A Subway Substation — Then and Now
The familiar view above, taken in 1933, looks north on Greenwich Avenue (at Horatio Street) toward 14th Street and features the striking art deco Substation 235 of the New York City Transit Authority.
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Category: Historic Events
A Greenwich Village Guide: 1959
Although more and more of the research that GVSHP documents and shares is done online today, we also house a modest non-circulating resource library which contains fiction and non-fiction books, reports and guides on the subject areas of Greenwich Village, Historic Preservation, and New York City history. The library also contains hard copies of designation […]
Remembering the former Pennsylvania Station
On August 2, 1962, a group of concerned citizens protested in front of Pennsylvania Station, the McKim, Mead, and White Beaux Art structure in pink granite that spanned two full city blocks. The impending demolition of this historic structure was opposed by leading architects, artists, and critics, including Philip Johnson, Aline Saarinen, and Villagers Eleanor […]
Back To School
Amid the cast-iron facades of commercial and converted residential buildings between Broadway and University Place in the Village resides a large brick and brownstone institutional building. With its Police Athletic League (PAL) banners and Police Department signage over the door, it looks like it could have been an old station house re-purposed for PAL uses. […]
Dog Days of Summer
It’s the dog days of summer here in New York City, so here at Off the Grid we thought we would share some “cool” images from the GVSHP archive.
Welcome to 1940s Greenwich Village
GVSHP recently came across a great website called 1940s New York. In 1943, four local newspapers published a New York City Market Analysis, which provided hundreds of photos & color-coded maps, statistics, and short narratives about neighborhoods across the city, all based on the 1940 census. According to the site, “The Center for Urban Research […]
Mapping the Italian South Village
It’s no secret that preservationists often turn to maps for inspiration and research, but it isn’t all the time that a map can can lead to an extremely revealing discovery. Over six years ago, when GVSHP was in the throes of its South Village research, we came across a deceivingly simple map from 1919. This […]
The 1863 Draft Riots and Abigail Hopper Gibbons
As Off the Grid chronicled last year, today is the anniversary of New York City’s draft riots, five days of rioting, looting, burning, and wanton violence that erupted after the Federal government instituted the Draft Act of 1863, the first instance of compulsory service in the federal military services. The riots began on July 13, […]
St. Anthony of Padua – Then and Now
St. Anthony of Padua Church has stood on Sullivan Street in the South Village since it was designed and built in 1886 by Arthur Crooks. St. Anthony’s is America’s earliest extant Catholic church established to minister to Italians and served the South Village’s growing immigrant Italian population at the turn of the 20th century. Not […]
Greenwich Village Generals
This week, the Fourth of July holiday has us here at Off the Grid thinking about the connections the Village has to the Revolutionary War. While the Village remained a pastoral suburb of the city proper during the war, there are some reminders of the fight for independence in the neighborhood.
AIDS Memorial Park Design Closer to Reality
A little over two months ago, Off the Grid covered a meeting regarding the proposed AIDS Memorial in the triangle park next to the former St. Vincent’s Hospital. The proposal, spearheaded by AIDS Memorial Park, was presented to Community Board 2’s Parks Committee and the public, at which time public feedback was taken into consideration […]
Peter, Paul and Mary: All Over This Village
Fifty years ago, in May of 1962, folk group Peter, Paul and Mary released their self-titled debut album. The group went on to become one of the most, if not the most, successful folk groups in recording history. Songs like “If I Had A Hammer”, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, and “Puff, The Magic Dragon”, […]
Gen. Slocum Anniversary in the Run Up to East Village Landmark Hearing
Today is the 108th anniversary of the General Slocum disaster. The greatest loss of life in New York City before 9/11, this singularly important event had a particularly profound impact on the East Village. On the morning of June 15, 1904 the steamship General Slocum set off on a journey to the Locust Grove Picnic […]
On This Day: Gansevoort Market Opens
On June 14, 1884 – or 128 years ago today – a municipally-sanctioned public market was opened on the five-sided block bounded by Little West Twelfth, Washington, Gansevoort, West Streets and Tenth Avenue. Vendors primarily from New Jersey and Long Island came by ferry to sell produce. As you can see in the photo above, […]
Landmark Bid Pays Off at Former Horse Auction Mart!
We’re thrilled to announce that last week the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to confer individual landmark status on one of our favorite East Village buildings: the former Van Tassell & Kearney Horse Auction Mart at 128 East 13th Street! The Commission’s vote marks the finishing touch on GVSHP’s six-year campaign to preserve this remarkable […]
Help Us Celebrate Justus Schwab!
“On Saturdays when I did not have to lecture, we used to visit the saloon of Justus Schwab, the most famous radical center in New York. Schwab was the traditional Teuton in appearance, over six feet tall, broad-chested, and strait as a tree. On his wide shoulders and strong neck rested a magnificent head, framed […]
On This Day: Washington Square Arch
On this day in 1895 (that’s 117 years ago if you’re counting), Washington Square Arch was dedicated. The above image shows what the arch looked like that year. Designed by Stanford White of McKim, Meade & White, the arch has become one of the most prominent symbols of Greenwich Village. Off the Grid went into […]
Life, Out of Balance and On Film
On April 28th, 1982, the landmark film Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance had its world premiere. A stunning, wordless, 86 minute visual collage featuring images of natural beauty, urban decay and renewal, pollution, nuclear proliferation, and the abstraction, alienation, and wonder of modern life, the film received critical acclaim and has demonstrated an enduring appeal […]
Oscars, Opera and Orson Welles at Onyx Court
We always thought the building at 193 Second Avenue at the corner of 12th Street was extraordinarily handsome and well-designed. Based on our extensive research of the East Village we learned a lot more about the building owners, architects and some of its notable residents. It is said that the building was designed to […]
Astor Place: Then and Now
Astor Place — in one form or another — has been part of Manhattan’s landscape for centuries. It follows the path of an old Native American trail that appears on maps of the island at least as early as 1639. Today we thought we would take a quick look back at the area’s more […]
Titanic Connections
In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, the 883 foot long, 50 ton, and reputedly unsinkable ocean liner the RMS Titanic sunk on its maiden voyage from England to New York off the coast of Newfoundland, after hitting an iceberg just before midnight the night before. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, […]
Our Newest Federal-Era Landmarks
At their March 27th public meeting, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated four individual landmarks located in Hudson Square. These new landmarks – 32 Dominick Street, 34 Dominick Street, 36 Dominick Street and 310 Spring Street – are in or just outside the area of the proposed Hudson Square rezoning, about which GVSHP and fellow community […]
Five Years Without Chumley’s
Image via Gothamist. It was five years ago today at 86 Bedford Street that a chimney separated from an interior wall and collapsed into the world-famous Chumley’s bar in Greenwich Village.
Researchers Rejoice 1940 Census Released!
Yesterday, the National Archives released its records of the 1940 Census. And that’s a big deal because census records remain sealed for 72 years. So historic researchers, genealogists and family history buffs rejoice, you can now track down information on who lived where and what they did in 1940. Census data has certainly been useful to […]
Charles Lockwood, 1948-2012
Many of us awoke to the sad news today of the passing of Charles Lockwood. Charles was an architectural historian whose book, “Bricks and Brownstones, The New York Rowhouse 1783-1929” was considered by many the bible of rowhouse histories.
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
This Sunday, March 25, marks the 101st Anniversary of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The 1911 fire took the lives of 146 workers, mostly immigrant women, inspiring the young labor movement and precipitating new worker safety regulations across the country.
This St. Patrick’s Day, Celebrate in the Village!
New York City has no shortage of Irish watering holes, but if you’re looking to escape the parade crowds there are plenty of Village pubs where you can celebrate St. Patty’s Day! Let’s start over by the Hudson and work our way east…. Brass Monkey (55 Little West 12th Street) Opened in the summer of […]
Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac!
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” […]
This Day in History: The Rosenberg Trial Begins
It was on this date in 1951 that the infamous espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg began. The Jewish-American Communists, along with Soviet spy Morton Sobell, were accused of selling nuclear secrets to Russia. Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and allegedly supplied Julius with information regarding the atomic bomb. […]
This Day in History: Abingdon Square Becomes a Public Park
One of the most interesting things about New York City’s public parks is the rich history that lies beyond the grass and trees. Abingdon Square, bounded by 8th Avenue, Hudson Street, Bank Street, and West 12th Street, is no exception. The quarter-acre park was originally part of the Warren Estate. Sir Peter Warren was a […]
Today in 1860: Lincoln and the Village
As I was considering a topic for last week’s Presidents’ Day post, I came across a great find from our nation’s past that took place right here in present-day NoHo. To my delight, the anniversary of this historic event was right around the corner, today in fact! Yes, on February 27, 1860, relatively unknown presidential […]
Happy (Almost) Birthday Off the Grid!
This week marks the one year anniversary off GVSHP’s blog Off the Grid. We launched Off the Grid to engage new audiences in the dynamic history of the neighborhoods we advocate for – Greenwich Village, NoHo, Gansevoort Market, the East Village and the South Village. A large part of starting Off the Grid was to […]
Happy Presidents’ Day
Can you name the only United States president to be born in New York City? Here’s a hint: he served as the city’s Police Commissioner when the 9th Police Precinct Station House on Charles Street in the Far West Village was constructed in 1896-97.
Washington’s Arch
With Presidents’ Day, celebrating George Washington’s birthday (among other things) just around the corner, we thought we would take a brief look at one of the Village’s most conspicuous monuments to the nation’s first leader.
We Miss You, Keith Haring
On February 16, 1990, we lost one of the most memorable and enduring figures of the 1980’s Downtown arts scene, Keith Haring (born May 4, 1958). Haring came to New York in 1978 to study at the School of Visual Art, and quickly became a noted up and coming artist. Haring utilized whatever canvas was […]
The East Village’s Own, Allen Ginsberg
Pigeons shake their wings on the copper church roof out my window across the street, a bird perched on the cross surveys the city’s blue-grey clouds. Larry Rivers ‘ll come at 10 AM and take my picture. I’m taking your picture, pigeons. I’m writing you down, Dawn. I’m immortalizing your exhaust, Avenue A bus. O […]
A Vicious Anniversary
On this day in 1979, Sex Pistols punk rocker Sid Vicious was found dead of a heroin overdose in a Greenwich Village apartment. Born John Simon Ritchie, Vicious (as he came to be known) joined the band in 1977, taking over for bassist Glen Matlock. Vicious notoriously faked his musical ability, with his own band […]
The Jefferson Market Library: A Striking Landmark Shines Again
To those who had grown accustomed to keeping time by glancing at the four-faced clock on the grand tower of the Jefferson Market Library, the past several years have been an adjustment, to say the least. Today, however, we are delighted to share that the much-needed rehabilitation of this beloved city landmark has been completed […]
A Nearly One Century “Encore!” for the Cherry Lane
A research request by a New York Times writer regarding the Cherry Lane Theatre at 38 Commerce Street unearthed a rich history of entertainment in the West Village. (For a view into the upper apartments and to read more from the theater owner, refer to this article in the Times.) Designated as part of the […]
Happy Birthday, Mr. Poe
Today we celebrate the birthday of tortured but beloved poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe. Born in Boston in 1809, and long associated with Baltimore, Poe called New York City home on several occasions during his lifetime. Of particular interest to GVSHP was the time the poet and author spent in the Village.
What’s in a Name: Bleecker Street
It is hard to imagine Bleecker Street, with its high fashion boutiques, small businesses, cafes, and food shops as farmland, but then again it is hard to visualize any part of Manhattan in its rural state. Bleecker Street’s provenance is that of the Bleecker family, prominent New York City citizens who owned farmland in the […]
Sullivan Street Playhouse: Gone But Not Forgotten
The final performance of the off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks took place at the Sullivan Street Playhouse at 181 Sullivan Street in the South Village on January 13, 2002. That marked the end of a remarkable 42-year run of the show – making it the longest-running musical ever. Unfortunately, the closing of the show and playhouse would also […]
A Boxing Legend’s Memory Lives on 14th Street
Have you ever walked on 14th Street near Irving Place and looked up to see that this section of the thoroughfare had a secondary street sign naming it “Cus D’Amato Way?” I recently did just this. I walk on 14th Street every day- how had I never noticed it? And how did I not know […]
Gangsters and Artists on Great Jones Street
We often receive research requests here at GVSHP that ask a very particular question about a particular address in one of the Village historic districts. So when we received a request about 57 Great Jones Street, part of the NoHo Historic District Extension, we turned our questioner straight to the historic district report. But sometimes, […]
Walking East 7th Street: Elizabeth Blackwell’s New York Dispensary
Walking East 7th Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2011 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 7th Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Walking East 7th Street: Tompkins Market and Armory
Walking East 7th Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2011 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 7th Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts below were […]
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Day Declared!
City Council Member Rosie Mendez recognized the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation in its thirtieth anniversary year by proclaiming December 2, 2010 as Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Day in New York City. Looking back, we are still quite honored. You can read the full citation below.
Dog Day Anniversary
On December 4th, 1971, John Stanley Wojtowicz married Ernest Aron in Greenwich Village, in what Mr. Wojtowicz described as a Roman Catholic ceremony. This event might be considered noteworthy for taking place nearly four decades before the legalization of gay marriage in New York, and decades before the now ubiquitous debates about, and demand for, equal […]
East Village Tenement Housed “the Most Dangerous Woman in America”
Anarchist and revolutionary thinker Emma Goldman, known for her political activism, writing, and speeches, can claim East 13th as her home in the early twentieth century. Goldman was known for supporting a wide-range of controversial causes, including free speech, birth control, women’s equality, union organization, and workers’ rights. She was considered, by the Federal Bureau […]
Thanksgiving Ragamuffins
Thanksgiving has been an unofficial tradition in the US since settlers first came here, an unofficial holiday since 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of giving thanks in the midst of the Civil War, and an official one beginning in 1942. Many different traditions have sprung up around this holiday, but have […]
On This Day: Ellis Island Closes
On this day in 1954, November 12th, America’s gateway, Ellis Island, closed its doors for good. According to History.com, 40% of Americans today can trace their roots through Ellis Island. If we had to guess, that percentage most likely increases dramatically when looking at the population residing in the Village. The South Village was marked […]
Spending Veterans Day with the Doughboy
Ever since Ralph Lee staged the first annual Halloween parade in the courtyard of Westbeth in 1973, October 31st has been a day of heavy reveling in Greenwich Village. But that’s been covered. And anyway, today is Veteran’s Day, not Halloween, so what’s the connection? Well, fifty-two years prior to Lee’s first parade, on the […]
Halloween Round Up
We hope that everyone had a safe, fun, and sugar-filled Halloween! To close out the holiday we’ve rounded up some of our favorite events and decorations from around the Village that embody the neighborhood’s Halloween spirit. Let’s start right in GVSHP’s backyard with St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery’s Dia de los Muertos celebration.
Deadly History
With today being Halloween, we thought we would take a look at … dead bodies in the Village! You can tune out the ominous laughter you may be hearing right about now, today’s post is actually about some fabulous historic cemeteries in the East and West Village.
Village Halloween Parade Origins
Earlier this week, we were thrilled to announce that Westbeth – the country’s first subsidized housing complex for artists and the first large-scale adaptive re-use of an industrial building for residential purposes – was designated an individual NYC landmark. Originally built as the Bell Telephone Labs, the complex was a birthplace of numerous modern technological […]
Village Storefronts Dress Up for Halloween!
Take a walk around the Village and you’ll certainly notice all of the festive Halloween decorations. Stuck at your desk? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our photo tour of Village storefronts dressed up for the October occasion!
Westbeth Landmarked!
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) just voted unanimously to landmark Westbeth, following through on a promise made seven years ago to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and other community groups working to extend landmark protections in the Far West Village.
A Nightmare on 13th Street
Recently, the block of East 13th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the East Village has received a lot of attention after it was announced that a developer purchased a large vacant lot in the middle of the block. Buildings on the block have been rumored to be haunted. While we may not be […]
Remembering CBGB
CBGB, the legendary rock club on the Bowery and Bleecker closed its doors on October 15, 2006, due to lease issues, 33 years after it opened. The last evening at CBGB’s featured a headline set by Patti Smith, an unforgettable evening outlined by one fan in a recent blog post.
This Columbus Day, Save the South Village
Columbus Day has traditionally served as an opportunity to honor the contributions of Italian-Americans to our country. The South Village is one of New York’s great immigrant neighborhoods from the last great wave of immigration to New York and the United States at the turn of the last century. Thousands of immigrants, mostly but not […]
What an Electrifying Past: 19-25 St. Marks Place
One of the many wonderful things about the East Village is the fascinating layers of history that convey the evolution of the neighborhood. The buildings at 19-23 St. Mark’s Place are an excellent example of how the East Village has changed over time from a wealthy merchants neighborhood, to a landing spot for immigrants, to […]
A Beautiful Surprise is Uncovered in the Village
Until very recently, the storefront at 15 8th Avenue (between West 12th & Jane Streets) looked fairly typical. Part historic, part less-so, like many in the Village it had been altered over the years to accommodate turnover in commercial tenancy. But walking by recently, we noticed that the removal of a non-original panel above the show […]
Then & Now: 3rd Avenue & East 10th Street, Part 3
Last week we talked about the history of the building at 48 3rd Avenue and left you wondering about the rest of the block of 3rd Avenue between 10th & 11th Streets. As a reminder, this started when we came across a great picture of the block taken by Berenice Abbott in 1937. Using information […]
A Greenwich Village Artifact in Texas
We love receiving research queries here at GVSHP, but never more so than when the person asking the question has something to tell us. So we were quite pleased to receive an inquiry from a curator at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, who wanted to know the history of […]
Groundbreaking Gadgets on 4th Avenue
For those of you who don’t flip through your grandparents’ stacks of mail order catalogs, Hammacher & Schlemmer (say that ten times fast!) was the city’s first hardware store, opened in 1848, and is the country’s longest running catalog, first published in 1881. The store originally opened in 1848 at 221 Bowery at a time […]
Labor Day Redux
This Monday most of us will be enjoying a day off, celebrating the last unofficial (long) weekend of summer. This well-deserved holiday makes it a little hard to remember that Labor Day became a national holiday because of labor unions, who have fought for many years on behalf of working people. In the spirit of […]
Then & Now: 3rd Avenue & 10th Street
We are very fortunate that photographer Berenice Abbott captured images of New York City in the 1930s and 1940s (Abbott, by the way, lived off and on in Greenwich Village, including in the Provincetown Playhouse and Apartments, recently demolished by NYU). With an almost singular focus on streetscapes and architecture, her images, like the one below, provide unparalleled […]
Water, Water, Everywhere
With Hurricane Irene on the way, the city is bracing for some possible high winds and flooding associated with the storm. WNYC made a handy interactive map that highlights parts of our neighborhoods that may be vulnerable to flooding during an intense storm. In addition to the important flooding information, the map also indirectly reveals […]
Seen and Heard Around the Village 8.20.11: West Edition
Village residents expose the drama behind the Whitehall Storage Conversion at 150 Charles Street (YouTube) Spend a Sunday in Greenwich Village, Circa 1960 (Gothamist) What the exterior of 777 Washington Street looks like now (Curbed) Obama spent time mingling in the West Village (GulfNews) …and work has started on the new Whitney Museum at the […]
Law & Order: Historic Images Unit
With the recent news that every Law & Order television episode will soon be available in one mammoth 104-disc set, we thought we’d round up this week’s posts with a look at the law. In flipping through some of the images in GVSHP’s Preservation Archive and Oral History Project, we found some early and striking […]
19th Century Fire at East Village Icon Changed the Skyline, and Safety Rules
The tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in Greenwich Village and its impact on women’s rights and the labor movement is well known. There is a plaque at the Brown Building at 22-39 Washington Place, now an NYU building, to commemorate the fire so that its past is not forgotten. There is another building in […]
Standing the Test of Time: Father’s Heart Church
One of the East Village’s few individually designated New York City landmarks is a distinctive Gothic Revival church at 545 East 11th Street. The building, today known as Father’s Heart Church, has been a distinctive presence in the East Village for more than 140 years. Its name and the nature of its congregants have changed […]
Tracking History: Gansevoort Plaza Then & Now
Though the character of Gansevoort Market has certainly undergone many changes over years, there are certain buildings and views that have remained remarkably intact. One such location where you can peer back in time is at Gansevoort Plaza, where Greenwich Street/9th Avenue, Gansevoort Street, and Little West 12th Street intersect. Though much new development has […]
South Village Building Damaged by Fire
At 2 AM this morning, a beautiful South Village building caught fire, resulting in a three-alarm fire that injured 10 firefighters and 1 civilian woman, sending all to the hospital. It took 140 firefighters over two hours to get the fire, which started in the basement and made its way all the way up the […]
A Proud and Soaring Thing
With all the brash starchitect-designed buildings that sprouted up in NoHo and the East Village in the early 2000s — 40 Bond Street, the ‘Sculpture for Living‘ at Astor Place, and 41 Cooper Square come to mind — we thought we’d take a historical look at the work of one of America’s original ‘starchitects.’ Chicago-based […]
What’s in a Name?: The Saul Birns Building
Included within the boundaries of the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District is the venerable limestone and terra cotta-clad Saul Birns Building, located on the west side of Second Avenue between 6th & 7th Streets. The building definitely stands out on Lower Second Avenue, which is lined primarily with converted early-to-mid-19th […]
The History of Sheridan Square
On this day, August 1, in the year 1864 during the Civil War, General Philip Sheridan was appointed by Ulysses S. Grant as commander of the Army of the Shenandoah, where he defeated Confederate troops. Sheridan further gained fame when his tactics helped to force General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. He was instrumental […]
From Singing to Sofas: The History of the Burger-Klein Building
Its irrepressible mid-century modern façade of opaque black glass is punctuated by cheery yellow balconettes, a slender projecting wall of red glazed brick, and cube-shaped letters spelling out B-U-R-G-E-R K-L-E-I-N. Many in the East Village are familiar with the unique building at 28 Avenue A and have wondered who or what Burger Klein was […]
What’s in a Name: Bank Street
Sometimes determining the provenance of a street’s name is fairly easy. It is true for Bank Street in Greenwich Village, which was named for … you guessed it … a branch of the Bank of New York, which located to the area during New York’s first yellow fever epidemic in 1799. Today we will look […]
On This Day: The Tompkins Square Communist Rally
The 1870’s were difficult years for our Nation. Economic depression had hit Europe and on September 18, 1873, it reached the U.S. with the failure of banking firm Jay Cooke and Company, which had been the main backer of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The country went into a steep economic downward spiral in what is […]
Happy Bastille Day!
We know that you all know it’s Bastille Day, but did you know that the South Village once had a large and lively French community? The 1880 U.S. census showed that a large number of French immigrants were, at this time, living on the streets south of Washington Square and as far east as Broadway. […]
On This Day: New York City Draft Riots
On July 13, 1863 began several days of violence in New York City known as the Draft Riots. These civil disturbances rocked New York City and revealed a deep racial and class divide that existed in New York City in 1863, one that was particularly visible in the Far West and South Village.
Even More on the Mob
We’ve already established that the mafia in the East Village liked their cannolis and their veal scallopini. This next bit of history is is consistent with that pattern. Lanza’s Restaurant, located at 168 1st Avenue in a tenement built in 1871, was opened in 1904 by Sicilian-Italian transplant Michael Lanza. It is rumored that in […]
Historic Preservation 101: What is a Landmark?
We speak often of historic districts, individual landmarks and national and state register sites but, what do those terms really mean? This post will review how the designation of landmarks came to be, what a landmark is and the differences between state and local landmarks.
More on the Mob
We’re still reveling in yesterday’s excitement of seeing Boardwalk Empire set up a mock-prohibition-era scene in the East Village. In fact, we’re drinking Mint Juleps and listening to Cole Porter right now. Okay, we don’t get quite that crazy at the office, but we have been thinking more about the neighborhood’s connections to prohibition and […]
Prohibition Revisits the East Village
Get out your trilby hats and flapper dresses- Boardwalk Empire, the HBO Prohibition-era mob drama, is filming right here on East 12th Street and 2nd Avenue at John’s Italian Restaurant. Set in Atlantic City, the series often departs to New York to check in with Jewish mob boss Arnold Rothstein and his then-“employee” Sicilian-American gangster […]
This Day in Greenwich Village: The Stonewall Riot
Today marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of riotous protests at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village that many scholars consider the launching pad for the modern Gay Rights Movement. In 1999, GVSHP and the Organization of Lesbian and Gay Architects and Designers, gained federal recognition for the site when it became […]
From Banking to Biscuits: 143-145 Avenue D, Part 5
This is post #5 in a series devoted to our ongoing research of 143-145 Ave D, documenting all of the detours & discoveries uncovered along the way. For background, see parts one, two, three and four. If you’ve been following our forays into the rich and storied history of 143-145 Avenue D, you’re aware of […]
Another Chase? Don’t Bank On It
We were – to put it calmly – a tad bothered when we read recently on EV Grieve that 160 Second Avenue (corner of East 10th Street), the former home of Cafe Centosette, would house a Chase Bank/Starbucks combination package. Since the cafe’s closing last April, we had been holding out hope that whatever replaced […]
East Village vs. West — Which is Really the Narrowest House in NYC?
Word that the West Village’s 75 1/2 Bedford Street is back on the market always brings attention to the slender house in which Enda St. Vincent Millay is said to have written “my candle burns at both ends.” But it also raises the question of whether or not this truly is the “narrowest house in […]
A Look Back at the General Slocum Disaster
On the morning of June 15, 1904, the General Slocum steamship set sail carrying over 1,300 passengers, most of whom were women and children and members of the East Village’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mark at 325 East 6th Street. Passengers were headed for a pleasant Sunday jaunt to the Locust Grove Picnic […]
The Oldest Building in the Village?
Call it whatever you’d like: antique, vintage, or historic. If one thing is for certain, the Village is really, really old. Old by New York City standards, and even old by American standards. But which building is the oldest of the old? Fortunately for us as we attempt to answer this question, the Village has […]
Pushcarts on Bleecker Street
When former South Village resident Josette Lee emailed GVSHP a picture of her Dad from the 1970’s standing in front of two pushcarts located on Bleecker Street, we became as curious as she was about when exactly such carts disappeared from the South Village.
Memorial Day in the Village
With Memorial Day here, we thought we would take a look at some of the sites in the Village that commemorate those who gave their lives in the service of our nation. Of course there’s the Abingdon Square Doughboy Statue that honors those who served in World War I, and the large plaque affixed to […]
The Anthemion
Loyal supporters of GVSHP know our logo well, but few know the true origins of this ancient architectural motif, found in any neighborhood in New York City containing Greek Revival buildings. In that department, the Village definitely tops the list. Allow us to explain…
Second Avenue Mansions of Yesteryear
Woah! Can you believe the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue once looked like this? Our survey of the history of every single building in the East Village has turned up photos of some of the mansions that once lined Second Avenue – the neighborhood’s prime residential thoroughfare in the first half of […]
Seinfeld’s Off the Grid Anniversary
The Brooklyn-born, Long Island-raised, Queens College-educated comedian Jerry Seinfeld was born on April 29, 1954. While no doubt many Off the Grid readers are Seinfeld fans, the following day is another Seinfeld anniversary which strikes even a little nearer and dearer to the heart of this blog.
Stranger’s Hospital: 143-145 Avenue D, Part 4
This is post #4 in a series devoted to our ongoing research of 143-145 Ave D, documenting all of the detours & discoveries uncovered along the way (for background, see parts one, two and three) It’s been a while since we’ve shown some love to one of our favorite buildings over at 143-145 Avenue D, […]
A Look Back at the Beatnik Riot
On Sunday, April 9, 1961, what has come to be known as the Beatnik Riot, or Washington Square Folk Riot, took place (see the flashback in the Villager). Since the 1940’s Washington Square Park had been an epicenter for folk music – a public gathering spot where the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and […]
The Past and Future NYU
This week marks the 180th anniversary of the incorporation of New York University, which was chartered in April 1831 as the City University of New York. And it seems the University was a bit pickier with its choice of architects in those early days. Feast your eyes on their spectacular Gothic Revival main building, which […]