Provincetown, Massachusetts has long had a deep and interesting connection to Greenwich Village. As one of the largest artist colonies on the East Coast, many of the artists, thinkers, and bohemians of Greenwich Village made Provincetown their summer residence. What attracted these individuals to the region was the mix of fine artists and craftspeople. The […]
Greenwich Village, with its cobblestone streets and historic brownstones, stands as a testament to the rich architectural heritage that defines New York City. Among the many architects who left an indelible mark on this iconic neighborhood, Calvert Vaux emerges as a visionary whose designs seamlessly blend with the bohemian spirit of Greenwich Village, including its […]
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. How do you look like a million bucks […]
Nestled in the vibrant streets of New York City’s East Village at 135 Second Avenue, the Ottendorfer Library stands as a testament to the multicultural and linguistic tapestry that has woven itself into the city’s history. Founded by a visionary immigrant, the library has played a pivotal role in fostering diversity, education, and cultural exchange. […]
Mainstream city planning has known its share of eloquent critics over the years (including, if we may be so bold, yours truly). But perhaps none has been as consequential as Jane Jacobs. Her groundbreaking 1961 treatise Death and Life of Great American Cities announces at the outset its intent to attack current planning and redevelopment […]
In the heart of Greenwich Village, a historic theater emerged as a cradle of creativity and a crucible for groundbreaking theatrical experiments—the Provincetown Playhouse. Established in 1915 in Provincetown, Massachusetts as the Provincetown Players, this group of creatives moved to New York in 1916 and opened what became the permanent home for the Playhouse at […]
He was one of the most significant, prolific, and versatile artists of the 20th century, and he produced several of his many iconic pieces from a studio located in a hidden Greenwich Village alley. We are referring to Isamu Noguchi, whose design work observed no boundaries. Drawing from influences as diverse as Italian marble work, […]
We launched our Business of the Month program on November 13, 2014. Thanks to all of you who have nominated businesses through the years, we have surpassed 100 honorees. Help us to select the next one! Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. […]
You’re probably not that likely to associate military veterans with Greenwich Village and the East Village; in the popular mind, the neighborhoods’ profile is much more strongly associated with peace movements and anti-war protestors (though of course some veterans have played key roles in those efforts). But in fact, reminders of, tributes to, and memorials […]
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. It is good to walk a mile in […]
The Public Theater is opening a significant new play, Manahatta, by Native attorney, activist, and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle. It is fitting that this important piece of theatrical literature will be produced on the spot where, 500 years ago, the confluence of three nations, known as “Kintecoying,” was located. The area that is today Southern […]
Since 1973, New York City has hosted one of the most extravagant and enchanting Halloween celebrations in the world: the Village Halloween Parade. Its beginnings in the early 1970s were quite humble compared to todays internationally renowned affair, starting as an informal gathering of friends and family brought together by Westbeth Artists Community resident and […]
By the time the demolition of McKim, Mead & White’s monumental Penn Station commenced on October 28th, 1963, advocates had been fighting to save the Beaux Arts building for several years. This has often been referenced as the “beginning of the historic preservation movement” in New York City, and while it certainly was a catalyst […]
Costume designer and fashion icon Patricia Field is best known for, among other accomplishments, her work on the television show Sex and the City. For decades, Field also operated a boutique in Greenwich Village that became a fashion mecca, and font of downtown energy and creativity. After graduating from New York University in 1963, Field […]
There have been countless “firsts” in our neighborhoods: the first cappuccino machine (Café Reggio), the first building constructed specifically to house artists’ studios (The Tenth Street Studios at 51 West 10th Street, since demolished), the first racially integrated night club (Café Society) — the list goes on and on. While we at Village Preservation have […]
“You can help save Washington Square Park. Robert Moses can be stopped. A handful of women did it in Central Park. The bird watchers did it in Central Park. The Washington Square Park Committee has helped hold back the steamrollers in Washington Square Park for six years. BUT an all out effort must be made […]
During the years 1903 to 1907, construction was underway for an imposing steel frame structure located on the block bounded by Broadway, Fourth Avenue, and East 8th and 9th Streets. A second phase of construction occurred in 1924 to subsume the “Jones Building,” an existing nine-story commercial building at the northeast corner of Broadway and […]
This is the first entry in our new blog series, “Hidden in Plain Sight,” which highlights the many architectural curiosities and unique features found on buildings throughout our neighborhoods — details you might not notice on first pass, but if you’re paying attention, they tell easily overlooked and often forgotten stories. Every building in Greenwich […]
Greenwich Village resident and photographer Marjorie Zien has spent the last several decades chronicling life in her neighborhood and city. In 2021 she donated a collection of photos to Village Preservation taken throughout our neighborhoods in the aftermath of 9/11. In 2023 she donated to us a new collection of photos, which you can view […]
Greenwich Village has long been a mecca for artists and artistic endeavors. For over a century and a half, the neighborhood has fostered creative energy thanks in part to its charming streets, frequent interactions on those pathways between neighbors and fellow creators, a unique and strong sense of community, and (at times) cheap rents that […]
October is Italian American History and Heritage month, and it is impossible to deny the influence that Italian culture and immigration has had on our neighborhoods. This is especially true in the South Village, an area which in the early 1900s was a predominantly Italian neighborhood, and one near and dear to Village Preservation’s heart, […]
Edwin Fancher (August 29, 1923 – September 29, 2023) was a co-founder and part-owner of The Village Voice, along with partners Dan Wolf and Norman Mailer, from the 1950s until the 1970s. The Voice functioned as a local alternative newspaper for Greenwich Village (and by extension for New York City) and as an important national arbiter of “hip” […]
If New York City streets had their own royal court, Broadway would be the old king and Fifth Avenue would be its fabulous queen. Just saying Fifth Avenue evokes glamour, iconic stores, incredible museums, and beautiful parks. Beginning here in Greenwich Village at the entrance of Washington Square Park, Fifth Avenue passes the Flatiron Building, […]
The American Indian Community House (AICH) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of Native Americans living in New York City. With a mission to enhance the well-being of Native Americans and promote intercultural understanding, the AICH offered a range of services, including substance abuse counseling, HIV support, career assistance, and visual and […]
Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) is one of those artists whose work is familiar even to people who may not know his name. For many, he is the quintessential political artist; a classic Social Realist who first gained recognition for the series of 23 paintings he did in the early 1930s,The […]
Since September 11, 2003, twin pillars of light have pierced the Lower Manhattan sky from dusk to dawn each year, briefly reverting our skyline to an impression of its previous self. First implemented as a months-long temporary art installation in early 2002 to commemorate the September 11th attacks, Tribute in Light was reinstalled on the […]
The painter Alfred Mira (1900 – 1981) was born into an Italian immigrant family and grew up Greenwich Village. His father worked as a carpenter, but young Mira had dreams of becoming an artist. His family couldn’t afford the 50 cent daily tuition for art school, so Mira took a job at an interior decorator […]
“I always hope my art inspires people to be nice human beings.” says artist Magda Love. “The world is really fucked up; so if you have the power to create something positive and make people feel good, why not?” As luck would have it, Love does have that power, and she has deployed it, alongside […]
A year or two into my career as a historic preservationist, I was accused (in good humor) of being a warden of “the ephemera of New York.” I tended toward a particular interest in protecting the seemingly minor and often transient aspects of our built environment: attributes such as vault lights, sidewalk grates, and paving, […]
Linda Yowell, architect and preservationist, recently donated a wide assortment of photos to Village Preservation’s Historic Image Archive, covering the 1970s through the late 1990s. Among them are images of small businesses that Yowell, who has also been a Village Preservation trustee since 1998, captured during that period. Some of the stores have long since […]
Here at Village Preservation, our love of preserving history and adaptive reuse extends beyond buildings to all manner of objects and materials that came before us. Luckily, our area is full of small businesses that share that same environmentally-conscious philosophy. We’ve previously shared some of our favorite thrift stores, and today we’re rounding up even […]
One of the best things about walking around our neighborhoods is the delight in looking up and discovering a beautiful or unique feature of a building. You can traverse the same street a thousand times, and on the thousand-and-first pass, a stone detail or a colorful window sill that you’ve never noticed before might catch […]
Greenwich Village has always been a cutting edge neighborhood, but who were the true trendsetters? Who dared to dream up something truly novel and break barriers we didn’t even know existed? Greenwich Village boasts an abundance of history, but it’s rare to find historical figures who can truly claim to be the first. In the […]
Tony Bennett (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023) was one of the most beloved jazz musicians of all time. Armed with a set of golden pipes and an even more golden heart, Bennett garnered near-universal admiration with a career spanning over seven decades. The landscape of music has shifted to become nearly unrecognizable since […]
Beverly Moss Spatt (1924-2023) was a leading figure in New York City planning and preservation for over fifty years. She grew up in Brooklyn where she helped form that borough’s first reform Democratic club. She served on the City Planning Commission from 1966-1970 and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1974-1982. She served as […]
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. Our July Business of the Month is your […]
Connie Converse was arguably the first modern singer-songwriter, writing and playing intimate songs on her acoustic guitar in the mid-1950s, before Bob Dylan ever arrived in Greenwich Village. But her original, beautiful, and remarkably poignant talent has remained virtually unknown — until now. The moving, witty, and melodically sophisticated songs she wrote in the 1950s […]
Many of the most revered artists of the past century were profoundly impacted by their time in and around our neighborhoods. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has risen above even those icons to become the top-selling female artist on the planet, all while developing a style that is as immersive as it is iconic. Born March […]
Sex and the City, the wildly successful TV series that premiered on June 6, 1998 and captivated audiences with its fashionable characters and hooky storylines, showcased many New York City locations with its fairy tale version of city life, more than a few of which were in our neighborhoods. These locales were often as important […]
Born in March 1873, Inez Haynes Irwin, otherwise known as Inez Haynes Gillmore, was a remarkable suffragette, author, and feminist that once resided here in Greenwich Village at 240 West 11th Street. Inez had a storied life that went against many of the societal norms for women at that time. In one of her first […]
Here at Village Preservation we strive to highlight the lives and contributions of the many artists who lived, dreamed, and created profound works of art in our neighborhoods. Now, we’re excited to partner with On This Spot, a nonprofit digital mapping project, to do just that! On This Spot shares the inspiring stories of a […]
There’s no doubt that summertime in our New York City neighborhoods is sizzling hot! And as thermometers continue to tick upward and Independence Day celebrations approach, we recommend that you skip the fireworks and head into some of the coolest institutions in the city: independent bookstores. Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo have some of […]
In 1967, gay rights activist Craig Rodwell had a vision for a place that would serve not only as a bookstore but also as a space for community gatherings and activism. As a volunteer for the New York chapter of the Mattachine Society, a political group advocating for gay rights, Rodwell believed that the group […]
The cultural and artistic ecosystem of Greenwich Village has provided us with no shortage of literary giants to admire, study, and honor. Prominent among them, yet hardly ever mentioned in the canon of 20th century American poets, is José García Villa, an acclaimed Filipino poet lovingly referred to as the “Pope of Greenwich Village.” Villa […]
It is a well-known and celebrated fact that countless visual artists have lived and worked in Greenwich Village over the years. These talented individuals have made the neighborhood their home, drawn to the historic architecture and vibrant culture spurred by fellow creatives. One artist, perhaps lesser known in the mainstream but certainly influential within her […]
For five seasons, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had us slapping our knees and laughing from our bellies with its quick-witted humor and whimsical absurdity. Each character seemed to move at a mile a minute through their own struggles and ambitions, set against the backdrop of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the […]
Not that long ago, someone strolling down one of our neighborhood streets could have been forgiven for not looking up from their iPhone, except perhaps to avoid walking into oncoming traffic. All that started to change 11 years ago, when we launched our historic plaque program. These days, not looking increasingly means missing out on […]
The dance performance of “Strange Fruit” portrays the emotional journey of a white woman as she reacts in horror to the sight of lynching she witnessed and participated in. This dance interpretation of the poem by Abe Meeropol was performed by trailblazing dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist Pearl Primus at Cafe Society in April 1943, only […]
One of the delights of working in the field of historic preservation is getting to regularly dig into old image archives, where unique, wonderful, and fleeting glimpses into the past await, captured from the perspectives of individuals who lived and worked in these neighborhoods. Riccardo Spina, whose family first arrived in Greenwich Village from Italy […]
Humans, anthropocentric as they are, project their emotive capacity onto the inanimate world. If you’re throwing away an old pair of shoes, and you stare at them long enough, they will stare back at you sadly. Those who can make art out of manipulating these transfigurations are almost like magicians. And for years, we were […]
Honor Our LGBT Elders Day is celebrated each year on May 16th. While every day is a good day to pay tribute to those who have paved the way for the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender) community, it is also fitting to set aside a special day to honor and celebrate the courage, persistence, […]
At the age of 24, after spending a decade building her music career in Nashville, Tennessee, Taylor Swift moved to New York City. Like so many artists before her, Swift was particularly drawn to Greenwich Village, and many of her songs since have paid tribute to the neighborhood. During her early period in New York […]
Coming up the weekend of May 20-21 is the Sacred Sites Open House, a series of programs organized by the New York Landmarks Conservancy to give visitors unique access to an array of religious institutions across the state (Village Preservation is a cosponsor of the event.) Several of those churches stand in the neighborhoods we […]
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. Given a choice between switching pharmacies and breaking […]
Going to the movies: One of America’s favorite pastimes. Before the advent of at-home technologies such as VHS, DVDs, and certainly streaming services, often the only way to see a beloved old film, or to discover one you may have missed when it was first released, was at a revival movie house. The earliest of […]
As a historian, researcher, and photographer active in preservation, Susan De Vries has been a valued contributor to the field for over two decades. Recently, we’ve added some of her photographs to our Historic Image Archive. Within these collections are images of some of the historic buildings we’ve worked to protect over the past few decades. Early in […]
Village Preservation’s Spring House Tour Benefit is finally making its long-awaited return! The time-honored and much-beloved event heralds the start of spring in our beautiful neighborhoods, and we are pleased and excited to be able to produce our 22nd tour on Sunday, May 7th. While the locations are always a closely kept secret until the […]
Art Smith was an influential American jewelry designer who gained popularity in the mid-20th century for his bold and abstract designs. At his studio in Greenwich Village, Smith created unique theatrical pieces, inspired by surrealism and biomorphism. His jewelry was meant for everyday wear, designed to be comfortable enough for daily use but suitably eye-catching […]
There were many facets to the extraordinary life of Otis Kidwell Burger. A West Village native, her experiences in the early preservation battles of our neighborhood were a part of the story of keeping the Village the Village. As the great-granddaughter of abolitionist and National Anti-Slavery Standard editor Sydney Howard Gay, and the granddaughter of […]
Greenwich Village lost one of its most eloquent voices with the passing of food critic and author Mimi Sheraton (1926-2023). She was a champion of her neighborhood, where she lived for almost 80 years, a friend to Village Preservation, collaborating with us on numerous occasions, and a generous font of knowledge and wit to generations […]
From 1939 until 1941, the New York City Department of Taxation collaborated with the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) to take photographs of each building in the five boroughs. Known then as the “Real Property Tax Card Record System for the City of New York,” the initiative started in 1938 when the Department of Taxation […]
There comes a time each spring when one can’t help but marvel at the sights and sounds of our neighborhoods. The blooming magnolias and budding leaves are made even more beautiful by smiles on the faces of New Yorkers who seem to have finally defrosted after a long winter. But if you keep a close […]
April is National Poetry Month! Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, the month of April marks a marvelous opportunity to celebrate the expressiveness, delight, and pure charm of poetry. National Poetry Month reminds us of the integral role of poets and poetry in our culture. It is only fitting to recognize several […]
In the early 1800s, the area around modern-day Christopher Street was suffering from overcrowding, following the migration of residents from lower Manhattan after the yellow fever outbreak of 1822 that helped to create Greenwich Village. A devastating fire in 1835 led to residents calling for open space, and on April 5, 1837, they got their […]
108, 110, 112, and 114 Waverly Place are a curious collection of houses. They are all that remain of nine houses built in 1826 for city comptroller Thomas R. Mercein. What were originally federal style houses have all been extensively altered throughout the years, resulting in a diverse spread of architectural styles. Maybe this eclecticism […]
Independent small businesses are one of the cornerstones of our neighborhoods. They don’t just provide services and goods, they respond to the particular tastes and needs of their community. Fashioned as they are after the individual visions of their owners, they also help create a distinctive sense of place. In addition, they often enhance local […]
As we approach the deadline for the 2023 Village Awards, we want to share some past awardees to inspire your nominations for this year! We will celebrate the award winners at our 33rd Annual Village Awards & 43rd Annual Members Meeting 2023 on Tuesday, June 13th at The Cooper Union’s Great Hall!
Why would you want to take the time to nominate your favorite for a Village Award? Here are some great reasons!
The Cherry Lane Theatre opened as the Cherry Lane Playhouse in 1923, and is located within what was designated as the Greenwich Village Historic District in 1969 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The Cherry Lane has the distinction of being New York City’s oldest, continuously operating Off-Broadway theatre. Tucked away from the bustle of the city along […]
St. Patrick’s Day is finally upon us! While we deeply appreciate the cultural, political, social, religious, and economic heritage that the Irish have brought to our neighborhoods, let’s not forget the infusion of important gathering places and civic centers that the Irish brought to our shores: The Irish Pub. New York City’s drinking culture has […]
Ada Louise Huxtable (March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) was arguably the most formidable critical voice regarding architecture of the second half of the 20th century. Huxtable, who became the New York Times’ first full-time architecture critic in 1963, had the uncanny ability and excellent foresight to analyze architecture in a manner that highlighted the […]
2023 Awards Nominations are Now Open! Each year, Village Preservation honors invaluable local leaders, institutions, business, places and organizations at its Annual Meeting and Village Awards. This fun and free public event highlights and celebrates those that make our neighborhoods some of the most interesting and exceptional in the city. Nominations are now open until […]
“South of Union Square, the Birthplace of American Modernism” is a series that explores how the area south of Union Square shaped some of the most influential American artists of the 20th century. Isabel Bishop, Fourteenth Street, 1932. Image via Radford.edu. Village Preservation’s proposed South of Union Square historic district attracted painters, writers, publishers, and radical […]
Your input is needed! Today we celebrate 100 Businesses 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. In November 2014, we started our popular Business of […]
In 1951, Harry Belafonte decided he was finished with singing. For the past few years, he had been taking acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School with the influential German director Erwin Piscator, alongside Marlon Brando and Sidney Poitier. All the while he was performing with the American Negro Theater. Belafonte was […]
At the core of the Beat Generation was beloved East Villager Allen Ginsberg. He challenged the barriers that restricted what writers could print and created a handful of pieces that revolutionized American literature as we know it today. Recently, we discovered an old photograph via the Allen Ginsberg Project that inspired us to take a […]
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 people say that love makes the world […]
Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) is one of the most well-known New York Abstract Expressionist painters. Born and raised in Chicago, Mitchell moved to New York City in 1949 after graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago and completing a fellowship in France. Naturally, she settled in Greenwich Village and the […]
It is perhaps the most versatile of foods, easily customizable to cultural and personal tastes and endlessly variable in style and ingredients. It is somehow both simple enough for home cooks who want to pop whatever is on hand into a toaster oven, and complex enough for chefs who turn its ingredients and their application into […]
Our oral history collection contains many incredibly compelling stories about our neighborhoods’ histories, told from a first-person perspective by those who were in the center of the action. Perhaps no one was more central to one of the most epochal battles in our neighborhood — the David vs. Goliath fight to prevent a highway from […]
Many of us may daydream about being transported back to the bohemian Greenwich Village of the 1960s. Beyond our own imaginations, one particularly effective way to do that is via Lorraine Hansberry’s incisive play The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, revived at the Brooklyn Academy of Music from February 4 through March 24, 2023, the […]
Known for its eclectic ambiance and creative energy, the area South of Union Square has historically acted as a magnet for hundreds of musicians, painters, photographers, and the like. As a center of music history, dozens of South of Union Square spots hosted Grammy-award-winning musicians, singers, and producers that shaped the music industry we know […]
Occasionally referred to as the “Grand Dame of Washington Square Park,” Doris Diether (January 10, 1929 — September 16, 2021) was a critical figure in the early preservation battles of Greenwich Village. Doris was a dedicated member and the eventual head of the Zoning Committee for Community Board 2. Additionally, she was an early member […]
“South of Union Square, the Birthplace of American Modernism” is a series that explores how the area south of Union Square shaped some of the most influential American artists of the 20th century. This area, which Village Preservation has proposed be designated an historic district, has attracted painters, writers, publishers, and radical social organizations throughout […]
The long-term partnership between Willa Cather and Edith Lewis has been reflected on and written about as a symbol of female empowerment and LGBTQ+ history for years. Today, we reflect on Edith as the close companion of Willa Cather and the many chapters of her life. Edith Lewis was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on December […]
This is the latest installment of Off the Grid’s series, “My Favorite Things,” in which we showcase some of our very favorite spots around the neighborhood, highlighting the incredible architecture, history, people, and businesses of the Village, East Village, and NoHo; read more HERE. There is so much light and loveliness to be found in our […]
On Thursday, December 8th, the audience of our program “Village Preservation at Westbeth Gallery’s Winter Show” had the opportunity to hear directly from artist and Westbeth resident Christina Maile. Christina is self described as trained as a landscape architect, her writing and visual work references colonialism, feminism and extinction and she is of Dayak and West Indian descent.
Everyone in the audience at the gallery very quickly became aware of the depth of knowledge Christina has to share about Westbeth Artists Housing. This program was a great introduction to the launch of Christina’s oral history with Village Preservation, which is available here on our website.
In the early 20th century, Greenwich Village was teeming with vitality and possibility. Great intellectuals met on street corners, in cafes, as part of clubs, using the neighborhood as a playground for their minds to connect and create. One center of such interactions was the Heterodoxy Club, the women’s debating group that created common ground […]
Happy holidays, neighbors! If you’ve been struggling to find the perfect gift for the loved ones in your life, look no further. Village Preservation is spreading holiday cheer with a gift guide to help you shop, all while supporting the small, local businesses that make our neighborhood such a whimsical, wondrous place! The shops on […]
Modern life presents us with a perpetual binary choice, especially when it comes to shopping and dining: go out and explore the world, seeing what surprises it has to offer; or tap a screen and see what algorithms bring to your attention and delivery services may bring to your door. To us, the advantages of […]
Accounting for 40 percent of energy consumption in the United States, residential and commercial buildings are a focal point of energy policy, research, and data. Since 1950, the United States has been making strides toward creating a more efficient energy system. Most of this progress, however, has overlooked the ability to retrofit and renovate the […]
In simple terms, #GivingTuesday is a celebration of generosity. Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday was born and incubated at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact in New York City. The movement was built as a way of making a day of the year that encourages people to do […]
On Thanksgiving Day, 1902, Greenwich House opened its doors at 26 Jones Street. Founded by Mary K. Simkhovitch, this settlement house would soon become a pillar of social and cultural enrichment in Greenwich Village. Greenwich House offered its service to thousands of immigrants in the following years. Today we’re reflecting on the history of the house and […]
Everyone knows our neighborhoods have been home to some of the world’s most celebrated literary icons. However, for some of these icons, their revolutionary writing has been a magnet for scorn and animus as much as it has been for admiration. These authors have often found their work censored by private individuals, government officials, or […]
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org. As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening […]
It is no secret that the New York School Artists were deeply rooted in and influenced by Greenwich Village and its environs. The “Club” at 39 East 8th Street, the Ninth Street Show, and the 10th Street Galleries in the proposed South of Union Square Historic District shaped 20th century American art. Jackson Pollock kept […]
Last year we introduced the Mannahatta Project’s Welikia Map – an innovative tool that provides insight into the historical landscape of Manhattan Island in 1609. Dr. Eric W. Sanderson and his team consolidated key data that ranged from the ecological make-up of the environment to the surrounding Lenape settlements to create the map. As a […]
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. It has often been said that New York […]
Fiercely independent and feverishly devoted, Jeannette Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was the first woman to be elected to Congress in 1916, three years before women across the country were granted suffrage by the 19th Amendment. She is known not only for this feat, but for being one of 50 members of […]
When asked about the studio at 20 – 22 Bethune Street in Greenwich Village he shared with Ben Shahn, Walker Evans told the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Art “This is all interesting. This is what I say: People do get drawn together when they’re sort of meant to.” Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – […]
