The month of May bursts with meaning in New York City, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the historic and diverse neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. May is Haitian Heritage Month, Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Lower East Side History Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, and National […]
Walking through the East Village means walking through history. The neighborhood features 30 individual landmarks, one of the highest concentrations in the city, that offer a unique view of our architectural and cultural heritage. Some of those buildings were landmarked in the early days of the Landmarks Preservation Commission in the 1960s, others gained the […]
Many New Yorkers were left reeling from the closure and demolition of the Landmark Sunshine Theater on East Houston Street in 2018. Just outside of Village Preservation’s catchment area, the Landmarks Sunshine was a beloved institution which had served up independent cinema for two decades, and in a past life was a Yiddish theater. In […]
On March 29, 1516, the Venice Ghetto was established by decree of the Venice Ruling Council. The very first ghetto, it was a tiny 2 1/2 block area on a small, dirty island housing over 4,000 people. The name comes from the Italian getto meaning “casting,” or Venetian geto meaning “foundry.” The Venice Ghetto, long after the […]
Five hundred years ago today, on March 29, 1516, the Venice Ghetto was established by decree of the Venice Ruling Council. The very first ghetto, it was a tiny 2 1/2 block area on a small, dirty island housing over 4,000 people. The name comes from the Italian getto meaning “casting,” or Venetian geto meaning “foundry.” With […]
Many of us have known for some time that the former theater at 98 Avenue A would be facing the wrecking ball. In June of last year, a demolition application was filed at the Department of Buildings (DOB), but it was unclear what development would take its place. Last week, GVSHP learned that a new […]
An amazing resource that we have featured here and there on Off the Grid is the theater drawings of Anthony F. Dumas. From the Jewish Rialto along lower Second Avenue to the little gems hidden in the nooks and crannies of the Village’s quirky streets, Dumas seemingly covered it all. And while many of these […]
The building from this “Spot the Shot” post is at 229-231 East 12th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. “The Claremount” was constructed in 1901 by developer Max Weinberg, who built a number of buildings in the East Village and Lower East Side at the turn of the century. Designed by Weinberg’s architect of choice […]
As EV Grieve recently reported, the final credits may be on the way for a movie theater turned grocery store on Avenue A. As the end may be coming for the former Hollywood Theater, we thought we’d take a brief look at another East Village showplace that only recently went the way of the silent […]
Last month we all cheered when it was announced that the Bowery Historic District was added to the State and National Register of Historic Places – a well-deserved recognition of one of New York’s oldest and most historic streets. We are also thrilled that another historic site in our neighborhood, an East Village icon, was […]
Researching the history of a building – as we’re doing for thousands in the East Village – can often be an arduous task. So it’s a great gift when sites like the Museum of the City New York’s fantastic new online photo collection become available to us. Browsing through the site, we came across an […]