Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 814 Broadway
814 Broadway is a five-story masonry structure built in 1854.
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Author: Louisa Winchell
(Even More) Civil Rights and Social Justice Champions in Our Neighborhoods
Village Preservation has long made a priority of celebrating civil rights and social justice history in our neighborhoods.
Celebrating the Preservationists of the Greenwich Village Historic District
The Greenwich Village Historic District is one of New York City’s oldest historic districts.
(Even More) Artists, Theaters, and Advocates for Civil Rights and Social Justice in Our Neighborhoods
Few places in America have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles.
#SouthofUnionSquare: Home to (even more) Trailblazing Artists, Dancers, Labor Leaders, and Birth Control Advocates
Our interactive tool “Virtual Village” brings users on unique and unexpected journeys.
Greek Revival: Gone But Not Forgotten in Our Neighborhoods
Village Preservation’s Greek Revival Bicentennial Storymap celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.
Women’s History #SouthofUnionSquare
The neighborhood south of Union Square holds a unique place in the history of women’s rights and women’s suffrage movements.
Irish American Heritage Permeates #SouthOfUnionSquare
Irish American figures defined the blocks where Greenwich Village meets the East Village.
Pioneers Converge on MacDougal Street: Dr. Robert Hogan, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, and Sarah Smith Garnet
175 MacDougal Street holds far more history than is visible upon first glance.
Groundbreaking Artist and Educator Selma Hortense Burke’s Home at 88 East 10th Street
Selma Hortense Burke lived and worked at 88 East 10th Street from 1944 until at least 1949.
The Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois Reverberates Throughout Our Neighborhoods
In 1909, the activist, scholar, educator, writer, editor W.E.B. Du Bois co-founded the NAACP.
Director Miloš Forman’s Life Takes Us from West to East Village, and Back Again
As a young filmmaker and a new New Yorker, the legendary filmmaker Miloš Forman lived in an apartment on Leroy Street in Greenwich Village.
The NAACP and National Board of Review Confront “The Birth of a Nation’” Racism from 70 Fifth Avenue
On February 8th, 1915, D.W. Griffith’s acutely racist film The Birth of a Nation debuted.
The Largest Black Studies Collection in the U.S. — University Place Bookshop, #SouthOfUnionSquare
The University Place Book Shop was one of the longest-running “Book Row” shops.
Igal Roodenko: Printer and Civil Rights Trailblazer #SouthOfUnionSquare
The anti-war and civil rights activist Igal Roodenko was a leader in a number of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century.
#SouthofUnionSquare — The Social Reform Club at 45 University Place
In 1900, the Social Reform Club hosted a lecture by labor leader Edward King.
“The Prince of Greenwich Village,” Max Eastman
Around 1907, after recovering from a chronic backache, the 24 year old Max Eastman moved to New York City.
When Four “Els” Ran Overhead On Our Streets
From the late nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century, four elevated rail lines crossed over the streets of our neighborhoods.
#SouthofUnionSquare — Dance Tour
Our new interactive tool “Virtual Village” brings users on a multitude of virtual explorations.
#SouthofUnionSquare — Home of a Counterculture Icon, An American Psycho, and A Chocolate Empire
Our new interactive tool “Virtual Village” brings users on unique and unexpected journeys.
#SouthofUnionSquare — James Renwick, Jr. Tour
James Renwick was one of the most influential, accomplished, and skilled American architects of the 19th century.
Oral Histories of the “Virtual Village” — South of Union Square
Village Preservation is thrilled to share “Virtual Village”: a new online interactive tool.
Greenwich Village’s Oldest Church — Originally “in the field”
On October 22, 1820, a group of Greenwich Village residents gathered at the home of Catherine Ritter.
The Voice of Italian Anti-Fascism at 80 Fourth Avenue
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, the neighborhood south of Union Square was a hub for leftist and labor organizing.
Jesús Colón Writes and Fights for Puerto Rican New Yorkers
The progressive mutual-benefit organization the International Workers Order (IWO) was located at 80 Fifth Avenue.
Beyond the Village and Back: The ‘Marble Palace’ A.T. Stewart Store at 280 Broadway
The A.T. Stewart Store, now better known as the Sun Building, was built in 1845-46 by New York architects Joseph Trench and John B. Snook for the prosperous and pioneering merchant Alexander Turney Stewart (October 12, 1803 – April 10, 1876). This magnificent Italian Renaissance “Marble Palace” at 280 Broadway, designated an NYC individual landmark on October 7, 1986, is one of Manhattan’s most significant 19th century structures.
A Tour of Jewish Historic Sites South of Union Square
The area south of Union Square is the center of an amazing and dynamic collection of histories.
A Local Firehouse With Two Seminal Connections to 9-11
A two-story firehouse stands in the middle of the rich historic neighborhood south of Union Square.
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 112 Fourth Avenue
The five story Italianate style cast-iron loft building at 112 Fourth Avenue was constructed in 1872.
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee and the Fight for Chinese American and Women’s Rights
On May 4, 1912, ten thousand people marched for women’s suffrage along Fifth Avenue.
Fourth Avenue’s “Book Row” Defines an Era
Beginning in the 1890s and lasting for over 80 years, the area between Astor Place and Union Square was a hub of secondhand bookstores.
Renowned Actor Ira Frederick Aldridge Gets His Start at the African Grove Theatre
Ira Frederick Aldridge is today remembered as one of the most renowned actors of the nineteenth century.
Paulo d’Angola: the Former Slave Who Became One of Greenwich Village’s First Landowners
In 1626, Paulo d’Angola arrived to New Amsterdam on the first ship bringing enslaved people to this region.
The Scopes Monkey Trial and its origins in Greenwich Village, south of Union Square
On July 10, 1925, what would come to be known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial” began in Dayton, Tennessee.
Gettysburg General Daniel E. Sickles’ Complicated Legacy
Civil War Major General Daniel E. Sickles had one of history’s most contentious, strange, and multifarious biographies.
“No Jim Crow in the IWO!”, the rallying cry heard from 80 Fifth Avenue for a quarter century
For nearly a quarter of a century, the International Workers Order fought relentlessly for racial equality.
African American, Feminist, & LGBTQ Solidarity at the Women’s House of Detention
The Women’s House of Detention, an eleven-story prison in the center of Greenwich Village, closed on June 13th, 1971.
Uta Hagen: Actor, Teacher, Author, and Human Rights Advocate
Uta Thyra Hagen had one of the longest and most impressive acting careers in American theater.
Westbeth Photographer Shelley Seccombe Documents the Greenwich Village Waterfront Since 1970
Westbeth photographer Shelley Seccombe has been documenting the Greenwich Village waterfront since 1970.
Robert Hogan: Unsung Hero of Irish New York, and Resident of MacDougal Street
Dr. Robert Hogan, resident of 175 MacDougal Street, started the Irish Emigrant Society in 1841.
Chinese American Activists Fight for Their Rights in Our Neighborhoods
Our neighborhoods have been the home of many of history’s most important civil rights and social justice leaders, as documented in Village Preservation’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Map. Three of our lesser-known map locations, however, highlight the under-recognized stories of 19th century Chinese American immigrant-rights activists. Some of these influential individuals, families, and organizations […]
The International Workers Order’s Fight to Protect All Americans, from 80 Fifth Avenue
For twenty four years, the entire existence of the organization, the International Workers Order (IWO) was headquartered at 80 Fifth Avenue (southeast corner of 14th Street), an elaborately-detailed Renaissance Revival style office building designed in 1908 by Buchman and Fox. This progressive mutual-benefit fraternal organization was a pioneering force in the U.S. labor movement, which […]
Great Modernist Thinker and Critic Kenneth Burke Calls Ten Village Addresses Home
On January 6, 1918, a young Kenneth Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) wrote a letter to his friend, the emerging writer Malcolm Cowley. In the letter, Burke announced that he had decided to drop out of school at Columbia. The decision was motivated not by a desire to end his education, however; […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 55 Fifth Avenue
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. The impressive 18-story neo-Renaissance style office building at 55 Fifth Avenue was built in 1912 by Maynicke & Franke. According to the New York Times, the […]
Take a Virtual Walk! Visit the Homes of Greenwich Village’s Social Change Champions
Greenwich Village has long been the home of many of history’s most important social change champions. Now, using Village Preservation’s interactive map of the Greenwich Village Historic District, we can take a virtual walk through the neighborhood to visit the homes of these remarkable individuals. Get to know a nineteenth century abolitionist, an early-twentieth century […]
The Downtown Gallery and the Woman Behind the American Art Market
In 1926, Edith Gregor Halpert was twenty six years old. She had, up until the year before, served as one of two female business executives in New York City. But in 1925, she had left the elite position behind, her sights shifting to a new goal. A lover of modern art who did not think […]
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s St. James Presbyterian Church
The St. James Presbyterian Church at 409 West 141st Street, on the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue, stands on the incline of a hill looking eastward over Harlem. The commanding, 1904 neo-Gothic structure boasts an ornate bell tower, visible from the nearby St. Nicholas Park and the City College of New York.
Young Philip Roth in the East Village
In 1958, a twenty-five-year-old Philip Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) moved into a basement apartment at 128 East 10th Street in the East Village. The Anglo-Italianate building, which forms the point of the triangular piece of land shaped by Stuyvesant and East 10th Streets, was perfectly situated for Roth, who often visited […]
Cyrilly Abels: Friend and Agent of Katherine Anne Porter
Cyrilly Abels (1903-1975), the managing editor of Mademoiselle magazine and an agent for many of the most prominent writers of the twentieth century, was a longtime resident of 14-16 Fifth Avenue in the Greenwich Village Historic District, recently proposed for demolition. Abels lived here with her husband Jerome Weinstein at least as early as 1954 […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: The Hammacher Schlemmer & Co. Building
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. A seven-story warehouse structure showcasing an eclectic mash-up of styles stands at the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street on an L-shaped […]
Thomas Merton: Trappist Monk and Civil Rights Activist
One afternoon in 1939 or 1940, a young Ph.D. student and aspiring writer named Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was sitting on the floor of his one-bedroom apartment at 35 Perry Street eating scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee with a couple friends who had lingered after the previous night out. As […]
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church at 136-142 West 138th Street is the home of the second oldest African-American congregation in Manhattan, and has long been a center of civil rights and social justice activism.
Beyond the Village and Back: Harlem’s Mother A.M.E. Zion Church
The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 140-148 West 137th Street is the sixth home of New York City’s very first black church, and the founding church of the A.M.E. Zion Conference of churches.
A Marriage Leads to Construction of Manhattan’s Oldest Residence
On January 31, 1795, Nicholas William Stuyvesant, descendent of Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant, married Catherine Livingston Reade, herself a descendant of New York royalty of sorts (the family name can be found on streets in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn). While clearly this was a significant date for these two early New Yorkers, why should we care […]
The Fight to Recognize LGBT Civil Rights History in Our Neighborhoods
On January 16th, 2013, Village Preservation sent a letter to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) requesting that it landmark key sites of significance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history we had identified. At this time, no buildings in the city were explicitly recognized or protected by the LPC primarily for […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: 30 East 14th Street Artists’ Loft
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. Around the end of 1940, twenty-five-year-old artist Virginia Admiral (February 4, 1915 – July 27, 2000) moved into a loft apartment that rented for $30 […]
Beyond the Village and Back: The Children’s Aid Society’s Fourteenth Ward Industrial School on Mott Street
Walking through the neighborhood now often referred to as NoLIta (north of Little Italy), one can’t help but be struck by a four-story building on Mott Street which seems much more impressive than its modest height would imply. The stepped roof and carved foliate detail above and below the windows give the impression of a grand private residence, or at least the headquarters of some noble institution.
Beyond the Village and Back: The United Palace Theatre
Tucked into the Meredith Jacobson Marciano New York in the 1970s to 9-11 collection of our Historic Image Archive is an image of the United Palace Theatre at 4140 Broadway at 175th Street in Washington Heights. With its close-up and upward-facing viewpoint, the image captures the intricacy and nobility of the building’s design.
The Real Auntie Mame
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. The kooky, sparkling Auntie Mame — the central character of Patrick Dennis’ beloved novel of the same name — burst into popular culture the […]
Womens’ Empowerment and Colonial Evangelism Converge at 11 East 12th Street
When doing research on buildings in our area, you never know what you may find. We try to exhume and bring to light all the history we find — the good, the bad, and the ugly — because there are always important lessons to be learned. One such case is 11 East 12th Street, a […]
Frances Perkins: From Greenwich House to the White House
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. In 1909, Frances Perkins was living in Greenwich Village and pursuing a master’s degree in political science at Columbia University. She was, in her […]
Fight to Save Our Neighborhood South of Union Square: From Bowlmor Demolition to the ‘Zero-Help’ Hotel Special Permit
On Saturday, November 14th, 2015, a crowd of over 150 people gathered across from the Bowlmor Lanes building at 110 University Place, which was in the process of being demolished and replaced with a nearly 300-foot tall tower stocked with luxury condominiums. The group, led by Village Preservation, then-City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, then-Community Board #2 […]
Why Isn’t This Landmarked?: New York Woman Suffrage League Headquarters at 10 East 14th Street
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation but somehow aren’t. Women have not always had the right to vote in New York State. In fact, the battle to grant suffrage to women took decades, and faced much […]
Eight Abandoned East Village Buildings’ Second Acts As Beacons of Culture
In the second half of the twentieth century, particularly during the city’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s, the East Village experienced high rates of crime and drug use, and a number of its buildings were abandoned by private property owners and the city government. During this period, cultural and arts organizations began to repopulate these […]
The Children’s Aid Society’s Deep Roots in Greenwich Village and the East Village
The Children’s Aid Society, founded in 1853, dramatically altered the lives of the city’s poor and homeless children through a pioneering rural emigration program and a strong network of country-like lodging houses and industrial schools. In doing so, it set the development of social services across the country into motion. Not only do a number […]
Underground Railroad Church Once Located in Greenwich Village Led Abolitionist Cause
The Shiloh Presbyterian Church is one of many African American churches once found in Greenwich Village, when nearly all the city’s leading African American churches were located in this neighborhood. Like most of those churches, it played a leading role in the abolitionist movement, and its present-day descendant church can be found in Harlem. But […]
“Our Village is Star in an Uptown Exhibit” — September 26, 1990
Village Preservation has been, and continues to be, the guardian of many different archives. Still, our repository continues growing, and our newest online resource, the Preservation History Archive, is somewhat distinct from all the rest. Instead of relaying the broad history of our neighborhood, the Preservation History Archive holds original documents on the history of […]
Happy (Landmark) Birthday, Salmagundi Club!
Let’s face it — 1969 was a big year. Our Executive Director Andrew Berman was born in January. The Greenwich Village Historic District was designated in April. The Stonewall Riots launched the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the United States in June. The first man landed on the moon in July, and a few days […]
M1-5 What? A Lofty History of Zoning in SoHo and NoHo
Scrolling through the NYC Department of City Planning website, it is easy to get lost amidst the zoning texts and maps and terms. But, as we come to realize from time to time – when one of our favorite businesses is replaced with a vacant storefront, or a luxury condominium building goes up across the […]
A Poet, A Bookseller, and the Father of Social of Social Security: New Additions to the Greenwich Village Historic District 1969-2019 Photos and Tours Map
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. On April 29th, 2019, we launched our new interactive map, Greenwich Village Historic District, 1969-2019: Photos and Tours, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of […]
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Has Strings Attached to the Village
This post is part of our “Beyond the Village and Back” series, in which we look at great New York City landmarks outside of the Village, and trace their (sometimes surprising) roots back to our neighborhood. On Thursday, November 24, 1927, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as we know it was launched. While the first […]
The Stonewall National Monument
On June 27th, 2016, President Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, the 412th National Park site, and the first U.S. National Monument chosen specifically for its LGBT history. This milestone moment brought national attention to the Village site that transformed LGBT lives forever.
Making Way for Ducklings in a Greenwich Village Bathtub
One day in 1939, famed writer and illustrator Robert McCloskey took a trip to a market near his Greenwich Village apartment and left with a group of live ducklings in tow. He brought them to his home at 280 West 12th Street, which he shared with his roommate, the illustrator Marc Simont, and placed them […]
The Man Who Sculpted Our Image of Abraham Lincoln
On May 30th, 1922, fifty-seven years after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, over 35,000 people gathered at the western end of the National Mall in Washington D.C. to see him once again. Sitting within the grand, neoclassical Lincoln Memorial building designed by architect Henry Bacon, the statue of the beloved president seemed to convey to the […]
A New Archive for GVHD50: Retaking the 1969 Designation Photos
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. In the years leading up to April 29, 1969, when the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Greenwich Village Historic District, […]
When “the Club” Ruled the Art World from East 8th Street
In the fall of 1949, a group of the most renowned artists of their time who were part of the Abstract Expressionist movement gathered together to fix up a third-floor loft at 39 East 8th Street. In the months that followed, the loft, which came to be known as “the Club,” evolved into a center […]