Did you know that Village Preservation members receive advance notice of many of our public programs? Our tours and other programs sometimes offer limited capacity, and often fill up quickly. By becoming a member, you can take advantage of that advanced notice and register before the general public. Find out how to become a member here.

There are still many incredible programs with space available in April! Learn more about our upcoming Comedy Night and City Council Forums HERE!

Floating Palaces on the Waterfront

May 1, 2025, marks the 110th anniversary of the great ocean liner Lusitania’s final departure from New York before her tragic sinking a few days later. She set sail from the very same pier that the survivors of the Titanic arrived at when they finally made it to New York in 1912. Today it’s reborn as a beautiful site for recreation after decades of decay, but over a hundred years ago the Hudson River waterfront was the place where New York cemented its place as one of the world’s greatest cities. 

Join us for a walking tour along the waterfront to explore how this dynamic waterfront worked in the age of Titanic, Lusitania, and fellow floating palaces that once docked there.

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The Last Ships from Hamburg: Saving Russia’s Jews on the Eve of WWI

From 1890 to 1921, 2.5 million Jews fled discrimination and violence in Eastern Europe. Many settled in the Lower East Side and today’s East Village. How such migration was possible is complicated. It would have been impossible except for the unusual collaboration of three titans of business: Jacob Schiff, Albert Ballin, and J.P. Morgan.

Steven Ujifusa presents the fascinating , little-known facts about the Jewish exodus that spared millions from persecution.

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2025 City Council District 3 Candidates Forum on Preservation Issues

Join us for a forum with candidates for the 3rd City Council District, currently represented by City Councilmember Erik Bottcher (district map here). This district includes all of Greenwich Village west of Sixth Avenue, south to Canal Street, and north to 55th Street.

This will be a unique opportunity to hear from candidates about preservation, development, and planning issues in our neighborhood, and how they will deal with them as City Councilmember. Candidates so far confirmed are Erik Bottcher, Louis Flores, and Dominick Romero.

There will be a chance for questions from the public, and the forum will be recorded and shared after. 

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Plaque Unveiling: Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney at the New York Studio School

Join us for the ceremonial unveiling of a plaque honoring Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and the 150th anniversary of her birth. We will unveil at the site where she had her art studio and founded the first museum devoted to contemporary American art, the Whitney Museum of American Art. We will hear about her remarkable impact in the arts world as an artist, collector, and patron.

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Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880-1935

Between the 1880s and the 1930s, New York City grew into one of the world’s great cities. This was the era that saw the birth of the skyscraper, the construction of the rapid transit system, and the consolidation of the five boroughs.

In his new book, Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880-1935, Alexander Wood chronicles the physical process of the city’s rapid expansion and explores the development of the building industry. New York’s development boom drew on the resources of the whole community and required political will, creative vision, entrepreneurial drive, skilled workmanship, and hard physical labor.

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Save the Date: Community Open House at Westbeth

Co-Sponsored by The Whitney Museum of American Art

Save the date for this year’s community open house with Village Preservation and The Whitney! Take a peek into some of the incredible spaces at Westbeth Artist Housing. More information and registration details will be available on our website shortly. 

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The Unseen Revelers: A Brief History of Female Nightlife Activists in the Village

Join us for an encore of this virtual lecture as we delve into the vibrant history of female nightlife activists in the iconic Greenwich Village and East Village neighborhoods of New York City.

This program will explore the remarkable contributions of women who took up space in taverns, bars, lounges, speakeasies and clubs to advance political ideas; highlight emerging subcultures and art forms; gathered people of classes/races/ethnicities; and shifted the zeitgeist. 

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Queer Happened Here

Join us for a talk on Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places with author Marc Zinaman and special guest and book contributor Ande Whyland, in celebration of the iconic queer spaces that have shaped LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism for decades.