Valerio Orselli
Orselli 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 in the … 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.
- Activists & Advocates
- Arts
- East Village
- Greenwich Village
- Immigration
- LGBTQ
- Local Business
- Preservationists
- South Village
- Westbeth
East Village
Peter Longo
Longo grew up in an Italian family in the Village, attending Catholic schools and absorbing the immigrant and Beat cultures that surrounded him. He took over, and still runs, the … Continued
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Robert Zerilli
Robert Zerelli was raised in New Jersey and at the age of 18, he moved to New York City to work at the bakery founded by his great uncle in … Continued
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Virlana Tkacz
Virlana Tkacz was born in Newark, but had family connections to the Ukrainian community in the East Village, to which she eventually moved. She pursued theater at La MaMa under … Continued
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Lorcan Otway
Lorcan Otway, 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 history of the East … 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 came to New York City after World War II and became part of the downtown arts scene as a writer, poet and auteur. He pursued … Continued
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Wolf Kahn
Born in Germany, Wolf Kahn 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 Davis … Continued
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Phil Hartman
Phil is a co-owner and founder of Two Boots Pizza, a filmmaker, and an advocate for the preservation of the East Village, where he has lived for decades. He also … Continued
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Frances Goldin
Fran is a successful Manhattan literary agent and activist in practically every progressive movement of the past 70 years on the Lower East Side. A fighter for equitable housing, she … Continued
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Chino Garcia
Chino Garcia is a Lower East Side/East Village community activist. In this oral history, he discusses his birth in Puerto Rico and movement to New York, his activism as a … Continued
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Albert Fabozzi
A painter and interior designer, Fabozzi grew up in Coney Island and lived in the West Village as a young adult. When he and his longtime partner moved to the … Continued
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