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The pathways of Greenwich Village—full of lovely old human-scale buildings—can transport a dreamy pedestrian back in time. The Village is not your typical tower-filled Manhattan streetscape, and you can thank the landmarks law for that. The 1965 Landmarks Law allowed for the protection of individual buildings, plus swathes of neighborhoods—“historic districts”—deemed special because of their

Demolition must have hired a good PR firm. It gets mentioned as if it were renewal. In the language of planning documents and press releases, buildings are “cleared,” sites are “activated,” neighborhoods are “reimagined”, and in the case of public housing, it was referred to as “decanted”, a vocable usually reserved for wine! The verbs

I’d heard Fraunces Tavern mentioned so often as a place to visit that I assumed it wasn’t worth visiting. But earlier this year, a friend asked us to go for his birthday dinner. The historic Tavern includes a museum, four distinct bars, and a colonial dining room (the Tallmadge room) complete with long wooden tables

Ignoring community opposition, less than two weeks before ex-Mayor Adams’ term drew to a close, his administration gave the green light to the demolition of the landmarked Tony Dapolito Recreation Center at Clarkson and Varick Streets, as it approved the development of “Hudson Mosaic,” an apparently 350+-foot-tall tower at 388 Hudson Street, on a city-owned

“New York City housing stock is being gobbled up by multinational investment companies, investment funds, and people who have tons of cash,” Brooklyn City Council Member Sandy Nurse declared. “To buy a home, it’s impossible, unless you have a million dollars.” Speaking on the steps of City Hall on Nov. 12, Nurse rallied an eager

Last weekend, Bob Terry circled Washington Square Park with a stack of flyers in hand, eagerly inviting the people he passed to his upcoming event. However, the 75-year-old was seeking one demographic in particular. “You look like smokers—come to my event on Friday,” he said to a group of young people lounging on the grass.

New York Jews have strong feelings about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza. They don’t always agree. This subject is so potentially divisive that they often avoid talking about it at all. For Jews, discussing post-October 7th events can be like stepping on the proverbial third rail, similar to our Thanksgiving table flareups after the

On Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, members of New York City’s LGBTQ community did just that—to show their support for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Speaking to the crowd that had gathered at the AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village, the founder of Gays for Zohran, Katia Portela, said, “Zohran has changed the game for trans

“The end of civilization!” That’s how Deborah Glick caustically characterized the Kraft company’s description of the packaging reduction bill she’s sought unsuccessfully to shepherd through the New York State Assembly for two years. The downtown Democrat, who chairs the assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation, recounted how last year Kraft raised the alarm: Glick’s bill could