In the 1910’s — a period known as “the Greenwich Village Renaissance,” when a great flowering a radical political, cultural, and artistic ferment emerged took root this neighborhood — a new fashion trend also emerged from the bohemian subculture of Greenwich Village. Women began cutting their hair, removing their corsets, and wearing loose fitting clothes like tunics, smocks, and caftans. This new type of dress was cultivated in the vibrant progressive spaces of Greenwich Village where feminist thought and feminist thinkers could come together to connect, learn, and agitate for change. Crystal ..read more

April is both the time of year when immigrant heritage week is celebrated in New York (commemorating the day in 1907 when more immigrants passed through Ellis Island than any other single day), and when we celebrate the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District in April of 1969, finally extending landmark protections to a neighborhood which the Landmarks Preservation Commission described at the time as “unsurpassed in Manhattan as a collection of buildings representing the major architectural styles of New York beginning from 1800.” One might consider it a bit of a Sophie’s Choic ..read more

This is one of a series of blog posts which highlights the information found in our Village Independent Democrats collection in our Preservation History Archive. Greek Revival row houses along Washington Square North. “Of the Historic Districts in New York City which have been designated or will be designated, Greenwich Village outranks all others. This supremacy comes from the quality of its architecture, the nature of the artistic life within its boundaries, and the feeling of history that permeates its streets.” — from the 1969 Greenwich Village Historic District De ..read more

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. It’s rare to come across a store with a mission that benefits humanity. It’s even rarer to find one that sticks with that mission even though, were it accomplished, it would drive the store out of business. But that’s exactly the case with our April Business of the Month, A ..read more

Greenwich Village has long been a font of creativity, especially among those who use the written word as their medium of expression. Since the 19th century, the neighborhood has been a haven for authors and poets inspired by its architecture, cafes, proximity to fellow creators, charm, and so much more that make the Village unique. In honor of April being Greenwich Village Historic District Month (the district was designated on April 29, 1969), we’ll take a look at just a few of the famed writers who lived on just one block of the district: West 10th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Mar ..read more

“We don’t Ball—We Battle.” That’s the slogan of the West 4th Street League, which has ruled the small yet mighty basketball courts at West 4th and 6th Avenue since 1977. About half of the regulation size, these courts are a challenge for the most skilled amateur basketball players in the city. Players are pitted against each other in a tight space bounded by a chain-link fence, forcing them to make decisions quickly. Easy layups and trick shots are hard to come by during a West 4th Street game; defense is much more physical than traditional basketball, so less assertive shooters can’t rely on ..read more

Early spring is a magical time in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. As we recently discussed, the season has long been a source of inspiration for poets, artists, and musicians associated with the neighborhood. Among the clearest, and most joyous, markers of warmer weather to come are the trees as they begin to bloom. Cherry blossoms at Abingdon Square Park. Photograph by Dena Tasse-Winter, April 7, 2024. For a few weeks at the cusp of spring, one might be particularly taken by the magnolias, which typically begin to fleetingly blossom right at the beginning of April. At Village P ..read more

This is one of a series of blog posts which highlights the information found in our new Village Independent Democrats collection in our Preservation History Archive. For decades traffic was allowed to freely flow through Washington Square Park, causing much of the park to essentially be an extension to Fifth Avenue. The battle to remove this traffic was hard fought by Greenwich Village residents over the span of several decades, and in response to several different plans for traffic patterns in the park. The most controversial of these was proposed by the infamous Park ..read more

The highly-anticipated original World Trade Center opened on April 4, 1973. Construction on the seven-building complex began in 1966, and by the time the towers topped out in 1970 at 1,368 feet (1 World Trade Center, the north tower) and 1,362 feet (2 World Trade Center, the south tower), they were the tallest buildings in the world — the first to surpass the height of the Empire State Building, but soon surpassed in turn by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1974. Original World Trade Center Brochures, from the “Robert Fisch World Trade Center and 9/11 Collection” in Village Preservation’s Histori ..read more

Here at Village Preservation, we celebrate April as “Greenwich Village Historic District Month,” since it was on April 29, 1969 that the district was landmarked, culminating a years-long battle to achieve this milestone. Join us as we celebrate the wonders and the history of what is one of New York’s oldest, largest, and most treasured historic districts. Edward Hopper, one of America’s most renowned realist painters, lived and worked for 53 years at 3 Washington Square North. This is but one of many sites in the Village intimately connected to Edward Hopper and his paintings. Hopper died in 1 ..read more