Each year at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards ceremony, Village Preservation presents one unique award: the Regina Kellerman Award, named in honor of Village Preservation’s first Executive Director. Regina was a passionate advocate for historic preservation, and this year’s awardee is a golden example of her vision for preserving the architectural and cultural heritage […]
The East Village is one of New York City’s most historically dynamic neighborhoods, as evidenced by its rich and diverse built environment. The neighborhood displays excellent examples of so many types of dense urban housing present in New York City, from single-family rowhouses to tenements of the “pre,” “old,” and “new” law typologies, to public […]
Christopher Moore (b. January 20, 1952, d. March 13, 2022, of complications from COVID and pneumonia) was a curator, archivist, author, storyteller, researcher, and the longest-serving member of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, from 1995 to 2015. Moore became a notable fixture in the New York City preservation movement through his work to preserve […]
Day Without Art was Visual AIDS’ first major event. It launched on December 1, 1989 as “a day of action and mourning.” Thousands of arts institutions and organizations around the world organized to illustrate the true loss of art and artists created by AIDS epidemic, and demonstrate the power of art to raise awareness of the ongoing AIDS pandemic.
Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002, She/Her) was a trailblazing advocate for the rights of transgender individuals and LGBTQ+ communities. A vocal opponent of racism and transphobia within the 1970-80s Gay Liberation Movement, Rivera was controversial (to say the least) during her time. While delivering her infamous speech, “Y’all Better Quiet Down!” […]
On August 31, 1893, a trio of 5-story Queen Anne Old Law tenement buildings located at 52, 54, and 56 East 7th Street near the corner of 2nd Avenue were completed. The three buildings are nearly identical: all designed by Ernst E. W. Schneider and Henry Herter for roughly $22,000 each, 5-stories high with a […]
Near the corner of Avenue A and East 11th Street is a townhouse with P E A C E written in abstracted geometric black lettering across the entablature of the bright white garden level façade of the home. The townhouse is graphic and playful in its facade, inviting anyone who walks by to stop, look […]
Early in the morning of Saturday, December 5, 2020, a fire broke out in a vacant building on the corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street. The blaze quickly spread to its historic neighbor, the Middle Collegiate Church, with devastating impact: a sanctuary roof collapsed, a dozen stained-glass windows and a skylight dome by Tiffany […]
On December 5, 2020 at about 5:00am, a fire broke out at 116 Second Avenue, a neo-Grec tenement. The six-alarm blaze spread to the 1892 Middle Collegiate Church next door to the south. Nearly 200 firefighters were dispatched and while four suffered minor injuries, thankfully the human toll did not go beyond that. However, the […]
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 […]
Nirvana is one of the most influential alternative rock bands of all time. They helped to popularize this genre of music and brought the Washington State grunge scene that emerged in the 1980’s-90’s to the masses. Though most closely associated with that other coast, on April 26th, 1990, the band played a highly important gig […]
Today, 105 Second Avenue is a bank. The city moves on and overtakes what used to be at a given spot pretty quickly, but maybe you know that 105 Second Avenue was the home of the legendary Fillmore East from 1968 until 1971. It’s a narrow building with a brick facade and a domed roof, […]
On January 3, 2017, GVSHP launched our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map. Something in the air told us there might be a hunger and need for this kind of information. But even we would not have guessed that the map would receive over 70,000 views in that time, with its praises sung in BrickUnderground, […]
On this day in 1979, The Talking Heads released their single ‘Life During Wartime‘ from the album Fear of Music. The song not only went on the be a classic of the band’s, the era, and the genre, but perhaps no song better captured the anarchic, chaotic, and ultimately creative feeling of the East Village/Lower […]
The Lower East Side means many things to many people. Working as an architectural historian in New York City, it means a great deal to me. I always consider it a joy to travel the world and learn the history of places near and far, but New York has always been special to me because […]
After a nearly half-century wait, last week the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission finally voted to approve landmark status for the 150-year old religious building located at 334 East 14th Street, now the Tifereth Israel Town & Village Synagogue, and prior to that a German Baptist and a Ukrainian Autocephalic Church. Ironically, the Commission’s decision was followed soon […]
This week we thought we’d take another look at sister tenements – designed by the same architect, built the same year, and located next to each other – in the East Village. Constructed c. 1890 by builder/owner Jobst Hoffman, 226 and 228 East 6th Street are two such buildings. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, […]
A recent report about a possible five-story expansion atop a century-old building has inspired us to share a bit about this capacious three-story brick structure, which stands at the southeast corner of Second Avenue and 2nd Street. (If you click through to the report, you’ll see in the comments that the current owner denies any […]
Do the tall arches of the sturdy red-brick Anthology Film Archives reassure you? Does the stillness of the New York City Marble Cemetery give you a thrill? Perhaps passing exuberant 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid Club, puts a bounce in your step? Well, there’s good news: these unique features of the East Village aren’t going […]
It seems that you can’t look at the news these days without seeing something about Ukraine. From the protests in Kiev, to the Russian annexation of Crimea, to the instability in its eastern cities, Ukraine might not be the place to visit right now. But New Yorkers need not venture far to experience authentic Ukrainian […]
The 20th century had hardly begun when the New York State legislature signed into law a new act to address old problems in this city regarding tenement construction. This groundbreaking event took place on April 12, 1901. Formally known as the New York State Tenement Act of 1901, the legislation was considered a big step […]
This post is the first of a four-part series called Everyday Lives, Ordinary People: A History of East Village Immigrants, a collaboration between GVSHP and the students in NYU’s Fall 2013 Intro to Public History course. Each group of students was tasked with researching the cultural history of everyday people in the East Village between […]
On this day one year ago, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission officially designated the East Village/LES Historic District. Encompassing 325 buildings and 15 blocks, centering along Second Avenue and stretching between East 2nd Street and St. Mark’s Place, it is by far the largest historic district designation in the neighborhood, and encompasses much of the […]
It’s always fun to look at then and now photos of buildings and streetscapes we’ve long come to admire here on Off the Grid. Today, just ahead of the Labor Day weekend, we wanted to check in on the Hebrew Actors’ Union building at 31 East 7th Street in the East Village. With its stark […]
Last Tuesday, October 9th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Stretching between the Bowery and Avenue A, East 2nd Street and St. Mark’s Place, the district includes about 325 buildings and is the largest ever created in the East Village. We’re excited to see that landmark protections have […]
We recently learned that the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District has been scheduled for a vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on October 9. Since the district was announced nearly a year and a half ago, GVSHP and other preservation advocacy and community groups have pressed for the LPC to designate the proposed historic district […]
You can’t watch a music video, open a fashion magazine or even walk down the street without seeing the latest fashion craze, Technicolor hair. Like so many fashion trends (mohawks on toddlers, anyone?) wearing brightly colored hair started as a rejection of mainstream culture, primarily among the youth of the punk scene. The brand that has […]
Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a designation hearing for the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The hearing room was packed and overflowing with supporters of the district who came to voice the many reasons why this historic district should be designated.
