West Village

Funny lady Amy Sedaris appears to have an ambivalent relationship with New York City.

On the one hand, she seems to appreciate the little urban conveniences that you can't find anyplace else--for instance, last October, she told The Observer about her "good memories" of getting pot delivered to her house--but will just as quickly complain about the noise pollution from the West Village Halloween Parade.

Back in October, she complained to New York magazine “that the people who we moved [to the city] to get away from are coming here and changing it — and not for the best.  read more »

St. Vincent’s public affairs office gave us a call about our post on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s meeting Tuesday on the hospital’s hardship application to demolish the O’Toole building and construct a new, “state-of-the-art” medical facility in its place.

Dr. George Neuman, the interim chief medical officer at St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center, said that “support for the new hospital among the doctors and nurses, maintenance and ancillary staff is universal.”

“The people here want to see a new hospital built,” he said. “When you think about it, who wouldn’t want to work in a new building?"

Dr.  read more »

So long O'Toole building?

A host of elected officials today--City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Senator Thomas K. Duane, and Congressman Jerrold Nadler--gave their blessings to a demolition of the O'Toole building at 12th Street and Seventh Avenue in order to make way for a new St. Vincent's hospital in its place, should the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission find the hospital faces sufficient "hardship."

By issuing statements or speaking at a hearing today, the officials voiced support for Rudin Management's modifications to the original, $1.6 billion proposal, but warned that more revisions responding to community concerns about construction, building height and density, and how to mitigate shadows and traffic cast on the neighborhood, would be needed should the proposal reach the public review phase.  read more »

What better place to track the habits of tastemakers and trendsetters than the West Village, a neighborhood filled with lithe fashionistas and their imitators, big-spending bankers, all sorts of retail, and quaint real estate that is well beyond the price range of average folks.

It's only natural then that a New Yorker scribe who catapulted to fame with a book on the dynamics of trends would choose to live there. And after the book spends 28 weeks on the best-seller lists and you start making the rounds of the business/marketing conference circuit, doing about 25 speaking engagements a year at $40,000 a pop, like Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, then it's only fitting that you'd buy a second place in the West Village.  read more »

Yesterday, we wrote about the public hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission where St. Vincent's submitted its application for hardship status to get permission to demolish the O'Toole building and build a new hospital on the Seventh Avenue site.

The Municipal Art Society, which also testified at the hearing, issued the following statement in reaction to St. Vincent's application:  read more »

The chef for One If By Land, Two If By Sea, a bistro reputed to be one of the most romantic in the city, is striking out on his own.

The Observer has learned that executive chef Gary Volkov recently signed a lease at a 2,000-square-foot space at 26 Prince Street. The broker on the deal, Brett Nidel of Veracity Real Estate Management, would not disclose what the new owner would be paying in rent, but he did note that Mr.  read more »

Ruby Café on Mulberry Street is getting a sibling.

Australian-born entrepreneur Nick Mathers has closed on a 3,000-square-foot space at 121 West 10th Street, according to broker Steven Kamali. Mr. Mathers, who opened the Aussie-inspired Ruby Café four years ago at 219 Mulberry Street, will open Little Ruby’s, a high-end restaurant on the ground floor in late-August, and plans on opening a lounge in the basement in November.  read more »

This is the final week in the life of Rose’s Turn, a veritable West Village institution.

The oldest piano and cabaret bar in the neighborhood will close its doors for good on July 22, according to a source.

“They just told us a week before the place closed,” an employee told The Observer. “They have been sketchy about the details, but the rumor is that the building is turning into a real estate office.”  read more »