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The Paper of Record for Greenw Greenwich w iicc h Village, Vill Vi l l ag ll age e,, East Ea ass t Village, Vii llllag V la ag g e, e Lower L ow w er East Eas Side, Soho, Union Square, Chinatown Square re e, C Ch h iin na att own ow o w n and a d Noho, an No N o ho, ho h o , Since S i ncc e 1933 Si 19 9 33
March 15, 2018 • $1.00 Volume 88 • Number 11
Murder of Soho’s ‘Roni’ shakes Village seniors, friends and neighbors BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y
L
unchtimes at the Greenwich House Senior Center at 20 Washington Square North have been packed these last few days, reflecting the members’ need to come together in solace and community. They lost one of their own. This happens in a center
with an aging population, but not in the unexpected and horrific manner that their beloved Veronica “Roni” Ivins lost her life in the early hours of Thurs., March 8. Amid a situation where information is gleaned from spotty news accounts and an ongoRONI continued on p. 19
Locals lamenting Beth Israel Hospital’s loss of full array of services BY LESLEY SUSSMAN
C
ommunity Board 3 remained focused on the anxiously watched plans to downsize the historic 127-year-old Beth Israel Hospital at a forum last week at the Sirovich Senior Center, at 331 E. 12th St. The meeting’s aim m local was to get feedback from
residents about what medical services should remain available locally. The current Gramercy hospital, which is licensed for more than 800 beds, will be replaced by a 70-bed mini-hospital adjoining the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mt. Sinai, at B.I. continued on p. 12
PHOTO BY REBECCA WHITE
P.S. 41 students, parents, facult y and staff marched around the W. 11th St. school’s block Wednesday morning as par t of the national walkout against gun violence. See Pages 10 and 11.
W. Village Houses demo a no-go...at least for now BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
T
he threat of a crop of new high-rise towers — possibly gleaming and garish — being constructed on the site of the current West Village Houses seems to have passed — at least for the near future. Last November, Madison Equities proposed to buy the entire complex of 42 nondescript low-scale brick buildings, raze it and then rebuild
How about ferry fairness? .... p. 21
it with a mix of market-rate and affordable housing. The West Village Houses are located just outside the landmarked Greenwich Village Historic District and so are not protected against wholesale demolition. According to a board member, Madison’s offer was unsolicited. However, the coop’s board reportedly subsequently spent $300,000 exploring the plan’s feasibility. Yet, while the rebuild-
ing scenario is now off the table — or “never was on the table,” as one co-op board member claimed this week — on Fri., March 9, the West Village Houses did, in fact, begin the process of transitioning from an affordable residential co-op to a marketrate one. The historic housing development, the creation of which Jane Jacobs actively supported, officially lost its tax-exempt status last Friday, WVH continued on p. 8
Villager not guilty of disrupting Senate .............p. 2 Skenazy on Cayla and Furby collusion .............p. 22 www.TheVillager.com