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 […]
It is your job to make photographs,let the future look at them. —Berenice Abbott, 1936 Photographer Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) first arrived in Greenwich Village from her native Ohio in 1918. She quickly made friends with some of those involved with the Provincetown Playhouse and was introduced to the inner circle of artists, dancers, poets, and […]
Approved as part or the New Deal on April 8th, 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had a significant impact on our neighborhoods’ social resources and cultural capital. Considered to be one of 20th century America’s largest investments in social infrastructure, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) pursued over 26 different projects in the Greenwich Village, […]
John V. Lindsay East River Park is a 57+ acre park that stretches along the East River waterfront from Montgomery Street north to East 12th Street. With the pending closure and rebuilding of the park, several historic structures in the park face likely demolition. Two extant Art Deco gems were constructed in 1938 in advance […]
It’s no secret that we are big fans of the New York City Municipal Archives digital collection of all 720,000 of its tax photos of most building in New York City, taken 1939-1941. An intrepid NYer has created a website that mapped each photo to its location, making finding the location of interest exponentially easier […]
The subject of how much government can and should invest in infrastructure and public works is a hot topic of debate, especially now. Such conversations often point back to the era of the New Deal when the federal government channeled our tax monies to local investments and funded and built much of New York City’s […]
Part of our blog series Why Isn’t This Landmarked?, where we look at buildings in our area we’re fighting to protect that are worthy of landmark designation, but somehow aren’t landmarked. Jackson Pollock lived a relatively short, but extremely productive artistic life. It is not a surprise that most of his prolific years were spent […]
Theater for The New City (TNC) was founded in 1970 and has served its community with a wide variety of programming for nearly fifty years. TNC has premiered nearly one thousand new American plays and won more than forty OBIE Awards. Co-Founder Crystal Field has led the incredible institution since its founding. And on June 6th, […]
To walk by the verdant, lush garden behind the graceful Jefferson Market Library today, one can scarcely imagine that it was once the site of an eleven-story prison, the notorious Women’s House of Detention. Found on our Civil Rights and Social Justice map, this former imposing edifice served as a prison from its opening on […]
Influential American abstract expressionist painter Lee (Lenore) Krasner, was born on October 27, 1908 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from high school, where she spent three years majoring in studio art, Krasner was awarded a scholarship and attended the Women’s Art School of Cooper Union and later studied at […]
On April 8, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act. This act granted the President the authority to establish programs such as the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration, later renamed the Work Projects Administration) to combat the Great Depression. There are many great examples of the W.P.A.’s efforts throughout the Village and East Village.
GVSHP has always been concerned about the status of small businesses, whether they be restaurants, theaters, or small shops. We also recognize outstanding local businesses as part of our Annnual Village Awards ceremony every June. Today we thought we’d take a look at some local businesses in our neighborhoods from almost eighty years ago.
On April 8 1935, the creation of the Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress as a part of FDR’s New Deal. The New Deal was born at the height of the Great Depression as a series of economic programs that focused on the three R’s- Relief (for the unemployed and poor), Recovery (of the […]
The East Village is renowned for its avant-garde, Off-Off Broadway theaters. One of the great examples is the Theater for the New City. Founded in 1971 by Crystal Field, George Bartenieff, Lawrence Kornfeld, and Theo Barnes, TNC was an offshoot of the Judson Poets Theater. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had recently given a speech envisioning a […]
