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Category: People

Edward Hopper’s Greenwich Village: The real-life inspirations behind his paintings

There’s no lack of artists deeply associated with New York. But among the many painters who’ve been inspired by our city, perhaps none has had a more enduring and deeper relationship than Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882–May 15, 1967), particularly with Greenwich Village. Hopper lived and worked in Greenwich Village during nearly his entire adult life, […]

Village Preservation Oral History: Merce Cunningham

Village Preservation shares our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each of these histories includes the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. Merce Cunningham […]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Mountaintop

On April 3rd, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered what would become both his last and one of his most powerful speeches, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In it, he called for unity and non-violent protests while challenging the United States to live up to its promise and ideas, saying he could see the day […]

(Re-)Remembering Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was born on March 14, 1923, and died by her own hand a mere forty-eight years later on July 26, 1971.  The acclaimed and celebrated photographer’s body of mid-20th century work focused largely on people marginalized by “mainstream” society.   Arbus’s first Greenwich Village address was a rear carriage house at 131 1/2 Charles Street where […]

15 Trailblazing Women of Greenwich Village and the East Village

Greenwich Village is well known as the home to libertines in the 1920s and feminists in the 1960s and ’70s. But going back to at least the 19th century, the neighborhoods now known as Greenwich Village, the East Village, and Noho were home to pioneering women who defied convention and changed the course of history, […]

GVSHP Oral History: Paula DeLuccia Poons

GVSHP is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each of these histories includes the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. […]

Elizabeth Jennings Graham — New York’s Rosa Parks, A Century Earlier

Exploring African American history in our neighborhoods, today we look at Elizabeth Jennings Graham, a woman who, in her simple quest to get to her church on East 6th Street sparked one of earliest challenges to institutionalized racial discrimination in public accommodations.  In 1854  Graham challenged the segregation of New York City’s trasportation system, about […]

President’s Day Roundup!

Happy President’s Day! Though the Village is only one neighborhood in our great, big country (though ask any resident and they will say the Village should be its own country!), it has some distinct connections to several few of our nation’s past presidents.  To celebrate the day, we are doing a roundup of our presidential […]

15 Sites of Critical African American History in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village has been known throughout its existence for breaking new ground and embracing outsiders. One often-forgotten but important element of that trailblazing narrative is the extraordinary role the Village played in relation to African American history. The neighborhood was home to North America’s earliest free Black settlement in the 17th century, to some of America’s […]

North America’s First Freed Black Settlement Right in our Neighborhood

In continuing our celebration of black history, we have a new and exciting entry to our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map: North America’s First Freed Black Settlement.  According to historian Christopher Moore, the first legally emancipated community of people of African descent in North America was found in Lower Manhattan, comprising much of present-day […]

“Shampoo” and Other Inspirations Found on St. Mark’s Place

Shampoo, the iconic movie satire, was released on February 11, 1975, but is set on Election Day 1968, the day Richard Nixon was first elected President of the United States.  Released in 1975 soon after the Watergate scandal had reached its conclusion, the political atmosphere provides of the time provides a source of dramatic irony […]

The Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union

The presence of banks in neighborhood retail spaces often elicit mixed feelings at best. Typically these tend to deaden the streetscape and are owned and operated by some faceless, distant multinational corporation. But banks also perform an incredibly necessary and important function for local residents.  According to americanbanker.com, only 18% of seniors use mobile banking […]

Many Layers of History on Second Avenue and Second Street

Our neighborhood has many wonderful intersections, where generations of history and culture intersect — too many, in fact, to easily do them all justice. But on February 2nd, the second day of the second month, we thought we’d take a closer look at just one of those intersections, Second Avenue and Second Street.  It may […]

Black History Month 2018 – Learn and Celebrate with Us!

Black History Month gives us the opportunity to look at an important and too often overlooked or undervalued part of American, New York, and neighborhood history and highlighting.  Within our neighborhoods, there is an incredible array of African American histories, contributions, and culture all around us — sometimes hiding in plain sight. African Americans have […]

Philip Glass: A Life in Music, and in the East Village

World-renowned composer and East Village denizen Philip Glass was born on January 31, 1937  in Baltimore.  The child of Jewish emigrants from Lithuania, his mother aided Holocaust survivors and recent arrivals to America by allowing them to stay at their home until they could find a job and a place to live. In 1964, Glass […]

Angela Davis: Her Greenwich Village Connections

This is an updated reposting of a blog by staffer, Matthew Morowitz, January 26th, 2016. Activist, leftist, and radical feminist — these are just some of the words used to describe Angela Davis, a scholar and civil rights leader and fighter who came to prominence in the countercultural era of the 1960’s.  Davis was born on January […]

Remembering the Arch (and other) Conspirators

On January 23, 1917, poet Gertrude Drick, painters John Sloan and Marcel Duchamp, and actors Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis climbed to the top of Washington Square Arch. Drick read a declaration of independence for the “Free and Independent Republic of Washington Square” with the intent of having a neighborhood free from mainstream convention. 

Remembering Jodie Lane

On January 16, 2004, Jodie Lane was walking her dogs in the East Village, where they began to act erratically around the corner of 11th Street and 1st Avenue (about a block away from GVSHP’s offices).  When Jodie went down to investigate, she received a fatal dose of electricity coming from a metal ConEd junction […]

Historic Preservation 101: What is a Landmark?

This is a re-posting of a piece originally written in 2011. Architect Phillip Johnson and others protesting the demolition of Pennsylvania Station 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, […]

Remembering James Baldwin

Through his writing, televised debates, and public speaking across the globe, author and activist James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 — December 1, 1987) was a vital voice for the civil rights movement. He was part of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, as well as the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.  From 1958 to 1961 […]

Happy Birthday, Jane Freilicher!

On November 29, 1924, artist Jane Freilicher was born.  Freilicher was a member of the New York School, “an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s and 1960s in New York City.”  She was also a long-time Village resident and has even included her own recollections about her life […]

Remembering Jimi Hendrix

Who doesn’t know the opening notes? Who can’t recognize the wild, seething energy behind them? Who hasn’t seen his face, wavering with smoke and mystery? We heard him at concerts and celebrations all over the world. We watched and heard those first stark notes at Woodstock. We see him in his bright, colorful outfits. We […]

November 22, 1909: A Frail 23 Year Old Woman Ignites the Strike of the 20,000 at Cooper Union

On November 22, 1909, a frail 23-year-old woman, who’d been brutally beaten by strike-breakers, was helped up onto the stage of the Great Hall at the Cooper Union. Leaders of the labor movement – all men – had been speaking for hours to a crowd of thousands, speaking out against poor garment factory working conditions […]

Suffragette City

Today we look back on a critical milestone in the health of our democracy and a red letter day for the State of New York. The achievement of full voting rights for women in New York State came three years before the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920 granted […]

Stories from GVSHP’s Historic Image Archive- “Is That My Mother?”

Since its online release in August, 2017, GVSHP’s Historic Image Archive has been the source of several amazing stories. The recently released Carole Teller’s Changing New York Collection particularly so, perhaps because these images from the 1960s to 1990s cover relatively recent history, and thus many people connected to people and places in the images are […]

Happy Birthday, Eugene O’Neill

On this day in 1888, Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born, and the course of American theater would change forever. O’Neill became the first American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium and he remains the only U.S. playwright to capture the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Farewell to Matt Umanov Guitars

Last week Matt Umanov Guitars released the following bittersweet statement: “After fifty-three years of having been in the business of helping so many guitar (and all the other fretted instruments) players have the tools with which to make music, forty-eight of those years at my store here in Greenwich Village, in the great City of New […]

From Willem de Kooning’s loft to the threat of the wrecking ball: The history of 827-831 Broadway

Underneath the lyrical and much-admired sherbet-colored facades of the twin lofts at 827-831 Broadway lies a New York tale like no other. Incorporating snuff, sewing machines, and cigar store Indians; Abstract Expressionists; and the “antique dealer to the stars,” it also involves real estate and big money, and the very real threat of the wrecking ball. Ahead, […]

“On the Road” Published

This is an update of a post written by former GVSHP staffer Andito Lloyd. The seminal tome of the Beat generation, Jack Kerouac’s novel, “On the Road,” was published  on September 5, 1957.  Though written in 1951 on a continuous 120 foot roll of paper it took many years and many revisions to finally get published […]

Happy Birthday, Charlie Parker

On August 29, 1920, Charles Parker Jr. was born in Kansas City, Kansas.  A towering figure in American jazz, he spent his final years in New York, and lived at 151 Avenue B, in a now-landmarked building often referred to as the “Charlie Parker House,” from 1950 to 1954, one year before his untimely demise. Parker […]

Happy Birthday, Madonna!

Madonna Louise Ciccione, known simply as Madonna, was born on this day in 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. The singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, film director, author and businesswoman has won more awards and earned more accolades than could possibly be listed here over the course of her thirty five-plus year career. And although she […]

Clifford Odets and The Group Theatre

  Clifford Odets, one of America’s greatest playwrights, passed away on this day in 1963 at the age of 57. Odets grew up in the Bronx but migrated downtown as soon as he could in order to be around the artists, musicians, actors and writers who inhabited the Village. He began his career as an […]

The Glittering and Gritty History of 24 Bond

If you happen to look up while strolling down Bond or Lafayette Streets, you might come upon a curious sight – dozens of small, golden statues dancing along the wrought iron and brick of a traditional NoHo facade. Celebratory and airy, they’re a delightful addition to the heavy, industrial look of the rest of the […]

St. Mark’s in the Bowery: Sam Shepard’s First Theatrical Home

 “…But who knows what is real anyway? Reality is overrated. What remains are the words scrawled upon an unwinding panorama, vestiges of dusty stills peeled from memory, a threnody of gone voices drifting across the American plain. The One Inside is a coalescing atlas marked by the boot heels of one who instinctively tramps, with open […]

Happy Birthday, Debbie Harry

Deborah Harry, lead singer of the seminal punk and new wave band Blondie, was born July 1, 1945.  Both she as an artist and the group Blondie grew out of the ferment of the downtown scene of  the Village and East Village in the 1970’s.  From modest beginnings, they would go on to leave an […]

The Espionage and Sedition Acts

The Espionage Act was passed on June 15th, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I in April of that year. Its goals included limiting interference with recruitment efforts and preventing the support of enemies of United States during wartime. In his message to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson warned that the war would require a […]

Mourning President Lincoln Along Broadway

This is an updated re-posting of a piece originally penned by GVSHP staff member Drew Durniak. It was on April 14, 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln was fatally shot by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington. The event was the first assassination of an American president and sent shock waves throughout the nation. […]

Mother Courage – Serving Feminism and Food

March is Women’s History Month. We here at GVSHP are celebrating by highlighting different sites and locations of significance to Women’s history in the Village. A great source is our recently-released Civil Rights & Social Justice Map, which has more than twenty sites connected to Women’s history and women’s rights; click here to see them all. As […]

Oral History: Gloria McDarrah and Last Chance to Purchase an Iconic Piece of History

Three years ago today, Village Preservation conducted an oral history with Gloria McDarrah, a Village resident for over 60 years and a longtime member of GVSHP.  She worked in publishing, education, and for a while in the 1990’s, at the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Gloria has lived in a variety of locations throughout the Village and […]

Black History Month: Alex Haley

February is Black History Month.  We here at GVSHP are celebrating by highlighting different sites and locations of significance to African-American history in the Village.  A great source is our recently-released Civil Rights & Social Justice Map, which has more than twenty sites connected to African-American history and civil rights; click here to see them all. One […]

More is More: The St. Mark’s Historic District Extension

In this series, ‘More is More,’ we will look at extensions of historic districts in our area.  Extensions to historic districts are just what they sound like — additions to previously-designated historic districts that abut the original district and are determined to share not just geography but architectural and/or historic significance.  Why such areas are […]

2016 GVSHP Year in Review

As 2016 fades into memory, we wanted to look back on all that GVSHP accomplished during the year, and what we have to look forward to in 2017. In 2016, GVSHP: Helped lead the opposition against the Mayor’s plans to roll back neighborhood zoning protections, successfully blocking most of the plan and leaving the majority of our […]

Dissent and “Strange Fruit” in the Village

It seems that President-elect Donald Trump is having a difficult time filling the roster for his inauguration ceremony. In previous years, the inauguration festivities have included extensive and star-studded ceremonies featuring speeches, musical performances, dance numbers, and dramatic readings. But this year, many artists have shown an unwillingness to participate, or have their work featured, in […]

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 […]

Sullivan-Thompson, a District of Immigrants

The recently landmarked Sullivan-Thompson Historic District is one of the first historic districts in New York City so designated almost exclusively based upon its immigrant history and working-class architecture. As stated by the LPC research staff in their presentation before the Commissioners’ vote, “The architecture in the proposed district reflects the waves of immigration that […]

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 […]

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 […]

Happy Birthday Calvin Trillin!

Happy (slightly late) birthday to Greenwich Village resident and long-time GVSHP supporter Calvin Trillin, born December 5, 1935. Mr. Trillin was a contributor to GVSHP’s publication Greenwich Village Stories (available for purchase this holiday season!), and has been the host of several of our annual Village Awards Ceremony, as well as a featured speaker at GVSHP’s benefit […]

Peter Ruta, Acclaimed Artist & Villager, 1918-2016

Peter Ruta, born February 7th, 1918, recently passed away on November 16th, 2016, at his home in Westbeth with wife and family. He was 98 years old. Peter’s life and work were a great inspiration to many, as he overcame incredible adversity to become a world-renowned painter. He was born in Germany, raised in Italy, and […]

10th Street, A. T. Stewart, & Ladies’ Mile

For everyone who attended Saturday’s walking tour, we hope you enjoyed learning about shopping in the Gilded Age and the Ladies’ Mile.  Did you know that November 21 actually is an important date in the establishment of this shopping district?

On This Day: Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”

On November 8, 1972, Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed’s classic paean to downtown New York, and some of the more prominent characters that occupied that space and time, was released. the original single At the time, Walk on the Wild Side was groundbreaking in many ways — musically, lyrically, thematically.  Though it’s now comfortably […]

The House of Death

14 West 10th Street is a Greek Revival house near Washington Square Park with a dark history.  It is probably most well known for being a one-time residence of Mark Twain, but did you know it’s also the site of a terrifying haunting and gruesome tragedy? Let’s take a closer look at what some people […]

Plaque Unveiling for Sculptor Chaim Gross

Yesterday we were honored to unveil the latest in our Historic Plaque Program at 526 LaGuardia Place, where  sculptor Chaim Gross lived and worked.  You may have passed by it many times and not be aware of the magic inside. Working predominantly in wood, stone, and eventually bronze, the work of Chaim Gross conveyed a […]

Archigrafika: Your Friendly Neighborhood Graphic Designers

If you get GVSHP’s monthly program brochure in your mailbox, you may have noticed something different the last few months. We’ve got a whole new look! The programs brochure went through a little makeover this summer, and we’ve got Greenwich Village-based design firm Archigrafika to thank for it. Archigrafika was founded in 2009 by Pratt […]

Happy Birthday, Elinor Wylie!

On this day in 1885, poet and novelist Elinor Wylie was born.  Wylie’s writings were popular in the 1920’s and 30’s, and lived in Greenwich Village from 1921 until her death.

Birthday Blog with Charles Busch!

Charles Busch is the quintessential Villager. A prolific playwright and actor, he has lived in the West Village for most of his adult life. This reporter has been a life-long fan of Charles and so on this, his ??? birthday, I caught up with him amidst his busy schedule to ask him for his thoughts […]

East 11th Street, a Slice of East Village History

As both we and the media have recently reported, two months ago GVSHP requested the landmark designation of a potential historic district on East 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues.  GVSHP was aware that a developer was planning to move ahead with plans to demolish a significant stretch of this block, which we had long […]