Volume 79, Number 13 | September 2 - 8, 2009
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

Villager photos by J.B. Nicholas

Rear(-end) window at Standard Hotel

Parkgoers are forgetting about all the beautiful foliage on the High Line and, mesmerized, are looking up at the Standard Hotel, which straddles the old railway, to see if they can get a gander of any of the much-publicized, naked goings-on through its floor-to-ceiling glass windows. A police helicopter even seemed to be swooping in for a peek, below. Asked by The Villager if the hotel, at this point, is discouraging or encouraging such exhibitionism, a spokesperson said, “When we built the Standard, we hoped it would provide the best views of New York looking out. We didn’t anticipate that it would also provide those views looking in. The hotel has, and will continue to, assiduously remind guests that their windows are transparent and that what they may naturally assume to be private may, in fact, not be so. To our friends and neighbors, we apologize for any offense caused by our guests in the privacy of their rooms. We will make it a point to remind guests about the considerate use of curtains.”