From Condemned Land to National Monument: Christopher Park
…April 5, 1837, paving the way for it to become a neighborhood park. These statues by George Segal are titled Gay Liberation in honor of gay rights and the Village’s…
Read More…April 5, 1837, paving the way for it to become a neighborhood park. These statues by George Segal are titled Gay Liberation in honor of gay rights and the Village’s…
Read More…beliefs, a trait that was further apparent in his advocacy for civil-rights and the anti-Vietnam-War movement. A member of GAA (Gay Activist Alliance), he opened the famed Village gay bars…
Read MoreFew places on Earth have attracted more or a broader array of activists and agitators for social change than Greenwich Village. And much of that activity took place right in…
Read More…provided by Otis. Otis Kidwell Burger comes from a long line of activists. Her great-grandfather was Sydney Howard Gay, a New Yorker who became a fierce abolitionist after taking a…
Read More…right up to today, pioneering women have made the Greenwich Village Historic District their home, from congresswoman Bella Abzug and gay rights advocate Edie Windsor to playwright Lorraine Hansberry and photographer Berenice…
Read More…the first demonstration against the United States military’s involvement in Vietnam, and in his later life he spoke openly about being gay and supported the Gay Liberation movement. Upon his…
Read More…gay adoption ban, and a lawsuit filed against the 24 neo-Nazi and white supremacist leaders responsible for organizing the racist attacks in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. This entry can also…
Read More…the 1970s when multiple leading figures of the gay rights movement lived here in what was called a “gay commune”. This is the criteria the LPC has used when designating…
Read More…Democrats club (the country’s first gay democratic club, founded in 1974 around the historic candidacy of Jim Owles as New York City’s first openly-gay candidate for elected office — Koch’s…
Read MoreStonewall Inn. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. On June 23, 2015, The Stonewall Inn, the place where the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights movement was born, was officially…
Read More…and many more within our proposed South of Union Square Historic District. 80 Fifth Avenue (left); press conference announcing the formation of the National Gay Task Force, 1973 One of…
Read More…extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Photographed by Susan De Vries, 1996 14 Gay Street In November 2022, demolition permits were filed for the landmarked 200-year-old house at 14…
Read More…has played in LGBT history and the LGBT rights movement. West Village The Stonewall Inn (51-53 Christopher Street) In the early morning of Saturday, June 28, 1969, dozens of gay…
Read More…a landowner through whose property the street was cut, and the 45th mayor of New York City. Richard Varick (1753–1831), painting from the New-York Historical Society Gay Street The name…
Read More…holds recorded and transcribed interviews with some of the the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of our neighborhoods. Paula Poons, 827-831 Broadway Paula Poons, 2017. Paula…
Read More…controversial novel “Faggots”, about New York City’s gay subculture in 1970s. When AIDS began to spread through the gay community, Larry co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (now known as…
Read More…the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement. This insurrection gave birth to the gay liberation phase of the lesbian and gay rights movement, transforming the…
Read More…orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet descending from the top. The following two “rainbow flag-inspired” images are from the Robert Fisch Collection, dating froim from gay pride events. Gay…
Read More…Stonewall Inn, Julius’ is often called the oldest continuously operating gay bar in New York City. It was originally established in 1867 and by the 1950’s was attracting gay patrons. …
Read More…Inn at 53-55 Christopher Street and the ensuing nights of riots in late June 1969 had profound reverberations still being felt today. Police raids on gay bars were nothing new…
Read More…sexuality. This work made her an early gay rights advocate. The actors’ unions of that time barred gay people from having speaking roles in plays. West did not care for…
Read More…academy, the building faced the wrecking ball in the post-World War II years. However, preeminent preservationist Margot Gayle led a grassroots effort to save the building, and it found new…
Read More…took a stand against legal restrictions and conducted about one hundred gay marriages within the Church. Ed Egan, against the Bishop’s wishes, invited the predominantly-gay Metropolitan Community Church to have…
Read More…of NYC’s oldest bars, and its oldest gay bar, Julius’ Bar. In 1966 Julius’ Bar was the site of a trailblazing civil protest for gay rights, more than three years before…
Read More…histories or connections. Here are a few: Harvey Milk High School/Hetrick-Martin Institute (2 Astor Place) Harvey Milk High School (named for the first openly gay man to be elected to…
Read More…center of ‘gay’ nightlife in New York City. On Bleecker Street, the Black Rabbit and the Slide did business, offering live sex shows and male prostitutes. On the Bowery, Manilla…
Read More…and his own apartment on East 52nd Street. While living in this apartment, Tom began his work and volunteering with Village preservation efforts, inspired by Margot Gayle, “one of the…
Read More…with local collaboration from the Village Alliance BID, has been years in the making. The re-installation of the unique mosaic creations will affirm and highlight the importance of local artists…
Read More…in part by the Village Alliance and other stakeholders’ desire for more and better neighborhood public space. The current construction process started in 2013, and has been complicated by the combination of private and public…
Read More…Past, Imagine our Future: Landmarks50 Alliance.” And on Monday, members of the Alliance rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ market. Quite a week! There will be more events throughout…
Read MoreIt is no surprise that social movements for workers’ rights and freedom of speech were propelled by activists from Greenwich Village. The neighborhood in the early twentieth century was a…
Read More…which owned the San Remo. Village Awards with awardees Block Drug Store and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors. In June, hundreds turned out for GVSHP’s Annual Meeting and Village Awards,…
Read MoreThe Parthenon in Greece and St. Joseph’s Church in Manhattan Two centuries ago, a war began in Europe that would shape boundaries and alliances on the continent for years to…
Read More…dancers, performers, and activists of the East Village filled the buildings with new life, and the buildings, in turn, gave these new coalitions and organizations a place to grow and…
Read More…AIDS activist group ACT UP, and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Former P.S. 95 (Now P.S. 721 – Manhattan Occupational Training Center) 250 Houston Street Status – Extant…
Read More…in the streets for long-overdue reform and change. One milestone in that history took place 50 years ago when several Puerto Rican activists gathered in the East Village to found…
Read More…hearts of Greenwich Village, where Mr. Kunstler lived and worked for decades. William Kunstler in his Greenwich Village home/office at 13 Gay Street. Photo courtesy of Getty images/Ron Galella Mr….
Read More…name ‘Stonewall’ also used by countless organizations and entities around the world to signify the quest for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. But in 1969, those three nights of…
Read More…of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement. This insurrection gave birth to the gay liberation phase of the lesbian and gay rights movement, transforming the struggle for…
Read More…Needs Although only 7% of the general youth population identifies as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer/questioning), approximately 40% of youth who are currently homeless identify as LGBTQ. This represents…
Read More…of the most prolific writers of the Beat Generation, he was a staunch advocate of free speech and an early proponent of sexual freedom and gay rights. In 1954, he…
Read More…American history to be found in Greenwich Village and the East Village. While both neighborhoods became better known for different kinds of communities in later years – Italians, Ukrainians, gay men…
Read More…here. Interestingly, Abbott saw fit to photograph the currently relevant 14-16 Gay Street. 14 Gay is the subject of much controversy at the moment as it is has been demolished…
Read More“I am not a boy, not a girl, I am not gay, not straight, I am not a drag queen, not a transsexual – I am just me, Jackie.” This…
Read More…Gay Liberation, of a life-sized female and male couple in natural, affectionate poses. Installed in 1992, it is America’s only public monument to the gay civil rights movement (as opposed…
Read More…and while fenced off, the grounds are regularly open to the public for its enjoyment. Gay Street via Wiki Commons Tiny one block long Gay Street attracts as many visitors for its delightfully…
Read More…that offers great insight is the New York Public Library. Village Preservation staffer Hew Evans (they, them) shared that as part of the NYPL’s extensive Gay and Lesbian Collections, the…
Read More…of the New York Public Library. Photo by Diana Davies, 1970. Source: NYPL. Photo by Diana Davies, 1970. Source: NYPL. These first two images were taken on “Christopher Street Gay…
Read More…gives a nice ’50s ambiance of a traditional ice cream shop. They focus on texture-driven small-batch ice creams, with over 88 different flavors to try. Big Gay Ice Cream Shop…
Read More…in NYC. https://gvshp.org/blog/2011/11/14/when-was-my-building-built-and-other-tricky-research-questions/ 2012: Is Gay Street Really ‘Gay’? Spoiler Alert: the answer is no, but it’s a great story. https://gvshp.org/blog/2012/10/10/is-gay-street-really-gay/ 2013: Happy Birthday, Andy Warhol Our most popular blog post…
Read More…Mailer. Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City, Sydney Howard Gay, Louis Napoleon and the Record of Fugitives. Photo courtesy of Amazon.com Burger was born on November…
Read More…Genovese and the Village PFLAG Historic Plaque Unveiling On A Beautiful Day Landmarks Preservation Commission Celebrates Gay Pride, Doesn’t Designate Gay Landmarks Remembering Jeanne Manford and the Founding of PFLAG…
Read More…gay people to run for City Council. Although he lost, he became a huge inspiration to the gay community, particularly in Greenwich Village – in a way, to many he…
Read More…cement Greenwich Village as the birthplace of the modern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) right’s movement. Marsha P. Johnson, a black transwoman, is iconic not just for her role…
Read More…American history to be found in Greenwich Village and the East Village. While both neighborhoods became better known for different kinds of communities in later years – Italians, Ukrainians, gay men…
Read More…and reinstalled. Photo courtesy village Alliance. The ongoing project to remake Astor Place and Cooper Square to increase pedestrian mobility and make the area a greater public space is having…
Read More…Village. With tour guide Joyce Gold, GVSHP and our partners at Village Alliance, Washington Square Park Conservancy, and many local businesses, celebrated the holiday cheer and local atmosphere that is…
Read More…spot when time, resources, and weather permitting. At the unveiling with artist Jim Power, aka the Mosaic Man Village Alliance Executive Director William Kelley emceed the event with Council Member…
Read More…gritty neighborhood. The Village Alliance’s Business Improvement District today, born of many frustrations voiced in the 1993 New York Magazine cover story. Issues like those described in the story can…
Read MoreChristopher Park sign. Photo courtesy of the Christopher Park Alliance. On this day in 1837, the City condemned a parcel of land between Christopher, Grove, and West 4th Streets, which…
Read More…Sustainable Architecture Programs at New York University Watch here! Event #2: GVHD50: The Work Behind the District’s Designation, March 11, 2019 In 1969, Greenwich Village preservationists, activists, and neighbors celebrated…
Read More…East Village activists were surprised to learn recently that the city’s Department of Buildings had issued new work permits for 605 E. 9th Street, the former public school that served…
Read More…for “Lower East Side,” was coined by local Puerto Rican activists Chino Garcia and Bimbo Rivas, two of the figures behind the eminent local community center CHARAS (more on this…
Read More…who have died of AIDS and to commemorate and celebrate the efforts of caregivers and activists who have devoted their lives to this cause. We’re thrilled to be able to…
Read More…as a haven for African American intellectuals, artists, and activists seeking refuge from the racial segregation rampant in other parts of the city. Writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale…
Read More…at Hunter College. He was drawn to Greenwich Village, to the openness and community of its streets and parks, and to its gay scene, in particular the Stonewall Inn. Levine…
Read More…and Silvia were able to keep homeless gay and transgender youth off the street, where they might face the threat of violence. Marsha referred to anyone brought into the house…
Read More…in 1970 their activisms as co-founders of STAR, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, they were pillars of the gay liberation movement.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sylvia…
Read More…housing developments. Learn more, listen to, and read Dixon Bain’s oral history. David Rothenberg, then and now David Rothenberg is one of the Village’s most prolific activists. After returning from…
Read More…York’s history through the 19th century, the largest and most important African-American community in the city. That neighborhood centered around present-day Minetta, Thompson, Cornelia, and Gay Streets. Minetta Street, the…
Read More…Minetta, Thompson, Cornelia and Gay Streets in the South Village. As immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe began to stream into the Village, however, the African-American community was gradually pushed…
Read More…Stories. The library’s foray into recording and archiving the stories of the neighborhood had us thinking about GVSHP’s own collection of oral histories, which include narratives by early preservation activists…
Read More…the story of keeping the Village the Village. As the great-granddaughter of abolitionist and National Anti-Slavery Standard editor Sydney Howard Gay, and the granddaughter of noted suffragist Mary Otis Gay…
Read More…include mythology, class, sexuality, position in society, and the ability to move from one social stratum to another. Delany at a reading in 2015. Delany has identified as gay since…
Read More…including Sundance, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival. It introduced largely-white audiences, both gay and straight, to cultural phenomena including voguing, shade, and reading —…
Read MoreOn this date in 2013, GVSHP and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) unveiled our plaque to memorialize and celebrate Jeanne Manford at the Church of the Village at…
Read MoreThe African American literary critic and professor Henry Louis Gates once stated that the Harlem Renaissance was “surely as gay as it was Black, not that it was exclusively either…
Read More…was built in the 1970s. According to a piece co-written by influential preservation pioneer Margot Gayle, the owner at the time had thought of constructing a new building before deciding to…
Read More…the American South and seeing first-hand the horrors of slavery (but who is not, as is sometimes assumed, the namesake of Gay Street). Her grandmother, Mary Otis Gay Willcox, was…
Read More…patrons at a time when gay theater was considered illicit and unacceptable. After a fire in the early years, the Caffe was rebuilt with a small stage – before that,…
Read More…radio. Then Fred Astaire’s last stage show, Gay Divorce (1932) (the title of the 1934 film version was changed to The Gay Divorcée), featured what would become Porter’s signature tune,…
Read More…on Charles Street and Gay Street were individually photographed, while the buildings of West 8th Street were photographed in multiple sections. 43 Charles Street 3-5 West 8th Street Walking through…
Read More…sexuality more, becoming part of a gay bohemian circle of friends. James Baldwin & Beauford Delaney Beauford led a double life here in New York. Even though he became more…
Read More…wrote in her own memoirs that he would laugh when people called him gay, he also sued Chevy Chase for $10 million for calling him gay. Mysteries abound, and no…
Read MoreA self-proclaimed “gay superhero,” Stormé Delarverie (≅ December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014, Pronouns: she/her in public, he/him in performance) was a drag king, bouncer, and neighborhood activist who…
Read More…and home to one of NYC’s oldest bars, and its oldest gay bar, Julius’ Bar. In 1966 Julius’ Bar was the site of a trailblazing civil protest for gay rights,…
Read More…storefronts L to R: Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, Butter Lane Cupcakes, Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream The oldest of this dessert triumvirate, Butter Lane Cupcakes, opened in 2008 at…
Read More…Gay Street. 14 Gay Street, Spencer Means, 2017 For years, violations at 14 Gay Street continued to be overlooked by the city agencies responsible for maintaining the structure of the…
Read More…11, 1981, pioneering gay-rights activist and author Larry Kramer hosted a meeting of friends at his 2 Fifth Avenue apartment that led to founding the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC),…
Read More…he is obsessed with the history of our neighborhoods. In his capacity as the unofficial historian for Julius’, the historic gay bar on the corner of West 10th Street and…
Read More…gay clientele. Following the rebellion at Stonewall, Christopher Street became the social and cultural center of New York’ gay and lesbian community. Six of the fourteen buildings in the district…
Read More…40 years ago. The rooftop addition that now sits atop the structure was built in the 1970s. According to a piece co-written by influential preservation pioneer Margot Gayle, the owner…
Read MoreYesterday the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and The Church of the Village unveiled a bronze historic marker now permanently…
Read More…the first cases of AIDS in New York were treated, and the LGBT Community Center (formerly the Gay Community Center) at 208 West 13th Street, where many of the earliest…
Read More…at Victory Garden. For those looking for soft ice cream, that classic summer treat, The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop is where it is at. Big Gay officially launched in…
Read More…of it’s goal, and you can help here. Contact Will Lewis at Village Alliance to learn more about that affordable and exciting sponsorship opportunity at 212.777.2173 info@villagealliance.org Besides the Mosaics, in 2011 GVSHP…
Read More…But that’s just the beginning of the story. This all stems from the ‘condo-hotel’ usage which Village Preservation and the SoHo Alliance long argued made the project illegal. The City…
Read More…changes, and in 2013 GVSHP awarded the most vocal, the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, with a Village Award. The Bowery, 1974. Credit: Leland Bobbé. From the collections of the Museum…
Read More…But that’s just the beginning of the story. This all stems from the hotel’s structure as a ‘condo-hotel,’ which Village Preservation and the SoHo Alliance long argued made the project…
Read More…Inc., Lower Manhattan Neighbors’ Organization, SoHo Alliance, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, NoHo Neighborhood Association, Assembly Member Deborah Glick and 10 other individuals, filed suit against the City and State’s approvals…
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