Purveyors of knowledge, solace, companionship, humor, community, and much more, bookstores enrich our lives and of neighborhoods in countless ways. It’s only fitting, then, that we have found numerous ways to promote them as part of our efforts to support local independent small businesses. On the occasion of independent bookstore day, we highlight a few of the booksellers that we have featured as part of our programs in the hopes that you’ll patronize these and others, and make the celebration last all year long. Our Business of the Month program profiles “mom and pop” businesses nominated b ..read more

Greenwich Village has drawn countless determined artists and performers into its midst. While she is known for launching her career at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, Ella Fitzgerald also occasionally performed on a more intimate stage in the Village at Cafe Society alongside other future stars.   Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25, 1917. She had an incredibly difficult childhood; she had lost both of her parents by age 15 and ended up in an orphanage in the Bronx. Yet she survived her teenage years by beginning her career in Harlem, where s ..read more

May is coming just around the proverbial corner on our calendars. Those 31 days bring us Preservation Month, when we celebrate historic sites across the country as well as highlight the social, cultural, and economic benefits of their preservation. It’s also a good time to reflect on the noteworthy places and histories that organizations like Village Preservation have worked to protect, strengthening our communities and vital connections with our past. Here are a few of the sites that we have successfully campaigned to preserve over the years; you can read more about our four-plus decades of a ..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. The Village Independent Democrats (VID) are a reform democratic club founded in 1956. Much of the club’s advocacy work was related to improving the lives of Greenwich Village residents, including in the areas of housing and tenant advocacy. Village Preservation has previously highlighted some of this work, in relation to Title-I developments, housing discrimination and their battle against the proposed Verrazano Street.  Tod ..read more

From top left: Photo of Robert Frost via Wikimedia, Photo of Emily Post via Library of Congress, Photo of Henry Miller via Wikimedia; From bottom left: Photo of James Baldwin by Allan Warren via Wikimedia, Photo of Patricia Highsmith via Wikimedia, and Photo of Margaret Mead via Smithsonian Institution Archives Wikimedia Greenwich Village, specifically the historic district at its core, has been described as many things, but “literary” may be among the most common. That’s not only because the neighborhood has an air of sophistication and drama, but because it ..read more

The New York City Landmarks Law was enacted on April 19, 1965, by Mayor Robert Wagner. It was the culmination of a lengthy and laborious process, spurred in part, famously, by the demolition of the original Beaux-Arts Penn Station in 1963. Penn Station being demolished, 33rd Street & 7th Avenue, ca. 1963. From the Carole Teller’s Changing New York Collection in Village Preservation’s Historic Image Archive. Though the loss of the grand McKim, Mead & White train station was consequential, advocates had long been leading grassroots efforts to save our built heritage, and smaller scale su ..read more

Springtime in New York City! What could be more inviting? Tulips, daffodils, and flowering trees and bushes fill our parks, people pour into the streets to enjoy the sunshine, and, of course, Village Preservation’s much beloved and time-honored tradition, the Spring House Tour Benefit, is right around the corner. This year marks our 23rd tour, and we are as excited as ever to share some amazing homes with our tour-goers. The Spring House Tour Benefit allows participants to view six spectacular Village homes, all while raising funds in support of Village Preservation’s crucial work to educate a ..read more

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