When ICE Comes Knocking
On Saturday, December 13, small businesses of the West Village were approached by 21 members of the Village Independent Democrats (VID) to help educate them about their rights against ICE.
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Year: 2026
Awakening is Alive and Well
Awakening is another word for becoming aware of deeper realities. It is a synonym for increasing openness to what is learned, be that painful or pleasurable.
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My 36 Resolutions for 2026
1. Go to the gym three or four times a week.
2. Use as many machines as I do towels.
Three Little Italy Neighborhoods
What gives a neighborhood an ethnic identity? Is it the ethnicity of the people who live there, the history of the area, the ambience created by local businesses (restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, etc.), or something else? Here is my description of three neighborhoods frequently described as “Little Italy”… so you decide.
Read MoreIn Defense of Caving In
When eight Democrat and Independent senators voted to end the government shut down, they were severely criticized for giving in to the Republicans. Other Democratic leaders, like Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, also caught flak for not fighting harder or somehow controlling the senators and preventing them from caving in.
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The “Oppenheimer Moment”
There is much euphoria coming from AI tech companies, just like the over exuberance on social media with the advent of Facebook.
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Inside the Magical World of Li-Lac Chocolates
During my first visit to Li-Lac’s chocolate factory in Brooklyn, I was taken on a tour by co-owner Christopher Taylor and corporate sales manager David Landeros.
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Last Dance at Westbeth for Graham Studio
Dancers need space. Space is at a premium in New York City. Since its inception, Westbeth has provided a premium place for dancers to run, leap, skip and spin their healing magic. The vicarious experience of a dance audience is unique for both mind and body. If you can’t dance, just watching is valuable for your health!
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Marty Friedman on His Life as a Guitar Hero: Dreaming Japanese to a New Reality
One of the most fascinating musicians I’ve ever known, Marty Friedman has been and remains a rock star, a guitar hero, and a man who after achieving his wildest dreams through huge music success in America during the 80s and 90s, completely started over and became an unlikely media celebrity in the early 2000s in a country half a world from his homeland.
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Two “Abys” Are Better Than One
Abyssinians are often called the “dogs of the cat world,” and our two-year-old cat, Busy, has certainly lived up to that description. She is smart, loyal, and always on the move, with an impressive amount of energy for a small cat.
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Worth the Wait
Originally, my mom had booked a table at Dante Aperitivo, but our reservation was moved to Dante West Village because Dante Aperitivo had a private party. This was very exciting because I had never been to Dante West Village. It’s the restaurant on Perry and Hudson that always has a line outside.
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Things Fall Apart
When I was a mere lad of 29 and a recent law school graduate full of adventurous spirits, I was a lecturer in law in Africa for two academic years; the first in Nigeria, the second in Zambia. There were others like me at the time (1966 to 1968). Our help was welcomed to fill lectureships left vacant or newly created as British colonial rule was transferred to exuberant but unready leaders, experienced in political struggle but untrained in government administration.
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Roselind Schwartz – Quite A Life
On December 7, at 11:02 p.m., my mom, Dr. Roselind Shirley Schwartz passed. She was 103 years, 7 months and 14 days old. She spent 15 of those years as a Villager, living on West 11th Street, working at her second career as a travel agent, arriving at age 70 and leaving at 85, still going strong.
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Jeannine Kiely, District and Community Leader-Problem-Solver Extraordinaire!
In a November 23, 2025 City & State NY article, Celia Bernhardt wrote that Assemblymember Deborah Glick (District 66, who is not running again) is backing local District Leader Jeannine Kiely to fill her seat saying that Kiely has “not just the intelligence but the experience and commitment and the knowledge of the neighborhood” needed to take over the job. District Leader Arthur Schwartz also supports Kiely, “She’s wonderful–a community-oriented, activist-to-her-bones person.”
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Who Wants to Dump Dan Goldman?
We are witness to a government that is continually less reflective of its constituents and more partial of its donors. We often say we are at a crossroads in politics, but it seems more like a slide. Each election feels special, because they represent moments to reflect on the worsening material conditions and political sway of everyday people.
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- The Story of Thackery Binx
My boyfriend, being a big fan of the 1993 Hocus Pocus film, named her Thackery Binx. Well…she did bear the name Suba for the first couple weeks as she was first found in a Subaru, but why keep the trauma all her life?