COVID, Police Protests, Rent Drops: West Village Year In Review

WEST VILLAGE, NY — It was a year that started relatively normal — familiar topics like community board meetings, Washington Square park activities, and questions over why the city hadn't gotten any snow yet.

This strange phenomenon called the "coronavirus" was not yet at the forefront of West Villagers' minds.

But that would soon change.

A once-in-a-century pandemic, a reckoning over race and policing, massive economic disruptions, and a contentious presidential race all made 2020 a year residents of Lower Manhattan and the world won't soon forget.

As 2021 begins, the West Village Patch is taking a look back at the neighborhood's top stories of 2020:

West Village Coronavirus Rate Remains Near Lowest In NYC

The coronavirus pandemic understandably dominated the headlines for all of New York City this year, as the city became the nation's "epicenter" of the pandemic.

The West Village was among the neighborhoods in New York City least hard-hit by the virus, which laid bare the city's inequity when it came to race and income. As we close out the year, the West Village remains with a percent positive rate near the bottom of New York City.

But that doesn't mean the neighborhood didn't have residents feel the devastating pain of the virus.

More than 60 Greenwich Village and West Village residents died from COVID-19 in 2020, according to city from the data.

Police Rush West Village Protesters, Local Pols Speak Out

In September, outdoor diners watched as police rushed protesters and arrested many after raiding an art protest in nearby Washington Square Park.

The police-protest interaction took place after a summer of nationwide protest against police brutality. In Manhattan, the largest of those protests took place in the West Village and Greenwich Village areas.

During the summer protests, nights of violence largely centered on the lower half of the borough, came just a week before many of the retail establishments were set to open their doors again.

In SoHo, just between Houston and Canal streets on Broadway, 37 retail spots had been damaged, whether it be broken glass to a fully shattered storefront, according to the SoHo Broadway Initiative.

Despite that, local Lower Manhattan businesses resisted boarding up their stores in a symbolic message of hope to their neighborhoods.

West Village Winery To Require $50 Coronavirus Tests To Get Inside

Before mentioning any strategy deployed by a Lower Manhattan eatery to combat running a restaurant during a pandemic, the reality of how many Greenwich Village and West Village eateries and bars that had to close in 2020 has to be acknowledged.

From chain restaurants to decades-long neighborhood institutions, the Greenwich Village and West Village saw a staggering number of restaurants close their doors.

One local restaurant went as far as mandating coronavirus tests as the door to get inside.

City Winery — a high-end music venue, winery and restaurant in Lower Manhattan's Meatpacking District — announced that it would require all customers to take a $50 rapid coronavirus test two days a week upon arriving at the restaurant.

The guests receive a shallow nasal swab coronavirus test by a certified practitioner, along with a glass of City Winery Bubbles, and they will be made to sit outside the restaurant for 10 to 15 minutes to wait for their results.

Greenwich Village Rents And Home Prices Plummeted In 2020: Study

The New York City housing market plummeted in 2020, and real estate in Greenwich Village saw some of the most significant dips in all five boroughs, according to a new study by StreetEasy.

The median asking prices for homes and rents in Greenwich Village took a nosedive in 2020.

• Median Home Asking Price 2020: $1,499,000
• YoY Change From 2019: -16.50 percent
• Median Rent Asking Price 2020: $3,000
• YoY Change From 2019: -32.50 percent

The change in the asking price for rent in Greenwich Village was the second-biggest drop of any neighborhood in New York City. SoHo was the only area in the five boroughs to see a steeper decline at -37.80 percent.