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
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
East Village
Alex Harsley
Alex Harsley was born on a farm in South Carolina, where he spent the first ten years of his life being trained to farm. When his mother decided to relocate to New York City to work, he advocated for himself, his brother, and his sister to join her, which they did in 1948. He attended a public school across the street from where he lived in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.
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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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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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Peter Longo
Peter Longo (b. October 22, 1951) grew up in an Italian family in the Village, attending Catholic schools and absorbing the immigrant and Beat cultures that surrounded him. He took … Continued
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Robert Zerilli
Robert Zerelli (b. November 30, 1962) was raised in New Jersey, and at the age of 18, he moved to New York City to work at the bakery founded by … Continued
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Virlana Tkacz
Virlana Tkacz (b. June 23, 1962) was born in Newark, but had family connections to the Ukrainian community in the East Village, to which she eventually moved. She pursued theater … Continued
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Lorcan Otway
Lorcan Otway (b. July 27, 1955), the owner of the Off Broadway Theater 80, located at 80 St. Mark’s Place, speaks about the theater’s history, as well as the cultural … Continued
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Marlis Momber
Born in 1943 in Berlin, Germany, Marlis has lived in Loisaida since 1975. Her photographs document the struggle of the mostly Puerto Rican people living in that part of Manhattan. … Continued
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Jonas Mekas
Born in Lithuania, Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) came to New York City after World War II and became part of the downtown arts scene as a writer, poet and auteur. He … Continued
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Wolf Kahn
Born in Germany, Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) came to America as a teenager, and discovered painting while working in a U.S. Navy paint shop. He went on to study under Stuart … Continued
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