Note: This is an updated version of a post originally written by Drew Durniak Since it opened on December 1, 1904, the Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library has served as an important community resource. Situated on East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, the building itself was designated an […]
The arts are the soul and life of our civilization. They are the link which we use to identify individual and shared expressions. It is widely recognized that The Public Theater is one of our nation’s greatest institutions for theater and a cultural leading light. We in the Village are incredibly fortunate that their […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2017 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 6th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. B & H Dairy has been a mainstay in the East Village since 1938, located at 127 2nd Avenue. In 2015, B […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Some small shops pack […]
The developer of the old Stuyvesant Post Office still wants to build higher than zoning allows on the block wide site between East 13th and 14th Streets west of Avenue A in the East Village. Today we hold a rally and public hearing to oppose the variance application for 432 East 14th Street. In the […]
Today we celebrate the glorious structure on the corner of Broadway and East 10th Street: Grace Church in New York. On this day in 1966, Grace Church in New York and its rectory were designated New York City Landmarks. In 1974, the entire complex was listed on both the State and National Register of Historic […]
With everything going on in the world, you may have missed a great new resource DNAinfo recently released: an incredible interactive 3D rotatable map,called How Tall Will New Buildings in My NYC Neighborhood Be? Their 3-D map shows what construction could do to every neighborhood’s skyline and streetscape. To help you see how you could be […]
Browsing through GVSHP’s recently updated image archives, I came across photographs of the Variety Theater, which was, once upon a time, a favorite place of mine to go and see new works of theater. The Variety Arts Theater once stood on the west side of 3rd Avenue between 13th And 14th streets. Built around 1897, […]
Show your love for community centers and spaces for a powerful and quick event next Tuesday. Join GVSHP, elected officials, community groups, and neighbors for a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall to save the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center (the old P.S. 64) at 605 East 9th Street, which is in grave danger […]
“Alternative facts” seems to be the buzzword this week, and may become the phrase of the next four years. For better or worse, for those of us involved in the fight for preservation and against overdevelopment, tackling the concept of “alternative facts” — assertions by someone in authority that seems to have no basis in […]
The Villages and Noho have long been recognized a breeding ground of activity around civil rights and social justice — a fact GVSHP has recently sought to highlight with our own civil rights and social justice map of the Village, East Village and NoHo. Today we take a closer look at just one of a hundred […]
By now the challenges facing small independent local shops are well known. The good news is there are some solutions. GVSHP has gone to the New York City Council in support of some of them. What can you do every day in some way? Visit a local independent shop in your neighborhood! Every month we select a Business […]
Here at GVSHP we are excited about our recently launched Village Civil Rights & Social Justice Map. With our upcoming LGBT history bar crawl at the end of the month (you can sign up for the program here), we thought we would discuss some sites on the map beyond the West Village and its bars […]
The Vesuvio playground, one of the few green spaces in the newly designated Sullivan-Thompson Historic District, is a true haven for South Village children. In the 1920s, the New York City Parks Department started buying land for playgrounds in the then-Italian-immigrant community.
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 […]
Jean-Michel Basquiat, born December 22, 1960, may have lived just 27 short years. But in that time he created a language of art which may resonate more than ever today, and became in many ways the quintessential late 20th century downtown artist.
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. You know you are […]
On this day in 1979, The Talking Heads released their single ‘Life During Wartime‘ from the album Fear of Music. The song not only went on the be a classic of the band’s, the era, and the genre, but perhaps no song better captured the anarchic, chaotic, and ultimately creative feeling of the East Village/Lower […]
Happy Halloween! It’s a time for tricks and treats and taking to the Village streets for mischief and mayhem, fun and fright, and a parade on 6th Ave. starting at around 7pm. Though tonight’s paranormal procession will signal the end of the Halloween season, that doesn’t mean the Village will be without the supernatural until next […]
At GVSHP, we’re proud and protective of many of our community’s more well-known residents. Recently, one of them was attacked in a high traffic online forum, sparking widespread outrage…
Landmarks for Sale—or the Wrecker’s Ball Following on the heels of great success with his free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Joe Papp, the legendary founder of the Public Theater, was looking for a place to build his dream. A place, as he put it, where theater could “live […]
When it comes to modern urban design and planning, perhaps no name figures more prominently than that of Le Corbusier. A Swiss born French architect, he was one of the founders of modern architecture. The International Style, primarily the vernacular of Le Corbusier, was born of the progress of building materials. Compressed concrete, reinforced concrete, […]
A stroll through the Village on a crisp autumn day offers so many alluring bakeries and cafes that it is almost impossible to choose one in which to spend your time! Here is a round-up of just a few of our favorite scrumptious spots for sipping and noshing! Enjoy! And you are welcome!
Tucked away on East 7th Street between Avenues C and D is the former Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarn. This small synagogue, designed in the classical revival style, is set amidst Old and New Law tenements. It’s a small but striking reminder of a time when New York was home to the second largest Jewish community […]
Village Preservation is fortunate to be participating in two terrific events this coming Saturday, September 17th and we invite our friends and readers to come and visit us! Astor Alive! Festival is being presented by the Village Alliance and is free to the public. The Festival will celebrate The New Astor Place, a vibrant cultural […]
Looking for a cool place to hang in the East Village? We have a few ideas for you. Since the Village abounds with some of the coolest places on earth to imbibe, this is really only a starting point. Of course, we went out into the field to do some research! (it was our pleasure, […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Where can you get […]
Summer time, and the bounty of vegetables and fruits are abundant. Sometimes you want a touch more of the flavor of the farm with your meal. Besides local grocery stores and green markets there are Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects in the city. There are three CSA’s in the East Village area you should be aware […]
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 […]
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 […]
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of Veselka owner and GVSHP board member Tom Birchard. As the owner of Veselka for the past several decades, Tom knows a thing or two about life, business, and history on the East Side. So he was an obvious choice for GVSHP’s oral history project — an ongoing campaign to […]
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, the East Village and Lower East Side were home to a substantial German immigrant community. As a result, this area became known as Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany.” Eventually the German community moved north to the Upper East Side and elsewhere, spurred on by the General Slocum Disaster, demographic […]
New York is renowned for its vibrant immigrant history, and the many diverse neighborhoods born out of years of heavy immigration in the 19th and early 20th-centuries. But for all that still exists of famed neighborhoods like Little Italy, the Jewish Lower East Side, or Brooklyn’s Italian Bensonhurst, there are many immigrant enclaves virtually lost […]
Happy Pride Week! Each June during the week leading up to the Gay Pride March, NYC celebrates Pride Week. Throughout the week, different groups and organizations will host events, throw parties, and do general outreach and advocacy to promote the history and visibility of the LGBTQ community. Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has always worked […]
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 nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Whether […]
Three years ago, EV Grieve published a post about the preservationists calling for an archeological review for the former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site. A Roman Catholic Church formerly located at 440 E. 12th St., Mary Help of Christians was demolished in the summer of 2013 to make way for new development. To […]
Springtime has arrived in our wonderful neighborhoods. Many more people are out and about. Locals and visitors alike enjoy our diverse culture, community history and appreciate a part of the big city where you can see the blue sky instead of towers and the greenery of gardens and trees. Here are two special walking tours we recommend. Our own – free- […]
On May 11, 1936, the old Tredwell house on 4th Street opened as the Merchant’s House Museum.
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally by Karen Loew The New York City Marble Cemetery, on 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues. It’s open to the public several days each year. Photo by Bobby Williams, courtesy evgrieve.com. Do the tall arches of the sturdy red-brick Anthology Film Archives reassure you? Does […]
What was there before it was a garden? We get that question often here, and are always ready to help community partners unearth the often little known yet rich history that lies beneath the pavement. Or under a garden bed or willow tree, in this case. Recently we received such an inquiry from one of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Whenever we see another ‘For Sale‘ sign in our neighborhoods, it is often the cause for worry or fear. Concerns naturally arise that another out-of-context tower might obliterate the skyline, or another new development might destroy the unique character of our retail spaces. But sometimes it could be a lot worse, and the hard work […]
Gone but not forgotten, the Village is as much defined by what is above as much as it is by who is below. Though burials in Manhattan were officially banned by the Common Council of New York City in 1852, a handful of spaces continued to serve the deceased up through the 20th century and […]
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 […]
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 […]
During the holiday season we reflect back on the past year. Here at GVSHP we’ve certainly had some big accomplishments. We have also had a lot of wonderful support from our members and neighbors, but we need your help to continue the fight. Please consider GVSHP in your year-end giving! When asked what GVSHP means […]
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 […]
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 […]
On Monday evening, GVSHP presented a program at the Sixth Street Community Center with our own Karen Loew, Director of East Village and Special Projects, and Liza Zapol, an artist and oral historian. The program, “Oral Histories of Extraordinary East Villagers,” was about the concept of oral histories, and new additions to GVSHP’s archive of […]
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) […]
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 August 11, 1981, the interior first floor of the Ottendorfer Library received landmark designation from the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission. The building is a prime example of work commissioned for and utilized by the primarily German population of the late 19th and early 20th century, when the East Village was known as […]
Police brutality, class warfare, gentrification — today these are hot button topics, both nationally and in New York City. But on August 6, 1988, frustrations over these issues converged in the form of protest and riots in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. These protests reflected somewhat the shifting nature of the park and the neighborhood […]
Historically, the Village and East Village have always been the place for artists, writers, performers, and a slew of other creatives in New York City, a fact that is widely celebrated as one of the area’s defining characteristics. The HOWL! Festival is a celebration of this history. Founded in 20013 and named for long time […]
Perhaps the most well-known art movement associated with Greenwich Village is Abstract Expressionism (also known as the New York School). Abstract Expressionism, which focused on the portrayal of emotions rather than objects, originated in the Village during the mid-1940s, and artists of the movement echoed Surrealism (think Salvador Dali’s dreamlike paintings) and/or European Modernism (think […]
With our Annual Awards coming up on June 17th, over the next few weeks on our blog we will present a little more information about each of our 2015 Annual Village Award Winners. Visit here for more information on the 2015 Village Awards and Annual Meeting. Today we will highlight 2015 Village Award Recipient Barbara Shaum, […]
In 1984, East Village resident Dan Root took some photographs for a book that a friend of a friend was going to write about the changing East Village. For a couple of months he took pictures, when time and money allowed, of this changing neighborhood. The book was never written and the photographs were put […]
On April 29, 1996, playwright Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical “Rent” made its Broadway debut at The Nederlander Theatre. As many Broadway show-goers and longtime East Village residents already know, “Rent” takes place in the heart of the East Village during the AIDS epidemic in the mid-to-late 1980s. This legendary rock […]
A lot can happen in 50 years, and many of us are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York City Landmarks Law. It was signed into law on April 19, 1965, by Mayor Robert Wagner after much work by early preservationists, motivated in part by the demolition of the original Penn Station. Since then, […]
At last, it appears that spring has finally arrived in New York City, and not a moment too soon. Many of us feel sun and nature deprived after months of harsh winter weather kept us from going outside to enjoy our favorite parks. But what if we didn’t have to brave brutal temperatures and snow […]
Happy birthday to the Manhattan Street Grid! Hailed by many historians as “the single most important document in New York City’s development,” the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, better known as the original Manhattan Street Grid, was adopted on March 22, 1811! Well before Google Maps navigated our way through the city, the Grid was there […]
Built in 1886, Webster Hall was designated a New York City landmark on a March 18, 2008. According to the Landmarks Designation Report,Webster Hall is “one of New York City’s most historically and culturally significant large nineteenth-century assembly halls.”
Famed Rock n Roll legend and Greenwich Village icon, Lou Reed, was born on March 2, 1942.Reed grew up on Long Island and moved to New York City at the early age of twenty and co-founded the groundbreaking band the Velvet Underground with fellow musician John Cale. From a previous Off the Grid post on […]
Eighteen years ago, GVSHP had the privilege of recording an oral history interview with early preservationist, Edith Lyons, the co-founder of the Joint Emergency Committee to Close Washington Square Park to Traffic. Lyons and the JEC led a seven year battle against Robert Moses’ plan to extend Fifth Avenue through the park. Thanks to Lyons […]
Valentine’s Day is almost here with almost no time left to waste! Due to the predicted below-freezing temperatures for this weekend, we’ve posted a last-minute sample list of local Village businesses that may be able to cover your flower and candy needs, featuring a sneak preview of photos from happy customers posted on Instagram: Sunny’s Florist Location: […]
As part of GVSHP’s ongoing programming, native New Yorker and world renowned artist Frederick Brosen will give a free talk and slideshow at Theater 80 on Tuesday, December 9th at 6:30pm. Brosen’s presentation will feature his selected watercolor works of locations in New York City, including paintings featured in GVSHP’s book Greenwich Village Stories. For his […]
Tonight at the Hudson Park Library at 6:30pm, lesbian activist, independent journalist and East Village author Kelly Cogswell will discuss her new book at our free public program, “Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger”, detailing the origins of the Lesbian Avengers, a direct action group born in 1992 from the Queer arts and […]
After a nearly half-century wait, last week the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission finally voted to approve landmark status for the 150-year old religious building located at 334 East 14th Street, now the Tifereth Israel Town & Village Synagogue, and prior to that a German Baptist and a Ukrainian Autocephalic Church. Ironically, the Commission’s decision was followed soon […]
Veselka, an East Village institution, is celebrating its 60th anniversary and invites the community for free perogies and other Ukrainian comfort foods and beverages this Monday from 6pm to 11pm. Bring your party hats, a hungry appetite and come celebrate this village treasure! A Brief History In the wake of World War Two, Wolodymyr Darmochwal […]
Today on “A Tale of Two” I actually have three tenements to share and compare. This group can be found on the south side of East 13th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. If you’re familiar with tenement design and have a tendency to admire buildings like I do, you might have noticed that these […]
Kids today still know what a pencil is and how to sharpen it, right? In any case, following the news of P.S. 64 we reported on earlier this week, we thought we’d take a look at another (even older) East Village school later converted to community use. This former H-plan school building was constructed in […]
Since 1912, this site has served as a station house for the NYPD (it replaced a 19th century stable and feed store). Originally known as the 15th Precinct Police Station, it became the Ninth Precinct in 1929 when the city’s precincts were renumbered. Fans of TV shows “NYPD Blue” and “Kojak” might recognize the building […]
Next in the Map It! series is 7th Street Place, aka Leandert’s Place and St. Bridget’s Street, a long-lost alleyway on the Avenue B side of Tompkin’s Square Park between 7th and 8th Streets that angled toward the center of the block behind Nos. 183 to 197 East 7th. The skewed property line dates to […]
Last month reader Mike commented on our Lewis Street post that his aunt lived nearby on Houston, and that he remembered seeing a ‘Manhattan Street’ when he visited. I hadn’t heard of Manhattan Street, and since I love looking at old maps, I just had to investigate! Lo and behold, there it was on the […]
This week we thought we’d take another look at sister tenements – designed by the same architect, built the same year, and located next to each other – in the East Village. Constructed c. 1890 by builder/owner Jobst Hoffman, 226 and 228 East 6th Street are two such buildings. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, […]
Two weeks ago our friends at Green Guerillas led us on a tour of some remarkable gardens in the East Village. There are more community gardens in the East Village than in any other neighborhood in New York. Each one has a different story to tell, a different look and feel. And each one is […]
A recent report about a possible five-story expansion atop a century-old building has inspired us to share a bit about this capacious three-story brick structure, which stands at the southeast corner of Second Avenue and 2nd Street. (If you click through to the report, you’ll see in the comments that the current owner denies any […]
Next Tuesday, GVSHP will present a panel discussion entitled, “Historic Preservation, Meet Restaurant Preservation.” GVSHP’s Karen Loew will moderate the evening’s discussion of what can be done to keep our favorite dining establishments from disappearing. Panelists scheduled to participate include former New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton, Eater.com restaurant critic Robert Sietsema, Columbia University […]
Located at 113 East Fourth Street on a through-block lot bound to the north by East Fourth Street and to the south by East Fifth Street, sits one of the East Village’s oldest extant public schools, P.S. 25, now P.S. 751. The Flemish Renaissance Revival public school was designed by Charles B. J. Snyder (more […]
Welcome back to another post in our Throwback Thursday series where we feature everyday scenes of yesteryear. I recently came across some neat market photos taken by Andrew Herman as part of the Federal Art Project. The ones featured today were all taken in the 1930s on First Avenue between today’s St. Mark’s Place (referred […]
At the southeast corner of Bowery and East 3rd Street, within the recently designated Bowery State and National Register of Historic Places District, sits the Bowery Hotel, designed by Matt Markowitz Architect, PC and built in 2002-2004. Maybe you’ve stepped in for an event, or maybe you’ve enjoyed a meal at Gemma, the hotel’s Italian […]
Here’s a neighborhood old-timer for you. The New York Marble Cemetery, which turns 184 years old this year, was developed in 1830 as the first privately owned, nonsectarian cemetery in New York City. We shared some great old photos in this past Off the Grid post. The cemetery can be hard to spot, but if […]
As I was walking along East 11th Street recently I happened to notice two tenements sitting side by side that appeared to be “sister buildings” (built at the same time using the same design). When I headed back to the GVSHP office I looked through building permits we have on file from the Municipal Archives […]
It seems that you can’t look at the news these days without seeing something about Ukraine. From the protests in Kiev, to the Russian annexation of Crimea, to the instability in its eastern cities, Ukraine might not be the place to visit right now. But New Yorkers need not venture far to experience authentic Ukrainian […]
The 20th century had hardly begun when the New York State legislature signed into law a new act to address old problems in this city regarding tenement construction. This groundbreaking event took place on April 12, 1901. Formally known as the New York State Tenement Act of 1901, the legislation was considered a big step […]
For today’s post in our Then & Now series, we thought we’d feature a few locations in our neighborhoods as they looked in the 1980s. Similar to last week’s post on using historic maps, the City of New York’s 1980s tax photos are an invaluable resource in helping us understand our built past. As with […]
Recently, someone contacted us asking about the location of Stuyvesant Alley, which no longer exists. As it turns out, historic maps were able to help shine some light. This long-gone alley could once be found on the block between Second and Third Avenues, and East 11th and 12th Streets not too far away from GVSHP’s […]
The New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery (yes, it’s confusing) both turn 45 tomorrow. Well, they’re actually a lot older than that (over 180 years and counting), but on March 4, 1969 they were designated city landmarks by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. They can be found one block away from […]
Today, most New Yorkers are trudging through the snow and freezing rain, navigating those slushy street corners and not-yet-shoveled sidewalks. Yes, it’s another beautiful day! So as I look out the window at the snow-covered landscape, I think of how I spend summertime in Greenwich Village. One of my all-time favorite things to do, right […]
If you like wandering around the streets of Greenwich Village and admiring the architecture as much as I do, I think you will enjoy this blog post that was written by our colleague Chelsey Berryhill. Thanks, Chelsey – good eye! GVSHP has been a tireless advocate for designation of historic districts. This blog post features […]
This post is the last of a four-part series called Everyday Lives, Ordinary People: A History of East Village Immigrants, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2013 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of everyday people in the East Village between […]
This post is the third of a four-part series called Everyday Lives, Ordinary People: A History of East Village Immigrants, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2013 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of everyday people in the East Village between […]
This post is the second of a four-part series called Everyday Lives, Ordinary People: A History of East Village Immigrants, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2013 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of everyday people in the East Village between […]
This post is the first of a four-part series called Everyday Lives, Ordinary People: A History of East Village Immigrants, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2013 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of everyday people in the East Village between […]
Citizen Kane Psycho North by Northwest Taxi Driver Recognize these movies? Can you guess what they all have in common? As the title of this post suggests, they are all connected through the film scores of legendary composer Bernard Herrmann. Hermann was born on June 29, 1911 in New York City. Before scoring numerous Hollywood […]
On this day one year ago, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission officially designated the East Village/LES Historic District. Encompassing 325 buildings and 15 blocks, centering along Second Avenue and stretching between East 2nd Street and St. Mark’s Place, it is by far the largest historic district designation in the neighborhood, and encompasses much of the […]
It’s been just under four years since the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated as an individual landmark the 1838 Isaac T. Hopper House at 110 Second Avenue in the East Village. GVSHP had strongly supported this individual designation – which happened on October 13th, 2009 — and had given the former Hopper House an annual “Village […]
In the early 1900s, the East Village was teeming with theaters and movie houses. Second Avenue was the Yiddish Rialto, or Theater district, lined with venues showcasing theater performed, written, and directed by Jewish New Yorkers, often in Yiddish. Vaudeville pioneer B.F. Keith (the ‘K’ in RKO theaters, and eventually films) opened his first theater […]
