Village Preservation is proud to share wonderful new additions to our Historic Image Archive and Preservation History Archive donated by longtime Greenwich Village resident, historic preservationist, and architect John Krawchuk. As a Columbia University graduate student in the early 1990s, John conducted a preservation and planning study of the West Village waterfront, including the Meatpacking District, exploring its history, present, and potential future. These areas were at an inflection point, as the removal of the disused High Line south of Gansevoort Street and the beginning of the construction of the Hudson River Park, along with the first rumblings of high-rise luxury development, meant big changes were likely coming to this historic but formerly gritty backwater.

John extensively photographed the area at the time to document existing conditions and the historic architecture. He has now donated those images to Village Preservation, capturing this neighborhood on the cusp of the tremendous change that would follow in the next several decades.

John also produced a 134-page study of the area, “On Edge: The West Village Waterfront,” outlining its history, present conditions, and proposals for its future and preservation, which has now been added to our Preservation History Archive. This work helped inform successful efforts by Village Preservation and others to secure landmark and zoning protections for this area in the early 2000s. John went on to become the Director of Historic Preservation for NYC Parks from 2002 to 2016, and the Executive Director of the Historic House Trust of NYC from 2016 to 2022.

Have historic images or materials you’d like to donate to Village Preservation? Email info@villagepreservation.org.