree that any content they up- “It’s time for a Bill of Data Rights designed Google, its sibling YouTube, and Face- lions of dollars each year lobbying the gov- load to the site “will not contain third par- to protect your privacy, liberty and freedom book have almost single-handedly fueled ernment, fighting against the interests of ty copyrighted material, or material that in the digital age.” To see more about data the rise of a massive global digital market- creative people to preserve the safe harbors is subject to other third party proprietary rights, search for Roger Paradiso’s review place of “shared” and stolen creative work that give them immunity from account- rights.” Furthermore, they require that of “The Great Hack” at WestView News (journalism, music, photography, film, and ability. So, I will never stop fighting. Un- none of the more than 300 hours of video online. television) that has increased their bottom less, of course, they decide to come to the uploaded to the site every minute be “con- lines and made them into the largest, most table and work with us on common sense trary to the YouTube Community Guide- Roger Paradiso is a writer and filmmaker profitable companies in the world. You- solutions that would eliminate the criminal lines”—guidelines, we might add, that whose latest film, “The Lost Village,” ex- Tube is the largest streaming site globally, activity on their platform and better safe- forbid “harmful or dangerous content,” plored the conditions destroying Greenwich and their entire business was built on the guard creative works. “hateful content,” content involving “child Village and our country. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 7 Bachelor & Bachelorette Auction to Cure AIDS

quite another thing to prioritize one’s giv- ing to cure AIDS. If it is challenging for rich older gay men with HIV/AIDS to make curing AIDS their priority, perhaps it may be young gay men living with AIDS (and their families) who fill their shoes. That’s where RFTCA’s APRIL 2 - MAY 7 “The Love Lab” comes in. THURSDAYS at 8 PM At each Love Lab, bachelors and bach- elorettes take the stage. Following a brief 4/2 - RILEY MULHERKAR* (THE WESTERLIES) Q&A, bidding begins to win a date with each contestant. The bar keeps 100 per- 4/9 - ZAWADI NOËL cent of the bar intake (business as usual), but 100 percent of the winning bids go 4/16 - HEIDI RODEWALD** directly to RFTCA, a 501(c)3 not-for- 4/23 - RIZO profit organization. When our bachelors took the stage at close to midnight deep 4/30 - LINDA BRICEÑO GROUP into the Saturday night event at Club Cumming, everyone in the packed room 5/7 - MIGGUEL ANGGELO became silent in full anticipation. In the pin-drop silence our message was heard: what we need now are the Greta Thun- bergs of a new movement to cure AIDS. In an age when the focus on AIDS is on treatment and prevention, our message to Supported by the New York Presenters Consortium in association with Joe’s Pub at The Public young gay men with HIV/AIDS is this: Theater, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, Harlem Stage, your lives matter, too! NY Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYU, and Manhattan Beer Distributors Living with HIV/AIDS is not the dream * Tickets are $12. of future generations. ** Tickets are $25; reserved seating prices TBA. For our youth, a cure is on the horizon and at stake. By hosting The Love Lab at Club Cumming, recently voted best gay bar in New York City for a second year in a row, as well as at Henrietta Hudson, a long-standing West Village lesbian bar that caters to a diverse clientele, we hope to THE LOVE LAB AT CLUB CUMMING (the event also takes place at Henrietta Hud- engage all stakeholders. son), New York City. Dr. Xander goes on the Love Labs will take place once a month auction block for a midnight date auction in at Club Cumming and at Henrietta Hud- a packed house, with 100% of the winning son. After we get a few rounds under our bids benefiting Research Foundation to Cure belt, perhaps we will export the model to AIDS, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization en- additional cities around the world. Please gaging the next generation to develop a cure get in touch if you would like to participate for AIDS. Photo Credit: David Hochberg. in our date auction, either as a participant or as an additional host venue. By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. A great thanks to Darren Dryden, co- owner and DJ at Club Cumming, co-DJ On Valentine’s Day weekend, Research Sammy Jo and Club Cumming host Daph- Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA) ne Always, as well as to Lisa Cannistraci, held its first “Love Labs” Bachelor and owner of Henrietta Hudson, and Robert Bachelorette Auctions at Henrietta Hud- Galinsky, host of The Love Lab there, for son and Club Cumming—lesbian and gay launching the series. Says trans-devoted Dina Andriotis, Chris Tsiamis, and Nikitas Andriotis (from left to right). bars, one in the West Village and one in artist and activist Galinsky, “Working to the East Village. save lives through RFTCA is one of my 77 Christopher Street Why a dating game to help cure AIDS? passions; and The Love Lab is where I Between Seventh Avenue and Bleecker Street The leading edge of medical philanthropy show support to my sisters, cousins, nieces, is always driven by those impacted by a aunts and mothers!” Pharmacy Hours: disease who have the ability to pay, yet Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM most of the wealthiest gay men with HIV/ Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. is a biologist, a Saturday: 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM AIDS keep it a closely guarded secret. biotech inventor, a gay man, and the presi- Closed Sunday Would-be high-level donors can almost dent of Research Foundation to Cure AIDS always live near normal lives with the best (RFTCA). Visit FreeFromAIDS.org to help Telephone: 212-255-2525 • Fax: 212-255-2524 healthcare in the world, and many choose accelerate a cure for AIDS. email: [email protected] to do so without disclosing their HIV/ Contact [email protected] to AIDS status to anyone. Splashy celebrity- inquire about joining RFTCA’s founders’ www.newyorkchemists.com fueled galas may draw people out, but it’s circle.

8 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org

to penetrate the otherwise impenetrable. uct to avoid offending political sensibilities Notes From Away The Crucible allegory is one of Miller’s that might lead to censorship, voluntary own persecution (and that of hundreds or mandatory. Thus, the Red Scare and of others) at the hands of the House Un- the Blacklist. All of this was an effort to A Witches’ Brew American Activities Committee (HUAC) penetrate the unknown and unknowable 70 years ago. A few years later, Senator thoughts and intentions of the creative art- Joe McCarthy used the issue of disloyalty ists that provided the content of motion to establish and further his own political pictures. Right of center insiders (Adolphe career. Nixon and HUAC, then McCar- Menjou, Walt Disney, Ronald Reagan) na- thy, made overzealous efforts to discover ively provided names of left of center insid- the unknown and potentially unknowable ers (Humphrey Bogart, Dalton Trumbo) to architects of evil plots against America. investigators. Actor Adolphe Menjou de- Loyalty to the country was the key. Those clared, “I am a witch hunter if the witches advocating a change in our form of gover- are Communists.” By naming names many nance were considered ipso facto disloyal. escaped career suicide. No witches they. By Nixon’s efforts were more successful than their silence others were blacklisted, had McCarthy’s, in the end, but in his time their careers destroyed and suffered cata- McCarthy was more feared than Nixon strophic economic loss. had been in his. The reason was that Nix- Senator McCarthy surely absorbed the on’s efforts were not taken seriously at first. lesson: fear of association with disloy- He was protecting his home state’s motion alty was a powerful weapon he could use picture industry, which had a major eco- against his political enemies. Those un- nomic stake in the continuing popularity named Communists in government were and cost of production of movies. That his witches, and he too was a witch hunter might involve labor negotiation issues or “if the witches are Communists.” industry standards, but not individual free- It took the courage of a freshman Sena- dom. As it happened, the industry nearly tor, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, to call self-destructed by unilaterally imposing re- out McCarthy and those in her Republican strictions on the talent that was responsible party who would not speak up against him. for the content of its movies. The search Act III of the Washington witch hunt PLOTTING THE CARTOON WITCH HUNT in Washington D.C. Original drawing by Nick Lamia. for whether those opposed to these restric- is now playing. Miller’s allegory applies By Tom Lamia source of the witch hunter’s maniacal drive tions did so out of divided loyalty led to the equally to it, but the President is not the to hunt down and destroy witches. Blacklist and the Red Scare in Hollywood. witch, he is the witch hunter. The threat of Witches have always been with us. Proof of In researching and writing The Crucible, Later, Senator Joe McCarthy, who used being identified as disloyal to Trump carries their existence lies in the certitude and author- Arthur Miller intended a historical allegory it to more fearful effect than Nixon and such terrible consequences that Republican ity of those that hunt them. If witches did not of the Hollywood Red Scare and Blacklist, HUAC, took up the loyalty issue. McCar- dissent is silenced. There is no debate pos- exist, would the Church find them at the heart of the right of the individual, to be left alone, thy publicly announced (without names sible for Republicans. They are either with of such a range of evil doings? Would they be so free from society’s persecution, on one side, or evidence) that he had found specific the President or they are an enemy, against regularly identified as the source of otherwise and an uncontrolled, largely ignorant power but varying numbers of Communists in whom he will use his terrifying power. We mysterious events? The attribution to witches elite on the other. Even the noblest effort to high level government positions (the have seen the result in the impeachment of thoughts and deeds confounding to estab- protect society from harm can fail, with ter- State Department, the Voice of America, trial. His power is not diminished through lished order over centuries and continuing to rible consequences, if the source of danger is the Army). Those who might have sub- use, apparently, as he has already run at the present is proof (Is it not?) of their exis- unknown and works effectively at remain- scribed to the wrong magazine or attended least two Senators and two Representatives tence and guilt, particularly when no evidence ing so. The effort to discover the persons, the wrong meeting were terrified that they out of office with no consequences to him. to the contrary comes forward. Not all witches sources and methods of those who would might be named among the Communists He calls investigations of him “Witch are women; men who offend authority and harm us has often failed, leaving us vulner- that McCarthy had “found.” Hunts,” but his threats to punish those who proclaim a righteous innocence also qualify. able. The effort to succeed at learning what Before Nixon or McCarthy, fear of oppose him, make clear that, to paraphrase The above is a faithful historical account needs to be known to protect us can lead to HUAC in the motion picture industry Menjou, “he is a witch hunter if the witches of the role of witches in European and overzealous efforts at discovery. The chiefs had set off a rush among studio heads to are disloyal.” These were McCarthy’s tac- American life. What is left unclear is the of counterintelligence risk mistakes in order identify and control content in their prod- tics. We know what happened to him. New York Transit Museum: Buried Treasures? By Brian J. Pape, AIA cents. The Pullis brothers were employed centers and churches. by the MTA for more than 30 years, and Founded in 1976, the New York Transit After having visited the two New York about 100,000 of their glass negatives from Museum is dedicated to telling and preserv- Transit Museum galleries of rotating ex- before 1925 have survived, many to be ing the stories of mass transportation—ex- hibits and retail stores in Manhattan, where shown here. traordinary engineering feats, workers who the Grand Central Terminal store has free These are the scenes of old New York, labored in the tunnels over 100 years ago. admission, as does the store at 2 Broadway when communities were being drastically It is a self-supporting non-profit division of at Bowling Green, I was excited to hear transformed, or, as lines were extended the Metropolitan Transportation Author- about a new vintage photography exhibit. outward, created for commuters into the ity. Knowing the problems of today’s MTA, But Streetscapes & Subways: Photographs big city. The teeming hustle of everyday with delays, derailments, failing elevators by Pierre P. and Granville W. Pullis is not life of the thriving city is frozen in photo- and soaked ceilings since it first began oper- in Manhattan, and it’s not free. graphic frames, a time when horses pulled ating on October 27, 1904, we might forgive Housed underground in an authenti- trolley cars and delivery carts, when the them for charging admission; some tours re- IT TOOK YEARS TO CONSTRUCT THE SUB- cally restored 1936 subway station at 99 street paving of Belgian blocks was laid quire annual membership to buy a ticket. WAYS, just as today. Construction shown Schermerhorn Street in downtown Brook- over a foundation of dirt and rocks. here at 4th Avenue and 10th Street in 1900 lyn, this New York Transit Museum dis- But the streetscapes, like now, consist of Seniors 62+ are half-priced at $5, or free for was at least four years before the line was plays vintage subway and elevated cars rows of townhouses, tenements, business seniors on Wednesdays. operational. Photograph courtesy of the dating back to 1907, when a ride cost five storefronts, office buildings, community https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/visit/ New York Transit Museum. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 9 w West Village Original: Stephen Hall VILLAGE What is Hall’s preferred medium? “Acryl- ics,” he answers. “They’re the easiest and cleanest for me. I never had the patience for oil, the drying times. I believe, especially APOTHECARY now, that oil is just a vehicle to move the pigments. And with acrylic you can make THE COMMUNITY PHARMACY THAT CARES just as superior a painting as the classic oil painting. As far as my style goes, I think there’s always been a recognizable vocabu- lary as being mine: a crisp color sense and Come in graphic skill.” for your “I’m endeavoring to be more specific and fREE less ambiguous in my work,” he continues. “I still want to make beautiful, well-crafted paintings that aren’t elitist and stimulate thinking. With my new series called Earth wELCOmE Matters—prompted by climate change— I’m fully up to my eyes in three-dimensional backgrounds of plastic, garbage, and rising sea levels. They get more and more compli- KIT! cated and harder to do. I often wish I was an Abstract Expressionist and could just throw paint on the canvas!” He laughs. “My paint- BRInG THIs CARd In And RECEIVE $10 off ings are meticulous and time-consuming. O n A n Y P u RCHAs E O f $25 OR m ORE "I ALWAYS HAD THIS DRIVE TO DRAW AND But doing the work is what drives me. Quite fOR OTC PuRCHAsEs & nEw CusTOmERs OnLY. LImIT 1 PER CusTOmER PAINT," says artist and West Village resident, literally, the time I’m not painting is when I Steven Hall (above). Photo by Gabriel Flores. catch the flu or a cold. My resistance drops Store HourS: Mon - Fri 8aM - 8pM • Sat 9aM - 6pM • Sun 10aM - 5pM and my energy level drops. That’s because By Michael D. Minichiello I’m driven to paint. I’ve got no choice.” 346 Bleecker St • Greenwich VillaGe, nY 10014 • VillaGeapothecarY.com What has the life of an artist been like for This month’s West Village Original is painter Hall? “It’s been like a wave that ebbs and 212.807.7566 Stephen Hall, born in Aberdeen, Scotland in flows,” he says. “I’ve had times of great suc- 1954. A resident of Westbeth, Hall has exhib- cess and having patrons, and times when I ited throughout the U.S., India, Japan, Korea, didn’t sell much work. I never became su- and Mexico. His work is part of numerous cor- per famous—although I was big in Japan porate and private collections and has been fea- at one point—but I do sell all my work.” Start 2020 with tured in major motion pictures, music videos, And as an artist, living in Westbeth has and magazines. Hall’s latest paintings can be proven to be a “fantastic haven” for Hall as of Yoga for just seen in a show called “Sign of the Times” that well. “Westbeth was set up to provide sup- 20 days $20! opens March 19th at Westbeth Gallery. port for artists and it actually does that”, he says. “For the 22 years I’ve been here it “I always had this drive to draw and paint,” has seen me through some lean times. A Special offer for NEW STUDENTS at says artist Stephen Hall. “I was never not lot of artists have had to move out of the doing that. According to my mother I city or get a corporate job, but I haven’t due was drawing behind the couch by the age to the support of Westbeth.” of three or four. And I’m completely self- The neighborhood has certainly changed, taught. I was actually very lucky, as well. I though. “There used to be transvestite grew up in a council estate but thanks to hookers outside the building here,” Hall the Eleven-plus exams, I was taken out of says. “It was very cinematic. I enjoyed it. It’s my working class school and sent to Aber- a bit more shopping mall now but I appre- deen Grammar School, founded in the 14th ciate that since I have a thirteen-year old Century. I was always a bit of a maverick, daughter who’s always coming and going. 227 West 13th Street * 212-929-0585 even back then, but the art teachers at the Years ago, I had the good fortune to move to Website: iyiny.org school were very encouraging to me. And Bleecker Street between Charles and Tenth. my parents were always very supportive.” It was my first apartment in the West Vil- Hall admits that he didn’t really become lage and I fell in love with it. It was like a “A safe space for everyone who wants to try Yoga.” an artist until moving to New York in 1978. village. The streets weren’t gridded, there —A recent new student That was after hitchhiking around the was still a hint of Bohemia, and it was pret- world when he was about 19 and deciding ty and quiet. When we lost that apartment he didn’t want to return home. “I had seen and moved to the East Village, I loved that 20 days for $20! a lot of the world and Aberdeen was too too: it was raw, gritty, and arty. But when I Limited time offer small a town for me,” he says. “No offense had the opportunity to move into WestBeth On sale only until February 29 to small towns, but I was looking for more. and back to the West Village, I jumped at it. At one point I was working on a kibbutz in It was like coming home.” Israel. While I was there, I met a girl from Current students: New York and I came back with her and I Do you know a long-time resident who Ask about our NEW free month deal! eventually started exhibiting and selling my would make a good “West Village Original”? work. I’ve been here ever since.” Contact [email protected] 10 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org

to speak freely. Respect, compassion and Let’s Get Real About Aging solace mark every interaction. I notice this about Greenwich House centers. Members take care of each other.

LET’S JAM (Center on the Square) These older musicians have been jamming in Washington Square Park for years. But they play indoors at this center across from the Park every Wednesday afternoon, to the delight of members. Seated in a semi-circle at the window end of this fine “parlor” over- looking the Park, they play the great songs of the past 70 years, granting every request and calling up our memories. Their enjoy- ment at jamming is palpable. So is ours.

WHITNEY MUSEUM ART (Judith C. White) This six-week class is presented free at the center by Whitney Museum educators. For five weeks the class makes art using mate- rials and techniques similar to those used by artists in the Whitney’s current show. The sixth session is at the museum itself, where participants get to see the actual exhibit, “Making Knowing: Craft in Art.” Today we begin by examining reproduc- tions of works by three of the show’s art- ists who were inspired by “women’s work” such as quilts, embroidery, decoupage. Our creative juices start to flow as we discuss how these artists achieved the effects we LET'S JAM: Musicians playing together at Center on the Square. Photo by Chasi Annexy. admire. We then apply their techniques to our own inspirations, cutting shapes from By Gail Evans But facts first. There are some 250 senior beautiful, enticing. “I was tickled by the solid and print fabric supplied by the in- centers throughout the City, run by non- idea of belly dancing at a senior center,” one structor and gluing them to rectangles of Some stereotypes die hard. It’s time to bury profits like Greenwich House with fund- woman confides. “It’s erotic, you know!” Two felt. We’ve made fabric collages! Last week the stereotype of senior centers as dreary ing from the City’s Department for the others praised the class as a great fitness and the class made constructions from ribbons places where old people sit around waiting Aging. Membership is free, so are classes weight loss workout. Instructor Margrecia and paper. What fun! for lunch and a game of bingo. I just spent and activities, although centers ask for also leads Line Dance and Movement classes several weeks attending classes and activi- contributions for lunch and sometimes for at Mary C. White and Independence Plaza. OPERA (Center on the Square) ties at the four Greenwich House centers activities. Greenwich House operates four She’s a powerhouse who could motivate even “This class is about discovering what makes serving our community, and believe me, senior centers—Center on the Square at a klutz like me! opera worthwhile,” says instructor Simon that stereotype is so wrong! The centers 20 Washington Square North; Judith C. Saad. “Enjoying great voices and melodies are busy, cheerful places with diverse and White at 27 Barrow Street; Our Lady of HEALTHY EATING (Independence Plaza) is fine, an indulgence of the senses, but I interesting memberships, and the classes— Pompeii at 25 Carmine Street; and Inde- I’m taking notes on this session in the cen- challenge you to develop critical ability, to well, I was blown away! Dip into my senior pendence Plaza at 310 Greenwich Street. ter’s dining room. Enthusiastic Chef Irba- discover what’s transcendent and eternal.” center “diary” to learn why. nia Tavares is demonstrating how to make Wow! This is stuff for the cognoscenti, and SHAKESPEARE (Center on the Square) a quick, healthy dish of lentils I’d like to try my fellow participants follow intently. He I’ve taken Shakespeare courses and seen at home. “It doesn’t have to be from scratch then launches into anecdotes, opinions, a many performances, but this class is amaz- to be healthy,” she says, opening lentil cans. wide-ranging discussion, before playing a ing. I’m sure my 50-60 classmates (from “But let’s not stint on fresh basil, that re- video of the first act of Britten’s “Rape of all over the City) agree. Actor Leo Schaff ally makes the dish!” When it’s finished, Lucretia” and inviting our reactions. Inci- takes us through The Merchant of Venice we all sample. So good! No wonder this dentally I learn there’s a cadre of older New line-by-line, his voice a marvel of inter- class is popular! Chef Irbania also serves Yorkers who know which senior centers to APPLY ONLINE NOW! pretation, his comments challenging us to it up at Our Lady of Pompeii and Center go to for classes on Verdi, or early opera, or imagine what the characters are thinking on the Square, where it‘s funded through the current opera scene. Who knew? 2020census.gov/jobs and feeling, and to appreciate what Shake- a Healthy Eating Grant from Manhattan speare does with every word. We revel in Borough President Gale Brewer. ALSO, I enjoyed KNEE HEALTH (Judith C. 2020 Census jobs provide: the language and the insights. Schaff ’s LOSS AND LONELINESS GROUP White), a small class of knee, hip and lower Great pay Weekly pay been leading this class for years at Center (Center on the Square) back sufferers devoted to instructor Mau- Flexible hours Paid training on the Square and other centers. What a Other groups—like “Let’s Talk” at this ra Nolan’s personal approach as she leads New York treasure! I can’t wait to learn center, and “Friday Café” at Judith C. them through discussion, gentle exercises Thousands of jobs are available what play we’ll do next. White—let loose on politics, pet peeves, and guided meditation; TAI CHI (Center on nationwide, and many are other favorite topics. But here the focus the Square and Our Lady of Pompeii) where I near you. Help support your MIDDLE EASTERN DANCING (Judith C. White) is the shared experience of loss. I hesitate finally found instruction I could follow; CE- community by being With awe I watch as the six participants to intrude on this small, intimate gather- RAMICS (Judith C. White), taught by potters a Census Taker. move sinuously to the music, their glamour ing, but soon feel comfortable. The Chair from Greenwich House Pottery, which also embellished by silk scarves and gold coin of the center’s Senior Advisory Committee fires participants’ clay sculptures and bowls. For more information or help applying, please call belts. Not easy! You have to coordinate arms, started the group in recognition that many I wish I’d been able to sample a wealth of 1-855-JOB-2020 shoulders, fingers, upper body, belly and hips center members had lost loved ones. He other classes, exercise groups, movie view- while mindful of dance steps and rhythm. and his wife are nominal group leaders, but ings, seminars. Thank goodness I didn’t let The U.S. Census Bureau is an Equal Opportunity Employer. You have to feel—and therefore look—sexy, people don’t need much encouragement the negative stereotype keep me away! www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 11 Love Me Hug Me, an Alzheimer’s Themed Pop-Up Exhibition

ONE OF THE STRIKING ROOMS at the Love Me Hug Me Pop Up in Soho. Photo by Han- nah Reimann. By Hannah Reimann Hong’s grandfather had Alzheimer’s and passed away two years ago in his na- 139 Wooster Street tive China. There are over 9.6 million peo- New York, NY 10012 ple in China with dementia. Hong hap- Between Houston and Prince Streets pened to see the Chinese reality TV show, Walking up Wooster Street a few weeks Forget-Me-Not-Café, which features five ago I happened to notice Love Me Hug Me, early-stage dementia patients and three an Alzheimer’s-themed pop-up exhibi- celebrities including Zhang Yuankun and tion. I was my dad’s caregiver when he lost Huang Bo, one of China’s biggest box of- his memory and I’m aware that there are fice draws. They all get together to open a over five million people in the US with de- restaurant. In one scene, an old man writes mentia. I had to go in. The exhibit begins to his best friend of 50 years, asking him to in a small screening room with a loop of a visit. Ten days later the same man doesn’t short film, Wrinkles, then a room of spin- recognize this friend when he shows up. ning blue and yellow butterflies represent- Gently prodded and reminded by his fel- Do You Need Home Care? ing the thoughts of those with dementia low cast members, he is brought to tears of flying out of their minds and poems about recognition and hugs. Continuity Home Health Care memory printed on the walls. There are six Hong learned about Wrinkles in on- rooms of colorful symbolic imagery, each line comments about the TV show. She poetically inviting personal reflections, incorporated a 15-minute excerpt of the from falling Gingko leaves, a starry night 90-minute Spanish film, hoping to capture with a sculpture of the earth to a crowd the attention of young people. Where Healing Continues... of identity-less people, how many demen- Every 66 seconds someone develops A licensed home care agency providing tia patients see groups of people they may Alzheimer’s in the US. Hong’s aim is to health care services, both professional have once known, now strangers to them. inspire young people to spend time with and paraprofessional, for individuals This is interspersed with opportunities their loved ones who have dementia and living at home since 1996. to write answers to questions about the not wait until they cannot recognize them memory loss of loved ones on note cards. anymore. She encourages family members The message is that, even without memo- to be patient and to understand that the ry, love lasts and it helps. anger and restlessness that people with de- Wrinkles tells the story of a group of mentia demonstrate are part of the disease. Call Tim Ferguson at (212) 625-2547 people living in a facility for elders, some She plans to bring the pop up to China of whom have Alzheimer’s. When Elaine this summer. Of course, this will depend or drop in to 198 Avenue of The Americas Hong saw this film in May 2019, it moved on how things go regarding the Corona- her to create Love Me Hug Me, on exhibit virus. In China, one person per family are We accept most private until March 10. allowed to go out every two days wear- Hong is a graduate student in finance ing antiviral masks to buy food and other insurances at Columbia University. She created this supplies. Her parents, who live in Hang- and private pay. exhibit, a tribute to her grandfather, after zhou, haven’t left home for a month. From finding investors who were willing to help afar, they are proud of her and her efforts. her rent the space in Soho. She networked When her grandfather was alive he called [email protected] with the Alzheimer’s Foundation and Car- everyone in the family, “Elaine.” This very ing Kind, two important organizations in moving exhibit is a testament to that, the the world of dementia. love between them, palpable. 12 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org

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[email protected] 877.212.6778 SERVICE LINE: GENERAL mill if the roads outside are slippery or icy. THOUGHT LEADER: MICHAEL R. NICOLETTI, MD CHANGE IT UP. Once you’ve established consistency, Research shows that up to 80 percent of runners will be try varying your run workouts. There are many differ- injured at one time during a 12 month period. But that ent types of running workouts such as tempo, interval, Don’t put off taking off doesn’t mean runners have to quit their favorite activity fartlek, and hill repeats. These not only can make running those extra pounds – and to avoid getting hurt. With the proper plan, they can stay more fun and interesting but will improve running ef- keeping them off! in that safe 20 percent. ficiency, endurance, power, speed, and mental toughness. Please allow me to help you on your Here’s how to prevent injury and maximize performance: MIX IN CROSS TRAINING TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR RUN- weight management journey NING. Try cycling or swimming as alternatives to running, SET REASONABLE GOALS. Determine why you run (e.g., and incorporate strength training as part of your weekly Joy Pape, Family Nurse Practitioner fitness, recreation, training, competition), then develop or routine – this will help you build strength and flexibil- [email protected] find a plan that is compatible with your goal and current ity, prevent injury and recover faster. Core strengthening 917-806-1945 level of fitness. Whether you run for distance or time, along with Hip abduction – glute strengthening, are two most running plans recommend increasing by no more key components to being a successful runner. than 10 percent per week to avoid injury. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF REST. Without WARM UP AND STRETCH. Warming up is crucial to en- appropriate rest you can easily find yourself injured suring your legs are ready for the demands of running. or over-trained. Exercise results in microscopic tissue Always spend at least five to 10 minutes warming up. breakdown, rest allows your body to recover and im- Dynamic stretches—stretching in motion—are typical- prove from one training session to the next. Planning ly recommended over static stretches, especially during scheduled rest days at least once or twice per week can warm up. If you prefer to hold on to static stretches—the increase gains and decrease the chances of downtime deep stretch and hold without movement—reserve them due to injury. for the end of your run. An expert in orthopaedics, WEAR THE RIGHT SHOES. Knowing what type of running Michael R. Nicoletti MD, gait you have and wearing proper running shoes are cru- specializes in physical cial for avoiding injuries. Orthotic shoe inserts are equally medicine, rehabilitation as important, especially for people with flat feet or high and sports medicine. To Native Manhattanite and West Village resident arches, as well as a wide variety of foot problems. Every- schedule an appointment for the past 42 years. one’s feet are different; if you’re unsure of what kind of with Dr. Nicoletti, at Licensed in Real Estate for the past 21. shoe you should be wearing, visit a local running shop to Lenox Health Greenwich Board Certified New York Residential Specialist (NYRS®). Here to help you and yours find your next perch or move have your gait assessed. Village, please call 646- on whether in New York or elsewhere. 665-6784. STICK TO SAFE WEATHER CONDITIONS. Avoid running Alexander de Bordes outside if temperatures are over 90 degrees, humidity 917-640-3707 levels are high, or temperatures are exceptionally cold or [email protected] freezing. It’s especially a good idea to stick to the tread- www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 13 Chelsea Piers Fitness is More Than a Health Club track and sand volleyball courts you’re not I was able to contact several Villagers going to find at any other [Chelsea Piers] who shared their experiences as members locations; but I think what really sets us of Chelsea Piers. The health club offers apart is the community around all of the group exercise classes such as Yoga, Pilates, different options that we have.” and Barre. Chelsea Piers Fitness has kept up with the Joan Hall, who lives in the West Village latest trends in the gym industry by building and used to waitress at Caffe Reggio, de- new spaces so they can appeal to everyone’s scribed what appealed to her about taking fitness goals. Kiger added, “We have a huge yoga at Chelsea Piers Fitness, “Yoga works sun deck which is right on the Hudson and for me, I have been doing it for a long time is beautiful; you feel like you’re not in the and I highly recommend it.” Michael D. city at all [because] you’re floating on the has been a member of the health club since water. We also built a new Pilates studio. 1996. He described the atmosphere inside Pilates is a great activity for all ages and we Chelsea Piers Fitness, “The air and light built a new space that is really beautiful.” just sold me on it. No matter what you are Chelsea Piers also works with schools in doing it feels open and spacious, like the the area to accommodate their athletic pro- opposite of NYC.” THE POOL AT CHELSEA PIERS FITNESS CENTER. Photo by Austin Goodman. grams. “The Avenues New York school— At the present time there are not enough By Anthony Paradiso we host their track practice. That’s a strong sports fields and indoor facilities to accom- Bowlmor, and Chelsea Piers Fitness—the relationship because they’re right around modate the community’s need to exercise Chelsea Piers is a great gym located on largest of those facilities. corner from us,” Kiger said. “We also work during the winter. Chelsea Piers Fitness West 20th Street at Hudson River Park in The general manager of Chelsea Piers with Collegiate and the New School. Com- should be the first place people check out. Chelsea. There are five different sports ven- Fitness—Chelsea is Lesley Kiger. Kiger munity is very important to us [and] we’ve It is nearby, and a new and well-run space ues at Chelsea Piers including Sky Rink, a described what makes Chelsea Piers Fit- been working with NYU for five years on that has helped Villagers like Joan and Mi- Field House, the Golf Club driving-range, ness so valuable to the community, “The creating that experience for their students.” chael and can help many more.

created the drip or caused the headache. Tip: detergent (like Seventh Generation or Dr. Warm distilled water combined with the Bronner’s) to help break through the biofilm- Sinus Health right salt and baking soda solution is a great bad bacteria use to hide behind. first step for nasal flushing. This solution We also sell some excellent natural anti- By Jason Bander ment for most sinus infections. Search should have the same taste as your tears. If histamines to compliment the treatment and General Manager, Owner (by search engine): “sinus infection an- you have an infection, add some food-grade keep seasonal allergies under control too. Lifethyme Natural Market tibiotic effectiveness medical journal”. Sinus infections are one of the most dastardly After significant research of the World of illnesses. They punish us with horrible head- Wide Web, we come to test and see great re- aches (in the frontal lobe), inflamed nasal pas- sults from the Baylor University study sug- sages, teary, achy eyes and if really bad, pain gesting the use of a mild soap in the saline throughout the facial cavities. solution and The Sinus Flush from Friggy’s Journal. The Flip Turn Sinus Flush person- THE DRIP ally helped me overcome a horrendous sinus Often sinus infections start with those infection in less than 72 hours. gnarly, annoying post-nasal drips. That drip is the sinus system creating mucus, it’s un- TREATING INFECTIONS NATURALLY AT happy. But why is it suddenly unhappy and LIFETHYME what can I do to remedy that drip before Heading up the second floor of Lifethyme it becomes an infection? There are many Market, we assist our customers in choosing possibilities; pollen, dust, mold and yeast the most comfortable and effective approach- (there’s an abundance of airborne yeast plus es to alleviating sinus conditions naturally wine, beer, bread, etc!) all find their way into without contraindications to existing medi- our sinus system and can wreak havoc. cation plans. We offer contraindication-free solutions using essential oils, diffusers and I THINK I HAVE AN INFECTION, NOW WHAT!? nasal irrigation systems, like a neti pot, nasal It’s important to recognize there is valid wash and maybe even a nasal spray. A neti medical research suggesting (and prov- pot or nasal irrigation bottle is quite helpful ing) antibiotics are an ineffective treat- in flushing the sinus system of irritants that

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Mexican heritage, and this is reflected in the 126 Waverly Place (between 6th Avenue and of the building decided they did not want a menu which adds some Mexican flavoring Washington Square West). It is the latest in restaurant in the space. Now, a new incarna- and techniques to traditional Italian dishes. a series of Australian coffee spots to open in tion will be opening at the end of February IN Perla was known for its offal offerings, and the Village (others include Banter and Blue- at 113 Horatio Street (at 10th Avenue), and and OUT some are again available at the reboot. Many stone Lane). GSF – Go Stir Fry (319 Sixth the many devotees of the old spot are ex- by Caroline Benveniste Villagers with fond memories of Perla are Avenue between Bleecker and West 4th cited that the menu at the new location will eager to try Toscano’s new project. Streets), a fast-casual Asian spot with cus- be similar. A loyal reader has noticed that As the end of winter approaches, lots of signs have tomizable noodle and rice bowls is now open a sign for a restaurant called Mad Morton popped up all over the Village announcing spring where Wok to Walk used to be. For dessert, has gone up at 47 7th Avenue South (at openings. This month also saw a number of the concept extends to fruit and acai bowls Morton Street). Most recently there was a high-profile openings, and some sudden closings. with toppings such as granola, coconut and Spacious co-working space there, and be- chocolate. The space at the corner of 9th Av- fore that, the bar and co-working space Bar CHELSEA MARKET UPDATE enue and 14th Street (44 9th Avenue) which Works was there briefly but closed when 75 9th Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets) was most recently Resca, a pizza restaurant, it was revealed to be a Ponzi scheme. And The subterranean space at Chelsea Market now has signs for SocietyX Coworking before that, the Chinese restaurant Charlie (which is dubbed “The Chelsea Local”) Space. On Facebook, SocietyX bills itself as Mom occupied the space for many years. A continues to expand: Black Seed Appe- a “Membership Based Eco-System Made By sign for Weed World Candies has gone up tizing has opened there, offering a large Entrepreneurs For Entrepreneurs. Members at 333 6th Avenue on the seedy stretch of selection of sandwiches served on their AMERICAN BAR Have Access To Meaningful Spaces, Experi- 6th Avenue just south of West 4th Street. wood-fired oven baked bagels, made in 33 Greenwich Avenue (between Charles and ences & Networking With Purpose.” The German underwear store Pure Seduc- the Montreal style. Dickson’s Farmstand West 10th Streets) tion previously operated there. The space Meats will soon have a larger space, where For many years, Maracas Restaurant occu- Closed that used to house Melvin’s Juice Bar (130 they will serve a more extensive menu in- pied the space at 33 Greenwich Avenue, and The Spotted Pig (314 West 11th Street West Houston Street at Sullivan Street) cluding steaks. Las Delicias, familiar to it always seemed pretty lively. After that, at Greenwich Street) has closed. While it will now be a sausage and beer restaurant many from the Union Square Greenmarket, Chapter One was in residence briefly, and probably comes as no surprise to those fol- called World’s Wurst. A small storefront on has opened a counter with kosher pastries, then a southern restaurant called 33 Green- lowing the news about the sexual miscon- MacDougal Street (101 MacDougal Street) some of which are gluten-free. The owner wich opened in 2017 and closed shortly duct allegations against Ken Friedman and that has had many different businesses is from Uruguay, and the store is named af- thereafter. This sad history leads many to Mario Batali, it is still sad that the once in the last few years (Piece of Velvet, Goa ter a street in a resort on the Atlantic Coast believe that this is a cursed space. Now, the popular and well-regarded spot is gone. It Tacos, etc.) now has a sign for Chocolate of that country. Pearl River, the shop that owners of Cafe Clover and Clover Grocery opened in 2004 and continued to command Dip MacDougal Street (Crepes, Waffles, sells Chinese items and which relocated to have taken over the spot serving “modern long waits for tables until at least 2017 when Pancakes Fruits, Ice Cream). Pane Pasta, Chelsea Market from the Chinatown area a American and Continental classics”. The the first allegations of Friedman’s inappro- serving typical Sicilian Food will open at 58 few years ago, will also be expanding down- restaurant is proud of the local purveyors priate behavior surfaced. In July 2019, La West 8th Street (between 6th Avenue and stairs. Spice shop Spices and Tease, which used for sourcing their ingredients. Great Ventura (615 Hudson Street between 12th MacDougal Street) in the space that used was upstairs has now moved downstairs as efforts were made to decorate the venue and Jane Streets) opened in the old Tavo to house Ancolie, where one could purchase well, and in the space they vacated, May- with fancy brands, but it is a large sprawling space. The menu had Italian and Califor- a meal in a jar. The space at 112 Greenwich hem Beer and Sandwiches has opened. space and the bamboo chairs give it the ap- nia influences, but never seemed to really Avenue (between 12th and 13th Streets) is This business has a stand at Urban Space pearance of a temporary set-up. take off. Now, it has quietly shuttered. Einat getting an upgrade: signs are up for Caffe Vanderbilt in midtown called Mayhem and Admony’s couscous restaurant Kish Kash Arrone Espresso Bar. Previously, a 99¢ Stout. The large sandwiches are served on (455 Hudson Street between Barrow and pizza shop and a mobile phone repair shop homemade bread, baked fresh every morn- Morton Streets) has closed. Admony, who occupied the space. ing, and many of the meats are slow-braised. is also the owner of Taïm and Bar Bolonat, had been perfecting her handmade cous- Moving/Pop-Ups/Other Top Openings cous skills and the restaurant finally opened The Inkpad, which for many years sold its in July, 2018. Shortly after Neta closed, rubber stamps at 37 7th Avenue between Bumu opened in the space (61 West 8th 12th and 13th Streets is moving to 233 Street between 6th Avenue and MacDougal West 19th Street. One thing that people Street) in November 2019. The restaurant missed when City Bakery closed was their described itself as an izakaya-style spot, and famous hot chocolate. Now, Maury Rubin STARBUCKS RESERVE had recently added a new late-night menu. has opened a hot chocolate pop-up at 257 1 7th Avenue at 11th Street However, this was not enough to keep it Bleecker Street at Cornelia Street (where The first NYC Starbuck’s Reserve opened open, and four months after it appeared, it Sugar and Plumm used to be) called Won- near Chelsea Market just over a year ago. disappeared. Feit Greenwich (11 Green- derbon Chocolate Co. which will be open This location is much smaller, and does not wich Avenue between 10th and Christo- until mid-April. Each day there are 4 differ- DA TOSCANO have all the bells and whistles of the original pher Streets) opened in 2015, and was the ent hot chocolates available (from a list of 24 Minetta Lane (near 6th Avenue) (for example there are fewer coffee brewing company’s second New York City store. sixteen flavors, including White Miso and Michael Toscano was the well-regarded chef options, and fewer coffee-related items for Now, the Australian company, founded in Roasted Banana), and they can be purchased at the original location of Gabe Stuhlman’s sale). It does, however, also have a bar which 2005, which sells hand-made leather shoes by the shot, cup or in 32- or 64-ounce growl- restaurant Perla. Perla moved from Minetta serves coffee-themed cocktails. The pastries, and accessories, is back down to one location ers. Pasta al Forno appeared at 167 7th Av- Lane to 234 West 4th Street (at West 10th like at other Starbuck Reserves, are from the in Soho. Llamita (80 Carmine Street near enue South (between Charles and Perry) in Street) in 2016 and later morphed into Italian pastry maker Princi, and the savory Varick Street), the small Peruvian sandwich December, selling baked pasta dishes by the all-day dining venue Fairfax. Toscano, in selections include panini, but no pizzas. and roast chicken spot which later added a slice. It was owned by the folks at Tuscan the meantime, moved to Charleston, SC, larger menu in the evenings was the second restaurant Fiaschetteria Pistoia which has where he and his wife have been running a Other Openings venture for the team behind Llama Inn in two locations, on Christopher Street and in restaurant called Le Farfalle Osteria. After West Village Tailors-George and Mina Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shortly after they the East Village. Recently, they have con- Perla moved, the space on Minetta Lane re- has opened at 535 Hudson Street (between opened their Nikkei cuisine spot Llama San verted Pasta al Forno to a third location of mained empty. The landlord eventually con- Charles and Perry Streets) where Macondo (359 6th Avenue near Washington Place) to Fiaschetteria Pistoia. If you haven’t seen the tacted Toscano and offered him a new lease Belts, the polo-inspired Colombian hand- much acclaim, they closed Llamita. movie Parasite, you should (it’s playing again on the space, which he took. He returned made belt and pet collar/leash shop used at the IFC), and if you have seen it you’ve to his old kitchen (which had remained un- to be. A reader and self-described devoted Coming Soon probably wanted to try Ram-don. Now you touched), and a number of his former staff West Village denizen and obsessive reader of Barbuto, Jonathan Waxman’s popular Cali- can at Korean restaurant Zu Sik (202 West have rejoined him at his new spot, including WestView News pointed out to us that Salt- fornia/Italian spot closed in May 2019 after 14th near 7th Avenue), which is offering his pasta maker. Toscano shares Italian and water Coffee had recently materialized at 15 years of operation when the new owners continued on page 15 www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 15

DIRECTIONS on top. A View from the Kitchen 1. Cut the bacon into half-inch cubes. 10. Transfer to the oven and cook for three Chop the vegetables, except for the hours undisturbed. By Isa Covo It is fascinating and invigorating in this in- mushrooms. 11. Clean and cut the mushrooms into I have been living in Greenwich Village timate atmosphere to be able to talk about 2. In a wide shallow pan (12-inch if pos- quarters. for many years. I have seen it transform, as the music everyone in the room loves. You sible) with cover, add the bacon cubes 12. After three hours, remove the pan from have many of us who have lived here for a can also hear what Fat Cat spins on radio and sauté over medium heat for about the oven and uncover it and add the long time. There is no question that noth- station WKCR 89.9 on Mondays from ten minutes to melt some of the fat. mushrooms. If there is too much liquid ing stays still. Whether we like changes or noon to 3:00 p.m. On his radio program he 3. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon in the pan discard the foil and partially not, we must learn to accept them. But who has guests that are just as passionate about cubes and transfer them to a bowl. Add cover the pan. Continue baking for an- wouldn’t be saddened to see empty stores, the music, and some are old enough to have the chopped vegetables to the fat left in other hour, occasionally checking the as small businesses cannot afford the rents? heard many of the musicians whose music the pan, lower the heat, and sauté for level of the liquid. There are too many banks, too many nail is preserved on those vintage records per- about fifteen minutes stirring the mix- To serve: Cook the pasta and serve it alongside salons, and not enough art galleries, dress form live. What is amazing is that on some ture occasionally. the daube. shops, pottery stores, and all the different occasions the presenter and guests can rec- 4. Cut the meat into six slices, and wipe Yield: 6 servings types of small businesses that were here ognize who the musicians were even if they each one carefully. Note: The daube improves if refrigerated and when we moved in. are not listed on the recording’s sleeve or 5. Once the vegetables are ready, remove served one or two days later to let the flavors But the Village cannot disappear; it is were wrongly identified on them. Check it them from the pan with a slotted spoon develop. Reheat covered on the stove over low still lively and attractive. The side streets out, as they say, and bring some Bohemia and add them to the bacon. heat for thirty minutes or until hot. are lined with beautiful, and some truly el- to your life. 6. Add the oil to the pan and increase the egant, townhouses and there are plenty of heat to medium. When the oil starts public gardens of various sizes. There are Café Bohemia is located at 15 Barrow Street shimmering add the slices of meat and In and Out continued from page 14 still small theaters, art-movie houses, a few right here in the Village. cook three to four minutes per side until Ram-don with Steak as a special. Intersect art galleries, and, of course, dozens of bars the meat browns slightly. by Lexus, (412 West 14th Street between and restaurants. And then there are the 7. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. 9th Avenue and Washington Street) which jazz clubs—so many of them. 8. When the meat has cooked, mix the has a rotating roster of chefs is now featur- I’d like to talk about Café Bohemia. It Isa Covo’s Daube spices, the tomato paste and the brandy ing the Goan cuisine of O Pedro, a restau- was a jazz club which opened in 1955 and into the wine, add the vegetables and ba- rant in Mumbai India. closed in 1960, but in those few years it con to the meat, and pour the wine over became a mecca for progressive jazz where the meat and vegetables to cover them. What a great month! While it was hard to now-celebrated musicians began their ca- If needed, scrape the bottom of the pan keep up with all the changes in the neighbor- reers. The space was in a basement and to detach any caramelized bits. If neces- hood, your tips helped immensely! Keep up the small; no more than one hundred people sary, add some water or stock. Bury the good work, and email us at wvnewsinout@ could fit in. It was in the shape of a nar- bouquet into the mixture. gmail.com with any information you have. row rectangle with the stage at one end and 9. Seal the pan with foil and place the cover Photos by Darielle Smolian. a small bar at the other. Miles Davis, The Jazz Messengers, Cannonball Adderley (to name a few) appeared on that stage; the acoustics were so good that about half a dozen records were recorded at that club, some with the name Café Bohemia on Photo by Isa Covo. their covers. Jazz musicians were not only performers, they were sometimes part of Daube is a peasant dish prepared through- the audience as well. out France—each region, even each house- Artists and poets were also part of the hold, has its own version of it. Some have Café Bohemia audience, and the place was simple ingredients, just beef stew with reminiscent of the “caves” in Paris that also smoked bacon, red wine, onions and car- attracted audiences who listened to jazz, rots, but other versions have more ingre- and sometimes poetry, and where writers, dients and flavors. I perused several cook- artists, and musicians congregated. books and, in the end, got my inspiration Last year Café Bohemia was resusci- for this recipe’s ingredients from a couple tated, and you can see the covers of the of them from southern France. historic recordings made in the cafe on its red walls. There is live music six nights a INGREDIENTS week. On Monday nights, from 7:00 p.m. ½ lb. slab bacon to midnight there is no live music; Mat- 1 onion thew “Fat Cat” Rivera spins records—and 4 shallots not just any record, these are 78s from 1915 4 large garlic cloves to about the 1950s, most of them from his 3 carrots own collection. There is no entrance fee, 2 celery stalks though a donation is welcome; you can also 2 lbs. pot roast buy food and drinks. Fat Cat is inspired by 1 bouquet garni (3 stalks of rosemary, the Hot Club De France which was started thyme, 1 bay leaf) in the 1930s in Paris by a group of high ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves school students and then attracted other ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon adherents. Records were presented to its ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg members in various venues around Paris zest of half an orange (optional) even after its headquarters had moved to 1/3 cup vegetable or olive oil the South of France. ½ bottle of red wine The Hot Club of Café Bohemia resem- ¼ cup brandy bles the French one in that the audience 10 oz. cremini mushrooms appreciates the music and the history of salt and pepper to taste the recordings. Fat Cat leads a discussion. ½ lb. fresh wide tagliatelle 16 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Super Hero IV: Hiss…Boo Co-op Boards Adapt to Present-Day Demands By Gordon Hughes op’s bylaws and constitution, and board A few months ago I read, with interest, an ar- members should have a fundamental un- ticle in the New York Times real estate section derstanding of the building’s finances—its regarding the changing face of co-op boards. budgetary outlook and all fiduciary re- There was time when the co-op board meet- sponsibilities. The article also pointed out ing was as much a social gathering of tenants that in order to be a good board member as it was a business meeting. Today, however, you need to know the strengths and weak- the expectations and demands of residents nesses of your building. I could go on, but have increased. Co-op board meetings have for those of you who own a co-op or con- become very serious business as there have dominium apartment you really should been escalating economic demands and know what’s up. Board member or not, THE HEAT TIMER CONTROLS THE BOILER. Photo by Robert Kroll. more city requirements. The changes taking you need to be aware of how your build- place within these boards are dramatic (se- ing is being run. So, the primary reason By Robert Kroll connected to steam boilers. The Holohan nior citizens being replaced by Gen Xers is for sitting on a board is to keep an eye on bible is “The Lost Art of Steam Heating” just one example). your investment (which is probably a ma- Winter is winding down. The flush of (1992), a 288-page tome written primar- Obviously, different parts of the city jor part of your portfolio). Being a board leaf buds is emerging. We’ve survived the ily for the clueless plumbers who get called call for different types of boards. For member gives you that opportunity. cranking, clanking pipes of the cold sea- to tame these cast iron dinosaurs and make example, residents in “A” buildings on So what else do you get out of being on son—many of us shivering, others of us them function as their long-dead inventors Park or Fifth Avenues and those in other your co-op’s board? Well, as a board mem- living in sauna-like hells of our own (or our intended. parts of the city that are not so toney will ber myself, let me tell you that neighborly steam boiler’s) making. Holohan was inspiring to me. He gave me have far different expectations from their and building personalities are a big part of When taking over the reins as superin- hope, a prayer, and a method for analyzing boards. You know that something on it. Personalities are the big insight and in tendent of our Brooklyn brownstone coop- the vagaries of the boiler and its tentacles Park Avenue may have little in common the West Village those personalities can erative in January, 2019, a cold month, one and how to “think like steam” and “balance” with many co-ops in the West Village. be quite theatrical. I have witnessed tears, of my first conundra was: how in hell does the vapors such that they reach the upper- The boards on the upper Eastside would tension, and drama. As a producer I really one heat this drafty place? The 15 people most crannies of the building at the same deal with far different expectations than appreciate drama, laughter, hysterical fits living in our five-story walkup tenement time as they hit the lucky, if over-heated, most of those in our Village. of anxiety, and (in the end) forgiveness. I were shivering. Within an hour, that prob- few at the bottom. There were bumps along Now, those of you who read my col- have found that most people would rather lem was resolved by turning on the boiler this path. Once, I took it upon myself to umn know I love to do tongue-in-cheek get along and most co-op board mem- via the early 20th century analog device replace the boiler’s pressure gauge and add comparisons of our West Village with bers share a goal. That goal is to have an known as the Heat-Timer EPU-CH™. a needed “pigtail” (a helical pipe under the other parts of Manhattan as well as with outstanding building that is a delight to You flip the timer switch from “summer” gauge that keeps water from entering the the other boroughs. Nevertheless, there return to at the end of each day. A very to “winter”. You flip the boiler “on-off ” gauge). I nearly flooded the building with are what I will call “business models” or good board member must take off his or switch to “on”. You keep your damn hands cold water spritzing out of the radiator vents fundamental similarities in all co-ops. her personal goal hat, check their emo- off the rest of the settings and watch help- on several floors by turning on the wrong The Times real estate article pointed out tional guns at the door, and, damn it, get lessly as the choo choo leaves the station, valve. I was assured every steam boiler rook- several common considerations for board that #%*+=~£ backyard cleaned up so we bound for swelter town. ie had made that mistake…not the end of membership. There were suggestions such can sit out in the sun. For God’s sake, it’s I had been told by my predecessor (su- the world. Very humbling. as: all board members should read the co- March already! per) that I should set the dials on the Heat- One key piece of information from Ho- Timer, and let her rip. “Don’t futz with it.” lohan: unlike the 60 psi boilers of yester- We give maximum heat during the day- year (1800’s), today’s steam boilers operate time hours and less at night when we’re at one-half pounds per square inch pres- bundled in our stocking caps and cuddling sure. They don’t go “boom” anymore. They under comforters. That’s that. hiss. Softly. When it gets too warm inside, you use The lost art of steam heating, according Charlie the “double hung thermostat”—i.e. open to Holohan and others still alive, has not the window to cool things down. Two been completely lost, but has been pre- Caruso’s Quips hours later, you do the opposite. If you are served by those who have restored many of in an apartment on the lower floors, close these previously well-working steam sys- This is the 2020 decade. Will we see a better world? Don’t count on it. to the boiler, you are maddeningly hot; if tems to their original glory. What is this Breakfast is best. No surprises as reliable as sunrise. you are on floor five, you put on your win- system but a large kettle that is connected ter sleeping gear, plop under the covers, to tea pots in every apartment, modulated The football playoffs are at the end of the season when everyone is totally bored and pray that you wake up the next morn- by air vents that release cold air and trap with sports. ing without icicles on your nose. the hot steam? When the boiler turns off, Does anyone ever call the numbers on the TV screen? I take my role as “super” very seriously; the steam cools and condenses into water it is my job to see that everyone inside the and needs to return to the kettle. If all that Why do TV studio audience always scream like maniacs? building is comfortable and happy. Can happens, bliss ensues. The art is knowing The stripes on men’s ties are always diagonal. Imagine if they were horizontal. this be achieved with a 19th century inven- what to replace, what to restore, and how tion like steam heat? Most New Yorkers to get the radiators to dump the condensed Most of our miseries are due to sex or lack thereof. have come to terms with steam heat and steam back into the pipes leading to the The chief benefit of a nursing home is 24 hour a day company. find solutions other than relying on radia- boiler. In our building we were able to do tors. I was prepared to follow that scheme this in a matter of a single day. Immedi- A sure cure for depression is a constant state of busyness, whether useful or not. until I was referred to a steam heating ge- ately afterward, I began getting messages If the cold war is over, why is Russia on page one every day? nius, Dan Holohan, who literally wrote the from deliriously happy co-op dwellers that book(s) on how to make everyone happy, they were getting hissful heat for the first save energy, and silence the clanking pipes time in memory. Yippee. Job done. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 17 In Those Days There We The People ® Were Giants DOCUMENT PREPARATION SERVICES movie lab, it was a sight to behold—55 tons of electronic equipment that filled every They Died Without a Will... square inch of the very large room—but it was hardly true that speech-scrambling tech- nology didn’t exist. It did. Sound waves had always been Bell technicians’ bread and but- ter, and by the time the project was launched in September, 1942 they had already done Aretha Abe Lincoln Prince much of the groundwork. As for the gov- ernment’s demand for speed, that could only Do You Have a "REPETITION DOES NOT TRANSFORM A happen with electronic components. Once LIE INTO A TRUTH." Franklin Delano Roos- evelt, 1943. Photo credit histomania.org. again Bell was decades ahead. Nevertheless, Project X was daunting. According to NSA WILL? By Catherine Revland historians, “It required a degree of precision Peace of Mind for just and refinement that scarcely seemed pos- Part 4 of “You Must Remember This,” a sible when undertaken, extremely difficult series commemorating the history of the to implement in the technology of the ‘40s, $199 West Village during World War II and they were pushed to the limit.” Legal Document Preparation Services since 2006 for Some conspiracy theories die hard, espe- TURING COMES TO AMERICA cially the ones about catastrophic events The story of Alan Turing’s trip to the U.S. WILLS, DIVORCE, that change the course of history. For ex- has been “weeded” from British military BANKRUPTCY, INC/LLC ample, take the rumor that President Roo- archives and other primary sources of in- sevelt had advance knowledge of the attack formation are few: a brief mention in NSA on Pearl Harbor but did nothing because he archives, a snippet in Bell’s corporate his- OFF wanted to take the country into war. This tory, and some carefully parsed recollec- $25Any Service $199+ insult can still be heard 75 years after his tions from Claude Shannon, a math wun- death, even though it has been debunked derkind who was new to West Street when 233 West 14th Street | 212) 633-2200 | www.WTPNY.com by many knowledgeable sources, including Turing arrived. “At the time I didn’t know the super-secret National Security Agency he was as important as he was. I knew he (NSA). Declassified war documents, re- spent a lot of time with a group working leased in 2013, confirm that it was not FDR on speech-scrambling, but we didn’t know who caused the nearly total destruction of it was to protect the secrecy of conversa- Money Mad the Pacific Fleet; it was an urgent message tions between FDR and Churchill. Hitler Mickey Mouse sent by shortwave radio to the fleet com- got these messages.” In our recent visit to the 65th anni- mander that arrived a day too late. Turing’s mission was twofold: to de- versary of the Winter Antiques Show Like many commanders, General George termine whether Project X was indeed (now just called ‘The Winter Show’) C. Marshall didn’t trust speech transmis- unbreakable, and to immerse himself in at the splendid Seventh Regi- ment Armory on Park Avenue, we sions because enemy codebreakers could electronics. He did both with flying col- were not really planning on buying overhear them in real time. Instead, he sent ors. On his first visit to Room L-30 he anything, just looking. In one booth a written message by radiotelegraph—each successfully “boiled down” an equation in we were attracted to a beautiful letter painstakingly encoded by hand. The an hour that had bedeviled the X team for standing lamp with a brilliant colored tragic lesson of Pearl Harbor was that with- a week. American electronic technology Tiffany glass shade, which it turned out the right communications technology, might have been decades ahead, but Tur- out was selling “for only $650,000.” hundreds of ships and planes and thousands ing picked it up in two months. Dazed, we moved on to a white, of troops could be mowed down before By March, 1943, the group had resolved brightly-lit double-sized booth filled breakfast on a Sunday morning. every problem. Churchill and FDR con- with tin and iron toys and were ducted their first overseas call in July, and particularly attracted to an eight- inch high tin-litho Mickey Mouse ROOM L-30 by September, engineers had installed ter- bank manufactured in Germany in In the wake of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. minals in 12 locations around the world. 1931 by Tip and Company. This government contracted with Bell Labs to “Everything functioned flawlessly,” said a same bank is pictured in our book develop a thousand military projects, in- jubilant Paul Bly, head transmission engi- Disneyana—Classic Collectibles cluding its top priority—an impenetrable neer, “so secret, we were convinced that we 1928-1958, which was published speech-scrambling system that provided could have dropped a terminal in Berlin in 1994 by Hyperion, Disney’s then both speed and accuracy—a system that and without the records no one could fig- brand new publishing house. When didn’t exist. Bell then doubled the size of ure it out.” you push down one of Mickey’s ears its research staff to 9,000. The largest col- According to NSA historians, “Bell had his red tongue emerges for a child lection of scientists and engineers in the not merely improved, but invented the fun- to place a penny. Pushing the ears country now crammed the halls and el- damentals of digitally encrypted voice and again, Mickey then swallows the evators of West Street, working six days the means to transmit it.” The inventor of coin and closes his mouth, but not before exhibiting a toothy grin and showing off his teeth. On the back of the bank a week and sometimes 12 hours a day to that technology was Claude Shannon, at a was printed this slogan: “Smile Please—If you only pull my ear, You will see a tongue meet the needs of the war effort. time when the term “digital” was virtually appear—Place a coin upon my tongue, Save your money while you’re young.” Never Thirty specialists in sound transmission unknown. In six months an army of giant having owned this bank when we were kids or followed its’ slogan, it was no sur- were assigned to work on SIGSALY, the brains, “professor types,” had turned the prise that we were unable to come up with the purchase price quoted by the dealer Army Signal Corps’ cover name for the new tide of the war. Churchill’s prediction that of $40,000. We moved on, vowing to increase our savings plans for next year's visit. system. At Bell Labs it was called Project X. it was the “end of the beginning” proved to —Robert Heide and John Gilman Housed in Room L-30, originally the sound be wrong. It was the beginning of the end. 18 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Unfinished: Croman’s Trail Since Jail New York is Not By Cynthia Chaffee and Mary Ann Miller million from New York Community Bank for a multifamily property in Nolita, $34 According to Joseph Turco’s January 9th, million from Axos Bank for a property on 2020 article in WestView News, referring to the Lower East Side, $16 million from New Alone in Attempting the American Greed episode aired last year York Community Bank for a multifamily “starring” Steve Croman, we tend to agree. building in the East Village, and $14 mil- There is so much more for the program to lion from New York Community Bank for the Impossible cover about convicted felon Croman; we property in the West Village. He paid $12 hope they will do a sequel as so much has million to Marlboro Realty Associates for a By Donna Schaper place they are currently in for longer periods happened in the last year since the show multifamily property in Midtown East and of time and make “home” out of shelter. originally aired. $2.1 million for property in East Harlem. The most wonderful thing about Mayor The mayor is also putting the arm on But not much has changed since Steve Croman was imprisoned for defrauding sev- de Blasio’s Safe Haven plan—to dra- many houses of worship—asking whether Croman’s time in jail. In fact, he seems to eral banks; as New York Community Bank matically reduce street homelessness in we can take people in if the city “retrofits” have been emboldened as a consequence of was one of them, why are they lending him NYC—is its boldness. Most of us don’t our spaces. It is not a secret that many serving so little time for his misdeeds. If money again for new properties? even think it can be reduced, much less houses of worship are sitting on land that anyone thinks that jail made a difference As this article goes to print, Steve Cro- have a plan for doing so. The most aw- could be used for the wider community as in Croman’s life, think again. He’s emerged man is harassing the owners of the very ful thing about the situation is that many well as for its adherents. Moreover, if the with a new defiance, a new slew of law- fine Indian restaurant, Haveli, located at New Yorkers are so far down the cynical city will help houses of worship to shelter, yers, and a new company. In fact, on Janu- 100 Second Avenue, to coerce them into path that they don’t really think anything by putting in showers, beds, and privacy ary 12th, 2018, while still in jail, Croman selling him their building at a price much can be done. But something can be done shields, mission consistency doubles. The started the new company, ECALP CORP., below its actual worth. He refers to some (even though everything can’t be done). city does what it can and should and so do with the law firm Goldberg, Weprin, Fin- unsigned and unnotarized right of first re- Cynicism is a decision not to shiver with the religious groups. The strategy is to ret- kel, Goldstein LLP. (ECALP is the word fusal to force the Haveli owners into selling the cold—because you are so cold you rofit places that can accommodate at least place spelled backwards.) to him, but the Owners’Affidavit denies can’t even shiver anymore. a dozen people; and the better price point Also, in 2018 a fire at 204 East 13th signing any document and they have the So, first, what’s right about the mayor’s for the retrofitting is with small groups of Street caused all the tenants to become original unsigned copy. proposal? It comes from his heart. De Blasio 70 or so. The program is state of the art homeless and completely destroyed the All these transactions amount to multi- has not had an easy mayoralty—which may- housing thinking. business Bruno Pizza. millions of dollars. American Greed reported be no one does—but he, in particular, got to “Housing First” is an idea that is being Two class action lawsuits have com- Croman’s net worth to be $640 million dol- override the White House, which was hos- floated by many professionals. It argues menced against Steve Croman for illegally lars with an annual income of $63 million tile to cities, especially sanctuary cities. So that we should just stop social services for deregulating apartments—one lawsuit in dollars and that he is well on his way to be- why not defy lame ducking and do some- people who are not in permanent housing. Harlem at 326-338 East 100th Street and coming a billionaire. Yet he was allowed to thing that is not lame, like not clefting the Why? Because they won’t do any good. another at 560-566 Hudson Street. In sev- make the court-ordered restitution of only poorest among us? As Manhattan Borough People who have to move all the time are eral of his buildings tenants were forced to $8 million to some of his tenants in four President Gale Brewer said at the rollout not going to stop abusing drugs or alcohol. vacate their apartments because the bed- installments over a period of several years. at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the They are not going to be regular about their rooms, built below street level, were death- Why was he allowed to do this with such Divine in December of this bold program, medications or their therapies. They are not traps. Even though these rooms were never high earnings, as if it were a hardship for “The city has the money; the cardinal has going to stop using emergency rooms for meant to be used for sleeping, but for “recre- him to pay the required amount? the land. Do it—but don’t do shelter. Do their medical care. What is right about New ational” use only, as there is no egress to the Since his release from jail on June 1, 2018, housing.” Of course, she was right. Housing, Yorkers’ cynicism about the plan is that it is street in case of emergency, Croman con- twenty of Croman’s buildings have been re- not shelter, is the solution to homelessness. not yet clear how serious the city will be in tinues to fraudulently advertise these apart- turned to his control under a consent agree- To not have a place in your heart and a respecting the right of a person to keep liv- ments’ recreational rooms as bedrooms. ment, and he’ll get twenty more this year. plan in your hand to reduce street home- ing on the street. Many reports indicate that Croman is trying to remove all negative We’d like the AG’s office to begin an- lessness is to be arteriosclerotic. You are in the transit police, over whom the mayor has publicity about himself and his family from other investigation into the tactics and great danger of a heart attack. Your arteries little control, are rounding people up and the web, going so far as to have his lawyers business practices of Steve Croman. Once are hardened. You might as well be dead. causing quite the ruckus. Many people who offer an Uber driver money to agree to eradi- again it will be up to the tenants to present Cynics also lose their tear ducts. They for- live on the street prefer being there to a shel- cate, and sell them the rights to his video the Attorney General with the evidence get how to sing, “You’ve gotta have heart. ter. Why? A shelter has no privacy, you can “Uber Attack—Rich kid Jake Croman filmed to begin another investigation. Until that All you really need is heart. When the odds get abused in a shelter, you are forced to obey in foul mouth tirade in Michigan” (that went time, we are chronicling Croman’s treat- are sayin’ you’ll never win…” orders, and more. City police are not using viral) of son and heir Jake Croman shouting ment of his tenants regarding rent over- So, de Blasio is doing something sincere. coercion, or so they say, and so representa- at the driver, “Minimum wage faggot.” charges, lease issues, no heat, hot water, “The Journey Home” initiative intends to tives for the homeless think. The only thing Despite all that is going on against Cro- gas service, or repairs, threats of eviction, reduce street homelessness by 50 percent that will cure street homelessness is housing, man, as you can see, none of it has dampened frivolous lawsuits, harassment, etc. over the next five years by increasing the not shelter. Until that happens—and by the his appetite for acquiring buildings. It’s re- We applaud the rent laws passed on June street outreach staffing, adding 1,000 new way, please note how many working poor ported that he owns over 200 buildings. But 14th, 2019. We applaud the State Assem- “Safe Haven” beds to the current 1,800, and middle class people also can’t find hous- not satisfied, since his release from jail he bly and Senate, and especially Senator Bri- and by adding another 1,000 supportive ing in New York (take a deep breath and get has most recently acquired multiple build- an Kavanaugh, Chair of the Committee on housing units to the number of those now less purist about better shelter as a muddling ings. 561-563-565-567 Hudson Street and Housing, Construction and Community available to this population. This does not middle way)—the heart of mercy is to try to 302-304 West 11th Street (which housed Development for passing the most pro- eliminate street homelessness so much as make the situation better if not perfect. the White Horse Tavern) were purchased tenant laws of the last 30 years. We also take a serious bite out of it. The application Poverty is not a crime and should not be for a total of $14 million dollars, in addi- thank State Senator Brad Hoylman for his of well-developed effective services is also treated as one by any policeman—transit or city. tion to his recent purchase of 340 East 58th constant support of tenants, and especially very heartfelt, genuine, sincere, and likely to My personal plan for street folk is to say Street for $12.3 million and 2154 Second for the Stop Croman Coalition. work for some of the people who call the “hi,” and look them in the eye and mean Avenue for a little more than $2 million. We have followed Steve Croman’s trail street their home. Additionally, the project it when I say, “I wish I could help.” Indi- That brings us to Croman’s latest ECALP since his incarceration, and we will contin- has relaxed the stringent rules that exist in viduals cannot help but people working CORP.’s endeavors, the purchasing of 354 ue to follow his activities. We hope his trail most homeless shelters. People are sheltered together can, a little. East 19th Street, 401- 409 East 59th Street, leads back to jail. close to the places where they have been liv- For now, there are some sweet things hap- and possibly acquiring 84 Second Avenue ing. They get to stay “home” in the after- pening. The general manager of the Hotel and 100 Second Ave. noon and during the day. There are rooms Wales is offering to give away new beds, lin- It was reported in PincusCo that Cro- Cynthia Chaffee and Mary Ann Miller are with two or three people instead of dormi- ens, pillows, blankets, and bath towels. His man Real Estate recently borrowed $45.8 co-founders of the Stop Croman Coalition. tory style living. People get to live in the phone number is 212-289-6399. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 19 He Said, She Said

A MALE NORTHERN CARDINAL flaunts his flashy red finery. A FEMALE NORTHERN CARDINAL fluffs her subtle olive and scarlet ensemble. Photos by Keith Michael.

By Keith Michael Cardinals are one of the few birds who rec- crowds would gather in the street to catch a birding couple in Erie, Pennsylvania no- ognizably sing back and forth to each other glimpse of this red-carpet avian pair. ticed an unusually plumaged Cardinal that Since March seems to be the new May like this—improvising on a theme. Maybe The males and females of several other of soon became a media sensation. The right this year with a want of even mildly wintry it’s because it’s so lyrical that we refer to their our common birds obviously have “plumages side of its body had the red feathers of a weather, an unzipped windbreaker is a suf- songs as romantic harmonizing rather than of a different color” as well. The gentleman male bird, and the left side was the olive of ficient alternative to my usual coat, down whatever scuttlebutt is dished out when Blue House Sparrow is the one with the jaunty a female bird—nearly divided in a perfect vest, hat, and scarf. Though by the time Jays scream at each other. I can’t recognize black ascot and gray formal collar whereas line down the middle. Rare but it happens. that you are reading this I hope that the the male voice as different from the female the gentlewoman is a cornucopia of browns Nature is tricky. West Village is cozily buried in a late bliz- voice, though, since right in front of me I’m and grays. Likewise, the Mallard hen is a While I’ve been thinking about all of zard. Millie began her annual mid-winter watching a male Cardinal throw his head camouflaging panoply of earth tones while the theories for why these various strate- shedding in early February, so as we walk back singing, I’m assuming the response in the drake has a gaudy iridescent green head. gies have evolved, my lusty crimson song- along, tufts of fur on her bum are fluttering the distance is from the female he’s courting. Other locals boast of a unisex fashion state- ster has flown away—possibly fatigued by in the breeze yearning to fly free. Why, oh Millie is investigating the crocus leaves ment. Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Star- his long-distance relationship, he left to do why, does a corgi find this time of the year peeking out behind a street tree fence, lings, Grackles, Robins, Chickadees, and something about it. perfect for refreshing her coat? “Look but don’t touch, and don’t…” Gulls all ascribe to the one-color-fits-all Millie looks up at me as though her Millie’s glacial walking pace is conducive Perhaps Cardinals’ voices aren’t different, manifesto. Alternatively, one of the rarest hundred-step marathon has fatigued her to pondering the subtleties of neighborhood at least to us, but male and female Cardi- species that I’ve seen in the West Village, a as well. Ooh, I hear the dueting pair again birding. High above our heads in the still nals look differently from each other. The small shorebird migrating from the Arctic down the block. Maybe I can pull a tuft bare trees I hear the musical plink plink of scientific name for this variation is called Circle that stopped by Hudson River Park of fur from Millie’s bum to motivate her a Northern Cardinal, that brazenly red bird sexual dimorphism, but basically it means one August called a Red-necked Phalarope, before we go to look for them. with peaked feathers on its head named for that girl birds don’t look the same as boy hangs all of these conventions out to dry: it’s the peaked miter of a religious dignitary. I’ve birds. In the Cardinal species, the male is the female phalarope that has the namesake spotted him now as he flies to a windowsill all-over scarlet with a harlequinade black brilliant red neck, and it’s the male with the Visit keithmichaelnyc.com for books, photo- across the street. Those plinks were just the face mask and bright orange bill, while sartorial subtleties of the two. Whatever graphs, and the latest schedule of New York warmup for the full-throated concert of cheer the female boasts an olive and taupe en- floats your boat. City WILD! urban-adventures-in-nature cheer cheer cheerio that reels out of him in semble with classy personalized scarlet And now a newsworthy interlude from outings throughout the five boroughs. Visit myriad variations. From the next block flows accents. Bold or nuanced, they’re both out of the West Village: In January 2019, his Instagram @newyorkcitywild for photos an answering call. Yay, spring duet singing! handsome birds. If they weren’t so familiar, while watching their backyard feeder, a from around NYC. WestView News Distribution Outlets

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Hudson Park Library Senior Center at SeaGrape Wines 66 Leroy Street Our Lady of Pompeii Church 512 Hudson Street Bleecker & Carmine Streets Senior Center at Greenwich House Ottomanelli 27 Barrow Street 285 Bleecker Street Modernism lives in Tribeca.

A collaboration of design visionaries. KPF. David Rockwell. David Mann. Edmund Hollander. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 21 Volunteers Become Witnesses for Immigrants

referred to by Hondurans “Model Cities.” dinary natural resources go up in smoke. The Model Cities program was con- Pablo was part of the mass exodus. He, ceived by American economist Paul his older brother Pedro, and his younger Romer. He is a 2018 Nobel Prize recipi- brother Yasser crossed the border through ent, SVP of the World Bank, and mem- the Arizona desert. While crossing, they ber of an advisory group that has included encountered smugglers and were held Grover Norquist who started the Tea Party against their will. Pablo’s older brother movement in the United States, which tried fighting but was killed. His younger sparked an ultra-conservative fervor that brother attempted the other extreme and many have noted ultimately paved the way ran away, but Pablo fears the smugglers for the election of American “billionaire” might have caught up with him. He hasn’t Donald J. Trump in 2016. heard from Yasser since. He was helped to The Model Cities proposal was initially locate the remains of his older brother in rejected by the Honduran Supreme Court the desert and has been campaigning for in 2012, but a few months later, the coun- authorities to search the surrounding area try’s congressional body deposed four of its for the remains of his younger brother, if five judges. At that time, the president of there are indeed any to be found. the Honduran congress was Juan Orlando At a recent Accompaniment Training, a Hernandez, referred to, colloquially, by his volunteer lawyer with the non-profit said initials “J.O.H.” (pronounced “hoh”). The that he believed immigrants die in the des- new Supreme Court promptly passed the ert because of “a policy choice,” pointing Model Cities proposal, and tossed out a to a 1994 Clinton–era immigration strat- PABLO (center), an orphan who lost contact with his immediate family after crossing the request for a recount of a presidential pri- egy, known as “prevention through deter- border, found new hope in his adopted country: “I believed I had no family, but when I visit mary earlier that year in which JOH’s vic- rence,” which essentially uses the desert as places like this, like New Sanctuary, with people like you, I know I am among family. And I tory was contested by his party rival. JOH a weapon. In an official progress report, is- know that I am not alone.” Photo by Stanley Wlodyka. went on to win the presidency in 2014, and sued following its implementation, “death his subsequent re-election in 2018 aroused of aliens” was seen as an indicator of the By Stanley Wlodyka drug trade is responsible for these horrors, international suspicion of foul play. plan’s effectiveness. According to that cri- but there are vested interests in and out of Among many Hondurans, there is no teria, it has been massively successful. The Pablo was already an orphan when he de- the country that have a stake in keeping question as to whether or not Hernandez U.S. Border Patrol estimates that an aver- cided to make his journey to the United Hondurans in a state of debilitating fear. stole the election. The question, rather, is age of 375 migrants die every year during States. His mother had died when he was Pablo comes from a coastal city named whether it was right for JOH to steal the crossing attempts, approximately 7,000 seven and his father sometime before that, Tela, known for its gorgeous picturesque election. Some believe that the unwashed people since the mid-1990s; other groups but he still had his brothers. It wasn’t until beaches. Visitors come from everywhere to masses, who rarely have access to more than estimate that the actual death toll is expo- he crossed the border that he lost them too. enjoy the white sand, palm trees, and warm an eighth-grade education, should not be nentially higher. He generously shared his tragic story with waters, but always within the safety of gat- trusted with choosing the president. This Accompaniment Coordinator Am- an audience of would-be volunteers for a ed, all-inclusive resorts. Outside of those is the same sentiment that led to the 2009 bien Mitchell says that the New Sanctu- program run by the New Sanctuary Coali- gates the general population is terrorized. military coup that deposed Manuel Zelaya, ary Coalition operates in accordance with tion, the non-profit organization based out A large portion of Tela residents, includ- the democratically elected leader who some the guiding principle that there should be of Judson Memorial Church in Washing- ing Pablo, belong to an ethnic group called feared was becoming too aligned with the no borders. Acknowledging that there are ton Square Park that advocates for undoc- Garifuna—who were brought to Central majority of citizens, defending indigenous those who believe that borders are neces- umented immigrants. “Accompaniment America from West Africa on slave ships. rights and related concerns, and, therefore, sary because resources are limited, Ambien Training” readies volunteers to accompany There is now a mass exodus of the Garifu- labeled him communist. The coup was ra- responds, “If you’re asking for my opinion, undocumented immigrants to a variety of na people, endangering the survival of their tionalized from that standpoint. it’s primitive, it’s scarcity-mentality, it’s liz- different official government proceedings culture, as they emigrate to places like the So, while foreign interests are moving ard brain stuff. It’s like, ‘If anyone else has such as deportation hearings and Immi- United States. Meanwhile, transnational in, the Garifuna minority group are mov- anything, it takes away from my ability to gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) businesses and billionaires are moving in ing out, in a startling parallel to gentrifica- have.’ Which is not true: we live in a world check-ins. to these gorgeous coastal areas and carving tion, as widespread violence and the effects of abundance. However, that is a legitimate Pablo’s native Honduras is perhaps the out a chunk for themselves that would of- of environmental degradation and climate part of our biological programming that has most dangerous country in the world, with ficially be exempt from Honduras’ laws and change are making Honduras unlivable for to be reckoned with as we move forward as the highest per capita murder rate any- constitution, thereby enabling them to ne- Hondurans. This is proving to be a good a species and attempt to find more humane where. The abundance of natural beauty gotiate treaties with foreign governments. investment for foreigners, however, as ways of interacting with one another.” there is offset by rampant political insta- This neo-colonial experiment, known as Honduras has some of the most precious bility, widespread poverty, and atrocious ZEDEs—Zonas de Empleo y Desarollo coastal areas in the entire world. In fact, To sign up for an Accompaniment Training violence committed constantly and indis- Economico (Zones of Employment and it has the second largest barrier reef after Session, please visit: www.NewSanctu- criminately. The assumption is that the Economic Development)—is popularly Australia, which is now seeing its extraor- aryNYC.org/Accompaniment_Training. 22 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Then&Now: West 10th Views from 7th Avenue South

By Brian J. Pape, AIA with many celebrities who enjoyed the friendly gay atmosphere under Lenny’s watchful THEN: Ever since the City used Eminent Domain to cut Seventh Avenue South diago- eye (see the Jerry Herman obit in the WVN February edition). Finally, let’s not forget the nally through Greenwich Village’s established blocks in the early 1900’s, and covered up muscle-cars, the station wagons, and the big, wide sedans that populated our streets, along the trench for the new subway tracks, Seventh Avenue South, as well as 10th Street, were with the big white garbage trucks. It really doesn’t feel that different from today. well-maintained cobblestone pavements, as seen in this view looking east from just west NOW: The Women’s House of D is gone, replaced by a beautiful garden, but the Jefferson of the Seventh Avenue intersection in the 1960’s. Let’s explore what else we see in this Courthouse was saved and repurposed as a NYC Public Library branch. Today, even in GVSHP archive photo. winter, it is almost obscured by the many trees that now shade our streets. On the south Most prominently, the “Women’s House of D” looms above the building facades on side of West 10th Street, as we look east, the parking garage has gotten a new paint job in the south side of West 10th Street, its salmon brick and dark metal details soaring like clay over chocolate brown, while the attendant’s booth is still highlighted in white; “Your a luxury high-rise, almost obscuring the fabulous Jefferson Courthouse Bell Tower. The Father’s Mustache” was replaced by a commercial building of yellow brick, which housed House of Detention was built on the site of the open-air Jefferson Market, where farmers the Gourmet Garage grocery until recently, when the building got expanded into a mixed- and merchants set up stalls to hawk their produce, just as we see at Farmers’ Markets at use building along Seventh Avenue South. city parks today. The House of D was demolished in the 1970’s. “Your Father’s Mustache” A dedicated bike path now runs in front of 183 and 185 West 10th, the pavement is is a nightclub that graced the corner of Seventh Avenue for many years. Many of the now asphalt, Lenny’s is now “Small’s” jazz club, and the neon sign at the corner has been other buildings along West 10th are still extant, such as the tenements in dark red, and repurposed without the neon for BOBO’S Restaurant. the Traveler’s Garage in white paint. The sidewalks are still narrow, the traffic is light on the side streets, and the nightclub On the north side of West 10th in the foreground, a large vertical sign with neon ad- atmosphere still dominates this area. Despite a few new buildings on the odd-shaped lots vertises a corner spot, and there is #185 on a canopy. To the left of that is #183, which along the cut-through avenue, and the spruced up townhouses between old tenements, our friend Robert Heide tells us was the cellar-dive bar called Lenny’s Hideaway, popular the West Village has kept its charm, if not its grit.

Do We Really Need Newspapers? The Chicago Tribune, for lack of ads, got sold last week, and the Times article cataloged WestView where thousands can read it? other venerable papers cutting staff and being bought by financial dice shooters. The Vil- I feel, after 15 years, we are just warming up to what a community newspaper can be so I lager's new Brooklyn owners indiscriminately display ads for a Bronx Bank don't want you to send us $12 to continue to get the old WestView—I want you to send it in It takes a Trump-like ego to think that WestView News can escape the arithmetic of high the hope you will get a better and better WestView. cost to print and distribute and the difficulty in getting ads when you can go online free. But And then boy, we get a heart operating room—what newspaper has done that? we are going to try. We are going to try—that is—if you think it is worth the effort? We like But wait, this is your newspaper, and you have lived a unique and interesting life and every the paper and as I keep saying it could become much better—more valuable to the West Vil- once in a while what you have learned in your life time makes you stop and think "no, they lage readers if we can better, more fully, report on what is important to us living here (I raised got it wrong" and then write to WestView and straighten us out. a family here over 50 years). As I said, this is not my newspaper—it is your newspaper—but if you want my opinion, I At about this point readers are skipping to another page—we have heard too many hard think we ought to try and keep it. luck stories and, so what if another paper goes out of business—I get my news from TV anyway. And then I get a 96-year-old woman who had her life savings conned away from her ❑ OK let's try and keep it alive! Here is my $12 for one year. over the phone from people who said they were a government office—she calls WestView. ❑ Here is $24 for two years. Politicians sit down for a cup of coffee at my kitchen table when they are running for office ❑ Here is my gift to WestView for a job well done $______and they would rather not read a sarcastic appraisal of their legislative ideas. What is more effective—sending an email to your City Councilman or seeing it printed in Mail to WestView News, 69 Charles St., New York, NY 10014 or online at westviewnews.org www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 23 News and Upcoming Community Events from the West 13th Street Alliance By the West 13th Street Alliance the schedule of several more Street Alliance Community Invite the kids and grandkids to Drag through June—are evidence that Meeting will feature an exciting Queen Story Hour on June 6th from 3:30- The Alliance began 2020 with a well-at- on West 13th Street and be- announcement about the future 5p.m. in the Sanctuary of The Church of tended lecture titled The Underwater Life yond, the Alliance is helping to of the three and a half year old the Village. Drag Queen Story Hour NYC of the Hudson River and Beyond with strengthen bonds among neigh- Alliance. We urge you to come provides a range of fun and fabulous edu- West 13th Street resident John Delaney, borhood residents. and learn about our new vision cational experiences for children and teens Director of Communications, New York Here’s what we can look for- for our block and beyond. from three to 18 years old in libraries, Aquarium. Feedback from audience mem- ward to in the coming months. Following the great reception schools, museums, and other community bers was positive, including such com- Making Knowing: Craft in for the holiday card making class spaces in all five boroughs of New York City. ments as, “Loved that this event was right Art, 1950–2019, Lecture and Presenta- in November, the Alliance is excited to of- Through storytelling and creativity, DQSH near my apt.,” “Very informative and didn’t tion by Jano Cortijo of the Whitney Mu- fer a Landscape Painting art workshop on teaches children about gender diversity and realize all the various kinds of marine life seum, will take place on Tuesday, March Wednesday, May 20th from 6:30-8:30p.m. in all forms of difference to build empathy and that exist right in our backyard,” and “This 10th, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Lenox Health the Chapel Room of Church of the Village. give kids the confidence to express them- lecture was a highlight for me since win- Greenwich Village, 200 West 13th Street Art instructor Kitty Azhar, a New York City selves however they feel comfortable. ters in New York can be isolating.” And the in the 6th floor Community Room. A Free public school teacher, will teach us to use At all of these free events, healthy snacks wine tasting event with MCF Rare Wine Family Pass for the Whitney Museum will color and space to create a landscape paint- and refreshments are provided. owner Matt Franco on February 27 was be given to all who attend ing. Information and handouts on the tools also a lively and very sociable evening that On April 22nd from 6:30-8p.m. in the and techniques that artists use will be shared. This programming is made possible with a sold out weeks before it occurred. Sanctuary room of Church of the Village, Bring a picture of a landscape or use one of generous grant from Manhattan Borough These two Community Events—and 201 West 13th Street, The West 13th the stock photo images provided in class. President Gail Brewer. Free Hatha Yoga for the Mind, Body and Soul

By Marithelma Costa Saturdays (11:30 am–1:00 pm) at one of City ed how they feel stronger, more flexible, taking a vacation for 1 ½ hours a day.” And as School’s beautiful classrooms (16 Clarkson and calmer. For Theresa, “The class is like for me it is a great gift. People say that New York is not the best city St.). The school provides the props. for growing old. Baja California and Florida Classes are led by Malka Percal and Mi- have better weather; México’s San Miguel chelle Brandt (trained at Integral Yoga). As de Allende is much cheaper; Madrid offers both pay close attention to each student’s huge discounts at concerts, plays, museums, strengths and challenges, taking their and films; and Paris is always Paris. classes feels safe and is a delight. Nevertheless what can be true for most The fifth class (Fridays 11:15 am-12:15 of the city, does not apply to Greenwich pm) takes place at the historic Greenwich Village, where older adults can take five House, and a $1 donation is suggested. It excellent elementary hatha yoga classes a is a sixty-minute class and Maura Nolan, week, at no cost. a sensitive and experienced yoga teacher, New York Edge-Beacon sponsors four of leads it. Greenwich House provides props them on Mondays and Wednesdays (5:00 and its magnificent gym, built in 1917. pm-6:30 pm), Tuesdays (3:45-5:30 pm), and People who go regularly have comment-

SATURDAY CLASS AT CITY-AS-SCHOOL: Warrior Two practice. Photo credit: Marithelma Costa. 24 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org

Treasures from travelling—don’t you love them? They contain the special seed of the original jour- Karen’s Quirky Style ney, with petals of memory from subsequent wear- ings making these our dearest garments. Adorning the outfit with orange-speckled jewelry brings even more By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor memories of friends and friendship. Style can root us in our connections with others, even as it expresses our This month’s look is a mixture of old and new, with unique personality. contrasting textures and colors. The centerpiece is the I invite you to share a personal tale about one of your striking, shiny black PVC pants by Andrea Thurlow favorite garments in the comments section of this col- of Engineered by Andrea T. I love their sleek edginess. umn at westviewnews.org. I can’t wait to hear your story! The next step in putting this outfit together was to hunt through my closets for the perfect shoes to match For more stories, style notes, and fun photos, see karens- the pants. quirkystyle.com and connect @karensquirkystyle. It took some searching through four closets, and then I found these slender patent leather Mary Jane “fetish” shoes in the darkest reaches at the back. I’d al- BLACK PVC PANTS by Engineered by Andrea T. 147 most forgotten about these elegant beauties, which I’d West 35th Street (by appointment only). purchased on a trip to Berlin to visit my sister, many years ago. They are called fetish shoes for a reason. ELFIN ORANGE VELVET HOODIE with bell sleeves, They are duplicitous, capturing both ends of the SM rickrack trim, and a bell on the hood. Designer boutique (unknown), Berlin. spectrum. Although only 4.7 inches high, they are virtually impossible to walk in, the slope is so steep— LEDAPOL BLACK PATENT LEATHER MARY JANE STI- making the wearer helpless prey. But the tiny spikes in LETTOS. Boutique Hautnah, Uhlandstr. 170, Berlin. the stiletto heels are tipped in metal. The force in the BLACK TANK. Pink Penguin NYC, 110 Macdougal tiny tip is up to 1,600 PSI! These shoes can be formi- Street. dable instruments of torture! Just saying… NICOLE LEE HANDBAG. Vancouver International Airport. The orange velvet hoodie has a long “elfin” hood with a bell on the end, softening the hard, shiny black ORANGE CARNELIAN TEARDROP NECKLACE with impact with a touch of whimsy. I discovered this Black carnelian beads and orange teardrop bead earrings. Gift from a friend. Forest fairytale garment on the same trip to Berlin, at a local designer’s store, but the name is lost in the sands MULTICOLORED GEMSTONE BRACELET. The Met Store, 1000 Fifth Avenue. of time, sadly. I couldn’t find anything similar online to WEST VILLAGE MODEL KAREN REMPEL blends velvet look up the designer. The piece is truly unique. If any with PVC and takes a bite out of Bleecker Street. Pho- VINTAGE ’50S AMBER-COLORED GLASS RING. Pippin of you readers know, drop me a line! tograph by Dusty Berke. Vintage Jewelry, 112 W. 17th Street. Style on the Street: I’m Feeling Lucky! All photos by Dusty Berke. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 25

BOOK REVIEW Call Sign Chaos; Learning to Lead Jim Mattis and Bing West Random House, New York; 2019; 300 pages

By Herbert W. Stupp defense budget. “Rhetoric doesn’t end con- flicts,” he trenchantly observes, with chapter With purported “tell all” books emerging 15 titled: “Snatching Defeat from the Jaws from most every White House, it is natural of Victory,” a commentary on Obama policy. to wonder if the book penned by President Mattis identifies Iran as a relentless en- Trump’s first Defense Secretary would of- emy, opining that the mullahs assessed the fer a take on his former boss and presiden- Obama administration to be “impotent,” tial decision-making. But in Call Sign Chaos, with exhibit “A” being Iran’s brazen at- Jim Mattis has not written such a tome, even tempt to murder a Saudi diplomat a few though that might have sold more copies for minutes from the White House. Mattis him. Secretary Mattis’ two-page resignation would chart a confident course between letter is revealed in the book, but not much “American uncertainty and messianism.” more about his 23 months in the Cabinet. The former Secretary has always been Mattis declares in his prologue: “I’m old fash- most at home among his fellow Ma- ioned: I don’t write about sitting presidents.” rines, and revels in being their sentinel Opening Secretary Jim Mattis’ book, I and advocate. If a senior officer can’t talk was prepared for military jargon that would with his young volunteers, then he’s “lost prompt me to call a relative to tap his men- touch.” Mattis objected to the new “rules tal thesaurus (family disclosure: the eldest of engagement” implemented during the of my ten brothers-in-law worked with Obama years as being “drafted by lawyers” then-General Mattis in the Marine Corps, and exposing his beloved “grunts” to poten- and admires him). tially lethal danger in and around combat. But this is a readable, thoughtful and use- He supports rules of engagement that ful book about leadership, observed and protect civilians, but argues that a “democ- exercised, with lessons for any MBA about racy… has a moral obligation to ensure ELDER ABUSE HITS CLOSE TO HOME. success and occasional error in managing Department for that its soldiers are… encouraged to effec- the Aging Marines, inter-agency jockeying and inter- Call 311 if you suspect elder abuse or to connect tively carry out their appointed task of… to free support for physical and mental health. Department of Health national diplomacy. Mattis offers scores of and Mental Hygiene destroying the enemy.” Mayor’s Office to Call 911 for emergencies. End Domestic and useful anecdotes and pithy quotes from those Many schools of management advance Gender-Based Violence he worked with, nearly all teaching a lesson. a philosophy of “centralized planning with The former secretary also demonstrates his decentralized execution,” but Secretary deep grounding in the writings of the great Mattis demurs. He favors “centralized vi- generals, heads of state, philosophers and sion” development only, leaving strategies to VIEWS BY SUZE even economists to bolster his points. Jim decentralized implementation. He is “partial Suzanne McAndrews Mattis is a genuine “soldier-intellectual.” to studying Roman leaders and historians… 50 + years in Greenwich Village His Marine Corps requires officers to whose grace under pressure and reflections complete specific reading lists as they pre- on life can guide leaders today.” See Views by Suze pare for promotions to each new level of Mattis stresses the importance of lead- at Bonsignour Café leadership. Those who eschew these assign- ership in shaping an organization’s culture, Jane Street ments would risk “functional illiteracy,” says and “culture eats strategy for lunch,” he and Eighth Avenue Mattis, and the book supplies his personal adds. Contrary to some stereotypes about two-page reading list, for our further study. our military, the Marine Corps is home to 646-689-3475 He freely quotes from Napoleon, Churchill, many original and creative thinkers, with Lincoln, von Clausewitz, Einstein, Hayek, Mattis being an exemplar. Upon meeting [email protected] MacArthur and many other great minds. our ally, King Abdullah of Jordan, then- Call Sign Chaos is co-written by Bing General Mattis wryly asked: “What’s it like West, himself an estimable author and being king? I’ve never been one.” The king military analyst, who was an Assistant Sec- laughed and explained his priority of gener- retary of Defense in the Reagan adminis- ating public support for his policies, espe- tration and a Marine combat veteran. cially fighting terrorism and aggression. Throughout the book, Mattis’ humility If I ever get to meet Jim Mattis, I might is palpable and pervasive. He expresses dif- ask: “What was it like being Secretary? I’ve ferences with Presidents Obama and G.W. never been one.” For that story, we’ll have to Bush, and General Tommy Franks. But he wait for his next book. But in the meantime, does so respectfully, and spares subordinates Secretary Mattis’ Call Sign Chaos offers les- whom he disciplined from being named. sons in leadership, a heartfelt appreciation Mattis reveals how his penchant for traf- for those willing to serve in the Marines and ficking in ideas and alternative tactics led our other armed services, and incisive reflec- his staff to create his Marine Corps call sign tions on policies that succeeded or failed. of “C.H.A.O.S.” It stands for “Colonel Has Another Outstanding Solution.” Herbert W. Stupp is editor of Gipperten.com. He faults Bush 43 for steering us back He was a Commissioner in NYC Mayor into Iraq, and for goals that were “too ide- Rudy Giuliani’s Cabinet, after serving in the alistic,” but blames Obama and Biden for administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan a chaotic withdrawal, not enforcing their and George H. W. Bush. Published with the “red line” in Syria, and parsimony with the permission of The Washington Times. 26 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Vida Americana Mexican Muralists Remake American Art: 1925-1945 NEED A JOB? Sure, you had a pretty busy work career and can be proud of some of the things you have done in your life—but it is quiet now. All those skills and all of those work smarts are right now sitting pretty much unused. Why not use them ? WestView needs the following skills, but nobody who is competent at getting things done is ex- cluded—we need general purpose doers.

AD MANAGER to record and manage ad sales and maybe even close a sale or two (advertising is the only way to keep a newspaper alive so this is the most important job right now). ONLINE EDITION EDITOR with computer skills to run the online edition—to develop it, seek advertisers and in general make it more and more imaginatively versatile. DIEGO RIVERA, REPRODUCTION OF MAN CONTROLLER OF THE UNIVERSE, fresco. 1934, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Photos by PROOFREADERS, EDITORS to clean up Maggie Berkvist. submitted copy and make it sing. By Martica Sawin The following December New York’s Mu- long Epic of American Civilization, 1932, at ADVERTISING SALES to offer a free ad seum of Modern Art mounted a Rivera Dartmouth College. To step out of the elevator onto the fifth mid-career retrospective; meanwhile he As the Depression deepened, the Roos- and a discount to new businesses fea- floor of the Whitney Museum into the worked at the Detroit Institute of Arts on a evelt administration launched a succession tured in the In and Out column (you get a newly installed exhibition Vida Americana vast and intricate interweaving of machines of Federally sponsored public art programs 10% commission). This is an easy one for Mexican Muralists Remake American Art and workers, in frescoes funded by Edsel and put thousands of artists to work under a relaxed and commanding personality. is equivalent to walking into a time warp. Ford (shown in a panoramic photograph at the auspices of the Works Progress Ad- REPORTERS to attend meetings, record One is back in Greenwich Village of nine- the Whitney).In Los Angeles, Siqueiros, ministration. The influence of the Mexi- ty years ago when José Clemente Orozco the last of Los tres grandes to arrive, taught can muralists on much of the art done for and extract salient information, and inter- was painting frescoes on the walls of Jo- at the Chouinuard Art Institute where he the Federal Art Project is apparent in both view key people. seph Urban’s New School building on 12th enlisted a team of students to work on a style and choice of subject. Some Ameri- FUNDRAISERS. The West Village has a Street, when David Alfaro Siqueiros con- 24’ fresco in the school’s courtyard, among cans who had worked on murals with the little more than its share of affluent who ducted a workshop in experimental tech- them Phillip Guston and Ruben Kadish, Mexicans moved directly over to the W.P are willing to share surplus income with nology at Union Square, and Diego Rivera high school classmates of Jackson Pollock. A. under the Federal Art Project. Lucienne brushed a head of Lenin into his outsize With Siquieros’ help, Guston and Kadish Bloch, who had been Rivera’s assistant at tax-exempt donations to WestView. mural for Rockefeller Center. Not only has spent a summer in Mexico working on a Rockefeller Center, painted murals for the A GOOD NICE HONEST LAWYER who the Whitney achieved a tour de force in fresco commission in Morelia. Later they Women’s House of Detention in Green- can help WestView steer a path between replicating immovable (or destroyed) fres- joined Pollock in New York; all three were wich Village. Phillip Guston did murals for the legal shoals and rocks, gifting his fees. coes and unearthing little-known works by deeply impressed when they drove to Ha- the 1939 Worlds Fair; his Study for Queens- American artists responding to the Mexi- nover, New Hampshire to see Orozco’s 36’- bridge Housing Project of 1939 is in the BUSINESS WISDOM. A successful busi- cans, but it has written a neglected chapter Whitney show. A common thread running ness mind that has learned by doing. back into the history of American art. through the works on view is the drive for CAREER WRITERS. After a successful Instigated on the heels of the Mexican social and political change, either through and unique career, your story. revolution in 1920, the mural movement in depiction of brutal and repressive forces or Mexico sought to communicate on public glowing visions of technological potential. GROUP DYNAMICS ADVISOR to sort out walls the history of the nation and the lives Along with this went various political al- ego struggles amongst the staff. of ordinary people. When the demand for legiances, largely Communist or Socialist. frescoes diminished in Mexico some of (Both parties had presidential candidates I could go on but you know you have skills the leading practitioners, including Diego on the electoral ballots.) The upshot was that WestView could really use and it is Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David that art came to be judged not on its qual- fun to join a group that is really doing Alfaro Siquieros, found commissions in the ity but its politics. The onset of the Cold United States. An early example is Orox- War and the witch-hunting of the McCar- something. co’s fresco, Prometheus, executed at Pomona thy era brought on a reaction that caused College in 1930, which the Whitney has art promoting social reform to vanish from CALL GEORGE CAPSIS replicated for the present exhibition. Diego many walls. Congratulations to the Whit- Rivera was given a hero’s welcome when he JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO, PROMETHEUS, ney for this belated historical adjustment. 212.924.5718 or arrived in San Francisco the same year to 1939, fresco, Pomona College, Claremont, Vida Americana continues through May email [email protected] begin work on three mural commissions. California replicated for Whitney exhibition. 17, 2020. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 27

Maggie B’s Quick Clicks A VERY SPECIAL TRIP. Once upon a time, in the early 1960s, when I was a brand new immigrant, I lucked out—big time. I got a job at the New York Times working on the picture desk of the Sunday Book Review—where, in those distant days, we used paintings to illustrate the fiction reviews. Which meant that every other Friday after- noon I got to go to the art galleries to raid their files for items we thought might come in handy one day. (We had cabinets full of them—and paid the galleries the princely sum of $10 if we ran one.) And so it was that I became familiar with the realists of the period, along with the WPA artists and others from the earlier eras—though out of style by that time, and sneered at by the Editor! And as I walked into Vida Americana there they were—the famous Mexicans I remembered and the Americans they'd in- fluenced, Jacob Lawrence and Charles White, Thomas Hart Benton and Ben Shahn, even unexpected people like Jackson Pollock—all on this brilliantly colorful memory lane. And so, to cheer yourselves up in these doleful days, may I recommend you "Run Don't Walk" to the wonderful Whitney to enjoy this truly exhilarating experience.

PAINTINGS FROM VIDA AMERICANA BY DIEGO RIVERA, BEN SHAHN AND CHARLES WHITE. All photos by Maggie Berkvist. 28 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org Who Is William Sydney Porter? By Richard Eric Weigle not wish to live where no one else wants to even set foot. Whatever the reason, they Do you know Who William Sydney Porter are here, and along with whatever else they is? Well, if you do not, you are not alone. came to see, they are experiencing our Maybe some of you know him simply by the beautiful tree-lined streets, our tree wells name O’Henry. He is the author of hundreds abundant with flowers, colorful birdhouses, of short stories usually with an ironic twist or and a variety of architecture from federal a surprise ending. The Ransom of Red Chief, to Art Deco. They often seem amazed to The Gift of The Magi and The Last Leaf are find residents planting flowers or watering three of his most well known. The Last Leaf plants, strumming guitars and sitting on is probably my favorite short story of all time. our stoops reading a newspaper or a book. It begins with an unforgettably descriptive There are definitely downsides to gentri- passage about our beloved neighborhood. fication, increased tourism and boisterous “So to quaint old Greenwich Village lines outside local restaurants, but there is the artistic people soon came prowling, also something exciting, vibrant and urban hunting for north windows and eigh- about it that you can’t get from living in a teenth century gables and Dutch at- cul-de-sac in Connecticut. The fact is that tics and low rents. Then they imported most of us are here by choice and it is up to some pewter mugs, a chafing dish or two us to keep Greenwich Village as a creative, from Sixth Avenue and started a colony.” artistic place. Maybe we do not have as It is a haunting tale of struggling bohemians many creative types and as many struggling and the healing power of art and love. artists as we have had in decades past, but we still have residents who open up their With its atmospheric setting in a quaint homes for salon performances and intimate Greenwich Village apartment overlook- evening soirées. We have spaces where we ing a brick wall covered in ivy, and its can study piano, pottery or Tai Chi. We now well-drawn characters who are incredibly have a film festival that is in its 5th year and vulnerable and real, it is a literary treasure. we have the iconic Cherry Lane Theater The fact that he wrote it while inspired by which is the oldest off Broadway theater in the wall of ivy he noticed in Grove Court New York as well as many other vibrant off has always been a source of great pride and Broadway and Off Off Broadway theaters. interest for me. One day in the 1970’s while sitting on the What and where is Grove Court, you stoop at 35 Grove St and reading James might ask? Grove Court is a private court- Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, I looked up to yard between 10 and 12 Grove Street with see James Baldwin, himself, walking down six quaint houses. It was built as housing GROVE STREET HAS AND DOES PLAY A BIG PART IN LITERARY AND POP CULTURE, as seen the street. He noticed me reading his book with the iconic "Friends" TV show building, above. Photo courtesy of Richard Eric Weigle. for laborers and at one point it was so di- and we acknowledged each other’s pres- lapidated that it became known as Pig Al- Columbia Street, which was soon changed the Village know about close relationships ence and smiled. It was one of those brief ley because of the pigs that ran loose in the to Cozine Street after a prominent local with neighbors and relying on friends. Al- and intimate encounters that can only courtyard. It was also known as Mixed Ale family. It was then renamed Burrows Street though not a huge fan of the show, I will happen in a city like New York, a magi- Alley presumedly because its residents could after William Burrows, a local Navy War say that I was always impressed by the way cal moment that I will never forget. I was not afford to buy a mug of beer from a local hero. Maybe the name was too close to they loved and cared for one another. They so starstruck, that I never even thought of pub and would have to collect the leftover neighboring Barrow Street and because the were rarely if ever cruel to one another and asking for an autograph. I was a teacher at beer from numerous containers mixing it street already had a grove of trees alongside the humor usually came from their own the time and had just taught his novel Go all together before drinking. Today it is one it, it finally became known as Grove Street. insecurities and personality quirks and not Tell It on the Mountain and there he was, on of the most sought after addresses in New Hart Crane and Thomas Paine called from crude and cruel remarks as is com- my street in front of my building. I found York providing a small oasis of peace and Grove St. home, and writer Calvin Tril- mon on many other shows from the same out later that his literary agent lived at 17 pristine beauty for its lucky residents. lin still does. Bette Midler lived on Grove era. Do fans really think that except for Grove Street and that he would often walk Before moving to New York, O Henry Street for a while as well as on Barrow St. the exterior shots of 90 Bedford St. that down the block to go there. lived in Texas where he embezzled mon- Actresses Kim Hunter and Veronica Lake the series was filmed here? How many bus There are so many memories from each ey while working in a bank and because also lived here for short periods of time. tours stop on Hudson St to allow fans and decade that I have lived in the Village, but of this, he spent some time in prison. He So Grove Street has and does play a television geeks the opportunity to have my life seemed to improve when I stopped started writing stories while incarcerated, big part in literary and pop culture. You their photo taken in front of that build- wishing things would be like they used to and a friend would submit his work to can glimpse Grove Street in many films ing? How many walking tours can our tiny be, and stopped bemoaning restaurants publishers under the pen name O’Henry including Warren Beatty’s Reds, Woody street and its weary residents put up with? and shops that were no longer with us, and so that they would not know the stories Allen’s Another Woman, The April Fools How should we react? Should we be an- started to embrace the present and all the were written by an inmate. Why O’Henry? with Jack Lemmon and Catherine De- gry and bitter that our sidewalks are taken things that are so much better now than One theory is that Henry was the name of nueve, the 2019 comedy Isn’t It Romantic? over with tourists from all over the world they were 25 years ago. I started to take his girlfriend’s cat and that she was con- and in the final episode of Ryan Mur- and that we actually can hear their laugh- the time to breathe and look around and stantly calling out “O’ Henry, what did you phy’s new television series, The Politician. ter and conversations? Should we lament enjoy the renovated buildings, the lower do now?” However, in a 1909 interview Which brings us to Monica, Chandler, days gone by before there was a television crime rate, the hundreds of new trees, the with the New York Times, he confessed that Joey, Rachel, Phoebe and Ross and another series called Friends when the few tour- gorgeous waterfront promenades, the new he just picked the name Henry out of the television show, Friends. How does a televi- ists who found Grove and Bedford Streets bishop crook lamp posts and so much more. Society pages of a newspaper and added sion show that went off the air in 2004 still were actually looking at the architecture of So just like one of O’Henry’s stories that the “O” on the front. Whatever the case, have that many fans from around the world the quaint houses or had actually heard of had a surprise ending, isn’t it ironic that a I am so grateful for his appreciation for who seem to make an almost religious or O’Henry or Hart Crane? Well, I have been television show produced in Los Angeles Grove Court and for Grove Street, which spiritual pilgrimage to Grove and Bedford thinking about how lucky we are to live would be about friends in Greenwich Vil- has been my home for the last 45 years. to see the famous Friends Building? Maybe in an area where people from around the lage who become more like family and ac- In the 1800’s Grove Street was first called it is because it is about friends, and we in world actually want to visit. I personally do continued on page 29 www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 29 Charles Busch—The Confession of Lily Dare

very touching and expertly brought home by it featured the television sit-com star Elaine Busch, such as the down-on-her-luck tragic B. Shore. heroine when she sings the plaintive song Back in 1964 the writer Susan Sontag It’s Only a Shanty in Old Shanty Town (“The wrote an important essay in the Partisan roof is so slanty it touches the ground - Just a Review, Notes on Camp, which brought tumble-down shack by an old railroad track - the word ‘camp’ into play along with the In my shanty in Old Shanty Town.”) As Lily ‘theatre of the absurd,’ a term used to de- sang this ditty I noticed a young audience scribe many of the ‘new’ plays of Ionesco, member wiping away a tear with a dainty Beckett, Pinter, and others. In Sontag’s es- white hankie. say she calls camp “A sensibility that revels The new Busch work certainly joins the in artifice, stylization, theatricalization, iro- performer/playwright’s other camp clas- ny and exaggeration rather than content.” sics among those I’ve seen over the years. I might add there is such a thing as High Among my favorites are Vampire Lesbians Camp and with that in mind I would say LEFT TO RIGHT: Jennifer Van Dyck, Christopher Borg and Charles Busch in The Confession of Sodom, The Lady in Question, Shanghai that The Confession of Lily Dare is a prime of Lily Dare. Photo by Carol Rosegg. Moon, Red Scare on Sunset, Psycho Beach Par- example as well as an outright laugh riot. I By Robert Heide parody of early 1930’s pre-code Hollywood ty, Die Mommie, die!, and his Broadway hit should add that the supporting cast, as well tear-jerker movies such as Madame X (1929 The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife. Attending a as Charles Busch in the lead, are ‘the tops.’ The melodrama play by the prolific writer, with Ruth Chatterton) and The Sin of Mad- play at the Cherry Lane Theatre is always They include Nancy Anderson, Christo- actor, director, novelist and super-drag per- elon Claudet which starred a young, starry- special. Run by the dynamic actress/produc- pher Borg, Kendal Sparks, Jennifer Van former and cabaret star Charles Busch pro- eyed Helen Hayes in 1931. er Angelina Fiordellisi since 1996 this the- Dyck and Howard McGillan. The whole duced by the production group known as The high - camp - low - camp - up - and ater is what Greenwich Village was all about shebang was directed brilliantly by Busch’s Primary Stages entitled The Confession of - down-story and career of the flame-haired in the early Bohemian days. Of writers and longtime collaborator Carl Andress. The Lily Dare stars Busch in the title role as Lily Lily Dare is first introduced as a shy but am- artists there I saw many of my playwright play ends with the music—San Francisco, Dare. Primary Stages has presented many bitious convent girl who transforms herself friends’ plays produced including Edward Open your Golden Gate, and I Left My Heart new interesting plays at the Cherry Lane with the aid of entrepreneur Blackie Lam- Albee, Sam Shepard, and Joe Orton. One in San Francisco—and is a real love letter to Theatre at 38 Commerce Street and else- bert (brilliantly enacted by Howard McGil- must add Gertrude Stein and T. S. Elliot to that West Coast city. where. Founded by Casey Childs, the Pri- len). The artful set design by B. T. White- this list, and my own plays Moon and At mary Artistic Director is Andrew Leynse, hill includes a background replica created War With the Mongols on a double bill first Mr. Busch resides in an Art Deco apartment and Shane D. Hudson is credited as Execu- with red-twinkly-lights of the Golden Gate done there fifty years ago. Otto Preminger, building in Greenwich Village across from tive Director. The original production was Bridge. The lighting design expertly lends a the filmmaker, was one of the producers and Abingdon Square. first tried out and produced off-off Broad- dreamy cinematic effect to the play wherein way in 2018 at Crystal Field’s Theater for Lily Dare first stars as a cabaret chanteuse the New City in the East Village. For the and later runs a bordello where she becomes off Broadway production Busch has refined known as San Francisco’s most notorious Karin Batten the work into a sharp-edged diamond pro- madame. There are many zany, hilarious New Paintings duction bringing in the costume designer one-liners in this work that in some cases are Rachel Townsend who has created incred- followed by low-level hitting below-the-belt ible sparkle-plenty costumes as well as over- punches. Busch does not hold back steam the-top exaggerated high piled-up wigs de- when his character openly shouts out foul- signed by Katherine Carr. Jessica Jahn has mouthed gut-wrenching sex talk. Explicit designed special ‘Lily Dare’ costumes just expletives abound and they are uproarious. for Mr. Busch, who runs the gambit in this Yes, there are super sad moments that I found

Porter continued from page 28 been more racially diverse and many of us tually do live up to the lyrics of the sitcom felt that there could have been gay charac- theme song that says “I’ll be there for you.” ters, but it seems to resonate with people all Oh my god, now I am quoting lyrics over the world. We love Greenwich Village from the theme songs of television sitcoms. because we have a sense of community. We Maybe I need to read something. Let me walk our neighbor’s dogs and shop for the see. Hart Crane lived at 45 Grove St, and sick and the elderly, work with our block as- I know nothing about him. I need to read sociations to maintain our quality of life and something written by Hart Crane. Now try to make life better in any way that we the hardest question of all: do I download can. Similar to the six characters in Friends, his work on my Kindle or actually buy a we support and are there for each other. book from a bookstore? Hmm, that is a di- The Last Leaf is essentially about the lemma that many of us are facing. Do I buy friendship of two roommates, Sue and an actual book, support local businesses Johnsy, struggling to survive in a small and enjoy the touch and smell of paper and Greenwich Village apartment. This theme the turning of the pages or do I download a is also repeated in the story, My Sister Ei- digital copy that might be easier and better leen, which became the musical Wonderful for the environment? No easy answers. Town, which tells the story of two sisters’ Maybe in the end we should pay some adventures while living on Christopher St. attention to why so many people relate to I think that O’ Henry would be proud that and gravitate toward Friends. When you his vision of friendship, love and Green- JUNE KELLY GALLERY • 166 MERCER STREET, NY, NY think about it, it had no violence, no spe- wich Village is as relevant and influential cial effects and was mainly about supporting today as it was when it was written so many MARCH 6 - APRIL 14 and loving one another. Yes, it could have decades ago. 30 WestView News March 2020 www.westviewnews.org

All are invited to come, in honor of Good Liar (2019) Ian McKellan MARCH these two brave young men who lost plays a con man and his target, an ag- their lives while volunteering to keep ing millionaire played by Helen Mir- EVENTS our neighborhood safe. ren. Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy by Stephanie Phelan of n Tuesday March 17, 11 am: St. Street. Free. westvillageword.com Patrick’s Day Parade The world’s oldest and largest St. MUSIC Patrick’s Day parade celebrates Irish n Saturday March 7, 6:30 pm: wv culture and the Catholic faith. Lots Piano Music for Four Hands w of bagpipes! Fifth Avenue from 44th Michiyo Morikawa and Joel Neftali for to 79th Street. No alcohol or petss Juan Qui Vega will perform pieces by WestView News allowed. Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and more, n Sunday March 29, 1:30 pm: The at Greenwich House Music, 46 Bar- Greek Independence Day Parade row Street. Admission $20. © Stephanie Phelan 2013 This colorful parade features tradi- n Saturday March 21, 2 pm: Bril- SPECIAL EVENTS liance & Fervor: Beethoven, Rach- tional costumes, music, and lots of CITYWIDE. maninoff, and Scarlatti. blue and white flags. Fifth Avenue PRIDE GOETH Classi- n Thursday March 5, 6:30 pm: from 64th to 79th Street. BEFORE THE FALL cal pianist SHIZ’KA to perform Remembering the Women of the Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, centuries-old music with a millennial Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire owners of The Triangle Waist twist at Revelation Gallery, St. John’s On March 25, 1911, 123 women and SCREENINGS Company, stand for a self-satis- n in the Village, West 11th Street and young girls died in a tragic fire at the Sunday March 1 through Sunday fied portrait prior to the fire.Photo March 15: Children’s International Waverly Place. Tickets $20 in ad- Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on Wash- Courtesy of the Kheel Center for Film Festival Many award-winning vance, $25at door, $10 off for seniors, ington Place. Management had locked Labor-Management Documentation children’s films and animations will be and Archives. students. all the doors to the exits and staircases shown at various locations, including to prevent unauthorized breaks and at IFC. For information on films and (1938) Katherine Hepburn and Cary LITERATURE thefts by the workers, so when the fire n Saturday March 14, 10:30 am: schedules, go to nyicff.org/2020. Grant star in this comedy about a broke out, the women were trapped, n Monday March 2, 6 pm—Screw- paleontologist pursued by an heiress Book Discussion Club Ocean and 62 of them jumped to their ball Comedies: Easy Living (1937) with a pet Leopard. Jefferson Market Vuong’s book On Earth We’re Briefly deaths. from high windows. A panel of Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, and R Library, 425 Sixrh This movie is part Gorgeous. Hudson Park Library, 66 speakers will discuss the women, the ay Milland star in this movie about of a series of screwball comedies being Leroy Street. building, the fire, its legacy, and more. a banker who throws his wife’s fur studied in a class at at Jefferson Mar- Judson Memorial Church’s Assembly coat off a roof, and it lands on a ket Library, 425 Sixrh Avenue. Free. COMMUNITY AFFAIRS Hall; enter at 239 Thompson Street. stenographer who can’t believe her n Thursday March 12, 2pm: Crawl n Wednesday March 25, 7:30 pm: To attend, register at GVSHP.org. good forune and begins to flaunt the (2019) A scary film about a young 6th Precinct Community Council n Saturday March 14, 4 pm: coat. This movie is part of a series of woman and her father caught in a Meeting A dialogue between the Ceremony in Honor of Slain NYPD screwball comedies being studied in a crawlspace after a hurricane causes 6th Precinct and the community, Auxiliary Police Officers Nicholas class at at Jefferson Market Library, flooding. Hudson Park Library, 66 discussing serivous issues facing the Fritzi: A Revolutionary Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik Ev- 425 Sixrh Avenue. Free. Leroy Street. Free. neighborhood. Our Lady of Pompeii, Tale ery year the neighborhood honors these n Thursday March 5, 2 pm The n Friday March 13, 7 pm: The Be- Father Demo Hall, Bleecker and two young men who were assasinated Kitchen (2019) A crime film based yond Sixty Project An award-winning Carmine Streets. All are welcome. by a crazed gunman on Sullivan Street on the comics of the same name. documentary by Mellissa Davey, show- in 2007. This year, the event will take The film is about the wives of Irish ing the revelance of women who are no LEARNING place starting at 4 pm, when Police mobsters after the FBI arrests their longer young. The Westbeth Commu- n Fridays in March, 10:30 am: Art Officers and people from the neighbor- husbands. Hudson Park Library. 66 nity Space, 155 Bank Street. Free. Therapy Drawing Class Create your hood will march from the 6th Precinct, Leroy Street. Free. n Thursday March 19, 2 pm: Mata own Zentangle patterns. Hudson down Bleecker Street to Sullivan Street, n Monday March 9, 6 pm —Screw- Hari (1931) Greta Garbo stars in this Park Library, 66 Leroy Street. Free. where a short memorial will take place. ball Comedies:: Bringing Up Baby movie about a beautiful dancer (not the infamous spy) working in Paris in TALKS LIFE BEHIND THE WALL 1914 before the outbreak of WWI. n Saturday March 14, 2pm: Art The International Children’s Film Festival features a number of foreign award- Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Lecture by Robert Bunkin—The winning films and animations. One of the features is Fritzi: A Revolutionary Tale, Street. Free. Life and Times of Lugwig Meidner which takes place in East Germany in 1989, before the Wall came down. The n Saturday March 21, 2pm: Harriet Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Festival continues through March 15 at various theaters in the city. (2019) A film about Harriet Tubman Street. Free. (played by Cynthia Erivo), the coura- geous slave who escaped the bondage VILLAGE HISTORY of her cruel masters and became a n Tuesday March 31, 6 pm: Doro- conductor on the Underground Rail- thy Day in the Village She was one road. Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy of America’s most ardent advocates Street. Free. for the homeless, a radical pacifist, n Thursday March 26, 2pm: Termi- a proponent of civil disobedience, a nator: Dark Fate (2019) An action/ lifelong critic of US foreign policy, adventure/sci-fi film with The film and unchecked capitalism. She was a stars Linda Hamilton returning in resident of Greenwich Village in the the role of Sarah Connor and Arnold 1910’s, and was romantically involved Schwarzenegger reprising his role as with playwright Eugene O’Neill. a T-800 Terminator. Hudson Park Her life and legend will be discussed Library, 66 Leroy Street. Free. at Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy n Saturday March 28, 2 pm: The Street. www.westviewnews.org March 2020 WestView News 31

KIDS cal Education Training in music n Saturdays, 4-5 pm: Mozart for fundamentals and vocal technique Munchkins KidFolk is back! Tunes for children 8 and up. The program that will take you and your family back is open to kids from all over the city, in time to the good old days. Children but is made up primarily of neigh- of all ages are welcome to roll, crawl, borhood children. As part of the squeal, and dance to their hearts’ con- program, they sing once a month tent, while adults relax. Each perfor- at a Sunday Eucharist. St. John’s in mance is followed by an “instrument The Village, 224 Waverly Place. petting zoo” where everyone is welcome n Health and Wellness First and to try the instruments and meet the Third Wednesdays of Every Month, performers. Admission $35, but kids 5:30-7:30 pm: Northwell Health under 12 free.Greenwich House Music Caregivers Support Group 200 School, 46 Barrow Street. West 13th Street. Free. n Arts Every Wednesday: Judson SENIORS Arts Wednesdays Free meal/re- n Mondays in March, 3 pm: Cre- freshments served at 7:15pm, followed ative Aging Exploring your story by a free music, dance, or spoken word through poetry and prose with Sarah performance at 8pm in the Meeting Stern. Participants must be 50+ and Room at Judson Memortvial Church, register by phone at 212-243-6876. 55 Washington Square South. AND THE SEARCH GOES ON Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy n Learning Thursdays Through Stephen Hall’s The Search for Intelligent Life on Earth is part of the group December 12, 11 am-2 pm: You’re Street. Free. n Fridays, 1:30-3 pm: The Grumpy show, Sign of the Times, at Westbeth, opening on March 19. Never Too Old to Play a free acting Café Coffee, Tea, cookies and workshop for seniors, 55+. Westbeth conversation (but no politics!) at the Street, 4th floor. hear favorite stories at Hudson Park Community Room, 155 Bank Street. n Kids Thursdays at 3:30 pm: Owls Judith C. White Senior Center, 27 n Wednesday March 4 through Library, 425 Sixth Avenue. n and Otters Storytime A read aloud Barrow Street. March 31: The Unseen An exhibi- Health and Wellness Mondays tion celebrating female artists, at and Wednesdays 5-6:30 pm. amd and craft program for ages 4-6. Jeffer- Stone Sparrow Gallery, Tuesdays at 3:45-5:15 pm: YOGA for son Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue. n Through March 7: Standing Rock Adults and Seniors Free Hatha I Yoga Free. Awakens the World The Anti-Im- classes at City-As School Beacon Center, n Learning Second Thursday of perial Poetry of Edgar Heap of Birds, 16 Clarkson St., Rm 505. Arrive early to Every Month 7-9 pm at NYU: New York Amateur Computer Club at Fort Gansevoort, 5 Ninth Avenue. fill out application. Call 917-783-3166 n Through March 20: Clay is Just for info. (NYACC) Updates in software and Thick Paint An exhibit of Jennifer n Learning Tuesdays 5:30-6:45: hardware plus innovations within the Rochlin’s ceramic works at Greenwich English as a Second Language An computer industry. All welcome from House Pottery at Jane Hartsook Gal- intermediate-level ESL class geared skilled techs to novices.Please see lery, 16 Jones Street. toward conversational practice, gram- NYACC.ORG for details. Free. n Kids Thursday, 4 pm: Toddler n Through March 31: Still Moments mar skills, and vocabulary. Anyone Storytime Photography exhibit by filmmaker from the community looking to Interactive stories, action Gayle Kirschenbaum. Her first solo improve their confidence in com- songs, finger plays and more at Hud- photo exhibition shows her work of municating in English is welcome to son Park Library, 66 Leroy Street. n Games Thursdays, 3-6 pm: Jig- landscapes, faces of indigenous people, attend. First Presbyterian Church, 12 saw Puzzle Night Hudson Park and more. Westbeth, 55 Bethune Street. West 12th Street. Free, n March 2 through March 31: n Health and Wellness Wednes- Library, 66 Leroy Street. n Music Fridays 4:30-5:30: Sing Prints, Paintings and Assemblages days, 10 am: Movement Time Sessions Eve Zanni, Somatic FIERCELY TALENTED by Linda Dujack Hudson Park Li- Speaks Celebrating moving in Voice teacher will help you to sing Classical pianist SHIZ’KA gives brary, 66 Leroy Street. Opening party strong and creative ways with Danc- a millenial twist to Beethoven, March 12, 4:30-6:30 pm. es for a Variable Population. All out with live piano accompaniment, Rachmaninoff, and Scarlatti in a rhythmic body movement and more. n March 19-April 19, Wednesdays sessions recommended, but not performance at St. John’s in the required. For adults and seniors of No Experience Necessary. Westbeth Village on March 21. through Sundays, 1-6 pm: Sign all ages and abilities.Tony Dapolito Community Room, 55 Bethune Street. of the Times An exhibit by eight n Trading Saturday October 5, Westbeth artists at Westbeth Gallery, Recreation Center,1 Clarkson Street. and the first Saturday of every MUSEUMS, GALLERIES, n Kids Wednesdays, 11:15 am: 57 Bethune Street, Opening reception month,11am: Free Book and Jigsaw EXHIBITS. Toddler Storytime Interactive stories, Thursday March 19, 6-9 pm. puzzle Swap Hudson Park Library, n Tuesday March 3, 7 pm: Open- action songs, finger plays and more at 66 Leroy Street. ing of Shadow Play Karen Remple Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street. invites you to an artwork series con- ONGOING EVENTS n Crafts Wednesdays, 11pm-2 pm: sisting of several one-minute original n Kids Mondays, 11:15 am: Baby Knitting Circle All created items will Please contact compositions inspired by the artwork Lapsit A time to introduce babies benefit a local charity—some experi- Stephanie Phelan at series. The music begins at 8 pm. to the joys of movement, books, and ence necessary. Hudson Park Library. St. John’s in the Village Revelation song, and begin to build their early 66 Leroy Street. [email protected] if you Gallery, 224 Waverly Place.Free, but learning skills. For infants up to 18 n Kids Wednesdays at 3 pm: Arts have any new events or registration is essential. Go to stjvny. months old. Hudson Park Library, 66 and Crafts Simple crafts for ages 3 have further information on org. Leroy Street. and up. Jefferson Market Library, 425 something I’ve listed here or n Wednesday March 4-April 6: n Kids Mondays at 4 pm: Family Sixth Avenue. Free. on westvillageword.com. We’re Here The works of AK Jansen Storytime and Craft Children 4 and n Kids Wednesdays at 4 pm: at Ivy Brown Gallery, 675 Hudson up get to make simple crafts and St. John’s Choristers Free Musi- e e ass niege

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