On September 20, 1955, the world of theater witnessed the opening of a stunning revival of The Threepenny Opera, a work by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that had already cemented its place as one of the 20th century’s most significant and revolutionary musicals. The production, which had originally premiered on August 31, 1928, at […]
In the early 1800s, the area around modern-day Christopher Street was suffering from overcrowding, following the migration of residents from lower Manhattan after the yellow fever outbreak of 1822 that helped to create Greenwich Village. A devastating fire in 1835 led to residents calling for open space, and on April 5, 1837, they got their […]
Our Historic Image Archive provides a snapshot of our neighborhood’s past. From summers on the piers to drag shows at the Pyramid Club and an important archeological dig, you can almost feel the summer heat emanating from some of these photos. Sheridan Square Dig In July and August of 1982, Regina Kellerman, Executive Director of […]
The Weehawken Street Historic District (designated May 2, 2006) consists of a small area on three blocks around West, Christopher, and 10th Streets. Although primarily known for its relation to New York City’s maritime industry from the 1830s to 1920s, the tiny district was also the center of New York’s Queer Leather and Denim (L&D) […]
Groundbreaking artist, intellectual, and activist Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was born in Mecklenberg County, North Carolina. When Bearden was about 3 years old, his parents Bessye Johnson Banks Bearden and Richard Howard Bearden moved the family to Harlem in search of a better life as so many other southern African Americans […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. If you are […]
That village, the labyrinth of streets and lanes… into which those restless individuals seeking political or social or cultural change began settling after 1910 consisted mostly of buildings grown dingy since prosperous New Yorkers had begun moving northward…Marie was one of those newcomers. — Robert Schulman from Romany Marie, Queen of Greenwich Village Born and […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. In an era […]
Six sites were recently designated landmarks by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission based on their LGBT history and association, two of which were part of a five-year campaign by Village Preservation: the LGBT Community Center and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse. This comes four years after the first and until recently only NYC individual landmark […]
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. The streets, parks, and squares of the Greenwich Village Historic District are named for a unique collection of historical figures. In honor of the […]
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. Walking around Greenwich Village is a treat for those who live, work, or visit here. The unique architecture and character of the neighborhood have […]
A recent visit to the powerful exhibit Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power at the Brooklyn Museum surprised me with its deep Greenwich Village roots. The show begins in 1963, before the emergence of the Black Power Movement later in the decade, with work by members of the Spiral Group arts […]
October 11th is National Coming Out Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness and visibility of the LGBT community through the process of “coming out,” or identifying one’s LGBT identity to friends, family, and others. In the Village, what better way to live loud and live proud than to frequent some of the establishments that […]
This picturesque wintry scene of Christopher Street was painted by Greenwich Village resident and artist Beulah Bettersworth in 1934. Looking west from Hudson Street along Christopher, it shows the Ninth Avenue El Christopher Street Station and St. Veronica’s Church beyond. Currently, this painting is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. […]
Though the Village Voice ceased production some time ago, old issues can provide a nice insight into what was going on in the neighborhood and the world in years passed. So today we’re taking a look back at the August 31, 1967 issue, to see how things were looking as the “Summer of Love” came […]
The landmark documentary Paris Is Burning was released in New York on March 13, 1991. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, the film is an intimate peek into New York’s LGBTQ culture, specifically ball competitions, where participants dress, dance, and compete in a number of themed categories. Paris Is Burning received rave reviews upon its release, […]
On this day in 1837, the City condemned a parcel of land between Christopher, Grove, and West 4th Streets, which eventually became Christopher Park.
This is the second part of a three part series on the Weehawken Street Historic District. This small historic district is comprised of only fourteen buildings but represents a wonderful cross section of the development of Greenwich Village’s Hudson River waterfront. The designation of this District was due in large part to the efforts of […]
In 1985 the MTA founded what was then called Arts for Transit and Urban Design (now called Arts & Design) as part of an ambitious capital improvement program meant to reverse years of subway system decline. At that time, MTA leadership determined that original and engaging art was a vital part of the rebuilding effort, […]
New York City is known as one of the art capitals of the world. Art is all around us – from the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side to the galleries of Chelsea and beyond. We are often told to look up as to not miss any of the magnificent architecture above our heads. […]
Following on some groundbreaking events last week – the LPC designation of the Stonewall Inn as the city’s first LGBT individual landmark and then the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality – we thought we’d feature some historic images taken by photographer Diana Davies. Yesterday, we also celebrated the 46th anniversary of the June 28, […]
Christopher Street is the place most of us look to when it comes to LGBTQ history in New York. It is the site of the Stonewall Uprising, with the second Stonewall Inn, the Gay Liberation Monument, and the Gay Street photo-op all within a few steps of each other. However, there are also a number […]
(This post is the first of a series on the history of the LGBTQ community in Greenwich Village.) It is easy to assume, in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots, that Greenwich Village’s LGBTQ history happened entirely on Christopher Street. Of course, there’s a lot more to LGBTQ history in the Village than Stonewall, just […]
The produce spilling out into the street and the haphazard awnings in the above 1925 photo of Bleecker and Christopher Streets is quite different from the Bleecker Street scene of today. Though the commercial tenants on the street have certainly changed, the corner building, with its interesting window design, has a long history.
There are only a few seats left for tomorrow evening’s program with photographer Richard Blair and his new book New York 1969. Richard moved from New York to California in 1969 – he was official photographer of Yosemite National Park in the 1970s – but before he left, he photographed street scenes of New York, […]
If you love theater in the Village, we think you will enjoy this blog post that was written by our colleague Chelsey Berryhill. While walking down Christopher Street, it is easy to become distracted by the eclectic, varying store fronts with the colorful crowds of people collecting outside. The aura of the Village would not […]
This Tuesday, Jeanne Manford died at the age of 92. Sometimes referred to as the “Mother of the Straight Ally Movement,” Jeanne’s may not be a household name in all quarters, but her legacy and impact upon our broader culture is enormous. And it has strong roots in Greenwich Village, and its early embrace of […]
Have you ever come across a peculiar street pattern in the city and wondered how it became that way? It’s a topic that’s especially prevalent in the Village, where street development occurred long before the adoption of the Commissioner’s Plan of 1811. As many of our readers know, this plan is what formed the famed […]
Thanksgiving has been an unofficial tradition in the US since settlers first came here, an unofficial holiday since 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of giving thanks in the midst of the Civil War, and an official one beginning in 1942. Many different traditions have sprung up around this holiday, but have […]
Rising like an ark over Christopher Street, the Archive Building’s construction and multiple uses over a New York century reflect the changing character of the Far West Village waterfront and the city as a whole. Join us as we trace the unique history of this colossus of the West Village.
Today marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of riotous protests at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village that many scholars consider the launching pad for the modern Gay Rights Movement. In 1999, GVSHP and the Organization of Lesbian and Gay Architects and Designers, gained federal recognition for the site when it became […]
