The 1923 literary masterpiece Cane has been firmly established as a landmark of the Harlem Renaissance. Often likened to the works of William Faulkner, this powerful blend of poetry and prose provides an intimate portrayal of the African American experience in the Deep South. The creation of Cane can be attributed, in part, to the […]
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org. As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening […]
The 14th Street/Union Square Station is one of the busiest in the New York City Subway system. It is also one of the oldest, with the station first opening as one of the original 28 Subway stations on October 27th, 1904. Over the years, the station had many additional lines and transfers added, and underwent […]
During the Gilded Age, Western artists and designers were looking outside of their own aesthetic traditions for inspiration. A resurgence of intricate, organic forms had taken the design world by storm, many of which drew from South Asian artisan motifs. This was in part thanks to Lockwood de Forest, a local artist who brought forth […]
In 2021 and 2022, Village Preservation developed an innovative outdoor public art exhibition that was displayed throughout Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. VILLAGE VOICES featured photographs, artifacts, and soundscape recordings to celebrate and honor the artistic, social, political, and cultural movements that have grown in our neighborhoods, and the people who gave them voice. We […]
In 2021 and 2022, Village Preservation developed an innovative outdoor public art exhibition that was displayed throughout Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. VILLAGE VOICES featured photographs, artifacts, and soundscape recordings to celebrate and honor the artistic, social, political, and cultural movements that have grown in our neighborhoods, and the people who gave them […]
It is sometimes hard to imagine that the East Village was once farmland, but so was nearly everything in Manhattan at one time or another that lay north of the city that was once concentrated on the far southern tip of the island. What makes the East Village special is that it was once all […]
Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862- August 11, 1937) was born into a family who was, at the time, considered to be the epitome of “Old New York,” — the New York that revolved around Washington Square, and whose citizens could trace their ancestors directly back to the old Dutch settlers or English merchants, and who […]
In 2021 and 2022, Village Preservation developed an innovative outdoor public art exhibition, VILLAGE VOICES. Exhibits throughout Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo featured photographs, artifacts, and soundscape recordings to celebrate and honor the artistic, social, political, and cultural movements of our neighborhoods and the people who gave them voice. We have now made […]
Some winters in New York City see almost no appreciable snowfall (prior to late January 2024, for example, there had been over 700 days without), and other years we have more than we can handle. In a snow-filled year, it may feel like the entire city has transformed into something of a real-life snow globe. […]
Known for her powerful, raspy voice and electric stage presence, Janis Joplin was one of the most outstanding musicians of her generation. Her combination of 1960s folk rock and southern blues led her to write unforgettable hit songs ‘Me and Bobby McGee,’ ‘Mercedes Benz,’ and ‘Piece of My Heart.’ Though her life was tragically cut short […]
On July 31, 1923, The New York Times published an article sounding the alarm about an existential threat to the bohemian life of Greenwich Village—Prohibition. The Federal Prohibition Director had initiated an injunction against seven restaurants and bars in the South Village that were repeatedly violating Prohibition laws by serving alcohol. Prohibition agents had quietly […]
Even we here at Village Preservation learn new things about neighborhood history every day. In response to an inquiry we received from someone researching family history, we were asked to provide information about a library that was located near East Houston Street in the 1920s and 1930s. While we were not sure if such a […]
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. The ancient and medieval network of Eurasian trade […]
Amidst the bustling streets and historic architecture, our neighborhoods’ numerous independent pharmacies stand as critical community pillars of health. These establishments aren’t just places to pick up prescriptions; they are integral parts of the neighborhood, providing essential healthcare services and advice. Every year National Pharmacist Day celebrates our unsung heroes in healthcare – our pharmacists. […]
Alice Paul was the architect of some of the most outstanding political achievements on behalf of women in the 20th century. One of the foremost leaders of the twentieth-century women’s suffrage movement, Paul spent her entire adult life devoted to advocating for and securing the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting […]
The year is 1944, and in a brick row house by a lush Greenwich Village garden lives a “shy little black cat” named Jenny Linsky with her caretaker, the old sailor Captain Tinker. While the particular adventures and fanciful musings of this feline may have come from the creative imagination of author and illustrator Esther […]
John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest American by the time he passed in 1848, earning his fortune of $20 million (about $800 million in today’s dollars) first in the fur trade and then in New York City real estate. Toward the end of his life, he began thinking about his legacy and giving back to […]
In 1941, an elderly woman with “bright blue eyes and auburn hair” stormed down to City Hall to confront Robert Moses. The fight, reported by The New Yorker, was about the imminent demolition of the New York Aquarium at Battery Park, which Moses dismissed as an “ugly wart” with “no history worth writing about.” Speaking […]
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org. As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening […]
Although she is best known for her Abstract Expressionist paintings, Lee Krasner never ceased to transform her artistic style throughout her career. Born in 1908 to Russian Jewish parents, Krasner began receiving recognition for her artwork when she was just a teenager. She studied at Cooper Union and later at the National Academy of Design. To […]
On January 3rd, 2017, Village Preservation released the first version of our report: New Buildings Approved for Construction within the Greenwich Village Historic District Since Designation. The report has been regularly updated to reflect additional new buildings approved for construction within the district. Amazingly, prior to the issuance of the report, there was no source […]
In the summer of 1935, the Federal Writers Project and Federal Art Project were founded as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Like other New Deal Programs, these programs were established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and aimed to alleviate the unemployment and economic uncertainty faced by the United States during the Great Depression. […]
Known as the Gilded Age, the period following the Civil War in late nineteenth century New York City was filled with glamour and bold, imaginative aesthetics. However, one person, and his eponymous product, may be more strongly associated with Gilded Age New York than any other — Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January […]
You decide to write a blog post about Bright Lights, Big City, the 1987 film based on a novel published three years earlier about the excesses and pitfalls of life among young up-and-comers in 1980s Manhattan that famously employed the then-distinct use of second-person narration. You mark how many shots from the film capture Manhattan […]
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 […]
Costume designer and fashion icon Patricia Field is best known for, among other accomplishments, her work on the television show Sex and the City. For decades, Field also operated a boutique in Greenwich Village that became a fashion mecca, and font of downtown energy and creativity. After graduating from New York University in 1963, Field […]
April is National Poetry Month! Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, the month of April marks a marvelous opportunity to celebrate the expressiveness, delight, and pure charm of poetry. National Poetry Month reminds us of the integral role of poets and poetry in our culture. It is only fitting to recognize several […]
Going to the movies: One of America’s favorite pastimes. Before the advent of at-home technologies such as VHS, DVDs, and certainly streaming services, often the only way to see a beloved old film, or to discover one you may have missed when it was first released, was at a revival movie house. The earliest of […]
A city “utterly devoid of harmony” — that is how the controversial Swiss-French architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier, described New York without actually having ever visited when he made this statement. Le Corbusier would eventually come to New York for the first time in 1935, and didn’t change his mind. There is […]
Hip Hop at 50This is the fifth in a series of posts that celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop. Our exploration takes us to the seminal places of Hip Hop’s early days in our neighborhoods and introduces some of the instrumental figures in the downtown world of Hip Hop. Negril Nightclub: 181 2nd Avenue […]
Provincetown, Massachusetts has long had a deep and interesting connection to Greenwich Village. As one of the largest artist colonies on the East Coast, many of the artists, thinkers, and bohemians of Greenwich Village made Provincetown their summer residence. What attracted these individuals to the region was the mix of fine artists and craftspeople. The […]
Former president Jimmy Carter and his late wife Rosalynn Carter were long at the forefront of Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit that helps communities build new homes and improve existing residences. While the Carters’ work with the organization over nearly four decades brought them to neighborhoods in need across the country and around the world, […]
Greenwich Village, with its cobblestone streets and historic brownstones, stands as a testament to the rich architectural heritage that defines New York City. Among the many architects who left an indelible mark on this iconic neighborhood, Calvert Vaux emerges as a visionary whose designs seamlessly blend with the bohemian spirit of Greenwich Village, including its […]
December is South Village Month – join us in celebrating this vibrant neighborhood all month long! The South Village in the 50s and 60s was a hotbed of creativity and activism. Where the West Village might be known as the heart of the neighborhood, the area south could be called its soul. Sullivan Street, Thompson Street, MacDougal […]
Our blog series “Hidden in Plain Sight” highlights the many architectural curiosities and unique features found on buildings throughout our neighborhoods — details you might not notice on first pass, but if you’re paying attention, they tell easily overlooked and often forgotten stories. At the corner of West 13th Street and 8th Avenue, on a […]
The 1970s was a dangerous and difficult time for New York City. Arson and neglect left many poor and working-class neighborhoods with abandoned lots, filled with hazardous debris. Residents of the Lower East Side and East Village felt abandoned by the city, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. They had already […]
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. How do you look like a million bucks […]
New York City was powered by horses for almost three hundred years. At its peak, well over 150,000 horses and by some estimates up to 200,000 lived in the city. Related businesses such as blacksmiths, carriage manufacturers, feed suppliers, stables, auction houses, and more were a huge part of the local economy. There are many […]
Fiorello H. LaGuardia was born on December 11th, 1882 in Greenwich Village. LaGuardia and his family lived at 177 Sullivan street, which would have been known as 7 Varick Street at the time, in a building that has since been demolished. Fiorello LaGuardia would go on to become the 99th Mayor of New York City, […]
December is South Village Month, when we celebrate the incredible neighborhood south of Washington Square and West 4th Street. Village Preservation kicked off the effort to preserve this endangered historic neighborhood in December 2006, and completed the process in December 2016 with the designation of the third and final phase of our proposed South Village Historic District. It […]
Nestled in the vibrant streets of New York City’s East Village at 135 Second Avenue, the Ottendorfer Library stands as a testament to the multicultural and linguistic tapestry that has woven itself into the city’s history. Founded by a visionary immigrant, the library has played a pivotal role in fostering diversity, education, and cultural exchange. […]
Village Preservation kicked off its campaign to honor, document, and seek landmark designation for the South Village and its remarkable immigrant and artistic histories in December 2006, and completed the effort in December 2016 with designation of the third and final phase of our proposed South Village Historic District, the largest expansion of landmark protections in the neighborhood since 1969. […]
“…really a story about two Catholic buddies roaming the country in search of God.” So said Jack Kerouac about his book, “On the Road,” soon after it was published in 1957. As we’ve discussed on this blog before, though known for his nomadic lifestyle, Kerouac had strong ties to Greenwich Village. Famous as a pioneer […]
Many would be surprised to learn that Charles Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Co., known for the manufacture of goods which came to be synonymous with the wealthiest New Yorkers, actually lived in the East Village with his family for most of the 1850s. This included his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, who went on […]
December is South Village Month – join us in celebrating this vibrant neighborhood all month long! Postwar America in the 1950s through the early 1960s experienced the birth of a movement and style that opposed both government and authority. America’s culture of conformity during that post-war period bred a cultural renaissance that importantly included the Beat poets and […]
December is South Village Month – join us in celebrating this vibrant neighborhood all month long! In December 2016, following a multi-year advocacy campaign spearheaded by Village Preservation, the Sullivan Thompson Historic District was landmarked by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. This dozen-block, 175-building district designation was the culmination of a campaign formally begun by […]
Christopher Street is one of New York City’s oldest streets: known as Skinner Road in the 18th century, it was rechristened in 1799 by local landowner Charles Christopher Amos with the name it holds to this day. Filled with historic architecture and noteworthy sites including the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park, the street remains relatively […]
Mainstream city planning has known its share of eloquent critics over the years (including, if we may be so bold, yours truly). But perhaps none has been as consequential as Jane Jacobs. Her groundbreaking 1961 treatise Death and Life of Great American Cities announces at the outset its intent to attack current planning and redevelopment […]
By the early nineteenth century New York City had developed as the largest port in the United States and one of the largest in the world. This growth of New York City also coincidentally overlapped with the era of the “Second Great Awakening,” when evangelical organizations throughout the United States and abroad were working to […]
Known as the Gilded Age, the period following the Civil War in late nineteenth century New York City was filled with glamour and bold, imaginative aesthetics. However, one person, and his eponymous product, may be more strongly associated with Gilded Age New York than any other — Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January […]
In the heart of Greenwich Village, a historic theater emerged as a cradle of creativity and a crucible for groundbreaking theatrical experiments—the Provincetown Playhouse. Established in 1915 in Provincetown, Massachusetts as the Provincetown Players, this group of creatives moved to New York in 1916 and opened what became the permanent home for the Playhouse at […]
Greenwich Village and the East Village are areas famous for creativity and innovation in all arenas, and that includes fashion and beauty trends. Today we will take a look at some of the local beauty stores that not only supplied these looks, but inspired them. Manic Panic Today, Manic Panic is a brand known for […]
He was one of the most significant, prolific, and versatile artists of the 20th century, and he produced several of his many iconic pieces from a studio located in a hidden Greenwich Village alley. We are referring to Isamu Noguchi, whose design work observed no boundaries. Drawing from influences as diverse as Italian marble work, […]
You decide to write a blog post about Bright Lights, Big City, the 1988 film based on a novel published four years earlier about the excesses and pitfalls of life among young up-and-comers in 1980s Manhattan that famously employed the then-distinct use of second-person narration. You mark how many shots from the film capture Manhattan […]
The East Village and Greenwich Village have long been bastions of progressive thought and hotbeds of radical social movements. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or “Wobblies” as they are also known, found a home for its radical vision of industrial unionism in the East Village. The November 15, 1919, raid on the IWW […]
Pier 40 was built between 1958 and 1962 for the Holland America Cruise Line, and became the largest passenger and freight terminal in the Port of New York at the time of construction. Jutting into the Hudson River and effectively extending Leroy, Clarkson, Houston, King, and Charlton Streets west into the water, the pier was […]
We launched our Business of the Month program on November 13, 2014. Thanks to all of you who have nominated businesses through the years, we have surpassed 100 honorees. Help us to select the next one! Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. […]
You’re probably not that likely to associate military veterans with Greenwich Village and the East Village; in the popular mind, the neighborhoods’ profile is much more strongly associated with peace movements and anti-war protestors (though of course some veterans have played key roles in those efforts). But in fact, reminders of, tributes to, and memorials […]
Coined in 1990 at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American First Nations Gay and Lesbian American Conference held in Winnipeg, the term “Two Spirit” (2S) refers to indigenous individuals whose gender expression and sexuality transcended Western binaries. The term reflects complex Indigenous understandings of gender roles, spirituality, and the long history of sexual and gender […]
Cappuccinos are made from equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and foam. While this recipe is not debatable, the origin story is. Various Italian, French, Turkish, Viennese/Austro-Hungarians lay claim to all or part of the histories of espresso and/or cappuccino. Also not debatable is that there are a wide variety of high-quality cappuccino purveyors, both old […]
St. Benedict the Moor was the first Church for Black Roman Catholics in the North, dedicated on November 18th, 1883 at 210 Bleecker Street. St. Benedict the Moor Church opened in a Greek Revival structure that had been built in 1836 for the First Unitarian Universalist Church. The opening of St. Benedict the Moor was […]
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. It is good to walk a mile in […]
One of the most beloved features of the Statue of Liberty is the poem inscribed on a bronze plaque inside its pedestal. “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” which appear in the middle of the work, have come to define what the statue has represented for generations. Those words […]
The Public Theater is opening a significant new play, Manahatta, by Native attorney, activist, and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle. It is fitting that this important piece of theatrical literature will be produced on the spot where, 500 years ago, the confluence of three nations, known as “Kintecoying,” was located. The area that is today Southern […]
Since 1973, New York City has hosted one of the most extravagant and enchanting Halloween celebrations in the world: the Village Halloween Parade. Its beginnings in the early 1970s were quite humble compared to todays internationally renowned affair, starting as an informal gathering of friends and family brought together by Westbeth Artists Community resident and […]
By the time the demolition of McKim, Mead & White’s monumental Penn Station commenced on October 28th, 1963, advocates had been fighting to save the Beaux Arts building for several years. This has often been referenced as the “beginning of the historic preservation movement” in New York City, and while it certainly was a catalyst […]
In the late 19th century the term “boy bar” referred to what we would now call a “gay bar”. This is not to be confused with the boy bar, which was a bar located at 15 1/2 St. Marks place from the early 1980s to mid 1990s. It was well known for its regular drag […]
The area South of Union Square has drawn artists into its corridors for many decades. From social realist painters of the early twentieth century to contemporary practitioners, this section of the Village maintains a rich history of creative minds who felt called to challenge the status quo of the art world that surrounded them, many […]
Costume designer and fashion icon Patricia Field is best known for, among other accomplishments, her work on the television show Sex and the City. For decades, Field also operated a boutique in Greenwich Village that became a fashion mecca, and font of downtown energy and creativity. After graduating from New York University in 1963, Field […]
There have been countless “firsts” in our neighborhoods: the first cappuccino machine (Café Reggio), the first building constructed specifically to house artists’ studios (The Tenth Street Studios at 51 West 10th Street, since demolished), the first racially integrated night club (Café Society) — the list goes on and on. While we at Village Preservation have […]
While many are aware of the Whitney Museum’s modest origins as a studio club of artist and collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, fewer know that only a few feet away from Whitney’s original studio lay another artist club that would also evolve into a long-standing New York art institution. Known today as the SculptureCenter, the Clay […]
