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Category: Neighborhood

LGBT History in All Corners: NoHo

June is Pride Month, an especially exciting time in our neighborhoods.  LGBT history is closely tied with the Village and environs, and this month we’re highlighting the LGBT history of the West Village, East Village, South Village, and NoHo.  Many of these sites can be found on our GVSHP Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, and we […]

On This Day in 1966: 376 Lafayette Street is Landmarked

It was on May 17th, 1966, that the Schermerhorn Building at 376-380 Lafayette was designated a New York City landmark. The grand Romanesque Revival edifice was actually the third on Lafayette Street to be given landmark status, following Colonnade Row and the Astor Library (now home to the Public Theater, a 2017 Village Award winner!).

More is More: The NoHo Historic District Extension

In this series, ‘More is More,’ we look at historic districts extensions in our area. In the previous posts, we covered the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension and the St. Mark’s Historic District Extension.  Today we are going to look at the NoHo Historic District Extension, designated May 13, 2008.  Following the designation […]

The People, United, Will Never Be Defeated

Have you heard that chant, or others like it, echoing off Greenwich Village buildings recently? I know I have, because the recent political goings-on have turned our city and country into one giant public space for demonstration. But in the streets of Greenwich Village and the East Village, this is nothing new. Our neighborhoods’ public […]

126 Waverly Place, A Lesson in Preservation

GVSHP’s recently published Greenwich Village Historic District New Buildings Report for the first time catalogues every new building approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) in the Greenwich Village Historic District, our city’s largest and one of its oldest historic districts.  That’s got us thinking a lot about this set of buildings, and what we can learn […]

A Sketchy Greenwich Village

If you’re walking down the sidewalk and see someone with a small notebook, staring up at a historic building as he jots down a charming sketch of an architectural detail, then you just might have stumbled upon artist Nick Golebiewski. And you might never guess that what Nick’s doing is actually creating content for an […]

East Village CreateNYC event tonight

In 2015, the City Council passed legislation requiring the City to produce its first-ever comprehensive cultural plan: CreateNYC. CreateNYC is supposed to become a roadmap to guide the future of arts and culture in NYC. The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and Hester Street Collaborative (HSC) are working together with artists, cultural organizations, New York City agencies, arts […]

Holiday Cheer, and Gifts, in Greenwich Village

This past Saturday and Monday, many dedicated souls braved the winter weather to celebrate the local businesses of Greenwich Village. With tour guide Joyce Gold, GVSHP and our partners at Village Alliance, Washington Square Park Conservancy, and many local businesses, celebrated the holiday cheer and local atmosphere that is abundant in our neighborhood at this […]

Quiz: Do you really #shoplocal?

Quiz time. How well do you know the great shops selected as part of our Business of the Month initiative? Let’s see if you really #shoplocalnnyc Two people with the top score will be selected at random to win a copy of Greenwich Village Stories: A Collection of Memories Greenwich Village Stories is a love letter to […]

Honoring Patti Smith

On Saturday, December 10, 2016, the extraordinary Patti Smith accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature on behalf of Bob Dylan in Stockholm, Sweden. In a transcendent performance, Smith was overwhelmed with emotion when she stopped mid-performance only to begin again and drive home her powerful rendition of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” to a […]

GVSHP 2016 Book List & Holiday Gift Ideas

In 2016, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation held approximately 15 book-related programs. Each author related their insights, perspectives, and tales of Village history and beyond, showing the multifaceted depth that you can only find on our streets and in our buildings.  What better way to celebrate these wonderful literary works than by giving them […]

Mid-Century Modernism on East 9th

One of my favorite two-block sections in Greenwich Village may be an unlikely one – East 9th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. It’s not the oldest strip in the neighborhood, or the one with the best shops. In fact, it’s home to a rather uniform group of mid-century apartment houses, with almost no ground-floor […]

Village People, Halloween Edition: Shirley Jackson

Halloween is right around the corner, so for this installment of Village People, let’s take a look at a Greenwich Village resident who knew a thing or two about fear and suspense – author Shirley Jackson. During her too-short life, Jackson was a master of the suspense and horror genre, enjoying success during her lifetime […]

Merchant’s House Round-Up!

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, […]

A year ago today, the horrible Intro. 775 was heard, later passed

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 […]

Jean-Michel Basquiat and the East Village art scene of the 1980’s

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 […]

59 Bleecker Street – Art Deco in NoHo

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 […]

Celebrating 51 Years of Landmarking

Fifty-one years ago today, on April 19, 1965, the New York City landmarks law went into effect.  A year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the landmarks law has been spearheaded by Landmarks50, an incredible coalition of which Village Preservation is a member, led by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, the chair of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center. […]

The Death and Life of Louis Sullivan

On April 14, 1924, the architect Louis Sullivan, the “father of modernism,” key figure of the Chicago and the Prairie Schools of Architecture, progenitor of the skyscraper and coiner of the phrase “form follows function,” died. None of these descriptors would lead one to believe that Sullivan would have any relationship to Greenwich Village, much less […]

Happy Birthday, Max Ernst

Artist Max Ernst was born on April 12, 1891.  Ernst was a pioneering figure in both the Dada and Surrealist movements.  The former, often referred to as “anti-art,” emerged after World War I as an anti-war, anti-bourgeois far left  movement.  Dadaist art pieces generally included readymade objects, a critique on the establishment of traditional art making, […]

Rocky Horror Midnight Show Is Born

While the Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in London and Los Angeles in 1975, the now classic cult film was not really successful until it launched its ongoing run of midnight shows here in Greenwich Village. That very first midnight show took place on April 1, 1976, at the Waverly Theatre (now the IFC Center) on 6th […]

The Federal Style Explained

We recently published a detailed report of the Federal style houses which GVSHP has helped to get landmarked, listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, or both.   This architectural style for houses prevailed between the Revolutionary War and about 1835, and derived from the English Georgian style following a classical vocabulary.  In […]

Happy Dyngus Day!

The Monday following Easter is known to Ukrainians as Dyngus Day, and many Ukrainian American communities will host parades and celebrations to commemorate this holiday.  In America, Dyngus Day is celebrated as a fusion of American and Polish traditions, with “polka bands, a parade, consumption of krupnik, and Polish food accompanying American patriotic songs sung […]

One Year After the Second Avenue Explosion

Tomorrow will mark one year since the tragic gas explosion on Second Avenue and 7th Street street that killed two people and led to the collapse and destruction of three buildings and created a gap in our East Village community.  Many groups and people came together with heroic rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of […]

See You on the Dark Side of the Village!

In 1973, Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon; the album hit U.S. shelves on March 1st and UK on March 16th.  Dark Side of the Moon was the band’s eighth studio album, their most commercially successful album, and one of the best-selling albums ever worldwide.  Conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness […]

Was My House a…Brothel?!

It never fails to amaze me what we sometimes find, historically, was located in our neighborhoods. DNAInfo NY recently published an article, “MAP: Discover the Hidden History of New York’s First Sex Districts.”   In addition to a history of prostitution in 19th century New York City, the article features an interactive map.  The map identifies […]

How Greenwich Village Saved Piet Mondrian

The great modern painter Piet Mondrian was born on this day, March 7th, in 1872. Mondrian (born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan) is perhaps most closely associated with the De Stijl movement of the 1910’s and 20’s in his native Netherlands, and with ‘mod’ French fashion design of the 1960’s (see Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Mondrian dresses).  But the time and place which […]

In Old Greenwich Village

I recently came across a book printed in 1894 by Thomas A. Janvier entitled In Old New York.  The section on Greenwich Village contained a treasure trove of illustrations, some of which could be compared to views of today. However, before I get to the images, here is how the author described the Village and its […]

Springtime for GVSHP Children’s Education Program

It may not technically be spring just yet, but the spring semester for GVSHP’s Children’s Education program, affectionately known as “Kids’ Ed,” is underway. Every year GVSHP introduces New York City elementary- and middle-school students to the concept of historic preservation with our 3-session program that includes 2 classroom visits and a walking tour of […]

Oral History: Claire Tankel

GVSHP is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life of […]

GVSHP Oral History: Gloria McDarrah

Village Preservation is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or […]

On this Day: Washington Square Village Found Eligible for State and National Registers of Historic Places

On this date in 2011, the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), presented a “Resource Evaluation” that agreed with the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s earlier finding that the complex known as Washington Square Village was eligible for inclusion in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. In this evaluation, SHPO noted that Washington […]

GVSHP Oral History: Maria Kenny

GVSHP is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life of […]

Funny Face: ‘S Wonderful! ‘S Marvelous!

Funny Face, the iconic American romantic musical comedy directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gersche about a Greenwich Village bookworm transformed into the belle of the Paris fashion runways, was released on February 13, 1957. Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, and Kay Thompson star in the movie, which contained assorted songs by George and […]

Upscale Makeover Planned for Former Animal Hospital and Women’s Shelter, 348 Lafayette Street

The Noho Historic District embraces a broad arc of New York City’s commercial history from the early 1850’s through the 1920’s, during which time this section prospered as a major retail and wholesale dry goods centers.  It offers an eclectic mix of architectural styles and building types including early 19th century houses, turn-of the century office buildings, […]

Remembering East Village resident and musician Lead Belly

As regular readers of “Off the Grid” will know, one of many ways Village Preservation has worked to preserve the neighborhood heritage of Greenwich Village has been to install a series of plaques remembering everything from the radical politics of saloon-keeper Justus Schwab (50 E. 1st Street) and the longtime home of poet Frank O’Hara […]

The “East Village” Is Born, In Print

On February 7, 1960 the New York Times wrote an article discussing changes in Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.  Four years beforehand the El (above ground subway) had been removed from Third Avenue.  With that barrier dismantled, Villagers from the west began to move east as “new shops, luxury and middle-income housing, and […]

Next Stop, Greenwich Village: 1953 Was a Good Year for Leaving Home

On February 4, 1976, the film Next Stop, Greenwich Village premiered. Many movies, television shows, and plays have taken place in the Village, displaying the unique characteristics of the neighborhood, but arguably, none epitomizes the nostalgia of Greenwich Village quite like Next Stop, Greenwich Village. The movie, released on February 4, 1976, is set in the early […]

Village Preservation East Village Oral History: Robert Zerilli

Village Preservation is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic […]

February: GVSHP celebrates African-American History Month

Since 1976, the United States has celebrated Black History Month, also called African-American History Month, in February. Some of our upcoming public programs will join in this celebration. On Thursday, February 4th, historian Joyce Gold will present a lecture and slideshow at the Hudson Park Library about the history of the African-American community in the […]

Remembering Jackson Pollock

Influential Abstract Expressionist painter Paul Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. With his father, a farmer and government surveyor, mother and four brothers, Pollock grew up in Arizona and Chico, California. While living in California, he enrolled at Los Angeles’ Manual Arts High School, from which he was expelled, after […]

Business of the Month: Matt Umanov Guitars

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 […]

NYS Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Preservation in First Avenue Estate Hardship Case

As reported by our allies the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, the New York State Supreme Court recently upheld the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s denial of the hardship application by a developer on the Upper Eats Side seeking to demolish two historic buildings which are part of the landmarked City and Suburban Homes First Avenue […]

Happy 47th Birthday, St. Mark’s Historic District

Forty-seven years ago, on January 14th 1969, the Landmarks Preservation Commission concluded that, “On the basis of a careful consideration of the history, the architecture and other features of this area, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that the St. Mark’s Historic District contains buildings and other improvements which have a special character and special historical […]

The Old New Guy (gal) at GVSHP

  Happy New Year! Tomorrow will mark my four month anniversary working for GVSHP and it has been a whirlwind!  My quiet existence as an architectural historian ended on September 8 of last year as I was swept up in the tumultuous world of New York City Preservation.  Here are a few of the highlights […]

East 4th Street and its Political Past

This post is the second of a three-part series called Histories of Fourth Street, from East to West, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2015 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with preparing a presentation around a particular topic concerning a section or block of Fourth […]

The New York Orphan Asylum

This post is the first of a three-part series called Histories of Fourth Street, from East to West, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2015 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with preparing a presentation around a particular topic concerning a section of Fourth Street in […]

A Look Back at 2015 Programs

As 2015 comes to a close and 2016 approaches, here is a look back at GVSHP’s public programs for 2015. In all, we produced or co-sponsored 60 programs that drew almost 5,000 attendees. Our programs consisted of slideshows, lectures, book talks, panel discussions, interviews, museum visits, walking tours, and other formats. We chose different venues […]

Why Residents of the University Place/Broadway Corridor and Surrounding Blocks Should Oppose the City’s Rezoning Plans

The City’s rezoning proposals ‘Zoning for Quality and Affordability’ (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) are making their way through the public review process. If approved, each would profoundly impact our neighborhoods and our city, increasing the size and amount of allowable development.  And while both have received overwhelming disapproval from community boards and Borough Presidents, […]

Why Residents of the Far West Village Should Oppose the City’s Rezoning Plans

The City’s rezoning proposals ‘Zoning for Quality and Affordability’ (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) are making their way through the public review process. If approved, each would profoundly impact our neighborhoods and our city, increasing the size and amount of allowable development.  And while both have received overwhelming disapproval from community boards and Borough […]

Why East Villagers Should Oppose the City’s Rezoning Plans

The City’s rezoning proposals ‘Zoning for Quality and Affordability’ (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) are making their way through the public review process. If approved, each would profoundly impact our neighborhoods and our city, increasing the size and amount of allowable development.  And while have received overwhelming disapproval from community boards and Borough Presidents, […]

Landmarks50: Saint Mark’s-in-the-Bowery Church

We continue the Landmarks50 celebration by taking a deeper look at Saint Marks-in-the-Bowery Church at 131 East 10th Street. This landmark represents construction over a considerable period of time. The main body of the church – with fieldstone walls and trimmed round arched windows – is of the late Georgian style. It is also the […]