John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest American by the time he passed in 1848, earning his fortune of $20 million (about $800 million in today’s dollars) first in the fur trade and then in New York City real estate. Toward the end of his life, he began thinking about his legacy and giving back to […]
Ada Louise Huxtable (March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) was arguably the most formidable critical voice regarding architecture of the second half of the 20th century. Huxtable, who became the New York Times’ first full-time architecture critic in 1963, had the uncanny ability and excellent foresight to analyze architecture in a manner that highlighted the […]
THE RESTAURANT WEEK WAS BORN IN NYC! The first Restaurant Week was conceived by famed restauranteur Joe Baum and food critic Tim Zagat when thousands of journalists and delegates flocked to Manhattan for the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Restaurant Week was designed to attract and satisfy guests (largely journalists and delegates) looking for good and affordable […]
Since 1911, the majestic main branch of the New York Public Library has been watching over Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, welcoming researchers, scholars, students, and tourists into its hallowed halls by the millions every year.
Jackson Square Library, one of New York City’s first free circulating libraries, was a gift of George Washington Vanderbilt, III.
One of New York most prolific and high-profile building families, the Astors left their indelible mark on countless areas of the city. Though their name is typically connected to grand pieces of our city’s history, like the Astor Library and, of course, Astor Place, an enormous collection of their output hides almost in plain sight: […]
Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat! We have seen it on many occasions here at GVSHP. Most recently, in case you haven’t heard, we were victorious in persuading the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York City agency charged with administering the city’s Landmarks Preservation law, to begin the formal process of considering 827-831 Broadway […]
The arts are the soul and life of our civilization. They are the link which we use to identify individual and shared expressions. It is widely recognized that The Public Theater is one of our nation’s greatest institutions for theater and a cultural leading light. We in the Village are incredibly fortunate that their […]
Landmarks for Sale—or the Wrecker’s Ball Following on the heels of great success with his free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Joe Papp, the legendary founder of the Public Theater, was looking for a place to build his dream. A place, as he put it, where theater could “live […]
On September 21, 1965, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held its very first public hearing. Twenty-eight buildings were on the agenda, including five in Brooklyn, fifteen in Manhattan, one in the Bronx, and seven in Staten Island. Eight of the properties are located in GVSHP’s catchment area between Houston and 14th Street. We have written extensively about […]
We celebrate Landmarks50 by taking a look at Joseph Papp Public Theater (often referred to as The Public Theater), which, at the time of its designation in 1965, was the Astor Library / New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. This individual landmark at 425 Lafayette Street was built in 1849 and completed in 1881. The […]
In this day and age, information about nearly any topic is at our fingertips. A quick internet search can reveal any number of facts we might need. This wasn’t always the case, however. For decades, it was libraries and their books that provided such knowledge. In Greenwich Village, several fantastic libraries provided neighborhood residents the […]
Tomorrow, Saturday, October 13th, the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street (off Astor Place) will be hosting a block party to celebrate the re-dedication of their historic theater space, and you’re invited! The block party will run from noon to 5pm and will also feature an open house in the historic NoHo space. According to […]
In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, the 883 foot long, 50 ton, and reputedly unsinkable ocean liner the RMS Titanic sunk on its maiden voyage from England to New York off the coast of Newfoundland, after hitting an iceberg just before midnight the night before. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, […]
