On August 7, 1994, drag queens took the stage at Boy Bar (15 St. Marks Place) to partake in a show titled “It’s a Mod Mod World”. Through the Jillian Jonas collection in our historic image archive, we can see the rarely told histories of this iconic space and its contemporary, The Pyramid Club (101 […]
In the late 19th century the term “boy bar” referred to what we would now call a “gay bar”. This is not to be confused with the boy bar, which was a bar located at 15 1/2 St. Marks place from the early 1980s to mid 1990s. It was well known for its regular drag […]
The Village Preservation Historic Image Archive highlights the history of the people and built environment of Greenwich Village, the East Village, NoHo, and New York City in general. All the images provide a unique perspective reflecting on the time and location of when and where the photo was taken. Looking at just a few images […]
The Ramones and CBGB were so integral to the development of the punk rock music genre in the mid-1970s that you can’t think of one without the other. The two first came together on August 16, 1974 the Ramones played their first gig at CBGB, arguably launching the punk era. While this wasn’t the Ramones’ […]
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 […]
A self-proclaimed “gay superhero,” Stormé Delarverie (≅ December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014, Pronouns: she/her in public, he/him in performance) was a drag king, bouncer, and neighborhood activist who outspokenly protected LGBTQ+ communities in our neighborhoods and Lower Manhattan. Pronounced “Stormy De-Lah-vee-yay,” she made a name for herself as the (alleged) spark that started […]
As we close the chapter on yet another wild and successful of year of public programs at Village Preservation, we wanted to take the time to reflect and highlight some of 2021’s best moments. Despite the twists and turns of this year’s ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, we’ve hosted 80 different educational lectures, book talks, and walking […]
The Village Preservation Image Archive highlights the history of the people and built environment of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, as well as New York City in general. It has been assembled over the years through generous donations, and consists of thousands of photos in several dozen different collections. Our most recent addition […]
The roots of LGBTQ+ life in our neighborhoods are deeper than we even know. In the documentary PS. Burn This Letter Please, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was presented at one of Village Preservation’s Pride programs, gay historian George Chauncey spoke about using police records and newspaper articles because personal papers […]
As we approach LGBTQ+ Pride Weekend, Village Preservation is proud to share with you a wonderful new collection in our historic image archive of donated images from Jillian Jonas chronicling the fiery and flamboyant downtown drag performance scene of the 1990s. Jonas, who was the house photographer at the legendary Boy Bar on St. Mark’s Place, also captured […]
101 Avenue A is home to the Pyramid Club which became a launching point for pioneering drag superstars like Lady Bunny and RuPaul, setting in motion the contemporary drag movement. The club gave birth to the iconic drag festival, Wigstock, which liberated drag from gritty nightclubs, bringing it into the broad daylight. The Pyramid Club […]
While the neighboring West Village may have the more well-known sites, the East Village contains a rich assortment of places connected to LGBTQ history, including the homes of noted artists, writers, musicians, and activists. It also holds a vast array of performance venues and gathering spaces that attracted and helped launch the careers of many […]
This is part of a series of curated tours to help the public explore the buildings and history shared on our recently-launched East Village Building Blocks site — see it here. From 19th-century concert halls to punk palaces of the 1970s, many influential music scenes got their start or found a home among the East Village’s legendary music venues. […]
Penny Arcade has been living the bohemian life in New York City, and making art about it, on and off for more than four decades. She says she is “fundamentally a poet,” but also sings, dances, acts, and claims a hand in defining performance art in the 1980s. Arcade — a.k.a. Susana Ventura — is […]
Shampoo, the iconic movie satire, was released on February 11, 1975, but is set on Election Day 1968, the day Richard Nixon was first elected President of the United States. Released in 1975 soon after the Watergate scandal had reached its conclusion, the political atmosphere provides of the time provides a source of dramatic irony […]
On October 30, 2007, GVSHP submitted a request to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission that they consider 101 Avenue A (6th/7th Streets) in the East Village as an individual New York City landmark. The request attracted quite a bit of attention, and was soon referred to as a push to make the building New York […]
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has recently begun creating on-line slide shows to showcase various history months as represented by some of the city’s roughly 31,000 landmarked properties. In March, they highlighted Women’s History Month, and in February, Black History Month. Now for the first time, the LPC has also created a “Gay Pride Month” slide […]
The sight of striking Verizon workers near GVSHP’s offices (as well as all over New York) reminds us of the long and storied history of the Village and East Village in the labor movement. In fact, their central role in American labor struggles is reflected in some of our neighborhood’s most important landmarks.
