Setting Women Up for Success: Lydia Fowler Wadleigh
The Police Athletic League Building at 34 1/2 East 12th Street between University Place and Broadway was built in 1855 for the New York City Board of Education, and designated … Continued
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Author: Sarah Bean Apmann
Yun Gee: Modern Artist, Inventor, Poet, Villager
Artist, poet, philanthropist, teacher, writer, and inventor Yun Gee (1906-1963) was the first Chinese-American artist to hold an important position in the history of Western contemporary art. Considered one of the … Continued
Varga Girl Pin-Up Art, Rooted in Greenwich Village
Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chavez, a Peruvian painter of pin-up girls who would come to be known as the ‘Varga Girls,’ was born on February 9, 1896. His artwork would … Continued
The Birth of the Tenement Fire Escape
On February 2, 1860, a terrible fire broke out in a tenement at 142 Elm Street (today Lafayette Street, just north of Howard Street in SoHo). The building was occupied … Continued
Bethune Street: Tribute to a Remarkable Woman
We have posted a number of times about the origins of the names of various streets in our area, nearly all of which honor men. Bethune Street, barely three blocks … Continued
Bertram Goodman’s Views of the Village
We love historic photos of our neighborhoods, many of which appear in our vast historic image archive. A subset of that archive includes artists’ renderings and interpretations. One Village artist … Continued
2020 Village Preservation Year in Review: Landmarks Applications
This has certainly been a challenging year, to say the least. In spite of that, Village Preservation, the Community Boards, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) have … Continued
Tragedy on Second Avenue
On December 5, 2020 at about 5:00am, a fire broke out at 116 Second Avenue, a neo-Grec tenement. The six-alarm blaze spread to the 1892 Middle Collegiate Church next door … Continued
A Streetcar Named Desire — New Orleans Set, Greenwich Village Rooted
Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire, one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century, opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. … Continued
Thank You To Our Members — Making 40 Years of Village Preservation Possible
It’s Village Preservation’s 40th birthday this year. In honor of this auspicious occasion, we recently released a story map that details our efforts documenting, celebrating, and advocating for the preservation … Continued