Scaffolding, Flowers, Tiny Apartments: West Village 2021 Review
WEST VILLAGE, NY — Though the turbulence of 2020 seemed to be in the rearview mirror, 2021 offered no shortage of surprises for New York City — and for the West Village.
From the early days of the vaccine rollout to a drop and subsequent rise in COVID-19 cases in the neighborhood, to local businesses struggling to rebound from the pandemic, the coronavirus lingered in the neighborhood's headlines this year.
But not all noteworthy stories were related to the ongoing crisis. As 2022 approaches, West Village Patch is looking back at some of the most read and notable stories of the past year.
The roundup includes sidewalk sheds, the opening of islands, curfews in Washington Square Park, and more. (We couldn't include everything!)
Scaffold Covers West Village Block For 22 Years, Residents Say
The day a sidewalk scaffolding shed first went up over part of a West 9th Street block, Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City, "Shakespeare In Love" had recently won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Britney Spears had just earned her first No. 1 hit.
It's still there.
See It: Little Island Park Opens Next To Hudson River
Lower Manhattan has a new public park as the Little Island welcomed New Yorkers for the first time on Friday. The 2.4 acres of green space sits along the Hudson River near 13th Street.
The idea for the park was conceived eight years ago by mega-mogul Barry Diller, who partnered with the Hudson River Park Trust in 2013 to help recreate the Pier 54 and Pier 55 space damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Curfew Eased After Violent Clashes In Washington Square Park
A Washington Square Park curfew went unenforced Sunday night, hours after scenes of chaos at the landmark Greenwich Village space as police and protesters clashed.
Just before 10 p.m. Saturday, officers in riot gear began forcing people still in the park, some of who stayed to protest the new controversial curfew, out of the green space and into the surrounding streets with bikes and batons as a broadcast to disperse blared over a loudspeaker.
A Flower Festival With 1M Blossoms Will Blanket The West Village
A festival will transform the Meatpacking District within the West Village this weekend into a wonderland of more than one million flowers, over a hundred florists, and floral installations and designs as far as the eye can see.
Over 100 florists will descend on the Gansevoort Plaza Friday night, blanketing it with flowers and placing floral installations throughout the West Village neighborhood.
32,000 People Fled Greenwich Village In 2020: New Data Shows
Across the four Lower Manhattan ZIP codes that include parts of Greenwich Village, more than 32,000 people moved out in 2020, while 19,198 moved in — a net loss of 13,400. That's a far greater departure than the previous year, when the four ZIP codes had a net loss of about 3,200.
Greenwich Village Eatery Named NYC's 'Top Pandemic Pizza'
Food critic Ryan Sutton from Eater NY calls the phenomena the "great pandemic pizza pivot." It is a reference to the mass of upscale New York City restaurants that have started offering pizza options to make their eateries more financially accessible during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sutton recently named Greenwich Village's Washington Squares at Loring Place as the best new pizza option to come out of any New York City restaurant during the pandemic.
Shockingly Small West Village Apartment Goes Viral On TikTok
How small is too small?
A TikTok video is going viral after a user named Axel Webber showed off his shockingly tiny apartment in the West Village. "Here's what it's like living in the smallest apartment in New York," Webber says to lead off the video. "Whatever your expectations are, lower them."
West Village Among 10 Most Expensive Neighborhoods In NYC
The New York City real estate market bounced back with a vengeance during the second quarter of 2021, and the West Village recorded some of the most expensive home sale prices throughout the five boroughs.
A new report from Property Shark broke down the 50 most expensive NYC neighborhoods based on the median home sale prices during the second quarter of this year. The West Village found itself within the 10 priciest neighborhoods in the entire city.
This article originally appeared on the West Village Patch
