Want to help? Attend the City Council public hearings at City Hall on Tuesday February 9 or Wednesday February 10 starting at 9:30 am, and send letters to city officials in opposition here (letters can also be used as sample testimony; testimony must be no more than four minutes, but 20 copies of written testimony of […]
We continue celebrating Landmarks50 with a look at individual landmarks in our neighborhood. Yesterday we learned about the Children’s Aid Society, Tompkins Square Lodging for Boys and Industrial School. Today we read about the Children’s Aid Society, Elizabeth Home for Girls at 307 East 12th Street, which the LPC designated on March 18, 2008. The […]
Now home to seven apartments, 295 East 8th Street a.k.a. 127 Avenue B, opened in 1887 as the Children’s Aid Society, Tompkins Square Lodging for Boys and Industrial School. As part of Landmarks50, the celebration of this year’s 50th Anniversary of the NYC Landmarks Law, we are taking a look at some of the many […]
“I have lived on the Lower East Side for seventy years. And when I came here, I found Nirvana, and I will die in this building — not in a hospital. I’ll die in this building. This is my home, and I love it here.” That is just the beginning of the fascinating story of […]
Once upon a time in Chelsea, New York, a young woman lived in an apartment on the sixth floor with a magical view. Facing north, there was the Chelsea Hotel, and the Empire State Building, and the spire of the Chrysler Building: stolid, yet ever-changing, amid sunrise or fog, rainbows or fireworks. Directly across the […]
As part of our continuing Landmarks50 celebration, and in honor of Stanford White’s birthday today (he would be a mere 162 years old), we are looking at the New York Public Library Tompkins Square Branch designed by his firm, McKim Mead & White, and completed in 1904. Located at 331 East 10th Street north of […]
We continue the Landmarks50 celebration by taking a look at another individual landmark in our neighborhood. The First Ukrainian Assembly of God (originally, the Metropolitan Savings Bank) at 9 East 7th Street, was completed in 1867 by architect Carl Pfeiffer, and designated on November 19, 1969. The French Second Empire building stands at a corner […]
As part of NYCLandmarks50, the celebration of this year’s 50th Anniversary of the NYC Landmarks Law, we are taking a look at some of the many and varied individual landmarks in our neighborhood. The Police Athletic League Building at 34 1/2 East 12th Street between University Place and Broadway was built in 1855 for the […]
At this time last year, the Metropolitan Opera was aflame in controversy about an opera production called The Death of Klinghoffer. The eight performances between Oct. 20 and Nov. 15 brought waves of accusation and defense, of every political and artistic variety, over this dramatization of a real-life cruise ship hijacking and murder. In that […]
We celebrate Landmarks50 by taking a look at Joseph Papp Public Theater (often referred to as The Public Theater), which, at the time of its designation in 1965, was the Astor Library / New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. This individual landmark at 425 Lafayette Street was built in 1849 and completed in 1881. The […]
“You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s real Jewish rye,” was the slogan for a brand of bread baked in Brooklyn, and offered with a memorable ad campaign to the wider world. Well, you also don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy a feast for the senses tomorrow evening, Thursday October 22, when […]
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 vote for your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with […]
As part of NYCLandmarks50, the celebration of this year’s 50th Anniversary of the adoption of the NYC Landmarks Law in 1965, we took a look at some of the many and varied individual landmarks in our neighborhood. On October 13, 2009 the Ralph and Ann E. Van Wyck Mead House (later Isaac T. Hopper Home […]
This year the city is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Law that created the legal framework to preserve for posterity the architectural and scenic treasures that help make our city so aesthetically and culturally rich. In the East Village, two historic cemeteries were designated as individual landmarks in 1969, not long after the […]
Our latest examination of honorific street names takes us further into the East Village to 1st Avenue. From 14th Street all the way to Houston, 3 honorifics exist along this avenue: Jodie Lane Place- Located on 11th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, there is an unfortunately tragic story behind this honorific. Jodie Shonah Lane (1973-2004) […]
When we think of Art Deco architecture in New York City, what often comes to mind are Midtown icons such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, or Rockefeller Center. However Greenwich Village and the East Village boast some of their own Art Deco gems, also worth examining.
The East Village was the first home of the Ferrer Modern School of New York City. First located at 6 St. Marks Place, this school was based on the European model of the Esquela Moderna founded by Catalan educator and anarchist Francisco Ferrer, executed for sedition in 1909. Ferrer espoused education for all regardless of […]
Today is Yom Kippur, so let’s take a look at some East Village buildings that are, or used to be, synagogues. Jewish immigrants to the East Village and Lower East Side were a significant segment of the population of these neighborhoods, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East […]
The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 135 Second Avenue was designated an individual New York City landmark September 20, 1977. The library was built in 1883-4 by Oswald Ottendorfer, a wealthy German newspaper magnate, along with the adjoining Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital. These buildings are both representative of Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany,” […]
On September 20th, 1966, the Flatiron Building was designated a New York City landmark. One of New York’s most beloved and iconic landmarks, the Flatiron Building is known for (among other things) its unique shape, formed by the intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue forming an acute angle amidst the otherwise right-angled, rectilinear street grid of Manhattan. […]
As we here at GVSHP have previously discussed, many streets in Greenwich Village bear an honorary secondary name recognizing important people and institutions associated with the Village and its history. These honorary names are given in additional to the street’s standard or existing name, and typically only applies to a specific block. These renamings are implemented by […]
A while back on Off the Grid we wrote about some of our favorite theaters. Theater, performance spaces, and the arts have all always been an important part of the Village, East Village, and NoHo’s cultural heritage and built environment. And last week, as part of our free public programs, we started a series about theaters […]
Renowned musician Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio will perform in the main sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue on Thursday, October 22, 2015. This special concert, presented by the GVSHP Brokers Partnership and benefiting GVSHP and the Museum at the Eldridge Street Synagogue, provides a unique opportunity to hear one of today’s best klezmer […]
For many people, Labor Day means one last trip to the beach or pool before the unofficial end of summer. Or some need to finish their back-to-school shopping, so it means a day at the stores. How you spend your Labor Day is up to you, but here at Off the Grid we are well […]
On September 1, 1940, Lillian Wald passed away. While not a household name, Wald’s influence on public social services in New York City is exemplary, as she is the founder of the Henry Street Settlement, The Visiting Nurse Services of New York, and is the namesake for the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D in […]
Dive bars and dead prostitutes! While these could be plot points in any Hollywood movie, back in the late 19th century these unwholesome characteristics gave the infamous McGurk’s Suicide Hall its name. Originally located at 295 Bowery (between Houston and East 1st Street) and opened in 1893, McGurk’s was the latest in a string of […]
Here in Greenwich Village, we are surrounded by history. So sometimes when I walk the streets, I try to imagine what life was like at different times in the past. When I see modest Federal style houses, I imagine a time in the early 1800’s when fresh water didn’t come from a faucet, but was […]
Tomorrow, Community Board 3’s Landmarks Subcommittee will hear proposals for changes to two East Village landmarks: St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery (an individual landmark and part of the St. Mark’s Historic District) and Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 415 East 6th Street in the newly designated East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. You can see the proposals for […]
On Monday evening, GVSHP and the New School for Public Engagement hosted a film screening, For The Records — The Legacy and Lessons of Bleecker Bob’s. The documentary film by Emily Judem and Hazel Sheffield explores Bleecker Bob’s impending closure and the nature of change and development in an urban setting. It also showcases the […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Two weeks ago, Off the Grid featured a notice announcing the lighting of the tree in Tompkins Square Park. At this year’s lighting ceremony on December 9th, a plaque was also unveiled that details the history of the tree, and how its annual lighting is a memorial to the devastation of the AIDS epidemic on […]
Recently someone asked me about a building he walked by in the East Village. Showing me a photo of the building on his phone, he figured it was a substation but was curious to learn more. I told him that GVSHP has completed a huge architectural survey of the neighborhood – over 3,000 buildings! – […]
Recently, our friends over at EV Grieve posted a great then-and-now of the southwest corner of Avenue A and East 10th Street. This beautiful building, St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church, became an official New York City Landmark in 2008 (you can read the designation report HERE). Completed in 1883, St. Nicholas of Myra actually has a […]
The holiday season is well underway and our neighborhoods have wonderful events going on to help ring in the Christmas spirit. Today we thought we’d highlight a couple of upcoming events for you. Washington Square Park This past Wednesday, the Washington Square Association held the 88th annual tree lighting ceremony in Washington Square Park. The […]
Louisiana’s notorious Angola State Prison. Folk singer Pete Seeger. The Dry Dock District in Alphabet City. The Library of Congress. Kurt Cobain. http://youtu.be/mcXYz0gtJeM?t=15s Seemingly unrelated, right? Not exactly. They are all connected to legendary folk musician Huddie William “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who died from Lou Gehrig’s disease on December 6, 1949. If you don’t know […]
The eastern- and western-most areas of the Village were among the areas of Manhattan hard hit by Sandy. We recently reported how small business in the neighborhood were stepping up to get back on their feet post-Sandy, but there are others that are still out of commission. Last week Eater compiled a list of restaurants […]
This past Saturday the GVSHP Brokers Partnership presented a film screening of Get Crazy (1983) at the Anthology Film Archives. The screening was followed up with a lively panel discussion and after party at Veselka Bowery. Get Crazy, a campy satire which has become a cult classic, relives the late 1960’s experience of a music […]
In September the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant variances to the Mutliple Dwelling Law to allow rooftop additions to be built at 329, 331, 333 & 335 East 9th Street. Though we are not pleased with the Board’s decision, there is a bright side.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now that the holiday season is underway, we wanted to celebrate with a photo of one of our favorite Italian bakeries – Veniero’s on East 11th Street between First and Second Avenues. As you can see, this East Village sweet spot, which has been serving up scrumptious goodies […]
Many of us have a lot to be thankful for this year- our safety and that of our friends and family, a roof over our heads, and a hot meal. Others, though, are not as fortunate. This Thanksgiving, many organizations and businesses have organized special ways to help those affected by Sandy. Right outside our […]
It’s easy to see much of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. But one of the biggest impacts from the storm was the loss of income suffered by hourly employees due to businesses closed because of power outages, or the inability to get to work. Businesses are not required to pay hourly employees when they […]
Each December GVSHP teams up with students in the Introduction to Public History course in NYU’s Public History and Archives program for a unique event where students present their semester-long research about the social history of a specific East Village street. This year, in conjunction with GVSHP’s architectural resource survey of the East Village, the […]
After riding out the week of Hurricane Sandy at home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as the Greenwich Village Society office was without power, I was fairly anxious to explore somewhere outside my local neighborhood once the city got transit underway. Because my usual train wasn’t running and I had to alter my commute, I found myself […]
We have recently learned that a new building permit application has been filed with the Department of Buildings for 75 First Avenue in the East Village. The permit, just filed and not yet approved, calls for an 8-story residential building. What had originally been proposed was a 14-story building that would have been completely inappropriate […]
Today marks the anniversary of the opening of the first Blockbuster store in the country in 1985, in Dallas, Texas. Filled with childhood nostalgia, we couldn’t help but recall the days when a trip into the local video store to pick out a VHS tape was one of the more exciting moments of any given […]
We hope that you can join us for our upcoming event Reel Rockers: Come ‘Get Crazy’ in the East Village — A Film Screening and Discussion! Presented by GVSHP’s Brokers Partnership, this special event is taking place on Sunday, November 11th (rescheduled) Saturday, December 1st at Anthology Film Archives and you can click here to […]
Last Tuesday, October 9th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Stretching between the Bowery and Avenue A, East 2nd Street and St. Mark’s Place, the district includes about 325 buildings and is the largest ever created in the East Village. We’re excited to see that landmark protections have […]
When you’ve been living in, working in, and researching the East Village for many years you sometimes start to think you know it all. But then there are moments when you’re casually walking down the street, look up, and see something you have never before noticed and know nothing about (this is the beauty of […]
As Curbed and EVGrieve recently pointed out, the renderings for a new building to be constructed on the long-empty lot between 13th and 14th Streets near 3rd Avenue were released the other day. The 83-unit residential building will include “private rooftop cabana terraces,” a residents’ library, fitness center, lounges, and a rooftop terrace with an […]
The Board of Standards and Appeals recently decided in favor of developers seeking to build rooftop additions at 329-335 East 9th Street and to allow illegally built additions to remain at 514-516 East 6th Street. GVSHP, residents, community advocates, as well as Councilmember Mendez had testified before the Board in opposition to the additions citing […]
Yesterday’s news headlines were abuzz with the phrase “subway flaw fixed,” in reference to today’s opening of the connection between the Broadway-Lafayette and Bleecker Street stations. As the New York Times explains, “Until this week, only riders on downtown No. 6 trains at Bleecker Street could transfer to the B, D, F or M lines […]
We recently learned that the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District has been scheduled for a vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on October 9. Since the district was announced nearly a year and a half ago, GVSHP and other preservation advocacy and community groups have pressed for the LPC to designate the proposed historic district […]
The New York Times recently published an amazing article titled “A History of New York in 50 Objects,” which was “inspired by ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects,’ the British Museum’s BBC radio series and book.” Of course, we couldn’t resist compiling our own list in reference to the Village. Here, we look […]
We hope you can join us for our upcoming lecture on Charles B. J. Snyder on Tuesday, September 4th (RSVP information). An architect and Superintendent of School Buildings from the city’s consolidation in 1898 until 1923, Snyder was the guiding force behind the planning and construction of more than 140 elementary schools, ten junior high […]
Do you know where this building is located? One of the most well known and talented families of Yiddish theater who also happened to own some of the theaters on the Yiddish Rialto once called it home. It was built by one of the most prolific developers in the Lower East Side and East […]
Don’t let this title confuse you- it’s the magic of Hollywood! GVSHP’s favorite prohibition-era series Boardwalk Empire is back filming in the East Village today, in the empty lot next to 220 East 4th Street. Above the entrance-way to the lot a large sign was erected reading “Carmine Street Garage.” When the show’s plot detours […]
A 19th century row house on the south side of East 12th Street between Second and Third Avenues is currently undergoing a facelift, though we can’t say it’s for the better. No. 224 East 12th Street was constructed in 1852. Since this year pre-dates the formation of the New York City Buildings Department in 1866 […]
Many people know that the East Village is abundant with Ukrainian restaurants and Eastern European lunch counters. They also know that there are plenty of old-school Italian joints to get some authentic red sauce or cannolis. But another part of the East Village’s mouth-watering culinary heritage is its own Little India– a block of 6th […]
Nestled in the middle of a block of 11th Street between Avenues A & B are two tenements that share their history with one of the most well known and architecturally distinctive synagogues in New York City.
Tomorrow, July 12th, marks a big day for landmark review in the East Village. That’s because Community Board 3‘s Landmarks Subcommittee will be holding its first public hearing regarding proposed alterations to two landmarked properties in the St. Mark’s Historic District. GVSHP will be attending the meeting, as we do in Community Board 2, and […]
You can’t watch a music video, open a fashion magazine or even walk down the street without seeing the latest fashion craze, Technicolor hair. Like so many fashion trends (mohawks on toddlers, anyone?) wearing brightly colored hair started as a rejection of mainstream culture, primarily among the youth of the punk scene. The brand that has […]
The food world is abuzz with anticipation of Joey Chestnut and the 97th annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest which takes place tomorrow. Although we love a good frank here at GVSHP, no one on staff can throw them back quite at that level. To make up for our lack of eating competition skills, […]
Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a designation hearing for the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The hearing room was packed and overflowing with supporters of the district who came to voice the many reasons why this historic district should be designated.
Off the Grid recently reported on how St. Mark’s Bookshop, the beloved independent bookshop in the East Village that won a GVSHP Village Award in 2007, was able to successfully renegotiate their lease after falling sales left the store struggling to make ends meet. Now that St. Mark’s has a new lease, they are getting […]
Next in the Map It! series is Stuyvesant Street, which runs through the northern portion of the East Village between Second and Third Avenues. Today, it’s one of the shortest streets in the city, but did you know at one point it was much longer?
On Tuesday, June 26 the Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. This historic district was proposed last year by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and its boundaries were extended after GVSHP and other community groups advocated to include sites like the Pyramid Club at 101 […]
Right around this time last year, we were more than excited by the filming of Boardwalk Empire at nearby restaurant John’s of 12th Street (check out photos from the filming HERE). So we were thrilled last week when EV Grieve alerted us that the prohibition-era mob show would be back . Today the HBO series […]
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 […]
At a time when over-development is an ever-present threat in our Village neighborhoods, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez has distinguished herself as a staunch advocate for historic preservation and zoning protections. Since 2005, Rosie has served District 2 in Manhattan, which includes the East Village as well as parts of NoHo and Greenwich Village. In recognition […]
