Celebrating the South Village Historic District
Village Preservation has declared December to be South Village Month!
Why, you ask? Well, we kicked off our campaign to seek landmark designation for the entire South Village and its remarkable multilayered architectural and cultural histories in December 2006, achieved landmark designation for the South Village Historic District (which was the second of what ended up being a three-phase designation process) in December 2013, and completed the campaign in December 2016 with the designation of the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District. Cumulatively, this effort was the by far the largest expansion of landmark protections in Greenwich Village since 1969.
Village Preservation has been the leader in documenting, celebrating, and advocating for the preservation of the South Village, the once-predominantly immigrant section of Greenwich Village south of Washington Square and West 4th Street, between LaGuardia Place and Seventh Avenue South, for two decades. In 2006 Village Preservation’s initial proposal for landmark designation of the entire area highlighted its rich history in connection to immigrants, countercultural movements, and its early LGBT and African-American communities. This resulted in the three aforementioned historic district designations (the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II, the South Village Historic District, and the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District) and four individual landmark designations, protecting about 650 buildings and more than 30 blocks.
In honor of the December 17th, 2013, designation of the South Village Historic District, let’s take a look at some of the buildings that represent the district’s rich multilayered cultural history, as identified in the LPC designation report:
Immigration History: 87-89 MacDougal Street (aka 188 Bleecker Street)
The South Village has been home to many immigrants, including Italian, Irish, and German populations. One example among the many buildings that reflect this history is 87-89 MacDougal Street.
Per the designation report: “The building was owned by a corporation that was operated by Italo A. and Adolph J. Fugazy, sons of Louis V. Fugazy. An Italian immigrant, Louis Fugazy established a travel bureau and private bank in Greenwich Village in the 19th century and was twice honored by the Italian government for his charitable work for the immigrant community. Upon its completion, the building housed both the bank and the travel bureau. Following the elder Fugazy’s death, the bank was merged with the Bank of Sicily Trust Co. which remained through the late 1940s.”
“Little Africa” and Black History: 109 MacDougal Street
From the late 19th to the early years of the 20th century, the area around Minetta Lane, Minetta Street, and Minetta Place within the South Village was referred to as “Little Africa,” which was at the time the center of Black life in New York City.
One extant building connected to this history is 109 MacDougal Street. “At the time of his death in 1887, Joseph Ten Eyck, a caterer and restaurant owner resided in 109 MacDougal Street. The New York Times referred to Mr. Ten Eyck as ‘one of the few wealthy colored men of this city.’”
LGBTQ+ History: 93 MacDougal Street (aka 189 Bleecker Street)
Another important facet of the South Village’s heritage is its deep connections to the LGBTQ+ community.
The LPC designation report states that “San Remo Cafe, 93 MacDougal Street/189 Bleecker Street, opened c. 1925, was a working-class bar that became a famous bohemian hangout that attracted, among its most prominent patrons, many gay artists and writers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its notable gay patrons included Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, W.H. Auden, Harold Norse, John Cage, Larry Rivers, Frank O’Hara, and Merce Cunningham. It closed in 1967.”
Bohemia, Counterculture, the Folk Revival Scene, and more: 116 MacDougal Street
There were numerous cafes like the San Remo that were favored by a bohemian clientele over the years, from Beatniks to hippies. Among the almost too many buildings to choose from is 116 MacDougal Street.
“In the early 1930s, 116 MacDougal Street was home to Louis’ Luncheon, a venue known for attracting a varied crowd of writers and Ziegfeld Follies chorus girls, and which had a reputation for being lesbian and gay friendly. From about 1958 until 1971, this was the site of the Gaslight Cafe (aka Gaslight Poetry Cafe), an early Beat hangout offering poetry readings by such notables as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Television reporter Mike Wallace did televised interviews from the Gaslight in 1960 for his special on the Beat Generation. The venue soon became well-known for folk music as well, with early performances by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan cited. Comedian Bill Cosby began his career at the Gaslight, building a reputation for himself as a performer there during the summer of 1962 while a 24-year-old student at Temple University. In 1960, the Fire Department closed the coffeehouse, along with others in the neighborhood, citing safety concerns and violations of city zoning laws – more specifically, for providing entertainment in the form of poetry reading and music without a cabaret license. Protests and sit-ins by patrons of the Gaslight continued until at least the following year, and the café survived until 1971. A coffeehouse called Caricature coexisted with the Gaslight in the same building during the 1960s.”
This is but a brief glimpse into the rich history of the South Village Historic District and the broader neighborhood. See the designation report here, and Village Preservation’s original proposal for the entire area here.