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Village Preservation’s Oral History: Jonas Mekas
…a drug area. So once we moved [in], after I bought the building, the neighborhood [said], “Really? You think you can do something with it?” I said, “Yes, I’m going…
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Oral History
Jonas Mekas
Born in Lithuania, Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) came to New York City after World War II and became part of the downtown arts scene as a writer, poet and auteur. He…
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Echoes of Silence: New American Cinema’s Take On Life in Greenwich Village
…come into a Village bar, order beer, smoke cigarettes, listen to bluegrass music and then leave. That’s all. Nothing “happens,” but in some undefinable way a feeling is created. https://youtu.be/1NpYOBQ1feE…
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Anthology Film Archives — 2018 Village Awardee
…again. It was a drug area. So once we moved [in], after I bought the building, the neighborhood [said], “Really? You think you can do something with it?” I said,…
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An extraordinary East Villager
…East Village – people who have been active in the community, making our neighborhoods so special. On this night Marilyn Appleberg, Phil Hartman, Albert Fabozzi, Frances Goldin, and Jonas Mekas…
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Historic Block Slated for Demolition
…including African-American painter Ed Clark and the Japanese-American artists Robert Kobayashi and Nanae Momiyama. In 1963, avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas organized and wrote about screenings that took place here, programmed by his Film-Makers’ Co-op….
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New Oral History: Ayo Harrington and the Struggles for Civil Rights, Urban Homesteading, Community Gardens, and Educational Equality
…artists, activists, preservationists, business owners, and community leaders of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, including Jane Jacobs, Merce Cunningham, Marlis Momber, Jonas Mekas, and Chino Garcia, among many…
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Hettie Jones, 2019 Village Awardee
…is “fully present in the world…who has really thought about life.” With her then-husband LeRoy Jones/Amiri Baraka, she established Yugen (1957-1963), a magazine that published poetry and writings by William Burroughs, Allen…
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New Oral History: Playwright John Guare and 60 Years of Life In Greenwich Village
…East Village of the last half century, from Jane Jacobs to Jonas Mekas, Merce Cunningham to Margot Gayle, Chino Garcia to Penny Arcade. Read or Listen to John Guare’s Oral History HERE Check Out All 60+ Oral Histories HERE…
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John Guare Oral History: a Writer of the Theater, and of Greenwich Village
…Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and…
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Beverly Moss Spatt Oral History: the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s First Woman Chair
…you can find include Jane Jacobs, Rick Kelly, Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas,…
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Matt Umanov: Guitar Hero, Sharing Musical Musings and Memories
…Cunningham, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and James Polshek, among many others. Explore them all HERE. …
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Civil Rights History and Diversity
…LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants, the Latinx community, and Asian Americans. We also advocate for policies for our neighborhoods that promote racial and socio-economic diversity. Explore our map on Hip-Hop’s Second…
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New Oral History: Rob Mason and RPM Studios – A Quarter Century of Incredible Music History #SouthOfUnionSquare
…recording here. Some of the greatest rock, hip hop, disco, jazz, and R&B artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries recorded with Rob, who began his career in…
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David Amram: Artist, Composer, and Beloved Villager
David Werner Amram III is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings. He plays piano, French horn, Spanish guitar, and pennywhistle, sings, and is passionate about teaching music…
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Michael E. Levine Oral History: How the Greenwich Village Historic District, SoHo, and Stonewall Happened
…Jane Jacobs, Rick Kelly, Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn,…
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2018 Annual Meeting
…or ignored. 95-year old founder Jonas Mekas, “the godfather of American avant-garde cinema,” has guided the organization for 48 years, accumulating 20,000 films, 5,000 videos, 2,000 audio tapes and a…
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Oral Histories of Extraordinary East Villagers: New Additions to the Village Preservation Archive
…be sampled that evening, include Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas, Veselka owner Tom Birchard, community activist Marilyn Appleberg, and Phil Hartman of Two Boots Pizza. Karen Loew, Village Preservation…
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Penny Arcade’s Village Preservation Oral History – Chronicles of the Queen of Downtown
…PS 122, writing about and incorporating the work of other performers into her work. Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! (1990) –– written partly in response to Senator Jesse Helms’s amendment banning…
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Eight Abandoned East Village Buildings’ Second Acts As Beacons of Culture
…named for the organization’s founders – Chino, Humberto, Angelo, Roy, Anthony, and Sal – used the building for classes, meeting rooms, performance and rehearsal space, art studios, and galleries. It…
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Remembering Margot Gayle, In Her Own Words
…this committee, which was made up of all men members, and I said, “That’s the only committee I want to be on.” They said, “Well, Margot, I hate to tell…
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Announcing the 2018 Village Awardees
…News Comedy Cellar- Founded in 1982, this world-renowned comedy club is, at heart, a small family business. Original owner Menachem “Manny” Dworman opened his first business, Feenjon’s, in the early 1970s. It…
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Oral History: Ayo Harrington’s East Village
…Mimi Sheraton, Ralph Lee, Fred Bass, Peter Ruta, Richard Meier, Merce Cunningham, Matt Umanov, David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin,…
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Oral Histories
Village Preservation Oral History Collection Village Preservation’s Oral History Project includes interviews with some of the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of Greenwich Village, the East…
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New Oral History: Lucy Komisar and the Women’s Movement, Julius’ Bar “Sip-In,” and Civil Rights in the 1960s and ’70s
…in, or made significant history in our neighborhoods, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan…
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New Oral History: East Village Photography Pioneer Alex Harsley
…film, video, and digital sound, and subjects including musicians, politicians, street characters, and perhaps most importantly, the East Village neighborhood around him. Harsley talks in detail about his decades in…
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#SouthOfUnionSquare’s Status as Crucial Film History Hub Powers Landmarks Push
…#SouthOfUnionSquare, where figures like Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, and John Waters, and an incredible confluence of avant-garde, alternative, and art house filmmakers and venues could be found. As we approach…
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New Oral History: Shirley Wright and the Founding of the West Village Nursery School
…School co-founder Shirley Wright — access it here. Shirley has lived in Greenwich Village for three quarters of a century, and co-founded the West Village Nursery School: a model, progressive…
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Jonathan Ned Katz Oral History: LGBTQ Historian, Painter and Pioneer
…His Paintings, His Life. Explore all of our oral histories here, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph Lee, Mimi Sheraton, John Guare, Calvin Trillin, and Chino Garcia. …
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Oral History Highlight: Colette Smith Douglas
…David Amram, Verna Small, Marlis Mober, Jonas Mekas, Margot Gayle, Wolf Kahn, Lorcan Otway, Frances Goldin, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, and James Polshek, among many others. Explore them all HERE. …
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It’s Almost Oscar Sunday, and the Award Goes to … South of Union Square!
…to Hollywood, throughout the 20th century the movie business was profoundly shaped and influenced by the neighborhood #SouthOfUnionSquare, where figures like Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, and John Waters, and an…
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New Oral History: Author, Historian, Artist, and Activist Jonathan Ned Katz
…history in our neighborhoods, including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph…
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New Oral History: Westbeth Artist Christina Maile
…Strand’s Fred Bass and Romana Raffetto of Raffetto’s; choreographers like Merce Cunningham; activists like CHARAS’s Chino Garcia and Fran Goldin; playwrights like John Guare and Virlana Tkacz; photographers like Marlis…
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David Amram: Inspiring Musicians in the Village, and Throughout the World
…Theatre, and wrote the scores for Arthur Miller´s plays After The Fall (1964) and Incident at Vichy (1966). The Cedar Tavern photo courtesy of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah University Place and…
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New Oral History: Calvin Trillin and More than a Half Century in Greenwich Village
…preservationists, artists, writers, activists, business owners, and other impactful figures of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo since the mid-1990s. These include Jane Jacobs, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, David…
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New Oral History: Calvin Trillin and More than a Half Century in Greenwich Village
…preservationists, artists, writers, activists, business owners, and other impactful figures of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo since the mid-1990s. These include Jane Jacobs, Chino Garcia, Penny Arcade, David…
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New Oral History: Playwright Barbara Kahn Brings Neighborhood History to Life
…architecture, the arts, activism, small business, and civic life. Prior subjects include Jane Jacobs, Merce Cunningham, Marlis Momber, Jonas Mekas, and so many more. Explore All Our Oral Histories HERE…
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New Oral History: Playwright John Guare and 60 Years of Life In Greenwich Village
…East Village of the last half century, from Jane Jacobs to Jonas Mekas, Merce Cunningham to Margot Gayle, Chino Garcia to Penny Arcade. Read or Listen to John Guare’s Oral History HERE Check Out All 60+ Oral Histories HERE…
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