From 1939 until 1941, the New York City Department of Taxation collaborated with the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) to take photographs of each building in the five boroughs. Known then as the “Real Property Tax Card Record System for the City of New York,” the initiative started in 1938 when the Department of Taxation […]
Evelyn G. Haynes (1909–2001) was a dedicated preservationist and a member of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission during its earliest days. Her family donated a collection of her records to Village Preservation, which are now available on our website. You can also see her contribution of many beautiful pictures of historic buildings of Lower Manhattan […]
In 2016, we revisited Washington Square Park and the radical fight to go completely “car-free”. At the time, it was a matter of preventing power broker Robert Moses from devastating our neighborhood by building a highway through it. But this communal victory was also an act of environmental justice for Greenwich Village. The fight for […]
On August 2, 1962 a protest took place that reverberated throughout New York City, and ignited the preservation movement throughout the city and country. The Action Group for Better Architecture (AGBANY) was formed in an effort to save McKim, Mead & White’s Pennsylvania Station from demolition. The organization’s birth is often pegged to this protest, […]
The Greenwich Village Historic District is one of New York City’s oldest historic districts.
Ada Louise Huxtable (March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) loved architecture, New York and its neighborhoods, preservation, and the gifts to society that built environments shape. It is this love, and her incredible skill as a writer, that earned Huxtable her job at the New York Times as the first-ever architecture critic, her reputation, […]
There were many moments to celebrate along the arc of fighting for the protection of the Gansevoort Historic District, also known as the Meatpacking District. One such milestone took place on July 17, 2002, when the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation determined, in response to an application by GVSHP, that […]
The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum at 2 East 91st Street is a renowned museum and institution, the only of its kind in the United States, born of a long history and connection between philanthropy and industry.
With a raft of demolition permits in the air, it reminds us that a year ago today one of the most anti-preservation pieces of legislation was first heard at the NYC Council Land Use committee. Intro 775 had a purported goal of protecting landmarks, but that notion was downright Orwellian to anyone familiar with the bill. Unfortunately, Intro. 775 became law in June of […]
Last week, GVSHP had the honor of hosting a public program “100 Years of Preservation: A Conversation with Anthony C. Wood”, founder of the New York Preservation Archive Project and author of Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks. GVSHP East Village & Special Projects Director Karen Loew led last Thursday’s intimate […]
The New York City Landmarks Law turns 50 years old this month! In the spirit of this important anniversary, we have decided to revisit our 1996 Oral History Interview with NYC Landmarks Law activist and historic preservationist Margot Gayle. Born in 1908, Gayle became involved in preservation efforts by her mid-forties while working at the New York City […]
At last, it appears that spring has finally arrived in New York City, and not a moment too soon. Many of us feel sun and nature deprived after months of harsh winter weather kept us from going outside to enjoy our favorite parks. But what if we didn’t have to brave brutal temperatures and snow […]
(This post is part of a series called Village People: A Who’s Who of Greenwich Village, which will explore some of this intern’s favorite Village people and stories.) During the Great Depression, Jane Jacobs moved with her sister to Brooklyn, and then to Greenwich Village, to which she took an immediate liking. She studied at […]
At this time of year it’s easy to get in touch with your inner child. Everywhere you look there are reminders of how much of this holiday season is geared toward children. “Toys for Tots,” “Charlie Brown Christmas,” and of course, academic winter break. We all remember how much we enjoyed the end of the […]
Last night, in the main gallery of the Salmagundi Club on 5th Avenue, GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman gave a lecture/slideshow about the state of historic preservation. Over the past 10 years we have seen a lot of changes in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. The purpose of last night’s program was to […]
I recently spent my vacation visiting the European cities of Barcelona, Rome, and Trieste. During my time there, dutifully and happily playing the role of tourist, I was reminded of the depth of European history versus American history. Here our history is preserved and reflected in buildings that are at most a few hundred years […]
Last night, GVSHP and our co-sponsor, New York Preservation Archive Project, hosted a panel discussion on the subject of the preservation movement following the demolition of the old Penn Station. The original Penn Station, built by the renowned architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1910, stood for over fifty years as a masterpiece […]
New Yorkers have elected a new mayor, but it’s important to note that any mayor of any city does not operate in a vacuum. A mayor selects many individuals to lead individual parts of city government. On Monday, Karen wrote about the position of Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, a key post in the […]
Here in the world of preserving worthy buildings, there’s a question that often comes up. “Preserving buildings is well and good,” people say. “But what about preserving the personalities and pursuits that occupy those buildings?” That’s the next frontier. For the most part, meatpackers are mostly gone from the Meatpacking District, few struggling artists still […]
