It was August 23 of 1813 when the Common Council of New York City officially put the name “The Bowery” on the books as a city street name. But New Yorkers had already been calling it by that name for centuries, and native residents of the island had been walking its path for even longer. […]
You may know that every Thursday, social media (Instagram especially) is abuzz with #tbt. The hashtag stands for Throwback Thursday and it’s a chance for everyone to post fun, funny, or interesting old photos. We love to participate in #tbt because it’s a great chance to highlight historic images of our city, and today we’re […]
August 8th, 2007 was a joyous day in the GVSHP office – because that’s when we first received written notice from the LPC than they planned to consider Webster Hall for landmark designation. GVSHP had worked hard to achieve this milestone, providing the LPC with a dossier of research on the historic hall and its […]
If you happen to look up while strolling down Bond or Lafayette Streets, you might come upon a curious sight – dozens of small, golden statues dancing along the wrought iron and brick of a traditional NoHo facade. Celebratory and airy, they’re a delightful addition to the heavy, industrial look of the rest of the […]
Didn’t make it to a recent GVSHP program? Visit our website to see photos, videos, and sometimes even presentation materials from recent programs. Photos and video from Saturday’s Basquiat and NoHo panel are now online! This past Saturday, just two doors down from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s last home and studio, GVSHP and Ayanna Jessica Legros presented a panel exploring the artist, his identity, and […]
This is a re-posting of a piece written by GVSHP’s Matthew Morowitz. Sunday, July 9th marked the 198th anniversary of the last execution that took place in Washington Square – the site of our neighborhood’s now-beloved public park. To commemorate this striking and layered anniversary, we are reposting an article on the subject originally written […]
This summer, members of GVSHP’s first-ever book club (myself included!) are reading Tim Murphy’s Christodora together. It’s a time-travelling exploration of evolving neighborhoods, the impact of HIV/AIDS, and how the lives of New Yorkers can intertwine and connect in ways you never quite expect. Each week, members receive an email containing story recaps, additional reading, discussion […]
To celebrate the birthday of Villager and oral history interviewee Gloria McDarrah, we’re reposting an earlier Off the Grid piece written by Lauren Snetiker. Since writing this piece, GVSHP has released even more oral history interviews. See a full list on our website, and look out for more releases later on in 2017. GVSHP is excited […]
This post is adapted and updated from an earlier Off the Grid post written by Karen Loew in 2014. On June 10, 2014, GVSHP and Two Boots Foundation had the great pleasure of marking, with a commemorative plaque, the home of poet Frank O’Hara at 441 East 9th Street (just west of Avenue A). In […]
Earlier this year, we were gifted with a truly extraordinary set of photographs from a photographer and longtime East Villager. There’s still some work to be done before we can present you the entire bunch (stay tuned for more on that soon!) but until then, I thought I’d share an image that really caught my […]
It was on May 17th, 1966, that the Schermerhorn Building at 376-380 Lafayette was designated a New York City landmark. The grand Romanesque Revival edifice was actually the third on Lafayette Street to be given landmark status, following Colonnade Row and the Astor Library (now home to the Public Theater, a 2017 Village Award winner!).
In commemoration of Jacob Riis’s birthday on May 3rd, we’re re-posting an earlier piece by Ted Mineau about Riis’ life and work. Interested in reading more about the famous photojournalist? Check out all our past posts on Riis and his legacy. On May 3, 1849, Jacob August Riis was born in Denmark. At age 21, he immigrated […]
One of my favorite places in New York has always been St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery on 2nd Avenue and 10th Street. Long before I actually stepped inside it’s peaceful courtyard or impressive interior, I was so charmed by the way it sits diagonally on its lot – an obvious vestige of a bygone, pre-grid era in New […]
Seen a movie lately? If so, you have the West Village’s Bell Laboratories (now known as Westbeth) to thank for all the dialogue, music and sound effects that you heard. On this date in 1926, the revolutionary technology responsible for what were then known as “talkies” — or the addition of soundtracks to motion pictures […]
This is an updated re-posting of a piece originally penned by GVSHP staff member Drew Durniak. It was on April 14, 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln was fatally shot by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington. The event was the first assassination of an American president and sent shock waves throughout the nation. […]
Although Paul Robeson is most strongly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, this dynamic public figure cut his teeth on the Greenwich Village theater circuit and fully embraced the bohemian, progressive, and activist lifestyle that made the neighborhood so famous. A college football star, lawyer, actor, and activist, Robeson was even the subject of a great sculpture […]
This Saturday and Sunday, expert tour guide Joyce Gold will lead tours celebrating the radical, notorious women of Washington Square. The square and its environs have a long been home to creative, politically active, and influential women. In the spirit of these women and Joyce’s upcoming tours, I’ve been thinking a bit about another innovative […]
Here at GVSHP, we’re always singing the praises of the avant-garde, innovative, inspiring women of Greenwich Village, East Village and NoHo. But since March is Women’s History Month, we’ve got a great reason to shine an even brighter spotlight on the legacy of our lady neighbors. Today, let’s talk about playwright, essayist, and activist Ana Maria […]
Historic Preservation in this country is, in many ways, undergoing a bit of a face lift. If at one time the field was seen as a pursuit of the moneyed and genteel, preservation these days is focusing on community, on culture, and on grassroots development. As our urban centers face unprecedented growth, gentrification, and threats […]
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love may be in the air for some, while others (myself included) might just use this holiday as a great excuse to binge on sugar. But no matter how the adults are celebrating, we can count on school children across the country to tote paper valentines into class today. Store-bought valentines offer all shapes, themes, […]
This week, James Baldwin, one-time resident of Greenwich Village, returns to his old neighborhood — on the silver screen at least. Film Forum is showing the new documentary I Am Not Your Negro, based on Baldwin’s unfinished text Remember This House, and directed by Raoul Peck. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the […]
Have you heard that chant, or others like it, echoing off Greenwich Village buildings recently? I know I have, because the recent political goings-on have turned our city and country into one giant public space for demonstration. But in the streets of Greenwich Village and the East Village, this is nothing new. Our neighborhoods’ public […]
It was 100 years ago on January 23rd that a group of Village bohemians – artists, poets, writers, actors – had had enough. They had moved to Greenwich Village to live their own kind of lives, free of convention, free of rampant capitalism and moralizing, free of strict social rules they felt degraded society rather […]
It seems that President-elect Donald Trump is having a difficult time filling the roster for his inauguration ceremony. In previous years, the inauguration festivities have included extensive and star-studded ceremonies featuring speeches, musical performances, dance numbers, and dramatic readings. But this year, many artists have shown an unwillingness to participate, or have their work featured, in […]
If you’re walking down the sidewalk and see someone with a small notebook, staring up at a historic building as he jots down a charming sketch of an architectural detail, then you just might have stumbled upon artist Nick Golebiewski. And you might never guess that what Nick’s doing is actually creating content for an […]
This past Saturday and Monday, many dedicated souls braved the winter weather to celebrate the local businesses of Greenwich Village. With tour guide Joyce Gold, GVSHP and our partners at Village Alliance, Washington Square Park Conservancy, and many local businesses, celebrated the holiday cheer and local atmosphere that is abundant in our neighborhood at this […]
In uncertain times, one may find it especially useful (and comforting) to remember days gone by – days, and people, who railed against the status quo, tirelessly pushed for progress, and stepped boldly into territory unconventional and untrod. Greenwich Village, luckily for us, was (and still is) home to scores of just such people. One […]
One of my favorite two-block sections in Greenwich Village may be an unlikely one – East 9th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. It’s not the oldest strip in the neighborhood, or the one with the best shops. In fact, it’s home to a rather uniform group of mid-century apartment houses, with almost no ground-floor […]
What makes New York the greatest city in the world? There are many ways to answer that question, but I think one reason rises to the top – New Yorkers themselves. The city’s teeming, diverse population is perhaps its greatest asset and resource. Our most celebrated neighborhoods are, for good reason, havens of immigration, innovation, […]
Halloween is right around the corner, so for this installment of Village People, let’s take a look at a Greenwich Village resident who knew a thing or two about fear and suspense – author Shirley Jackson. During her too-short life, Jackson was a master of the suspense and horror genre, enjoying success during her lifetime […]
It was on October 16th, 1916 that Margaret Sanger opened her first family planning and birth control clinic in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Although Sanger’s groundbreaking clinic wasn’t in Greenwich Village, its politics were very much of the neighborhood, and in fact were fostered by Sanger’s deep involvement with many radical and progressive movements centered in Greenwich Village at […]
If you get GVSHP’s monthly program brochure in your mailbox, you may have noticed something different the last few months. We’ve got a whole new look! The programs brochure went through a little makeover this summer, and we’ve got Greenwich Village-based design firm Archigrafika to thank for it. Archigrafika was founded in 2009 by Pratt […]
Let’s talk about…gentrification. Did your heart just start racing? The term gentrification and its many implications is such a hot button issue, so complex and layered, that just reading the word may strike dread in your heart. The term was first coined by British sociologist Ruth Glass in 1964, and she defined it as a […]
Where can you enjoy the best of Greenwich Village bars, restaurants, and shops, all in one handy (and beautiful) location? At Washington Square Park on September 14th, where thirty of the neighborhood’s best food and drink purveyors will be in one place for the 14th annual Taste of the Village! The event has been very popular since […]
It’s “back to school” time again, when the temperatures drop (very slightly), students flood back to campus, and we all sharpen our pencils after a leisurely summer. Campus bookstores across the country will be expecting big crowds these next few weeks, as students make their lists of which books they’ll need to get them through […]
At 283 Bleecker Street, a charming green awning once announced the name of an equally charming shop – Second Childhood, a local business dedicated to antique and unique toys for children of all ages. Owned by longtime neighbor Grover Van Dexter, who preferred to be called simply “Van,” this Bleecker Street shop was the quintessential […]
Twenty-three years ago, New York Magazine was worried about the Village. And they weren’t the only ones. On August 16, 1993, The Village Under Siege ran on the cover with an accompanying image of the Washington Square Park, unlit and ominous against the bright, glittering lights of downtown’s skyscrapers. The article detailed a rowdy, often […]
Some things never change about New York City life; New Yorkers’ social lives have seemingly always hinged on the restaurants and bars in their neighborhoods. Aside from the very lucky few, most of our apartments are too small to serve as gathering spaces. In fact, many New York apartments don’t have living rooms or common […]
The landmark documentary Paris Is Burning was released in New York on March 13, 1991. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, the film is an intimate peek into New York’s LGBTQ culture, specifically ball competitions, where participants dress, dance, and compete in a number of themed categories. Paris Is Burning received rave reviews upon its release, […]
On this day in 1734, Samuel Jones, namesake of Great Jones Street in NoHo, was born in Nassau County. At only two blocks long, Great Jones Street isn’t actually all that ‘great’ – at least not in size. But surprisingly for a street so short, it has figured prominently in New York City history and culture. […]
This iconic image of activism and advocacy was taken just outside the NAACP’s headquarters on 5th Avenue and 14th Street. The year was 1936, and it was speaking to the crisis of violence and inequality in America. It is estimated that between 1882 and 1951, 4,700 people were lynched in the United States. An overwhelming majority […]
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 […]
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 […]
You might think modern-day New York’s streets and sidewalks are a little grimy, but they’re practically pristine compared to the city streets of a century ago. To start, in the early days of New York, most streets were not paved at all, and did not feature cleanly and convenient paved sidewalks. (This was especially true […]
On this day in 1984, the movie The Pope of Greenwich Village was released in theaters. It starred Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts as Charlie and Paulie, cousins and would-be gangsters who attempt to make some fast money with an ill-conceived scam. In the backrooms of downtown bars and restaurants, the two characters fumble their […]
A generous GVSHP supporter dropped off a fun treat to our offices a few weeks ago – old matchbooks from Greenwich Village bars and restaurants. They’re a philluminist’s dream! (Did you know that “philluminist” is the official term for a matchbook collector?) I love how these books meld historic graphic design with New York City […]
When we think of a typical historic neighborhood, what do we picture? Brick or stone buildings, to be sure. Tree-lined streets, maybe. But more often than not, I bet your mind turns to the streets themselves – paved, not in modern concrete, but with cobblestones. (Or, more precisely, stone blocks. But we’ll deal with that […]
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here. Julius’ Bar at 159 West 10th Street/188 Waverley Place is a Village institution. Established nearly a century ago, Julius’ (and […]
