Village Preservation presents programs that offer insight into the rich history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Sometimes that history provides keen insight into the issues of today. What issues are you interested in affecting in today’s society? Labor, peace, birth control, civil liberties, women’s rights? Central to every one of these movements […]
On October 8, 1997, we sat down with esteemed freelance journalist and long-time Villager Leticia Kent, for our very first, of what are now, scores of oral histories with great preservationists, artists, activists, and community and business leaders of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Village Preservation staff and trustees sat down with Kent […]
On August 2, 1962 a protest took place that reverberated throughout New York City, and ignited the preservation movement throughout the city and country. The Action Group for Better Architecture (AGBANY) was formed in an effort to save McKim, Mead & White’s Pennsylvania Station from demolition. The organization’s birth is often pegged to this protest, […]
The wonderful and daring performance artist Penny Arcade (b. July 15, 1950, New Britain, CT.) is well known for the great works she has created and shared on stages large and small across New York and the world. A dear friend of Village Preservation’s, she’s also (perhaps less well known) someone who has made incredibly […]
After the Supreme Court Decision DOBBS v.JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION overturning Roe v. Wade was released on Friday, June 24, people took to the streets. It was no surprise that people hoping to make their voices heard looked to our neighborhoods as a gathering place. Two of the many protests and rallies that took place in New York City were held in Washington Square Park and Union Square. These protests were organized by intersectional advocacy groups across Labor, Defund the Police, Housing, Immigration, and LGBTQIA+ movements.
In 2015, Village Preservation conducted an oral history with community organizer Carlos “Chino” García, one of the co-founders of the legendary community organization CHARAS. CHARAS for many years occupied the landmarked former P.S. 64 building on East 9th Street in the East Village. That interview gave some unique, first person insights into one of the […]
For more than a quarter century, Rob Mason (the subject of a recent Village Preservation Oral History) operated RPM Studios from his live/work loft at 12 East 12th Street, south of Union Square. RPM was one of the first boutique recording studios in the city during a golden age of music and recording here from 1976-2004. […]
GVSHP has been conducting and sharing oral histories since the mid-1990s. As we look back on two powerhouse oral histories, we’re considering the importance of such documents as “the first kind of history,” as “part of the struggle of memory against forgetting.”
GVSHP is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life of […]
Village Preservation is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or […]
“I have lived on the Lower East Side for seventy years. And when I came here, I found Nirvana, and I will die in this building — not in a hospital. I’ll die in this building. This is my home, and I love it here.” That is just the beginning of the fascinating story of […]
