The New York City Landmarks Law was signed into law on April 19, 1965 by Mayor Robert Wagner. Since then, about 38,000 NYC properties have been protected under the law. Many of the landmarks designated in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo were highlighted as part of our celebration of Landmarks50, the 50th anniversary […]
The Spring House Tour Benefit is one of my favorite Village Preservation events, and it’s something I look forward to all year. It was the very first event I got to be part of when I joined the team almost two years ago, and it epitomizes a lot of the beautiful things about our neighborhood […]
The New York City Landmarks Law was signed into law on April 19, 1965 by Mayor Robert Wagner. Since then, about 38,000 NYC properties have been protected under the law. Many of the landmarks designated in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo were highlighted as part of our celebration of Landmarks50, the 50th anniversary […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Mindless consumerism may not lead to happiness; but […]
Village Preservation has long paid tribute to the widespread impacts players in our neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo have had on the civil rights and social justice movements in the United States. Few places in America have contributed as much to these histories in such a concentrated area. In 2017, we […]
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org. As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening […]
In the latter half of the 19th century, Manhattan and Brooklyn became centers of everyday life for thousands of Italian immigrants entering the United States. Their numbers started off small — the 1860 federal census showed just 1,067 Italian-born people living in New York City and Brooklyn — but grew quickly by the end of […]
Sometimes in life, you need to take a step back before taking two steps forward. And sometimes, the step back is the involuntary result of a shove, such as the figurative one that 2021 Regina Kellerman Village Awardee Linda Pagan received from her landlord a few months ago. But before we get to that story, […]
On July 18, 2013, Village Preservation publicly signaled the alarm over legislation passed in Albany with little community input but with massive potential impact for the West Village and communities on the west side of Manhattan. That legislation would have allowed the transfer of as much as approximately 1.6 million sq ft of unused air […]
Village Preservation shares our oral history collection with the public, highlighting some of the people and stories that make Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo such unique and vibrant neighborhoods. Each includes the experiences and insights of leaders or long-time participants in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life. Colette Smith Douglas, born […]
Dr. Bruce Raymond Voeller, a pioneer of AIDS research and a significant early gay rights activist, was born on May 12, 1934 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s no household name, and his early biography would provide few hints as to why he should be. He graduated from Reed College in 1956, was awarded a five-year fellowship […]
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. This year, on June 17th, 2020 we will be celebrating nine outstanding awardees — RSVP here to participate virtually. Thompson Alchemists is not just a regular neighborhood pharmacy. This […]
On Columbus Day in 2012 ( which was on October 8th), Village Preservation launched its “Save the South Village” video campaign. Columbus Day is traditionally a time to celebrate the contributions made by Italian-Americans to our country. Our “Save the South Village” video campaign began as an effort to highlight the incredible history (Italian-American and […]
On February 19, 1974, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate 203 Prince Street an individual landmark. This three-story house with red Flemish bond brickwork and brownstone basement was built in 1833-34 in a transitional style between Federal and Greek Revival. In 2016, GVSHP got the house and about one hundred seventy-five neighboring structures landmarked as […]
On August 24, 2016, the New York City Planning Commission held a hearing to consider a zoning change and transfer of air rights for the development of the three-block long St. John’s Terminal site at West and Houston Streets. GVSHP testified along with political officials, neighbors and other organizations at the hearing demanding a series of […]
It’s August in New York. It’s hot. Need I say more? And conversations tend to revolve around the temperatures at this time of year. How hot is it? How humid is it? When will the heat let up? Is autumn around the corner yet? We here at GVSHP decided that it was high time to […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. There is something especially welcoming when you […]
Are you one of the many people who has had to take on the seemingly all-powerful Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) in a real estate/preservation fight? Sometimes it may seem like REBNY and the other forces of Big Real Estate control everything in New York City. But we’ve actually tangled with the well-funded […]
Immigrant Heritage Week is held by NYC each year to honor our collective immigrant heritage. Here at GVSHP, we held a walking tour on Tuesday, April 17th to honor that history. On April 17th, 1909, 11,747 immigrants entered the U.S. through Ellis Island, more than any other day in history. If you missed the tour, […]
On December 21, 1969, the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) was founded. Almost exactly six months after the Stonewall Riots, the group was founded by Marty Robinson, Jim Owles, and Arthur Evans, as an offshoot of the Gay Liberation Front. The GAA was intended to be a “single issue, politically neutral [organization]”, whose goal would be to […]
On this date in 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to designate the final piece of GVSHP’s proposed South Village Historic District, an incredibly important part of our rich history. After a hard-fought, ten-year campaign led by GVSHP, three new historic districts were created including the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II in 2010, the South Village Historic District in 2013, […]
The Sullivan-Thompson Historic District is the Village’s most recently designated historic district, and was designated in record time. We’re happy to report that it has received its new street signs in record time as well. Usually taking several years to install, the brown street signs that indicate an area lies within a historic district were recently installed, […]
In this series, ‘More is More,’ we look at historic district extensions in our area. The Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II was designated June 22, 2010 after a multi-year campaign led by Village Preservation. Although this is an extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District which was designated in 1969, it was also the first phase […]
1804. Weehawken. Dawn. Guns. Drawn.* Perhaps the most famous duel in American history took place on July 11, 1804, a result of a bitter political rivalry. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had been at loggerheads off and on throughout their careers, but escalating tensions between the two led to their face-off on a dueling ground […]
June is Pride Month, an especially exciting time to be in the Village. LGBT history is closely tied with our neighborhoods, and this month we’re highlighting the LGBT history of the West Village, East Village, South Village, and NoHo. All of these sites can also be found on our GVSHP Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, […]
EXPLORE SIX STATELY GREENWICH VILLAGE HOMES ON THE 19TH ANNUAL SPRING HOUSE TOUR BENEFIT
This year’s Spring House Tour Benefit is right around the corner; on Sunday, May 7th to be exact! This year’s tour features seven incredibly beautiful Village properties including hidden gardens, fabulous art, and the answer to “what’s behind that golden door on Morton Street?”
This was originally posted by Amanda Davis, GVSHP’s former Director of Preservation & Research. It has been updated with new information. New law tenement at 151 Bleecker Street in the South Village. Photo by GVSHP. The 20th century had hardly begun when the New York State legislature signed into law a new act to address […]
The historic 2017 federal court decision that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people are protected from employment discrimination under the civil rights act has deep roots in a house in the South Village at 186 Spring Street — a hotbed of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) civil rights activity in the post-Stonewall era. In fact, […]
Five years ago today, the South Village was named one of the Preservation League of New York’s ‘Seven to Save’ — the seven most important, endangered historic sites in New York State. This major accomplishment followed the landmarking of the first third of the South Village in June 2010, and was intended to bring attention to the […]
Historic Preservation in this country is, in many ways, undergoing a bit of a face lift. If at one time the field was seen as a pursuit of the moneyed and genteel, preservation these days is focusing on community, on culture, and on grassroots development. As our urban centers face unprecedented growth, gentrification, and threats […]
February is Black History Month. We here at GVSHP want to celebrate it by highlighting different sites of significance to the African-American community within our neighborhoods. Over the course of the next month we will be discussing some of these areas that we have marked on our new Civil Rights & Social Justice Map, looking at […]
All week we have looked at the rich contents of newly designated Sullivan-Thompson Historic District designation report that was posted last week by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Today we hone in on one of the 157 amazing historic properties included in the district and what we can learn about it from the designation report. After a 10-year […]
The Vesuvio playground, one of the few green spaces in the newly designated Sullivan-Thompson Historic District, is a true haven for South Village children. In the 1920s, the New York City Parks Department started buying land for playgrounds in the then-Italian-immigrant community.
The newly designated Sullivan Thompson Historic District designation report was posted last week by the LPC. This week, we will be looking at some of the 157 amazing historic properties included in the district. 83 and 85 Sullivan Street are two of the district’s individually landmarked properties, both of which obtained landmark designation in 1973. […]
The recently landmarked Sullivan-Thompson Historic District is one of the first historic districts in New York City so designated almost exclusively based upon its immigrant history and working-class architecture. As stated by the LPC research staff in their presentation before the Commissioners’ vote, “The architecture in the proposed district reflects the waves of immigration that […]
Christmas is coming early this year! We have been told by the Landmarks Preservation Commission that the designation report for the newly landmarked Sullivan-Thompson historic district, aka phase III of our original South Village proposal, will be published today. Perhaps appropriately, it is scheduled to be released almost exactly three years after the designation of […]
Your input is needed! Today we feature our latest Business of the Month — help us to select the next. Tell us which independent store you love in Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo: click here to nominate your favorite. Want to help support small businesses? Share this post with friends. Strolling the neighborhood of […]
As mentioned in the GVSHP testimony at the designation hearing for the Sullivan-Thompson historic district, the majority of the historic fabric in this district is its tenements. Here is a laboratory and cross-section of tenement types which served as the homes for much of NYC’s African American community in the 19th century as well as many […]
Neighbors, elected officials and fellow preservation groups turned out in droves yesterday at LPC with GVSHP to speak in favor of the designation of the Sullivan-Thompson historic district, the third and final phase of GVSHP’s original South Village proposal submitted to LPC ten years ago. This proposed district is made up of roughly ten blocks […]
The newly calendared Sullivan-Thompson Historic District contains some of the oldest and most historically significant buildings in the South Village, including St. Anthony of Padua, the oldest extant Italian-American Church in the country, 57 Sullivan Street, built in 1817 and the oldest extant house in the South Village, and a unique set of early reform housing/model […]
