by Bill Cornwell

Wistaria Walk on Horatio Street from In Olde New York by Thomas Janvier

The Horatio Street Association is one of our most venerable block associations. The following is an exerpt from the Horatio Street Newsletter. Our odyssey began 33 years ago when Horatio Street residents Hannah Powsner, Rosalind Belford and Gene Gross met in Hannah’s apartment to discuss the escalating problems on Horatio Street. Being on the periphery of the Meat Market the street was subject to being a step-child of the West Village. Heavy truck traffic produced a constant din as Horatio Street was a designated truck route for....refrigerator trucks. Local delivery trucks rumbled throughout the day to provide New York restaurants and markets with fresh meat and poultry from the Mideast and Southern states. In the 1970s little help to communities could be expected from a city facing financial disaster....Sanitation was a problem, and our parks became brown with neglect. All Manhattan was at the mercy of crime and the drug generation as all police precincts has their forces cut back. Something had to be done. ...(Horatio Street) was a derelict street populated by working class people, artists, writers, performers, musicians and actors.... Blood spattered, white coated meat workers ate their lunches on our stoops and threw their garbage in the street or left it where they ate. It was not uncommon to see a pink cow carcass stripped of meat lying in the street after bouncing off a garbage truck on its way to a dump. Occasionally, a fallen crate of dead chickens would add to the ambiance as its odious odor would permeate the air. ....Horatio Street was the only residential street to parallel the meat market. Our street was part of the hustle and bustle of a very busy meat industry and consequently given short shrift when it came to cleaning the street or picking up garbage. ...The 1970s were the drug era and our street was ripe for burglaries and muggings as addicts would do anything to support their habits.....We had a challenge. One of the first neighbors to come through the door was a large and rather bombastic woman.... Lucille Chasen...created our slogan, “Concerned neighbors dedicated to the safety, beautification and preservation of our street.” Lucille wanted trees and trees she got through the city or by hook or by crook. Our tree lined street took shape.... Committees were formed: Eva Ettisch and her Environmental Committee cleaned up our street and developed a friendly and solid rapport with the Sanitation Department. She procured scarce trash containers and held periodic street broomings and washdowns helping us to get a handle on the proliferation of crime on our street and in our area. Mr. Communication, Bob Smith, led a committee that produced an award winning newsletter that was not only about Horatio Street happenings but also informed the residents on issues that could affect their lives, such as West Way and how it would impact the West Village community and our street. Jackson Square needed all the help it could get and Carol (Gordon) Franklin volunteered to rally the tenants in 2 and 14 Horatio Street to revitalize the park and later helped to establish the Friends of Jackson Square to deal solely with the park’s problems. Tom Doyle tackled traffic and his committee worked with Community Board 2’s Traffic and Transportation Committee to regulate trucks and enforce noise codes. Sheila Klein and her Police and Security Committee established a long overdue relationship with the 6th Precinct which we still enjoy today... At a fund raiser in the late 70s HSA utilized the wonderful talent on our street to produce a successful Summer Music Festival in Seravalli Playground. Over 500 people enjoyed the music from opera, show tunes, blue grass and rock’n’roll. A lot of work and a lot of fun that brought the neighborhood together. ....Demographics changed our neighborhood and new residents didn’t realize the work and maintenance it takes to create what they now accept as a beautiful, clean vibrant street.....we see the trees, flowers, and our new Bishop’s Crook street lamps, standing majestically over our neighborhood. Every visitor (participant) .. .(the people) in all those years made a difference and their ghosts still linger, silvery silhouettes in the fading light.

GVBA News Summer 2004 — Contents

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