Does this question sound familiar? Studios in Greenwich Village now often rent for at least $2,000 and up per month, meaning an artist would need an annual salary of $80,000 to “afford” this rent. Most artists do not earn $80,000 per year. This headline was not pulled from a current real estate blog but from […]
80 Fifth Avenue at 14th Street is a building with an incredibly rich civil rights and social justice history, about which we have done a great deal of research as part of our effort to preserve and landmark the unprotected area of Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square. Apparently we’re not […]
The East Village is renowned as a place of great cultural innovation over the years. But two of the least well-known great leaps forward with roots in the neighborhood — which amazingly are rooted in the same building which still stands today — are the invention of the modern roller skate, and the beginning of […]
This may be a little known fact even for the most dedicated of Monkees fans, but from 1967 to 1969, Monkees lead singer Davy Jones had a ‘mod’ clothing shop called Zilch I at 217 Thompson Street, a 1909 tenement in the South Village Historic District which Village Preservation got landmarked in 2013 (more info […]
August is Black Business Month. So we’re showcasing some of the many amazing Black-owned businesses in our neighborhood. Like all our great independently-owned businesses, you can patronize all year round — not just in August. Mikey Likes It Ice Cream (199 Avenue A) Michael “Mikey” Cole is the founder and owner of Mikey Likes It […]
The five story Italianate style cast-iron loft building at 112 Fourth Avenue was constructed in 1872.
A remarkable number of people and places in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo played important roles in the move towards women’s suffrage. These neighborhoods were long centers of political ferment and progressive social change, and women and men here played a prominent part in removing barriers to women voting in New York State […]
A remarkable number of people and places in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo played important roles in the move towards women’s suffrage. These neighborhoods were long centers of political ferment and progressive social change, and women and men here played a prominent part in removing barriers to women voting in New York State […]
The plight of local small businesses and non-profit institutions right now is devastating. Forced to close or limit access due to the pandemic, many have lost income and shut down permanently. Storefronts are emptying, harming communities, neighbors, and property owners. Village Preservation is working with a coalition of local merchants, non-profits, elected officials, and property owners to […]
Fifty-four years ago this week, the Charlton King VanDam Historic District was designated, only the fourth historic district ever designated in New York City and the first in Greenwich Village, with one of the oldest intact sets of buildings in New York City and the city’s highest concentration of Federal 1790-1835) and Greek Revival (1830-1850) houses. Landmark […]
August 18th is the hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited discrimination in voting in the United States based upon sex. It was the culmination of generations of effort by dedicated women and men, many of whom lived, worked, wrote, organized, protested, marched, and lobbied in Greenwich Village, the East Village, […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. In many ways, […]
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted on August 18, 1920, affirming that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The adoption was the culmination of decades of work by suffragists to eliminate […]
We here at Village Preservation are in the business (so to speak) of trying to help ensure historic buildings are preserved and, when necessary, adapted and reused rather than destroyed. Historic buildings lend character and tell stories that newer ones typically cannot. But they’re also good for the environment — there’s a truism that the […]
Village Preservation shares our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each includes the experiences and insights of leaders or long-time participants in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. Our latest oral history follows Rick […]
On May 4, 1912, ten thousand people marched for women’s suffrage along Fifth Avenue.
Today, global economic crises are all too familiar and common. A bad day on Wall Street, or a troubling decision by China or the European Union, can send markets tumbling around the world, with the effects felt swiftly and pervasively. That’s because, in the 21st century, news can reach virtually anywhere almost instantaneously, and our […]
You might be surprised to know that the Hospital for Special Surgery, the oldest existing orthopedic hospital in the United State, and a powerhouse in the world of medicine and orthopedic surgery, actually began in a row house in the increasingly immigrant-filled East Village more than 150 years ago. In 1863 in the middle of […]
Director Nicholas Ray (August 7th, 1911-June 16, 1979) most noted for his celebrated 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause and a string of celebrated and influential (if not always commercially successful) films, was born in Galesville, Wisconsin as Raymond Nicholas Kienzle, Jr. Though not from Greenwich Village, his professional career both began and ended here, […]
GVSHP shares our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each includes the experiences and insights of leaders or long-time participants in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. 2020 marks the 75th year […]
Author Tony Hiss has written 14 books on a wide range of subjects, was a staff writer for the New Yorker for over 30 years, and served on Village Preservation’s Board of Advisors. Tony lives with his wife Lois Metzger, also an author, in the same two-bedroom walk-up at 22 East 8th Street that his […]
Hilly Kristal is no doubt best known as the owner of CBGB in the East Village. But he actually had his first restaurant and bar in Greenwich Village just a few years before CBGB opened. Located at 62 West 9th Street, it was known simply as Hilly’s, and served coq au vin and duck a […]
In the late 1880s, Brooklyn-born Sarah Smith Garnet helped found the Equal Suffrage League, a Brooklyn-based club for Black women, which worked with the Niagara Movement, a predecessor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP.). She also served as superintendent of the Suffrage Department of the National Association of Colored Women. […]
La Sirena, 27 East 3rd Street A colorful little shop that anyone who has walked on East 3rd Street will recognize is La Sirena. A former Village Preservation Business of the Month in 2017, owner Dina Leor celebrates two decades of being in business. Some small shops pack so much energy they seem to flow […]
Beginning in the 1890s and lasting for over 80 years, the area between Astor Place and Union Square was a hub of secondhand bookstores.
Greenwich Village is known as the home and birthplace of many a cultural movement — The New York School of Painters and Writers, the modern LGBTQ Civil Rights Movement, many notable advances in African American and women’s rights, the Ashcan School of painters, and so much more. One popular art form less strongly associated with […]
These days, with cameras on our phones always at the ready, we give little consideration to a time when picture-taking technology was in its infancy. In the late 1830s, methods were first being developed to capture light and shadows on film — the earliest version of photography. As the technology developed, however, one subject proved […]
Ira Frederick Aldridge is today remembered as one of the most renowned actors of the nineteenth century.
Art of Our Century Gallery Celebrates 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage with a contemporary twist A Particular Group of Women at a Particular Place in Time, a solo exhibit of paintings timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment granting women suffrage in the United States, opens Thursday July 23, 2020 at Art of […]
We’re in the midst of battling a global pandemic, with a federal government which often seems disinterested at best in addressing the situation and unwilling to take the steps necessary to stop it. Though very different, it’s not the first time we’ve faced such a situation. In the 1980s and 90s, Greenwich Village, the East […]
This homesick Texan is always on the lookout for a tasty taco…! And while I may miss my home state on occasion (mostly because I miss the Tex-Mex food!), I can tell you that there are plenty of tremendous treats right here in our neighborhoods to choose from. It’s time to head out into the […]
Today we welcome aboard Joey Rodriguez in the role of Director of Communications. Joey comes to us from the Flushing YMCA where he served as the Fund Development and Communications Director for the last two years, and helped guide both their internal and external communications plans as well as their major fundraising planning. Before the […]
Limbo, the renowned vintage clothing shop on St. Marks Place in the East Village during the late 1960s and early 1970s, was started by Martin (Marty) Freedman in 1965. It was first located at 24 St. Mark’s Place, and by 1967, made its home at 4 St. Mark’s Place. This second-hand shop, initially appealing to […]
In 1965, Village Voice writer Jonas Mekas — founder of the Anthology Film Archive, Village Awardee, and subject of a Village Preservation oral history — wrote: “It is not very often a new film-maker with so much promise comes on to the scene. There are several things that are good about Goldman. First, the mastery […]
When President Nixon was in trouble, with his aides taped saying they needed an enemy to demonize, they looked to a Harvard Professor and spiritual guru of sorts that had operated in Greenwich Village. Dr. Timothy Leary was that conjured demon. Timothy Leary at 551 Hudson Street. 1966. Social movements and societal upheaval at the time challenged […]
In 1626, Paulo d’Angola arrived to New Amsterdam on the first ship bringing enslaved people to this region.
We are very excited to share our new and improved Historic Image Archive with you! Whether you are an historic researcher or photography buff, our new archive offers endless layers of history to explore. From our original collections to our most recent additions, our new Historic Image Archive now offers new tools such as an […]
On July 10, 1925, what would come to be known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial” began in Dayton, Tennessee.
726-730 Broadway (aka 418-426 Lafayette Street) is a through-block loft building located in the NoHo Historic District. Not much to look at, what used to be here is infinitely more interesting and surprising than what is, and has been, for over a hundred years. In this case what used to be here was perhaps New […]
Certain times a year like “Small Business Saturday” or “National Small Business Week” we’re encouraged to shop local to promote our independent retailers. That’s nice, but one day or week a year is not enough, especially when our local small businesses are facing challenges like never before. We need to shop “Small Business EVERY-Day” to […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Summer is here, […]
Jackson Square Library, one of New York City’s first free circulating libraries, was a gift of George Washington Vanderbilt, III.
Greenwich Village and the East Village have launched many a musical career over the decades. But perhaps one of the least known examples of the neighborhoods as musical launching pad involves one of the most famous names in music. Elvis Presley, “the King of Rock and Roll,” or simply “The King,” has been known and […]
Civil War Major General Daniel E. Sickles had one of history’s most contentious, strange, and multifarious biographies.
The July heat can be miserable in the city. How do New Yorkers cool off? By hitting up their favorite independently-owned local ice cream shops. Fortunately National Ice Cream Month starts tomorrow, which makes justifying indulging that sweet tooth even easier to do. And if you’re supporting one of local small businesses that are facing […]
New York City has a rich history of developing a library system, starting with a variety of private charitable ones, several of which became the basis for the New York Public Library, the largest municipal library in the world. Some of those private libraries remained private, and some even still exist today, while others went […]
For nearly a quarter of a century, the International Workers Order fought relentlessly for racial equality.
LGBT nightlife in New York has changed drastically throughout the years, with an exodus of sorts to Brooklyn. There have been a multitude of reasons suggested for the decline, including rising rents, growing social acceptance obviating the need for LGBT clubs, and dating culture shifting to apps, eliminating the need to meet someone in a […]
Where do folk music and gothic poetry come together? In Greenwich Village, of course! Two beloved but very different figures in the Village’s history are united in a surprising twist — the activist and folk singer Phil Ochs set a poem penned by the notoriously morbid Edgar Allan Poe, “The Bells,” to music. This unexpected […]
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings recently released an album by Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton of old-time music produced from archival recordings by two legendary musicians performing live in Greenwich Village. These largely unheard tapes were recorded at Doc Watson’s two earliest concerts, in 1962. Those shows were among the rare appearances of Doc’s father-in-law and fiddler […]
Ten years ago today, we secured landmark designation of 235 buildings on 12 blocks in Greenwich Village, the largest expansion of the Greenwich Village Historic District in its history. It included streets and structures many would consider the heart of our neighborhood, yet lacked protections and were endangered by developers and institutions like NYU. This […]
While it is a well-established fact that our neighborhoods have attracted and been home to some of the most groundbreaking artists and art movements of the past couple of centuries, the stories of our groundbreaking residents never cease to amaze us. One such maverick who lived in our midst was La Diva Divina, opera legend […]
Mayor Jimmy Walker (1881-1946), known affectionately as “Beau James,” was New York City’s mayor from 1925 to 1932. He was known for his charm, good looks, impeccable wardrobe, and lavish tastes, very much reflective of the Jazz Age during which he served as mayor. He also became known for the rampant corruption of his administration, […]
The Women’s House of Detention, an eleven-story prison in the center of Greenwich Village, closed on June 13th, 1971.
June is Pride Month, which makes it an especially exciting time to be in the Village. LGBT history is closely tied with our neighborhood and their culture, and throughout the course of this month we’re focusing on four areas of our neighborhood — the West Village, East Village, NoHo, and South Village — to highlight […]
Uta Thyra Hagen had one of the longest and most impressive acting careers in American theater.
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually.
It’s Pride Month!! Today we look at Richard Wandel, someone who has been instrumental in archiving LGBT history and who shared his story with us through our Oral History Project — read or listen to it here. Richard Wandel is a former President of the Gay Activists’ Alliance (GAA) in New York, and the founding […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually. Thompson Alchemists is not just a regular neighborhood pharmacy. This […]
In recent weeks, probably more than ever, New Yorkers have come to cherish their local pharmacies. Already places of community comfort where the local pharmacist knows your name, they were friendly and sometimes lifesaving places, even in less tumultuous times. While the city is re-opening in phases, pharmacies have stayed open through this whole pandemic. And while that may be easily taken for granted given their professionalism and dedication, that does not obscure the risks they took in opening every day to serve us. An example: Ali Yasin, the founder of New York City Pharmacy, located at 206 1st Avenue between 12th and 13th Street, lost his life at the age of 67 in May from Covid. In recognition of his service and sacrifice, and all his pharmacy continues to do, New York City Pharmacy is our June Business of the Month.
Westbeth is the first subsidized housing for artists in the United States, offering affordable housing and work space in New York City.
June is Pride Month, a time when LGBT communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves. The Stonewall uprising in June 1969 is the original inspiration behind the annual June festivities. The global coronavirus pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives, including how pride festivities take place this year, as the annual NYC Pride parade has […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually. Cinema Village, located at 22 East 12th Street, is the […]
Westbeth photographer Shelley Seccombe has been documenting the Greenwich Village waterfront since 1970.
On the 19th of April in 1860, the New York state legislature passed a bill punishing an act, or omission of an act, that caused pain to animals “unjustifiably.” It was a historic step forward in the nineteenth-century movement toward animal protection. Just a few days before the New York legislature passed the animal-welfare act […]
Village Preservation has developed online resources for students from our acclaimed children’s education program, History and Historic Preservation. These videos and activities are designed for children ages 5-7. During this time of remote learning, these are a great resource and a way to keep children engaged and expand their horizons from home. Today we introduce Part […]
Dr. Robert Hogan, resident of 175 MacDougal Street, started the Irish Emigrant Society in 1841.
In 1983, Michael Konnon decided to create a dedicated, independent community pharmacy.
Whenever a building is demolished, something is lost, even if the planned replacement is a worthy one. In the case of 268-272 East 2nd Street, currently a nondescript four-story building, one might never guess the outstanding century-and-a-half history of the property serving those in need in some pretty extraordinary ways from 1867 until today, with […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually. Chess Forum at 219 Thompson Street (West 3rd/Bleecker Streets) has been located in […]
Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 — December 10, 1990), American industrialist most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, was born on the Lower East Side to Russian immigrant parents and raised in the Bronx. He was, by all accounts, an eccentric person, prone to flights of extravagance and exaggeration, and well known for his art collection […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation but somehow aren’t. 60 Fifth Avenue, the former Macmillan Publishing Company Building/the former Forbes Building This eight-story building on the northwest corner of 12th Street and Fifth Avenue is located […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees at our— RSVP here to participate virtually. George Cominskie is a beloved longtime West Village and Westbeth community activist, […]
Our neighborhoods have been the home of many of history’s most important civil rights and social justice leaders, as documented in Village Preservation’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Map. Three of our lesser-known map locations, however, highlight the under-recognized stories of 19th century Chinese American immigrant-rights activists. Some of these influential individuals, families, and organizations […]
On May 19, 1970, a project like no other ever imagined or realized before opened its doors on the corner of West and Bethune Streets. Westbeth (a portmanteau of those street names) was the first large scale adaptive reuse of an industrial building for residential purposes, and the first subsidized housing for artists in the […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees at our— RSVP here to participate virtually. Have you ever meandered into the bright little shop at 113 Avenue […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. 64-66 Fifth Avenue, on the west side of the street between 12th and 13th Streets, is a striking Romanesque Revival structure that was actually built […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees at our Annual Village Awards — RSVP here to participate virtually. Idlewild Books is an independent New York bookstore and […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. More than ever, […]
The East Village and Lower East Side have many superb examples of repurposing abondanded buildings into beacons of culture. P.S. 122 at 150 First Avenue is an exemplar of how historic buildings in New York can thrive with adaptive reuse. Choreographers and performance artists on the Lower East Side and in Lower Manhattan have relied […]
An Instagram follower recently asked us for clarification about an image we posted from our historic image archive of the long-demolished former home Our Lady of Pompeii Church. She wanted to know exactly where the church was located, and which streets could be seen in the image. Sounds like a simple enough request, right? But […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. “Devonshire House” is a 13-story residential building designed in 1928 by Emery Roth. The Devonshire House design includes an eclectic mix of Beaux Arts […]
The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously operating off-Broadway theater in New York City. Almost as interesting and drama-filled as the incredible plays produced here is rich and varied history of the theater itself — a history that includes gay discos, Barbra Streisand, and thousands of turtles. Let’s dive in!:
For twenty four years, the entire existence of the organization, the International Workers Order (IWO) was headquartered at 80 Fifth Avenue (southeast corner of 14th Street), an elaborately-detailed Renaissance Revival style office building designed in 1908 by Buchman and Fox. This progressive mutual-benefit fraternal organization was a pioneering force in the U.S. labor movement, which […]
A collective supportive response to health disasters or other struggles is not new to our neighborhoods. “Mutual aid” as it’s often called and mutual aid societies have been a hallmark of the communities we work in for over a century, mostly responding to the needs of recently-arrived immigrant communities. Today we take a look at […]
In 2007 the Chrysler Building was ranked ninth on the list of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. Built in 1928-30 and designed by William Van Allen, it is a beacon in our rapidly changing New York City skyline, and in many ways the embodiment of the Art Deco style and the Roaring 20s’ exuberant building boom before the Depression.
On January 6, 1918, a young Kenneth Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) wrote a letter to his friend, the emerging writer Malcolm Cowley. In the letter, Burke announced that he had decided to drop out of school at Columbia. The decision was motivated not by a desire to end his education, however; […]
Some bars come and some bars go, and some are never forgotten. Slugger Ann bar and cocktail lounge was located at 301 East 12th Street/192 Second Avenue at the corner of East 12th Street and 2nd Avenue and witnessed more than a quarter century of transformation in the East Village. The bar’s eponymous owner was […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. Nos. 4 and 6 East 12th Street are a pair of largely intact 4-story and basement ca. 1846 Greek Revival houses located just east […]
As we continue to work through the reality of this new era in our lives, it’s important to remember the creative people in our world and our neighborhoods. They are striving to make sense out of the constrained circumstances we find ourselves in, and still are finding and creating new ways to keep us thinking […]
Village Preservation has now developed online resources for students from our acclaimed children’s education program, History and Historic Preservation. These videos and activities are designed for children ages 5-7. During this time of remote learning these are a great resource and a way to keep children engaged and expand their horizons from home. Watch the videos […]
For most of us right now, traveling the world to explore places or cultures different from our own is not an option. But fortunately through the works of some great Greenwich Village authors, we can safely explore places (and times) very different than our own, and enjoy a bit of the escape we may not […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Deli is short […]
Rita Mae Brown, New York University alumnus & former Greenwich Village resident, has achieved great success in the fields of LGBTQ activism and writing. Her most popular work, “Rubyfruit Jungle,” was one of the first books published that went against gay stereotypes and showcased a lesbian character in a positive manner. Today we look back […]
The streets, parks, and squares of the Greenwich Village Historic District (GVHD) are named for a unique collection of historical figures. Beginning with our 2019 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GVHD, we have developed a guide to how these locations got their names. Click here to read other posts about the origins of GVHD […]
We’re continuing to spend a lot of time thinking about things we used to do before the coronavirus outbreak, that we’re looking forward to hopefully doing again once things return to ‘normal.’ We’ve also been spending a lot of time going through our historic image archive at www.archive.gvshp.org, remembering some of those once-common activities, and just exploring the […]
Immigrant Heritage Week is a citywide celebration that honors the experiences and contributions of our city’s immigrants. Since 2004 it has been held every year starting April 17, the date in 1907 when more immigrants entered through Ellis Island than any other date in the city’s history. Our neighborhoods contain many layers of immigrant history, […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. The impressive 18-story neo-Renaissance style office building at 55 Fifth Avenue was built in 1912 by Maynicke & Franke. According to the New York Times, the […]
We’re continuing to spend a lot of time thinking about things we used to do before the coronavirus outbreak, that we’re looking forward to hopefully doing again once things return to ‘normal.’ We’ve also been spending a lot of time going through our historic image archive at www.archive.gvshp.org, remembering some of those once-common activities, and […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. This striking 12-story Beaux Arts style office building was constructed in 1912 by architect Charles Alonzo Rich for the noted publisher and philanthropist George A. […]
