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Author: Lannyl Stephens

GVHD50 Partner Roundup: Restaurant Edition

This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. Friends; we have such great friends!  Last year, as we set our sights on celebrating the extraordinary milestone of the 50th anniversary of the […]

Theaters of the Greenwich Village Historic District

This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the designation of The Greenwich Village Historic District (GVHD).  The GVHD contains a treasure-trove of history, architecture, […]

The Ides of March

Every month has an “Ides,” but only the month of March is known for it.  The Romans did not number days of a month from the first to the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the […]

    Jack Reed and Mabel Dodge — Their Lasting Legacy

    Today is the anniversary of the start of the Russian Revolution, and so we celebrate the rise of John Reed who chronicled the Revolution from a first hand perspective. It could be said that the rise of iconic Villager John (Jack) Reed was born in the legendary salons (and arms) of Mabel Dodge.  Dodge’s Salons […]

      Judson Memorial Church: A Commitment to the Arts

      Judson Memorial Church is an extraordinary institution for countless reasons; its architecture, its dedication to inclusion, its history of providing free healthcare, its outspoken advocacy on issues of civil rights and free expression, to name just a few of its exemplary attributes.  But today, we wish to focus on its dedication to the creative arts.

        They Dwelt on West 9th Street: William J. Glackens

        They Dwelt on West 9th Street: William J. Glackens is the 6th in a series. “Art, like humanity, every time has an ancestry.” — William Glackens William Glackens (1870-1938) was an American Painter whose work is associated with the Ashcan School.  He began his career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator and his roots in […]

          The Bones of Old New York: Rick Kelly’s Carmine Street Guitars

          If only these old bones could talk!  Well, in the case of Rick Kelly and his amazing craft, the old bones can indeed talk, or sing, if you will.  Rick Kelly is a luthier who crafts bespoke guitars from the reclaimed wood that once belonged to buildings around the city.  Rick’s guitars are like having […]

            Welcome to the ‘Hood, Ars Nova!

            The Village has always been, and remains, a hotbed of artistic creativity.  Theater artists and companies continue to thrive here, as more and more emerge or find new homes in the neighborhood.  This week, we welcome the upstart Ars Nova to the scene!

              Prohibition Hits The Village

              There have been a handful of times in this country when the outcome of a political campaign was truly stunning. Such was the case in 1919 when several groups known as the “Drys” won a 70 year campaign to prohibit the production, sale, and distribution of alcohol.  The 18th Amendment abolished booze in on January […]

              The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a Visual Ode to the Village

              My favorite series in the past MANY years is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel written by the amazing Amy Sherman-Palladino.  Not only is her rapid-fire dialogue and direction a joy to watch and listen to, but the actors who have been cast in the show are sublimely well-suited for their roles.  Then, of course, there are […]

                My Favorite Things: Andrew Berman Edition

                  This post is part of a series about our favorite things in and about the Village. Andrew Berman, GVSHP’s Executive Director since 2002, has a plethora of favorite things about our neighborhoods, so it’s hard to press him for a discreet list.  But there are a few things that Andrew feels particularly passionate about, […]

                My Favorite Things: Tom Birchard Edition

                We decided it was high time for some of our most ardent and vocal supporters to have a say here on Off the Grid.  To that end, we have invited one of our favorite East Villagers, Tom Birchard, owner of Veselka, to let us know his favorite East Village spots. We at GVSHP highly endorse […]

                The Ninth Street Five

                The now infamous Ninth Street Show, a ‘coming out’ of sorts for the post-war New York avant-garde art scene, began as a whimsical idea, but ended up literally overturning the hegemony of the uptown artists and art dealers over the art world in the mid-20th century New York art scene.  The show was to become the […]

                  Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Nuyorican Poets Cafe

                  “For the poor New York Puerto Rican, there are three survival possibilities,” the poet Miguel Algarin wrote in 1975. “The first is to labor for money and exist in eternal debt. “The second is to refuse to trade hours for dollars and to live by your will and ‘hustle.’ “The third possibility is to create […]

                    My Favorite Things: Village Icon Tom Fontana!

                    “Tom Fontana does not own or use a computer.  He writes his scripts in longhand on yellow legal pads. Emails for Tom are sent to his office where a hard copy is prepared for him.” This is a notice from Tom’s webmaster at tomfontana.com and I lead with this information because, in this day and age, […]

                      Dorothy Day

                      “We need to change the system. We need to overthrow, not the government, as the authorities are always accusing the Communists [of conspiring to do], but this rotten, decadent, putrid industrial capitalist system which breeds such suffering in the whited sepulcher of New York.” Such are the words of the “radical Christian,” Dorothy Day, who […]

                      My Favorite Things: Ice Cream Edition!

                      It’s August in New York.  It’s hot.  Need I say more? And conversations tend to revolve around the temperatures at this time of year.  How hot is it?  How humid is it?  When will the heat let up?  Is autumn around the corner yet?  We here at GVSHP decided that it was high time to […]

                      Celebrating Willa Cather

                      The Village is a very far cry from the Nebraska prairie where Willa Cather spent much of her childhood.  But her most productive writing period was indeed while she lived in various apartments in the Village, where she lovingly and vividly wrote about the people and places she knew and cherished from her childhood in […]

                      St. Vincent’s Project: Novenas for a Lost Hospital

                      Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, one of Greenwich Village’s most inventive and exciting producers of new works, is partnering with GVSHP, the NYC AIDS Memorial Board, St. John’s in the Village, and the Stonewall Chorale to present a new play by Villager Cusi Cram.  With dramaturgy by Villager Guy Lancaster, and starring (former Villager!) Kathleen Chalfant (Angels […]

                      They Lived on West 9th Street : Maurice Sendak

                      They Lived on West 9th Street: Maurice Sendak is the 2nd in a series. Did you know that in the early 1960s, American illustrator and writer Maurice Sendak (June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) lived at No. 29 West 9th Street? While living there, he wrote and illustrated one of America’s most beloved children’s […]

                        Spring House Tour Benefit Surprises and Delights

                          The 20th Annual Spring House Tour Benefit on May 6th, 2018 featured an array of homes unlike any others in the tour’s twenty year history.  Tour goers and volunteers alike were delighted by the variety and depth of interest in each and every dwelling.  Today we have a round up of those gorgeous homes.

                        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Mountaintop

                        On April 3rd, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered what would become both his last and one of his most powerful speeches, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In it, he called for unity and non-violent protests while challenging the United States to live up to its promise and ideas, saying he could see the day […]

                        Tennessee Williams: A Restless Fugitive

                        Born Thomas Lanier Williams, III, on March 26th, 1911, playwright Tennessee Williams was as much a New Yorker as anyone, really. While his place of birth was really Columbus, Mississippi, he was an itinerant traveler of the world, but spent much of his professional career in New York City, primarily in Greenwich Village. Much like […]

                          My Favorite Things: Women’s History Month Edition

                          When March finally rolls around, I feel the need for celebration! Not only does it mean that we have weathered the January/February doldrums, but also because March is Women’s History Month! We have several exciting programs in store for the month long celebration. On Monday, March 26th, we will host and evening of Women Poets […]

                          “Shampoo” and Other Inspirations Found on St. Mark’s Place

                          Shampoo, the iconic movie satire, was released on February 11, 1975, but is set on Election Day 1968, the day Richard Nixon was first elected President of the United States.  Released in 1975 soon after the Watergate scandal had reached its conclusion, the political atmosphere provides of the time provides a source of dramatic irony […]

                          Hats Off to John Guare

                          I’ll take Manhattan! If you had to draw a picture of a New York playwright, you would probably draw someone like John Guare.  Guare was born on February 5, 1938. A New Yorker’s New Yorker, he has lived in Greenwich Village with his wife, Adele Chatfield-Taylor, for 43 years.  In his delightful piece in our […]

                          My Favorite Things: Holiday Lights Edition

                          This is the latest installment of Off the Grid’s series, “My Favorite Things,” in which we showcase some of our very favorite spots around the neighborhood, highlighting the incredible architecture, history, people, and businesses of the Village, East Village, and NoHo; read more HERE. Holiday lights are one of my favorite things ANYWHERE they may […]

                          A History of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church

                          On December 14th, 1963, the Presbytery of the City of New York officially voted that the historic Spring Street Presbyterian Church would close its doors at the end of the month of December, with the last service to be held on December 29, 1963. Why is this important to us today? For so many reasons, […]

                          My Favorite Things: Theater Edition

                          This is the latest installment of Off the Grid’s series, “My Favorite Things,” in which we showcase some of our very favorite spots around the neighborhood, highlighting the incredible architecture, history, people, and businesses of the Village, East Village, and NoHo; read more HERE. Greenwich Village has been a hot-bed for creative theatrical minds since […]

                          Suffragette City

                          Today we look back on a critical milestone in the health of our democracy and a red letter day for the State of New York. The achievement of full voting rights for women in New York State came three years before the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920 granted […]

                          Happy Birthday, Eugene O’Neill

                          On this day in 1888, Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born, and the course of American theater would change forever. O’Neill became the first American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium and he remains the only U.S. playwright to capture the Nobel Prize for Literature.

                          de Kooning’s Greenwich Village

                          While much has been said lately about the 11th hour salvation of 827-831 Broadway, two critically important buildings in the life and work of artists Willem de Kooning and Elaine de Kooning, we thought it would be interesting to explore other spots in our neighborhoods that were also particularly meaningful to the de Koonings, and indeed […]

                            Saved From the Wrecking Ball: Today, and Fifty Years Ago

                            Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat! We have seen it on many occasions here at GVSHP. Most recently, in case you haven’t heard, we were victorious in persuading the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York City agency charged with administering the city’s Landmarks Preservation law, to begin the formal process of considering 827-831 Broadway […]

                            Clifford Odets and The Group Theatre

                              Clifford Odets, one of America’s greatest playwrights, passed away on this day in 1963 at the age of 57. Odets grew up in the Bronx but migrated downtown as soon as he could in order to be around the artists, musicians, actors and writers who inhabited the Village. He began his career as an […]

                            Ladies Like Beer Too

                            This is an updated re-posting of a piece written by former GVSHP staffer Dana Schultz. Walk into McSorley’s Old Ale House today and you will see an equal mix of the genders enjoying a beer. It’s hard to imagine that for 116 years this would not have been the case, as women were not allowed […]

                            St. Mark’s in the Bowery: Sam Shepard’s First Theatrical Home

                             “…But who knows what is real anyway? Reality is overrated. What remains are the words scrawled upon an unwinding panorama, vestiges of dusty stills peeled from memory, a threnody of gone voices drifting across the American plain. The One Inside is a coalescing atlas marked by the boot heels of one who instinctively tramps, with open […]

                            The Ashcan School and the Beginnings of the Whitney

                            The streetscapes and street life of New York City are some of the most robust sensorial experiences. From towering skyscrapers to bright flashing lights to pungent (sometimes fragrant) smells and blaring sounds, the city runs on energy. It has been said that if the United States were a car, New York City would be its […]

                              Happy Birthday Marcel Duchamp!

                              This is an updated reposting of a blog by former staffer, Lauren Snetiker, July 28th, 2015 Today marks what would have been Marcel Duchamp’s 130th Birthday. Duchamp was born in France on July 28, 1887, trained as a painter in Paris until 1905, and spent much of his adult life living in Paris and New […]

                                Vice President, Villager Shoots and Kills Hamilton

                                1804. Weehawken.  Dawn.  Guns. Drawn.* Perhaps the most famous duel in American history took place on July 11, 1804, a result of a bitter political rivalry.  Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had been at loggerheads off and on throughout their careers, but escalating tensions between the two led to their face-off on a dueling ground […]

                                Pride Month in NYC: More Historic LGBT sites to visit in our neighborhoods

                                Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation movement in the United States. Celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia, and concerts. […]

                                It’s the Butter that binds us! 2017 Village Award Winner Patisserie Claude delights and defines.

                                Off the Grid is highlighting our 2017 Village Awards winners in our upcoming June 6th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Patisserie Claude is a business that makes us all proud to live in the Village. Not only is it one of the most civilized of […]

                                A History of the East Village in 10 Objects

                                The following is an updated re-posting originally authored by Dana Schulz. As May is Lower East Side History Month, we at GVSHP thought it would be nice to revisit a post from 2012 which gives a nod to ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects,’ the British Museum’s BBC radio series and book.” We […]

                                2017 Village Award Winner: The Public Theater

                                  The arts are the soul and life of our civilization.  They are the link which we use to identify individual and shared expressions. It is widely recognized that The Public Theater is one of our nation’s greatest institutions for theater and a cultural leading light. We in the Village are incredibly fortunate that their […]

                                Bob Dylan’s First NYC Gig: April 11, 1961

                                He blew into town on a cold January day in 1961, slammed the door of his car, walked into Café Wha and landed a gig that night. That’s the legend, anyway. Truth is that he slogged around uptown hustling for gigs in the Theater District for months before the Village beckoned. But once he found […]

                                Private Tour of ‘Inventing Downtown’ Exhibit for GVSHP Members

                                  Our friends at the Grey Art Gallery hosted a wonderful private tour of their most recent exhibition for GVSHP members last night! The exhibition, entitled Inventing Downtown: Artist –Run Galleries in New York City 1952-1965, highlights artists’ efforts to create new exhibition venues for innovative and ever-evolving works of art — from abstract and […]

                                Honoring Patti Smith

                                On Saturday, December 10, 2016, the extraordinary Patti Smith accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature on behalf of Bob Dylan in Stockholm, Sweden. In a transcendent performance, Smith was overwhelmed with emotion when she stopped mid-performance only to begin again and drive home her powerful rendition of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” to a […]

                                Happy Birthday Calvin Trillin!

                                Happy (slightly late) birthday to Greenwich Village resident and long-time GVSHP supporter Calvin Trillin, born December 5, 1935. Mr. Trillin was a contributor to GVSHP’s publication Greenwich Village Stories (available for purchase this holiday season!), and has been the host of several of our annual Village Awards Ceremony, as well as a featured speaker at GVSHP’s benefit […]

                                Bob Dylan’s South Village

                                Bob Dylan in Sheridan Square The South Village has many reasons to be celebrated these days. Of course, the (hopefully) impending designation of the Sullivan Thompson Historic District is a big story for GVSHP. Our 13-year quest to protect all of the areas of the South Village is finally coming to fruition with the potential […]

                                  Le Corbusier: Master of Modern Architecture born October 6, 1887

                                  When it comes to modern urban design and planning, perhaps no name figures more prominently than that of Le Corbusier. A Swiss born French architect, he was one of the founders of modern architecture. The International Style, primarily the vernacular of Le Corbusier, was born of the progress of building materials. Compressed concrete, reinforced concrete, […]

                                    Edward Albee: Icon of American Theatre

                                    “I’d read about the Village, how Bohemian it was, and after getting thrown out of college, couldn’t wait to get here.” So were the words of groundbreaking playwright Edward Albee (March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016).

                                      East Village Saturday Festivals Abound!

                                      Village Preservation is fortunate to be participating in two terrific events this coming Saturday, September 17th and we invite our friends and readers to come and visit us! Astor Alive! Festival is being presented by the Village Alliance and is free to the public. The Festival will celebrate The New Astor Place, a vibrant cultural […]

                                      Thirsty Thursday! Some Cool East Village Bars

                                      Looking for a cool place to hang in the East Village? We have a few ideas for you.  Since the Village abounds with some of the coolest places on earth to imbibe, this is really only a starting point. Of course, we went out into the field to do some research! (it was our pleasure, […]

                                        Birthday Blog with Charles Busch!

                                        Charles Busch is the quintessential Villager. A prolific playwright and actor, he has lived in the West Village for most of his adult life. This reporter has been a life-long fan of Charles and so on this, his ??? birthday, I caught up with him amidst his busy schedule to ask him for his thoughts […]

                                        Jean-Michel Basquiat and the East Village art scene of the 1980’s

                                        Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life and work are synonymous with the East Village/NoHo art scene of the 1980’s.  From his early years as a burgeoning young artist while studying at City-as-School, a progressive high school Village Preservation proposed for historic district designation which operates on the principles of John Dewey’s theory that students learn by doing, Basquiat was […]