On January 24, 1961, a young Bob Dylan arrived in New York City with nothing but a guitar, a few songs, and big dreams of making it in the world of music. His destination was the Village — specifically the South Village and Greenwich Village neighborhoods, which would become the setting for his artistic metamorphosis. […]
The release of the biopic A Complete Unknown a few weeks ago has sparked renewed interest in the life, local history, and work of music icon Bob Dylan. And while filmmakers substituted the currently more sedate streets of Jersey City and Hoboken for Dylan’s actual neighborhood in the 1960s, you can instead walk the actual […]
December is South Village Month – join us in celebrating this vibrant neighborhood all month long! The South Village in the 50s and 60s was a hotbed of creativity and activism. Where the West Village might be known as the heart of the neighborhood, the area south could be called its soul. Sullivan Street, Thompson Street, MacDougal […]
Bob Dylan (born May 24, 1941) began his legendary career in Greenwich Village. The storied clubs and coffee houses in the neighborhood were the incubators for his formidable talent and work. You’ll find some surprises about him and his connections to the Village in our list of 80 Things We Love About Bob Dylan. We […]
Greenwich Village has a new bookstore located at 115 MacDougal Street in the lobby of the historic Players Theatre. The specialty bookshop, Bravo’s Book Nook, focuses on books about theater, music, children’s education, and Greenwich Village history. The store is co-owned by Michael Sgouros of the historic Players Theatre and Brenda Bell of Literally Alive […]
“Bohemian” may be hard to define, but we all know it when we see it. But even in a city like New York, where bohemian can be used to describe everything from a polished West Village cafe to a South Bronx squat, few people know why exactly we today use this term, connected to a […]
He blew into town on a cold January day in 1961, slammed the door of his car, walked into Café Wha and landed a gig that night. That’s the legend, anyway. Truth is that he slogged around uptown hustling for gigs in the Theater District for months before the Village beckoned. But once he found […]
2016 is coming to an end. What better way to ring in the New Year than at some of Bob Dylan’s old haunts? Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the most well known (including ones that have moved) so your New Year’s Eve won’t be Blowin’ in the Wind!
Bob Dylan in Sheridan Square The South Village has many reasons to be celebrated these days. Of course, the (hopefully) impending designation of the Sullivan Thompson Historic District is a big story for GVSHP. Our 13-year quest to protect all of the areas of the South Village is finally coming to fruition with the potential […]
Twelve years ago tomorrow, GVSHP began an initiative to secure historic district designation for the South Village. It’s hard to believe that the original 1969 Greenwich Village Historic District did not include some of these best-known and best-loved locations. Fortunately, the LPC agreed to designate some of the area we proposed, but the remaining area […]
The exact date is impossible to confirm. But it is widely accepted that Bob Dylan arrived in New York City on 24 January 1961, in the midst of the coldest winter New York had seen in 28 years. He’d dropped out of the University of Minnesota, and spent the last twenty-four hours driving east with […]
The recent piece on PBS’ MetroFocus series about GVSHP’s book, Greenwich Village Stories (watch here) reminds me what a perfect end-of-summer read the book is (the book can be purchased here). Where else can you find sixty-six reminiscences about the Village and East Village from some of the great musicians, politicians, performers, artists, writers, actors, […]
On Tuesday we celebrated the Landmarks Preservation Commission vote to designate the South Village as an Historic District. I hope you will see for yourself why we fought so hard for 10 years to accomplish this. Circle a day on your calendar now, and set aside some time to stroll the streets between Washington Square […]
Fifty years ago, in May of 1962, folk group Peter, Paul and Mary released their self-titled debut album. The group went on to become one of the most, if not the most, successful folk groups in recording history. Songs like “If I Had A Hammer”, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, and “Puff, The Magic Dragon”, […]
On Saturday, at the age of 69, Clarence Clemons, aka the Big Man, passed away in Palm Beach, Florida. Known best for his role as the unbelievably talented saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Clemons’ passing has brought sadness to so many.
On May 24, 1941 a baby named Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota. Twenty years later, going by Bob Dylan in homage to one of his influences Dylan Thomas, he arrived in Greenwich Village in hopes of meeting his hero Woodie Guthrie. Within four months Bob Dylan had booked his first professional gig […]
