The Voice of the West Village WestView News VOLUME 16, NUMBER 12 DECEMBER 2020 $2.00 Graffiti in the ‘Hood: An Interview With the NYPD 6th Precinct By Brian Pape AIA ascertain how to deal with the new graf- fiti that has been observed. If the graffiti Graffiti is nothing new to New York City, was sanctioned by the owner, then noth- or other cities around the world. But we ing else is done by the police, since it is a wanted to know more about the recent ac- first amendment issue of self-expression tivity in the West Village that we reported that owners may display. In the case of the last month. WestView News followed up restaurant on Bleecker Street near Chris- by asking the 6th Precinct of the New York topher Street, the plywood covering of Police Department to help us understand the windows during remodeling was sanc- what is going on. tioned by the owner to be painted. How- When we contacted the 6th Precinct, we ever, the very offensive obscene tag that were patched over to Alfred Baker, the Di- was added on top of the original artwork rector of Media in the Office of the Dep- was not sanctioned, and the owner had it uty Commissioner. Mr. Baker then coordi- painted over. nated an interview with Captain Stephen On the other hand, for large billboard Spataro, the Commanding Officer of the type signage painted on walls in historic 6th precinct, and their Neighborhood Co- districts such as ours, even property own- ordination Officers (NCO), including Ser- ers must submit for a signage permit and geant Dan Houlahan, Officer Pete Plessa, comply with LPC guidelines. Therefore, and Officer Pat Defonzo. the large “Texas” painted on the wall above The picture they painted for me of how the shuttered Riviera Café at W. 4th Street they work with the community to fight would have needed such a permit for the THIS RESTAURANT ON BLEECKER STREET near Christopher Street has plywood cover- owner (and there is no record of such an graffiti offered some valuable information. ing the windows during its remodeling, and sanctioned it to be painted with the name application). If this was a graffiti artist’s When new graffiti appears in the neigh- “George…Floyd.” However, the very offensive obscene tag that was added on top of the borhood, one of their officers will visit with original artwork was not sanctioned and the owner had it painted over. The police work work, then it is clearly illegal. the property owner or managing agent to with the community to resolve graffiti issues. Credit: Brian J Pape, AIA continued on page 6 New York Apartment Prices Poised to Drop 20% By George Capsis A neighborhood apartment building owner with 100 create a whole new culture). apartments has, for the very first time, a 20% vacancy rate. Neighboring states such as New Jersey are benefiting from The pandemic has sent office workers home to the suburbs, Malin projects that the slide in real estate rentals will con- the precipitous fall in New York occupancies. Rob Norman, closing offices and restaurants. New York is now a town that tinue through the Christmas season and may not turn around Coldwell Banker's president for New Jersey and Rockland even ghosts (and certainly tourists) decline to visit. Hence, until late spring—and may never be the same as it is now. County, New York, sums up the recent surge in NJ real estate: apartment rents are precipitously dropping by 10 to 20%. This newspaper switched to Zoom production meetings “Rather than picking a town because it’s 10 miles from their In a riveting online briefing, the Chief Operating Officer months ago and some companies are not signing new office office, people are picking a town because it affords them the of Corcoran, Gary Malin, spelled out with mathematical ac- leases while office workers are required to work from home. quality of life they’re wishing for their family. If you could curacy the current drop in apartment rents which he offers as Teddy, my 6'3" grandson, newly graduated from Holy live anywhere in America and still have your same job, where comparable to the 2008 recession. Cross after a four-year football scholarship, went to work would you choose to live? People get that choice now. And Apartment owners are offering two and three month for a cyber security company in Boston only to be sent that’s a very unique situation that we haven’t seen before.” concessions (no rent payments) and even moving costs in home to East Williston L.I. to work by phone, and meet To view the full video, visit https://www.youtube.com/ an effort to fill the increasing number of vacant apartments. a very beautiful girl (keeping workers out of offices may watch?v=1r1fxLOxfiU&t=757s

A MAGICAL CHRISTMAS Wenceslaus Village Shopping TALE TO A pet raccoon lives Support neighborhood busi- INSPIRE THE on as a fond nesses this holiday season WORLD TO Christmas memory. by shopping locally. DREAM AGAIN SEESEE PAGE XX17 SEE PAGE 17 SEE PAGE 24 SEE PAGE 31 2 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org WestView WestViews Published by WestView, Inc. by and for the residents of the Correspondence, Commentary, Corrections West Village. nomics I guess, and of the misguided belief don't: riders not only ignore one way streets Publisher Feynman that pills will cure everything. I am here to and traffic lights, but also ride on the sidewalk Executive Editor I enjoyed Bruce Poli’s article on physicist tell you the situation is getting worse not and outside protected bike lanes, creating dan- George Capsis Richard P. Feynman. Just one correction better, and there are more and more aim- ger to pedestrians and drivers alike. Lastly, al- Managing Editor and Art Director that I know of: his first wife died of tuber- less, helpless, mentally messed up people in low restaurants to expand their outdoor spaces Kim Plosia culosis, not cancer. my area (Greenwich Village). so far into local streets that ambulances, fire Advertising Manager and Designer We at least ought to be thinking about trucks and buses can’t have access. Stephanie Phelan —Carol F. Yost Headline what to do to help them, where they will If the police are forbidden to take action Traffic Manager go, what they will eat, where they will that prevents people’s lives from being en- Liza Whiting Dear Margaret Chin, sleep…. Who will help them get better? dangered, if they’ve been instructed not to Photo Editor I live at 170 thompson street, so in your dis- All the best, Jane Heil enforce safety laws, then what is their job Darielle Smolian trict. But I am writing about my experience responsibility? Photographers yesterday on Sixth Avenue. I usually rush Is Mayor DiBlasio Everyone appreciates that the pandemic Maggie Berkvist by there (between 4th street and Bleecker), Destroying NYC’s situation has been difficult and without Chris Manis, Bob Cooley but yesterday I met some friends for coffee at Mass Transit as Well as precedent, but the Mayor needs to have Associate Editors Marie Blachere Bakery at Carmine and Sixth. a more holistic view, not just of specific Justin Matthews, Anne Olshansky I was there for several hours, and saw many Endangering Lives? "band-aid" solutions, but their conse- Comptroller people who had no idea where they were or Mayor DiBlasio has been destroying quences and impact on all New Yorkers. Jolanta Meckauskaite where they were going. I heard that IFC may NYC’s mass transit, as well as endangering —F. Seidenbaum Architecture Editor be closing now, so that will make that block both riders and pedestrians. Here’s how: Brian Pape even more destitute. One person was dressed Instruct bus, subway and station staff not to Hudson P.O. is Open Business Editor in rags that were barely staying on his body, confront those ignoring safety regulations; “ ……. . West Village Station on Hud- Caroline Benveniste and he just stood there staring into space. No permit train and bus riders not just to ride son is our regular Post Office, however on Fashion Director place to go, no place to relax. Another guy without masks, but also to eat and drink the way back to our apartment, my wife Karilyn Prisco had his own stool, a very big bucket, and he on board; allow transit employees and the and I literally stumbled on it because we Music and Eldercare Editor turned it upside down and sat down on it and police themselves to ignore proper masking utilized what for our normal traffic pattern, Hannah Reimann took out a big bottle of wine (I think it was or distancing. Don’t improve ventilation in was a seldom taken route down 14th st. to Science and LGBTQ Editor wine). A girl dressed in rags went by, looking closed, crowded buses and subway cars. Washington. Kambiz Shekdar, PhD very uncertain and confused. Take many elevators and escalators out of On what today was our second trip there Regular Contributors I wonder: what will these people do in service, but have the MTA website show in as many days, there is literally no one J. Taylor Basker, Barry Benepe, the colder weather? Where will they get them as fully operational. there except for one self-proclaimed bored Caroline Benveniste, John Gilman, food? Where will they sleep? There used Then license 65,000 Uber and Via driv- and lonely Postal Clerk. You literally feel like Mark. M. Green, Robert Heide, to be mental hospitals, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, ers (also harming local yellow cab drivers you’re standing in a library than a post office! Bob Kroll, Thomas Lamia, Keith Michael, Michael D. Minichiello, Penny Mintz, where they would go and rest up and get who paid thousands for their medallions). They want you to come folks! They said it Brian J. Pape, Joy Pape, Anthony Paradiso, some care. I was in one myself, years ago Now add hundreds of bicycles, then legalize helps their day go by quicker. I posted a pic Roger Paradiso, Bruce Poli, in Connecticut, and it gives you respite, motorized bicycles and scooters. These poli- below for orientatative reference. ….” Alec Pruchnicki, Christina Raccuia, makes you stronger until you can go back cies work well in cities like Amsterdam, where Thought readers would want to know… Hannah Reimann, Karen Rempel, outside. Now they are gone, victims of eco- residents are law-abiding. But in NY they —John Early Catherine Revland, Martica Sawin, Donna Schaper, Stanley Wlodyka

We endeavor to publish all letters received, including those with which we disagree. The opinions put forth by contributors The Retail Fight to Survive COVID-19 to WestView do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or editor. By Eric Uhlfelder was killing 2,000 souls every day. WestView welcomes your correspondence, comments, and corrections: Michael Stewart, owner of Tavern on Jane, “We’re in a lot better place than then, es- www.westviewnews.org is as community a proprietor can get. His pecially financially, when all I could offer Contact Us cozy, very friendly restaurant not only patrons was take-out,” says Michael. But (212) 924-5718 makes patrons feel at home, but Stewart the late fall is bringing a severe challenge: [email protected] sponsors free events for the neighborhood, outdoor seating will decline along with the hosts exhibitions of local artists, contrib- temperatures, the Congress continues to utes to various causes, and his prices are a fail at passing a follow-up relief bill, and IN MEMORIAM decade behind those of the trendiest West now rising COVID cases may prevent the Village cafes. But he’s bleeding cash in his city from allowing food establishments to fight to survive COVID. bump up indoor occupancy from 25 per- Remember what it’s like being stuck in a cent to 50 percent. cab, going nowhere and watching the me- In fact, if transmission rates continue to ter relentlessly turning into an absurd fare rise, Stewart is facing the possibility that even when just going across town? even his limited indoor dining will again MICHAEL STEWART IN HIS TAVERN ON Now imagine what’s it like knowing be shut down. JANE. Photo credit: Eric Uhlfelder. that just opening your business’ door every And if all that isn’t enough, retailers, whose month costs in excess of $160,000 and a busiest time of the year is December, will find timates that as of early November he was rapidly spreading pandemic has just shut it. the month a bust, followed by lackluster sales losing several thousand dollars a week. That’s one heck of a ride that Michael that always follow New Year’s Day. When I sat down with Michael in Tav- Stewart and all other restaurant owners Stewart estimates he has lost about $1 ern’s private dining room to better under- have been on ever since the city closed million in sales since the pandemic first stand what a restaurant owner is going MIA SAYS: The greater we give the greater we them down in March when New York was struck—that’s a little less than half of his through, he was frank: “I really love being a receive. Photo by Dusty Berke. in the throes of a deadly viral outbreak that typical annual gross income. And he es- continued on page 10 www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 3 Goodbye Charlie

there was always someone to help him get back on his feet. Sometime in the ‘70s, with two divorces and a newspaper career Wishing all my West Village neighbors in flux, he moved to the Village to work a wonderful and safe holiday season. on his novels. It was out and about where he’d find not only material for his books Please try to shop locally and keep our but a new family. “Everyone at the bars he frequented became instant relatives, young mom and pop shops in business! and old,” recalls my sister Carla. “They’d light up when he would walk into Gil’s, Enjoy useful information about New York City real estate, Minetta’s, and, in the last years, Rafele.” Coronavirus in New York City updates, and supporting Female shopkeepers especially loved him, local businesses by visiting westvillagebroker.com as he was an unrepentant flirt. “On hot days he’d bring popsicles to the laundry women on Bedford Street.” Morton Street neighbor Lucy Herbert remembers coming Best View Condo on the Market home from medical treatments to funny CHARLIE CARUSO, above, in his Morton encouraging notes on her door. “Charlie 421 Hudson St, Unit 701 | Corner Loft Street apartment against a window-sill “sky- and I loved sharing meatballs and vino line” of his favorite books by Hemingway, Asking $1.65M Shakespeare and Mark Twain. With Twain at Cornelia Street Café. During one bad he shared a birthday (11/30) and love of health period he left a copy of Proust with one-liners. Photo by Carla Caruso. the note, “This will help with insomnia!” For three decades running, he and his Scotty Elyanow By Joyce Caruso Corrigan sister Helen, now 85, never missed their Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker Friday dinners in the Village. “The beau- Manhattan & Brooklyn Market Expert Columnist Charles Caruso passed away ty of it was we could always just wander [email protected] on August 6th, only a few hours after Pete around and find a table for two, and it M: 917.678.6010 Hamill did. No doubt these two newspa- was never a bad meal or a bad time,” says @villagescotty per men, products of New York City’s most Helen. Dad and my son shared November competitive Catholic schools (Brooklyn 30th as a birthday and for many years we’d Prep and Regis, respectively) are sharing have double celebrations at Minetta (pre- off-color Jesuit jokes at their favorite water- McNally), and invariably Dad would give ing hole: that great Lion’s Head in the sky. my son a book by Mark Twain or Winston Holiday time in the Village with Dad Churchill, both born that day too. Matthew seemed to us a snow globe of the special Broderick could often be found huddled in amiability of his beloved ‘hood. Small, safe, the corner with his playwright mother Pa- old world and—given a little shake—filled tricia; one time Sarah Jessica Parker came Holiday Chocolates for All with surprises. One December in the ear- over to chat with my then four-year-old Chocolate Snowmen, Gifts Boxes, Hannukah Items & More ly ‘80s we were saying goodnight outside son who, it turns out, is super gregarious Dad’s Morton Street apartment; we were like his grandfather. such a big, loud crowd that theatre icon After dinner, Dad would always march Charles Ludlam, who was trying to pass us around to jazz clubs like the Blue Note us, had to step out onto the street. Dad or Village Vanguard, and somewhere along apologized with that easy charm of his the line he befriended the legendary An- (he could be equal parts Bing Crosby and nie Brazil who we’d go see at a supper club Che Guevara) and the famously irreverent on Bleecker Street. His idea of downtown Ridiculous Theatre founder made a deep, “clubbing” was being a faithful member of flamboyant bow, wished us Merry Christ- the Salmagundi Club, the Shakespeare So- mas, and disappeared into the night. Dad ciety, and the James Joyce Society. lived for those Village moments. He loved “We’re just getting the knack of life when the kinship between our last name and the we die,” is one of his recent one-liners from word “chiaroscuro” as he appreciated the his “Caruso Quips” WestView News column. light and dark sides in himself and others, My sister and I had to laugh about how true and in books, movies and myths. It was this was; not only did two beautiful young why even strangers gravitated toward him. women we’d never met show up at Dad’s fu- There was a big bad city, above and be- neral service, but the family plot where he’s low, but Dad’s Village seemed sheltered by buried in Calvary Cemetery in Long Island a supernatural benevolent force. When he City has the perfect panoramic view of Man- got on in years, and took several tumbles on hattan. He positioned himself to look out, for the cobblestoned streets and broken curbs, eternity, on the city and the locals he loved.

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Mail check to WestView News Subscription Department, 108 Perry Street, Apt 4A, New York, NY 10014 You may also subscribe online by visiting westviewnews.org and clicking SUBSCRIBE. www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 5 Could a Win at Beth GREENWICH VILLAGE LEGENDS Israel Be Near? Why Ramsey Clark is Our Maybe Beth Israel Hospital won’t be closing! Model for the Future By Bruce Poli gency Room, and the Maternity Ward (where There are few unheralded heroes left to- my son was born) were still in full swing. day who have built what is now our great I began to track the Hospital’s filings civil rights movement across America. at the Health Department. Remember, One of them, whose stature is nearly equal when Mount Sinai bought Beth Israel in to that of John Lewis but from a differ- 2015 they promised to keep the hospital ent perspective (and he was a close friend open. Well, by 2017 they were dismantling of Lewis'), is our beloved longtime West the hospital piece by piece, with plans for Village resident Ramsey Clark—the last a new, 70-bed hospital at 14th Street and living cabinet member of LBJ’s Great So- Second Avenue, and the elimination of 700 ciety in the 1960s. THE SMELL OF A WIN IS IN THE AIR: Arthur beds. In May 2017 they shut Maternity Featured as a heroic witness in The Trial Schwartz and Penny Mintz's (above) efforts and Pediatric Surgery. They got permission have contributed to keeping Beth Israel of the Chicago 7, the film by Sacha Baron to close hundreds of beds. In August 2017 open thus far. Photo by Lincoln Anderson. Cohen, his disciplined, principled profes- the whole project was approved by the State RAMSEY CLARK AT 93, a Civil Rights pio- sional life is legendary, and a model for By Arthur Schwartz Department of Health. No studies, no pub- neer and the last cabinet member of The American youth—Black Lives Matter sup- lic hearings, just bureaucratic approval of Great Society. Photo by Bruce Poli. In April, as I was about to sue—again—to porters included—who want passionately the dismantling of our healthcare. stop the new hospital, I got a letter from to stand up for what is right in this era of and said, without hesitation, “We need your My Response? I filed a lawsuit, Progres- Beth Israel’s lawyer: “Don’t sue. We aren’t Trumpism corruption. voice!” “Nobody’s listening,” was his response. sive Action of Lower Manhattan (PALM) moving forward at this time.” The John Lewis Voting Rights Act So, it’s time we all recognize a giant of v. Zucker, and challenged the piecemeal Fast forward to November. Beth Israel rep- of 1965—as it is being proposed to be one of America’s greatest legacies—the closures, without studies or hearings, as a resentatives told the Village Sun on Novem- named—was actually written and super- long journey to freedom and equality. violation of both the Public Health Law ber 13: “All options are back on the table.” vised by Kennedy-appointed Deputy At- At age 92 (his 93rd birthday will be on and the State Environmental Quality Re- The spokesperson said: “The pandemic has torney General Clark. As Attorney Gener- December 18th) Ramsey Clark lived to view Act. And Penny Mintz, with the help changed our world and radically impacted pro- al he also helped write and shape the 1968 see the memorial of his great friend John of PALM and Assembly Member Harvey posed healthcare projects across the country. As a Civil Rights Act. These were two pillars Lewis—the youngest speaker at the 1963 Epstein, organized the Coalition to save result, when it comes to the future of Mount Si- of The Great Society that set a permanent March on Washington, close friend of Beth Israel, which had a teach-in, did a nai Beth Israel, we are putting every option back standard for civil rights and equal justice in Martin Luther King Jr., and tireless ex- petitioning drive, and lobbied public of- on the table, except closing the hospital. To be our federal government. haustive fighter for his beliefs nearly to his ficials. While we litigated and organized, clear, we will not close Mount Sinai Beth Israel.” It is not widely known that John and death. through 2018 and 2019, Beth Israel halted On January 30, 2017, a Saturday morning, Robert Kennedy brought Texan Ramsey Tears came to his eyes as Ramsey Clark its shutdown and the closure was delayed. I woke up feeling awful. The symptoms Clark to Washington DC to help them watched and heard the speeches celebrat- In early March 2020, Judge Shlomo Ha- said to me: “heart attack.” I got dressed and shape civil rights policy and legislation. ing Lewis’ life and legacy. They reminded gler gave a mixed ruling: he said that the made my way one block to the West (my Clark traveled to the South in 1961 to us of who we are, and how 60 years ago closure of the heart surgery unit violated wife drove me) to Northwell Health, where help challenge the segregation of schools America fought for what we believed in the Public Health Law, but that “public I was seen right away. An EKG was hooked and, in 1965, was supportive of John Lewis and got results. health” was not an environmental concern, up, I heard a bunch of “uh-huhs,” and a and present during the five days of protests There is far too much good and prin- and would not reverse the other downsiz- doctor said, “you are going to the hospital that culminated on Bloody Sunday when cipled action that Ramsey Clark has con- ing which had occurred. by ambulance.” I said, “heart attack?” I got Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus bridge tributed all over the world during his many His ruling followed a February 2020 vote a blank response. I said, “which hospital?” in Selma, Alabama—a landmark of our years as an activist to be included in this by the Public Planning Health Council, in a He said “Beth Israel.” Having heard that civil rights movement history. brief celebration of his life. But I will say divided vote, approved the new 70-bed hospi- Beth Israel was in the midst of closing, I Clark has run for the Senate, but his this: our forefathers built all that is good in tal. It was an important, though not final step. asked: “Can I go somewhere else?” He sug- compassionate devotion to democracy this country and we are fortunate to have In mid-March the COVID-19 pandemic gested Lenox Hill, on 77th Street. My brain far exceeded his promotional talent. Self- one living among us today. shuttered NYC. Thousands were sick. Beds said “no, too far,” so off I went for a long deprecation and a mild but highly effec- Thank you Ramsey Clark, for all you were needed for COVID patients. Penny 10-minute trip to Beth Israel. (A trip where tive manner (it was Teddy Roosevelt who have done in your nine decades of life and Mintz and I did a press conference in front of the EMT asked if I was Arthur Schwartz said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”) the service you have given to our country, Beth Israel on March 19, demanding that it the labor lawyer, and told me that I was in has fallen out of favor in America and been leading us down a path we must now re- open up its 500 mothballed beds. Beth Israel the midst of a heart attack.) relegated to the bottom rung of society in turn to as a new era of hope, diversity, and denounced our press conference as a “publicity Those of you who read WestView back in the degenerating Trump era. compassion will inevitably emerge as we stunt;” several days later as the Javitz Center 2017 know, because my blog from the hospi- When The Donald was first elected I strive to recover all we have recently lost. was turned into a hospital, Beth Israel agreed tal was a front page story, that the doctors and walked up to Ramsey Clark on the street We still need your voice. to open up 400 beds. Those beds remain open. nurses at Beth Israel saved my life. They also Is the fight over? Mt. Sinai has been dis- told me what was happening there—from the honest before. But the smell of a win is in inside—and begged me to help (after George the air. It is sad that it took a pandemic VIEWS BY SUZE Capsis came to visit and told them I was a cru- Suzanne McAndrews to make the need for a full-service hospital sading lawyer who could save their hospital). 50 + years in Greenwich Village in our community obvious. I am proud to They told me that a week before I arrived, have been part of an effort to get us this far. the heart surgery unit had been closed. I was See Views by Suze But we must keep up the pressure. (And I lucky that all I needed were stents. If I had at Bonsignour Café need to stay heart healthy!) needed surgery I would have been put back in Jane Street an ambulance and shipped up to 101st Street and Eighth Avenue and Madison, to Mount Sinai Hospital. But I Arthur Schwartz is the Democratic District also learned that 250 beds were still filled every Leader for Greenwich Village and a candi- 646-689-3475 day, and that General Surgery and the Emer- date for City Council. [email protected] Candidates Debate for Corey Johnson’s Seat By Penny Mintz which Mount Sinai has put on “All politics is local,” Tip hold, at least for now. All of the O’Neill once said. That was candidates oppose the downsiz- one thing he got right. The ing and closure of hospitals. Ar- impact of government on our thur Schwartz pointed out that daily life—police, sanitation, he has taken action on the issue. education, fire protection, the He filed a lawsuit in 2017 to licensing of businesses, safety stop the closure of the hospital, regulations, mass transit—is and he held a press conference determined almost entirely at outside the hospital on March the city and state levels. Lo- 19, 2020 to demand that Mount cal government could not be Sinai return the 600 mothballed more important. So, despite hospital beds to use in the pan- the chaos of national politics demic. Four hundred beds were and our exhaustion, we have to subsequently returned to service turn our attention to getting for COVID patients. Hospital the best people in place here officials deny that the Schwartz in New York. The immediate press conference had any impact question is, who will represent on that decision. us in the City Council? THE CANDIDATES: Clockwise from top left: Aleta LaFargue, Phelan-Dante Fitzpatrick, Arthur Schwartz, Erik Bottcher, The members of DID The candidates who will Leslie Boghosian Murphy, Carlina Rivera and Marni Halasa. Image courtesy of NYPAN/PALM. (Downtown Independent run in the general election in Democrats) and PALM were November 2021 will be chosen in a prima- by the Trump campaign, the candidates vocate from the Chelsea area), all expressed expected to make endorsements after the ry on June 22, 2021. Primary elections gen- from Council District 3 have already faced support for the use of space by restaurants, debates, but neither club came to a de- erally have very light turnouts. That means off at two candidate events. The first fo- which have been hit hard the pandemic. cision. DID members felt they needed that each vote is much more significant rum, on November 9, 2020, was hosted by Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer/activist who has more information than they had about the than a vote in national elections. However, the Downtown Independent Democratic donated his time to community groups and District 3 candidates. They are holding a only registered party members get to vote Club. The second, on November 11, 2020, progressive issues and is a frequent con- second discussion on Monday, December in the primary. So, no matter how much was co-hosted by Progressive Action of tributor to this paper, holds that changes 8th. The political club announced recently you may disagree with Democratic or Re- Lower Manhattan, a chapter of New York to street use cannot be made by fiat. He that they would not be endorsing Carlina publican party positions, and see yourself Progressive Action Network, and by the has stated, “It’s critical that communities Rivera because they are dissatisfied with as an independent thinker, just hold your 504 Democratic Club, a city-wide politi- be involved in the planning.” Halasa agrees her statements about Mayor de Blasio’s nose and register with a party so that you cal club that focuses on the needs of people that there should be community control of planned up-zoning of the Soho and Noho don’t give up that powerful voice in deter- with disabilities. street allocation. Schwartz pointed out that areas. mining who gets to run for office. If you One topic of discussion at the Progres- the street restaurants must adhere to noise Only six PALM members were available have a NYS license, permit, or non-driver sive Action of Lower Manhattan (PALM) and fire safety regulations. for the post-forum discussion on Novem- ID, you can register online at https://voter- /504 forum was the dramatic change in use Halasa also says that “The seniors in ber 11th. As they felt they needed wider reg.dmv.ny.gov/motorvoter/. of our city streets. Once dominated by mo- Penn South are really worried about the participation to make an endorsement There are four City Council districts in tor vehicles, major portions of the streets bikes.” Phelan Fitzpatrick, a progressive decision, they will hold an endorsement Downtown Manhattan, conveniently num- have now been taken over by restaurants small-business owner, says that bicycles meeting on Wednesday, December 10th. bered Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4. In District 1 and bike lanes. Candidate Erik Bottcher, have always been a problem; but the real To aid in their decision, the full PALM Margaret Chin is term-limited. There are Corey Johnson’s chief of staff, says that we problem, he says, is “rebel bicyclists”— membership has been provided with writ- five contenders for her seat. In District 2 are in a time of transformation from a city those bicyclists who don’t follow traffic ten highlights of the answers that the Carlina Rivera has no primary challenger. designed around cars to streets designed laws. Halasa expressed the same sentiment. candidates gave to eight questions pre- In District 3 Corey Johnson is term-lim- for the needs of people. Leslie Murphy Murphy, LaFargue, and Halasa want to see pared and posed by State Assembly Mem- ited and six people are vying for his seat. (who has organized in the areas of educa- a comprehensive grid that would make the ber Harvey Epstein, who moderated the Keith Powers is running for re-election in tion and air pollution from cargo ships), streets safer for the bicyclists, pedestrians, PALM/504 forum. District 4. He has one challenger. Aleta LaFargue (an activist for the disabled and vehicles. So far, while the results of the presiden- from the Hell’s Kitchen area), and Marni Another topic at the forum was the Full disclosure: This writer is working on tial election are still being hotly contested Halasa, (a housing and small-business ad- threatened closure of Beth Israel Hospital, Arthur Schwartz’s campaign.

Graffiti continued from page 1 been able to make 25 separate arrests. The Who does the cleanup, and who supplies had simply hired a painter to come to paint police department keeps a citywide data- the equipment? For private property cases, over graffiti, with no complaints to the police. The police department takes graffiti very base of graffiti, so that they can compare owners of the property often simply paint But now she is not able to continue with that, seriously, because illegal graffiti degrades previous artists, tags, and arrests. over or clean up themselves. But there are and her neighbors have volunteered to help properties and a neighborhood. Graffiti What happens when the police do catch other factors at work as well. In 1999, the with the cleanup. In many cases, police of- that is left untouched only invites more and arrest someone in the act of vandalism? City of New York implemented the first ficers have voluntarily chipped in from their graffiti, and that is indicative of neglect of Graffiti is considered a relatively minor of- full-time free service for graffiti cleanup own pocket to provide supplies for a cleanup. a property and a neighborhood. fense, meaning that they will probably not offered to business and residential proper- Sometimes, other groups such as the 13th St. In the case of the graffiti on the wall serve any prison time or even be held over- ties. Under the Graffiti Free NYC program, Alliance and the 14th Street BID have do- spelling “Magic Trick”, that work was re- night in a jail. Instead, they receive a desk complaints of graffiti are filed with 311 and nated supplies for cleanup. ported by a bystander while in progress in appearance ticket for a day in court, and the City’s full-time crew schedules the ap- Anyone can donate paint and supplies by the dead of night, earlier this summer. The will probably get their case dismissed with propriate cleanup, either by painting over or contacting the 6th precinct and Police Of- police responded to the call, and were able the provision that there be no follow-up by power-washing. The program is coordi- ficer Pete Plessa, who will coordinate your to arrest the person doing the painting. arrests for this offense in the near future. nated by the city Economic Development donation. That is not always the case, of course, since In some cases, the court may require some Commission, the Department of Sanita- Learning about the generosity of our they often have lookouts to warn them community service time of the offender. tion, and the Mayor’s Office. Unfortunately, neighbors and our community police of- when the police are approaching, and they What happens to the graffiti? The 6th pre- it is not functioning currently due to CO- ficers to help property owners keep their all scatter so the police can’t catch them. cinct works with the community to get the VID cuts. So it’s back to the community. premises from being degraded, it is heart- The 6th precinct has filed 107 com- graffiti cleaned up, and reported about 33 One situation that was conveyed to me was ening to know that there is a way for all of plaints this year about graffiti, and have cleanups this year of various graffiti locations. about an elderly lady who in previous years us to help. Candidate for City Council District 3

"I've been an NYC activist labor lawyer for more than 3 decades. Helping other New Yorkers has been my life's mission and that's the leadership I will bring to City Council." www.ArthurForNYC.com

Paid for by Arthur for Our Community 8 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org The Day the Village Stood Still: “Gimme Shelter” By Roger Paradiso Mad bull lost its way” —Jagger, Richards “It becomes a choice of risking your life or your business. In most cases people are “The passage of the Federal Cares Act risking their lives to keep their businesses with the inclusion of some business inter- from failing.” ruption insurance plan by which the fed- —Vittorio, La Lanterna di Vittorio eral government buttresses the insurance on MacDougal Street companies as they pay the claims is of the utmost importance. And for those small “Ooh, a storm is threatening businesses who weren’t able to afford this My very life today type of coverage prior to the pandemic… If I don’t get some shelter we would have to supply grants.” —Vittorio Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away” Like many small business owners, Tory feels —Gimme Shelter trapped and is angry. “We need a new mayor Mick Jagger and Keith Richards that actually gives a damn about the food and beverage industry. We have done everything The COVID-19 election came to the Vil- by the book 100 percent and are still blamed lage and there was a reckoning. Villagers and for the spike in numbers. No mention of the rest of Manhattan voted in record num- schools, supermarkets, Home Depot.” bers, as did the rest of the country despite the Vittorio told me that his father started pandemic. America voted President Trump their business on Bleecker Street in 1969; THOUSANDS OF WEST VILLAGERS FILLED WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK in celebration on out of office after his first term. President- the announcement of the calling of the election win for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Novem- they moved it to MacDougal Street in elect Biden won by six million votes and ber 7th. The initial announcement came in the late morning, and tens of thousands celebrat- 1977. The business was doing well enough captured 306 electoral votes. Trump beat ed in the Village, and throughout the city late into the evening. Photo by Bob Cooley. to support the family. But now Vittorio is the indictments and the impeachment, but scrambling to keep it going. “I’m working he couldn’t conquer COVID-19. In fact, he in the Midwest and West, Villagers are Is this the straw that will break the back twice as hard to earn half as much.” contracted the virus and was hospitalized. bracing for a second wave. of the Village? What will be left of the bo- The virus is our enemy—not blue or red The virus is burning through the Mid- Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio hemian Village if the mom-and-pops leave? states. As Nick says, “I think it’s best that west. More than 263,525 people have died are carefully navigating measured shut- Jamal of Village Music World returned we wait out the surge and see where we (as of November 25th). This is without a downs and isolating spiking territories to my call with an ominous statement—he are in two months. During this surge we doubt one of the biggest disasters the Unit- prevent the full-blown assault which ter- said he was taking a sick friend to a hospi- should all stick together and have faith in ed States has faced. As the virus runs wild rorized area hospitals last spring. tal and would call later. our leaders.” As I walked past so many businesses shut- I called Jamal back to see what was up tered, I thought about how many mom-and- with him. He said, “The election celebra- pop stores we have already lost. It is hard tions brought some business on Saturday. to imagine that all theaters were closed in There was some life to the Village. But that Manhattan. That can’t be good for everyone’s soon disappeared. You know most of us mood. We need some relief. My favorite small businesses—we make 65-70 percent movie theater in the Village is Cinema Vil- of our money in November and December, lage on East 12th Street. It has not shown with the holidays.” I asked about the friend a film since March 15th. Owner Nick the he drove to the hospital. He said his friend Greek said, “I can’t go against Cuomo be- was ok. Maybe that’s a good omen. cause he is going after the virus. We can’t do In the darkness of this winter, we should Marc Kehoe: anything until we get rid of this virus.” Nick keep in mind that there are at least two has the most iconic theater in the Village, vaccines which show progress that will save dating back to the glory days of 1964. us all from this virus. This news is all that The Thrill of Chaos Speaker McConnell rejects the Demo- keeps most of us sane. Though the vaccines crats’ large Cares Act COVID-19 relief won’t be ready for most of us until spring, Paintings package; he wants a smaller and “highly seniors could be getting them in January. I targeted” bill. was told by my orthopedist that he will be I emailed Tory at the Half Pint on able to get a shot in December because he North Gallery Thompson Street. She wrote, “Our PPP ran is an essential worker. out months ago, and the sidewalk structures In the meantime, Biden has put together are upwards of $20G each! They can’t be a formidable pandemic team and we are Keisha Prioleau-Martin enclosed. The list is never ending. Increase praying they have the answer. Much of the unemployment. Give us PPP so we can the battle can be won if we shelter in our solo exhibition pay our landlords and budget accordingly. homes, wear masks when inside or outside This limbo bullshit is horrendous.” with non-family members, wash our hands Both shows November 19 to December 20, 2020 Pelosi called on Republicans to “stop this often, and stay out of crowds. Socially distanced receptions November 19/20/21, 4 pm to 7 pm circus and get to work on what really mat- “Either way, it’s going to be a long, hard ters to the American people—their health winter. I am hopeful that a widespread and their economic security.” vaccine before the spring can bring busi- Art of Our Century After the COVID-19 elections there ness back to normal as we approach sum- 137 West 14th St. were celebrations of removing President mer,” said Vittorio. Trump (the Pandemic Don) who, like There is always a price to pay for surviv- NYC 10011 Nero, fiddled about while the country was al. When writing this article I listened to burning. the Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter.” @artofourcentury • artofourcentury.com “Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’ It’s what we all need, and then some. Our very street today “Without federal aid most of us are Burns like a red coal carpet doomed.” —Vittorio www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 9 Stress and Abnormal Behavior in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic these unusual movement patterns their ini- tial concern is that their child has autism, but the symptoms are often the result of stress or anxiety. According to a 2015 study in the medi- cal journal Pediatric Neurology, most par- ticipants with stereotypies also experienced parent or patient-reported anxiety (73 per- cent). The condition also commonly occurs when children are unable to articulate their feelings or are challenged by a develop- mental hurdle. For the most part, children with stereo- typies do not hurt themselves; it’s a habit or phase that will pass. As long as a child is not causing visible harm to him or herself, it’s actually best to ignore the behavior or try to distract from it. Of course, any parent who has concerns CLAIRE MILLER, MD, PhD, above, is a pe- about early development, autism, attention diatric neurologist and movement disorders specialist at NYU Langone Medical Associ- difficulties while learning, or conditions like ates—Washington Square. Photo credit: headache should speak with their pediatri- NYU Langone Health. cian about getting a referral to see a specialist. I work collaboratively with the pediatricians By Dr. Claire Miller at NYU Langone Medical Associates— Washington Square and a team of specialists As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU many families are experiencing high lev- Langone to optimize diagnosis and treat- els of stress trying to manage their per- ment plans and to provide social support. sonal lives, work responsibilities, and hy- We understand that this is a challeng- brid schooling from the confines of their ing time, especially for parents navigating Make an appointment: homes. Children have also experienced health issues, and our team is available to nyulangone.org/washingtonsquare | 212-460-5622 increased stress during COVID-19 due to help patients and families manage medical significant lifestyle changes, and some par- conditions in a way that allows them to live ents are noticing the stress manifesting in in the healthiest and happiest way possible. their children in unusual ways. During the past few months, as a pe- Claire Miller, MD, PhD. is a pediatric diatric neurologist and movement disor- neurologist and movement disorders special- ders specialist at NYU Langone Medical ist at NYU Langone Medical Associates— Washington Square Park is one of the most Associates—Washington Square, I have Washington Square, and is also a member seen families particularly concerned about of the Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and vibrant places in New York City. NYU Langone abnormal repetitive rhythmic movements Movement Disorders at NYU Langone Health is proud to announce the opening of its called stereotypies (like hand-slapping, Health.For more information about Dr. arm- swinging, or rocking) being displayed Miller and the conditions she treats, please new, state-of-the-art medical facility just a few by their children. visit: nyulangone.org/doctors/1861806515/ blocks away. Here, you’ll have convenient access In many cases, when parents witness claire-miller. to world-class specialists. And we’ve developed extensive procedures to make sure your visit takes place in the safest environment possible. WestView News is looking for a volunteer to run our social media by reposting WestView News content. This includes our @westviewnews Instagram account and our FaceBook account: www.facebook.com/WestViewNewspaper/

Please call George if you are #1 in the country for high-quality, efficient, and interested, at 212-924-5718. patient-centered care in outpatient locations. 10 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

continued from page 2 Retail are due for the first year. part of the community. I’m trying like heck When the money from the loan is ex- to weather this financial storm. I haven’t hausted, Michael will have little choice but taken a salary since March. But I’m 63. to dig into his savings. “Banks aren’t lend- I opened my doors 25 years ago, and it’s ing to restaurants,” he says, “because our not like I was making a fortune even when futures are so uncertain.” And the same times were normal. That wasn’t my goal. doubt applies to potential equity partners, But now my life’s savings are bleeding away who would likely want a sizable discount at a time when I should be putting the final for a chunk of the business. touches on my retirement nest egg. And if Many blocks in the West Village are half winter turns really rough, I can’t say how vacant. And by mid-winter, don’t be sur- long I can keep my tavern going without prised if the bulk of what’s left are drug- taking on extensive personal debt.” stores, banks, grocery stores and bodegas. What so many economists and policy So, for anyone who still thinks that CO- wonks miss in their projections about CO- VID is just like the flu, think again. WHILE OUTDOOR SEATING HAS BEEN AN OPTION DURING WARMER MONTHS, the late VID and business is all the sweat and (per- If you want to help Michael, come by for fall is bringing a severe challenge where outdoor seating will decline with the temperatures. sonal) equity being destroyed because of an Rising Covid cases may also prevent the city from allowing food establishments to bump lunch or dinner. And if you’re inclined, visit unforgiving marketplace that fails to take up indoor occupancy from 25% to 50%. Photo by Chris Manis. his Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofund- into account an event for which no one is to me.com/f/tavern-on-jane-covid-relief-fund. blame—save for government officials who decided to open a restaurant,” recalls Stew- “The building owner forgave rent for the hid from us the dangers we were to face. art. For those old enough to remember, they first three months of the pandemic through Eric Uhlfelder writes about finance for The After spending several years in Los An- took over the space formerly occupied by June,” explained Michael. But he still had Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, geles in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the Jane Street Seafood Café at the north- to pay building carrying costs. Takeout and The Economist. a would-be actor and writer, Michael, a west corner of Jane Street and 8th Avenue. sales from his faithful clientele only gener- native Raleigh, North Carolinian headed In 1995, when the owners of the seafood ated about 10 percent of normal sales. east to New York—a place that had al- joint decided they needed more room than The passage of the federal government ways appealed to him since he was young. the restaurant’s 1,400 square feet, Stew- PPP Act provided Michael with $212,000 One Way Government What he brought with him, in addition to art and Foote took over the lease, invested to cover payroll and other operating ex- Can Help Save Retail his actor’s looks and affable demeanor, was $75,000, and changed the New England am- penses. He kept his 25 employees, more several years of experience managing the bience into more of a traditional tavern feel than half of whom have been at Tavern for When the city was shut down earlier iconic West Hollywood Café Figaro and a with a long mahogany bar, active front dining more than a dozen years. But the govern- this year, the true value of retail space friendship with Horton Foote Jr., the son area, a quieter rear space that feels more like ment required the loan to be spent within was what it provided shopkeepers as a of playwright Horton Foote. a railroad dining car, and a splendid semi- two months for it to be forgiven. That place to hold inventory. But commer- “Since we met in 1978 we became good closed room for private parties. The initial didn’t make much sense to any retailer be- cial tenants’ contracts didn’t change. friends, and we both ended up in NY and rent was $6,500. Today, it’s $31,000. cause they knew COVID wasn’t disappear- Today, with business demand stifled ing in 60 days, and there was uncertainty and tourism nonexistent, the market about future government assistance. And value of most storefront rents should just weeks before Michael dispensed the be no more than one-third of what final portion of his loan, the federal gov- they were—if that. But landlords are WE’RE OPEN—FREE ON DEMAND DELIVERY ernment, in its infinite wisdom, decided to still demanding their full nut. extend the spending period to six months. The federal government should This action was one of several govern- enact a rent forgiveness program that VILLAGE ment SNAFUs that challenged proprietors. would shift all financial liability to its Besides having virtually nothing left of the coffers. This is how it could work: loan as of early summer, Congress and the Retail tenants should pay no more president bungled the passage of any addi- than 33 percent of their lease rate until tional stimulus packages—in spite of severe the immediate commercial effects of the APOTHECARY restrictions on indoor occupancy to 25 per- pandemic are over. If landlords own their cent of capacity. Tavern was permitted 18 buildings outright, they should be given THE COMMUNITY PHARMACY THAT CARES clients inside compared to a possible 74. Yet a full tax credit for all rental income lost. in July, Michael’s rent resumed in full. They would deduct this amount from Then, after sinking $15,000 into setting up taxes they will owe over the next three his outdoor seating, the Department of Trans- to five years. If landlords hold a mort- Come in portation decided to further muck things up. gage, their monthly mortgage payments for your fREE According to Michael, after DOT signed off would in turn be forgiven at the same on his 40-seat plan for Jane Street, it then is- rate as tenants’ rent breaks. The bank (or sued him a cease and desist order to remove other financial entity) holding the mort- the 28 seats that were actually on the street. gage would in turn enjoy the same tax WELCOmE Apparently, the city had not formally closed credit described above. this block of Jane Street for outdoor seating. This approach would pass on liabil- It took three costly weeks before Mi- ity to the economy’s strongest financial KIT! chael could get the mayor’s office to sort entities and, ultimately, to the govern- things out. But even with good weather, he ment—which could finance these ex- estimates he’s only making little more than penses through cheap borrowing. This BRInG THIs CARd In And RECEIVE $10 off half his normal take and still losing money. process would preserve existing retail O n A n Y P u RCHAs E O f $25 OR m ORE To keep his business open, Michael was operations so they could reopen in ear- forced to take out a $150,000 loan from the nest once the pandemic is under control. Federal Small Business Administration. This would ensure the quickest recovery. Store HourS: Mon - Fri 8aM - 8pM • Sat 9aM - 6pM • Sun 10aM - 5pM With overnight interest rates for banks Forcing successful businesses to fail being virtually zero, one might think this would be a heavy drag on economic 346 Bleecker St • Greenwich VillaGe, nY 10014 • VillaGeapothecarY.com shouldn’t be too much of a burden. Except, recovery once the threat from COVID the rate is four percent for individual bor- has subsided. 212.807.7566 rowers. On the positive side, no payments www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 11

Alice—A Lovechild Restaurant Greenwich Village Tours Is Born in the Pandemic

Village Legends and the Storied Life of American Culture Enjoy the great legends, stories, sights and history of the renowned New York neighborhood which has helped shape our American culture.

See the Village homes of Woody Guthrie, Sinclair Lewis, Edie Windsor, Emma Lazarus, Berenice Abbott, Thomas Paine. Hear the theatre and music history of Edward Albee, Eugene O’Neill, ALICE BRINGS A MOODY, SEXY VIBE TO VILLAGE FAVORITE GRADISCA, pairing comfort Bob Dylan, John Belushi, James Baldwin, Bette Midler, pasta with a lost-in-wonderland lobster bar. Photo by Karen Vallejo. Allen Ginsberg, John Lennon and Yoko Ono and so many more. See the sights and hear the stories of Chumley’s, Magnolia Bakery, Sex and the City, By Karen Rempel are younger, I really love the team, they are Provincetown Playhouse, Cherry Lane Theatre and more. amazing together. This is what the restau- A percentage of ticket sales will go to WestView News. The restaurant lifespan in New York has rant needs, with these guys I refresh the en- shriveled like a dried chanterelle. NY Eater tire ambience. They change the name, inte- 2 hours estimates that 1,000 restaurants closed be- rior, the menu, now I think we have a good tween March and November. The Office product, good music, they are fun!” for info: [email protected] • 917 450-3323 of the New York State Comptroller recent- The new lovechild restaurant, Alice, im- Above, left to right: Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Dustin Hoffman (Photos by Fred W. McDarrah) ly reported that New York City’s restau- bues the wonderland warren of classic New rant industry had 23,650 establishments in York rooms at 126 West 13th Street with 2019, and projected that one-third to one- a moody, sexy vibe. With comfort on the half of these restaurants and bars may close menu, Alice offers your favorite hand-crafted permanently. This means 8,000 to 12,000 pastas, paired with the luxury of a unique restaurants and bars could shutter. Con- Italian lobster bar. And be sure to say hello to firming these grim statistics, in September Wael, their charismatic Lebanese mixologist. the New York State Restaurant Association As an homage to Massimo’s high-rolling released the findings from its latest survey pasta mama, the menu includes Riccardo’s of more than 1,000 restaurateurs across the own take on Mama Caterina’s ravioli, as state. Nearly 64% of restaurant owners said well as his fresh pasta al forno, to bring tra- they are likely or somewhat likely to close ditional Italian home cooking to the lost- by the end of this year unless they receive in-wonderland experience. “Dining out is financial relief. That’s more than 15,000 the only social experience we have left for restaurants dying on the vine. the winter of 2020,” said Emanuele. “So we It takes a fierce will to adapt, innovate, and want to do it right—with a touch of lux- transform a business model to keep plates on ury.” The lobster menu includes rich lob- the table. Osteria 57 on West 10th Street is ster bisque, lobster risotto, and lobster and a primo example of this ferocious spirit. Not truffle pasta with truffles shaved tableside. only have owner Emanuele Nigro and part- Manager Alberto Manuli reflects on the ner and chef Riccardo Orfino built one of impetus for the fairytale wedding of two the most successful and appealing outdoor venerable Italian families. “We’re doing dining spaces in the city, they have also flung something together, keeping the tradition out their protective tablecloth to cover the of this old historic restaurant with a newer struggling Village icon Gradisca on West vibe, turning it around. We are a group of 13th Street. Together, in a mutually beneficial friends who have never given up in these stroke of brilliant business-model innovation, harsh times.” the two restaurants have launched Alice, a Alice, 126 West 13th Street. Reserva- place to go when you’re feeling a little lost. tions: 212-691-4886 or on Resy. Hours: Who isn’t at times like these? Tuesday–Saturday 5-10 PM. After 20 celebrity-studded years, Gra- disca’s owner, Massimo Galeano, had run Karen Rempel has been contributing to out of steam to keep the old-school Italian WestView News since 2017. She is a pho- restaurant going. But then he met Emanu- tojournalist, technical writer, model, and 126 W 13TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10011 ele and crew, and realized he wants to keep artist. Her artwork was recently on exhibit [email protected] RESERVATIONS: RESY OR CALL (212) 691-4886 one foot here in the business in America, at the Revelation Gallery in the West Village while also having time to visit his loved ones and at the Salmagundi Club. Visit her blog HOURS: TUESDAY-SATURDAY 5-10 PM in Italy. He said, “I met these guys, they at loveaffair.nyc and her YouTube channel. 12 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

a small bakery that sells bagels, cinnamon buns, cookies, and it’s gone. Also on that stretch of Bleecker Street, Royce pastries, and also takes orders for custom cakes and cookies, (253 Bleecker Street between Leroy and Cornelia Streets) some quite elaborate. They are only open Wednesday-Sunday has closed. This Japanese confectionary shop opened its from 10 AM-2 PM and many of the items sell out quickly. first store in New York in 2012, but the Bleecker Street IN Manhattan Medical Arts (492 6th Avenue between 12th location always seemed undersubscribed. There are two and and 13th Streets) offers regular and video appointments for other locations still open in the city. Milk and Cookies (19 OUT primary care and specialties such as neurology, cardiology and Commerce Street between Bedford Street and 7th Avenue by Caroline Benveniste psychiatry. They also offer rapid COVID tests. South), a cute small cookie bakery is also gone. Re-opened Coming Soon A new book, Walking Manhattan Sideways: Side Street Busi- Hudson Hound (575 Hudson Street between West 11th Mama Capri (89 Greenwich Avenue between Bank and nesses That Have Stood the Test of Time will probably be of and Bank Streets) closed in March and remained shuttered West 12th Streets) is applying for a liquor license in the interest to In & Out readers. In 2011, Betsy Polivy had an through September. Many were worried this popular bar space where short-lived restaurant Nightingale used to idea to walk the entire original Manhattan Grid — from 1st would not re-open. In September, they opened a new res- be. Presumably it is related to a restaurant in Brooklyn by Street to 155th Street. She traversed the side streets from taurant in Jersey City, and in October they re-opened on the same name which says the following on its website: the East River to the Hudson, documenting each business, Hudson Street. Besides indoor and outdoor dining, take- “Healthy Amalfi Coast cuisine for everyone. The Amalfi meeting the owners and listening to their stories as she went out is available with 20% off online orders. Murray’s Cheese Coast is not just land of beautiful sea, villages and land- along. The project took nearly six years to complete. Sadly, shuffle: Murray’s Cheese (254 Bleecker Street between scapes. From Island of Capri to Positano you will also be some of the businesses mentioned in the book have already 6th and 7th Avenues) remained open for online ordering able to enjoy wonderful dishes and ingredients, the excel- closed, and others will not be able to survive COVID-19. and delivery, but the store itself had not re-opened until lent results of centuries of culinary refining.” Villagers will recognize some of their favorites in the book, recently. Murray’s Mac & Cheese (250 Bleecker Street at which is filled with gorgeous photos and is well worth a Leroy Street) closed in August, and Murray’s Cheese Bar Pop-up read. It can be ordered at gosideways.nyc. (264 Bleecker Street between Cornelia and Morton Streets) Thaimee Love (615 Hudson Street, between Jane and has morphed into a more casual affair offering the mac and West 12th Streets) is a pop-up from Thai chef Hong cheese menu from the shuttered pop-up as well as sand- Thaimee who operated the now-closed but well-regarded wiches and melts. According to their website, “Murray’s Ngam in the East Village as well as a number of small Cheese Bar has moved to Long Island City, Queens. We’re Thaimee counters at the now-shuttered Gansevoort Mar- currently in the process of evolving our restaurant concept ket and Urbanspace 570. At Thaimee Love, the chef will on Bleecker Street. We hope that you stay tuned for what’s serve homestyle Thai cooking with different regions show- next from Murray’s Cheese & hope to serve you soon!” Mad cased each month. Cooking classes, meal kits, and virtual Morton (47 7th Ave South at Morton Street) opened just tours of Thailand are also planned. If things go well, the before the mandated restaurant shut-down in March. Now chef hopes to continue past May which is the scheduled they have re-opened and are serving their New American end of the pop-up. Miracle® on 8th Street (35 West 8th menu, with an emphasis on cocktails. Street near MacDougal Street), a Christmas pop-up bar, has opened where Existing Conditions used to be. They Closed/Closing are serving a number of Christmas-y cocktails and a small I was devastated that my favorite pizza spot in the city, eclectic menu of comfort food. The concept started in the Keste (271 Bleecker Street near Morton Street), had East Village in 2014, then expanded to 4 locations in 2016 closed. Delivery is still available from their FiDi location. and now to a large number of national and international Readers alerted us to the abrupt closing of Philip Marie, locations. Muse Pop-Up (605 Hudson Street between Photo credit: Christian Souza. with many on Nextdoor bemoaning the closure of yet an- Bethune and West 12th Streets) will be open until the other long-lived Village favorite. A farewell sign on the end of December. Muse features jewelry from a number This month there were once again many closings, but a number door said: “Thank you. We love our customers. We love of designers and sells directly to consumers on its website. of pop-ups have also appeared around the neighborhood, and a our staff. Governor Cuomo…. Fix Our City! Love, Philip Dame Pop-Up (85 MacDougal Street between Bleecker couple of exciting openings took place. Bleecker Street, between Marie.” Ardyn (33 West 8th Street between 5th Avenue and West Houston Streets), which served a menu of fish 6th and 7th Avenue saw lots of changes. and Macdougal Street), an upscale restaurant serving sea- and chips and other British foods and had a visiting chef sonal American food is one of the latest victims of the pan- series on Sundays, closed last month but will be re-open- Top Openings demic. It opened in April 2019, and during the shut-down ing in late November as Dame Deli & Larder, a “provisions SULLIVAN STREET BAKERY it offered a $600 “‘Doomsday’ Dinner Party” which was shop” with prepared foods, bread, produce and alcohol. 249 Bleecker Street between Cornelia and Carmine similar to the many meal-prep delivery services but fancier. Come spring, the team plans to open Dame, a more formal Streets Lighting and Beyond (35 West 14th Street between 5th seafood restaurant at 87 MacDougal Street. A small outpost of Sullivan Street bakery has opened on and 6th Avenues) was a wonderful resource for lightbulbs, Bleecker Street where Oliviers & Co. used to be. No bak- lighting fixtures and chandelier repair, but now they are in Moving ing is done on premises, but rather, deliveries from the the process of selling off their inventory and closing. I was Last month I said I that I was sorry that Flip Sigi was Hell’s Kitchen location arrive twice a day. Breads of all never that fond of Ramen Thupka (70 7th Avenue South, closing on Hudson Street. In response, one of our readers sorts, focaccias and square pizza portions are available to near Commerce Street) but Eater critic Robert Sietsema emailed me the following: “If you are sorry to see Flip Sigi take-away. always enjoyed the affordable noodles and dumplings close, people who live on that block, and customers of the from there, and now the space has gone dark. Popbar (5 Post Office next door, are not. That establishment has been YAMADAYA JAPANESE SUPERMARKET Carmine Street at 6th Avenue) opened in 2010 and sold all along brazenly flouting the Open Restaurants rules, from 450 6th Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets customizable gelato on a stick. The store has closed, but frat-party stand-up beer blasts last spring to now almost A Japanese supermarket has opened in the old Jefferson the company has opened a production facility in midtown, completely blocking the sidewalk with a serving counter Market space. According to their Facebook page, “YAMA- so their products will live on. Grounded (28 Jane Street and tables, leaving barely four feet of clearance where eight DAYA Offers The Widest Selection Of Quality Accesso- between West 4th Street and Greenwich Avenue) was a is required, and illegally blasting the boombox all day and ries, Beauty and Lifestyle Products Grocery From Japan cozy place to work or hang out while having a coffee or tea evening. Sure, there are other scofflaws that are just as bad, In Best Price.” In addition to groceries, Yamada features drink and a snack. It was frequented by many academics, on Hudson and elsewhere, but that’s not an excuse. Flip onigiri, or rice balls with unusual fillings such as Salmon but one of our readers alerted us to its recent shuttering. In Sigi has said the landlord wants them gone. It’s no wonder.” with Yuzu, Chicken Curry, and Matcha with Honey Ume. other coffee news, I remember interviewing the owner of But if you’re a Flip Sigi fan, you’ll be happy to hear that they Faicco’s years ago, and he mentioned that the opening of are moving to the old Otto’s Tacos location at 131 7th Av- Also Open a Starbucks (239 Bleecker Street between Carmine and enue South (at West 10th Street). A reader informed us that Inokim (333 Bleecker Street between West 10th and Chris- Leroy Streets) on the stretch of Bleecker Street between bookstore Three Lives & Company has relocated from 154 topher Streets) sells foldable electric scooters meant to be 6th and 7th was a big deal to many of the longtime shop West 10th Street to 238 West 10th Street for a year while used for commuting. You can book a test ride at the shop. owners who did not like to see their neighborhood invaded their old building undergoes construction. Harris Bakes (72 Bedford Street near Commerce Street) is by chain stores. Now, like many other Starbucks in the city, continued on page 34 www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 13 A View from the Kitchen By Isa Covo a relief, I so hope it lasts. Sadly the blind- ing lights are now back. To quote Thoreau, Nine months ago our lives suddenly “The mass of men live lives of quiet des- changed, and nobody seems to know how peration.” He wrote that in the nineteenth long it will continue this way. century, and it is still true. In the short term it could be a good Delivery & Pickup thing; we become better acquainted with exclusively available at ODEONDELIVERY.com our homes, we do some clearing out of our Carrot-Orange-Spice Soup files long neglected, we dig out the articles we meant to read, unless we are tempted by a highly-recommended program on TV. When it all started, New York was the hot spot of the virus, but since then things have improved somewhat, although I do miss the shows, the movies, the concerts… And even if the restaurants set up outdoor dining which animated the streets, few Photo by Isa Covo. that I know are willing to dine indoors now that the weather becomes wintry. On a cold day, one needs something warming As the schools are open, and as more people and satisfying. Here is a soup with a complex- need to be present at work, many families who ity of flavors to please any palate. Its advantage took shelter in country homes, are returning. is also that it tastes better the next day or the And because there are few places one can go, following, allowing the flavors to develop. or visit friends, the windows in the nieghbor- hood glow, but hide the mysteries behind ¾ pound carrots West Village, Chelsea, & Flatiron them. I have also noticed that our landmark 3 stalks of celery skyscrapers have toned down their lights, and 1 medium onion Every Day until 9pm now we can, on a clear sky, see the new moon 4 large cloves of garlic and even some stars. 2 tablespoons olive oil lunch • brunch • dinner Because of reduced traffic, the streets are 2 tablespoons unsalted butter quieter, and at nightfall, even when there is a 1 bay leaf total night sky, I like to sit and look out the 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth Use code view at checkout window at the skyline—the lights, the occa- Salt and pepper for a 10% discount sional stars—that calms and soothes me. It is, 1 large navel orange or was, one of the best moments of the day. 1 tablespoon garam masala or Curry powder Next to our building is a beautiful Catho- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom lic church designed by the architect John ½ teaspoon ground ginger Doran in the elegant and sober Greek Re- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg vival style, built 1834. The columns and the ¼ cup Madeira marble stairs at its front as well as the slant- ¼ cup heavy cream ed slate roof add to the charm and charac- 1. Scrape and chop the carrots, chop the ter of the Village. Years ago, the bells were celery, peel and chop the onion, peel ringing at 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. I found it and chop the garlic. framed the day in a quaint and and pastoral 2. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, way. They no longer do and I miss them. add the oil and the butter and heat until There is a golden cross on the front of the the butter foams. Add the chopped veg- roof, and when we moved here it was illumi- etables, stir to coat with the fat, and cook nated by a small light, and soon it was replaced stirring occasionally to prevent them RESPONDING TO CORONAVIRUS by a stronger one that reflected into our home from sticking to the bottom of the pan, As we continue to monitor the situation with Coronavirus with an unpleasant glare. Then, after some until the onion turns light brown and (COVID-19), we are taking steps to protect the health and well-be- restoration at the church, it was replaced by a fragrant, for about eight to ten minutes. ing of our customers. more discrete one, no larger that a headlight. It 3. While the vegetables are cooking, zest While the store itself will be closed to the public, you are was not intrusive and gave us peace. and squeeze the orange. Set aside. welcome to shop through our online shop.But please bear with us A few months ago, they started another res- 4. To the saucepan with the vegetables, toration with the addition of air conditioning add the stock, the orange juice, zest and as we will have a skeleton crew. and other mechanics. They also again changed the spices. Raise the heat to high and We are grateful to have such wonderful customers that are the lights illuminating the cross. This is done bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the willing to support a local small business like ours. by two lamps, one on each side of the cross. heat to medium low. Stir and cover the STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE! From the street they look the huge anten- saucepan. Continue cooking for twenty nae of some malevolent insect. From the top, to thirty minutes, stirring the mixture when they are lit, they look like two angry and occasionally, until the vegetables have aggressive eyes, that not only blind us and pre- softened. Remove the bay leaf. vent us from looking down the street, but also 5. In a blender, food processor, or with invade our apartment as they throw an un- an immersion blender, puree the soup. pleasant patch of cold light on the ceiling and 6. When the soup is blended, return to leave a ghostly glare around the room. Should the saucepan and beat in the Madeira unbidden invasive and disruptive actions be and the heavy cream. Bring again to a allowed to disturb other people’s homes and boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer peaceful existences? an additional two to three minutes They are still working on the church, and and serve. for a few days the lights are off. It is such Yield: 4 to 6 servings 14 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org The Evolution of Winter Holidays: From Saturnalia to the Christmas Season By Anastasia Kaliabakos A significant festival that took place in the winter in An- The months of November and December are typi- cient Greece was called Haloa, or Haloea. This celebration callyconsidered to be the height of the “holiday sea- took place annually after the first harvest was over. An in- son,” as people eagerly await popular holidays such as teresting fact about this festival is that all women were ex- Thanksgiving,Chanukah, and Christmas. Celebrating these pected to attend this event, but men were excluded; how- types of holidays, seems to be quite an integral part ofsome ever, the men had to pay for the women’s expenses during people’s culture and a way to wrap up the calendar year. But the holiday’s festivities. Although the celebrations varied how long have holidays and festivals played a role in soci- depending on the region of Greece, authors recorded that ety? Looking back two thousand years ago, we can see how they were all consistent in enthusiasm and participation. popular celebrations contributed to both civic enthusiasm Attendance was very integral to the fabric of Greek soci- and engagement in places like Rome and Ancient Greece. ety at the time. Like Saturnalia, there were animal sacri- Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival held in mid fices, offerings, and banquets. The women at the festival A DEPICTION OF A SATURNALIAN offering in Ancient Rome. to late December. As the name suggests, this holiday cel- made cakes together and expressed themselves more freely ebrated the god Saturn (or, in Latin, “Saturnus”), who, in the than they were allowed to during other times of the year Roman tradition, was the deity of sowing and agriculture. not have a role in the gift-giving. Saturnalia remained a since men were not very involved in the celebrations. The Saturn was said to have ruled the world during the Golden popular holiday into the 4th century A.D. When the Ro- Greeks thought that Haloea was sacred to Poseidon, but Age, which was a time when humans walked the earth free man Empire ultimately came under Christian rule, many of even more so to Dionysus. The influence of Dionysus and of work obligations in a state of innocence. A god known Saturnalia’s traditions morphed into some of the seasonal the importance of wine to Greek cult activity really con- for his sense of justice and character, Saturn decreed that celebrations associated with Christmas and the New Year. tributed to who was considered the primary god while cel- there were to be no slaves under his rule, or even private ebrations and sacrifices ensued. Finally, although Haloea property-- all people were entirely equal and had the same was one of the most talked-about Greek festivals, very few opportunities. The holiday was mostly held in the Roman accurate records of the specific characteristics and rituals Forum, specifically at the Temple of Saturn. At this temple, of the celebrations have survived or were written—most people celebrated by dedicating various sacrifices and offer- likely because it was a festival predominantly for women to ings to the god. Typically, these were animal sacrifices, but, participate in. However, aforementioned Roman Saturna- it is also said that Saturn additionally received gladiators lias were indeed influenced by Greek festivals like Haloea. killed in fights or games as offerings. This practice changed As one can see, festivals and holidays have been avenues later on as the festival developed, but this specific tradition for people to come together in celebration and joy for mil- went back to Saturn’s lesser known connection with the un- lenia. Although this season may be different from previous derworld. Another significant aspect of Saturnalia was the years, the holiday spirit will nevertheless persist. We still temporary reversal of the common social hierarchy. During must count our blessings, enjoy one another’s company— Saturnalia, slaves were permitted to dine with their mas- whether that be in person or virtually—and make the most ters, since everyone was considered equal for the few days of our modern winter holidays. that the festival lasted. Additionally, slaves were even able to disrespect their “superiors” without fear of punishment Anastasia Kaliabakos is a graduate of the Brearley School and from them. This is probably the most well-known part of is currently a Presidential Scholar at the College of the Holy the holiday—countless famous authors, poets, and histori- Cross majoring in Classics. She is a Features Editor for Holy ans have discussed it in detail (like Horace, Catullus, and Cross’ newspaper, The Spire, Associate Editor of the Parnassus Pliny). There was also a specific day set aside for gift giving Classical Journal, author of Milkshake: A Very Special Pony, and called Sigillaria. Special wax figures and toys were made es- A BANQUET HELD DURING the celebrations of Saturnalia. recipient of the 2019 NYC Scholastic Writing Award. Anastasia pecially for this day so that monetary value and status would Image credit: Saturnalia (1793) Antoine Callet/Wikipedia. has contributed to WestView News since 2018.

Native Manhattanite and West Village resident for the past 42 years. Licensed in Real Estate for the past 21. Denise Marsa Performs THE PASS Board Certified New York Residential Specialist (NYRS®). Live Streaming Event Here to help you and yours find your next perch or move on whether in New York or elsewhere, when the time comes again. Thursday, December 31 at 9 p.m. For more info and tickets please visit Alexander de Bordes DeniseMarsaMusic.com 917-640-3707 [email protected] www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 15 Who You Are in Times of Uncertainty By Arabella Oz What was the impact of believing them? like “always” and “never.” Statements like this ing negative thoughts creates more tension What’s happening with the world? What’s Do these repeating narratives make you are absolute and crowd out the nuance, spa- than the thoughts themselves. Focusing on happening with our country? What’s hap- tired, tense, sick, or distracted? ciousness, and contradiction that makes you building awareness and curiosity expands the pening with my health? My job, school, If you are reverting to negative beliefs human. And lastly, try to let go of trying to field of vision, so that when we catch familiar apartment, family? This year has pushed about yourself, that’s okay. You’re trying to let go of your negative narratives. Good luck but painful tapes playing in our minds we can our capacity for managing not knowing. keep your head above water. We’re all doing with that one. Sometimes resisting or avoid- engage in a new way, fit for a new era. We are hard-wired to detest uncertainty. our best to make sense of a grossly complex time, and sometimes all we have to lean on We move through linear time and we like DAVID NORMAN DINKINS, 7/10/1927-11/23/2020 to know what we’re moving towards. We are stale, reductive images and ideals. We feel comfortable with a plan, preparing for can’t blame 2020 for instilling our deepest By Carol Yost one term. But he started the Safe Streets, possible outcomes, maintaining a sense of negative beliefs, just for turning up the vol- Safe City campaign, although he didn’t get control in our lives. But then there are pe- ume. The stories you tell yourself have been The whole city mourns the loss of David much credit for it. riods of life where our constant grasping playing on repeat in some back corner of your Dinkins, our first and, so far, the only Black In 1991, he marched in support of gays for certainty reveals itself as ridiculous and mind for a long time—they’ve become a hum New York City Mayor (1990-93). He was and lesbians in the St. Patrick’s Day Pa- futile. We can’t see what’s ahead, what will in the background of your normal life. Well, 93 years old. His wife Joyce passed away just rade, and was hit with slurs and beer cans. be asked of us, or fully make sense of what as normal life falls away to something new, one month earlier. He is survived by their Dinkins had struggled against racial preju- has just happened. It is here, in the thrash- the hum grows less avoidable. In the most two children, David Jr. and Donna. dice in his own life; an especially stressful ex- ing waters and thick fog of now, that our annoyingly optimistic way, this is the op- He had already survived major heart sur- perience was his being rejected after repeated minds reveal themselves to us. portunity available to all of us right now, to geries and bouts of pneumonia over the years. attempts to join the Marines as a young man, When the future is chaotic and slippery, ask ourselves: how is this moment of global He was noted for his gentlemanly, calm although his persistence ultimately paid off we fall back onto old thought patterns. instability unearthing our existing patterns? demeanor, and a relief after the loud theatrics when he finally got in near the end of World Negative beliefs can actually be comfort- A few things to think about: first, ask of his predecessor Ed Koch’s three terms. He War II. He then rose up through the ranks ing because they are familiar, even if they yourself why these thought patterns might began his term with a city hopeful for change in a long political career. hurt. What are you telling yourself about have been adaptive at one point. Did being toward justice for people of color and the poor. After his term as Mayor, he led a fairly who you are these days? I never do enough. internally self-critical help to prepare and Unfortunately, he had trouble trying to quiet life, only to show up in support of the I am not a good person. I am incapable. If protect you from real ridicule? Did compar- contain the racial violence and crime that protests against the shooting of unarmed I mess up, I’m a failure. Nobody likes me. ing yourself to others serve as an important increased during his term, although certainly black immigrant Amadou Diallo in 1999. I always come out on the bottom. What is framework for success at a time when you he had not caused it. Police corruption was He was then arrested in a show of civil dis- the thought that plays in your head like a didn’t have more reliable guidance? Under- uncovered. The Crown Heights riots of obedience, and marched across the Brooklyn relentless ear-worm? Write it down. Note standing the rationale and intent of your 1991, followed by harsh criticism of Mayor Bridge with the Rev. Al Sharpton. He joined the language you use. Is it extreme or dual- thoughts is an important step towards being Dinkins for failure to quell the violence, ap- the Diallo family a year later in Washington, istic? Notice when these thoughts were the able to negotiate with them. Second, catch parently contributed to Giuliani’s election to calling for a federal investigation. loudest this week. What triggered them? yourself when you use sweeping language the Mayoralty after Dinkins had served only

www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 21 Holly Claus Awakens Our Dreams By Brittney Ryan contribute to the world by keeping families from being bro- ken up.” Many children say they want to become physicians Holly Claus asks children, “What do you dream to be, and or researchers so they can find cures for diseases, or become what will your special dream contribute to the world?” She performers or artists to inspire people. They bring their inspires them to reflect on how their dreams will help oth- wishes to Santa Claus, but their dreams to Holly. That’s ers; to see that aspiration, imagination, and hope are what what sets her apart from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and make us who we are; and to realize that they are capable of even Elsa—Holly invites children to enter the story. She in- marvelous things. I have seen the magic of Holly Claus’s spires them to bring their dreams to the tree in both hands. story and been forever changed by it. My dream is that one A few winters ago, a ballet company contacted me. The day, Holly Dreamtrees will be lit in town plazas everywhere, choreographer said “I cannot do another Nutcracker. I’ve their branches hung with the dreams of all the world. been searching for the next classic Christmas ballet, and The first Holly Dreamtree went up in the San Jacinto I’ve found it in Holly Claus.” When the Holly Claus Ballet of Plaza in El Paso. I had been visiting schools and bookstores Dreams opened, the performances were sold out—2,500 seats and putting on events in the community to promote my a night. Every night, six hundred or more children brought novel The Legend of Holly Claus and my new picture book their dreams on paper snowflakes for Holly to hang on the The Christmas Princess. I invited everyone to write down Dreamtree in the Dreamland sequence. One night, in the de- their dreams and what they would contribute to the world serted foyer, I found a six-year-old boy running around with and bring them to Holly’s magical Dreamtree lighting. tears on his face. He told me he had lost his dream. The doors As thousands of families gathered in the plaza, the snow had closed, the curtain was about to rise, and he was frantic. began to fall. Christmas had arrived. When I invited the We scoured the lobby. His dream had fallen under one of the children to hang their dreams on the tree, they brought tables. When we found it, he held it close and thanked me. them in both hands. There was a little girl in a yellow dress Watching him run back into the theater to hang his dream who had brought not just her dream, but her violin. When on the Dreamtree brought home to me how important it is to she told me she wanted to be a concert violinist, I asked help people find the dreams they’ve lost. her to play for the audience. When she did, I could see her Once, I put all the dreams I had accumulated on a wall. playing in symphonies one day. At that moment, my Holly When I stepped back, I saw it—this is what the world will events stopped feeling like promotional things, and from look like in twenty or thirty years. This is our future, be- that day onward, I was on a mission. I knew that Holly and cause these are our dreamers. her Dreamtrees could touch the world. Children write their dreams on Holly Claus stationary or on paper snowflakes. After the Dreamtrees come down, I Brittney Ryan is the New York Times Best selling author of save every single dream. I must have thousands. A little girl the Christmas classic The Legend of Holly Claus, which is wrote, “Holly, I want to be a family therapist. My dream will THE MAGIC OF HOLLY CLAUS. Image credit: Micaela Bensko. part of the Julie Andrews Collection.

with a poached egg floating in them. You pierced the yolk with your chopsticks, stirred and slurped up this treat right Joan’s Shanghai then and there. By Joan Klyhn Another vendor event was the crab guy’s arrival. Up to a Joan’s Shanghai is a memoir of a childhood in Shanghai in the ‘30’s dozen live crabs were stacked on top of each other and tied and ’40s of the 20th century. I am primarily writing it for myself, together with string. They formed a tower, spewing foam extending it to my friends, and now to the many people who have and extruding hundreds of struggling claws from top to bot- shown themselves fascinated with this period in the past. tom. The vendor stood, calm at first, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, holding two or more of these towers. Hong The Kitchen carefully inspected each stack to make sure each crab was During the day, the beautifully furnished, immaculate rooms alive and deducting for every perceived dead one. Of course, of our house were often empty, but there were always several the vendor got more and more incensed, until finally the people in the kitchen. In addition to the six or seven perma- deal was completed, cigarettes and money exchanged. nent staff, young country girls would come around the back CATCH THAT MELON at the market. Photo courtesy of As a special treat, Hong would occasionally let me tag door, and work for us for a time, but they didn’t last long. Graham Earnshaw. along when he went to the market. 36, rue de Boisseizon, They were disrespected by the incumbents; all the way from where I lived, was a typical French Concession house. Hong, who yelled at them, to Xiao Liu who passed on dirty cooked, so he always had some extras to give out. He also It had two stories raised above a flood cellar. There were jobs to them, or, if they were pretty, groped them. Someone needed an audience for his frequent rants, often addressed equally large and gracious homes on either side of the street, was always eating with chopsticks out of a big bowl. From an to vendors who came to the back door with their goods. I which was wide enough to be called a boulevard. But all early age I learned that at home in the kitchen, one could eat used to wonder why the egg lady bothered coming back. She you needed to do was walk two blocks, turn a corner, and whenever, and that only my parents followed set mealtimes. would arrive with a big basket of eggs. A deep bowl of water find yourself on the Rue Magy. It was narrow, teeming with I also learned that set meals were less tasty than the spon- was placed on the floor, and one by one her eggs were lowered stalls, vendors, customers; women with babies slung on their taneous meals and snacks erupting regularly in our kitchen. into it—sometimes one would crack, and there would be an backs, dogs, cats and vermin. Families lived in crowded Hong might return from the market with a huge slab of pork argument as to whose loss that would be. The purpose was to apartments on either side of Rue Magy, which was so nar- fat slung over his shoulder, which he cut up and rendered to check each egg’s freshness. If I remember, a fresh egg lay on its row that cars could not drive through. Because no motor- make the lard we used for cooking. I would wait for the crack- side at the bottom of the bowl. The rest were subject to nego- ized vehicles could penetrate Rue Magy, there was always lings he’d fish out of the boiling oil and flick out into the air tiation. I got the job sometimes of egg testing while the lady a great honking of overloaded bicycles trying to move for- for whichever kids were around to catch. As well as myself, yelled “they were all laid this morning! Don’t waste my time! wards or backwards. As well, vendors carried huge loads on there would usually be a few children parked in the kitchen Get your eggs elsewhere!” About half the eggs were rejected either end of bamboo poles carried across one shoulder. On while their parents did chores in the house and grounds. We’d with drama on both sides and the whole event was repeated one end, there might be a charcoal brazier, already smoking shriek, tossing the hot, crunchy bits from hand to hand till the following week. Sometimes, right after the egg lady left, away. Balancing it off on the other end could be cooking they were cooled off enough to eat. Or Hong might sau- Hong would crack a few of the eggs into boiling chicken or pots, hanging sacks of utensils, food ready for cooking. If té some yolks found in a hen’s carcass and look around to pork broth (always on hand) with a few fresh noodles and the vendor was a woman, there could also be a baby in the see who deserved them. Hong liked an audience when he some chopped scallion. He’d hand around bowls of the broth mix, slung over the other shoulder, or strapped on her chest. 22 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

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made the West Village their home. I was life or finding what’s exciting about your West Village Original: delighted how people like Calvin Tril- surroundings. There was a lot happening in lin, Susan Brownmiller, or Joel Meyerow- the West Village. I loved Boots & Saddle on itz would so affably agree to talk to—and Christopher Street for its eclectic clientele, Michael D. Minichiello trust—someone who wrote for a local paper. the Five Oaks on Grove Street where the I suppose that’s what makes the West Vil- great Marie Blake pounded the keys every lage the special place it is—a sense of com- night, and the Actors’ Playhouse on Sev- munity that connects us regardless of one’s enth Avenue South where I co-produced position and celebrity. But the Village is my first Off-Broadway play. But I’m glad again in the midst of what has been an on- that the City became so livable as I got older going change. As such, it seems a good time and settled down. And so full of trees! That to put this column to rest, at least for now. I’ve also spent the last thirty years with my These days I qualify as a West Vil- spouse, Bill, on Horatio Street has added lage Original myself. Born in Nyack, NY to the charm. I’m still loving my work as to parents in the arts, I moved into the a graphic designer and have my own busi- neighborhood in October 1974 while still ness now. We’ve been through a wonderful a teenager. I always knew that one day I period of both relative peace and prosperity would live here. As with so many people I in New York. This makes me worry about interviewed, my parents played a key role in the future as we emerge from the pandemic. that. When we were children they regularly Where we end up as a city and as neighbors introduced us to the joys of New York and is anybody’s guess, but I’m counting on our later, as teenagers, my twin brother John inherent resilience to pull us through. and I spent many a night here. I was prob- What is the biggest change for me? The ably the last generation that could move West Village was always a desirable part of into the Village—albeit in a studio—and town but the amount of money here now is still manage it on my own. I always had a staggering! My hope is that the next gen- job and happily worked my way through eration of residents will develop the same college, first getting a BFA from Hunter sense of allegiance to the neighborhood that and then an MFA in film from Columbia’s defines those West Village Originals who School of the Arts. came before them. They were—and contin- I know people like to talk of the hor- ue to be—very special people and I’m happy AUTHOR OF WVN'S WEST VILLAGE ORIGINAL COLUMN, Michael Minichiello, above, quali- rible, crime-ridden days of the ’70s and to be among them. You have my sincerest fies as a West Village Original, himself. Photo by Maggie Berkvist. ’80s in New York, but I had a wonderful thanks for trusting me to tell your stories. time. There’s nothing like being young for They’re now forever recorded as part of the By Michael D. Minichiello wasn’t necessarily with regret. Instead, there blithely plowing through the difficulties of history of our beloved West Village. was an overwhelming theme that spending It was in the October 2008 issue of WestView so many years—oftentimes 40, 50, and 60— that George kindly published my first West in the West Village had given them a qual- Village Original article. Since then, I’ve writ- ity of life they felt certain they never would ten 90 such profiles of long-time West Village have found anywhere else. This neighbor- residents and George has published every one. hood has variously welcomed them, nur- The time seems right to now bring the series tured them, inspired them and, ultimately, to a close. As such, my last West Village Origi- made diehard fans of them all. nal is an opportunity to reflect on these past The funny thing is that I’ve never actu- twelve years and my journey both with the ally met most of the people I’ve profiled paper and as a West Village original myself. in person; every interview was done over This doesn’t mean I won’t continue writing for the telephone. Interestingly, this created an the paper, though, and in the meantime, every atmosphere where my focus was on every West Village Original interview can be found word, without the distractions of in-person at www.westvillageoriginals.com. conversations. When each call ended, I felt I had truly taken an intimate journey I joined the WestView community in early through someone’s life. Among the list of 2008. I’m a graphic designer who called questions I would ask, my favorite turned George in response to an ad he placed in out to be, “Tell me about your parents.” his paper looking for someone to perform Invariably, this elicited touching and re- that function. However, when George vealing responses, confirming that what found out that I had an MFA in film, he their parents did for a living or enjoyed as suggested I review movies for the paper. hobbies had profound influences on their So, I did. But I soon discovered I enjoyed child’s choice of a career. Dina Andriotis, Chris Tsiamis, and Nikitas Andriotis (from left to right). writing about other subjects even more, At the end of each interview I had up and before long I had the idea for West to three pages of single-spaced copy that 77 Christopher Street Village Originals. It occurred to me that needed to be honed into an 800-word ar- Between Seventh Avenue and Bleecker Street there had to be many long-time West Vil- ticle. The challenge was to find the “hook” lage residents with interesting things to say that introduced a defining theme and to Pharmacy Hours: about their lives, their careers, and the vast present each person to be as interesting as Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM changes that have taken place in the area. they are: in other words, to do them jus- Saturday: 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM It turns out they did. They shared insights tice. My greatest satisfaction is that most Closed Sunday into times now past, amusing anecdotes of of those I interviewed expressed their sin- people and places that no longer exist, and cere pleasure in being presented just as they Telephone: 212-255-2525 • Fax: 212-255-2524 poignant tales of what makes the Village might have hoped. email: [email protected] such an inspiration to this day. They cer- And yet, times change. In the last twelve www.newyorkchemists.com tainly reflected on the changes that have years, I’ve been privileged to interview so occurred through the years, but even this many icons and long-term residents who

24 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

A small cadre of Robins just flew into the Callery Pear tree in front of our building. Tit for Tat In the recent past, Perry and Greenwich By Keith Michael Streets were lined with these trees that put on such a spring spectacle with their clus- “Let’s Go!” ters of white flowers, then carpets of petals I’m thinking, “Spit! Spot!” in the voice of after a spring shower. But storms the past Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins, but I don’t several winters have not been kind, and one say it out loud. Oh, if only a “Spoonful of by one they’ve been brought down. Ours is Sugar” could make “the medicine go down” still holding on and the fall bounty of fruit for Miss Millie with her corgi-advancing- is what has attracted the Robins. The pea- years-arthritis kicking in. Arthritis’s actu- sized pears are usually not palatable until a ally kicked Millie in for years now, though strong frost and thaw softens them, but the the medications do help—and cream Robins are picking through them looking cheese is her chaser of choice for the pills. for a few less akin to rocks. The rejects are We head out the door, down the hall, pinging off the parked cars. through the foyer, ba-dum-ba-dum down Millie pulls me toward the middle of the the two stairs, and out onto the street. Mil- street. It’s a good thing it’s Sunday morning lie looks up at me for the treat reward for and there are few cars that might interrupt A TUFTED TITMOUSE doing what it does best: looking cute. Photo by Keith Michael. her accomplishment. “Good girl.” I have an her. But the sudden move startles a pair inkling that this morning is going to be the the street, the namesake chick-a-dee-dee Millie takes two, then three, then four of Mourning Doves that were scrounging Big Stand. There’s a bird watching tradi- call of a Black-capped Chickadee can be steps further west. A marathon. A pile of through the leaves still drifted against the tion known as a Big Sit when one chooses heard from the Willow Oaks. And further leaves is beckoning for investigation.I don’t curb on the other side. The wind through a spot and literally sits there for a given toward Greenwich Street I hear the beep know if the Titmice, collectively called a their wings as they rise makes a rhythmic length of time (sometimes 24 hours) and beep of a White-breasted Nuthatch, and I “banditry” by the way, are following our whistling sound that is otherworldly. counts the number of species of birds seen can only imagine its acrobatic shenanigans diminutive western migration, but their Above our heads the tap-tap-tap and and heard—hoping to see and hear more through the street trees. calls and activity seem more insistent. Ah. plummeting whistle of a Downy Wood- birds than a competitive friend sitting Millie is standing, still, noticing that A phalanx of Common Crows passes nois- pecker resounds from the Zelkova tree. somewhere else. Well, here we are on Perry there’s a workman leaning against the wall ily overhead heading uptown—off to warn With no leaves to impede our view, its Street at 8:00 am on a Sunday morning in across the street eating his breakfast. (Why the neighborhood of a hawk no doubt. In black and white checkerboard plumage the frosty morning light, and Millie and I is he working on Sunday?) Above, there’s another moment, the morning circling of pops in the morning light. are standing on the sidewalk. Standing. a plastic bag fluttering from a tree branch. pigeons commences and immediately I Millie looks up at me as if to say, “Let’s Right away, the fall triumvirate of Tufted (Aren’t plastic bags so passé?) Approaching can see that this is not their routine lazy Go! I really need to rest up for my masked Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, and from the corner is an age-appropriately- carousel. It’s as though their flight pattern ball appearance at next month’s Bird of the White-breasted Nuthatch make them- eager Golden Retriever puppy. (Should we is on fast-forward, and there, gaining on Year Awards 2020.” Perhaps I’m reading selves known by their distinctive vocal QR escape off the sidewalk? Oh, they noticed them is the reason: a long-tailed Cooper’s too much into the slant of her eyebrows. codes. This year, Tufted Titmice seem to us too, and are crossing out of our path.) Hawk has infiltrated their ranks. A solitary be everywhere. And, yes, the plural of one A kayak is being loaded onto the roof of pigeon who makes a wrong turn is about to Visit keithmichaelnyc.com for links to ALL Titmouse, is several Titmice. Right now, a car. (Really? He’s going out on the water have a very bad day. of my WestView articles, books, photo- there are three or four gallivanting through somewhere in this nippy weather?) Millie is more concerned about the graphs, and the latest schedule of New York the treetops. Occasionally I catch a silhou- It’s Sunday so all the construction is qui- backup beep of a van taking advantage of City WILD! urban adventures in nature ette of their endearing peaked head-crest et. For a moment, there’s not a car moving, an empty parking place along “her” spot by outings throughout the five boroughs (cur- against the morning light, their mousey and one can hear the leaves that haven’t the curb. I think that she had already eyed rently on hold). Follow me on Instagram gray barely discernible, but mostly I hear forsaken their branches weeks ago gently the cobblestone targeted for the morning, @newyorkcitywild for daily photos from their whining, complaining call. Across scratching against each other in the breeze. and now she will need to readjust her plans. around NYC. Wenceslaus By Jeff Hodges et contemplation. Since the temperature When my daughter is at a symposium and stayed below freezing, his droppings were the leader asks the participants to “tell us odorless and easily removed. He was the something we would never guess about perfect houseguest. you,” she’ll often respond: “When I was two, Nonetheless, my sensible wife argued for I had a pet raccoon named Wenceslaus!” his eventual eviction. On New Year’s Eve, One snowy Christmas I saw a big rac- when we were spending the night else- coon walking back and forth on the road in where, we left the porch door open. When front of our house like a pedagogue pon- we returned the next day, he was gone. dering a difficult problem. Typically dis- But he was back that evening, apparently regarding the possibility that he might be preferring a regular diet to the vagaries of rabid, I maneuvered him into a cardboard life in the wild. box and deposited him on our screened-in Eventually we had to return to Manhat- back porch. He seemed happy to be out of tan. Also, the January thaw had begun, and the snow. the back porch was starting to become a WENCESLAUS: A docile and beloved houseguest. Photo by Jeff Hodges. He was remarkably docile. My daughter little malodorous. and I weren’t sure what to feed him, so we I put Wenceslaus in his box and took Reluctantly, I agreed. just like Wenceslaus. I can’t remember started with pignolia nuts. When he stood him to a nearby vet for an examination. We told our daughter the vet was going how we explained that to our daughter; up to take the nuts out of her hand, he was The vet pointed to a droplet of mucus in to keep Wenceslaus until he was well, and but Wenceslaus the stuffed raccoon has as tall she was. his nose and told me he was suffering from then take him to a farm that had a lot of remained a treasured effigy of our beloved My wife objected to the high cost of the distemper, which accounted for his docility. other raccoons. She was content with that. houseguest who spent Christmas with us pine nut diet, so we switched to kibble. He His time on earth was limited, and the vet In the spring my wife returned from a when the snow lay round about, deep and spent his days eating, sleeping, and in qui- offered to put him down for a small sum. tag sale with a stuffed raccoon that looked crisp and even. www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 25

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unhappiness with her over her recent Sen- Notes From Away: ate votes against conviction in the Trump Who’s the Dolly Parton Patron impeachment trial and for confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, neither popular Saint of Curing AIDS? Community statewide, she easily retained her seat for a fifth six year term The race was the second most expensive in the country (be- hind Montana’s) because Collins’ seat (like Montana’s) was expected to determine Senate control. I have learned in my time here that Maine voters have a more than ordinary respect for good character, good behavior and good order. These are attri- butes of the solid citizen and valued neigh- bor; they establish authenticity and provide a basis for conferring trust. And yet, in Maine, a person may have these attributes but fail to gain community trust. It is ri- diculous, of course, that someone not born in Maine but a resident for a generation or more should be rejected as a stranger to its principles, hopes and fears, but it is the SENATOR ANGUS KING OF MAINE, who case. In the fierce and constant campaign has overcome his handicap of being From dialogue, on television and in the press, Away. Photo credit: Office of Senator King. Collins was wholly trusted as “the County Girl,” born in Caribou, resident in Bangor, DOLLY THE SHEEP, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. According to Keith Camp- bell, the researcher who created the cloned sheep, “Dolly is derived from a mammary gland By Tom Lamia while Gideon was “from Rhode Island” (her birthplace). Gideon had everything cell and we couldn’t think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton’s.” Photo credit: Wikipedia. The election is over but the post-mortems going for her, except a fact that she could are in a full gallop, seeking rationalization for not change and could not overcome. By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D. individual can make. what turned out to be close when a skunk- As Angus King, the other Maine Sena- What about Dolly the sheep? She was ing would not have surprised. The goal now tor has said, in the context of the political There are two Dollys who have made a cloned animal created by a team of re- is to use the message of this one to win the handicap of being “from away”: “I would impactful contributions in the annals of searchers at the University of Edinburgh, next one. The challenge is to identify what have liked to have been born in Maine, science and medicine, one is a sheep and Scotland from a single cell from the mam- happened, sort the good from the bad, and but I thought it best to be with my mother, the other is a country music star. Dolly mary glands of an adult sheep. Her birth gather a consensus around something that who was in Virginia at the time.” the sheep was the first large animal that provided perhaps the very first realization your team can support. That will not be easy. Donald Trump did his best to defeat was successfully cloned. Dolly Parton that virtually any cell of an adult animal has In the meantime, I offer my observations. Collins, seeing her as insufficiently loyal the country music star made a $1 million vast regenerative potential. Many additional Whatever happened, the lessons drawn despite her votes for his programs and Su- donation to science that accelerated the advances in the field of stem cell science must be true at every level of politics and in preme Court nominees and against his im- development of one of the world’s lead- have since greatly expanded our knowledge every political theater. To make changes a peachment conviction. In the months be- ing COVID-19 vaccines. With a view to of the regenerative and curative potential of candidate or party must win in city, county, fore the election, when Justice Ginsburg’s World AIDS Day on December 1st, let’s cells. Indeed, we have even seen that stem state and federal elections—enough to gov- seat on the Court opened up, she said that examine how both Dollys are impacting cells obtained from rare individuals born ern or, at least, to influence those who do. to be consistent with the precedent estab- science, including moving toward a cure with a genetic composition that makes The November results seem to confirm, once lished by her party in the last year of the for HIV/AIDS. them naturally resistant to HIV-infection again, that money, policies and personality Obama presidency, she would not vote to Dolly Parton met Dr. Naji Abumrad of may be used to give rise to entirely new and are good but not sufficient. To win without confirm a nominee until after the election. Vanderbilt University Medical Center after naturally HIV-resistant immune systems fighting uphill the candidate must be a trust- From that moment Trump trashed her at she was injured in a car crash. That’s when for use to cure HIV/AIDS. Researchers are ed member of the electorate community. every opportunity, despite the Republi- she learned about Vanderbilt’s work and, now working to harness the same natural I am reflecting on the outcome of the can majority in the Senate being at stake. importantly, took the step of supporting it. biological resistance to HIV-infection as Maine contest for a U.S. Senate seat, of There were no Trump coattails for Col- Active support is the ingredient in making the basis to create cell therapy cures for all which I have written in each of the last two lins; and no Collins coattails for Trump as change. Despite the resources of the entire those in need worldwide. When she strut- of these monthly columns. the numbers suggest that there were many world, the might of all our nations and their ted onto Scotland’s rolling hills, Dolly the Susan Collins, the Republican candidate, Maine Republicans who saw Collins as governments, and all the capital of the larg- sheep helped curative science and medicine not only won the Senate election; she won having Maine values that Trump lacked. est pharmaceutical companies, it was this take its first steps. going away, with a final margin of nine points The West Village has a characteristic helping hand from Dolly that is making all Can good naturedness be cloned? Good (51% to 42%) over the Democratic candidate as a community that I see as similar to the difference for Vanderbilt today. Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, thus Sara Gideon. By exceeding 50%, Collins put the Maine reverence for local origin. Not According to Coalition for Epidemic sprach Zarathustra. A cure for AIDS will herself beyond the impact of Maine’s ranked everyone who lives in the space between Preparedness, there are more than 115 vac- require walking in both Dollys’ footsteps. choice voting law, a result not predicted by Sixth Avenue and West Street is cut from cine candidates under development to ad- As December 1st is World AIDS Day, my polls or seasoned judgment. Joe Biden, mean- the same piece of cloth, but they do share dress COVID-19, including many innova- organization Research Foundation to Cure while, ran nine points (53% to 44%) ahead of a devotion to the history and social rel- tive approaches. The approach pioneered by AIDS is launching a video series on Insta- Donald Trump in Maine. What explains evance of their community. Our residents Moderna is one of those currently leading gram where people living with HIV/AIDS, this seeming example of cats and dogs lying have chosen to live in this community of the pack. As reported by The Washington scientists, and others talk about their feelings, together? I will give you my quick and dirty what used to be called “free thinkers” who Post, November 18, 2020, Dr. Abumrad had thoughts and questions regarding a possible summary analysis and ask whether there is a revel in their peculiarity of not having the this to say about Dolly Parton’s role in the cure. We hope you can tune in @RFTcu- lesson in it for seeking to find an answer to opinions of others, whether or not in the early life of the vaccine: “Without a doubt reaids and share your own perspective too. the question of what happened. majority. Jane Jacobs captured some of this in my mind, her funding made the research The judgment of old hands here in quality in her life and in her writings about toward the vaccine go ten times faster than Rockefeller University alumnus and biotech Maine is that Collins, the “local girl,” had the architecture and street life of our com- it would be without it.” Sometimes, people inventor Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., is the an insurmountable advantage over Gideon, munity. Like being “from away” in Maine, don’t realize how much their contributions founder and president of Research Founda- the girl “from away,” that inoculated her being intolerant in the West Village is a can make a difference, Dolly’s generosity is tion to Cure AIDS. Contact Kambiz at from Trump and Trumpism. Despite voter disqualifier. a shining example of how much change one [email protected]. www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 27 I’m From Joe’s Hometown Take his visits to Scranton’s Hank’s Hoa- gies, for example. For Scrantonians, Hank’s Hoagies, has become the new center of the universe. It is located on a steep street, its stucco exterior covered with ivy; a Biden bobblehead is on display in the front win- dow. The tiny shop is in the Green Ridge section of the city. As a child, Joe Biden walked here from his home nearby for a bottle of soda or a candy bar. His many trips back to his childhood home nearly always include a stop at this hole-in-the- wall. He has been joined in recent years by news crews, secret service agents, and ador- ing locals vying for selfies and handshakes. It was no surprise then, that on election day, after visiting the graves of his late wife Neilia, infant daughter Naomi, and son Beau in Greenville, Delaware, Biden returned to Green Ridge. Biden’s former home, a 10-minute walk from my own Scranton residence, sits on a street lined with mature trees and grand houses, some of which are a FROM THIS HOUSE TO THE WHITE HOUSE: century-old. Joe’s was among the more mod- Author Kieran Loughney in front of Presi- est houses in this part of town. While visiting dent-elect Joe Biden’s childhood home in the place that morning, he inscribed a mes- Scranton PA. Biden lived here until age 13. sage on the wall with a sharpie, “From this Photo courtesy of Kieran Loughney. house to the White House, with the grace By Kieran Loughney of God.” As he stepped off the small front porch he was asked what was on his mind; On November 7th the flash came late in the Joe replied, “My mother.” Around lunchtime morning, not from a cable network or a feed he emerged from Hank’s Hoagies carrying a on the cellphone, but as news has travelled sandwich and waving to the crowd. for centuries, directly from the street. From Four days later the West Village marked windows open wide on that warm morning, the scrappy Scranton boy’s victory. A couple the sound of cheers, whoops and honking walking on Bank Street banged a tambou- horns reached up to our fifth floor flat. -Mes rine and chanted “Nah Nah…, Hey Hey, Hey sage received. Victory for Joe Biden. Goodbye,” an elderly man on Hudson Street In a spontaneous outburst of joy, West wore a red, white and blue cap and a but- Village residents crowded Abingdon ton reading “ByeDon.” In the midst of this Square. Villagers gathered on that bright outpouring of joy and relief I felt an almost day to celebrate as a community. The crowd cosmic connection to Joe Biden. We shared a erupted with glee as a cab driver passed, fist hometown. We had walked the same streets, in air, leaning on his car horn. I waded into paused under the same trees, and had in the wave of revelers and shouted one word, common an ethnic, working class and reli- “Scranton,” and to my astonishment the gious heritage. And we both carry that with crowd’s cheers erupted anew. us. For me, that commonality reverberated in As a Scrantonian for half a century I felt the cosmopolitan city of New York. gratified that morning, and as a New York- On that fateful Saturday, at the new pres- er I was excited to join the celebration in ident-elect’s ancestral home, crowds gath- my adopted neighborhood. I knew that for ered and posed for selfies with the house as a president-elect Biden Scranton was never a backdrop. Senator Bob Casey, son of the for- political prop or photo op. For all the char- mer Pennsylvania governor, his own family acterizations of Scranton, Pennsylvania as a homestead just a few blocks away, joined the dysfunctional rust belt city depicted in TV’s throng. Scranton’s Mayor Paige Cognetti, the The Office, I understood it to be so much mother of a newborn child, spoke from Joe’s On this day, hope was restored. Love, it broadcast with Biden’s final 2020 campaign more. Scrantonians have always valued each old porch. “To know that a kid who grew up seemed, had won. In the West Village, in ad in which the former vice president recites other and have struggled to make their city a in Scranton is now elected president means Green Ridge, and in so many other neigh- a Seamus Heany poem—The Cure of Troy: A better place. Urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs, every kid from Scranton, every baby born in borhoods across the country and around Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. It reads, in part: who once led the Village in its effort to stop Scranton, can be whatever they want to be.” the world, the election of a Catholic History says, Don’t hope the car-centered approach to urban plan- In the West Village, cheers and hoots schoolboy with a stutter from Scranton to On this side of the grave. ning and is credited with keeping this part of and cars beeping continued all day and the exalted position of “leader of the free But then, once in a lifetime New York so vital, came from the same turf well into the evening. A group of musicians world” brought light to one of the darkest The longed-for tidal wave in Scranton. Now the lessons Biden learned played “Don’t Stop Believing” on the cor- times in modern history. I felt the prom- Of justice can rise up, there growing up, about the dignity of hard ner of West 12th and West 4th Streets. A ise of that brighter day ahead and, yes, I And hope and history can rhyme. work and the power of community and pos- small crowd gathered and quickly swelled, felt proud to hail from Scranton, our next sibility, would play out on the world stage. filling the intersection. With hands in the commander-in-chief ’s hometown. Joe Biden’s Scranton childhood looms air, the partiers bounced up and down, That night in Ireland, its citizens proud Kieran Loughney lives in the West Village large in his memory. He may have travelled belting out the chorus. (An NYPD cruiser to claim the Biden bloodline ( Joe’s 20 per- and Scranton PA. His 40-year career in hu- the world, but Scranton never left his heart. passed slowly and continued on its way.) cent Irish), RTE Television ended their news man services informs much of his writing. 28 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org New York Time Capsule By Robert Heide We still hang out in Greenwich Village. as well as visiting the great one block square architectural It’s Christmastime 2020 and I am finding myself walking In 1949 Norma and I got on a bus which took us to wonder Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for a Christmas experi- down the street singing Times Square where we saw two Broadway stage hits— ence complete with painted plaster camels and wise men “Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas – Harvey, a play about a man who lives and converses with with a crèche in a manger and with wreaths and Pointset- Keep the Yuletide bright. an imaginary rabbit. It starred Joe E. Brown. The top tias in every corner. Next year all our troubles will be out of sight – ticket price was $5.50 for the matinee; and that same Part of my life has been living on Christopher Street for so have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now!” night we saw High Button Shoes, a super Broadway musical so many years that I’ve lost count (a joke!). In my imagi- nation I often go back and recall the Village in the 60s and 70s when it was a bohemian enclave—think of the 70s Paul Simon song: “Thirty dollars pays your rent...on Bleecker Street.” On Macdougal Street—at Bleecker at the San Remo Café, a beautiful bar and Italian restaurant, I spent many nights, and one particularly memorable night in the company of Edward Albee, Leonard Bernstein, Ju- dith Malina, Billy Name, Simone Signoret, and Maxwell Bodenheim. The beat poets and musicians hung out at the Gaslight Café a cellar coffee shop at 116 Macdougal Street. I met Jimi Hendrix there. Bob Dylan played guitar and sang and in 1962 recorded the album Live at the Gas- light. The beats included Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Taylor Mead, Jack Michellin, and Gregory Corso. I think now and yes, I am a member of the Beat Generation my- self. Also, often hanging at The Kettle of Fish, right next door, was LeRoi Jones, Diana Di Prima, and Wavy Gravy. Most memorable for me in the Village were the theaters including the Provincetown Playhouse, the Cherry Lane, where a few of my plays were presented, the Circle Rep on Sheridan Square, and the Caffe Cino, the coffeehouse the- ater on Cornelia Street where I did two plays, The Bed and Moon. A favorite place across the street from the Art Deco Women’s House of Detention (torn down in 1973) was Sutter’s Bakery on the corner of Greenwich Avenue and Tenth Street. At Sutter’s I loved the fantastic cake made with mocha icing and filled with apricot jam. The oft-seen opera diva Dame Joan Sutherland bought boxes of but- ter cream cookies and other pastries. Often I went there with the director Ron Link and Bette Midler, to whom ROBERT HEIDE (LEFT) AND RON LINK at Sutter's Bakery. Polaroid photo by Brigid Berlin, whose reflection with camera is Ron had introduced me. Ron directed several of my plays at center. including Why Tuesday Never Has A Blue Monday. Once he and Bette were talking about doing a Broadway musi- As I write this I am also thinking of the COVID Virus that had a five-year run starring Phil Silvers and Nanette cal entitled My Name is Rachel Lilly Rosenbloom and Don’t that is on the news with so many positive and dying. It is Fabray. Norma and I also recalled V-J Day—August 15, You Ever Forget It! but she decided later not to do it. Bette as if we are in a mystery play where we are being stalked 1945—when Japan surrendered. We joined the cheering Midler, also known as ‘The Divine Miss M’ first appeared by a ghostly character named Death. Whatever is going on and dancing crowds on Springfield Avenue. The War was in Tom Eyen’s Miss Nefertiti Regrets at Café La Mama. —another Great—worldwide—Depression with millions over. The boys were coming home. In those halcyon days She lived at 36 Barrow Street where often she would be out-of-work, economic crisis and racism which finally is I would also sometimes go to New York with my mother sweeping the sidewalk in front of her house wearing tore- being addressed head-on in the Black Lives Matter move- and my Aunt Alma. My favorite moment back then was ador pants and stiletto point, backless high heels. Midler’s ment. Incidentally, the Merry Little Christmas song was sitting in the second floor of the Times Square Automat fantastic over-the-top career, which included an Academy originally sung by Judy Garland to the child star Marga- having baked beans and coffee from the lion’s head spigot Award nomination for playing Janis Joplin in The Rose and ret O’Brien in the wonderful filmMeet Me In St. Louis. and looking out the window at the super-big Camels sign starring in the movie of Gypsy, started at the Continental In any case I want to take this moment to wish everyone of a soldier blowing out enormous smoke rings into the Baths where accompanied by Barry Manilow she sang to a at WestView News, editor George and the staff—Happy air. My other mind-memory-trips include visits with my gay crowd wrapped up in steam bath towels. She went on Holidays—and, yes, a New Year 2021 is upon us and we all parents for dinner at Toffenetti’s, followed by a show at of course to many Broadway shows including Fiddler on the must persevere in these good and bad times. Radio City Music Hall with its famous Rockettes and also Roof and her wildly successful Clams on the Half Shell revue And so with this as an introduction of sorts I decided in the 1940s era, going with my cousin ‘Sonny’ on leave and, also, in 2017 won a Tony in Hello Dolly. My favorite I would travel backward in time—to some of my memo- from the US Navy. Sonny, in his sailor suit, took me to Midler hit song has always been Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of ries of better days. Of course I think of the 1940s World see one of my favorite movie stars—Carmen Miranda— Company B which she did as a tribute to the Andrews Sis- War II decade when I was a boy growing up in the small LIVE—at the Roxy Theater. Other ‘uptown’ treats were ters. The 1940s Andrews Sisters trio are a big part of my town of Irvington, New Jersey—a suburb of Newark— going to Rockefeller Center where I stood in awe gazing New York Christmas memories—and here are some lyrics which had a wonderful summer attraction called Olym- at the giant Christmas tree just above the ice-skating rink. from one of their hits just in time for this 2020 Christmas pic Park. Signs proclaimed the “WORLD’S LARGEST Years later at the restaurant at that same skating rink I had Season:. OUTDOOR POOL.” There were rides galore, a bona- dinner with filmmaker Kenneth Anger the author ofHol - Here Comes Santa Claus fide “Midget troupe” (some had played Munchkins in The lywood Babylon the cult classic sex-scandal book about the Here comes Santa Claus Wizard of Oz) and a weekly circus. The town itself, laid out movie business who introduced me to Rich Conaty, the Right down Santa Claus Lane. on a hill, featured many Warner Brothers movie theaters, host of The Big Broadcast on WQEW where he played old fashioned ice-cream parlors, bakeries and five and ten the classic pop songs of the 20s and 30s providing a nos- Robert Heide has written many articles over the years for cent stores. Recently I was reminiscing with a childhood talgic mind and music trip for listeners for decades. There readers of WestView News. His latest book Robert Heide 25 playmate, Norma Edgar, who also grew up in Irvington. were the famous New York department stores to shop in Plays is available on Amazon. www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 29 327 Bleecker Demolition Begins Soulful Greek food.

IN 2016, FSI ARCHITECTURE’S replacement for the current 4-story structure got LPC ap- proval. The mansard roof is only on the Bleecker side, and the commercial storefront wraps from Bleecker around the corner one bay on Christopher. Credit: FSI Architecture. 63 Bedford Street By Brian J Pape, AIA approval, until FSI returned in late 2016, with a simplified version. At what seems to be a snail’s pace, the demo- The approved design in fact closely mim- (Corner Bedford & Morton @ 7th Avenue) lition of the derelict building at 327 Bleecker, ics the facades seen in the 1910 and 1940 southeast corner of Christopher Street, has archival photos. The mansard roof is only 212.929.3499 ~ snacktaverna.com finally begun. Passers-by as long ago as 2010 on the Bleecker side, and the commercial noticed bulging exterior walls exhibiting storefront wraps from Bleecker around the Snack Taverna is available for takeout and delivery. Lunch, dinner and brunch on weekends. cracks in the brickwork and trim. The city corner one bay on Christopher. had to order its evacuation while the owner Which brings us to today. The plans figured out how to remedy the problem. were approved in 2016, yet in late 2020 we Built as a residential rowhouse in 1832 for see the first stirrings of progress at the site, Samuel Whittemore, with storefront com- not to mention the improved safety pre- mercial space common in the village, the cautions of scaffolding and sidewalk shed building was on one of the odd, irregular for the demolition work. This new building and narrow sites, but it was in a good com- will be a welcome addition to this corner, mercial location, so the two-story edifice got a carefully curated design fully in keeping additions in the 1860’s, 1899, and 1950’s. with the historic neighborhood. where dogs play all day. FSI Architecture was hired by owner William Gottlieb Real Estate to devise Brian J. Pape is a LEED-AP “Green” a replacement for the current four-story architect consulting in private practice, structure, and in 2015 they presented their serves on the Manhattan District 2 Com- Code: designs to the LPC (NYC’s Landmark munity Board, is Co-chair of the American WESTVIEW Preservation Commission). Though it re- Institute of Architects NY Design for Aging 15% off stored the previous top-floor mansard roof, Committee, and is a journalist, especially on 1st week other embellishments did not get LPC’s architecture subjects.

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THE LPC-APPROVED DESIGN in fact closely mimics the facades seen in the 1910 and 1940 @citytailsnyc | www.citytailsnyc.com | 55B Leroy Street NY NY 10014 archival photos. Credit: FSI Architecture 30 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

Karen’s Quirky Style

By Karen Rempel

I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like flying since we got the news on November 7 that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been elected the leaders of our country. The cheers, honks, and bells ringing through the streets of the Village made New York seem like herself again— electric and alive. And now it seems we can breathe around strangers again because a vaccine for the coro- navirus is near. On a vibrant autumn day, I put on my best party dress and went to Gramercy Park to celebrate the joy of life. I bought this unique ice blue lurex dress for a black- tie gala at the United Nations honoring our President- Elect, Joe Biden, together with Mr. Youngsuk Chi, Chairman of Elsevier, in November 2017. Mr. Biden received an award for Humanitarian of the Year for his leadership of the White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which was instrumental in increasing public and private resources to fight cancer, providing nearly $2 billion of funding for cancer research and precision medicine. Elsevier was co-honored for facilitating inter- national collaborations to further enhance global efforts in cancer control. I was too shy to approach Mr. Biden for a photograph at the gala, as many others did. But I felt thrilled to be in the same room as the Vice President, and to wear my first long dress on this occasion of attending my first WEST VILLAGE MODEL KAREN REMPEL flies through the air to catch a leaf in Gramercy Park. Photo by Philip Maier. gala! This was my New York coming out party. one more place, a couture shop in Chelsea called New For more fun Philip Maier photos, and a picture of Shopping for a dress for this momentous occasion was York Vintage. Et voila! I found this unique Bowie-esque me at the gala, see karensquirkystyle.com. exciting, even as my impulse for glamor fought with my Lady Stardust ’80s gown in a dark corner in the back pecunious nature. I tiptoed into the evening gown de- of the shop. They were about to close for the day, but STYLE NOTES partment at Bergdorf ’s and the first thing I saw was a the clerks patiently helped zip me in and waited while I billowing $60,000 Oscar de la Renta yellow and pink twirled and hemmed and hawed and glided around the VINTAGE VICTOR COSTA ICE BLUE LUREX BALLGOWN floral satin gown that had been featured inVogue . Thor- store and twirled some more. Green lights were flashing WITH PLEATED TRIM. New York Vintage. 117 West 25th Street. oughly intimidated, I tried on a selection of dresses in all over the place. the under $10,000 range, but none of them felt quite This gown enveloped me in fairy dust, inviting a DIANA BROUSSARD PINK SATIN SNEAKERS WITH LU- like me. Though I had a blast pretending to walk the new, more spacious self, and the possibilities for my life CITE CUBE BARBELLS. 19 Christopher Street. runway, train trailing behind me on the red carpet in in New York seemed endless. The next night, when I 1940S STERLING BRACELET WITH AQUAMARINE DROP. the chichi mirrored dressing room! Next I went to Lord stepped out of the taxi and onto the grand plaza of the Pippin Vintage Jewelry. 112 W 17th Street. & Taylor (sad sigh at the closing of their Fifth Avenue United Nations, city lights sparkling on the East Riv- VINTAGE AQUAMARINE RING. Pippin Vintage Jewelry. store) and found similar dresses for similar prices. er, I knew that I was truly a small part of this big city. 112 W 17th Street. I have an inner intuition about what feels like the This single step in an ice blue ballgown led to meeting SILVER AND TURQUOISE DROP EARRINGS FROM right item at the right price, and I wasn’t getting the an architect, writing my second article for WestView, a MEXICO. Gift from my father. green light. I had left this pivotal purchase until the dreamy Christmas date, and my first trip to London. VIA SPIGA LEOPARD PRINT JACKET. Variazioni. 195 last minute and was feeling despair, but I decided to try But that’s a story for another day. Spring Street. Urban Native Artists Show at the Revelation Gallery By Jill McManus These talented “urban Native” artists have damage being inflicted upon them. Vernon The charming Revelation Gallery has played branched far from standardized Native Amer- Bigman (Dine, Navajo), enters a dreamscape a welcome part in the Village art and music ican styles and subjects encouraged at Indian where serpents hold a key to the meaning and scene for the last couple of years. This month schools a century ago. Painter Nadema Agard understanding of a constantly changing world. the gallery is taking the rare step—even in (Cherokee/ Lakota/Powhatan) is a member In recent decades, these artists have grad- the Village—of featuring outstanding Native of the “first generation born off the rez,” and ually carved a place for themselves as indi- American/Alaska Native artists who are liv- her vividly-colored forms declare the strong viduals, not only as “Indian artists.” Each ing in urban settings, but whose work reflects Native feminine energy that suffuses the city’s imparts a vision, a voice. Their presence aspects of their Native heritage and identity. own energy. Mario Martinez, a Yaqui from in this show relates a powerful message of While there have been other shows along Arizona, delights the eye with images that persistence, adaptation, and survival. these lines, there definitely should be more. subtly reveal echoes of his traditional heritage At Revelation Gallery social distancing The presentation at the Revelation Gallery, amid elements of his present city surround- is being observed for safety, and masks are located next door to St. John’s in the Village, ings. Athena LaTocha (Lakota/Ojibwe), an- required. For further information, please at 224 Waverly Place just west of 7th Ave- other abstract painter, focuses on textures and call St. John’s in the Village: 212-243-6192. nue, opened on December 1st. The gallery is densities of the earth’s natural substances and MARIO MARTINEZ, URBAN PRESENCE (2006-2013), charcoal and oil pastel on pa- open weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outlines, showing their inherent beauty and Jill McManus, co-curator of the Revelation Gal- per. Photo: courtesy of the artist and Garth and the show runs until December 30th. yet indicating a brooding sense of danger and lery show, is a NYC journalist and jazz pianist. Greenan Gallery, New York. www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 31 Style on the Street: ‘Tis the Season!

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New Piano Primer is 1 2 3 Do-Re-Magical ear training, fingering, and note-reading, to try out some simple hands-on (no pun intended) ac- Most everyone remembers the scene in Sound of using methods of repetition and motiva- tivities from “Touch all keys on piano” to “Find groups Music when Julie Andrews bursts into tion, short tunes and small tasks. Songs of two and three black keys.” Tracing your right and left song in the hills of Austria, bicycling include Dreidel, Dreidel and Jingle Bells hand while saying out loud the numbers of the five fingers with her famous Von Trapp family. (which they can learn by Chanukah or helps children learn how to associate fingers with the keys. Let’s start at the very beginning Christmas)! After all, watching a child’s There’s a touch of razzle dazzle motivation and reward in A very good place to start face light up with accomplishment is learning a song like Mary Had A Little Lamb, as Reimann When you read you begin with A-bee-see priceless, not to mention the beauty of suggests the child “draw a star every time you recite finger When you sing you begin with do-re-mi parent/teacher/student bonding. Rei- numbers or sing Mi Re Do.” In her First Lullaby lesson, DOE, a deer, a female deer mann’s recipe is a blend of sounds, Hannah cleverly uses sheep to illustrate sounds of Go To RE, a drop of golden sun syllables and rhythms “to introduce Sleep and Do Re Do. MI, a name I call myself basic elements of music and piano Each assignment (“Count to 2, 3, 4”) is accompanied by FA, a long long way to run… playing…step by step in a way that words, notes, and pictures to reinforce the idea. Reimann’s Maria Von Trapp may have just found her match. is personally rewarding.” ingenious Rhythm Games use chunky bold outlined black Hannah Reimann has struck gold (or should I say Hey, look, I was a lucky kid. Re- and white (whole and half) notes to emphasize visuals, gold stars) in her new children’s book 1 2 3 Do Re membering childhood afternoons practicing sounds, and syllables. On one lesson page, Bobo sits atop Mi, a charming, colorful, and insightful way to teach scales as the fragrance of my Mom’s chicken soup wafted a big drum, as the words accentuate the idea of Marching young kids (ages 4-9) to read and play music. Illustrated with through the air, I am also well aware of the humdrum por- To a Drum Beat. Do Re / March-Ing/ Do Re Do-O. I can charming brushstroke acrylic and spray paint swirls by Lisa tion of piano lessons. Hearing a teacher or parent’s voice practically see the child dancing a hip hop waltz to Rei- Kaiser, 1 2 3 Do Re Mi is a basic how-to keyboard primer, drone on can be challenging enough during these COVI- mann’s lesson of 1-2-3: Rid-Ing A Tri-Cy-Cle Is So Much whose words, notes and pictures bounce off the page in har- delicate times. We all need a drop of magic to transform Funnnnn. monic delight. drudgery to sparkle. Amidst the daily mundanity of meals, A performer, composer, singer and recording artist with Move over, Montessori. This 24-page book is packed math and morning chores, kids can certainly use a sprin- roots in the classical tradition, and interpreter of the mu- with smart, simple, joyous learning techniques customized kling of the imaginative Do Re Mi. sic of Joni Mitchell and Astor Piazzolla, Ms. Reimann has for curious minds to recognize the 10 keys on the piano; So listen up, young Mozarts. Check out 1 2 3 Do Re Mi. been instructing pianists and singers for over three decades. read simple melodies; understand keyboard fingering and First, there are the creatures. LH Bobo & RH Chicky may Passionate about encouraging musicians of all ages to find basic technique. Kids can explore fun methods like clap- sound like rap artists, but they’re actually two adorable ani- their own style of expression, Reimann exclaims, “This is an ping, tracing the fingers of each hand, speaking notes and mals to help readers associate with the child’s left (LH) & egg that’s been hatching for eight years. It’s given me and numbers aloud. Reimann makes learning rhythm and right (RH) hand. Bobo & Chicky pop up in vibrant shades my students so much joy to discover what kind of musi- notes appealing and fun, while teaching sophisticated con- of jade, kelly green, chartreuse, and pink, with expressions cians they are at such a young age. Music is a miraculous cepts like downbeat, counting, and improvising. so encouraging they seem to hop onto the reader’s shoul- intangible that awakens a child, and that reaches all of us Frustrated with overly simplistic or complex piano in- der, cheering you on. on a deep level.” struction books, Reimann created a batch of exercises in Second, the lessons. Reimann gently instructs the reader Review by Mia Berman

Parents of children at PS 3 and PS 41! With holidays Reimann wrote 1 2 3 Do Re Mi, when she had a sud- child to handle solo. I suggest going through it yourself around the corner, we’re looking at a lot of down time with den influx of 4-year-olds sign up for lessons. She found first (26 short pages) then walking your child through the the kids. And with winter coming, I anticipate hours on other beginner music books were either too easy or too simple lessons, games, and songs. (Note: on page 3, where the iPad—from the dreck of Youtube to The Mandalorian. difficult for young children. She wanted something playful Reimann instructs the child to “improvise,” you’ll need to The favorite in our house? Elsia and Annia videos where and appealing that presents musical elements clearly and step in and explain.) our kids watch other kids play with toys! What is a parent repetitively, introducing a way to practice. Ah, you will also need a piano or keyboard! If it’s not to do? Reimann starts by only using the black keys (flats and already in the house, I recommend a multi-color roll-up West Village composer, performer, and teacher Hannah sharps) which is probably very smart when dealing with for $25 on Amazon, or one of the sturdier Schoenhut Toy Reimann has one answer. She just published a short fun book smaller fingers, also because they are easy to find. Pianos. When they master this Primer, move up to an up- teaching kids (4-9) the very first steps of learning music. Getting the rhythm (counting) of music right in the book right or excellent electronic model — spring for the Stein- Colorfully illustrated, this may just be the gateway drug is explained so effectively by simply changing fonts of the way when your child is asked to play Chopin at Carnegie to getting your child interested in piano lessons. Frog Bobo time signature. How to convey a song in 4/4 time? It’s easy: Hall. That said, the book was designed as a primer for any (no relation to the restaurant at 10th St. and Seventh Ave.) 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 instrument, just like Reimann’s upcoming Level 1 volume and bird Chicky introduce basic elements of music and If your child has a grasp of sounding out syllables, this that follows it. piano playing: rhythm, pitches, fingering, and melodies in should work just fine. In lieu of Chopin, your child will be playing “Jingle a step-by-step rewarding way. And if you have not studied music yourself, this is a Bells” (1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4) before the end of the book and Children should enjoy accomplishing small tasks with pretty good primer for any adult. Reimann is smart to of- just in time for Christmas. So, instead of Elsia and Annia, tunes that are only a few bars long. There will be actual fer a book that is easy and accessible for parents—learning you and your household can look forward to listening to music making by the end of this 26-page book. You’ve from her book is not long division. that 400,000 times over the holidays! You can sing along. been forewarned! But unlike an iPad, this will not be something for your Review by Webster Stone

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512 HUDSON STREET • NYC 10014 WWW.SEAGRAPEWINES.COM • 212-463-7688 www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 33 Community Events from Project NYC ShiZ’ka, Pianist and The West 13th Street Alliance By Birgitte Philippides-Delaney and Chandra/Jo Sgammato through the holiday season and beyond! HOLIDAY CARDS WITH MICHELLE December is shaping up to be a busy month Sunday, December 13, 1 to 4 p.m. for Project NYC and The West 13th Street In this virtual class, participants will make six Alliance, with a variety of community events unique handmade cards for friends and fam- and a Virtual Holiday Gathering! ily! All supplies will be provided, except for a But first, let’s look back on November. few colored markers, pens, or crayons in yel- Along with our popular and therapeutic Yoga low, orange and brown if you have them. for Arthritis and Chronic Pain series, we The first 15 people to sign up for this rolled up our sleeves on Sunday, November 1, class will get a free package of materials to take care of beautifying West 13th Street to use in this class. The packages can be between 7th and Greenwich Avenues. With picked up at the Ink Pad Store (233 West big trash bags, sturdy garbage picking tools, 19th St. between 7th and 8th Avenues). If gloves and masks, almost 30 intrepid volun- you are unable to get to the Ink Pad, then Join us on December 12 at 7:30 PM SHIZ’KA. Photo credit: King Redman. teers picked up trash and finished just before the package can be mailed to you. Powerhouse Classical Pianist SHIZ’KA it rained. This set the stage for Tulip Planting Michelle has been a life-long crafter and Premieres “PASSAGGIO E IMPULSO” 2: No. 12. Gigue in E Minor by Loeilly/ Day on Saturday, November 21, when addi- has been making cards for almost 20 years. It Godowsky; selections from Nachstücke by tional volunteers came together to fill our 32 started after she stumbled upon The Ink Pad By Denise Marsa Robert Schuman, Op.23; Der Kontraband- tree beds with thousands of tulips that will during a walk on her lunch hour. She started ShiZ’ka continues her association with St. iste (The Smugglers) by Schumann/Tausig; be so welcome and heart-lifting next spring. visiting the shop regularly and has been a John’s in the Village Musae and Denise Piano Sonata No.4 in F-sharp Major by Al- Here is our December lineup: part of the family ever since. The Ink Pad, Marsa Productions to perform her third exander Scriabin; Piano Sonata No.2 in B YOGA FOR ARTHRITIS AND CHRONIC PAIN now in existence for 22 years was started by live stream concert on Saturday, December Minor, Op. 61 by Dmitri Shostakovich. WITH KEN STEC Anna Chiang. We sell rubber stamps, scrap- 12th, at 7:30 p.m. The recital will feature ShiZ’ka embraces a newfound admira- Wed., December 2, 9, 13, and 23, 10 to 11 a.m. booking and mixed media supplies, journals, music from her new program, PASSAG- tion for contemporary classical composers, Certified in Yoga for Arthritis and as a Yoga pens, markers, watercolors, stencils, wax seals GIO E IMPULSO, which was inspired by and Russian composers in particular, as Therapist, longtime Integral Yoga teacher and lots more. You can order a custom stamp her performance of Prokofiev’s PianoSo - she includes them in her already impres- Ken Stec will guide you safely in gentle or a custom wax seal. See our website theink- nata No.2 in D minor, Op.14 as the finale sive repertoire. For full program details and postures geared for chair and standing prac- padnyc.com, and show support for your local in her concert Brilliance & Fervor. tickets please visit: www.musae.me/keyme- tice. Rooted in traditional yogic principles mom and pop shops this holiday season! The concert at St. John’s will include se- dia/experiences/871/shizka-passaggio. encouraging a healthy body and a peaceful VIRTUAL HOLIDAY GATHERING WITH lections from Francois Couperin’s Pièces de mind, postures are presented in light of cur- PROJECT NYC clavecin; selections from Domenico Scar- For more about ShiZ’ka please visit: Shizka- rent scientific research for chronic pain and Tuesday, December 29, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. latti’s piano sonatas; Renaissance, Book Pianist.com. stress relief. With regular practice, classes are Let’s gather from our homes to celebrate the effective in the management of arthritic pain season and enjoy each other’s company over and related symptoms. Zoom. Stay in, stay warm and stay connect- DECONSTRUCTING CRAVINGS WITH ed with your neighbors near and far as we MANDY SUAREZ share our experiences, our struggles and our Tuesday, December 8, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. triumphs over this extraordinary year. Make Join certified health coach Mandy Suarez a cocktail or a mocktail and some snacks as for an informative session to learn tips and we create some fun together! tricks for deconstructing cravings. Mandy To RSVP for these events, please email will help you understand that cravings are Wayne Kawadler at Wayne@ThePro- often more than just a physical craving, jectNYC.org. You will receive an email they are often an indication of an imbal- response with the Zoom link. Please also ance or an emotional need as well. She will email Wayne with any questions about us- then guide you to tune into your cravings ing Zoom. on a deeper level and learn how to respond to them in a positive manner. Arm your- JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST at w13thstreetal- self with tools to navigate your cravings [email protected] 34 WestView News December 2020 www.westviewnews.org

From Community to Confinement: An Inside Look at a Senior Home Grappling With the Pandemic By Jessie Carson fails to operate. resources has been focused on recruiting managed by the administration. A budget Renee did not expect to be spending her If residents want social interaction, they new residences and keeping apartments has not been allocated for content, so Re- 23rd year of retirement coaxing herself and must figure out how to zoom and facetime filled according to Senior Housing News. nee is researching and strategizing on how her peers through loneliness, fear, and de- on their own. This has been especially chal- Renee underscores, “Senior homes are a to license and stream classes from Great tachment, but as a writer, activist and retired lenging for single retirees who do not have business and like all businesses, they are Courses, a series of college-level audio and family therapist she was prepared. Little did a partner to consult. Residents need to be sustained by cutting costs.” Prior to CO- digital courses. She sees the value and the she realize, she would end up spending over empowered with tools and broader access VID-19, her senior home underwent a need for entertainment. She says, “We’ve eight months alone, stuck inside in her in- to technology in order to be included in large expansion, and now they’re struggling ironically seen less deaths over these past dependent living apartment in a retirement socially distant communication. Equipping to fill apartments. Potential resident have few months than usual. It could be because complex outside Washington, DC. these adults has not been a focal point for opted to stay with family instead during people don’t want to die alone.” Eager to join a vibrant community, Re- the majority of senior homes. Much of this the pandemic. Renee also states, “If a case Continuing to learn is a massive priority nee moved into a senior home ten years technology is new to 2020. Additionally, of COVID-19 enters the building, it could for Renee, and she wants to support con- ago to sustain an active social and cultural many retirees were formerly executives and be certain death if spread.” With their bot- versation and engagement throughout her life. She explained the allure for many of delegated tasks around computers and cell- tom line in peril, independent living com- community. Prolonged minimal human its residents: “Senior living places are really phones to assistants. As isolation contin- munities have cut back on resources. Staff contact and false mythologies on the virus a phenomenon of American society.” As ues, mood level decrease, there can be less has been reduced to minimize virus risk has its toll, especially for older and immu- children grow older and friends pass away, of an incentive to learn how to opt in to but this also means residents have had to nocompromised citizens who still cannot people get tired of living alone in old age” online communication. find new ways to facilitate community. engage in group settings safely. Renee is and they want to “stay a bit better mentally Right now, socialization looks like brief Renee has taken on new responsibilities pushing to deliver content, positive morale when in a social community.” The irony hellos in the building elevator and six-foot- to keep her neighbors happy and engaged. and support to her peers. Several of her chil- here is the adults in Renee’s senior living, apart conversations getting mail. Meals are She helped developed a community group dren live nearby, but interaction is restricted. opted in a highly social community. Eight dropped off twice a day outside apartment focused on innovating ways to create con- Several grandchildren wrote her a birthday months into the pandemic, they see few doors. This also means that a resident could nection. One task includes checking in on sign and waved it to her from outside. solutions both in terms of technology and truly go weeks without interpersonal in- and engaging residents, especially single Once this is all over, Renee says “I’m re- access to rapid testing. teraction. According to the CDC and The and windowed neighbors. There is a Floor ally excited to go see family, just to be free Before the pandemic, Renee’s senior in- National Academies of Sciences, Engineer- Leader assigned to each hall. Without and to walk down to the water. I’m excited dependent living home consistently held ing and Medicine, solitude harms cognitive these Floor Leaders, there is no guaran- to just be able to talk to people. It would be events: group outings to plays, book clubs, functioning and can speed of dementia by tee of interpersonal connection because fun to go to a movie but that won’t happen art classes, lectures from professors at near- 50%. As of 2020, pre-pandemic, approxi- residents and reduced staff are extremely anytime soon. The thing is it’s really hard by universities, and more. COVID-19 has mately one quarter of Americans over the age cautious about contact and COVID-19. to be restrained as you advance in years. turned this refuge into an place of extreme of 65 are considered to be socially isolated. Another task includes engaging new resi- You know you’re going to be diminished. isolation that ironically offers less freedom Many independent and assisted care dences through a buddy system—spe- You get angry that it’s taking so long. It’s and interaction than living outside of these facilities experienced a massive construc- cifically those who do not have a point of taking about good times from people who communities. “People get tired of living tion boom as private equity firms expanded reference for how vibrant the Independent aren’t gone yet.” Until the community has alone in old age and I enjoyed the outings, their portfolio in to the senior living sector Living community used to be. access to rapid tests, until national and book clubs, art classes and lectures”. Now in the late 2000s. Privatization has meant Renee is at the forefront of licensing statewide policies change, isolation will she has been confined to her unit with very access to more options and improved qual- content for the Senior Home’s Closed continue. Renee remains upbeat as she is limited engagement with others and inter- ity of independent living options, but at the Caption TV Circuit. An internal channel committed to connecting her community nal streaming channel with subtitles that same time, the majority of attention and in the senior home exists; however, it is not in a time of need.

In and Out continued from page 12 Other In October, Doordash, in partnership with the NYC Hospitality Alliance in- vited restaurants to apply for grants to help them enhance their outdoor dining setups. According to Patch, five restau- rants in our neighborhood were selected. They are: Cafe Kitsune, Chama Mama, The Cubbyhole, Gradisca and Suprema Provisions. As we have mentioned before, some of the outdoor dining installations are quite elaborate already, so we can’t wait to see what these spots will do next. Speaking of outdoor dining installations, the one at Cuba Restaurant was damaged earlier this week when a driver drove into it. Luckily no one was injured. The Green- wich Avenue location of Bluestone Lane was burgled on November 12th. The per- petrator smashed a window and made off with some electronics.

A LITTLE BIT O’ NEW ORLEANS: The High and Mighty Brass Band to keep the spirit of the West Village alive through music during the pan- demic. These traveling minstrels (along with other musical combos) have been entertaining outdoor diners all over the Village, typically play- Please keep writing to us—we love hearing ing a couple of songs at each restaurant, then moving on to the next spot and sometimes hold small concerts during weekend evenings. from you! We can be reached at wvnewsin- Photo by Bob Cooley. [email protected] www.westviewnews.org December 2020 WestView News 35 Pompeii Flea Market/Bleecker Street Market Market. vegetable store run by the two Portuguese New Jersey. But how much can our neigh- WVN: Who is the Market manager? men. And from the beginning in a very nat- bors buy? And now with only six weeks SS: Me. I’m the boss. I guess my ‘official’ ural and organic way, the vendors did a lot of before we close for the season— fingers title would be “Manager,” but it’s just me, their personal shopping—and it was mostly crossed. so I am the Boss. food—in the local stores. Some of those WVN: How des the market work? WVN: How long? shops were gone before COVID and now SS: Vendors pay for a five or 10 ft space SS: 19 years. Unpaid. with the constantly changing rules for busi- on a daily basis. Each space can only pro- WVN: How did you get the job? ness—including us along with everybody trude five feet into the street from the wall SS: I ran the flea at Little Red (the Little else—we all are trying to shop local as much of the building, which is private property. Red Schoolhouse) for 15 years. My kids as we can to support whomever we can. Extending out only five feet gives passerby went there. When that market closed in WVN: How many vendors? room to walk and shop. Bleecker Street is 2000, I learned the Community Board was SS: Up to 15 with nine being regulars. very narrow there. All rental proceeds go to wanting to open a flea market on Bleecker Most started 19 years ago along with me, Our Lady of Pompeii. to help support Our Lady of Pompeii and September 2001. The majority of our vendors are lo- was looking for someone to manage it. I WVN: And today? cals—living in the Village and Chelsea— SHEILA STRONG, Pompeii Flea Market's applied, was interviewed and got the job. SS: Seven dropped out because of COVID. Carmine, Christopher, La Guardia Place, manager, above left, with vintage Bakelite Telling them I would do it for no pay in Two got stuck on buying trips in Thailand Morton. I used to live on Charleton, now kitchenware. Photo by Ede Rothaus. exchange for a free space didn’t hurt. and Brazil. Last Sunday there were five I’m in the East Village. WVN: That was it? You manage and they vendors. The cold weather is really bad for WVN: What’s for sale? By Ede Rothaus give you a free space? business and there are no tourists. SS: Handmade items and things unique Interview with Sheila Strong, SS: Well, I did get one—and only one— WVN: How long does the market run? to the neighborhood and New York City. Manager instruction. Actually it was more like an SS: The usual season is April 1 to Christ- Hats, jewelry, baked goods, Native Ameri- As part of WestView News’ ongoing cover- order from Lucy Cesare, a well-known mas eve. Saturday and Sunday 10-7. This can beaded items, rings, vintage posters age of the impact the Coronavirus has had West Village figure at the time and a pa- year because of COVID we weren’t able and clothing, Zoom jewelry, Bakelite and on our Village community, this reporter tron of Our Lady of Pompeii. None of the to open until the middle of August—one vintage kitchen ware. visited the flea market on Bleecker Street vendors could sell anything that competed third of a year’s sales—gone. Add to the WVN: How is the flea doing? adjacent to Our Lady of Pompeii Church with any store in the neighborhood. mix the hottest weather and no tourists. SS: This year we will be lucky to hit half of and had a series of interviews with Sheila Looking back on it, she was kind of great But it was the neighborhood that turned what we normally contribute to the church. Strong, the Market’s manager. Following is to do that. It demonstrated her love and out for us and that helped a lot in the be- The Caring Community Senior Center that a condensed version for publication of our protection of the West Village, and espe- ginning. Everyone was so glad to see us— so many depended on is closed. The Arch- conversations. cially of Bleecker and Carmine Streets. that we had returned. People bought a lot. diocese closed the school. We are open. And WVN: What’s the name of this market? So we had no food—Zito’s, Rocco’s, Mur- And as COVID receded a bit, we began to while our official hours are 10 to 7, don’t SS: Pompeii Flea Market/Bleecker Street ray’s (the original) no flowers—the fruit and get shoppers from the other boroughs and come until 11. After all, it is the Village. DEBUT TO THE WORLD DECEMBER 16, 2020 EVERYWHERE That Marylyn Monroe had LOVE

with John F. Kennedy is simply PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. & MARILYN MONROE’S SON, IN HIS OWN impossible not to believe. That she had a son with him is Beloved President John F. Kennedy had a son with Marilynequally Monroe before believable. he was forced to marry Jacqueline Bouvier in order to win the presidency. THATPushed SONto keep his nowidentity atells secret as his an adolescent, story their son, Jack, tries to learn as much as he can from his father without letting on who his parents ...quite aare story.— to the public. George After two C. tragic deaths, Jack must switch gears from being safe, learning politics and I thoughtmeeting the book celebrities had to merea lot survival of interesting in a world that parts. I liked howdoes thenot know author he exists described and some ofhis the parents few who do, do not want to see him thrive. and the things they taught him.— Tiffany W. This groundbreaking autobiography follows the life of Jack Kennedy, Jr., a child with his father’s intelligence and his mother’s charm. Uncovering what life was like in the 1950s and ‘60s, it will change the way you see these famous American Icons. PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY JOHN F. KENNEDY &MARILYN MONROE’S SON, IN HIS OWN WORDS JOHN F. KENNEDY To pre-order a book, or ebook, or be put on the mailing list please email [email protected] To George on his Birthday December 20th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE!

DearFor 16 George: years, you For Fave 16 years, given youme WestViewhave given News... me WestView News... And now, I want to offer a few birthday words to tell you what I think of it...

And I do hope, if you like my thoughts, you will share them in the next issue with my fellow readers. And I would also like to make a $ ______contribution as my birthday gift to you and the paper.

email to [email protected] or mail to: WestView News • 69 Charles Street • New York NY 10014