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The Voice of the West Village WestView News VOLUME 14, NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 2018 $1.00 Cynthia Nixon Comes to 69 Charles Street! tion ending with, “what would you do about this when you become Governor?” But when I talked about seniors in rent-stabilized apartments being evicted, there was a quick change in her expression, and she spoke rapidly of her and her mother living in an continued on page 4 The Price of Immortality “OK, give me a business plan,” Steve Witkoff ordered, as he finished agreeing with that St. Veronica should offer something for everybody, not only seniors, but young people and even kids. When I sat down to write the “Business Plan” I was stuck. How do you write a business plan to cre- ate a community concert hall? We’re talking about a recently closed church, closed because it did not have enough parishioners to even pay the heat bill. How do you turn that near abandoned church into a com- munity concert hall with free concerts for seniors? I mean, a business plan is for a business. How much money do you have to spend before there is even a business. And! We want to give seats away to seniors for free—not very business-like. No, the only way this is going to work is if we get a couple of big donors, like Langone, who gave mil- lions and they named the hospital after him—NYU CYNTHIA VISITS WESTVIEW AFTER COUMO SLAM: Following the one and only debate, Cynthia Nixon visits WestView to Langone. reaffirm with Publisher George Capsis her far left positions on health to housing. © Joel Gordon 2018 - All rights reserved. Hmm, but where do we find these billionaires? And why would they give Music at St. Veronica a few By George Capsis Kim our graphic designer was giving everyone hell to read million or even $5000 as the City did? and approve the last draft when Cynthia’s very young ad- And, there is another problem—the millionaires Arthur Schwartz, who besides being a prolific political vance gal (who was having great difficulty in being assertive) and billionaires (we have a few living in the West Vil- contributor to WestView, is currently the lawyer for Cyn- and Cynthia, stepped into the garden five minutes early. lage) have never heard of our free concerts for seniors thia Nixon’s campaign to become the next Governor of As I shook hands I found myself saying aloud “you’re at St. Veronica (they go to Lincoln Center and have a New York. As such, he kept e-mailing me he was going to very beautiful”—and she is. season subscription). get Cynthia to come to 69 Charles Street for an interview. I had prepared an introduction to let Cynthia know So the idea is to somehow, someway, keep giving And bang! The day after the big debate, when Cynthia got what WestView is all about—15 years as the protest voice concerts in the hope our local one percenters will Cuomo to lose his cool and explode “will you stop inter- of the West Village as we lost our hospitals, and now try- learn of them and divert some of the funding they are rupting me?” and then instantly Cynthia came back with ing to speak for the aged, rent-stabilized tenants faced giving to less worthy causes to Free Concerts for Se- “I will when you stop lying.” with the horror of receiving legal-like papers from land- niors. But hey, if you are a West Village one percenter, So, in just hours after this exchange, Arthur gets her to lords demanding the apartment for arcane reasons that or know of one, come to the garden at 69 Charles for come the garden at 69 Charles when all the press in the require translation by an expensive lawyer (we send these a sip of cold wine and exchange a bit of your surplus city is looking to interview her with “Boy Cynthia, you tenants to Arthur). wealth for a modest slice of immortality. certainly gave it to Cuomo last night.” As I sat with her, cataloging the West Village “issues,” I —George Capsis Our paper was just hours away from going to press, and wondered how I might translate one of them into a ques-

Sartorial Splendor Art Exhibit Sounds of the Gordon T. Hughes Jr’s A new exhibit that celebrates Great Religions tale of no ties, and now, productivity after 75 with no socks. embroidery, puppetry, masks Series starts at St. Veronica and much more! with the history and music of the Greek Orthodoxy.

SEE PAGE 24 SEE PAGE 25 Tuesday, September 11—7 pm 2 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org WestView BRIEFLY NOTED Published by WestView, Inc. by and for the residents of the West Village. around 2 p.m. on Monday but I can’t stand tured on PBS’s Great Performances. Publisher there waiting for her. Please don’t miss what I believe to be one Executive Editor We should have a box that says “RE- of the most moving, poignant musicals ever. George Capsis TURN TO POSTAL SERVICE.” But, if See you at the theatre. Managing Editor I could buy this box at Garber’s Hardware, Katie Keith — Gordon Hughes how would I attach it to the tile wall? Associate Editor Andrew Buemi And another thing—for years and years, Preview of IFC we had the same postman. One day, he even Art Director Coming Attraction Production Manager reminded me of his first name because he Kim Plosia wanted to be called by it, and all the neigh- Opening on October 5th at the IFC Cen- Advertising Manager and Designer bors knew him. But now, we seem to have a ter on 6th Avenue (at West 3rd Street) Stephanie Phelan different postal gal delivering the mail each will be another hot documentary film di- Photo Editor day, and the only thing they have in common rected by Matt Tyrnauer (I wrote about his Darielle Smolian is their weight. documentary, Scotty and the Secret History Our newspapers and the postal service of Hollywood, on page 22 of this issue) on Traffic Manager Liza Whiting both suffer in the digital age, so I should be the legendary discotheque Studio 54 where Photo by Alec Pruchnicki. kinder, but I can remember when first class sex, drugs, and Donna Summer disco mu- Photographers was 3 cents and a postcard a penny and it sic were the order of the day. Maggie Berkvist Joel Gordon seems to me that you didn’t have to hand Flashing strobe lights and a deafening Action Not “Art” your postman, Fred, mail that was put into sound system helped create a crazy, smoky, Comptroller Will the graffiti writer who is covering your box incorrectly— he knew you and dizzying atmosphere where there were no Jolanta Meckauskaite the West Village with “Deport Trump” you knew him. rules and all hell broke loose nightly. The Architecture Editor messages please stop? You might enjoy —George Capsis iconic disco, built into what was once a Brian Pape the chance to vent your feelings about the historic theatre, also supplied mattresses Film, Media and Music Editor President—in a community that mostly Great Theatre From Home in the basement and the balcony where Jim Fouratt dislikes him as much as you do—but this is the revelers could indulge in sex-galore. A useless and dirties the neighborhood with giant quarter-moon face in profile hung Food Editor David Porat ugly (although heart-felt) writing. If you above the dance floor, its nose attended want to do something useful, read the “Re- by an electronic arm with a hand hold- Distribution Manager sist” series in WestView for practical ways of ing a spoon ostensibly filled with cocaine. Timothy Jambeck taking action. This pleasure palace also had exclusive VIP Regular Contributors —Alec Pruchnicki rooms where Andy Warhol, his Factory su- Barry Benepe, Caroline Benveniste, perstar entourage, and a besotted and over- Charles Caruso, Jim Fouratt, Return to Sender weight Truman Capote held court to celebs John Gilman, Mark. M. Green, Robert Heide, Thomas Lamia, Keith Michael, like Mick Jagger, Liz Taylor, Calvin Klein, Michael D. Minichiello, Penny Mintz, I don’t know, but I think the post office is AN AMERICAN IN PARIS: Gordon Hughes and dozens of handsome men, trans- Brian J. Pape, Joy Pape, Alec Pruchnicki, slipping a bit these days (top left) with AAIP producer Sarahbeth genders and costume queens like Rollerena Christina Raccuia, Catherine Revland, Grossman and director Christopher Wheel- Joseph Salas, Martica Sawin, Donna I keep getting mail addressed to some- and John Eric Broaddus, who showed up Schaper, Arthur Z. Schwartz, Gary To- body or a corporation at 69 Charlton Street don. (bottom row) Actors Robbie Fairchild in their feathery, bejeweled glitter outfits. mei, Joseph Turco, Esq., Stanley Wlodyka and, of course, I live at 69 Charles Street. and Leanne Cope. Photo courtesy of Gor- The club’s autocratic owners Steve Ru- don Hughes. We endeavor to publish all letters received, Recently, two letters were misdirected to bell and Ian Schrager ruled over the place, including those with which we disagree. me from MOVIE PASS at 69 Charlton, deciding who could enter and who could The opinions put forth by contributors and in the envelope was indeed a plastic, for I have been involved in An American In Paris not. Exclusive and decadent, it was the “in” to WestView do not necessarily reflect the real, Movie Pass (the end was open a bit). from the very start. This musical, its cast, place to go to from 1978 to 1980. It was the views of the publisher or editor. It was addressed to Klancy Johnson in San production team, as well as the producers, last gasp of the wild sexy seventies where WestView welcomes your correspondence, comments, and corrections: Luis Obispo and Joshua Garcia in Norwalk have been one of the most thrilling expe- disco joints everywhere supplied back www.westviewnews.org California (never heard of this town). riences of my life. From the opening night rooms for sex. If Studio 54 closed early, Contact Us I have sort of heard about Movie Pass— in Paris at Theatre du Chatelet, to opening customers could cab downtown to a noto- (212) 924-5718 you buy one and go to the movies for really night here in New York at the Palace, yes, rious club on called the Anvil, [email protected] cheap. the Palace and then the opening night at the which opened its doors at 4 AM and con- Now, years ago, when I was working in Dominion Theatre in London, it has been a tinued into dawn’s early light and beyond. corporate communications for computer truly remarkable ride of a lifetime. This is a doc not to be missed. Studio 54 is companies, I sort of remember that the The wonderful news now is that you can a real throwback to a time where crazy fun post office was reading addresses electroni- VIEW An American In Paris in your home and sex were all. cally, even handwritten ones. I mean, it’s or in a local cinema near you! Starting —Robert Heide just not possible for a postal clerk to read September 20th and 23rd, AAIP will be every envelope and then throw it into the screened at a movie theatre near you. Historic MeatPacking appropriate bag, right? This is a remarkable film of the London District Development So, OK, one of the envelopes has a yel- production directed by Tony Award win- low sticker which says, ”Return To Sender,” ning Christopher Wheeldon, staring Rob- Amazingly, since we last reported on the but another says “Unable to Forward/For bie Fairchild and Leanne Cope, from the Gansevoort Market Historic District (Nov. review.” original cast. If you prefer a home view- 2017 issue), we see the Meat Packing Dis- Oh my, what does “For review” mean? ing experience, you are in luck. There are trict quickly one of Manhattan’s I mean, who is going to review it and for two opportunities: 1. Starting in October “Silicon Alley” districts populated by high what purpose? Are they going to say “I give you can pull it up on a streaming platform tech companies; not just Google/Alphabet, up” and throw it into the trash bin? provided by H.D. Or 2. Starting Apple, Samsung, Tesla, and the Chinese gi- MIA SAYS: My sad pleading eyes seek only Alright you say, I should give these November 3rd through the 23rd, AAIP ant, Alibaba, but many, many others. your love. Photo by Dusty Berke. back to the post mistress when she comes will be one of four Broadway Musicals fea- continued on page 3 www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 3

Briefly Noted continued from page 2 Refrigerating Company (MRC) was one about 1906. elimination of earlier landfill, thus displac- Tech companies are drawn to the “cool” of the pioneers in this field in the New A 1912 city report described this district ing many area businesses.” atmosphere of nightlife, fashionable shops, York area. as “a center from which the food supply of These new docks explain what hap- galleries, studios, restaurants, hotels, and Between 1897 and 1935, “nearly the en- the city may be best distributed to meet pened to the 11th, 12th and 13th Avenues the river park. But the real meatpack- tire block bounded by Gansevoort, Hora- the large demand of the downtown resi- that once existed before 1910, when “14th ing companies will soon disappear, just as tio, Washington, and West Streets was dential district and the uptown hotel and Street extended west to the southern end the vendor stalls of the West Washington developed with a handsome neo-Classical residence district. It is the center of the of old Eleventh Avenue, which was as far Market and Gansevoort Market have long style ensemble in tan brick, that included a steamship supply district… contiguous to west of as Tenth is west ago disappeared. power plant (refrigeration plant) and nine all of the incoming railroads and steamship of Ninth.” The two blocks of Washing- According to the 2003 Gansevoort cold storage warehouses” for MRC, which lines bringing in New York’s food supply.” ton Street from Little West 12th to 14th Market Historic District Report, this area then installed underground pipes that car- The nearby Gansevoort Piers (1894- Streets were supposedly added in 1890 was once before a center of technological ried refrigeration from that main indus- 1902) and Chelsea Piers (1902-10), flank- to expedite traffic due to the new West advancement; mechanical refrigeration trial building to market-related structures ing the West Washington Market, became Washington Market that existed between was a great advance over the dependence throughout the entire Gansevoort and “long docks for the enormous trans-Atlan- West Street and Thirteenth Avenue. on frozen ice blocks, and the Manhattan West Washington Market district, from tic steamships, which had necessitated the —Brian J. Pape, AIA DOT Lies to the Feds About 14th Street Plan By Arthur Z. Schwartz Canarsie Tunnel, which runs between Wil- The second benefit was that the public bike lane, which will leave so little room for liamsburg, Brooklyn, and 14th Street. The could respond, both at a hearing which was cars, that every time a car stops, even just to I reported last month that the 14th Street victory was a temporary freeze on the Federal held on August 6, 2018, and in written cri- park, traffic will back up behind it. Coalition, a group of 15 Block Associations, funds and a requirement by the FTA that the tiques due by late August. Local activists, for months have been condo associations and co-ops, had won a MTA and DOT do an Environmental As- Scores of local residents showed up to urging DOT to not widen the 14th Street major victory in their fight to keep the NYC sessment (EA). That assessment could lead oppose DOT’s plan to a) shut down 14th sidewalks, which would add a lane for traf- Department of Transportation (DOT) from to the FTA requiring an Environmental Im- Street and create a Busway, with widened fic in each direction, and allow traffic to shutting down 14th Street to vehicle traffic, pact Study, which would set the project back sidewalks on both the south side and north proceed like it does on . other than buses, as part of the efforts to mit- for a long period of time. side, b) to run 70-80 diesel buses an hour A cornerstone of the DOT’s argument igate the L Train shutdown planned for April The EA process had two benefits. It from Williamsburg, over the Williamsburg was that it had had some outfit do a “mod- 2019. The shutdown was part of a larger plan forced DOT and MTA to put all of its cards Bridge, across Delancy Street, and up 1st eling study” of the various alternatives and submitted by the Metropolitan Transporta- on the table, all of the data and studies it Avenue to 1st Avenue and 14th Street, and that that their Busway would, so they say, tion Authority (MTA) to the Federal Trans- supposedly did regarding their plans. And c) to eliminate a lane of parking all the way result in the fastest bus trips across 14th portation Authority (FTA) in its goal to get it was supposed to make them discuss why across 12th and 13th Street, and replace Street, and would not decrease traffic $800 million in Federal funds to rebuild the various alternative plans were being rejected. that with a 13 foot wide bike lane and bar- speed on 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th Streets. rier (which will only leave eight feet for Seemed counter-intuitive, and it also re- cars to proceed down each street). lied on some notion that trucks would not The biggest problem that people have come across residential streets, but that is is how much traffic the DOT’s plan will what the DOT’s charts said. create. The already has But during the process of looking at bad traffic, caused by all the cars and trucks the DOT’s incomprehensible traffic data which come over the Williamsburg and “modeling” by a contractor, turned out Manhattan Bridges and head to locations there was a chart, perhaps accidentally both uptown and downtown. Add 70 buses stuck in the middle of the data which an hour and we will have daily gridlock, studied the very proposal being made by with bus fumes and car exhaust. There the community: have SBS bus service on is no reason to believe that people from 14th Street just like on 23rd Street. And Brooklyn will board all these buses and get the chart said that the fastest way to move involved in a traffic mess every morning, buses on 14th Street, AND traffic on the but DOT insists that they know better. side streets, was the proposal being made People who live between 11th Street and by the 14th Street Coalition. DOT hid this 20th Street are concerned about endless traf- study from the Federal officials and from fic, horns, fumes and vibrations, as cars and the public, even though it shows that the trucks which can’t go across 14th Street try to problems with 14th Street (other than the figure out other ways across town. And then absurd bike lanes) are easily resolvable. all of this will be made worse on 12th and Watch your newpapers folks. The Coali- 13th Street by the addition of a 13 foot wide tion will be back in Court, and maybe in front of a City Council Oversight Commit- tee asking why this study was hidden, and why DOT Commissioner Trottenberg is so A PLAN THAT CREATES TRAFFIC: The NYC Department of Transportation illustrations gung-ho about wreaking havoc on Green- show proposed barrier and bike lanes to wich Village and the Lower East Side. replace a parking lane along 12th and 13th Streets, leaving very little room for car traffic. Arthur Z. Schwartz is the Democratic Image credits: Metropolitan Transit Authority District Leader for and and NYC Department of Transportation. Counsel to the 14th Street Coalition. 4 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

about five minutes per postcard. Any pace works and writing even Postcards to Voters four postcards a week helps. One winsome or earnest postcard re- (Now Arriving in NYC by the Thousands!) minder to vote could equal one critical vote. Last November, an By Sarah O’Neill challengers: candidates Alessandra Biaggi election in the Virginia House of in the Bronx, Julie Goldberg in Rockland Delegates tied. Nine of New York’s Democratic State County, and Zellnor Myrie in Brooklyn. Tony the Democrat has a huge Senators have caucused with Republicans When this piece is published on Septem- fan base now. He has lifted our for years, tipping control to Republicans. ber 1st we will have six days left to meet spirits, given us a goal, and sup- Thankfully, we will have challengers for the September 7th deadline to mail post- ported over 100 campaigns. To each one of them in the primary on Thurs- cards in time for the primary. We are into join the NoIDC full-court press day, September 13th. And from now until the NoIDC endgame, so there is no time ASAP you can email join@tony- September 7th there is an easy, fun way to to waste. We need your help! thedemocrat.org, or simply text help the good guys: #PostcardsToVoters Our handwritten postcards are making “join” to Abby the Address Bot at In late July, “Postcards to Voters” volun- an impression wherever they go. IDC chal- 484-275-2229 and an auto-reply teers across the country began mailing thou- lenger Julie Goldberg tweeted out, “You will get you started. sands of handwritten postcards to Demo- will like this story, #PostcardsToVoters You can add Abby the Address crats in New York to support our True-Blue, volunteers! Marching in a parade today, I Bot to your contacts so you have No IDC NY-endorsed candidates. If you stopped to speak with a woman watching her ready when you want her. missed hearing about the IDC (Indepen- with her two children. She said, ‘You’re Ju- Enthusiastic volunteers all over dent Democratic Conference), New York’s lie? You already have my vote! I got a beau- the country have been writing for State Senate DINOs (Democrats In Name tiful postcard from Oregon about you!’” New York for weeks, so next week Only), please take two minutes to watch the Writing the postcards is easy and fun. we can start paying it forward for enlightening, killer video narrated by Edie Volunteers supply their own postcards and the midterms! Falco at NoIDCNY.org. If you like the vid- stamps, and our fearless PTV leader, “Tony eo, share it widely. Then join PostcardsTo- the Democrat,” supplies the guidelines and P.S. Email upcomingaction@gmail. VOLUNTEERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE Voters.org and the battle to turn the New addresses. The beauty of PTV is that vol- com to subscribe to United Thru MAILED NEARLY THREE MILLION POSTCARDS York State Senate true blue. unteers can write just four postcards (or Action’s NYC weekly events list. SINCE MARCH 2017: Ann Roberts, teacher and Postcards to Voters’ 20,000 volunteers lots more) anytime, and mail them from It includes loads of great resistance resident in the West Village, adds eye-catching across the country have mailed nearly three anywhere in the USA. Addresses can be and postcarding opportunities. Also, notes and speech bubbles to the front of her million postcards since March 2017. As requested day or night, and cards can be please see my article at http://west- postcards. You can get 100 assorted “Animal of August 20th, PTV volunteers had re- handwritten at your convenience (alone viewnews.org/2018/05/postcards- Box” postcards for $4.98 from Amazon to get quested 147,251 addresses for three IDC or with others). My production time is voters-brings-hope/ started! Photo by Ann Roberts.

Charles Street Mary Vetri Makes History On Wednesday, September 26, at 7 pm, the Charles Street Block Association is going to reveal and talk about the HISTORY KIOSK, a multi-sided street display case NYRS, Licensed Associate that will give tourists historic information, including names and biographies of his- Real Estate Broker toric and noted persons that have have lived in the immediate area. The prototype is being offered by the Charles Street Association as a model for the rest of the city. [email protected] The meeting will be held in St. Johns Church—entrance on 11th Street just 917-969-0048 before you come to Waverly. The demonstration will be followed by wine and snacks in the garden.

Exclusive at 78 Charles Street Sold & Closed for $80,000 Over the Asking Price! Nixon continued from page 1 We read that Cynthia had two children apartment in which the landlord had been with school teacher Danny Mozes and As a Greenwich Village resident with over 28 charging above the regulated rent and how that in June of this year Cynthia revealed years of real estate experience, I have sold her mother filed and won. her oldest daughter is . over 100+ Townhouses, Co-ops, Condos, Her bio revealed that her born But the big question is why did she be- Condops, as well as luxury rentals. actress mother had divorced her radio an- come political? Why did she keep after nouncer husband when Cynthia was only Sarah Jessica Parker to support de Blasio Let me help do the same for you! six and she, mom, had been the bread win- when he had little or no chance to win over ner, getting Cynthia her first acting job on the very visible, the very audible high nasal Please feel free to contact me to set up the TV show at age nine. whine of , Speaker to the an appointment. And then a surprise—Cynthia went to City Council? Hunter College School at the same time Perhaps because she learned from her as my two daughters, Athena and Ariadne, mother that even as a woman you have to All information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. All rights to content, photographs and graphics reserved to Broker. Equal Housing Opportunity Broker. and then Barnard, which I knew well, liv- be in charge of earning the rent and select- ing nearby and taking classes at Columbia. ing who you want to share your life with. www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 5 Why I Am Voting for Cynthia Nixon and Representing buyers, sellers, By Arthur Z. Schwartz investors and landlords

On Thursday, September 13th (make sure Greenwich Village • West Village • Chelsea • not to forget that our state leaders, ever All over Manhattan and Brooklyn anxious to depress voter turnout, moved this election to a Thursday) we face an Bank St Townhouse - Triplex - RENTED 114 Mercer SoHo - Huge loft - SOLD incredibly important primary election West 11th St Townhouse - RENTED Charles St Duplex - RENTED in NY State. While Trump neophytes 80 Charles Street - 1 Bed - RENTED West 11th Street Studio - RENTED are winning Republican primaries, pro- 425 Park Ave South 3D - SOLD 50 Greenpoint Ave Condo - SOLD gressive Democrats are winning races all 56 Jane Street - 1 Bed/2 Baths - SOLD 150 East 93rd St Coop - IN CONTRACT over in States where the polls had them 2 Horatio Street - 1 Bed - SOLD 320 West 115th Street - SOLD far behind. Georgia, Florida and Arizona all elected underdog candidates from the Democratic Party’s progressive wing to Fall Listings take on Trump Republicans. The same 250 West 22nd Street - $598K 127 East 26th Brownstone - $4,250,000 can happen here. Our community, which 14 Horatio Street - $785K 165 Perry Street Loft - $1.1M gave 65% of its vote in 115 East 9th Street - $525K 43 Charles Street - $6,500/month 2014 against , can make a difference, maybe enough of one to put a new breed of leaders into power in Albany. The fall market is here, email me to sign up for my fun and informative newsletter. Andrew Cuomo is, in so many ways, the Democratic mirror image of . He hates anyone who challenges him. Actually, unlike Trump, he doesn’t like crowds of people, except at events Scotty Elyanow Licensed Associate RE Broker SHE MAY BE AN ACTRESS, BUT SHE HAS staged very occasionally by the Building m 917.678.6010 | [email protected] ALSO CAMPAIGNED RELENTLESSLY FOR Trades unions. In April, three groups of www.westvillagebroker.com progressive activists, who mainly orga- 10 YEARS FOR BETTER SCHOOL FUND- ING: Cynthia Nixon and her attorney, Arthur Real estate agents affiliated with The Corcoran Group are nize poor people of color around hous- independent contractor sales associates and are not employees Schwartz. Photo by Penny Mintz. of The Corcoran Group. The Corcoran Group is a licensed real ing, schools, and environmental justice, estate broker located at 660 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10065. decided to support the candidacy of Cyn- thia Nixon for Governor. These groups, relentlessly for 10 years for better school Citizen Action, NY Communities for funding, who has been a leader in the Change, and Make the Road, all received Screen Actors Guild. And unlike Cuomo considerable support from unions. Cuomo she has been enthusiastically embraced by told the unions: if you give money to these ’ group, Our Revolution, groups then lose my phone number.” Mil- and by the progressive young candidates lions of dollars in funding dried up. And fighting to oust Democrats who caucused like Trump, Cuomo surrounds himself with Republicans these past 8 years, and with “yes men’” who have no problem by the Queens/Bronx socialist firebrand, opening up the avenues of government to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. people with money. And then, many open Her running mate, City Council Mem- their own pockets as well, like Cuomo’s ber Jumaane Williams, who won his last Chief of Staff Joe Percoco. election with 99% of the vote, is a former Yes, Cuomo, with enormous pressure tenants’ rights leader, who has served nine from the Left, pushed through an increase years on the City Council, and who puts to the minimum wage to $15 per hour. his body where his mouth is. Jumaane led And after he lost upstate to Teachout, he the fight against Mayor Bloomberg’s “stop banned fracking. But under his watch the and frisk” policy, and then organized in his subways have fallen apart, public schools Brooklyn district to stop gun violence. He are grossly under-funded, gas pipelines are was a founder of the Council’s Progressive being built across the state, womens’ right Caucus, which fought for better schools, to choose has not been codified, our elec- open government and to expand health tion system is broken (NY has the 49th care. He has promised that if elected he lowest turnout in the U.S.), the state lacks will be an independent corruption fighter serious ethics legislation, housing laws in Albany. I have never been so impressed continue to be eviscerated, and truly af- with the scope of one candidate’s grasp fordable housing is not funded. No one of issues, and his ease among fellow New I know of would smile and be enthusias- Yorkers. tic and tell you: “I love Andrew Cuomo!” So, on Thursday September 13, I am And no one would tell you that our State voting FOR Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane stands as a shining beacon against what Williams. I urge my fellow Villagers to do Trump is doing in Washington. the same. Cynthia Nixon may be an actress. So are lots of our neighbors. But she is an ac- Arthur Z. Schwartz is the Village’s Demo- tress who sends three kids through public cratic District Leader. He is also election school, lives in a not-fancy loft building counsel to Cynthia Nixon’s and Jumaane on , who has campaigned Williams’ campaigns. 6 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

the hope Nixon can pull the rabbit out of incarceration. Teachout worked with Citi- Jim Fouratt’s the hat. Who knows what will actually hap- zens for Responsibility in Ethics in Wash- pen when voters mark their ballots in private? ington to file lawsuits against the Trump HAVE YOU HEARD! administration related to alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Con- crowded clinics housed on Union Square. stitution. After the 2008 financial crisis, she They do not in their swank new buildings formed the group A New Way Forward to housing doctor’s practices. What these pri- advocate for increased financial regulations. vate hospitals, who receive large support What we need right now is an indepen- from both State and Federal funding are dent voice in this critical time, not encum- doing, in fact, is creating two standards of bered by associations with power machines healthcare—one for the expensively insur- or corporations. Teachout practices what she anced and one for the poor. What has Andy The Attorney General race is the most says. She is the only candidate who has not done about this terrible situation? Nothing! interesting race in the state. When his al- accepted campaign contributions from cor- He has been too busy patting himself on leged sexual abuse of women forced Eric porations or the real estate industry. Trump SEPTEMBER 2018 the back for his healthcare plan. His over- Schneiderman to resign, he was investigat- hates her. She has been subjected to his tweet VOTE AS IF YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS sight on the closing hospitals over the last ing Trump for his business practices and taxes. attacks. Zephyr Teachout has my vote. Not ON IT! If you are a registered Democrat 10 years and their replacement with pseu- Acting Attorney General Barbara Under- convinced? Read her book, which is a his- in New York it is important to vote in the do-emergency storefronts and healthplexes wood picked up and continues to investigate, tory of anti-corruption laws in the United Democratic primary on September 13, show his true concern. but she is not running for election. So whoever States: Corruption In America: From Benjamin 2018. I also know that most people in the Climate Control and environment: Yes, is elected will take on not only State issues of Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United. City ignore the primaries. I know from he finally, after upstate and downstate climate corruption but also national ones—Michael personal experience. When I replaced Ar- change activists united on a call against frack Cohen is an example. thur Schwartz who was running against gas drilling in New York, gave in and sup- The candidates: Assembly person Deborah Glick, who ported it. But what most people do not know 1: Leecia Eve was a Vice President and had been in office for 25 years, I saw that is tricky—Andy wants it both ways. Bet you lobbied for Verizon (ugh!) and fought of the 45,000 registered Democrats, only didn’t know that frack gas can be transported against Net Neutrality, served as a Com- 4,500 actually voted. I received over 1,000 across the state when it’s drilled outside the missioner of the Port Authority of New votes after only four weeks of campaign- state. It is transported by pipelines overland York & New Jersey (ugh, an agency seem- ing. My opponent heckled me that she had like the pipeline that enters Greenwich Vil- ing above the law). She worked for Cuomo whipped my butt. But did she? The reality lage. You can also see the Brooklyn shoreline, and both Clinton and Biden when they was that Glick, the chief enforcer of con- the ships and barges docking in the ocean were U.S. Senators. Sorry, but I am not vot- victed Speaker Sheldon Silver’s rule, and and transferring fracked gas to be exported ing for a Verizon lobbyist. Quite frankly her her lack luster record of achievement, had to foreign countries. resumé, as good as it is, tells me she cannot IN THE RACE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL: only been able to get a little over 3,000 Corruption: he actually has done NOTH- be my choice. We need fresh blood and in- Most qualified is law professor and legal ac- votes. Yes, she was an outspoken women’s ING to clean up the corruption in the State dependence in the role of Attorney General. tivist, Zephyr Teachout, above. Photo credit: health issues legislative advocate years ago. Legislature and in his own Administration. 2: Letitia James is a second term New York Teachout campaign. Her record shows her to be a single issue In fact, he actually opposed bills to clean up City Public Advocate. She has made herself candidate. When hospitals were being the sludge. He used the Independent Dem- visible to the public and has not been afraid UPDATE ON GREEN HAVEN SENIOR closed and a dangerous frack gas pipeline ocratic Conference (IDC) to make himself to attend public demonstrations against po- HOUSING AND PUBLIC GARDEN was entering Greenwich Village just below look good knowing the liberal rhetoric he lice brutality, stood with the #metoo move- While the Rich Moms of Soho are conspir- 14th Street, she did nothing. The media likes to spout downstate would never get ment and supports the end to gun violence. ing to stop the Green Haven Senior Hous- wondered how she avoided prison for the the bills passed in a Republican controlled But she too carries the albatross of the ing and Public Garden and protect their role she played in the corruption-ridden Senate. He supported the IDC, those fake Democratic Machine endorsement of her. “mini-Versailles ” garden squatting month- Albany. She refused to debate and defend Democrats who voted with Republicans. It is my opinion that the Democratic Ma- to-month on PUBLIC land, Habitat for her record. This is machine politics at its I am glad he supports a woman’s right chine in and State is part Humanity is moving forward and has in- worst. I learned an important lesson. to choose. But he refused to invite Senate of the problem of corruption in Albany and vited the community to participate in two Both the Governor’s and the Attorney Minority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, it needs to be replaced by authentic pro- public participatory meetings to have input General’s race are good examples of a black woman who had earned the support gressives with fresh faces and ideas. Cuomo in what they would like to have in the public where an informed public can make real of her fellow Democratic Senators. Instead supports James—I hope she learns that next garden at Green Haven on Elizabeth St. change if they vote. Cuomo invited Jeff Klein, IDC chair to the time her independence is what will make This public meeting is Sept. 5 and 15th at Don’t be fooled by Cuomo campaign the table to discuss the state budget. people vote for her. I don’t count her out but 273 from 6-8 pm. All are welcome. spin and his so called “progressive” politics. There are many other issues where Cuo- I think she is not the right candidate for this The focus will be on the future of 8,600 He is a political bully who strong arms mo rhetoric does not match his actions. job. This was a tough one for me at first until square feet of publicly accessible open space on others into silence out of fear of speaking For example, his refusal to support access I saw who else was in the race! this site, creating a design rooted in communi- up and challenging him. Cuomo is old to solar power for renters in the state 3: Sean Patrick Maloney was elected ty input. The meeting will feature design exer- school and will punish anyone who dares means that more than 50% of the residents to Congress from a district that tradition- cises that are easy and fun, and your input will to pull the covers back and expose the of New York are not entitled to cleaner and ally was Republican. He is almost a poster directly influence the future of the site. Please real Cuomo. Andy wraps a mirrored suit cheaper electricity. child for the come share your thoughts, ideas and perspec- around himself so no one can see inside. I am going to vote for Cynthia Nixon. with his public embrace of his husband and tive and help shape your neighborhood! Yes, he supported same sex civil mar- Do I think she has the experience to sweep their two children. But his voting record In addition to the public design meetings, riage. But all he had to do was put his clean Albany and stand up to Schumer’s pals in Congress does deserve some explana- Habitat hopes that community members finger up to feel which way the wind was on ? I did not when DeBlasio tion. Maloney belongs in Congress at this will take their online design survey: https:// blowing on that issue. Yes, he moved to- pushed the award winning actress forward. I critical time in American politics. Maybe www.surveymonkey.com/r/HavenGreen- wards medical marijuana, again following actually thought he had made a secret deal he wants to be closer to his family as they Survey. This anonymous survey asks for other states, not leading. with Cuomo to get some movement on is- grow up… but that quite frankly does not your feedback on a wide range of questions, Healthcare: Cuomo has done nothing to sues affecting the City by passing over more sway my choice. from when the space will be open, how the challenge hospitals like Mt. Sinai or NYU qualified candidates, both men and women, 4: Zephyr Teachout is a law professor at space will feel, and the kinds of activities the Langone, who refuse, as policy, to take Med- who were looking for his support. But I have Fordham. Her priorities are opposing the open space should support. icaid upfront. Oh, they dance around the is- been impressed by Nixon’s passion and Trump administration, confronting cor- sue and say it is up to the doctors, but no, it ability to speak to the issues that matter ruption in state government, investigat- Contact: is both. The hospital’s actual policy is to not to me and many New Yorkers. So I am cast- ing financial fraud by corporations, and [email protected] bill Medicaid directly except at their over- ing my vote in opposition to Cuomo with advocating against increased levels of 227 Waverly Place 6c, NY NY 10014 www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 7 Hoylman/Epstein t Work to Save Hospital

Students Turn Tricks for Tuition! THE LOST VILLAGE by Roger Paradiso

A provocative film about how The Village is losing it’s historic character THE BUILDING ON 13TH STREET IS NOW COMPLETELY GONE: The site is ready for the 72- as a sanctuary for artists, and is now ruled by real estate interests. bed replacement for Beth Israel. Photo by Penny Mintz. WestView News is sponsoring the panels By Penny Mintz that will be given after the screenings.

Members of the Community Coalition to of competent candidates, whose resumes After watching the film and listening to the panelists, Save Beth Israel (CCSBI), including one are already before the commissioner, that Villagers who attend will be free to audition for a role in the sequel, of our founding members, State Assembly- could be a significant step forward in open- and a video clip will be available on westviewnews.org. man Harvey Epstein, met with State Sena- ing the process to greater transparency. tor Brad Hoylman in early August. This is Three would be better, says Lois Uttley, Premiere at Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street the fourth in a series of meetings CCSBI who added that one public advocate gets has held with elected officials. Since April awfully lonely at those meetings. the coalition has met with City Council As of this writing, a draft of that joint October 19-25 Member Carlina Rivera and with staff Hoylman/Epstein letter is being prepared. from the offices of City Council Speaker The other affirmative action that Hoyl- Corey Johnson and City Council Member man and Epstein agreed to take was to Keith Power. actively support a bill in the State Senate The meeting with Hoylman and Ep- and the State Assembly next session that stein was by far the most fruitful because would essentially mirror a 2017 bill called they agreed to work together to achieve two the Local Input in Community Healthcare goals. One would be a step toward improv- Act. That 2017 bill would have required ing oversight and transparency of the closure review by the health commissioner, includ- process, which is one of CCSBI’s primary ing examination of the impact on access to objectives. Hoylman and Epstein agreed to health care services, before the closure of write a joint letter to the governor and to the any hospital can be approved. state health commissioner demanding that As of this writing, Senator Hoylman two consumer advocates be appointed to and his staff are reviewing the versions that the 25-member Public Health and Health have been introduced in the senate and the Planning Council (PHHPC). assembly. They both promise to do every- PHHPC is charged with advising the thing needed to move that bill forward. Department of Health about hospital On a personal note, the Board of Elec- construction projects and service changes. tions invalidated all 1,900 petition sig- Right now, PHHPC has 23 members and natures garnered in my effort to run for two vacancies. According to Lois Uttley Member of the Democratic Party State of MergerWatch, none of the members Committee. My petitions failed to say that of PHHPC are public-health advocates I was running for the female position. The representing consumer interests. All of the Board of Elections knew that because they members are industry representatives. Only listed me as candidate for the female posi- one public advocate is mandated by law. At tion. Nor were the petition signers misled this time, that position is one of the two because, well, my name is Penny, and about vacancies. Moreover, PHHPC holds all of 700 of them saw me as they signed. their meetings at times when no member My attorney, Arthur Schwartz—what of the public is likely to attend. As a result, an amazing person—challenged the in- they do not hear from health consumers validation in court, then in the Appellate or public health advocates before advis- Division, and now we are headed to the ing the commissioner. Nor does the public final arbiter, the Court of Appeals. Argu- have reasonable access to any issue that is ment is set for August 29th. The question before PHHPC either before or after their is whether the will of the voters to see a recommendations are made. candidate on the ballot shall prevail over a If two consumer/health advocates were technical error? Arthur has written a great to be appointed to PHHPC from a list brief. I’m optimistic. 8 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

WEST VILLAGE IMAGES BY JOEL GORDON Notes from Away: Street Gas Pipe Repair Crew No Time for Paradise I live on 12th Street and Seventh Avenue. Four blocks west, on Waverly Place and Seventh Avenue, street repair crews were replacing gas pipes. Excavating tractors would start at 8 pm, lifting and moving steel road covering plates. It was like living in a war zone, as jackhammers were digging up, and power saws cutting into, the street. Finally, the asphalt was paved and it only took a year! Waverly Place is quiet again. My photographs provide a look at the men who did this long, hard and dirty work. Below, they capture the digging, installing, testing, and repairing of gas pipes.

THE TOURISTS ARE SPENDING MONEY IN HOT PURSUIT OF MAINE'S BEST PRODUCTS: Red’s Eats for lobster rolls, in Wiscasset, Maine. Photo by Susan Lamia.

By Tom Lamia because we have invited them and because they know they will experience something In Maine, summers can be short when you different among their many choices for get- are least expecting them to be; yet they are ting away from their permanent places of glorious even so. The glory I speak of is the work, school and residence. bliss that comes with knowing that a mo- Guests must be made welcome and com- ment long-awaited has arrived. It would be fortable. Plans must be made that will fill tempting fate to go about crowing of how every day with the things that we know a particular summer will last, how it might (or hope) will fill them with wonder and continue from month to month at the salu- good memories. All this takes time. A good brious level at which it arrived. No one here portion of that time is spent expanding fa- in Maine does that. All take comfort in the cilities used for nine or ten months of the sunshine, cool breezes, lack of intolerable year by one, two, or a few more individuals levels of mosquitos and rain only as need- (children, close relatives) to serve multiples ed for grass to grow and flowers to bloom. of that number. And, there can be no rest That’s it. To expect more would be to expect to receive the good feeling that comes with history to change course. being a good host to good friends and close This is a summer that qualifies for the family. You want them to be happy with above description. It may be too early to say their choice to live in your immediate space that this summer will be short, but it does for a few weeks, so you work at making seem a necessary hedge on what can even them feel welcome. now be said: there has been everything in When all is ready and the wild rumpus good weather and good feelings among tour- begins, all is good, because the effort made ists, vacationers and the Mainers that host it so. Then the visit is over, but not the sea- them that a perfect world should offer. The son. No, the season is not over until Labor tourists are spending money in hot pursuit Day, the day when all visitors must be back of Maine’s best products: LL Bean, lobster in their assigned lives of work, study, and rolls, sightseeing excursions to coastal islands responsibility. So, no time to relax, another to see the rare puffin (Eastern Egg Rock be- wave is, generally, just a few days away. tween Pemaquid Point and Monhegan Is- The many benefits of this Atlantic Para- land) or the disappearing small communities dise are not solely limited to summer, but of fishermen and other hardies who choose their appeal seems concentrated in those to live away from roads, stores, internet con- few months. nections, land lines and neighbors. For the Once Labor Day is torn from the cal- taciturn and often pessimistic Mainer, this endar, the clean-up, maintenance, and re- summer is likely to be short simply because it stocking begins, as needed to prepare for is particularly glorious. the long, severe winter that very likely will Some of us who live here have no time for follow this short, blissful summer. these and the many other challenging, excit- So, mark your calendar for a Maine visit ing things around us that are physically and sometime between June 15 and Labor Day Other examples can be found on my website www.joelgordon.com. mentally good for us as well as for our state. next year. I will be here, but I will be busy Photo credit © Joel Gordon 2018—All rights reserved. There is too much to do. Guests will arrive, making Paradise habitable. Volume 2 | Issue 3 The Pulse of Lenox Health Greenwich Village

Sprains vs. strains: Symptoms of

What’s the difference? Sprain Both Strain

A strain and sprain can look and feel similar. No matter how • Bruising • Limited • Muscle many times you roll, bend or twist your ankle, it can be hard movement spasms • “Popping” to tell the difference between the two. sound or • Swelling • Loss of sensation strength in the joint • Pain If you think you have a minor or moderate sprain or strain, you can treat it at home using the R.I.C.E. method; it can help speed healing and reduce pain and swelling up to 72 hours after injury.

Rest. Avoid weight bearing activity on the injury to avoid further Did you know… damage. Use crutches or splints, if necessary. Sprains most commonly occur Ice. Apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes, two to three times every hour to in the wrist, thumb, knee and ICE reduce swelling and in˜ammation. ankle, while strains are found mostly in the elbow, lower back Compression. Wrap the affected area with an elastic bandage or and hamstring. compression sleeve to reduce swelling and stabilize the area. Did you know…

Elevation. Elevate the injured part above your heart to decrease Alcohol increases swelling and swelling and pain and help ˜uid return to your circulatory system. can cause additional damage to the injury. For optimal recovery, skip the wine while using the R.I.C.E. method.

We’re providing local residents with a new model of community-based care. From 24-hour emergency services to a full range of medical specialties, we’ve got you covered. Visit us at Northwell.edu/LenoxHealth or call (646) 846-6105.

File name: Northwell_LHGV3_Sprains vs. Strains_10x12.75_4C_West View Newspaper Size: 10”x12.75”, CMYK Publication: West View Newspaper 10 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org Then Now: good design = great sales & Meatpacking District Whether you’re selling your product or your services, we can help you with stunning logos, ads, collateral and publications By Brian J. Pape, AIA and a well-designed, easy-to-navigate website.

View the website at phelandesignworks.com

[email protected] • 212-620-0652

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Hourly Handyman Services Professional Painting Projects Electrical & Carpentry Work MICHAEL RUSSO, PROPRIETOR 917.476.4146 • [email protected] THEN: On May 4, 1927, Hudson Street, in this view looking south from West 14th Street, shows the Herring Lock and Safe Serving the West Village for 11 Years Company Building on the right (c.1849; northern third, c.1854-60). It was a five-story “Flatiron-type” factory, built in “Vernacular/ Neo-Grec” style for Col. Herring, which is still virtually intact. The Wing Building behind it, at the southwest corner of West 13th Street, was demolished around 1931, about the time the elevated tracks and station at Ninth Avenue and West 14th Street (on the far right) were replaced with subway lines. Note the canopies added to the taller buildings on the left and the wide sidewalks for produce and meat-handling purposes. Photo courtesy of NYPL Archives, P.L. Sperr Photography Collection.

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Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue, 1st Floor Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street Senior Center at Greenwich House, 27 Barrow Street Senior Center on the Square, 20 Washington Square North Senior Center at Our Lady of Pompei Church, Bleecker & Carmine Streets MCF Rare Wines, 237 West 13th Street

SeaGrape Wines, 512 Hudson Street NOW: Looking south on Hudson Street, the Herring Building (on the right), now occupied by restaurants, galleries, and of- fices, fronts the Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC Hotel (completed in 2004). Historic buildings on the left have been converted Ottomanelli, 285 Bleecker Street to business and residential uses; they are not in an NYC Historic District. Note the street work restoring wider sidewalks and adding pedestrian plazas to better handle the larger crowds on foot. Photo by Brian J. Pape, AIA. www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 11 Can You Be Both Pro- Affordability and Anti- Development at the Same Time? By Donna Schaper moral difficulty after another in trying to get relief on air rights sales so that congrega- It isn’t easy to be virtuous in Gotham today. tions don’t have to sell to luxury apartments, Maybe it never was. You can be an orga- breweries or high-end restaurants – as their nization as lofty as Habitat for Humanity membership dwindles and their mainte- and be accused of selling out, destroying nance costs accelerate. Yes, Virginia, land- gardens and siding with developers. So- marked congregations do have air rights. called “Haven Green” has given the devil a No, Virginia, they can’t sell them without lot of opportunities to repeat history. enormous effort and expense – which is In a meeting with Habitat recently, I what makes great organizations like Union learned a few important things. First of all, Seminary the victim of developer’s funds. I should explain. Why would a clergy person If there could be more flexibility in the sale meet with a housing organization? Because of air rights, congregations wouldn’t have Habitat’s base for years has been religious to depend on the good will of people like congregations and because I have honored George Capsis to do church concerts to stay and dug their work in Europe and in multi- alive. They could monetize their air rights ple American cities. That relationship caused and develop affordable housing – if there me and other members of Judson church to was more flexibility around development. be concerned about their anti-garden, pro- And yes, development yields affordability. affordability, arm in arm with developers, al- This interest in the survival of religious liance in “Green Haven/Haven Green.” buildings encounters multiple moral quan- In that meeting we learned quite a few daries with preservationists. Preservation- Don’t Just Sit There, Resist! Part V: interesting things about why Habitat would ists obviously don’t want more develop- want to hurt and diminish a thriving gar- ment, even if it is holy. They rightly protect den. They think it is the right thing to the air, the green, the space, the gardens. Hey, Young People.Vote! do—and that if they are not involved in the But without development of new spaces, development, it will even be worse than it is which air rights properly sold could do, the By Alec Pruchnicki vote make several arguments. Notably, already going to be. The alternative space, rents will not only be too damn high today. that if the candidates were better, young a lot on Hudson Street, is not really on the They will even be higher tomorrow. The There appears to be a lot of enthusiasm people would vote. But, the average politi- market or so they say. Apparently, Margaret haven that is green development is a great within the Democratic party for the up- cian is average, not a media superstar like Chin knows the answer and I hope to hear example of preservation and green and af- coming midterm elections. The recent vic- AOC, Zephyr Teachout, Cynthia Nixon, from her soon. (City Council presidents or fordability colliding. tory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, or Senators Sanders and Warren. Besides, “higher-ups rarely interfere with a decision The real problem in Manhattan, as for- as I like to call her), the numerous victories terrible candidates don’t prevent older firmly in someone else’s district.). Habitat’s mer Mayor Bloomberg was bright enough in special elections around the country, Republicans from coming out to vote, as involvement will produce permanently af- to tell us, is population explosion. When several high profile primary fights in New evidenced by the near-election of accused fordable housing—not something that can Occupy (remember Occupy) tried to find a York, and massive opposition to the poli- Alabama pedophile Roy Moore to the be flipped. “It gets built and it’s not Habi- plot of land to move into, it could only find cies of President Trump appear to predict U.S. Senate, and full Republican control tat watching. That’s the only alternative.” about a dozen available sites anywhere in a Democratic “Blue Wave” this November. of the House and Senate (not to mention They are also doing a participatory design downtown. There simply is very little land But, there are also problems with this the White House). which will maximize community input; that is not air wronging. narrative. AOC won her primary, but all Even the argument that good candi- that process is starting now. And they will So, what’s a good person to do? Move to other sitting representatives in New York dates and meaningful elections can bring get ground floor office space in the new set- Montana? Turn Habitat or preservationists State won their primaries or ran unop- out the youth vote is yet to be proven. My up and not have to worry about rising rents into the demon? Pay the high rents? Win posed. One exception does not make a internet searches, as rudimentary as they where they are now. the lottery? Abandon green or old build- trend. Turnout in off-year elections has are, have yet to find elections where ex- They are offended to be characterized ings or both in order to pay the rents? Until been steadily declining for years, with citing candidates or issues bring out sub- as a villain, which surely their track record population growth slows down and fewer the 2014 turnout of 37% the lowest in stantial numbers of younger voters. Maybe denies. You can find a way to participate people want to live on the same island, these 70 years. Low turnouts generally hurt this article will encourage readers with in the design of the area by contacting values will all continue on their collision Democrats. more access to statistics to come out and Mathew Dunbar at Habitat, mdunbar@ course. Since population is unlikely to stop The biggest problem is that the Demo- prove me wrong. (Please, prove I’m wrong habitatnyc.org. growing, the next best thing to do is to tax crats’ strongest demographic base, young so I can have a little hope for the future). They are not villains. Instead, like many the heaven out of luxury apartments, espe- people under 30-35 years old, don’t come Finally, the deficit of young voters af- of us in NYC, they are opportunists. Do cially those that are “un-occupied.” out to vote in high numbers. Under the fects the voters themselves. Issues related you really know a not for profit that doesn’t My hunch is that “Haven Green” is al- age of 30, Democrats outnumber Repub- to older voters, such as Social Security, want a secure rental? One that won’t get its ready a go and that the train has already licans 54 to 43%, but over 30 Republicans Medicare and Medicaid are given top rent raised over and over again? Is grabbing left the station. Thus, the pathetic rem- outnumber Democrats 46 to 39%. In the priority by politicians of virtually every af- an opportunity as it passes by virtuous? nant garden will be more and more in the 2014 election, although the overall turn- filiation, whereas reform of student loan Ask Jane Jacobs. No ask her foe, Robert shade. Then again, a little moral imagina- out was 37%, turnout for voters under 40 debt is given minimal attention, and little Moses. Better yet, ask William James. The tion by Margaret Chin or the Mayor could was 26%. When Representative Carolyn actual legislation. real religion of America is pragmatism, and liberate the Hudson site and everything is Maloney beat challenger Suraj Patel, the The New York primary election for vot- everyone knows that. We can hardly all be possible. Habitat could get involved with overall turnout was 13.7%, but Patel sent ers who are already registered is Thursday on the search for a better deal or a new deal the other potential site, the garden could out an email after the election stating that September 13th. To register for the federal or a good deal or a “discount” and be dis- remain sunny and people could feel good only 2% of those under 35 voted (although election on Tuesday, November 6th, go to mayed when not for profits seek the same. about each other and how we turned a it’s unclear if this was 2% of total voters or elections.ny.gov/votingregistration.html Bricks and Mortals, an organization I problem into a solution, one good practi- registered Democrats). as soon as possible. helped to found, is also running into one cal thought at a time. Supporters of the potential of the youth Hey, young people. Vote! 12 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

LOYALTY PROGRAM • GIFT CARDS FREE DELIVERY Tom Savage: Writer, Poet, and Playwright

GREENWICH VILLAGE By Lorraine Gibney sexual revolution was in full force. He experimented with sex, and drugs; however, he was careful—acknowledging 512 HUDSON STREET • NYC 10014 On Saturday, August 11th, I had the privilege of inter- the high stakes of one mistake. WWW.SEAGRAPEWINES.COM • 212-463-7688 viewing writer, poet, and playwright Tom Savage at the During my interview with Tom, he admitted that Grace LGBT Community Center on West 13th Street. For Paley was one of his favorite people. Ms. Paley was an Private Piano Lessons with Experienced more than three hours Mr. Savage freely discussed his fas- American author, poet, teacher, and political activist. A fa- Private PianoPianist/Piano Lessons Teacherwith Experienced Pianist/Piano Teacher cinating escapades as a prolific writer during the 1960s— mous quote written by Grace Paley reads, “You become a v MFA in piano performance when he hobnobbed with the most iconic figures and writ- writer because you need to become a writer—nothing else”. Q MFA in piano performance ers of the 20th century. In the course of interviewing him, I discovered that v $ 35 per half hour Q $35 per half hour Mr. Savage is a native of Greenwich Village. He lived Tom Savage is an intelligent, kind, and loving soul. As on Charles Street until he was seven years old and then a writer and poet, I found our conversation to be very in- v Lessons in Mandarin or English Q Lessons in Mandarin or English moved to MacDougal Street. He attended the High formative and quite an honor. I believe that in the future Text orText call or call 917-330-2553 917-330-2553 School of Commerce in Manhattan where his best friend, Tom and I will become good friends. His dedication and Wally Stachera, was unlike Tom and most “flower chil- expertise in literature has been a blessing to me. Mr. Sav- dren” of the 1960s; Wally joined the military and served age...Namaste! in Vietnam. Regarding his own feelings about that period, Tom explained, “I always felt myself to be more a beatnik, Books by Tom Savage: and more akin to them, than a hippie, for whatever that Sonnets Mostly (135 collaborations with Bill Kushner). Don’t put off taking off was or is worth.” Afghanistan, 2015 those extra pounds – and Tom’s love for the written word was directly influenced keeping them off! by his family, as well as by friends, cultural events, reading, From Herat to Balkh and Back Again. Fly By Night Press, Please allow me writing, and attendance at lectures. His parents, Thomas 2015 to help you on your Upton Savage Jr. and Anna Joyce Savage, thought culture Bamiyan Poems. Sisyphus Press, 2005 weight management journey and education were important. His father wrote articles for small magazines; Tom was once given a photo of his Brain Surgery Poems. Linear Arts Books, 1999 Joy Pape, Family Nurse Practitioner father, with the caption “Writer,” by the (bar) Kettle of Political Conditions Physical States. United Artists Books, Fish. At an early age Tom wrote a play in verse called Fall [email protected] 1993 917-806-1945 of the Bastille. The piece was largely based on the French Revolution of July 14th, 1789. Processed Words. Coffee House Press, 1990 Tom, an intellectual and atheist, became interested in Housing, Preservation, And Development. Cheap Review Buddhism after reading the Herman Hesse novel Sid- MULLIGAN Press, 1988 PLUMBING & HEATING dhartha. Tom’s practice of Buddhism included a routine of Since 1920—Three Generations of Mulligans meditation for twenty minutes a day. Initially, he practiced Filling Spaces. Nalanda University Press, 1980. meditation to control his bouts with epileptic seizures. We Get Better and Better! Slow Waltz on a Glass Harmonica. Nalanda University Eventually, he developed a greater interest in Buddhism Press, 1980 and lived in India for three and a half years. Naropa Institute, in Boulder, Colorado, was founded in Personalities. Jim Brody Books, 1978 Fast, Competent, Affordable 1974 by a Tibetan teacher and writer named Chogyam Bathroom and Kitchen Renovations Trungpa Rinpoche, a major figure in Buddhism. Allen (212) 929-1809 Ginsberg and others created a collective for writers and 14 A Morton Street, New York • Fax (212) 929-2007 poets at Naropa. In 1975, Tom became a colleague of, and friends with, Ginsberg and his long-time lover Peter Or- WE NEED YOU lovsky. Ginsberg is most recognized for his poem Howl, WE NEED YOUR EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS TO MAKE and for many other works associated with the 60s genera- WESTVIEW EVEN BETTER. tion. Mr. Orlovsky was an American poet and actor, ap- Writers—your life time experiences are valuable pearing in the films Pull My Daisy, Me and My Brother, Editors—we need your skill to make the paper read and Chappaqua. smooth. In the 1980s, the epidemic of AIDS (Acquired Immune Ad sales—invite our local businesses to support the Deficiency Syndrome) killed many of the artists living in community voice Greenwich Village. As a sensitive man, Tom Savage expe- Office support—responding to our readers rienced great loss; many of his friends died from AIDS or call 212 924 5718 or e-mail [email protected] hepatitis. Fortunately, Tom was always cautious while the

INCOME TAX PREPARATION in the privacy of your own home... very reasonable rates Call Peter White 212.924.0389 www.westviewnews.org March 2018 WestView News 13 West Village Sows their Oats

By Naomi Sternstein until seeing it on our menu.” Not too long after my initial coffee date We like our oats to talk to us, and humble- with Oatly, I found myself in the home of ness is not required. This much holds true the oats, Sweden, and neighboring Den- on the topic of oat milk. Our Oatly oats mark. Here the brand was even more tell us all about their “oatsome delicious- widespread. The hotels I stayed at offered ness and what our products can do” and we Oatly alongside dairy and soy-based milks drink it right up. Sometimes we like their at the business breakfast buffet. From the too-cute dad-humor asides that discredit billboard near the central train station in any notion of blank space in milk carton Copenhagen, to a presence in almost every packaging design, or we like what they grocery aisle, frozen to non-refrigerated, do to the froth and flavor of our cappuc- Oatly declared itself simultaneously desir- cinos, or we like the lesser environmental able and commonplace. The bubbly writ- impact in an age of committing ourselves ing and run on sentences appeared on oat- to plastic-free straws. It’s that “something based ice creams, mango flavored yogurts, new” that hasn’t gotten old, yet. and portable matcha oat milk and mocha My first encounter with Oatly products oat milk lattes, products that have still not mirrors that of other consumers. I went to crossed over to our markets. grab a coffee in February or March, and I Back in the U.S, Oatly had decided to Dina Andriotis, Chris Tsiamis, and Nikitas Andriotis (from left to right). noticed “oat milk” printed neatly beneath bring their milk and chocolate milk to gro- 77 “almond milk” as an option on the menu cery stores. Julio Gonzalez, General Man- board. Take note that soy milk was de- ager of Brooklyn Fare’s West Village loca- Between Seventh Avenue and Bleecker Street finitively not offered at this coffee locale. tion, said they began stocking Oatly about a Pharmacy Hours: Whether it had been there weeks or only month and a half ago after a representative Monday - Friday: 8:30 AM - 8:00 PM days before I noticed, I wasn’t too sure, but reached out to their dairy manager. Gon- I ordered an iced coffee with oat milk in- zalez said that he himself chooses to drink Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM stead of the usual almond. This discovery their products over other non-dairy options, Sunday 10:00 AM- 5:00 PM was exciting and rare in its very approach; and attributes the brand’s gluten-free, sugar- it was a real, serendipitous meeting, pre- free, dairy-free, nut-free promises as reasons Telephone: 212-255-2525 • Fax: 212-255-2524 cursory to reading about oat milk virtually for universal popularity. The success is not email: [email protected] online or on social media and then actively without its drawbacks, and according to www.newyorkchemists.com seeking it out. In a time when every new Gonzalez, Brooklyn Fare, like many other discovery seems to stem from virtual me- grocery stores, has been having trouble get- dia, with Oatly the media seemed to follow ting their supply. But what of other brands the discovery. When I decided the oat milk that produce oat milk, such as Elmhurst was not only new and interesting but also 1925 or Pacific Foods? Gonzalez said that delicious, I proceeded to Google. That’s while they do have an entire display of El- where I had my first conversation with an murst 1925, whose products cover a wide Oatly carton and I liked what it told me. range of less common alternative milks, in- It is similarly hard to pinpoint the exact cluding “Milked Oats,” he couldn’t comment Caruso’s Quips date when Oatly and oat milk first started on if their popularity has changed since the By Charles Caruso taking up so much space in overheard con- rise of Oatly. He did say that, unlike brands versations, (and media—re: recent New that bring in representatives to grocery stores Yorker and New York Times articles on the and host tastings for customers, Oatly has The man in the seat gets the heat, the fame or the blame. Oatly milk shortage) but we do know this: remained distant. Perhaps this is due to their It began with our coffee shops. Campaign- apparent try-it-in-your-latte-first model, or Dogs are not as stupid as cats think. ing first to younger, trendy coffee shops in that their popularity grew faster than they cities like Manhattan was central to the planned for and they simply do not have In these mass shootings, pity the gunman too. Oatly strategy. Anthony Lak, manager the staff, but Oatly’s approach might have Think of the hell the poor devil went through before he cracked. of Rebel Coffee on 8th avenue, brought to change if they choose to bring their other Oatly to the shop around March through products to American retail. Geography is history. his usual milk distributor, who was already On the topic of Oatly as a fast trend or carrying the products. He said that “[Reb- new standard, many baristas aren’t plan- New sex site: Orgasm.com el] originally advertised carrying Oatly ning to remove ‘oat milk’ from the menu through social media and our A-frame board any time soon. Lak says, “I do be- Some people are jam, some are jelly. sign.” On where that leaves other milk al- lieve oat milk is here to stay and can pos- ternatives, Lak added, “I will probably say sibly surpass the soy and almond markets, Mopey Dick: A gripping novel about erectile disfunction. it rivals almond in terms of daily requests eventually.” Now, whether Oatly stakes its with soy coming in last. We also get a lot of claim or more brands follow through with Inspired, insipid. curious dairy milk drinkers wanting to try commercial oat milk success, only a New oat because they’ve never heard or tried it York minute will tell. Giving someone a stained and wrinkled dollar bill is an insult.

Christmas isn’t the merriest holiday -- It’s the saddest: Another year gone and closer to the big goodbye. IF THIS PAPER MAKES YOU THINK We will print your thoughts in the next issue A prince can survive anything but ridicule. [email protected] 69 Charles St. • New York NY 10014 Santa Claus is God in a red suit. 14 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org Michael’s Recipe for When You Tech Tips & Tricks By Peter Rooney learn by trial-and-error. But if you want a Talked Too Long more secure learning experience, there are many options: By Jane Heil Usyk in Louisville adores Ruth Bader Gins- • The New York Public Library (NYPL) burg; they are all wearing t-shirts with her offers many choices. First of all, natu- Here is a quick, delicious, lifesaving recipe picture on it! We thought that was pretty rally, there are books. Most branches for nights when you come home late and good news. are well stocked with titles such as only have five minutes to make dinner; Michael was quiet for a moment, ob- “Windows 10 for Dummies” and it’s also very cheap. The other night, for serving the people on , many “Windows 10 the Missing Manual.” example, we were at our usual Monday of them very needy. “What are you do- Check them out. night powwow with Simon, our wonder- ing?” I asked. • NYPL also offers many courses on com- ful opera teacher, who teaches opera ap- “I’m watching the beautiful mosaic,” Mi- puters, in a series called TechConnect. preciation and goes over various aspects of chael says, echoing various mayors, mainly These courses help people of all ages de- opera in class, Verdi, Janacek, Puccini, and David Dinkins. FIRST TECH TIP: Liquids and computers velop confidence in their computer skills everyone else, and shows us opera movies, And then it was 8:30 and time to split don't mix. Photo by Darielle Smolian. and grow more comfortable in today’s and plays living and dead opera stars on up and go home, and for Simon, have din- digital world. Courses range from “Basic his phone. We do not sing ourselves. He ner with French people. We got home just Welcome to a monthly column to help you Computer Skills” to one-on-one advice had been out of town, in Kentucky, for al- after nine, and Mike went right to work. turn your computer into a friend, brought in a service called Technology Open most a month, and we missed him. His raw materials: chicken-cilantro dump- to you by one of the oldest computer clubs Labs. To find out about these courses, go He told us he was having dinner at lings, French green beans, two red onion in the world—right here in the West Vil- to www.nypl.org/events/classes or www. 8:30 p.m. in the Village with two French slices, and bok choy. Chopped all the veg- lage. We are the New York Amateur Com- nypl.org/tech-connect. friends; they are married, but one lives in etables while heating up the pan, coated the puter Club, http://www.nyacc.org. Each • Senior Planet offers a range of free Toulouse and the other in Bordeaux. Si- bottom of the pan with oil, threw the vege- month we’ll explore a technical topic, and five and 10-week digital technology mon said it only takes two and a half hours tables in the pan, and softened them. Then attempt to answer your questions about courses at its Exploration Center, for to drive from Bordeaux to Toulouse or he added the dumplings, about ten or computers. people age 60 and up. Most courses vice versa. They were in Manhattan for a twelve, and a little water to make a caul- meet twice per week. Registration night or two. dron. Also, he added a little Gyoza dipping Question of the day takes place on a quarterly basis in- Talking was not a problem; there are a sauce. Put the top on and let it cook for for “What do you do when you spill some- person only at the center, located at million subjects we can talk about. Fill- a few minutes. thing on your keyboard?” 127 West 25th Street in Manhattan. ing up the two or three hours until 8:30 Meanwhile, I set the table and got two Best advice is: don’t let it happen. Don’t Check out https://seniorplanet.org/ p.m was a bit of a problem. We talked and Heil family Spode plates, one serving dish, drink coffee at your computer. senior-planet-nyc/current-classes/ talked, about Madrid, Valencia, about the two Heil family serving things, and put But if it does happen, instantly turn off • Try Computer Hope for learning at proper way to make paella (I had offered them on the table with the dipping sauce. power and unplug the machine. Remove home. Since 1998 they have been an that you could buy it in Trader Joe’s for And Michael served it, not ten minutes the battery if applicable. Dry the outside online help site for computer users. very little); Simon said there are three in- after we got in the door. Suddenly, you have of your machine. Open it as far as it goes, By now they have a huge collection gredients paella must have: that special a lovely Chinese dinner. At home. Have hold it upside down, and wipe dry any wet of short, useful articles. You can even short rice that grows in Spain, olive oil, seltzer and half a banana for dessert, and surfaces that you see with a towel or other ask questions and participate in online and saffron. And then what? Chicken, you’re home free! lint-free absorbent fabric. The type of liq- forums. The address is https://www. vegetables, rabbit, snails. Ugh!!! Not for Simon was so glad to get back to New uid matters: water is the least corrosive, computerhope.com/ me. I’ll take seafood paella. The main York. Louisville was very quiet, he said. No while sugary and alcoholic liquids are the • Go to YouTube.com if you need to as- thing is, you have to cook it over a wood noise, no madness, no trash, and hardly most harmful. (In this regard, computers semble or connect computer compo- fire, and make sure the bottom is all crispy any people. Of course, it was summer,and are just like people!) nents. You’ll find short (like 5-minute) and crunchy. probably quieter than during the school Many computer stores, like Staples, offer videos showing the actual steps involved. He was also wondering what he should year... the service of a special oven on-site to dry • At the New York Amateur Computer say tomorrow night, when he is due to Mike says he is so happy to spend time your hardware professionally. A home hair Club you can attend free monthly give a talk at the 92nd Street Y. “What with Simon again. Simon was in Lou- dryer can also be used. meetings. These take place at NYU in have you planned so far?” I asked. isville for three weeks, teaching singing. Be patient. The computer will probably the Village (check the website nyacc. “Nothing,” was his answer. Hmm- Now he’s back, and we enjoyed all the talk recover. org for directions.) You can ask ques- mm. Well, maybe tonight he will get an during and after class. Simon is one of the In the future, questions will hopefully tions during our random access section idea. people who brighten our lives. be from you, our readers. And please re- and meet up with other computer users. Also, Michael described to Simon our member, there is no such thing as a stupid problems using one of his tablets to Skype Jane Heil Usyk wrote articles for Vogue, question. Answers, perhaps, but we will try We hope these tips have helped to make a friend in Paris; we couldn’t do it and we Cosmo, Glamour, Family Circle, Play- our best. your computer feel less intimidating. If you don’t know why. He said he would come girl, Hit Parader, and Fitness magazines. have questions for next month’s paper, send to our apartment soon and help us. (He She wrote a book, “Silence, Storytelling, Topic: Learning about your Computer by mail to: PO Box 7844, JAF Station, is, besides our opera teacher, our techni- and Madness: Strategies of Resistance You may have noticed— these days, few New York NY 10116. Or go to www.NY- cal advisor, since he seems to know every- in Nuyorican and Other Latina Wom- computers or software come with any kind ACC.org, click on Contact Us, and start a thing about computers.) en’s Coming-of-Age Stories.” She worked at of documentation. Software comes in an message with the words “To Tech Tips.” Simon also mentioned that everybody Vogue, and is writing a memoir. empty box. It seems people are expected to We look forward to hearing from you.

__ Yes, I want my copy of WestView. Here is $12 for a one year subscription. __ Yes, here is $24 for 2 years. "I didn't get my paper!" __ Yes, I love Music at St. Veronica. Here is my contribution of $______WE GET THIS CALL OFTEN WHEN A READER DOES NOT FIND "HIS" COPY IN Please make checks payable to tax-deductible “West Village Fund” THE LOBBY...BUT IT IS ONLY YOUR PAPER WHEN YOU SEND US 12 BUCKS! and mail to WestView News, 69 Charles Street, New York, NY 10014 www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 15

West Village Original: Carmen Grange You’re Invited To Attend gested that I go into social work, instead! “9/11 Truth to 9/11 Justice” So, I applied to Trinity College in Dublin and they accepted me. That was in 1959 The Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 and I was there for about five years.” Inquiry, Inc. (LC), Architects & Engi- What was that experience like? “I felt neers for 9/11 Truth founder Richard welcomed in Dublin,” she replies. “I had no Gage, AIA, and a 9/11 family mem- problem being a woman of color studying ber will announce a major new legal medicine. It was nice, too, because there action. The lawyers and Mr. Gage will were people from all over the world doing summarize their amended petition to the same thing. After I finished, I came back to the U.S. to do my residency.” the U.S. attorney filed July 30th and the WTC 1, 2 and 7 related evidence When Grange started her own prac- Jefferson Market Public Library, 425 6th Ave, New York tice—eventually opening an office on West that the LC asks the U.S. attorney 13th Street—she focused on internal med- to present to a special grand jury. icine. “I liked internal medicine because I The Event will be live-streamed by liked taking care of people with my hands,” NoLiesRadio.org and piped live into she says. “I took care of patients of all colors. Vigils being held in cities across the You have to like what you’re doing, which I always did.” Did she ever again face the country by the 9/11 Truth Action kind of resistance she did while trying to Project (TAP) 911TA P.or g. get into medical school? “No. Once you’re a doctor—woman or man—you’re a doctor,” Monday, Sept. 10th, 6:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. she says with a shrug. “And I don’t really Nano-thermite explosives shown above were gathered Jefferson Market Public Library, 425 6th Ave, NY miss it because I’m so old now. People still from the WTC debris shortly after the towers fell on 9/11. Auditorium, First Floor, (212) 243-4334 ask me questions that I’m able to answer, though.” Grange never married, even though she Lawyers’“Our mission is to Committee promote transparency and foraccountability 9/11 regarding Inquiry 9/11.” did have the opportunity while in Dublin. “I refused to get married because the man "I WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR AND NOTH- was Danish and I didn’t want to move to lawyerscommitteefor9-11inquiry.org ING WOULD STOP ME." Carmen Grange, Denmark,” she says, smiling. “I wanted above, would start her own medical prac- to come back to America. However, I’ve tice, eventually opening an office on West had a wonderful, intellectual family life 13th Street. Photo by Maggie Berkvist. thanks to my 16 nieces and nephews, who are still around me. I helped educate them By Michael D. Minichiello all. I spent all my money on them and it was worth it. Today they’re lawyers, doc- This month’s West Village Original is Dr. tors, and even a veterinarian. What was the Carmen Grange, born in 1922 in Colón, point of making all that money if I didn’t Panama, to Jamaican parents working in spend it on them?” the Canal Zone. Grange studied pre-med at Grange moved into her high-rise on Trinity College in Dublin and returned to Charles Street in 1964, the year it was the U.S. to do her residency, eventually open- built. “I had family connections with this ing a practice on West 13th Street. A resident part of the world from way back when,” she of Charles Street since 1964, she was also says. “When I moved in I used to have a Medical Director at Greenwich House, pri- great view of both the East River and the mary doctor at a nursing home in the Bronx, Hudson River. Of course, it’s changed a lot, and affiliated with Beekman Downtown but I still like the West Village. I did a lot Hospital. here because I was always an active person. I love the local restaurants, too: Baby Brasa, “I wanted to be a doctor and nothing Morandi—in my building—and the Riv- Saturday, September 22nd & would stop me,” says Carmen Grange, re- iera Café, which is gone now.” Sunday, September 23rd ferring to the time when she was a young These days Dr. Grange finds herself girl in Jamaica. “I was born in Panama but homebound due to suffering a heart at- 11 am - 6 pm my parents separated when I was young tack a few years ago. But she maintains her and I was sent to Jamaica to live with my connection to family and her long-time grandmother. She was a midwife and I church, St. John’s in the Village. “I’ve had would accompany her when she did her a good and busy life,” she says. “I especially Visit Jefferson Market Garden and shop pots, vases, work. That’s why I wanted to do medicine loved all the traveling because in those days sculpture, dishware and more—all created and donated by from an early age.” it was so nice. Not like today, which is so the celebrated artists of Greenwich House Pottery! Grange was to discover that—for vari- complicated. As a doctor, I went to meet- ous reasons—it wasn’t going to be easy to ings and conferences all over the world Proceeds benefit Jefferson Market Garden. attain her dream. “Sometimes it was the is- and I met a lot of interesting people. It’s Jefferson Market Garden sue of my being a woman and sometimes a big, varied world and Thank God for it. & W 10th St. because I was a woman of color,” she says. My grandmother used to say, ‘If you can’t New York, New York 10011 “It took some time, but I just persevered. do any good, at least don’t do any evil!’ I’ve Always free to enter! I was attending college in Jamaica but I never forgotten those words and they’re www.jeffersonmarketgarden.org couldn’t get into pre-med there. They sug- still true.” 16 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

ordered the Hinoki Martini, and our waiter dishes have different truffle manifestations a combined total of 70 years cooking Mexi- explained that the owner/bartender had (truffle salt, truffle honey, truffle sauce, can food in New York City. cut off a branch of a Hinoki Cypress tree etc.). Steve Cuozzo, food critic at the New IN to make the essence used in the drink. We York Post, greatly enjoyed his meal there, Coming Soon and expected a strong evergreen presence, but it but warned that the current prices reflect I was surprised to see signage up for Shake OUT was barely discernable. There is a small food the use of summer truffles, and in the fall, Shack at the corner of Varick and Clarkson by Caroline Benveniste menu of izakaya-inspired dishes, including when the winter truffles arrive, the prices (225 ) in the old Clarkson res- the ubiquitous deviled eggs, which, in this will rise accordingly. taurant space. A sign in the window reads: August was a surprisingly busy month—and case, were just hard-boiled eggs covered in “Innovation KITCHEN Coming in Sep- since I was away for a couple of weeks I was miso and salmon roe. Also Open tember @shakeshack.” Doing some further particularly grateful to WestView readers for Many were sad when Good closed (in- research, I learned that this will not only their observations. There were two major cock- cluding Mimi Sheraton who was a regular be the West Village’s first Shake Shack, but tail bar openings, a couple of restaurants, and there). Now, in the space it occupied comes that the company is leasing three floors and the first shop to open in one of the properties Nightingale (89 Greenwich Avenue between will move its corporate headquarters there that Brookfield purchased on Bleecker Street. Jane and 12th streets). Like Good, the from Union Square, and will also have a test menu features some comfort food but the kitchen on-site (not open to the public). The Chelsea Market and Gan- dishes are fancier, something that will not owners of recently-opened Llamita plan to sevoort Market Update please everyone. For example, there are two open Llama San in the old Tertulia space at At Chelsea Market, Dizengoff opened to versions of Mac ‘n Cheese, one with Pork 359 6th Avenue (between Waverly Place great fanfare in May 2016. Many agreed Belly and Porcini, and the other with Snow and Washington Place). According to their that it featured the best hummus in the city. Crab and Green Pea. While my daughter is presentation to the SLA Licensing subcom- For a while there were excellent and unusual a big fan of Mac ‘n Cheese, I can’t imagine mittee of Community Board 2, it will be a multi-course Thursday night dinners. But Existing Conditions (35 West 8th Street be- she’d order either. There is a burger with foie Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant and somehow, it never gained the popularity of tween 6th Avenue and MacDougal Street). gras, and to mollify vegetarians, “Impossible izakaya. There is more news on the replace- the Philadelphia original, and with Miznon, I was very sad when Booker & Dax, the Meatballs” served on a gluten-free bun. The ment for now-closed The Village Den (225 another pita-based Israeli restaurant open- bar in the back of Momofuku Ssam Bar early Yelp reviews have been very positive. West 12th Street at Greenwich Avenue): it ing a few storefronts away, traffic decreased closed. The drinks there were truly differ- The Great Eros (66 Greenwich Avenue near has been widely reported that Antoni Po- further. Perhaps, for these reasons, Dizen- ent and spectacular (think red hot pokers, 7th Avenue South), a lingerie store that also rowski, who appears on the show Queer Eye goff will be closing at the end of August. among other things). Now, Dave Arnold sells fancy leisure wear, has opened where for the Straight Guy, will open a fast-casual Downstairs at “The Chelsea Local,” Zach from Booker & Dax as well as Don Lee Tabwa Gallery used to be. The original lo- restaurant in the space. He has been quoted & Zoë Sweet Bee Farm, a honey purveyor, from PDT, another of my favorite bars, have cation is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The as saying it will feature “wholesome comfort joins the line-up. Also downstairs, Manhat- opened Existing Conditions on 8th Street in lingerie is designed by the owners who are food.” A sign in the window of former Nour- tan Fruit Exchange has set up a stand with a the space that used to house Whiskey So- a couple, and according to the website, they ish Kitchen + Table promises the imminent woman preparing “fresh-cut Mexican style cial. When I first went there I did not know were determined to “create a space that felt arrival of a Colombian restaurant serving mangoes” for $4. Over at Gansevoort Mar- about the bar’s pedigree, but I immediately warm, airy, sensual with a yin and yang bal- arepas, empanadas, juices and single-origin ket, John’s Juice has closed, but Karaoke Gan- suspected something was up when I saw ance of masculine and feminine energies.” coffee. We reported that Mas Farmhouse sevoort is now open in the basement Thurs- Banana Justino on the menu (a drink made The Brooklyn store also carries a line of (39 Downing Street between Bedford and day through Saturday, and on those nights with rum and bananas that have been blend- sensual objects including some unusual- Varick Streets) had recently closed, and now Trece Taqueria and Gansevoort Steakhouse ed with enzymes and spun in a centrifuge, looking Japanese vibrators. I did not see we hear that in its place will come a Korean are open until 3 AM. resulting in a liquid clear banana essence.) these in the Greenwich Avenue store, but fusion restaurant called Wind Rose. The same The process is described in the book Liquid even if I had I might not have realized what owners filled out an application for a liquor Open Intelligence by Dave Arnold (which won the they were. Also on Greenwich Avenue, license with Community Board 3’s SLA TOP OPENINGS: 2015 James Beard Award for Best Beverage Umami Sushi has opened in the old Lumpia licensing subcommittee in February for a Book). I have the book, but these things are Shack Snackbar space (50 Greenwich Av- Latin-inspired restaurant called Saluté at 214 complicated to make, so your best bet is to enue between Charles and Perry Streets) East Ninth Street (between Second Avenue go to Existing Conditions, where you can try with a standard menu of rolls and nigiri su- and Third Avenues). Banana Justino as well as a number of other shi and sashimi, and a section of Kushi Yaki delicious and unusual cocktails (the carbon- (skewers). Llamita (80 Carmine Street near Closed/Closing ated offerings are made with a custom-made 7th Avenue South) is a small fast casual spot I never fully got over the closing of Jon Vie carbonation system). There is a small menu from the owners of Llama Inn in Brooklyn. bakery at 492 6th Avenue (between 12th and of bar food, but you can make a dinner of it I am always on a hunt for the perfect rotis- 13th Streets), so I always somewhat resented with the well-prepared sandwiches like the serie chicken, so I rushed over to try theirs Ultimate Jeans when they opened in that Turkey Club or Steak Sandwich. and it was very ordinary. Perhaps I should space. Over a year ago, we reported that Ul- have stuck with the sandwiches, which have timate Jeans was closing, but in the end they been popular with critics, such as the pork did not. This time, however, it looks like they shoulder, duck sausage and ribeye. There are really gone. Ghandi Café (283 Bleecker are some more unusual offerings like beef Street east of 7th Avenue South), an Anglo- heart skewers, and the smoothies, some Indian restaurant that had been around since made with Peruvian fruits, are in demand. 1999, appears to have closed. On the stretch As we and others reported earlier, Brookfield of Bleecker west of 7th Avenue South, three Properties acquired seven storefronts on stores have closed: Orla Kiely (372 Bleecker Katana Kitten (531 Hudson Street near Bleecker Street, and now, their first tenant, Street, between Charles and Perry Streets), Charles Street). A Japanese-themed bar has Margaux, has opened at 387 Bleecker Street the U.S. flagship for an Irish designer,Oro - opened in the space vacated by Swine a few (between Perry and West 11th Streets). gold (333 Bleecker Street between Christo- months ago. The décor is meant to trans- Margaux is an online women’s shoe retailer pher and West 10th Streets), a branch of a port patrons to Tokyo. The bar is on two that started two years ago, and this is their cosmetics company that incorporates gold levels, with an upstairs space that sports cat- Oak Tuscan Truffle Lounge (28 Greenwich first New York location. An observant read- in their products and across the street, Satya themed items on the walls, and a downstairs Avenue between West 10th and Charles er noticed that the space that was previously Jewelry (330 Bleecker Street). Another small which reminded me of a school or camp Streets). A truffle-themed restaurant has Andrade Shoe Repair, and after that a candy jewelry store, Shaya (453A 6th Avenue near lunchroom. The drinks sound exotic and ex- opened in the tiny space that was Virgola, shop, has re-opened as a Mexican restaurant 11th Street) has closed and will be replaced citing, but were a bit disappointing: the Shi- an oyster and wine bar. All the salads and called The Little Taco House (246 West 4th with a 24-hour locksmith. Aedes Perfumery so Gin and Tonic was merely a gin and tonic main courses are topped with 10 grams Street between 10th and Charles Streets). (7 Greenwich Avenue at Christopher Street), with a large shiso leaf stuck in the glass. We of freshly-shaved truffles, while the other The restaurant boasts that their cooks have continued on page 17 www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 17 Escape to Nowhere

To All Our Friends and Neighbors Welcome Back! Summer’s Over The Fall Cooking Season is Here! FIRE ESCAPES ARE EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN AND FEW LANDLORDS WANT TO SPEND Visit us Soon for MONEY ON AN APPENDAGE THAT DOES NOT INCREASE THE VALUE OF THEIR PROPERTY. 81 Greenwich Avenue with and without the fire escape. Photo credit: Ananth Sampathkumar. Our Daily and Weekly Specials!

By Ananth Sampathkumar, Partner, tection, such as sprinklers, have been in- O. OTTOMANELLI NDNY Architecture + Design stalled. Some architects, like Joseph Lom- bardi, have valiantly tried to remove them. NEW YORK’S MEAT MARKET “Man Struck and Killed by Falling Debris In 2015 Lombardi initially secured Land- 285 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 from New York Building Fire Escape,” read marks approval to get rid of the exterior Tel. (212) 675-4217 • Fax (212) 620-7286 the headline from an online paper cover- escapes on two historic buildings in Soho. ing the incident in Soho earlier this year. The decision was overturned, however, af- Top Quality Poultry and Provisions The irony is all too obvious. The structure ter tenants, citing life safety concerns ob- m m m m m m m m m m m m m that was meant to save lives ended up tak- jected to the removal. m m m m m m m m m m m m m ing one—because of neglect. The most Today fire escapes serve many purposes, m m m m m m m m m m m m m infamous example of a failing fire escape most of which have nothing to do with life was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of safety. With a paucity of balconies in older 1911, where a poorly supported staircase buildings, tenants have taken to extend- led to two dozen additional deaths. Fire ing their lives onto these much-maligned VIEWS BY SUZE escapes are a ubiquitous part of New York’s structures. Take a stroll through the Vil- 50 + years in Greenwich Village built landscape and most residents have lage on a Saturday and you will see the See Views by Suze come to accept them as another unsightly landings serving as outdoor extensions of at Bonsignour Café necessity. (Few realize that they were out- indoor soirees. For those who don’t have Jane Street lawed in 1968 for new constructions, ex- stoops, the fire escape provides a nice van- and Eighth Avenue cept group homes.) tage point from which to soak in the City, To make matters worse, fire escapes with a glass of wine or cigarette in hand, 917-686-6542 are not easy to get rid of. Although these and dream of life on a real balcony or deck [email protected] structures are expensive to maintain and someday. There are also some creative ex- East Village Mural few landlords want to spend money on amples: the fire escape at the Bakery Build- an appendage that does not increase the ing (42 West 13th Street) is a well-crafted value of their property, in order to remove exterior stairway that adds character and an exterior escape owners must provide a depth to the façade. second means of egress internally or file Architecture is one of the few profes- for a Construction Code Determination sions that excels in inertia and fire escapes (CCD1) with the New York City Depart- are a sad reminder of this. Someday, when ment of Buildings to show that the build- flying cars are the norm, we will have fig- ing is either too small to provide another ured out a way to be rid of these unreliable stairway and/or that other means of pro- structures.

In and Out continued from page 16 which had been in the West Village for three of the space that had been part of The Quar- years, relocated to the Lower East Side. ter. With a planned opening in the early fall, Benedict’s Brunch Bar (516 Hudson Street, the restaurant will serve dishes incorporating near West 10th Street) had a short run: af- products from Hudson & Charles, the butcher ter less than a year in operation, the all-day shop next door which advertises “Local • brunch spot has closed. Sustainable • 100% Grass-Fed Meats.”

Other We are so grateful to you for all your intel on Hudson & Charles Dinette (522 Hudson openings and closings. Please keep sending Street between Charles and West 10th them to: [email protected] Streets) signed a 10-year lease for a portion Photos by Darielle Smolian 18 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org Gotta Go! By Keith Michael

Another Sunday. Another walk in Hudson River Park. At the end of her leash, Millie has al- ready walked me around her neighborhood block this morning, taking care of corgi- business, and now I’m walking myself (at the end of my own inner leash) along the river promenade, absorbing the view. The summer is ending. It’s true that the pristine New York blue sky at this time of year gives me a visceral recollection of just such a pure blue sky on that September 11th morning. But there wasn’t a Hud- son River Park then. And I wouldn’t have been walking here then. This bucolic park, that we’ve grown to take for granted as our backyard amenity, was a construction site. The shrinking daylight hours of Sep- tember remind me of the pending rigors of going back to school. Even the hottest days have a coolness around the edges now as the sun creeps further south along the ho- rizon at sunset. A few trees boast of a clus- ter of leaves already turned to fall hues. The NICE CATCH! A Common Tern with a locally-sourced fresh fish. Photo by Keith Michael. weeks ahead will bring less and less time for me to ramble the back woods, marshes, head bent down at an angle, then, with- pausing, wings aflutter, then diving again time, then finally, to this adolescence when grasslands, and shorelines of the city. Sigh. out warning, tucks into a vertical dive, and again into the high tide, is an aerial it’s time to fend for themselves. All along A sharp shreek nearby interrupts my and disappears into the water. Within a tour de force. On the fourth dive, the plot the way, they have to be taught. (not unpleasant) drift toward melancho- blink, it is back in the air, as though that changes. This time the tern emerges with And now, it’s training season. “Kiddo, lia. Out over the Pier 48 pile field, a Com- splash was a mere glitch in the film. The a wriggling silver fish in its orange beak. you have to learn how to fish for yourself. mon Tern is hovering like a helicopter, tern’s buoyant scribbling through the air, Success. (Well, not for the fish.) Day One.” It’s then that I notice another repeated Within the month, this chick and its par- shreek shreek shreek coming from the top ents will be heading south for the winter. of one of the exposed pilings—a fledgling “South” is to the southern coast of Argen- Common Tern is ordering breakfast! This tina. That’s around 6,000 miles away—give youngster couldn’t be clearer, “Feed me! or take 1,000 miles or so! And. If all goes Feed me!” And yet, after a number of near- well, they’ll be back next summer. That’s delivery airborne passes, Dad (or Mom) a 6,000-mile return flight. Book your ac- astonishingly—doesn’t make the drop off. commodations now. This tough-love parent swoops up to perch Melancholia? The deadlines and future on the railing of the bow-bridge overlook- disappointments (and elations) of my fall ing the pile field with the silver fish still pale in comparison to what this chick has un-delivered, still un-eaten. (My inner ahead. photographer is jumping up and down, Goodspeed. “Yippee! Yippee!”) This is probably a parent and child For more information about New York City Common Tern from the summer’s colony WILD! nature outings, birding, photo- on the Governor’s Island piers. A little over graphs, or books, visit keithmichaelnyc.com a foot long, the parents have full black caps or follow Instagram @newyorkcitywild on a sleek white swallow-tailed body, while the youngsters look a little blurry with a white forehead. Dozens of pairs have taken up residence on the abandoned Butter- milk Channel piers in the past years, barely scraping together a few pebbles as a nest site, laying their eggs right on the hot con- crete, “sitting” on their eggs more to shade them from the scorching summer sun than to keep them warm, and, devotedly, bring- ing locally-sourced seafood to the chicks for weeks. BEER BATTERED FISH & CHIPS Over the years, I’ve watched tern chicks grow from barely out of the eggs to strut- 466 Hudson Street ting about open-mouthed as their parents swooped in with the latest catch, from 212-741-6479 jumping up and down like they were on a FEED ME! FEED ME! This hungry Common Oscarsplacewestvillage.com trampoline as their flight feathers started Tern youngster couldn't be clearer. Photo to grow in, getting a bit more airborne each by Keith Michael. www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 19 Designing Waste—Strategies for a Zero Waste City VILLAGE By Mary Chandrahasan, Partner, (2030), OneNYC aims to meet a 90 per- NDNY Architecture + Design cent reduction in the waste sent to landfills from the 2005 baseline of 3.6 million tons Here are some interesting numbers to get of waste collected by the NYC Department APOTHECARY you thinking about waste. Did you know of Sanitation. How can we accomplish that nearly 40 percent of all food in the this? Architects and designers can play a THE COMMUNITY PHARMACY THAT CARES is wasted? Food waste ac- bigger role in how buildings are designed counts for 20 percent of materials sent to to accommodate waste collection, sorting, landfills and is the main contributor to and recycling. The Center for Architecture landfill methane emissions, which make exhibition presented ways that architects Come in up 18 percent of total U.S. emissions. New can design spaces and systems to encour- for your fREE York City discards approximately 24,000 age people to recycle. These would include tons of material every day. As our landfills planning and providing for waste manage- are full, tons of waste are sent to dump- ment—disposal and separation, movement ing grounds in other states, some of which of waste through a building, storage and WELCOmE are hundreds of miles away. In an effort to collection. Different processes that residen- remedy this, New York has set an ambi- tial and commercial buildings could use to tious goal to be a ‘zero waste’ city by 2030 collect and sort waste and recyclables vary- by reusing and recycling all of our waste. ing with building size, age and typology KIT! “Designing Waste—Strategies for a were illustrated. A sixty-square-foot grid Zero Waste City,” a recently concluded exhibit highlighted the minimum space exhibition at the Center for Architecture required to store waste and recyclables for BRInG THIs CARd In And RECEIVE $10 off at 536 LaGuardia Place, was based on the an eight-unit building. Space requirements O n A n Y P u RCHAs E O f $25 OR m ORE idea that we need to change the way we get considerably bigger for larger buildings. think about waste and that the system can Part of implementing zero waste tactics be improved by design. In 2017, a group of is to get people to understand how much Mon - Fri 8aM - 8pM • Sat 9aM - 6pM • Sun 10aM - 5pM architects, designers and waste profession- waste they produce individually and collec- Store HourS: als examined the lifecycle of waste in build- tively. To help with that, Zero Waste Design 346 Bleecker St • Greenwich VillaGe, nY 10014 • VillaGeapothecarY.com ings and neighborhoods and put together has also created a Waste Calculator (http:// a set of guidelines called the Zero Waste www.zerowastedesign.org/waste-calcula- 212.807.7566 Design Guidelines. Zero waste is not about tor/) to figure out the volume of waste your eliminating waste, but about transforming building is producing and the measures you it into resources. Currently, only 20 percent can take to reduce it. So, when it’s time to of waste collected by the NYC Department put aside this newspaper, perhaps some of Sanitation (DSNY) is diverted from contemplation on how to help NYC reach landfills and only 50 percent of recyclables its Zero waste goal by 2030 would come in are separated for diversion. handy. Remember, it all starts with the three As part of its strategic plan for the future Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle! Greenwich Village: What’s in the Name? By Brian J. Pape, AIA “green settlement” (from “wik”, an old Ger- manic borrowing of the the Latin “vicus”). Greenwich is a fairly common place name, In jolly old England, Greenwich was the a city in CT, a village in upper NY, NJ, RI, site of a royal castle, but gained in impor- and of course, Greenwich England. Place- tance when The Royal Observatory was names typically have meanings that were commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, significant to the settlers of a locality. When to “apply…… with the most exact care and talking about place names, there is a specific diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the term, toponymy, whereas “the etymology (of motions of the heavens, and the places of a word)” means the origin of the particular the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much word. (Etiology is the study of the causes, desired longitude of places for the perfect- origins, or reasons behind the way that ing of the art of navigation.” From 1714 to things are, or the way they function, or it can 1818, the Longitude Acts rewarded new refer to the causes themselves.) discoveries of precision. The place-name “Greenwich” is first re- The Greenwich meridian, which was by corded in a Saxon charter of 918 AD, where convention considered to have longitude it appears as Gronewic, then as Grenewic in zero degrees, is the line between the eastern 964, and as Grenawic in the Anglo-Saxon and western hemispheres (this convention Chronicle for 1013; it is Grenviz in the was internationally adopted in the Interna- Domesday Book of 1086, and Grenewych tional Meridian Conference of 1884). in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291. The In the New World settlement of New name in old English means “green wic” or continued on page 20 20 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org Tribute to Architect Edgar Tafel By Brian J. Pape, AIA the Fellowship at age 20. Taliesin was Mr. Wright’s newly established school 39 years ago, this summer, upon the pub- in Spring Green, Wisconsin, where appren- lication of Edgar Tafel’s memoir Apprentice tices learned by doing what Wright thought to Genius: Years with , my would benefit young architects: drafting, father-in-law Rabbi Bernard Mandelbaum cutting stone, making plaster, pouring con- arranged an introduction with the author. crete, gardening, haying, cooking, cleaning, I visited Mr. Tafel’s Greenwich Village ar- and anything creative—especially music. chitecture office and got the book inscribed The revolutionary teaching method at with “To Brian Pape—with best wishes Taliesin was not foreign to Tafel, for during from one architect to another! Edgar Tafel.” his early school years his own parents had been TwoTwo BooksBooks ofof One-LinersOne-Liners Mr. Tafel was a warm and welcoming progressives who joined a cooperative/colony host to his scholarly friend, and this young in a verdant setting in New Jersey that utilized byby CharlesCharles Caruso,Caruso, architect, showing us around the various the arts and crafts, vegetable gardening, farm- AuthorAuthor ofof “Caruso’s Quips” Quips” projects “on the boards” and introducing us ing, and sports as integral to academics. to other staff before begging off to run to Tafel worked with Mr. Wright on very im- CarusoCaruso spent spent decades decades inin the media, at at Newsweek Newsweek and and The The New New York York another meeting that afternoon. portant commissions including the Fallingwa- Post, winning three Associated Press feature-writing prizes. Post, winning three Associated Press feature-writing prizes. When Mr. Tafel’s death on January 18, ter cantilevered house over Bear Run Creek in He has gotten a strong response to these books and the lines he 2011 was announced by Robert Silman, Pennsylvania, the , Heputs has on gotten Facebook a strong each responseday. to these books and the lines he the imminent structural engineer who was and (home of the company’s puts on Facebook each day. The question he is most asked is: How do you write these things? also Mr. Tafel’s legal representative, Mr. president) near Racine, Wisconsin. Tafel was TheHe questionhas no good he answer.is most “They asked just is: come,” How dohe yousays write“after athese lot things? Tafel’s successful practice had designed 80 in charge of the young apprentices when Heof has observation no good andanswer. reading. “They They just arrive come,” suddenly he says and “after need a verylot houses, 35 religious buildings and three Wright established a winter school in Scott- oflittle observation editing.” and reading. They arrive suddenly and need very college campuses, among other projects, sdale Arizona, named Taliesin West, in 1937. little editing.” making him the most well-known of all Even though Tafel left Wright’s em- Readers seem to like them and find them interesting and Wright’s early apprentices and the last sur- ploy in 1941, they maintained an ami- Readerssometimes seem amusing. to like them and find them interesting and viving member of that privileged inaugural cable relationship afterwards. Tafel wrote, sometimes amusing. group. Silman consulted with Tafel on 11 “Mr. Wright didn’t want subservience. He 212-924-2550 restoration projects of Wright’s work as wanted devotion to the cause of an organic well as Tafel’s own work. architecture—integration of form, materi- Mr. Tafel’s life and work will be honored als indigenous to the setting, and function.” at an illustrated talk on Tafel on Saturday, So, when Wright was in New York for the September 29, 2018, at St. John’s in the Solomon Guggenheim Museum project, Village Episcopal Church, one of Tafel’s they would visit together; and when the bids Counselor At Law outstanding designs from 1972 to 1974, from mainstream contractors came in too whose nave is equipped with lighting that high, it was Tafel who introduced his con- Disability Law allows it to be transformed into a theatre. crete contractor—who got the job for the The weekend also includes a Friday night stunningly unique structure we see today. concert and Sunday morning Festal Eu- Tafel endowed Chairs of Architecture at charist—all at 218 West 11th Street (near Cornell and the University of Illinois, do- Max Leifer P.C. Waverly Place) in Greenwich Village. nated his archive to ’s Edgar A. Tafel was born in New York on Avery Library, and endowed the lecture hall MaxMax D. LeiferLeifer PCPC is is an an established established law law firm firm March 12, 1912. He grew up in Manhattan, in the AIANY Center for Architecture in with overover 40 years experienceexperience inin PersonalPersonal Injury, Injury, graduated from the Walden School, and at- Manhattan, where he had been an active, in- tended before joining volved member his entire independent career. Negligence,Negligence, Social SecuritySecurity Disabilty,Disability, Long TermTerm Disability,Disability, CommercialCommercial and Union Appeals.Appeals. What’s in the Name continued from page 19 We are committed to providing Amsterdam, we see Groenwijck, one of Spring Street, reflecting an earlier under- Wehigh are qualitycommitted representation to providing the Dutch names for the village (meaning standing, but the newer district of SoHo has and highwe work quality aggressively representation to obtain “Green District”), a rural, isolated hamlet since encroached on this border. and wethe work best aggressively possible results to obtain to the north of the 17th century settlement. New York New York, they say, is a city and protectthe best the possible rights of results our clients. After the English overthrow in 1633, it was so nice, they named it twice. But if you andFree protect consult the in personrights ofor ourby phone. clients. Anglicized to Greenwich in 1696. Then, as name the city, county and state, you’d Free consult in person or by phone. the city of New York grew to encompass all name it thrice, a distinction not shared Please feel free to contact us with any questions of Manhattan, the village named Green- with any other place in the 50 states, to and our friendly staff will assist you with your concerns. wich became the neighborhood of Green- my knowledge. Please feel free to contact us with any questions wich Village. (That makes the term redun- and our friendlyMember staff of Millionwill assist Dollar Trialyou Association with your concerns. dant, meaning “Green-Village Village”.) Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a term DESIGNATED AS A SUPER LAWYER FIRM AT SUPERLAWYERS.COM One can only imagine the political power originally referring to mean solar time at that local residents must have applied when the Royal Observatory, which led to GMT 135214 West Sullivan 26th Street,Street, Street,Suite 3-C, 11-D the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 imposed a being used worldwide as a standard time New York, NY 1001210001 grid pattern on all streets north of Houston, independent of location, adopted gradually Tel: (212) 334-9699 • Fax: (212) 966-6544 except for most of Greenwich Village. En- from 1847. Most time zones were based cyclopædia Britannica’s 1956 article states upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours [email protected] that the southern border of the Village is (“ahead of GMT” or “behind GMT"). www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 21 A Tafel Surprise By Jon D’Orazio stock, NY, where they would build a Ancient Solutions new Meditation Center/Monastery as I wish to share something I learned only the American seat of this 900 year old for Modern Problems last year, concerning Edgar Tafel, whom Tibetan lineage. my architect father met at the ’67 AIA It was named Karma Triyana Dhar- Convention. Together they arranged machakra. I’ve been there often over the a summer job for me in Edgar’s office years. I even went up years earlier to Michael Kahn on 5th Avenue for that summer. It was join Lama Tendzin and others, looking M.S., L. Ac. just before I was to begin my Masters at another piece of land for the center, in Architecture program at Columbia given by Karmapa’s Chinese patron liv- 20 Year Practice University. ing in Long Island. Back Pain • Insomnia • Digestion • Cardiac Pain After Columbia, I decided to be a Well, on my birthday only last year, my Headache • Immune Disorders painter and in 1970 moved into West- friend Judy Auchincloss totally surprised Addictions • Weight loss beth Artists Housing. A few years later me. Her birthday gift was a framed ren- Smoking Cessation I became a practitioner of Tibetan Bud- dering of a proposed Monastery to be Depression • Anxiety dhism. In 1974, my Guru invited H H built for Karma Triana Dharmachakra, Addictions the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the designed by Edgar Tafel. I had not Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, known of this at all. A total surprise. to visit America. Karmapa and his Here’s Edgar’s rendering, my birth- monks purchased some land in Wood- day gift, a proposed Monastery...

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BIRTHDAY SURPRISE: The author received this framed rendering of a proposed Mon- astery to be built for Karma Triana Dharmachakra, designed by Edgar Tafel, AIA. Im- age courtesy of Jon D'Orazio.

Italytime to Present Three Eyes on Pinocchio in Spanish By Jane Heil Usyk The group previously presented Pinoc- chio in English, in March of 2018. On November 7, 8, 9, and 10, the cultural Maureen Gonzalez, a native of Gali- organization Italytime will present a new cia, Spain, translates in three languages: version of Italy’s most famous character, Spanish, English, and Italian. She has Pinocchio, in Spanish. The show begins been assisting Vittorio Capotorto and at 8 p.m. and is suitable for adults as well translating plays for Italytime for about as children. Maureen Gonzalez, who trans- ten years. They specialize in modern Ital- lated the play, says, “One of Italytime’s goals ian playwrights. Vittorio directed over a since the beginning has been to perform hundred plays while in Italy, as well as in over time our most significant plays in the Argentina, Austria, Spain and Sudan. In most common languages in New York be- 1997, he emigrated to New York, and has sides Italian, i.e., English and Spanish. For been directing plays here since then. the first production in Spanish we have cho- Among Italytime’s previous live presen- sen a play written for us, as usual, by Dacia tations have been Creative Fusion, Cabaret Maraini, Silvia Calamai and Paolo Tarta- Opera, and Nativity in the City, all directed mella about Pinocchio, since he is the most by Vittorio Capotorto. They also show Ital- world-renowned Italian character.” ian movies with English subtitles; among The play will be presented in the theater them have been all of the Don Camillo mov- beneath Our Lady of Pompeii Church at ies starring Fernandel; Riso Amaro (“Bitter Carmine and Bleecker Streets, entrance Rice”), starring Silvana Mangano; and Mine at 25B Carmine Street. Vittorio Capotorto Vaganti, (“Loose Cannons”), a 2010 comedy will direct. continued on page 24 22 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org Andy’s and Everyone Else’s 90th Birthday By John Gilman career as a continuum. She proclaimed that Andy’s intense experimentation in the Pop Art l960s and the later decades They were celebrating Andy Warhol’s 90th birthday August of the 70s and 80s “anticipated the digital age” and that he 9th with a big champagne gala at the Whitney Museum, was a “seer of the 21st century.” Of course Andy has already and when we were personally invited by Claire K. Henry, been declared the most famous artist of the second half of assistant curator of the Andy Warhol Film Project, as her the 20th century—Picasso took the prize for the first half. special guests, we were told to dress up in a gala Warhol Scott Rothkopf, Whitney’s deputy director for programs manner. First of all, we (Robert Heide and myself) knew says Warhol’s career is “an extremely rare case of an artist that Andy’s actual birthday had occurred three days before, whose legacy grows only more potent and lasting— his ex- on August 6th, Hiroshima Day, and that his 90th in 2018 ample continues to inspire and awe—and even vex—new was not that exclusive because the nonagenarian shared generations of artists and audiences with each passing year.” his birth year with other world famous people including Claire K. Henry, who is in the process of completing Vol- Mickey Mouse, Shirley Temple, and —of ume ll of the Films of Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne (the course all but Mickey are dead and most of us know that first volume which covered all of the Warhol ‘screen tests’ the cartoon icon who was hatched in the mind of his creator was published in 2006 by the late Callie Angell) has chosen a Walt Disney and is not an actual person at all (despite the group of seminal films which will be shown at the exhibition grotesque humanoids imitating him in ) was on a continuous loop in their original 16 millimeter format. born November 18, 1928 when his starring role in the first The catalogue Miss Henry is working on in conjunction with talking film cartoonSteamboat Willie opened to great ac- the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and MOMA covers War- claim at the Colony Theatre in New York. hol’s films made between 1963-1968 among which areThe Mickey Mouse was a special favorite of Andy’s, as was Bed, Warhol’s split screen film version of Robert Heide’s fa- Shirley Temple, who was one of the top money-makers in mous play which premiered at the Caffe Cino in 1965, as well Hollywood while Andy was growing up in the Great De- as Lupe, a film written by Mr. Heide for the luminous Edie pression. He actually sent away for an inscribed picture of Sedgwick; a lost reel of this latter film was recently found by Shirley and later paid tribute to Mickey in several of his the filmmaker and Whitney film scholar Tom Kalin. The fabled art projects; it is also documented that Warhol met party was a huge success, and in addition to the champagne three-time winning playwright Edward Al- there was dancing to the music of the 60s and 70s provided bee several times, hobnobbing in New York’s social circles. by a talented DJ on the main floor overlooking the Hudson We dressed carefully for Andy’s birthday party, which was River; it also afforded attendees the opportunity to view other ANDY WARHOL'S CAREER CONTINUES TO INSPIRE AND put on as a preview of the largest exhibition (it will open this simultaneous exhibits including David Wojnarowicz’s ‘His- AWE WITH EACH PASSING YEAR: Andy Warhol in his silver November 12 and will run through March 31, 2019, after factory in the 1960s. Photo by Billy Name. tory Keeps Me Awake at Night’ (featuring a photo by the which it will travel to Chicago and San Francisco) devoted artist of his mentor Peter Hujar—dead) which runs through to a single artist ever presented at the downtown Whitney understated backdrop to his sensational Warhol Foundation the end of September. As a team, Robert Heide and I (with and by far, the largest in scope, uniting all aspects, periods, authorized single-can Campbell’s Tomato Soup T-shirt; I our late good friend ‘Hoop’ the self proclaimed ‘King of and media in his 40 year career. The exhibition is entitled wore my grey1950s miracle fabric slacks with a rare vintage Art’—who loved anything and everything Warhol) presided ‘Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again.’ Donna T-shirt featuring an image of Mark Jacobs in a Warhol wig over some far out and spectacular Andy Warhol birthday par- DeSalvo, deputy director of international initiatives at the on the cover of Interview Magazine, a specialty item cre- ties ourselves at the Gershwin Hotel in the heady days of the Whitney and the senior curator of the entire show greeted us ated for Andy’s 80th birthday, 10 years earlier. Donna, shad- 20 aughts and teens. In attendance, among others, were such as we made our splashy entrance stepping out of the eleva- owed by a New Yorker reporter writing her up for a Talk of Warhol luminaries as Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Billy Name, tor onto the 5th floor of the futuristic new museum. Robert the Town feature, was impressed as were we when she said Mario Montez, Bebe Hansen, Jamie Warhola, Ivy Nicholson, was wearing his summer Brooks Brothers seersucker suit, an that her re-appraisal of Warhol would examine his art and and Penelope Palmer.

doc. They include Dame , Coral Browne, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Adrian, Janet Gaynor and Mary Martin (lovers), Michael By Robert Heide as it turned out was gay. Scotty arranged for a tryst in the York, Grace Kelly, William Inge, Roddy MacDowell, Cole trailer, and usually at a cost of a twenty-dollar bill, helped Porter and many, many more. In the world of film, during the month of August, a new out most of the stars that constitute Hollywood royalty. During the Q&A after the film showing, I mentioned documentary called Scotty and the Secret History of Holly- Among Scotty’s revelations on the stars he “outs” are Cary one of my favorite movie queens of the 1940s and 50s, wood opened in New York City at IFC on 6th Avenue, Grant and Randolph Scott, who lived together for some Lizabeth Scott, who starred in a great many films noir. the Chelsea Cinemas, and 100 theatres across the land. It time almost as a married couple. These two macho guys were Her sultry husky voice, mesmerizing look, and tough sexy appears to be at this juncture certainly the most important, depicted poolside in fan magazines, showing off in skimpy manners in movies like Dead Reckoning; Fury; The Strange riveting, and interesting doc to pop up in years. Directed bathing trunks. To back up these gossipy stories in the film Loves of Martha Ivers; and You Came Along earned her the by Matt Tyrnauer, it focuses in on a 95-year-old ex-Ma- many of the male prostitutes, now old men, show up to tell all. title “Hubba Hubba Girl” in the 40’s movie magazines. rine from World War II named Scotty Bowers. We learn about a bedtime story involving Lana Turner Lizabeth first understudied Tallulah Bankhead in Thorn- Scotty, whose published book was the source and inspi- and Ava Gardner, wherein Frank Sinatra, then smitten ton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth on Broadway, eventu- ration of the film, knows all the inside sexual stories of with Ava, caught them in the bed. Other duos include ally taking over the role. A movie contract followed and she the top Hollywood players who thrived during the golden Anthony “Tony” Perkins and Tab Hunter. The Duchess of became the mistress of Hal Wallis, who gave her a big star studio era. Who knew that the long-time fan magazine Windsor is depicted as a dominatrix who enjoys punishing buildup. It has been noted that the movie All About Eve is romance between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy the meek ex-king Edward (often with a whip), who liked based on Tallulah and Liz. Later in her career, Confidential was all basically a façade, and that in reality both were to dress up in women’s clothing, sensible shoes and nylon Magazine published a salacious piece connecting her to les- gay? Scotty Bowers knew. A gossipmonger, procurer—or stockings, or in knitting mittens or a scarf. bianism at all night-all girl parties. It was then that her ca- shall we say pimp—really tells it like it is, and what fun it Another story centers on Herbert Hoover, who also reer took a nose dive. When I brought this up at the Q&A, was. Scotty, though secretive, feels the true shenanigans of liked to indulge in women’s attire behind closed doors. Scotty, on-stage in a wheelchair, commented with a big grin many of these celluloid idols are just plain “normal.” There is more. As I was writing this a call came in from on his , “Oh, over the years I provided her with over 150 Scotty arrived in California and found employment work- the charming and talkative director Matt Tyrnauer telling girls”–and that’s Hollywood, folks, or Hollyweird! ing in a gas station on Hollywood Boulevard. At the back me of other prominent personages and stars who swung of the station was a double-sized trailer where sexual romps on the gay pendulum and sometimes made it both ways. Robert Heide is an author, most recently of Robert Heide 25 abounded between pretty boys and Hollywood superstars. Only a small percentage of a very long list, most of these Plays, available at Three Lives Books, the Drama Bookshop, His first trick was Walter Pidgeon, who seemed straight but celebrated people did not appear in the book or in the and on Amazon. www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 23 Theater Review:Days to Come

By Eric Uhlfelder mirable workers, personified by their spokes- man Tom Firth (Chris Henry Coffey). The So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will men are long-time friends, with a long his- also befall me. What then have I gained by tory of working together collegially. being wise?” And I said to myself that this The tale turns tragic when, despite their too is futile. For there is no lasting remem- best efforts, they hit an impasse. The own- brance of the wise, just as with the fool, see- er’s lawyer suggests a way out that will break ing that both will be forgotten in the days to more than the will of the workers. Thus, the come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the die is cast, and the story careens towards the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is futility alluded to in the referenced Scripture. done under the sun was grievous to me. For Hellman’s dialogue displays the era’s evolv- everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. ing hard-edged realism: The intensity of this play can be read by HENRY ELLICOTT (Andrew Rod- Lillian Hellman’s decision to title her second man’s lawyer who’s having an affair with drama from this passage of Ecclesiastes 2:16. Rodman’s wife): I want to know where we The story is a morality tale in which no one stand, Julie. It’s time for me to know. escapes unscathed. This two-hour foray into JULIE RODMAN (Rodman’s wife): We an early 20th century Ohio town is one of stand nowhere. We’ve always stood nowhere. MEDICAL DERMATOLOGY | COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY the most intense stories the Mint Theater I knew about you—and you knew about MOHS SURGERY | LASER SURGERY has ever produced during its 23 years of res- me…things start as hopes and end up as urrecting lost plays. habits…one of the things that brings people If the drama were more nuanced it would like you and me together is the understand- Bay Ridge West Village have been extraordinary. But as an early work ing that there won’t be any talk about it at 7901 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11209 67 Perry Street, NY NY 10014 of the famed American playwright, who was the end. 718-491-5800 (t) 212-675-5847 (t) just 31 when the play premiered in 1936 at The playwright uses Rodman’s devolving 718748-2151 (f) 212-675-7976 (f)

Ronald R. Brancaccio, M.D | Peter Saitta, D.O. Sherry H. Hsiung, M.D. | Lisa Gruson,M.D. | Anna Karp, D.O.

THE STORY IS A MORALITY TALE IN WHICH NO ONE ESCAPES UNSCATHED. Larry Bull, Chris Henry Coffey, Ted Deasy, Roderick Hill, and Janie Brookshire in Days to Come by Lil- lian Hellman. Photo by Todd Cerveris. Do You Need Home Care? the Vanderbilt Theater on Broadway, Days to marriage to echo the larger conflict tearing Come is a compelling, daring work for having apart the company and town, foreshadowing Continuity Home Health Care taken head-on, capitalism’s Achilles heel: the the changes that were to come to small towns struggle to create and manage a business and across America. workers’ ability to secure a living wage, espe- ANDREW RODMAN (speaking to his cially during the hard times. The underlying wife): I don’t care who wins. If it were that Where Healing Continues... theme: the train wreck caused when well- simple, it would be fine. But it isn’t that sim- A licensed home care agency providing intentioned leaders naively start down an ag- ple. I can’t fit the pieces together. That’s what health care services, both professional gressive track to solve an existential problem. is happening to me. I suddenly don’t know and paraprofessional, for individuals Designer Henry Feiner has set the play where my place in the whole thing is. Don’t living at home since 1996. on a stunning Art Deco stage with furniture tell me that’s one of the things I was lucky to that could be right out of a period auction at worry about late. That doesn’t do any good. Christie’s. I’ve only loved two things in my whole life: The ensemble, deftly directed by J.R. Sul- you and this town...Remember how I never livan, works together seamlessly—led by the wanted to go to Europe or to anyplace else— Call Tim Ferguson at (212) 625-2547 quixotic factory owner Andrew Rodman even when you went? This was my home, (played by Larry Bull), his scheming lawyer these were my people, I didn’t want much or drop in to 121 West 11th Street opposite PS 41 Henry Ellicott (Ted Deasy), Rodman’s beau- else. But that’s been changed. I don’t know tiful, feckless wife Julie ( Janie Brookshire), how. And I don’t know where I stand any- the sharp, intelligent labor organizer Leo more. We accept most private Whalen (Roderick Hill), and the nefarious Days to Come is less subtle and more con- insurances strike-buster Sam Wilkie (Dan Daily). temporary than most Mint productions. But and private pay. One can sense Hellman’s early experience its message resonates formidably in this very in Hollywood in this film noirish tale rely- satisfying revival. ing on direct, confrontational dialogue, sharp [email protected] pacing, and various subplots. But at the core Days to Come runs through October 6 at the of this Depression-era story is a decent, car- Beckett Theatre at 410 West . ing factory owner pitted against equally ad- See: minttheater.org 24 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org

Italytime continued from page 21

West Village Sartorial Splendor that takes place in Italy’s south. There have By Gordon T Hughes Jr. been many concerts, some focusing on one composer, such as Duke Ellington or George When you meet a guy, be it in the theatre Gershwin. district where I do most of my work, or in Pinocchio, originally a novel, was writ- mid-town somewhere, and he is wearing a ten in 1883 by Italian Carlo Collodi, a coat and tie, and tells you he lives in the pseudonym for Carlo Lorenzini. Pinoc- West Village, it is most likely this writer. chio is an Italian hero, as Superman and When I first moved to the Village in the Batman are ours. It is a very different story 1990s, I would walk to my subway entrance from the Disney version. This production and I would wave to the one other guy takes three sections of the book and re- wearing a tie, and we would both laugh, invents them. Dacia Maraini, a successful because neckties were virtually non-exis- Italian playwright and novelist, wrote the tent below 14th Street. “Fairy” section. Silvia Calamai wrote the Now, I never see him at Panino Mucho “Cat and Fox” episode. Paolo Tartamella Gusto Cafe where, even back then I got my wrote “Pinocchio in Playland.” morning cup of joe before heading to my Vittorio Capotorto says, “The Ital- publishing job in midtown. Over the years, ian Cultural Center and Literary Cafe, we would nod or say good-morning to one both elements of Italytime, meet in Fa- another. Back then there were still the rem- ther Demo Hall in Our Lady of Pompeii HE'S STILL THE GUY WHO WEARS THE SUIT AND TIE IN THE WEST VILLAGE: Author nants of tie-dye, bell bottom pants for men, Gordon T. Hughes Jr., above, with his best friend in the whole world, Woollcott. Photo Church, offering culture—movies, theater, goofy hats and the rainbow flag was finally courtesy of Gordon T. Hughes Jr. concerts, readings, and discussions in vari- beginning to make a real presence. Curb ous forms and languages. Initiated by the side parking was Range Rover free. Back dents these trendy looks. It was now what men’s fashion. So, when I drop into Mucho previous pastor, Walter Tonelotto, and now then, there were still VW vans with peace they called shabby cosmopolitan. These Gusto for my morning jolt, the outfits have with Pastor Angelo Plodari, the Center is signs on the back bumper. outfits were even seen in Mucho Gusto. not changed that much in there, but on becoming a cultural home for the neigh- And yes, there was one guy, and me, in a Not a lot, but indeed, there were sightings Hudson, as I watch men going to work, borhood. We would like to extend an in- suit and tie. among the berets and baseball caps. nowadays, it’s much more business like. vitation to all neighborhood residents to I have seen styles change over the years. It So now, I fast forward to today’s fash- Suits, well pressed shirts, very narrow la- participate in our activities.” went from tie dye, old worn, flared jeans to ions. Men are wearing suits and slacks with pels and not a tie to be seen. Refreshments such as pizza and hot and very expensive jeans from stores like Ralph tight ankles, no socks, and no matter what That is except for that one guy, and me, cold drinks will be available in the theater Lauren, Marc Jacobs and downtown Bar- the color of the outfits, shoes are tan or who pass one another, wave and say good before and after the play. ney’s. Lots of older businesses began mov- light brown. They replaced the long toed morning. Tickets cost $25.00 and are available ing out of the Village to be replaced by the black shoes of yore. We are still the guys who wear the ties in at www.italytime.org/box-office and at stores that were selling new, younger resi- For this observation I’m only focusing on the West Village. the door. Maggie B’s Quick Clicks THEN

NOW

All photos: Maggie Berkvist. Arts at St. John’s Enjoy These Arts and Music Events at St. John’s in the Village, (Fully Air-Conditioned and ADA) 220 West 11th Street For all bookings or queries: email [email protected] or phone 212 243 6192. Mondays to Fridays in September Thursday September 27, 7:30 pm St. Benedict’s Courtyard Hannah Reimann & Friends:Singer-Songwriters in Concert This concert of traditional song and newly-written material by local sing- er-songwriters Hannah Reimann, Betsy Hirsch, Scott Hasolen, and others, is to raise funds for the purchase of sound equipment enabling St John’s to present more music of this kind. Tickets $25 at stjvny.org/music-new or on the door. Friday September 28, 8 pm 40th Anniversary Concert: Spem in Alium

Photo Credit @Joel Gordon 2018—All Rights Reserved This hidden gem of a garden is open (from 10am until Evening Prayer (6:15pm)) from Monday to Friday to bona fide writers during good weather days in September. Enter by the horsewalk at 224 W 11th St. The church is open via the Courtyard during the same hours. Sunday September 9,11 am Homecoming Sunday with Community Cook-Out Seven of the finest vocal ensembles in New York combine in a concert of A welcome back to the Village, after the summer holidays. Music: Missa glorious polyphony to mark the 40th anniversary of the Dedication of St Secunda (Hassler), Oculi Omnium (Wood), and outdoor music. Families John’s in the Village. The concert culminates in Thomas Tallis’ rarely-per- welcome. Free, but booking is advised for catering purposes.* formed work Spem in Alium, scored for eight five-part choirs (40 voices in all). Part of the Music of the Great Religions series sponsored by West Wednesday September 19, 4 pm View News. Tickets at stjvny.org/music-new. St. John’s Choristers St. John’s Choristers First session of a weekly (Wednesdays) free af- Saturday September 29, 11 am ter-school music program in which children (boys with unbroken voic- Windows to Heaven: Icons in the East and West es and girls) learn singing, music-reading, repertoire, and social skills. Dr Dennis Raverty of New Jersey City University is a specialist in iconog- Choristers get to sing at least monthly (11 Sunday morning) with the raphy. Using the icons of St John’s church as illustration and example, professional adult singers in the Choir. Free. Register/inquire to Gordon he explains the theology of iconography and the resurgence of interest King ([email protected] or phone). in icon-writing both in the East and also in the West. Talk followed by drinks and lunch. Free, but booking is essential. Thursday September 20, 7 pm James Polshek, Architect, in Conversation Saturday September 29, 7:30 pm Villager and architect James Polshek in conversation with oral historian Edgar Tafel: The Architect & The Man Sarah Dziedzic exploring Polshek’s life and work. Free, but registration is recommended. Email [email protected] or phone 212 475 9585. An illustrated lecture on Edgar Tafel (1912-2011), St. John’s Architect, who was a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright and designed and built St John’s Friday September 21, 7:30 pm in the Village in the 1970s. His other Manhattan churches include Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (East Village), DeWitt Reformed Church LOVE: A Refuge (Lower East Side), and United Methodist Church (East James Dargan (baritone) & Amir Farid (piano) in Concert. Music by ). The evening includes video footage of Tafel speaking on Wright Brahms and Mahler and African-American spirituals. Intermission wine and his philosophy. Followed by a champagne reception. Part of St John’s reception in St Benedict’s Courtyard. Tickets ($20) at stjvny. org/mu- 40th Anniversary celebrations. Free, but booking is essential. Email ad- sic-new. Free to seniors but booking is essential. [email protected] or phone 212 243 6192. Monday September 24, 7:30 pm Sunday September 30, 11 am Gregorian Chant: a Treasure for All People Dedication Festival Service* with Lunch and Plainsong is becoming more and more popular; and it is not as hard to Guided Tours of historic Wade House sing as you might think. This New York Gregorian Chant workshop (with Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D (K 194) and Laudate Dominum with string or- the possibility of the formation of a New York Gregorian Choir) is led by chestra and other repertoire. Wade House is an early 19th century New Professor Lawrence Harris (University of Ottawa and affiliated with the York townhouse hidden between Perry and W 11th Streets. Free, but Gregorian Institute of Canada). No previous experience of chant nota- booking is advised for catering purposes. * tion necessary. For those of all faiths or none. Expressions of interest and queries to [email protected] or 212 243 6192. * Episcopal liturgy to which those of all faiths, or of none, are welcome. Sounds of the Great Religions The History and thousand-year-old Hymns of Greek Orthodoxy at St. Veronica Tuesday, September 11, 7 pm

Archdiocesan Byzantine Choir

FREE and Open to the Public—Suggested Donation $20 PLEASE: respect our older audience and leave baby and youngsters under 7 at home The Church of St. Veronica, 149 Christopher Street www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 27

neighborhood. Mr. Herman says the main us to use. thing is that the synagogue should continue He says he does not think so. I offer him “Are You Jewish?” to operate and that it will have a minyan (10 a business card and promise to come one adult Jewish men) every Saturday. I tell him day and clarify the matter. He tells me he’s of course, and that we’ll be in touch. very busy but we’ll be in touch. I leave the synagogue and think about In the next days I park the tank on how to start operating here in an orderly Christopher St. at Seventh Ave. or Sev- way. Certainly, we will need an office. A enth Avenue and W. 4 St. I’m there most mitzvah tank to put on the street [photo] days from about 12 to 7 pm. Not that many with music that will invite Jews to come people pass by. So some days I move to and put on tefillin. Vandam and Hudson. Parking is not an is- I go to work on the Internet to find a sue. Every religious organization gets a few tank for rent. But it is now the end of July annual permits from the city for vehicles and impossible to find one to lease. on the street. I call Rabbi Rotenstreich of Chabad, my I hand out brochures and cards with in- organization, and tell him my problem. He formation about performing good deeds— tells me, “listen Yehuda, you’re very lucky. I mitzvah in Hebrew is a good deed—and just got off the phone with a Jew from New about the coming of Moshiach (the mes- Jersey who has such a vehicle and is willing siah). I help men, and boys past bar mitz- to donate it.” vah age, who are willing to perform the I thank G-d for such immediate help. ritual of putting on tefillin. These are small Two days later, I park the 36-foot-long leather boxes containing scrolls of parch- tank—originally it was a recreational ve- ment inscribed with verses from the torah. hicle, a camper—at the corner of Christo- I hand out candle-lighting information pher and W. 4 St. and ask people if they and candles to women and girls to light in are Jewish. honor of the shabbat. A man walks over to me, “Sorry, you’re Many people stop to look. A few take my Jewish?” I ask. information. Fewer still put on tefillin. But Yes, he tells me but says right away that he at least they know we are here. I’m sure we does not want to put on tefillin! I believe in will make progress. talking to G-d directly, he says, and do not need physical action to get closer to G-d. Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner was ordained “Have you ever tried calling someone in 2012 at Central Yeshiva Tomchei on without knowing the phone number?” I Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. He can be NEW TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Posed in front of their rolling headquarters parked for that ask. Tefillin is the connection that G-d told reached at [email protected]. day at the corner of 7th Ave and W. 4th St., Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner and his wife Mushka, with their 3-month-old son Shmelke, hope to bring Jews closer to their faith.

I’m from Brooklyn and I intend to move God Sends a Kosher Editor to Greenwich Village to look for Jews to Join Rosanne Cash and friends. Oh wow, a $35,000, roughly 40 foot house- bring them closer to G-d. He stares at me bus, in front of United Cigar and Christoper with a strange look and asks, do you know Street is blaring Yiddish music—this I gotta where you are? Are you sure you got off at Unity & Change... see. What I find is a very young rabbi wait- the right station? ing to step out and greet young men who look I tell him yes. You are the first Jew I have Jewish and return them to the kosher path. A met here today. Would you like to put on few minuets of conversation reveal he knows tefillin? Who gave you permission to ask every Jew that I know in the Village. We are what religion I am, he says. He walks away. pals in minutes, and I ask him to do a story for Not a very warm welcome. I tell my wife the paper, and then, Alfred Rosenblatt appears we will probably have a hard job here but and asks if he can edit for WestView and I say let’s continue. “Have I got an article for you.” Many Jews live in the area. I am here to Here is what they did together. show them what Judaism is and how to —George Capsis learn and pray. To do this I want to open a Chabad House here in the neighborhood. Music, Conversation—and a Call to Action for Gun Control By Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner I was told there’s a synagogue at 53 Thursday September 20 at 7:00 pm Charles St. I knock on the door and it’s It’s the end of July, on a regular summer opened by an elderly man who I was told At The Church of St. Luke in the Fields day of 90 degrees. I’m climbing the stairs in advance is Mr. Herman, a very nice man. An evening of information, music, shared experience of the Christopher St. subway station and He says hello, how can I help you? and rallying for change! the heat hits me in the face. I’m dressed in I answer, the Lubavitcher Rebbe sends Rosanne Cash, Kurt Andersen, John Rosenthal, Mark Erelli my usual street clothes. A black suit and shluchim [messengers] like me to ev- hat, white shirt: I hold a tefillin bag in one ery corner of the world to encourage old and the Young People’s Chorus of New York hand. With the other I’m helping my wife Jewish communities and help them find Mushka up the stairs with the carriage young people to come to synagogue, orga- holding Shmelke, our 3-month-old baby nize classes, and shabbat meals, and build boy. We reach the top of the stairs. I go out the community. I have been sent to this into the street. neighborhood. In front of me I see a man. I think he is Mr. Herman looks at me sadly and says Kurt Andersen John Rosenthal Mark Erelli a Jew. I walk over and ask, “Hello, sorry, are we’ve already tried this. It will not help. No This event is FREE, Registrars will be seated first, you Jewish?” one is coming. I point out to Mr. Herman so register early for this special event at: He stares and asks, “How can I help you?” than I am young, 26 years old. I’m sure I’ll www.stlukeinthefields.org or http://bitly/Unity-Change I reply, shalom, I am Rabbi Yehuda. succeed and that he’ll see a revolution in the 28 WestView News September 2018 www.westviewnews.org The Show that Keeps On Going By Stanley Wlodyka

The artists of A Diamond Jubilee are vastly as fascinating. Robert Ludwig is a painter different from one another, but they each whose training as a physicist had him work- can reveal the secrets to longevity and a ful- ing with J. Robert Oppenheimer on the filling life. atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico By the year 2050, experts predict that the during World War II. Penny Jones taught segment of the population over the age of hundreds of school children across New 60 will more than double, jumping from York City to express themselves through 900 million to 2.1 billion. Complicating the puppetry; she remembers one boy in par- situation, the United States Social Security ticular who built a fortress, “for me and Administration (SSA) is running a deficit mommy and daddy, so you don’t have to year in, year out. The only way they’ve been go outside for anything.” The child’s par- able to stay afloat thus far is by eating into ents were divorcing, and Penny had pro- a reserve accumulated from the surpluses of vided the boy an opportunity to express his past years. That well, however, is expected to anxieties. Bea Kreloff left her husband and dry up by 2034, and unless the age of retire- her Jewish middle-class life in Brooklyn to ment is increased, the SSA will only be able move into Westbeth with her two sons as to pay out 79% of the need from the amount one of the first tenants; she and her part- they receive from taxes. ner of 30 years, Edith Isaac Rose, will par- Jenny Tango may provide the solution. At ticipate in this gallery show posthumously. 92 years old, she is renowned for her vitality, Their lives, works and legacies stand as a quick and lust for life, which she attri- testament to the fact that love makes the butes, in part, to marrying a man 28 years most impossible dreams a reality. younger. She is one of seven artists who are The show will run from September 8th participating in an exhibit that celebrates through the 29th, Wednesday to Sunday productivity past the age of 75 in the gal- from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Westbeth Gal- lery room of Westbeth Artists Housing in lery (55 Bethune Street, New York, NY September. Entitled A Diamond Jubilee and 10014). All are invited to the opening gala coinciding with the 50th anniversary of on Saturday, September 8th from 5:30 p.m. Westbeth, this exhibition will feature a wide to 8 p.m.; there will be food, drinks, a live variety of art forms: abstract, figurative and jazz band, and the opportunity to speak to impressionistic paintings, as well as masks, the artists in person. puppetry, embroidery, and photographs. Ralph Lee, a mask maker whose creations CELEBRATING LONGETIVITY PAST THE AGE OF 75: The artists have appeared in everything from the Met- of A Diamond Jubilee are vastly different from one another, but ropolitan Opera to Saturday Night Live, is they each can reveal the secrets to longevity and a fulfilling life. perhaps best known for founding the Vil- Photos by Stanley Wlodyka. lage Halloween Parade, which today draws ROBERT LUDWIG 60 thousand costumed participants and two million onlookers annually. He believes that conforming to a prescribed formula in life—like slowing down after 65— is over- rated, especially since one of the great things about being human is the freedom to choose which mask to wear. “In a lot of cultures, you become the deity when you’re wearing the mask. It allows you to behave in a lot of dif- ferent ways, to use your body in a different way,” says Ralph. Judy Lawne came up with the idea for A Diamond Jubilee shortly after she was PENNY JONES diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A JUDY LAWNE photographer, she considered the camera an extension of her body and, for the sake of her art, found herself hanging out of a building with only a makeshift harness to keep her from falling and climbing over the rubble in the days after the September 11th attacks. She had to make a decision after receiving her diagnosis: was she going to succumb to the bad hand fate dealt her, or was she going to continue in the craft that took a lifetime to develop? Though she now must use a tripod to continue her work, she persists because she’s devoted to capturing, “a moment in time.” That’s what photography is: a moment in time that no other medium can capture. The other artists in the show are just RALPH LEE JENNY TANGO www.westviewnews.org September 2018 WestView News 29 Jim Fouratt’s REEL DEAL: Movies That Matter Awards season has arrived! A deluge of carried out is in the “trade” publications, Va- gains made by women’s liberation. Culture quality films will fall almost daily between riety, and the Hollywood Reporter. They and tradition take time and hard work September 1st and December 31st. In or- are now joined, in the digital media age, to catch up. The Wife, adapted from Meg der to qualify for consideration of an Os- with Deadline, which has an awards season, Wolitzer’s novel, tells the story of how one car, a film must run one week in New York print edition because of the income gener- hugely awarded, male writer was com- City and Los Angeles. So you could buckle ated by $$$$advertising$$$$. Actors with pletely dependent on his wife, who actually yourself into a theater seat for the next clout, now as a standard part of their con- wrote the works that have his name on it. three months and still not see everything. tracts, negotiate a clause that enumerates Here, we meet not an ordinary couple. He Do bring a snack and a pillow. Seriously, how much money will be spent on media is about to receive the Nobel Prize for Lit- the amount of hype around, what seems buys during the awards season. “Promotion” erature. She silently accompanies him to to me like, over a hundred award compe- could mean anything from wine and dine to the award celebration and is expected, by CRIME + PUNISHMENT. Photo credit: Hulu/ titions, makes choosing what to see a dif- who knows what… And then there is the him and an unknowing public, to sit in the IFC Films. ficult task. Some of these films will sneak expense of the competition itself! audience and smile. We see her on screen, into town and leave without notice just to This is where critics have a role to play. finally, implode. Life will never be the same qualify. Others will mount non-stop pub- I take that role seriously. Over the next five for either. This is not a new story. men, represent the groups most subjected to lic campaigns to draw the attention of the months, I will do my best, here in print, and is perfectly cast and at the profiling. Although theLGBT community professionals eligible to vote in the nomi- in the digital version of WestView (which moment seems to have a lock on an Oscar is named as a community targeted (mostly nating process. Money is key here, and can fill in the time gap between the monthly nomination and possible win. Everything those of color and those who are gender as you would expect, quality often gets publications), and on my blog, to focus on about The Wife is craft perfect. Director variant), no one from GOAL, the LGBT loss in the media hype. films of merit, be they narrative or docu- Bjorn Rung takes Jane Anderson’s adap- police organization, stepped forward to join We can blame disgraced Harvey Wein- mentaries, made in in the U.S. or outside. tion of the book and casts it with a touch or support the 12. I would like to know why! stein for creating the template that domi- You will have this wealth of films on a of near genius. As her husband, Jonathan The 12 speak of how they were/are sub- nates the process leading up to the most wide variety of screens from multiplex to Pryce plays the narcissistic, yet totally de- jected to discipline and punishment because important film award in world: the cov- small art houses. Some will sneak into pendent, acclaimed author. He exhibits of their refusal to respect a forbidden quota eted. genitalia-free, gold OSCAR statue. town and some will be splashed all over complete blindness to what he has done system. Shocking? Yes! The 12 are asking the media. It may take months for them to to his wife. Max Irons (son of Jeremy) is for the public to support change. Please see return (if!), so be prepared. I will highlight the conflicted son, seeking his father’s ap- this important documentary that comes at smaller films of merit that you should be proval for his own writing. The production a time when, as a result of the Obama and aware of this time of year. Please read the design (Mark Leese) is eye pleasing and Bush administrations, the militarization paper, check the digital edition as it gets historically accurate. Ulf Brantåsm, the of local police forces, and the providing updates, and read my Reel Deal blog. cinematographer, seamlessly captures the weapons of war to use in local communi- right tone for this storytelling. You would ties, is rampant. Personally, I want peace Let’s Go to the Movies: be mistaken if you think The Wife falls into officers to make our streets safe, not acting what is called a woman’s film genre. You as soldiers of war. I am speaking up based THE WIFE would be wrong! Yes, it is a woman’s story, on what I learned from this documentary, I director BjornRunge but it is a story that every person with a hope you will too. Trailer: https://youtu.be/d81IM0loH7o partner should see. It tackles how to have Note: ths is a HULU documentary. While a collaborative relationship that does not it is playing in theaters, (where you will find COLETTE limit one person while elevating the other. yourself, as I did, sitting with an audience, director Wash Westmoreland Also on the screen this month is Col- that looks like the New Yorkers targeted by https://youtu.be/c_8U7gjb2k4 lette, directed by Wash Westmoreland. this internal quota policy) you can also, if you Colette’s husband puts his name on her subscribe to Hulu, watch at home. There is a writing until she finally broke loose from 30 day free trial subscription to the streaming AN OSCAR AWARD. Image courtesy of the Academy Awards. the relationship and heterosexuality. Un- channel which also produces the award wining fortunately, Collette is miscast. Keira series The Handmaid’s Tale. Weinstein invented the now standard Knightley is just too British and tall to be —— template for influencing the Oscars. His believable as a precocious, saucy, seductive Plan ahead: the New York Film Festival award game-plan was to begin with the and diminutive French Colette. starts at the end of the month. I suggest The Hollywood Foreign Press Associa- you look now at the programming and tion’s Golden Globes. Membership hovers CRIME+PUNISHMENT book early. The docs are sizzling, including around 200 voting members (yes, 200!). The director Stephen Maing subjects Steve Bannon, and FOX News average age of a voting member is some- https://youtu.be/n4WfaaJi_fQ creator, master propagandist Roger Ailes. where where between 50 and 100. Members This movie asks the question, “Is there such —— are wined and dined throughout the year a thing as a Good Cop?” Meet 12 NYC Film Forum has reopened with a fourth as they are the first of the three important police officers who prove “yes.” Who, screen. I suggest you go and watch the ex- competitions leading up to the Oscar nomi- despite their Union and the Brass and a perimental documentary, In the Realm of nations. Spirit and Screen Actors Guild Mayor who speaks loud but appears to fear Perfection, about tennis legend and New awards are the other two. The suppos- GLENN CLOSE IN THE WIFE. Photo credit: the police and their Union, stand-up. The Yorker, John McEnroe. It’s a doozy! edly indie film-motivated SPIRIT awards Sony Classic Films. difference between the Mayor’s pontifica- —— has approximately 2500 members (at last tions and actual police practice instituted History Note: Printed Matter is hosting: count). The most important, in terms of ac- A popular cliché is that behind every great at the highest level is shocking. The Mayor Film Culture 80: The Legend of Barbara tual membership is SAG-AFTRA, with ap- man is a woman that holds him together. says (as does the Police Chief) that police Rubin on September 15, 2018. Barbara proximately 40,000 eligible voters. Neither Both and Hillary Clin- officers haveno arrest quotas! But theses Rubin was the young woman who had the Spirit nor SAG-AFTRA create the fren- ton did break that role and became equal 12 active duty police officers step collec- most influence on Andy Warhol and made zied spectacle of stars and glamour that partners with their husbands, having as tively and say “NO,” stating they will not him see himself as a filmmaker. Weinstein promoted as the Golden Globes well, independent creative and political respect the quota system that has replaced competition. The principal place where identities. But, even today, they remain the in language, but not practice, racial profil- Jimfourattsreeldealmovies campaigns, by film producers and actors, are exception in the public view despite the ing. The 12 officers, mostly of color, mostly [email protected]

Modernism lives in .

A collaboration of design visionaries. KPF. David Rockwell. David Mann. Edmund Hollander.