The Voice of the WestView News VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3 MARCH 2021 $2.00 Corey Johnson Bounces Back By George Capsis parade and the camera is on him, he throws have opinions about how that money is Oh wow, it was only just a short while himself into a few dance steps, and even a being spent, and he will express those ago I read with despair that Corey John- backflip, while beaming joyously. opinions just the way the current comp- son was dropping out of the race for mayor As the Speaker of the City troller, Scott Stringer, has been offering because of an extended bout of depression, Council I would catch him lecturing with opinions for months and months, knowing and then, bang, on February 18th I read in careful and compelling speech and think, he would run for mayor. the Times that he is thinking very seriously “Yes, yes, he will make a good mayor.” And But let me tell you of my first encounter about running for comptroller. Wow— I’d also think it was inevitable—no ques- with Corey (it is one of my best stories). great. tion—that Corey Johnson was going to be He was running for city council for the first That he suffered from crippling depres- our next mayor. But now as comptroller, he time and, unannounced, he rang my door- sion was news to me because he is known will just be counting the money. bell to introduce himself and his mission, Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York for his irrepressible ebullience. When in a Of course, he will do more; he will continued on page 4 City Transit WestView News Interviews District 3 City Council Candidates By Frank Quinn and Bob Cooley

The Democratic Primary is June 22, 2021. Six candidates will com- pete for the District 3 city council office currently held by Corey Johnson who is term-limited. WestView News interviewed all six can- didates and our short-form videos can be viewed at westviewnews.org. We asked the ALETA LAFARGUE ARTHUR Z. SCHWARTZ candidates for succinct answers so voters can learn who they are and evaluate their posi- tions quickly, and we appreciate the efforts candidates made to comply with our format. The New York City Council is the city’s legislative body, similar to Congress at the federal level. It introduces and votes on legislation, negotiates the budget, monitors city agencies, and makes land use decisions. It is a separate branch of government from PHELAN-DANTE FITZPATRICK LESLIE BOGHOSIAN MURPHY the mayor’s office and an equal partner in how the city is run. And while the mayor has the option to veto legislation, the city council can override the veto with a two- thirds majority vote. Readers can leave comments after watching the interviews. To be included on our mailing list for upcoming election re- porting and events please send an email to [email protected]. MARNI HALASA ERIK BOTTCHER Woody Guthrie Village Cigars Beach in the Village! Woody Guthrie personifies Like many West Village “First public beach” in is all the great figures we as- landmark businesses, Village going to be right here in the West sociate with the mythical Cigars has suffered during Village! What’s coming in 2023... Village of the 1960s. the pandemic.

SEE PAGE 19 SEE PAGE 11 SEE PAGE 16 2 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org WestView Two Apartments Available in the Published by WestView, Inc. by and for the residents of the West Village. Sinclair Lewis House Publisher Executive Editor George Capsis Managing Editor and Art Director Kim Plosia Advertising Manager and Designer Karen Rempel Traffic Manager Liza Whiting Photo Editor Darielle Smolian Photographers Maggie Berkvist, Chris Manis, Bob Cooley Associate Editors Justin Matthews, Anne Olshansky Comptroller Jolanta Meckauskaite Architecture Editor Brian Pape Business Editor Caroline Benveniste Fashion Director Karilyn Prisco Music and Eldercare Editor Hannah Reimann Science and LGBTQ Editor By George Capsis Kambiz Shekdar, PhD Maine and her husband writes for West- rent loss. Regular Contributors Because of the Pandemic, I have not one View every month, but renting apartments As I said we have two apartments still J. Taylor Basker, Barry Benepe, but two very nice apartments for rent— has radically changed. for rent—the top floor two bedroom, and a Caroline Benveniste, Mark. M. Green, want to come and see them? There is a tool called Street Easy and you one bedroom with parquet wood floors and Robert Heide, Anastasia Kaliabakos, In the old days I would simply call my can select the city and even the street you marble fireplace Bob Kroll, Thomas Lamia, Kieran Loughney, Keith Michael, Charles Street neighbor and real estate bro- want to live on and in seconds it will offer Now I would rather give my tenant the Michael D. Minichiello, Penny Mintz, ker who owned a beautiful 1840s townhouse you a showing of available apartments and broker's commission, perhaps in the form Brian J. Pape, Anthony Paradiso, just down the block and in a week or two bang—hit another key and it will take you of a new fridge or a dishwasher. Roger Paradiso, Bruce Poli, they would be rented to very nice people. Alec Pruchnicki, Christina Raccuia, Getting an apartment with marble fire- Hannah Reimann, Karen Rempel, Catherine Revland, Ede Rothaus, places in an 1886 town- Donna Schaper, Stanley Wlodyka house just doors away from where Sarah Jessica Parker lived until she moved around We endeavor to publish all letters received, the corner, and a building in which Sinclair including those with which we disagree. Lewis wrote his first published novel, is The opinions put forth by contributors something to write home about. to WestView do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or editor. And then came the Pandemic and within WestView welcomes your correspondence, days all office doors were shut and people comments, and corrections: went home to New Jersey. Without missing www.westviewnews.org a beat work continued, making the same calls Contact Us and sending the same email messages they (212) 924-5718 had been sending in the office with an occa- [email protected] sional Zoom meeting—who needs an office? The office towers and restaurants and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY even the cabs went empty and there is even talk of converting office buildings into apartments. And rents on the emptying apartments dropped by 20 to 30%. Seeking those lower inside the apartment and give you a guided Last month I let our readers know we had rents, two of my tenants moved out in the walking tour. apartments available and we got a perfect same week. Now you call your broker (there seems tenant who was the secretary to Governor I rented a third apartment to my grand- to be only one left called Compass) and an Cuomo but could not get released from a son Teddy who was locked out of his com- agent will meet your prospective tenants lease he signed with a vacationing friend. puter security company in Boston after and rent your apartment. But wait—you can also have access to signing a group apartment lease with two Yes, yes, this is all very nice for the tenant the garden with an outdoor barbecue stove other recent graduates. Although now liv- but what about the landlord? He (or more to treat your family and friends. ing in New York, he sends his former Bos- correctly “I”) has to pay for the Street Easy Call George at 212-924-5718 and make ton apartment-mates $800 a month be- service and I have to give Compass one a date to see either apartment and get a cup MIA SAYS: Recognizing your mistakes is cause he “signed the lease” (nice boy). month’s rent and it will take a month or of coffee. I would rather give you the bro- wisdom. Photo by Dusty Berke. My old real estate broker is now in more to rent so that is at least two months ker's commission ... www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 3 A Mayoral Candidate With Significant New York City Experience By Frank Quinn Houses in Chelsea is just such an example, From 2014 to 2020 Kathryn Garcia was with tenants opposing each other over the the 43rd Commissioner of the largest sani- plan. Garcia explains “although a private de- tation department in the world. Before that veloper will manage the project, NYCHA she was Chief Operating Officer of the maintains certain control. The tenant asso- NYC Department of Environmental Pro- ciation gets the same amount of money, and tection, and an interim Chair of the New tenants get the same rental agreement and York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). rights of succession. We understand why She grew up in as an adopted residents are fearful, and that’s why the plan child in a multi-racial family. at Fulton Houses will provide a new build- Garcia thinks voters are most concerned ing before anyone has to move.” about the economy and affordability. “Hous- The next mayor will have to confront the ing costs seem very high and burdensome. size of the municipal workforce given the And People, especially from my generation city’s massive budget deficits. When asked and older, are concerned about a return to specifically if she thought the municipal MAYORAL CANDIDATE KATHRYN GARCIA and her campaign manager Monika Hansen the 70s and 80s when crime was high and workforce was too big she says “my belief speak with George Capsis, WestView News Publisher, and Frank Quinn, contributor. Photo you couldn’t take the subway after 8PM.” is that efficiencies can be found.” As an by Dusty Berke. She believes voters want balanced police re- example she described the mayor’s office form and are worried about the cultural and having four Chief Officers for cybersecuri- measure. If you don’t measure the ability to could streamline the collection of 1/3 of restaurant base, often because they know ty, technology, data analytics and Informa- interact with the community, you don’t get the waste stream while moving prisoners someone who works in a small business. tion, each with their own staffs and none community interaction. We shouldn’t just closer to the courts, which is important for She’s met the critical donation thresh- of whom report to each other. “In 1980 the measure the number of arrests. We should due process.” old to receive matching campaign funds sanitation department had 13 thousand think about how police ensure solutions for The Democratic mayoral primary is June indicating a serious candidacy, and she’s workers - today they’re down by about half. people; that police provide a service.” 22, 2021. received endorsements from 5 unions in- You can look to do that in other parts of And Garcia proposes a large plan to cluding the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s the government.” improve both the environment and crimi- Frank Quinn is a media executive, par- Association, demonstrating support from Garcia says New York City provides a nal justice, converting Rikers Island to a ent and musician. Linkedin.com/in/ those whom she directly managed. She de- more robust set of services than most other compost and renewable energy facility. “It frankjquinn scribes her support as grass roots without places, but that technology can help reduce backing from major corporations or PACs. the size of the workforce. She also men- Garcia has an uncompromising view on tioned certain direct services she supports, housing; a perennial issue that residents ex- such as Mayor de Blasio’s pre-k initiative, Just Listed! pect the mayor to solve. Building new hous- noting “If we want classroom sizes to be 350 , Unit 2D ing creates affordable options, supports the small, there’s a certain number of teachers tax base and alleviates homelessness. We you need to do that.” asked how she would confront the intrac- Defund The Police was loudly pro- table problem of developing new housing in claimed in the village during numerous the face of community opposition. protests, and local City Council member “I’m a life long New Yorker so I under- Cory Johnson led the effort during last stand resistance to change, but we have a year’s budget negotiation. When asked for need for future homes. We should change her views on the subject Garcia said “I be- the paradigm of the conversation to de- lieve the NYPD needs reform, but I think scribe new neighbors who are coming be- we need our patrol strength and I would cause we want them here to make the city not reduce the number of officers because dynamic and interesting.” we’ve seen an uptick in crime.” At NYCHA Garcia says she’ll execute She’s taken the position that new NYPD on rebuilding plans because “we know officers should live within the five bor- what needs to be done.” When asked why oughs. When asked to respond to the pa- Large Corner Studio Fully and Thoroughly Renovated with exposed brick, this hasn’t already occurred she says New trolman’s union who said any discussion spacious studio with recessed lighting, modern kitchen and spa shower. Sits in York City was slow to embrace the feder- about residency requirements must address one of the premier West Village cooperatives with amazing amenities such as ally sponsored RAD program. “Many cit- police officers’ pay Garcia said “of course an expansive planted roofdeck, full time doorman and staff, garage, and ies moved fast but we’re just beginning. we always sit at the table and discuss what renovated fitness center. NYCHA has been underfunded, and we you think you should be paid, but most can use RAD to leverage private dollars police officers do quite well, not dissimilar Scotty is a long time West Village resident, broker, and neighborhood and make transformative renovations to from other city workers except they end up advocate and enthusiast. Go to www.westvillagebroker.com for detailed info our properties.” making more over time based on the way on buying/selling/renting and to support local. The RAD program is designed to im- their contract is structured.” prove public housing by attracting private She reiterated her position that like all Let's keep our mom and pop businesses alive! investment. It’s controversial because it can big agencies the NYPD can find efficien- Scotty Elyanow lead to forced relocations and possible evic- cies, and that she’s well qualified to reform Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker tion. Garcia acknowledges there’s a trust is- the police because she understands how a Manhattan & Brooklyn Market Expert sue. “There are examples where NYCHA uniformed workforce thinks. “Some tac- [email protected] said we’ll build you a new building, then tics used during the protests were horrible. M: 917.678.6010 residents were moved out but it was years Kettling doesn’t work – I was out there. But @villagescotty before the new building was completed.” it wasn’t the officer on the front line who A local RAD program at The Fulton made that decision. And you get what you 4 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org David v. Goliath: Voters for Animal Rights Endorses Schwartz Sues to Stop Election Petitioning Erik Bottcher for City Council

listen to the pitch. No one should be touch- Voters for Animal Rights (VFAR) has prevent millions of avian deaths. He also ing a pen that others have handled. No one endorsed Erik Bottcher for City Council, worked with local advocates on the reloca- should be signing a petition. District 3, citing his strong track record in tion of feral cat colonies that were displaced Due to the pandemic, the state legislature city and state government and his com- by Hudson Yards construction. temporarily reduced the number of signa- mitment to promoting the well-being of VFAR is Bottcher’s 21st endorsement of tures needed for each office. Only 30 per- animals and the environment. VFAR has the race. He has also been endorsed by 11 cent of the signatures mandated by election nearly 8,000 supporters in Council Dis- labor unions and every local Democratic law are required for the upcoming election. trict 3, making this a significant endorse- club that has endorsed to date in the 3rd But tens of thousands of signatures are still ment in the Democratic primary. District. This is the result of Bottcher’s required just in Lower Manhattan. For ev- “Throughout his career, Erik Bottcher proven record of fighting for progressive ery signature garnered, ten or more people has been an advocate for the most vulner- causes over his 11 years of public service are approached. But every contact is another able, and this includes animals,” said Allie and activism. opportunity to spread the coronavirus; thus, Feldman Taylor, President of Voters For Founded in 2017, VFAR is a leading petitioning has all the earmarks of being a Animal Rights. “As an environmentalist, voice in the animal rights movement with- ARTHUR SCHWARTZ, SEEN HERE IN THE potential pandemic superspreader. a naturalist, and a bird watcher, Erik is a in New York City. PRE-PANDEMIC DAYS, would have argued As Arthur Schwartz stated in the complaint fighter for animal rights and against animal Its mission is to mobilize voters and or- his case against live petitioning in an actual that he filed in the Supreme Court of the cruelty. Animals need allies and champions ganize lobbying efforts to give a voice to courtroom instead of in a video conference. State of New York on February 8, 2021, “the in government, and Erik is one of those animals and create the legislative change Post pandemic, who knows. He may be pandemic has taken the lives of 35,000 people champions. We are proud to endorse him necessary to protect both wild and domes- doing his arguing from his city council seat. in New York State, and one hundred or more for City Council.” ticated animals. After a rigorous endorse- Photo courtesy of Arthur Schwartz. people are still dying every day. In the view “We need to reshape our society’s rela- ment questionnaire and interview process, By Penny Mintz of most experts, person-to-person contact tionship with animals,” said Erik Bottcher. VFAR chooses candidates that demon- outside of family members is to be avoided, “Throughout history, animals have been strate the strongest commitment not only Arthur Schwartz is running hard for city even outdoors.” He supported his legal argu- subjected to senseless cruelty at the hands advocating for animal rights but also sup- council in Council District 3. Running for ment with thirteen exhibits of factual support. of humans, and this continues today. On porting and passing legislation that will be office is a time-consuming endeavor, to say Schwartz asserts that the state has a duty under the City Council, I will fight for a kinder, effective in promoting animal rights. the least. But that has not stopped Schwartz the state constitution to “protect and promote greener, more humane world, starting right Erik Bottcher is a dedicated public ser- from continuing to use his considerable le- the health of its inhabitants.” Accordingly, the here in New York City.” vant and activist with a celebrated career gal acumen to try to push people and gov- defendants in the lawsuit, Governor Cuomo As Speaker Corey Johnson’s district chief in city and state government. He is run- ernment to do the right thing. For forty and Mayor de Blasio, must come up with an of staff, Bottcher worked with local activ- ning to represent District 3, which includes years or longer he has donated his time to alternate, safe method of certifying candidates. ists and the NYC Audubon Society on the the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, lawsuits aimed at such measures as trying Preparing the lawsuit was a Herculean development of legislation to require build- Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. To learn more to save Beth Israel Hospital, getting ball- effort. It was done while Schwartz has the ers to install bird-friendly glass, which will about Erik please visit erikbottcher.com fields installed at Pier 40, and representing full-time job of running for city council. disabled residents who lost The man has incredible stamina. a dozen bus stops. He’s been a regular Da- Before Schwartz’s lawsuit, petitioning vid versus Goliath who now wants to fight was scheduled to begin on March 2nd. The Johnson continued from page 1 couch where they pleaded that Corey had battles from a different platform. petitions have to be filed at the Board of which was to have WestView back him in nothing and no opportunities and would Currently, Schwartz is representing 100 Elections by March 25th. his run for the council. When I explained we back him (Corey laughs when I remind candidates running for office in New York In a video conference on Monday, Feb- that we did not back candidates but he was him of this visit). State who are seeking to have Albany waive ruary 22nd, Judge Frank Nervo heard ar- welcome to submit articles, he proceeded Corey has also offered that he has used the petitioning requirement for getting on the guments to determine whether in-person to tell me about himself—and what a story. drugs and is HIV positive. primary ballot. Election law requires that to petitioning violates the state’s constitutional He grew up in a small suburban town I don’t know enough about depression earn a spot on the ballot, every candidate must duty to protect its citizens. Based on his com- just outside of Boston and played on the to comment on his step-down from a sure get a specified minimum number of signatures ments, it is evident that Judge Nervo does not high school football team. In the very last shot at being our mayor, but I hope that to show community interest in seeing them have a clear understanding of how petition- game just before graduation, when they some degree of depression will not affect on the ballot. In Lower Manhattan, right now, ing is accomplished. He seems to believe that were playing their archenemy that had won Corey’s ability to do a good job as comp- there are 79 candidates running for mayor, people are seeking out the petitioners, and he a series of games against them and this was troller. Manhattan borough president, Manhattan compared gathering petitions to going to the the very last game to get even, Corey’s district attorney, public advocate, comptroller, grocery store to buy bananas. He suggested team won! and city council seats in Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4. that petition gatherers could set up tables Shouting for joy in an explosion of ex- Numerous others are running for party posi- surrounded by plexiglass to protect them- hilaration the players made their way to tions. To win a spot on the ballot in the June selves from what he apparently envisions as the dressing room. Corey jumped up on a ADVERTISE IN primary, all of them, along with a small army eager crowds of signers. That scenario was bench and shouted for silence. “Guys, guys, WESTVIEW NEWS of supporters, would normally be out person- certainly never my experience. I want to say something.” He got silence Imagine your ad on these pages, ally collecting signatures. Judge Nervo dismissed the case on Feb- and then, still smiling, he spoke: “Guys, reaching residents throughout the Traditionally, petitioners and candidates ruary 23rd. Schwartz immediately sought a guys, this may be the last time I see you West Village. The best deal in town: stand in front of supermarkets, apartment preliminary injunction to halt the petition- all. All of you are going to college but my Your first ad free! buildings, schools, and subway stops and ing until his appeal of the ruling is deter- family is poor so I will not. All I will be is a Then 3 months at 10% off! chat with passersby about their political mined by the Appellate Division. The ap- memory, but that memory right now is not Contact our advertising manager: views and campaign aspirations. They go peal should be expedited, to keep hundreds complete. Guys, I am gay.” Karen Rempel to parks, dog runs, and farmers’ markets. I of petition gatherers from having to seek The next day the doorbell rang again (347) 362-5677 myself have been one of those petitioners. I many thousands of signatures in tens of and my wife Maggie went to the door and [email protected] may have approached you. It can be grueling thousands of interactions beginning March discovered two very little ladies dressed work, especially in cold weather. But under 2nd; unfortunately, however, the case will completely in black. “I am Corey’s moth- See westviewnews.org/rates for details. the present conditions of a raging pandemic, not be heard until March 8th, four days af- er,” said one. “And I am Corey’s aunt,” said no one will or should stand close enough to ter petitioning begins. the other. We escorted them to the garden Why is my son ARTHUR SCHWARTZ running for CITY COUNCIL?

My son, Arthur Schwartz, is running for City Council in your neighborhood this June 22nd. Since he was a little boy he has been a fighter. He had an older brother who was disabled, and he worked with me, as a kid, to fight for his brother’s dignity. As he grew he continued to fight—against the War in Vietnam, against the spread of nuclear power plants, for workers seeking democratic unions, against racial and sex-based discrimination and injustice, and for the rights of his gay and lesbian neighbors

When he had his first child in 1987 and “settled down” in Greenwich Village, he became a fighter for our community. Bleecker Playground, Abingdon Square Park, JJ Walker Park, and wouldn’t be what they are without him. For the last 30 years he has fought—as a volunteer—for his neighbors, especially for seniors like me. In a city which needs rebuilding, we need fighters like him to demand that what is wrong be turned around.

I will turn 99 years old in April. What a joy it would be, in my 100th year, to have my hero, who should be your hero, elected to the City Council. -- Ros Schwartz

Donate or Volunteer: ArthurforNYC.Com 6 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org Thoughts About Racism, City Council Candidate Our History in Greenwich Brought Synchronous Learning Village, and the Tasks Ahead to Her District...For Free By Arthur Z. Schwartz imagined. panded workloads, as well as caretakers who It now seems like a long, long time ago, Several times during the last few months didn’t have the time nor resources to serve as but it was only last June, after the horrific has written about the teachers at home. And best of all, it was free. murder of George Floyd, that our city and ebb and flow of white support for the fight Working with our higher education over two-thirds of our country, was united for racial equality in the U.S. Apparently, partners and local principals, we formed around the cause of racial justice. based on data gathered since the 1960s, the Student Teacher Virtual Learning Ini- It began on May 31st, the day after the white support for the rights of Black Amer- tiative and brought it to the DOE. They videos of the horrific events in Minneapo- icans has always ebbed after gains have been wound up approving our program in one lis were shown on the internet. Here in made. White support of civil rights in the day—unheard of at today’s bureaucracies. New York City, where we had been locked 1960s reached its peak in the early ‘60s af- I was adamant this program start with in our homes for over two months, afraid ter a decade of bus boycotts, freedom rides, our lower-income students. Parents with to even venture out to the store, tens of and the huge “I Have a Dream” march led disposable means were creating their own thousands marched about the events that by Dr. King in 1964. Then Congress and pods and hiring private tutors to work with had occurred and chanted “Black Lives President Johnson passed the landmark their children. This was further highlight- LESLIE BOGHOSIAN MURPHY, above, ing the inequities and quickly widening Matter.” So many of us engaged in soul- Civil Rights Act of 1964, barring discrimi- devised the Student Teacher Virtual Learn- achievement gap in our city. searching. Schools and workplaces en- nation in employment, housing, and educa- ing Initiative plan. Photo courtesy of Leslie gaged in almost unprecedented reflection tion. 1965 saw the Voting Rights Act. Black Boghosian Murphy. “After Leslie heard of students being placed about racism and our roles in perpetuating Americans were poised to move forward. in private learning pods by some families, she it. After my 14 year-old daughter finished But once those rights were put on the books By Leslie Boghosian Murphy decided to replicate the small group experi- an online high school student meeting she there was a backlash, a backlash that led to As we all know, schools were forced to close ence for our students,” Lukas explained. “It came to dinner and asked me, “Do you Richard Nixon’s “silent majority—law and abruptly when the Covid-19 pandemic be- was a way for us to build equity.” know about white skin privilege?” When order” win in 1968, and a decline in public gan last spring. By summer, most parents This was a win for parents, educators, I replied that I was the attorney for Black support for equality. knew that there would have to be some sort and students, and it was all at no cost to the Lives Matter she replied, “What does that Skip forward to 2008: Barack Obama of remote or distance learning in the fall. Af- city. Hundreds of students are now getting prove?” was elected president. He was a brilliant, ter weeks of helping our children with their synchronous learning, benefiting from the Those anguished weeks of protests, like eloquent man. Almost 50 percent of white online homework, we also knew we weren’t initiative. “Leslie is someone who actively Donald Trump, now seem like a long time voters voted for him. The U.S. seemed on necessarily the best teachers. As a member of listens and tries to get to the bottom of ago. And, in fact, Donald Trump and the the verge of a new dawn. I remember sit- Community Board 4’s education committee, things,” said Katherine Ledwell, associate Republican Party rode the “white back- ting in Trinity Church on lower Broad- I heard a variety of distance learning horror director at Columbia Teachers College and lash” to a much closer election than anyone continued on page 10 stories from parents across the district and we former NYC public school teacher. “That’s kept asking, “What’s the plan?” Yet the De- very rare these days.” partment of Education (DOE) and the city I was told there was no solution, there were unresponsive to our question. was no plan, that the issue was simply too We asked in May. We asked in June. We big to tackle. But I found a solution, de- asked in July. No answers. vised a plan, and identified key allies, and So, I set out to find a solution myself. together we tackled the issue. What was needed, I realized, was real-time “The Student Teacher Virtual Learn- instruction with a small group of chil- ing Initiative has helped our school sup- dren—no more than four or five. This ap- port students in so many ways,” said PS 33 proach would provide individual attention Principal Cindy Wang. “They were able to as well as allow the children peer-to-peer provide learning supports in smaller group socialization, the two most crucial ele- ratios so students felt more seen and heard ments absent from asynchronous learning. by adults. Having student teachers also al- But where to find the extra teachers? I lowed for us to schedule additional sessions called every local college and university— with students who were blended on their including Columbia, Pace and SUNY— remote learning days. Overall, we had great and asked about their student teacher pro- success and were eager to have the students grams. Of course, many of these schools back for the spring semester.” were in a similar bind, with student teach- New York City faces many problems as we ers who had no way to accomplish their struggle to recover from the pandemic. We field work and were looking for alternative simply can’t continue with business as usu- methods of placement. al—while city officials stonewall residents or “Leslie called me out of the blue and simply react to bad press instead of planning asked what we were doing with our student ahead. As with our Student Teacher Virtual teachers for the upcoming year. Everything Learning Initiative, we can accomplish a lot was in flux,” said Natalie Lukas, director of if we work together to identify and imple- SUNY’s Urban Teacher Education Center. ment creative solutions. We just need the “When she explained her plan I thought it political will to get us there. was brilliant and was on board 100 percent.” The student teachers could get course Leslie Boghosian Murphy is a former credit for working virtually with young learn- investigative journalist, a mother, and an ers, and the public school students would executive board member of Community THE HANGING OF A BLACK MAN ON CLARKSON STREET, New York City, during the draft get the benefit of live distance learning. This Board 4. She is running for city council in riots in July 1863. Image credit: American Social History Project – Center for Media and would also benefit our educators enormously, District 3, which includes the West Village, Learning. who were carrying the burden of greatly ex- Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. :

Ready to lead the best city in the world to a better tomorrow FOR NYC MAYOR

NYC-BORN AND RAISED, KATHRYN GARCIA STANDS FOR:

• Fighting climate change • Truly affordable housing • Saving small business • Free childcare

Election Learn more at Day is June 22 KGforNYC.com 2021 DEMOCRAT FOR MAYOR

PAID FOR BY KATHRYN GARCIA 2021 8 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org Notes from Away Waiting for Parole By Tom Lamia wait for information was often frustrating. No authorita- As all of you have done or are doing, I have waited pa- tive information allowed me to know whether I was doing tiently for my release from COVID 19 since news of its the right thing by patiently waiting or the wrong thing dangers emerged in early March. I have not traveled, dined by not aggressively seeking a place in line before the line out, physically engaged with my children, grandchildren, passed me by. friends or relatives during this time. Susan and I have been The first tier of useful information was the state’s de- together here in South Bristol, Maine, for the whole of cision on priorities. Advice at the federal level, from the that time, excepting only Susan’s return to the West Vil- Center for Disease Control, is an important factor on set- lage for a few days in December to refresh and organize ting priorities, but these are ultimately set by the states. our Horatio Street apartment for occupancy by our young- Maine has its own CDC, headed by Dr. Nirav Shah, that is est daughter, who had broken a leg and a foot while riding an example for public health administration that deserves one of those electric-powered rental scooters in her Brook- recognition. Dr. Shah, usually with Governor Janet Mills lyn neighborhood. She needed an elevator-accessible place at his side, holds press conferences daily that are broadcast to stay while recuperating. over Maine Public radio. There is straight talk, self-criti- I have mentioned in this column once or twice that cism where necessary and frank statements of frustration out-of-state residents have come here to Maine in large when plans must be delayed or set aside by logistical prob- numbers to escape COVID. Many of those refuge-seekers lems. Maine came up with its priorities, adjusted them have stayed, finding rental housing or buying residential when vaccine availability required and plunged ahead with property here. The result is that prices for living space in getting locations and personnel in place. Part of that plan- Maine have increased at what Mainers consider to be an ning was individual communication to Maine’s 1.3 million alarming rate, while residential market prices in New York residents on what they should do to be included in the POST-VACCINATION WATCHFUL WAITING in Boothbay have fallen proportionately. Similar feast or famine eco- vaccination process. Specifically, that was to call a certain Harbor, Maine. Photo by Susan Lamia. nomic consequences have, no doubt occurred throughout number to register. Initially, the priorities were: nursing the country. home residents and staff, health care workers, firefighters, not so much so that she forgot to say, “But, my husband is But those events are not my focus today. Today I cel- police, Maine CDC Covid staff (Phase 1a), those 75 and even older than I am, can he come, too?” And, that led to ebrate the beginning of the end of my COVID enforced over (now 70+) (Phase 1b). Phases 1c and 2 (all others) the minor miracle of an appointment for me at the same seclusion. Yesterday, February 15, Presidents Day, Susan will begin when Phase 1b is complete or, if earlier, when time and place—even though I had made my appointment and I received our Moderna vaccine first doses at the vaccine supply permits. Phase 1a is substantially complete request at a different time and through a different hospital Boothbay YMCA Vaccination Center. A second dose is and Phase 1b has been underway since the end of January. network. scheduled for March 15 and, with that the end of my pa- Susan and I are in Phase 1b. Several weeks before the vac- I confess that I was expecting problems in getting role from COVID 19. A note about Maine’s experience cination program for Phase 1b began, we called the uni- through the last stages of the process: the examination with the disease is needed here. Maine was indeed a refuge versal number to register for appointments. An automated of our qualifications, insurance documentation, health is- in the early days of this scourge. The number of infections response system took our information, acknowledged that sues that could be relevant, and so forth. But nothing of in the state was low for a few months, encouraging visi- we qualified and that we were then “pre-registered” and that kind stood in our way. We were greeted at the en- tors and social mixing into the summer tourist season. A would receive a telephone call when our appointments trance to the YMCA Fieldhouse modest-sized parking large wedding in Millinocket (in the middle of the state) could be made. Easy peasy. lot and directed to a parking spot immediately in front of dispersed the virus to population centers where hot spots The priorities for receiving the vaccine, the logistics for the entrance door. A large chalkboard showing the ap- quickly led to outbreaks that dispelled any remaining transporting, preserving and administering it, and the fa- pointments currently being serviced was at the door. Ours thoughts that Maine had unique protective qualities. Now cilities and expertise for the capstone event (a shot in the was on the board minutes after we arrived. Once inside, the infection and death numbers are sobering: 42,700 cases arm) are all under Maine CDC and Maine Health control we spent a few minutes at check in, where our ages and and 650 deaths. My age group (80+), accounts for 5.7% of and direction; their skill, compassion and organization of identification were taken, then we were escorted to a table infections and 85% of deaths. Taking the next step in the the process led to my parole-ending injection. where the entire process of documenting our visit and ad- analysis, 2,435 have been infected, of whom 552, or 23%, There were no frustrating online forms or queues, no ministering the vaccine took place under the supervision have died. I realize that the risk of any one person, like 5 a.m. telephone calls to snare an appointment, no evi- of trained volunteers, a support person who led us through me, for example, is not foretold by these numbers, but the dentiary investigations or proof required for eligibility some safety documents and a retired nurse who came back mind wanders to their meaning, which cannot be ignored. and no parsing of technical rules leading to puzzlement or into service to administer the vaccine and monitor our When the vaccines became available and efforts to grasp disqualification. I did nothing but call that universal tele- condition for ten or twenty minutes as precaution against how they might be distributed, when and by whom, it was phone number and provide my name, birthdate, telephone reactions, allergic or otherwise. We had none. not possible for me or anyone else to predict the time or number and Zip Code to a digital device that assured me, The accompanying photo, taken without my being circumstances for inoculation. A few states have been after a few seconds, that I was “pre-registered.” Susan, aware, shows me idling on my phone during the last few ahead of the process and Maine is one of those. separately, did the same a day or two later. We waited a minutes of the post-injection watchful waiting process. There may be some useful comparisons between my few weeks, then, late last week, Susan got a call from a hu- Next, we went to check out and were given a date to return path to a vaccination center two days ago and your own man telling her that she could have an appointment at the for our second and final shot. My parole will then end and experiences in New York. Like many of you, perhaps, my beginning of this week. She was delighted, of course, but I will be released into the wider world.

LOYALTY PROGRAM • GIFT CARDS FREE DELIVERY

GREENWICH VILLAGE

512 HUDSON STREET • NYC 10014 WWW.SEAGRAPEWINES.COM • 212-463-7688 www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 9 Getting Vaccinated in NYC

Native Manhattanite and West Village resident for the past 42 years. Licensed in Real Estate for the past 21. Board Certified New York Residential Specialist (NYRS®). Here to help you and yours find your next perch or move on whether in New York or elsewhere, when the time comes again. Alexander de Bordes 917-640-3707 [email protected]

ADVERTISE IN WESTVIEW NEWS

THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSISTS by guiding patients receiving vaccinations at the spacious Javits Center. Photo by Karen Imagine your ad on these pages, Rempel. reaching residents throughout the West Village. By Arthur Lambert them again, could my name be moved to the front of the list since I had an appointment and spent so much getting The best deal in town: Odysseus enjoyed a much easier trip than one is faced with here?” She replied quickly, “No, you have to go back to Your first ad free! when trying to get a vaccine in NYC. The sirens were no the list and start over. The phone number’s on the door.” Then 3 months at 10% off! challenge compared to the NYC Vaccine Finder website. It turned out to be the number for Vaccine Finder. My Odysseus spent a lot of time trying to get home, but noth- heart sank. ing like the time one spends on Vaccine Finder trying to Disappointed, I made the return journey home. Over Contact our advertising manager: schedule an appointment. I spent three weeks on the site, the next week, I re-engaged in the struggle with Vaccine Karen Rempel calling almost all day, day after day. I got hang-ups, re- Finder, but found nothing. Eventually, a kind neighbor (347) 362-5677 corded messages—if the call was even connected—and was able to make an appointment for me at the Javits Cen- [email protected] instructions to fill out a form before being informed there ter. Snow was scheduled for the day of my appointment, is no vaccine. but I hoped the center would be open. See westviewnews.org/rates for details. After three days of nonstop calling, I finally got a live After a much less expensive car ride, I arrived at the person. She said, “Hold on a minute,” and then I waited Javits Center on the appointed day. It seemed to be open, for two hours and twenty-nine minutes before she reap- though there were no people outside. I entered, and though peared. I live in the Village so I asked for something in I was a little early, various member of the National Guard Manhattan. She just laughed and replied, “Honey, there guided me through a labyrinth to one of the many recep- are no appointments in Manhattan for weeks, but I do tion tables. Most of them were unoccupied but, clearly, have one appointment in the East Bronx.” they were ready to do high volume business. I said, “You I thought I’d better take this remote appointment even must be tired of inoculations,” to the lady who processed though it was far away because at the age of 86, living in a my paperwork. She had never heard that word. “Is that small building where 25 percent of the tenants have Covid— what I’m doing?” and with the more contagious and dangerous strain creep- More National Guard members ushered me to the ac- ing nearer—sooner is better than later. I thought taking a car tual vaccination station. There were dozens of these sta- would be safer, so I paid $150 for the Carmel car service to tions spread out throughout the immense Javits Center. I drive me there. The lady who made my appointment said received my vaccination very quickly and was given a slip that if they ran out of the vaccine, I would be notified by with the date for my second appointment. The National telephone or email. Hearing nothing in the days leading up Guard showed me to another area where I was to wait in to the appointment, I hoped that was a good sign. case of allergic reaction. There were a few dozen others On the day of my coveted appointment, when I arrived ahead of me in this area, well-spaced, and we were offered 70 GREENWICH AVE. • WEST VILLAGE • NYC at the distant East Bronx location after a 50-minute drive, water while we waited. After about 20 minutes, feeling • • there was a big sign on the entrance that said, “COVID none the worse for wear, I headed home. Vaccines Here.” This increased my confidence. Upon en- The people at Javits deserve great credit for the job they Hourly Handyman Services tering, I was surprised to be met by 25 uniformed police are undertaking. I am sure my story is not a lot differ- Professional Painting Projects officers and a police woman at a desk with lots of plastic ent from the trials others are enduring in their efforts to Electrical & Carpentry Work enclosing it. There wasn’t a health worker in sight. get appointments. It takes time, a lot of stress, and heroic MICHAEL RUSSO, PROPRIETOR I showed the officer at the desk my appointment docu- determination, but in the end you’ll succeed. Everyone I 917.476.4146 • [email protected] ment, but she just waved it away and said, “We are not know who has been there agrees—the Javits Center is a Serving the West Village for 11 Years giving vaccines today.” I asked, “When you start giving joy to experience. 10 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org New Owner Steve Racism continued from page 6 way, with a packed house, watching the mode/2up ) cites: “A crowd of rioters on inauguration on the screen. But by the Clarkson Street…met an inoffensive col- summer of 2009 we saw the birth of the ored man returning from a bakery with a Cohen Breathes New Tea Party, organized solely around white loaf of bread under his arm. They instantly working-class Americans’ distress over set upon and beat him, and after nearly having a Black president. By 2012, when killing him, hung him to a lamp-post. His Life into the Mets Obama won again, 55 percent of white body was left suspended for several hours. people voted for Mitt Romney. That race- A fire was made underneath him, and he based movement, built on fear of Black, was literally roasted as he hung, the mob and now Hispanic, Americans, continued reveling in their demonic act.” Yes, right on to grow. In 2016 it coalesced around the Clarkson Street. most despicable person ever elected to any The book reports incident after incident office, much less president. And he rode of thousands of Black New Yorkers, living that movement for four years, even after as freemen in Lower Manhattan, being the death of Floyd (an event which he ac- hung, burned, clubbed, drowned, and bru- knowledged as a tragedy for 10 minutes), talized, with their homes and businesses and then used it to coalesce white work- ransacked. No one knows how many were ing-class Americans. killed but the estimates run close to 1,000. In the February 21st New York Times Most of the Black population of Lower Sunday Review there was an article titled, Manhattan left, never to return. “The Real Story of the Draft Riots.” I re- Why tell this story? I decided to run for membered something from high school city council because of the events around about those riots, but the story left me George Floyd’s death, and my belief that wincing. In 1863 Lincoln issued the in the COVID and post-COVID era few Emancipation Proclamation, banning slav- in current government leadership positions ery. The Civil War then intensified. The really have a plan to address the racial and “I'M NOT IN THIS FOR THE QUICK FIX” offers Met purchaser Steve Cohen as he recalls attending U.S. enacted its first military draft, which, ethnic disparities in New York. We still carry his first Polo Grounds game with his father in 1963. Photo courtesy of the The New York Mets. of course, focused mainly on white work- around the scars of slavery, and Black people ing-class people. Folks didn’t want to put still suffer the consequences of racism, even presence clear by increasing the payroll and their lives on the line involuntarily, and in subtle racism, that exist everywhere. By Anthony Paradiso signing players, but has also engaged with July 1863 NYC erupted in five days of ri- My daughter was right. I have been en- Last November, Steve Cohen purchased the the fans on Twitter. He showed that he cares oting. The wrath of the rioters was turned dorsed by Black Lives Matter. I have been New York Mets for $2.4 billion from the Wil- about the Mets’ stadium employees when he on Black New Yorkers. I did some his- endorsed by the Black Leadership Ac- pon family, who had owned the franchise since paid them $500 per month during the pan- torical research, and read story after story tion Coalition. But what matters is what 2002. Cohen outbid former New York Yankee demic offseason. that made my few hairs curl. Even here in I do. Because the events of May and June All-Star player Alex Rodriguez and fiancée In January, the Mets acquired shortstop Greenwich Village there were shameful in- 2020 are fading, and there is, even among Jennifer Lopez. (In the July issue of WestView Francisco Lindor and starting pitcher Car- cidents. us liberal-minded white-folks, a subtle re- News, Hannah Reimann wrote that Steve and los Carrasco in a trade with the Cleveland At 6:00 p.m. on the hot evening of sistance to changes that address inequality Alexandra Cohen were George Capsis’ “new Indians. Carrasco is a very good start- July 13, 1863, William Jones, an African- in the school system, in hiring, and in our neighbors on Perry Street.”) ing pitcher who has plenty of experience, American cartman, left his Clarkson Street police force—that will address the fact that Steve Cohen was born in Great Neck, and Lindor is one of the best shortstops home to buy a loaf of bread. He probably Black New Yorkers see the NYPD as an Long Island, in 1956. His father was a in baseball and the type of talent that the didn’t know that a vicious mob had begun occupying force—does not mean that I can dress manufacturer in Manhattan’s gar- Mets really needed. a five-day rampage. No CNN, no radio. push the question of racial injustice out of ment district and his mother was a piano Heading into the 2021 MLB season, And Jones was right in their path. The ri- the forefront of my campaign. teacher. In 1978, Steve graduated from the fans will be eager to see if Marcus Stroman oters were mostly working-class Irish im- In the last census, Community Board University of Pennsylvania with a degree can become a factor in a rotation that has migrants. They were angry about a federal 2 was 94 percent white and four percent in economics and immediately went to two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob draft law that conscripted poor men while Asian. That is shameful. It is an issue WE work on Wall Street. He found success as DeGrom on it. In an interview with the allowing their wealthier counterparts to need to address. We live in a wonderful com- a stock market trader and was able to set CBS Fantasy Baseball Podcast in Janu- buy their way out of the army. And they munity—except that Black and Hispanic up his own business about fourteen years ary, Stroman said, “I feel like Cohen’s go- feared that newly freed Blacks who had folks just don’t seem to be welcome. This is- later. Today, Cohen is the CEO of Point 72 ing to do some big things.” With Lindor come to New York would take their jobs. sue must be addressed. And it will be at the Ventures, a venture capital fund. and Carrasco added to the mix, the Mets That morning, after destroying a draft center of my service when I win. I have pro- At his introductory press conference af- should be ready to do some more winning. office at and 47th Street, posed a $10 billion capital plan to build tru- ter purchasing the Mets, Cohen recalled The Mets have not won a World Series crowds of rioters dispersed around Man- ly affordable housing (affordable by nurses, his dad taking him to his first Mets game title since 1986, while their crosstown ri- hattan. They burned the homes of draft hospital workers, subway workers, and store in 1963 when the team still played at the vals, the Yankees, have won five since then. supporters, destroyed train tracks, beat workers). I have proposed a massive shift of Polo Grounds. Back then, they were called Maybe Steve Cohen can help the Mets be- wealthy residents, torched and looted the billions of dollars from the NYPD to the the “Amazin’ Mets” and their manager was come “amazin” again and bring a champi- Brooks Brothers store, and attacked police school system. I support the proposal to cre- the “Old Perfesser,” Casey Stengel. They onship to . and soldiers. But their rage was directed ate a Public Housing Preservation Trust to were pretty bad until about 1969; then they I received this quote from the Mets press especially toward Black New Yorkers; they fund the rebuilding of NYCHA housing won the World Series, with players like Tom people last night... set fire to the Colored Orphan Asylum on by the government, not private developers. Seaver who tragically passed away in August. “New York fans have high expectations and Eighth Avenue and 44th Street, killed a And I support making cops accountable to Cohen made it clear to Mets fans just I want to exceed them. I want an exceptional black coachman on West 27th Street, and an elected Public Review Board. These are how committed he is to the franchise. His team. I want a team that’s built to be great ev- chased three black men who happened bold, but needed, ideas which my soul will exact words were, “I’m not in this for a quick ery year. I don’t just want to get into the play- to be walking down Varick Street. Those compel me to pursue. fix, I really want to build a sustainable fran- offs -- I want a championship. When I really three got away. That’s when the mob tar- chise.” Remarkably, Cohen has doubled the thought about this, I could make millions of geted Jones. A book titled The Draft Ri- Arthur Z. Schwartz is the Democratic team’s payroll from $81 million to $184 mil- people happy, and what an incredible opportu- ots in New York, July, 1863: July, 1863. The District Leader for Greenwich Village and a lion, putting the Mets right behind the Yan- nity that is. It’s really about building something Police, Their Service During candidate for city council in Council District kees for the third-highest payroll in Major great, building something for the fans, win- the Riot Week (available at archive.org/de- 3, which runs from Canal Street to Colum- League Baseball. He has not only made his ning.” – Steve Cohen tails/draftriotsinnew01barngoog/page/n5/ bus Circle. See www.arthurfornyc.com. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 11 Village Cigars at Sheridan Square May Be Listed for Sale

Dina Andriotis, Chris Tsiamis, and Nikitas Andriotis (from left to right). 77 Between Seventh Avenue and Bleecker Street Pharmacy Hours: MR. SINGH, THE MANAGER/OWNER OF VILLAGE CIGARS SINCE 1998, stands in front of his Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM storefront. Like many West Village landmark businesses, it has suffered during the pan- demic. Photo by Bob Cooley. Saturday: 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM Closed Sunday By Roger Paradiso the property attached to this little triangle in Manhattan with the iconic signs that Telephone: 212-255-2525 • Fax: 212-255-2524 When I heard this news, I immediately hang like red banners proudly shouting, email: [email protected] thought of all those trips down Seventh “Village Cigars.” According to Mr. Singh, www.newyorkchemists.com Avenue where the iconic Village Cigars the landlord is very nice. He has accom- store stood as a welcoming gateway to modated Mr. Singh on rent owed due to the Village. And if you took a subway you the lack of business. Singh is now renting had two trains taking you right next to the month-to-month and has not heard if the store. Those entrances were almost part of landlord has listed the building for sale. the store. It is on one of the smallest par- “I have taken out small business loans. I cels of real estate in Manhattan; there are had Payroll Protection Plan for three months. maybe 500 square feet in a triangular shape Very difficult to exist with no business. that is only one story high. I spoke to Jon Posner, whose family Included in the parcel is the famous has owned the building for many years. I Hess Triangle, which is deeded to Vil- asked him if the building is for sale. He lage Cigars. It is a triangular plaque which said, “Yes, but I haven’t listed it yet.” I says, in special subway tile layout: “Prop- asked him how much he would list it for erty of the Hess Estate Which Has Never and he said $5.5 million dollars. “Wow,” I Been Dedicated for Public Purposes.” said, but Jon, who seems like a nice per- Apparently, in a dispute with the city, Mr. son, told me why: “It’s going to be bought Hess never sold the area where the plaque by someone who loves Village Cigars and is embedded in the sidewalk, nor the land its history in the West Village.” under it, many years ago. Mr. Hess was a As for the price, Jon says, “New York true Villager. real estate is high and the taxes are high; Village Cigars doesn’t just sell cigars. I everybody knows that.” But he thinks haven’t been inside for years, but as I recall, a special buyer will be able to pay it and they sell candy, gum, and newspapers. The hopefully keep the signage because the history of this store goes back to at least 1922 building, while not landmarked, is part of a when United Cigars took over the lease. landmarked and historical area, joining the I tracked down the current manager/ and the Sheridan Square owner of Village Cigars, Mr. Singh, in mid- area as part of the landscape of the Village. February. He seemed to be a nice man who “I definitely see it not being predominantly arrived in the USA from India in 1990. He a store that sells cigars. But I would like to has been in the West Village since 1993, save the historic signage on the exterior.” when he opened Andy’s Deli not too far I ask him if he would sell it to a bank or from his cigar store. In 1998, he took over Papaya King. “There is no way I’m selling the lease on Village Cigars and everything this to be ATMs or a hot dog place. There was going well until the pandemic hit. is no chance in hell.” “Everybody is doing very bad in the WestView News will be keeping its eyes https://www.lxbahamas.com/view/Harbour+Island/Third+Reef/4080/ neighborhood. I used to be open 24 hours, and ears open to this ongoing news story. now 12 hours or less. No business.” It is further proof of the damage that the Pictures on Facebook: Third Reef – Harbour Island Bahamas Village Cigars is leased from Jon Posner, pandemic has caused to the mom-and-pop For more info and pictures: VRBO #1968167 of Bernard Charles Real Estate, who owns shops in the West Village. 12 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org First Skyscraper Coming to West Village By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP Plans have been approved for the first ever skyscraper in the West Village. At an ‘unprecedented’ height of 420’, Clarkson Square is planned for the full block at Washing- ton Street and West . Greenwich Villagers have had no skyscrapers, and few hi-rise apartment options to live in. Number One Fifth Avenue is perhaps the earliest example among several hi- rises along our major avenues. 1 Fifth Avenue is 350’ to its top pinnacle, and 290’ to the top apartment’s roof, so it does not reach the ‘skyscraper’ definition. (Skyscraper Joshua B. Cohen Pronto Translations definition: building over 40 stories high, included within 646.984.4073 www.prontotranslations.com the definition of Hi-Rise, which is over 12 stories tall. Mid-rise is 5 to 12 stories high.) What will be the challenges for the skyscraper at [email protected] Clarkson Square? Member Greater New York Chamber of Commerce Housing has physical and social elements which pro- THE FIRST EVER SKYSCRAPER IN THE WEST VILLAGE, vide basic needs of life, such as protection and comfort at an ‘unprecedented’ height of 420’, is planned for and well-being. Skyscrapers are but one type of housing, Clarkson Square, the full block at Washington Street and one that has many detractors. and Houston Street. This rendering of the two towers The Sustainable Cities Collective has listed “7 Reasons is a view looking southeast from West Street and Leroy Is it Time to Renew Why High-Rises Kill Livability.” Among the negatives Street. Credit: CookFox Architects for hi-rise housing are the separation of residents from Your Subscription? one another, from the street life below, and from contact eted facades that face multiple directions can contribute with physical outdoor activity. The list claims high-rises to less structural material to resist wind forces, partly be- equal gentrification and inequality since they increase all cause it breaks up the wind vectors into smaller counter- If we have your email address WestView News acting eddies. Straight, boxy forms do not seem to per- will send you a reminder when your subscription the land prices around them. Hi-rise housing adds to the level of alienation and isolation, factors that have been form as well. expires. Some subscribers have not responded Other developers had run into controversy due to designs to this means of communication. Therefore, we proven to negatively impact health and even shorten respectfully suggest that you check your spam people’s lives. for a “poor door” reserved for the ‘affordable’ apartments, folder for such notifications. Yet, developers and governments around the world while the luxury units got a separate lobby. Clarkson’s continue to build hi-rise apartment blocks, sometimes in towers, designed by CookFox Architects, seem to utilize devastating monotony, sometimes in awe-inspiring, ever common lobbies for all units, but there will be two towers, higher feats. one along West Street overlooking the Hudson River, the Building a skyscraper is only possible thanks to ma- other smaller one facing east on Washington Street. jor technological and mechanical developments, which The challenges for the Clarkson Square skyscraper, started over a century ago with passenger elevators, steel besides overcoming community opposition, have been framing, and heavy-duty foundation systems. Today, daunting. The 2013 amendment to the Hudson River skyscrapers need giant balancing dampers at their roofs, Park Act of 1998, and a Special Hudson River Park Dis- higher-strength steel and high-performance reinforced trict were invented to allow this type of development. concrete, to build taller and to counteract the strong wind Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer spoke to the and gravity forces, and to address other safety concerns. City Planning Commission’s public hearing in 2016 and Add to that the difficulty of lifting concrete and materials critically called for major alterations to the proposed re- to that great height, dropping garbage down the long re- zoning, to limit air-right transfers and increase affordable fuse chutes, moving high-speed elevators in closed shafts, housing units. As-of-right, the developer could have built and pumping water under high pressures to the top floors a 438-room hotel, office, and retail building of 48 sto- for normal plumbing fixture operation. ries, approximately 630 feet tall. But even with the new Recent news outlets have reported complaints of luxury rezoning, to get to that skyscraper height for the luxury skyscraper occupants during their first years after moving residential project, 200,000 SF of extra floor area had to in, which included $millions of damages from plumbing be purchased from Pier 40 across West Street, and the and mechanical failures, elevator malfunctions, leaky ex- developers, Atlas Capital Group and Westbrook Part- terior walls and creaking interior walls. As the damages ners, had to include 30% ‘affordable’ housing units into piled up, common charges and insurance rates increased the towers, bringing the total to 1.7million square feet of dramatically, and other owner fees for amenities’ use have floor area. also been recalibrated to make up for losses. Engineers Then there’s the challenge of building in a flood plain,

A modern approach to real estate with familiar with these projects say these troubles are not lim- on landfilled ground that was once under the Hudson

old-fashioned professionalism and two ited to the 1400’ tall condo at 432 Park Avenue, which River, along a busy highway. Excavation and construction decades of top-notch customer actually sits on 56th Street, or other supertalls on Billion- has not yet started on the barren, fenced site. service to our community. aire’s Row along the south end of . Call Charlie Summers, proud West Village resident since 1985. The challenge for any A/E team, developers, contrac- Brian J. Pape is a LEED-AP “Green” architect consult-

Charles Summers tors, and managers are the same as noted above, while ing in private practice, serves on the Manhattan District Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker meeting code and budget and working space constraints. 2 Community Board Landmarks Committee and Quality [email protected] 917.376.1648 Experienced architect/engineer (A/E) firms study their of Life Committee, is Co-chair of the American Institute of skyscraper designs in sophisticated wind-tunnels and Architects NY Design for Aging Committee, is a member of Charles Summers is an individual real estate agent affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by equal housing opportunity laws. computer analytical programs to fine-tune the shape of AIANY Historic Buildings Committee, and is a journalist, the buildings and placement of structural members. Fac- especially on architecture subjects. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 13

Pronto Translations: Loving Languages is Good Business two languages. Soon after college, I worked in Germany and Taiwan, giving me the opportu- nity to gain a working knowledge in two more. Just as the dot-com era was coming to a boil, a friend of mine founded a start-up and asked if I would like to get his website translated into seven languages. His start- up did not survive, yet the experience led to the birth of my 21-year-old boutique translation and interpretation firm, Pronto Translations, located in Chelsea. Many of us locally-based entrepreneurs and small businesses overlook one of the big- gest sources of new business, right here in our own backyard. CSA Research, an indepen- dent research firm, surveyed 8,709 consum- ers in 29 countries, and discovered that 76% of all consumers are much more likely to buy JOSHUA B. COHEN is the President of a product or service if information about it Chelsea-based Pronto Translations. Photo is presented in their mother tongue, versus a courtesy of Joshua B. Cohen. foreign language (such as English). New York is one of the world’s most mul- By Joshua B. Cohen ticultural cities. Whatever your business, you I’ve always been a lover of languages. As could well be overlooking a key growth driver soon as I could read, I’d browse through to your business by not communicating with the dictionaries and grammar books that your neighbors and potential new clients in my parents had collected as a result of their their local language. For example, a real estate various attempts at mastering a foreign agent could create a new stream of interested tongue: a Hindustani grammar book that buyers by adding a version of their website my father had saved as a result of a stint in and collateral in Chinese. A local bank or India while in the army, alongside French lending organization could miss a significant and Italian dictionaries that my mother portion of the market by failing to translate had collected. When any friend of the fam- their web presence into Spanish. ily from a foreign land visited, I’d ask them When you take into account that the in- to teach me how to count to ten in what- ternet has no borders, consider the business Do You Need Home Care? ever language they spoke. that your enterprise could attract not only We had the luck of living down the block from the local area but from other coun- from New York City’s at-the-time only tries with a version of your website in an- Continuity Home Health Care French school, the Lycée-Français, and my other language or languages. mother had the foresight to send me there, Pronto Translations offers translation and interpretation services in 122 languages. helping me fulfill an early dream of learning Where Healing Continues... A licensed home care agency providing health care services, both professional and paraprofessional, for individuals living at home since 1996.

Call Tim Ferguson at (212) 625-2547 or drop in to 198 Avenue of The Americas We accept most private insurances and private pay.

[email protected]

Illustration by Jim Meadows. 14 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org The Day the Village Stood Still: Do Pandemic School Closures Increase Risk of Unreported The Winter of Child Abuse? Our Discontent By Roger Paradiso away with a lot of money being given to It’s been almost a year since the infamous them. Others don’t get much.” day that the city started closing down be- I speak to Vittorio about his situation cause of COVID-19. But lockdowns and with his charming restaurant off Washing- restrictions are not easy to enforce in the ton Square Park. I ask what will help his La USA. It seems the country is split on lis- Lanterna di Vittorio? “That’s a good ques- tening to the CDC, doctors and politicians tion. I guess it’s the obvious stuff. Warm regarding the use of masks, distancing, and weather, widespread vaccinations, and herd staying out of crowds. As the virus hangs immunity. But most importantly, govern- around we learn more about it, but then it ment aid in the form of grants.” He and mutates into other forms like most viruses his son Victor have been working so hard do. The previous administration offered to hang in. To save money they do a lot of mixed messages about all this, and it was work that the staff used to do, including SCHOOL CLOSURES may place mistreated children at greater risk. Photo credit: M. Pavese. not helpful. They also left the vaccine de- waiting on tables. livery system in shambles. Hopefully, the The government has a program called By Kieran Loughney other domestic violence). According to the current administration can get us back on the Paycheck Protection Program which Centers for Disease Control, in a typical the road to recovery quickly. There are now provides loans so that staff can be main- The loud laughs were so unexpected that, year one in seven kids in the United States more than 64 million people who have tained. Funding has run out, but the new for a moment, I could not remember my may experience abuse or neglect, three quar- been vaccinated and some 19.5 million bill will bring back the PPP. next line. Playing a put-upon father of a ters of whom are harmed by their parents. have gotten the second shot. “PPP will be extremely helpful, provid- bride-to-be on her wedding day, I pressed Thankfully, 47 states have laws requiring President Biden delivered a new bill ed the forgiveness parameters are not too on and, to my astonishment, I got more teachers, principals, and daycare workers to the Congress quickly. This additional onerous,” said Vittorio. I asked him about laughs and a standing ovation at the play’s to alert authorities of evidence of mistreat- funding will help states vaccinate people small business loans; he said, “The SBA end. As a scrawny, self-conscious 15-year- ment or negligence. In recent months, data efficiently and keep our economy from EIDL loans are tempting. But with the fu- old, this kind of affirmation was completely shows a decrease in reports of abuse, likely sinking into a deeper recession. ture being so uncertain, can I really afford new and it sure felt good. We have all had a because children have spent less time in the Many small shops in the Village have to saddle my business with additional debt teacher who went beyond the lesson plans. classroom under a teacher’s supervision. gone out of business already. Many resi- obligations? It then becomes a question of For me he was Jim Hopkins, my high Bessy Matute, a child protective specialist dents have left the West Village. This is how deep do I want to make the proverbial school English and drama instructor. Mr. supervisor with the New York Administra- a pattern happening all over the city and “hole,” and when do I stop digging?” Hopkins saw a quiet but well-spoken kid tion for Children’s Services states, “Most of the country. The death toll has passed Many small business owners are digging with a sense of humor, and by challenging our cases are disclosed by mandated report- 500,000 people from this killer virus, into personal savings and business loans and guiding me he boosted my confidence ers from school staff. It is concerning to us and millions are infected. Residents thinking that these will be short-term so- and helped me understand the power of because we know child abuse and neglect is and mom-and-pop shops in the Village lutions. But nothing about this pandemic the spoken and written word. happening, but maybe children are not hav- struggle to stay above water. is short-term. We are going on a year and Charlie (not his real name) was also lucky to ing contact with mandated reporters.” Jamal, of Village Music World on counting. I ask Vittorio what he would have a teacher who did more than teach. Two Good teachers do more than facilitate Bleecker Street, is keeping his business go- like the new Biden bill to include and he decades ago, as a new child welfare worker, academics; they help children grow into ing somehow. “Business is sometimes bet- says, “We need more grants and low inter- I met five-year-old Charlie after his teacher, productive members of society and, in some ter if the weather is good. On other days est loans.” Miss Rose, spotted Charlie’s bruised cheek cases, can be essential to a child’s very sur- it is depressing.” It should be noted that As we move from winter to spring, there and asked him (privately) about the injury. vival. Online learning may serve students in February we had one major storm that is finally some hope that we can wrangle “My dad got mad at me last night,” he told academically during school interruptions, left 18 inches of snow in the Village. There this pandemic. We are given this hope by her. After she reported the possible abuse, but remote learning is no substitute for in- have also been smaller storms and the tem- the Biden administration and its focus on other injuries were discovered by the school person encounters with school staff, such peratures have been below freezing. the problem. Vaccinations are ongoing nurse, and child welfare was called. Charlie as Charlie’s teacher, who are trained to rec- “I hired a lawyer to handle my issues and the number of people inoculated is then had a team of professionals to ensure his ognize evidence of abuse. Schools are more with the SBA,” Jamal said. He has been increasing every week. Two more vaccines safety. He was placed in the care of foster par- than a place for childhood friendships, trying to get a Small Business Administra- are on the way: the Johnson and Johnson ents. Twenty years later he bumped into me hot lunches, and learning math and read- tion loan since last March. He has had one from New Jersey, and the Novavax from while walking on the street. “I have a business ing. A former colleague of mine working minor Paycheck Protection Program loan Maryland. They are different from the degree and I’m working toward marketing my in child welfare estimates that prior to the that barely helped. He survives by taking two current vaccines in that they don’t re- own products,” he said, excitedly. pandemic, 80 percent of referrals of abuse out personal loans and working alone in his quire extreme refrigeration. And the J & Many schools in New York City have cases came directly from schools. store on many days to keep payroll down. J vaccine is currently one shot. The FDA closed and reopened several times since A new appreciation for essential work- He has tried working with Amazon, which recently cleared its use. Novavax is finish- the pandemic began. We’ve seen stories ers, including teachers, has been one of the he calls a “bloodsucker.” He tries to sell ing stage three clinical trials in the USA. of teachers, students, and families who are upsides of the pandemic. It was my good through them but “They don’t care about When they do, and the results continue struggling to continue teaching and learn- fortune to have Mr. Hopkins’ guidance in independent vendors. There is no money in a positive direction, they will submit to ing. Less commonly mentioned are the school. I’m grateful for the many teachers in it for me.” the FDA. So, these two vaccines are likely risks the pandemic poses for child victims who, in addition to all their other contri- Jamal is usually a very positive person candidates to contribute to the vaccina- of in-home abuse and neglect. According to butions, keep a protective eye on the most with a good sense of humor. During this tion of Americans in mid to late spring. In studies by the U.S Administration for Chil- vulnerable children in their classrooms. If call I find him angry and frustrated. “I the meantime, keep masking, distancing, dren and Families, the increased economic you have reason to suspect a child is be- hope the lawyer can get me money. At least staying out of crowds, and handwashing. pressure and isolation families endure in ing abused or mistreated, contact New she told me they have to help. She said they There is hope on the horizon. difficult times contribute to the stress fac- York’s Child Abuse Hotline immediately need to help. You know some people get tors associated with child abuse (as well as at 1-800-342-3720. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 15 Snow Day By Keith Michael Sunday, I thought I’d try again. This time, I got there at 6:00, set up with a tripod, and Millie hates snow. prepared camera settings recommended Years ago, yes, when she was younger, by a friend to literally shoot in the dark. she would bound through the drifts, often The waiting admirers were diminished to sinking up to her shoulders at every leap. around 60—possibly a popularity casualty Her destination was always the vantage of the Super Bowl. 6:30 approached. One from the top of the tallest pile of snow. could feel the hushed anticipation. 6:35 ar- Perhaps as a height-challenged corgi, the rived. And passed. Tick. Tick. Tick. Still chance to see the world from above side- no Snowy Owl. I gave myself until 7:00— walk level was intoxicating. knowing the long week that I had ahead. Now, the whiteness seems to be only an 7:00 She had obviously chosen another obstacle. Maybe the bright glare hurts her take-out location for the night. I started eyes. Maybe the possibility of slipping on packing up. the ice is a deterrent. (I sympathize with 7:01 I glanced up at the tower in the her on that.) Maybe it’s the salt between dark. Lens cap in hand. Wait. Is she there? her toes or the humiliation of an un-ladylike Yes! As quickly as I could, I scrambled to tumble off a curb or wading through frigid get organized with my camera again, and puddles. She even looks up with trepidation happily, got off a few shots that at least when the pillows of snowflakes land on her look like an owl! back. She dashes back inside for a roll on the 7:05 She flew off into the night! Indeed, carpet seemingly to banish the offending a Superb Owl Sunday! dampness from her nose and eyelashes— I look down at Millie faintly snoring. hardly one of her favorite things. A SNOWY OWL hasn’t been seen in Central Park for 130 years. Photo by Keith Michael. Sleepily quoted, “Neither snow nor rain To try to elevate Millie’s appreciation for nor heat nor gloom of night stays this at least one of the delights of snow, I’ll read Millie is flattening on the floor, but she along the way.) Right on cue, she DID corgi from the swift completion of her ap- her a bedtime story. Even though it’s only still seems attentive to the tale. arrive that Saturday evening at 6:35 and pointed naps.” the middle of the afternoon. Snowy Owls regularly wander south stayed about five minutes to the cheers of A little after noon on Wednesday, Janu- from their summer homes around the more than 200 rubberneckers in the snow! ary 27th, my pocket buzzed with a text Arctic Circle, and a few are reported each Millie’s eyes are drooping. Visit keithmichaelnyc.com or follow from a fellow birder: “There’s a Snowy winter in the NYC area, mostly on the The next day, February 7th, Super Bowl @newyorkcitywild on Instagram. Owl in Central Park!” After having gone Atlantic dunes—the habitat most similar to great lengths in the past to see wintering to their summer tundra. I guess a Central Snowy Owls at Breezy Point and Jamaica Park ballfield does nicely as well. Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, Barnegat But then, after a week’s absence, she Light and Wallkill River in New Jersey, did show up again perched on the North and spots along the south shore of Long Pump House of the Central Park reservoir WE’RE OPEN—FREE ON DEMAND DELIVERY Island, a Snowy Owl in Central Park was as her post for sallying forth on her noc- BIG NEWS. All afternoon, friends kept turnal hunting expeditions. You might be texting me, emailing, and sending photos. wondering how one knows that it’s a “she.” VILLAGE Unfortunately, I couldn’t get away from Male Snowy Owls can be almost com- work. I hoped she’d stick around. pletely snowy white, particularly as they That evening around dusk, an adoring age, while the lady owls are festooned with crowd watched as she took flight over the striking black bars on their feathers. Like North Meadow ballfields, off on an eve- this one. APOTHECARY ning hunt for unsuspecting ducks. True, That week, I heard that she had been during the day it had taken Central Park appearing regularly at the North Pump THE COMMUNITY PHARMACY THAT CARES Rangers to keep the mass of humans away, House around dusk, so on Saturday, Feb- though a gaggle of Crows and a Red-tailed ruary 6th I thought I’d give myself a bonus Hawk had harassed this superstar through- track for the day to go see her. However, af- Come in out the afternoon. Nevertheless, even with ter arriving in the late afternoon, I learned the publicity of her own article and photo that her more regular “curtain time” for the for your fREE in the New York Times the next day, she previous four days had been 6:35. Unfortu- did not reappear on Thursday. This was nately, by the time 6:00 rolled around, after a magical one-day wonder. The previous an already long day, I was too cold and too sighting of a Snowy Owl in Central Park tired to wait longer. So I packed up and left WELCOmE had been in 1890! (losing a few of my prized “intrepid points” VIEWS BY SUZE KIT! Suzanne McAndrews 50 + years in Greenwich Village BRInG THIs CARd In And RECEIVE $10 off See Views by Suze O n A n Y P u RCHAs E O f $25 OR m ORE at Bonsignour Café Jane Street Store HourS: Mon - Fri 8aM - 8pM • Sat 9aM - 6pM • Sun 10aM - 5pM and Eighth Avenue 346 Bleecker St • Greenwich VillaGe, nY 10014 • VillaGeapothecarY.com 646-689-3475 [email protected] 212.807.7566 16 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org Manhattan’s First Public ‘Beach’ Is in the West Village

THE NEW GANSEVOORT PENINSULA will provide an accessible sandlot and river access to kayakers and other small boaters, as well as a place for lounging and river views there on the south side, in this view looking east, immediately adjacent to the Hammons sculpture.Credit: James Corner Field Operations.

By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP side. It derives its inspiration and name no artificial sand beach could be created to ing boathouse and pier for its fire-fighting from Gordon Matta-Clark’s short-lived remain at the tidal water’s edge, Gansevoort vessel. Nearby, the first building for the News outlets are atwitter with excitement 1975 artwork made from the old pier shed. will provide an accessible sandbox and ramp peninsula’s maintenance uses has been con- for the “first public beach” in Manhattan, Mr. Hammons himself proposed the on the south side, immediately under the structed in the park. and it’s going to be right here in the West project to the Whitney, and according to Hammons sculpture. Shown with stone So, the “beach” won’t be like a Coney Village! There is reason to be excited for Adam Weinberg, the Whitney’s director, rip-rap slopes along the ramps, this water’s Island boardwalk beach, and it won’t be what’s coming in 2023, for the new Gan- “It will not impose on any uses of the Gan- edge has been criticized as being the most like the forlorn strip of sandy beach un- sevoort Peninsula will be 5.5 acres of the sevoort Peninsula—you can still have base- unfriendly surface imaginable; but JCFO der the Brooklyn Bridge along the South largest new uninterrupted active and pas- ball fields, you can still have park…..There defended the rip-rap as necessary to with- Street esplanade, but JCFO is making the sive recreation green space in Hudson are essentially no shadows; it’s completely stand the strong wave action and tide surges. most of a difficult situation. The sandlot is River Park. The $70 million project will open to the light, to the air…” Gansevoort Peninsula is parkland built generously sized and incorporates a sandy provide a lighted ball field, a pine grove, a During the early design stages for Gan- on solid ground, as opposed to a pier above play area for children, picnic tables for dog run, river seating on three sides of the sevoort Peninsula, James Corner Field the water, but it is not a naturally occurring families, and shade trees for lounging— peninsula, and river access to kayakers and Operations ( JCFO), the lead firm for the body of land, as it was formed from landfill something for everyone, except lapping other small boaters, as well as a place for consultants, stated that the goal is “to ac- out into the river, just like most of Man- waves on the sand. lounging and river views there, but defi- cess the water, design for resiliency and hattan’s shoreline. Under a 2005 settle- nitely not for swimming. reinforce the …Estuarine Sanctuary as ment with Friends of Hudson River Park, Also on the southern edge of the Penin- well as provide recreational amenities that the City Department of Sanitation had Brian J. Pape is a LEED-AP “Green” ar- sula, an important public art installation is are missing elsewhere” in the Park. Since until 2013 to move over 150 sanitation ve- chitect consulting in private practice, serves now under construction, donated to Hud- a “Sandy-type” flood surge would inun- hicles and their garage and office buildings on the Manhattan District 2 Community son River Park by the Whitney Museum of date this beautiful park, JCFO stated that off the peninsula at Gansevoort Street; it Board Landmarks Committee and Quality American Art. Entitled Day’s End by New they elected to choose resilient materials took a few more years to actually clear the of Life Committee, is Co-chair of the Ameri- York artist David Hammons, the sculp- throughout that would survive an inunda- land and to proceed through the design can Institute of Architects NY Design for ture will be an outline of the former Pier tion with little damage. stages. On the north side of the peninsula Aging Committee, is a member of AIANY 52 once located here, made out of tubular But after studying various ways to provide is Pier 53, the home of NYC Fire Depart- Historic Buildings Committee, and is a stainless steel members resting on concrete a beach and water access, and realizing that ment’s Marine Company One, a function- journalist, especially on architecture subjects. pilings, both in the water and at the land-

THIS AERIAL RENDERING VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST OF THE NEW GANSEVOORT THE NEW GANSEVOORT PENINSULA SANDLOT is generously sized and incorporates a PENINSULA $70 million project will provide a lighted ball field, a pine grove, a dog run, river sandy play area, picnic tables for families, and shade trees for lounging or sunbathing— seating on three sides of the peninsula, and river access to kayakers and other small boat- something for everyone, except lapping waves on sand. This rendering of the south side ers, as well as a place for lounging and river views there at the new “beach”, but definitely looks toward Pier 51 and West Street. Credit: James Corner Field Operations. not for swimming. Credit: James Corner Field Operations. CARING FOR THE VILLAGE TAKES A VILLAGE

THAT’S WHY WE BRING THE WORLD-CLASS RESOURCES OF NORTHWELL—NEW YORK’S LARGEST HEALTH SYSTEM— TO THE HEART OF YOUR COMMUNITY.

Our team provides a wide range of primary and specialty care for all ages. And recently, we’ve reimagined how we care for you, from enhanced safety protocols to providing COVID-19 testing and treatment. As we battle through the final phase of the pandemic, we’ll continue raising our neighbors’ Lenox Health health—and their hopes for a brighter tomorrow. Greenwich Village Northwell SM Northwell.edu/ForTheVillage

Northwell_w560005_LHGV_Print Ad_West View News_10x12.75 Size: 10” x 12.75”, FP Publication: West View News 18 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org 540 Hudson Street Finally Gets LPC Nod the modified designs in late December, stating “that the presence of a visible set- back penthouse floor, featuring a sloped planted roof and painted gray cladding, and limited rooftop appurtenances, includ- ing an elevator and stair bulkhead, vent, railings, and mechanical equipment, is consistent with other modern buildings in the surrounding context and some historic residential buildings within this historic district; and that the proposed work will not detract from the special architectural and historic character of the streetscape or the Greenwich Village Historic District.” BKSK Architects has been busy lately seeking LPC approval for several other Vil- lage projects. One is the renovation and ex- pansion of a three-story brick building at 21 Greenwich Avenue, a corner lot facing West 10th Street. Another is for a sizable commercial expansion and restoration of the historic row townhomes at the corner ad- dresses of 44-54 Ninth Avenue and 351-355 West . Other recent local projects by BKSK are for new condos at 144 Barrow Street, 22 and 25 , 1 Great Jones Alley, and 175 W. 10th Street at 7th Avenue; earlier designs include 529 Broadway, the Comfort Station and Ranger offices, the former Pastis res- taurant location at 9-19 9th Avenue for RH A RENDERING OF THE 540 HUDSON STREET design viewed from the southwest. The punched windows in the undulating brick walls got showroom, 21-27 9th Avenue retail renova- LPC approval. Credit: BKSK Architects tion, and Gansevoort Row between 9th Av- enue and Washington Street. By Brian J. Pape, AIA, LEED-AP with a modified design in February 2018, sidewalk property line except to round but still didn’t move forward. out the corner. Brick belt courses over the The familiar Caribe vans and delivery ve- Then in June 2020, a new team filed for storefronts form a header line, and then the Brian J. Pape is a LEED-AP hicles parked at the corner lot of Hudson demolition permits. 540 Hudson Street brick wall begins to slowly undulate as it “Green”architect consulting in private and Charles Streets, a former gasoline sta- LLC is now listed as the owner behind the rises, until it becomes a corbeled cornice, practice, serves on the Manhattan District 2 tion and garage, probably a contaminated permits filed for the building at 538-544 projecting a couple of feet over the side- Community Board Landmarks Committee brownfield site, will have to move out when Hudson Street, with Cayre Investments walk, as some heavier cornices do with and Quality of Life Committee, is Co-chair construction on a new seven-story building working with BKSK Architects. their traditional materials. The projecting of the American Institute of Architects NY begins. Caribe is the maintenance arm of David Kubik of BKSK Architects, listed round corner forms a turret-like roof base, Design for Aging Committee, is a member of the William Gottlieb Real Estate company, as the architect of record, brought modified dreaming of a small cone tower. AIANY Historic Buildings Committee, and is with offices on Christopher Street, Wee- proposals to the LPC, keeping the appear- The LPC voted unanimously to approve a journalist, especially on architecture subjects. hawken Street, and Charles Lane, among ance of the previous submittal, except for other sites. Gottlieb has mounted banners the reduced penthouse and bulkheads on on lampposts throughout the Meatpacking the roof that got some minor revisions. It District to proudly promote their develop- is an unusual occurrence for a design firm ment activities. to be changed without an accompanying Like any LLC, the actual individuals major redesign of the project, but since behind this project do not have to be dis- BKSK and Adjmi work on other Gottlieb closed, but Gottlieb usually retains the land projects, there may have been a special deal rights and partners with a development made to adopt the Adjmi designs. The firm to work through the construction and BKSK design retains the previous 48,535 management of the properties it controls, square feet floor area, including 26 resi- which may be the case here. dences and 6,000 square feet of commer- In July 2017, the initial mixed-use build- cial space, 73-foot-tall plus cellar, and no ing design was brought before the New accessory parking. York Landmark Preservation Commission The unique feature of the wavy red brick (LPC) by Morris Adjmi Architects, for the walls mentioned about the earlier designs William Gottlieb Real Estate firm. The may have garnered LPC approval because design got mixed reviews, one of which there is reference to typical neighborhood reported that the same design had earlier “punched” individual windows in sets of been proposed for another Village site on three, mimicking a line of row houses; only Greenwich Street. The wavy wall of red the projecting blade framing clearly differ- brick, all the way up to the parapet wall entiates them from Federalist windows. caps, was a radical departure compared to The ground floor storefronts, with their the straight traditional facades of the his- large windows suitable for restaurants or THE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED AND APPROVED 540 HUDSON STREET PENTHOUSE design, as toric district. This team returned to LPC any commercial store, line up with the viewed from the southwest. Credit: BKSK Architects www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 19

GREENWICH VILLAGE LEGENDS Woody Guthrie: West Village Rebel With a Cause where dogs play all day.

that lingers as the memory of it all. It set a certain bohemian ‘standard’ we try to Code: embrace. WESTVIEW So, yes, one West Village resident 15% off from 1942-3 at 74 Charles Street (right 1st week across the street from WestView publisher George Capsis) was in reality the father of it all…Woody Guthrie. And you know, New York has a way of encompassing our culture and reflecting it out to America. In 1952 Guthrie wrote a song entitled I Ain’t Got No Home/Old Man Trump (yes, you read that right—that’s Fred Trump, his nasty Coney Island landlord). The is- sue was the treatment of tenants by land- lords in New York. Sounds like a familiar theme… New York City was always the source of the rebellious spirit—the hobo image he City Tails NYC is a family-oriented, full service dog business proudly so carefully lived out and crafted into his serving the West Village since 2007. We offer a full suite of services songs. including dog walking, doggy daycare, puppy care and more. Woody Guthrie lived all over the city, starting in Times Square where he arrived Schedule your doggy daycare playdate or walk today! February 23, 1940 and wrote This Land is Your Land later that week. However, he @citytailsnyc | www.citytailsnyc.com | 55B Leroy Street NY NY 10014 WOODY GUTHRIE LIVED IN THREE spent most of his time in the West Village, APARTMENTS in the West Village in the living on Sixth Avenue (where he shared a 1940s. He spent more time in the Village loft with Pete Seeger), on Charles Street, than anywhere in New York. Photo credit: Al Aumiller/Wikipedia. and at 130 West 10th Street, also known as the Almanac House #2, named after the Almanac Singers, of which Woody and Pete Seeger were a part. By Bruce Poli The West Village was the perfect refuge “Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita, for the ultimate refugee bohemian. Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria; As Woody’s friend David Amram said, You won’t have your names when you ride the “So life in the Village taught me that the big airplane. superiority complexes, and the inferiority All they will call you will be deportees”... complexes, are two sides to the same coin, and if you allow yourself to value that rot- What ‘community’ history most reminds ten currency which is thrust upon us all you of Greenwich Village? Would that be the time, you realize that this is counter- the music scene? feit currency. You don’t try to cash in on it. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, The Village helped us to search for lasting Dave Van Ronk, Maria Muldaur, John values and provide a fresh way of seeing Sebastian, David Amram, Phil Ochs, and looking at things.” Neil Diamond, Peter Paul and Mary, Pete It was the everyman theme of his songs Seeger and life that attracted Dylan, Seeger, Baez …Woody Guthrie? and the rest. But it was the Village that There is no folk/rock/pop/blues pro- comforted their souls, that shaped their gression in American music without ambition and gave direction to a better Washington Square Park and all the great quality life. figures we associate with the mythical Vil- Perhaps ironically we’ve come full cir- lage of the 1960s. cle with Woody Guthrie’s legend…with The legendary folk music scene has in the ex-President and his family MAGA many ways defined the bohemian Green- Non Grata in New York, I Ain’t Got No wich Village mantra. By that I mean these Home is now the Trump family ballad, legends of music history who gave rise to all of them having been treated to the the magnetism of the Village character. door. Not to in any way diminish the great It’s warmer in Florida, but as my father theatre, poetry, jazz, literary and visual used to say “the Florida state tree is the arts, the politics, the parties, but the music extended palm” … gave rise to the Washington Square scene I’ll take the Village anytime. 20 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org

but in a new location in Sheridan Square). The opening branch of Wells Fargo at 475 6th Avenue (between 11th was quick, probably because the spot already had a func- and 12th Streets) has closed, but there is another branch tioning pizza-making set-up. This seems to be a pattern still open at 6th Avenue and Waverly Place. for the Zazzy’s folks: in August, when Rosario’s, a pizza IN restaurant that had been on the Lower East Side for 57 years closed, Zazzy’s took over that space. Zazzy’s features Coming Soon and OUT standard and Sicilian pizzas, as well as some plant-based The upcoming opening of Figaro Café (184 Bleecker dishes and desserts which are heavily Nutella-centric. Street at MacDougal Street) made it onto Eater’s “most by Caroline Benveniste anticipated restaurants” list. The original Le Figaro Café closed in 2008 after over 50 years at that location. A Japa- Re-Opened nese and Street Food restaurant called Mr. K is slated to One trend we’ve been reading about is New York City restau- A reader alerts us that Maje and Sandro (both on Bleeck- open in the old Pho 3 space at 152 Seventh Avenue South rants opening branches in Miami. Some already had a second er Street near ) have re-opened. (between Charles and Perry Streets). La Pecora Bianca, location there, and others opened one during the pandemic since the mini-chainlet of all-day Italian restaurants with three Florida has practically no COVID restrictions and therefore a other locations around the city is planning to open an much livelier restaurant scene. We learned this week that Caffè Closed/Closing outpost at 817 Washington Street (at Gansevoort Street). Aronne recently joined the Miami scene, opening a location Village Cigars (110 7th Avenue South at Christopher Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is planning a new location at there at the end of February. And while most restaurants have Street) has been in that location since the 1920’s, accord- 110 MacDougal Street where Lebanese restaurant Feb 30 been struggling during the pandemic, some restaurateurs have ing to the current owner of the building, but due to the used to be. Their current location at and St. taken advantage of the changed real estate market to negotiate pandemic he is selling the building, and the future of Vil- Marks Place is configured like an old-fashioned automat, favorable leases for new restaurant projects. According to the lage Cigars is uncertain. Read more about the fate of Vil- dispensing dumplings and drinks, including frosé. Sa- New York Post, this is the situation at Bleecker and MacDou- lage Cigars on page 11. Travel bookstore and language loon Singer (169 Bleecker Street between Sullivan and gal where Figaro Café is returning to the original location of school Idlewild (170 7th Avenue South at Perry Street) Thompson Streets) has applied for a liquor license. They Le Figaro Café. closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic but describe themselves as a “Restaurant and Bar serving new continued language classes online. It was not clear if their American Tapas and Cocktails and Wine. The concept is Open store would re-open but recently “For Rent” signs ap- about community, artistry, family, friends and fun.” ZAZZY’S PIZZA peared in the window. Follain (92 Greenwich Avenue at 75 Greenwich Avenue at West 11th Street West 12th Street), self-described “Curators and Creators Our readers continue to help us with tips and insight. Zazzy’s opened in the space vacated by Two Boots Pizza of Clean Beauty” has closed its West Village shop after We love hearing from you. Please keep writing to us at just over two years ago (Two Boots did eventually re-open, two years. Their products are still available online. The [email protected] Opening a Restaurant: A West Village Production By Reed MacNaughton rent, and taxes. We need to focus on op- menu. And space is limited! Can you see ness! I can see what you mean—this proj- “How do I open a restaurant?” they asked erations and customer service…” how everything affects everything else?” ect is a ‘production.’ I have to be a produc- me. Their minds were made up, arguing “But,” they continued, “this is what I Their eyes lit up. “Of course! This makes tion director. was useless at this point. They understood want to do. If you want to be in business, a lot of sense. And this is a MAJOR PRO- But how? How do I stay on budget? the climate—the arena they were stepping you have to throw your hat into the ring. DUCTION. It’s actually the most ex- How do I stay on schedule?” Again, I into—so I felt the best answer was to ask And there’s no better ring than the West pensive investment of my life. Even rent, smiled, “You’ve already said it.” more questions: “Well, where would you Village. I’m going to open a restaurant which is so high, doesn’t compare. It will like to start?” here, and I need to know how.” take me four years of rent to match the Reed MacNaughton builds restaurants. He has “That’s just it,” they responded, “I don’t As I listened I smiled, because this poor, cost of this project—and we will consider been a contractor for 15 years and his efforts to know where to start! It’s all so overwhelm- frazzled soul reminded me of a story. I asked ourselves lucky if we’re one of the success help save the local restaurant community can be ing. I have to find a location and then them, “Are you familiar with the fashion stories that get to claim four years in busi- found at www.PleaseOrderTakeout.com. design it. I know we need to get building industry here in New York? Every Febru- permits and have inspections, and with be- ary and September there’s a ‘Fashion Week’ ing in such an old neighborhood, I think I where show after show is presented to the need approvals from the Landmarks Com- public. And these are not back alley gather- mission as well? Once we have passed that, ings—these are esteemed Productions! I need to build it! Construction sounds Consider all of the parts and pieces that complicated and I hear nothing but hor- go into major events like these. They can’t ror stories, but then I need to source my be whipped up in short order; they have kitchen equipment and all the little parts six months of planning that go into them. and pieces like flatware and glassware and When one Fashion Week ends, the next furniture. Man, there’s a lot of furniture one (scheduled for six months later) begins. involved in a restaurant with a bar! I have Opening a restaurant is a one-off event. to get the branding right, the messaging, But it’s an event that has many moving the marketing, the opening will make or parts, many contributors, and many, many break you … and then there’s the liquor li- complications. And these all impact each cense. It’s just all so much. And that’s what other. You can’t consider the construction as goes into the opening. Once we’re open, just the construction, because it will be im- we have to survive. Now we have a real pacted by the kitchen design. And you can’t legitimate business on our hands that has just have a kitchen, you must have a specific real legitimate responsibilities like payroll, kitchen which accommodates a specific www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 21 A View from the Kitchen By Isa Covo 2/3 cup of unbleached flour It has been a year since we have been liv- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ing under the cloud of the pandemic, and 1/3 cup finely ground blanched almonds despite the vaccines and the progress in ½ teaspoon almond extract administering them, the promise of the 1 teaspoon vanilla end seems to be pushed farther and farther ¼ cup heavy cream away. First they said it should be over by ¼ cup melted unsalted butter spring, then it was early fall, now I heard Pinch of salt that it may end before Christmas. TOPPING: I was vaccinated with both doses, and I ¼ cup unsalted butter should be safe, and thought that I would 1/3 cup sliced almonds not be contagious. Not exactly, it seems: the 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour health authorities advise to still wear a mask, 3 tablespoons of sugar keep social distancing, and get tested peri- 2 tablespoons heavy cream odically. The bright side is that we can have a more relaxed contact with those who have 1.  : In a medium sized also been vaccinated. It still leaves many of Make the pie crust bowl, sift together the sugar and flour, our friends and relatives at bay. cut in the butter until the mixture re- What have you been doing all this time? sembles coarse meal. In a separate bowl, At the beginning, I thought would catch beat the egg with the vanilla and add to up on my reading, but after a week or so I the flour-sugar mixture. Working with found it hard to concentrate on books and I fingertips blend all the ingredients until turned to magazines and newspapers. they hold together. I love old films, and, thankfully, there are 2. Butter a 9 to 10 inch pie pan and line it plenty to watch on TV. with the pie dough. Cover and refriger- Until we can attend a live concert, there ate for at least 20 minutes. is music (recorded or live online) that helps 3. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 325° F. us get through chores, and relax and reflect 4. In the small bowl of an electric mixer, when one feels the need to do so. beat the eggs with the sugar, and the al- Have you noticed that there are more mond and vanilla extracts. Sift together ads on television for supplements to help the baking powder, the sugar, the al- us be more focused? Could it be because mond powder and the salt. Fold the flour we are more distracted than before? I feel I mixture into the egg mixture and blend am, but I haven’t yet tried any of those pills; in the heavy cream and the melted and have you? cooled butter. My personal good news is that I did not 5. Remove the lined pie pan from the re- catch COVID-19, and did not gain weight. frigerator and spread on it the apricot Stay warm and safe. We shall get through jam. Pour the filling on top and spread this. it evenly.

6. Place the pie in the middle of the oven Swedish Almond Tart and bake until the filling sets, about 35 to 40 minutes. FOR THE PIE CRUST: 7. Prepare the topping: On top of the stove, ½ cup unsalted butter in a small saucepan mix all the ingredi- 1 egg ents for the topping and heat over low 2 tablespoons sugar heat, stirring, until the mixture bubbles. 1 ½ cups of unbleached all purpose flour When the pie has set, spread it over the ½ tsp vanilla top evenly and return to the oven to MONDAY THRU SATURDAY 10 AM-7 PM brown, about 10 minutes. FILLING: SUNDAY 11 AM-5 PM ½ apricot jam 2 eggs Cool on the rack before unmolding. Maximum of four people 2/3 cup of sugar Serves 8 to 10 people allowed in the store at one time Masks Required 212-242-5351

Photo by Isa Covo. 22 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org Keeping Love Self-Care Meditation utes at some point during the day or night By Lynn Pax with other lost loved ones so I set up an to ground ourselves and place importance As I sat at my father’s bedside toward the ancestor altar. On the altar I keep water, an on centering and healing and loving oneself. end of his passing, I saw him take an in- electric candle, and pictures of people and As an introduction to meditation I always visible (at least I couldn’t see it) glass from pets who have passed. Occasionally I of- suggest just starting with three minutes. someone (who I also couldn’t see), bring it fer food that someone loved, especially if This can be done sitting up in a chair, laying to his lips, drink and smiling, hand it back. I have friends and family over for a meal. down in your bed or even while you are in He pointed to the wall behind me. There This way those whom I will always love the shower or sitting on the subway. Close was no one there. I had studied the process and will always miss are still part of my life. your eyes and place both hands on your of dying and realized that he had visitors, A recent loss inspired this essay. Too heart. Begin to take note of your heartbeat loved ones who had already passed, step- young, too talented and too loved for his and your breath. Taking deep breaths in and ping across dimensions to help him with picture to be added to my altar, yet there out, begin to align your heartbeat with your his transition. he is. I think “Thats it—not room for one breath. Let them become one. He seemed happy to see them but also more.” But, there always is. The next step is to select a personal man- shocked. When he looked back to me, he I stand before the altar and say their DANA JEAN COSTANTINO teaching Medi- tra. It can be something as simple as “I will seemed shocked again. I had a huge smile names, paying attention to any thoughts tation. Photo Credit: Leanne Costantino. love myself ” or “I will find time to be gentle but it was covered in a waterfall of tears. I that pop into my head during this time. At with others.” Whatever you choose, begin to wish that I had had the wherewithal to ask times I tell them things that they would find By Dana Jean Costantino repeat it to yourself silently as you breathe in him who had come but I was too in awe of interesting and ask for help when I need and out. This will help you to manifest the what I was witnessing and too devastated. it. Lately I have been asking for guidance As we approach a full year of life under idea and turn it into a reality. As you breathe I had to accept that he already had one foot and protection for loved ones during this Covid restrictions, many of us are begin- it in, it is becoming one with you and as you on the other side. I could not imagine my pandemic. I pray for the evolution of all ning to feel fatigued. Fatigued from not breath it out, you are putting that intention life without him. It is said that dying is our souls and send hugs. I end with grati- being able to be as social as we once were, into the world around you. much easier then borning. I take comfort tude for “the gifts of life and love for all my from video conference calls rather than in- Begin a daily practice and add an extra min- that he was not alone. grandmothers all the way back to Eve.” I person meetings, from taking on roles that ute each day of the week if you can. See where Since then, I occasionally catch a glimpse find solace here and I can’t help but wonder we weren’t playing at this time last year, this takes you. If you find that you have a dif- of him, his grey hair or his walk, in a crowd, who will come for me when it is my time. from lack of travel. In short, we are seeking ficult time moving past the three minutes, do or on a bus. It is never him of course, but for Until then. ways to feel like ourselves in a world that not be hard on yourself, three minutes is great! a split second I “see” him. I began to feel that looks different now and may continue to If you are adding a minute each day and loving he is letting me know that he is with me or Addressing suicide: Suicide survivors say for the foreseeable future. Meditation and it, continue to do so and add new mantras. thinking about me, and I say “Hi dad” when that things do get better. Suicide Prevention self-care are some of the best ways that we I wish you the best of luck on your medi- he jumps into my consciousness like that. Hot Line: 800-273-8255. Veteran’s Crisis can have control of our inner peace and tation journey. It will be well worth it, es- This same phenomena has happened Line: 800-273-8255, press 1. happiness when so much of the day-to-day pecially these days. If you are interested in of our lives seems to be out of our control. learning more about meditation or in sched- Many people tend to feel scared of medi- uling a one-on-one guided meditation ses- IF THIS PAPER MAKES YOU THINK tation, with the common excuses being “I sion with me, please be in touch. I would can’t meditate, I can’t clear my head” or “I love to help you on your self-care adventure. We will print your thoughts in the next issue can’t meditate because I can’t sit still” or Send your letter to [email protected] “I can’t meditate because I don’t have the [email protected] 69 Charles St. , New York NY 10014 time.” Let’s face it, we all have the time. We 917-693-4234 all have the time to take three to thirty min- Instagram @citydoorways

nearly 400 students and continues to work with more! fense system that supports and protects the March News and Events C4C holds free virtual group classes in lungs. No experience needed. all the arts. Classes include Learn To Sing, From Project NYC and the West 13th Street Alliance Dance, Painting, Film Studies, Baking and Yoga for Arthritis and Chronic Pain with Ken Stec on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. on By Chandra/Jo Sgammato Instrumental lessons! To learn more about of New York’s shutdown. All are welcome. this wonderful organization, visit crafter- March 3, 10, 17 and 24. Project NYC and the West 13th Street Al- s4creativity.com and follow on Instagram, Certified in Yoga for Arthritis and as a liance are honoring the month of March, All Generations Virtual Event with C4C crafters.4.creativity. For more information Yoga Therapist, longtime Integral Yoga 2021, as a time to pause and recognize the and Project NYC on Saturday, March 6 on the All Generations Virtual Event visit teacher Ken Stec will guide you safely in full year of closure in New York City and the from 1 to 4 p.m. crafters4creativity.com/classes gentle postures geared for chair and stand- world due to COVID-19. Everyone has ex- Crafters-4-Creativity and Project NYC are ing practice. Rooted in traditional yogic perienced an enormous range of emotions, teaming up to hold a day of free virtual inter- Maintaining Healthy Respiratory Func- principles encouraging a healthy body and losses, and triumphs this past year. generational activities! Our goal is to provide tion: Simple, Effective Strategies with Nina a peaceful mind, postures are presented We have three special virtual programs a space to have some fun and be creative with Priya David, M.A., E-RYT 500 on Wednes- in light of current scientific research for in March for our community along with one another online. We are hosting work- day, March 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. chronic pain and stress relief. With regu- our popular Yoga for Arthritis classes. shops in baking, cooking, yoga, and painting! Take a deep breath in and feel great with lar practice, classes are effective in the The event is open to all ages. some simple instructions to help maintain management of arthritic pain and related Virtual Community Gathering on Crafters-4-Creativity is a youth-led orga- and improve your health. Lung health is symptoms. Wednesday, March 10 from nization striving to provide a free arts edu- essential, even more so with a COVID-19 To RSVP for these events, please email 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. cation and increase accessibility to the arts pandemic that affects the respiratory tract. Wayne Kawadler at Wayne@ThePro- This evening will be devoted to sharing for NYC students! C4C started up over the This workshop offers some simple yet ef- jectNYC.org. You will receive an email our thoughts, listening to each other, and summer of COVID-19, when current presi- fective strategies to help keep the lungs response with the Zoom link. Please also acknowledging the power of connected- dent and founder of C4C (Sophia Sorcigli) and the respiratory system healthy. Breath- email Wayne with any questions about us- ness, especially in the most difficult times. gathered a group of her peers from LaGuar- ing practices from the Yogic, Qi Gong and ing Zoom. Together, let’s create a safe space to express dia High School (NYC) and teamed up to physical traditions, along with our sorrows and our hopes for a better year start a free three-week summer camp. Since lifestyle tips to practice throughout your JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST at w13thstreetal- to come, around the one-year anniversary the summer of 2020, C4C has worked with day, will strengthen the body’s natural de- [email protected] www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 23 Do You Feel Isolated? Have You Gained Weight? Lose Extra Fat Permanently change permanently. Without Costs by Doing We keep daily records of calories, activity, What it Takes My life was very and weight, and share them by email. The different in 2000. volume of our food is high enough to feel By Roberta Russell satisfied and our activity level starts at two miles per day. This is not a one-time adjust- From the stoop of my Federal townhouse ment. The actual amounts of exercise and on West 9th Street, a weathered copy of calories needed to achieve your weight goals WestView News addressed to a former ten- are a moving target. If you are interested, ant caught my attention. I wondered if please get back to me at russelk100@gmail. contributing to WestView News would be a com. If you are ready, I will be delighted. way to connect and contribute to Green- See you lighter soon. wich Village, an historic mecca for talent and creativity? COVID-19 has robbed many of us of the Roberta Russell is the author of R.D. Laing warmth of human companionship. Suicide & Me: Lessons in Love with R.D. Laing and divorce rates are up, along with consol- (Hillgarth Press, 1992), www.rdlaing.org, ing trips to the refrigerator. “COVID-15,” Report on Effective Psychotherapy: Legis- the reputedly average 15-pound weight But by 2001, lative Testimony (Hillgarth Press, 1981, gain during COVID-19, is further sap- I was 65 pounds 1994), www.effectivepsythotherapy.org, and ping our vitality. Nevertheless, for some of lighter. My life Report On Permanent Weight Loss (aca- us, divorced from the distraction of other had changed. demiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/ 2013 maintaining a people and office life, now is the perfect 2001 after losing 70 pound loss. D8SJ1KV9). She has also been a contribu- moment to turn the wear and tear of this 65 pounds. tor to various international magazines and pandemic into an opportunity to redefine journals including: Psychologie Heute (Ger- THIS BEFORE & AFTER is separated by ten months. Twenty years later I am lighter still. ourselves and find allies. many), Japan Times (Japan), The Psycholo- Photo: Harold Krieger. As a veteran dieter myself, I have reduced gist (U.K.), Human Potential Magazine my own size by more than 70 pounds and (U.K.), Changes (U.K.), Clinical Psychol- have maintained a normal weight success- weight, contributing to a recidivism rate of swer; constant hunger is not sustainable. ogy Forum (U.K.), Psychoanalytic Studies fully since the year 2000. Now I devour almost 100 percent in five years. Of those I have reinforced my motivation to keep (U.K.), and Bottom Line (USA). Russell, new findings as I used to devour whipped who manage to overcome the hurdles of from regaining my lost weight by joining has also founded and facilitated The New cream and pastries. The newest research losing weight, more than 60 percent will with others. See www.permanentweight- York Calorie and Exercise Logging Group confirms that the burden of carrying excess gain it all back within a year, and almost all loss.org for links to free downloads of my which is now international and online. weight is an insidious time bomb that de- the rest will do so within five years. book, Report on Permanent Weight Loss, and Occasionally she hosts a New York City cable monstrably cuts away at our most precious What, then, works? The bottom line is a video talk I gave at Columbia. Following television show called Lifetalk with Roberta endowments: vitality, health, and time. harsh: only a calorie deficit will make you the methods of those who lose weight and Russell which has featured interviews with Researchers continue to discover more lose unwanted fat. Only a calorie and ex- keep it off long-term, rather than signing movers and shakers in controversial areas of and more physiological events that relent- ercise equilibrium will keep you where you on to expensive hypes which lack long- psychology, weight loss, nutrition, medicine, lessly draw your body back to its highest want to be. Starving yourself is not the an- term evidence of success, will help you environment, and population growth. Super Hero IX: California Yankee in Kings County Court Street By Robert Kroll the sound of a sledge against the sheet habit; a hobby; a devious art form and not conceive. rock. the duty of each red-blooded co-op in- I had wandered not only into a strange Like the Connecticut Yank in King Ar- And most often referenced was “The mate. And better the index finger than the new land, but into an imbecile’s time warp thur’s Court, it was not obvious whether Insidious Case of the Falsely Accused Py- middle one however tempting it may be to in which none of the niceties of civil so- I had wandered into a local asylum or into romaniacal Drag Queen Fancier” who, it raise the latter. ciety were applied, at least not within a circus. If it were the former, clearly the was thought, was the culprit who nearly “Who tampered with the steam boiler the confines of the Proprietary lease, the inmates were in charge. If the latter, it snuffed out two rug rats sleeping on the heat setting?” “My money’s on Albert!” House Rules and The Golden Rule. was either the clowns or the lion tamers fifth floor. The effort to clear his name is “Who set their fireplace ablaze and left I falsely presumed I had been hired to who ran things. The five-floor, nine-unit ongoing… it to smoke up the babies’ room?” “It’s clear repair and maintain. I found that I was brownstone battleground was in a per- All these tales of woe-is-me have erupt- it was Alice. I saw a fire log in the hall held to be more of a combination vice de- petual tizzy. The first thought that goes ed on the watch of the mild-mannered near her door.” “Well, I saw smoke seeping tective, snitch, whip cracker and carnival through the mind of the co-oper: “I can Left Coaster who, in early 2019, was put up under Calhoun’s door*” (Names were wrestling referee whose role was less to fix lick you” and they might as not go at it on in charge of this mad house. It was like changed to protect the author from libel and more to thrash. the spot. I did not see that coming. inheriting an unheated, leaking, smoky, suits). Within my first year of my vaunted post, Here is but a slim sample of the stories moldy, antebellum haunted house. [It In Connecticut Yankee…, Mark Twain’s my position was already on the chopping that have arisen in just the first two years should be mentioned, in fairness, that this narrator, a 19th Century character in 6th block. Rumors of my getting the axe were of my servitude as the “Super”: characterization is hyperbole and the listed Century Camelot, described the members rampant. I felt like Special Counsel Robert “The Case of the Homicidal Steam faults are mainly in the eyes, ears, and nos- of the royal household thusly: Mueller on his darkest day. But, somehow, Boiler Tamperers.” es of the inhabitants] “There did not seem to be brains enough like Mueller, I survived and persevered Then, there was the “Matter of the To be grossly generous, the New Yorker in the entire nursery, so to speak, to bait a with only minimal damage to my rep. But, Fraudulently Hidden Financial Records;” views his tenement as his castle. Castles fishhook with; but you didn’t seem to mind also like Mueller, not much to show for my And then the “Case of the Phantom are known for their crude and uncomfort- that, after a little, because you soon saw efforts. Third Floor Mold” able fixtures, or lack of same. What could that brains were not needed in a society Dear Reader, bold West Village denizen Never forgotten was “The Matter of the go wrong with that notion? Well, the oc- like that, and indeed would have marred of the tenement world, please stand by and Dead of Night Clothes Washer Hookup cupant’s purpose in life is to point fingers it, hindered it, spoiled its symmetry—per- stand back…as the interior world of my Installers,” These stealthy and possibly at either his or her fellow lodgers or their haps rendered its existence impossible. “ asylum is revealed in as many installments nocturnal instigators were discovered by Super. Finger pointing is an exercise; a A crisper description of my co-op I can- as you can tolerate in the months to come. 24 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org

The Role of a Community Newspaper in Curing AIDS By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. method. Increasingly, people are starting Library Journal referred to Harvard’s Gay to realize what these first two instances of & Lesbian Review Worldwide as “the jour- cure actually mean: we are on the precipice nal of record for LGBT issues.” Larry of worldwide cure. Kramer called it “our intellectual journal, George Capsis gave me the opportunity for better or for worse.” Last month, The to write for this paper. Walking in the foot- Review ran our report in WestView News steps of activists who once filled the streets as its online feature, see glreview.org/dr- demanding funding for research, I use it to fauci-moves-to-cure-aids/. give voice to Cure. What is the role of a newspaper when it For LGBT Pride month coming up in comes to curing AIDS? That depends on if June, George asked me to help share your the community is the West Village and if voice too: its publisher is George Capsis. Let’s hear from our local AIDS and The West Village has been one of the LGBT service organizations how they world’s most important arenas for the un- and their clients are adjusting during the folding of the AIDS epidemic. Minutes pandemic. Let’s hear from our readers from George’s townhouse, St. Vincent’s too, those living with HIV/AIDS, those Hospital rose as the center for compassion- impacted by it and observers alike. What WESTVIEW NEWS MEETING: Karilyn Prisco, fashion stylist and fashion editor of ate care of people dying from AIDS. lessons have we learned from addressing WestView News, staff writers Robert Heide and John Gilman (in red shirt), joining From God’s Love We Deliver to The either COVID or AIDS for the benefit of the monthly contributors zoom meeting 'in person' at the home of publisher-editor LGBT Center, efforts to address AIDS efforts to address the needs of the other? George Capsis. Photo by Dusty Berke. are woven across the West Village fabric. The New York Times published its first re- Readers of WestView know St. Veronica’s, port of what would later come to be known it’s George’s preferred venue for the classical as AIDS, “Rare cancer seen in 41 homo- music concerts he loves to host for the com- sexuals” on July 3, 1981. Forty years later, munity. But did you know that its second this community newspaper asks, “Where floor balcony houses New York City’s first are we today?” According to Harvard’s Gay A Tale of Two Economies memorial to early victims of AIDS? George & Lesbian Review, our local story is for the By Siggy Raible ing a living. With the loss of a job, many can tell the story of how the nuns in the LGBT world to hear. of these workers, if they even had health church cared for patients forgotten by their “It was the best of times, it was the worst insurance, find they cannot afford the pre- own families. Rockefeller University alumnus and biotech of times…” So begins Charles Dickens’ miums and co-pays. Without an income, When George and I first met we dis- inventor Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., is the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, published in the unemployed must figure out how to cussed how, once unthinkable, one man founder and president of Research Founda- 1859. Set in the last quarter of the eigh- pay for their daily living expenses—food, had been cured of AIDS. Since then, a sec- tion to Cure AIDS. Contact Kambiz at teenth century, a time leading up to the rent, electricity, medication, etc. There is ond person has been cured using the same [email protected]. and our own War of no discretionary “savings;” there is nothing Independence, Dickens paints a morally to save. bankrupt picture of Paris and London. Luckily, for today’s unemployed there I open this essay with his words because are no debtors’ prisons. During Dickens’ some Americans are living through a simi- own lifetime (1812-1870), if you were lar period, depending on where they find penniless and in debt in London before themselves economically situated. 1869, you and your family could end up If you were lucky enough to have money in debtors’ prison. John Dickens, Charles’ invested in the stock market during the father, found himself and some of his pandemic year of 2020, you are living in family members locked up in Marshal- the best of times. Depending on how, and sea debtors’ prison. To pay off his father’s how much of, your money was invested, debts, Dickens was forced to leave school you could have seen a return of twelve per- at age twelve to work ten-hour days cent or more. Most of these income earn- at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse past- ers have well-paying jobs, allowing them ing labels on jars of what, today, we call to work from home while earning salaries shoe polish. While we’ve done away with in relative safety from the virus; with re- debtors’ prisons, we still have not tack- duced discretionary expenses, such as va- led the problem of income inequality. In cations and dining out, they can watch the twenty-first century we have, instead, their savings grow. chosen a feel-good moniker to extol the If, however, you are unlucky enough to efforts made by our front-line workers be considered an essential worker, you are … they can bask in the glory of knowing living in the worst of times. You are expect- they are our heroes. ed to show up at a meager-paying hourly Whether you were living during the wage service job, (mind you, at great risk American and French Revolutions, VALENTINE’S DAY 2021, ST. JOHN’S IN THE VILLAGE, Live Streaming Concert: Ro- to your health and that of your family), to Dickens’ nineteenth century London, mance of the Violin featured in photo L-R: Franz Rembart & Christine Hansen, Claire serve those lucky enough to work from the or are living now in twenty-first century & Alex Drong (Concert Sponsors), Performing Artists, Samuel Gray & Riko Higuma relative comfort of their homes. That is, if New York City, it seems we have not (pianist) and Rector Fr. Graeme Special thanks to Li-Lac Chocolates for sponsor- you have a job at all. come to grips with the vast discrepancy ing the delicious chocolates! For more info about the series: info.musae.me/st- One year into the pandemic there are between the haves and the have-nots. johns Photo: @KeyMediaGroupPR. ten million fewer service workers earn- Will we ever? www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 25 Celebrating the Bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence: Freedom Fighters Who Changed the Course of History

riors of the revolution, even with her status as undergo a conversion to Islam, and were ing tensions between the Greeks and Ot- a woman. Before relaying the awesome and widely considered as slaves to the empire. tomans, Bouboulina was set up to follow tragic story of Bouboulina, I will first explain Additionally, Ottoman rule, resented by a very nontraditional path for a woman of some of the history of Greece’s subjugation the Greeks, was peppered with instances her time. Yet, she has become one of the to the and how the bloody of uprisings. There are several well-known most renowned heroines and patriots of war for freedom began. revolutionary groups that came to fruition the Greek Revolution. The Ottoman Empire had an immense during Ottoman occupation. Famous in Bouboulina was married twice in her life, imperial presence in the Middle East and particular were the , an Eastern and due to those marriages she was able to the Mediterranean for hundreds of years. It Orthodox community located in Epirus, amass a large fortune. Both of her husbands was known that they had the largest army, Greece. This group of people was quite had been successful merchant captains, and not only in the Middle East but in Europe instrumental in the fight leading up to the she, too, had a passion for the sea. After the as well, for a significant amount of time. In actual War of Independence. Records of the death of her second husband, Bouboulina our modern age, when we think of power- rebellious activity of the Souliotes exist from used her fortune to create a merchant em- ful far-reaching empires, we may think of 1685. The Souliotes consistently fought the pire, becoming a partner in the operations Great Britain, France, or Spain. However, rule of a particular Ottoman lord, named Ali of several trading vessels and building her that list excludes the Ottoman Empire, Pasha, who was intent on destroying them. own on ship, named Agamemnon. It is said whose reign was almost unstoppable nearly For decades, the Souliotes fought valiantly that soon after that she joined the Filiki four centuries before the European pow- against the Ottomans. Often, when faced Eteria, a secret society trying to gain Greek ers became relevant on a large-scale. The with defeat or death, the Souliotes would independence from the Ottoman Empire. Ottomans were consistently trying to ex- not hesitate to choose the latter. One of the grew to have over 2,000 mem- tend their boundaries, as empires do, and most infamous instances of this is known as bers across Greece, and became one of the looked to the Mediterranean as a means of the Dance of Zalongo—the mass suicide forefront organizing forces of the War for expansion. The Ottomans’ goal was to con- of women and children that occurred after Independence. Bouboulina was an active trol as much territory as they could—up to the invasion by Ottoman troops in Zalongo, member of the society, and her large trading the gates of Vienna if that was possible to Epirus in 1803. About 60 women were fleet provided enough cover for the Greeks achieve. Sandwiched between the Venetians trapped in their village and, instead of suc- to make warships that could be disguised as and the Ottomans, the Greeks were forced cumbing to the Ottomans—which would merchant vessels. She also recruited many to experience many battles on their own have resulted in slavery, rape, and forced fighters from her home of Spetses and tire- land due to the two large powers on either conversion—they turned toward a high cliff, lessly worked to smuggle in supplies and side constantly vying for more ground. In dancing and singing together, and jumped weapons for the war. She joined the rebel- May of 1453, under Mehmed the II, the to their deaths. Ultimately, the Souliotes lion in 1821, famously raising a Greek flag Ottomans broke Constantinople’s defenses. were forced to agree to an armistice and, of her own design high on the mast of the After 55 days of siege, the Byzantine Em- abandoned their homeland, exiled to the Io- Agamemnon. She was the leader of the first pire was finally brought to an end with the nian Islands. However, with the outbreak of naval force to declare that Greece should collapse of Constantinople, previously the the Greek War of Independence, the Sou- have its independence, which was a tre- Christian bulwark for Muslim invasion, al- liotes were among the first people to take up mendous achievement. She led her fleet to THE GREEK FREEDOM FIGHTERS keep the lowing for the uninterrupted expansion of arms against the Ottomans. the town of Nafplio, which was one of the fire of freedom alive in our hearts. Across the Ottoman Empire to Eastern Europe. The Orlov Revolt was another famous major strongholds in Greece, and blockaded America and here in New York we carry on The ensuing bloodshed and rampaging uprising that took place before the Greek the harbor there; the blockade held out for the fight for freedom to this day. During the subsequent to the sacking of the city was War of Independence. Instead of being an over a year and a half. Bouboulina remained American Revolution, George Washington telling for the reign of the Ottomans in entirely Greek-driven rebellion, the Orlov a patriotic and “lion-hearted” asset to the led the colonial forces to victory over the Greece. Although the Ottomans did intro- Revolt had tremendous Russian support. At revolution until her untimely death in 1825, British and became a national hero. And duce new technologies, military prowess, the time, Russia was threatened by the status when she was murdered in her home by an last summer, New Yorkers joined in the medicine, and architecture to their annexed and expansiveness of the Ottoman Empire, unnamed assassin. Black Lives Matter protests that swept the territories, their sovereignty was marred and sought to help Greece gain their free- On the 200th anniversary of Greek Inde- nation, with frequent rallies in Washington with genocides, slavery, and corruption. dom in order to limit Ottoman power over pendence Day, it is important for everyone Square Park and marches in the streets of the Village. Photo by Karen Rempel. The Ottomans had become immensely the region. This led to the “,” to remember how this revolution contribut- and obscenely powerful, and they did not which envisioned the complete separation ed to the modern concept of freedom. I am hesitate to let everyone in their path know. of the Ottoman Empire from the Habsburg proud to be Greek in this special year, and By Anastasia Kaliabakos For hundreds of years, Hellenism sur- Empire via the restoration of the Eastern also to be a descendant of the Souliotes, who vived in the dark. Many Greeks fled to the Roman Empire, whose center would be in fought so valiantly for their country even Ever since I was a young girl, Greek Inde- mountains to escape the Ottomans, and a liberated Constantinople. Subsequently, before the war began. We must not forget pendence Day—March 25th—has been very because the higher altitudes were more the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) be- those who lost their lives in the fight—from important to me. Not only is it my Pappou’s difficult to reach they were able to live out gan. Alexey Orlov was the commander of the women of Zalongo to the fierce warrior birthday and my YiaYia’s name day, but it also their lives relatively unscathed. However, the Imperial Russian Navy at the time, and Bouboulina. May their example always keep marks the beginning of the near decade-long most Greeks were not as lucky. The Ot- played a huge part in the Orlov Revolt. His the fire of freedom alive in our hearts. battle for Greek liberation from the Ottoman tomans enforced excessive taxes upon the arrival in Greece inspired many cities to Empire. Greek history has been marked with Greeks—not only monetarily, but through fight back against Ottoman Rule. Howev- Anastasia Kaliabakos is a graduate of the strong warriors and fighters for millennia, but a blood tax. This tax, or child levy, known er, the revolt was widely unsuccessful, and Brearley School and is currently a Presi- the Greek War of Independence produced in Turkish as “devshirme,” was the Otto- the Ottomans took many lives and prison- dential Scholar at the College of the Holy some of the most noble and heroic men and man practice of forcibly recruiting male ers. Among the prisoners was Stavrianos Cross majoring in classics. She is a features women, like Nikitas “Turk-Eater” Stama- children, aged eight to twenty, from Greek Pinotsis, father of Laskarina “Bouboulina” editor for Holy Cross’s newspaper, The Spire, telopoulos, Odysseas Androutsos, and Las- or Balkan Christian families to become Pinotsis. Bouboulina was born in prison to associate editor of the Parnassus Classical karina “Bouboulina” Pinotsis. Bouboulina soldiers. The children would be relocated Pinotsis and his wife Skevo. After Stavria- Journal, author of Milkshake: A Very Special was a woman I have looked up to since I first to Constantinople in order to be trained in nos’s death in prison, Bouboulina and Skevo Pony, and recipient of the 2019 NYC Scho- heard her story in elementary school, and is a division of the military that was loyal to moved to Spetses. lastic Writing Award. She has contributed to still known today as one of the fiercest war- the sultan. Often, the young soldiers would With the legacy of her father and the ris- WestView News since 2018. 26 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org

to film their departure, and people who Karen’s had stopped to watch the spectacle said, “That’s so New York! I love it!” I loved it too. I was home in NYC, part of the end- Quirky Style less parade of the city. This issue marks the second anniversa- By Karen Rempel ry of Karen’s Quirky Style. Thanks to all my readers for two glorious years chroni- An early casualty of the pandemic, Gato cling clothes and the city! at 324 Lafayette Street closed in March 2020. Owner Bobby Flay said, “As of For more fun Philip Maier photos, a video March 16th, I am closing my restaurant of Andrew and Zivile starting married life Gato because of the obvious and unprec- in the vintage NYC yellow cab, and an edented circumstances threatening our archival photo of me and my sister with world. I wish everyone well.” As busi- ’80s big hair, see karensquirkystyle.com. nesses boarded their windows, artist Sino began painting murals of his mythical Frank Ape art concept around the city, STYLE NOTES from the West Village to Brooklyn. The mural at Gato features five of my boy- VINTAGE ’80S JULIE DUROCHÉ FOR friends using a firehose to water a flower, AFTER FIVE FLINTSTONES-PATTERNED with the banner “Better Together.” BLOUSE WITH HUGE SHOULDERS AND As soon as I saw the mural I knew PEPLUM FLARE. Krystyna’s Place. 12 it would be perfect with this amazing Cornelia Street (now closed). ’80s Flintstones-patterned blouse. I first WEST VILLAGE MODEL KAREN REMPEL clowns with her new boyfriend at Gato on slipped into the top for a lark during a lull Lafayette Street. Artwork by Frank Ape, aka Sines. Photo by Philip Maier. KIMORA LEE SIMMONS PURPLE LACE at Krystyna’s Place on Cornelia Street. DRESS WITH KETCHUP RED LINING. I worked in Krystyna’s vintage store and Country photographer what was hap- vid—a writer and farmer from Kentucky Housing Works. 143 West 17th Street. for three months in 2017, the first sum- pening, and he said ’s son who was writing his memoirs at Doma mer after I moved to NYC. One muggy Andrew was getting married. I watched Café—and asked him if he’d stop by the JIMMY CHOO ZEBRA STRIPE AND RED July afternoon on my way to the store I the grand entrances for a while. The church about an hour later and let me PATENT LEATHER PEEP-TOE PLATFORM noticed a quartet of stunning, willowy bridesmaids tumbled out of a giant Mer- know when the guests were coming out. SANDALS. Jimmy Choo sample sale, 123 black-gowned violinists playing in front cedes-Benz limousine, wearing a variety David called me just as I was trying on West 18th Street, invitation only. of St. Joseph’s Church on Sixth Avenue. of dresses in an odd shade of ketchup red. this outrageous vintage top, so I hurried- A gaggle of photographers snapped the Then the bride (Zivile Rezgyte) arrived, ly locked up and ran over to the church, LUCITE HOOP EARRINGS FILLED WITH scene as guests in fancy clothes pulled with her father on her arm and her sister, wondering what the hell I was doing. MULTI-COLORED SPARKLE FLAKES. Gift up in various black town cars and yel- the maid of honor, hurrying behind carry- The couple had finished their photo ses- shop at the Met. 1000 Fifth Avenue. low taxis and scurried up the steps. One ing the bunched up train. sion on the church steps just before I or two hairdos were ruined by the rain, I had to get to the store to open up, arrived, and were pulling away from the MULTI-COLORED SQUARE BEAD COIL and umbrellas marred the elegance of the so I continued on my way, but I called curb in a vintage yellow taxi. Garbed in BRACELET. Design store at MOMA. 44 women’s dress lines. I asked the Town a regular customer from the store, Da- this outlandish getup, I ran after them West 53rd Street. Catch and Release—Chapter Three By Karen Rempel the church. Suddenly our lips clamped to- ture of himself. His feet looked very large though I still keep striving for that unicorn gether like magnets locking home. Zowie! in the photo, and he was scorching hot triple-header. George must have watched Marilyn Monroe All the blood drained from my brain and I in a burnt sienna leather jacket and blue After a couple days of pleasurable an- in How to Marry a Millionaire a few too many almost fell over. All too soon, he was walk- jeans at a sidewalk café, possibly in Paris. ticipation and the purchase of new lingerie, times. He always wants to talk about why I’m ing down the block. Blood flow resumed I showed the picture to my best friends, the afternoon of our date arrived. I took still single and what type of man would be and my mind was whirling. Sally and Kim, and we oohed over his good the 1 train to Columbus Circle and saw the suitable for me. “You’re beautiful and smart. Wow! More kissing, please! London! looks, and that hair! Did they warn me horses and carriages lined up by Central You should marry a millionaire.” I always say, An architect! Smart and creative! Almost about traveling to a foreign country with a Park. Romantic! I felt the buzzing excite- “I’m waiting for you to ask me.” The last time, a Rolling Stone! This was the fairytale that stranger? No, they did not. Everyone loves ment of the city as I crossed the round- I changed it up and said, “I might be willing. I had secretly been wishing for. This would a fairytale. about to the Time Warner Center. It depends what I would have to do.” And never have happened in Vancouver. But in In his next text Keith invited me to Keith was waiting at the bar and the rosy evidently he knows someone named Steve New York any magical thing is possible. I drinks on the weekend. I played it cool. I sunset sky was glowing through the south- who he thinks is perfect for me—good look- floated up the four flights to my garret. texted that I already had plans to see the west windows framed by golden wood pan- ing, single, and rich! Steve, if you’re reading Prudence, my internal voice of conscience Adès opera Exterminating Angel at the eling. The chandeliers sparkled, the jazz this, and don’t mind someone with abnor- and censure, was faint in the distance, “It’s Met on Friday and I was going to see Eric music was soft, the candles were making mally long arms, my number is easy to find. too good to be true.” Prudence and I have Reed at Smoke on Saturday. He texted, everyone look gorgeous, and I felt fantastic And now, back to our story… been down a few rocky romantic paths be- “OK, let’s meet at the Ascent Lounge at in my little red suede dress. He stood and My left arm tingled as Keith walked fore. But I ignored her and focused on the TWC on Sunday afternoon. Can’t wait to kissed me. “Darling, you look wonderful!” me up Fifth Avenue to West 10th Street. burning sensation in my lips, and replayed see you.” “Me too.” I didn’t tell him that “You as well.” No word of a lie—he wore I didn’t notice the November chill or the the feeling of Keith’s body pressed to mine. I planned a double-header, with Keith as a pale blue shirt open at the neck, black late-night dog walkers. Invisible fingers “What harm can there be in taking a trip the warm-up act before the main event jeans, and yes, very large shoes. I melted were pulling me to close the two-inch gap with a man I barely know?” I asked myself. with Lew—dinner at Jean-Georges and onto the barstool next to him. between us. We turned the corner and “It’s going to be great!” then Ravi Coltrane at the Vanguard. Two For the rest of this month’s chapter of Catch stopped in front of the brownstone next to The next day Keith texted me a pic- men in one day is my favorite kind of day, and Release, go to westviewnews.org. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 27 Style on the Street: Village COATure

Follow us on Instagram @styleonthestreet_WestViewNews Submit your favorite neighborhood fashion looks for a chance to be featured. Photos by Dusty Berke and Karilyn Prisco. Local Finds. Local Love. Support some of our favorite West Village shops and designers. Curated by Karilyn Prisco

CORNER BISTRO 331 West 4th St LA BONBONNIERE GREENWICH LETTERPRESS (212) 242-9502 28 8th Ave 15 Christopher St “Doggy Tee” (212) 741-9266 (212) 989-7464 cornerbistrony.com “Beanie Hat” “Canvas Tote” neighborhood-spot.com greenwichletterpress.com IG: labonbonnierenyc

CASA MAGAZINES 22 8th Ave MURRAY’S CHEESE (212) 645-1197 254 Bleecker St “Hoodie” (212) 243-3289 OSCAR’S PLACE neighborhood-spot.com “BIG Cheese T-Shirt” 466 Hudson St IG: casamagazinesnyc ’ murrayscheese.com (212) 741-6479 159 West 10th St “Coffee Mug” (212) 243-1928 oscarsplaceny.com “Face Mask” juliusbarny.com 28 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org

Maggie B’s Quick Clicks Firefighters

IN FEBRUARY'S BLEAK BLACK AND WHITE WORLD

AN 8-ALARM FIRE in Philadelphia. Photo credit: Dean Bell.

By Jeff Hodges epithets. Firemen say the best time for fires is when the welfare checks come in—folks When Smoky Mike and I started shoot- start partying and get careless with ciga- ing fires, we had to sleep in one of the rettes and candles. And also, bitter cold— fire trucks or get left behind. We’d snooze when open ovens become fireplaces. until all hell broke loose and then roar off Eventually, we left New York and fol- into a cacophonous landscape of fire and lowed fires to Philadelphia and Detroit. smoke—if we were lucky. After all, it was We shot big fires and little fires, fires set in reality television and we needed action. anger and revenge, fires where we stepped The producers started by putting us into over charred bodies, fires where babies and a firehouse in Queens—one of the busiest pets were carried down ladders by burly in the city—but the problem was that 99 men who turned around and went right percent of the calls were false alarms. That back up into the flames. We shot a house was our introduction to the strange paradox fire in Philly where a woman stood weep- of firefighting: If your job is to fight/shoot ing over the loss of a thousand dollars she’d fires, don’t you want a lot of fires to happen? won in the numbers game—until a fireman And if fires destroy property and kill people, walked out of the smoke with a coffee can does that make you a bad person? in his hands. After that Sisyphean experience, we The flames had already been extin- moved up to where we got some guished in the worst fire we experienced. good fires. Once, we ended up on the roof We had just arrived in Detroit—“a good of a blazing tenement where a bunch of fire town”—and were hustled to a shot- firefighters were trying to cut a hole big gun shack in a god-forsaken neighborhood enough to release the flames from below— where five children had died the day before a common technique for controlling a fire. in a fire caused by their father, who had They seemed to be having a tough time of been thawing frozen pipes with rolled up .... A WELCOME SPLASH OF COLOR it, and Smoky Mike observed that the roof newspapers. He’d gotten word that there was getting hot and we had little fires start- were some copper pipes to be stolen and ing up all around us. This irked one of the had hurried off, leaving a newsprint torch firemen, who asked us if we were scared. still smoldering under the house. The chil- We told him we were having too much fun dren couldn’t get out and died from smoke to be scared, and right then a pillar of flame inhalation. We walked through the house shot heavenward through the hole with a with a fire marshal who said that the old- biblical fury that made believers of us all. est girl had gone from window to window Smoky Mike got his name up there in trying to pry the metal bars off with a the Bronx. We were at a fire that started hammer and that they had all been found in a bodega and moved up through the huddled together by the front door. As we building. We were shooting from the street stood in silence, feeling the ghosts of those when the firemen began breaking windows lost souls billowing around us, the father and tossing out furniture. In the baptism crept in and began rummaging through of burning debris that rained down on us I the rooms and gathering up his belongings. dubbed my partner “Smoky Mike”—a so- When we asked him if he had anything to briquet that followed him into many other say to the camera, he asked us what the hell walks of life. was he supposed to say after he’d killed his People in poor neighborhoods don’t like whole family? All photos by Maggie Berkvist. firemen. They throw stuff down and yell Nobody had an answer to that question. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 29 Joan’s Shanghai By Joan Klyhn

Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s and ’40s of the 20th centu- ry. I am primarily writing it for myself, extend- ing it to my friends, and now to the many people who have shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. Sunday Dinnner Sundays were almost the only time my fa- ther, mother and I dined together in the dining room. This was a beautifully fur- JOAN'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY PARTY: Joan (center) eating a banana. At her left, aunty and daughter wearing a big bow. Tons of cakes in the middle. Photo courtesy of Joan Klyhn. nished room, with an expandable dining table that could hold twelve, a buffet, its and so on my birthday these rules were laid out for tea, offered with milk or lemon, and early age to love to eat, to love whatever drawers lined in felt to protect the silver down by my mother, and I believed her. bowls of rectangular white sugar cubes. My was set in front of me. I would watch Hong and the English china, and tablecloths and Unlimited sweets of all kinds were only mother had had the foresight to hoard chop, slice, sauté, steam and then serve me, napkins in the palest green damask. Ev- permitted on my birthday, with disastrous about ten cases of sugar cubes before the with a flourish. I never handled food till I erything was made to my mother’s exact- results. war. Housewives were more prescient than got married at 21. But as soon as I did, I ing orders. Even the floor was perfection, a So the tongue’s skin is peeled off and their husbands. They sensed bad times seemed to know what to do. In my mind’s dark reddish mirror surface, renewed every discarded, and Dad picks up another set of approaching, and throughout 1938, they eye, I saw and later could identify the items year or so. All the furniture would be re- tools to remove the little bones in the back. mobbed the shops daily, stockpiling cases in the cluttered shelves of condiments, in- moved, the floor sanded, and several layers He’ll murmur “cooked just right” or “excel- of tinned meat and boxes of staples. cluding the big jar of Ve-tsin. Hong put a of Ningpo varnish applied over a two week lent meat!” The rest of the time, we usually ate Chi- pinch of this white powder in every dish. period. This varnish contained animal My mother grumbles “Hong couldn’t nese style at home, using bowls and chop- Later I found it this was monosodium glu- blood, so it gave off a foul odor until it was explain the cost of it; we went back and sticks. Often I ate alone at the huge din- tamate. This shock of recognition was mir- fully dried. In my memory, the whole room forth till I had to give up! Hans, you have ner table, or in the kitchen. I learned at an rored in another later discovery. was a burnished perfection; a moment in to speak to him about it. He just argues, time when everything matched or blended. with that damned cleaver in his hand. He Elaborate settings of china and silver and won’t even let me into the kitchen!” She crystal seemed to wait for important din- hasn’t stopped, but I’ve stopped listen- ner parties, or even for our family Sunday ing. I’m rolling my tongue around in my dinners. Who could know that one day, all mouth, trying to figure out the structure of this tasteful luxury would be swept away? it, comparing it to the tongue on the table. I remember my father, unusually raising My father ignores my mother. We smile his voice, even shouting, over my mother’s at each other. It’s a secret of us against my hysterics: “Di, let the servants take what- mother. Eventually she subsides. My fa- ever they want! Let it go! “ Mao’s army was ther finishes slicing the tongue from the swarming over the City; seats on planes chewy tip back to the tender, meaty part to Hongkong were selling at inflated pric- I hope to get some of. We pass our plates, es with only hand baggage allowed. My and my mother’s voice rises again. I want mother could not grasp that every me- to beg her to stop. I want her to disappear. ticulous detail of her lifestyle was about to I want to be alone with my Dad. He just vanish. She stared at the small suitcases my continues serving as if he doesn’t hear her. father had dragged out: one for her and one They play their usual parts and I dread the for me. He was staying behind. moment he will get up, leave the table, and At Sunday lunch, my father stands over be gone for the day. That too happens, as if the large, steaming tongue on its platter. on schedule. He holds his special carving knife and We could be having corned beef and pronged fork. He peels off the skin, so cabbage, or leg of mutton, patiently sliced elegantly. He is elegant in everything he and served by my father. There might be does. We are so close the few times we are a salad, with a slight aftertaste of perman- together. I might sit on the edge of his big ganate. This was added to water in which leather armchair, and he’ll hold out his arm raw greens were soaked. I don’t understand and let me scratch a mosquito bite. I adore why we always had Western style Sunday him, and he smiles back at me. He adores lunches. Western snacks were also served me, too. He’ll hug me tightly on his way when my mother held her bridge and in and on his way out. He will often hand mahjong parties. Delicate cucumber sand- me a wad of banknotes, which I kept in a wiches on buttered white bread trimmed Tip Top toffee tin. I had no use for money of their crusts and cut into triangles were other than a few coppers. I was strictly for- stacked attractively on china serving plates. bidden to eat street food, such as “cholera Dainty cakes were provided by Kiessling melons,” “mangoes where snakes shoot and Badar, the German pastry shop and their venom,” “chopped up rats and mice,” café. The Wedgewood service was brought 30 WestView News March 2021 www.westviewnews.org Misfolded Proteins Ilona 101: A Course and Disease in Philosophy of Life Abstracted from “A Scientist’s View of and named for the sheep’s behavior in lean- Almost Everything” by Mark M. Green ing against a fence for example for support ON ACCCEPTANCE: “I’m losing my and scraping off their wool coat. And then eyesight now. I loved dancing. I had won- There was an article in Science dated Au- there is kuru, which means trembling, a derful times in my little Village apartment. gust 5, 2005 entitled, “Preventing Al- degenerative brain disease that is known to But I gave it up. It’s all part of life.” zheimer’s: A Lifelong Commitment.” Sci- be transmitted by ritual cannibalism seen ON PARENTING: “We always hear ence is a highly regarded magazine read by among the people of New Guinea. the words ‘dysfunctional family.’ Our par- almost all scientists and from every disci- Conformation is a term used in the mo- ents knew nothing about psychoanalysis. pline of science. lecular sciences to describe the shape taken They gave us a roof, clothes, and food. The article begins by talking about re- by a molecule. Proteins consist of very long They did their best. What more do you search on how intellectual activities and molecules, like a long chain but on a still want, baby?” education seem to be connected to a de- unimaginably small—molecular dimen- ON SHARING: “So many people are crease in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. One sion. Imagine the kinds of metal chains competitive, jealous. Why? If I have some- prominent study was carried out on a group we are all used to dealing with. Throw the thing to offer, why not share it? Am I going of Catholic priests, nuns, and brothers who chain to the ground over and over and each to take it to my grave?” were studied while still alive and had agreed time the chain will take a different shape ON FORGIVENESS: “The French to donate their brains when they died. A bat- or in molecular words a different confor- have a wonderful saying: ‘A comprendre tery of tests revealed that higher levels of ed- mation. There is nothing particular in the tout, c’est a pardoner tout.’ To understand ucation better maintained cognitive ability in chain we buy in a hardware store to favor is to forgive.” ILONA ROYCE SMITHKIN, above, phi- the participants of the study. And analysis of taking one shape or another. But protein ON ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION: losophizing in Provincetown. Photo by Mia the brains of these people after death showed “My parents registered me for a rather chains are different. A protein chain does Berman. that more highly educated participants need- not take a random shape when it is let way-out school. At the annual fundrais- ed to develop five times as many plaques in loose from the body’s machinery that made ing ball, Marlene Dietrich appeared with By Mia Berman their brains (plaques are the signature feature it. Each protein has a particular shape that nothing but a fishnet and a bouquet of vio- of Alzheimer’s) before showing evidence of it folds into, although there are small dis- There’s Sophia. Liza. Rihanna. Gaga. And lets on her crotch. My parents had no idea; the disease while they were alive. ordered regions within that shape, which then there’s Ilona. they would never have sent me.” Other studies show that behavior in have different important functions. And I call her the Queen of Gusto. Turning ON PROBLEM SOLVING: “When one’s life can affect the onset of the dis- this shape, this conformation, is the only 101 on March 27th, Ilona Royce Smith- you have a problem, just ask yourself, ease: leisure that requires mental activ- one that allows that particular protein to kin has portrayed Marlene Dietrich, drawn ‘Why?’ Sometimes you have an amazing ity such as reading, puzzles, cards, board do its intended job. As long as the protein Tennessee Williams’ eye, painted Ayn solution.” games, crafts, appear to protect against chain maintains that shape all is well. Rand, sketched countesses in Berlin, and ON LOVE: “What good is power? You Alzheimer’s. But leisure activity that is not But in conformational diseases for rea- designed hats (“At 12 years old I had a can only wear one outfit, drive one car. You intellectually demanding such as watching sons that are not well understood certain whole clientele,” she explained). An avid can’t dance at three weddings. If some peo- television excessively increased the likeli- proteins lose their intended shape and this fan of WestView News (“I read it cover to ple love you, it’s a bonus.” hood of developing Alzheimer’s. shape change causes them to glom together cover”), she’s taken gefilte fish taste tests, ON AMBITION: “Everybody wants to It also seems that physical activity may and to form what are called plaques, which taught painting in Kentucky, and com- be perfect. Why? It reminds me of a scene protect against Alzheimer’s disease. Two are deposits that sit in our brains and block posed a hilarious rendition of Que Sera in the Marilyn Monroe movie Some Like it prominent studies, one involving 6000 necessary biological functions. And even Sera involving long eyelashes. Hot. Jack Lemmon confesses ‘But I’m re- women over the age of 65 and one follow- worse is that when one of these proteins Ilona’s pizzazz indelibly marked my child- ally not a woman—I’m a man,’ to which ing over 18,000 women aged from 70 to changes into this glom-loving form it acts hood summers in Provincetown and my his suitor Joe E. Lewis replies, ‘Nobody’s 81, showed that women who got the most like a pied piper and causes other normal adulthood treks around the West Village, perfect.’” exercise, and that includes walking, showed proteins to follow its example. And so, her home for over six decades. “In my West ON KINDNESS: “I was raised so strict- less cognitive decline over the years. In par- slowly, over long periods of time, many of flat, I could sit in the bathtub ly in Nazi Germany. There was never a ticular, participants in the study with four the proteins carrying out essential tasks are and see the street,” said Ilona. In her water- day we weren’t afraid for our lives. When or more physical activities including gar- lost and this loss occurs faster and faster as front apartment bursting with color, vintage I came to America I got crazy seeing my dening, jogging or biking had about half more and more protein chains join in. scarves, polka dots, and paintbrushes, Ilona freedom. I’d walk up to strangers and say, the risk of dementia as people who engaged Recently research carried out at the Uni- sat down to share her philosophies of life. I ‘You look so nice, I’d like to get to know in one or no special physical activity. But versity of Rochester has uncovered a system call them “rubies of wisdom.” you.’ I could only afford broken daisies there is a catch. People who are genetically in the brain, termed glymphatic, that acts ON GREENWICH VILLAGE: “It from a florist. When I saw a subway con- disposed to Alzheimer’s, who carry a gene to clear out the debris associated with the was homey, more intimate. We talked to ductor with a sad face, I’d give him the dai- known to be associated with the disease, are formation of these badly folded proteins, strangers. It was confidence-inspiring. We sies. Some thought I was a prostitute, but I not much helped by these activities. so-called misfolded proteins. Importantly, walked everywhere. I found little treasures: was just trying to make people happy. Can’t Use your brain and exercise your body! the glymphatic system has been discovered Rocco’s bakery, Waverly Inn, Beatrice Inn, somebody be nice?” Not bad advice in general and probably to most likely carry out its function during Bon Soir, Grand Ticino on MacDougal… ON FASHION: “I need very little, but what most of us would have heard from parts of our deepest sleep, non-rapid eye sawdust on the floor. It was like discovering I’d love a beautiful corset. To lift my legs, our ancestors long before epidemiologi- movement sleep, NREM, that sleep when the world.” not my bosom! cal studies looked into this problem of the we don’t dream for example. Sleep that is ON SIMPLICITY: “Baby carriages are ON EGO (Pythagoras, take note): “I aged, a problem associated with the fact interrupted blocks our entry into NREM filled with circus toys. A child doesn’t have don’t have the need to shine…or to prove that we tend to live a lot longer than those sleep. The research suggests however that ex- a moment to hear the raindrops.” anything.” who came before us. ercise increases the activity of the glymphatic ON AGING: “As I grow older, I realize ON SOLITUDE: “I cherish my friends Alzheimer’s disease belongs to a class system, therefore perhaps compensating to nothing is so serious as people take it.” but my time alone is sacred—to walk, to known as conformational diseases such as some extent for this loss of the function of ON REMEMBERING THE PAST: think, to be.” Parkinson’s disease. Others found in ani- NREM sleep, consistent with one of the be- “People want to research their ancestry. I ON JOY: Guru Ilona prefers the magical mals are bovine spongiform encephalopa- havioral activities helping to avoid dementia. don’t want to know about my family...was to the mundane. “Don’t waste time on floor thy, that is, mad cow disease, named for the Perhaps Shakespeare had it right about there a prince or princess. What good is dust because you’ll miss the joy dust.” cow’s behavior. Another important confor- sleep: “Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s sec- it? I’m here. I am now.” Proust, eat your Some of us bake. Others practice yoga. mational disease is scrapie, afflicting sheep ond course.” heart out. I’ll take a course in philosophy: Ilona 101. www.westviewnews.org March 2021 WestView News 31 A Dynamic Theatrical Family Affair From Florida to the Village and the Jersey Shore By Robert Heide the Caffe of Jeff Weiss’ play A Funny Walk Often now in these difficult times of CO- Home. A dynamic performer, Jeff cast him- VID virus, living through a new Great self in his own play as a severely disturbed worldwide Depression with over a half man just let out of a mental institution. million American deaths and over sixteen Returning home to his family he proceeds million out of work with many staying in- to act out attacking his father, raping his doors to keep safe and also trying to main- mother, and also raping his younger broth- tain good health and some measure of san- er who was played by the handsome very ity, we know it is easy to fall into a real state young blonde George Harris III. of hyper-depression, sometimes becoming It seemed the Harris family of performers immobilized and hopeless. Ah, hah—tele- was ubiquitous. Jayne Anne appeared at the vision comes to the rescue and we watch Judson Church in Al Carmines Sing Ho For huge audiences crowded together in close a Bear, a musical interpretation of Winnie contact in great theaters watching full or- the Pooh that also featured a young blonde chestral performances—realizing of course, actor named John Gilman who played the these entertainments happened prior to the role of Tigger. Walter Michael Harris be- onset of the pandemic just about a year ago. came the youngest actor in the original cast Ah, yes, there is some relief in what went of the Broadway phenomenon—the Tom before in those better days of yore. O’Horgan directed production of Ragni and In these difficult times I often think Rado’s rock musical Hair. The three sisters, THE GLAMOROUS HARRIS SISTERS: (left to right) Mary Lou, Eloise and Jayne Anne. Photo by about my old friends, particularly Ann Mary Lou, Eloise and Jayne Anne joined up Michael Ian. Harris, her husband George, both gone as a singing cabaret trio, often as an hom- many years now, and their three daughters with Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Caffe Cino coffeehouse theater in Lanford age to the Andrews Sisters, and also as The and three sons and the wonderful dinners Rogers. What fun we had. Wilson’s poetic play This Is The Rill Speaking Screaming Violets (with their brother Hi- we frequently attended at the unusually Back in 1948 George Harris II, follow- which had originally been produced at La biscus) performing all over the city, includ- laid out and sprawling loft-like apartment ing his Army Air Corps service, married Mama. She also worked as a writer, song- ing the Rainbow Room. It was George III, on Greenwich Street that their son George his sweetheart Ann Marie McCanless in writer and actor in productions at Theater who relocated to San Francisco, dropped III had left them when he tragically died Bronxville where they grew up. After hav- for the New City and at the Judson Poets LSD and changed his name to Hibiscus. of AIDS in 1982. Each time the extended ing four children they realized they needed Theater. In 1970 Ann appeared in the film He created a mind blowing very far out all family assembled for one of these dinners more space and decided to move to Flori- The Honeymoon Killers which starred Shirley singing, all dancing group called the Cock- there were always surprising and delightful da where they ended up with an even half Stoler and Tony LoBianco. Also in the cast ettes—they did midnight ‘frolics’ at the Pal- ‘mystery guests’ like Ron Tavel, the author dozen. They are George III aka Hibiscus, of this cult classic were Marilyn Cris and ace Theater in North Beach where, outra- of over 40 off Broadway plays and the pro- Walter Michael, Frederic Joseph, Jayne Doris Roberts. Ann gave a much-heralded geously costumed, they sang and danced to lific ‘author’ of Andy Warhol’s screenplays, Anne, Eloise Alice, and Mary Lucile aka performance as ‘the victim that got away.’ the music of the 1920s and 1930s in com- his producer brother Harvey or the actress Mary Lou. The parents enrolled them all In 1965 my play The Bed was produced plete gender-bending abandon. Lise Beth Talbot who had starred in her in the Clearwater Playhouse Junior Work- at the Caffe Cino. Robert Dahdah, the di- At one point John and I suggested to husband Storey Talbot’s play Sometime shop, which provided them with very good rector, and I cast blonde Roy Rogers looka- Ann, who had by then moved upstate to Jam Today off Broadway before he left her basic acting and performance skills. They like Jim Jennings, and a brunette method George Sr.’s ancestral home in Margaret- flat and went off to become a nude guru put on original productions with the theater actor Walter McGinn in the two roles. In ville, that she might enjoy a visit to the out west. My partner John Gilman and I group they founded called the El Dorado a final rehearsal McGinn told Dahdah that Jersey shore at a little hotel we stayed in, became, in a sense, ex-officio members of Players, that they performed in their garage he couldn’t get out of the bed because he The Amherst, located in a small Victorian the family and we both felt honored. Af- (like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in didn’t feel the motivation. Dahdah patient- Methodist camp town called Ocean Grove terwards everyone would withdraw from Strike Up the Band) and in 1963 they made ly explained that he had to get out of the right on the ocean just south of Asbury a great meal—pasta, a chicken, maybe a a movie—The Unsinkable Titanic. George bed because the author wrote in the script Park. Before we knew it Ann showed up meatloaf or roast beef, and a big salad— Sr. finally became restless in Florida with that the character got out of the bed. Mc- not only for Memorial Day weekend, but to watch classic Hollywood VHS movies all the comfort, sunshine and jumping into Ginn demurred and after many arguments, also for the Labor Day holidays, with a full in the living room on the big television the ocean. He headed up to New York City, was summarily dismissed. Ann Harris, complement of family—it was always her screen. We called these gatherings ‘Movie scouted out a way for the family to join him whom I had met and admired in several ‘treat.’ We joined them all the time, meet- Nite’ and looked forward to the stimulat- and embarked on a career in the theater. plays, somehow heard we were in trouble ing up on the beach for ocean ‘frolics.’ The ing and entertaining evenings with glee. In Early on he established an enduring bond and suggested an attractive, boyish and tal- wonderful times at the Jersey shore became the mid-1980’s our book, Starstruck—The with off-off-Broadway theater impresario ented actor she knew from Florida named an honored Harris family tradition that Wonderful World of Movie Memorabilia was Ellen Stewart of La Mama ETC. Ellen was Larry Burns. Burns was happy to do as the was repeated twice a year, every year until published by Doubleday and now, as movie enchanted with the large family and helped script called for—he got out of the bed. she passed away. We will never forget all ‘experts’ we were often elected to choose a them find an apartment on East 6th Street During the run Ann and George were in the great times we had with the fantastic, film for the night. Our predilections usu- where they very quickly became well known the audience frequently as was Andy War- legendary theatrical Harris family. ally ran to older movies from Hollywood’s as pioneers of the experimental ‘downtown’ hol who came to admire the actors up close Several members of the Harris family golden age, like Double Indemnity with theater. They became the go-to source for (in the tight space at the Cino) and decid- have put together a great picture book Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, theater directors and playwrights who cast ed to film the play as his first split-screen about their fascinating family history the beautiful Lana Turner in The Postman them in their experimental productions. movie and which premiered at the Film- called Caravan to Oz—caravantooz.com. Always Rings Twice, Queen Bee or Mildred Ann and George were dubbed the ‘Lunts of makers Cinematheque. McGinn went on The Harris sisters also wrote an illus- Pierce with Joan Crawford, Bette Davis in off Broadway’ by playwright Robert Patrick right to Broadway and then on to Holly- trated book Flower Power Man all about A Stolen Life or Now Voyager, The Heiress who also dubbed them the first family of wood where he became a movie star. Sadly their brother George III who became in- with Olivia DeHaviland and Montgom- off-off-Broadway—father George went on his career was cut short by a fatal car crash ternationally known as Hibiscus with his ery Clift, Desert Fury with Burt Lancaster to Broadway itself in The Great White Hope when he drove drunk up the exit ramp of troupe of Cockettes—FlowerPowerMan. and Lizabeth Scott, Weekend in Havana and played important roles in dozens of an LA freeway. Two years later when I was com. Robert Heide’s latest publication is with Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda or a films includingSuperman with Christopher preparing my play Moon for presentation at Robert Heide 25 Plays, which is available personal favorite like Gold Diggers of 1933 Reeves. Ann made a notable splash at the the Caffe Cino I attended a performance at on Amazon. Keep Your Local Favorites Alive by Ordering Takeout Go to PleaseOrderTakeout.com to receive a free daily email with takeout specials from these Village Restaurants

232 Bleecker Street 570 Hudson Street 112 Greenwich Avenue Vegetable Forward Seasonal European-American Cuisine Organic Espresso & Wine Bar 232bleecker.com AntonsNYC.com CaffeArronne.com

228 West 10th Street 117 Perry Street 21 West 8th Street Italian Small Plates Farm to Table Refined New American Upscale Casual-American Lartusi.com LeftBankNewYork.com LoringPlaceNYC.com

375 Hudson Street 117 Perry Street 27 East 20th Street French Café and Bakery Your Neighborhood Rotisserie Handmade Pasta and Local Vegetables MamanNYC.com PouletSansTete.com Rezd ôraNYC.com

796 Greenwich Street 15 East 18th Street 144 2nd Avenue Greek-Inspired Cafe & Wine Bar Italian Pastries, Pastas, Pizzas, Wines Classic Ukranian 917.261.4283 TarallucieVino.net .com

21 West 8th Street Grandma Style Pizza WashingtonSquaresPizza.com

The best way that you can help support our neighbors is to order takeout directly from their websites Have a favorite Village Restaurant that’s not listed? Have them contact [email protected]