A Sketchy Greenwich Village
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, … Continued
A New Way To Preserve, and Learn From, History
We here at GVSHP work hard to honor, celebrate, and perhaps most importantly learn from our history. There were uplifting triumphs and disappointing setbacks, incredible progress and devastating losses, tremendous … Continued
Nineteenth Century Dwelling Houses of Greenwich Village
GVSHP has now made available on our website a classic preservation and architectural history resource — the booklet Nineteenth Century Dwelling Houses of Greenwich Village produced by the Association of Village Homeowners … Continued
THE PUBLIC THEATER! The former Astor Library and the quest for a Public Theater
Landmarks for Sale—or the Wrecker’s Ball Following on the heels of great success with his free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Joe Papp, the … Continued
Village Parks and Gardens Round-Up
Autumn is in the air here in the Village! As the leaves start to change and the air becomes cooler and more crisp, what better way to enjoy than out … Continued
A Stroll Through the Garden: GVSHP members only event 6/17
Beside the Jefferson Market Library and behind the wrought iron fence between 6th and Greenwich Avenues and 10th Street lies the Jefferson Market Garden. You probably pass by it all … Continued
Happy Birthday Greenwich Village Historic District
Note: This is an updated version of a post originally written by Drew Durniak Map of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click to enlarge. On April 29th, 1969, mayor John … Continued
Happy Birthday, Angela Davis
Activist, leftist, and radical feminist — these are just some of the words used to describe Angela Davis, a scholar and civil rights leader and fighter who came to prominence … Continued
A History of Magic in the Village and on the Bowery
Last night GVSHP presented a program at the Jefferson Market Library about the history of magic and magicians in our neighborhoods. The speakers were long-time GVSHP supporter Tom Klem and … Continued
The Village Seen: Painter Patricia Melvin
Today is the second installment of a new occasional series, “The Village Seen,” to display the work of the many talented visual artists in our neighborhoods. Longtime East Villager Patricia … Continued
Tom Wolfe: New Journalism and the Women’s House of Detention
Acclaimed author and journalist Tom Wolfe is known for his use of New Journalism (employing fiction-writing techniques such as sustained dialogue, well-developed characters, and vivid scenes) and for his best-selling … Continued
Gay Liberation in Photos
In June of 1969, a not uncommon police raid of the gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, was met with a spontaneous resistance that launched the modern Gay Liberation Movement here … Continued
W.P.A. Anniversary
On April 8, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act. This act granted the President the authority to establish programs such as the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration, later … Continued
Celebrating & Remembering Margot Gayle
The New York City Landmarks Law turns 50 years old this month! In the spirit of this important anniversary, we have decided to revisit our 1996 Oral History Interview with NYC Landmarks Law … Continued
Have a drink! The historic public drinking fountains of the Village and East Village
I have often noticed these old drinking fountains on historic buildings – there is one at the Jefferson Market Library on the corner of 6th Avenue and 10th Street, one … Continued
2014 Year In Review: GVSHP Programs
As we near the end of 2014, we thought we’d look back on the several dozen exciting lectures, book talks, exhibitions, walking tours, forums, panels, and community meetings conducted by … Continued
Halloween in Greenwich Village – A Salute to Ralph Lee
There are some people who can make great changes, come up with unique and far-reaching ideas, or create institutions that attain legendary status, yet keep a low profile themselves. By … Continued
Historic Greenwich Village and Hollywood
Last night, GVSHP presented a free public program with James & Michelle Nevius, authors of the new book, “Footprints in New York”. James & Michelle are historians and tour guides … Continued
Rose of the Ghetto
There are still a few seats available for our free public program this Thursday evening at the Jefferson Market Library. The subject is the life and times of Rose Pastor … Continued
From the WNYC Archives: Change and Continuity in Greenwich Village
GVSHP is pleased to partner with WNYC on this post that spotlights their archival collection. WNYC 93.9 FM and AM 820 are New York’s flagship public radio stations, broadcasting the … Continued
In the News: 55 Years Ago Today
Much of the Village Voice from the 1950s to the mid-2000s is available to view online via a Google digitization project. The huge trove of scanned newspapers helps reveal the … Continued
“Is my building a landmark?” – CityMap Edition
Last week we shared one tip on how to find out if your building is a landmark. Today, we’d like to offer a second. CityMap has a helpful feature that … Continued
Collecting the history of the Village one interview at a time
This past fall, GVSHP launched a new oral history project. This ongoing project was developed in order to add to our understanding of the South and East Villages, areas in … Continued
Lucy Moses Honors
It was eight years ago today on May 8, 2006 that GVSHP was honored with the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Lucy G. Moses Award for organizational excellence. We were in … Continued
Happy Birthday Greenwich Village Historic District!
Forty-five years ago today, mayor John Lindsay was still smarting from the botched cleanup of the February 1969 snowstorm, The 5th Dimension was at the top of the pop charts … Continued
The Libraries of Greenwich Village and the East Village
In this day and age, information about nearly any topic is at our fingertips. A quick internet search can reveal any number of facts we might need. This wasn’t always … Continued
Berenice Abbott and the Legacy of the New Deal
The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act was passed by Congress on April 8 in 1935, five years into the Great Depression. The name of the legislation may sound foreign, but most … Continued
Village Big House
If one has the occasion to think about incarceration in the Village, many long-time residents would likely recall the Women’s House of Detention, an imposing building that loomed over Jefferson … Continued
1980s Tax Photos: Then & Now
For today’s post in our Then & Now series, we thought we’d feature a few locations in our neighborhoods as they looked in the 1980s. Similar to last week’s post … Continued
Coming Soon — Greenwich Village Stories
GVSHP works to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo in many different ways. Landmark designations and zoning protections, though challenging to secure, can … Continued
Old Buildings, New Forms: Creative adaptive re-use in the built environment
On Tuesday evening, Village Preservation presented a program with architect, preservationist, and author Françoise Bollack about her new book, Old Buildings, New Forms: New Directions in Architectural Transformations, published by … Continued
Still Living in Dawn Powell’s Village
Dawn Powell lived in Greenwich Village and wrote about it as well as or better than anyone. A fiction writer, playwright and essayist who has attained the cult status of … Continued
Stories of the Village
This week, our friends at the Jefferson Market Branch Library will host workshops for a new project they are undertaking called Your Village, Your Stories. The library’s foray into recording … Continued
Beyond Patchin Place
We’d like to share former GVSHP staffer Dana Schulz’s “Then & Now” post about a delightful block north of the Jefferson Market Library. The north side of West 10th Street … Continued
Halloween Happenings in the Village
The Village does Halloween like no other NYC community, featuring parades, festivals, and plenty of children’s activities, but what would you expect from the neighborhood that devised the original Halloween … Continued
The Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys
On the corner of Avenue B and East 8th Street sits the striking former Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School, which opened on April 21, 1887, and … Continued
2013 House Tour offers unique views of Greenwich Village
One of the most exciting parts of the Annual Village House Tour Benefit, taking place this year on Sunday, May 5, is the chance you have of seeing the many … Continued
South Village Landmark Proposal — What’s In?
Earlier in the week we looked at what sites the Landmarks Preservation Commission excluded from our proposed South Village Historic District in their draft proposed phase II designation. As promised, … Continued
A Look Back at the Public Theater
Tomorrow, Saturday, October 13th, the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street (off Astor Place) will be hosting a block party to celebrate the re-dedication of their historic theater space, and … Continued
Then & Now: Seventh Avenue South
When I was home recently I looked through one of my parents’ photo albums and happened to find this photo of Seventh Avenue South taken at some point in the … Continued
A Half Century Since the Passing of ee cummings
Off the Grid will be going, well, off the grid for the holiday weekend. While we’ll be celebrating the last days of summer, we must note that this Monday not … Continued
Adaptive Reuse in Chelsea
Simply put, adaptive reuse is defined as the process of adapting old structure for new uses. From a preservation perspective, adaptive reuse is often a wonderful way to preserve historic … Continued
The Awe Inspiring Interior of 62 East 4th Street
Last week the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express announced that Duo Multicultural Arts Center (DMAC) was one of the 40 sites in New York City selected to … Continued
Partners in Preservation Sites Announced
Last week, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express revealed 40 preservation projects up for grants through their annual Partners in Preservation program. This program seeks to increase … Continued
This Day in History: The Rosenberg Trial Begins
It was on this date in 1951 that the infamous espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg began. The Jewish-American Communists, along with Soviet spy Morton Sobell, were accused of … Continued
My Favorite Things: Poets Edition
This is the latest installment of Off the Grid’s series, “My Favorite Things,” in which we showcase some of our very favorite spots around the neighborhood, highlighting the incredible architecture, … Continued
Fourth Arts Block tour redux
This weekend, tour guide Lawrence Frommer and Fourth Arts Block executive director Tamara Greenfield led a tour of East 4th Street between the Bowery and 2nd Avenue for GVSHP. (Want … Continued
Adapting “Adaptive Re-Use”
The term adaptive reuse is used by architects and preservationists to describe the process of adapting old structures for purposes other than those initially intended. Villagers are familiar with the … Continued
A Preservation Pioneer at 100
Marking the 100th anniversary of his birth on August 11, 1911, Tablet printed a thoughtful piece on pioneering preservation architect Giorgio Cavaglieri, written by Allan M. Jalon. Jalon’s article takes … Continued
Tell Us Your Greenwich Village Ghost Stories!
When: Wednesday, August 3….6:30-8:00 p.m. Where: Jefferson Market Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas (between West 9th & 10th Streets) Cost: Free!! RSVP: reservations required…email rsvp&gvshp.org or call 212-475-9585 x35 … Continued
Seen and Heard Around the Village 6.19.11 – 6.25.11, Part II
Liquor Panel Deadlocks on 34 Avenue A (Local EV) New Mural on Houston Street Replaces Kenny Scharf’s Piece (Gothamist) Stella McCartney has Secret Garden Party in West Village (DNAinfo) Magnolia’s … Continued
Rally on Sunday to Save the South Village
This Sunday at 1:00pm, GVSHP will be holding a rally to urge the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the remainder of the South Village Historic District. We hope you will … Continued
Retracing The East Village’s Historic Little Italy
October, the month when we mark Columbus Day, is also Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month. That combined with the recent celebrations around the 125th anniversary of Veniero’s inspires a closer … Continued
12 historic Italian-American sites of the East Village
October is Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month! That’s a perfect time to take a closer look at the East Village’s own historic Little Italy, centered around First Avenue near the beloved pastry … Continued
Historic Preservation, In Context
As a student of architectural history at NYU and having lived in New York for the past four years, it is still such a delight to be able to walk … Continued
McKim, Mead & White on Avenue D
Here’s an unassuming building with some interesting connections to one of our country’s premiere architectural firms — McKim, Mead & White. Meet 119 Avenue D, which at first glance … Continued
