The 1960s and 70s were challenging times in the East Village and Lower East Side. Due to the City’s looming financial crisis and the exodus of many wealthier New Yorkers to the suburbs, the neighborhoods became peppered with vacant, abandoned, and burned-down lots. In light of the neglect from city officials, residents took the beautification […]
It takes a farsighted person to turn a crisis into an opportunity. That being the case, Loisaida has in Frank Gonzalez a veritable eagle, capable of discerning multiple ways of serving his local community during a time of great need. The story of these efforts begins with the COVID pandemic. At the time, Frank, a […]
The area now known as the East Village was historically part of the Lower East Side, which was one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the city, especially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At that time, it was primarily populated by immigrants, particularly from Eastern, and to a […]
When it first opened in 1936, the Second Avenue station was supposed to become a hub for the subway system. Today, the station, located at Houston street and Second Avenue, though mammoth and meandering, feels almost unnecessary. It provides no subway transfers, and exists in close proximity to other stations along the same line. Notably, […]
At the age of 24, after spending a decade building her music career in Nashville, Tennessee, Taylor Swift moved to New York City. Like so many artists before her, Swift was particularly drawn to Greenwich Village, and many of her songs since have paid tribute to the neighborhood. During her early period in New York […]
If you’re ever on the Upper East Side or just strolling through Central Park and looking to immerse yourself in some literary history, the Grolier Club is the perfect place for that. The Grolier Club’s exhibitions are free to all visitors, making it an accessible space for bibliophiles or anyone itching to check out how literary history has evolved over time.
In our blog series Beyond the Village and Back, we take a look at some great landmarks throughout New York City outside of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, celebrate their special histories, and reveal their (sometimes hidden) connections to our neighborhoods. Explore our Beyond the Village and Back maps too. Sometimes we only have to go a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
Have you walked by the narrow triangle park where East 2nd Street, East Houston Street, and Avenue C all meet? This small, fenced-in sliver of green may seem unremarkable, but it’s named for someone who played a rather large and inspiring role in the lives of so many in our city. Gustave Hartman, a Jewish […]
During the Summer of Love, on June 3, 1967, The New York Times reported “Hippies Heighten East Side Tensions” following a confrontation the day before in Tompkins Square Park between a group of hippies and some 200 police officers along with residents who protested the hippies’ presence. The police descended on the park following complaints […]
It just never stops growing…Village Preservation’s Historic Image Archive, that is. The latest addition is the Pryor Dodge Collection, a collection taken between 1966 and 1967. They provide a wonderful snapshot (pardon the pun) into Greenwich Village and the East Village from this time. Featured are children playing, musicians collaborating, and life on the Bowery. […]
Village Preservation has partnered with Urban Archive to explore the history of the former P.S. 64/Charas-El Bohio Cultural Center in their Story of a Building campaign. The former P.S. 64 is located at 605 East 9th Street and opened in 1905. It was designed by architect C.B.J. Snyder and served as an innovative model in […]
Each year, Village Preservation honors the invaluable people, businesses, and organizations that make a special contribution to our neighborhoods at our Annual Meeting and Village Awards. On June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees at our— RSVP here to participate virtually. Have you ever meandered into the bright little shop at 113 Avenue […]
“This is the most pretentious of the houses on our string, because my better judgment was over-balanced by my sentimentalism and my longing to do something better here than I ever did before” — Marcus Loew You’d never know by looking at it now, but the intersection of East 5th St. and Avenue B in […]
Nineteenth-century Jewish immigrant life in New York is well-documented, when massive waves of Jews, first from Germany and then from Eastern Europe, began to flood into the city. This made New York the largest Jewish city by population in the world, which it remains to this day. Like all immigrant stories, the Jewish community had […]
On August 8, 2008, Village Preservation and the East Village Community Coalition (EVCC) submitted a request to the LPC to landmark a little-known but remarkable survivor– Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 515 East 6th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. The building was the last operating “tenement synagogue” in the East Village. A young, little-known developer named Jared Kushner was […]
Hettie Jones is a talented writer, a loving mother and grandmother, a forceful activist, a nurturing teacher, and a friendly neighbor and preservationist. She is the stuff neighborhood dreams are made of. Showing no signs of slowing down at 85, she is easily one of the earth mothers of our community – and we’re thrilled […]
Each year, Village Preservation hosts more than sixty public programs. They cover our neighborhoods from the western edge of Greenwich Village to the easternmost reaches of the East Village. Topics cover a diverse range of areas including rock and roll, restoring artists’ studios, terracotta mosaics in the subways, street photography, women’s poetry, and so much […]
I was holiday shopping at my local bookstore and was delighted to encounter Emily Jenkins’ “All of a Kind Family Hanukkah.” In the book, a Jewish immigrant family prepares for Chanukah in their Lower East Side Tenement in 1912. The family’s four daughters share a room, make latkes, throw tantrums, and in the end light […]
Lee Morgan, prodigy jazz trumpeter, born on July 10, 1938, in Philadelphia. One of his sisters bought him his first trumpet, and by the time he was a teenager he played with John Coltrane for the album Blue Train. At 18, Dizzie Gillespie tapped Morgan to join his band. The jazz world opened up before […]
On June 15, 1904, a disaster of unprecedented proportions took place in New York City, resulting in the loss of over 1,000 lives, mostly women and children. This largely forgotten event was the greatest peacetime loss of life in New York City history prior to the September 11th attacks, forever changing our city and the […]
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 […]
May the 4th be with you! While today is a special day for many Star Wars fans, for us in the Village today’s date is a reminder of that the low-number streets of the NYC grid plan are encompassed by within our neighborhoods. May is also Lower East Side history month and it is important […]
On February 7, 1960 the New York Times wrote an article discussing changes in Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side. Four years beforehand the El (above ground subway) had been removed from Third Avenue. With that barrier dismantled, Villagers from the west began to move east as “new shops, luxury and middle-income housing, and […]
The presence of banks in neighborhood retail spaces often elicit mixed feelings at best. Typically these tend to deaden the streetscape and are owned and operated by some faceless, distant multinational corporation. But banks also perform an incredibly necessary and important function for local residents. According to americanbanker.com, only 18% of seniors use mobile banking […]
As a historian and researcher who frequently relies on census data for information, nothing frustrates me more than the fact that nearly all of the 1890 Federal Census records were lost. For those who don’t know the story, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in 1921 in the basement of the Department of […]
Tucked away on East 7th Street between Avenues C and D is the former Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarn. This small synagogue, designed in the classical revival style, is set amidst Old and New Law tenements. It’s a small but striking reminder of a time when New York was home to the second largest Jewish community […]
Today GVSHP pays its respects to Al Orensanz, the Director of the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the past 30 years, who passed away on Saturday, July 23. Al, along with his brother Angel, was a cultural hero in New York City, and the Lower East Side has been enriched by their efforts over many decades.
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, the East Village and Lower East Side were home to a substantial German immigrant community. As a result, this area became known as Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany.” Eventually the German community moved north to the Upper East Side and elsewhere, spurred on by the General Slocum Disaster, demographic […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — and we need your help selecting the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: just click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Whether […]
On February 7, 1960 the New York Times wrote an article discussing changes in Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side. Four years beforehand the El (above ground subway) had been removed from Third Avenue. With that barrier dismantled, Villagers from the west began to move east as “new shops, luxury and middle-income housing, and […]
On December 3, 1935, First Houses were dedicated and opened, the first housing project undertaken by the then-recently established New York City Housing Authority and the first publicly-funded low-income housing project in the nation. The groundbreaking development was made a New York City landmark on November 12, 1974.
Village Preservation is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or […]
We continue celebrating Landmarks50 with a look at individual landmarks in our neighborhood. Yesterday we learned about the Children’s Aid Society, Tompkins Square Lodging for Boys and Industrial School. Today we read about the Children’s Aid Society, Elizabeth Home for Girls at 307 East 12th Street, which the LPC designated on March 18, 2008. The […]
The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 135 Second Avenue was designated an individual New York City landmark September 20, 1977. The library was built in 1883-4 by Oswald Ottendorfer, a wealthy German newspaper magnate, along with the adjoining Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital. These buildings are both representative of Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany,” […]
Renowned musician Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio will perform in the main sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue on Thursday, October 22, 2015. This special concert, presented by the GVSHP Brokers Partnership and benefiting GVSHP and the Museum at the Eldridge Street Synagogue, provides a unique opportunity to hear one of today’s best klezmer […]
On September 1, 1940, Lillian Wald passed away. While not a household name, Wald’s influence on public social services in New York City is exemplary, as she is the founder of the Henry Street Settlement, The Visiting Nurse Services of New York, and is the namesake for the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D in […]
Historically, the Village and East Village have always been the place for artists, writers, performers, and a slew of other creatives in New York City, a fact that is widely celebrated as one of the area’s defining characteristics. The HOWL! Festival is a celebration of this history. Founded in 20013 and named for long time […]
We here at GVSHP are pleased to welcome Sam Moskowitz aboard, whose first day as GVSHP’s Director of Operations is today. Sam replaced longtime GVSHP Director of Operations Sheryl Woodruff, who left GVSHP at the end of 2014.
Not so long ago, there were 57 community gardens sprinkled along the streets of the East Village and Lower East Side – registered with the Parks Department’s GreenThumb program, that is; in total there were even more. Now there are 46. A coalition of gardeners, advocates and officials has just taken action to ensure that […]
There are still a few seats available for our free public program this Thursday evening at the Jefferson Market Library. The subject is the life and times of Rose Pastor Stokes, known to our presenter, Kate Pastor, as “My Great Great Aunt Rose of the Lower East Side.” Kate herself is a Bronx-based journalist who […]
Nestled in the middle of a block of 11th Street between Avenues A & B are two tenements that share their history with one of the most well known and architecturally distinctive synagogues in New York City.
If you’ve gotten our program email or flyer you know that Time and Space on the Lower East Side is the title of one of our upcoming events. But it’s also a wonderful book of photographs that looks backward and forward, positing the idea that places are not simply “then and now,” but exist in […]
It was on this date in 1951 that the infamous espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg began. The Jewish-American Communists, along with Soviet spy Morton Sobell, were accused of selling nuclear secrets to Russia. Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and allegedly supplied Julius with information regarding the atomic bomb. […]
As GVSHP gears up for our benefit evening Much Ado About Noshing this evening with Village writer Calvin Trillin and two generations of the Russ & Daughters family, we decided to revisit our roots and explore the history of 179 East Houston Street, the building owned by the beloved appetizing store. Russ & Daughters has been […]
Tough decision, I know. Luckily, in the East Village/Lower East Side, you don’t have to travel far to stock up on both of these Jewish treats. If you’ve ever stood on line for a pastrami on rye at Katz’s or grabbed a bagel with lox and a schmear at Russ & Daughters, you know what […]
