Unsurprisingly, schools in neighborhoods that are over two centuries old have changed a lot over the years. Quite a few of the buildings that serve as schools today are relatively new additions to our neighborhoods, while older school buildings have been repurposed for new uses and lives as their utility for their original purpose may […]
The photographs of the West Village waterfront in our Historic Image Archive remind us just how dramatic a transformation that area has undergone over the past several decades. Photographer James Cuebas, a Lower East Side native, captured on film the Hudson River piers in Greenwich Village in the late 1970s and 1980s. His photographs in […]
Every neighborhood has a place where people go to express their discontent. For the East Village, that place is undoubtedly Tompkins Square Park. Ever since its founding in 1834, the park has hosted community meetings, protests, and several infamous riots. The most recent one broke out on August 6, 1988, between the NYPD and a […]
If you were to walk down East 4th Street in the late 1970s, you might come across an ethereal, white-faced character in a flamboyant costume, a spectacle among spectacles. Klaus Nomi (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), a striking and enterprising countertenor, made his mark on experimental music and performance amidst countless other countercultural […]
What does it take to hold onto property in Greenwich Village? For the Hess family, a surveying mistake and a subway expansion turned their land into the tiniest piece of private property in existence in New York City — so tiny that the City of New York thought that the family wouldn’t care to assert […]
In the 1970s and 80s, the Hudson River piers of Greenwich Village contained a multitude of abandoned structures. The once-bustling commercial waterfront had gone almost entirely dark, leaving countless piers to fall into disrepair. Artist and activist Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) saw the potential in these structures to make a statement, forcing the city to reckon […]
Once burning much of New York City’s refuse, the Gansevoort Destructor Plant was a looming fixture of the skyline along the Hudson River. John T. Krawchuk photographed the plant, which has since been demolished, in the 1990s as part of his masters thesis, On The Edge: the West Village Waterfront. The plant appears in the […]
Village Preservation is very proud to honor the Sixth Street Community Center as a 2024 Village Awardee! Join us in recognizing Sixth Street and five other remarkable awardees at Village Preservation’s Annual Meeting and Village Awards on Wednesday, June 12th at the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union. The awards ceremony will be emceed by […]
Image courtesy of the estate of Fred W. McDarrah. Many artists and performers have made their home in Greenwich Village, but it few have had the enduring, global impact of Bob Dylan. Considered one of the greatest songwriters alive today, Dylan began making a name for himself in numerous cafes and clubs around the Village […]
The East Village is home to many impressive tenement buildings. Originally built to house the city’s poor and working class citizens, their facades are often ornate and eye-catching. It serves as a reminder that their original occupants, most of whom were immigrants, sought better opportunities, even as their living and working conditions were incredibly difficult […]
The Greenwich Village Historic District was designated on April 29, 1969, the anniversary of which is closely followed by our 23rd annual House Tour Benefit on Sunday, May 5, 2024. All of the featured homes in this year’s tour are located in the historic district, and each one represents a gorgeous example of the architectural […]
Greenwich Village has drawn countless determined artists and performers into its midst. While she is known for launching her career at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, Ella Fitzgerald also occasionally performed on a more intimate stage in the Village at Cafe Society alongside other future stars. Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia on […]
“We don’t Ball—We Battle.” That’s the slogan of the West 4th Street League, which has ruled the small yet mighty basketball courts at West 4th and 6th Avenue since 1977. About half of the regulation size, these courts are a challenge for the most skilled amateur basketball players in the city. Players are pitted against […]
From the domestic sphere to politics, Crystal Eastman challenged many fundamental elements of women’s roles in early twentieth century American culture. She was a trained lawyer, outspoken pacifist, fair labor law advocate, suffragist, and one of the original founders of the American Civil Liberties Union. Born in 1881 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Eastman spent most of […]
It is no surprise that social movements for workers’ rights and freedom of speech were propelled by activists from Greenwich Village. The neighborhood in the early twentieth century was a meeting ground for a heterogeneous collection of people who sometimes shared little in common except for their passion for justice. Yet they argued with each […]
The Harlem Renaissance brought together a generation of Black artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers who transformed American culture. In the early 20th century, many Black Americans from the South sought job opportunities and greater safety and social mobility in the Midwest and North, an exodus that became known as the Great Migration. Many of them […]
From the 1890s through the 20th century, the area between Astor Place and Union Square was full of second-hand booksellers who formed what was known as ‘Book Row.’ Each store had a unique offering for their clientele; some specialized in antiquarian books, others in science, and others in a variety of revolutionary texts and publications. […]
During the Gilded Age, Western artists and designers were looking outside of their own aesthetic traditions for inspiration. A resurgence of intricate, organic forms had taken the design world by storm, many of which drew from South Asian artisan motifs. This was in part thanks to Lockwood de Forest, a local artist who brought forth […]
Known for her powerful, raspy voice and electric stage presence, Janis Joplin was one of the most outstanding musicians of her generation. Her combination of 1960s folk rock and southern blues led her to write unforgettable hit songs ‘Me and Bobby McGee,’ ‘Mercedes Benz,’ and ‘Piece of My Heart.’ Though her life was tragically cut short […]
Although she is best known for her Abstract Expressionist paintings, Lee Krasner never ceased to transform her artistic style throughout her career. Born in 1908 to Russian Jewish parents, Krasner began receiving recognition for her artwork when she was just a teenager. She studied at Cooper Union and later at the National Academy of Design. To […]
Known as the Gilded Age, the period following the Civil War in late nineteenth century New York City was filled with glamour and bold, imaginative aesthetics. However, one person, and his eponymous product, may be more strongly associated with Gilded Age New York than any other — Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January […]
The 1970s was a dangerous and difficult time for New York City. Arson and neglect left many poor and working-class neighborhoods with abandoned lots, filled with hazardous debris. Residents of the Lower East Side and East Village felt abandoned by the city, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. They had already […]
Known as the Gilded Age, the period following the Civil War in late nineteenth century New York City was filled with glamour and bold, imaginative aesthetics. However, one person, and his eponymous product, may be more strongly associated with Gilded Age New York than any other — Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January […]
The area South of Union Square has drawn artists into its corridors for many decades. From social realist painters of the early twentieth century to contemporary practitioners, this section of the Village maintains a rich history of creative minds who felt called to challenge the status quo of the art world that surrounded them, many […]