“…really a story about two Catholic buddies roaming the country in search of God.” So said Jack Kerouac about his book, “On the Road,” soon after it was published in 1957. As we’ve discussed on this blog before, though known for his nomadic lifestyle, Kerouac had strong ties to Greenwich Village. Famous as a pioneer […]
Founded in 1892, and constructed between 1926 and 1928, Our Lady of Pompeii church has commanded the corner of Bleecker and Carmine Streets for nearly one hundred years. The neoclassical style of the building contains the asymmetrically placed tower that frames the view across what is now Father Demo Square. The construction of this church […]
Village Preservation’s Greek Revival Bicentennial Storymap celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.
An Instagram follower recently asked us for clarification about an image we posted from our historic image archive of the long-demolished former home Our Lady of Pompeii Church. She wanted to know exactly where the church was located, and which streets could be seen in the image. Sounds like a simple enough request, right? But […]
We don’t know much about Nicosia Graziano’s story. But the few details we do have are emblematic of what many immigrants to this country one hundred to two hundred years ago went through, especially Italian immigrants.
The Center For Migration Studies has provided GVSHP with historic images in the past, and recently sent us several images of the interior artwork of Our Lady of Pompeii church. The church has stood on the northwest corner of Carmine and Bleecker Streets since 1928, but the congregation dates back to 1892, when Father Pietro […]
On March 7th, 1898, Our Lady of Pompeii Church was incorporated as a separate parish. This South Village icon has been serving the neighborhood since 1926, but Our Lady of Pompeii has been a part of the Village since 1892. In addition to serving the neighborhood, Our Lady of Pompeii also has a connection to […]
Many think of Little Italy’s Mulberry Street or the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue as the centers of Italian-American life and culture in New York. But some of the most historically significant sites relating to the Italian-American experience in New York can be found in the Greenwich Village blocks known as the South Village–from the first church […]
On March 25, 1911, at approximately 4:40 PM, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, just east of Washington Square Park. One hundred and forty-six women and men, mostly recent Jewish and Italian immigrants, many under the age of 20, died in the fire. […]
Yesterday’s news about a new pope in Rome has me thinking about Catholic institutions a bit closer to home. When I think of leaders of catholics in the Village, I always think of Father Antonio Demo, the revered pastor who led Our Lady of Pompeii Church from 1898 to 1933. Many might recognize his name […]