30 years ago in The Villager

Year-end articles and photos recapped major Village stories, including the razing of the Women’s House of Detention on Sixth Ave., the “dog run controversy,” the collapse of the old Broadway Central Hotel, Village favorite son Ed Koch’s announcement that he planned to run for mayor and a summer crime crisis. Pro- and anti-demolition activists battled over the women’s prison, with its defenders saying the art deco structure should be turned into housing for the elderly and handicapped and detractors saying it blocked the old Jefferson Market Courthouse and conjured memories of shouted conversations between female prisoners and boyfriends. The Mercer St. dog run controversy was “being resolved,” according to The Villager. In early March, Koch lost a near split vote to Assemblymember Albert Blumenthal in the Village Independent Democrats’ endorsement for mayor; lacking V.I.D.’s support, Koch bowed out of the race a month later. Two murders in August, including one in broad daylight on Hudson St., caused alarm and a protest at the Sixth Precinct, at which Villagers called for more foot patrols.