Highlights from the Village Independent Democrats 1980s Collection
This is one of a series of blog posts which highlights our new Village Independent Democrats collection in our Preservation History Archive.
The Village Independent Democrats (VID) are a reform democratic club founded in 1956. In 2023, the club donated their archives to Village Preservation. In early 2024 we released the first part of those digitized archives covering 1955-69, and later that year we released the second batch covering the clubs work from 1970-79. Most recently we released the third part of the collection covering the club’s work during the 1980s, and today we will look at a few highlights from this collection.
25th Anniversary Dinner
On April 2nd, 1982, the VID celebrated their 25th anniversary at their annual dinner. The pamphlet includes a timeline of the club’s work and highlights from their two and a half decades of life.
It included information on the club’s earliest years, a period also documented in our 1955-1969 VID collection, when the club worked to remove the grip of Tammany hall power from local politics. The pamphlet also featured a photocopied arrangement of buttons connected to causes in which VID took part.
Work on Local Bus Routes
Throughout the 1980s, VID continued their advocacy work on local issues. In 1985 they worked alongside City Councilmember and longtime VID member Carol Greitzer to oppose cuts to bus service throughout Greenwich Village and the rest of lower Manhattan.
NYU Advocacy
During the 1980s, the VID also advocated for tenants who were facing eviction by New York University (NYU). NYU acquired a number of buildings on West 3rd and Sullivan Streets, with plans to demolish the structures a replace them with new facilities for the University. In 1982, the club released a resolution on the issue, that can be seen below.
The issue was discussed at committee meetings, where VID organized with local elected officials to oppose the schools expansion. In 1983, organized a town meeting on the issue, using this flyer to advertise:
Despite the groups advocacy efforts, the tenants were eventually evicted, and their buildings raised to make way for the construction of NYU’s D’Agostino hall, a dorm Law Students completed in 1987.
VID Events
Throughout the decade, VID held events throughout the community. This included regular films at the VID movie screenings, blocks parties, and more.
VID hosted many other events throughout the decade, such as a 1988 BBQ fundraiser, a flyer for which is pictured below.
This information comes from the latest addition to our Preservation History Archive, the Village Independent Democrats Collection: 1980-1989. Check out this collection, and the previously-released 1955-1969 Collection, and 1970-1979 Collection, to learn more about the group, and the important contributions they made to Greenwich Village and all of New York City.