Preservation History Archive

This archive contains printed materials from organizations and individuals involved in historic preservation and other local community efforts, particularly those connected to Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.


The Association of Village Homeowners Collection

The Association of Village Homeowners was a community group founded in 1960, which sought to preserve the human scale of Greenwich Village, improve the neighborhood’s parks, and protect the enjoyment and amenities of Village life. Over its more than forty-year existence, the Association was involved in important local preservation battles including those to save the Old Merchants House (now the Merchants House Museum), Jefferson Market Courthouse, and 75 1/2 Bedford Street; and battles against the Lower Manhattan Expressway, Westway, and many others. This collection includes a guidebook to the architectural styles of Greenwich Village rowhouses, written by preservation pioneer Verna Small with the assistance of Regina Kellerman, Village Preservation’s first Executive Director.


Evelyn G. Haynes Collection

Evelyn G. Haynes (1909-2001) was a preservationist and a member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in its earliest days. A native New Yorker, she grew up in Brooklyn Heights, attended Smith College, and was an editor at Vogue, where she worked from the 1930s to the mid-1950s. Her collection, largely from the 1960s, focuses on photographs, sketching, writings, and historic materials connected to Greenwich Village, the Charlton King Vandam district, and Lower Manhattan, especially Federal (ca. 1790-1835) and Greek Revival (ca. 1830-1850) row houses and architecture in this area.


Greenwich Village Trust/Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Collection

This collection contains the earliest printed newsletters of Village Preservation after its founding in the 1980s and through the 1980s, when it was known as the Greenwich Village Trust and then the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.  Among other issues, these early newsletters focus on efforts to research and preserve the non-landmarked sections of the Greenwich Village waterfront, archaeological digs at Sheridan Square, the competition to design a wrought-iron fence around the Jefferson Market Garden, and the early efforts to protect and pursue landmark designation for the Meatpacking District.


Otis Pratt Pearsall Collection

Otis Pratt Pearsall is an attorney and Brooklyn Heights resident who spearheaded that neighborhood’s successful effort to become New York City’s first historic (landmark) district in 1965. This archive includes correspondence and other information from 1965-68 about Greenwich Village prior to the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District in 1969.

Contents

Page # Title Date
1, 2 Calendar of the LPC Public Hearing 12/9/1965
3 Letter from Ruth Wittenberg to Otis Pratt Pearsall 4/22/1966
4 Letter from Anthony Dapolito, President to Otis Pratt Pearsall 4/27/1966
5 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to George P. Howard 1/8/1967
6 Letter from Dick Barnett to Otis Pratt Pearsall 1/15/1967
7 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to Mrs. Phillip Wittenberg 1/26/1967
8 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to Mrs. Geraldine Mindell 6/8/1967
9 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to George P. Howard 6/8/1967
10 Letter from Dick Barnett to the West Village Committee 12/15/1967
11 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to Verna Small 7/29/1968
12 Program Plan for the 10/30/1968 Membership Meeting by Verna Small 9/28/1968
13 Verna Small Memo to the Panel Participants 10/10/1968
14 Letter from Small to Pearsall Thanking him 11/1/1968
15, 16, 17 Notes Re Impact of N.Y.C.’s Landmarks Law On Preservation of Districts in N.Y.C. 10/30/1968
18, 19 Two Page Letter to Otis Pratt Pearsall from LPC Commissioner Mrs. Justin Haynes 11/2/1968
20 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to Michael W. Gold, enclosing at Gold’s Request 11/19/1968
21 Letter from Otis Pratt Pearsall to Mrs. Justin Haynes 11/8/1968

Manhattan Promenade Proposal

Looking north on the High Line from 14th Street with Nabisco Factory (now Chelsea Market) , 99 10th Ave., and connector aerial bridge visible.jpg

Noah Greenberg is an architect who lived on Hudson Street between 10th and Charles Streets in the 1970s with his wife Diane, her dog Dinky, and their daughter Becca. Noah and Dinky used to walk on the tracks of the old, abandoned “West Side Elevated Line” that had transported millions of tons of meat, dairy, and produce to NYC starting in 1933.

In 1979, Noah proposed an elevated park be built upon the structural remains of the abandoned rail line, titled the Manhattan Promenade. This collection includes photos he took and the proposal he submitted to Ruth Wittenberg’s Greenwich Village Historic Preservation Group.

Noah was amazed at the beauty and peaceful character of the structure and its railbed. Particularly interesting was the fact that the line ran through the middle of the streets affording unique views of the Hudson River and the streets of Manhattan. The first section of the line south of Westbeth (Bethune Street) had already been demolished, and Noah felt that this was an important historic structure that should be saved and repurposed. The impetus for his design arose from a proposal being considered at that time to tear down the entire rail structure.

Noah’s proposal was greeted with approval but was never brought to fruition. It would be many more years before any similar proposals were considered, and a full 30 years before the elevated park known as the High Line opened to the public in 2009.


Village Independent Democrats Collection: 1955-1969

The Village Independent Democrats are a reform democratic club founded in 1956. In 2023, the club donated their archives to Village Preservation. This collection includes much of the club’s archives from their first two decades, 1955 to 1969. The collection chronicles the club’s founding out of the Adlai Stevenson Presidential campaign, their successful efforts to remove the grip of the Tammany Hall Tawana Club from control of local democratic politics, their involvement in the civil rights and other social justice movements, and their support for efforts to preserve the neighborhood, especially from Robert Moses’ urban renewal and highway construction plans. Significant figures whose activities and correspondences are chronicled here include Eleanor Roosevelt, Ed Koch, Jane Jacobs, Robert Wagner, and Carol Greitzer.


West Village Committee Collection

The Committee to Save the West Village was formed by Jane Jacobs and neighbors to defeat a Robert Moses urban renewal plan that would have destroyed large swaths of the West Village. They re-formed as the West Village Committee in 1962.

This archive includes over 700 pages of meeting minutes, notices, correspondence, newsletters, and related articles from between 1961 and 1997. It documents decades of preservation battles, including for the creation of West Village Houses, the only built project in which Jane Jacobs had a design hand, and against the construction of Westway.

1961–1969 Contents

Page # Title Date
1-4 Article: “What Happened?” 1961
5-7 West Village Committee Newsletter, Vol. 2 No. 1 3/10/1962
8-11 West Village Committee Newsletter, Vol. 2 No. 2 4/6/1962
12-13 West Village Committee Newsletter, Vol. 2 No. 3 July, 1962
14 Article: “‘Village” Group Designs Housing to Preserve Character of Area,” New York Times 5/6/1963
15 Memorandum: Report on membership meeting of April 7th, 1964 4/11/1964
16-19 West Village Committee Newsletter 1/1/1965
20 General Meeting Notice 3/1/1965
21 General Meeting Notice 3/8/1966
22 General Meeting Notice 6/14/1966
23 General Meeting Notice 1/10/1967
24 General Meeting Notice 4/11/1967
25 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/11/1969
26 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/21/1969
27 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/17/1969
28 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/11/1969
29 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/9/1969

1970–1972 Contents

Page # Title Date
1 Monthly Membership Meeting 2/25/1970
2 Monthly Membership Meeting 3/25/1970
3 Special Meeting Notice 5/19/1970
4 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/23/1970
5 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/22/1970
6 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/27/1970
7 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/8/1970
8 Monthly Membership Meeting 1/19/1971
9-11 Election Notice to Membership and Meeting Minutes 2/16/1971
12-14 Monthly Membership Meeting and Meeting Minutes 3/16/1971
15 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/20/1971
16-17 Monthly Membership Meeting and “The House You Live In” 6/15/1971
18-19 A Plan To Protect A Community And To Secure Housing Without Dislocating The West Village Housing 6/15/1971
20-21 Monthly Membership Meeting and Meeting Minutes 9/21/1971
22-24 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/19/1971
25-27 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/16/1971
28 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/16/1971
29-30 “West Village Housing was Originated Ten Years Ago as a New Concept in Urban Housing” Ca. 1972
31 Monthly Membership Meeting Minutes 1/18/1972
32-34 Monthly Membership Meeting and Meeting Minutes 2/15/1972
35 Monthly Membership Meeting 3/21/1972
36-37 “An Evening with Jane Jacobs” Invitation 4/14/1972
38 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/18/1972
39-40 Committee Newsletter April, 1972
41 Articles: “Village Wins 10-Year Fight for $23M Housing Project,” New York Post, “A Neighborhood Victory,” New York Post, and “Prospectus,” Village Voice 4/21/1972, 4/24/1972, and 4/27/1972
42 Monthly Membership Meeting 5/16/1972
43-44 West Village Committee Newsletter 5/16/1972
45 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/27/1972
46 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/13/1972
47 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/17/1972
48 Article: “Housing Study: High Rise=High Crime,” New York Times 10/25/1972
49 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/21/1972
50-51 West Village Committee Newsletter 11/21/1972
52 Letter: to Jane Jacobs from James Shaw Re: the purchase of the Garage on Greenwich Street and Perry Street 11/28/1972
53 “Action Against Crime” Ca. October 1971
44-57 Monthly Membership Meeting and Newsletter 12/20/1972

1973–1975 Contents

Page # Title Date
1-4 Committee Newsletter and Articles of Association of the West Village Committee 1/23/1973
5 Letter to WVC from Roslyn Pulitzer Re: Ruth Gottlieb  2/5/1973
6,7 Committee Newsletter February, 1973
8-9 Committee Newsletter February, 1973
10 Annual Membership Meeting 2/20/1973
11-13 Meeting Minutes 2/20/1973
14 Mothly Membership Meeting 3/20/1973
15-16 Article: “West Side Studies 6 Highway Plans,” New York Times 3/30/1973
17 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/18/1973
18-21 Meeting Minutes 4/18/1973
22, 23 Committee Newsletter April, 1973
24 Monthly Membership Meeting 5/15/1973
25-27 Meeting Minutes 5/15/1973
28-29 Meeting Minutes 6/19/1973
30-32 Committee Newsletter September, 1973
33 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/18/1973
34 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/16/1973
35-39 Meeting Minutes 10/16/1973
40-41 Meeting Minutes 11/20/1973
42-43 Committee Newsletter December, 1973
44 Monthly Membership Meeting  1/15/1974
45-46 Committee Newsletter January, 1974
47-49 Meeting Minutes 1/15/1974
50-51 Committee Newsletter February, 1974
52-54 Monthly Membership Meeting 2/19/1974
55-56 Committee Newsletter March, 1974
57-58 Meeting Minutes 3/19/1974
59 Letter to Edward Haggerty from James Shaw Re: Dr. John Chadbourn 4/4/1974
60 Letter to Janice Brown from James Shaw Re: Membership 4/4/1974
61-64 Committee Newsletter April, 1974
65 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/16/1974
66 Gotham Jazz Concert Program 4/19/1974
67-69 Committee Newsletter May, 1974
70-71 Highway Hearings Flier May, 1974
72 Monthly Meeting Notice 6/18/1974
73-74 Committee Newsletter June, 1974
75-76 Press Release Re: Highway Protests 6/20/1974
77-78 Committee Newsletter August, 1974
79-82 West Village Houses Bulletin Summer, 1974
83 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/24/1974
84 Committee Newsletter September, 1974
85-87 Committee Newsletter October, 1974
88 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/15/1974
89 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/19/1974
90-91 Committee Newsletter December, 1974
92 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/17/1974
93-94 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 1/21/1975
95 Monthly Membership Meeting 2/25/1975
96 Monthly Membership Meeting 3/25/1975
97-99 Committee Newsletter March, 1975
100 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/15/1975
101-102 Committee Newsletter April, 1975
103-104 Articles: “Board of Ethics Clears Charges,” The Villager and “Past Greed Visits Today’s Waterfront,” The Villager 4/17/1975 and 5/1/1975
105-106 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 5/20/1975
107-108 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/17/1975
109-112 Committee Newsletter  Summer, 1975
113 Article: “How Not To Manage the City,” New York Times 9/14/1975
114-115 Monthly Membership Meeting and Award 10/21/1975
116-117 Committee Newsletter October, 1975
118 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/18/1975
119 Report from Village Committee for the Jefferson Market Area 11/20/1975
120-121 West Village Committee Newsletter November, 1975
122-123 West Side ad Hoc Committee against the Highway Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1 November, 1975
124 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/16/1975
125 Committee Newsletter December, 1975
126-127 West Side ad Hoc Committee against the Highway Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 2 December, 1975


1976–1979 Contents

Page # Title Date
1-2 Monthly Membership Meeting and Newsletter 1/20/1976
3 Letter to GV Community Housing Corp Rachele Wall from HPD Peter Joseph Re: Occupancy Program MBH 325 2/3/1976
4-6 Monthly Membership Meeting and Newsletter 2/17/1976
7-8 West Side Ad Hoc Committee Against the Interstate Highway Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 3 February, 1976
9 Letter to HPD Roger Starr from West Village Houses Manfred Ohrenstein Re: Rentup 2/24/1976
10-11 Letter to Councilman Henry Stren from James Shaw Re: West Village Houses  3/2/1976
12-14 Monthly Membership Meeting and Newsletter 3/16/1976
15-19 Monthly Membership Meeting and Newsletter 4/20/1976
20-21 West Side Ad Hoc Committee Against the Interstate Highway Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 6 April, 1976
22 Monthly Membership Meeting 5/18/1976
23-24 West Village Committee Newsletter May, 1976
25-26 West Side Ad Hoc Committee Against the Interstate Highway Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 7 May, 1976
27 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/22/1976
28-29 Committee Newsletter June, 1976
30-31 West Side Ad Hoc Committee Against the Interstate Highway Newsletter Vol 1, No. 8 June, 1976
32-35 Carnegie Hall Program – Season 1956-57 6/29/1976
36-37 West Village Committee Newsletter Summer, 1976
38 West Side ad hoc Committee Against the Highway Flier Summer, 1976
39-40 Committee Newsletter September, 1976
41 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/21/1976
42-43 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 10/19/1976
44 Percy Sutton Manhattan BP Newsletter 11/1/1976
45 Monthly Membership Meeting 11/16/1976
46-47 Committee Newsletter November, 1976
48-49 Committee Newsletter December, 1976
50 Letter to West Village Committee James Shaw from BP Percy Sutton Re: Westway 12/13/1976
51 Monthly Membership Meeting 12/21/1976
52 Christmas Celebration Flier 12/22/1976
53 Monthly Membership Meeting 1/18/1977
54-55 Committee Newsletter January, 1977
56 Monthly Membership Meeting 2/15/1977
57-58 Committee Newsletter February, 1977
59 Monthly Membership Meeting 3/15/1977
60 West Side ad hoc Committee Against the Highway Press Release 3/26/1977
61 Committee Newsletter March, 1977
62-63 Committee Meeting Notice and Newsletter 4/21/1977
64 Monthly Membership Meeting 5/17/1977
65 Public Hearing on Westway Flier May, 1977
66-67 Committee Newsletter May, 1977
68 CB2 Committee Hearing Notice 6/13/1977
69 Monthly Membership Meeting 6/21/1977
70-71 Committee Newsletter June, 1977
72 Monthly Membership Meeting 9/20/1977
73-76 Committee Newsletter September, 1977
77 Monthly Membership Meeting 10/18/1977
78-79 Committee Newsletter October, 1977
80-82 Committee Newsletter November, 1977
83-85 Articles: Against Westway October-December, 1977
86-87 Committee Newsletter December, 1977
88-90 Articles: Against Westway December 1977-January 1978
91-95 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter January, 1978
96-99 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 3/21/1976
100 Monthly Membership Meeting 4/18/1976
101 Monthly Membership Meeting 5/16/1978
102-105 Committee Newsletter May, 1978
106-108 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 6/20/1978
109 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 9/19/1978
110 Article: “Westway a Waste, Secret Memo Says,” City News 10/10/1978
111-112 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 10/17/1978
113-115 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 11/21/1978
116-119 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 12/15/1978
120-123 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 2/20/1979
124-126 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 3/20/1979
127-128 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 4/17/1979
129-130 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 5/15/1979
131-132 Committee Newsletter June, 1979
133 Committee Meeting Notice 6/19/1979
134-135 Committee Newsletter Mid-Summer, 1979
136-137 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 9/18/1979
138-139 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 10/16/1979
140 White Elephant Book Fair Flier 10/20/1979
141-142 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 11/20/1979
143-145 Monthly Membership Meeting and Committee Newsletter 12/18/1979

1980–1989 Contents

Page # Title Date
1 REBNY Ad 9/27/1985
2-3 Newsletter and Meeting Notice  1/28/1986
4-5 Newsletter and Meeting Notice  2/25/1986
6-7 Newsletter and Meeting Notice  3/25/1986
8-9 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 4/22/1986
10-12 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 5/27/1986
13 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 6/27/1986
14-15 Newsletter July-August, 1986
16-17 Articles Re: rezoning August, 1986
18-19  Letter to Deputy Mayor Robert Esnard from The West Village Committeed Re: Cooper Committee Report 9/3/1986
20-21 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 9/23/1986
22-23 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 10/28/1986
24-26 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 11/25/1986
27-28 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 1/27/1987
29-30 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 2/24/1987
31-32 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 3/24/1987
33 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 4/28/1987
34 Incinerator Rally Flier 5/2/1987
35-36 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 5/26/1987
37-38 Newsletter and Meeting Notice June, 1987
39-40 Newsletter July-August 1987
41 Newsletter and Meeting Notice September, 1987
43-44 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 10/27/1987
45-46 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 11/24/1987
47-48 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 1/26/1988
49 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 2/23/1988
50-51 Newsletter and Meeting Notice March, 1988
52 New York Observer Articles March, 1988
53-54 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 4/26/1988
55 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 5/24/1986
56 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 5/28/1986
57 Book Sale Notice 5/28/1988
58 Letter to Councilmember Carol Greitzer from the West Village Committee 6/13/1988
59-60 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 9/27/1988
61-64 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 10/24-25/1988
65-66 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 11/22/1988
67-68 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 1/24/1989
69-70 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 2/28/1989
71-72 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 3/28/1989
73-74 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 4/25/1989
75-76 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 5/23/1989
77-78 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 6/27/1989
79 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 9/26/1989
80 Book Sale Notice 9/30/1989
81-82 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 11/28/1989

1990–1997 Contents

Page # Title Date
1 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 23-Jan-90
2 “Seeking Safe Berth for the Waterfront” (Article) 30-Jan-90
3 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 27-Feb-90
4-5 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 27-Mar-90
6 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 24-Apr-90
7 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 22-May-90
8 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 26-Jun-90
9-10 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 25-Sep-90
11 Westway II Alert 10-Oct-90
12 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 23-Oct-90
13 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 27-Nov-90
14-17 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 22-Jan-91
18-19 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 26-Jan-91
20 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 23-Apr-91
21 An Open Letter to Those Who Love Our City None
22-23 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 28-May-91
24-25 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 25-Jun-91
26-27 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 24-Sep-91
28 Letter from William P. Bowser Re: Public Drinking Undated
29-30 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 22-Oct-91
31-32 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 26-Nov-91
33-34 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 28-Jan-92
35-36 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 24-Feb-92
37 Meetin Agenda/Announcements 2/25/1992
38 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 28-Apr-92
39 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 26-May-92
40-41 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 23-Jun-92
42 Meeting Notice and Newsletter July-August 1992
43 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 22-Sep-92
44-45 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 27-Oct-92
46-47 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 24-Nov-92
48 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 26-Jan-93
49-50 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 23-Feb-93
51-52 Newsletter and Meeting Notice March, 1993
53 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 27-Apr-93
54 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 25-May-93
55 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 22-Jun-93
56 Meeting Notice and Newsletter July-August 1993
57 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 28-Sep-93
58 Clean Water Act Article Sept/Oct 1993
59 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 26-Oct-93
60-61 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 23-Nov-93
63-64 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 25-Jan-94
65-66 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 22-Feb-94
67-68 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 22-Mar-94
69-70 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 26-Apr-94
71-72 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 24-May-94
73 West Village Committee Press Release 15-Jun-94
74-75 Newsletter and Meeting Notice 28-Jun-94
76 Public Hearing on Keeping West Side Highway Traffic Off Village Streets 7/12/1994
77-78 Newsletter and Meeting Notice July/August 1994
79 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 24-Jan-95
80 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 25-Jul-95
81 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 26-Sep-95
82-83 West Village Committee – Newspaper Clippings September, 1995
84 Meeting Notice and Newsletter 28-Nov-95
85-86 To: West Village Residents DO YOU REALIZE… Dated between 1995 and 1997

Remembering the Pioneers of Village Preservation

Village Preservation honors the preservation pioneers who have passed away in the 21st century. Through their hard work and dedication, they were leaders in preserving our neighborhood’s architectural character.

Giorgio Cavaglieri, 1912-2007
Lucy Cecere, 1923-2011

A life-long Villager, Lucy Cecere worked to help senior citizens in her community for nearly forty years, ran the Something Special shop on MacDougal Street with her husband, and became a vocal supporter of landmarking for the South Village.

In 2010 Lucy was presented with a Village Preservation Village Award for her tireless work in support of our community.

Lucy was an ardent supporter of preserving the South Village neighborhood. She spoke at rallies, gathered petition signatures, and was a member of Village Preservation’s South Village Advisory Board. Below is a video of Lucy and other South Village supporters discussing why a South Village Historic District is critical to the future of the neighborhood.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Anthony Dapolito, 1920-2003
Theresa Fritsch, 1922-2008
Margot Gayle, 1908-2008

Margot Gayle, who passed away in September of 2008, served on the Village Preservation Board of Advisors for many years. Gayle’s preservation battles included saving the Jefferson Market Courthouse in Greenwich Village (now the Jefferson Market Library branch of the New York Public Library) and creating the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District.

Village Preservation’s Oral History with Margot Gayle

The New York Times Obituary

The Villager Obituary

Jane Jacobs, 1916-2006

After the death of Jane Jacobs in April of 2006, Village Preservation has undertaken many projects to memorialize the contributions she made to the preservation of Greenwich Village.

In June of 2006 Village Preservation co-sponsored, with the Center for the Living City, a public memorial to Jane in Washington Square Park, with speakers from a wide array of fields that were influenced by her teachings.

Village Preservation also put forward a proposal to co-name the section of Hudson Street where Jane lived (and which she wrote about in Death and Life of Great American Cities) “Jane Jacobs Way,” and to rename adjacent Bleecker Park “Jane Jacobs Park.” The Community Board recommended approval of the renamings, and the City Council authorized the street renaming in November 2006. The implementation of the new “Jane Jacobs Way” street sign then sat in limbo for 2 1/2 years.

In July 2009 a ceremony was finally held to unveil the new sign for the co-named street, which honors this great woman’s contributions to the Village and to the world. For coverage, see: New York MagazineThe Architect’s Newspaper, and MetBlogs.

In October or 2006, Keith McNally generously hosted a gala fundraiser for Village Preservation at Balthazar Restaurant honoring Jane’s legacy, with Paul Goldberger and Calvin Trillin as featured speakers. Village Preservation has joined fellow community groups in calling for the new middle school at 75 Morton Street to be named for Jane Jacobs (read Community Board #2 resolution). We are committed to continuing to remember the remarkable contributions of this pioneering preservationist.

Village Preservation’s Oral History with Jane Jacobs

The New York Times Obituary

Charles Lockwood, 1948-2012
Regina Kellerman, 1923-2008

Village Preservation was saddened by the passing of Regina Kellerman in May of 2008. Kellerman was the first executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and a founder of the organization. She later served as a Trustee and then as a member of the Preservation Committee and Board of Advisors. Her research for “The Architecture of the Greenwich Village Waterfront” formed the groundwork for the later designation of several historic districts in Greenwich Village, including the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension and the Weehawken Street Historic District. She served on Village Preservation’s Preservation Committee until her death.

Village Preservation acquired the Regina M. Kellerman papers in August of 2008, and donated the materials to the New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts the following year. In June of 2008, Village Preservation presented the First Annual Regina Kellerman Award to the Salmagundi Club in Greenwich Village at its Annual Meeting and Awards ceremony.

The New York Times Obituary

The Villager Obituary

Christopher Moore, 1952-2022

Christopher Moore, who passed away in April 2022, was a curator, archivist, author, storyteller, researcher and the longest-serving member of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, from 1995 to 2015. Among his notable accomplishments were his work to preserve the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, his curation of numerous exhibits at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and his expertise in African American, Native American, and New York City history. He was key to helping to preserve properties around the city, both before he joined the LPC (writing designation reports for Harlem’s Mother A.M.E. Church and Abyssinian Baptist Church) and during his two decades as a member of the commission.

Christopher Moore, Preserver of Black New York History, Dies at 70

Remembering Christopher Moore and Honoring New York City’s Whole History

Verna Small, 1916-2008

Verna Small, who passed away in August of 2008, was one of the founders of Village Preservation and a longtime member of the Board of Trustees. Verna was a giant of the preservation movements in Greenwich Village and New York City. She was a major force in the successful fight for the original Greenwich Village Historic District in 1969 and an ardent advocate for extension of historic district protections to the South Village, where she lived for many years. Verna also served for many years as the chair of Community Board #2’s Landmarks Committee.

Village Preservation’s Oral History with Verna Small

The Villager Obituary