Oral Histories - Village Preservation

Village 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.

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Greenwich Village

John Guare

John Guare (b. February 5, 1938) is a playwright and screenwriter known for Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves, among many other works. Born in Manhattan … Continued

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Rob Mason

For more than a quarter century, Robert Mason (b. 1946) operated RPM studios from his live/work loft on 12th Street south of Union Square, one of the first boutique recording studios … Continued

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Michael E. Levine

Michael E. Levine (b. 1943) is an urban planner who worked as the NYC Department of City Planning’s CommunityBoard #2 liaison beginning in the 1960s, and was intimately involved in … Continued

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Mimi Sheraton

Mimi Sheraton (b. February 10, 1926) is a food critic and food writer who has lived in the Village since 1945. In 1975 she was she hired as the first … Continued

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Ralph Lee

Puppeteer Ralph Lee (b. 1935) has lived at Westbeth since 1970 and is known as the “Father” of the famous Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

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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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Victor Keyloun

Dr. Victor Keyloun (b. February 20, 1935) worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital from 1963 to 1983. He was a neighborhood doctor, notably serving extended Italian families as well as the … Continued

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Otis Kidwell Burger

Otis Kidwell Burger (1923-2021) lived on Bethune Street for 58 years, where her life intertwined with some of the most intriguing and important figures in the Village during that time. … Continued

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Paula DeLuccia Poons

Paula DeLuccia Poons (b. 1953) and her husband Larry Poons have lived at 827-831 Broadway since 1977. Both are artists, following a long tradition of artists who have taken refuge … 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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Village Preservation Oral History Collection

Greenwich Village

John Guare

Rob Mason

Michael E. Levine

Mimi Sheraton

Ralph Lee

Rich Wandel

David Rothenberg

Victor Keyloun

Otis Kidwell Burger

Paula DeLuccia Poons

Robert Sanfiz

Arthur Levin