Letters to the Editor – November 2026

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The Quiet Brick Building on Washington Street

Thank you for the article “The Quiet Brick Building on Washington Street” in the October issue of Village View. I particularly enjoyed the quote from Leroy Street Studio (LSS) stating that “Successful project delivery required a high level of coordination and management due to the complexity of new construction in a landmark district [and] an E-designated site with unstable soil conditions… LSS’s commitment to a collaborative and hands-on working process allowed us to meet this challenge by coordinating an expert group of 17 consultants.”

Unfortunately, 777 Washington Street, the building in question, represents one of the Landmark Preservation Commission’s most egregious failures to protect the historic character of the Far West Village. And LSS did not cover itself with glory.

A bit of history: 777 Washington Street was built in 1948 as a meatpacking facility. In 1985, the building was purchased by fashion photographer Albert Watson, who converted it to live/work use and undertook a massive interior renovation that created several spectacular spaces. In 2008 Watson sold the building to billionaire financier Noam Gottesman for an at-the-time jaw-dropping $34 million.

The building’s extraordinary interior was thought to be a prime reason for the extremely high sales price, but Gottesman turned around and filed plans with LPC to completely gut the inside of the building and “enlarge” the existing relatively inconspicuous rooftop structure into an entirely new third floor extending all the way to the street walls.

The new plans called for extensive excavation beneath the building. Doubtless an engineering analysis was compiled by LSS’s “expert group of 17 consultants” assuring everyone that everything was hunky-dory. However, far from achieving the claimed “successful project delivery,” LSS’s efforts resulted in the destabilization and subsequent demolition of the entire building. I’ve included a 2009 photo of the vacant site that resulted from the demolition.

The current building is a modern structure that merely mimics elements of the now-gone historic facade. Worse, the addition of the massive third floor overwhelms the quiet corner on which the building is located. Instead of the previous somewhat idiosyncratic building that respected the street wall heights of its neighbors and possessed some visual interest, the new building presents as a hulking fortress-like bunker oppressing passers-by on the adjoining sidewalks. I’ve included two images of the original building, both (if I remember correctly) from material prepared by the real-estate firm that managed the 2008 sale.
– Zack Winestine, Save Gansevoort

Dear Zack,
Thank you so much for the vital information about this townhouse. I see now that the work and the disaster was just before I moved to the West Village and wasn’t writing about it yet. Knowing you from your dedication to all matters CB2 and beyond, you have once again proven how valuable you are to the community. The photos are such a great asset too. Remarkable.
– Brian Pape

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Just What’s In That Body Lotion You’re Using?

In response to Siggy Raible’s “Just What’s In That Body Lotion You’re Using?” from February 2026.

It’s been three years since I’ve moved to New York. This is after five years of migrating between four countries — Russia, Israel, UK and USA. Obviously when you travel so much under stress of international conflicts, you end up having no preferred care routine and creams, laundry or dish detergents, or anything — only anxiety, brain fog, poor sleep and constant irritated bowel syndrome. Fun!

Now imagine how surprised I was when I settled on Manhattan to live my best life, and started feeling almost worse than these five years of traveling?

I’ve started my self-education on environmental factors that can cause bodily systems disruption. And exactly how Siggy Raible puts it — turns out there was something in this body lotion, AND the packaging of this body lotion, that directly affected how I looked and felt.

My sustainability journey made me re-think the whole philosophy of stuff, and how it is produced and promoted to us, and why in many cases it is harmful to either people, or animals, or the environment (which is also affecting people). It is the clothes in our wardrobes, food in our fridges and pantries, house cleaning liquids and powders; our bed linens, towels, curtains, carpets, furniture. Everything is more or less either plastic, or contains chemicals.

And once you start exploring the ingredients on your foods, cosmetics labels or baby toy boxes, you start addressing better resources, like non-profits that publish peer-reviewed scientific data about which granola will eventually kill you and which will not. You start avoiding overconsumption and big corporations like PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Shell, Exxon, Unilever, Amazon, etc. You hopefully finally turn on your critical analysis, become hungry for a better quality of life, and start participating in Stop Plastic Pollution activities and efforts to change the current legislation, like I did!
– Marina Lozovik Joseb, instagram.com/marinaspace

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STREET TREES DAMAGE — READERS’ RESPONSES

A reader responded to our July 2026 article about a large tree falling onto 11th Street on a windy night (Nature vs. The City, by Brian J Pape). We believe our readers would be interested in the information provided in the correspondence with the Parks Department.

On July 29 and 30, Eric Uhlfelder wrote: “There’s a good follow up story to your fallen tree note…what are the policies about cutting major roots to fix pavers? Who oversees this? This is a ubiquitous risk. A dear friend’s daughter was maimed by a fallen street tree. I followed up with forestry. See letter and rules below.”

Dear Eric Uhlfelder,
As for the tree down at 117 West 11 Street, we only received service requests mentioning a tree down. Tree down was inspected on 5/30/2026. If you have any information, photo or video evidence that a sidewalk contractor cut roots, please email us evidence. We will investigate and pursue this case depending on the evidence provided. As for contractors proposing to do sidewalk repairs near street trees, they have to apply for a tree work application and perform all work in compliance with our Tree Protection Protocol. For more information on Independent Sidewalk Repair: nycgovparks.org/services/forestry/independent-sidewalk-repair
– Manhattan Forestry, NYC Parks

On September 1, 2026, the Parks Department wrote directly to Brian Pape, author of the original article.

Dear Mr. Pape,
A fellow constituent provided your contact information about a possible witness and additional information related to a tree destruction at 117 West 11 Street, Manhattan that occurred (reported) on 07/15/2026. It has come to our attention that a tree under our jurisdiction has been illegally damaged without permission from the City of New York. Please note that, according to the NYC Administrative Code, Section 18-129:
It shall be unlawful for any individual, firm, corporation, agent, employee or person under the control of such individual, firm or corporation to cut, remove or in any way destroy or cause to be destroyed, any tree or other form of vegetation on public property under the jurisdiction of the commissioner without acquiring written consent from the commissioner.
When appropriate, NYC Parks does have the right to pursue legal action against anyone believed to be involved in the destruction of a city tree. Removing a tree without a permit or damaging a tree are both serious offenses and are punishable by a fine of up to $15,000 or imprisonment for up to one year. If you have any information and/or photo evidence that may be helpful as we investigate this matter, please feel free to contact us at MNForestry.Letters@parks.nyc.gov. If there is a witness that saw large tree roots being illegally cut, and if they are willing to fill out a witness statement, it would help in our case. Thank you for caring about NYC trees!
– Manhattan Forestry, NYC Parks