Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 60 Fifth 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. 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 […]

2020 Village Awardee: George Cominskie

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, […]

Chinese American Activists Fight for Their Rights in Our Neighborhoods

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 […]

Westbeth Is Born!

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 […]

    2020 Village Awardee: Ray’s Candy Store, 113 Avenue A

    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 […]

    2020 Village Awardee: Idlewild Books, 170 Seventh Avenue South

    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 […]

    P.S. 122: Performance Space with Lots of Fame

    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 […]

      The International Workers Order’s Fight to Protect All Americans, from 80 Fifth Avenue

      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 […]

      Beyond the Village and Back: The Chrysler Building

      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.

      Slugger Ann and Jackie Curtis — Part of the East Village Family

      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 […]

        Why Isn’t This Landmarked: 4 & 6 East 12th Street

        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 […]

        Distance Learning for Children: History and Historic Preservation

        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 […]

        Traveling the World from Home, with Village Authors

        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 […]

        Things We’re Looking Forward To Doing Again, Part 4

        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 […]

        Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 55 Fifth 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. 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 […]

        Things We’re Looking Forward To Doing Again, Part 3

        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 […]

        Why Isn’t This Landmarked? 70 Fifth 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. 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. […]

        The Animal Rights Movement’s Origins (and still-visible legacy) in Greenwich Village

        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 […]

        The Greenwich Village Historic District’s Historic Birthday! 

        Who doesn’t like an opportunity to celebrate? The Greenwich Village Historic District, which was designated (landmarked) on April 29, 1969, holds some of the loveliest bits of Greenwich Village within its bounds — from Washington Square to Abingdon Square, from the New School to the New York Studio School. Historic houses of worship and historic […]

        Take a Virtual Walk! Visit the Homes of Greenwich Village’s Social Change Champions

        Greenwich Village has long been the home of many of history’s most important social change champions. Now, using Village Preservation’s interactive map of the Greenwich Village Historic District, we can take a virtual walk through the neighborhood to visit the homes of these remarkable individuals. Get to know a nineteenth century abolitionist, an early-twentieth century […]

        East Village Building Blocks Tour: Churches

        Churches often represent some of the most historic and stunning architecture in a community, and that’s as true if not more so of the East Village as it is of anyplace else. East Village churches range in date of construction from 1799 to 1970, come in a variety of styles and sizes, and include the […]

        Things We’re Looking Forward To Doing Again, Part 2

        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 […]

        Things We’re Looking Forward To Doing Again

        We’ve been spending 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, remembering some of those once-common activities, and just exploring the history of […]

        Things We’re Looking Forward To Doing Again

        We’ve been spending 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 […]

        Why Isn’t This Landmarked: Former McCreery’s Dry Goods Store, 801 Broadway/67 East 11th Street

        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 area south of Union Square is rich in architectural and social history which needs and deserves historic district (landmark) protections, which we have […]

        Explore Village History with#NewYorkFromHome

        With the city slowing down and most New Yorkers at home, our partners at Urban Archive are promoting NYC’s rich cultural gems online. Village Preservation has twenty tours and stories on Urban Archive. We have assembled a select group of four collections for you to explore today, but you can explore all twenty here.

        Dr. Rebecca Cole, African-American Female Medical Pioneer Who Changed Lives On Bleecker Street

        The history of medical and public health advancements have played a key role in our neighborhoods’ stories. While the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in America is fairly well known, having launched the very first hospital run by and for women right here in our neighborhood, she had an array of women […]

        Off-Broadway Theater Update

        I have been thinking a great deal about our theater artist community in these past few days. So I decided to check in with some of the Off-Broadway theaters in our neighborhood to see how they are doing during this period of pause and uncertainty. And, as always, I was overwhelmed with hope and inspiration […]

        Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 114-118 East 13th Street, the American Felt Company Headquarters

        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 area south of Union Square is rich in architectural and social history which needs and deserves historic district (landmark) protections, which we have been […]

        Willem de Kooning at Home

        On March 23, 1962, Village Voice photographer Fred McDarrah took a group of photos of Abstract Expressionist artist Willem de Kooning in his studio and home at 831 Broadway. De Kooning lived and worked here from 1958 to 1964, and McDarrah’s photos offer an intimate glimpse into this brilliant artist’s world when he was at […]

        Young Philip Roth in the East Village

        In 1958, a twenty-five-year-old Philip Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) moved into a basement apartment at 128 East 10th Street in the East Village. The Anglo-Italianate building, which forms the point of the triangular piece of land shaped by Stuyvesant and East 10th Streets, was perfectly situated for Roth, who often visited  […]

        Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

        Here in NYC, Patrick’s Day means millions of people clad in green celebrating at the parade and countless others packed into bars and restaurants throughout the city. Unfortunately, many of us will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day from home this year. While you cannot visit your local bar for your Guinness, please patronize your local […]

        Celebrating Immigration in Greenwich Village

        Today marks the beginning of Immigrant Heritage Week. Immigration is a core theme in the history of New York City and especially our neighborhoods. People from all over the world come to Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, adding to the vibrancy, creativity, and life. On April 29th, 2019, we launched our new interactive […]

        Politicians, Playwrights, and Parades: The Irish legacy of the East Village and Greenwich Village

        For many, celebrating Irish American heritage in March brings one to Fifth Avenue for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or perhaps a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. But for those willing to venture beyond Midtown, there’s a rich Irish American history to be found in Greenwich Village and the East Village. While both neighborhoods […]

        Bravo’s Book Nook: Greenwich Village’s Newest Bookstore, In The Players Theatre

        Greenwich Village has a new bookstore located at 115 MacDougal Street in the lobby of the historic Players Theatre. The specialty bookshop, Bravo’s Book Nook, focuses on books about theater, music, children’s education, and Greenwich Village history. The store is co-owned by Michael Sgouros of the historic Players Theatre and Brenda Bell of Literally Alive […]

          Cyrilly Abels: Friend and Agent of Katherine Anne Porter

          Cyrilly Abels (1903-1975), the managing editor of Mademoiselle magazine and an agent for many of the most prominent writers of the twentieth century, was a longtime resident of 14-16 Fifth Avenue in the Greenwich Village Historic District, recently proposed for demolition. Abels lived here with her husband Jerome Weinstein at least as early as 1954 […]

          Meet the Interns- Spring 2020

          Village Preservation’s team is a strong one – we’re lucky to have a group of interns who are here to gain experience in historic preservation in a non-profit environment. Internships are paid, and our interns come from all educational and life backgrounds. We work together to tailor internship experiences to fit an intern’s skills and […]

          The Irish Immigrant Community of the Far West Village

          In 1991, the U.S. Congress proclaimed March Irish-American Heritage Month.  Today we thought we would look at one part of our neighborhood that housed a large Irish immigrant community which greatly affected its development, the Far West Village. The beginnings of what would become a huge wave of Irish immigration to New York City began […]

          Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: the French Flats at 206-208 East 9th Street

          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 East Village has many architectural gems. Today we look one truly outstanding building, the “French Flats” located 206-208 East Ninth Street, between Second Avenue […]

          STOMP’s Long Run at the Orpheum Theatre

          On February 27, 1994, STOMP,  the “international sensation and iconic New York theatrical landmark” opened at the 347-seat Orpheum Theatre at 126 2nd Avenue between 7th Street and St. Marks. Since then, over three million people have viewed this off-Broadway show about how ordinary household objects and the human body can create a physical theatrical […]

          The Birth of The Committee to Save the West Village, Led By Jane Jacobs

          The battle between Village preservation icon Jane Jacobs and Robert “put a highway through every park” Moses is quite storied and well-documented.  But for us, understanding it and preserving its memory — including how decisions were made, tactics used, plans that were formulated and scrapped — has special meaning, and important lessons that should not […]

          The South Village Historic District Makes the National Register of Historic Places

          The South Village is an area rich in architectural, cultural, and historic resources, distinct from (though connected to) those of its surrounding historic communities, such as Greenwich Village, Soho, and Noho. Much of this area’s history is defined by tenements and immigrants, particularly Italian-Americans; by speakeasies, jazz clubs, beatnik coffeehouses, and folk music clubs from […]

          Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: The Hotel Albert on University Place

          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. Most of us remember the famous line from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller, Rear Window, “Meet me in the bar at the Albert Hotel,” delivered hauntingly […]

          Beauford Delaney: Harlem Renaissance & Abstract Painter

          Harlem Renaissance painter Beauford Delaney was known for his colorful modernist compositions and unique approach to figuration. One of the most important African-American artists of the early 20th century, he often painted portraits of prominent black figures, street scenes, and abstract paintings. Delaney spent a good portion of his career in Greenwich Village, with many […]

          Civil Rights, the NAACP, and W.E.B. DuBois: The African American history tied to 70 Fifth Avenue

          When we think of great African American historic sites in New York, we typically think of Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Lower Manhattan’s African Burial Ground, or Brooklyn’s Weeksville Houses. But one building that should perhaps join the list is 70 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village, which housed the headquarters of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights […]

          Why Isn’t It Landmarked?: 204 East 13th Street, Home To Jazz Great and Film 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. 204 East 13th Street is a 4-story Neo-Grec style tenement built in 1875. The building has exceptionally vivid and intact architectural detailing on its cornice […]

          Saul Bellow and 17 Minetta Street

          Minetta Street is one of the most charming and unique “corners” of Greenwich Village. I say corners, of course, because this one block-long street literally bends at nearly a 45-degree angle between Minetta Lane and the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Bleecker Street. This narrow street features small 19th century homes and 20th-century apartment buildings, […]

          How the New York Public Library got its start in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo

          Founded on May 23, 1895, the New York Public Library (NYPL) is the largest municipal library in the world, with 53 million items and 92 locations across Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. It’s also the steward of some of New York’s greatest landmarks, reflecting a century and a quarter of Gotham’s history, and in […]

          Why Isn’t this Landmarked?: 86 University Place, “Mittelstaedt House”

          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. I’ve walked by 86 University Place between 11th and 12th Streets, aka “Mittelstaedt House,” countless times.  Based upon the unusually elaborate cornice alone, I have […]

          A Marriage Leads to Construction of Manhattan’s Oldest Residence

          On January 31, 1795, Nicholas William Stuyvesant, descendent of Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant, married Catherine Livingston Reade, herself a descendant of New York royalty of sorts (the family name can be found on streets in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn). While clearly this was a significant date for these two early New Yorkers, why should we care […]

          East Village Building Named for President Felled by Anarchist; Also Home to ‘Hope,’ and Art By Koons

          No. 111-115 East 7th Street is one of the more striking tenements in the East Village.  First of all, it’s seven-stories.  It’s also covered in beautiful Renaissance Revival detail. There’s much more to this landmarked structure than that, however.  It’s name appears to be a salute to a recently-fallen U.S. President, struck down by an […]

          East Village Street Art Lives On

          Art is in the DNA of New York City.  It’s not only found in the many museums and galleries our city has to offer, but on the sidewalks under our feet, on walls, in parks, and all throughout our streets. The East Village has a particularly long and vital history of creating art that can […]

          Beyond the Village and Back: 1083 Fifth Avenue Mansion and Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Harlem

          Today we’re looking at two great New York City landmarks: 1083 Fifth Avenue, a beautiful Second Empire–style mansion located in the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District. and Our Lady of Lourdes Church, a Venetian Gothic–style Catholic Church located in West Harlem at 463 W 142nd Street that today serves a primarily immigrant congregation, and when designated was called “one of the oddest buildings in New York.”

          There’s Been A Lot of Talk About Affordable Housing in SoHo and NoHo. Here’s What They Really Mean

          An abridged version of this piece appeared as an op-ed in the January 23, 2020 edition of AM-Metro NY. A recent report issued on behalf of the NYC Department of City Planning, the Manhattan Borough President, and City Councilmember Margaret Chin called for seeking opportunities to create affordable housing in SoHo and NoHo, and to […]

          Native American Contemporary Art Sites in our Area

          AMERINDA, American Indian Artists, Inc., is the premier Native American multi-arts services and the only independent, multi-arts organization of its kind in the United States, serving emerging and mid-career Native American artists. Founded in 1987, Amerinda catalyzes Native American performing, visual, literary and media artists, and promotes awareness of these artists. AMERINDA presents curated exhibitions […]

          From Civil War generals to Oscar winners: 7 historical figures who called 14-16 Fifth Avenue home

          Madison Realty Capital filed plans last month to demolish 14-16 Fifth Avenue, a five-story apartment building constructed in 1848, and replace it with a 244-foot-tall tower. Because it is located within the Greenwich Village Historic District, it can only be demolished if the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission rules that the building itself is of no historic or architectural merit, and […]