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. For over 65 years, […]
The following post was originally written over five years ago as part of a series on East 7th Street. This post described the history of the stretch of East 7th Street between Avenues C and D when it was known as Political Row. It was given this name during the 19th century when it was […]
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 […]
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Merchant’s House Museum. The museum is the only historic house museum in the Greenwich Village/Soho/NoHo neighborhoods, and is considered one of the finest surviving examples of domestic architecture from the period, the late-Federal and Greek Revival styles (the house dates to 1832). On Wednesday, September 21st, […]
Where can you enjoy the best of Greenwich Village bars, restaurants, and shops, all in one handy (and beautiful) location? At Washington Square Park on September 14th, where thirty of the neighborhood’s best food and drink purveyors will be in one place for the 14th annual Taste of the Village! The event has been very popular since […]
With a raft of demolition permits in the air, it reminds us that a year ago today one of the most anti-preservation pieces of legislation was first heard at the NYC Council Land Use committee. Intro 775 had a purported goal of protecting landmarks, but that notion was downright Orwellian to anyone familiar with the bill. Unfortunately, Intro. 775 became law in June of […]
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, […]
On this day in 1885, poet and novelist Elinor Wylie was born. Wylie’s writings were popular in the 1920’s and 30’s, and lived in Greenwich Village from 1921 until her death.
The following post was originally written five years ago to showcase one of our neighborhood buildings with an interesting history, 133 Fourth Avenue. From 1904-1926 this 1897 building on the corner of 13th Street and 4th Avenue was home to the trailblazing hardware store, Hammacher & Schlemmer. Since 2011, the building has seen a few updates, […]
Man Ray was born on August 27, 1890 in Philadelphia to Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor and his mother a seamstress. He was named Emmanuel Radnitzky but was known as Manny. The family moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1912 and changed their last name to Ray due to the prevalent anti-semitism […]
Waverly Place and Mercer Street is just east of Washington Square Park. This unique part of town is still world renowned for history, culture, arts, creativity and university intellect. Just the place we need… another Starbucks.
On August 31, 1928, Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera premiered in Berlin.
It’s “back to school” time again, when the temperatures drop (very slightly), students flood back to campus, and we all sharpen our pencils after a leisurely summer. Campus bookstores across the country will be expecting big crowds these next few weeks, as students make their lists of which books they’ll need to get them through […]
Happy Birthday to Romana Raffetto, owner of Raffetto’s Pasta located at 144 West Houston Street. Romana was born in a small town in Italy in 1932 called Asolo, known as the “city of a hundred horizons” because of the beautiful landscapes surrounding this medieval town. She moved to the Village in 1957, and has lived here […]
This summer, the Museum of Ice Cream opened in Gansevoort Market, allowing visitors to swim in sprinkles and selfie with a scoop in front of ice cream inspired accouterments. Unfortunately the museum doesn’t delve into the history surrounding ice cream or ice cream in the neighborhood. However, thanks to some quick research and our friends at […]
Recently we have been running a series in Off the Grid on the Village as the birthplace of modern drama. NoHo has its own history with drama, and as it turns out, it’s a violent one. In 1849 the Astor Place Riot took place in front of what is today 21 Astor Place, then the […]
At 283 Bleecker Street, a charming green awning once announced the name of an equally charming shop – Second Childhood, a local business dedicated to antique and unique toys for children of all ages. Owned by longtime neighbor Grover Van Dexter, who preferred to be called simply “Van,” this Bleecker Street shop was the quintessential […]
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 […]
The wedding of John Wojtowicz and Ernest Aron (later Elizabeth Eden). On August 22, 1972, what may be the most legendary bank robbery in New York City history took place. And it had some interesting Village connections. On that sweltering August day, John Wojtowicz, Salvatore Naturile, and Robert Westenberg entered a bank on the […]
Believe it or not, the Soho Playhouse is actually within the Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District, which was designated 50 years ago this week, a district which is part of the larger South Village. At 15 Vandam, it might have continued as another in the row of 1820s Federal style houses. However in the late 19th century, […]
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. Where can you get […]
Twenty-three years ago, New York Magazine was worried about the Village. And they weren’t the only ones. On August 16, 1993, The Village Under Siege ran on the cover with an accompanying image of the Washington Square Park, unlit and ominous against the bright, glittering lights of downtown’s skyscrapers. The article detailed a rowdy, often […]
Occasionally in the course of my research of buildings in our area, I come across a familiar name. Last week exactly that happened. In looking into the history of 35 East 9th Street, I found that it had a famous resident at one time, Hugh Ferriss. For those who aren’t familiar with the name, you […]
On August 16th, 1966, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District. This small but distinct neighborhood is part of the South Village. It sits on a street grid designed by Aaron Burr in 1797, although the area was mostly developed between 1820 and 1829, cut out of a John Jacob Astor estate. The District […]
On August 12th, 1988, art legend Jean Michel-Basquiat was announced dead at Cabrini Medical Center on East 19th Street. According to the autopsy, Basquiat died from “acute mixed drug intoxication (opiates-cocaine).” In the months leading up to his death, Basquiat was reportedly doing up to a hundred bags of heroin a day.
Summer time, and the bounty of vegetables and fruits are abundant. Sometimes you want a touch more of the flavor of the farm with your meal. Besides local grocery stores and green markets there are Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects in the city. There are three CSA’s in the East Village area you should be aware […]
As both we and the media have recently reported, two months ago GVSHP requested the landmark designation of a potential historic district on East 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues. GVSHP was aware that a developer was planning to move ahead with plans to demolish a significant stretch of this block, which we had long […]
Some things never change about New York City life; New Yorkers’ social lives have seemingly always hinged on the restaurants and bars in their neighborhoods. Aside from the very lucky few, most of our apartments are too small to serve as gathering spaces. In fact, many New York apartments don’t have living rooms or common […]
On Wednesday, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation will be hosting a walking tour on Dylan Thomas that will culminate in a visit to the White Horse Tavern on Hudson Street. The tavern is one of Thomas’s favorite haunts and the last place he drank at before he died. It is even rumored that his […]
Gone but not forgotten, below is a list of just some of the individuals who have carried honorary titles in connection to the Village. Each one was influential in the arts or in advocating for the unique character of the neighborhood. Their legacies will forever remain testaments to how they shaped the Village, and how the Village […]
Longtime GVSHP member Miriam Cahn has called the Village her home for over 45 years. She was a special education teacher at Lennox Hill Hospital for many years before retiring to fulfill her calling as an artist. She recently contacted GVSHP to donate some of her extensive art collection to GVSHP. Her original collection covers a […]
Recently, GVSHP has been reporting on and testifying against the plans for a building to replace the 2 story parking garage at 11-19 Jane Street. Built in 1921, the structure is an early work by architect Jacob M. Felson. While not a household name, some of Felson’s later buildings are among the most distinctive and characteristic structures of […]
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally written by Drew Durniak On this day in 1973, what was once one of the largest and most elegant hotels in the country collapsed onto Broadway, killing four and injuring many.
Greenwich Village is not the only part of the City which defies the New York City grid. NoHo also challenges the regularity of the 200+ year old grid with what I like to call Gridus Interruptus (its Latin, sort of). Each of its streets has its own story but today we will look at NoHo’s “newest” […]
The landmark documentary Paris Is Burning was released in New York on March 13, 1991. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, the film is an intimate peek into New York’s LGBTQ culture, specifically ball competitions, where participants dress, dance, and compete in a number of themed categories. Paris Is Burning received rave reviews upon its release, […]
Today GVSHP pays its respects to Al Orensanz, the Director of the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the past 30 years, who passed away on Saturday, July 23. Al, along with his brother Angel, was a cultural hero in New York City, and the Lower East Side has been enriched by their efforts over many decades.
A year ago today, Bert Waggott passed away, surrounded by loved ones. Bert was a long-time Greenwich Village resident, graphic designer and professor of graphic design at Pratt Institute. Bert accepted our Village Award in June of 2013 for his work in the Winston Churchill Square garden. Anyone who has walked by the small but […]
On this day in 1734, Samuel Jones, namesake of Great Jones Street in NoHo, was born in Nassau County. At only two blocks long, Great Jones Street isn’t actually all that ‘great’ – at least not in size. But surprisingly for a street so short, it has figured prominently in New York City history and culture. […]
Last Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) handed preservationists what may seem like a small victory, but was nevertheless an important one. The LPC denied an application to remove a 1930 studio window from 246 West 11th Street, an 1842 Greek Revival row house in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The applicant proposed to replace it with a […]
John Lequizamo, arguably one of the Village’s funniest residents, was not always a preservationist. As he remarked in a recent interview in the New York Times, his therapist recommended that he “get a hobby.” The entertainment business is notoriously rife with stress, and Mr. Leguizamo has been in the business of show for quite a […]
This iconic image of activism and advocacy was taken just outside the NAACP’s headquarters on 5th Avenue and 14th Street. The year was 1936, and it was speaking to the crisis of violence and inequality in America. It is estimated that between 1882 and 1951, 4,700 people were lynched in the United States. An overwhelming majority […]
Last night, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, alongside the Neighborhood Preservation Center and Village Alliance, celebrated Jane Jacobs by hosting a trivia night about her life, work, and accomplishments.
The Donald has been getting a lot of attention lately, what with his running for President and all. So too has his family, which is being touted as an integral part of his campaign apparatus, and his most intimate advisors. When the irrepressible Mr. Trump started his campaign last year, we decided to stroll down memory […]
Want to build higher than you are allowed under existing rezoning? Or operate a gas station where only residences are allowed? Or deviate at all from what the zoning of the location allows? Then you, or your lawyer, will likely have to apply for a variance at NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA). Though known by […]
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. Where can you still […]
Singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie was born on this day 104 years ago. Although he passed away in 1967, he remains a strong influence on many contemporary artists.
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 […]
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of Veselka owner and GVSHP board member Tom Birchard. As the owner of Veselka for the past several decades, Tom knows a thing or two about life, business, and history on the East Side. So he was an obvious choice for GVSHP’s oral history project — an ongoing campaign to […]
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, the East Village and Lower East Side were home to a substantial German immigrant community. As a result, this area became known as Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany.” Eventually the German community moved north to the Upper East Side and elsewhere, spurred on by the General Slocum Disaster, demographic […]
Have you heard about the exciting progress on the restoration of the beautiful mosaic-covered lamp poles as part of the Astor Place Reconstruction? Maybe you’ve even seen one of the poles installed, now wrapped like a fig tree in the winter awaiting the official unveiling in September. The progress has been tracked by The Villager newspaper, and […]
This is part 3 in a series discussing the Village’s role in the development of Modern American Theatre. Click here to read parts 1 and 2. Today we turn our attention to the South Village where GVSHP has been fighting for landmark protections and appropriate zoning for decades. The Circle in the Square Theater, which […]
Part of my job at GVSHP as the Director of Research and Preservation is to review all certificate of appropriateness applications for proposed changes to the landmarked buildings in our area (click HERE for the GVSHP Landmarks webpage). Consequently, I am presented with a continuous stream of architectural resources that vary in type, style and […]
New York is renowned for its vibrant immigrant history, and the many diverse neighborhoods born out of years of heavy immigration in the 19th and early 20th-centuries. But for all that still exists of famed neighborhoods like Little Italy, the Jewish Lower East Side, or Brooklyn’s Italian Bensonhurst, there are many immigrant enclaves virtually lost […]
Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo offer a vast array of architectural styles that span their long histories. Through this series “What Style Is It?” we will explore the architecture of our area and look at the various architectural styles and their features. So far we have looked at the Federal style, Greek Revival and some […]
On this day in 1936, David Kenneth Ritz “Dave” Van Ronk was born. Van Ronk was a highly influential figure in the American folk music revival and Greenwich Village music scene of the 1960’s. He even earned the nickname the “Mayor of MacDougal Street”.
You might think modern-day New York’s streets and sidewalks are a little grimy, but they’re practically pristine compared to the city streets of a century ago. To start, in the early days of New York, most streets were not paved at all, and did not feature cleanly and convenient paved sidewalks. (This was especially true […]
Did you see the recent letter by the owner of Three Lives Books? The building that has been their home for 33 years is for sale — read the full letter here. Under current law there is no obligation for the new owner to offer a new lease or to maintain the amazing book store, a […]
GVSHP holds events with the Jefferson Market Library and the Jefferson Market Garden several times per year, most recently a members only tour, our program marking the 50th Anniversary of the Sip-In at Julius’ (See photos here and video here), and Contemporary Writers on a Lost Greenwich Village: A discussion with authors Vivian Gornick and Sarah Schulman (see photos […]
This past Wednesday marks six years since the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II (click HERE for the designation report),which was Phase I of GVSHP’s proposed South Village Historic District from 2006. This 235-building, 12 block designation was at the time the largest expansion of landmark protections in Greenwich Village since 1969. […]
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. Where can you get […]
On this day in 1984, the movie The Pope of Greenwich Village was released in theaters. It starred Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts as Charlie and Paulie, cousins and would-be gangsters who attempt to make some fast money with an ill-conceived scam. In the backrooms of downtown bars and restaurants, the two characters fumble their […]
Happy Pride Week! Each June during the week leading up to the Gay Pride March, NYC celebrates Pride Week. Throughout the week, different groups and organizations will host events, throw parties, and do general outreach and advocacy to promote the history and visibility of the LGBTQ community. Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has always worked […]
Today marks the ten year anniversary of the LPC designation of 605 East 9th Street, the former P.S. 64 & Charas-El Bohio Cultural Center. GVSHP fought hard in support of this designation along with many neighborhood partners, which saved the property from imminent destruction. As part of an all too common story, the owners of the […]
I burn my candle at both ends, It will not last the night. But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends, It gives a lovely light. — Edna St. Vincent Millay The Cherry Lane theatre, located on Commerce Street, a cul-de-sac in the heart of Greenwich Village, was the brainchild of poet, playwright, actress, and […]
A generous GVSHP supporter dropped off a fun treat to our offices a few weeks ago – old matchbooks from Greenwich Village bars and restaurants. They’re a philluminist’s dream! (Did you know that “philluminist” is the official term for a matchbook collector?) I love how these books meld historic graphic design with New York City […]
On this date in 1904 more than 1,000 New Yorkers perished when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River near the foreboding Hell’s Gate section south of Ward’s Island. The Captain questionably plowed ahead and beached the flaming vessel ashore North Brother Island, across from the South Bronx. The greatest loss of life in New York […]
Beside the Jefferson Market Library and behind the wrought iron fence between 6th and Greenwich Avenues and 10th Street lies the Jefferson Market Garden. You probably pass by it all the time, and maybe you’ve been inside, but the story of this stretch of green space next to the library is quite fascinating.
Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo offer a vast array of architectural styles that span their long histories. Through this series “What Style Is It?” we will explore the architecture of our area and look at the various architectural styles and their features. So far we have looked at the Federal style, Greek Revival and […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. The East Village Meat Market was opened in 1970 by Julian Baczynsky as a meat market but quickly morphed into an […]
There are many tactics that developers may use to get rid of tenants, or to make conditions easier for them to push them out, in order to assist with demolition and new development plans. Apparently there are even classes you can take to learn how to do it. You may have read the fascinating […]
When we think of a typical historic neighborhood, what do we picture? Brick or stone buildings, to be sure. Tree-lined streets, maybe. But more often than not, I bet your mind turns to the streets themselves – paved, not in modern concrete, but with cobblestones. (Or, more precisely, stone blocks. But we’ll deal with that […]
Greenwich Village has been a hot-bed for creative theatrical minds since at least the beginnings of the 20th century. In fact, among the most important of the movements in American theater were nurtured right in the heart of the Village.
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Each year GVSHP presents a special award as part of our Annual Village Awards to recognize significant contributions to the field […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Julius’ Bar at 159 West 10th Street/188 Waverley Place is a Village institution. Established nearly a century ago, Julius’ (and […]
You can buy bottled water. You can buy plots of land. And in New York (and some other places), you can buy air rights. But what are “air rights?” An increasingly common component of development across NYC, “air rights” are a type of development right in real estate. The owner of a building sometimes has the right to use and develop […]
Today we are happy to announce that Lannyl Stephens has joined the team as our new Director of Development and Special Events. On the heels of the 18th Annual Spring House Tour, which she directed, she comes on board to further advance the mission and goals of the GVSHP. She can be reached at lannyl@gvshp.org […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Today we look Smalls Jazz Club, one of the premiere remaining successful Greenwich Village jazz clubs. Smalls Jazz […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — and we need your help selecting the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: just click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Whether […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Today we look at an amazing interior renovation of a beautiful East Village Theater that is one […]
Three years ago, EV Grieve published a post about the preservationists calling for an archeological review for the former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site. A Roman Catholic Church formerly located at 440 E. 12th St., Mary Help of Christians was demolished in the summer of 2013 to make way for new development. To […]
Today we welcome Chelsea Dowell to the GVSHP team as Director of Communications and Programming. We’re excited to have Chelsea on board and managing our public outreach and programming, and working with our members. Chelsea comes to us from the Green-Wood Historic Fund, where she promoted the 178-year-old Green-Wood Cemetery through innovative programs, membership, and […]
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally written by Amanda Davis Two recent Landmarks applications at Jane Street (11 Jane and 85-89 Jane) have garnered a lot of public interest and therefore involvement in the process of the certificate of appropriateness permits for landmarked properties. To that end, we thought we would […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Today we look at Steve Cannon, poet and “keeper of the multicultural flame and flavor of downtown […]
Springtime has arrived in our wonderful neighborhoods. Many more people are out and about. Locals and visitors alike enjoy our diverse culture, community history and appreciate a part of the big city where you can see the blue sky instead of towers and the greenery of gardens and trees. Here are two special walking tours we recommend. Our own – free- […]
Ninety two years ago today, dance archivist David Vaughan was born in London, England. Vaughan was the archivist for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1976 until it disbanded in 2012. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company was located in Westbeth in the West Village since 1971. In addition to being the archivist, Vaughan is also […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Today we look at at the first of seven awardees, Strand Bookstore.
Earlier this week the NYU Furman Center, which studies real estate development and urban policies, issued a report analyzing trends in gentrification in New York City from 1990-2014. Our ears pricked up, as the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has long tried to link landmarking to gentrification, claiming it hurts affordability by, among […]
On May 11, 1936, the old Tredwell house on 4th Street opened as the Merchant’s House Museum.
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally by Karen Loew The New York City Marble Cemetery, on 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues. It’s open to the public several days each year. Photo by Bobby Williams, courtesy evgrieve.com. Do the tall arches of the sturdy red-brick Anthology Film Archives reassure you? Does […]
Julia Ward Howe was a true 19th century Renaissance woman. In addition to being a serious scholar of philosophy and fluent in seven languages, she was a social reformer, writer, abolitionist, suffragette, and one of the early founders of Mother’s Day. Author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” this one-time Bond Street resident did […]
Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo offer a vast array of architectural styles that span their long histories. Through this series “What Style Is It?” we will explore the architecture of our area and look at the various architectural styles and their features. So far we have looked at the Federal style and Greek Revival. […]
Here at GVSHP, we have a special connection to Jane Jacobs (May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) — not only because she was on our Board of Advisors until her death in 2006, but because her activism and ideas were so firmly rooted in the Village, and so many of the seminal preservation battles she […]
Not long ago, in theaters far, far away (and near too), a movie came out that influenced the interests and imaginations of generations to come. There are a few connections between Star Wars and the Village. On December 18, 2015, in honor of the release of The Force Awakens, a large crowd of fans gathered in […]
In 1955 the Committee to Save Washington Square Park was distributing flyers to alert the public about a proposal to drive a four-lane road through the center of the park. One neighborhood resident, then a writer with Architectural Forum, read it, and got involved. Tomorrow May 4th is the centenary of Jane Jacobs birth. We […]
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally written by Drew Durniak Map of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click to enlarge. On April 29th, 1969, mayor John Lindsay was still smarting from the botched cleanup of the February 1969 snowstorm, The 5th Dimension was at the top of the pop charts with […]
Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo offer a vast array of architectural styles that span their long histories. The Greek Revival style, which dominated these neighborhoods for much of the 1830s and 40s, and of which ample examples survive today, was in many ways inspired by an event which took place on March 25, […]
This year’s Spring House Tour Benefit is right around the corner (this Sunday, actually), and features seven exquisite Village properties. In keeping with the storied history of the Village, the Spring House Tour has a longstanding tradition of including historic properties. This year is no exception, as six of the seven homes are located within our […]
What was there before it was a garden? We get that question often here, and are always ready to help community partners unearth the often little known yet rich history that lies beneath the pavement. Or under a garden bed or willow tree, in this case. Recently we received such an inquiry from one of […]
On April 24, 1904 artist Willem de Kooning was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. de Kooning was one of the major figures of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Abstract Expressionism was an art movement developed in New York City and the “first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York City at the center of the […]
Today is Earth Day, first celebrated in NYC in 1970, and you may notice some of the streets around the city harkening to a quieter era. Legislation passed in the City Council and supported by local Council Members Corey Johnson, Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin, also make today Car Free NYC day. Three areas around the city were selected for this […]
