Pi Gardiner
Margaret “Pi” Halsey Gardiner was born in New York City in 1949. Her family history in New York State spans back several generations, particularly on Long Island, where her great-great-great-grandfather … Continued
Full TranscriptVillage Preservation Oral History Collection
Village Preservation’s Oral History Project includes interviews with some of the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. It captures and preserves their first-person perspective on the important histories they witnessed or of which they were a part.
Click here for an alphabetical list of our entire Oral History Collection.
The views expressed by the contributor(s) are solely those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or endorsement of our organization.
- Activists & Advocates
- Arts
- East Village
- Greenwich Village
- Immigration
- LGBTQ
- Local Business
- Preservationists
- South Village
- Westbeth
Activists & Advocates
Jonathan Ned Katz
Jonathan Ned Katz grew up in Greenwich Village in a house on Jane Street and attended the Little Red School House as a kid. There, he was encouraged to make … Continued
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Lucy Komisar
Lucy Komisar has been a resident of Greenwich Village for decades. Having grown up in the Bronx and Long Island, she then moved to Manhattan when she was a student … Continued
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Barbara Kahn
Barbara Kahn is an East Village playwright who has produced dozens of works rooted in history, especially the history of New York and marginalized or oppressed people, with a frequent … Continued
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Ayo Harrington
Ayo Harrington has lived in the East Village since the 1960s, and been deeply involved in the community garden, urban homesteading, environmental, resiliency, educational equality, and civil rights movements. She … Continued
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Rich Wandel
Rich Wandel (b. May 20, 1946) is a former president of the Gay Activist Alliance, and served as the Archivist Historian at the LGBT Community Center from its founding in … Continued
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David Rothenberg
David Rothenberg (b. August 19, 1933) is one of the Village’s most prolific activists. A former Broadway producer, he also produced the off-Broadway play “Fortune in Men’s Eyes”, which ignited … Continued
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Robert Sanfiz
Robert Sanfiz (b. March 20, 1969) has been the Executive Director of La Nacional since 2008. La Nacional is the 150-year-old Spanish Benevolent Society located on West 14th Street, which … Continued
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Arthur Levin
Arthur (Art) Levin (b. 1936) has served as a Village Preservation Trustee for over 20 years, including as President since 2012, overseeing a period of organizational growth. Art grew up … Continued
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Valerio Orselli
Orselli (b. 1949) immigrated from Italy to Brazil in 1954 and to New York in 1960. He has been a passionate advocate for affordable housing for almost 50 years, especially … Continued
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Tod Williams
Architect Tod Williams (b. May 11, 1943) worked with Richard Meier during the conversion of Westbeth from an industrial building to artist’s housing in the late 1960s and early 70s. … Continued
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George Cominskie
Since 1983, Cominskie has lived in Westbeth, a nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations, located in the old … Continued
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