June is one of the most exciting months of the year at Village Preservation. As summer arrives, we invite you to join us for a diverse lineup of programs exploring everything from Revolutionary-era estates and Jazz Age New York to affordable housing, public housing history, art, and LGBTQ+ heritage. This month also features two of […]
May is a season of renewal, reflection, and discovery. This year we’re offering a dynamic lineup of public programs that tap into the neighborhood’s deep historical roots while engaging with urgent contemporary issues. From waterfront history to preservation advocacy, and from cultural milestones to community heritage, May’s offerings connect past and present in meaningful ways. […]
2026 marks a significant milestone for one of New York City’s most beloved traditions. For 25 years, Village Preservation’s Spring House Tour Benefit has invited guests inside some of Greenwich Village’s most extraordinary private homes, offering a rare glimpse into the neighborhood’s rich architectural heritage and the vibrant lives unfolding within its walls. Founded by […]
Ever paused on a Village block and wondered, “What’s lying behind those doors?” In neighborhoods like ours, where historic homes are found on every street, it’s hard not to imagine spaces just beyond view, with their interiors shaped by history, ingenuity, and imagination. Each spring, Village Preservation offers a rare opportunity to step beyond that […]
Fred W. McDarrah did not photograph history from a distance. He stood inside it. Shoulder to shoulder with musicians, poets, organizers, and strangers who believed the street could still change the world. His photographs are not nostalgia. They are evidence. McDarrah’s lens followed the pulse of Greenwich Village and the East Village through the 1950s […]
There’s something magical about a good map. It’s not just a tool for finding your way — it’s a window into another world, a story waiting to be uncovered. At Village Preservation, we’ve long believed that maps are one of the most powerful ways to connect people with the neighborhoods we work to protect. Our […]
As late summer gently yields to autumn’s crisp embrace, Village Preservation invites you on a journey through time—where history, culture, and community converge in a rich series of September events. We have events that take advantage of the lingering warmth, including outdoor tours and a garden party, while other events explore the history of our […]
Springtime in New York City! What could be more inviting? Tulips, daffodils, and flowering trees and bushes fill our parks, people pour into the streets to enjoy the sunshine, and, of course, Village Preservation’s much beloved and time-honored tradition, the Spring House Tour Benefit, is right around the corner. This year marks our 23rd tour, […]
Hip Hop at 50This is the second in a series of posts that celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop. Our exploration takes us to the seminal places of Hip Hop’s early days in our neighborhoods and introduces some of the instrumental figures in the downtown world of Hip Hop. The Museum […]
Author and NYC tour guide, Lawrence Henderson, is sharing his research and walking tours with Village Preservation in February 2023 as we celebrate Black History Month. First, Village Preservation participants were treated to a free opportunity to experience the first hour of Lawrence’s “You Are Here: African American Walking Tour of NYC.” Lawrence offers a unique three-part, 3 hour, downtown walking tour to New Yorkers and visitors alike. The tour is based on Lawrence’s book You Are Here – A Geographical History of Enslaved and Free Africans in Manhattan: 1613 – 1865. He will be updating a new edition of this book, which we hope to celebrate when it relaunches with a future book talk.
As a young girl born and raised on the rugged coast of Rockland, Maine, few could have guessed Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was destined to become one of the greatest American poets of her time. The eldest of three daughters raised by a single mother struggling to make […]
At Village Preserevation our tours, lectures, book talks, exhibitions, and other public programs explore and celebrate preservation, history and culture. Beyond sharing vital information from the past and present about Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, our programs bring together community members from various walks of life to connect and learn from one another. Whether it is participants sharing their favorite memories of concerts at Filmore East on our East Village Rock Tour or gathering at a local school to learn about historical figures who helped shape our community, like Sarah Curry who founded the Little Missionary Day School, our programs provide the vital service of connecting you with your community and its history.
Village Preservation is pleased to announce the 2nd year of VILLAGE VOICES, an outdoor public art exhibition produced by Village Preservation that celebrates and illuminates the artistic, social, political, and cultural movements of our neighborhoods, and the people who gave voice to them. Using the streets of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo as our stage, […]
Village Preservation began offering an East Village Rock Tour in July, and it has been met with great enthusiasm and large groups gathering to learn more about the history of Rock ‘n Roll in the East Village.
us through our history with insights that help us understand our own times as much as we begin to understand the past. We hope you check out James and Michelle’s work and continue to come along such journeys through Village Preservation’s programming.
“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” -James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December […]
To celebrate Pride this year, we’re guiding you on an exploration of today’s LGBTQ+-owned businesses led by the Queer Money Project — to celebrate both the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community in our neighborhoods, and to support small businesses (both of which we do 24/7, 365-days-a-year, but what better time than now?). And we’re doing it in an exciting new way that allows you to participate in Village Preservation programming on your own time. Grab a friend and visit these sites that we’ll reveal on Instagram throughout NYC Pride Weekend.
Greenwich Village, NoHo, and the East Village. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the history of arts and culture in our neighborhoods, as well as participate in workshops that build our ability to continue to preserve our land as well as culture unique to our communities.
As we close the chapter on yet another wild and successful of year of public programs at Village Preservation, we wanted to take the time to reflect and highlight some of 2021’s best moments. Despite the twists and turns of this year’s ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, we’ve hosted 80 different educational lectures, book talks, and walking […]
Who says you can’t fight City Hall? During these particularly troubling and divided political times, it is rewarding and inspiring to look to Jane Jacobs for encouragement. Jane redefined urban planning in the 20th century, and is one of the trailblazers highlighted in Village Preservation’s outdoor interactive exhibition, VILLAGE VOICES. Jane Jacobs caused people to […]
Ah, springtime in New York City. Tulips and daffodils fill our parks, people pour into the streets to enjoy the sunshine, and, of course, GVSHP produces the Annual Spring House Tour Benefit! One of our most anticipated events of the year, the House Tour allows tour-goers to walk through spectacular Village homes, all while raising […]
This year’s Spring House Tour Benefit is right around the corner and features seven exquisite Village properties. In keeping with the storied history of the Village as an artist’s haven, the Spring House Tour has a longstanding tradition of including artist’s and curators spaces on the tour. This year is no exception, and promises to delight.
That’s the name of Tim McDarrah’s new walking tours. The tours are based on the photographs his late father, Village Voice photojournalist Fred W. McDarrah, took of people and places in the Village starting in the mid-1950s. I joined Tim and a group of 8 others recently for an amazing 90-minute journey through the neighborhood […]
Last night GVSHP held a public program co-sponsored by The Merchants House Museum; The Merchant’s House Museum – A Tale of Survival, a lecture and slideshow with Michael Devonshire. The Merchants House is one of only a handful of interior and exterior NYC landmarks, and is one of the first designated NYC landmarks. Michael Devonshire is a commissioner at the […]
Did you know that since 1991, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has offered elementary students an unparalleled opportunity to engage with New York City’s past by exploring the diverse culture and architecture of Greenwich Village? Greenwich Village: History & Historic Preservation highlights the uniqueness of Greenwich Village’s historic built environment and the importance […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
Walking East 3rd Street is a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2012 Intro to Public History course. Each pair of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of one particular block of East 3rd Street and sharing with us something fascinating they discovered along the way. All posts in the […]
