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Past Programs

2019 |2018 |2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007

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Remembering the General Slocum Tragedy in the East Village  

Monday, June 15, 6:00pm

More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904, when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River. It was the greatest loss of life in New York before 9/11. The tragedy claimed the lives of people from all over New York, but most were from the East Village neighborhood known as Kleindeutchland, or Little Germany. Only a few historical markers and the General Slocum Memorial Fountain in Tompkins Square Park remain to remind us of this forgotten disaster. This presentation will tell the story of this extraordinary tragedy, its impact on the neighborhood and the city, and how it gradually faded from public memory. 

Edward T. O’Donnell is a history professor at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He is the author of several books, including Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum. O’Donnell also hosts a popular U.S. history podcast, In The Past Lane, and writes history-themed pieces for the Huffington Post, Newsweek, and the New York Times. O’Donnell has also created courses for the Great Courses Company, including “Turning Points in American History.

Berenice Abbott's Lost City: Greenwich Village Today and Yesterday  

Wednesday, June 10, 6:00pm 

Seventy years ago, famed photographer Berenice Abbott turned her lens on her own neighborhood, Greenwich Village, for what would end up being her final New York project: Greenwich Village: Today and Yesterday. The book, a mash-up of Abbott’s photos and somewhat peculiar text by Henry Lanier, provides a unique and fascinating glimpse into New York at a period of upheaval. The Bohemian and immigrant Village--which had been so vibrant before World War II--was quickly disappearing, but the new wave of Beatnik poets, folk singers, and the denizens of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had yet to arrive. Historian and journalist James Nevius will use Abbott’s photos and Lanier’s text to lead a “virtual” tour of 1930's and 1940's Greenwich Village, focusing on what Greenwich Village: Today and Yesterday can teach us about preservation, history, and the changing face of New York City.

Virtual Salon on THE COMPLEXITY OF CREATING RIGHT NOW

Tuesday, June 9, 3:00pm

Facilitated by Artistic Director Daniella Topol, please join a community conversation with theater artists talking about the pros and cons of making theater in the virtual format.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Environment

Tuesday, June 2, 3:00pm

As we examine the impact of the quarantine on the environment, what is the necessary infrastructural change to best protect our ecosystem? Facilitated by Kyra Sedgwick, the panel features Pino Fortunato, the Founder and Executive Director of EcoArt Project, Elena Krieger, PhD, the Director of Research at PSE Healthy Energy, and Daniel Zarrilli, Chief Climate Policy Advisor and OneNYC Director, NYC Office of the Mayor. There will be a theatrical offering from Miranda Rose Hall's A PLAY FOR THE LIVING IN A TIME OF EXTINCTION.

NoHo’s History and Architecture 

Friday, May 29, 3:00pm 

NoHo represents a significant period of New York City’s commercial history from the early 1850s to the 1910s, when this section prospered as one of its major retail and wholesale dry goods centers. Acclaimed architects were commissioned to design ornate store and loft buildings in popular architectural styles, providing a rich fabric against which merchants sold products and shoppers promenaded, looked at display windows, and bought goods. Dotted throughout are also early 19th-century row houses, institutional buildings, turn-of-the-century office buildings, and modest 20th-century commercial structures. Today, the effect of this architectural cornucopia is powerful and unifying streetscapes of marble, cast iron, limestone, brick, and terra-cotta facades. May 13th marks the anniversary of the designation of the NoHo Historic District - join us to mark this anniversary and celebrate this beautiful neighborhood. 

Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann has worked as an architectural historian in historic preservation for the past twenty years. She received her BA in History from Lehigh University and her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.

Virtual Salon with the Health Workers of COVID-19 

Tuesday, May 26, 3:00pm 

Co-hosted by the Rattlestick Playwrite's Theater and Village Preservation

Health workers are some of the heroes of this moment. Let's appreciate the role they play in this fight and talk with nurse/theater artist Shannon Burkett, Carlos Rodriguez Perez, the Director of the Wellness and Recovery Division at New York City Health & Hospitals / Kings County; playwright/respiratory therapist Stacey Rose; Internal Medicine Physician Deborah Topol; and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist/Drama Therapist Dana George Trottier.

This Salon is a part of Reimagine: Life, Loss, & Love, a worldwide virtual festival.

The Architecture of the Merchant's House: A Virtual Tour 

Thursday, May 21, 6:00pm 

Co-hosted by the Merchant's House Museum

Whether you've been to the Merchant's House Museum before or not, this precious place will come alive as never before in this virtual tour led by Merchant's House board member and expert Anthony Bellov. Bellov will delve into little-known or rarely noticed fine points of the architecture of the 1832 brick-and-marble rowhouse, an exterior and interior NYC landmark, shedding light on building techniques and the social expectations of New York before the Civil War.

The Merchant's House Museum is one of the finest surviving examples of late-Federal and Greek Revival architecture. Built in 1832, the Merchant’s House was Manhattan's first designated landmark in New York City in 1965 and today is one of only six residences with interior and exterior landmark designation. The Museum tells the story of the domestic life of a wealthy merchant family - the Tredwells - and their four Irish servants, as well as the history of when the mercantile seaport of New York City emerged as a growing metropolis and the commercial emporium of America. It is also the only historic house museum in the Greenwich Village/Soho/NoHo neighborhoods, and of course, we love it.

Anthony Bellov holds a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Pratt Institute and a Graduate in Museum Leadership from Bank Street College of Education, and is owner of Anthony Bellov Video Productions, an award-winning boutique video production company based in NYC. He is a long-time volunteer and board member of the Merchant’s House Museum and an aficionado in 19th Century American Decorative Arts and Architecture.

Register Here!

The Jewish Lower East Side and Yiddish Rialto 

Monday, May 18, 6:00pm 

Second Avenue is rich in cultural history. Join urban geographer and professor Dr. Elissa Sampson for a virtual stroll down the famed historic thoroughfare of the erstwhile "Yiddish Rialto" with its myriad theaters, music halls, and musical venues. We will see and learn about the names of many famous performers of the Yiddish theater on the Second Avenue "Starwalk," the Fillmore East, and its past life as a Yiddish theater, the former Yiddish Arts Theater, and more. Special Attraction: This Webinar has its own official Kibbitzer, Jack Lebewohl of the Second Avenue Deli whose Molly Picon room offered diners a birds-eye view of Second Avenue's theatrical denizens.

* Dr. Elissa Sampson is a visiting scholar and lecturer in the Jewish Studies Program at Cornell University whose recent publications touch upon Jewish life in the Lower East Side.
* Jack Lebewohl is the owner of the Second Avenue Deli whose clientele can happily attest to his bonafides as a kibbitzer as well as a restauranteur.

This digital “tour” is part of Lower East Side History Month.

The LGBTQ Village, with Christopher Street Tours

Thursday, May 14, 5:30pm 

Join us for a fun "virtual" tour of LGBTQ history throughout Greenwich Village. Our guide, Christopher Street Tours' founder, Michael Venturiello, will cover historic sites where revolutions began, riots were sparked, and history was made. We will see common threads within generations of LGBTQ residents, sharing the stories of queer activists and major political and social movements that have shaped the LGBTQ community over time. We’ll also explore sites like the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park.

Our guide Michael Venturiello's interest in reading queer literature and research about the Stonewall Riots blossomed into his founding Christopher Street Tours, whose mission is to make LGBTQ history accessible to all through a variety of platforms.

Virtual Salon on the Financial Impact of COVID on the Theater

Tuesday, May 12, 3:00pm 

There are over 33 million unemployment claims since the pandemic began. What is the current global outlook for economic trade? What is the financial situation in the artistic community? What is the role of philanthropy? What is the take of the artists and theater organizations? Please join Jason Benowitz, Senior Portfolio Manager of Roosevelt Investments; Raz Golden, theater director; and Laura Aden Packer, Executive Director of the Howard Gilman Foundation, to breakdown the current situation in the wake of this pandemic. Facilitated by Mei Ann Teo.

This Virtual Salon Series happens every Tuesday at 3:00pm as an ongoing conversation about our current experiences between artists and experts in their fields. Presented in partnership with the Rattlestick Playwrite's Theater.

Get Lit! Literary Pub Crawl Digital Happy Hour - Bars and Literature in Greenwich Village 

Saturday, May 2, 2:00pm 

After 20 years, the Literary Pub Crawl knows that few neighborhoods have as varied and rich a history as Greenwich Village. It has been home to revolutionaries, social agitators, labor movements, feminists and suffragettes, jazz and blues music, painting, and debauchery. At this special #JanesWalkNYC digital happy hour, join us for a "tour" of some of our favorite bars in the Village. We will hear the stories, poems, and prose connected to each of these spots, which all cemented the Village's status as an epicenter of the literary movement. Go deep into these movements, spots, and figures, and lift a glass of whatever you've got at home along the way!

Literary Pub Crawl's in-depth knowledge and underground cult status has brought passion for history, literature, and drinking to the Village since 1998. Their Greenwich Village tour is the oldest continuously operating walking tour in the Village.

This digital “tour” is part of #JanesWalkNYC’s 2020 #JanesWalkatHome. 

Jane Jacobs’ Far West Village - Life and Preservation #JanesWalkNYC 

Friday, May 1, 2:00pm

For #JanesWalk2020, join Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation for a “tour” of Jane Jacobs’ Far West Village. Learn about the history, architecture, and zoning of the Far West Village including the Gansevoort Market Historic District, Westbeth, West Village Houses, and more. This area was slated for demolition, but was saved by the activism of Jane Jacobs and her community. As we carry on Jane’s mission in saving the Far West Village, we’ll explore this rich neighborhood and end with Jane’s historic home at 555 Hudson Street.

Sarah Bean Apmann has worked as an architectural historian in historic preservation for the past twenty years. She received her BA in History from Lehigh University and her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.

This digital “tour” is part of #JanesWalkNYC’s 2020 #JanesWalkatHome.

Virtual Salon on Domestic Violence during COVID-19 

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:00pm

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Host: Kathleen Chalfant

Guest Speaker: Raquel Almazan, Lia Avellino, Bea Hanson

Please join artist/activist Raquel Almazan, Relational Psychotherapist, Lia Avellino, and Executive Director of the NYC Domestic Violence Task Force, Bea Hanson in discussing the increase of domestic violence during this time of COVID. Marin Ireland will share an excerpt from her debut play Preexisting Condition during this event, read by Marin Ireland, Eboni Booth, and Kathleen Chalfant. Preexisting Condition is a play about learning how we move on. How we move on from an act of violence. A woman tries and tries again. Who do we turn to, and why. What questions do we need to ask, and how do we begin.

Co-sponsored by Village Preservation and the Rattlestick Playwrite's Theater

Researching your NYC Building with Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann


Monday, April 27, 2:00pm

Have some extra time on your hands to do that building research you've been curious about? In this lecture, participants will learn how to use various New York City and Village Preservation resources to discover the age of their building and other information as well. Whether your building is five years old or 105 years old, there is a myriad of online resources that can help you uncover the history of your building.
Sarah Bean Apmann has worked as an architectural historian in historic preservation for the past twenty years. She received her BA in History from Lehigh University and her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.

Sister Doctors In a Time of Need: Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell and The Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children on Bleecker Street

Wednesday, April 22, 6:30pm


Co-sponsored by Women of NoHo
 

Janice P. Nimura will speak on her dual biography (forthcoming from W. W. Norton, 2021) on the groundbreaking sisters and doctors Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell who, in 1857 founded The Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children on the corner of Bleecker and Crosby Streets in today’s NoHo Historic District. It was the first hospital staffed entirely by women and included "sanitary visitors" among its interns -- recent female medical graduates who brought guidance on hygiene and childcare to the overcrowded tenements of the neighborhood. Later, the Blackwells were instrumental in recruiting and training New York nurses during the Civil War.

Janice P. Nimura received a 2017 Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back, a 2015 New York Times Notable Book.

Virtual Salon on Incarceration and COVID-19

Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at 3:00pm

In partnership with Rehabilitation Through the Arts, the Rattlestick Playwrite's Theater, and Village Preservation, this conversation centers on the voices of currently incarcerated artists with firsthand accounts of the challenges of incarceration during a pandemic. Amid a shifting policy landscape, with groundbreaking advocacy leading to large releases of prisoners, Playwright Cori Thomas (Lockdown), formerly incarcerated teaching artist Robert Pollock, and Eric “Maserati E” Abercrombie to discuss the responses to pandemic on the inside and out.

Host: Shadi Ghaheri

Guest speaker: Cori Thomas, Robert Pollock, Eric “Maserati E” Abercrombie

Virtual Hangout with Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman

Friday, April 17, 2:00pm 

Curious about what's been going on at Village Preservation, and in our neighborhoods, during this challenging, ever-changing time? Join our virtual hangout for updates about what we're up to, how our work is continuing, supporting small businesses in our neighborhoods, helpful resources, and more. 

Marching Towards Modernity: The Women of Greenwich Village and the Art and Politics of Social Change at the Turn of the Century

Thursday, April 16, 6:00pm 

Co-hosted by the Merchant's House Museum and the Village Alliance
 
Ida Rauh and her sister-in-law and Village neighbor Crystal Eastman both earned law degrees at NYU and went on to change the worlds of law, justice, women's health, literature, theater, and more. Rauh and Eastman are just two of the extraordinary women who lived and worked in Greenwich Village at the turn of the 20th century when the neighborhood was transitioning from a tony enclave turned immigrant haven to a bohemian paradise.
Lucie Levine will focus on this moment in history and the women who led that change, marching into the new century as some of the nation’s foremost advocates, founders, and creators. Celebrate the women of Greenwich Village who helped lead the city and the nation into the Modern World.

Virtual Salon on the Role of Epidemics with Andrew Berman and Zachary Quinto


Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 3:00-4:00pm

Co-hosted by the Rattlestick Playwright's Theater and Village Preservation
 
Actor Zachary Quinto and Andrew Berman, head of Village Preservation, will speak about the role of epidemics in Manhattan. 

 

Virtual Salon

Tuesday, April 7, 3:00-4:00pm
We invite you to join us for a Salon with Actress Kathleen Chalfant and Medical Epidemiologist and Pandemic Preparedness Expert Steven Phillips.

The purpose of this FREE Salon is to have a conversation between a leading artist and a leading expert in the field.  This conversation will happen via Zoom and will be limited to 30 people due to the interactive nature of the set-up.

Co-hosted by Village Preservation and the Rattlestick Playwright's Theater

Register Online through the Rattlestick Playwright's Theater

Collecting New York's Stories: Stuyvesant to Sid Vicious, Curator Tour

Monday, March 9, 2:00pm at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Avenue (btw 103rd & 104th Streets)

Collecting New York's Stories: Stuyvesant to Sid Vicious features highlights drawn from the hundreds of additions to the Museum of the City of New York’s permanent collection. Explore works by both well-known and emerging artists, including Janette Beckman, Bruce Davidson, Helen Levitt, Ruddy Roye, Richard Sandler, Gail Thacker, James Van Der Zee, Harvey Wang, and many others. These beautiful, eclectic, and poignant images and objects illuminate the compelling and layered identity of New York and its stories.
Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo are featured prominently in this collection – arts, culture, and music originating in the Village will bring to light everything from the downtown Jazz greats of the 1950s to the iconic rockers of the CBGB scene in the 1970s like Blondie, Patti Smith, and Debbie Harry. See photos, too, of the beloved Footlight Records, located at 113 East 12th Street, when it opened in 1978.
Experience all this and more with the guidance of a Museum of the City of New York Curator.

This event is fully accessible.

Remembering the Women of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Thursday, March 5, 6:30pm at Judson Memorial Church’s Assembly Hall; enter at 239 Thompson Street

Women's History Month at Village Preservation

 
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on Washington Place was a typical sweatshop, employing mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the factory, and 146 people died. Their lives became a rallying cry for the labor union movement, fire safety regulations, and more.
In the month of the anniversary of the fire and Women's History Month, we will learn from a panel of speakers about the women, the building, the fire, its legacy, and more. Panelists include: 
• Debbie Wells, descendant of Russian-Jewish immigrant Annie Nicholas, who lived to be the oldest survivor of the fire, and of Artful Circle (artfulcircle.com).
• Richard Yoo, Triangle Fire Memorial Architect and Designer
• Michael Rzeznik, Fire Protection Specialist
• Jennifer Merz, Creator of Triangle-inspired artwork
• Franklin Hill Perrell, Art Historian

This event is fully accessible.

Brokers Partnership Presents: The Andy Statman Trio Plays the Museum at Eldridge Street

Tuesday, March 3, 7:00pm at Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street
Tickets are $35 in advance. $45 at the door. Proceeds benefit Village Preservation and the Museum at Eldridge Street.


Join us for a special night featuring renowned musician Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio. In the stunning sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, they will perform their trademark blend of American roots music, prayerful Hasidic music, klezmer, and avant-garde jazz.
The Museum at Eldridge Street synagogue is a New York City and National Historic Landmark and a monumental reminder of the Lower East Side’s immigrant history. Built in 1887 and lovingly restored in the 2000s, it is an inspiring example of how historic spaces of all kinds can continue to enrich our modern lives.
A 6:00pm tour of the Museum is included with your visit.

This event is fully accessible.

Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House

Thursday, February 27, 6:30pm
The Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Avenue at 12th Street
Tickets are $15, or $65 including a copy of Bricks and Brownstone (retail cost: $85)

Co-sponsored with the Salmagundi Arts Club and the Merchant’s House Museum.

The classic book Bricks & Brownstone, originally written by Charles Lockwood and published in 1972, is the first and still the only volume to examine in depth the changing form and varied architectural styles of the much-loved New York City row house, or brownstone. That edition helped pave the way for a brownstone revival that has transformed New York’s historic neighborhoods over the past half-century. This revised and expanded edition, published by Rizzoli and written by Patrick W. Ciccone, revisits the classic comprehensively, with updated text and additional chapters, and an abundance of specially commissioned color photography.
Join author Patrick W. Ciccone for a lecture and celebration of the revised edition of this classic work featuring Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Second Empire architectural styles and so much more.
Patrick W. Ciccone is a New York City-based preservationist who has led major historic rehabilitation projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania.

This event is not fully accessible, there are ten steps up to the front door.

Members Only ($500+): Exclusive Curator Tour of the Brant Foundation

Wednesday, February 26, 5:30pm
The Brant Foundation, 421 East 6th Street (btw 1st Ave & Ave A).

RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org

For devotees of adaptive reuse, please join us for a special tour of The Brant Foundation’s New York space which occupies a century-old building originally designed as a substation for Consolidated Edison.
Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Tang Architects renovated the former substation, which is currently featuring a selection of the Brant Foundation’s exquisite collection of art. The Brant Foundation and Gluckman Tang Architects were awarded a 2019 Village Award from Village Preservation.
Third Dimension: Works from The Brant Foundation, features over 20 artists integral to its collection, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Dan Flavin and many more.
 
This event is fully accessible.

Black History Month Panel - Illuminating Forgotten Histories: New York City’s Early Black Communities

Tuesday, February 18, 6:30pm
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd at 135th Street

This Black History Month, the Schomburg Center’s Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery and Village Preservation are partnering to illuminate aspects of New York City’s early Black neighborhoods. From Seneca Village, a community now being memorialized in Central Park, to Greenwich Village’s “Little Africa,” our group of experts will address the work of discovery, preservation, and documentation of these and other historically significant, but widely-forgotten Black communities.
We are pleased that the following scholars and preservationists will join us:
Leslie M. Harris is a professor of history at Northwestern University and author of numerous books, including In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 and Slavery in New York (co-edited with Ira Berlin).
Jamila Brathwaite is a trustee of the African American Historical Society of Rockland County. She is an educator and curator and has uncovered hidden histories of the African Diaspora, including Greenwich Village’s “Little Africa,” which flourished during the 19th century.
John Reddick is an architectural historian and Columbia University Community Scholar who is active in Harlem’s culture, art, and preservation. He’s lectured and published broadly, and recently served as a curator and facilitator of the Harlem Focus series at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt Design Center.
Michelle D. Commander is the associate director and curator of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery at the Schomburg Center. She is the author of Afro-Atlantic Flight: Speculative Returns and The Black Fantastic, among other works.

This event is fully accessible.

Faint Voices from Greenwich Village: Carl Jung’s Visit to the Village

Monday, February 10, 6:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue

Only months after splitting with Freud over New Year’s 1913, Carl Jung made an eye-opening trip to New York. He spoke about dreams to the Liberal Club and was a dinner guest of the Village’s Heterodoxy Club, the country’s first feminist organization. Like the public at large, he got his first exposure to modern art at the Armory Show, which inspired his Red Book. 
Jay Sherry, PhD, has lectured internationally and written two books that locate Jung in the context of 20th-century cultural life. His talk will highlight these events and the creative Villagers who Jung encountered. His ideas about symbol-making and the psyche resonated with a diverse group of intellectuals who were interested in progressive education, literature, and theater.

This event is accessible.

FutureCity: The Past, Present and Future of New York with Jason Haber

Tuesday, February 4, 6:30pm 
Arnhold Hall in the Theresa Lang Student Center, 55 West 13th Street Room 202
Co-sponsored by The New School.

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than don’t. By 2050, 2 billion more people will live on our planet, two-thirds of whom will live in cities. Simultaneously, many cities, including New York, are ill-prepared for the next storm. New York faces unprecedented challenges. Climate change, mass transit, health care, and housing expenses are creating their own storm. Yet, at the same time, solutions exist that can also make New York better than ever. The question is: how? In FutureCity, using history as a guide, author, public policy professor, political advisor, and real estate expert Jason Haber will explore the perils and possibilities facing New York, and will inspire us to fulfill Jane Jacobs’ visions of a dynamic, supportive city. 

This event is fully accessible.

Judson and Julius,’ a Performance at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Monday, February 3, 8:00pm
The Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, 224 Waverly Place
Presented in partnership with NYU and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

Judson and Julius’ is a collaboratively written play which takes a deep dive into two of the Village’s most beloved spaces, Julius’ Bar--the oldest gay bar in the city, and Judson Church--a thriving church and cultural center. The piece soulfully explores queerness, intergenerational dynamics, and how these two thriving spaces continue to offer refuge and solace to those who need it most.  The piece was written and researched by students in Cusi Cram’s (Novenas for a Lost Hospital) “Writing for and About Community” class in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU by Anthony Anello, Kendra Donahue, Aodhan Gallagher, Caroline Mazzei, Alyssa See Tho, Dylan Vaughan Skorish, and Izzy Vidal. It will be directed by Kelly McAndrew.

This event is not accessible - there is a full flight of stairs up to the theater.

A Spooky Evening Celebration for Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday

Thursday, January 30, 6:30pm
New York City Baha’i Center, 53 East 11th Street (Btw Broadway & University)
Co-sponsored by the Merchant’s House Museum and Boroughs of the Dead
 
In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe lived on Amity Street (now West 3rd Street). Publication of his poem The Raven brought him great acclaim and invitations to the Village’s fashionable literary salons. In honor of Poe’s birthday, we’ll learn about Poe’s life in the Village and enjoy a performance of his writings.
Andrea Janes, founder of Boroughs of the Dead, will discuss Poe’s residence in the City, his rivals, and admirers, and his writing about antebellum New York’s architecture, literature, and current events.
The evening will conclude with John Kevin Jones as the great master of horror performing bone-chilling tales of irrational revenge, obsession, and murder.
 
This event is fully accessible.

Prohibition at 100! History and Cocktails at Chumley’s

Monday, January 27, 5:00pm
Chumley’s, 86 Bedford Street
Tickets are $20. Advance registration is required.

 
It’s been 100 years since the Volstead Act (otherwise known as Prohibition) took effect, outlawing the sale and production of “intoxicating” liquors. We’re celebrating with the revelry and persistence embraced by the Village’s many speakeasies that operated in defiance of the law. 
The Prohibition-era birthed some truly iconic cocktails, and we’ll be learning about and tasting them with author and drink historian David Wondrich, and the master bartenders and staff at Chumley’s
An historic former-speakeasy, Chumley’s was designed to invoke the Village of flappers, bohemians, artists, and renegade brewers. Learn about the writers and artists whose portraits busy the walls. Learn too about the famous “86” on its door (the restaurant’s address on Bedford Street), and the decorative tea cups which adorn the interior archway. 
The drinks, details, and more will immerse us in the spirit of Prohibition for this special evening. 
 
This event is fully accessible.

The East Village Italian Mafia

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 6:30pm
The Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe, 236 East 3rd Street (Btw Aves B&C)

The East Village Mafia reveals a little-known but powerful Manhattan Mafia enclave that was instrumental in shaping the direction of organized crime for seven decades. Author Thomas Comiskey profiles a dozen Mafia dons, capos, and soldiers who came from or frequented the long-forgotten Italian neighborhood in the northern East Village. He will describe headline-grabbing murders, international heroin trafficking, counterfeiting, extortion, and loan-sharking in local social clubs, bars, and restaurants.
Thomas F. Comiskey is an attorney who had a thirty-three-year career at the New York City Department of Investigation exposing criminal conduct in New York City’s anti-poverty programs and public schools. He lived on East 14th Street and Avenue A from 1953 to 1990. He currently lives in Scarborough, New York.

This event is fully accessible.

Khalil Gibran: Child of the Cedars and Son of Greenwich Village

Wednesday, January 15, 6:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue

Internationally acclaimed writer and poet Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), known to most Americans as the author of The Prophet, was born in northern Lebanon near reserves of ancient cedar trees. His family immigrated to Boston in 1895, when many immigrants from the former Ottoman territories of the eastern Mediterranean resettled in the U.S. It was in Greenwich Village—where he lived from 1910 to 1931—that his career flourished. This talk will focus on Gibran’s life in the Village where he composed many of his writings, as well as the institutions with which Gibran was associated.
Iman R. Abdulfattah is a scholar of Islamic Art and Architecture. She has worked with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

This event is accessible.

Veniero’s Pasticceria at 125: Stories and Snacks with owner Robert Zerilli

Tuesday, January 14, 1:30pm
Vineiro’s, 342 East 11th Street
Co-sponsored by Veniero’s, and Urban Archive.

Veniero’s has been located between 1st and 2nd Avenues at 342 East 11th Street since it opened over 125 years ago. In 1885 Antonio Veniero immigrated to America from Southern Italy, and in 1894 opened his shop to offer the community biscotti, espresso, and other delicacies. 
Now, Antonio’s grandson Robert Zerilli continues his family legacy at Veniero’s, a staple for delicious confections in a gorgeous European-style bakery, all amidst the ever-changing backdrop of the East Village. 
Zerilli was the subject of a Village Preservation oral history, and in celebration of Veniero’s 125 years has invited us into the pasticceria for some of that storytelling. Join us for a delicious and delightful lunch break! 

This event is accessible.

Penny Arcade Herself, Celebrating her Village Preservation Oral History

Monday, January 6, 7:00pm
The Duplex, 61 Christopher Street
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.


Since first climbing out of her bedroom window at age 14 to join the fabulously disenfranchised world of downtown queers, junkies, whores, stars, deviants and geniuses, Penny Arcade has become one of New York’s most influential performers. By fearlessly displaying her singular brand of feminist sexuality and storytelling she has garnered countless fans worldwide with an emotionally and intellectually charged performance style. Internationally revered as a writer, director, and actress, she has influenced generations of artists. 
In Penny’s Village Preservation oral history, she said, “My work has always encompassed oral history from the first moment—makes sense—I’m from an oral tradition of southern Italian storytelling, where every problem is described by being told about another problem that was similar to it that had happened once before. And that’s how I made my work.” Join us for an evening celebrating this oral history and Penny’s work. 

This event is not accessible.

2019

Members Only ($500+): Holiday Celebration at the Salmagundi Arts Club

Sunday, December 15, 2:00-5:00pm
The Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Avenue at 12th Street
Presented in partnership with the Salmagundi Arts Club and the Merchant’s House Museum.
Register to rsvp@gvshp.org.


The lights are twinkling, there’s music in the air, and we are celebrating this festive season by stepping back in time, through the doors of the elegant façade at 47 Fifth Avenue.
The Salmagundi Art Club’s landmark double-wide 1853 house is lovingly maintained and full of art, historic details, and ephemera that tell the story of the house and the Club itself, which provides a center for representational art. Members of Village Preservation, the Merchant’s House Museum, and the Salmagundi Art Club are invited to venture up the steps to see the art, enjoy a cocktail in the vintage bar, watch 5th Avenue go by from the elegant period parlor, and explore the building’s countless original details. Spend time with friends new and old while learning about the important work our three organizations are doing to preserve our historic buildings, our neighborhood, and the legacies of art, community, architecture, and music we all hold dear.

This event is not fully accessible. There are ten stairs up to the front door.

Not a member at the $500 level but want to attend? Join or increase at gvshp.org/donate.

Whitney Museum Tour: Rachel Harrison Life Hack

Thursday, December 12, 1:00pm
The Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street

When the days are cold and the streets are grey, the Whitney offers a bright, warm oasis overlooking the Hudson River. Enjoy a tour with one of the Whitney’s Educational Fellows to learn about the New York City-based artist Rachel Harrison.
Funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Whitney’s National Committee, this exhibition hearkens to the pop art movement, which began in the Village. Harrison’s work pushes boundaries with materials that are quite familiar to all New Yorkers, from trash cans to soccer balls, televisions, and more!
Rachel Harrison’s first full-scale survey at the Whitney will track the development of her career over the past twenty-five years, incorporating room-size installations, autonomous sculpture, photography, and drawing. Harrison’s complex works—in which readymades collude with invented forms—bring together the breadth of art history, the impurities of politics, and the artifacts of pop and celebrity culture. The exhibition will include approximately one hundred works spanning the early 1990s to the present, drawn from private and public collections throughout the world.
Event entry into the museum will allow attendees to stay and enjoy the Museum’s collection of many Village-based artists and works.

This event is fully accessible.

Members Only ($250+): The Village at the Met

*This event has been rescheduled to Friday, December 6*
(formerly
Friday, November 8) 6:15pm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Register to rsvp@gvshp.org.


For museum lovers and skeptics alike, join us for an “inside look” at The Met as you’ve never seen it before!  Professor Andrew Lear, is an author, historian, classicist, and public historian who has taught at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and Pomona College. He has created a lively, private, hour-long exploration of the museum, specifically for Village Preservation, focusing on the great objects and artists in the collection which have connections to the Village. Learn the stories behind a selection of art across the Met’s fabulous collection that represents the Village at the Met.

This event is fully accessible. Accessible entrances are located at Fifth Avenue and 81st Street and through the parking garage at Fifth Avenue and 80th Street. Wheelchairs may be borrowed from the coat check at the 81st Street entrance.

Not a member at the $250 level but want to attend? Join or increase your support at gvshp.org/donate

A Comedy Cellar Night, Benefiting Village Preservation

Thursday, December 5, 6:00pm
Comedy Cellar at Village Underground
130 West 3rd Street

Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase at comedycellar.com/reservation 
All proceeds benefit Village Preservation


Join us for a few good laughs (and a few drinks) at this special evening of comedy, hosted by the Comedy Cellar, benefitting Village Preservation.
A 2018 Village Preservation Village Awardee, The Comedy Cellar NYC is easily one of the most iconic comedy clubs in the world, if not THE most iconic.
Since 1982, The Comedy Cellar has been the testing ground for some of the world’s leading comics. Countless luminaries have performed and gotten their starts here, and continue to drop in today and practice their new routines. Owner Noam Dworman is a legacy cafe and comedy club figure, and son of the Club’s founder Menachem (Manny) Dworman. Back in 1960, Manny was a cab driver with a dream to open a venue in bustling Greenwich Village. He did just that, and now, names such a Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld, Michelle Wolff, and Judd Apatow, hang out and perform there.

This event is not accessible.

The Decorated Tenement: How Immigrant Builders and Architects Transformed the Slum in the Gilded Age

Tuesday, December 3, 6:00pm
Tompkins Square Park Library, 331 East 10th Street btw. Aves A & B


Celebrate the release of The Decorated Tenement by Zachary J. Violette with an illustrated book talk. In his book, Violette provides a reexamination of working-class architecture in late nineteenth-century urban New York. The “decorated tenement” exemplifies a wave of new buildings constructed by immigrant builders and architects, using ornament as an entry point to reconsider the roles of the tenement in improving housing for the working poor.
Zachary J. Violette has a Ph.D. in American and New England Studies from Boston University. Violette is an awardee of the H. Allan Brooks Traveling Fellowship for travel in Central Europe. He serves on the Board of the Vernacular Architecture Forum and is a lecturer at Parsons/The New School of Design in New York. He is currently researching a follow-up volume to The Decorated Tenement on the inner suburban apartment house in the early twentieth century.

This event is accessible, with ten stairs up to the lobby. There is a lift for wheelchair accessibility.

Bleecker Street Walking Tour 

Friday, November 22, 3:00pm
Meet at:Huckleberry, 383 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014 (corner of Perry Street)

Join Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann for a tour of the architectural and cultural gems of Bleecker Street as part of #ShopBleecker. For everyone from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, Jimi Hendrix to Patti Smith, Bleecker Street has been the center of what's great about New York City. And now, the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce has launched the month-long #ShopBleecker event as this year's holiday shopping season begins, reminding everyone that Bleecker Street is one of the best places in the city to shop, eat, and play. Enjoy #ShopBleecker all month! Select retailers along the twenty blocks that comprise the beautiful and historic Bleecker Street will be hosting in-store events and offering special deals and discounts. Learn more at www.villagechelsea.com.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible. Dress warmly!

Documenting, Celebrating, & Preserving the History & Architecture of the East Village – 6th Street, Avenues B & C and Beyond

Tuesday, November 19, 6:30pm
6th Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street btw. Aves B & C

Learn about Village Preservation’s effort to raise awareness and appreciation of the East Village’s history and advocate for its preservation. From the recently released report A History of the East Village and Its Architecture to the online resource East Village Building Blocks, learn more about the neighborhood’s 350-year history and efforts to protect it.
With a presentation by Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann, the evening will focus on, but not be limited to, the area around the 6th Street Community Center, our host for the evening, on 6th Street between Avenues B and C. Currents in neighborhood history and architecture connected to the organization and space, including synagogues, adaptive reuse, and community gardens, will also be highlighted.
The 6th Street Community Center is housed in a former synagogue and has been working to empower the Loisaida community since 1978.

This event is accessible, with six stairs up to the building.

Metropolitan Klezmer 25th Anniversary: Jubilation! at Eldridge Street

Thursday, November 14, 7:00pm
The Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street
Tickets are $30 at gvshp.org/events

Presented in partnership with The Museum at Eldridge Street and Metropolitan Klezmer 

Now celebrating their 25th year together, Metropolitan Klezmer brings eclectic exuberance to Yiddish musical genres from all over the map. Performing vibrant versions of gems from wedding dance, trance, folk, swing, and tango styles, as well as soundtrack material from vintage Yiddish films, this octet reinvents tradition with irreverence, respect, and joy. This special performance will also feature a rarely heard repertoire including balladry of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a Yiddish-rooted Soviet animation score, and a gorgeous range of imaginative original compositions.
This event is part of Metropolitan Klezmer’s Jubilation! 25th Anniversary Octet Concerts Series.

Jubilation! is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by LMCC. With support from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and NYC Cultural Affairs. All proceeds benefit Metropolitan Klezmer, the Museum at Eldridge Street, and Village Preservation

This event is fully accessible.

Illustrated Lecture: Greenwich Village’s Tenth Street Studios

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30pm
Salmagundi Arts Club Main Gallery, 47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street

The Tenth Street Studio Building in Greenwich Village, created by Richard Morris Hunt specifically and exclusively as commercial space for artists, was a new building type in 1857.  The realization of such a building reflected both the newly elevated position of artists and the burgeoning art market. Artists flocked to New York because of its numerous art organizations, such as the National Academy of Design, founded in 1825 to promote and exhibit contemporary art and provide art instruction. More art dealers, clubs, and auction houses were located here by far than in most other cities. Clubs like the Century Association, located on 15th Street, were important not only for social contacts and patronage but also for fostering art appreciation through frequent exhibitions. Art historian and former director of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, Annette Blaugrund, will highlight the building and its famous artist-tenants in a lively illustrated talk.

This event is not fully accessible.

Visionaries in the East Village: Reverend Guthrie and Frank Lloyd Wright

Tuesday, November 5, 6:30pm
Tompkins Square Library, 331 East 10th Street


The roots of counterculture in the East Village go back at least to Reverend William Norman Guthrie, Rector of St. Marks-in-the-Bouwerie Church from 1911-1937. A radical clergyman, esoteric author, and visionary, Guthrie not only espoused spiritual rituals from non-Western sources, but saw them as a means of revitalizing a neighborhood in ethnic and social transition. He enlisted his close friend, Frank Lloyd Wright, as the architect for utopian schemes to promote his agenda. This illustrated talk explores their efforts to revise religion, modern architecture, and New York itself in the late 1920s and early 1930s. This unknown story is featured in Dr. Anthony Alofsin’s new book, Wright and New York: the Making of America’s Architect.
Anthony Alofsin is an architect and art historian, and an expert on Frank Lloyd Wright. His first book, Frank Lloyd Wright: the Lost Years, defined the primitivist phase of Wright’s work in the 1910s.

Books for sale by Books on Call.

This event is accessible, with ten stairs up to the lobby. There is a lift for wheelchair accessibility.

50 Years of the Greenwich Village Historic District: How Landmarking Has Shaped and Preserved A Neighborhood

Monday, November 4, 6:30pm
First Presbyterian Church, 12 West 12th Street Entrance

In 1969, Greenwich Village preservationists, activists, and neighbors celebrated the victory of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. In our final in a series of panel discussions marking the 50th anniversary of this milestone, we’ll consider what has changed over the last half-century, what might have changed had it not been for landmarking, and what this all tells us about what the district’s future might look like. What has landmarking allowed?  What has it prevented? How has that process of making decisions about the shape of this neighborhood changed over the last fifty years?
Our panel will include:
 Andrew Berman, Village Preservation Executive Director
 Kent Barwick, former Chair, Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC); President, Municipal Art Society (MAS); co-founder Historic Districts Council
Ronda Wist, President at Wist Preservation Associates, former LPC Executive Director, and MAS Vice President
Frank Sanchis, Programs Director at the World Monuments Fund, former Senior Advisor to MAS and Vice President for Stewardship of Historic Sites for the National Trust for Historic Preservation

This event is fully accessible.
This is part of our year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Learn more at gvshp.org/gvhd50.

 

Continuing the Fight: Expanding Landmark Protections Since the Greenwich Village Historic District Designation

Wednesday, October 30, 6:30pm
United Methodist Church of the Village, at 201 West 13th Street

When Shirley Hayes, Verna Small, Jane Jacobs, Ruth Wittenberg, and other Village activists succeeded in getting the Greenwich Village Historic District (GVHD) designated in 1969, they did what no one had ever done before – securing landmark protections for over 2,200 buildings and nearly 100 blocks.  As expansive and impressive as that victory was, much of Greenwich Village was left without protections. In the intervening fifty years, four new historic districts, two extensions of the GVHD, and a few dozen individual landmarks have been added, some only after long and bitter battles. Much still needs to be done.
Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman will review the battles of the last fifty years – what was won and how, what was lost, and what still needs doing. He’ll also look at Jane Jacobs’ original plea for comprehensive landmark protections for Greenwich Village, and see how much of that vision has been fulfilled.

This event is fully accessible - wheelchair entrance on West 13th Street. This program is part of our year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Learn more at gvshp.org/gvhd50.

Book Talk: Victory City with John Strausbaugh 

Tuesday, October 22, 6:30pm
The Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Avenue

New York City during World War II wasn’t just a place of servicemen, politicians, heroes, G.I. Joes and Rosie the Riveters. It was also home to quislings and saboteurs; war protesters and conscientious objectors; gangsters and profiteers; and bobby-soxers, poets, painters, scientists, and spies.
In Victory CityJohn Strausbaugh tells the story of New York City’s war years with richness, depth, and nuance, providing an important look into the City during this transformative war.
John Strausbaugh is the author of three books of New York City history: The Village, an epic history of Greenwich Village, and City of Sedition: The History of New York City during the Civil War. Both books boast awards and accolades. His latest, Victory City: A History of New York and New Yorkers During World War II, has been hailed as “a compulsively engaging read.” He lives in Brooklyn Heights.
 
This event is not fully accessible - there are ten stairs up to the door

Exhibition, Awards, and Reception of Greenwich Village Art and Environs

Wednesday, October 16, 7:00pm
Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Avenue


The Salmagundi Club has been a fixture on the Greenwich Village art scene for over 100 years. This exhibition (on view October 7-25) expresses appreciation for the Village and its environs. This special exhibition, inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District, shares our fascination with Greenwich Village.  There is a strong community identity in the Village that is supported by the unique history and attitude of the surroundings, which bring to mind narrow streets, bohemian culture, artistic residents, and progressive attitudes. Greenwich Village was and is the place to be.
Join us for this exhibition reception with Joseph Camardo playing piano. Award winners will be announced at 7:30pm. The Club’s fine dining restaurant is taking advance reservations up until 8:30pm at (212) 255-7740, open to all. 

This event is not fully accessible

Submissions to "Greenwich Village Art and Environs" exhibit are open through August 27th. To submit your art, click here

Horsewalks, Stables, and Mews: Exploring the Vestiges of Greenwich Village’s Equine Past

Wednesday, October 16, 6:00pm
Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Ave

Presented as part of The American Institute of Architects’ Archtober, in collaboration with the Salmagundi Arts Club

For centuries New Yorkers relied on horses as transport, retracing former Native American paths. Past the present-day cacophony of automobiles, this history remains, especially in Greenwich Village’s many horsewalks, stables, & mews. Follow architectural historian Gregory Dietrich down this bridle path!
A graduate of Columbia University’s Historic Preservation and Real Estate Development programs, Gregory Dietrich has worked in the public and private sectors, at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Cultural Resource Consulting Group, and  Gregory Dietrich Preservation Consulting. He has lectured at the Fashion Institute of Technology and New York University and gives lectures and tours both here and abroad.
 
This event is not accessible

This event is completely full. Learn more here via the Salmagundi Arts Club.


Plaque Dedication: James Wall Finn

Monday, October 7, 6:00pm 
16 West 9th Street

The American muralist and decorative artist James Wall Finn was born in New York in 1867.  A graduate of École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he returned to New York in 1905 and moved to 16 West 9th Street, where he lived for many years. Finn was a muralist for J.J. Astor, Payne Whitney, and Tiffany Studios, and painted large, spectacular interiors to grace the Hotel Knickerbocker, the Morgan Library, and the New York Public Library, which underwent a 2016 restoration of Finn’s ceiling mural of a sky with rosy clouds. Though the date of Finn’s birth is still debated, his “Irish wit” was widely recognized. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in 1913. 
Joins us at his former home for this plaque dedication in partnership with West 9th Street Block Association. We will be joined by Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator at The Morgan Library & Museum.

This event sidewalk accessible. This program is part of our year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District.



Lower East Side Arts Open House with the Neighborhood Preservation Center, Village Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, More Art, and the Sane Energy Project

Monday, October 7, 4:00-5:30pm
232 East 11th Street


Housed in the historic Rectory of St. Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery, join Village Preservation, Historic Districts Council, Neighborhood Preservation Center, More Art, and Sane Energy Project for this open house to learn about each of our work and get a special look at this historic building!

Completed in 1901, the Rectory was designed by Ernest Flagg in the Beaux Arts style and restored after a major fire in 1988. Sponsored by the St. Mark’s Historic Landmark Fund, the Neighborhood Preservation Center was established and became resident in 1999.

Join these organizations of the NPC for this special opportunity to speak with staff members - including Village Preservation's Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann - about their exciting missions and upcoming programs!
 
This event is not fully accessible - there are eight steps upto the building. The event will be hosted in the Center’s first floor meeting rooms. Please press buzzer #1 to be allowed into the building.


Documenting, Celebrating, and Preserving the History and Architecture of the East Village – St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue and Beyond
Thursday, October 3, 6:30pm
Little Missionary's Day School
93 St. Mark's Place


Learn about Village Preservation’s effort to raise awareness and appreciation of the East Village’s rich history, and to advocate for its preservation.  From the recently released report A History of the East Village and Its Architecture to the online resource East Village Building Blocks, with information on each of over 2,200 buildings in the neighborhood, learn more about this neighborhood’s 350-year history and efforts to protect it. The story of the East Village extends from Dutch settlement in the 17th century, to its development in the 19th century as a prosperous merchant burg and immigrant gateway, its evolution in the 20th century from an epicenter of abandonment and blight to a center of cultural innovation and rebirth, to its struggle in the 21st century to maintain its identity in the face of renewed popularity and success.  The program will be hosted by the Little Missionary Day School, founded by Sara Curry and serving the East Village since 1896.
With presentations by Andrew Berman, Executive Director, Village Preservation.

This event is accessible, with nine st airs up to the entrance of the building

Walking Tour: Education and Radical Free Thought in Greenwich Village
Thursday, October 3, 11:00am
RSVP for Meetup Location

Presented in partnership with The New School’s Centennial Celebration

From the first free circulating library in New York City to “The People’s Institute,” Greenwich Village is home to some of the earliest public educational institutions in New York City. The Village’s pedigree as a bastion of free expression has roots in its educational institutions, which were at the epicenter of the greatest radical and progressive movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
On this Archive on Parade tour, we’ll drop by The New School, and learn how opposition to the First World War (and fussy uptown Academia) led to the school’s creation 100 years ago this week in history. The New School was the first university to teach courses on women’s history and African American history in the country. Learn, too, about the first law school to admit women, an anarchist educational collective on St. Marks Place where teachers included Margaret Sanger and Jack London, and many others.
 
This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

Happy Hour Theater Crawl in Greenwich Village
Friday, September 27, 2:00-6:00pm
RSVP for Meetup Location

Presented in partnership with Manhattan Community Board 2 and The Village Trip

Join us for this special community theater event to learn about the work and histories of some of the marvelous local theaters in Greenwich Village. An expert will guide us through historic Village streets from theater to theater. Once the Happy Hour Theater Crawlers arrive at a venue, we will get to know the theater and its artistic leaders.
We are pleased to be visiting:

Venue list information is subject to change. Check gvshp.org/events for the most up-to-date information.

This event is sidewalk accessible. The Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater is not accessible.


A Greenwich Village Historic District Town Hallon its Present & Future
Wednesday, September 25, 6:00pm
The LGBT Center, 208 W.13th Street, Room 101

This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Join Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman for a town hall addressing the state of the district. What issues does it face? What preservation issues need to be addressed? What should our agenda be for maintaining and making the Greenwich Village Historic District the best neighborhood it can be, and how can we achieve that? We’ll look at issues like whether it should be expanded, is it being well regulated, do rules need to be changed, and is it preserving the neighborhood as it should. We will be joined by local elected officials, community groups, and others who can weigh in on the key challenges we face and how they can be met.

Co-sponsored by The Village Alliance, in partnership with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, State Senator Brad Hoylman, State Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and City Councilmember Margaret Chin, Manhattan Community Board 2, and the Historic Districts Council.

This event is fully accessible


Capturing the Faces & Voices of Mom-and-Pop Storefronts
Opening reception on Monday, September 16th 5:00-8:30pm.
Exhibition extends through October 27, 2019.

WINE and light refreshments will be served including delicious mini pastries and cookies from the East Village’s very own Veniero’s Pasticceria, which is celebrating their 125th year anniversary this September!
Please join us and our workshop participants (swipe left to see full list of participants) and our partner organization the East Village Community Coalition and co-sponsors including Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY Council on the Arts, NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs, MMPartners, The Municipal Art Society, The Village Alliance, EVIMA, Village Preservatoin, and Venieros Pastry.
Also a huge thank you to Unique Visuals NY @uniquevisualsny for generously printing and mounting our exhibition photographs!

Storefronts in Landmarked Buildings and Historic Districts -- What You Need to Know
Thursday, September 12 6:30pm
The Washington Square Institute
41 E 11th Street, 4th Floor


Stores and commercial spaces provide important services, products, jobs, and character to our neighborhoods and communities. Small businesses in landmarked buildings & historic districts have many wonderful assets, while also having NYC Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) rules to follow. The LPC recently released guidelines to help business owners get approval for changes and better understand the regulations.
Join us for a presentation and opportunity to ask your questions with LPC Deputy Director of Preservation William Neeley and LPC Deputy Counsel John Weiss. Small business owners and merchants are especially encouraged to attend!

Co-sponsored by Manhattan Community Boards 2 and 3, Cooper Square Committee, East Village Community Coalition, East Village Independent Merchant’s Association, Historic Districts Council, Meatpacking District Business Improvement District, NoHo Business Improvement District, NoHo Neighborhood Association, SoHo Alliance, the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, and the Village Alliance.

This event is accessible, with four steps to the lecture room

Walking Tour: Bars and Speakeasies of Greenwich Village
Tuesday, September 10, 6:00pm
RSVP for meetup location


What happened to Greenwich Village when it went dry during Prohibition? Find out on a walking tour of historic sites in the area, including renowned bars that weathered the passage of the 18th Amendment. Ratified 100 years ago, it was less about controlling the consumption of alcohol and more about controlling the habits of working-class urban immigrants, determining what it meant to be an American, and in New York City, what it meant to be a sophisticated urbanite.
Those and other questions raised during Prohibition linger with us today and influence the way that we have been drinking since prohibition’s repeal. This is not a drinking tour (no drinks included), but the tour will end at a spot where you can order a craft cocktail.
Diana Pittet teaches a graduate seminar at New York University on the history, culture, and politics of drinking and owns a cocktail catering company, Night Owl Hospitality, in Asbury Park, N.J.
 
This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

Saint Vincent’s Project: Novenas for a Lost Hospital 
Thursday, September 5, 2019 7:00 PM through Sunday, October 13, 2019
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place

Novenas for a Lost Hospital is inspired by those who dedicated their lives to care and those who were lost. Guided by Elizabeth Seton of the Sisters of Charity (played by Kathleen Chalfant), the piece explores the 161-year history of the hospital. Novenas uses theater as a vehicle to remember, to honor, and to celebrate the life and impact of St. Vincent’s Hospital. The piece will begin with a prologue at St. John’s in the Village and culminate with an epilogue in the West Village, arriving at the AIDS memorial on the former site of St. Vincent’s Hospital.

This event is not accessible. 

This event is part of our series of programs marking the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District programming. Learn more at gvshp.org/gvhd50


A Walking Tour of Historic 19th Century NoHo
*Rescheduing due to weather - join us on Wednesday, August 28th at 6:00pm.* Meet at the Merchant’s House Museum, 29 East 4th Street

Join us for a journey back in time to the elite ‘Bond Street area,’ home to Astors, Vanderbilts, Delanos, and the Tredwells, who lived in the Merchant’s House. You’ll see how the neighborhood surrounding the Tredwell's home evolved from a refined and tranquil residential enclave into a busy commercial center.
Visit important 19th-century landmark buildings on this tour through 21st century NoHo. We end at bustling Astor Place where the dramatic events that led to the Opera House riot of 1849, among the bloodiest in American history, took place. And visit the site of the notorious 1857 Bond Street murder of Harvey Burdell, one of the city’s still-unsolved crimes!

Presented in partnership with the Merchants House Museum. This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible


Walking Tour: The Radical Village with Jay Saper 
Monday, August 26, 6:00pm. RSVP for Meetup Location

The historic Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI), founded during the progressive era, has served as a haven for political dissidents and cultivated prominent social justice activists for nearly a century.
At the school, Angela Davis was friends and classmates with Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin. The children of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg enrolled after the government made them orphans. Teachers and parents alike were dragged before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Join our guide Jay Saper to explore the lives of and sites connected to the radical playwrights, lawyers, artists, and activists who have called the school home and whose enduring contributions to social movements have transformed the nation.
Jay Saper is an educator, writer, organizer, and artist who lives in Brooklyn.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

Preservation Trivia Night!
Wednesday, August 21, 6:00pm
at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street
Join us for a fun-filled night of New York City history and preservation trivia! Form your own teams of 2-4, or meet fellow history buffs and create a new team! Fun and prizes for all!

Hosted by the Historic Districts Council. Co-sponsored by Village Preservation, 6Sqft, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic District, The New York Preservation Archive Project, MAS NYC, and Landmark West!


The Ultimate Village Ghost Tour 
Thursday, August 15 6:30pm. Meet in front of St. Mark’s Church, 131 East 10th Street
 
All killer, no filler!  Join us on this full moon eve, which is also the birthday of Virginia Poe, to see what’s in the air. This 2-hour walking tour presents the very best ghost stories from the East Village and Greenwich Village. The tales on this carefully researched route have been hand-picked by our expert guides to bring you the most fascinating ghostly lore in these historic neighborhoods. Delve into the history behind the hauntings as we situate these stories within the broader narrative of Greenwich Village. Explore some of the parapsychological principles underpinning the ghost stories, from the earliest forays into psychical research and Spiritualism in the 19th century to current theories of paranormal phenomena. Discover how turbulent histories often create enduring local legends.
Bring your skepticism, morbid fascinations, and love of NYC history — and your respect for the unseen world that rests at the edge of our perceived reality.

Photo courtesy of the Merchant’s House Museum. This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible


Members Only $100+ Event: Fred W. McDarrah Exhibition Tour
Tuesday, August 13, 2:00pm. Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave at 103rd Street
 
The Voice of the Village: Fred W. McDarrah Photographs and PRIDE: Photographs of Stonewall and Beyond by Fred W. McDarrah examine the tumultuous 1960s to the dawn of the 1970s. Fred W. McDarrah was a curious, knowledgeable, and indefatigable visual chronicler, whose encyclopedic archive spans culture and politics from the Beats of the 1950s to the counterculture of the 1960s to the Stonewall uprising and major political events of the early 1970s.
Experience these exhibitions with a Museum of the City of New York educator, featuring iconic images of Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan, with a particular focus on the agitation for civil rights, anti–Vietnam War demonstrations, the initial Stonewall uprising, and the public faces of the LGBTQ rights movements of the Village.
                        
This event is fully accessible

GVHD50 Food Tours of New York : The Original Greenwich Village Historic District
Wednesday, August 7, 2:00-5:00pm
$10 per person, registration required. Meetup location provided upon RSVP. 

 
Tour the charming tree-lined streets of the historic West Village. Visit classic “mom and pop” specialty food shops and neighborhood restaurants – some in business for over 50 years!
Discover the history, culture, and entertainment offerings that makes Greenwich Village so unique and so different from the rest of New York City. Taste thin crust pizza from Joe’s, fresh filled cannoli from Rocco’s, delicious meatballs with sauce from Pesce Pasta, 3 types of cheese from Murray’s, and more. Most importantly, discover the secrets to having the ultimate food and cultural experience off the beaten path in the Greenwich Village Historic District!
We will reveal unique and lovely gardens, the narrowest house in NYC, pristine homes from the 1850’s, tucked-away boot scrapers that Village-folk used in the 1800’s (and still today), and the explanation of why the Grid System does not exist in this section of Greenwich Village.

This event is not accessible

Walking the East Village! East Village Building Blocks Walking Tour with Sarah Bean Apmann
*Rescheduled due to weather - now taking place on Tuesday, August 6, 6:00pm*
Tuesday, July 23, 6:00pm. RSVP for Meetup Location


We continue to celebrate the release of Village Preservation’s East Village Building Blocks (gvshp.org/buildingblocks) with a special walking tour. The online resource took ten years to complete, using primary source research on every building in the East Village. On this tour, you'll see and learn about houses of worship, theaters, schools, libraries, the country’s first public housing development, and one of the largest collections of intact tenements from the early 19th to the early 20th centuries. Our guide will be Village Preservation’s Director of Research and Preservation, Sarah Bean Apmann.
Sarah Bean Apmann has worked as an architectural historian in historic preservation for the past twenty years. She received her BA in History from Lehigh University and her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

GVHD50 Walking Tour: Jewels of the Historic District
Thursday, August 1, 6:00pm. RSVP for Meetup Location
 
The Greenwich Village Historic District is one of New York’s earliest landmarked communities. On quirky angled streets lie 1920s speakeasies, literary hang-outs, European-style coffeehouses, Off-Broadway theaters — the quintessential American avant-garde home.
In celebration of the Greenwich Village Historic District’s 50th anniversary, Joyce Gold has created a special tour for Village Preservation exploring what the district looked like on the day of its designation. Explore spots which are new, saved, lost, and ever-magnificent, along with the broad variety of architecture that characterizes the district, homes of notable residents, and much more.
Joyce Gold is a recognized expert and educator in New York history and for over 30 years has been guiding New Yorkers and visitors alike to rave reviews.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

“The Handsomest Square in the City:” Washington Square Park
 Friday, July 26, 6:30pm and Saturday, July 27, 11:00am. Meet at the Garibaldi Statue in Washington Square Park
 
Just a few short months following the designation of Greenwich Village as a historic district in April of 1969, NYC Parks would break ground for a much-needed renovation of Washington Square Park. The “handsomest square in the city” was showing much wear and tear, and the community was excited for a new design following the closure of traffic through the Park a decade earlier.
Join Sheryl Woodruff, Community Development Director at the Washington Square Park Conservancy and former Village Preservation staff member, on a tour of Washington Square Park where she’ll explore the people, architecture, and design of this place at the heart of the Historic District. Immerse yourself in the world of 1969 Greenwich Village in this walk, which will address the social and architectural changes already taking place around the Square by the time of the designation. Examine how the community shaped the 1969-1970 design, and share how the past made an impact on the Park’s most recent renovation.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible



Forgotten Villagers of the Greenwich Village Historic District
Friday, July 26, 11:00am and 1:30pm. RSVP for Meetup Location
 
No neighborhood has such a varied and influential history as Greenwich Village in Manhattan. It was home to revolutionaries, social commentators, labor movements, women’s rights advocates, jazz and blues music, painting, and debauchery. It was also the epicenter of the literary movement in America for over 100 years. This tour focuses on the lesser known – the plethora of writers, revolutionaries, and others who flew under the radar while still making deep marks on the neighborhood, the architectural developments, the early settlements, and more.
Through performances of scenes, poetry and prose, engaging stories, and wit, Literary Pub Crawl provides experiences of the Village in the most unique and engaging way possible. With over 18 years of walking the neighborhood, they’ve amassed some of the best research and stories to be had here.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

This event is currently full - sign up here for our waitlist.

Dance Your Way to the Revolution: Radical Revelry in the East Village with Lucie Levine
Tuesday, July 16, 6:00pm. RSVP for Meetup Location
 
The Anarchist Emma Goldman said, “If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution.” Kick up your heels and join us for a tour of the neighborhood that shaped her freewheeling philosophy. As we wind our way between 14th Street and Houston Street, we’ll uncover the area’s rebellious past. Along the way, we’ll meet the Rebel Girl and the Priestess of Anarchy, learn about the saloon known as the “most famous radical center in New York,” and discover which nightclub has been “an idyllic place of controversy and entertainment” for over a century.
Lucie Levine is a licensed, star-rated New York City tour guide, passionate history nerd, and founder of Archive on Parade, which takes New York City’s fascinating history out of the archives and into community events built on a potent combination of rigorous research and fabulous storytelling flair.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible


East Village Community Gardens Tour with Ayo Harrington
Tuesday, July 9, 6:00pm. RSVP for Meetup Location
 
The East Village/Lower East Side boasts fifty-three community gardens, each with its own personality. This neighborhood, considered the birthplace of the modern American community garden movement, has lush gardens that reveal so much about the community, art, collaboration, and environmental work in our neighborhoods, and much more. Learn about these gardens’ collective and individual histories, what it takes to maintain them, and meet volunteer gardeners and organizers who make it possible for the public to enjoy their beauty.
Our guide, Ayo Harrington, is an issues-based organizer and community land developer. She has a life-long commitment to social justice and a background in performing arts. She has been involved with numerous community organizations and associations including LES Ready and Gardens Rising.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible. Please wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather.


Jefferson Market Garden Party 
Tuesday, June 25, 6:00pm *Due to the weather forecast, this event has been moved to Thursday, June 27th - please join us!*
Jefferson Market Garden, Greenwich Ave & 6th Ave 
Tickets are $25 and include wine & light refreshments. For more information about the event, visit gvshp.org/gardenparty

 

Join the Village Preservation Brokers Partnership for a garden party in one of Greenwich Village’s hidden treasures. Nestled in one of New York’s busiest corners, treat your senses to the beauty, colors, and scents of the gar­den’s peaceful oasis. Resplendent with glorious blooms, the garden provides the perfect setting to enjoy wine, cheese, and live music by the Bobby Lynn Quartet. During the evening, Jefferson Market’s Historian Jack Intrator will offer a tour around the block, highlighting the fascinating history of the garden and library.
Reception to follow.




The NEW New York: Italians in the Village, an Illustrated Presentation by James Nevius
Tuesday, June 18 6:00pm
The Washington Square Institute, 41 East 11th Street


After the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of Italian immigrants came to America, most of them making New York City their first stop. While the Lower East Side and Little Italy are well-known for their immigrant history, many may not remember that the area south of Washington Square was one of the most densely populated Italian precincts in the country.
This illustrated presentation will look at how the Village came to be separated into a wealthier area north and west of Washington Square and a more working-class neighborhood to the south and east. We’ll look at who paved the way for Italians in the district and talk about the importance of holding on to the Italian places that still exist in the area -- RIP Trattoria Spaghetto -- so as to preserve this heritage.

James Nevius is a historian focused on issues related to architecture and urbanism. His work appears regularly in Curbed and The New York Post. With his wife, Michelle, he is the co-author of Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers and Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, which is now in its 11th printing. He’s currently researching a new book on America’s love affair with utopianism.

Co-sponsored by Village Preservation and the Merchant’s House Museum. With books for sale by Books On Call.

This event is fully accessible



GVHD50: Bike Tour of the Greenwich Village Historic District
Thursday, June 13, 6:00pm
RSVP for meetup location




This exciting ride celebrates the charming buildings and off-the-grid streets of the Greenwich Village Historic District. We’ll take riders on a tour of some of the treasures of the Greenwich Village Historic District, and highlight some unique buildings and places.  The tour will be about 90 minutes, with multiple stops, and we’ll travel at a leisurely pace.
Our bike-riding guide, Harry Bubbins, is Village Preservation’s East Village and Special Projects Director. Harry coordinates our East Village work, advocating for expanded landmark and zoning protections, and working with our allies and colleagues to protect small businesses, and promote the arts.

This ride is part of #GVHD50. We’re marking this golden anniversary with programs that address the Greenwich Village Historic District’s history, preservation, architecture, culture, and more. Learn more at vparchive.gvshp.org/gvhd50.



Annual Meeting and Village Awards 

Wednesday, June 12, 6:30pm
The New School, 66 West 12th Street



Each June Village Preservation holds a community-wide celebration, consisting of its Annual Meeting and Village Awards presentation. The Village Awards recognize the very special people, places, businesses, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. We will also review Village Preservation’s accomplishments and work from the past year.
Reception to follow.


Stonewall50 Walking Tour: Where Have All the Dyke Bars Gone?
Sunday, June 9, 1:00pm
Meet at Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher Street



The NYC Dyke Bar Takeover crew and Village Preservation are partnering to share some queer history/herstory/hystory of our Village streets. Hear stories and facts and see where dyke bars once stood – and continue to. Check out this historic tour of dyke spaces lost.
New York City Dyke Bar Takeover is a group of artists and activists dedicated to creating and supporting Queer space for self-identified women/femmes, trans* and GNC people of all races. They have raised thousands of dollars for local queer organizations and to support queer artists and the creativity of their community. They create queer spaces and visibility wherever they go!

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible.

Tickets sales are now open - Register here and learn more on the Dyke Bar Takeover Facebook page. Special discount code for Village Preservation Members: use VillagePreservation. While supplies last!
Proceeds benefit LGBTQ organizations.


See our full list of Stonewall50 events here.

Stonewall50: Celebrating Walt Whitman’s 200th and Village Gay Bars from Stonewall to Pfaff’s 
Tuesday, June 4 
5:30pm Walking Tour - Meetup Provided with RSVP, space is limited
7:00pm Panel talk at Sweetwater Social, 643 Broadway

whitman

In an unfinished poem from the early 1860’s, Walt Whitman memorialized the Vault at Pfaff’s, home to New York’s first self-described bohemians, as a place “where the drinkers and laughers meet to eat and drink and carouse.” Take a walking tour with professor and Walt Whitman Initiative President Karen Karbiener from the present to the past, celebrating what the Stonewall Inn has been and continues to be, and what Pfaff’s beer cellar was to the community.
Then, join historians Karen KarbienerBrad Vogel of NYPAP, and Edward Whitley of Lehigh University at the subterranean Sweetwater Social (two doors down from the original Pffaf’s), where “overhead rolls Broadway–the myriad rushing Broadway,” to learn about Whitman’s Village and his time at Pfaff’s.

Co-sponsored by Merchant’s House Museum, New York Preservation Archive Project, NoHo BID, Walt Whitman Initiative, Sweetwater Social, and Village Preservation.

One drink minimum at Sweetwater Social. This location is not accessible - there’s a staircase down to the bar from the street level.



Stonewall50: A Drag March Storyslam: Tales of Glamour and Resistance!
Thursday, May 30, 6:30pm
The LGBT Center, 208 West 13th Street Rm. 101



This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, and the 25th Anniversary of Drag March, which was founded in response to Stonewall 25’s rejection of Drag, gender-nonconforming, fetish, and others marginalized within the queer community. Drag March is the only grassroots, leaderless Pride event that marches without a permit. It’s the only Pride march that travels from the East Village to the West Village. Its storied history is one of glamour and resistance, of movements and activists that define the Village, the legacies of the misfit beginnings of the Village’s queer movements, and so, so much more.
Join us for a multimedia storytelling event that will illuminate, titillate, and educate. A celebration of 25 years, the creation of a Drag March archive, and a collection of memorable storytelling performances!

This event is fully accessible



Francis Morrone Presents: A History of  the East Village and Its Architecture
Tuesday, May 21 6:30pm
Nuyorican Poet's Cafe, 236 East 3rd Street



Noted architectural historian Francis Morrone’s “A History of the East Village and Its Architecture,” is part of Village Preservation’s effort to raise awareness and appreciation of the East Village’s rich history, and to advocate for its preservation. The report documents the East Village’s history from Dutch settlement in the 17th century and before, to its development in the 19th century as a prosperous merchant burg to immigrant gateway, its evolution in the 20th century from an epicenter of abandonment and blight to a center of cultural innovation and rebirth, to its struggle in the 21st century to maintain its identity in the face of renewed popularity and success.
Francis Morrone is a historian, writer, and lecturer. His publications include The New York Urban Landscape GuideTen Architectural Walks in Manhattan, and many others. Morrone was named in one of the 13 best tour guides in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine.

This event is fully accessible

GVHD50 Walking Tour: Jewels of the Historic District with Joyce Gold
Monday, May 20, 6:00pm
RSVP for meetup location



The Greenwich Village Historic District is one of New York’s earliest landmarked communities. On quirky angled streets lie 1920s speakeasies, literary hang-outs, European-style coffeehouses, Off-Broadway theaters — the quintessential American avant-garde home base.
In celebration of the Greenwich Village Historic District’s 50th anniversary, Joyce Gold has created a special tour for Village Preservation exploring what the district looked like on the day of its designation. Explore spots which are new, saved, lost, and ever-magnificent, along with the broad variety of architecture that characterizes the district, homes of notable residents, and much more.
Joyce Gold is a recognized expert and educator in New York history and for over 40 years has been guiding New Yorkers and visitors alike to rave reviews.

Map art by Barbara Macfarlane, from Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.




GVHD50 Historic Plaque Unveiling: Alex Haley Home and Studio click here for images
Wednesday, May 15, 6:00pm ­
92 Grove Street (Waverly & Washington Places)


alex

Alex Haley (1921-1992) lived and maintained a writing studio in Greenwich Village. Beginning in 1963 he conducted fifty in-depth interviews with Malcolm X here for his first book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Published shortly after his assassination in 1965, that book transformed the public’s view of Malcolm X, and is widely considered one of the top works of non-fiction. His next project was the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which has been published in over 30 languages and for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1977. Haley began writing in the Coast Guard, where he served for 20 years.

Speakers include:

  • Andrea Blackstone, niece of Alex Haley.
  • Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.
  • Zaheer Ali, Oral Historian at Brooklyn Historical Society.  
  • Brian Jones, Associate Director of Education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

rule

The NEW New York: Fighting Anti-Asian Discrimination in 19th Century Greenwich Village click here for images
Thursday, May 9, 6:30pm
Baha'i Center, 53 East 11th Street 



Following the passage of the 1882 Exclusion Acts, thousands of Chinese Americans moved to New York City to escape the increase of racist violence sweeping the nation. Here, they formed organizations to defend their rights and assert their agency within their communities. While most of this took place in what is now Chinatown, Greenwich Village was also a center for Chinese Americans organizing in the late 1800s.
Join Dylan Yeats, Visiting Scholar at the Asian/ Pacific/ American Institute at NYU, for a talk about the Chinese American immigrant-rights activists who lived and worked in Greenwich Village 130 years ago. These young men and women worked with neighborhood churches and institutions to try to protect and extend equal rights for all races. Learn how their under-recognized victories and defeats shaped a formative moment in U.S. history and continue to resonate today.
This event is accessible, with four stairs in the lobby.
Co-sponsored by Village Preservation and the Merchant’s House Museum



Stonewall50 and Jane’s Walk: Queer History Walk with the Whitney
Friday, May 3, 6:00pm
Meet at the Whitney Museum, 99 Gansevoort Street



In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, join us for a free walking tour that explores the rich queer history of the neighborhood surrounding the Whitney Museum. This sunset walk looks to the past to reflect on the present by bringing visitors to select sites marked by queer history and culture. From the Hudson River piers to the clubs, visitors are invited to consider their connection to the changing landscape of the neighborhood that the Whitney now occupies, as well as to the history of the city.
This tour will be led by Whitney Museum Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow Ayanna Dozier.

Co-sponsored by the Whitney Museum of American Art and Village Preservation.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible, and will be offered rain or shine.

Photo by Shelley Seccombe.

Stonewall50: Historic Preservation and LGBT History
Wednesday, May 1, 6:30pm
The LGBT Center, 208 West 13th Street



The history of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people has been bulldozed – literally and figuratively – and given almost no due. But in recent years there has been a flood of recognition of the importance of LGBTQ sites and the history connected to them.
This panel will explore the evolution of recognition of LGBTQ history in historic preservation in New York City, and how such efforts further the cause of understanding and support for LGBTQ people.
Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman will be joined by:
Amanda Davis, Project Manager at the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
Victoria Munro, Executive Director of the Alice Austin House
John Reddick, Architectural historian, and Columbia University Community Scholar
Speakers will look at the groundbreaking efforts in 1999 to get Stonewall listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places – the first site ever so recognized for connection to LGBTQ history – to a wide range of successful and failed attempts to protect LGBTQ landmarks in New York City.
This event is fully accessible


The NEW New York: 19th Century Immigration - Kleindeutschland: Little Germany in New York City
Wednesday, April 24, 6:30pm
Third Street Music School, 235 East 11th Street




This talk will explore a detailed history of the development of the German American community in New York City and the East Village/Lower East Side, within the larger context of 19th-century immigration as a whole. Various aspects of society and day-to-day life in the German community in New York will be discussed, providing insight into specific characteristics of this particular immigrant experience in the city, some physical remnants of which still remain more than a century later.

Richard Haberstroh is a native New Yorker, whose six German ancestors arrived in New York between 1835 and 1852 and resided in Kleindeutschland. He lectures and publishes broadly on various topics including the story of German immigration and settlement in New York City. He is also the author of the book, The German Churches of Metropolitan New York: a Research Guide. Presented in partnership with the Merchant's House Museum.

This event is fully accessible


Stoops to Conquer: The Evolution of the New York Townhouse
Tuesday, April 23. Reception, 6:00pm – drinks available for purchase. Presentation, 6:30pm
Salmagundi Club Lower Gallery, 47 Fifth Avenue


stoops to conquer

New York City in the popular imagination may be defined by the skyscraper, but in reality, our city's landscape is dominated by a grid plan that minced most blocks into a staggering number of narrow lots. These produced entire neighborhoods of narrow residential buildings, making the townhouse the true vernacular architecture of the city. As we prepare for GVSHP's Annual Benefit House Tour in May, join architect Richard Sammons as he traces the origins and evolution of the ever-present townhouse in New York City. Townhouses give so many historic neighborhoods their charm, but what are the weaknesses of the form? And how can modern architects and city-dwellers improve upon this classic architectural style to bring the economical, adaptable, and sustainable townhouse into the 21st century?

Richard Sammons is a principal at Fairfax & Sammons Architects, whose offices are in New York and Palm Beach. Richard is an award-winning designer, having designed and rehabilitated dozens of townhouses in his career.

Presented in partnership with the Merchant's House Museum.

This event is not fully accessible


Greenwich Village Historic District 50th Anniversary Celebration and Open House Weekend!
Washington Square Park Celebration

Saturday, April 13 from 12:00-3:00pm in Garibaldi Plaza

Historic District Open House Weekend

Saturday, April 13 - Sunday, April 14
Full calendar at gvshp.org/GVHD50weekend




Celebrate the golden anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District with us, with a joyous celebration in Washington Square Park featuring folk and jazz music, art-making and activities, speakers, and festivities! This celebration will kick off our GVHD50 Open House weekend. Our friends and partners from local cultural, educational, religious, and civic groups and small businesses will join us in the park to celebrate the big 5-0, offering special opportunities and access to many of the treasures of the historic district, and will be opening their doors to the public with special tours, access, activities, and deals.



Exploring GVSHP's East Village Building Blocks
Wednesday, April 3, 6:30pm
Tompkins Square Park Library, 331 East 10th St




GVSHP celebrates the release of East Village Building Blocks with a special talk by GVSHP Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann. This online resource, which took ten years to complete, used primary source research on every building in the East Village. Buildings include scores of houses of worship, theaters, schools, libraries, the country's first public housing development, and one of the largest collections of intact tenements from the early 19th to the early 20th centuries. Sarah will discuss the research methods used and challenges encountered in this architecturally, culturally, and historically rich area. With buildings dating as early as the end of the 18th century, and so many changing dramatically over the years, unveiling these histories could be quite complicated, but always rewarding.

Sarah Bean Apmann has worked as an architectural historian in historic preservation for the past twenty years. She received her BA in History from Lehigh University and her MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.



Greenwich Village Historic District TheaterJam
Monday, March 25, 6:30pm
The Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street




Greenwich Village has been a hot-bed for creative theatrical minds since at least the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the most important movements in American theater were nurtured here. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District, we celebrate the artists who make the Village into the rich cultural landscape that it is.

Join GVSHP for its very first Village TheaterJam hosted by Cherry Lane Theatre, with Master of Ceremonies David Greenspan, a Villager, Playwright, actor, theater aficionado, and six-time Obie Award winner.

Experience some of the Village's groundbreaking theater and new works, including:
Excerpts from Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's "Novenas for a Lost Hospital: The St. Vincents Project," with actor Kathleen Chalfant, James Scruggs' "A Voluptuary Life," and Peculiar Works' "In Her Words: 2 Jane Jacobs,"
And works from Cherry Lane Theatre, HB Studio, HERE, New Ohio Theater, and NYU Tisch School for the Arts.

This event is part of the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District programming. Learn more at gvshp.org/gvhd50.



A Greenwich Village Legacy: The Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911
Monday, March 25, 6:30pm
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue




There were over 500 employees at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory - most were young women, most were recent immigrants. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the 8th floor. Workers ran to the fire escape. It collapsed, dropping them to their deaths. People on the street watched as the workers began to jump out the windows. Fire trucks arrived but their ladders only reached the 6th floor. The elevators ran as long as they could as workers pressed into the cars; some tumbled down the elevator shaft. In the end 146 people died. As a family descendant of one of the victims, 18 year old Annie Nicholas, Salmagundi member Debbie Wells lectures about the factory and the fire, as well as her journey to uncover her personal family connection through speaking to historians at Cornell University, New York Times and HBO, and especially the Remember the Triangle Coalition whose latest project is to create a Triangle Fire Memorial.

Hosted by the Salmagundi Club, co-sponsored by GVSHP.

This very special presentation will begin at Salmagundi's entrance at 6:30PM with a walk down Fifth Avenue to the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire for a brief talk before returning to Salmagundi for the 7:30PM lecture.


Registration is required through the Salmagundi Club. Learn more and register online HERE.



The NEW New York: 19th Century Irish Immigration and the Revolution
Tuesday, March 19, 7:00pm
6th Street Community Center, 638 East 6th St




This talk will look at archbishops, saints-in-waiting, gangsters, rogues, jesters and other colorful characters. There will be a special emphasis on "Fenian New York," a refuge for Irish revolutionaries since the failed Rising of 1867. In Fenian New York you'll meet the likes of John Devoy, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, 1916 martyr Thomas Clarke (the only American citizen executed by the British in 1916), and Sir Roger Casement, who since his death has not only become a patriot but a gay icon. It should also be remembered that Eamon de Valera, President of Ireland, was born in New York in 1882 and spent several crucial years in New York between 1919-20.

Dermot McEvoy is the author of six books including the novels, The 13th Apostle: a Novel of Michael Collins and the Irish Uprising, Our Lady of Greenwich Village, and the forthcoming True Tales of Irish New York. He is a frequent contributor to IrishCentral.com where he writes on history, politics, and culture.

Presented in partnership with the Merchant's House Museum.



Greenwich Village Historic District 50th: The Work Behind the District's Designation

Monday, March 11, 7:00pm
Church of Saint John's in the Village, 218 West 11th Street




In 1969, Greenwich Village preservationists, activists, and neighbors celebrated the victory of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Travel back in time with our panelists to explore preservation battles and changes in Greenwich Village and beyond before the designation of the district. This will be an in-depth look at the climate and work that set the stage for the Greenwich Village Historic District. What did the activism that led up to the designation look like?

Panelists include:
* Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
* Anthony Wood, New York Preservation Archive Project
* Professor Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian

Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project and the Church of Saint John's in the Village.

Members-Only Event ($100+ Level) – Andy Warhol from A to B and Back Again
Sunday, March 10, 4:30pm
Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street




Few American artists are as ever-present and recognizable as Andy Warhol (1928–1987). Warhol arrived in the Village 70 years ago, in 1949. Through his carefully cultivated persona and willingness to experiment with non-traditional art-making techniques, Warhol saw the growing power of images in contemporary life and expanded the role of the artist in society. This exhibition reconsiders the work of one of the most inventive, influential, and important American artists. Building on a wealth of new materials, research and scholarship that has emerged since the artist's untimely death in 1987, this exhibition reveals new complexities about the Warhol we think we know and introduces a Warhol for the 21st century. Explore the artworks on this special tour with one of the Whitney's educational staff.



Women's History Month: The Witches of Downtown New York
Wednesday, March 6, 6:30pm
Tompkins Square Library, 331 East 10th Street




Just in time for Women's History Month, this lecture will take you on a journey back in time to learn about the women who were considered "witches" in pre-twentieth century New York. Learn about New York City's only witch trial, and the witches who inhabited Broome Street (no joke here) and many other enclaves of downtown. These women were fortunetellers, and their practice allowed them to make money and maintain autonomy in their business practices. In this talk, you'll become acquainted with the methods and lifestyles of these infamous witches and the men who tried to frame them.

Marie Carter is a New York City-based writer who hails from Scotland. She is a tour guide with Boroughs of the Dead, a macabre and ghostly historical walking tour company and the author of the novel, Holly's Hurricane.

Historic District Council's 25th Annual Perservation Conference, co-sponsored by GVSHP
Saturday, March 2, 2019 9:30am to 3:30pm
New York Law School 185 West Broadway




Join the Historic Districts Council for Open to the Public: A Participant-Driven Preservation Conference! This day-long conference will dive into a range of topics and of-the-moment campaigns to preserve communities and sites throughout the city, with sessions led by the participants themselves, as well as two planned panels. GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman will speak on the panel "Zoning, for Better or for Worse: How Rezonings have Negatively and Positively Affected Communities."

Learn more and register online here. GVSHP members can claim the "Friends" $10 discount on the registration page.



Battle for the Village and Beyond - The Legacy of Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses

Monday, February 25 at 6:30pm
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street




Jane Jacobs called it a ballet, a soaring, stimulating, and safe place where neighborhoods had density and buildings had character. By the 1960's, urban planning had changed. Led by Robert Moses, the ballet would come to a grinding halt, with the superblock, the highrise and the highway. The wrecking ball sealed the fate of neighborhoods. Disinvestment in the mass transit system led to chaos. These two disparate visions of urban planning still live with us every day. But how did this come to pass and what does it mean for us today?
Author, public policy professor, political advisor, and real estate expert Jason Haber has been speaking about the ripple effects of the battle between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses for the past decade. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Communication and a master's degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

This event is not accessible, there are three external steps down and one flight of stairs up to the lecture hall


Members-Only Event ($250+ Level)– Pierogi Making at Veselka
Sunday, February 24 at 4:00pm
Veselka, 144 2nd Avenue




For over sixty years, Veselka has been serving up traditional, delectable Ukrainian fare to neighbors and newcomers alike. Opened in 1954 as a simple soup-and-sandwich newsstand on the corner of East 9th Street and 2nd Avenue, it truly is an East Village institution and a beloved reminder of the neighborhood's Eastern European roots. Ever wish you could peek into the kitchen to see how they make all those perfect little pierogi? At this very special members-only event, Veselka's pierogi experts invite you to give it a go! Come learn the tricks to fill and fold these delicious dumplings, try to figure out how they crank out about 3,000 of them every day, and experience the behind-the-scenes magic of this neighborhood gem. Free for GVSHP Members at the Contributor Level ($250+) only.

Not a member at the $250 level but want to attend? Join or increase at gvshp.org/donate.

This event is not accessible



Shake the World: The West Village and the Dawn of "America's Latin Quarter"
Wednesday, February 13, at 6:30pm
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street




Imagine you are at a party with the journalist Walter Lippmann, the dancer Isadora Duncan, and the playwright Eugene O'Neill. Two things are probably true: you are at Mabel Dodge's Wednesday Night Salon, and Marcel Duchamp is swinging from the chandelier. Dodge began her salon in 1912, when the Village entered its "Lyric Period," and was dubbed "America's Latin Quarter." At this talk, New York historian Lucie Levine will bring us into the story of the Village on the eve of the First World War. We'll learn how the neighborhood transformed from a prestigious enclave to an artists' paradise, and delve into the area's original Bohemian haunts.
Lucie Levine is a licensed, star-rated New York City tour guide, passionate history nerd, and founder of Archive on Parade, which takes New York City's fascinating history out of the archives and into community events built on a potent combination of rigorous research and fabulous storytelling flair.

This event is fully accessible


Neighborhood Trivia Night!
Monday, February 11, at 6:30pm
The Gray Mare, back room, 61 2nd Avenue




Gather around for some drinks, laughs, and friendly trivia competition, emceed by the colorful Jane Marx, a tour guide, educator, and performer. Covering arts, culture, and the geography between 14th Street and Houston Street, we'll be digging into Village trivia from the elevated train route, to the famous actress who was charged at the Jefferson Market Courthouse on 6th Avenue, to the origin of the "shag" haircut. Prove your knowledge of the Village and learn some fun new facts along the way.

Happy hour drinks will be flowing, and we'll have some nerdy Village prizes for our winners!

Hosted by The Village Alliance, The East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA), the Neighborhood Preservation Center, GVSHP, and The Gray Mare. Prizes generously supplied by Exit 9 Gift Emporium.

Please note: minimum of one drink purchase per person.
This event is accessible, with two steps down into the bar's entrance




Exhibition Tour and Artmaking at the Whitney
Thursday, February 7 at 12:45pm
Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street



When the days are cold and the streets are grey, the Whitney offers a bright, warm oasis overlooking the Hudson River. Come prepared to learn about art, and then create it yourself, with this tour and hands-on artmaking workshop. The afternoon will begin with an hour-long guided tour of Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1900-1960. Full of Village artists and New York scenery, the exhibition traces how artists have approached the relationships, institutions, and activities that shape our lives. Organized around five themes -- family and community, work, home, the spiritual, and the nation -- a central aim of the exhibition is to honor each artist's efforts to create a vision of American life. Then, enter the Whitney's studio for an hour-long artmaking experience, exploring the exhibition's themes for ourselves.

This event is fully accessible

This program is currently sold out - sign up here for our waitlist.  


Party Like it's 99... Years Since Prohibition
Tuesday, January 29, at 6:30pm
Holiday Cocktail Lounge, 75 St Marks Place
Tickets are $20 at gvshp.org/prohibition. Advance registration is required and space is very limited!




It's been 99 years since Congress passed Prohibition, and we're celebrating with the same kind of revelry and persistence that characterized the Village's many speakeasies, which operated in defiance of the law. Whether it was to cover up a particularly unpalatable batch of bathtub gin, or to stretch a little a longer way, the Prohibition era birthed some truly iconic cocktails. Join us to taste some of these cocktails, and to learn some tidbits about Prohibition cocktail and bar history, provided by author and drinks historian David Wondrich, and the master bartender at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge. Housed in an 1835 building, the bar was a fully operating speakeasy during Prohibition – complete with the basement tunnel for smuggling.
The bar has been lovingly restored for an old New York feel, and over the years has served drinks to the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Joey Ramone, Frank Sinatra, W. H. Auden, Leon Trotsky, and Madonna.

This event is accessible, with three exterior stairs down to the bar's entrance.

This program is currently sold out - sign up here for our waitlist.  


Greenwich Village Historic District 50: The Making of the Greenwich Village Historic District
Monday, January 28, 6:30pm
Church of Saint John's in the Village, 224 Waverly Place




In 1969, Greenwich Village preservationists, activists, and neighbors celebrated the victory of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the designation, and we're marking this golden anniversary with programs throughout the year addressing the district's history, preservation, architecture, culture, and much more.
We begin this year of programming with a multimedia panel, telling the story of how the district was won. What were the Village preservation efforts that directly led to the designation? Originally, the city had proposed a dozen little districts but came to do the "one big one" - how did that come to be? Why wasn't the district extended all the way west to the Hudson River, as Jane Jacobs wanted?
Panelists include:
* Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
* Susan De Vries, Preservation Historian
* Professor Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian
* Professor Mosette Broderick, Director of Urban Design and Architecture Studies and Historical and Sustainable Architecture Programs at New York University

Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project and the Church of Saint John's in the Village

GVHD50 Artwork Image by Barbara MacFarlane, represented by Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery



Happy 50th Anniversary, St. Mark's Historic District! Panel, Poetry, Celebration
Wednesday, January 16, at 6:30pm
St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th St




On January 14th, 1969, the St. Mark's Historic District was designated, marking the area that was owned by Petrus Stuyvesant, who laid out Stuyvesant Street in the 1650s, along with St. Mark's Church. Celebrate the district - which includes Stuyvesant, East 11th and East 10th Streets - for it has long been a seat of cultural, architectural, religious, and artistic significance. Our birthday party will gather residents and neighbors to learn about the district's history and how it's thrived since designation.
We will be joined by:
* Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
* Stephen Facey, Trustee of the Landmark Fund & Chair of the NPC Advisory Committee
* The Rev. Anne Sawyer, Rector, St. Mark's Church
* Marilyn Appleberg, longtime East Village resident and the founder and president of the 10th and Stuyvesant Streets Block Association
* Elinor Nauen, Poet and Poetry Project Board Member

With a reception to follow provided by Veselka.
Co-sponsored by Saint Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, the Historic District's Council, the Neighborhood Preservation Center, 10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association, the Poetry Project, and Veselka

This event is fully accessible




The NEW New York: Immigration, 1820s to 1880s - An Overview
Wednesday, January 9, at 6:30pm
Cooper Union's Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square at 7th Street




Immigration in the 19th century brought diverse cultures together, illuminated global struggles, triumphs, and movements, and made our neighborhoods what they are today. This talk will focus on the microcosm of Bond Street, an exclusive area east of Washington Square, developed in the 1820s by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant. The neighborhood was a residential enclave for wealthy merchant families, notably the Tredwells on East 4th Street, whose roots ran deep in English soil. Their lifestyle was assured only by the existence of domestic servants, many of whom were Irish immigrants.
SJ Costello will explore the motivating push-pull factors that led Irish, Germans, Chinese, Eastern Europeans, and Italians to emigrate. In the coming months, each of these immigrant groups will be explored in depth.
SJ Costello is a Senior Educator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, illustrator, and general story-teller. SJ's work focuses on public history and narratives centered in 19th and 20th century America.

Co-sponsored by the Merchant's House Museum. Hosted by The Cooper Union.
This event is fully accessible


This program is currently sold out - sign up here for our waitlist.  



The Poetry Project: geodesic linguix; Charas as Infinite Thought Object
Wednesday, January 9, 2019, 8:00 pm
Register Here




On 1.9.19, The Poetry Project, will stage a performative action between artist, and researcher Matthew Mottel and poet Edwin Torres. Torres has been an active member of the Loisaida community since the 90’s, where he’s performed his ‘lingualisualist’ poetics, rooted in sight and sound, at many iconic venues. Mottel, has been a member of the experimental arts community of New York City since the late 1990’s.
Learn more and register here...

Co-sponsored by The Loisaida Center and The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.


2018
Members Only ($500+): Holiday Celebration at Salmagundi
Sunday, December 16, 2:00pm
The Salmagundi Art Club, 47 5th Avenue




The lights are twinkling, there's music in the air, and we are celebrating this festive season by stepping back in time, through the doors of the elegant façade at 47 Fifth Ave.
The Salmagundi Art Club's landmark double-wide 1853 house is lovingly maintained and full of art, historic details, and ephemera that tell the story of the house and the Club itself, whose strong legacy provides a center for representational art. Members of GVSHP, the Merchant's House Museum, and the Salmagundi Art Club are invited to venture up the steps to see the art, enjoy a cocktail in the vintage bar, watch 5th Avenue go by from the elegant period parlor, and explore the building's library and countless original details. Spend time with friends new and old, learning too, about the important work our three organizations are doing to preserve our historic buildings, our neighborhood, and the legacies of art, community, architecture, and music we all hold dear.

Co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Art Club, GVSHP, and the Merchant's House Museum.

This event is not fully accessible


Not a member at the $500 level but want to attend? Join or increase at gvshp.org/donate.



The Preservation and Future of Affordable Housing in the Village
Thursday, December 13, 6:30pm
Westbeth Community Room, 55 Bethune Street, Courtyard




The Mitchell Lama housing program was launched in 1955, to address the needs of New Yorkers for middle and low income housing. In 1970, the Westbeth complex opened as the largest in the world of its type of community housing, with a waiting list so long that it closed applications in 2007 and has yet to re-open them. The preservation of the Mitchell Lama initiative and Westbeth's housing is ongoing and crucial, and has been taken up by organizations like the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, which is building community power to win affordable housing and thriving, equitable neighborhoods for all New Yorkers through research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. 

We will delve into these histories and futures, movements and battles with historians and Professors Jeffrey Lee Trask (Westbeth) and Nicholas Bloom (Mitchell Lama), and moderator Adam Tanaka. 

Adam Tanaka is a Senior Analyst at HR&A Advisors, a New York-based real estate and urban policy consultancy. Adam's PhD in Urban Planning from Harvard University focused on the history of large-scale, middle-income housing in New York City. Adam has also worked for the City of New York on affordable housing and land use issues and helped launch an urban innovation summer school in partnership with the City of Paris. His writing, film-making, and civic art have been published by the Boston Globe, Van Alen Institute, Journal of Urban History (forthcoming) and Slate, among others. He has lectured widely on affordable housing issues, at community events and walking tours as well as academic and industry conferences. 

Jeffrey Trask specializes in the social and cultural history of the United States and the history of cities. He has a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University, an M.A. in Museum Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Design from Radford University. His research and teaching focus on the aesthetic economy of cities, with particular focus on the relationship between the arts, aesthetic and stylistic elements of the built environment and political and economic relations. His new research looks at the relationship between the design and planning of industrial spaces and the social and cultural politics of urban growth.

Nicholas Bloom is an associate professor and serves as chairperson of New York Institute of Technology's urban administration and interdisciplinary studies programs. He is also currently serving as co-editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of Planning History published by Sage. He has worked extensively in public and affordable housing. He is the author or editor of eight books about urban development, public housing, and affordable housing.

This event is fully accessible

Curator Tour of Andy Warhol: Endangered Species at the East Village Ukrainian Museum
Wednesday, December 12, 2:00pm
Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street




Andy Warhol was a superstar of his own making, catalyzing change and raising awareness for people, places, objects and ideas that he rendered larger than life. In iconic silkscreened colors, Warhol's 1983 "Endangered Species" series sheds a fascinating new light on his legacy, using his platform to raise worldwide awareness for endangered wildlife. In a guided tour of these works, we will learn about how this series came to be and explore Warhol himself – the son of Eastern European immigrant parents in Pittsburgh. This exhibition is the first-ever Warhol show produced by a Ukrainian American organization – a fitting location, uniting his origins with his home in the New York avant-garde.

This event is fully accessible.
This event is part of the East Village Arts Festival with Tompkins Square Library


Members Only ($50+): Fred W. McDarrah's "New York Scenes" Book Talk and Celebration
Thursday, December 6, 6:30pm
The Strand's Rare Books Room, 828 Broadway




"For half a century, Fred W. McDarrah was Greenwich Village's photographer in residence," begins Sean Wilentz's introduction to the retrospective Fred W. McDarrah New York Scenes, from Abrams Books. "Fred left behind an unprecedented body of work... Nobody had ever come close to depicting what Fred did. The spirit inside these pictures tell magical stories." Join Sean Wilentz, Timothy McDarrah, and gallerist Steven Kasher for a slide show, short book talk, and celebration of the release of New York Scenes. From Jack Kerouac reading poetry, to Bob Dylan hanging out in Sheridan Square, to Andy Warhol filming in the Factory, to the Stonewall Riots, we will see the legendary birth of ideas and attitudes that continue to shape the character and allure of New York.
Reception to follow.

This event is fully accessible



Saving the Light: Restoration of Artist's Spaces in the Village
Thursday, November 29, 6:30pm
Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation, 526 LaGuardia Pl




The Village's long history as a hub for creatives altered the neighborhood's built architecture. Thanks to thorough restoration and preservation efforts, we can still enjoy these historic spaces. In this special panel conversation, we will gain glimpses of the mysterious spaces where artists created and displayed their work. From 2017 to 2018, the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation underwent an extensive restoration of Chaim Gross's studio. Similar work restored Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's studio at the New York Studio School, and Salmagundi Club's main gallery.
Architects, builders, and coordinators Kurt Hirschberg, Michael Devonshire, Alicia Cooper, and Carl Culbreth will join Gross Foundation Executive Director Sasha Davis to discuss these spaces, the restorations, and more.

Co-Sponsored by the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation, the Salmagundi Art Club, and GVSHP

This event is fully accessible




Book Talk: Counter Institution by Nandini Bagchee
Wednesday, November 28, 6:30pm
Loisaida Center, 710 E 9th St




Counterinstitution: Activist Estates of the Lower East Side, examines the open-ended histories of activism in the Lower East Side by looking at the spaces used by activists- storefronts, gardens and offices to bring forth the hidden dimensions of these organizational spaces through a collaging together of architectural drawings techniques with archival research, photography and writing. This book examines three re-purposed buildings on the Lower East Side that have been used by activists to launch actions over the past forty years. The Peace Pentagon was the headquarters of the anti-war movement, El Bohio was a metaphoric "hut" that envi¬sioned the Puerto Rican Community as a steward of the environment, and ABC No Rio, a name appropriated from a storefront sign with missing letters, was a catchy punk name that appealed to the anarchistic sensibility of the artists that ran a storefront gallery in a run-down tenement. The "activist estates" explored in this book represents both a conceptual and a literal struggle to create a space for civic action in a city that is built upon real estate speculation.

A book talk by author Nandini Bagchee will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Gregory Sholette.

Nandini Bagchee is an Associate Professor of Architecture and History at City College New York and a Principal at Bagchee Architects.

Greg Sholette is an artist, activist and author of Delirium and Resistance: Art, Activism & the Crisis of Capitalism (Pluto Press 2017) and Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture (Pluto Press, 2011).

At this event we will also launch a call for participation for an exhibition planned at the Loisaida Center titled, "Activist Estates: An Alternate History of Real Estate in Loisaida". This exhibition designed and curated by Nandini Bagchee in collaboration with Loisaida Center will be mounted in May 2019 to celebrate the history of space-based activism in the Lower East Side. Through timelines, photographs, artifacts, film and architectural models- the exhibit will invite visitors to share their own stories and images to fill in the blanks or simply re-interpret the material within the show. Community workshops and envisioning sessions will open new discussions of the future of community-controlled space.

Co-Sponsored by the Loisaida Center and GVSHP

This event is fully accessible



The Devil's Mile: The Rich, Gritty History of the Bowery
Tuesday, November 27, 6:30pm
Nuyorican Poet's Café, 236 East 3rd Street




Our island's first thoroughfare, the Bowery is over 600 years old. This street has seen dramatic changes in landscape, immigration from all corners of the world, and major class and business shifts. Author Alice Sparberg Alexiou brings us "colorful sketches" of the Bowery in her book, The Devil's Mile, which has been called "a learned pleasure." Alexiou will share these stories, giving us a fuller understanding of the street's history, politics, luminaries, punks, and divas -- and what's in store for its future.
Alice Sparberg Alexiou is a contributing editor at LILITH Magazine. Her books include Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary; The Flatiron: The New York Landmark and the Extraordinary City That Arose With It; and Devil's Mile: the Rich, Gritty History of the Bowery.

This event is fully accessible


Westbeth Artist's Housing Historic Plaque Dedication
Tuesday, November 27 2018, at 1:00 p.m. with a reception to follow
55 Bethune Street




Join GVSHP to unveil an historic plaque marking the Westbeth Artist's Housing complex in Greenwich Village. This unique complex of buildings served as the home of Bell Telephone Labs, where many technological innovations were developed or advanced, including radar, television and video telephones. The complex re-opened in 1970 as Westbeth, an early example of large-scale adaptive re-use of an industrial building. One of the first projects supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and developed in collaboration with the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Westbeth continues to provide affordable live-work space to nearly 400 artists and their families. The complex is a designated New York City and National Historic Landmark, and is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. 

Speakers will include:
Andrew Berman, Executive Director of GVSHP
Patricia C. Jones, Interim Executive Director of Westbeth
Nancy Gabor, Vice President of Westbeth Artists Residents Council
Joan Davidson
, President Emeritus, J.M. Kaplan Fund
Domhnaill Hernon, Head of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) at Nokia Bell Labs


The Village's Little Secrets: Uncovering Mysteries in Brick and Mortar, Glass and Stone
Tuesday, November 20, 6:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue




Fun facts and anecdotes are hidden throughout the Village, but can we ever know all of them? Historian, cartographer, tour guide, and author John Tauranac's Manhattan's Little Secrets: Uncovering Mysteries in Brick and Mortar, Glass and Stone reveals the quirks that traditional guidebooks leave out. Tauranac will share his favorite architectural features, mysterious artworks, and hidden remnants from the city's earliest days.
John Tauranac has earned honors and awards for his extensive work and teaching. His books include the three editions of New York From the Air; The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark, Elegant New York; and Essential New York. He has contributed to The New York Times, The New York Observer, Travel & Leisure, New York Magazine, and other publications.



Bleecker Street Walking Tour

Friday, November 16, 3:00pm
Meet at 359 Bleecker Street between Charles and West 10th Streets.




Join GVSHP's Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann for a tour of the architectural and cultural gems of Bleecker Street. For everyone from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, Jimi Hendrix to Alicia Keys, Bleecker Street has been the center of what's great about New York City. And now, the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce has launched the month-long #ShopBleecker event as this year's holiday shopping season begins, reminding everyone that Bleecker Street is still one of the best places in the city to shop, eat, and play. Enjoy #ShopBleecker all month! Select retailers along the twenty blocks that comprise the beautiful and historic Bleecker Street will be hosting in-store events and offering special deals and discounts. Learn more at www.villagechelsea.com.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible.

GVSHP Brokers Partnership Presents: The Andy Statman Trio plays the Museum at Eldridge Street
Wednesday, November 14 7:00pm
Museum at Eldridge Street 12 Eldridge Street




Join us for a special night featuring renowned musician Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio. In the stunning sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, they will perform their trademark blend of American roots music, prayerful Hasidic music, klezmer, and avant-garde jazz. The Museum at Eldridge Street synagogue is a New York City and National Historic Landmark and a monumental reminder of the Lower East Side's immigrant history. Built in 1887 and lovingly restored in the 2000s, it is an inspiring example of how historic spaces of all kinds can continue to enrich our modern lives.
A 6:00pm tour of the Museum is included with your visit.

$35 in advance. $45 at the door. Reservations recommended. Proceeds benefit GVSHP and the Museum at Eldridge Street.

This event is fully accessible


Family Program: Story Time, Art Project, and The Glorious, Notorious, Mysterious (But Not So Serious) Family Scavenger Hunt!
Saturday, November 10, 2:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave




Story Time, Artmaking, and Scavenger Hunting, oh my! Turrets, gables, paper bags ... and a big orange splot? Join us for a fun-filled family program as we read the beloved children's classic,The Big Orange Splot, follow mysterious clues on a family scavenger hunt, and explore the glorious Jefferson Market building. Modeled after a European castle, constructed as a courthouse, and transformed into a public library, this architectural treasure is 140 years old and filled with surprises! Finally, turn inspiration into a creation - your own architectural sensation. Art supplies will be provided! This is not a drop off program - CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.

This event is not fully accessible.

Appropriate for children ages 4-11.




Book Talk: Visionary Women - How Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson Changed our World
Thursday, November 8, 6:30pm
New York Ba'hai Center, 53 East 11th Street




Author Andrea Barnet brings to light her extensive research on the lives and work of Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson, visionaries and activists with many similarities. Whether preserving Village architecture or our endangered planet, their ideas "not only turned out to be prescient but culture-changing—the catalyst to a radical shift in consciousness." We will explore the details and the beauty of that shift.
Andrea Barnet is the author of Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World, and All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913-1930, and a nonfiction finalist for the 2004 Lambda Literary Awards. Her writing is in The New York Times Book Review, Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times, and others.

Books for sale by to Books on Call

This event is fully accessible.



Village Macabre Walking Tour with Joyce Gold
Monday, October 29, 6:00pm
RSVP for meetup location




Celebrate this Halloween with Manhattan historian and tour guide Joyce Gold, as she presents her walking tour through the macabre history of Greenwich Village. Uncover some of the spookiest stories in New York, including mysterious murders, famous missing persons, unexplained specters, and ghostly hauntings. Find out why there are 20,000 people buried under Washington Square Park; where Edgar Allan Poe lived and what graveyard inspired The Raven; what famous painter died the same moment his painting fell a block away; and other spine-tingling mysteries. A true Halloween treat!

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible.


GVSHP Broker's Partnership Presents: Historic Lobbies of Lower Fifth Avenue
Thursday, October 25, 6:30pm
The Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Ave




Explore the histories, architectural elements, luxury, and symmetry of lower Fifth Avenue’s historic residences with GVSHP Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann, in this slide lecture in the Salmagundi Arts Club’s historic parlor.  Lower Fifth Avenue’s apartment buildings are some of New York’s most classic pre- and post-war residences, icons of a certain style of New York living. Designed by a multitude of top-tier architects, they have remained throughout their lives some of the most sought-after places to live in Manhattan. Their lobbies, which bridge the gap between the public and the private, offer one important slice of their stories. Join us as we explore them.

Presented by the GVSHP Brokers Partnership.
Hosted by the Salmagundi Arts Club


This event is not fully accessible.



Caffé Cino – Off-Off Broadway and On the National Register
Celebrating LGBTQ History Month
Tuesday, October 23, 6:30pm
Judson Memorial Church. Enter at 239 Thompson Street




Ahead of the first anniversary of Caffé Cino's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, join Caffé Cino historian and veteran Magie Dominic, as well as Amanda Davis, Project Manager at the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project and author of the National Register nomination, to celebrate and learn about this groundbreaking, pre-Stonewall café theater.
Caffé Cino, located at 31 Cornelia Street from 1958 to 1968, was the creation of Joe Cino, an openly gay Italian-American producer who is credited with starting the "Off-Off-Broadway" theater movement. Caffe Cino was the first important venue to regularly stage Off-Off-Broadway productions, was critical in the development of gay theater, and served as a place of support for gay playwrights during a time when depicting LGBT experiences on stage was illegal.

Co-sponsored by the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project



My Name is New York: Ramblin' Around Woody Guthrie's Town with Nora Guthrie
Wednesday, October 17, 7:00pm
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street



I'm the Hudson and East river's
One lost lonesome child...
Just remember, New York
Is the name I am called.


Have a close encounter with Woody Guthrie in the company of his daughter, Nora Guthrie, and granddaughter, Anna Canoni. With her book My Name is New York: Ramblin' Around Woody Guthrie's Town, Nora traces Woody's footsteps around Greenwich Village -- where he first met Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, where he wrote "This Land Is Your Land" and countless other songs, where he painted "This Machine Kills Fascists" on his guitar, raised his kids, and made American music history.
Nora Guthrie is the President of Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Nora's projects, including concerts, artist collaborations, books, and more, bring Woody Guthrie's vast cultural and creative legacy to life.

This event is not fully accessible



Book and Art Talk: One Track Mind: Drawing the Village Subways
Tuesday, October 9, 6:30pm
The New School's Auditorium, Room A106, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall
66 West 12th Street




Join Philip Ashforth Coppola, Ezra Bookstein, and Jeremy Workman for an illustrated talk about Philip Ashforth Coppola's extraordinary, meticulous pen-and-ink drawings detailing the typography, terra-cotta mosaics, faiences, and tile patterns that millions of riders see every day but rarely notice.
Ezra Bookstein and Jeremy Workman have drawn from those sketches to create One-Track Mind: Drawing the New York Subway, giving readers what Hyperallergic has called "the most encyclopedic history of the art and architecture of the New York City subway system." One-Track Mind was written to serve Coppola's original goal of "bringing attention to the subway's long forgotten craftspeople. Hopefully, it can also remind New Yorker and visitor alike that there is beauty all around us."

Co-Sponsored by The New School's Adult Bachelor's Program

This event is fully accessible.




The LGBTQ Village: Christopher Street Walking Tour
Celebrating LGBTQ History Month
Thursday, October 4, 5:30pm
RSVP for Meetup Location




Join us for a fun and informative LGBTQ History Walking Tour! On this tour around Greenwich Village, we will visit historic sites where revolutions began, riots were sparked, and history was made. We will see common threads within the LGBTQ generations who have lived life in New York City, sharing the stories of queer activists and the major political and social movements that have shaped the LGBTQ community over time. Sites include the historic Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, the NYC AIDS Memorial, and the LGBT Community Center.
Our guide Michael Venturiello's interest in reading queer literature and research about the Stonewall Riots blossomed into his founding Christopher Street Tours, to make LGBTQ history accessible to all.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible.



The Village Trip! Bringing It All Back Home to Washington Square: A multi-venue celebration of the culture of Greenwich Village past, present and future
Thursday, September 27– Sunday, September 30
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP




This new festival will celebrate Greenwich Village as the historic forge in which much of 20th century American culture was hammered out. Taking place over the last four days of September and based out of the fabled Washington Square Hotel, the inaugural Village Trip will honor the lives and work of Edna St Vincent Millay, Jack Kerouac and Eugene O'Neill, all of whom spent their formative years in the Village, and the work of photographer David Gahr.

It will also celebrate the legendary Village jazz heritage with two events in partnership with the New School: a concert at the Stiefel Hall by Billy Harper, Joanne Brackeen, Vic Juris and Andy McKee, and a post-concert Jazz Jam at the Washington Square Hotel's North Square Lounge featuring students from the School of Jazz sitting in with multi-instrumentalist and composer David Amram, who has worked with Leonard Bernstein, Joseph Papp, Charles Mingus and Hunter S Thompson, among others, and whose film scores include The Manchurian Candidate.

For a full schedule of the Village Trip, click here!

For the full Press Release about the Village Trip, click here!




Edgar Tafel: the Architect and the Man
Saturday, September, 29, 7.30pm
Church of St. John's in the Village, 218 W 11th St




Edgar Tafel (1912-2011) was a Village architect known for his sensitivity to place and history. His buildings in the Village include the presbytery of First Presbyterian Church (Fifth Avenue) and St John's in the Village (marking its 40th anniversary this month). This talk tells of Tafel's time as a student and colleague of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, with video footage, and of his work as a builder and inspirer in Greenwich Village. It takes place in the church he designed: St John's in the Village (corner of W 11th St and Waverly Place).
A drinks reception follows.

Co-hosted by the Church of St. John's in the Village and GVSHP

This event is fully accessible.



Illustrated Lecture: Hunting Gargoyles with John Freeman Gill
Wednesday, September 26, 6:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave




"For years," writes The Washington Post, native New Yorker and former New York Times City Section writer John Freeman Gill has been "writing about architecture and real estate, and now ... he's embarked on a novel." Described by the Times as "marvelously evocative" and "eye-opening," The Gargoyle Hunters solves the mystery of a stunningly brazen architectural heist—the theft of an entire landmark building—that made the front page of The Times in 1974.

Gill will share the research that went into his critically acclaimed novel in an in-depth talk exploring the creation, destruction, and salvation of architectural sculpture throughout the city, including in the Greenwich Village and South Village historic districts. Learn about gargoyle hunting, and how immigrant artisans from Europe adorned the city with their imaginations, turning our streets into a wonderfully imaginative public art gallery.

This event is accessible



Exhibition: Walk and Draw in the Village

Saturday, September 22, 2:00pm
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy St




GVSHP's community of art and architecture enthusiasts were guided by artist and Villager Nick Golebiewski for a series of three Walk and Draw tours in the Village in June, July, and August. Join us for an artist talk by Nick and a virtual tour of the Village using the drawings of sites that hold artistic, musical, and literary significance, architectural gems and Village-specific details.

This exhibit will be on view for the month of September.

Exhibit made possible by Nick Golebiewski and the Hudson Park Library, and with generous donations from Jerry's New York Central.


This event is accessible.



Architect and Innovator James Polshek in Discussion: a GVSHP Oral History
Thursday, September 20, 7:00pm
St. John's Church in the Village, 218 West 11th Street




"Architecture is a healing art. Very much in the same way that medicine is a healing art at its most idealistic." ~ James Stweart Polshek
Join us for a conversation between longtime Villager and architect James Stewart Polshek and oral historian Sarah Dziedzic, who worked with Mr. Polshek for GVSHP's Oral History Project. They will explore Polshek's life and work, focusing on his projects in Greenwich Village and the ideas and ideals of Architects and Planners for Social Responsibility.
James Stewart Polshek has lived in Greenwich Village since 1955, and his career as an architect has included buildings across the globe. His work in Greenwich Village has focused on complementing the neighborhood's historic architecture, scale, and character. Notably, he designed the Washington Court apartments, completed in 1985. He was also involved in projects for other Village landmarks. Polshek was Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation from 1972–1987. He also created and founded Architects and Planners for Social Responsibility, which works for peace, environmental protection, ecological building, social justice, and the development of healthy communities. This event is to celebrate the release of James Polshek's GVSHP Oral History.

Learn more about GVSHP's Oral History Project here.

This event is fully accessible.



The Hunt: Greenwich Village Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, September 15, 2:00pm
Meet at Washington Mews at 5th Avenue




Assemble your team and get ready to hunt and explore the heart of Greenwich Village! On this guided contest, match old photos with current locations, and discover where the past and present meet. Instructions will kick off the hunt and, when we meet back up, prizes will be awarded to the top three teams.
Urban Archive is a location-based mobile platform that holds many digital collections, including GVSHP's Historic Image Archive, which will be featured in this hunt. The app is built for discovery, and for empowering New Yorkers to learn about history where it happened.

The Hunt will be followed by beer, pizza, and pretzels at a special Hunt price, care of the Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor on West 8th Street.
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Co-sponsored by Urban Archive and the Village Alliance, who will be on site handing out their amazing Village Access cards.   

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible





Members Only Event ($100+ Level) – Vintage Neon Signs of the West Village Walking Tour
Thursday, August 23 at 6:30pm



Walking through Greenwich Village in the evening, the neon signs give the streetscape an unmistakable ambiance. These vintage neon signs have advertised businesses since the 1920's. Some have been beautifully restored; all are in perpetual danger, as are their small business homes. We will explore the signs of the West Village, where the streets and their displays are denser than in other neighborhoods, atmospherically heralding some of the most stalwart restaurants, bars, and small businesses. Our walk will take place at dusk when the signs look their best. We will learn about the signs' histories, materials, designs, origins, and futures. 
Thomas Rinaldi, our guide, is the author of New York Neon and co-author of Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape. His photos have been exhibited and published broadly, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN Online, Municipal Art Society, and more. With degrees are from Georgetown University and Columbia University, Tom has worked for the National Park Service, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, and more. He now works as an architectural designer.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible

Not a member at the $100 level but want to attend? Join or increase your support at gvshp.org/donate.



Curator Tour of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night
Thursday, August 16 at 4:00pm (please arrive by 3:45pm)
The Whitney Museum, 99 Gansevoort Street 




Enjoy a tour with one of the Whitney's Educational Fellows. This exhibition is the first major, monographic presentation of the work of David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) in over a decade. Wojnarowicz came to prominence in the East Village art world of the 1980s, actively embracing all media and forging an expansive range of work both fiercely political and highly personal. Although largely self-taught, he worked as an artist and writer to meld a sophisticated combination of found and discarded materials with an uncanny understanding of literary influences. First displayed in raw storefront galleries, his work achieved national prominence at the same moment that the AIDS epidemic was cutting down a generation of artists, himself included.
This presentation will draw upon recently-available scholarly resources and the Whitney's extensive holdings of Wojnarowicz's work. Hosted by the Whitney Museum.

This event is fully accessible  





Walk and Draw Summer Series Part 3: Literary West Village in August
Saturday, August 11, 3:00pm

Meeting location provided with RSVP 




This summer, join artist and Villager Nick Golebiewski for a series of three Walk and Draw tours connected to the arts in the East Village, Greenwich Village, and the West Village. We'll be expanding on "Nick's Lunchbox Service," his Instagram project, now in its fifth year, in which he posts one drawing a day. On these tours, stroll through the neighborhood and let Nick lead you to sites that hold artistic and literary significance while enjoying the architectural gems along the way. Nick will provide sketching tips and tricks as you try your hand at the task. No artistic ability or experience necessary!
Attend one or both. The series will be followed by a September exhibition of participants' artwork at the Hudson Park Library. Stay tuned for details! 

Art supplies generously provided by Jerry's New York Central.



Get Lit! West Village Literary Pub Crawl
Friday, August 10, 2:00pm



After 20 years of research and tours, the Literary Pub Crawl knows that few neighborhoods have as varied and influential histories as Greenwich Village. It has been home to revolutionaries, social commentators, labor movements, feminists and suffragettes, jazz and blues music, painting, and debauchery. On this tour, we will hear the stories, poems, and prose that made the Village an epicenter of the literary movement in America for over 100 years. Go deep into these movements, spots, and figures, and lift a glass along the way! Literary Pub Crawl's in-depth knowledge and underground cult status has brought passion for history, literature, and drinking to the Village since 1998. Their Greenwich Village tour is the oldest continuously operating walking tour in the Village!



This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible


Historical Meander from the Bowery to Alphabet City
Wednesday, August 8, 6:30pm



From the Native Lenape to street art; gentry townhouses to immigrant tenements; street grid to street markets; Kleindeutschland to Losiaida; natural topography to community gardens and more, we will make use of four historical maps to guide our explorations into this historic area:    
* The 1767 Ratzer Map    
* The early 19th century Randel Composite Farm Map    
* The 1811 Plan Map    
* The 1874 Viele Topographical Map
This interactive tour will highlight the many layers of history that came before, and that continues to define these areas today.
David Schmidlapp, our guide, is a downtown artist and a Village resident of 45-plus years. He is also a licensed New York City tour guide who does photo and walking tours, which are always seeking insights and hidden treasures amongst our well-trodden cityscapes. 
Find David online at www.nycfototour.com and www.lapphoto.com.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible  




Athens in Manhattan: The Role of Greek Revival Architecture in Early New York City Walking Tour & Garden Reception at the Merchant's House Museum
Tuesday, August 7
5:00pm: First Walking Tour
6:00pm: Garden Reception for all
7:00pm: Second Walking Tour

Merchant's House Museum, 29 East 4th St



America turns two hundred forty-two this year, and even if we start counting from the arrival of the Dutch in 1642, New York City is less than four hundred years old — a baby by global standards! As a burgeoning metropolis in a young republic, 19th-century New York sought to strengthen its position in the world by connecting itself to history — especially Ancient Greece, regarded as the birthplace of democracy. So Greek Revival architecture was born, linking New York to the glorious "Golden Age" of Athens in the 5th century BCE.
Educator and tour guide Andrew Coletti will lead an evening focused on Greek Revival architecture in and around the 1832 Merchant's House Museum, itself an exemplar of this style. We'll learn about specific features of Greek Revival and compare Ancient Greek civilization with the ideal presented in 19th-century America. 

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible.

Co-sponsored by the Merchant’s House Museum




Walk and Draw Summer Series Part 2:
Visual Art of the Village and Washington Square Park in July

Saturday, July 21, 3:00pm
Meeting location provided with RSVP 




This summer, join artist and Villager Nick Golebiewski for a series of three Walk and Draw tours connected to the arts in the East Village, Greenwich Village, and the West Village. We'll be expanding on "Nick's Lunchbox Service," his Instagram project, now in its fifth year, in which he posts one drawing a day. On these tours, stroll through the neighborhood and let Nick lead you to sites that hold artistic and literary significance while enjoying the architectural gems along the way. Nick will provide sketching tips and tricks as you try your hand at the task. No artistic ability or experience necessary!
Attend one or both. The series will be followed by a September exhibition of participants' artwork at the Hudson Park Library. Stay tuned for details! 

These events are outdoors and sidewalk accessible.

Art supplies generously provided by Jerry's New York Central.


The Immigrant, Radical, Notorious Women of Washington Square Walking Tour, Led by Joyce Gold
Thursday, July 19, 6:30pm




In few other places on earth have so many notable women lived and achieved. For the last one hundred fifty years, the area around Washington Square has seen an unparalleled variety of remarkable women – working class, gentry, radical, literary, academic, theatrical, convict, and immigrant – who left their imprints on their environs and the world. Highlights of the talk include literary, art, and theater iconoclasts; the salon of Mable Dodge, a center of WW I-era activism; the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and its role in the labor movement; and the suffrage movement.
Joyce Gold teaches Manhattan history at New York University. She is the author of From Windmills to the World Trade Center: A Walking Guide through Lower Manhattan History and From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible



East Village Gardens Walking Tour

Sunday, July 1, 11:00am and 2:00pm 



The East Village/Lower East Side boasts fifty-three community gardens, each with its own personality. This neighborhood, considered the birthplace of the modern American community garden movement, is one whose lush gardens reveal so much about the community, art, collaboration, and environmental work in our neighborhoods, and much more. Learn about these gardens' collective and individual histories, what it takes to maintain them, and meet volunteer gardeners and organizers who make it possible for the public to enjoy their beauty.
Our guide, Ayo Harrington, is an issues-based organizer and community land developer. Harrington has a life-long commitment to social justice and a background in performing arts (including Sweet Honey in the Rock!), and has cleared garbage-strewn lots to build community gardens. She has been involved with numerous community organizations and associations in New York City, including LES Ready and Gardens Rising.

This event is outdoors and sidewalk accessible. Please wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. There are no restrooms in any of these gardens. 

Jefferson Market Garden Party
Wednesday, June 20, 6:00pm
70 Greenwich Avenue

Tickets are $25 and include wine & light refreshments



Join the GVSHP Brokers Partnership for a garden party in one of Greenwich Village's hidden treasures. Nestled in one of New York's busiest corners, the Jefferson Market Garden is a surprisingly peaceful oasis. Treat your senses to the beauty, colors and scents of the garden's tranquil natural setting. Resplendent with glorious blooms throughout the seasons, the garden provides the perfect setting to enjoy wine, cheese, and live music by the Bobby Lynn Quartet. Throughout the evening, Jefferson Market's Historian Jack Intrator will give tours of the historic library.


South Village Walking Tour: Architecture and Italian Culture
Monday, June 18, 2:00pm



The South Village, south of Washington Square Park, is what many people picture when they think of Greenwich Village. Much of the charm of the South Village comes from its many original Italian-American businesses, some started over 100 years ago and now run by third and fourth generations. Images of the neighborhood contribute to such films as Godfather II, Raging Bull, Serpico, and Moonstruck. Join scholar and guide Joyce Gold to explore the enduring Italian-American presence, history, and architecture of the South Village Historic District, a neighborhood with a history that includes African-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian priests, shop-owners, musicians, and politicians.


St. Vincent's Project: Novenas for a Lost Hospital
June 12 - 15 and 17, 7:00pm
Rattlestick Playwright's Theater, 224 Waverly Place




Written by Cusi Cram, with additional collaboration by Kevin Hourigan, Scott Johnson, Guy Lancaster, James Scruggs, and Daniella Topol, and starring Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America, Wit), Saint Vincent's Project: Novenas for a Lost Hospital is inspired by those who dedicated their lives to care and those who were lost. Guided by Elizabeth Seton of the Sisters of Charity (played by Chalfant), the piece theatrically explores the 161-year history of the hospital. The play uses theater as a vehicle to remember, to honor and to celebrate the life and impact of St. Vincent's Hospital.
Produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (at www.rattlestick.org), in partnership with GVSHP and St. John's in the Village, the piece will also feature ensemble members of the Stonewall Chorale.

In the news!
"Kathleen Chalfant, Lucas Steele, and More Tapped for Rattlestick's Saint Vincent's Project,"
reported in Playbill, May 15, 2018.
"Kathleen Chalfant, Lucas Steele to Star in Workshop Production of Cusi Cram's ST. VINCENT'S PROJECT: NOVENAS FOR A LOST HOSPITAL," reported in Broadway World, May 15, 2018




Walk and Draw Summer Series First Tour: the Musical East Village
Saturday, June 16, 3:00pm



This summer, join artist and villager Nick Golebiewski for a series of three walk-and-draw tours connected to the arts in the East Village, Greenwich Village, and the West Village. We'll be expanding on "Nick's Lunchbox Service," his Instagram project, now in its fifth year, in which he posts one drawing a day. On this first tour, stroll through the East Village and let Nick lead you to Charlie Parker's house, the site of a Led Zeppelin album cover, a Velvet Underground venue, and some other architectural gems in the vicinity of Tompkins Square Park. Nick will provide sketching tips and tricks as you try your hand at the task. No artistic ability or experience necessary!

Attend one or all three.
The series will be followed by a September exhibition of participants' artwork at the Hudson Park Library.
July Tour: Literary West Village
August Tour: Visual Art of the Village and Washington Square Park
Dates and details to come!

Art supplies generously provided by Jerry's New York Central.





Book Talk: Lou Reed, A Life with Anthony DeCurtis
Wednesday, June 13, 6:30pm
The Bahá'ís of New York City, 53 East 11th Street




Renowned musician Lou Reed invented alternative rock music, at once a source of transcendent beauty and coruscating noise, speaking to millions of fans and inspiring generations. Music critic Anthony DeCurtis will read from his biography Lou Reed: A Life and reflect on the icon he knew personally and interviewed extensively. The book is an unflinching and balanced look at Reed's complex life, including plenty of tabloid-ready tales, as well as insight on major moments in his career. DeCurtis tracks Reed's five-decade career, traveling deep into his defiantly subterranean world. Gritty, intimate, and eloquent, Lou Reed is an illuminating tribute to one of our most incendiary artists.

Books will be for sale at the event thanks to Posman Books.

This event is fully accessible.



GVSHP Annual Meeting and Village Awards
Wednesday, June 6, 6:30pm
The New School, 66 West 12th Street




Each June GVSHP holds a community-wide celebration, consisting of its Annual Meeting and Village Awards presentation. The Village Awards recognize the very special people, places, businesses, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. We will also review GVSHP's accomplishments and work from the past year. Reception to follow.

This event is hosted by the New School.


The Golden Age of 2nd Avenue Screening
Wednesday, May 23, 7:00pm
Congregation Or Zarua, 127 E. 82nd Street

Lower East Side History Month



A film by Morton Silverstein, "The Golden Age of 2nd Avenue" celebrates Yiddish Theater in America from the Bowery to its 2nd Avenue heyday. Rare footage of 2nd Avenue and scenes of Yiddish plays, movies and actors Paul Muni, Celia Adler, and Molly Picon are included. Narrated by Herschel Bernardi, with introductory remarks by Rita Silverstein and Sharon Lebewohl, the screening is intended to draw attention to the campaign to preserve the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame.
Learn more at gvshp.org/yiddish.
Sponsored by Friends of Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame, Congregation OrZarua, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors and Friends of the Lower East Side.




Members Only Event ($100+ Level) – Elaine de Kooning: Quintessential New Yorker & Art World Catalyst

Thursday, May 17 6:30pm
Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 Fifth Avenue




Cathy Curtis, author of A Generous Vision: The Creative Life of Elaine de Kooning, will share her expertise in this half-hour illustrated talk focusing on the New York years of the wife of artist Willem de Kooning, followed by a discussion and refreshments. Elaine de Kooning was a noted painter and art critic in her own right and a vivacious hostess whose wide range of friends flocked to her loft parties. Several pieces of Elaine's original work will be on display and Cathy's book will be available for sale and signing.


Curator Tour: Yaroslava Surmach Mills at the Ukranian Museum Photos
Wednesday, May 16, 12:00-2:00pm
Museum of Ukrainian Art and Heritage, 222 E 6th Street

Lower East Side History Month



Yaroslava Surmach Mills (1925–2008) was a Ukrainian American artist whose career spanned nearly sixty years. A graduate of The Cooper Union, Yaroslava was born to Ukrainian immigrant parents who owned a bookstore on East 7th St. Her unique reverse glass paintings, depicting Ukrainian folklife, were adapted from an ancient method for creating folk icons. Her professional career branched into several other fields such as book illustration, calligraphy, iconography, stained glass design, and more. Celebrate the upcoming East Village Ukrainian Festival (May 18-20) with this tour, followed by a trip to Veselka.



Elizabeth Blackwell Historic Plaque Unveiling Ceremony
Monday, May 14th, 6:00pm
58 Bleecker Street




Join GVSHP to unveil a historic plaque to mark the site of The New York Infirmary for Women and Children, the first hospital for women, staffed by women, and run by women, founded by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Blackwell was the first woman in America to receive a degree in medicine, blazing the trail for the entry of women into medicine and focusing her work on public health efforts for the poor and working classes. The hospital provided free care for women and children, and instruction for women studying for their medical degree.
Speakers will include:
Andrew Berman, Executive Director of GVSHP
Carey Bloomfield, the great, great niece of Elizabeth Blackwell. Carey continues the family engagement in social and philanthropic causes with her thirty-year professional career in non-profit fundraising and active membership in the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and Women in Development. She was President of Group I Directors of Development, League of American Orchestras, and is a Trustee of the Dana Hall School and Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard.
Jen Weintraub is a digital archivist and librarian at the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Harvard University where she coordinates work with born-digital materials while expanding the already robust work to digitize the Library's collections. She served as the chairperson of the Schlesinger library's 2016 exhibition Women of the Blackwell Family: Resilience and Change. She has also held digitization-focused positions at Yale University Library, among others. She holds an MLIS from University of Michigan and a BA from University of Chicago.
Betty Bayer is an expert on the intersections of women's history, psychology, science, religion and spirituality, Bayer has explored the abolitionist and women's rights movements, and their common history in central New York. Recognized for her outstanding teaching, Bayer received the Colleges' Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 2004 and the Community Service Award in 2009. She has served as the chair of the Women Studies Program since 2001 and directed the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men from 2002 to 2009. A former senior fellow at the Martin Marty Center for the Study of Religion at the University of Chicago, Bayer earned her Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. in psychology from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
Judy Tung, M.D., is the chair of the department of medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She also serves as the section chief of ambulatory internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive care, Dr. Tung’s philosophy of practice prioritizes communication and continuity. Her clinical interests are in women's health and preventive medicine.
Virginia Reath, RPA MPH, has been a practicing clinician, educator, and activist in the fields of gynecology, sexual and reproductive health care for the past 30 years.  She was the recipient of the ACLU Reproductive Rights Project Award for her work and activism in women's sexual reproductive health & justice. She has lived in the neighborhood since 1975.




Chino Garcia Oral History and Screening of CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth

Friday, May 11, 6:00pm
Loisaida Center, 710 E 9th Street

Lower East Side History Month



GVSHP's Oral History Project helps to preserve memories of the Village and East Village. Our newest release features Carlos "Chino" Garcia, co-founder of the East Village's CHARAS El Bohio Cultural and Community Center. Chino will join us in conversation with Bonnie Sue Stein, Executive and Artistic Director of GOH Productions. They will discuss Chino's life and activism, from youth and migrant communities in the 1950s to the education-focused Real Great Society, the founding of CHARAS in the 1970s, and more.
CHARAS first built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972. Artist and scholar Matthew Mottel will present his short documentary about CHARAS based on archival footage ofSeyus Mottel (his father), working on the Improbable Dome Builders.
We will close out the evening with a musical performance by William Parker & Jackson Krall, "Sitting In the parking lot.



LGBT Bar Crawl: Christopher Street and Beyond
Thursday, May 10, 5:30pm
$25. Register for meetup information.




Get buzzed on LGBT history with GVSHP's Brokers Partnership! Expert tour guide Phil Desiere will lead us on a trip around the west side and its watering holes to raise a glass and awareness for how each site added to the neighborhood's reputation as a place of openness, acceptance, and resistance. While the Stonewall Inn plays one of the largest roles in this history, it is not the only establishment to serve the community and help in the fight for recognition and equality. Ticket fee does not include drink purchase.



Jane's Walk: Planning and Preservation on West 14th Street
Friday, May 4, 6:00pm




West 14th Street has been home to many communities, styles of architecture, storied establishments and more. Since 14th Street is a border street - the Village on the south and Chelsea on the north - Save Chelsea's President Laurence Frommer and GVHSP's Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann are teaming up. Join them to explore the nooks and crannies of a street teeming with public art and murals, the first Spanish-speaking Catholic parish in New York City, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, the gorgeous Art Deco Salvation Army building which was only recently landmarked (finally!), and much more.



Storefronts of New York II Images and Anecdotes: Book Talk with James and Karla Murray
Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 6:30-8:00pm
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy St at 7th Ave South




Take a photographic journey exploring the Village, as we turn our sights to New York's iconic small businesses. The city's bars, restaurants, cafes, venues, and shops, and their stories behind them are historically and visually significant in their own right. The Murrays' vibrant photography and personal interviews in Store Front II deepens the work of their acclaimed books, Store Front and New York Nights.
Karla and James Murray are photographers, artists, and authors whose books have earned accolades and awards. Their work has been exhibited around the world and in the New York Times, London Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Magazine and The New Yorker.




Climate Change Resiliency - Preserving our Neighborhoods and Beyond
Monday, April 23, 2018, 6:30-8:00pm
Hoerle Hall at The New School University Center, 63 Fifth Ave




We will talk, learn, and strategize around climate change resiliency, specifically as it impacts the Village/Lower Manhattan and look at what various communities and organizations are doing to move us forward in this effort. What is being done, what needs to be done, and how can we get involved to make changes in this critical effort that may determine the future and survival of our communities?
Ana Baptista, Assistant Professor in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management Program at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy will moderate this panel with Aziz Dehkan, Executive Director of NYC Community Garden Coalition; Felicia Young, founder of Earth Celebrations; and Lynn Englum, City and Policy Manager at Rebuild by Design.

Sponsored by GVSHP, Gardens Rising, Earth Celebrations, and The New School's Tishman Environment and Design Center.



April Members Only Event ($100+ Level) – Curator Tour of Peter Hujar: Speed of Life at The Morgan Library
Wednesday, April 18, 12:00pm
Morgan Library, 225 Madison Ave at 36th Street




The life and art of Peter Hujar (1934–1987) were rooted in downtown New York. Private by nature, combative in manner, well-read, and widely connected, Hujar inhabited a world of avant-garde dance, music, art, and drag performance. His career paralleled the public unfolding of gay life between the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. In his loft studio in the East Village, Hujar focused on those who followed their creative instincts and shunned mainstream success. He made, in his words, "uncomplicated, direct photographs of complicated and difficult subjects." Peter Hujar: Speed of Life presents one hundred and forty photographs by this enormously important and influential artist from his beginnings in the mid-1950s to his central role in the East Village art scene three decades later.



Immigrant Heritage Day East Village Walking Tour with the Urban Archive App
Tuesday, April 17, 6:00pm.



On April 17, 1907, more immigrants entered the U.S. through Ellis Island than any other day in history. Now, April 17 kicks off NYC's Immigrant Heritage Week. In celebration of this day and the many ethnic immigrant groups that have come to the Village over the years, we will walk in our immigrant forbearers' footsteps and see what they saw, as only the Urban Archive App allows us to do. With the app as our guide, we will explore sites including the old Yiddish theater, immigrant houses of worship, Little Germany, and more, and we'll meet business owners whose paths to the Village created the landscape we see today.

Sponsored by GVSHP and Urban Archive.



Capturing the Faces and Voices of Manhattan's Neighborhood Storefronts
Monday, April 16 & May 14 OR Monday, April 23 & May 21 (all from 6:30 - 8pm)
Neighborhood Preservation Center (232 East 11th Street)



Join us for this photography and oral history workshop on the cultural significance of mom-and-pop stores in the borough of Manhattan and the impact they have on the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.  Taught by acclaimed photographers and best-selling authors, James & Karla Murray, participants will learn to create public awareness and advocacy through their own powerful photographs of neighborhood storefronts as well as record oral histories with shop owners. 

There will be two separate, 2-session workshops culminating in an exhibition of each participant's work at The Little Underground Gallery in the Jefferson Market Library from August 1 - October 1, 2018. 

Capturing the Faces and Voices of Manhattan's Neighborhood Storefronts is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York Legislature and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Done in partnership with the Neighborhood Preservation Center.



The Bowery – Past, Present & Future on NYC's Oldest Street: An Illustrated Presentation in Word & Song

Wednesday, April 11, 6:30pm
Cooper Union's Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square (at 7th St)




Native American footpath, Dutch farm road and site of NYC's first free Black settlement, the Bowery stretches 1.25 miles from Chatham Square to Cooper Square. It was an early hub for the working class, gangs, gays, and immigrants. It has seminal links to dance, theater, baseball, streetcars, tattooing, Irving Berlin, Abe Lincoln, and Harry Houdini. In the 20th century, it helped launch Beat literature, Abstract Expressionism, and punk rock. It is one of NYC's most architecturally diverse streets, and now one of America's most endangered. Program includes a talk by David Mulkins, vintage songs sung by Poor Baby Bree, and conversation with architectural historian Kerri Culhane, celebrating five years of the Bowery's listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sponsored by GVSHP, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Merchant's House Museum and Cooper Union Office of Continuing Education and Public Programs.



How Gay Girls Owned the Village from the 30s to the 90s and How They Want (Some of) It Back
Women's History Month at GVSHP

Thursday, March 29, 6:30pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave




Since the 1930s, lesbian culture has flourished in Greenwich Village. This three-part talk will welcome:
Lisa E. Davis (Under the Mink; Undercover Girl: The Lesbian FBI Informant Who Helped Bring Down the Communist Party) will tell the story of self-described "gay girls," welcomed at a number of bars and protected from police by mafia payoffs in the 1930s-50s.
Alana Integlia of Queer Visibility Collective and Dyke Bar Takeover will illuminate her work documenting queer spaces of the Village from the 1970s and 80s, creating space for self-identified womyn, transgender and non-binary people of all races.
Wanda Acosta will show excerpts of film Sundays at Café Tabac, her and Karen B. Song's dazzling documentary of Village lesbian culture in the wake of the AIDS crisis in the 1990s. The essence of "lesbian chic," the film explores that generation's defiance and determination to preserve lesbian spaces in the Village.



Women Poets of the Village: Candlelight Reading at Cherry Lane Theater
Women's History Month at GVSHP

Monday, March 26, 6:30-8:00pm
Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street




In 1924, a group of theater artists and the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay commissioned the conversion of a West Village box factory into the Cherry Lane Playhouse, home to some of the most groundbreaking moments of theater. It is from this stage that we'll gather by candlelight to celebrate the trailblazing women poets of the Village including Millay, Emma Lazarus, Audre Lorde, Marianne Moore, Sonia Sanchez, Lola Ridge, Grace Paley, and many others.
We will be joined by the incredible New York poets and actors Stephanie Berger, April Bernard, Elaine Equi, Angelina Fiordellisi, Diana Goetsch, Marie Howe, Deborah Landau, Elizabeth Macklin, Terese Svoboda, and Kathleen Widdoes, who will offer up readings to uplift these women and change how we see the world around us.

Sponsored by GVSHP, the Poetry Society of America, The New School Creative Writing Program, and The Poetry Brothel.

This event is fully accessible.



Bar Historians in Conversation: McSorley's and Julius'
Friday, March 16, 6:30-8:00pm
The bar at the Salmagundi Arts Club, 47 5th Ave




Hoist a pint with bar historians Tom Bernardin of Julius' and Bill Wander of McSorley's, two storied Village bars founded in the mid-1800s. Tom and Bill are holders of bar histories spanning generations. Their taverns have seen sawdust on the floors and horses waiting outside to surviving prohibition, sip ins, opening up to women and LGBTQ folks, and much more. With humor and curiosity, Tom and Bill will share and compare some of the juicy (and boozy) details of these establishments and their incredible photo collections. They will delve into what they've learned, people they've met, and the bars' roles in shaping their neighborhoods, while also illuminating the particularities of being bar historians.

Co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Art Club.

This event is not fully accessible.




Illustrated Lecture: Journey of Hope, The Irish in New York with Tara Ryder, Ph.D

Tuesday, March 13, 6:30-8:00pm
Church of Saint Brigid-Saint Emeric, 119 Avenue B (SE corner of 8th Street)




Take a multimedia look at the history and culture of the Irish of New York from their immigrant beginnings to the present day. To escape religious persecution, poverty, and famine, waves of Irish immigrants arrived in New York from the 18th century on. By the mid-19th century, one-quarter of the City's population was Irish. Their journeys are reflected in the shared experiences of all immigrants coming to America.
Tara Rider earned her Ph.D. in history from SUNY Stony Brook, where she is now the director of their international academic programs to both Ireland and England.
The Church of St. Brigid was built in 1848 by Irish immigrants for those fleeing the Great Famine

Co-sponsored by the Merchant's House Museum

This Public Scholars event, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.




A Fillmore Happening: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Fillmore East
Thursday, March 8, 6:30-800pm
Theater 80, 80 St. Mark's Place.




Fifty years ago, on March 8, 1968, the Fillmore East opened its doors and changed the city and the music world. The Fillmore is remembered with great affection by artists, employees, and concertgoers alike as a place of warmth, spirit, innovation, and the finest music. The great Bill Graham brought performers including The Doors, B.B. King, Tina Turner, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, and many more.
Join us for a celebration of the three years that the Fillmore East defined the music scene, with master of ceremonies Rolling Stone music critic Anthony DeCurtis along with Joshua White of Joshua's Light Show, booking agent Jonny Podell, photographer Elliott Landy and photogropher and Fillmore employee Amalie Rothschild. With them, we will enjoy, celebrate, and remember.

Visit the William Barnacle Tavern before or after the event for a drink or a Feltman's hot dog.
This event is fully accessible.


February Members-Only Event ($100+ Level)– Pierogi Making at Veselka
Thursday, February 22, 6:00pm
Veselka, 144 2nd Ave




For over sixty years, Veselka has been serving up traditional, delectable Ukrainian fare to neighbors and newcomers alike. Opened in 1954 as a simple soup-and-sandwich newsstand on the corner of East 9th Street and 2nd Avenue, it truly is an East Village institution and a beloved reminder of the neighborhood's Eastern European roots. Ever wish you could peek into the kitchen to see how they make all those perfect little pierogi? At this very special members-only event, Veselka's pierogi experts invite you to give it a go! Come learn the tricks to fill and fold these delicious dumplings, try to figure out how they crank out about 3,000 of them every day, and experience this neighborhood gem like never before.

Free for GVSHP Members at the Contributor Level ($100+) only.
Join now at the Contributor Level or above to participate.






The Genius of Little Africa: Black Radical Thinkers, Entrepreneurs, and Abolitionists in the Village with Jamila Brathwaite
Black History Month at GVSHP

Wednesday, February 21, 6:30-8:00pm
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street




African Americans living in Greenwich Village during the 19th century were an enclave of free and self-emancipated people living, working, and thriving within the confines of an oppressive society. Learn of several little-known but not forgotten abolitionists, entrepreneurs, and radical thinkers whose efforts enhanced the lives of many, especially within the community known as Little Africa.
Jamila Brathwaite is a trustee of the African American Historical Society of Rockland County, the oldest organization in the area dedicated to the preservation of local African American history. She is an educator and curator that has worked for a number of years on projects that seek to uncover the hidden history of the people of the African Diaspora. Rockland historical connections led her to "Little Africa," a Black community, which flourished during the 19th century in New York City's Greenwich Village. Jamila's latest project is an online museum highlighting locations of African American historical significance in Rockland County.

This event is not fully accessible.



Recovering the Lost Origins of the Black Arts Movement in Greenwich Village, Harlem and San Francisco with Komozi Woodard
Black History Month at GVSHP
Tuesday, February 13, 6:30pm
Starr Foundation Hall, UL105, The New School University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue




The Black Arts Movement inspired the creation of some eight hundred black theaters and cultural centers, where a generation of writers and artists forged a new and enduring cultural vision.
Komozi Woodard is a professor of history at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of A Nation Within a Nation; a co-editor of Black Power 50 (The New Press); and the editor of The Black Power Movement, Part I; Freedom North; Groundwork; and Want to Start a Revolution?

Co-sponsored by The New School




JML50 Art Installation Tour and Conversation: 50 Years of Writing on the Reading Room Walls at Jefferson Market Library

Friday, February 9 6:30-8:00pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave




In celebration of its 50th year, the Jefferson Market Library's manager Frank Collerius and artist Mark John Smith joined forces to create JML50. Join Frank and Mark John as they discuss the origins, process, stories, risks, and handwriting of the installation, followed by a special tour of the exhibit. JML50 is a unique series of installations and interventions that turn the library into a work of art. Housed in the Library's main reading room, the installation is made up of excerpts from the archives of the library dating back to the 1900s and the Children's Registration Book. The total composition of the work invites visitors to the library to be immersed in the language, gesture, and voice that comprise a plural history of activism, engagement, and diversity.

Learn more about the JML50 Installation here.




Enslaved and Free Africans in Lower Manhattan, 1613-1741 with Sylviane A. Diouf
Black History Month at GVSHP

Tuesday, February 6, 6:30-8:00pm
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street




This talk will explore the early slave trade, Africans' ownership of land during Dutch rule, slave revolts, and the Negros Burial Ground.
Sylviane A. Diouf is an award-winning historian of the African Diaspora. Her works have been awarded Outstanding Academic Book, the Wesley-Logan Prize of the American Historical Association, the Sulzby Award of the Alabama Historical Association, and more. She is the author, notably, of Slavery's Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons, Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America; and Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. A recipient of the Rosa Parks Award, the Dr. Betty Shabazz Achievement Award, and the Pen and Brush Achievement Award, Dr. Diouf, a Research Associate at Brown University's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice was the inaugural Director of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of The New York Public Library.

This event is not fully accessible.




Meet and Greet with New City Councilmember Carlina Rivera
Monday, February 5, 6:30-8:00pm
Third Street Music School, 235 E 11th St




Welcome Carlina Rivera as the new Council Member for District 2, which includes all of the East Village and Greenwich Village east of Fifth Ave. This will be an important chance to get to know Carlina, and for her to get to know the GVSHP community. Carlina grew up in the district and is a lifelong resident of the Lower East Side. She is the daughter of a hardworking single mother who is a civil servant and proud union member. She attended schools and played sports in the area and has spent her professional career directly serving her neighbors. Whether with local non-profits, on the local community board, or in city government, Carlina has fought to preserve and increase permanently affordable housing, created and organized programs for seniors and the homeless, and advocated for after-school programs and small business survival.

Co-sponsored by the Third Street Music School Settlement




It Takes a Village: Greenwich Village a Hundred Years Ago with Mike Wallace

Monday, January 29, 6:30-8:00pm
Theresa Lang Center at The New School, 55 West 13th St




Mike Wallace, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, brings us Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919, which picks up where Gotham left off. The book covers a remarkable period in New York City's history. Mike Wallace will center the Village in this remarkable period in New York City's history, as its physical and population growth made New York the world's second-largest metropolis. Publisher's Weekly writes that Greater Gotham "sets a standard for urban history, capturing both New York's particularities and its protean dynamism."
Mike Wallace is a Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, specializing in the history of New York City. In 2000, Wallace founded The Gotham Center for New York City History at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

Co-sponsored by The New School

Carole Teller's Changing New York: A Close Up on the Photos and the Photographer
A conversation with Carole Teller and GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman

Thursday, January 25, 6:30-8:00pm
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Ave




Carole Teller is an artist and former art teacher who took photos of the Village in her spare time over the last half century. Carole donated a handful of the photos to GVSHP in 2016 on a whim, and we were awestruck.
The photos tell an incredible story of a changing New York, from the early 1960s through the early 1990s, with a keen eye for capturing characters, places, and events in moments of transformation or disappearance. GVSHP shared Carole's photos with the public on our Historic Image Archive (archive.gvshp.org) and they became an instant worldwide sensation.
Were these foretelling images carefully chosen or happy accidents? What caught the photographer's eye? And how were the subjects and locations of hundreds of these pictures identified, sometimes more than fifty years after they were taken? Join us for a closer look at the collection and for an insightful conversation with Carole.
To celebrate, we'll be uploading additional Carole Teller photos on our Historic Image Archive for the program!

This event is not fully accessible.



Illustrated lecture: The 19th Century City and the Book


Monday, January 22, 2018 6:30-8:00pm
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave




Architectural historian Francis Morrone has for the last several years been studying the history of New York as a center of American book culture – publishing, printing, bookselling, libraries, and book reviewing. Morrone will discuss the Village's and the Union Square area's 19th-century history as a center of the book trade--of publishers, bookstores, and printers.
This program is held in partnership with the Merchant's House Museum, to highlight their current exhibition "The Tredwell Book Collection and the Changing 19th Century Culture of Books." The Tredwell books provide a glimpse into the family's interests, tastes, and intellectual pursuits, and were published almost exclusively in New York City during the early to mid-19th century, a period known as the "emerging mass culture of print."

Co-sponsored by the Merchant's House Museum

The Street Gangs of the Lower East Side, with Cochise Quiles and Clayton Patterson
Tuesday, January 16, 2018 6:30-8:00pm at the Loisaida Center, 710 East 9th Street

With The Street Gangs of the Lower East Side, Jose "Cochise" Quiles and Clayton Patterson provide a brutally honest, self-reflective and moving account ofone person’s struggle to break the cycle of violence and poverty since birth through creativity and compassion for others in the East Village / Lower East Side. Quiles pulls no punches about the experiences that took him from gang leader to historian of gangs, artist, and author who creates with a joyous yet desperate edge, for the sake of sheer survival.

Books for sale and signing following the program.

This event is fully accessible.
Co-sponsored by the Loisaida Center



2017


A Special Invitation, a Century in the Making: A Salmagundi Club Open House
Sunday, December 10, 2017, 2:00 – 6:00 pm Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue



Have you ever wondered what's going on behind the elegant façade at 47 Fifth Avenue, the former Irad Hawley Mansion? As the Salmagundi Club celebrates one hundred years in this landmark double-wide 1853 house, you're invited to venture up the steps to see the art exhibits, experience the public cultural events, and take in the ambiance of the historic building, decorated festively for the holidays! Explore the club's library, the original owners' 19th century dressing rooms, the vintage bar, art galleries, and double parlor with its exquisite ornamental plasterwork. Docents will offer unique insights into the history of this Village institution. View historic artists' palettes and mugs (featured on Antiques Roadshow), the club's 22 fireplaces, as well as the historic Thumb Box Show, comprised of hundreds of small paintings by some of today's' prominent realist painters. Discover hidden original details rarely on view and enjoy food, drink, holiday music, and good company.
Co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Club, GVSHP, and the Merchant's House Museum.
This event is not fully accessbile.






An Incomplete History of Protest:
Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1940–2017
A private guided tour of the exhibition

Saturday, December 9, 2017 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at The Whitney Museum of American Art



Through the lens of the Whitney's collection, An Incomplete History of Protest looks at how artists from the 1940s to the present have confronted the political and social issues of their day. Whether making art as a form of activism, criticism, instruction, or inspiration, the featured artists see their work as essential to challenging established thought and creating a more equitable culture. Many have sought immediate change, such as ending the war in Vietnam or combating the AIDS crisis. Others have engaged with protest more indirectly, with the long term in mind, hoping to create new ways of imagining society and citizenship. Join GVSHP in an in-depth look at the exhibition guided by one of The Whitney's Teaching Fellows. Participants are also invited to enjoy an exclusive 10% discount on everything in the Whitney Museum of American Art Shop on Saturday December 9th. Find the perfect gifts for family, friends, and colleagues; stock your library with the latest art publications; or treat yourself to artist-inspired collectibles available only at the Whitney.

Free for GVSHP Members at the Contributor Level ($100+) only. Join now at the Contributor Level for a private, guided tour of the exhibition.



West Village Holiday Lights and History
Thursday, December 7, 6:00-7:30pm



The lights are twinkling, the sun sets early, and, led by walking tour guide Joyce Gold, we will take in the sights and appreciate the unique history and charm of the West Village. The West Village is a landmarked preserve with its hidden gardens, a complex web of streets, and a house 9½ feet wide. From its parks to its quiet side streets to its holiday-festooned boutiques, this neighborhood is the perfect place to soak up and appreciate the warm holiday spirit.



How New York Vanished:
From the Citizen to the Consumer City with Jeremiah Moss

Thursday, November 30, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00pm at the Theresa Lang Center at The New School, 55 W 13th Street
Co-sponsored by The New School



Hailed by Vanity Fair as "Essential Reading," Jeremiah Moss's Vanishing New York is an unflinching chronicle of gentrification in the twenty-first century and a love letter to lost New York. This book talk will illuminate Jeremiah Moss's studies and draw lines from the past to the present, addressing how we got here, how this history manifests in our present day, and what we can do about it. Jeremiah's expertise and passion for these beloved neighborhoods is presented with what the Village Voice calls a "mixture of snark, sorrow, poeticism, and lyric wit." Propelled by Moss' hard-hitting, cantankerous style, Vanishing New York is a staggering examination of contemporary "urban renewal" and its repercussions—not only for New Yorkers, but for all of America and the world. Q&A and book signing to follow.

Books provided by Three Lives and Company Bookstore.





Celebrating the Public at 50 with a showing of Illyria
and talkback with GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman

Sunday, November 19, 1:30pm at The Public Theater Purchase



Join The Public and GVSHP for a matinee performance of Illyria, followed by a panel discussion with Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, to celebrate the former Astor Library's landmark designation, renovation, and reuse as The Public Theater, as told through Tony Award winner Richard Nelson's play about a forgotten chapter of The Public Theater's history. We will discuss the impact that Joe Papp and his ideas had on the nature of preservation, the neighborhood he loved, and the need for a Public Theater.
In the play, it is 1958, and New York City is in the midst of a major building boom. A young Joe Papp and his colleagues face betrayals, self-inflicted wounds, and anger from the city's powerful elite as they continue their free Shakespeare productions in Central Park. From the creator of the most celebrated family plays of the last decade comes a drama about a family held together by the simple and incredibly complicated belief that the theater, and the city, belong to all of us.



GVSHP Brokers Partnership Presents:
The Andy Statman Trio plays the Museum at Eldridge Street

Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 – 9:00 pm Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street



Join us for a special night featuring renowned musician Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio. In the stunning sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, they will perform their trademark blend of American roots music, prayerful Hasidic music, klezmer, and avant-garde jazz. The synagogue is a New York City and National Historic Landmark and a monumental reminder of the Lower East Side's immigrant history. Built in 1887 and lovingly restored in the 2000s, it is an inspiring example of how historic spaces of all kinds can continue to enrich our modern lives. A 6:00 p.m. tour of the Museum is included with your visit.




Schmaltzy: 5 dishes. 5 stories. So Jewish.
Monday, November 6, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Salmugundi Club, 47 5th Avenue



We join the Jewish Food Society for an evening of storytelling that combines two of our favorite pastimes: kibbitzing and eating, featuring a lineup of poets, chefs and food mavens that live, work and create in the Village. Hear the tales behind the recipes — then eat the food they made you crave. Join MC Mitchell Davis of the James Beard Foundation (a certified matzo ball king) and enjoy a feast of the dishes prepared by the storytellers themselves: Chef Nir Mesika of Timna; Marissa Lippert of Nourish Kitchen and Table; Ed Shoenfeld of Red Farm; Stacey Harwood-Lehman, Poet; and Zohar Zohar of Zucker Bakery.


The Hunt: East Village Urban Archive Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, November 4, 2:00pm. Meetup in front of St. Mark's Church, 131 East 10th St.



Urban Archive is a location-based mobile platform that holds multiple digital collections, including GVSHP's Historic Image Archive. The app is built for discovery, and for empowering New Yorkers to learn about history where it happened – and with this tool, GVSHP's archive images will be the basis for the scavenger hunt. Teams will explore the East Village on a guided contest to match old photos with new locations, and discover where the past and the present meet. Drinks and instructions will kick off the hunt, and when we meet back up prizes will be awarded to the top three teams and everyone will gather after their hard work for a reception with snacks and drinks.




Astor at 50 Street Festival
Wednesday, November 1, 11:00am – 3:00pm



Co-sponsored by the Village Alliance/Astor Place & Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
The "Alamo" Cube turns 50! Join the official birthday party for the iconic sculpture by Tony Rosenthal, installed in 1967 as part of the "Sculpture and the Environment" project, organized by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Share your birthday wishes, celebrate on the sidewalk, create and collage mini spinning cubes, fold origami cubes, learn the history of the Cube with mini-walking tours around the square, keep the cube spinning for charity, and much more!




Bleecker Street Walking Tour
Wednesday, November 1, 3:00pm



Join GVSHP's Director of Research and Preservation Sarah Bean Apmann for a tour of the architectural and cultural gems of Bleecker Street. Enjoy a special treat from Porto Rico coffee and tea shop along the way as part of #ShopBleecker. For everyone from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, Jimi Hendrix to Alicia Keys, Bleecker Street has been the center of what's great about New York City. And now, the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce has launched the month-long #ShopBleecker event as this year's holiday shopping season begins, reminding everyone that Bleecker Street is still one of the best places in the city to shop, eat, and play. Enjoy #ShopBleecker all month! Select retailers along the twenty blocks that comprise the beautiful and historic Bleecker Street will be hosting in-store events and offering special deals and discounts. Learn more at www.villagechelsea.com.

Free. This event is currently full - sign up for our wait list.
Meet at 359 Bleecker Street between Charles and West 10th Streets.

This event is fully accessible.



Marcel Duchamp in the Village - 50 Years Later Artist Serkan Ozkaya in conversation with poet Robert Fitterman
Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 6pm at Chess Forum, 219 Thompson Street


Photo: Robert Fitterman and Serkan Ozkaya

For twenty years, Marcel Duchamp secretly worked on his final art piece, Étant donnés, in his New York City studio. After his death on October 2nd, 1968, his close friends and the world were stunned to find, hidden in his studio on East 11th Street in the former St. Denis Hotel, the completed Étant donnés, an elaborately detailed and beautifully disturbing room-encompassing tableau, which could be peered at through two peepholes upon entering the room. Four years ago, Serkan Ozkaya imagined Étant donnés as a camera obscura. What if the peepholes weren't only peepholes? (When has Duchamp's work only ever been one thing?) What if the peepholes were also meant to project an image? Ozkaya built a scale model to see; to his surprise, the projected image resembled a face. He further secured the studio in which the piece was originally completed. This month the idea has been tested in situ and Will Wait will also be publicly presented at Postmasters Gallery from October 21st through November 25th.
Join artist Serkan Ozkaya and poet Robert Fitterman for a conversation about Duchamp's enigmatic final work and contemporary artists' response to it. Ozkaya and Fitterman recently curated a collection of works from twenty-six artists and writers that respond—implicitly and explicitly, artistically and scholarly—to Eìtant donneìs in the Fall issue of Public Journal, called PUBLIC ATTENDANT A to Z. Those works and Ozkaya's will inform the conversation; copies of the Public Journal will be available for purchase.
Chess Forum is the perfect venue as chess featured throughout Duchamp's career, from his early painting Portrait of Chess Players to Reunion, the performance/chess game he staged with John Cage in 1968, and Duchamp frequently played the game in Greenwich Village.




Twenty Years Later: Preserving Federal Houses
Tuesday, October 24th, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street
co-sponsored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the NYU Department of Art History and Urban Design and Architecture Studies, and co-sponsored by The American Friends of the Georgian Group.



It was twenty years ago, in October 1997, that GVSHP first received funding from Preserve NY, a grant program of the Preservation League of NY State and the NY State Council on the Arts, to research and document the remaining Federal style (1790-1835) houses in Lower Manhattan. Ever since, preserving federal houses has been a special part of GVSHP’s mission, whether within the boundaries of our neighborhood or beyond. The years of research and advocacy since the 1997 grant yielded the landmark designation and/or State and National Register of Historic Places listing of 136 Federal style houses, including ten historic districts and thirteen individual landmarks. To mark the occasion, GVSHP has released a comprehensive report on all 136 Federal houses. Susan De Vries, now a researcher, writer, and a building historian, began the Federals research as a GVSHP intern twenty years ago and eventually expanded the project into her master’s thesis. She will be joined by current GVSHP staff members and others to discuss the long and arduous road towards trying to protect these charming and hearty survivors in the Lower Manhattan landscape.





Speed Levitch's Greenwich Village
Saturday, October 21st. Tours at 2pm and 4pm.



Join fellow GVSHP members for a tour experience you’ve surely never had before! Half tour, half performance, Speed’s romp through Greenwich Village will explore not only the sights and history of the neighborhood but also the philosophy, the aura, and the culture. Speed’s tour is a choreography and celebration of a neighborhood that developed more around a set of ideals than specific sites or boundaries. Experiencing the neighborhood’s streets in new and random ways, we’ll conjure the euphoric and progressive atmosphere for which Greenwich Village is so famous.

Timothy “Speed” Levitch is an actor, tour guide, speaker, author, voice actor, and Kansas City and New York City tour guide. The name “Speed” was given to him by a childhood friend and quite accurately describes his unique style as a speaker and tour guide. A New York City native, Levitch graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and has Levitch has appeared in multiple films. He received his tour guide license in 1992 and has been giving tours ever since. He’s attracted  a cult following, due not only to his fast talking style but also for his obvious love of his native city and his passionate philosophical ideas.




Family Program: Story Time, Art Project, and The Glorious, Notorious, Mysterious (But Not So Serious) Family Scavenger Hunt!
Sunday, October 22, 2:00 - 4:00pm at Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue



Join GVSHP for our family program, Story Time, Art Project, and The Glorious, Notorious, Mysterious (But Not So Serious) Family Scavenger Hunt! Turrets, gables, paper bags ... and a big orange splot? What is happening at the Jefferson Market Library? Join us for a fun filled family program, Sunday, October 22nd from 2-4 pm. Discover why Mr. Plumbean's house looks like "all his dreams" as we read the beloved children's classic,The Big Orange Splot. Then follow mysterious clues on a family scavenger hunt and head outside to explore the glorious Jefferson Market building. Modeled after a European castle, constructed as a courthouse, and transformed into a public library, this architectural treasure is 140 years old and like Mr. Plumbean's house, it's filled with surprises! Finally, turn inspiration into a paper bag creation - and your own architectural sensation. Art supplies and colorful splots will be provided!
This is not a drop off program - CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.




New York Deco with Tony Robins
Wednesday, October 18th, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue



The Chrysler Building, the Waldorf-Astoria, Rockefeller Center– these are among the hundreds of Art Deco monuments that, during the 1920s and ‘30s, helped create the image of New York City as the world’s Modern Metropolis. In New York, Art Deco evolved through a series of Manhattan skyscrapers into the city’s chief architectural language. Following a massive reawakening of interest during the 1970s, New York’s Deco buildings survive as prized remnants of a distant yet modern past that still help define the city’s visual identity. And while Greenwich Village isn’t exactly known as a Deco mecca, not even the quaint Village could escape the popularity of this 20th-century style.

Join Tony Robins, expert tour guide and author of New York Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age Architecture, for this exploration of our Art Deco world. He’ll discuss famed skyscrapers including the Daily News, Empire State, General Electric, American Radiator, and RCA Buildings; and then trace the adaptation of this “skyscraper style” from apartment buildings on the Bronx’s Grand Concourse and airport terminals at LaGuardia to charming Deco parking garages, diners, hotels, banks, and theaters. Purchase Tony’s book at the event and have him sign your copy.


Lorraine Hansberry Plaque Installation
Monday, October 16th, 5pm
112 Waverly Place


Lorraine Hansberry
David Attie c. 1960
Gelatin silver print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
© David Attie

The first African American woman to write a play performed on Broadway, Lorraine Vivian Hansberry bought this Greenwich Village home in 1960. Already a Villager at the time, Hansberry was a staple of the progressive, creative scene in the neighborhood.  Best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun about living under racial segregation in Chicago, she was a New School graduate, a political organizer, a furtive participant in the LGBT rights struggle, and a social justice advocate. Her political engagement drew the attention and surveillance of the FBI. Although she died young, her creative spirit and activism continued to inspire her fellow Villagers and artistic peers; Hansberry even inspired Nina Simone's song “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”

Join GVSHP on Waverly Place to mark this important site of Greenwich Village and African American culture. Guest speakers will highlight the many ways Hansberry inspired and influenced the world around her. 
Click here for the flyer with speakers and more.

Presented in partnership with The Historic Landmarks Preservation Center


Community Conference: The Village Past, Present, and Future with GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman
Sunday, October 15, 2017, 1:30pm-6:00pm at Jefferson Market Library
Located at the heart of Greenwich Village, The Jefferson Market Library has served as a center for creativity, intellectualism, and civic engagement in its community for the past 50 years. This conference seeks to celebrate that history by connecting a diverse array of Villagers in conversation. At 4:00pm, Executive Director Andrew Berman will discuss two prominent buildings that were saved by the community and reborn with new purposes: The Jefferson Market Library (formerly a courthouse), and The Public Theater (former the Astor Library). Both institutions celebrate their 50 year anniversaries this fall.


Native American History walking tour: From the West to East Village
Saturday, October 7th, 11am-1pm



One might assume that New York’s streets are as old as Dutch settlement, but many of the thoroughfares we use today actually began long before that. Early Dutch and English immigrants adopted many pathways that were originally carved by truly native New Yorkers, and these routes were incorporated into the more formal city plan as development spread across the island. On this extended tour, Evan Pritchard, author of Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, will take you on a journey through the history of New York’s streets from west to east. Starting in the Meatpacking District, you’ll traverse the island through Greenwich Village before ending at the St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery graveyard in the East Village where Peter Stuyvesant is interred. Along the way, you’ll see the streets and plazas through Native American eyes and explore how New York’s indigenous history influences our modern streetscapes and public spaces. Drawing upon archaeology, linguistics, and oral and written histories, this walk will link the legacy of the Lenape with Abraham Lincoln, modern luxury, and more. Books will be available for purchase. 

Co-sponsored by the Village Alliance.




The Fortune Society's Village Roots
Monday, September 18th, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Church of the Village, 201 West 13th Street



David Rothenberg is one of Greenwich Village’s most influential political activists. Originally drawn to the neighborhood's open and accepting culture, he quickly became interested in the intersections between theater and social justice. After producing a controversial play on the lives of men in prison, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, David saw how theater could be a tool for healing and rehabilitation. He founded the Fortune Society to do just that in 1967, and today the organization serves approximately 6,000 people a year, offering a staggering array of services that help the formerly incarcerated thrive as happy and healthy members of society.

David recently shared his story with GVSHP for an oral history interview, and at this live event he'll dive deeper into his history with Greenwich Village and how the neighborhood shaped his personality and fostered his professional ambitions. David will discuss with politician and activist Tom Duane, followed by a short film of David's life and a performance by Fortune Society clients that highlight the important work the organization does for thousands of New Yorkers each year. A reception will follow.





The Golden Age of Second Avenue film screening
Wednesday, September 6th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Third Street Music School, 235 East 11th Street



In this dazzling 1969 film, documentarian Morton Silverstein celebrates Yiddish Theater in America from its Bowery roots to its Second Avenue heyday. Silverstein’s documentary is an unmatched chronicle of east side history, featuring rare footage of bustling Second Avenue and scenes of the best known Yiddish plays and movies. Paul Muni, Celia Adler, and Molly Picon – major players in the Yiddish theatre scene – all make an appearance. Narrated by Broadway and Hollywood actor Herschel Bernardi, this film is a celebration of Second Avenue’s former place in stage history. Introductory remarks by Rita Silverstein and Sharon Lebewohl.

Screening to raise awareness for the efforts to relocate and restore the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame. Sponsored by Friends of Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Friends of the Lower East Side, and 3rD Street Music School.




Cheese Please! Members Only Summer Tasting 
Monday, August 28, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Murray’s Cheese, 254 Bleecker St



Join fellow GVSHP members at Murray’s Cheese for a fun night of seasonal snacks. Since 1940, Murray’s has provided Greenwich Village (and New Yorkers everywhere) with the most delectable cheese and other fine foods.  On this summer evening, you’ll enjoy the best of Murray’s summer selections, and learn a bit about what it takes to make cheese that tastes so good. Enjoy this opportunity to pick the brains of our famous Greenwich Village cheese mongers, and taste the fruits of their labor. Drinks and other light refreshments also provided.



City Council District 2 Candidates Forum on Housing and Preservation
Thursday, August 24th, 6:30 p.m.
La MaMa, 66 East 4th Street



The Merchant’s Misfortune: The Merchant’s House Museum – A Tale of Survival
Wednesday, August 16th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue



Built in 1832, the Merchant’s House at 29 East 4th Street is the City’s only family home to have survived intact – inside and out – from the 19th century. Home to a prosperous merchant family and their Irish servants for almost 100 years and open as a museum since 1936, the late-Federal and Greek Revival Merchant’s House is considered one of the finest surviving examples of domestic architecture from the period. The Merchant’s House was the first building in Manhattan designated a landmark in 1965 and now also one of only 117 interior landmarks in the city. The Landmarks Law in 1965 may have saved it from the wrecker’s ball, but not the inevitable ravages of time.

Michael Devonshire, Director of Conservation at the firm Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, which has overseen all restoration work on the building since 1990, will present a detailed restoration history of this remarkable historic house. He is also a commissioner at the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Presented in partnership with the Merchants House Museum.




Capturing the Lower East Side's Storefronts:
Opening Reception for Photo & Oral History Exhibition
Monday, August 14th, 6:00.– 9:00 p.m.
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue



Experience activism and community through the lens of photographers, as they display their work from two free 2017 workshops with acclaimed photographers and award-winning authors Karla and James Murray. In two sessions at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, the famed duo taught participants how to use photography and oral history to raise public awareness, build community, and encourage advocacy. Participants learned to create their own powerful photographs of neighborhood storefronts and connected with proprietors through interviews. Exhibition open through September 18. Wine and light bites provided.



Walk and Draw: MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens
Saturday, August 5th, 11:00 a.m.– 1:00 p.m.



On August 2nd, the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens celebrates its 50th anniversary as a historic district! This 21-building district, including a private courtyard garden, is uniquely small and undeniably charming. To celebrate the designation, join artist and Villager Nick Golebiewski on a combination tour and drawing workshop. Each tour attendee will draw at least one of the 21 homes in the district, as Nick provides history, instruction, and tips along the way. By the end of the tour, our individual sketches will create a new hand-drawn map of the district. No artistic ability or experience necessary! Pens and pocket sketchbooks, yours to take home after the tour, generously provided by Jerry’s Palette Shop.


Photo credit: Esther Crain/Ephemeral New York.


Christodora Book Talk
Tuesday, August 1st, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
KGB Red Room, 85 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor



Tim Murphy’s Christodora follows a diverse set of characters whose fates intertwine around an iconic building in Manhattan’s East Village, the Christodora. The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbor, Hector, a celebrated AIDS activist turned lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly and Jared’s lives in ways none of them can anticipate. As the counterculture residents of the 1980s give way to the hipsters of the 2000s and they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the glass-towered city of the 2020s, enormous changes rock the personal lives of our East Villagers. Moving kaleidoscopically from the Tompkins Square Riots and AIDS activism to the New York City of the 2020’s, Christodora brings to life the ever-changing city itself.This event is the concluding meeting of the first-ever Village Book Club, where members read and discussed Christodora together over the course of the summer. The book club topics will be generally discussed, but the event will be great for people not in the book club, too.



Sustainability in the Town Square

Thursday, July 27th, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
The New School, Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street



There’s lots of talk in preservation about how we can make our historic homes greener and more sustainable. But as we face the realities of climate change, our public spaces should be areas of focus, too. Neighborhood gathering spaces can not only serve as important logistical resources, but they shape how we as members of communities – neighborhoods, New Yorkers, Americans – interact and engage with issues bigger than ourselves. Victoria Herrmann has traveled the globe to tackle these topics, and she’ll discuss why public spaces matter in an era of rapid environmental change, why historic preservation is vital, and how we can build neighborhood resilience by adapting our historic public spaces. We’ll explore concrete ways you can push for new policies, at the local and national level, and how we can all learn to be advocates for useful and sustainable historic public spaces. This event is presented in partnership with The New School and cohosted by the Schools of Public Engagement.

Victoria Herrmann is the President and Managing Director of The Arctic Institute. Her work focus on climate change, community adaptation, human development, and resource economies, with a particular focus on Arctic oil and gas. She is a Gates Scholar at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, where she is pursuing a PhD in Political Geography of the Arctic. In 2016, Victoria is traveling across the United States for a National Geographic funded book on climate change stories, America’s Eroding Edges. She is the author of Arctic Melt: Turning Resource Extraction into Human Development (2015) and has been published in many peer-review journals, including the Polar Law Yearbook, Polar Record, and Polar Geography. Her expert opinion has appeared on CNN, BBC, and NPR among others.



McSorley's, My Dad, and Me

Monday, July 24th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 E 3rd St



Since it opened in 1854, McSorley's Old Ale House has been a New York institution. This is the landmark watering hole where Abraham Lincoln campaigned and Boss Tweed kicked back with the Tammany Hall machine; where a pair of Houdini's handcuffs found their final resting place;and where soldiers left behind wishbones before departing for the First World War, never to return and collect them. Many of the bar's traditions remain intact, from the newspaper-covered walls to the plates of cheese and raw onions, the sawdust-covered floors to the tall-tales told by its bartenders.

McSorley's is also home to deep, personal stories – including that of Geoffrey "Bart" Bartholomew, a career bartender of 45 years, and his son Rafe who grew up helping his dad at the landmark bar. Join Rafe to talk about his new book on the topic, where he explores McSorley’s bizarre rituals, bawdy humor, and eccentric tasks, including protecting decades-old dust on treasured artifacts and defending a 150-year-old space against the worst of Hurricane Sandy.


Basquiat and NoHo
Saturday, July 15th, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
La Mama La Galleria, 47 Great Jones St



In the late 1980's, Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones Street in Manhattan. This studio space owned by Andy Warhol served as a kind of incubator for young artistic talent. At the time, the NoHo neighborhood and landscape offered up-and-coming artists the opportunity for low rents, lots of space, and the freedom to practice their craft. It was a gritty neighborhood, sometimes ripe with vice, and the two surely influenced each other  - NoHo was a muse for the artists, but the artists forever altered the area. Today things in NoHo have changed dramatically, but the neighborhood has not forgotten its past - it remains a source of artistic inspiration and activity.

In July 2016, GVSHP installed a plaque at 57 Great Jones to commemorate Basquiat’s life and work. But what exactly did Basquiat and his ilk mean for the neighborhood? And where is such a New York neighborhood today – one that nurtures the avant-garde, providing the space and financial freedom necessary to bloom, influence, and grow? In conversation with moderator Ayanna Jessica Legros, panelists Patti Astor, Naiomy Guerrero, Chaédria LaBouvier, and Yasmin Ramirez, Ph.D, will explore and demystify this layered question.

Ayanna Legros
is an interdisciplinary scholar, educator, and cultural symposium producer. Her expertise is Haitian, Afro-Latinx and circum-Caribbean identities within larger questions of activism, memory and migration. As a Henry MacCracken Fellow at New York University (M.A., Africana Studies), she co-founded the BASQUIAT: STILL FLY @ 55 Project, a dialogue series about Jean-Michel Basquiat's life, legacy and work. The series showcased events at Museum of Modern Art, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York University, and WBAI Radio. She is co-producer of the
"#Blacklivesmatter in Latin America" panel series and recently co-published "A Hemispheric Approach to Contemporary Black Activism: A NACLA Forum" in NACLA Report on the Americas. She has taught at CUNY Guttman and CUNY Hostos in English and Black Studies. She is an alum of the ICA Fellowship through Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) and a Co-Curator for Afro Latino Festival 2017. Ms. Legros is a Doctoral student at Duke University's Department of History.

Patti Astor
is an American performer who was a key actress in New York City underground films of the 1970s, and the East Village art scene of the 1980s. Astor went on to be a co-founder of the FUN Gallery in early 1981 with partner Bill Stelling, an innovative space as they were the first to give graffiti artists one-man shows. This tenement storefront gallery, was the first of the 1980s East Village galleries, and specialized in showing graffiti artists, like Fab 5 Freddy, LEE (Quinones), Zephyr, Dondi and Futura 2000. It also gave important shows to Kenny Scharf (in 1981), Jean-Michel
Basquiat (November 1982), and Keith Haring (February, 1983). The gallery closed in 1985, by which time many other East Village galleries had opened, the interest in graffiti painters in the art world has subsided, and rents in the East Village were rising dramatically.

Naiomy Guerrero
is a Dominican-American writer and arts advocate. She is the founding editor of Gallery Girl NYC a spanglish exploration of the New York City art world via social media. Her research focuses primarily on U.S. based Latinx artists, their contributions to the canon of American art history and the development of the Latinx art market. She studied in both the US and the Dominican Republic throughout childhood, and was raised Wild Thornberrys style traveling between the Bronx, Washington Heights, and the Dominican Republic. Naiomy is a Posse Foundation scholar, received her BA in Art History from DePauw University, and pursued graduate-level coursework at New York University. She is an arts contributor for Artsy and has worked at various art institutions including El Museo Del Barrio, Creative Time, Marc Jancou Contemporary, Walt Disney Studios, and David LaChapelle studios.

Chaédria LaBouvier
is a writer, activist and Basquiat scholar. As a contributing writer for Elle, she was the first to write about police brutality in mainstream women’s magazines Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Vice, Apollo Magazine and Art Market Monitor. LaBouvier is also a co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality. After 13 years of research, LaBouvier created Basquiat’s Defacement: The Project, which is an online resource on Basquiat’s  most important painting, 1983’s Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart) and its history. The three part mission of The Project is  to bring the painting and its scholarship to the public through exhibition, an expanded website and discourse. She is a graduate of Williams College and holds a MFA in Screenwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles

Yasmin Ramirez
holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the Graduate Center of the City of New York. Born in Brooklyn, she was active in the downtown art scene of the early 1980s as a club kid, gallery assistant, independent curator, and art critic for the East Village Eye. Attracted to street art and hip hop, Yasmin Ramirez became acquainted with many emerging artists and writers that are now held as icons of the 1980s, including Jean Michel Basquiat. Currently an independent curator, Dr. Ramirez's has collaborated on curatorial projects with The Bronx Museum, El Museo Del Barrio; The Loisaida Center; The Studio Museum in Harlem, Franklin Furnace and Taller Boricua. Her critically acclaimed exhibitions and panels include: Martin Wong: Human Instamatic (2015); Presente: The Young Lords in New York (2015); The Puerto Rican Art Workers and the Construction of the Nuyorican Art Movement (2014); Re-Membering Loisaida: On Archiving and the Lure of the Retro Lens (2009); "Esto A Veces Tiene Nombre: Latin@ Art Collectives in a Post-Movement Millennium (2008); The Boricua in Basquiat (2005); Voices From Our Communities: Perspectives on a Decade of Collecting at El Museo del Barrio (2000); Pressing the Point: Parallel Expressions in the Graphic Arts of the Chicano and Puerto Rican Movements (1999). Yasmin Ramirez's published essays include: Mi Querido Barrio: A Virtual Tour of East Harlem Through Time (2016); The Young Lords Way (2015) Snap Shots: A Short History of the Association of Hispanic Arts (2013); The Creative Class of Color in New York (2009); "The Activist Legacy of Puerto Rican Artists in New York and the Art Heritage of Puerto Rico" (2007); "Puerto Rican Light: To Allora and Calzadilla" (2006); "Nuyorican Visionary: Jorge Soto and the evolution of an Afro-Taino aesthetic at Taller Boricua" (2005); and "Parallel Lives, Striking Differences: Notes on Chicano and Puerto Rican Graphic Arts of the 1970s" (1999). Yasmin Ramirez is currently writing a book on art movements and collectives in East Harlem.


East Village LGBT walking tour
Saturday, July 8th, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.



Although the storied LGBT history of Greenwich Village gets a lot of play, the East Village has a beloved LGBT past and present too. When gentrification began displacing some of Greenwich Village’s resident, much of the cultural energy moved east – creating what gradually became known as the East Village. It is where the Beats lived, where Punk reigned supreme, and where the musical Rent is set, depicted impoverished young artists struggling in the shadow of AIDS. As in every place where the arts have thrived, so has a vibrant and varied gay culture. W. H. Auden, Allen Ginsberg, and Quentin Crisp called the East Village home; and socialized in famous gay bars like the Cock and in Tompkins Square Park, where Wigstock was founded in 1984. Join expert tour guide Andrew Lear on this stroll through the East Village exploring sites including the disco where the 1920s’ famous “pansy balls” took place, and the place where Walt Whitman first read his “Calamus” poems to his Bohemian friends.

Event photo: Wigstock, Ira Fox. Ira Fox is a professional photographer based in New York-his background as an actor is reflected in his improvisational style and composition, which give his photos a captivating and cinematic appeal. Ira’s street photography has received international attention and has been in numerous exhibitions as well as private collections. Please contact Ira at ira@irafox.com www.irafox.com with questions regarding print sales and assignments.


Jefferson Market Garden Party
Tuesday, June 27, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
70 Greenwich Avenue



Join the GVSHP Brokers Partnership on Tuesday, June 27th for a wine and cheese garden party in one of Greenwich Village's hidden treasures.

Nestled in one of New York’s busiest corners, the Jefferson Market Garden is a surprisingly peaceful oasis. Join GVSHP and the Brokers Partnership for this annual favorite and treat your senses to the beauty, colors and scents of the garden’s tranquil natural setting. Resplendent with glorious blooms throughout the seasons, the garden provides the perfect setting to enjoy wine, cheese, and live music by Bobby Lynn Quartet. Throughout the evening, Jefferson Market’s Historian Jack Intrator will give tours of the historic library.

Plaque Unveiling at 27 Cooper Square
Tuesday, June 20, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
27 Cooper Square




In the 1960s, this 1845 former rooming house became a laboratory for artistic, literary and political currents, including growing activism among African-American artists. Writers LeRoi and Hettie Jones, their Yugen magazine and Totem Press, musician Archie Shepp and painter Elizabeth Murray all had homes here.  The vacant building was transformed into a vital hub of cultural life, attracting leading figures including those from the Beats and the world of jazz. It was also the childhood home of a second generation of East Village artists and thinkers.

In partnership with Two Boots Foundation, GVSHP will salute 27 Cooper Square with a plaque commemorating this important history. A short ceremony will precede the plaque’s unveiling; speakers include Hettie Jones, who still lives at 27 Cooper Square.



Gay Greenwich Village
Walking Tour
Saturday, June 17, 1:00 – 3:30 p.m.



This walking tour will take you to the places where gay men and women have lived, loved, worked and partied since the late 19th century in Greenwich Village.  The Stonewall Riots that erupted in late June of 1969 announced to the world that the Village was the epicenter of gay life and gay liberation. But this was not news to the gay men and women who had called the Village home for generations. Explore the history behind a first lady’s circle of friends; a closeted multimillionaire; well-known and lesser-known artists, poets, photographers and musicians; New York City elected officials and political activists; and much more. Tour guide Phil Desiere will focus on the gay community of Greenwich Village, but the celebrated art, architecture, and culture of the neighborhood will also be explored.



Taking it to the Streets!
Tuesday, June 13, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space
155 Avenue C (between East 9th + 10th Streets)



Before Twitter and Facebook, activists used the streets as a public forum to express their creativity and organize for political goals, with their messages wheatpasted right onto lampposts and walls. It was the era of 'xerocracy,' and the entire city were gallery walls. Nowhere was this form of expression more prevalent than the East Village. From posters expressing stark opposition to building demolitions, to stencils addressing the AIDS epidemic and more, such expressions of conscience and conflict were everywhere. In this panel discussion we will hear from some of the artists of that time, who are still creating today, including Seth Tobocman, Anton van Dalen, Kristin Reed and Jerry Wade.

This program is co-sponsored by ABC No Rio in Exile and The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space. Read more about the exhibition in the NYTimes here.




Walk and Draw:
An Artist’s Tour of Greenwich Village
Saturday, June 10, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.



Artist Nick Golebiewski posts one Instagram photo each day – a quick sketch, usually something architectural he spotted while walking in his West Village neighborhood. On this fun stroll, let Nick show you the ropes as he leads you on a hunt for charming Greenwich Village details to sketch, including West Village townhouses, the Washington Square Arch, and even a trip up to the top of the Jefferson Market Clocktower. Along the way, Nick will give you sketching tips and tricks as you try your hand at the task. No artistic ability or experience necessary! Pens and pocket sketchbooks, yours to take home after the tour, generously provided by Jerry’s Palette Shop.


East Village Political Art:
The Murals of La Lucha Continua
Tuesday, May 23rd, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. 
City Lore, 56 East 1st Street 



In 1985, Eva Cockcroft, founder of Artmakers Inc., gathered 34 self-described “activist artists”  to create 26 political murals on the seven walls of four vacant buildings overlooking the La Plaza Cultural community garden (Avenue C, between East 8th & 9th Streets). Known as La Lucha Continua (The Struggle Continues), the murals addressed six themes: gentrification, police brutality, women’s issues, U.S. interventions in Latin America, apartheid in South Africa, and immigration. Today, the garden is thriving.  But while the issues that inspired La Lucha remain of deep concern, only two of the murals remain, their paint cracked and faded. Join Jane Weissman - Artmakers member, mural historian and exhibition curator - to discuss the vital role the murals have played in the community.  We’ll explore the social, political, and cultural context in which the murals were created, and look at the neighborhood today and how the issues addressed in the murals have remained and evolved. Co-sponsored by City Lore. This presentation coincides with an exhibition at The Loisaida Center celebrating the continued relevance of the La Lucha murals.



East Village Community Garden Tour
Saturday May 13, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.



The East Village/Lower East Side is considered the nation’s birthplace of the modern day community garden movement and boasts an impressive collection of fifty-three gardens! Each has its own personality and purpose. Join us on this walking tour of several community gardens that will showcase plants, people and cultures that make them such a vital component of their neighborhood. Learn about their collective and individual histories, what it takes to maintain them, and meet volunteer gardeners and organizers who make it possible for the public to enjoy their beauty. Please note this is a walking tour, so wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. Co-sponsored by the Community Garden District NYC.


Dishing Up the East Village
walking tour
Saturday, May 6, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.



Join expert tour guide Dana Schulz as she takes you on a journey through the East Village, peeling back the layers of the cultural gastronomy scene that has made this neighborhood exceptionally eclectic (and delicious!) for so many years. Explore the history of several immigrant groups who established restaurants in the city to serve their own community and, in the process, changed the flavor of the city. Learn little-known facts about the famous and infamous, and discover how the emerging food scene of today reflects the chan­ging cultures of the neighborhood. Along the way, you’ll get to taste what these spots are serving up. Stops will include John’s of 12th Street, Moishe’s Bakery, and Curry Row.



Streetscapes and Beyond:
A Memorial for Chris Gray
Thursday, May 4th, 6:30 p.m.
NYU Dept of Art History, Urban Design and Architecture Studies, 300 Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East




Please join in a memorial event to recall the contributions of Chris Gray to New York, its buildings, and our history. Speakers will include friends, neighbors, and colleagues of Chris, including Simeon Bankoff, Carole Bolger, Mosette Broderick, Franny Eberhardt, Andrea Goldwyn, Sean Korsandi, Carol Krinsky, Mike Leahy, Francis Morrone, Roger Pasquier, Jon Ritter, and Arlene Simon. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts; Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; The Landmarks Conservancy; Landmark West; The Neighborhood Preservation Center; New York Preservation Archive; NYU Department of Art History, Urban Design and Architecture Studies; and The Society of Architectural Historians – New York Metropolitan Chapter.




City Council Candidate Night
on Historic Preservation Issues

Monday, May 1st, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Third Street Music School, 253 East 11th



GVSHP and fellow preservation organizations will be holding a forum for candidates for City Council Districts 1 and 2. Elections for all city offices will take place later this year, and the Council District 2 seat will be open due to term limits, while in Council District 1 the incumbent and challengers will be running.

City Councilmembers play an incredibly important role in shaping policy and outcomes regarding preservation and development in our neighborhoods, as well as citywide. It’s critical that Councilmembers and Council candidates understand that preservation and sensible development is a key issue to those they seek to represent, and a strong turnout at this forum will help send that message. It is also an incredibly useful opportunity to hear from and pose questions to the candidates for these vitally important offices.



Can They Build That?
Panel Discussion about the Board of Standards and Appeals
Thursday, April 27th, 6:00. – 8:00 p.m.
NYU Silver Center, Hall 300
31 Washington Place



What is the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals? What do they regulate? And what goes into their considerations of variance applications? This obscure city body holds tremendous sway over what gets built in New York City. Property owners, developers, and institutions can apply to the BSA to extend beyond zoning limitations to build bigger, taller, or for different uses. At this panel, stakeholders will discuss their experiences with the BSA, as well as current efforts to reform the system. Hear from organizations, labor representatives and residents from different communities that highlight the public need for greater transparency and access to information.

Speakers include Andrew Berman, GVSHP; Kate Wood, Landmark West!; Jonathan Hogstad, SEIU Local 32BJ; Aries De La Cruz, Coalition to Defend Woodside & Little Manila and Council Member Ben Kallos, Chair of Governmental Operations Committee. Co-sponsored with the NYU Department of Art History & Urban Design and Architecture Studies and moderated by Professor Jon Ritter.


Village Comedy Night
Tuesday, April 25th, 7:00. – 9:00 p.m.
The Village Underground, 130 West 3rd Street



Join us for a special night of comedy benefitting GVSHP & The Rebecca Daniels Scholarship for Real Estate Continuing Education. Comedians who will grace the GVSHP stage have appeared on Louie, Comedy Central, Inside Amy Schumer, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Join GVSHP, Villagers, and comedy lovers from across the city for a fun night that supports education and preservation awareness in the real estate community. Comedians featured will include: Chris Distefano, Paul Mecurio, Gina Brillon, Marc Gerber Jeff Leach, and more! Full lineup to come. Visit gvshp.org/comedy for more details.


Who Tells Your Story?: Women in Preservation
Thursday, April 20th, 7:00. – 9:00 p.m.
Museum at Eldridge Street, 18 Eldridge Street


From the Daughters of the American Revolution to Jane Jacobs to preservationists today, women have long played a prominent role in preserving our nation's history and treasures. Why? These projects require devotion, passion and nurturing – qualities often associated with women – as well as tenacity, networking and cunning. Our panelists have those qualities in spades. Join Roberta Brandes Gratz, an award-winning journalist and urban critic who founded the effort to restore the Eldridge Street Synagogue; Claudette Brady, co-founder of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation; Nancy Rankin, AIA, a principal with John G. Waite Associates, Architects; and Erin Tobin, Director of Preservation at the Preservation League of New York State who will serve as moderator. They will explore the outsized role women have played in preservation and urban planning. After, meet the speakers, mingle with preservation professionals, and get involved in a variety of preservation projects. This event is co-sponsored with the Museum at Eldridge Street, the Preservation League of New York State, and the Center for the Living City.



Native New Yorkers
Walking Tour
Saturday, April 1st, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.



One might assume that New York's streets are as old as Dutch settlement, but many of the thoroughfares we use today actually began long before that. Early Dutch and English immigrants adopted many pathways that were originally carved by truly native New Yorkers, and these routes were incorporated into the more formal city plan as development spread across the island. On this extended tour, Evan Pritchard, author of Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, will take you on a journey through the history of New York's streets from west to east. Starting in the Meatpacking District, you'll traverse the island through Greenwich Village before ending at the St. Mark's in-the-Bowery graveyard in the East Village where Peter Stuyvesant is interred. Along the way, you'll see the streets and plazas through Native American eyes and explore how New York's indigenous history influences our modern streetscapes and public spaces. Drawing upon archaeology, linguistics, and oral and written histories, this walk will link the legacy of the Lenape with Abraham Lincoln, modern luxury, and more. End the day with a casual reception at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, where you can purchase Pritchard's book. Co-sponsored by Village Alliance and with Neighborhood Preservation Center.


Radical, Notorious Women of Washington Square
Walking Tour
Saturday, March 25th, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.




Greenwich Village was home to many political, creative, and intellectual movements in New York's history, and the residences around Washington Square, especially its ambitious female population, account for much of that vitality. Throughout the years, Washington Square's environs have seen an unparalleled array of women—working class, gentry, radical, literary, academic, theatrical, convict, and immigrant - who take to the streets and their communities to fight for societal change.

Stroll the historic streets of the Village while expert guide Joyce Gold explores literary, art, and theatre iconoclasts; the salon of Mable Dodge, a center of WW I-era activism; the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and its role in the labor movement; and the suffrage movement in the Village.



Let Them Eat Pie!
Monday, March 13th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Once Upon a Tart, 135 Sullivan Street




In anticipation of Pi Day on 3.14, join GVSHP after hours at Once Upon a Tart for a culinary trip through time. Owner and chef Alicia Walter will demonstrate how three pies are made, while Historic Gastronomist Sarah Lohman and Walter discuss the history of pie in America, and how new waves of immigration played a role in our food customs and culture. Once Upon a Tart has been a South Village staple since 1905, when it was just one of many Italian-owned and operated shops in the neighborhood. By the mid-1900s it was Portuguese-owned, reflecting a new demographic living and working in the South Village. Walter’s pie demonstrations will reflect the history of the neighborhood and the bakery, and you’ll have a chance to try each treat.


A Bohemian Love Affair:
Floyd Dell and Edna St. Vincent Millay

Sunday, March 5th, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue




One hundred years ago, Floyd Dell, bohemian author and editor of the radical Masses magazine, began a passionate affair with a newcomer to Greenwich Village — then-unknown “girl poet,” Edna St. Vincent Millay. In the years that followed, both Dell and Millay became symbols of early 20th-century feminism, rebellion, and literary freedom. A century later, while poring over her grandfather Floyd’s papers at Chicago’s Newberry Library, Jerri Dell discovered hundreds of handwritten letters (and an unpublished memoir) detailing Dell’s love affair with Millay. Finding him as outlandish, entertaining, and insightful as he was when she knew him fifty years before, Jerri brings her grandfather and his poet lover back to life within the pages of this book. In this multimedia presentation, Jerri will illuminate the turbulent Greenwich Village life of these two major figures, with Floyd and Edna’s own words. Historic materials, like the couple’s original letters, will also be on display.


The Past and Future City
with Stephanie Meeks, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Thursday, March 2nd, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
St. Anthony of Padua, 155 Sullivan Street




At its most basic, historic preservation is about keeping old places in use and relevant. And lately, an urban resurgence has swept the nation, finding people all stripes migrating back into city life. These want to live somewhere that looks and feels distinctive — Miami's Art Deco district, New Orleans' French Quarter and Baltimore's districts of rowhouses all draw residents with their historic architecture.

But while this trend is a cause for celebration, it has also raised issues of access, affordability, inequality, and sustainability. In The Past and Future City, Stephanie Meeks, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, describes in detail and with research, the ways that historic fabric can create thriving neighborhoods and a vibrant economy. She explains the critical importance of inclusive preservation and the ways the field has evolved to the 21st century. Join Stephanie to discuss how these tactics relate to the Village, and how figures like Jane Jacobs have shaped the movement. After the presentation, have Meeks sign your copy of the book.

Stephanie Meeks has been the president and chief executive officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since July 2010. Under her leadership, the National Trust has developed an ambitious strategic plan designed to refocus direct action on saving imperiled places, engage new audiences in preservation, and increase the organization’s impact by a factor of ten.



Inventing Downtown:
Artist Run Galleries, 1952 - 1965

Thursday, February 23th, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Grey Art Gallery
NYU, 100 Washington Square East





GVSHP members will enjoy a private, after-hours tour of this brand new exhibition, led by the Grey Gallery's chief docent. Between the apex of Abstract Expressionism and the rise of Pop Art and Minimalism, the New York art scene was transformed by artist-run galleries. Inventing Downtown presents works from fourteen of these crucibles of experimentation, highlighting artists' efforts to create new exhibition venues for innovative works of art—ranging from abstract and figurative painting, assemblage, sculpture, and works on paper to groundbreaking installations and performances.

Offered in conjunction with the exhibition "Inventing Downtown: Artist-Run Galleries in New York City, 1952-1965," on view at the Grey Art Gallery, NYU, January 10 - April 1, 2017.

Victorian Valentines
Monday, February 13th, 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Fair Folks & a Goat, 96 West Houston




Join Nancy Rosin, President of the National Valentine Collectors Association, for this time-travelling presentation on the history of valentines and tokens of love. These days, the practice of sending valentines is most often relegated to children's classrooms. But throughout history, adults have used beautiful, sentimental, and intricate paper goods to show their affection, love, or friendship. For Victorian New Yorkers, it was a way of life. Many of these expressions of love were designed and printed right here in New York City, and the history of valentines has an unexpected life that weaves religion, mourning, love, and culture. Nancy will discuss the fascinating early history of valentines and show off pieces from her fabulous collection from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. During the event, enjoy coffee and tea courtesy of Fair Folks & a Goat, plus a cash bar.

Nancy Rosin has devoted more than forty years to the study of the evolution of the Valentine and Expressions of Love. She writes extensively, and has shared her collection with organizations including St. Bride's Library (London), the American Museum of Folk Art (NYC), and Green-Wood in Brooklyn. Her collection has been featured on Martha Stewart Living, CBS Sunday Morning, and the History Channel. Nancy Rosin is President of the National Valentine Collectors Association and President Emerita of The Ephemera Society of America. Her personal website, www.victoriantreasury.com is a resource for every romantic.


Stoops to Conquer: The Evolution of the New York Townhouse
Tuesday, February 7th, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue




New York City in the popular imagination may be defined by the skyscraper, but in reality our city's landscape is dominated by a grid plan that minced most blocks into a staggering number of narrow lots – easily bought, sold, and built upon. The development of these small individual lots produced entire neighborhoods of narrow residential buildings, making the townhouse the true vernacular architecture of the city. Join architect Richard Sammons as he traces the origins and evolution of the ever-present townhouse in New York City. Townhouses give so many historic neighborhoods their charm, but what are the weaknesses of the form? And how can modern architects and city-dwellers improve upon this classic architectural style to bring the economical, adaptable, and sustainable townhouse into the 21st century?

Presented in partnership with the Merchants House Museum.



Ours to Lose: When Squatters Become Homeowners
Thursday, February 2nd, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Loisaida Center, Inc., 710 East 9th Street




The Lower East Side in the 1980s and '90s was home to a revolutionary, radical squatting movement that blended urban homesteading and European-style squatting in a way never before seen in the United States. Amy Starecheski's book Ours to Lose tells the story of that movement through oral histories and personal experiences. This community of diverse Lower East Side squatters occupied abandoned city-owned buildings in the 1980s, fought to keep them for decades, and eventually undertook a long, complicated process to convert their illegal occupancy into legal cooperative ownership. Some of these buildings, built in the 1890s, were rescued from disrepair and demolition and are now an important part of the architectural and cultural fabric of the community. In this multimedia event, Starecheski uses oral histories to explore the complicated relationships involved in homesteading and squatting on the Lower East Side and throughout American history. After the talk, purchase Ours to Lose and have your copy signed by the author.

Amy Starecheski is co-director of the Oral History Master of Arts program at Columbia University. She received a PhD in cultural anthropology from the CUNY Graduate Center, where she was a Public Humanities Fellow. In 2016 she was awarded the "Will the Next Margaret Mead Please Stand Up?" Prize for public anthropological writing.




LGBT Bar Crawl: Christopher Street and Beyond
Saturday, January 28th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m




Get buzzed with GVSHP on LGBT history! In addition to being the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement, the Village has always been a gathering place and social spot for LGBT individuals. While the Stonewall Inn plays one of the largest roles in this history, it is not the only establishment to serve the community and help in the fight for recognition and equality. Expert tour guide Phil Desiere will take us on a trip around the west side and its watering holes to raise a glass and awareness for how each site added to the neighborhood’s reputation as a place of openness, acceptance, and resistance.


Arch Conspirators Centennial Celebration
Tuesday, January 24th, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South




One hundred years ago this month, a group of Greenwich Villagers felt so alienated by the developments in the city, country, and world around them they stole into Washington Square Arch, climbed to the roof, and proclaimed Greenwich Village a free and independent republic. Sound familiar? This history-making event, precipitated by painters John Sloan and Marcel Duchamp, poet Gertrude Drick, and Provincetown Playhouse actors Alan Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis was considered a dramatic turning point in the Village’s role as the center of American bohemia and avant-garde thought.

To celebrate the 100-year anniversary of this bold act, join us in Judson Memorial Church’s stunning Stanford White-designed sanctuary, the same architect of the Washington Square Arch. Live music will transport you to 1917, as you and your fellow New Yorkers toast to our daring bohemian forebears. At a time when the future of inclusive environments feel a bit jeopardized, gather together for this special night of community and ceremony. The sanctuary space will be transformed into a bohemian carnival, while local Village purveyors provide the sights, sounds and tastes that continue to make the Village one of the most unique and cherished neighborhoods. A concluding lantern ceremony at the Washington Square Arch will help us commune on what the next 100 years of inclusive, diverse Village will look like.

Music by Moist Paula and John Speck of The GPS. Presented in partnership with Atlas Obscura.


Preserving Diversity and Inclusion
with GVSHP and Not an Alien

Tuesday, January 17th, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Westbeth Community Room, 55 Bethune Street




New York City's multiculturalism has always been one of its strongest characteristics, and neighborhoods like the East Village and Greenwich Village are longtime havens for immigrants. GVSHP often highlights the history of inclusion and diversity among our streets, and now Villagers Neelu Shruti and Tom O'Keefe have founded Not an Alien, an organization and podcast dedicated to telling contemporary immigrant stories, many of which center on the Village. Join GVSHP, Neelu, and Tom to listen to some of the voices highlighted through Not an Alien, and hear from immigrant experts and other service providers, including Tania Mattos of UnLocal, on how we can continue to make our neighborhoods safe, welcoming, and cooperative places for all.

An option to enjoy a dinner salad with the group is provided by Green Top Farms. Green Top Farms is an urban farm startup based in Long Island City, Queens, and specializing in farm-to-table seasonal salads. Josh Lee is a fifth-generation farmer from North Carolina who came to New York City and just couldn't keep his hands out of the dirt. If you'd like to enjoy a Green Top Salad during this event, select the salad option at checkout.

GVSHP Open House:
Presentation and Reception with Members and Staff

Tuesday, January 10th, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street




2016 ended with some dramatic preservation victories and news on several fronts -- some years in the making, some with long-term implications extending far into the future. Find out more about all of them, as well as the latest tools and resources available from GVSHP for history and neighborhood buffs, and great recent programs you may have missed but can enjoy from the comfort of your home on your mobile device. Learn more and ask questions with Executive Director Andrew Berman and the entire GVSHP staff. Short presentations will be followed by light refreshments and conversation with GVSHP staff and fellow members. It all takes place at GVSHP’s lovely home at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, the landmarked Ernest Flagg-designed former rectory of St. Mark’s Church.  

Free, for members of GVSHP and friends only. Members are encouraged to bring a friend to learn more about GVSHP.
[This event is not wheelchair accessible.]

2016

Village Cheer!
Holiday Storefront walking tour

Saturday, December 17th, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday, December 19th, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.




Midtown storefronts are legendary for their elaborate holiday windows, but the shops of Greenwich Village have charming traditions and displays all their own. Join expert tour guide Joyce Gold for this winter walk to some of the Village’s dazzling holiday windows. Learn about legendary Village businesses past and present, and the history behind the holiday cheer and twinkling lights of the neighborhood’s December streets. Get cozy with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee before the tour begins, and you’ll enjoy opportunities for more local snacks along the route. Presented in partnership with the Village Alliance, Washington Square Park Conservancy, and Manhattan Sideways.

GVSHP Brokers Partnership Presents:
The Andy Statman Trio at Eldridge Street Synagogue

Wednesday, December 14
7:00 p.m.



Join us for a special night featuring renowned musican Andy Statman and the Andy Statman Trio performing their trademark blend of American roots music, prayful Hasidic music, klezmer, and avant-garde jazz in the stunning main sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue. A New York City and National Historic Landmark, the synagogue is an enduring and monumental reminder of the East Side's immigrant history. A 6:00 p.m. tour of the Museum is included with your visit, but you must reserve separately (tour signup available upon purchase of concert ticket).



City of Sedition:
New York and the Civil War book talk

Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy
Thursday, December 8th
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.



New York played an immensely contradictory role in the Civil War - no city was more of a help to Abraham Lincoln and the Union war effort, or more of a hindrance. No city raised more men, money, and material for the war, and no city raised more hell against it.

In City of Sedition, author and historian John Strausbaugh reveals a motley crew of New Yorkers who seized wartime opportunities to amass capital, create new industries, and expand their markets, laying the foundations for the city’s and the nation’s growth. Now-famous characters and locales all played their part, including newspaperman Horace Greeley; Village bohemian writers Walt Whitman and Fitz-James O'Brien; the 15th Ward, the only in the city to vote for Lincoln in both 1860 and 1864; and a mysterious owner of a Village violin shop who apparently colluded with John Wilkes Booth. After this illustrated discussion, Strausbaugh will answer questions and sign your copy of his fascinating book (available for purchase at the event).

Shopping in the Gilded Age
walking tour

Saturday, November 19th
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.



In her new book The Gilded Age in New York, Esther Crain, the voice behind the popular blog Ephemeral New York, tells the metamorphic story of New York during the Gilded Age. Crain pairs stunning prose with amazing, rarely seen imagery – of daily life for the rich and poor, the influx of immigrants who quadrupled the city’s population in just 40 years, new leisure sites like Coney Island and Central Park, and much more. The Ladies’ Mile and NoHo commercial districts of this time were true products of the Gilded Age – the modern department store was born in this era, as innovations in both technology and society changed the retail landscape. Ladies Mile emerged as a fashionable place for merchants to market and sell their wares with opulence, and the larger loft buildings of the neighborhood allowed ample space for commercial floors and warehousing. On this walking tour, Crain will explore the real-life sites and subjects of The Gilded Age. A walk through Ladies Mile and the NoHo Historic District will include stops at sites including A.T. Stewart’s department store at Broadway and 9th and the famed Fleischmann’s Model Vienna Bakery, operating next to Grace Church until 1905. After the tour, enjoy the beautiful sanctuary of Grace Church for a short reception and book signing with Esther.

War in the Neighborhood:
Gentrification and Graphic Art with Seth Tobocman

Tuesday, November 15th
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 E 9th St



Published in 1999, Seth Tobocman’s War in the Neighborhood remains one of the most relevant graphic novels exploring housing and community issues. Called a “masterpiece of gentrification” and “the comic book version of Rent,” War in the Neighborhood is a riveting first-hand account of radical neighborhood transformations in late 80’s and early 90’s New York.  With nuance and candor, Tobocman tells the tales of courageous communities built from rubble while exploring the moral complexities inherent in any movement, and the struggles against displacement that continue in varied forms today. To coincide with the republishing of this classic novel by Ad Asta Comix, Tobocman will lead an illustrated discussion of his experiences, his art, and how the two intersect.

Seth Tobocman co- founded the magazine World War 3 Illustrated and is the author of many graphic books including his latest, Len, A Lawyer in History, about civil rights attorney Leonard Weinglass. His illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, the Village Voice, The Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, posters, banners, murals, patches and tattoos by people’s movements all over the world.
This event is co-sponsored by with Loisaida Inc.

Dawn Powell and the Village in Print
Monday, November 14th
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street



Novelist, playwright, diarist and cultural critic Dawn Powell moved in the same circles as Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, Maxwell Perkins and other 20th-century luminaries. Originally from Ohio, Powell's compelling novels often focused on her adopted home of New York City, where she moved in 1918 and lived for the rest of her life. A 2012 New Yorker profile stated that "...she dove into city life with an outlander's anthropological zeal," and it is this exploration and celebration of New York life that fostered her reputation for scouring wit and social observation. Though Powell's work has been out of print in recent years, she was at the center of Village culture during her career. Join Patricia Palermo, the author of The Message of the City, a critical biography which put Powell's life and career in the historical and cultural context of New York City and Greenwich Village, to explore Powell's diaries and letters, as well as contemporaries' works. Using these primary sources, Palmero pieces together the rich city life that Powell so expertly observed and critiqued. Palmero's book will be avialable for purchase and signing after the event.

Celebrating Chess Forum
Thursday, November 10
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Chess Forum, 219 Thompson Street



For the first time since 1995, New York City hosts the blockbuster 2016 World Championship of Chess. On the eve of the big event, join GVSHP at Chess Forum to celebrate the game's long legacy in the Village. Imad Khachan, Thompson Street business owner of over 20 years, will regale us with myriad tales of the vibrant Village chess scene. Come enjoy this Village institution with fellow chess lovers, and you may even strike up a game with a local master. Chess Forum was named GVSHP's Business of the Month in October, and we're proud to highlight this important chess haven. Imad says “Macdougal had Bob Dylan and Washington Square Park had Bobby Fischer” - and luckily for us, Thompson Street still has Chess Forum. Join us to celebrate Imad, his shop, and Village chess culture on November 10th!

Buried Lives in Washington Square Park
Thursday, November 3
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Judson Memorial Church, 293 Thompson

New York City’s history is all around us – and below us. Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D., LLC, has served as archaeological consultant on all four phases of the recent Washington Square Park reconstruction, where she’s uncovered new history and unraveled mysteries about the park’s past. Most New Yorkers know that much of the square originally served as a potter’s field, but Geismar has revealed illuminating new evidence, like the presence of a keeper’s house on the property, brick burial vaults containing centuries-old coffins, and most surprisingly, the tombstone of early immigrant James Jackson, which sparked new knowledge and investigation into the square’s original uses.  At this talk, Geismar will explore how she, through research and on-site excavation, identifies potential areas of significance, creates protocols for appropriate investigation, and uncovers elements of New York City long since buried and forgotte

[Photo credit: New York City Parks Department]

Village Macabre walking tour
Sunday, October 30
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.



Celebrate the Halloween season with some of the most mysterious and macabre stories in New York history — murders, hangings, explosions, famous missing persons, and specters all haunt the historic streets of Greenwich Village. Expert tour guide Joyce Gold will guide you through the autumnal scenery as you explore tales of the Village’s early 19th-century Jewish graveyard, Newgate prison, Edgar Allan Poe’s home and inspiration for The Raven, the hangman’s house, America’s most famous missing person, and more.

The Puppets of the Village Parade:
a studio tour with Halloween Parade founder Ralph Lee

Wednesday, October 19
Tours at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m.
Westbeth Arts Center
55 Bethune Street



In 1974, Ralph Lee, in conjunction with the Theater for the New City, organized the first Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, which began in the courtyard of the Westbeth Artists Community before snaking through the neighborhood to Washington Square Park. During Lee’s tenure the parade grew from a small community event featuring his intriguing masks and giant puppets into one of New York City's major festivals, attracting over 250,000 people and media attention from around the world.  For his work on the parade, Lee received a 1975 Village Voice OBIE Award and 1985 Citation from the Municipal Arts Society, and in 1993 he was inducted into the CityLore People's Hall of Fame. Enjoy exclusive access into Lee’s Westbeth home and studio, where many of his puppets from the Village parade and other outdoor spectacles adorn the space. Talk with Lee about the history of the parade, the Greenwich Village arts scene, and his artistic vision that created a downtown Halloween institution.


Photo credit: Erin Kestenbaum for 6SQFT



Plaque Unveiling: Chaim Gross Home and Studio
Thursday, October 6
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation
526 LaGuardia Place, at Bleecker Street



Born to a Jewish family in the Carpathian Mountains, sculptor and educator Chaim Gross’s first brush with art came while growing up watching local peasants whittle wood figures.  After studying art in Budapest, Gross came to New York City in 1921 and continued his studies at the Educational Alliance, where he later taught. Working predominantly in wood, stone, and eventually bronze, his work conveyed a sense of joy, exuberance, and celebration of movement and form. In 1963, Gross and his family moved to a historic home at 526 LaGuardia Place, where the artist worked and lived until his death in 1991. Since 1974, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation has operated out of the building, acquiring, displaying, researching and educating about art. Today the foundation holds an impressive collection of over 10,000 items (including Gross’s extensive personal collection) and the building's third floor exhibits the Gross's living space, exactly as it was when the apartment was in use. Join GVSHP and Two Boots to mark this important Village site with the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the work of Chaim Gross and the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation. Speakers will explore the important legacy of the studio and the Gross family. Following the unveiling, enjoy a reception inside the foundation’s beautiful home.




Native American History walking tour:
From the East to West Village
Saturday, October 1
11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.




You might assume that New York’s streets are as old as Dutch settlement, but many of the thoroughfares we use today actually began long before that. Early settlers adopted many pathways that were originally carved by truly native New Yorkers, and these routes were incorporated into the more formal city plan as development spread across the island. On this extended tour, Evan Pritchard, author of Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, will take you on a journey through the history of New York’s streets from west to east. Starting in Greenwich Village, you’ll traverse the island before ending at the St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery graveyard where Peter Stuyvesant is interred. Along the way, you’ll see the streets and plazas through Native American eyes and explore how New York’s indigenous history influences our modern streetscapes and public spaces. Drawing upon archaeology, linguistics, and oral and written histories, this walk will link the legacy of the Lenape with Abraham Lincoln, modern luxury, and more. Co-sponsored by Neighborhood Preservation Center and Village Alliance.



City on a Grid book talk
Tuesday, September 27
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street, between West Street and Washington Street

Love it or hate it, nothing says New York like the Manhattan street grid. Created in 1811 by a three-man commission, the grid brought order to a city just under two hundred years old. Until then, New York was an overgrown town at the southern tip of Manhattan, a notorious jumble of streets laid at the whim of landowners. To bring order to the chaos—and good real estate to market—the street planning commission created an ordered, geometric grid for the rest of the island. It has been called “a disaster” of urban planning and “the most courageous act of prediction in Western civilization.” But what are the true origins of the grid? Join author Gerard Koeppel as he explores the history of Manhattan’s imposing grid and the story of its creators. You’ll learn how the commissioners arrived at their plan, how irregular downtown layouts factored in, and some specific roles that Greenwich Village played in the creation and adoption of the monumental street plan. Were the commissioners prescient geniuses, or uninspired bureaucrats? You decide - but it is undeniable that their work has determined the way millions of people move through New York each day.



Tale of Four Schools

Thursday, September 22
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
The Loisaida Inc. Center
710 E 9th Street, at Avenue C

Architect CBJ Snyder was a prolific designer of New York public school buildings, completing more than 350 schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A graduate of Cooper Union, Snyder had big ideas about design, too - he believed that public school buildings should be civic monuments to a better, brighter future. Snyder’s innovative buildings included progressive solutions for light, air, fireproofing, and classroom size. How can we better care for our community resources facilitate adaptive reuse, and what can we still learn from Snyder’s century-old philosophies? Professor Jean Arrington, who has researched Snyder’s work and legacy in New York, will share her insights and Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council, will moderate a discussion with stakeholders of four Snyder projects: PS 31, a demolished Bronx landmark; two former Harlem schools (PS 106 at 215 East 99th and PS 186 at 521 West 145th) aiming to serve as community anchors; and PS 64, an East 9th Street building with an uncertain future. Organized with the Loisaida Inc. Center, and co-sponsored by the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, East Village Community Coalition, and Historic Districts Council.

East Village Community Gardens
Walking tour
Saturday, September  17, 11:00 a.m. –  1:00 p.m.


The East Village boasts an impressive number of community gardens, and each one has its own personality and purpose. Join us on this walking tour of several distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet some of the gardeners and organizers who make it possible to enjoy their beauty. Please note this is a walking tour, so wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. Co-sponsored by Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens.

GVSHP Members Assembly:
Presentations and Reception with GVSHP Staff and Members
Thursday, September 15, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11st Street, at 2nd Avenue

What are the latest preservation battles? What are some of the most recent victories?  What new tools and resources are available for history and neighborhood buffs?  And what are some of the great programs you may have missed but can enjoy from the comfort of your home on your mobile device?  Learn more and ask questions at this event with Executive Director Andrew Berman and the entire GVSHP staff. Short presentations will be followed by light refreshments and conversation with GVSHP staff and fellow members. It all takes place at GVSHP’s lovely home at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, the landmarked Ernest Flagg-designed former rectory of St. Mark’s Church.  Weather permitting, we’ll also take advantage of the beautiful private St. Mark’s west churchyard, bordering the 1799 Church.


Free, for members of GVSHP and friends only. Members are encouraged to bring a friend to learn more about GVSHP. 
[This event is not wheelchair accessible.]




Community Planning and Rezoning in Today’s New York

Tuesday, September 13, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
40 Washington Square South, Greenberg Lounge
NYU Law School, Vanderbilt Hall

In the aftermath of approval of the mayor’s revised Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) plans, community-led rezoning plans remain sidelined at City Hall. Presentations from several Manhattan neighborhood groups will highlight common challenges, shared goals and sensible approaches to development pressures. Is there a more effective model than New York’s current top-down planning? Communities which have crafted their own rezoning plans or are in the process of formalizing their visions will share their views and experience at this panel discussion. You'll hear from organizations including GVSHP, East River 50s Alliance, Landmark West!, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, Save Harlem Now!, Inwood Preservation, Northern Manhattan Not For Sale, Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side and Historic Districts Council. 
This event is also in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of New York City’s zoning laws.

Free. Reservations required.
[This event is wheelchair accessible.]

Barney Gallant’s Swinging Greenwich Village
Walking tour

Wednesday, August 31
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.


You may not know the name Barney Gallant today, but in the early 20th century he was downright famous – at least in the Village. A Latvian immigrant who arrived in America in 1903, Gallant quickly injected himself into Village culture. He was Eugene O’Neill’s first roommate and the first New Yorker prosecuted under the Volstead Act for serving booze at his restaurant on Sheridan Square. His speakeasies were legendary, ritzy affairs that served exclusive clientele including party-loving Mayor Jimmy Walker. Join Esther Crain, writer of the popular blog Ephemeral New York and author of the upcoming hardcover The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910, for a walking tour tracing the life of this Village eccentric. Stroll the historic streets of the west side as you stop at the surviving locations of Gallant speakeasies Club Gallant and Speako de Luxe, his restaurant Greenwich Village Inn, his old Sixth Avenue apartment, and other spots of swinging Village nightlife.


Haunts of Dylan Thomas walking tour

with Poet Bob Holman

Wednesday, August 10
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.


Join your fellow GVSHP members and Bob Holman for a guided tour of the Greenwich Village sites that are connected to famed Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas.  Enjoy the historic Village while exploring some of Thomas’s favorite haunts.  Stops will include the Cherry Lane Theatre, Chumley’s bar, the Minetta Tavern and E.E. Cummings’ apartment on Patchin Place.  After the tour, quench your thirst at the historic White Horse Tavern. The bar is where Thomas hoisted his last drink, and we’ll hoist our own to his memory while Bob reads a few Thomas poems. The White Horse Tavern will offer $5 draft beers for the occasion.

This program is for members at the $50 level and above.
Free. Reservations required.
Meeting location provided with reservation.
[This event is not wheelchair accessible.]



Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival

A lecture with music at Caffe Vivaldi

Tuesday, August 2nd, 6:30pm
Caffe Vivaldi, 32 Jones St
Free. Reservations recommended.



In the 1950s and 1960s, folk music blossomed in New York City, especially in Greenwich Village, where clubs and coffee houses showcased stalwarts like Pete Seeger and Odetta and nurtured a generation of newcomers, including Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Stephen Petrus literally wrote the book on the topic and curated a recent multi-media exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York. In the iconic Caffe Vivaldi, join Stephen for an illustrated presentation that traces the roots of the revival, its growth in New York, its major players, and its impact on American politics and culture during the tumultuous 1960s. Caffe Vivaldi has nurtured upcoming and established musicians for over thirty years, and the space is replete with music heritage of its own. Three live music performances will follow Stephen’s talk and you’re encouraged to stay and enjoy the convivial atmosphere of the café. A full menu and bar will be available all night, both during and after Stephen’s presentation.

[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]
[Photo courtesy of the Ronald D. Cohen Collection in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.]



Building History Detective
- Sold Out
An introduction to building research with historian Susan De Vries

Thursday, July 21st
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
Washington Square Institute
41 East 11th Street, between Broadway and University Place
Free; reservations requested.
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Researcher Susan De Vries will guide the audience through the process of using various online resources to find more details of a building’s architectural and social history, allowing you to become a building history detective in Greenwich Village. A take-home resource guide will also be distributed during the program, which will outline a number of helpful resources.

Presented by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Neighborhood Preservation Center.



Jane Jacobs Trivia Night
- Sold Out

Tuesday, July 19th
6:30 - 8:30P.M.
Burger Joint
33 West 8th Street, between 5th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas
Free; reservations requested.

Join us for an evening of friendly trivia competition, all Jane Jacobs! Emceed by WNYC reporter Jim O'Grady, you'll show off your Jane Jacobs knowledge and learn even more about the famous author and urban activist. This program is a part of the Municipal Art Society’s Celebrating 100 Years of Jane Jacobs. A raffle after trivia will feature prizes from local businesses, including Salon V, Murrays Cheese, and 305 Fitness. Drinks and food will be available for purchase during the event.

Presented by The Village Alliance, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and the Neighborhood Preservation Center.



Jean-Michel Basquiat Historic Plaque Ceremony
In Partnership with Two Boots

Wednesday, July 13th
6:00 P.M.
57 Great Jones Street
Free; reservations requested.



The great American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) forged an innovative and inspiring language that melded his urban American experience with his African-Caribbean heritage. The painter, collagist and musician lived and worked at the height of his career in the 1980’s in a loft studio in NoHo, and his connection to the city was integral to his work. Join GVSHP and Two Boots outside 57 Great Jones Street to unveil a historic plaque that marks the site of his former home and studio. In the unveiling ceremony, we’ll celebrate and explore the invaluable work and local connections of this essential artist. 



Daytonian in Manhattan: New York's Kleindeutschland

Tuesday, July 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]




Historian and blogger (Daytonian in Manhattan) Tom Miller explores the fascinating history of New York’s Kleindeutschland, or Little Germany, through stories of a few surviving structures including Beethoven Hall, the German Odd Fellows’ Hall and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church among others.  The German immigrants of the Lower East Side endured hardships through music, religion and fellowship, and overcame devastating tragedy through determination and perseverance.  This lost era in Manhattan history is preserved not only in the buildings that survive, but in the stories attached to them.



Jefferson Market Garden Party
to benefit The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Wednesday, June 29, 6-8p.m.

Join the GVSHP Brokers Partnership on Wednesday, June 29th for a wine and cheese garden party in one of Greenwich Village's hidden treasures.

Jefferson Market Garden is a beautiful garden nestled in one of the busiest corners of the City next to one of our most renowned landmark buildings, the Jefferson Market Library.

Resplendent with glorious blooms throughout the seasons, join us and treat your senses to the beauty of colors and scents in a tranquil natural setting. Enjoy wine and cheese while listening to the music of the Bobby Lynn Trio.Tours of the Historic Jefferson Market Library will be provided.

Marking LGBT History in the Village and Beyond
A Panel Discussion with REPOhistory
Co-sponsored by The New School and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics

Wednesday, June 22
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Theresa Lang Center, The New School, 55 West 13th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]



Beyond the famous Stonewall Inn,  there is much more to gay history in New York City. Six former members of the REPOhistory Collective (1989-2001) discuss Queer Spaces, a public art project marking important LGBTQ historical sites in the Village and beyond. They will focus on the importance of place in the creation of memory and legacy in their earlier and current projects in art and activism.

The Panelist will be Todd Ayoung, Jim Costanzo, Betti-Sue Hertz, Kara Lynch, David Sansone and Tom Klem as the moderator. Introductions by Carin Kuoni, REPOHistory member and Director and Curator of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.



The Irish Bridget
Celebrating Immigrant Heritage & History Month

Tuesday, June 21
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Church of St. Brigid – St. Emeric, Corner of Avenue B and 8th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]


Who was the Irish Bridget? What relevance does her story have to the history of Irish immigration to America? Margaret Lynch-Brennan will use photographs and personal letters the Irish Bridgets wrote to one another to give insight into the lives of these young immigrant girls.  She will discuss their work life, their social life, the impact they had on Irish-American life, labor history and women’s history. Dr. Lynch-Brennan will also explore the relevance of the Irish Bridget’s story to contemporary American life, in which domestic service is again populated by female immigrants, and immigration is once more the subject of intense public debate.


Co-sponsored by The Merchant's House Museum. This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Public Scholars program.


 




A Stroll Through the Garden
*
History of Jefferson Market Garden with Jack Intrator

Friday, June 17
6:00– 8:00 P.M.



Jefferson Market Garden, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
Free; reservations required

* For GVSHP members at the $100 level and up
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Please join Jack Intrator for a private tour of the Jefferson Market Garden and the Jefferson Market Library. Jack will explain and show through a book of photographs and art how this small, triangular plot of land evolved from a food market in the 1830s into a Courthouse and Women’s Prison to a stunning garden and a library housed in a re-purposed Victorian Gothic building. Jack is the historian for the Jefferson Market Garden and also a member of its Board of Directors. Refreshments will be provided.



GVSHP Annual Meeting and Village Awards

Tuesday, June 14
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
The New School, 66 West 12th Street.
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Each June GVSHP holds its Annual Meeting and Village Awards presentation. The Annual Village Awards are in recognition of those people, places, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. This event is hosted by the New School.

Congratulations to the 2016 Village Award Recipients:

East Village Meat Market
Jaffe Art Theater Interior Restoration
Julius’ Bar
Smalls Jazz Club
Steve Cannon
The Strand Bookstore
Regina Kellerman Award Winners: Save Gansevoort.

A review of the Society’s activities and accomplishments over the last year will be provided; reception follows. All are welcome! Please invite friends, family, and neighbors to join.



Remembering the General Slocum Tragedy

Wednesday, June 15
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Tompkins Square Park, in the Park on the North side, at the Slocum Memorial Fountain
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904 when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River. The greatest loss of life in New York before 9-11, it has been said that the Slocum Disaster of was the end of the German community in the East Village. Two years later the oft-overlooked Slocum Memorial Fountain was installed in the park. Join us as we recognize the 110th year since this monument was installed. After a brief presentation there will be a 1 hour walking tour of what was then referred to as Kleindeutschland  or “Little Germany,” as we visit sites of importance to the historic German-American community around the park.

The walk will be guided by Edward T. O’Donnell, historian, author, tour guide, and Associate Professor of History at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA.  He is the author of Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum and several other books.  This event is co-sponsored by the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, East Village Community Coalition, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, South Bronx Unite and Manhattan Borough Historian Michael Miscione.



From Fulton Market to Gansevoort Street
One Granddaughter's Remembrance of Her Family's Storied NYC Meat Business

Tuesday, June 7
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Celebrating Immigrant Heritage & History Month
Free; reservations required.
Westbeth Community Room, 155 Bank Street, between West Street and Washington Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Before the HighLine, before all the tony shops, galleries and restaurants in Greenwich Village's "Meatpacking District", there were the meat businesses. What did these firms do exactly?  Where did they go? And what did they contribute to the reputation of New York as purveyors of world class steak?  Jacquelyn A. Ottman, 5th Generation New Yorker, will answer these questions and more when she shares her own remembrance of a business that formed an integral part of her family for five generations. Ottman, a 'school break' veteran of the business herself, will take us inside the walls of what is now One-Three and Five Little West 12th Street (and the business that preceeded it in Fulton Market), providing architectural, historical, cultural, and personal perspectives on NYC's meaty past, her family's business and the lasting contribution its pioneering ways made to the way we all eat today.



Site-Specific Works at The New School Art Collection

A talk and slideshow with curator Silvia Rocciolo

Tuesday, May 24   
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Hoerle Lecture Hall
The New School, University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Learn about the history of The New School through the lens of important site-specific art.  From the 1931 José Orozco frescos to Glenn Ligon’s neon commission for the new University Center, the eleven site specific artworks in The New School Art Collection are focal points that serve as rich markers of the university's institutional identity. 


Image via
Glenn Ligon
Comrades and Lovers, 2015
neon 
Permanent Site-Specific Commission for The New School University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York City
The New School Art Collection

Join curator Silvia Rocciolo for a virtual tour of these commissions.  Beginning with the Joseph Urban building at 66 West 12th, we will learn about commissions by Orozco, Camilo Egas, Martin Puryear, Gonzalo Fonseca and Dave Muller. From here we’ll move then to Arnhold Hall at 55 West 13th to learn about the Sol LeWitt, Kara Walker, and Brian Tolle murals, concluding with the University Center on 5th Avenue to learn about recent commissions by Alfredo Jaar, Glenn Ligon, and Rita McBride.



A walking tour of East Village Community Gardens

Celebrating Lower East Side History Month
Co-sponsored by Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens

Saturday, May 21  
11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed.

Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet some of the gardeners and organizers who make it possible to enjoy their beauty.

This is a walking tour, so please wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately. There are no rest rooms in any of these gardens.

East Village: Lens on the Lower East Side
a book talk with East Village photographers

Celebrating Lower East Side History Month

Tuesday, May 17
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

“East Village: Lens on the Lower East Side,” published by the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (LESPI), artfully chronicles through words and contemporary photographs the colorful past and still vibrant present of the area now known as the East Village.

LESPI’s mission is to preserve the Lower East Side through historic district designation; the book celebrates the area’s unique history and distinctive streetscapes while making the case for further preservation. The author, longtime resident and community advocate, Marilyn Appleberg, and several of the photographers, all of whom have their artistic roots in the East Village, will be on hand to discuss the book and to answer questions. Books will be available for purchase and signing.  Proceeds benefit LESPI, a non-profit organization. 


The Legacy of Jane Jacobs in the Village
A panel discussion with Alice Sparberg Alexiou, Katy Bordonaro, and Warren Shaw

Celebrating the centennial of Jane Jacobs’s birth

Wednesday, May 4        
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Village Community School
272 West 10th Street, between Hudson Street and Greenwich Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Join us as panelists discuss Jane Jacobs and how her work and activism shaped the landscape of our neighborhoods. The massive urban renewal projects proposed by Robert Moses were defeated by the early preservation efforts of Jacobs. Her writings and philosophy changed the way we built, planned, and organized for generations to come, in the Village and beyond.

GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman will moderate the discussion.


STORE FRONT II – A History Preserved
A book program with photodocumentarians James & Karla Murray

Tuesday, April 19
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In this visual presentation, the Murrays take the audience on a new photographic journey by spotlighting the ongoing story of New York’s independent shops, bodegas, bars and more with the same vibrant photography and deeply personal interviews as its predecessors, Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York and New York Nights. The Murrays have taken vivid photographs of an outstanding selection of bars and pubs, restaurants and cafes, music venues, and shops, all with historical significance and enduring after-dark aesthetics.

James and Karla were awarded the 2015 Regina Kellerman Award by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) in recognition of their significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.



Three Homosexuals in Search of a Drink
The 50th Anniversary of the Sip-In at Julius’
A panel discussion with Tom Bernardin, self-described historian of Julius’, and Andrew Dolkart, Ken Lustbader, and Jay Shockley of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project with special guest Dick Leitsch.

Tuesday, April 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

[Photo © 2016 Courtesy Estate of Fred W. McDarrah. All Rights Reserved]

Fifty years ago a person could be refused service in a bar simply for being gay, and his or her mere presence there could result in the bar’s closure by the State Liquor Authority. On April 21, 1966, Dick Leitsch and other members of the Mattachine Society, an early LGBT rights organization, staged the now famous Sip-In at Julius’ bar in the Village to challenge this “legal” discrimination. After they announced to the bartender that they were homosexuals and wished to be served, they were refused service. The event generated publicity and was one of the earliest acts of organized LGBT civil disobedience in New York City. Scholars of LGBT history consider the Sip-In at Julius’ as a key event leading to the growth of legitimate LGBT bars and the development of the bar as the central social space for urban LGBT New Yorkers.

Join host Tom Bernardin at this 50th anniversary event that will also honor special guest Dick Leitsch.  A panel discussion with Andrew Dolkart, Ken Lustbader, and Jay Shockley of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project will cover the history of the Sip-In, their recent efforts to have the site nominated to the National Register of Historic Places and the historical significance of LGBT Greenwich Village.

Special offer: Own a Piece of History!!

Click here to order your own copy of the Fred McDarrah photo.


GVSHP Members-only* program (for members at the $50 level and up)
Not a member? Join now! members


 


A Walking Tour of Civil War Sites

Led by historian and tour guide Joyce Gold

Thursday, April 14
10:30 A.M. – Noon
Free; reservations required.
*for GVSHP members at the $50 level and up
Meeting location will be provided after registration is confirmed.

There are many notable locations in and around the Village from Cooper Union to Union Square that relate to the Civil War. Historian Joyce Gold will lead us on a walking tour of some of these. Listening devices will be provided so you won’t miss a word of Joyce’s well-researched narrative.

Highlights include:
·      Abraham Lincoln, the candidate and president
·      Horace Greeley, the abolitionist editor
·      Confederate plot to burn down New York
·      The Draft Riots
·      The Monitor & New York shipbuilding
·      The significance of Union Square and Madison Square to the war effort


Historic Preservation in NYC:
What do the last 50 years tell us about the next 50?

Co-Sponsored by ArtWatch International, Inc.

Thursday, April 7
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required RSVP: 
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, near 12th Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

[photo credit: Collection of The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden / The Colonial Dames of America]

Join us as four leaders of museums and advocacy groups discuss the successes and failures of historic preservation within their field, examine current issues in preservation law and city development, and engage on current issues that can be better addressed in the future. The host, ArtWatch International, Inc., was founded in 1992 as an advocacy non-profit to promote an open dialogue on the conservation and stewardship of historically significant works of art and cultural monuments.

Following each speaker's presentation, a short panel discussion will be moderated by the Director of ArtWatch International, Ruth Osborne. 

PARTICIPANTS:
Andrew Berman (Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation)
Simeon Bankoff (Historic Districts Council)
Adam Steinberg (Senior Education Associate, Lower East Side Tenement Museum)
Host: Ruth Osborne (Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden / ArtWatch International)


Butchery on Bond Street

A lecture and slideshow with author Benjamin Feldman

Co-Sponsored by Merchant's House Museum













Wednesday, March 30
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, between Hudson Street and 7th Avenue South
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

On the morning of January 31, 1857, Harvey Burdell's body was found on the floor of his dentistry office in his home at 31 Bond Street. His widowed ex-lover (and landlady) was accused of his murder in a case that filled the headlines. Emma Cunningham's desperate attempts to force the playboy bachelor to marry her and provide a home for her and her five children captured the attention of New Yorkers and people across America. The murder of an upper-middle class professional in his own home, coupled with the accused murderess' efforts to wreak vengeance form a tale that was infamous in its day, but now long forgotten.

Benjamin Feldman is the author of Butchery on Bond Street. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.


Contemporary Writers on a Lost Greenwich Village
A discussion with authors Vivian Gornick and Sarah Schulman

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, March 24
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Chroniclers of an ever-changing New York City, Vivian Gornick (The Odd Woman and the City) and Sarah Schulman (The Gentrification of the Mind) join for a conversation on writing and reading New York on the occasion of the release of Schulman’s new novel, The Cosmopolitans.

Set in the Village in 1958, The Cosmopolitans harmonizes two classics, Balzac’s Cousin Bette and James Baldwin’s Another Country. The esteemed writers and cultural critics will discuss the literary Village and its many changes in the last half-century through the lens of both their current books.

Copies of Ms. Schulman's books will be available for purchase and signing.

Fiery Ladies: Radical Women of the Lower East Side
A panel discussion with Elissa Sampson, Joyce Mendelsohn, and Kate Pastor

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Celebrating Women's History Month

Co-Sponsored by Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy












Tuesday, March 15
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street,
between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The lives and actions of Lillian Wald, Emma Goldman, Rose Pastor Stokes, Clara Lemlich, and others will be explored in this lively panel discussion, moderated by Laurie Tobias Cohen, Executive Director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy. Issues such as women’s voting and reproductive rights, workers’ rights and the early labor movement, settlement houses, and political activism will be examined.

Panelists include Elissa Sampson, PhD, urban geographer and Lower East Side resident interested in how its past is actively used to create new spaces of migration, memory and heritage; Joyce Mendelsohn, author of The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited; and Kate Pastor, a freelance journalist and great grandniece of Rose Pastor Stokes.

The Social Geography of Village Housing in the Sixties:
Westbeth, Private Developers and Public Housing for Artists
A lecture with Jeffrey Trask

Co-Sponsored by Village Alliance and Westbeth Artists Residence Council











Thursday, March 3
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Westbeth Community Room, 155 Bank Street, between West Street and Washington Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Jeffrey Trask, Assistant Professor of History, Georgia State University, looks back at the west Village in the 1960s to ask how the once dis-invested waterfront neighborhood of run-down piers, abandoned warehouses and empty storefronts developed into the gentrified landscape of luxury lofts, architect-branded buildings, and fashionable bars, restaurants and boutiques of today. Trask looks at various proposals for housing along the waterfront, and explains how a fairly radical idea at the time of converting factories into artist lofts sparked a revolution in ideas about the arts, urban planning and private real estate development.

Professor Trask is a historian of American cultural and intellectual history with a specialization in cities and the arts. His book Things American: Art Museums and Civic Culture in the Progressive Era (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012) examines a movement in the early twentieth century that put art museums at the center of the cultural politics of the Progressive Era, using museum objects as models of good design to influence the physical environment of cities. His current research looks at the history of industrial aesthetics, examining the relationship between industry and labor, reformers and working-class families and the architects and engineers who developed landscapes of industrial capitalism. “’The Loft Cause’ or ‘Bohemia Gone Bourgeois’? Artist Housing and Private Development in Greenwich Village”  (Journal of Urban History, 2015) examines the history of the Westbeth Arts Center – the first large-scale institutional conversion of industrial spaces into artist lofts.

Secrets of  the Underground Railroad/Greenwich Village Connections
A Lecture and Book Signing by Don Papson with remarks by Otis Kidwell Burger

Celebrating African-American History Month

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Wednesday, February 24
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

National Anti-Slavery Standard editor Sydney Howard Gay and his Philadelphia Quaker bride Elizabeth Neall made do in two small rented rooms on 12th street in 1845. Ten years later, Gay published the story of an enslaved woman named Harriet who escaped with her child from Richmond, Virginia, to New York City on the steamer Jamestown. A black family on Sullivan Street hid and protected them from the captain. 

Between 1855 and 1856, Gay recorded the moving stories of over 200 fugitives. His unexpected transformation from slavery apologist to abolitionist, his unlikely alliance with the free black conductor, Louis Napoleon, and his never before published Record of Fugitives will be highlighted.

Don Papson is the founder the North Star Underground Railroad Museum at Ausable Chasm, New York, and is co-author of Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City, Sydney Howard Gay, Louis Napoleon and the Record of Fugitives. Otis Kidwell Burger is a great-granddaughter of Sydney Howard and Elizabeth Gay. An artist, poet and author, she is a long time resident of Greenwich Village and a frequent contributor to The Villager.

GVSHP Members-only program (for members at the $50 level and up)
Not a member? Join now!
members





This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.


Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half

A private guided tour at the Museum of the City of New York

Wednesday, February 17
2:30 – 3:30 P.M.
Free for GVSHP members at the $50 level and up
Meeting location will be provided after registration is confirmed.
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a pioneering newspaper reporter and social reformer in New York at the turn of the 20th century. His then-novel idea of using photographs of the city’s slums to illustrate the plight of impoverished residents established Riis as forerunner of modern photojournalism. Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half features photographs by Riis and his contemporaries, as well as his handwritten journals and personal correspondence.

GVSHP members will enjoy a private, curated guided tour of this exhibit that focuses on conditions in the Lower East Side/East Village that were photographed by Jacob Riis.

The Chintz Age: Tales of Love and Loss for a New New York
A book talk with author Ed Hamilton

Wednesday, February 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue near 12th Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

In seven stories and a novella, Ed Hamilton takes on the clash of cultures between the old and the new New York, as his characters are forced to confront their own obsolescence in the face of a rapidly surging capitalist juggernaut. 

From the East Village to Hell’s Kitchen, from the Bowery to Washington Heights—Hamilton weaves a spellbinding web of urban mythology. Punks, hippies, beatniks, squatters, junkies, derelicts, and anarchists, search for meaning and a place to make their stand in dive bars, cheap diners, flophouses, and shooting galleries.

Ed Hamilton is also the author of Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the Artists and Outlaws of New York’s Rebel Mecca. Both books will be available for purchase and signing.

Little Africa in the South Village
A lecture and slideshow with historian Joyce Gold

Celebrating African-American History Month

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, February 4
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street,
between Hudson Street and 7th Avenue South
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

The South Village was once home to a significant population of African-Americans, known as “Little Africa,” along Minetta Street and Minetta Lane, Sullivan, Thompson, Carmine, and Grove Streets, from the 1860s to the turn of the 20th century. Newly emancipated slaves from the South joined an already-established community of blacks who had become free when New York State abolished slavery in 1827.

Joyce Gold teaches Manhattan history at New York University. She is the author of From Windmills to the World Trade Center: A Walking Guide through Lower Manhattan History and From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History.

St Marks is Dead
A book talk with author Ada Calhoun

Co-sponsored by Merchant's House Museum

Monday, January 25
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Theatre 80, 80 St Marks Place, between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In this idiosyncratic work of narrative history, enriched by more than two hundred interviews and dozens of rare images, St. Marks native Ada Calhoun traces the 400-year history of the area—organized around pivotal moments when yet another group of denizens declared, “St. Marks is Dead.” And yet, Calhoun shows how the street continues to provide each new generation of rebels with a place to call home.

Calhoun has been a crime reporter for the New York Post, a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review, a theater critic for New York magazine, and a ghostwriter or co-author of seven books for major publishers, including four bestsellers.

Say It Ain't Snow!
How New York Battles Winter in the Village and Beyond with Dr. Robin Nagle

Co-sponsored by NYU Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program

Thursday, January 14
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
NYU Lecture Hall at 19 University Place, near 8th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

[photo credit: Robin Nagle, 2003 Presidents Day Storm]

Winter in Greenwich Village usually includes snow. It may look pretty while it's coming down, but enough of it at once can paralyze a large urban area. What does it take for New York's Department of Sanitation, the city agency in charge of snow removal, to keep the streets clear when the white stuff falls? And how did we deal with snow removal in the Village in the 1800s? The history of this essential chore may surprise you!

Join Robin Nagle, the DSNY's anthropologist-in-residence and author of the book Picking Up, to learn some of the unexpected ways in which  snow has shaped life in the Big Apple.

Daytonian in Manhattan: Favorite Places in Greenwich Village
A slideshow and lecture by historian and blogger Tom Miller

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Wednesday, January 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In the first decades of the 20th century, Greenwich Village became Manhattan’s Bohemia.  Musicians, poets, writers and artists flocked to its winding, charismatic streets.  As artists’ studios appeared on the upper stories of buildings and houses, cafés, coffee shops, and taverns sprouted in the lower levels, often below ground. Greenwich Village’s dimly-lit night spots were picturesque, sometimes scandalous, and always colorful. 

Tom Miller takes us through a tour of a few of the Village’s most vibrant bistros of the early 1900s—including one of the city’s first lesbian clubs, a four-story jazz joint, and popular speakeasy.

Tom Miller is author of the popular blog, Daytonian in Manhattan

Last Call @Folk City at the Museum of the City of New York
An evening of music with Dominic Chianese

Co-sponsored by GVSHP

Thursday, January 7
6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In celebration of the Folk City exhibition during its final week, we welcome our friend Dominic Chianese, whom you may know from his roles on The Sopranos, The Godfather II, and Boardwalk Empire. Chianese is also a talented singer who served as MC at Gerde’s Folk City early in his career. As our MC for this evening, he’ll share some stories and sing a few songs; come prepared to sing along!



Protest & Celebration: A slideshow and lecture with Jane Weissman
Community Murals of the 1970s & 1980s in the East & West Villages

This program has reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.
Co-sponsored by Neighborhood Preservation Center

Tuesday, January 5
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center,
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote, "Murals are the people's blackboard." New York’s earliest community murals appeared in Harlem in the late 1960s, but in 1968 it was Cityarts Workshop — created in 1968 — that led to the Lower East Side being identified as the cradle of these collaborations between artists and neighborhood residents.  In 1985, Artmakers Inc. created the La Lucha Continua / The Struggle Continues mural park, a cycle of 26 murals.  Only memories and some vestiges of these murals now exist.

Jane Weissman, co-author of On the Wall: Four Decades of Community Murals in New York City will present a lecture and slideshow about the murals of the Lower East Side as well as the historic Pathfinder Mural, located at Charles and West Streets.

2015



Histories of 4th Street from East to West
A Presentation by the NYU Archives & Public History Program Master’s Degree Candidates

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Wednesday, December 16
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, 53 Washington Square South
(West 4th Street), between Sullivan and Thompson Streets
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

4th Street runs from Avenue D in the East Village, across the island of Manhattan, changing from “East 4th” to “West 4th” at Broadway. It continues on to 6th Avenue, where it changes direction on a hard angle and runs through the West Village to 13th Street, near the Meatpacking District.  Greenwich Village is known for its defiance of the numeric street grid, and is the place where West 4th Street crosses West 12th Street.

Three teams of graduate students from the NYU Archives & Public History Program have spent the semester studying and researching three particular sections of 4th Street. They have analyzed census reports, building permits, and many other resources, and will present their findings in this lecture/slideshow.

Civic Grandeur: Preserving Public Buildings
At the Museum of the City of New York

Co-sponsored by GVSHP

Monday, December 14
6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

New York's civic and public buildings have always included much more than drab government buildings. Many are symbolic landmarks that project the image of a majestic metropolis to New Yorkers and the world. As the city expands, however, we find ourselves needing to reuse or reconfigure many of these buildings, as with the recently renovated United Nations Headquarters.

Join a panel of experts on New York City architecture, history, and preservation to discuss how we can best protect the storied past of our civic buildings, while meeting 21st century demands. This program delves into the themes of our exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks, on view through January 3.

Michael Adlerstein, FAIA, Former Assistant Secretary General for the Capital Master Plan Project
Randall Mason, Chair, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Pigott, Lawyer and Author of New York’s Legal Landmarks
Erica Avrami (moderator), Assistant Professor of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University

Reception to follow

A-One, Two, Three, Four!
A history of tap dance in the Village with Tony Waag

Thursday, December 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required Click HERE to register for this program.
Baha’i Center, 53 East 11th Street, between University Place and Broadway
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Tap Dance was born in the Five Points District in lower Manhattan. It traveled uptown as the city expanded, and was a staple of Hollywood musicals and TV variety shows of the 50 ’s and 60’s. In the 1970’s tap enjoyed a renaissance at venues in and around Greenwich Village. Today you might see it on the street, in a park, in a late night club, or on a stage.

Tony Waag is Artistic and Executive Director of the American Tap Dance Foundation located at 154 Christopher Street. ATDF offers ongoing education and training programs for tappers of all ages and levels. In December of 2014 Tony received a Dance Magazine Award which recognizes those whose contributions have left a lasting impact on the dance world.

The Immigrant, Radical, Notorious Women of Washington Square
A lecture by Joyce Gold
a special encore – this program was so popular last spring, we’re bringing it back!

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Tuesday, December 8
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Home to many of the political, creative, and intellectual movements in New York’s history, the residences around Washington Square and its amazing female population account for much of that vitality. Throughout the years, Washington Square’s environs have seen an unparalleled array of women—working class, gentry, radical, literary, academic, theatrical, convict, and immigrant.

Highlights of the talk include literary, art, and theatre iconoclasts; the salon of Mable Dodge, a center of WW I-era activism; the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and its role in the labor movement; and the suffrage movement.

Joyce Gold teaches Manhattan history at New York University. She is the author of From Windmills to the World Trade Center: A Walking Guide through Lower Manhattan History and From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History.



GVSHP Contributors* program


A Holiday Reception and Tour at the Merchant’s House Museum

*for GVSHP members at the $100 level and above

Wednesday, December 2
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Merchant’s House Museum, 29 East 4th Street, between Lafayette Street and Bowery
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

The Merchant’s House Museum was one of the first buildings to be given landmark status when the New York City Landmarks Law took effect 50 years ago. The house will be in festive mid-19th century holiday dress with a table-top tree, poinsettias, and greenery decking the halls. Join us for candlelight tours of the house, caroling, and Dickensian fare as we celebrate the holidays in Old New-York.

With special performance previews of “A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the MERCHANT’S HOUSE, Charles Dickens in New York, 1867” throughout the evening by star John Kevin Jones, and holiday raffle.

The New Ohio Theatre
A visit to the New Ohio Theatre in the historic Archive Building

Monday, November 23
6:30 – 8:00 P.M..
Free; reservations required
The New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street,
between Greenwich Street and Washington Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The Ohio Theatre was founded on Wooster Street in Soho in the 1980s and quickly established itself on the downtown theatre scene, commissioning, developing, presenting, and hosting New York’s independent theatre community. Drama Desk nominations, OBIE Awards, Audience First Awards in Edinburgh, Off-Broadway productions, commercial runs, national and international tours, and two Village Voice Obie Awards soon followed. In 2010, the theater moved to Christopher Street as New Ohio Theatre, reestablishing the West Village as a destination for mature, ridiculous, engaged, irreverent, gut-wrenching, frivolous, sophisticated, foolish, and profound theatrical endeavors.

Artistic Director Robert Lyons will give a brief history of the New (and old) Ohio Theatre. Producing Director Marc Stuart Weitz will give a short history of the Archive Building.

Rambling Around Woody Guthrie's New York
A virtual tour with his daughter Nora Guthrie

Co-sponsored by GVSHP

Thursday, November 19 6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York 1220 5th Avenue, at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Although legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie hailed from Okemah, Oklahoma, his travels took him across the country, "from California to the New York Island." Join us for an intimate virtual tour of the various NYC locations where Guthrie lived and where he wrote some of his best-loved songs; from streets and stoops to apartments, coffee houses, and park benches.

Woody's daughter, Nora Guthrie, will provide a glimpse into the many places Guthrie called home, as she shares archival photographs, historic audio, and rare film footage in a multi-media presentation that recreates Guthrie's life in New York from the 1940s to the 1960s. 

Books About Greenwich Village Make Great Holiday Gifts
A Book Fair with authors and their books about the Village

Tuesday, November 17
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street,
between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street
[Sorry, this venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Together in one room, we are happy to assemble a collection of diverse books about the history, architecture, people, and culture of the Greenwich Village area, so you can get a head start on your holiday shopping. Or you may want to buy them all for yourself!

Authors Robert Herman (The New Yorkers), Robin Lynn and Francis Morrone (Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes), James & Karla Murray (STORE FRONT and NEW YORK NIGHTS), Janko Puls (Point of View New York City), Brian Rose (Metamorphosis), Ellen Shumsky (Decade of Progress 1968-1978), and Robin Shulman (Eat the City) will be on hand to sign copies of the books you purchase. Our own book, Greenwich Village Stories, will be available too. What great gifts these will make, and all in one room!

Bell Labs on West Street:
Seven Decades of Innovation that Changed our World

A history before Westbeth

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, November 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Westbeth Community Room, 55 Bethune Street, near West Street
You may also enter at 155 Bank Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Before the collection of buildings we know today as Westbeth became a sanctuary of affordable housing and studio space for artists, it was the home of Bell Labs. About 4000 scientists and engineers worked at this imposing space overlooking the Hudson River at the western edge of Greenwich Village.

Bell Labs has its roots in the consolidation of several engineering departments within the American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) company and the Western Electric company, the manufacturing organization for the Bell System. As the emerging telephone business took hold in the 1920s, attention increasingly turned to exploring fundamental areas of science.  The result: breakthroughs that led to the development of fax machines, television transmission, public address systems, sound motion pictures, commercial radio stations, and much more.

Ed Eckert, archivist for Bell Labs, will present a lecture and slideshow about the rich history of creativity and innovation that took place at 463 West Street, before it became Westbeth.

Eric Andersen Concert:
Eric Andersen in Concert at the City Museum
With Special Guests The Chapin Sisters

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Friday, November 6, 2015
7:00 P.M.
Tickets $35; use code FOLKY for discount
Museum of the City of New York
1220 5th Avenue between 103rd and 104th Streets
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Eric Andersen, the finest singer/songwriter of romantic songs to come out of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s, distinguished himself with chestnuts such as "Violets of Dawn" and "Come to My Bedside" and the civil rights song "Thirsty Boots." Rolling Stone called Eric, "the most elegant of singers," while Bob Dylan observed, "Eric is a great ballad singer and writer." An award-winning and prolific songwriter, Andersen has released 30 albums.

Artists from all over the world have recorded his songs, including Judy Collins, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Johnny Cash. Special guests with Eric are The Chapin Sisters. Carrying on the legacy of their famous father and uncle, the sisters have released five albums of songs with gorgeous harmonies, including the nationally acclaimed A Date with the Everly Brothers.

Oral Histories of Extraordinary East Villagers
New Additions to the GVSHP Archive

Monday, November 2
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In 2014, GVSHP began an ongoing series of interviews with cultural pioneers and community leaders in the South and East Village. The project aims to record, preserve, and use the stories of of these exceptional individuals to increase our understanding of the cultural and social history of these historically diverse and dynamic neighborhoods and preserve these voices and stories for future generations to learn from.

Our most recent oral history interviews with notable East Villagers, which may be sampled that evening, include Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas, Veselka owner Tom Birchard, community activist Marilyn Appleberg, and Phil Hartman of Two Boots Pizza.

Karen Loew, GVSHP Director of East Village and Special Projects, and Liza Zapol, documentarian and oral historian, will discuss the importance of oral histories, and the process of interviewing, recording and transcribing them. Profiles from our growing collection will be shared in this mixed-media program.



Now You See Them, Now You Don’t
Places of Magic in the Village and on the Bowery

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, October 29
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The history of magic and magicians in New York City is a rich one. Long before television and film they took their audiences under dim gaslight into places of wonder.  Some were the highest paid performers of the day, and others the lowest perhaps, found on a Dime Museum stage. We will touch upon Professor Anderson, the Wizard of the North, Hermann the Great, Harry Houdini, Thurston, Malini and others. Places like Otto Maurer’s Magical Bazaar, the Bowery Theater, The Globe Dime Museum, Sieden’s Bar, Mostly Magic and Monday Night Magic will be discussed.

Tom Klem, artist/Historian and Richard Cohn, magician/historian will take you on this journey from the Golden Age of Magic in the 1860s Bowery theater district to the present day in the heart of the Village. We will present images of the places and individuals from this world of magic and illuminate its rich history. There will be one magic effect performed in this program.


A Night With The Andy Statman Trio at the Historic Eldridge Street Synagogue


Inside the Four Seasons
A panel discussion at Museum of the City of New York

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Tuesday, October 20
6:30 P.M.
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public.
[GVSHP members use code SAVE50 to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

We enjoy looking at historic interiors, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. Behind the walls, below the floors, and underneath the painted surfaces are the back-stories few people have heard about the city’s known and not-so-known landmarks. The authors of Interior Landmarks: Treasures of New York  (The Monacelli Press; September 29, 2015) will take us behind the scenes of some of the City’s most interesting spaces. They will tell little-known and fascinating stories about places like City Hall and the Tweed Courthouse, Loew’s Paradise Theater, the Four Seasons Restaurant, the Dime Savings, and Manufacturers Trust bank buildings. They will share stories of the political wrangling, financial skullduggery, design competitions, preservation challenges, and restoration problems that designers and builders dealt with to provide insight into why these venues are so special and how even being a landmark doesn’t guarantee that a great space will remain safe from damage, or change. This program delves into the themes of our exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks, on view through January 3.

Book signing to follow. 

Judith Gura, Design Historian and Exhibitions and Public Programs Consultant at the New York School of Interior Design
Kate Wood, President at LANDMARK WEST!
Larry Lederman, Photographer

GVSHP members-only* program: 
members

 

 



Folk City

A private tour of the exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York
*for GVSHP members at the $50 level and above

Registration for this program is now closed.

Not a member? Join now!

Wednesday, October 14
2:30 – 3:30 P.M.
Free [*for members at the $50 level and up]
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed.

In the 1950s and 1960s, folk music blossomed in New York City, especially in Greenwich Village, where clubs and coffee houses showcased singers like Pete Seeger and Odetta and nurtured a generation of newcomers, including Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Peter, Paul and Mary.

The multi-media exhibition Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival, featuring original instruments, handwritten lyrics, and video and film footage, traces the roots of the revival, its growth in New York, its major players, and its impact on American politics and culture during the tumultuous 1960s. MCNY staff will take GVSHP members on a special private tour with additional insight into and information about this exhibition.


Theater for the New City
A history from the West Village to the East Village, with founder Crystal Field

Monday, October 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M..
Free; reservations required
Theater for the New City, 155 1st Avenue, between East 9th and East 10th Streets

From its early West Village days in the 1970s to present day in the East Village, Theater for the New City has been an important award-winning performing arts venue on the downtown scene. Productions here have won 43 Village Voice Obie Awards, and the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

TNC has 4 performance spaces and its lobby doubles as an art gallery. The Resident Theater Program produces 20-30 new American plays per year, and TNC’s extensive Free Ticket Program provides access to participating community organizations throughout the five boroughs. TNC is also home to the annual Village Halloween Costume Ball and Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, and produced the original Village Halloween Parade for its first 2 years.

Co-founder and Artistic Director Crystal Field will present the history of TNC with a lecture, slideshow and short film. Hon. Robert Tierney, former Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, will be a featured guest speaker as well.

Inventing Preservation
A panel discussion at Museum of the City of New York

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Thursday, October 8
6:30 P.M.
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public.
[GVSHP members use code SAVE50 to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Historic preservation activism in New York City did not begin in the 1960s with the fight to save Penn Station and the effort to pass the Landmarks Law—it began in the late 19th century. Little-remembered preservation pioneers like Andrew H. Green and Albert Bard, as well as various women's garden clubs, and patriotic and civic organizations laid the groundwork for the generations of preservationists that would follow. Join us to recount the triumphs, failures, and tactics of these early preservationists, and discuss what they might teach us moving forward.This program delves into the themes of our exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks, on view through January 3.

Michael Miscione, Manhattan Borough Historian
Anthony Wood, Founder and Chair, New York Preservation Archive Project
Amy Freitag, Executive Director at JM Kaplan Fund
Seri Worden, Field Services at National Trust for Historic Preservation

James Baldwin Lived Here
Historic Village Plaque Ceremony
at a former residence of James Baldwin, 81 Horatio Street

Wednesday, October 7
6:00 P.M.
Open to all, but RSVPs requested

The impact and influence of American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987) upon the 20th century cannot be overstated, and his legacy is just as resonant today. The essayist, novelist, playwright, poet and civil rights activist lived on Horatio in the late 1950s and early 60s, during one of his most prolific and creative periods, and the Village scene informed and was reflected in his writing and social activism.

Join GVSHP and Two Boots outside 81 Horatio Street to unveil a historic plaque as we celebrate the work and explore the local connections of this essential artist. It’s a fitting coda to the recent citywide “Year of James Baldwin” marking what would have been his 90th year.

Speakers will include 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gregory Pardlo; writer Fran Lebowitz; Trevor Baldwin, nephew of James Baldwin; and Max Rudin, publisher of the Library of America.



Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary): A Special Performance at the City Museum

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Monday, October 5
7:00 P.M.
[GVSHP members use code FOLKY to get $35 tickets (regularly $45)]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Join us for renowned singer/songwriter Noel Paul Stookey’s first solo concert in New York City in over 40 years. Stookey, a major figure in the Museum’s Folk City exhibition, is best known as "Paul" of the legendary trio Peter, Paul and Mary. With his group, he propelled the 1960s folk music revival to the top of the pop charts while giving voice to the conscience and ideals of a generation of social activists. Peter, Paul & Mary's performances of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Blowing in the Wind" at the 1963 March on Washington served as a clarion call for the youth generation to join the civil rights movement and protest the war in Vietnam. During the trio's 'sabbatical' from 1970 to 1978, Stookey wrote and recorded the most performed wedding song of the past 45 years, “Wedding Song (There is Love).” Stookey has recorded over 45 albums with his famed group and as a soloist, and will release "At Home," a new 18-song cd and video on September 18th.

Preserving History on Bleecker Street

A visit to Carroll Place, the former home of Kenny’s Castaways

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Tuesday, September 29
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Carroll Place, 157 Bleecker Street, between Sullivan and Thompson Streets
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

When the owners of Carroll Place (the original 1830s name for this section of Bleecker Street) began renovating the space for their new restaurant, they were astounded to find artifacts from the early 1830s buried under the basement. They knew that this location had been the legendary music venue Kenny’s Castaways from 1976 to 2012, but there is much more history in this building.

Historian and ‘digger’ Scott Jordan was brought in. Glass bottles, personal items, and earthenware were excavated and are now on display. Wood beams have been creatively preserved as an outstanding example of adaptive re-use.

Carroll Place owner Sergio Riva and Scott Jordan will take us on a tour of this historic location and present a talk about the amazing discoveries and the importance of saving our history.

A Walking Tour of the NoHo Historic District
Co-sponsored by Merchant’s House Museum

These tours are already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Monday, September 21
Free; reservations required
Meeting location provided after registration is confirmed

On September 21, 1965, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held its inaugural meeting following the passage of the Landmarks Law in April. At that meeting, the 1832 Merchant's House was designated the first landmark in the borough of Manhattan. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the meeting, the Merchant's House and GVSHP will give walking tours of 19th century landmark treasures of the NoHo Historic District. 

On this 90-minute walking tour of the NoHo Historic District, we will see eleven buildings designated as individual landmarks. In 1832, when the Merchant's House was built, elegant Greek-Revival row houses of red brick and white marble flanked the tree-lined streets of this fashionable residential enclave. At mid-century, cast iron made its first appearance and commercial buildings and factories came to dominate the area. By century's end, Louis Sullivan's 12-story steel-framed office building was scraping the sky on Bleecker Street.

We will be outdoors and on our feet the entire time, so please wear comfortable shoes and dress accordingly.


Edna St. Vincent Millay: Greenwich Village and Beyond
A lecture and slideshow

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Wednesday, September 16
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library
66 Leroy Street, between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), recipient of the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, was a daring, versatile writer whose work includes poetry, plays, essays, short stories, songs, and a libretto to an opera that premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  Writing poems about social equality and personal freedom, Millay brought new hope to a generation of youth disillusioned by the social and political upheaval of the First World War.  Her free-spirited life in the early 1920s in Greenwich Village, where her suitors included Edmund Wilson, John Dos Passos and other literary names of the day, is well- documented by historians.  Yet her poetry adds a more vibrant personal dimension to the era’s social history by illuminating the Bohemian lifestyle she and her friends enjoyed.

Join us to meet Holly Peppe, Millay’s Literary Executor and Mark O’Berski, Vice President of the Millay Society, who will present an illustrated talk about Millay’s life and career from her early days in the Village to her country life at Steepletop in Austerlitz, NY, where her house and gardens are now open for visitors. Dr. Peppe, who edited the Penguin and Harper’s editions of Millay’s poems, will also share stories about her friendship with the poet’s sister and include selected readings from the poet’s work.

Steepletop is an easy day trip from NYC and travel information will be provided.

The HB Playwrights Theatre: A West Village Haven for Theater
A lecture with dramatic readings

Thursday, September 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
HB Playwrights Theatre
124 Bank Street, between Greenwich Street and Washington Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The HB Studio was already a thriving fixture in New York City’s cultural landscape when in 1965 founders Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen realized their dream of establishing a theater. From his work on the film Cleopatra, Berghof earned the money to purchase the one-story garage they would convert to a 73-seat performance space.

For 50 years HB has presented productions, readings, panels, talks, and other theatrical events in this West Village gem.  Now in its 70th year, HB Studio continues to provide a nurturing space for theater artists to work and practice, free from pressures related to commercial success.

Join us for a talk by Alan Pally about the history of HB and its theater, with short readings by HB notables Fritz Weaver and Rochelle Oliver from a few of the many plays performed there.


The Merchant’s Misfortune:
The Merchant’s House Museum – A Tale of Survival

A lecture and slideshow with Michael Devonshire

Co-sponsored by the Merchant's House Museum

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Wednesday, August 19
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Parlour at the Salmgundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, at 12th Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Built in 1832, the Merchant’s House at 29 East 4th Street is the City’s only family home to have survived intact – inside and out – from the 19th century. Home to a prosperous merchant family and their Irish servants for almost 100 years and open as a museum since 1936, the late-Federal and Greek Revival Merchant’s House is considered one of the finest surviving examples of domestic architecture from the period.

The Merchant’s House was the first building in Manhattan designated a landmark in 1965 and now also one of only 117 interior landmarks in the city. The Landmarks Law in 1965 may have saved it from the wrecker’s ball, but not the inevitable ravages of time.

Michael Devonshire (pictured above with students at the Merchant's House), Director of Conservation at the firm Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, which has overseen all restoration work on the building since 1990, will present a detailed restoration history of this remarkable historic house. He is also a commissioner at the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

This program is part of NYC Landmarks50 Alliance, the multi-year celebration of the 50th anniversary of New York City's Landmarks Law.





GVSHP members-only* program: 
A visit to the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
members






Friday, August 14
2:00 – 4:00 P.M.
Free [*for members at the $50 level and up]; reservations required
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, located in northern Manhattan, tells the story of historic preservation in a different way than we are accustomed to here in Greenwich Village. This is a landscape and a lifestyle that disappeared as a farming community transformed into an urban neighborhood.

Through the story of the Dyckman family and farm the museum explores life in early 19th century rural Manhattan and the preservation of that memory in the early 20th century. In later years, as the city grew around the farm and the neighborhood was transforming, the Dyckman sisters responded by saving the farmhouse and creating the museum.

GVSHP members will be led on a private tour of the house and grounds by the staff of Dyckman Farmhouse Museum.

A Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens
Co-sponsored by L.U.N.G.S. (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens)














Saturday, August 8
11:00 A.M.– 1:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Registration is now closed for this program.

Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet the gardeners who make it possible to enjoy their beauty. 

Founded in 2012, Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is a membership organization uniting the remaining 46 community gardens located in the East Village and Lower East Side. The mission is to advocate on behalf of the infrastructure needs and permanence of these gardens and to promote, protect and preserve gardening and open green spaces in New York City. LUNGS has established several garden-based programs benefiting diverse activities of members of the community.

The Politics of Preservation
One of the Saving Place public programs at the Museum of the City of New York

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Thursday, August 6
Starting at 6:30
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public
[GVSHP members use code SAVE50 to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The New York City Landmarks Law establishes a system for the designation, protection, and preservation of the city's most important architectural and historic properties. The law is implemented by the Landmarks Commission, which is mandated to work with the City Council in carrying out its mission of designating new landmarks. Its work is also impacted by various individuals and groups that have a direct stake in the process: property owners and developers, advocacy groups representing a wide spectrum of beliefs and positions, architects, media outlets, and government agencies. Out of necessity, the political process plays a part in all these interactions. This panel will explore the broad issues that bring the political process to bear on the operations and execution of the Landmarks Law. This program delves into the themes of our exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarkson view through September 13th. 

Reception to follow!

Morris Adjmi, FAIA, Founder and Principal of Morris Adjmi Architects
Peg Breen, President, The New York Landmarks Conservancy
Kenneth K. Fisher, Member, Cozen O'Connor
Robert Tierney (moderator), Former Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission

Ramblers and Strugglers: Old Time Music in the Big City
Part of Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival
at the Museum of the City of New York

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Tuesday, August 4
Starting at 6:30
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public
[GVSHP members use code GREENWICH to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Join the Down Hill Strugglers and the Four o’clock Flowers for a rollicking evening of old-time, blues, and gospel music by two outstanding contemporary folk groups based in New York City.  Both play in an exuberant style influenced by American southern and western rural traditions. The Strugglers will be joined by legendary musician John Cohen, originally of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of “citybillies” who, in the 1950s and 1960s, introduced many New Yorkers to Southern mountain and bluegrass music.

Between songs, Cohen and Eli Smith of the Strugglers will talk about their efforts to enrich the musical tapestry of New York with rural string-band, blues, and other forms of folk music. This concert accompanies the City Museum's exhibition Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival, on view through January 10th.

OMG!: Churches and Synagogues of Greenwich Village

First Ukrainian Assembly of God: Community Center for the East Village
A history and tour with Reverend Pete Armstrong

Wednesday, July 29
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required.
Dwell Church, 59 Cooper Square, at East 7th Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

The Ukrainian community in NYC has been historically centered in the East Village.  East of 3rd Avenue you will find several shops, community centers and churches.  First Ukrainian Assembly of God is among them.  Distinct from the Orthodox church around the corner, First Ukrainian Assembly of God obtained this building in 1929, in the wake of the Great Depression.  Built as one of the first fireproof buildings in NYC in 1885, the building and the community that has moved through there has an interesting history. 

Through the decades, the church has opened its doors to the community as a coffee shop and arts venue.  There are currently five faith communities meeting in the building of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds (Russian, Jewish, Ethiopian, Asian-American and Anglo).

Join us for a tour of the building and telling of the story of its involvement with our neighborhood. Rev. Peter B. Armstrong is the Pastor of Dwell Church, (which meets at F.U.A.G.) and amateur Bowery historian.

Dylan Goes Electric: From New York to Newport
Part of Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival
at the Museum of the City of New York

Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Monday, July 27
Starting at 6:30
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public
[GVSHP members use code GREENWICH to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Fifty years ago this month, Bob Dylan "went electric" at the Newport Folk Festival, startling the audience and setting off a firestorm in the music industry. Dylan's artistic evolution within the New York folk music community in the 1960s from "protest singer" to introspective songwriter was nothing short of remarkable. His lyrics captured the mood of the times and stopped Americans in their tracks.

Join a panel of Dylan experts to reflect on Dylan's transformation in New York and Newport during the tumultuous 1960s.  Read about "When Bob Dylan Went Electric" in The Wall Street Journal.

David Hajdu, music critic for The Nation and a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is author of Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña (2001).

Terri Thal managed a number of folk singers and groups, including Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, the Holy Modal Rounders, and Maggie and Terre Roche.

Elijah Wald, an American folk blues guitarist and music historian, is author of Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties (2015).

Stephen Petrus (moderator), urban historian, is curator of Folk City at the Museum of the City of New York and co-author of the exhibition’s accompanying book.

Night Vision: The West Village at Night in the 1980's
A lecture and slideshow with photographer Efrain Gonzalez

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Tuesday, July 21
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Center, 208 West 13th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Efrain John Gonzalez was born in the Bronx, raised in Long Island, and moved to Manhattan in 1975, where he dropped out of college to drive a taxi. He would drive through New York armed with an old Nikon camera and photograph the streets and the people who made the city come alive at night. In the 1980's he discovered the underground cultures and private clubs of Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District, and recorded this night culture that flourished in the dark and seedy streets, piers, clubs, and bars. His photography is a window to a past that is being erased by market forces and the passage of time. Published in the New York Times, Time Out magazine, and the Village Voice, Gonzalez has two photos in the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York, and is working on a book of night photographs taken in the Meatpacking District in the 1980's.

Is Preservation Elitist?
One of the Saving Place public programs at the Museum of the City of New York
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Monday, July 20
Starting at 6:30
Free for MCNY members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public
[GVSHP members use code SAVE50 to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

While many of New York’s designated historic districts are known for their grand architecture (such as Brooklyn Heights and the Upper East Side), an increasing number of others – including Tin Pan Alley, Flushing, Weeksville, and Chinatown– are famed for their distinctive cultural character.  But how exactly do you preserve a “culturally distinctive” place? In some cases is formal preservation actually a hindrance to saving what a community loves best about its neighborhood? What are the other protective strategies to ensure such places retain tradition, culture and even its population? Join a panel of community activists, preservationists and architects as they discuss the challenges of preserving these unique neighborhoods, whose greatest asset lies in the histories they contain, rather than the quality of their buildings. This program delves into the themes of our exhibition Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks.

Reception to follow!

Claudette Brady, Founder of the Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation
Kerri Culhane, Two Bridges’ Associate Director
Nikolai Fedak, YIMBY Founder
Tia Powell Harris, Weeksville President & Executive Director
Paimaan Lodhi, REBNY Vice President for Urban Planning
Laurie Beckelman (moderator), Founding Partner of Beckelman+Capalino

Co-sponsored by Weeksville.

Historic German Buildings of the East Village
A walking tour with GVSHP’s Ted Mineau

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Friday, July 17
10:00 A.M. – noon
Free; reservations required
Meeting location provided after reservation is confirmed

The German immigrant community shaped what is now known as the East Village in many ways. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th century, the area was known as “Kleine Deutschland” or Little Germany, and was one of the largest German-speaking communities in the world.  Many manifestations of that era remain in the neighborhood, and fortunately, through the efforts of GVSHP and many others, many of those buildings are now landmarked and will remain for future generations to appreciate.

This two-hour walking tour will explore some of the places that served the German community in the 1800s. Most were designed by German-born immigrant architects and served a variety of functions, from entertainment, to education, to religion.

Space is extremely limited, as walking tour groups need to be kept to safe and manageable numbers.  We will be on our feet the entire time, so please wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately.

What is New is Old: A History of The New School
A lecture and slideshow with Julia Foulkes, Associate Professor of History, The New School
Co-sponsored by The New School

Wednesday, July 8
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Wollman Hall at The New School, 65 West 11th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In 1919, the New School for Social Research opened with courses in the social sciences, social work, and public affairs in New York “because it is the greatest social science laboratory in the world.” The school was not quite a university: it did not offer formal degrees. The founders thought that people would come to the school for “no other purpose than to learn.” It sought to make education relevant to the issues of the day, to remain ever new.

Nearly 100 years later, the school is now a multi-faceted university and a hub in the political, intellectual, and cultural life of New York City and Greenwich Village. Professor Foulkes investigates interdisciplinary questions about the arts, urban studies, and history in her research and teaching. She is currently chair of a new curricular area in Arts and Social Engagement at The New School.

Ephemeral New York, Ephemeral Image
A film series

Saturdays June 13, 20, 27     3 pm to 5 pm
Attend one or attend all, each session presents a distinct New York theme:

June 13:  The Bowery/Downtown Scene    
June 20:
 Abstract    
June 27:
 Personal and Diaristic

GVSHP is happy to co-sponsor this program at Jefferson Market Library

Free
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]
Ephemeral New York, Ephemeral Image utilizes The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ extensive 16mm film collections as a way of beginning a conversation that surrounds not only the history of New York City, but also how and why these historical documents can (and do) change and reconstruct our perception and remembrance of the city’s pasts and give us insight into how we might conceive of documenting the future.  Many of the films to be viewed are rare and unavailable in any other format. The course is discussion-based and each session is dedicated to a physical aspect of the city, geographic location within the city, or a style of filmic interpretation from the city’s vast and ever-cumulative narratives. Films to be screened include Stations of the Elevated (1981) Punking Out (1978) Surface Tension (1968) andSouthern Images (1983).

Full list of films HERE.  

Presented in the first floor Willa Cather Community Room.  All events and courses are free and open to the public.

Greenwich Village 1949: Under the Mink, a novel by Lisa E. Davis

Join author Lisa E. Davis as she discusses Under the Mink, a novel about New York City in the good old days (1949) and entertainers who worked in drag, when that got you jail time instead of a TV show. A short film and many unique images will be presented of these  real-life entertainers of yesteryear! 

GVSHP is happy to co-sponsor this program at Jefferson Market Library

Wednesday, June 24
6:30 P.M.
Free
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

"In the netherworld of Greenwich Village 1949, it’s drag queens and hookers against Mafiosi, crooked cops and other assorted thugs in Lisa E. Davis’s Under the Mink:  When a gay man from a wealthy publishing family is murdered in the restroom of the Candy Box Club cabaret, drag king Blackie Cole gets caught in a web of danger and intrigue. Davis captures the decadence of New York’s pre-Stonewall gay scene and the constant abuse that the men and women who comprised it were subjected to. The strength they find in one another while being scapegoated by the media, the police and just about everyone else is inspiring." ~Publishers Weekly

Lisa E. Davis has lived in Greenwich Village for many years and loves to write about it. This is her first novel. Other high points in her life include meeting Fidel Castro and almost drowning in the Colorado River. Visit  www.underthemink.com

Gay Liberation in Photos
A talk and slideshow with photographer Ellen Shumsky

Tuesday, June 23
6:45 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

In June of 1969, a not uncommon police raid of the gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, was met with a spontaneous resistance that launched the modern Gay Liberation Movement here in Greenwich Village. Ellen Shumsky, a young photographer, joined the movement as an activist and documentarian. As an insider, she captured images of the people, the meetings, the marches, demonstrations, celebrations and the emerging community. 

These images appear in the book, "Portrait of a Decade 1968-1978," edited by Flavia Rando, Ph.D., with poetry by Fran Winant, both of who joined the Movement in the Stonewall Summer. Ellen, Fran, and Flavia will present a slide show and talk about these exciting years.

Honoring a Major Artist and Villager: Martha Graham Plaque Installation
Co-Sponsored by The New School and Two Boots Pizza

Thursday, June 18
6:00 – 7:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
66 Fifth Avenue (at 13th Street)
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

The revolutionary artistic vision of dancer and choreographer Martha Graham (1894-1991) largely created the modern dance we know today. Graham, an essential part of the early- to mid-century Village arts scene, will be honored as part of GVSHP's Historic Plaque Program done in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, highlighting the incredible people, movements and history connected to sites all around us.

Join us outside 66 Fifth Avenue (at 13th Street) for festivities at the building where Graham's company rehearsed and created groundbreaking new works in the 1930s and 40s.

Take a look at our past celebrations, including the former Fillmore East concert hall (blog, photos and video), poet Frank O'Hara (blog, photos and video), and radical saloonkeeper Justus Schwab (blog and photos).

The 35th GVSHP Annual Meeting and 25th Presentation of the Village Awards
Co-sponsored by The New School




Wednesday, June 17
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Auditorium at The New School, 66 West 12th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

GVSHP will present its 25th Annual Village Awards this year at our Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 in recognition of those people, places, and organizations which make a significant contribution to the quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.

GVSHP members will vote on a new slate of trustees for the organization, and all will be invited to review GVSHP’s growth and accomplishments over the past year.

The Village Awards were established 25 years ago to honor the people, businesses, and organizations that help to make our neighborhoods so special. All are welcome to join the awards ceremony at the Auditorium at The New School, a beautiful interior New York City landmark.

This year’s honorees were selected by a committee of GVSHP Trustees, past honorees, and community leaders:

Barbara Schaum, Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, David Rothenberg, The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation, 201 East 12th Street Renovation, and the Regina Kellerman Award Winners: James & Karla Murray




Building History Detectives: Greenwich Village
An introduction to building research with historian Susan De Vries

Monday, June 8
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute
41 East 11th Street, between Broadway and University Place
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]
Are you curious about a building in the neighborhood? Have you ever wondered what the history of that building might be? Perhaps it is the one you live in or one you pass every day. 

Researcher Susan De Vries will guide you through the process of finding out the secrets that our wonderful structures can reveal.  The presentation will look at the online resources available to dig out details of architectural history such as construction date and architect as well as fascinating tidbits about the social history of your building. Neighborhood Preservation Center staff will distribute a resource sheet that includes a number of helpful sources, from the Municipal Archives to online resources like the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections.

Ms. De Vries has previously lectured for GVSHP and will be sharing many of the resources she uses while delving into New York City history and Greenwich Village in particular.

This program is presented by the Neighborhood Preservation Center, the Village Alliance, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

*Those unable to attend the “Building History Detectives: Greenwich Village” lecture are encouraged to stop by our table at the Positively 8th Street Festival on Sunday, June 14th to meet with our research volunteers and pick up a resource sheet with tips on researching building history.

GVSHP members-only program: 
The Artist's World in Pictures
A guided gallery tour by co-author Gloria S. McDarrah

members







Thursday, June 4
6:00 – 7:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Steven Kasher Gallery, 515 West 26th Street, 2nd floor
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

[American artist Norman Bluhm works on one of his action paintings in his downtown studio, February 22, 1961. Photo by Fred W. McDarrah. ]

Editor and writer Gloria S. McDarrah and her husband, Village Voice photographer Fred W. McDarrah, were on the scene when Abstract Expressionism and The New York School blossomed in the late 1950s. Their seminal 1961 book, The Artist's World in Pictures documents that unique time and place. Nearly every image in the exhibition was taken below 14th Street.

The McDarrahs were regulars at The Club, an artist membership association that began in the late 1940s, with informal discussions at the old Waldorf Cafeteria, at 6th Avenue and 8th Street.  The Club hosted seminars, panels, parties, talks, readings and other events where artists of the day would share and exchange ideas and opinions, including Willem deKooning, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, James Brooks, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Robert Rauschenberg, Jack Tworkov, Alfred Leslie, Milton Resnick, Lee Krasner, Philip Guston, William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Nicholas Krushenick and Adolph Gottlieb.
  
Gloria S. McDarrah will lead a tour of the exhibition and answer questions.

In addition to The Artist's World, the McDarrahs collaborated on several books including Beat Generation: Glory Days in Greenwich Village; Greenwich Village Guide and The Photography Encyclopedia.

Distilling the American Flavor:  Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Juliana Force and the Making of the Whitney Museum
A lecture by art historian Avis Berman

Thursday, May 28
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street
between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Now that the Whitney has opened downtown, revisit its original incarnation in the heart of the Village, and the lives and careers of two extraordinary women -- Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942) and Juliana Rieser Force (1876-1948) -- who created the museum and transformed the history of American art.  Their partnership not only brought about the formation of a great museum;: they were also responsible for the support of hundreds of artists who had nowhere else to turn.  Among those indebted to Juliana Force and Gertrude Whitney were Village artists John Sloan, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton, and Isamu Noguchi.   In particular, Ms. Berman will detail the hitherto hidden personality of Juliana Force, who rose from poverty and obscurity to reinvent herself as a flamboyant Village bohemian, and became the Whitney's first director and a standout in her profession.

Avis Berman is the author of Rebels on Eighth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as many other books, catalogues, reviews and essays on early twentieth-century American art.

Preserving the Fabric of Our Neighborhoods
The second Saving Place public program at the Museum of the City of New York
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP

Tuesday, May 26
Starting at 6:30
TICKETS
Free for Museum members; $12 for students/seniors; $16 for general public
[GVSHP members use code SAVE26 to get $10 tickets]
Museum of the City of New York, 5th Avenue at 103rd Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Mayor Bill de Blasio has chosen to make affordable housing one of his administration’s chief policy initiatives. “As we invest in more affordable housing,” he said, “we will also work with communities to preserve the fabric of our neighborhoods and invest in things that great neighborhoods need.” Join a group of leading experts as they explore the intersections between historic preservation and affordable housing, portraying how preservation encourages sustainable development and helps to stabilize communities facing financial distress. This program accompanies the City Museum’s exhibition Saving Place: 50 years of New York City Landmarks, on view from April 21 through September 13, 2015.

Gale Brewer, Borough President of Manhattan
Ingrid Gould Ellen, Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Director of the Urban Planning Program at NYU Wagner
Ellen Baxter, Executive Director of Broadway Housing Communities
Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee
Simeon Bankoff (moderator), Executive Director, Historic Districts Council

Little Spain: The Spanish Community on West 14th Street
A history and slideshow with Robert Sanfiz

Wednesday, May 20
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Spanish Benevolent Society - La Nacional, 239 West 14th Street, between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenues
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Compared to other European groups, the Village’s immigrant community from Spain is rather small in numbers.  The enclave known as "Little Spain," on 14th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, was once home to over 50 Spanish-owned businesses and social clubs.  The Spanish Benevolent Society - La Nacional, founded in 1868, was always at the heart of the neighborhood, serving as an essential support system for Spaniards and acting as their home away from home in New York. It has served as a meeting ground for political dissidents and revolutionaries, and avant-garde poets and artists. It is even said that Salvador Dali stopped in for a taste of home.

Today the Society remains committed to the historical preservation of both the Spanish and local community, and still offers a variety of events, classes, a top-rated restaurant and meeting place for the entire community.

Robert Sanfiz is Executive Director of the Spanish Benevolent Society - La Nacional.



A Walking Tour of East Village/Lower East Side Community Gardens
Co-sponsored by L.U.N.G.S. (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens)

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.



Part of Lower East Side History Month

Saturday, May 16
11:00 A.M.– 1:00 P.M..
Free; reservations required
Meeting location provided after registration


Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet the gardeners who make it possible to enjoy their beauty. 

Founded in 2012, Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is a membership organization uniting the remaining 46 community gardens located in the East Village and Lower East Side. The mission is to advocate on behalf of the infrastructure needs and permanence of these gardens and to promote, protect and preserve gardening and open green spaces in New York City. LUNGS has established several garden-based programs benefiting diverse activities of members of the community.

East Village: 1984 and 2014
A photo journey with Daniel Root

Thursday, May 7
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Part of Lower East Side History Month


In 1984 Dan Root took some photographs for a book that a friend of a friend was going to write about the changing East Village.  For a couple of months he took pictures, when time and money allowed, of this changing neighborhood.  The book was never written (of course?) and the photographs were put away.  

Last year Dan revisited those locations and photographed them again. Most were vastly different than they were 30 years ago. He embarked upon a project of framing the original photos and placing them at these sites. Residents and visitors were able to see how much the East Village has changed, and a Tumbler page brought international attention to this photographic documentation. 


17th Annual Village House Tour Benefit
GVSHP’s Annual Fundraiser

Sunday, May 3rd
1:00-5:30 P.M. Self-guided tour
5:30-7:30 P.M. Reception
Tickets required

The 17th Annual Village House Tour Benefit raises funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods.

This self-guided tour of the interiors of six remarkable Village homes and sites, to be held on Sunday, May 3, 2015, promises hidden gardens, unparalleled art, and historic charm.


100 Years of Preservation:
A Conversation with Anthony C. Wood
Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project

This program has reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, April 30
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Baha'i Center, 53 East 11th Street, between Broadway and University Place
[This venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Join Anthony C. Wood, founder of the New York Preservation Archive Project and author of Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks, for an intimate discussion of what led to the passage of NYC’s 1965 landmarks law, how it has affected the urban environment since, and the prognosis for preservation looking forward.

In conversation with GVSHP’s Karen Loew, Wood will illuminate the long struggle that preceded the landmark law and the forces that shaped it. As we examine the architectural losses on the way to the law and the preservation of so many remarkable buildings since, we will also evaluate the current political landscape and how preservation may evolve in the 21st century.


This program is part of NYC Landmarks50 Alliance, the multi-year celebration of the 50th anniversary of New York City's Landmarks Law.

 







Roof Explorer’s Guide
A book talk and slideshow with Leslie Adatto

SOLD OUT!

Thursday, April 23
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

[photo credit: Heather Shimmin]

New York City is world-renowned for its skyline, and high atop its lofty heights beats a feast of breathtaking rooftop destinations for every taste and imagination.  ROOF EXPLORER’S GUIDE: 101 New York City Rooftops by Leslie Adatto is the first and ultimate guide to an urban treasure trove of rooftop gems, from hotel rooftop bars and restaurants to elevated parks to museums, theaters, green roofs and elevated farms.  For us, Leslie will focus on the images in her book of rooftops in Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo.

Leslie Adatto has been seeking out New York City rooftops since relocating to Manhattan in 2010.  She blogs about New York City rooftops, and lives, bikes, and cooks in the West Village.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

The Lowline
An introduction to New York’s newest and most innovative park with James Ramsey

Monday, April 20
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The New School, Wollman Hall, enter at 66 West 12th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]


Co-sponsored by The New School for Social Engagement

The Lowline is a plan to use innovative solar technology to illuminate the one-acre former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal, just below Delancey Street.   The result will be a stunning underground park, providing a beautiful respite and a cultural attraction in one of the world’s most dense, exciting urban environments.  The site was opened in 1908 for trolley passengers, but has been unused since 1948.

James Ramsey, Co-Founder and Creator, is the inventor of the remote skylight, which delivers sunlight below ground using a system of optics. In 2004, Ramsey opened design practice RAAD, and they have since built over a hundred projects, both in NYC and across the country.

Saving Place
A symposium of the Museum of the City of New York
Co-sponsored by GVSHP

Monday, April 20
Beginning at 5:30 P.M.
Discount tickets for GVSHP members



The City Museum kicks off Saving Place—their exhibition marking the 50th  anniversary of NYC’s Landmarks Law—with a star-studded symposium on April 20. Leaders in architecture, urban planning, and real estate will discuss preservation today; afterwards everyone is invited to mingle at the show’s opening reception.

GVSHP members-only program:  "A Critic’s Journey:
Around the World from Greenwich Village"

The keynote speech of “Gotham on a Plate: Food and NYC” at The New School
members






Friday, April 10
5:00 - 6:00 P.M.
Free for GVSHP members; reservations required
The Auditorium at The New School, 66 West 12th Street
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

Co-sponsored by Food Studies at The New School and the Julia Child Foundation
 
Mimi Sheraton is a journalist, restaurant critic, consultant, lecturer, and cookbook writer who has lived in Greenwich Village for 70 years. She was the restaurant critic for the New York Times from 1976 until 1984 and has written 17 books on food and recipes, including her latest, 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die. She is also a contributor to GVSHP’s book Greenwich Village Stories.

In conversation with Karen Loew of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Sheraton will talk about what’s changed over her years in the food world: food trends, the role of the critic, the role of restaurant dining in the life of New York, and much more. If Gotham is on a plate, Mimi Sheraton will definitely have a choice opinion to render about it.

Both 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die and Greenwich Village Stories will be available for purchase and signing.

“Gotham on a Plate: Food and NYC” is a 2-day symposium at The New School.
Tickets may be purchased at www.events.newschool.edu
The interview with Mimi Sheraton is available to GVSHP members for free!

Steamboats on the Hudson: The Greenwich Village Waterfront
A history with Liz McEnaney

Tuesday, March 31
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, near 12th Street
[Please note this venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

In the years between 1807 and 1971, the Hudson River was alive with boat traffic. The great Hudson River Day Liners were perhaps the best known of all the vessels – famous for their elegance and speed. New Yorkers and visitors alike experienced the river and the magnificent landscapes from the decks and plush salons of these grand dames.

Join Liz McEnaney, Executive Director of the SS Columbia Project, for an illustrated lecture about how the vessels, such as the Day Liners, shaped the development of the Greenwich Village waterfront.
  
The SS Columbia Project’s office is located in the historic Ernest Flagg Rectory, in the St. Mark’s Historic District, where GVSHP offices are also located, at 232 East 11th Street.

The Red-Tail Hawks of Greenwich Village and the East Village
A lecture and slideshow with Gabriel Willow

Wednesday, March 25
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute, 51 East 11th Street,
between Broadway and University Place
[Please note this venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

If you have ever seen the group of people in Washington Square Park with their binoculars, cameras and zoom lenses focused on the top floor of NYU’s Bobst Library, then you’re probably aware of the pair of red-tail hawks that built a nest on a window ledge, and have made Washington Square their home and hunting grounds. Similarly, a pair of red-tails has built a nest on the Christodora House adjacent to Tompkins Square Park. Both pairs have successfully raised offspring for the past several years.

Gabriel Willow is a naturalist, guide, and educator with New York City Audubon, who will describe the nesting, mating, and hunting habits of these predators, and explain why we should welcome them to our neighborhoods.

Comedy Night
to benefit The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
& The Rebecca Daniels Scholarship

for Real Estate Continuing Education

Tuesday, March 24
7:00 P.M. (doors open at 6:00 P.M.)
Advance tickets are $45. Tickets purchased at the door will be $55.
(Drinks and food are not included).
The Village Underground, 130 West 3rd Street
(between MacDougal Street and 6th Avenue.)

Join us for a special night featuring comedians who have appeared on The Dave Chappelle Show, Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, and television sitcoms on FOX, ABC, and Comedy Central:

Dustin Ybarra
Donnell Rawlings
Chris Distefano
Erin Jackson
Christian Finnegan
Aparna Nancherla

Godfrey
Ted Alexandro




The Immigrant, Radical, Notorious Women of Washington Square
A lecture by Joyce Gold

Part of GVSHP's Women's History Month Series

Thursday, March 19
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street [Please note this venue is not wheelchair accessible.]

Home to many of the political, creative, and intellectual movements in New York’s history, the residences around Washington Square and its amazing female population account for much of that vitality.

Perhaps in no other neighborhood on earth have so many notable women lived and achieved for the last 150 years. Throughout the years, it has seen an unparalleled array of women—working class, gentry, radical, literary, academic, theatrical, convict, and immigrant. Eleanor Roosevelt, Edith Wharton, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Roebling, Bella Abzug, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Ida Tarbell, Emily Post, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and even the woman who invented the kewpie doll, all shared this famed New York neighborhood.

Highlights of the talk include:
•      Literary, art, and theatre iconoclasts
•      The salon of Mable Dodge, a center of WW I-era activism
•      The tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and its role in the labor movement
•      The Suffrage Movement

Joyce Gold teaches Manhattan history at New York University. A contributor to the Encyclopedia of New York, she is the author of From Windmills to the World Trade Center: A Walking Guide through Lower Manhattan History and From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich History. She holds a Masters in Metropolitan Studies from NYU. The New York Times has called her “the doyenne of city tour guides.”

Victoria Woodhull: Feminist, Spiritualist, "Mrs. Satan"
A lecture by author John Strausbaugh

Part of GVSHP's Women's History Month Series

Tuesday, March 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street

Greenwich Village resident Victoria Woodhull was one of the most fascinating and controversial women in 19th-century New York. Born on the frontier in 1838, daughter of a confidence man, she performed as a spirit medium and faith healer as a little girl. In 1868 she came to New York City, where she started the first woman-run brokerage on Wall Street. She also started her own newspaper, was the first woman to address a Congressional committee in Washington, and the first woman to run for President, on a platform that combined feminism, spiritualism, socialism, and most controversially, "free love." Denounced as "Mrs. Satan" and "the Terrible Siren," she lashed out by accusing Reverend Henry Ward Beecher of adultery, inciting the sex scandal of the century. Author John Strausbaugh discusses this extraordinary woman's life and times.

John Strausbaugh's history of Greenwich Village, The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, was one of Kirkus Review's Best Books of 2013. He has written about New York City history and culture for New York Press, the New York Times and The Chiseler.

GVSHP members-only program: 
A Visit to the Studio of Rogers Partners Architects


members






Tuesday, February 24
6:30 - 7:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed
Join us for this exclusive behind-the-scenes look into one of New York’s top architecture firms. GVSHP trustee and noted architect Rob Rogers invites us to visit his office for a presentation of some of the projects that his firm, Rogers Partners, has designed. With the help of scale models and other renderings, we will see a variety of completed and planned works.

You may have seen the work of Rogers Partners architects in the security barriers outside the New York Stock Exchange, or if you have visited the Hudson Park Library on Leroy Street, the SoHo Arts Library on Mulberry Street, or the Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street.

Space is extremely limited.

Shadows on Bleecker Street
Staged readings from a book by Warren Wyss and Milton Polsky
Click here for a map to take your own self-guided "Shadows on Bleecker Street" tour:

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series


Due to inclement weather, this program was re-scheduled from the previously announced date of Monday, February 2.

Monday, February 16
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
HB Playwrights Theater, 124 Bank Street (between Greenwich Street and Washington Street)

After a rare book signed  by legendary  abolitionist Frederick Douglass is stolen, Professor Jeff Gardner joins a  Bleecker Street literary  walking tour, which he feels  will enable him to recover the book—and   trap  the killer of Jeff’s  colleague, who had discovered the  Douglass book.  Along the tour, Jeff faces great dangers to  himself and family, but his resolve to persevere is heartened by the spirits represented in  the tour, including  --besides Douglas-- Tom Paine, Charlie Parker, Lenny Bruce, Margaret Sanger, and Walt Whitman. As tension mounts for Jeff in his quest, an iconic street gives up its secrets that keep suspense building for the reader.  Special bonus for those attending this book reading: select scenes in the novel’s narrative will be acted out!

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Spring Street Presbyterian Church
An illustrated lecture with archivist David Pultz

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series

Monday, February 9
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
First Presbyterian Church, 12th Street and 5th Avenue

In December 2006, construction began on the site of a former parking lot at the corner of Spring and Varick Streets. It was the beginning of the Trump Soho  46-story “condo-hotel.”  Soon after digging began, a backhoe uncovered human remains in four early 19th century burial vaults. Construction was halted and archaeologists were immediately called in to investigate.  The remains were part of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church, which had once existed at the site. Established in 1810, the Spring Street Church has a storied history as an early abolitionist congregation that accepted free African-Americans into full membership – years before slavery was abolished in New York. Join archivist David Pultz for the fascinating history of the Spring Street Church.

Preservation Trivia Night
Hosted by Black Rabbit’s Casey de Pont

Wednesday, January 21
6:30 P.M.
The Paris Cafe
119 South Street (at Peck Slip)
Free; reservations required



Join us as we kick off the 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Law with a fun-filled night of New York City history and preservation trivia!

Form your own teams of 2-4, or meet fellow history buffs and create a new team!

Co-sponsored by: Historic Districts Council; Friends of the Upper East Side; New York Preservation Archive Project; NYC Landmarks50 Alliance; Preservation Alumni of Columbia University; Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; Pratt Historic Preservation Alumni.

History of the Hudson River in Greenwich Village
A book talk with Vernon Benjamin

Tuesday, January 20
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street

The Hudson River valley has been a place of contradictions since its first settlement by Europeans. Explored by an Englishman who claimed it for the Dutch, the region soon became home to the most vibrant trading outpost for the New World colonies – the island of Manhattan – even as the rest of the valley retained the native beauty that would inspire artists from James Fenimore Cooper to Thomas Cole.

Join author Vernon Benjamin in an examination of the sense of place of Greenwich Village in its relationship to the Hudson Valley historically, including land uses and political, cultural and aesthetic ties, focused on individuals and groups associated with both areas from the DeLanceys and Bayards through William James, artists, and Native and immigrant populations.

We’ll explore the Native American footprints, the Village as a retreat from epidemics in the “city” proper, the rise of its fashionable identity, the bohemian or artistic communities that developed, and a continuing history of Greenwich Village as a desirable and stylish adjunct to the city proper.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

The History of 121 Charles Street
With Amanda Davis, GVSHP's Director of Preservation and Research

This program is already at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, January 15
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Community Room at Westbeth
155 Bank Street, between Washington Street and West Street

Known as ‘Cobble Court’ or ‘The Goodnight Moon House’, the quirky wooden home at 121 Charles Street has captivated generations of Villagers and visitors alike. The house, reported to be over 200 years old, faced the wrecking ball in Yorkville before two remarkable people fought to save and move it to the Village in 1967.


As part of the Landmarks50 celebrations, join Amanda Davis, GVSHP’s Director of Preservation and Research, as she pieces together the incredible history of “the little house that could.”

This program is part of NYC Landmarks50 Alliance, the multi-year celebration of the 50th anniversary of New York City's Landmarks Law.


 

The Life and Art of William Glackens
A lecture and slideshow with art historian Avis Berman

This program has been re-scheduled from January 6 to January 13 due to inclement weather.

Tuesday, January 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, near 12th Street

William Glackens was an American realist painter who was essential to the development of avant-garde art in the opening decades of the twentieth century.  A progressive artist who assimilated and adopted various currents of French modernism, Glackens lived on and around Washington Square from 1904 to his death in 1938.

Avis Berman, an independent writer and art historian, has written extensively on painting, sculpture, photography, design, and museum history. She is the author of Rebels on Eighth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art; James McNeill Whistler; and Edward Hopper’s New York. At present, she has organized and overseen the first museum survey of William Glackens’s work in nearly fifty years.

2014


Celebrating Holidays: Immigrants to Greenwich Village
A Presentation by the NYU Archives & Public History Program Master’s Degree Candidates

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

Wednesday, December 17
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South (West 4th Street), between Sullivan and Thompson Streets)

So many different ethnic immigrant groups have come to Greenwich Village and the East Village over the years. In many cases, we see them reflected in the architecture and in the place names. Of course each group brought with them language and culture from their place of origin, and many of those have been woven into our cultural fabric as well.

This program will focus on how different immigrant groups celebrated holidays. Three teams of graduate students from the NYU Archives & Public History Program have spent the semester studying and researching this topic, and they will present their findings in this lecture/slideshow.

GVSHP members-only program:  Historic Libraries of the West Village
A Walking Tour with NYPL’s John Bacon
members






Friday, December 12
10:00 A.M. – noon
Free; reservations required
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed
John Bacon, Director of Planned Giving at New York Public Library, and former GVSHP Trustee, will lead us on a walking tour to explore historic libraries in Greenwich Village. John has already led us on walking tours of sites in the East Village, but now the focus will be on the west side. We’ll wander from St. Luke’s Place to Jefferson Market to Jackson Square in this two-hour journey.

Of course John adds a lot of detail to his tours about all the places along the way from one library to the next. So you will be sure to learn a lot more than you already know about our beloved Greenwich Village. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather.

Significant walking and standing are required, and space is extremely limited.

Dawn Powell - Portrait of an Often Overlooked Literary Great
A talk with historian John Joseph

Thursday, December 11
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, Sixth Avenue at West 10th Street

Join archivist and NYC literary history junkie John Joseph for the story of an often overlooked literary great of the 20th century – Dawn Powell. Growing up in Ohio and relocating to Greenwich Village in the late 1910s, Powell wrote stories that chronicled the lives of Midwest transplants as they joined the migration of new bohemians making the Village their home.

John will talk about Powell’s days as a literary gadabout within the neighborhood that would always be a consistent character in her work and her life, while highlighting such legendary places as the Cedar Tavern and the El Faro Restaurant and the legendary writers and artists that frequented them.

Greenwich Village Stories:
The Art of Frederick Brosen
A slideshow and talk with the artist

Tuesday, December 9
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place, between 1st and 2nd Avenues
Frederick Brosen’s native New York is his primary subject as he celebrates the built environment - its architecture, monuments, and public spaces. He paints the city we know and love, inviting us in, to walk familiar streets with him and to appreciate the richness that we oftentimes miss.

Brosen’s take on New York is instantly appealing. With his brush he brings to life a myriad of urban detail to frame the stuff of our lives and return it to us as art. Some of his work is featured in our new book, Greenwich Village Stories, which will be available for purchase and signing.

[Frederick Brosen is represented by Hirschl & Adler Galleries.]

Community Meeting on Preserving & Protecting University Place/Broadway Corridors

Thursday, December 4
6:00 P.M.
Baha’i Center
53 East 11th Street (east of University Place)

Please join GVSHP for a public meeting we're hosting about preserving the scale and character of the University Place and Broadway corridors, and protecting them from overdevelopment.
 
Plans have recently been announced to replace Bowlmor Lanes at University Place and 12th Street with a 23-story, 308 ft. tall residential tower — one of the tallest buildings ever constructed in the Village (NYU's controversial "mega-dorm" erected a few years ago on 12th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues is, by contrast, about 250 ft. tall). Sadly, this speaks to the almost total lack of landmark or zoning protections for the University Place and Broadway corridors (see MAP), where the zoning allows and encourages residential, hotel, and dorm towers even taller than the one planned for the Bowlmor site.

GVSHP has been in conversation with local elected officials and community leaders about potentially proposing and pursuing zoning changes for the area and an expansion of historic district and landmark protections. Zoning changes could reinforce the residential character of the neighborhood and limit the height, size, and scale of new development. Expanded landmark and historic district protections could help preserve existing historic buildings while requiring public hearings and approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the design of any proposed changes, additions, demolition, or new construction within a designated area — protections which most of the rest of the Village currently enjoys (see MAP). The meeting on December 4th will allow for further conversation about what such proposals might look like, what they would do, and what would be involved in pursuing them.

Capturing the Disappearing Storefronts of Greenwich Village and the East Village
With photographers and authors James & Karla Murray

Tuesday, December 2
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center,
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C

East Village-based photographers and authors James and Karla Murray will share photographs and interviews from their books, STORE FRONT- The Disappearing Face of New York and NEW YORK NIGHTS, presenting an intimate view of mom-and-pop small businesses in Greenwich Village and the East Village.  Their beautiful storefront images and proprietors’ stories reveal how neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.  Since they began their project in 2001, over half of their subjects have closed, and many more have been threatened with closure in recent months.

James and Karla Murray have been photographing the streets of New York for years. Their work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Historical Society and Clic Gallery, and has appeared in group shows at the New-York Historical Society. Their photographs are included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the New York Public Library, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. 

Both books will be available for purchase and signing.

Point of View New York City
A book talk with Janko Puls

Monday, November 17
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, near 12th Street

Upon moving to the East Village in 2006, Janko Puls quickly realized that New York City was changing faster than he could get to know it. Being a photographer, it was natural for him to use his camera as a tool towards understanding and documenting the city around him. He began taking photos from unusual angles or catching some easily missed architectural element. The results not only offered a profound perspective on a locale, but playfully challenged the viewer’s understanding of it.

Collected in the new book Point of View New York City, these images form the map of "The City" that the author has created from his explorations. From this he offers an illustrated lecture that will describe his creative process and invite the audience to join in the riddle game he has created through his photography.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Town Hall to Save Charas / PS 64
A rally to save the historic building and former community center

Monday, November 17
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Free
Casa Victoria Community Room
308 East 8th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C

Join Council member Rosie Mendez and elected officials, neighbors, activists, and community organizations in an important discussion about the status of former P.S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street and organize to return the building to community use!

Sponsored by: SOCCC-64; Charas, Inc; East Village Community Coalition; 9BC Tompkins Square Block Association; Time's Up; CB3 Manhattan; La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez; Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space; Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; Save Cooper Union; Cooper Square Committee and Cooper Square MHA.

Eating Fire
A book talk with Kelly Cogswell


Wednesday, November 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street
(Between Hudson Street and 7th Avenue South)

Kelly Cogswell set out from Kentucky armed only with an electric typewriter, a stack of poems, and willingness to do the bare minimum as a maid, dishwasher, prep cook and temporary secretary.

In New York, following an unscheduled (and naked) performance that stunned the NYU Department of Performance Studies, she decided to put her Medusa-like powers to good use, first as a lesbian activist, and later, as an independent journalist and monger of extremely underground art.

Now, a twenty year resident of 1st Street, Kelly Cogswell will present her new book Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger, spanning the twenty years from the culture wars to the war on terror. She will focus in particular on the importance of neighborhood to that pioneering group born in 1992 from the queer arts and activist scene of the East Village.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.



Hidden History of the Progressive East Village
A Walking Tour with Sheryl Woodruff

This program has reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Saturday, November 8 (re-scheduled from 11/1)
1:00 – 3:00- P.M.
Free; reservations required
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed

Join GVSHP staff member Sheryl Woodruff as she leads a walking tour of the East Village, stopping at sites that reveal the neighborhood’s contributions to activism, reform, and social change. The walk will focus on some of the men and women who have consciously—and sometimes through chance—contributed to the neighborhood’s progressive history. We’ll explore both well-known contributors to our shared past and the contributions of those lost to the historical record. Stops will include, among others, Webster Hall, the First Street Community Garden, and the Sixth Street Community Synagogue.

We’ll be walking outdoors for 2 hours, so please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, and it’s a good idea to bring a bottle of water with you.

Greenwich Village in the 1960s:
The Photography of Robert Otter

This program is at capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Monday, November 3rd
6:30 - 8:30 PM
King Juan Carlos Center
53 Washington Square South
Free; reservations required at rsvp@gvshp.org


He made his living as a commercial photographer, but his soul yearned for something more... Robert (Bob) Otter captured Greenwich Village unlike any other photographer of his era. He was a native New Yorker as well as a Village resident, and preserved the neighborhood through his masterful imagery: a vibrant, bohemian community perceived by many as the "eye of the hurricane" that was the Sixties. A haven for an unusual assortment of artists, families, counter-culture types, philosophers, working folks, and various oddballs, Otter's lens caught it all. His photographs were recently featured in GVSHP's Greenwich Village Stories, a collection of vignettes and images by Villagers about the Village.
 
More than ten years after the introduction of Otter’s photographic collection to the public, rare treasures of historic Greenwich Village continue to be unearthed. His son, Ned Otter, who archived the collection, will present a slide lecture that explores both newly discovered and iconic images of Otter's 1960s Greenwich Village.

Robert Otter prints and copies of Greenwich Village Stories will be available for sale.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of Greenwich Village Stories now, click here



Commemorate the Fillmore East!
Plaque Unveiling and Celebration

Wednesday, October 29
5:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
105 Second Avenue at East 6th Street
Please join GVSHP, Two Boots and Apple Bank to unveil a historic plaque marking the site of the Fillmore East, the beloved concert hall that filled this corner with music from 1968-1971.  The building is located in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The event will include appearances by guitarist Lenny Kaye and Joshua White, founder of the Joshua Light Show, which splashed the concert hall with psychedelic color.

Despite its brief life, the Fillmore East is remembered with tremendous affection by both the artists who played there and the concertgoers who enjoyed it, as a place of warmth, spirit, innovation and the finest popular music.  The great impresario Bill Graham opened the hall as a sibling to his Fillmore West in San Francisco, and brought in performers including The Doors, B.B. King, Roberta Flack, The Byrds, Richie Havens, Taj Mahal, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Joan Baez, Jeff Beck, the Staple Singers, and many more.

The building was a destination for entertainment both before and after the Fillmore East. It opened in 1926 as a Yiddish theater, soon becoming the Loew’s Commodore movie house, followed by the Village Theater.  In the 1980s it was the trendsetting gay nightclub The Saint, becoming Emigrant Bank in 1995, and Apple Bank in 2013.  While the façade retains much of its original Medieval Revival style, the rear of the building, which housed the auditorium, was demolished and replaced by the Fillmore apartment building in 1997.

Water Works!
A history of the New York City water supply with Gina Pollara

This program has reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Tuesday, October 28
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street (Between Hudson Street and 7th Avenue South)


The early residents of Greenwich Village relied on rain water, wells, and a few fresh-water streams such as Minetta Brook for their drinking water. But the creation of the New York City municipal water supply was a turning point in the development of this great city.

Join Gina Pollara, co-editor of the book Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of the New York City Water Supply for the fascinating story of this massive construction project that led to a reliable source of clean drinking water for New York. In particular, we will look at how this affected architecture throughout the Village – in buildings we can still see today, thanks in many cases to historic preservation.

Members-only program – A visit to the Morris-Jumel Mansion
members





Tuesday, October 21
2:00 – 3:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Meeting location provided after reservation is confirmed

Greenwich Village has the Washington Square Arch, but in the fall of 1776 General George Washington located his military headquarters in a mansion in present-day Washington Heights.  The Morris-Jumel Mansion was built by British Colonel Roger Morris in 1765. He and his wealthy American wife, Mary Philipse Morris, used it as a summer country house, but fled when the American Revolution began. Washington chose this property for its strategic view of lower Manhattan, the Hudson River, the Bronx, Westchester, Long Island Sound and the Harlem River.

Stephen Jumel and his wife Eliza purchased the house in 1810. Stephen Jumel died in 1832 and the following year Eliza married former Vice-President Aaron Burr. The city of New York acquired the property in 1903.

The staff of Morris-Jumel Mansion will lead us on a guided tour of the house and property.
Space is limited and there will be significant walking and standing.



Footprints in New York

with authors James and Michelle Nevius

This program has reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Monday, October 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute
41 East 11th Street between Broadway and University Place

Join authors and noted tour guides James and Michelle Nevius for a presentation on their latest book, Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers. In a talk illustrated with vintage photos and old maps, James and Michelle will focus on the stories in Footprints in New York that are connected to Greenwich Village, from Peter Stuyvesant’s bowery to Bob Dylan’s MacDougal Street.

One part history, one part urban exploration, Footprints in New York follows in the steps of such dynamic Village residents as Edgar Allan Poe, Gertrude Tredwell (of the Merchant’s House Museum), Henry James, John Reed, and many more.

The authors will take audience questions, and books will be available for purchase and signing following the talk.

Greenmarkets
A presentation by Barry Benepe
Co-sponsored by GrowNYC

Tuesday, October 7
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Church of St. Brigid, Avenue B at East 8th Street

In 1976, planner and architect Barry Benepe co-founded the Greenmarket program in New York City with a fellow planner, Bob Lewis.  Their open air markets offered a solution to two pressing problems: regional farmers were struggling to make a living and losing farmland to development, and New York City consumers had a hard time finding good, fresh produce. 

Barry will join us to discuss the history and development of several iconic open air farmers markets in and around Greenwich Village, including the Union Square Greenmarket, Tompkins Square Greenmarket and the Saint Mark’s Church Greenmarket. 

Tompkins Square Park:  From Bouwerie to Greenmarket
A pop-up exhibit

Sunday, September 28 and Sunday, October 5
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket, at Avenue A and East 7th Street; Free

Join the East Village Parks Conservancy, GrowNYC and GVSHP as we explore the history of Tompkins Square Park in images, from its location on the Bouwerie (or farm) of Peter Stuyvesant through today, where a vibrant market sets up shop every Sunday, selling produce, providing composting, and collecting recyclables. Images will explore the Park’s historic development, the site’s history as a place of revolt, and the Greenmarket past and present. Drop by during Greenmarket hours, peruse this pop-up exhibit, shop the bounty of the market, and enjoy some samples straight from the farms.  Representatives from GrowNYC and the GVSHP will also be available throughout the day.

The East Village Parks Conservancy is a volunteer community-based organization committed to the restoration, care and expansion of green spaces in the East Village of New York City.

GrowNYC is a hands-on non-profit which improves New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations.



My Great Great Aunt Rose of the Lower East Side
A Family Story by Kate Pastor

Thursday, October 2
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at 10th Street


“Cinderella of the Sweatshops.” “Rose of the Ghetto.” “The Socialist Socialite.”

Before Rose Pastor Stokes was so-named, she rolled stogies in an Ohio factory and wrote letters to the Jewish Daily News between and during shifts. She was hired as a reporter and moved to New York’s Lower East Side, marrying a rich philanthropist she had interviewed for a story. But this was no fairytale.

When a newspaper reported that she had been arrested, it added the word “again.” She was as stoic when being convicted of violating the Espionage Act as she had been gushing in her girlish adoration of her husband-to-be.

Kate Pastor, a Bronx-based journalist, will explore the life of this socialist, feminist activist — also known as Aunt Rose — with this lecture/slideshow.

OMG!:  Churches and Synagogues of Greenwich Village
Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua
A lecture by Father Joseph Lorenzo, O.F. M.

Thursday, September 25
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua
154 Sullivan Street (corner of West Houston Street)
The Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Padua on West Houston and Sullivan Streets in the South Village stands proudly as the first Italian parish in New York State, the second Italian parish founded in the United States, the oldest existing Italian parish in the U.S. and the first parish church building built by Italian immigrants in the United States. Saint Anthony's has been popularly called "The Italian Cathedral" and has appeared in movies such as “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” “Godfather II,” and “Moonstruck.”

Join Father Joseph F. Lorenzo, O.F.M., Pastor, for an evening of history and historic images and artifacts as we present the latest installment of our series “OMG! Churches and Synagogues of Greenwich Village.”

The Story of Caffé Cino
A talk and book reading with Magie Dominic

This program has already reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, September 18
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
Joe Cino was proprietor of the Caffé Cino, located at 31 Cornelia Street, from 1958 to 1968. Despite not having a theater or cabaret license, Cino enthusiastically provided a venue for emerging playwrights and performers to hone their craft and bring new works to an audience, at a time when venues were not available. Lanford Wilson, Sam Shepard, John Guare, Tom Eyen and Bernadette Peters are just a few of the people who are a part of Caffé Cino history.

Magie Dominic, a writer and artist who performed and was an assistant director at Caffé Cino in the 1960’s, will share her experiences at the legendary place commonly referred to as the birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway theater. In 2011, she donated a treasure trove of Caffé Cino memorabilia to the NYPL’s Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and established The Magie Dominic Caffé Cino Archives. She will also read from her just released book, Street Angel.

Affordable Housing / Historic Preservation: A Roundtable Discussion
Presented by Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, & The New School Center for New York City Affairs Article in The Villager:

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Tuesday, September 16
6:00 P.M.
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
Arnhold Hall, 2nd Floor
55 West 13th Street, Room I202
Free; reservations required

The affordable housing crisis in New York has impacted the entire city. As activists concerned with maintaining and nourishing New York City’s diverse neighborhoods, we ask you to join us in taking back this important public conversation about affordable housing and neighborhood preservation from the real estate lobbyists.

Speakers:

  • Councilmember Rosie Mendez, former Chair of the NYC Council Public Housing Committee

  • Hon. Gale Brewer Manhattan Borough President

  • Harvey Epstein Project Director of the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center and NYC Rent Guidelines Board Member

  • Nadine Maleh Director of the Inspiring Places program at Community Solutions

  • Rachel Meltzer Assistant Professor of Urban Policy at The New School

Moderated by:

  • Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

To watch the live stream of this event, visit here.

If you can’t attend, you can tweet in questions to the panelists – send them to @gvshp, using the #AffHsngPrez. 

For questions, contact bharmon@hdc.org

Community Co-Sponsors:

Friends of Sunset Park
Ron Schweiger, Brooklyn Borough Historian
Coalition To Save The East Village
Morningside Heights Historic District Committee
Friends of Brook Park
Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association
Fiske Terrace Association
Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance
WE ACT for Environmental Justice



Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy
Friends of Petrosino Square
Friends of West Park
Crown Heights North Association
Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts
Prospect Park East Network
10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association
Flatbush Development Corporation
Greenwich Village Community Task Force
Murray Hill Neighborhood Association
Lefferts Manor Association
Hamilton Heights - West Harlem Community Preservation Organization

404 East 14th Street and the East Village Art Scene
A slideshow and talk with Tom Burckhardt

Tuesday, September 9
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place

The building at 404 East 14th Street began its life as a factory and a warehouse before being converted in the mid-1960s to one of New York’s first “artist loft” buildings. Among the early tenants were Claes Oldenburg & Patty Mucha, Larry Rivers, Yayoi Kusama, On Kawara, John Chamberlain, and Herb Aach. Even poet Allen Ginsberg lived here for a short time.

Artist and resident Tom Burckhardt, who last summer organized a show for Tibor de Nagy Gallery of the building’s artist-residents, will present a slideshow and discussion of the microcosm art scene of fifty years at this one special address.

New York 1969
A book talk with Richard Blair

Thursday, September 4
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute
41 East 11th Street, between Broadway and University Place
The 1960s were a time of great change. Richard Blair was wandering the streets of New York, taking dramatic photos, while his father, poet Ed Blair, was living with the Beats in the East Village, performing in off-off Broadway plays and reading his poetry to the avant-garde.

In the new book, New York 1969 the father’s poems and the son’s photographs are paired in a loving collaboration that emphasizes what they had in common: a love and respect for the common man, whimsy and humor, and a subtle underlying sense of the blues.

Richard Blair will share readings and images from the book, which will be available for purchase and signing.

Historic East Village Libraries - & more!
A members-only walking tour with NYPL’s John Bacon

members





Free; reservations required
Friday, August 22 (rain date Friday, August 29)
10 A.M - noon
Meeting location will be provided after reservation is confirmed.

While the iconic Jefferson Market Library in the West Village is well known to preservationists, this tour will focus on historic libraries, both past and present, in the East Village. 

John Bacon, former GVSHP trustee and Director of Planned Giving at NYPL, will lead us on an exploration of 3 historic libraries and many other sights along the way.

Our tour will conclude at the Ottendorfer Library on Second Avenue which is the City’s oldest free public library, having opened in 1884, a full decade before NYPL itself was chartered.

Space is limited; significant walking and standing.



Looking Back and Looking Ahead:
The State of Preservation with GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman


Monday, August 18
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue, near 12th Street
GVSHP’s Executive Director Andrew Berman will guide us through a survey of recent preservation victories in the Village, East Village, and NoHo – what’s been landmarked, what’s been downzoned, what’s been saved, and what’s been stopped – as well as the main challenges currently facing preservation efforts in our neighborhoods.

We’ll look at the dozen new historic districts in the Village, East Village, and NoHo and the dozens of new individual landmarks, as well as the nearly one hundred blocks that have been downzoned.  We’ll also look at areas like University Place and Broadway, the Greenwich Village waterfront, the southern end of the South Village, and much of the East Village, that still face danger from a lack of landmark and zoning protections.  We’ll discuss the latest on Hudson River Park air rights plans and attacks by the Real Estate Board of New York on the landmarking process. 

And we’ll look at new plans and proposals for new historic districts in the East Village, rezonings in the South Village, and caps on air rights transfers in the Far West Village to see what can be done to protect these areas.  Questions and answers will follow.

Family Life on the Lower East Side
Photos by John Milisenda

Tuesday, August 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center,
638 East 6th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C

John Milisenda grew up in the East Village/Lower East Side and has been photographing his neighborhood and his family for 50 years. For a GVSHP program in March, he showed a collection of his photos featuring images of his school friends and others in the neighborhood. Many wanted to see more, so we are pleased that John could offer this new collection of photographs of his mother, father and developmentally disabled brother, showing a unique perspective of one family’s life in the neighborhood.

John's photography has appeared in over 130 shows. He has taught photography at Drexel University, the New School For Social Research, and Parsons School of Design. His photographs are in many collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New Orleans Museum of Modern Art and the Harry Ransom Museum. He has received numerous grants and awards including a National Endowment of the Arts Award. 

Historic Preservation, Meet Restaurant Preservation
A panel discussion moderated by GVSHP’s Karen Loew

Tuesday, August 5
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South

There are restaurants, bars, and food shops we all miss. From University Diner to Rocco Ristorante, Holiday Cocktail Lounge to Havana Chelsea – and next up, Union Square Café – insert your heartache here. Can we stanch the bleeding? In London, San Francisco, and Barcelona, people are trying to preserve “uses” as well as architecture. Maybe New York City will be next to create a model for small business preservation.

Join food, real estate and retail experts for a panel discussion on the issues and possible solutions. We’ll hear from Eater.com restaurant critic Robert Sietsema, who proposed this preservation plan, plus former New York Times restaurant critic and longtime Villager Mimi Sheraton, Columbia University assistant professor of urban planning Stacey Sutton, and Tower Brokerage president Robert Perl. We’ll look at all sides of the issue, from rent hikes to owner retirement, to explore what can be done to save our favorite cafes and bars: our hangouts, our clubhouses, the places that feed our souls as well as our stomachs.

Edna St. Vincent Millay: From City Lights to Simple Stone

Wednesday, July 30
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, Sixth Avenue at West 10th Street

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), recipient of the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, was a daring, versatile writer who lived in Greenwich Village in the early 1920’s.  Her poems about social equality and personal freedom brought new hope to a generation of youth disillusioned by the social and political upheaval of the First World War.  Her work adds a vibrant personal dimension to the era’s social history by illuminating the bohemian lifestyle she and her friends enjoyed.

Holly Peppe, Millay’s Literary Executor, and Mark O’Berski, Vice President of the Millay Society, will present an illustrated talk about Millay’s life and career from her early days in the Village to her country life at Steepletop in Austerlitz, NY, where her house and gardens are now open for visitors. Dr. Peppe, who edited the Penguin and Harper’s editions of Millay’s poems, will also share stories about her friendship with the poet’s sister and include selected readings from the poet’s work.

Information about Steepletop, Edna St. Vincent Millay's country home, will be available. Steepletop is open to visitors and is an ideal location for a scenic day trip from New York City.

Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens
Co-sponsored by Green Guerillas
So popular, we're doing it again! But space is extremely limited.

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Saturday, July 26
Noon – 2:00 P.M
Free; reservations required
Location will be provided after reservation is confirmed


Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet the gardeners who make it possible to enjoy their beauty. 


About Green Guerillas: Green Guerillas uses a unique mix of education, organizing and advocacy to help people cultivate community gardens, sustain grassroots groups, grow food, engage youth, and address issues critical to the future of their gardens. As community garden leaders serve their communities and act as catalysts for community change, they face organizing and organizational challenges that can be daunting. Green Guerillas helps them take on these challenges and cultivate community all year long. Green Guerillas helps garden leaders reach out to their neighbors, recruit new members, create group structures, organize events, and make important alliances with each other and with other grassroots groups in their neighborhoods.

This is a 2-hour walking tour, please wear comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. You should bring water to stay hydrated. We will be on our feet the entire time!

The Story of Sanitation on the Hudson River
A talk with Dr. Robin Nagle, anthropologist-in-residence NYC Department of Sanitation

Thursday, July 17
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
NYU Lecture Hall, 13-19 University Place, just below 8th Street

Dr. Robin Nagle is author of the book Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks With the Sanitation Workers of New York City. She has presented programs for GVSHP on the history of sanitation and snow removal.

The facilities on Pier 52, located on the Gansevoort Peninsula near 14th Street, are currently operated by the New York City Department of Sanitation, and are not part of the current Hudson River Park. But once there was a 13th Avenue running along the Hudson River, and an entire additional blockfront along the waterfront of which this peninsula is the sole surviving element.

Dr. Nagle will explore the history of this area, its current use, and discuss plans for the future.

Metamorphosis
Photos of Gansevoort Market / Meatpacking District by Brian Rose

Wednesday, July 9
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute
41 East 11th Street, near University Place


In the winter of 1985 Brian Rose spent several days wandering the streets of the Meatpacking District with his 4x5 view camera. It was different city then; edgier and less peopled. While the Meatpacking District bustled in the early morning hours as the city's primary meat market, it slumbered, almost abandoned, during the day.  He never printed those photographs of the Meatpacking District, and went on to other projects. But last year he retrieved the box of negatives from his archive and began scanning. He was stunned to rediscover these images, made with little artifice, unforced in their clarity. It was like looking at New York as a stage set while the actors were away taking a break.

In the summer and fall of last year he re-photographed the Meatpacking District, repeating many of the earlier images and making a number of new ones. The result is this new book, Metamorphosis, that shows the profound transformation of the neighborhood. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Stonewall 45: Windows into LGBT History
An exhibition in storefront windows along Christopher Street between
Greenwich Street and Greenwich Avenue


June 16th to the 29th

Co-sponsored by the Arcus Foundation


June is LGBT Pride and History Month, and GVSHP is proud to co-sponsor this educational exhibit in more than two dozen storefronts along Christopher Street – a street which, like Greenwich Village, played a crucial role for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and its struggle for equality.

Stonewall 45 is made up of panels that combine text and imagery to tell the story of the Stonewall Riots and their significance: the context of anti-LGBT discrimination in the 1960s; the actual events of June, 1969; and the political response that Stonewall unleashed, which has now earned its place in history. 

Produced by Susanna Aaron and designed by Janean Lesyk, the text on the two dozen displays is written by David Carter, author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. Each includes photos, newspaper clippings, and historic visual documentation that tell the story of the struggle for LGBT rights across the country up to, including, and in the wake of the Stonewall Riots.  A website, stonewall45.org, will go live starting June 16.

Exhibition guides will be available in all of the participating shops.  At a time when hundreds of thousands will be coming to New York for annual LGBT Pride celebrations, Stonewall 45 will educate visitors and locals alike about the shared history which brought us to this point, and invite everyone to take a closer look at Christopher Street and its merchants.

Read press coverage in The Advocate and The Villager.



Fighting Westway
Environmental Law, Citizen Activism, and the Regulatory War that Transformed New York City

A book talk with author William W. Buzbee

Tuesday, June 24
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Westbeth Community Room
55 Bethune Street
or enter on Bank Street between West Street and Washington Street

William W. Buzbee is a professor of law who is joining Georgetown’s law school next year.  He is currently the director of the Emory Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, and regularly assists with environmental and regulatory matters in courts, Congress, and agencies.   He teaches environmental law, administrative law, legislation and regulation, and seminars on environmental, regulatory, and constitutional law subjects. His new book, Fighting Westway: Environmental Law, Citizen Activism, and the Regulatory War that Transformed New York City was recently published by Cornell University Press.  

Of Fighting Westway, John H. Adams, Founding Director of Natural Resources Defense Council and co-author of A Force for Nature said,"Finally! The first thorough, truthful account of one of the great environmental battles of the twentieth century! William W. Buzbee captures in rigorous detail the successful fight a group of dedicated citizens waged against the major economic and political powers of the day. Westway was a victory for honesty, principle, and the rule of law. Long live the Clean Water Act and the Hudson River striped bass!"

GVSHP Brokers Partnership
Celebrate the richness of the South Village & Washington Square Park


Monday, June 23
5:30 – 7:45 P.M.

SOLD OUT!

End your day enjoying a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres in the solarium garden of La Lanterna di Vittorio, a third generation beloved, Italian restaurant. Learn about this historical eatery and meet the family.

Afterwards, depart for a tour of Washington Square Park and the South Village...Do you know what event the Washington Square Arch commemorates or who’s buried at Washington Square Park?

On the South Village and Washington Square Park Tour, learn interesting facts that every broker ought to know in a fun, enjoyable evening.

The 34th GVSHP Annual Meeting and Presentation of the Village Awards
Co-sponsored by The New School


Monday, June 16
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Auditorium at The New School
66 West 12th Street

This special evening will look back on GVSHP’s work over the last year to protect the architectural heritage and cultural history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Current GVSHP members will vote on a slate of new and renewing trustees.

The Village Awards were established 23 years ago to honor the people, businesses, and organizations that help to make our neighborhoods so special. All are welcome to join the awards ceremony at the Auditorium at The New School, a beautiful interior New York City landmark.

This year’s honorees were selected by a committee of GVSHP Trustees, past honorees, and community leaders:

LaMaMa
New York Central Art Supply
New York Marble Cemetery, Inc.
Pino Prime Meats
Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books
Village Community Boathouse
& Kathy Donaldson (Regina Kellerman Award)

Congratulations to all awardees!

OMG!: Churches and Synagogues of Greenwich Village
St. John’s Lutheran Church

Thursday, June 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
St. John’s Lutheran Church
81 Christopher Street

St. John ’s Lutheran Church at 81 Christopher Street has been a fixture of the West Village since 1821. Religious worship on the site dates back even further than that. 

Join us for an evening to explore the history of this site. St. John’s was the location of the first Lutheran seminary in America, housed three different congregations over the years, and was the headquarters of the local Saint George Association, among other interesting facets of its history. Current and historic images of the church will be featured at the talk, as well as a piece of art displayed at the 1964 World’s Fair.

The evening will be led by the current pastor of St. John’s, the Rev. Mark Erson.

GVSHP and Two Boots present
Frank O’Hara Lived Here:
Historic Plaque Unveiling and Community Celebration
at the Former Residence of Frank O’Hara, 441 East 9th Street
Co-sponsored by The Poetry Project

Tuesday, June 10
starting at 6:00 P.M.
Open to all, but RSVPs requested 

Frank O'Hara (1926-1966), a leader of the “New York School” of poets, was born in Baltimore and grew up in Massachusetts, but the place he is associated with most is New York City. His two dozen volumes of poetry, prose and plays are suffused with the city — as well as with art and artists, as O’Hara was also an art critic and a curator at the Museum of Modern Art.

He lived in several locations downtown, but it was here, on the edge of Tompkins Square Park, that he “probably reached the high point in his writing, both in productivity and quality," wrote Joe LeSueur, who shared the apartment with O’Hara.

GVSHP and Two Boots continue their semi-annual program of plaque placement in the East and West Villages with the unveiling of a plaque honoring O’Hara at his residence from 1959 to 1963. Join us for readings by poets Tony Towle, who knew O’Hara, and Edmund Berrigan, plus other festivities.



Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile
GVSHP Members-only program
co-sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Monday, June 2
2:30 – 3:30 P.M..
Free; reservations required
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue

Throughout the five boroughs are more than 200 marvels of engineering and architectural beauty—the interlocking tile vaults built by Spanish immigrants Rafael Guastavino, Sr. (1842-1908), and his son, Rafael Jr. (1872-1950). The system of structural tile vaults developed by the Guastavinos—lightweight, fireproof, low-maintenance, and capable of supporting significant loads—was used by architects including McKim, Mead & White and Carrere &Hastings. Carnegie Hall, the Bronx Zoo’s Elephant House, and Grand Central Terminal all contain Guastavino vaults.

Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile is a major exhibition exploring the innovations the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company (1889-1962) brought to the science and art of building. It was originally organized by MIT’s John Ochsendorf, who is a MacArthur Fellow; it is substantially expanded here to include some 20 key Guastavino spaces in the five boroughs.

MCNY staff will take GVSHP members on a private guided tour of this special exhibition.Space is extremely limited.

The Shape of Jazz to Come: Downtown Jazz in 1959 and Now
Co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement
Part of Lower East Side History Month

Wednesday, May 28
6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center at The New School
55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor

In the 1950s and 60s, the Five Spot Café (in two locations on Cooper Square) was a major nexus, not only of top-notch jazz, but also of racial integration and artistic ferment. Leonard Bernstein, James Baldwin and Norman Mailer were all in the mix alongside Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane. When saxophonist Ornette Coleman and his band played for several weeks in 1959, they disrupted the scene's social status quo as well as altering the sound of jazz. What is the downtown jazz scene like today – are there any parallels?

This promises to be a fascinating conversation at the crossroads of sociology and musicology, with a performance by the Ornette Coleman Ensemble of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, directed by Jane Ira Bloom. The Ornette Coleman Ensemble features: Allison Philips, trumpet; Alex Silver, tenor saxophone; Idan Morim, guitar; Antonio Mazzei Ocampo, piano; Daniel Durst, bass; Michael Dei Cont; bass; and Carter Bales, drums.

GVSHP's Karen Loew will moderate a panel discussion with David Lee, author of The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field; Stacy Dillard, saxophonist and composer; and jazz critic Howard Mandel. Lee will also sign and sell his books.



Chalk Up The East Village-Lower East Side!

Part of Lower East Side History Month

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.



Saturday, May 24
1:00 – 3:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Meet at the Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street


In honor of Lower East Side History Month, join GVSHP staffers as we fan out into the neighborhood and literally write the history of the neighborhood on the sidewalks. We’ll visit some of the East Village’s coolest landmarks, residences, and businesses and leave a memento (in chalk) of some of what we learned.

This walking tour is one of the many events of the inaugural Lower East Side History Month, an annual celebration of the rich, diverse history of New York City’s Lower East Side. Conceived and launched by LES-based cultural and community groups, LES History Month aims to connect our present to our past, exploring how our history can inform and inspire our future.

A Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens
co-sponsored by Green Guerillas

This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Saturday, May 17
11:00 A.M.– 1:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Meeting location provided after registration

Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet the gardeners who make it possible to enjoy their beauty. 

About Green Guerillas: Green Guerillas uses a unique mix of education, organizing and advocacy to help people cultivate community gardens, sustain grassroots groups, grow food, engage youth, and address issues critical to the future of their gardens. As community garden leaders serve their communities and act as catalysts for community change, they face organizing and organizational challenges that can be daunting. Green Guerillas helps them take on these challenges and cultivate community all year long. Green Guerillas helps garden leaders reach out to their neighbors, recruit new members, create group structures, organize events, and make important alliances with each other and with other grassroots groups in their neighborhoods.

Jews: A People's History of the Lower East Side
A panel discussion and readings from Clayton Patterson’s
book, Volume 3

Co-sponsored by the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy

Part of Lower East Side History Month


Tuesday, May 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Avenues B and C

Join our panel of writers and editors, including Clayton Patterson, Eddy Portnoy, Elissa Sampson, Gerri Visco, and Thomas Walker for Jews: A People's History of the Lower East Side, for a discussion of the book and its contributions to the field. An essential history of the great Jewish wave of immigration to Manhattan’s Lower East Side, this 3-volume book covers art, literature, food, religion, and so much more.

Topics slated for discussion with this panel include the Stanton Street Shul, Julian Beck and The Living Theatre, Cartoon Jews, Dr. Dave, Mosaic Tattoos, and more. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

To register, please call (212) 475-9585 ext. 35 or email.


Greenwich Village Stories book events:

Symphony Space

April 23rd at 7:30pm: “Greenwich Village Stories” at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street)featuring performance artist Penny Arcade, Barneys New York creative ambassador Simon Doonan, writer Dave Hill, organizer of the Village’s first Halloween parade Ralph Lee, and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi reading alongside other well-known Village residents Jane Curtin and Parker Posey as part of the Selected Shorts series to be broadcast on 130 NPR stations. Click here to learn more and to purchase tickets.

Symphony Space

April 29th at 6:00pm: Come Celebrate Your Village with contributors from Greenwich Village Stories at Three Lives & Company (154 West 10th Street at Waverly Place). Reception will feature meet and greet and signing with book contributors, including: author Lauren Belfer, Film Forum director Karen Cooper, author Tony Hiss, poet Bob Holman, Annisa restaurant owner and chef Anita Lo, author Calvin Trillin, and guitar store owner Matt Umanov.



Sixteenth Annual Village House Tour Benefit

Sunday, May 4
1:00 - 5:30 P.M. Self-Guided Tour
5:30 - 7:30 P.M. Cocktail Reception

Click here to purchase tickets

Offering a rare glimpse into seven of Greenwich Village’s finest and most exclusive homes, the Sixteenth Annual Village House Tour Benefit is held to raise funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate about and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods. Click here for more information.

OMG!: Churches and Synagogues of Greenwich Village
First Presbyterian Church


This program is already at capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Monday, April 28
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
West 12th Street at 5th Avenue

As First Presbyterian Church begins celebration of its 300th anniversary - and 170 years in the Village - join church archivist and historian David Pultz for a presentation of the long and colorful history of this venerable Village institution.
 
With humble beginnings as a Presbyterian Meeting House on Wall Street in 1719, First Presbyterian steadily grew during the Colonial period.  Known as the "Church of the Patriots," the congregation supported the America Revolution, as did its most famous pastor of the period, Rev. John Rodgers.  In the post-colonial period Rodgers supported progressive causes and organizations such as the anti-slavery Manumission Society.

As Wall Street became increasingly commercialized in the early 19th century, the church moved north in 1846 to newly developed property along Fifth Avenue between 11th and 12th streets. The decades that followed firmly established the church as an important voice within the neighborhood, featuring many talented, erudite and often controversial preachers such as the progressive and immensely popular Harry Emerson Fosdick.

Drawing upon a vast repository of the church's archival holdings, Mr. Pultz will present a narrative in rich visuals of the long and prominent place it holds within the history of New York City.

GVSHP Members-Only Program: Reading with musician Lenny Kaye and performance artist Penny Arcade

Co-sponsored by Writers Room


April 16th at 7:00 P.M. at Writers Room
740 Broadway at Astor Place, 12th floor
Free; reservations required
Note: This program is open to GVSHP members only

Not a member? Join today!

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation will continue a series of readings of our new book, Greenwich Village Stories at The Writers Room. The reading will feature Lenny Kaye, renowned musician, songwriter, music producer, critic, and author, who has performed and recorded with Patti Smith since 1974, and celebrated performance artist Penny Arcade, who is also a playwright, director, actor, and a founder of the Lower East Side Biography Project. This event is for GVSHP members only.
Listen to Penny Arcade and Lenny Kaye recount their memories of the Village, from Penny’s wonderment as she first set eyes on it as a sixteen-year-old, to Lenny’s description of walking through the Village when Coltrane held court at the Vanguard and music was everywhere. Following the reading, Lenny Kaye and Penny Arcade will participate in a Q&A.
While at the event, discover The Writers Room, an organization that provides more than 200 writers with a quiet, affordable place in which to work in the Village. In addition to workspace, The Writers Room offers a reference and research library, seminars and workshops on subjects of interest to members, and readings of members’ works.



Developing an Opera about Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses
Composer Judd Greenstein and director Joshua Frankel discuss the process of creating their new opera with urbanist and author Karrie Jacobs

Thursday, April 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Village Community School, 272-278 West 10th Street
between Greenwich and Washington Streets

Jane Jacobs was the leader of epic struggles against Robert Moses, first stopping his destruction of Washington Square Park, and then his efforts to build the Lower Manhattan Expressway. Join composer Judd Greenstein and director Joshua Frankel in a conversation about the process of expressing this story as an opera and the translation of the ideas that run through it into music, text, visuals and stage movement. The conversation will be led by Karrie Jacobs, a frequent contributor to Architect, former architecture critic at New York Magazine and founding executive editor of Bennetton’s Colors Magazine. Greenstein and Frankel also will screen two short animated films: their previous collaboration, Plan Of The City, as well as Mannahatta, which premiered at the BAM Next Wave Festival this past fall and represents their first thematic exploration for the opera. More information about this opera can be found at mosesjacobsopera.com.

History in Asphalt
An illustrated talk about Greenwich Village and the forces that shaped its pattern of streets, with Manhattan historian Joyce Gold

Thursday, April 3
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library
6th Avenue and West 10th Street

Village streets can bring even seasoned New Yorkers to their knees. Streets bend, diagonals come out of nowhere, roads stop for no good reason, and thoroughfares change direction. Such intersections as Waverly Place & Waverly Place, and W 4th Street & W 10th, Street do little to help.

There are good reasons behind the confusion, but it takes some digging to uncover them. Joyce Gold will explain how topography, natural boundaries, Indian paths, and estate ownership carved the first convoluted pattern of roads. And she will also show the strange result of the city’s insisting upon connecting areas north and south of the Village. Joyce Gold is a legendary New York City tour guide, whose specialties include the women of Washington Square, the history of the Meatpacking District, and the streetscapes of Greenwich Village. Ms. Gold holds a Masters in Metropolitan Studies from New York University, and has taught courses about the history of New York at the New School and NYU for over thirty years.



Wooden Houses of Greenwich Village
A lecture by Elizabeth Finkelstein and Michael Devonshire

Wednesday, March 26
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Village Community School, 272-278 West 10th Street,
between Washington and Greenwich Streets

Greenwich Village is celebrated for its beautiful rows of brick and brownstone townhouses. But those who meander through the neighborhood's winding, historic streets are usually surprised to encounter the occasional wooden house sandwiched between masonry houses and apartment buildings, channeling a bygone era. How and when did these houses arrive here? Why are there so few? And, perhaps most curiously, how on earth have they survived for so long? Join urban historian Elizabeth Finkelstein and preservation architect Michael Devonshire as they explore the history and mystery surrounding these fascinating wooden relics and discuss the challenges to their preservation.



East Village / Lower East Side photographs from the 1960s
Photography and commentary by John Milisenda

Tuesday, March 18
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street

John Milisenda has taught basic photography, the Zone System and Photographic Chemistry at Drexel University, the New School For Social Research and Parsons School of Design. He has written for Modern Photography and Photo Methods magazine.

Milisenda made the images in this lecture when he was a teenager, before he attended Pratt Institute to study art. Many of the subjects in these photographs are teenagers with whom he grew up. These photographs have appeared on photo blogs and websites worldwide. His images are in both museums and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, and Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. He has self-published 17 books of his photography.

Jews: A People’s History of the Lower East Side
A panel discussion and selected readings from Clayton Patterson’s book (Volumes 1 & 2), featuring Laurie Tobias Cohen, Suzanne Wasserman, Joyce Mendelsohn, Zia Ziprin, and Steve Wishnia

Co-sponsored by Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy

Monday, March 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Synagogue
325 East 6th Street (bet 1st & 2nd Ave.)

Join our panel of writers and editors, Suzanne Wasserman (historian, filmmaker, and Director of The Gotham Center for New York City History), Laurie Tobias Cohen (Executive Director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy), Zia Ziprin (fashion designer), Steve Wishnia (journalist and musician) and Joyce Mendelsohn (educator, historian and writer), for a discussion of the book and its contributions to the field.

An essential history of the great Jewish wave of immigration to Manhattan’s Lower East Side,
this 3-volume collection covers art, literature, food, religion, and so much more.

Topics slated for discussion include: the disappearing Jewish Lower East Side, the old public baths, music from klezmer to punk rock, and legendary food establishments such as Russ and Daughters.

Our Lady of Greenwich Village
A discussion of Irish Catholic immigration to Greenwich Village with authors Dermot McEvoy and John Strausbaugh

Tuesday, March 4
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Church of St. Brigid
Avenue B at East 8th Street

Authors Dermot McEvoy (Our Lady of Greenwich Village, Terrible Angel, and The 13th Apostle) and John Strausbaugh (The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, Black Like You, Rock 'Til You Drop) discuss the history and impact of Irish Catholic immigration in the Greenwich Village area.

McEvoy grew up in the Village when it was a working class neighborhood, populated with longshoremen, cops, firemen, and truck drivers. Their talk will range from the Irish waterfront that inspired On the Waterfront to the churches, like St. Brigid's, that anchored the Irish community, to famous Irish New Yorkers such as Archbishop "Dagger John" Hughes, Mayor Jimmy "Gentleman Jim" Walker, world champion prizefighter Gene Tunney, and the Civil War Generals Michael Corcoran and Thomas Francis Meagher.



Farmers Markets from Gansevoort to Union Square to Abingdon Square
An evening with Greenmarket founder Barry Benepe

Co-sponsored by GrowNYC

Tuesday, February 25
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jefferson Market Library
425 Sixth Avenue at West 10th Street

In 1976, planner and architect Barry Benepe cofounded the Greenmarket program in New York City with a fellow planner, Bob Lewis.  Their open air markets offered a solution to two pressing problems: regional farmers were struggling to make a living and losing farmland to development, and New York City consumers had a hard time finding good, fresh produce. 

Barry will join us to discuss the history and development of several iconic open air farmers markets in and around Greenwich Village, including the Gansevoort Market, Union Square Greenmarket, and Abingdon Square Greenmarket. 



From Thomas Wolfe to the Mamas and the Papas: The Venerable Hotel Albert in Greenwich Village
A lecture by historian Anthony W. Robins

Thursday, February 20
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street

Everyone knows the Algonquin Hotel and the Chelsea Hotel, but the Hotel Albert on University Place and East 10th Street has hosted a riotously rich group of creative New Yorkers. Designed by Henry Hardenbergh, architect of the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota Apartments, the Albert was home to many famous writers in its early years, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Hart Crane, and Thomas Wolfe. Mark Twain lectured at the Albert in 1901, and Walt Whitman is said to have been sighted there.  Political radicals also found refuge in the Albert – and John Scopes stayed here while rounding up supporters for his famous “monkey trial” in Tennessee.

In the 1960’s, The Mamas & The Papas wrote “California Dreamin’ and Lovin’ Spoonful wrote “Do You Believe in Magic” here. Other musicians who spent time at the Albert included the Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. Many of them used the Albert’s basement for rehearsals and impromptu jam sessions.

This illustrated lecture examines the Albert’s history and its illustrious roster of residents from the 1880s to the 1970s. It’s based on the history of the Albert written by Mr. Robins for the current co-op.



City Folk: English Country Dance and the Politics of the Folk in Modern America
A documentary film screening

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

Monday, February 3
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Jurow Lecture Hall at the Silver Center
100 Washington Square East

Daniel Walkowitz is a social and cultural historian who has worked to bring America’s past to both academic and broad public audiences.  In 2010 he published  City Folk: English Country Dance and the Politics of the Folk in Modern America, a transatlantic exploration into the related histories of English Country Dance and the folk dance movement in the United States (NYU Press).  The book also serves as the basis for his recent documentary film with the same title, made for public television as a production with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

A screening of the film, which features Greenwich Village residents, will be followed by a question-&-answer period with Professor Walkowitz. The book and DVD will be available for purchase and signing.

Winter's Here? Snow Way!
A history of snow removal in New York City with Dr. Robin Nagle

Thursday, January 30
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
NYU Lecture Hall
13 University Place, just below 8th Street 

A New York City winter usually includes snow. It may look pretty while it's coming down, but enough of it at once can paralyze the largest urban area in North America. What does it take for New York's Department of Sanitation, the city agency in charge of snow response, to keep the streets clear when the white stuff falls?

Join Robin Nagle, the DSNY's anthropologist-in-residence and author of the book Picking Up, for surprising stories about how snow has shaped life in the Big Apple.

Copies of Dr. Nagle's book will be available for purchase and signing. 

Looking Back and Looking Ahead:
Preservation Progress in the Village, East Village, and NoHo 2003-2013,
and the Road Ahead
A presentation by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman

Tuesday, January 21
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Location: Church of the Village, 7th Avenue at West 13th Street
The Bloomberg years were a challenging time for preservationists.  Development reached a fever pitch, real estate forces pushed back hard against landmarking efforts, and powerful individuals and institutions enjoyed unparalleled access to and consideration from decision-makers in government.  And yet in the ten years from 2003 to 2013, GVSHP and our allies managed to help secure landmark designation of more than one thousand buildings, and community-friendly “contextual” rezonings of nearly one hundred blocks – remarkable progress that will help preserve and shape the Village, East Village, and NoHo for years to come. And while there were losses, we actually helped stop four different plans for the tallest building ever in the Village – two in the Meatpacking District, one on Bleecker Street, and one on 13th Street and 5th Avenue – as well as chop down to size a slew of oversized, out-of-context projects.

Join GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman as we look at the best and the worst of the last ten years – the many buildings, streets, and neighborhoods we saved, the heartbreaking losses, and the terrible projects we either just plain stopped or made a little less bad. We’ll also look at the newest threats looming on the horizon, from air rights transfers along the Hudson River waterfront to new high-rises along the University Place, Broadway, and 14th Street corridors.  And we’ll take a look at the South and East Village, which still lack the comprehensive landmark protections they need and deserve, and talk about how to change that.

History of the Tompkins Market
A lecture by historian William Wander

Co-sponsored by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of
Science and Art

Tuesday, January 14
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
The Frederick P. Rose Auditorium at Cooper Union
41 Cooper Square, on Third Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets

The Tompkins Market stood on the small city block bounded by Sixth Street, Seventh Street, Hall Place and Third Avenue, where the newest Cooper Union building 41 Cooper Square, now stands. The first Tompkins Market opened here in 1830, but the most famous was the 1860 cast iron building designed by James Bogardus. This building contained the public market on the first floor, and the armory and drill rooms of the Seventh Regiment of the New York State National Guard on the second and third floors – an unusual combination in the 19th century or today. The public markets were the place where the best meat and fish, butter, milk, and cheese, the freshest vegetables, fruits in season and "exotic fruits" - bananas and grapefruit - could be found. The inventory of the 1860's market would astound the shopper of today.

In 1880, the Seventh Regiment moved out to their own armory, the Fighting Sixty-Ninth Regiment moved in, and stayed another 26 years. This landmark building stood for just over fifty years, before the market system faded from relevance. Torn down to make way for an expanding Cooper Union, it is all but forgotten - a simple but majestic, utilitarian, and once imposing presence at the end of the Bowery.

2013



Everyday Lives, Ordinary People:
A History of East Village Immigrants
A Presentation by the NYU Archives & Public History Program Master’s Degree Candidates

This program has already reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

Wednesday, December 11
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
14A Washington Mews (between 5th Avenue and University Place), 1st Floor Lecture Hall


The rich and varied history of the East Village is reflected in its architecture and also in the stories of the many immigrants who lived there. In conjunction with GVSHP's architectural resource survey of the East Village, graduate students in the Introduction to Public History course in NYU's Archives and Public History Program will present their semester-long research about the social history of East Village immigrants, filtered through the lives and stories of ordinary residents. 

Each team will focus on one particular aspect of East Village life from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. Topics may include: Entertainment, Religion, Housing, Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, or Marketing and Food.  The students will discuss how they went about their research and will present their findings in an informative lecture/slideshow. 

Old Buildings, New Forms: New Directions in Architectural Transformations
A new book by architect Françoise Bollack

Co-sponsored by the Draper Program at NYU

Tuesday, December 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
NYU Lecture Hall Room 101
19 West 4th Street, near Mercer Street  

Join architect, preservationist and author Françoise Bollack as she talks about the inspiration for and process of writing her new book, “Old Buildings, New Forms” published by The Monacelli Press.  The book is about the preservation of existing buildings, masterful or mundane, and the creative possibilities of preservation: what happens when owners, architects and users engage in the risky adventure of reusing and transforming an existing building.  The author observes: “The architecture of additions and transformations is inventive and fresh as it deals with varied problems and a host of limitations.”

Ms. Bollack will focus on some of the 28 global projects in the book.  At the conclusion of her lecture, the author will sign books for purchase.



Sorting the Henrys:
The Brevoorts and Greenwich Village
Tales of a bear, blunderbuss and ball in early 19th Century Greenwich Village
A lecture by historian Susan deVries

Wednesday, December 4
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Baha'i NYC Center, 53 East 11th Street 

The Brevoort name has been long been linked with stories of Greenwich Village development. Among the many Henrys in the family, one supposedly irascible gentleman with a menagerie is often credited with using inventive means to stop the progress of Eleventh Street between Broadway and Fourth Avenue.  Another Henry brings tales of hobnobbing with authors, building a fabulous mansion, throwing an extravagant ball and leaving behind a legacy of rowhouses on Eleventh Street.

Join Susan De Vries, Director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum and former GVSHP staff member to explore the intriguing myths and tales of the farmland, mansions and rowhouses of the Brevoort family in early 19th century Greenwich Village. 



Shadows on Bleecker Street
A book talk by authors Milton Polsky and Warren Wyss

Monday, November 18
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Father Demo Hall, 234 Bleecker Street, at the corner of Carmine Street

Join authors Milton Polsky and Warren Wyss on an exciting journey down an historic Greenwich Village street as it slowly yields its secrets during three tension-filled days for a desperate man with a mission. Soon after Tim Hartknoll, a young African-American professor, finally convinces Jeff Gardner, his 40-year-old mentor at Greene Street College, to invest in a rare book found on Bleecker Street, he is murdered and the book stolen.  Tim’s last words, “Tour is...” drive Jeff to hunt down the killer and recover the book, which was signed by Frederick Douglass in 1841. In spite of dire threats to himself and to his family, Jeff strives to finish the tour as he searches for clues to solve the crimes. In doing so, he is emboldened through discovering the courage and energy of the tour's maverick subjects--Tom Paine, Margaret Sanger, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Lenny Bruce, Walt Whitman, and most of all, Frederick Douglass--to trap the killer and retrieve the rare book. You’ll gain a renewed appreciation of the Village as you follow Jeff’s search.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing by the authors.

2013 Program Series: Fifty Years since the Demolition of Penn Station

Fifty years ago, New York suffered one of its greatest losses and most powerful wake-up calls: Penn Station’s demolition. Of its replacement, Vincent Scully famously said that while through Penn Station, “one entered the city like a god, one scuttles in now like a rat.” A generation of New Yorkers vowed to never let such a tragic loss occur again.

Preservation after the Demolition of Penn Station: A Panel Discussion
Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project

Thursday, November 14
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Village Community School, 272-278 West 10th Street, between Washington and Greenwich Streets

The original Penn Station, built by the renowned architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1910, stood for over fifty years as a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and a monument to New York’s aspirations as a world capitol.  In 1963 the station was demolished, a loss that was bitterly protested.  The demolition prompted deep self-reflection on the part of our city, and was soon followed by the passage of New York City’s Landmarks Law. 

This program will examine how the preservation effort in New York has evolved since then, with a focus on each mayoral administration. Panelists will include: Prof. Franny Eberhart, a director of the Historic Districts Council and Vice-Chair of the Historic House Trust; Anthony Robins, preservationist and author; Tony Wood, author and founder of the New York Preservation Archive Project, moderated by Andrew Berman, executive director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Critical Community Meeting on Hudson River Park
Air Rights Plan


The Sale of Air Rights from the Hudson River Park --
What Does This Mean for Development Along Our Waterfront,
and How Can We Protect Our Neighborhood?

Wednesday, November 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's Church, 328-332 West 14th Street (8th/9th Ave)

The State Legislature recently passed a bill allowing the sale of air rights from Hudson River Park piers for development along the waterfront in our neighborhood. In the coming months decisions will be made about if, how, and where these air rights can be used.

HOW TO HELP:
Come to the community meeting on Wednesday, November 13th at 6:30 pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's Church, 328-332 West 14th Street (8th/9th Ave).

Due to limited space, please RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org if you plan to attend to ensure you can be accommodated
.      

This event is sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Save Chelsea, Council of Chelsea Block Associations, Tribeca Trust, Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, Village Independent Democrats, Village Reform Democratic Club, Greenwich Village Community Task Force, Lower Chelsea Alliance, Charles Street Association, West 13th Street 100 Block Association, Charlton Street Block Association, VanDam Street Block Association, Perry Street Block Association, Downtown Independent Democrats, and the Perry Street Crusaders (list in formation).

If your block association or community group would like to join as a co-sponsor of the meeting, please contact us.

The History of the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade
A lecture by Ralph Lee

Wednesday, November 13
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Westbeth Community Room, 55 Bethune Street


In 1974 mask maker and theater director Ralph Lee organized the first Village Halloween Parade, in conjunction with the Theater for a New City. It was conceived as a mile-long theatre event, from Westbeth in the West Village to Washington Square, consisting of masked and costumed performers, celebrants and bands of musicians marching in the streets, with additional performers inhabiting balconies, rooftops and fire escapes along the route.

The Village Halloween Parade featured Lee’s masks and giant puppets but encouraged other groups and individuals to put their imaginations in high gear and bring their own unique creations to join the parade. Lee directed the parade for its first twelve years.



Wooden Houses of Greenwich Village
A lecture by Elizabeth Finkelstein and Michael Devonshire

This program has already reached capacity and we are only accepting reservations for the wait list.

Monday, October 21
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
(just east of University Place)

Greenwich Village is celebrated for its beautiful rows of brick and brownstone townhouses. But those who meander through the neighborhood's winding, historic streets are usually surprised to encounter the occasional wooden house sandwiched between masonry houses and apartment buildings, channeling a bygone era.  How and when did these houses arrive here? Why are there so few? And, perhaps most curiously, how on earth have they survived for so long?

Join urban historian Elizabeth Finkelstein and preservation architect Michael Devonshire as they explore the history and mystery surrounding these fascinating wooden relics and discuss the challenges to their preservation.

Continuing Education for Real Estate Professionals & the Public

Fall 2013
Course dates throughout October and November

This fall, expand your knowledge about Jane Jacobs, urban renewal, immigration's influence on the architecture of the South Village, and more. GVSHP is now accepting reservations by the general public for its one-day courses for real estate professionals. Mornings begin with lectures by experts in the field. The day concludes with afternoon walking tours and visits to private spaces not usually open to the general public.

There is limited availability for these workshops. Each one-day course costs $95 for the public, $50 for GVSHP members (you can join today for the reduced price). Members of the public can register at gvshp.org/workshops. Real estate professionals who would like to register for Department of State credit visit gvshp.org/continuinged.



Abingdon Square on Exhibit
From Farmland to New York City Greenmarket

Saturdays, October 5 & 12
9:00 A.M.– 2:00 P.M.
Free
Abingdon Square Park Greenmarket, at Hudson Street, Eighth Avenue, and West 12th Streets
Map

AbingdonJoin GrowNYC and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as we explore the history of Abingdon Square in images, from its location on the estate of Sir Peter Warren through today, where a vibrant market sets up shop every Saturday, selling produce, providing composting, and collecting recyclables. Images will explore the history of how Abingdon Square got its name, changes to the streetscape and park over time, and the Greenmarket past and present. Drop by during Greenmarket hours, peruse this pop-up exhibit, shop the bounty of the market, and enjoy some samples straight from the farms.  Representatives from GrowNYC and the GVSHP will be available throughout the day.

GrowNYC is a hands-on non-profit which improves New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations.



The Age of Innocence
A lecture by David Carpenter on his new opera
plus a bonus video:


Thursday, October 10
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, between 7th Avenue South and Hudson Street
(Use of library space by GVSHP for this program does not indicate endorsement by the New York Public Library.)

The city of New York and its social mores were two of the most important elements in Edith Wharton’s 1920 novel, The Age of Innocence. Composer David Carpenter has adapted this novel into a two-act opera, writing both the music and the libretto. In this lecture, Carpenter will discuss Wharton’s portrayal of New York society of the 1870’s, which included a number of locations in the Greenwich Village area, and how in turn this portrait of New York figures in his opera and its story of thwarted love.

David Carpenter’s music has been performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, and the Brevard Music Center. In November 2010, he was a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, where he worked on this opera The Age of Innocence.
 

Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes
A book talk with authors Francis Morrone and Robin Lynn

Wednesday, October 2
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
(just east of University Place)

The Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes is a survey of our city’s diverse array of parks, plazas, green spaces, open spaces, atriums, trails, community gardens, even green roofs. Urban landscapes are more on the minds of city dwellers today than at perhaps any other time in history. In New York in recent years we have seen a revolution in landscape, as mile after mile of disused waterfront, once dominated by industry, has been converted to linear parks. The High Line, a park built atop a disused railroad viaduct, has become one of the city’s top attractions. And the city has banned vehicles from large swaths of Broadway and other streets to create pedestrian plazas, replete with movable chairs and tables, rimmed by bike lanes.



Tenement Chic
A walking tour of East Village tenements with Barry Feldman

Sunday, September 22
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.

This program has already reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Meeting location will be available after registration is confirmed
Free; reservations required

Garish grotesques, mythical beasts, beautiful botanicals, ornate cornices, columns and pilasters are a few examples of  architectural ornamentation that adorn otherwise drab nineteenth century tenements.  Who were the anonymous artisans who created these treasures?  What changes in technology allowed for the rich array of ornamental application?  What motivated building developers and landlords to increase construction costs to accommodate ornamental details?

Join urban historian Barry Feldman to explore the development of the tenement and the architectural styles of nineteenth century townhouses in the East Village.

This is a walking tour – you will be on your feet the entire time, so please wear comfortable shoes.



For the Records:
The Legacy and Lessons of Bleecker Bob’s
A documentary film screening
Co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement
A Special encore presentation

Monday, September 16
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Theresa Lang Center at The New School
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor

When Bob Plotnik quit law to open up a record store in Greenwich Village in the '60s, the only thing he wanted was to get hold of his favorite street doo-wop records ahead of everyone else.  And though "Bleecker Bob" is identified with some of the great names of rock and roll through the decades, time has run out for the oldest record store in the Village. 

For the Records, a documentary film by Emily Judem and Hazel Sheffield, explores the nature of change and development in an urban setting.  The film screening will be followed by a discussion with Ms. Judem.

We are pleased to be able to offer this screening again. Preference is given to those who were turned away last time we presented this program.

The New Yorkers
A book by photographer Robert Herman

This program has already reached capacity and we are no longer accepting reservations.

Thursday, September 12
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Washington Square Institute
41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
(just east of University Place)

 “The New Yorkers” is Robert Herman’s astounding collection of photographs of New York City, shot between 1978-2005 on Kodachrome. The book captures the transformation of neighborhoods including Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side. These photos tell an authentic story of New York City: real New Yorkers living and working in their own neighborhoods.  His street photography freezes people and places in this city at decisive moments, with spontaneity and authenticity.

In “The New Yorkers” the city waves at us, looks us right in the eye and brushes past us, without seeing. It is this confluence of time, place, keen photographic vision, and a fiercely personal engagement to subject that makes these images so special.

 

C. B. J. Snyder’s School Design in the Village
A Special encore presentation

Tuesday, August 20
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South

Urban public schools are some of the most architecturally intriguing buildings one can find in the dense city landscape.  In New York City one man, Charles B. J. Snyder, made that notion what it is today.  During his tenure as Superintendent of School Buildings for the NYC Board of Education from 1891-1923, Snyder transformed school building construction and design, creating over 100 schools.   Join historian Jean Arrington as she takes you through her own discovery of the architect’s work and delves into the specific design attributes of Snyder’s schools in the Village. 

You may have missed this program when we presented it last year, or you may want to see it again!

 

GVSHP Members Only
East Village Historic Libraries
A Walking Tour with John Bacon

This tour has reached capacity and we are currently adding names to the wait list.

Friday, August 16
10 A.M. – noon
Meeting location provided after registration is confirmed
Free; reservations required

While the iconic Jefferson Market Library in the West Village is well known to preservationists, this tour will focus on historic libraries, both past and present, in the East Village.  John Bacon, former GVSHP trustee and Director of Planned Giving at NYPL, will lead us on an exploration of 3 historic libraries and many other sights along the way.  

Our tour will conclude at the Ottendorfer Library on Second Avenue which is the City’s oldest free public library, having opened in 1884, a full decade before NYPL itself was chartered.

Space is limited; significant walking and standing are required

 

Sasaki Garden in Washington Square Village
A Walking Tour with Ellen Jouret-Epstein

This program has reached capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Thursday, August 1
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Meeting location provided after registration is confirmed
Free; reservations required

This 1.5 acre garden at Washington Square Village was completed in 1959 as an integral part of that modernist apartment complex, now owned by New York University.  An early project of the young landscape architecture firm, Sasaki, Walker and Associates, the Garden is one of the few examples in New York City of open space so well integrated with housing, and the only one from its period to survive. 

Based on her study of the garden, Ms. Jouret-Epstein will discuss the interesting history of the Washington Square Village complex, from its origins as part of Robert Moses’ development plans for the South Village to its purchase by NYU, and highlight the garden’s design and planting strategies that have preserved space and light for the surrounding buildings for more than 50 years.

San Remo Café Plaque Unveiling

Monday, July 29th
6:30 P.M.
Corner of Bleecker and MacDougal Streets
Free; reservations required

Please join us as we unveil our latest historic plaque marking the site of the legendary San Remo Café, located at 189 Bleecker Street/93 MacDougal Street from 1925 to 1967.  The site is located in the currently proposed, and (hopefully) soon-to-be-designated, South Village Historic District.

In the late 1940’s and 50’s, the San Remo was the premiere haunt for the literary and artistic set, attracting an unparalleled array of figures from the Beat movement, the New York School of poets and painters, and The Living Theater.  Regulars included Allen Ginsberg, Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Miles Davis, Frank O’Hara, Judith Malina, Jackson Pollock, James Baldwin, and Gore Vidal, among many others.  Several of these eminent figures first met here, and many immortalized the San Remo in their writings. 

The unveiling will begin at 6:30 pm on Monday, July 29th.  GVSHP, the Two Boots Foundation, and the board and managers of 93 MacDougal Street will be sponsoring the event.

A Tour of St. Brigid’s Church in the East Village

This program has reached capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Wednesday, July 24
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required

Join architect Mick Doyle of Acheson Doyle Partners Architects for a behind-the-scenes tour of this historic church that was saved from the wrecking ball and restored to the great delight of its parishioners and the surrounding community. Mr. Doyle will share his experience as an integral part of this successful example of historic preservation, and will be joined by representatives from the church and the restoration contractor.

St. Brigid’s was built in 1848 and served a diverse working-class immigrant population until 2001, when it was closed due to structural problems. In 2006 demolition began, but an anonymous $20 million gift in 2008 led to the restoration we see today.

 

“Eat the City”: A Lecture by Robin Shulman

Tuesday, July 23
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Washington Square Institute
41-51 East 11th Street
Free; reservations required.

Hear surprising tales of the meat and sugar industry of Greenwich Village, as Robin Shulman, author of Eat the City, takes a tour through hundreds of years of basic urban food production. Shulman shows the neighborhood’s love for meat long before the genesis of the Meatpacking District and the High Line, and the area’s launch of some of the largest and most important sugar producers in the Americas. Her book Eat the City has received accolades in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. “Impressive,” said the Wall Street Journal; “one of my favorite books of the year,” said the Village Voice, which named it a Best Food Book of 2012. Eat the City has also been selected as required reading for all entering first-year students at NYU in 2013.

 

“You Can’t Dump That Here!”: A History of Sanitation
with Dr. Robin Nagle

Thursday, July 18
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Library
66 Leroy Street
Free; reservations required

Join Dr. Robin Nagle to learn (almost) everything you ever wanted to know about garbage in Greenwich Village. Discover how profoundly it connects us to each other, to history, to politics, to infrastructure and technology. Hear stories and reflections from people who shoulder its burdens.

Dr. Nagle is anthropologist-in-residence for the Department of Sanitation, and director of the John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Humanities and Social Thought at New York University, where she teaches anthropology and urban studies. She is the author of the book Picking Up, about what it is to be a sanitation worker in New York and why you should care.

East Village Historic District Tour: A Walking Tour with Elizabeth Finkelstein

This event has already reached capacity for all dates and we can no longer accept reservations.

Wednesday, July 10, Thursday, July 11, and Wednesday, July 31
9:30 - 11:00 A.M.
Meeting location available upon registration.
Free; reservations required

Join historian (and former GVSHP staffer) Elizabeth Finkelstein for a morning walk through and around the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The buildings contained within this newly-designated district represent several important eras in East Village history, illustrating its growth from an elite residential neighborhood, to an immigrant melting pot, to a world-renowned Yiddish entertainment district, to a post-war mecca for alternative culture. We’ll stroll the neighborhood’s lively streets, home to a colorful mosaic of small businesses and historic architecture that help make the East Village New York’s most blogged-about neighborhood. We’ll also spend some time exploring the undesignated sections of the neighborhood and discussing some of the preservation issues currently making news in the East Village.


PFLAG Historic Plaque Unveiling

PlaqueSunday, June 23
11:45 A.M.
The Church of the Village
7th Avenue & West 13th Street
Free; reservations encouraged

Celebrate LGBT Pride and History Month by joining GVSHP, PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and the Church of the Village for the unveiling of a historic plaque marking the founding of PFLAG forty years ago at the church.

Earlier this spring we joined PFLAG and the church in memorializing PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford, who died this year at the age of 92.   

A mother and school teacher from Queens, Jeanne Manford held the first meeting of what came to be PFLAG at the church after marching in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March (now the LGBT Pride March) with her son and Dr. Benjamin Spock, carrying a sign that read “Parents of Gays Unite in Support for Our Children.” Forty years later, PFLAG has 350 chapters and more than 200,000 members, and has affected countless lives.

The historic plaque will be permanently affixed to the front entrance of the church. The unveiling, which will take place in front of the church, is open to all, but if you’d like to join us, please RSVP.



 

The 33rd Annual Meeting and Presentation of the Village Awards

Monday, June 17
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66th West 12th Street
Reception to follow
Free and open to the public
Space is limited. RSVP by June 14th to rsvp@gvshp.org or call 212-475-9585 x35.

This special evening will look back on GVSHP’s work over the last year to protect the architectural heritage and cultural history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo and honor the people, businesses, and organizations that help to make our neighborhoods so special. All are welcome to join the ceremony at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium, a beautiful interior landmark.

Honoring:
Avignone Chemists
Block Drug Store
New York University Faculty Against the Sexton Plan
Jeremiah Shea
Sir Winston Churchill Square
Regina Kellerman Award: Bowery Alliance of Neighbors

Nominating:
Returning Trustees: Penelope Bareau, Kate Bostock Shefferman, Cynthia Penney, Katherine Schoonover, and Fred Wistow, as well as new Trustee Marilyn Sobel.

Old IS New: Creative Approaches to Adaptive Reuse

A Walking Tour of the West Village with Françoise Bollack, AIA, DESA


Not a member? Join now!

Saturday, June 8
2:00 – 3:30 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration.
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

A walk on Greenwich and Washington Streets shows the evolution of creative adaptive reuse in the West Village: from early, massive projects like the Federal Archives building and Westbeth, to more recent, formally inventive interventions in the Meatpacking/Gansevoort Market District, and many surprises in between.

 


Draft Riots in the Village: A Lecture by Dr. Durahn Taylor

Part of the 2013 Program Series:  Marking the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

Thursday, June 6
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

Dr. Durahn Taylor, Assistant Professor of History, Pace University, will present his research in a lecture about the 1863 New York Draft Riots in the Village, which exposed rifts within the North that were as deep as those that existed between the North and the South. These tensions resulted in one of the bloodiest urban uprisings in American history. Understanding the social and economic causes of the riots helps us appreciate that even in the North, support for the Union cause was not unanimous, but a bitterly contested issue.



East Meets Green:
A Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens

Co-sponsored by Green Guerillas

This event has already reached capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Saturday, June 1
12:00 - 2:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration.
Free; reservations required; space is limited.

Join us on a tour of distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these gardens, and also meet the gardeners who make it possible to enjoy their beauty.   



The Village—400 Years of Beats & Bohemians, Radicals & Rogues: A Book Talk by John Strausbaugh


Thursday, May 23
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

The VillageConsidered perhaps the most famous neighborhood in the world, Greenwich Village has been home to outcasts of diverse persuasions—from “half-free” Africans to working-class immigrants; from artists to politicians—for almost four hundred years. In his magisterial new book, cultural commentator John Strausbaugh weaves an absorbing narrative history of the Village, a tapestry that unrolls from its origins as a rural frontier of New Amsterdam in the 1600s through its long reign as America’s Left Bank in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from its seat as the epicenter of the gay rights movement to its current status as a supremely desirable residential area. Join John Strausbaugh as he brings to life this diverse history. The Village: A History of Greenwich Village will be available for sale and signing.

The Lost Stream of the Village: A Walking Tour of Minetta Brook Led by Steve Duncan

Special Members-Only Program

Saturday, May 18
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required; space is limited
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

Open to GVSHP members only.
Priority given to those who did not attend in 2012
.

Flowing under today’s Minetta Street, Minetta Brook once ran from Union Square through the Village to the Hudson River. Join urban explorer Steve Duncan as he takes you on a walk recounting the history of this watercourse, how it impacted the city’s development, and how it was altered underground. He will also point out manhole covers, street names, and other surface-level clues to what runs underfoot.

Greening NYC's Historic Buildings: Green Rowhouse Manual

Wednesday, May 15
9:00 - 11:00 A.M.
Municipal Art Society of New York
111 W 57th Street, 16th Floor
Free; reservations required
Sign up here

This program will explore the overarching reasons for creating the Green Rowhouse Manual—the first of its kind in the city—as well as offer specific advice for owners interested in improving the energy efficiency of their rowhouses without compromising distinctive architectural features. Features speakers include Amanda Lehman, LEED AP, Associate COOKFOX Architects; Michael Kreigh, RA, LEED AP, Certified Passive House Consultant; Renee Epps, Chief Officer for Facilities, Henry Street Settlement; and Cory Herrala, Senior Technical Advisor,  New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

This event is presented by The Municipal Art Society of New York and co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Landmarks Conservancy, and the Historic Districts Council.

Designation Celebration: East 10th Street and East Village/Lower East Side Historic Districts

Thursday, May 9
7:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Bathhouse Studios, 538 East 11th Street
(between Avenues A and B)
Suggested Donation $10; reservations required
RSVP to info@LESPI-nyc.org or call 347-827-1846

Join us for refreshments and camaraderie with East Village/Lower East Side neighbors and supporters as we celebrate the designation of the East 10th Street and East Village/Lower East Side Historic Districts.  

This event is sponsored by the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (L.E.S.P.I.) and Bath House Studios and co-sponsored by the East Village Community Coalition, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and the Historic Districts Council. With support from the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Friends of the Lower East Side, and the Lower East Side History Project.

15th Annual Village House Tour Benefit
Sunday, May 5
1:00 - 5:30 P.M. Self-Guided Tour
5:30 - 7:30 P.M. Cocktail Reception

Click here to purchase tickets

Offering a rare glimpse into six of Greenwich Village’s finest and most exclusive homes, the Fifteenth Annual Village House Tour Benefit is held to raise funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate about and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods. Click here for more information.




2013 Program Series:
Fifty Years since the Demolition of Penn Station

Fifty years ago, New York suffered one of its greatest losses and most powerful wake-up calls: Penn Station’s demolition. Of its replacement, Vincent Scully famously said that while through Penn Station, “one entered the city like a god, one scuttles in now like a rat.” A generation of New Yorkers vowed to never let such a tragic loss occur again.

Fifty years later, we will look back at this watershed moment in New York’s preservation history. What led up to this defining event, what have we learned from it, and what lessons from Penn Station are we in danger of forgetting?

Preservation before the Demolition of Penn Station:
A Panel Discussion

Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project

This event has reached capacity and no further reservations are being accepted

Tuesday, April 30
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

The original Penn Station, built by the renowned architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1910, stood for fifty years as a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and a monument to New York’s aspirations as a world capital. In 1963 the station was demolished, a loss that was bitterly protested. The demolition prompted deep self-reflection on the part of our city, and was soon followed by the passage of New York City’s Landmarks Law. This episode is often cited as the beginning of the modern preservation movement in New York, but in fact preservation efforts in Greenwich Village and elsewhere had begun long before.

This panel discussion will look at the preservation movement prior to 1963, focusing on specific early battles and how they differed from later battles in the post-Penn Station era. Panelists will include: Prof. Franny Eberhart, Trustee of the Historic Districts Council and Historic House Trust; Jon Ritter, professor of urbanism and architecture at NYU; Anthony Robins, preservationist and author; and Tony Wood, author and founder of the New York Preservation Archive Project. 


Celebrating Freedom: A Lecture by Sherrill D. Wilson

Part of the 2013 Program Series: Marking the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

Monday, April 22
7:00 - 8:30 P.M.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

July 4, 1827 was the legal and official beginning of the emancipation of African enslaved people in New York City, although some did not gain full freedom until nearly 20 years later. Africans had been enslaved in the colony of New Amsterdam (and later New York) since 1623, more than 200 years. This slide lecture focuses on the formerly enslaved Africans, their institutions and organizations, and their celebrations of emancipation, from July 5, 1827 through the end of the Civil War. Parades, church attendance, elaborate dinners and other festivities marked the celebration of freedom for over 50 years, many of which took place in the Village.

This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program.

 
The Measure of Manhattan:
A Lecture by Marguerite Holloway

Thursday, April 18
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Village Community School, 272 West 10th Street
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

John Randel Jr. (1787-1865) was an eccentric and flamboyant surveyor. A nineteenth century genius renowned for his inventiveness as well as his bombast and irascibility, John Randel mapped Manhattan’s famous city grid but died in financial ruin. Telling Randel’s engrossing and dramatic life story for the first time, Marguerite Holloway’s biography The Measure of Manhattan introduces an unheralded pioneer of American engineering and mapmaking. The book also explores the ways in which surveying and cartography change the ground beneath our feet. Bringing Randel’s story into the present, Holloway travels with contemporary surveyors and scientists trying to envision Manhattan as a wild island once again. The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor will be available for sale and signing.

 

Lower East Side Oral Histories:
A Book Talk by Nina Howes & Eric Ferrara


Co-Sponsored by Fourth Arts Block

Tuesday, April 9
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, 6 East 1st Street
Free; reservations required; space is limited
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

Lower East Side Oral Histories is a compilation of 25 unique interviews conducted by Nina Howes and edited by the Lower East Side History Project’s Eric Ferrara. This book documents the memories of 25 people from diverse backgrounds—Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican, Ukrainian, African-American, Muslim—who experienced life in one of the 20th century's most vibrant and complex neighborhoods. From childhood memories of pushcarts and nickel-baths to observations of the constantly changing face of the district, discover the Lower East Side and East Village through the eyes and voices of the people who have witnessed much of the history that made our neighborhood so legendary. Meet the authors, as well as the interviewees whose life stories and personal photos were documented for the project. Lower East Side Oral Histories will be available for sale and signing.
 Walking Tour: Ginsberg in the East Village

Co-sponsored by the NYU Grey Art Gallery

Saturday, April 6, 11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

Bill Morgan, Ginsberg’s archivist and bibliographer, and author of The Beat Generation in New York: A Walking Tour of Jack Kerouac’s City (City Lights Books, 1997) as well as other books on the Beats, will lead a walking tour of Ginsberg’s homes and haunts in the East Village.

This event is part of Grey Art Gallery's current exhibition BEAT MEMORIES: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, on view until April 6.

New York Nights: A Panel Discussion with Authors/ Photographers James & Karla Murray

Tuesday, March 19
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library, 66 Leroy Street
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585

In 2009, GVSHP teamed up with James and Karla Murray to discuss their book Store Front—the Disappearing Face of New York, an intimate view of the City’s mom-and-pop stores. Now the Murrays are back with their sequel, New York Nights, which takes the same photographic approach to exploring the history of small businesses through storefront photos, this time taken at night. The authors will share interviews and photographs from their book, revealing how neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities. A panel discussion with local store owners from Greenwich Village will follow.
 



Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg
A Guided Tour with Grey Art Gallery


Special Members-Only Event

Thursday, March 7
2:00 - 3:30 P.M.
Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585
Please note: this event is open to GVSHP members only

Beat Memories presents an in-depth look at the Beat Generation as seen through the lens of Allen Ginsberg. Although well known for his poetry, Ginsberg was also an avid photographer, capturing the people and places around him in spontaneous, often intimate snapshots. The images not only are revealing portrayals of celebrated personalities, but also convey the unique lifestyle and spirit of the Beats. Join GVSHP and the Grey Art Gallery for a guided tour of this exhibit.


Bad, Rad, and Boho Women of the Village:
A Women’s History Month Lecture by Kathleen Hulser

Tuesday, March 5
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required

Unruly women readily found a berth in the Bohemian Village, allowing them to pioneer new politics, lifestyles, and aesthetics. What factors in the large scale of the city and the small scale of the neighborhood made the Village so welcoming? What role did DIY educational and social networks play in knitting these women together and making their ideas take fire? How did mavericks such as Emma Goldman, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Elizabeth Irwin, Henrietta Rodman, Dorothy Day, Mabel Dodge, Louise Bryant, and later Lorraine Hansberry and Angela Davis find each other and found communities of dissent? Independent public historian Kathleen Hulser will explore the answers to these questions as a celebration of neighborhood dynamics and women’s history.  
 

The Village & All That Jazz:
An Evening at Zinc Bar

Presented by the GVSHP Brokers Partnership

Monday, March 4
5:30 to 8:00 P.M. (doors open at 5:15)
82 West 3rd Street (btw. Sullivan and Thompson Streets) Map
$30 GVSHP Members/$40 Non Members
Click here to purchase your tickets

JazzSet at the Zinc Bar, located in the former Cinderella Club, where jazz giants like Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk performed, this evening will feature music and conversation about the Village jazz scene of the 1960s. Pianist Joe Alterman will perform and award-winning music critic Gary Giddins will then explore the jazz scene of the Village, touching on his thirty years writing for the Village Voice as well as his personal recollections of the Village.  

The Art of Exterior Ornamentation:
A Talk with the Owners of Essex Works

Wednesday, February 27
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required

Essex Works, Ltd. is a reproduction company specializing in replacement units of exterior ornaments, including the replication of limestone, terra cotta, and brownstone. Founded by Douglas Schickler eighteen years ago, the company manufactures custom stones for new construction and replacement details for landmark buildings. To maintain the attention to detail required in high-quality replication, Essex Works has deliberately kept a small production-oriented shop of sculptors, mold-makers, project managers, and engineers, with an aesthetic vision and in-depth hands-on approach in all phases of its projects. Join owner Douglas Schickler as he takes you through the ins and outs of their business and discusses the process of working on the exterior of a landmarked building.  

For The Records — The Legacy and Lessons of Bleecker Bob’s: A Film Screening & Discussion

Co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement

This event has reached capacity and no further reservations are being accepted.

Monday, February 25
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
The New School, Orozco Room, 66 West 12th Street, 7th floor
Free; reservations required

When Bob Plotnik quit law to open up a record store in Greenwich Village in the ’60s, the only thing he wanted was to get hold of his favorite street doo-wop records ahead of everyone else.  He couldn’t have known that the store would still be there nearly 50 years later. And though “Bleecker Bob” is identified with some of the great names of rock and roll through the decades, and especially downtown movements from the Village’s folk scene through punk, new wave and alternative music, now, time is finally catching up with the oldest record store in the Village.  For the Records, a documentary film by Emily Judem and Hazel Sheffield, explores Bleecker Bob's impending closure and the nature of change and development in an urban setting.  The film screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.   

Abraham Lincoln & the Cooper Union Address:
A Lecture by Louis P. Masur


Wednesday, February 20
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Third Street Music School Settlement, 235 East 11th Street
Free; reservations required; space is limited

On February 27, 1860, Lincoln delivered what has come to be known as the Cooper Union Speech at Cooper Union's Great Hall. In the speech he asserted the necessity of preserving the Union by outlawing slavery in the territories. Many scholars believe that this speech led to his ultimate nomination as the Republican candidate for presidency in May of that year. Join historian Louis P. Masur, author of Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union, as he examines this historic address and its role in the Civil War and abolition. He will also speak about the famous portrait taken of Lincoln earlier that day by photographer Mathew Brady in his NoHo studio, as well as the eventual celebration of Emancipation that took place at Cooper Union.   

Restoration & Conservation with EverGreen Architectural Arts: A Studio Tour and Talk

Special Members-Only Event

Monday, February 11
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Evergreen Architectural Arts, 450 West 31st Street #7
Free; reservations required; space is limited
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or 212-475-9585
Please note: this event is open to GVSHP members only

From plasterwork to decorative painting, from new artwork to historic fine art, from surface preparation and quality coatings to custom finishing treatments, EverGreene Architectural Arts creates and preserves art in architectural settings. Past projects in Lower Manhattan include: Church of the Ascension, Eldridge Street Synagogue, and the NYU School of Philosophy. Join EverGreene and GVSHP for a special on-site discussion about the research and work that goes into such projects in both historic and contemporary buildings, followed by a tour of the studio.


Radical History in the East Village: A Talk and Tour at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space

Tuesday, February 5
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
MORUS, 155 Avenue C
Free; reservations required; space is limited

Opened on December 8, 2012 on Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets, the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS) preserves neighborhood history of the East Village and beyond and promotes scholarship of grassroots urban activism by researching and archiving efforts to create community spaces. Join MORUS for a special evening that will include a talk by the museum's founders on the history of the museum, how it came together, and how they bounced back after a visit from Superstorm Sandy. The talk will be followed by a guided tour of the museum's galleries and exhibets .

Theater for the New City invites GVSHP members to see the new play Crossing Paths in Washington Square at a special rate

Thursday - Sunday,
January 17 - February 3
Thursday - Saturday at 8pm,
Sunday at 3pm
All Seats $12
GVSHP Members $10
Theater for the New City,
155 1st Avenue

If you are a GVSHP Member at the individual level or above you can email rsvp@gvshp.org or call 212-475-9585 x35 to receive the special code that can be used to receive the discount. Please note that tickets can only be reserved by phone through Theater for the New City.

Crossing Paths in Washington Square, a new play by Barbara Kahn, is set in Greenwich Village in 1913. The wealthy, the working class, immigrants, African Americans, Jews, Italians, gays and lesbians, and even aspiring vaudevillians all share the same park in the summer of 1913.   

Superstorm Sandy: Preservation, Prevention, & Progress
A Panel Discussion


Monday, January 28
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue
Free; reservations required

Co-sponsored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy

In the aftermath of the storm of the century, cities throughout the Northeast are looking at how to prevent damage from future cases of extreme weather.  This talk will explore the complexity of climate change and rising water levels, reviewing how architects and preservationists can incorporate features to protect historic buildings from these dangers and see how they relate to the Landmarks Law.

Panelists include: Rob Rogers, principal at Rogers Marvel Architects, a firm dedicated to critical design thinking in the public and private realms; Rob Pirani, Vice President for Environmental and Energy Programs at the Regional Plan Association; Alex Herrera, Technical Services Director at the New York Landmarks Conservancy; and Michael Devonshire, Senior Architectural Conservator at Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc.  

New York Originals - My Mom & Pop Greenwich Village
A Presentation by Jamie McDonald


Wednesday, January 23
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required

Jamie McDonald will present segments from his Emmy Award winning PBS series “New York Originals,” which profiles classic small businesses in New York City.  He is also the author of a new book based on the series titled New York Originals — A Guide to the City’s Classic Shops & Mom-and-Pops, from which he will share specific examples of local businesses and their stories. Jamie will discuss the importance of these small shops to the identity of Greenwich Village and other neighborhoods and ways the public can help preserve these piece of living New York City history. Both his book and DVD copies of “New York Originals” will be available for sale at a special rate.  

Greenwich Village Catholics:
A Lecture by Thomas J. Shelley

Tuesday, January 15
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
St. Joseph’s Church,
371 6th Avenue
Free; reservations required

St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, the oldest Cathlolic church in New York City, began as a poor immigrant parish in a hostile Protestant environment. It soon developed into a prosperous working-class parish as the area became predominantly Catholic, surviving a series of local economic and social upheavals throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It remains today a vibrant spiritual center in the midst of an overwhelmingly secular neighborhood. Its history provides a glimpse into the fascinating evolution of Catholicism in New York City over the course of the past 175 years. Join Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley, Professor of Historical Theology at Fordham University, as he recounts this history based on his book, Greenwich Village Catholics

2012

New York Diaries: A Book Talk by Teresa Carpenter

Tuesday, December 18
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. 
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue
Free; reservations required

Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Teresa Carpenter, a lifelong diary enthusiast, scoured the archives of libraries, historical societies, and private estates to assemble an almost holographic view of this iconic metropolis. Starting on January 1 and traveling day by day through the year, these journal entries are selected from four centuries of writing-from the early 1600s to the present. Teresa will read excerpts from her book, New York Diaries, as well as discuss her personal passion for the topic and what went into her editing process. The critically acclaimed book New York Diaries will be available for sale and signing. 

A Holiday Afternoon at the Merchant’s House

Special Members-Only Program

Wednesday, December 5
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Merchant’s House Museum,
29 East 4th Street
Free; reservations required;
space is limited
Open to GVSHP members only 

The Merchant’s House Museum is New York City’s only family home preserved intact — inside and out — from the 19th century. Built in 1832 just steps from Washington Square, this elegant red-brick and white-marble row house on East Fourth Street was home to a prosperous merchant family for almost 100 years. Complete with the family’s original furnishings and personal possessions, the house offers a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life in New York City from 1835-1865. Join us for a special behind the scenes tour of this one-of-a-kind landmark. 

 

Reel Rockers: Come Get Crazy in the East Village
A Film Screening & Discussion

Saturday, December 1st

Rediscover the rowdy days (and nights!) of the East Village in the time of the Fillmore East at a screening of the film Get Crazy. This campy satire from director Alan Arkush is packed with drugs, booze, and rock and roll. The screening at the Anthology Film Archive will be followed by a discussion about the film and the East Village cultural and music scene. Moderated by culture critic Jesse Kornbluth, the panel will feature actors and production staff from the film along with Joshua White, the director of the Fillmore’s famed Joshua Light Show.
The craziness continues at Veselka Bowery, where unlimited 80s-era drinks and appetizers are on tap.

Click here for tickets or more information.



Fading Ads of the Village: A Lecture by Frank Jump

Wednesday, November 28
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
Free; reservations required

From New York’s iconic skyline to its side alleys, the new is perpetually being built on the debris of the past. For nearly twenty years, Frank Jump has been documenting the fading ads that are visible, but less often seen, all over New York. Disappearing from the sides of buildings or hidden by new construction, these signs are remnants of lost eras of New York’s life. This photo-documentary is also a study of time and space, of mortality and living, as Jump’s campaign to capture the ads mirrors his own struggle with HIV. During this presentation that will focus on the fading ads of the Village, experience the ads–shot with vintage Kodachrome film–and the meaning they carry through acclaimed photographer and urban documentarian Frank Jump’s lens. His book, Fading Ads of New York, will be available for sale and signing.    

 


New York Neon: A Lecture by Thomas Rinaldi

Monday, November 19
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Square Institute, 41-51 East 11th Street,
4th Floor
Free; reservations required

Old neon signs often mark the spot of small businesses that have served as neighborhood anchors for generations. However, as growing development pressures have transformed the city’s urban landscape in recent decades, such veteran neighborhood institutions have vanished at an alarming rate, taking with them their historic signs. Happily, many signs can still be found around the city, some still in service more than eight decades after their installation. Thomas Rinaldi, author of the new book NEW YORK NEON, will present historic neon signs throughout the City, with an emphasis on those in Greenwich Village, while providing a historical and technical overview and discussing the way popular sentiment toward the signs has evolved through the years. His book will be available for sale and signing.



Jefferson Market Revealed: An Exclusive Showing of the Greenwich Village Collection

Special Members-Only Program

Tuesday, October 23
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library,
425 6th Avenue
Free; reservations required;
space is limited
Open to GVSHP members only

An exterior and interior landmark, the Jefferson Market Library is an historic cornerstone of the Village. The library’s Greenwich Village collection pays homage to these roots and enables the community to learn about their remarkable neighborhood over the centuries. Join us as we peruse this one-of-a-kind collection and look at archival materials including rare photographs of the building’s conversion from courthouse to library and memories of Margot Gayle’s great crusade to preserve the building.

 

The New York City Cartmen:
A Lecture by Graham Hodges

Tuesday, October 16
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library, 66 Leroy Street
Free; reservations required

The cartmen—unskilled workers who hauled goods on one horsecarts—were perhaps the most important labor group in early American cities, possessing a hard-nosed political awareness.  Join Professor Graham Hodges as he discusses this history based on his book, New York City Cartmen, 1667–1850, which is a stirring street-level account of the growth of New York, made possible by the efforts of the cartmen and other unskilled laborers.  A revised updated edition of Mr. Hodges book will be available for sale and signing.




GVSHP & The New School Present:
Artists and Greenwich Village Series

Two panels reminisce about the New Wave scene that filled the East Village and Lower East Side with astonishing art and music for a brief five years, 1978 to 1983, and brought two extraordinary young artists, Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat, into the limelight.

Events- 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

These events have reached capacity and no further reservations are being accepted

Jean-Michel Basquiat: Graffiti and Glory
Thursday, October 18

Brooklyn-born Jean-Michel Basquiat (d. 1988) began spray-painting graffiti art on New York City buildings at the age of 16. Within two years, the Village Voice had published an article about his street art and he had made the acquaintance of Andy Warhol and begun showing at the Annina Nosei Gallery in SoHo. While living in the East Village, Basquiat immersed himself in the downtown arts scene, including New Wave music and film as well as art. Speakers include; gallerist Annina Nosei, one of the first people to show his work; Al Diaz, artist and friend of Basquiat; and Michael Holman, musician, artist and friend of Basquiat's. The panel will be moderated by Eric Fretz, author of the Jean-Michel Basquiat: A Biography. This distinguished group of speakers who look back at Basquiat's life and work and discuss his continuing influence, with particular reference to his time in the Village. 

Keith Haring and the Streets of the Village
Wednesday, October 3

In 1978, 19-year-old Keith Haring (d.1990) moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. Inspired by the ubiquitous graffiti of the time, he displayed his pop art–style drawings in subway stations and exhibited both drawings and video art at the famous little Club 57. Soon his work was being exhibited at the Westbeth Gallery, PS 122, and the Hal Bromm Gallery, and he rocketed to fame. Hal Bromm and Patti Astor, artists and gallery owners who knew Haring, discuss how the Village of the late 1970s influenced this renowned artist and how he influenced the Village. Tricia Laughlin Bloom, who curated the Brooklyn Museum's recent show on Haring, will also present a history of the artist and his time Downtown.



Light or Dark: A Reading of the McSorley's Poems by Geoffrey Bartholomew

Monday, October 1
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
McSorley's, 15 East 7th Street
Free; reservations required;
space is limited

Poet by day, bartender by night, Geoffrey Bartholomew is "the bard of McSorley's." After coming to New York City in 1970, Mr. Bartholomew found himself living in an apartment above McSorley's and soon afterward serving as its bartender. His first volume of poetry inspired by the historic watering hole, Voices from New York City's Oldest Pub, was influenced larg1ely by the bar's physical appearance. Light or Dark, the second volume, is focused on the bar's role in history and the many important figures who passed through its doors. Join Geoffrey Bartholomew as he reads his poetry and discusses the influence McSorley's had on his life and work.



Bricks and Brownstone and Beyond: A Panel Discussion on the Life and Legacy of Charles Lockwood

Tuesday, September 25
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue (between 11th & 12th Streets)
Free; reservations required

Written by the late architectural historian Charles Lockwood, Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House 1783-1929 spurred the brownstone revival of the late 20th century and was the first book of its kind to place rowhouses in historical context and examine how their architectural features tell their story. Join our distinguished panel as they look at the continued impact of Bricks and Brownstones and the legacy of Charles Lockwood. Panelists will include: architectural historian and author of The Row House Reborn, Andrew Dolkart; architectural historian and author of The Houses of Greenwich Village, Kevin Murphy; and real estate agent and author of the New York Social Diary's weekly column "Big Old Houses," John Foreman. The discussion will be moderated by Patrick Ciccone, preservationist and Mr. Lockwood's collaborator on a newly revised edition of the book.




The Programmer vs. the Historian:
Presented by Bldg Blok & Co-sponsored by GVSHP

Tuesday, September 18
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
NYU-Poly Incubator
20 Jay Street, Suite 312
DUMBO, Brooklyn 11201

The past and the future will collide during a night of code, discussion, drinks, and performance to invent a new story telling algorithm. Architectural historian and critic Francis Morrone will present a history of the East Village. Programmers, designers, and musicians will respond with poetry and literary readings, video installations, musical performances and more based on this history. The night is also going to be fueled with food and drinks, and fun conversation.



The Lost Stream of the Village:
A Walking Tour of Minetta Brook led by Steve Duncan

Special Members-Only Program

Sunday, September 16
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required; space is limited
Open to GVSHP members only

Please note that this event has reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations.

Flowing under today's Minetta Street, Minetta Brook once ran from Union Square through the Village to the Hudson River. Join urban explorer Steve Duncan as he takes you on a walk recounting the history of this watercourse, how it impacted the city's development, and how it was altered underground. He will also point out manhole covers, street names, and other surface-level clues to what runs underfoot.



C. B. J. Snyder's School Design in the Village
A Lecture by Jean Arrington


Tuesday, September 4
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library, 66 Leroy Street
Free; reservations required

Urban public schools are some of the most architecturally intriguing buildings in the dense city landscape. In New York City, Charles B. J. Snyder almost singlehandedly made school design what it is today. During his tenure as the Superintendent of School Buildings for the NYC Board of Education from 1891 to 1923, Snyder transformed school building construction and design, creating over 350 new schools. Join historian Jean Arrington as she takes you through her own discovery of the architect's work and delves into the specific design attributes of Snyder's schools in the Village.



Culture & Cuisine: Dishing Up the East Village
Walking Tours Led by Dana Schulz

Part of the Encore Program Series. Miss it the first time around? You’ll receive preference for this event!

Please note that we are only accepting waitlist reservations for these events at this time.

Sunday, August 12
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
OR
Monday, August 13
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

You may register for only one of these tours.

Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

Join GVSHP staff member Dana Schulz as she takes you on a journey through the East Village, peeling back the layers of the cultural gastronomy scene that have made this neighborhood so eclectic (and delicious!) over the years. Explore how immigrant groups established restaurants to serve their own community as well as share their heritage with the uninitiated. Learn the little-known facts that make these spots famous and infamous and discover how the emerging food scene of today reflects the changing culture of the neighborhood. Stops will include John’s of 12th Street, Moishe’s Bakery, and the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. Food samples are NOT included, but you’ll surely have some good dining ideas!



East Meets Green:
A Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens

Co-sponsored by Green Guerillas

Part of the Encore Program Series. Miss it the first time around? You’ll receive preference for this event!

Please note that this event has reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations.

Saturday, July 28
12:00- 2:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

Join us on a tour of four distinct community gardens that showcase the plants, people, and cultures that make these East Village oases such a vital part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Learn about the history, maintenance, and importance of these spaces. We will visit the birthplace of New York City’s modern community garden movement—the Liz Christy Garden, and walk through the neighborhood to experience other beautiful, historic community gardens.

 


Westbeth—Home of the Arts
: A Film Screening

Part of the Encore Program Series. Miss it the first time around? You’ll receive preference for this event!

Thursday, July 12
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Westbeth Community Room, 155 Bank Street
(between Washington & West Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Join filmmaker George Cominskie at a screening of Westbeth—Home to the Arts, a documentary selected for the 2011 Manhattan Film Festival. The film explores the unique history of the recently landmarked Westbeth Artists Residence in the Far West Village. Westbeth was created in 1970 as affordable housing for artists by the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. This intimate film shows how Westbeth revitalized the arts in a changing Greenwich Village and demonstrates why every large city around the world should have its own Westbeth.

 

Rare & Historic Village Maps:
An Exclusive Showing at the New York Public Library

Special Members-Only Program

Monday, July 9
3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
NYPL Main Branch, 5th Avenue & 42nd Street;
First Floor, Room 117
Free; reservations required
Open to GVSHP members only

The Map Division of The New York Public Library holds more than 400,000 maps, a few dozen of which are sure to be of special interest to GVSHP members. See the farms of Greenwich Village of the 18th century and the gradual emergence of the Village's unique and world famous meandering street grid in the 19th century. Learn how familiar sites were described in maps created over one hundred years ago and what occupied the site of your home in the 18th century. You will gain a new familiarity with the many forces that shaped this extraordinary neighborhood.



Hot August Night/1970 — The Forgotten LGBT Riot

A Lecture by Steven F. Dansky

Celebrate LGBT History Month With GVSHP & the LGBT Center!

Tuesday, June 19
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street
(between 7th & 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required

In August 1970, one year after the Stonewall Rebellion and one month after the historic first pride march to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, there was a riot in Greenwich Village. It extended throughout Greenwich Village, involved hundreds of protesters, and culminated in 17 arrests. At the time the August 29, 1970 riot was considered un-newsworthy and, for more than four decades, disappeared from our collective memory.

Steven Dansky, an original member of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the founder of Effeminism, will contextualize the riot within a historic continuum of LGBT struggle and analyze why the riot happened at that precise moment in history. Hot August Night/1970—The Forgotten LGBT Riot, Dansky's book, will be available for sale and signing.



The Greenwich Village Follies and the Birth of the Off Broadway Musical: A Lecture by Thomas Hischak

Wednesday, June 13
6:30 - 8:0 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue
(between East 11th & 12th Streets)
Free; reservations required

This event has reached capacity and we can only accept waitlist reservations at this time.

When the musical revue Greenwich Village Follies opened at the Greenwich Village Theatre in 1919, it not only celebrated the Village with a screwball sense of humor, it also introduced a new venue for the American musical theater: Off Broadway. Learn about the history of this remarkable series of musical shows and how it laid the groundwork for an alternative kind of theater forever after identified with the Village.

Thomas Hischak is the author of twenty-three books on theater, film, and popular music, including Off-Broadway Musicals Since 1919: From Greenwich Village Follies to The Toxic Avenger and The Oxford Companion to the American Musical. These titles will be available for sale and signing.



GVSHP’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony

Thursday, June 7
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. with reception to follow
Tishman Auditorium, The New School
66 West 12th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues)
Free; Space is limited

Since 1991, GVSHP has presented businesses, individuals, institutions, and organizations with our Village Awards in recognition of their significant contribution to the legendary quality of life in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. GVSHP will honor the special people and places in our neighborhood, as nominated by you, that have made an important impact on life in the Village. GVSHP will also conduct its annual meeting as part of the ceremony. This evening will be held at the New School's historic Tishman Auditorium, a beautiful interior landmark in the Village.

 

 

Eminent Outlaws: Scenes of the Crime
A Lecture by Chris Bram

Celebrate LGBT History Month With GVSHP & the LGBT Center!

Tuesday, June 5
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street
(between 7th & 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required

In the years following World War II, a small group of gay writers established themselves as literary power players, fueling cultural changes that would resonate for decades to come and transform the American literary landscape forever.

Christopher Bram, author of Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America, will discuss places in Greenwich Village where his protagonists worked, wrote, fought and loved. Following such figures as Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Frank O'Hara, Edmund White, Larry Kramer, and others, the lecture will provide a unique window into downtown literary history from 1947 to 1995. Bram's book will be available for sale and signing. 

 

Justus Schwab Historic Plaque Unveiling & Celebration

Wednesday, May 30
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
First Street Community Garden,
48 East 1st Street
(between 1st & 2nd Avenues)

GVSHP is proud to announce the launch of its historic plaque program in partnership with local business Two Boots. Our first historic plaque will be placed on 50 East 1st Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, the former home of the Justus Schwab (1847 - 1900) Saloon. Schwab was a German immigrant and a radical labor organizer whose saloon was frequented by Emma Goldman and Ambrose Pierce, among many others, and became a magnet for political and social organizing on the Lower East Side.

All are invited to join us for the unveiling and celebration. Festivities will include food and drink provided by Two Boots Pizza and a special performance by folk singer Odetta Hartman.

 

GVSHP Does the Jane Jacobs Walk!

Culture & Cuisine: Dishing Up the East Village
Walking Tours Led by Dana Schulz

Wednesday, May 23
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
OR
Thursday, May 24
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
These tours have reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations

Join GVSHP staff member Dana Schulz as she takes you on a journey through the East Village, peeling back the layers of the cultural gastronomy scene that have made this neighborhood so eclectic (and delicious!) over the years. Explore how immigrant groups established restaurants to serve their own community as well as share their heritage with the uninitiated. Learn the little-known facts that make these spots famous and infamous and discover how the emerging food scene of today reflects the changing culture of the neighborhood. Stops will include John's of 12th Street, Moishe's Bakery, and the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. Food samples are NOT included, but you'll surely have some good dining ideas!

Jane Jacobs Walk is a program of the Center for the Living City, a nonprofit organization created by people who knew Jane Jacobs and were fortunate enough to call her a friend. The organization celebrates her life and legacy by helping people organize walks in their communities around the time of Jane’s birthday in early May. 

 

Special Members-Only Program

Julius’ & the Gay Rights Movement
A Presentation & Walking Tour by Tom Bernardin


Monday, May 14
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue
(between West 9th & 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required
Open to GVSHP members only

Julius’, at the corner of West 10th and Waverly Place, has been welcoming folks since 1840, first as a grocery store and starting in 1864 as a bar. During Prohibition it was a speakeasy and, along with nearby haunts Nick’s and the Village Vanguard, was frequented by many jazz legends. Starting in the 1950s, Julius’ began attracting a predominantly gay clientele and is considered by most accounts the oldest continually operating gay bar in New York City. In April 1966, three years and three months before the Stonewall Rebellion, it was the scene of the famous Sip In, the opening salvo in the struggle for gay rights.

Tom Bernardin, Village tour guide and self-described unofficial historian of Julius’, will present a short lecture sharing his research on the history of this establishment followed by a walkabout visiting some of the notable locations in the gay rights movement. The evening will end at Julius’ to view the historical display in the back room, which will be reserved for those wishing to enjoy a beverage or the famous burgers.

 
14th Annual Village House Tour Benefit

Sunday, May 6
1:00 - 5:30 P.M. Self-Guided Tour
5:30 - 7:30 P.M. Cocktail Reception

Click here to purchase tickets

Offering a rare glimpse into six of Greenwich Village’s finest and most exclusive homes, the Fourteenth Annual Village House Tour Benefit is held to raise funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate about and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods. Click here for more information.



Greenwich Village: A Century of Architectural Terra Cotta
A Lecture by Susan Tunick,
Founder & Director of Friends of Terra Cotta

Tuesday, May 1
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library, 66 Leroy Street
(off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required

Though Greenwich Village has always been known as an idiosyncratic and vibrant part of New York, many are unaware that this area was in the forefront of experimentation with American-made terra cotta. It is commonly assumed that terra cotta was not actively produced in this country until the 1870s and 1880s. However, new evidence shows that terra cotta was being used in architecture as early as 1849. A number of these buildings survive today, including a major example in the Village. We will focus on these early beginnings and move through major developments in terra cotta with examples from Greenwich Village, including a late example completed in the 1960s.



City, Village, and Country: The Fever of 1822
A Lecture by Susan DeVries

Tuesday, April 24
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Washington Square Institute: 41-51 East 11th Street, 4th Floor
(between University Place & Broadway)
Free; reservations required

Explore Manhattan as it was in the 1820s when the city was concentrated in the southern tip of the island, Greenwich Village was indeed a village, and the northern tip was a rural outpost. At a time when the total population of the island was just under 125,000, the last major yellow fever epidemic hit the city in the summer of 1822, impacting all three of these neighborhoods. Architectural witnesses to this history still remain—from federal-period rowhouses in the fenced-off fever zone of Lower Manhattan, to those built in Greenwich Village to house people and businesses moving northward, and finally uptown, to the home of a doctor and health commissioner. Join Susan De Vries, Director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum and former GVSHP staff member, for an exploration into architecture, fever, intriguing personalities, and one summer in the life of the early 19th century city. 

The Gardens of Greenwich Village
A Lecture by Landscape Architect Robin Key

Tuesday, April 17
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library, 66 Leroy Street
(off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required

Residents and visitors journey through Greenwich Village's intimately scaled streets and are exposed to an abundance of lush rooftop and private gardens, mature street trees, and cherished public parks. These layers of green space impact our daily lives in numerous and changing ways throughout the year. Join landscape architect Robin Key as she discusses how our interactions with these spaces affect us on many levels—aesthetically, visually, socially, emotionally, and environmentally. Ms. Key will review the year-round features of gardens in public and private spaces of the Village, and will discuss several of her firm's projects, sharing images of the design and construction process.  

Time & Space on the Lower East Side
A Presentation by Brian Rose

Co-sponsored by Fourth Arts Block (FAB)

Monday, April 2
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Duo Theater, 62 East 4th Street
(between 2nd Avenue & Bowery)
Free; reservations required

In 1980, Brian Rose, in collaboration with Ed Fausty, photographed the Lower East Side with a 4x5 view camera. While buildings crumbled and burned, artists and musicians came to explore and express the edgy quality of the place. After the wrenching events of 9/11, Mr. Rose was drawn back to New York and eventually decided to return to where he had begun—the Lower East Side. While keeping an eye on the 1980 photographs, he sought to rediscover the neighborhood with fresh eyes, with the perspective of time, change, and history. The result, Time and Space on the Lower East Side, which will be available for sale and signing, is a set of photographs that looks backward and forward, that posits the idea that places are not simply "then and now," but exist in a continuum of decay and rebirth.

 

The Piers: Art & Sex Along the New York Waterfront
A Lecture by Jonathan Weinberg

Wednesday, March 14
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South, Suite 201
(between Sullivan & Thompson Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department and the
NYU Fales Library

Jonathan Weinberg, artist and art historian will discuss how the Hudson piers below 14th street were used and transformed by avant-garde artists and a new emerging gay subculture in the 1970s and early 1980s. He will also spotlight the upcoming exhibition he curated with Darren Jones on the same subject that will be on view at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in SoHo from April 3-May 12. The exhibition will include the work of Vito Acconci, John Fekner, Leonard Fink, Ivan Galietti, Frank Hallam, Peter Hujar, Gordon Matta-Clark, Uzi Parnes, Shelley Seccombe, Shunk and Kender, Lee Snider, Stanley Stellar, Tava, Arthur Tress, and David Wojnarowicz.

Titanic & the Village
The Titanic & the Village
100 Years After the Tragedy

Tuesday, March 13
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
The Jane Hotel
113 Jane Street

Sorry, this event is SOLD OUT

Click here for more information.

The centennial of the Titanic tragedy has historic roots in the West Village. Join us in the ballroom of the landmarked Jane Hotel, site of the first unofficial memorial and inquisition after the sinking, as we look back in time with special guest speakers.


Kleindeutschland: the Lower East Side’s Forgotten Past

A Lecture by Peter Conolly Smith

This event has reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations.

Thursday, March 8
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery (between Bleecker & Houston Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Few New York neighborhoods have been home to as many immigrant groups as the Lower East Side. Focusing on the German community, this talk will walk you through one of the earliest and largest of these groups' local histories. From beerhalls to anarchist clubs, from newspaper offices to ethnic theaters, and from the headquarters of singing groups to political meeting halls, this lecture explores the rich past of German New York, from its nineteenth-century height to its post world War I-decline and eventual disappearance. Peter Conolly-Smith teaches American history and culture at CUNY-Queens College and is the author of Translating America: An Ethnic Press Visualizes American Popular Culture, 1895-1918



Markets of Greenwich Village:
A Lecture by Karen Seiger

Thursday, February 23
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

Karen Seiger, market enthusiast and author of Markets of New York City: A Guide to the Best Artisan, Farmer, Food and Flea Markets, which will be available for sale and signing, has documented and promoted the recent resurgence of traditional markets in her book and blog. In this talk, she will discuss the treasures she has found in the Village and throughout the boroughs, the impact of these markets on the local economy, and some of the reasons why they are so wildly popular right now. A select group of local food companies who launched their ventures in local markets will also be on hand to answer questions and sell their tasty treats!

 


Westbeth—Home of the Arts
: A Film Screening

This event has reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations.

Thursday, February 16
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Westbeth Community Room, 155 Bank Street
(between Washington & West Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Join filmmaker George Cominskie at a screening of Westbeth—Home to the Arts, a documentary selected for the 2011 Manhattan Film Festival. The film explores the unique history of the recently landmarked Westbeth Artists Residence in the Far West Village. Westbeth was created in 1970 as affordable housing for artists by the J.M. Kaplan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. This intimate film shows how Westbeth revitalized the arts in a changing Greenwich Village and demonstrates why every large city around the world should have its own Westbeth.

  


Talking Carriage House: A Restoration Case Study Presented by Architects Anne Fairfax & Richard Sammons

This event has reached capacity and we cannot accept any more reservations.

Thursday, February 9
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Avenue
(between 11th & 12th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Carriage houses were once commonplace in the Village, but few survive today. Join architects and husband and wife team Anne Fairfax and Richard Sammons as they discuss the restoration process of their West 4th Street carriage house. They will review their personal design approach, born of their experiences renovating many Village townhouses for clients. They will explore how their personal and private relationship affected the final design. In addition, Anne and Richard will speak about the previous owner’s stamp on the house.


 

When a Woman Gets the Blues
A Book Reading & Presentation by Rory Block


Tuesday, February 7
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street
(off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

Considered one of the greatest living acoustic blues artists, Rory Block has committed her life and career to preserving the Delta blues tradition and bringing it to life for 21st century audiences around the world.  Ms. Block grew up in a bohemian Greenwich Village family.  Her father owned the famous Allan Block Sandal Shop, where folk musicians like Bob Dylan, Maria Muldaur, and John Sebastian stopped in to play music, talk poetry, or just hang out.  By her early teens, Rory was sitting in on Sunday jam sessions in Washington Square Park. During these years, her life was touched – and profoundly changed – by personal encounters with some of the earliest and most influential Delta blues masters of the 20th century. Join Rory and GVSHP as we celebrate her new autobiography, When a Woman Gets the Blues, which will be available for sale and signing. Ms. Block will also present original historic photos and artwork.  If we’re lucky she may even break out her guitar!

  


Andy Warhol's Greenwich Village
A Lecture by Thomas Kiedrowski & Robert Heide

Tuesday, January 31

Please Note: This program has reached capacity and we are NOT accepting any more reservations

Andy Warhol's remarkable fame evolved throughout his life in NYC. His unique persona and career were shaped in part by the time he spent in the Village. Thomas Kiedrowski, author of Andy Warhol's New York City, along with Robert Heide, playwright and Warhol screenwriter, will present a special discussion on Warhol's Greenwich Village. Explore the rock 'n' roll beginnings of the Velvet Underground, the filmic and theatrical interludes of Warhol's Silver Factory productions, and become part of the entourage as Warhol transforms himself into an international icon. Andy Warhol's New York City will be available for sale and signing.

GVSHP & The New School Present:
Greenwich Village Artists Series

Events: 6:30- 8:00 p.m.
The New School, Wollman Hall
65 West 11th Street, 5th Floor (between 5th & 6th Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

"I and the Village:" Jackson Pollock's Downtown Years
A Lecture by Larissa Bailiff

Thursday, January 26
Please Note: This program has reached capacity and we are NOT accepting any more reservations

Jackson Pollock moved to New York by 1930, embracing the bohemian urbanity and camaraderie of the Village. It was in this community that he found the courage and inspiration to formulate a completely new type of American art. Independent Art Historian and MoMA lecturer Larissa Bailiff will discuss Jackson Pollock's years in the Downtown scene.

Join us as we visit a bygone era of cold-water lofts, makeshift galleries, cheap diners, and of course the Cedar Tavern, the watering hole where artists congregated, argued, and expounded their ideas, where Abstract Expressionism was born, with Jackson Pollock as one of its most celebrated figures

  

Greenwich Village as Muse
A Presentation by Pamela Koehler

Wednesday, January 18
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
University Settlement
273 Bowery (between Houston & Prince Streets)
Free; reservations required.

New York City is no stranger to the arts—in making art accesible to the public and as a mecca for its creation. The Village may well be the area of the city best known for its connections to art, artists, and creativity. Pamela Koehler, art history professor at Adelphi University, will discuss the portrayal of the Village through art in an interactive format that engages audience members and negotiates the way in which we view our neighborhoods.  

  

Footsteps of Yiddish Theater
Historian Cezar Del Valle to Lead Theater Tour


Sunday, January 8
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Meeting location available upon registration.
Free; reservations required.

Discover the colorful history of Second Avenue with theater historian Cezar Del Valle. Once the Manhattan center of Yiddish American culture and the U.S. center of Yiddish theater, Second Avenue below 14th Street was home to the stage, vaudeville, burlesque, and early movie houses of this culture. As the Yiddish stage began to fade, Off-Off Broadway started to appear in old union halls and storefronts. We will visit sites associated not only with Molly Picon, Jacob Adler, Maurice Schwartz, and Boris Thomashefsky, but also Henry Fonda, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Weber & Fields. 

  

2011

 

East 7th Street: Anatomy of an East Village Block
A Presentation by the NYU Public History & Archives Class

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

Wednesday, December 14
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
NYU Humanities Initiative
20 Cooper Square,
5th Floor
Free; reservations required.

With a varied and colorful history reflected in its architecture, East 7th Street could be considered a microcosm of the East Village itself. To the west, the street encompassed part of Peter Stuyvesant's old Bouwerie; to the east, historic rowhouses remind us of the early days of the working waterfront. In conjunction with GVSHP's architectural resource survey of the East Village, students in the Introduction to Public History course in NYU's Public History and Archives program will present their semester-long research about the social history of this fascinating street. The students, each of whom focused on a different block along East 7th Street, will discuss how they went about their research and will present their findings. 

 

Greenwich Village: Birthplace of the Elevated Railway
A Lecture by Joe Cunningham

Co-sponsored by the New York Transit Museum

Monday, December 12
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Our Lady of Pompeii, Father Demo Hall
25 Carmine Street (at Bleecker Street)
Free; reservations required.

Elevated rapid transit was introduced by Charles Harvey in 1868 with a short cable-operated line on Greenwich Street. Though the propulsion system proved inadequate, that first line was the forerunner of a transportation system still in operation around the world. This presentation will focus on the origins of the elevated structures on Greenwich Street and the obstacles that were overcome in a few short years to transform the concept into a system that proved vital to the economic growth of Manhattan and cities throughout the world. 

 

Greenwich Village On and Off the Grid:
Prediction, Speculation, and Preservation, 1811-2011
A Lecture by Jon Ritter


Thursday, December 8
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)

This lecture surveys the history, uses, and meanings of the Manhattan grid plan on the occasion of its bicentennial. Analysis focuses on the continuities and disruptions of the grid in Greenwich Village, suggesting how the history and topography of the area shaped its interaction with orthogonal city planning. Professor Jon Ritter of the NYU Urban Design & Architecture Studies program in the Department of Art History, considers specific events such as the extension of 6th and 7th Avenues, the planning of superblocks, and the preservation of historic districts within the speculative and predictive logic of 19th century grid planning.  

  

The Historic Shops & Restaurants of Greenwich Village
A Presentation by Ellen Williams & Steve Radlauer


Tuesday, December 6
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street
(off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

In our rapidly changing city, there are still more than 150 retail establishments that have been serving New Yorkers for over a century. The Historic Shops and Restaurants of New York profiles these living landmarks, many of which are in the Village. Authors and historians Ellen Williams and Steve Radlauer will reveal the sepia-toned origins of these beloved century-old establishments, including C.O. Bigelow Chemists, Veneiro's Bakery, Garber Hardware, and the White Horse Tavern and describe what visitors will find there today. With the holidays around the corner, this lecture will surely give you some great shopping and noshing ideas! 

  

Bacalaitos and Fireworks:
A Presentation by Arlene Gottfried

Co-sponsored by the Esopus Foundation

Monday, November 14
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Esopus Space, 64 West 3rd Street #210
(between LaGuardia & Thompson Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Loisaida is the Latino name for the Lower East Side coined in the 1970s by noted Puerto Rican poet and community activist Bittman "Bimbo" Rivas, from his poem titled "Loisaida." This term will resonate through this presentation as Arlene Gottfried, a native New Yorker with a passion for photographing the city, discusses her newest book, Bacalaitos and Fireworks. Comprised of color photographs that document New York's Puerto Rican culture and changing Lower East Side/East Village, her book begins in 1970 and documents the culture of Loisaida through the present. Ms. Gottfried will also present some of her black and white photographs from earlier books, all of which reflect her unique style. Bacalaitos and Fireworks will be available for sale and signing.  

 

Restoring the Yiddish Art Theater
A Lecture by Architect Dan Allen

Tuesday, November 8
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
ree; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Co-sponsored by the Museum at Eldridge Street and The New School's Jewish Cultural Studies Program and Institute for Retired Professionals

Last month we introduced you to the Hebrew Actors Union and the exciting scene of Yiddish theater that existed during the 1920s and '30s along Second Avenue south of 14th Street. Now delve further into the past world of the Yiddish Rialto with a look at one of the key institutions of that time—the Yiddish Art Theater, the most prominent remaining survivor of this bygone era (now Village East City Cinemas). Join preservation architect Dan Allen, principal of Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects, as he takes you through the completed exterior restoration of this landmarked building. Using historic evidence, before and after images, and architectural information, he will explain the ins and outs of this project and how it preserved this significant theater as a lasting reminder of the Yiddish Rialto.   

Much Ado About Noshing:
A Benefit for GVSHP

Monday, November 7, 2011
6 P.M. to 8 P.M.
at Astor Center
399 Lafayette Street
at East 4th Street

Calvin Trillin and the Russ & Daughters Family

In Conversation about Food, Heritage, and Community

Legendary smoked salmon and
other appetizing provided by
Russ & Daughters

Click here for more information

 

Complete 8th Street: A Walking Tour wih Jane Marx

Co-sponsored by the Village Alliance BID

Thursday, November 3
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

Every street in New York City has its own special history, but few have a history as distinctive and diverse as 8th Street. Join tour guide Jane Marx, dubbed "brassy, with a good-natured if slightly wicked sense of humor" by Time Out New York, for a walk through time along 8th Street. From East Village counter cultural mecca to Greenwich Village bohemia, this tour will explore how one street can be used as a lens through which to see the Village's changes over time. Learn about the people who lived on this street, the buildings they called home, and the businesses and institutions that shaped their day to day lives.



Highline: The Inside Story of New York's Park in the Sky
A Book Talk with Josh David

Co-sponsored by Friends of the High Line &
The New School

Tuesday, November 1
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

The High Line, a new public park atop a disused elevated freight rail structure, is one of our time's most innovative urban reclamation projects. Josh David, co-founder of Friends of the High Line and co-author of the new book High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky, will share the remarkable story of the park's success. David will discuss how he and his partner, two young citizens with no prior experience in planning and development, collaborated with their neighbors, elected officials, artists, local business owners, and leaders of burgeoning movements in horticulture and landscape architecture to create a park celebrated worldwide as a model of creatively designed, socially vibrant, and ecologically sound public space. High Line: The Inside Story will be available for sale and signing.

Photo by Jeffrey Donenfeld

 

The Hebrew Actors Union and Second Avenue: Caretakers of Yiddish Theater
A Lecture by David Freeland     
   

Co-sponsored by the Museum at Eldridge Street &
The New School's Jewish Cultural Studies Program and Institute for Retired Professionals

Thursday, October 27
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge Street (between Canal & Division Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

During the 1920s and 30s, Second Avenue south of 14th Street was the spine of Manhattan's Jewish cultural life and the living artery of Yiddish Theater in the U.S. Take a visual tour of the neighborhood's surviving cultural landmarks - from the site of the Cafe Royal, known as the "Sardi's of Second Avenue," to the Hebrew Actors Union on East 7th Street. Admired and feared, the HAU controlled every aspect of the Yiddish Theater in the U.S. and made pioneering negotiations still valued by performers today. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of the forces that destroyed commercial Yiddish Theater and a visual tour of the HAU's interior, decayed but filled with artifacts. David Freeland is a writer who specializes in music history and popular culture. His latest book, on which this lecture is based, Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan's Lost Places of Leisure, will be available for sale and signing.

The Museum at Eldridge Street is a landmarked synagogue that functions as a dynamic cultural and educational center that tells the story of Jewish immigrant life at the turn of the last century, explores architecture and historic preservation, inspires reflection and cultural continuity, and fosters inter-group exchange.


The Beats in the Village: A Lecture by Steven Watson

Monday, October 24
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street (between 7th & 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

The influence of the Beat Generation of writers can be felt from New York to San Francisco, Mexico to Tangiers. The birth of the Beat movement, however, was in New York: fostered both at Columbia University in the 1940s and Greenwich Village in the 1950s. This talk will focus on the homes of key Beat figures Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and hipster landmarks such as the San Remo Cafe. Steven Watson is a cultural historian, producer, director, writer, documentary film maker, and the author of The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944-1960.



Exploring the Original West Village:
A Book Talk by Alfred Pommer

This program has reached capacity and we can no longer accept reservations.

Wednesday, October 19
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue
(between West 9th & 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Join author Alfred Pommer as he brings you on a literary journey through the back streets and along the waterfront of historic Greenwich Village. Peer behind the façades of the historic structures to discover the neighborhood's fascinating history, hidden secrets, and little-known tales. Mr. Pommer is a New York City historian and has been a licensed tour guide for over twenty years. Exploring the Original West Village, his book, written with Eleanor Winters, will be available for sale and signing.

 

Talking Townhouse: A Restoration Case Study

Tuesday, October 11
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 5th Avenue (between 11th & 12th Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Restoring an historic townhouse can be much like a complicated scientific experiment. Many elements must work together, and all the equations must add up. This presentation will break down the components of one such restoration project that took place right here in Greenwich Village, viewing it through the eyes of the various people involved in the process.

Speakers will be: Katherine Schoonover, homeowner and Villager; Carl Culbreth of Preserv, exterior contractor; Todd Knapp, AIA, architect; and Henry DeWees of DeWees-Mellor, interior contractor. Before and after pictures will be shown and personal stories and general guidelines for historic restorations will be discussed.


50 Years Later: An Interview with Jason Epstein, Editor of Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project

Tuesday, October 4
6:00- 7:30 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or
(212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Fifty years ago Jane Jacobs chose a young, talented man to edit her first book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Jason Epstein will be joining GVSHP to share his experience working with the revolutionary woman of the Village who we all know and love, and share how he sees this famous publication 50 years later. Mr. Epstein is an award-winning author himself and for many years was the editorial director at Random House. He will be interviewed by Anthony C. Wood, founder and chair of the New York Preservation Archive Project and author of Preserving New York.




The Brokers Partnership of GVSHP Presents:

An Exclusive Evening Reception for Downtown Brokers at Jefferson Market Library & Garden
CANCELLED
Monday, October 3rd
5- 7 P.M.

Jefferson Market Garden, entrance at Greenwich Avenue between West 10th Street & Christopher Street

For more information and to RSVP click here.

Step back in time to the beginnings ofthe preservation movement in Greenwich Village. Experience the glorious interiors of Jefferson Market Library, a late nineteenth-century Victorian Gothic masterpiece, and enjoy the serene beauty of the adjacent garden.

  

Looking Back at the Beatnik Riot:
A Film Screening of the Documentary Sunday


Monday, September 26
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 5th Avenue (between 11th & 12th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Sunday, which documents a confrontation between folk singers and police at Washington Square, has been widely honored as one of the first social protest films of the 1960s. It was filmed on April 9th, 1961 and released in the summer of that year. This confrontation has come to be known as the Beatnik Riot, after musicians such as Bob Dylan who often played in the Square. The ‘riot’ ensued when music was outlawed in the park, and close to 3,000 people gathered in opposition. Dan Drasin, documentary filmmaker, photographer, media producer, writer, and creator of Sunday, will answer questions about this event as well as the history of the folk scene in and around Washington Square.

Slaughter Houses to Stilettos:
Walking Tour of Gansevoort Market

Monday, September 19
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration.
Free; reservations required.

Join Alli DiVincenzo, historian and creator of RememberNYC, for a walking tour of Gansevoort Market, which is both a New York City Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Learn about the rich history of the neighborhood which began as a Native American settlement in the 1600s and served as a Dutch fort in the early nineteenth century. Moving into the twentieth century, the neighborhood once fostered a vital meatpacking economy but later transitioned into a haven for drugs and prostitution. Today, the area is known as a center for high-end boutiques and glassy new hotels juxtaposed alongside smaller warehouses, cobblestones, and other remnants of its significant history. Leave your stilettos at home and put on your walking shoes for this exciting tour!

The Archaeology of Home:
A Book Talk by Katharine Grieder

Wednesday, September 7
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
University Settlement, 273 Bowery
(btwn Houston & Prince Streets)
Free; reservations required.

In The Archaeology of Home, Katharine Greider tells the story of a single place on earth, tracing its evolution from salt marsh to city lot to the sagging, 150-year-old East Village row house she and her family once called home. Her talk will focus on what it means to inhabit a place—to live there rather than just pass through. Using anecdotes, images, and examples from across the centuries on this one plot of densely populated urban turf, she will explore the experience of inhabitation as an enormously creative human interaction with space—one that transmits culture and bridges time. The Archaeology of Home will be available for sale and signing. 

 

Restoring the Merchant's House Museum

GVSHP is proud to be co-sponsoring a program with our friends at the Merchant's House Museum!

Tuesday, August 30
6:30 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

The Merchant's House Museum presents an update on its current $600,000 structural restoration (with gratitude to City Councilmember Rosie Mendez).  Architectural conservator Mikel Travisano of New York City's Historic House Trust has been monitoring the project and will relate details about the work on the Museum's 1832 Landmark building, as well as other historic properties around the City.    

 

FABulous! Walking Tours of the Fourth Arts Block (FAB)

Meeting locations available upon registration
Free; reservations required.
Please note that you may register for only one of these tours.

Saturday, August 20
12:00- 2:00 P.M.
Led by urban planner Laurence Frommer
Co-sponsored by Fourth Arts Block

Sunday, August 28
PLEASE NOTE that this tour has been CANCELLED due to Hurricane Irene. Stay tuned for a rescheduled date.
11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Led by Brendan Hunt of the
Lower East Side History Project (LESHP)
Co-sponsored by LESHP


The Fourth Arts Block manages the East 4th Street Cultural District (between 2nd Avenue and the Bowery), the only official cultural district in Manhattan and one of only two in the entire city. This one block contains 12 theaters, eight dance/rehearsal studios, three film-editing suites, and a large screening room, most held in an impressive array of historic structures with striking cultural histories all their own. In the next two years, an estimated 40,000 sq. feet of vacant space will be transformed into active cultural use; in ten years, cultural space on the block will exceed 145,000 sq. feet. In addition, FAB advocates for shopping and dining out in local businesses as well as supporting other local cultural institutions. Founded in 2001, the East 4th Street Cultural District is nationally recognized as an incubator for new work and diverse artistic voices by supporting experimental performances and cutting-edge productions. It is proud of its outstanding records for racial and ethnic diversity, free and low cost programs, and training for emerging artists and youth. Join one of two distinguished tour guides as they take you through the history and culture of this magnificent block stopping at sites including La MaMa Experimental Theater, Teatro Circulo, and the Fourth Arts Block Cafe. 

  

The Ghost of Greenwich Village:
A Book Talk by Loran Graham

Wednesday, August 3
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue
(btwn West 9th & 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Girl meets city. Girl falls in love with city. Girl and city live happily ever after? Lorna Graham's charming fiction debut, The Ghost of Greenwich Village, introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine who has just embarked on life's great journey of discovering herself and finding a community in the greater world. Eve Weldon moves to Greenwich Village after hearing her mother's stories of living there in the 60s among artists and writers. When she arrives, the only writer she meets is a cranky ghost named Donald, a Beat Generation writer who haunts her small apartment, and the only writing she manages to do is for a morning news show called Smell the Coffee. As she struggles to balance her job, her search for clues to her mother's past, and Donald's incessant demands to help him finish his life's work, she soon learns that community can come in all different forms and the true magic of the Village is eternal.

A transplant from the West Coast, Lorna Graham was inspired by her job as a writer for a network morning show and her historic West Village apartment—the former home of postmodernist short story writer Donald Barthelme—to pen this novel. The Ghost of Greenwich Village will be available for sale and signing. 

  

50 Years of the Sidewalk Ballet- The Past, Present, and Future Impacts of Jane Jacobs' Death & Life of Great American Cities: A Panel Discussion

Monday, July 25
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION
Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Father Demo Hall
25 Carmine Street (at Bleecker Street)
Free; reservations required.

2011 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Jane Jacobs' globally influential book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. It is safe to say that twentieth century urban planning would not be what it is today without Jane Jacobs' influence. Notorious City Planning Commissioner Robert Moses wanted to extend Fifth Avenue through Washington Square Park and turn Broome Street into a highway. Stopping those changes are two of Ms. Jacob's most noteworthy accomplishments, allowing our beloved Greenwich Village to be what it is today. She also famously took note of the characteristics of places like the Village that make a neighborhood function successfully. Learn how the philosophies of this book shaped our thinking for the past fifty years and how they continue to do so today.

Panelists will include: Glenna Lang—illustrator, designer, and author of Genius of Common Sense: The Story of Jane Jacobs and The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Max Page—historian, professor of Architecture and History at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and author of Reconsidering Jane Jacobs; and Alice Sparberg Alexiou—historian and author of Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary. The panel will be moderated by Roberta Brandes Gratz—journalist, urban critic, lecturer, and author of The Battle For Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs

  

The East Village Preserved: Breakfast Walking Tours of the Proposed East Village Historic Districts

Co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council,
East Village Community Coalition, &
Lower East Side Preservation Initiative

Wednesday, July 13 & Wednesday, July 20
8:30- 10:00 A.M.
Free; reservations required.
Please note that you may register for only one of these tours.

Join GVSHP's Director of Preservation & Research Elizabeth Finkelstein for a breakfast walk around the Landmarks Preservation Commission's proposed East Village Historic District. Centered primarily around lower Second Avenue, the buildings contained within the proposed district represent a number of significant eras in the history of this part of the East Village: from its early days as an elite residential neighborhood, to its transformation into an immigrant melting pot, to its pre-World War II years as a Yiddish entertainment district, to its late-20th century growth into a mecca for alternative culture. Tour participants will learn how to read a building's architecture to understand its past, and will leave well-versed in what landmarking means for the neighborhood. 

Book Reading and evening with Lorna Graham, celebrating the publication of her new novel, The Ghost of Greenwich Village

Monday, July 11
Doors open: 6:00 P.M.
Reading: 7:00 P.M.  
The Garage Restaurant & Café, 99 Seventh Avenue South (between Christopher & Bleecker Streets)

Cost: $100 VIP tickets

All proceeds to benefit GVSHP. 

Open Wine Bar, Sponsored by Pearl Vodka & PAMA Liqueur, and Passed Hors D'eouvres

Evening presented by Random House Publishing Group and Affinty Projects with host committee: Deborah Feyerick, Lorna Graham, Jacqueline Leo, Paulina Porizkova & Ric Ocasek, Anne Marie Pricipe, and Bari Zahn.

And don't forget that on August 3, GVSHP is having another special book reading of The Ghost of Greenwich Village with author Lorna Graham! 

The History of the Stonecutters' Riot:
A Lecture by Daniel Walkowitz

Co-sponsored by the NYU History Department

Thursday, July 7
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South (btwn Thompson & Sullivan Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Historians of New York City refer to 1834 as the Year of the Riot. Much is known of the Abolitionist Riot and Election Day Riot. But a third 'riot' took place in the vicinity of Washington Square Park that same year when stonecutters protested NYU's use of contract prison labor to hew the stone for its first building. The contest between the university and laborers would take a series of ironic turns over the next years, twists that would expose the tumultuous life of working people in the burgeoning industrialized new metropolis.

Join historian, author, producer, and NYU professor Daniel Walkowitz as he recounts these working men's struggle to protect their jobs. 

 

LGBT History of the East Village: A Walking Tour

Co-sponsored by the Lower East Side History Project

Sunday, June 26
12:00- 2:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

The Stonewall Riot of 1969 is often regarded as the birth of the modern LGBT movement, inspiring people across the country to organize in support of gay rights. But gay culture has a long history in New York.

Back in the 1880s queer and transvestite bordellos opened on the Bowery not far from the theaters where, 80 years later, Andy Warhol staged transvestite musicals for gay audiences. The East Village was home to the pre-eminent gay artists of the 20th century—Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead, William S. Burroughs, Quentin Crisp, Klaus Nomi, Keith Haring, among many more. There they found the freedom to write, perform, paint, create, and flourish as themselves, surrounded by the radical arts, activism, and anarchy of the neighborhood. On this walking tour, we will explore significant sites of gay history, along with the artists, writers and musicians whose contributions dovetailed with LGBT culture.

 

Hotel No Tell: A Book Talk by Daphne Uviller   

Monday, June 20
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue (btwn West 9th/10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.orgor (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Zephyr Zuckerman, the lovable, hapless heroine of Daphne Uviller's Super in the City, is back. In Hotel No Tell, she's armed and undercover as a concierge at a Greenwich Village hotel, tracking down a missing hundred grand. Her detective boyfriend has moved out because of their disagreement about reproducing (he wants kids, Zephyr doesn't), and she's left with her Holland Lop bunny named after a famous atheist, an old friend who's married and miserable in suburban motherhood, and one new friend who's a wedding planner in dire need of an exorcist.

It soon becomes clear that the trouble at the hotel goes much deeper than a little old-fashioned laundering. Before Zephyr can master the reservation system, she is yanking at the threads of a multi-million dollar egg donation scandal and re-examining her own motives for opting out of parenthood.

Please join third-generation Villager Daphne Uviller as she reads from Hotel No Tell which will be available for purchase and signing.  

Growing Up in New York's Italian South Village
A Book Talk by Tony Vivolo

Wednesday, May 25
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Saint Anthony of Padua Church
155 Sullivan Street (off Houston Street)
Free; reservations required.

This evocative memoir captures life in the South Village during the 1950s, when this vibrant neighborhood was filled with close-knit Italian families. Join author Tony Vivolo as he describes growing up on Sullivan Street: a world of stickball games and going to school at Saint Anthony's; generations of families living together; dinners of ravioli and lasagna, with baked calamari on Christmas Eve; grandparents speaking Italian dialects; wooden casks of vino rosso secreted in the tenement cellars; pushcarts lining the streets; gardens of tomatoes and basil growing on fire escapes. Growing Up in New York's Italian South Village will be available for purchase and signing.  

 


American Women, Italian Style

A Lecture by Carol Bonomo Albright

Tuesday, May 17
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

  

Demons of Discord:
Two NY Riots from Five Points to Astor Place
A Lecture by Kathleen Hulser

Thursday, May 12
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

   

GVSHP Does Jane’s Walk
A Walking Tour of the East Village

In conjunction with the Municipal Art Society

Saturday, May 7
10:00- 11:30 A.M.
Meeting Location Available Upon Registration
Free; reservations required

Just as Jane Jacobs fought to save her beloved Greenwich Village, so too is GVSHP working topreserve the East Village. Join GVSHP Director of Preservation & Research Elizabeth Finkelstein as she takes you on a walk up one of the neighborhood’s prime historic corridors: Second Avenue. From Yiddish Rialto to Ukrainian oasis to alternative epicenter, Second Avenue has seen many acts of the East Village’s “sidewalk ballet.” Learn about its roots as a fine residential thoroughfare and discover which buildings remain from its earliest development. The tour willalso discuss GVSHP’s greater East Village survey work, andteach participants what a building’s architecture can reveal about its history.

Jane’s Walk is a Toronto-based organization that celebrates the ideas and legacy of Jane Jacobs by calling upon people to explore their neighborhoods and meet their neighbors. This year, the Municipal Art Society (MAS) is working with organizations from all over the city to host their own Jane’s Walks.

 

Interview about the State of Historic Preservation with GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman

Thursday, May 5

Join GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman as he is interviewed by Catherine Perebinossoff of Let’s Travel, an Internet radio talk show exploring the world of travel and culture. They discuss the future of historic preservation, how preservation has changed, and what are the causes for the changes.

Click here to listen to the interview.

 

A History of East Village Rowhouses:
A Panel Discussion

Wednesday, May 4
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
239 Thompson Street (at Washington Square South)
Free; reservations required.

 

13th Annual Village House Tour Benefit

Sunday, May 1
1:00 - 5:30 P.M. Self-Guided Tour
5:30 - 7:30 P.M. Reception

Click here to purchase tickets

Offering a rare glimpse into seven of Greenwich Village’s finest and most exclusive townhouses, the Thirteenth Annual Village House Tour Benefit is held to raise funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate about and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods. Click here for more information

 Community Documentaries:
The Vanishing City & Twilight Becomes Night

Co-sponsored by Film Forum

Monday, April 25
6:00- 8:00 P.M.
Film Forum
209 West Houston Street (between 6th & 7th Avenues)

GVSHP members, Film Forum members,students, seniors: $5
All Others: $10

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

Join GVSHP and the Film Forum for an evening of provocative documentaries about how New York City is changing and why. The 90-minute program will be followed by a Q&A with the directors of The Vanishing City, Fiore DeRosa and Jen Senko as well as Niki Russ Federman, the fourth generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters.

First we will view Twilight Becomes Night, directed by Virginie-Alvine Perrette, which examines the crucial role of neighborhood stores in our lives and communities. Local businesses are vanishing at an alarming rate, but Twilight showcases how neighborhoods can counteract this trend.

Next we will see The Vanishing City. Told through the eyes of tenants, city planners, business owners, scholars, and politicians, the film grapples with the real politics behind the alarming disappearance of New York’s beloved neighborhoods, the truth about its finance-dominated economy, and the myth of “inevitable change.” Artfully documented through interviews, hearings, demonstrations, and archival footage, the film also links New York trends to other global cities where multinational corporations continue to victimize the middle and working classes.

Proceeds from this event will benefit GVSHP and the independent filmmakers of The Vanishing City.

  

The Landmarks Application Process
A Presentation by Elizabeth Finkelstein

Wednesday, April 20
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
(between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

  

East Meets Green
A Walking Tour of East Village Community Gardens

Co-sponsored by Green Guerillas &
The Manhattan Land Trust

Saturday, April 16
12:00- 1:30 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

Join us on this tour of three distinct East Village gardens and meet with the gardeners who will discuss the history, maintance, and uniqueness of their spaces.

Stops will include the Liz Christy Garden, the first community garden in NYC. Started in 1973 at a time when empty lots overwhelmed the city, the garden served as a model for the development of community gardens throughout NYC and the country. Albert's Garden, adjacent to the Marble Cemetery, is an understated and quiet series of paths and nooks. Highlights include a large mural of a bird on the wall of an adjoining tenement and the back stone wall that predates the wall's use by the adjoining New York Marble Cemetery. The 6th and B Community Garden dates to 1982 and is a model of preservation for an energetic greening movement. Since its founding, 6th and B has been distinguished by its members' hands-on contributions in arts, education, and entertainment. 

  

Buildings that Grow: An Introduction to Green Roofs
A Lecture by Amy Norquist of Greensulate

Monday, April 11
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
239 Thompson Street (at Washington Square South)
Free; reservations required.

  

Parks, Plants & People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape
A Lecture by Lynden B. Miller

Tuesday, April 5
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street (between Washington & West Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

  

The Triangle Factory Fire: A Walking Tour through Time

Co-sponsored by the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy

Sunday, March 27
10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration
Free; reservations required.

Pay tribute to those lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire as we mark the Centennial of this infamous event which took the lives of 146 workers and spurred social reform. Join GVSHP and the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy in a walking tour that will highlight some of the sites associated with the disaster by exploring the various ways in which the Fire, and the lives it claimed, have been memorialized over the past 100 years. Sites will include Cooper Union, the NYU Brown Building, and an East Village synagogue.

To learn more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and to find out about other events memorializing its Centennial visit Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.  

  

The History of McSorley’s
A Lecture by Historian Bill Wander

Tuesday, March 22
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii, Father Demo Hall
25 Carmine Street
Free; reservations required.

McSorley's Old Ale House survives as a genuine example of a nineteenth century saloon, seemingly unaware of the twenty-first century. An Irish bar in what was once a predominantly German neighborhood, it has been family-owned since it opened its doors in 1854. This lecture, given by author and historian Bill Wander, will discuss how changes to the neighborhood—St Marks Place, Seventh Street, Cooper Square, and the transportation hub that was Astor Place—in the days just before the bar’s establishment shaped this part of the East Village into a location in which McSorley’s could thrive. The lecture will also profile Irish immigrant John McSorley, a young man from the countryside who fled the potato famine and opened an ale house that would become celebrated on the Broadway stage and soar to national reputation. Join us to commemorate the history and legacy of what is considered Manhattan's oldest saloon in honor of Irish-American Heritage Month.

photo courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery

Painting the Neighborhood:
Edward Hopper and Greenwich Village

A Panel Discussion

Co-sponsored by the Whitney Museum of American Art

Tuesday, March 8
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

 

Honoring Preservationist Margot Gayle
Women's History Month Panel Discussion

Co-sponsored by the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America

Wednesday, March 2
6:30- 8:30 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church, Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street (off Washington Square South)

Margot Gayle (1908-2008) was one of the most influential preservationists in New York City history. Among her many achievements were founding the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, designating the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, establishing the Victorian Society in America, and saving the Jefferson Market Courthouse. She fought for protection of historic buildings through proactive advocacy the preservation world had rarely seen. Ms. Gayle will be remembered and honored this March as part of Women's History Month.

Panelists include Joyce Mendelsohn, President of the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, who will discuss Ms. Gayle's involvement with this national organization; Anthony Robins, author, lecturer, and tour leader, who will explore her work with the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture; and Anthony Wood, preservation activist, author, teacher, and historian, who will examine how she introduced political techniques to preservation advocacy. The panel will be moderated by Franny Eberhart, preservationist, teacher, and longtime friend and colleague of Margot Gayle. 

 

The Village & All That Jazz

Jazz at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue
Monday, February 28
325 East 6th Street (btw. 1st & 2nd Avenues)
7:30-9:30 P.M. (doors open at 7:15)
Tickets per event: $30 GVSHP Members; $40 All Others


An Evening at the Village Vanguard

Wednesday, February 16
178 Seventh Ave. South (btw. W. 11th & Perry Sts.)
5:30 - 7:30 P.M. (doors open at 5 P.M.)
Tickets per event: $30 GVSHP Members; $40 All Others

 

Black Gotham: A Book Talk by Author Carla Peterson

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series

Monday, February 28
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas (between West 9th & 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Join author Carla Peterson as she discusses her new book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City.  Mining city archives, Peterson reconstructs her family’s history to paint a vivid and largely unknown portrait of African American elites before the Civil War.  With a focus on the lives of her great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and their circle of friends, she depicts the neighborhoods in which they lived, in and around Greenwich Village.  Home to diverse populations, this area was inhabited by whites and blacks, Irish, German, and native born, upper, middle, and lower classes that produced complex social and professional relations both within and outside the black community. 

 

Discovering Black New York:
A Lecture by Linda Tarrant-Reid

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series

Tuesday, February 22
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

Linda Tarrant-Reid, author and journalist, will examine the earliest community of African Americans in the Five Points District (also called Stagg Town) in Lower Manhattan in the early 1820s; the migration of free blacks to the West Village (Little Africa) in the mid-1800s; and the establishment of African American social and cultural institutions, schools and businesses in Greenwich Village and the surrounding area.  The presentation will also review the beginnings of the abolitionist movement and the development of the Underground Rail Road in the community.

Ms. Tarrant-Reid is the author of several books including: Discovering Black America: From the Age of Exploration to the 21st Century and Discovering Black New York: A Guide to the City's Most Important African American Landmarks, Restaurants, Museums, Historical Sites and More

 

Little Africa Rediscovered: African Descendants in the South Village During the 19th Century
A Lecture by Jamila Brathwaite

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series

Thursday, February 17
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Saint Anthony of Padua Church, 154 Sullivan Street (at West Houston Street)
Free; reservations required.

Since the 17th century, people of African descent have been laying roots in and around Greenwich Village. Often referred to as Little Africa, this community, in the current South Village, had the largest population of African Americans in the city during its heyday. While confronting oppressive conditions, this community mobilized and collectively built social, benevolent, spiritual, and political organizations to support, defend, and educate its members.

This presentation will highlight the innovative laborers, entrepreneurs, abolitionists, educators, community organizers, journalists, and religious leaders who built public and private lives while calling Greenwich Village home during the 19th century.  Jamila Brathwaite is the Program Director of The CEJJES Institute, the Charles White Gallery and the Rockland African Diaspora Heritage Center located in Rockland County, New York.   She is actively researching and developing exhibitions concerning people of African descent in New York   

African American Movers and Shakers of the East Village: Walking Tour

In conjunction with the Lower East Side History Project.

Part of GVSHP's African American History Month Series

Sunday, February 13
12:00- 2:00 P.M.
Location avialable upon registration.
Free; reservations required.

SOLD OUT

From playwrights and poets, to artists and musicians, African Americans made great contributions to the vibrant culture of the East Village and beyond. On this tour, we will visit sites associated with pioneers such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Jimi Hendrix. In addition, we will explore sites associated with abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, Susan B Anthony, and Isaac T. Hopper. Andrea Coyle, Director of Outreach for the Lower East Side History Project, a native New Yorker, a licensed NYC tour guide, and a graphic artist, will lead this walking tour that celebrates Black History Month by recognizing the great African American Movers and Shakers of the East Village!



Henry James—A Child of the Village:
A Lecture by David Gerrard Lowe

Co-sponsored by the Beaux Arts Alilance

Thursday, February 3
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Church of the Ascension
12 West 11th Street (at 5th Avenue)
Free; reservations required.

The man who is arguably one of America’s greatest writers was born in Greenwich Village in 1843, a neighborhood which always had a special place in his heart. It is no coincidence that one of his supreme novels bears the title, Washington Square. In this richly illustrated lecture, cultural historian David Gerrard Lowe, author of, among other books, Stanford White’s New York and Beaux Arts New York, will discuss the works of James, as well as his life in New York and later years in France and England. He will also touch upon the splendid renovation of the Church of the Ascension in the 1880s. This church set the stage for one of the most moving and mysterious passages in James’ The American Scene, a book which grew out of the author’s last visit to his home town in 1905.  

When Architecture Could Fashion a Nation: A Lecture on the Architecture of McKim, Mead & White by Professor Mosette Broderick

Co-sponsored by Cooper Union

Tuesday, January 18
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Cooper Union, Rose Auditorium
41 Cooper Square (at 7th Street)
Free; reservations required.

As America matured in the mid 19th century, the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White provided buildings for a changing society. From wooden houses in the country to regal social clubs in Manhattan, as America transformed itself these architects helped to refine the nation’s idea of beauty.

Many of the Village buildings we walk by and use everyday are fashionable creations of McKim, Mead & White—Washington Square Arch, Judson Memorial Church, and the Tompkins Square Library, to name a few. Learn how this firm helped shape a nation in transition and transformed Manhattan into a budding metropolis.

Mosette Broderick is an architectural historian and Director of the Urban Design and Architecture Studies program as well as the London-based MA program in Historical and Sustainable Architecture in the Department of Art History at NYU.  Her recently released book, TRIUMVIRATE: McKim, Mead & White–Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class In America’s Gilded Age, is the inspiration for this lecture and will be availabe for purchase.  

The Villagers
Book Reading

Wednesday, January 12
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
(between West 9th & 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.

 




2010

Tompkins Square North:
Anatomy of an East Village Block
A Presentation by the NYU Public History & Archives Class
Wednesday, December 15
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South, Suite 201
(between Thompson & Sullivan Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful blocks in the East Village, East 10th Street between Avenues A and B along the north side of Tompkins Square Park retains a wealth of architectural detail that has changed little since its original construction in the mid-19th century. In conjunction with GVSHP’s architectural resource survey of the East Village, students in the Introduction to Public History course in NYU’s Public History and Archives Program will present their semester-long research about the people who called this neighborhood home. Looking at three distinct time periods, from 1860-1890, 1900-1930, and post-1930, the students will discuss how they went about their research and present their findings.

Margaret Sanger and the Development
of the Birth Control Clinic
Monday, December 13
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
53 Washington Square South, Suite 201
(between Thompson & Sullivan Streets)
Free; reservations required.

Join historian Cathy Moran Hajo for a look at how Corning, N.Y., Greenwich Village, and Amsterdam impacted Margaret Sanger’s feminism, radicalism, and her direction of the birth control movement. Birth control clinics, where women could seek practical advice, information, and assistance, were one of the hallmarks of the 20th century movement for reproductive rights, but one that has been little studied by scholars.

Using images and quotes, Hajo’s presentation will discuss the development of the clinic idea as well as clinical practice in the United States, focusing on clinics founded in and near the Village, and on Margaret Sanger’s particular contributions to these organizations. Dr. Hajo is the author of Birth Control on Main Street: Organizing Clinics in the United States, 1916-1939, and the associate editor of the Margaret Sanger Papers Project at New York University.


Remembering the Epidemic:
A History of AIDS in the Village

co-sponsored by the LGBT Community Center and
Gay Men’s Health Crisis

Tuesday, December 7
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street
(btwn 7th & 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required.


GVSHP 30th Birthday Party

Thursday, December 2
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street (btwn 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

Come to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s 30th birthday party! Learn how a small group of preservationists started an organization with an awkward name. See how that group grew from protecting single buildings to protecting entire neighborhoods—and gained an impossible acronym along the way. Speakers include: Elinor Ratner, an early Trustee and long-time treasurer, Martin Hutner, who joined the board in 1984 and remained a Trustee for twelve years, and current Trustees John Bacon and Leslie Mason. Presentation will include historic photographs, before and after images, and interesting tidbits from GVSHP’s past. And birthday cake!

Reconceiving the Historic Enclaves of Greenwich Village:
A Lecture with Architectural Historian Andrew Dolkart



Tuesday, November 16
6:30- 8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
(btwn 11th & 12th Streets)


Memories of an Artist Community: A Panel Conversation on the History of Westbeth Artists’ Residence
Thursday, November 11
6:30- 8:00 PM

Program Canceled

Westbeth Artists Housing is the world’s largest artists’ community. The complex, erected between 1861 and 1925, originally housed the Bell Telephone Labs, but was converted to its current function in the 1960s by architect Richard Meier with funding from the J.M. Kaplan Fund. Located on the West Village waterfront, this thirteen-story complex is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Commemorate Westbeth’s commitment to innovative adaptive re-use, art and affordable artists’ housing, and one-of-a-kind sense of community by hearing its history first hand from those who were there from the beginning.

In 2007, GVSHP began its Westbeth Oral History Project to document how the conversion project was conceived and implemented. The oral histories were undertaken as part of a larger GVSHP project to place Wesbeth on the State and National Registers of Historic Places (which happened in 2009). Speakers will include project participants: Dixon Bain, who served as the project manager for planning and construction of Westbeth from 1967-1971; Virginia Dajani, an original and longtime tenant; and Tod Williams, an original tenant and the architect who worked with Richard Meier during the conversion. The conversation will be moderated by historian Jeanne Houck, who conducted the original interviews.

GO WEST! Westbeth Studio Open House Fundraiser
Sunday, November 14
1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Registration begins at 12:30 pm, Westbeth Community Room
Westbeth Artists’ Residence
Event entrance at 155 Bank Street
(btwn Washington & West Streets)

Co-sponsored by the Westbeth Artists Residents Council

Join us in celebrating 30 years of the GreenwichVillage Society for Historic Preservation and 40 years of Westbeth!

Get an insider’s look at this groundbreaking landmark of adaptive re-use and artists’ housing, with exclusive access to approximately twenty private artists’ studios with striking designs, artwork, and spectacular river and city views. Also included are guided tours with noted architectural historian Andrew Dolkart throughout the day and access to Westbeth’s shared workspaces, sculpture studio, and gallery.

This day-long event will benefit both GVSHP and the Westbeth Artists Residents Council, all at an affordable price.

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Westbeth is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is under consideration for NYC landmark status.


Snapshots in Storefronts: Historic Photos of the Village from the GVSHP Collection
Thursday, September 23-Friday, October 29, 2010

This self-guided exhibit featuring images from the GVSHP photograph collection explores archival images of the Village’s past. Images will be showcased in some of our most beloved small business storefronts. Visit the exhibit website for more information.

Landmarking the East Village: A Lecture with GVSHP Director of Preservation and Research Elizabeth Finkelstein
Wednesday, October 27
5:30 - 7:00 P.M.
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street (bt. Avenues A & B)

Part of GVSHP’s 30th Anniversary Staff Past and Present Series

From its early days as a rowhouse neighborhood, to a tenement district home to Germans, the Irish, Jews, Italians, Eastern Europeans, and most recently Latinos, the East Village has a rich cultural and architectural history that is still intact today. GVSHP is currently surveying this neighborhood to better understand its architectural resources and character. Join Elizabeth Finkelstein, GVSHP Director of Preservation and Research as she details the nuts and bolts of this multi-year project, shares some of the more interesting historical tidbits uncovered to date, and notes how we move from research and discovery, to a proposal for landmarking.

 

Snapshots in Storefronts Walking Tours
Saturday, September 25 & Sunday, October 17
1:00 P.M.
Meeting location available upon registration.

Part of GVSHP’s 30th Anniversary Staff Past and Present Series

This walking tour, conducted by staff member Sheryl Woodruff, will explore the history of GVSHP's image collection, offering interesting tidbits about the businesses where the photographs are located, and investigate the history of the neighborhood evoked by archival images



Between Two Villages:
A Walking Tour of NoHo with Architectural Historian Matt Postal
Sunday, October 10
2:30 - 4:30 P.M.
Tickets: $10 GVSHP members; $15 all others

Join architectural historian Matt Postal as you explore NoHo, a compact neighborhood of great architectural variety and distinction. This walk focuses on the area's rich history and recent evolution, from the time of Federal rowhouse construction to the present day. View structures associated with influential 19th-century New Yorkers, including America's first millionaire John Jacob Astor, and printer Theodore DeVinne, while catching glimpses into forgotten alleys that once served the various cast-iron stores and commercial loft buildings that took root here following the Civil War. We'll visit NoHo's three historic districts, addressing pioneering preservation efforts, such as the National Audubon Society's foward-looking conversion of the Schermerhorn Building in the early 1990s, as well as controversial new buildings and exemplary restoration projects.


An Evening with Malcolm Gladwell
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
Tickets: $500

Click here for more information

Join us for an evening with Malcolm Gladwell to benefit the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation during its 30th Anniversary Year!

The Past, Present, and Future of the Mezritch Synagogue
co-sponsored by the East Village Community Coalition
Monday, September 27
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Theater for the New City
155 1st Avenue (btw. East 9th & East 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

The Congregation Mezritch Synagogue is the East Village’s last operating “tenement synagogue,” in a neighborhood that once contained hundreds of these narrow shuls. Most often each served immigrants from different towns in Central and Eastern Europe, with buildings that were typically packed into the tiny tenement sized spaces of the Lower East Side.

Along with the East Village Community Coalition and other local organizations and advocates, GVSHP has proposed landmark designation for this one-of-a-kind remaining building whose stunning, early 20th century untouched interior is practically unknown to visitors and residents.

The evening will visually explore the Jewish history of the neighborhood, the building’s architectural significance, and the religious background of the Mezritch shul, while looking towards the future of this religious building and its living community.
Panelists will include architectural historian Justin Ferate, writer and historian Joyce Mendelsohn, and synagogue historian/geographer Elissa Sampson. The program will be moderated by Laurie Tobias-Cohen, Executive Director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy.



Snapshots in Storefronts: Historic Photos of the Village from the GVSHP Collection
: Opening

Opening
Thursday, September 23, 2010
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
glassybaby
555 Hudson Street (btw. Perry & West 11th Streets)
Free; No reservations required; Drop in any time!

Get a sneak peek of the images in this exhibit while enjoying the serene atmosphere of glassybaby, a West Village business located in the storefront of the rowhouse where Jane Jacobs formerly lived. glassybaby will donate 10% of their sales from the opening to GVSHP!



Inside Architecture: Interior Landmarks of the Village
A Lecture with Melissa Baldock

Monday, September 13
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Merchant’s House Museum
29 East 4th Street (btw. Lafayette Street & Bowery)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Sold Out.

Part of GVSHP’s 30th Anniversary Staff Past and Present Series

Greenwich Village is well known for its historic districts and individual landmarks, but often overlooked are the neighborhood’s impressive interior landmarks. Join historic preservationist and former GVSHP staff member Melissa Baldock as she surveys some of the Village’s—and New York City’s—most notable protected interior spaces, including a school auditorium, a public library, a movie theater, a former sit-down restaurant, and a house museum.

This slide lecture will explore how interior landmarks differ from other individual landmarks, and the criteria necessary for an interior space to become a New York City landmark. You will also have the opportunity to experience first-hand the landmarked interior of the historic Merchant’s House Museum.


Church of the Ascension Tour
with Leo Blackman

Wednesday, August 11
6:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Church of the Ascension
12 West 11th Street (off Fifth Avenue)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

Join preservation architect Leo Blackman on an insider’s tour of the renovation of the Church of the Ascension. The current building is one of the earliest churches designed by Richard Upjoin, who also designed Trinity Church downtown. In the 1880s, the interior of the church was remodeled by McKim, Mead, and White featuring stained glass windows designed by John LaFarge and sculpture by Louis St. Gaudens.

Today, PRESERV has undertaken a stunning restoration of the historic interior of the church. Mr. Blackman will lead guests on a tour of the interior focusing on the specific challenges of the project and showing visitors the work occurring throughout the interior. Since the church remains closed to the public for the duration of the restoration, this tour provides a unique opportunity to see the restoration process within this historic space.

The East Village’s Marble Cemeteries
A Tour of the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery

Sunday, July 25
1:00 - 3:00 P.M.
Starting at the New York Marble Cemetery
42 1/2 Second Avenue (between 2nd and 3rd Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Join GVSHP for an afternoon celebrating the East Village’s two marble cemeteries, the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery. Enjoy this rare opportunity to see both cemeteries on the same day and learn more about their pasts. Both cemeteries will provide garden talks about their respective and distinct histories while allowing visitors time to ask questions, explore, and just enjoy these traditionally private spaces.

Both cemeteries were founded in the early 1830s as non-sectarian cemeteries devoted to family plots and remained extremely popular places of internment throughout the nineteenth century. Both the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery were individually landmarked in 1969.

Returning Steam to the Hudson
A Tour of the Lilac

Sunday, July 18
2 P.M.
North side of Pier 40
Houston Street and the Hudson River
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

Visit the historic lighthouse tender Lilac and return to the age of steam. The only historic steamship in New York, Lilac is being restored at Pier 40 by the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project. Built in 1933 for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, the ship became part of the Coast Guard fleet in 1939, supplying lighthouses and maintaining buoys until her retirement in 1972.

Founding board members and volunteers will be on hand to share the history of the ship. Norman Brouwer, the ship’s curator, will present an illustrated lecture on the ship’s past. Brouwer is a maritime historian and former curator of ship restoration at South Street Seaport Museum.

Please note that this tour will take place on board the ship. Access to many spaces on board involves steep stairs or ladders and narrow passages. Attendees must be able to navigate these spaces.

Esopus Space Presents: A Pyramid Club Panel Discussion
Wednesday, June 30
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Esopus Space
64 West Third Street, #210
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to space@esopusfoundation.org or (212) 473-0919

In conjunction with the exhibition “Clayton Patterson: Pyramid Portraits,” Esopus Space presents a panel discussion about the groundbreaking drag scene at New York City’s legendary Pyramid Club in the 1980s. The Pyramid, which Patterson describes as “a crystallization of the Lower East Side,” provided a diverse, intensely creative environment in which performers like Lypsinka, John Kelly, and RuPaul were able to first hone their craft.

Panelists include photographer and community activist Clayton Patterson, performance historians Joe E. Jeffreys and Iris Rose, experimental performance legend Agosto Machado, and Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which is seeking landmark designation for the Pyramid Club’s building at 101 Avenue A.

This event is co-sponsored by GVSHP. Space is limited.

The Queer Past of Greenwich Village
A Lecture with Daniel Hurewitz

Tuesday, June 29
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place (between West 3rd & Bleecker Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Join history professor Daniel Hurewitz, author of Stepping Out: Nine Walks Through New York City’s Gay & Lesbian Past, for an exploration of the rich gay and lesbian history of Greenwich Village. Hurewitz’s talk will invite us to think about the Village’s central and fascinating role in the history of lesbian and gay culture and politics. Along the way, he will be narrating the history of places like Heterodoxy, The Slide, and the Snake Pit, and offering tales of celebrated artists like James Baldwin, Paul Cadmus, and Berenice Abbott.

This event is co-sponsored by Outhistory.org.

Celebrate the South Village Victory!
Thursday, June 24
6:30 P.M.
St. Anthony of Padua Church
154 Sullivan Street (at Houston Street)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 34

Landmark designation of the first third of our proposed South Village Historic District was big news, and the culmination of many years of very hard work by many people.

But the hard work is far from over, as two-thirds of our proposed South Village Historic District has not been landmarked, or is even yet under formal consideration for landmarking by the city. And we are committed to preserving the entire South Village.

So please join us for a celebration of all we have accomplished in landmarking the first third of the proposed South Village Historic District, and to strategize and organize around all we still need to do to get protections for the remainder of the neighborhood.

The Fall of the House of Twain
A Lecture with Craig Fehrman

Tuesday, June 22
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

One hundred years ago this spring, Mark Twain died in his Connecticut home. But while most readers associate Twain with that state—or, more often, with his home state of Missouri—Twain was in many ways a New York man. In fact, he lived and worked in New York City throughout his life, and, for the first time, Craig Fehrman will reveal the story behind Twain’s Fifth Avenue home and the 1950s crusade to save it.

The so-called Twain House, designed in 1840 by James Renwick, Jr., was both a literary and an architectural landmark. Fehrman will describe the last-minute race to save the House, show a rich array of contemporary photographs, and share what he learned from interviewing perhaps the last living figure from this historical episode: 99-year-old British film director Ronald Neame. Come and learn about Twain’s New York past—and about yet another part of the Village’s preservation legacy.

Attendees are encouraged to enjoy an evening at the Salmagundi Art Club. The Club’s bar and restaurant, typically closed to the public, will be open to all attendees before and after the lecture.

Julius’ Sip-In
An Evening with Dick Leitsch

Tuesday, June 15
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

On April 21, 1966, members of New York’s Mattachine Society, a group of homosexual activists, entered Julius’ on West 10th Street, identified themselves as gay, and asked to be served. They were denied service and thus sparked an era of LGBT activism that would culminate with the Stonewall Riots.

Join Dick Leitsch, former president of the Mattachine Society and partipant in the Sip-In, as he discusses the history and lasting importance of the Julius Sip-In.

This event is co-sponsored by the LGBT Center.


Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum
A Lecture with Edward T. O'Donnell

Wednesday, June 9
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904 when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River. A panicked and untrained crew, coupled with rotten life preservers and inaccessible life boats, turned a small storage room fire into a human tragedy of immense proportions. News of the horror made headlines around the world and elicited an enormous outpouring of sympathy and donations. Later, as evidence of negligence and corruption on the part of the steamer's owners mounted, sympathy turned to outrage and demands for justice that were never fully met. Perhaps most astonishing, it took New Yorkers only a few decades to forget the tragedy.

Join historian Edward T. O’Donnell as he discusses the burning of the steamboat General Slocum, the deadliest day in New York City history before 9-11.

Copies of Ship Ablaze will be available for purchase courtesy of Mobile Libris.

30th Annual Meeting & 20th Annual Village Awards
Monday, June 7, 2010
6:30-8:30 PM
Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66th West 12th Street
Reception to follow
The Forbes Galleries, 60 Fifth Avenue
Free. Space is limited. Reservations must be made by June 4 to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 x 34.

Click here for photos and for more information on 2010’s awardees.

A Night at the (Gangster) Museum
Featuring Eric Ferrara

Wednesday, May 26
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The Museum of the American Gangster
80 St. Mark's Place (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

Explore the history of vice and crime in America at the new Museum of the American Gangster (MOAG).

Start with an exclusive tour of MOAG's permanent exhibit: an introduction to alcohol trafficking in the United States. Go behind the scenes of what was once an infamous speakeasy – including excursions through the basement, where $2 million and various prohibition era artifacts were uncovered in secret rooms discovered during renovations.

Following the tour will be a lecture in the historic Theatre 80 on the history of vice and crime in New York City by MOAG co-founder Eric Ferrara. From black market trading between the Dutch and Native Americans to the organization of the Jewish and Italian mob, explore the role that crime has played in shaping the character, culture, and politics of the City.

 



Greening the Village: The High Line

Tuesday, May 25th
From 6-8 P.M.
Tours: On the High Line Park
Reception: Max Protetch Gallery
$25 GVSHP Members
$30 Non-GVSHP Members
Reservations required

Click here for more information

Join us for a unique opportunity to learn more about the fascinating history, transformative design and dynamic art program of the High Line, New York’s newest, most popular landmark destination, through small group tours led by Friends of the High Line senior staff. Wine and cheese reception at the Max Protetch Gallery following the tours.



31 Bond Street: Fact, Fiction, and Digging into the Past

A Lecture with Ellen Horan

Thursday, May 20
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Ottendorfer Branch Library
135 Second Avenue (above St. Mark's Place)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.


History in Asphalt: The Street Patterns of Greenwich Village
A Lecture with Joyce Gold

Thursday, May 13
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

Manhattan historian Joyce Gold will present an illustrated talk about Greenwich Village and the forces that shaped its pattern of streets.
Village streets can bring even seasoned New Yorkers to their knees. Streets bend, diagonals come out of nowhere, roads stop for no good reason, and thoroughfares change direction. Such intersections as Waverly Place & Waverly Place, and W 4th Street & W 10th Street do little to help.

There are good reasons behind the confusion, but it takes some digging to uncover them. Joyce Gold will explain how topography, natural boundaries, Indian paths, and estate ownership carved the first convoluted pattern of roads. And she will also show the strange result of the city’s insisting upon connecting areas north and south of the Village.

 


The Spring and Fall of Eve Adams
An Evening with Barbara Kahn

Thursday, April 29, 2010
7:15 P.M.
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (at East 10th Street)
$12; reservations required.

Playwright/director Barbara Kahn will share some of the fascinating NYC facts she has discovered while researching The Spring and Fall of Eve Adams as well as her earlier historical plays set in NYC. She will discuss the unique resources in NYC available to both professional and amateur historians and writers. Followed by a performance of the play and a Q&A with Kahn.

This event is presented by the Theater for the New City.



The Past, Present & Future of East 4th Street:
Downtown Theater Row

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
6:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Tours start at 5 & 7 P.M.
64 East 4th Street
Ground floor theater.
Free; reservations required.

Straddling Vaudeville venues on Bowery and Yiddish Theatre on 2nd Avenue, E. 4th has been a home for the arts since before Broadway was Broadway. Over time East 4th Street became an incubator for avant-garde work and cultivated artists ranging from Sam Shepard and Harvey Fierstein to Lisa Kron and Blue Man Group. Today East 4th Street remains a downtown destination for emerging theater and dance, while developing the first official cultural district in Manhattan.

Join us for a tour, lecture & conversation with Fourth Arts Block and Lower East Side History Project about what was, what is, and what will be happening on East 4th Street.

This event is presented jointly by Fourth Arts Block, GVSHP, and the Lower East Side History Project.

Helping Italians Settle in the South Village: The Role of Our Lady of Pompeii Parish
An Evening with Mary Elizabeth Brown

Wendesday, April 21, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii
Father Demo (Basement) Hall
240 Bleecker Street
SOLD OUT.


Women Movers and Shakers of the East Village
A Walking Tour with Andrea Coyle

Sunday, April 18, 2010
SOLD OUT.

From breaking new ground in music, art, literature, fashion and medicine, to advancements in working conditions and women's rights, the women of the Lower East Side played an invaluable role in shaping politics and culture in America and around the globe.
The Lower East Side/East Village is the birthplace of the Women's Suffrage movement, Planned Parenthood, Visiting Nurse Services, Children's Aid Society, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Catholic Worker, Mother Earth magazine, experimental Off-Broadway theater, and so many more institutions and movements spearheaded by these pioneering women.

This event is co-sponsored by the Lower East Side History Project.

Jazz in the Village: Roots & Branches
A Lecture with Dan Morgenstern

Thursday, April 8, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Please note the new venue for this event:
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street

Greenwich Village was (and still is) amajor arena for jazz in New York, from the l920s on. Dan Morgenstern, who first frequented the neighborhood in the late ‘40s and can still be found at the Village Vanguard and other venues today, will dip into this rich history with facts and anecdotes, accompanied by photos and ephemera from the archives of the Institute of Jazz Studies.

Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary
A Lecture with Alice Sparberg Alexiou

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.

Part Three of GVSHP’s celebration of Women’s History Month.

Jane Jacobs is most often portrayed as the woman who, through her brilliant grass-roots organizing during the 1950s and 60s, single-handedly saved her beloved Greenwich Village from being bulldozed by Robert Moses. But this characterization is a vast oversimplification.

In this lecture, Alice Sparberg Alexiou, author of the first biography of Jacobs, will discuss Jacobs’ complex legacy. Alexiou will focus on Jacobs’ ideas, and, most importantly, how brilliantly she conveyed them in writing, most notably in her most famous work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her ideas eventually entered our collective consciousness, forever influencing the way we look at cities, neighborhoods, and individual buildings.

The Remember the Triangle Fire Coaltion presents:
Celebrate the 99th Annivesary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Thursday, March 25, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Church
55 Washington Square South (corner of Thompson Street)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@rememberthetrianglefire.org

MC Annie Lanzillotto and her band Fiasco will guide a sneak peek of exciting new performance works and other news on what's in store for the Triangle Fire Centennial in 2011! Including:

  • Impossible Country - a play on contemporary asylum seekers by Mud/Bone
  • Labor of Love - a play with music by Vincent Cuccia
  • Triangle - a puppet opera by Patrick Keppel & Bradley Kemp
  • Soliloquy for a Seamstress - a one person play by LuLu LoLo
  • Triangle: From the Fire - an oratorio & dance/theater piece by Elizabeth Swados & Cecilia Rubin


Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
A Lecture with Hasia Diner

Monday, March 22, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT

Part Two of GVSHP's celebration of Women's History Month.

In March 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which would go down in infamy as the largest workplace disaster in New York City history. But the fire would also inspire profound changes to the way factory workers were treated. Join Professor Hasia Diner in remembering this tragedy on the 99th Anniversity of the fire.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire still holds the dubious distinction of the having been the worst industrial accident in American history. In what ways did the fire change America? How did the fire leave a lasting legacy? This talk will describe both what happened on that day in 1911 and what happened subsequent to the tragedy.

Architect Talks: A New Series from GVSHP
Focus on 13th Street

New construction within the various designated historic districts in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo must go through a rigorous public hearing and review process. This affords the public the opportunity to speak to and hear from architects about their thoughts on appropriate design for their neighborhoods, with the Landmarks Preservation Commission charged with making the final call on “appropriateness.” However, when new construction takes place outside of designated historic districts, typically there is no public hearing or review process for the design, and little or no dialogue with the public about it. Though these buildings may have just as profound an aesthetic effect upon their surroundings, decisions about materials, design, and context are generally made solely by the architect and client, based upon practical considerations and their own perspective.

In this new series of Architects Talks, GVSHP invites the architects of several new buildings in our neighborhoods with interesting responses to their contexts and design challenges to engage in a post-facto talk about their design choices and processes. The first series focuses on 13th Street, where a series of new designs play with the traditional and the modern, relating to and standing out from their surroundings.

425 East 13th Street
with John Cetra

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street (btw. Avenue A & Avenue B)
Free; reservations required.

CetraRuddy’s new design combines warm, earth-toned terra cotta with large expanses of glass and metal. Surrounded by the East Village’s traditional tenements, how does this mid-rise apartment building relate to its context while declaring its newness?


The Talented Miss Highsmith
A Lecture with Joan Schenkar

Thursday, March 4, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off of 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.

Transitions: Little Africa and Greenwich Village, 1870-1920
A Lecture with Gerald McFarland

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street (off Washington Square South)
Free; reservations required.

“To be Young, Gifted, and Black”: Lorraine Hansberry
A Lecture with Michele Mitchell

Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

The Village on Film
A GVSHP Film Series Presents:
Pollock

Please note that due to the inclement weather this screening has been cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

RESCHEDULED: Wednesday, February 17, 2010
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
$8; reservations required.

Part Three of our ongoing Village on Film Series featuring film historian and professor Lenny Quart.

“Pollock,” directed by and starring Ed Harris, tells the story of the life and career of painter Jackon Pollock (played by Harris). The film focuses on Pollock’s early days as an artist in New York City and then his retreat, with his wife (Marcia Gay Harden), to the Hamptons, where he discovered the style which would make him famous. Also starring Jennifer Connelly.

Gather in GVSHP’s living room for a viewing of this Jackson Pollock biopic. Mr. Quart will lead discussion of the film after the screening. Space is limited and refreshments will be served.

39 East 13th Street
with Philip Wu
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
(between Bleecker and West 3rd Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or 212-475-9585 ext. 35

Phillip Wu carefully restored the elegant cast-iron facade of this building, and then added a modern twist -- three additional floors in transparent and translucent materials with colored lighting, drawing inspiration from but clearly contrasting with the 19th century body below. Part restoration part new construction, the project updates one of the Village’s few surviving cast iron edifices.

This event is co-sponsored by the AIA Center for Architecture.



Architect Talks: 3 West 13th Street
with Avi Oster

Thursday, January 21, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Kellen Auditorium
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Parsons The New School for Design
66 Fifth Avenue (at 13th Street)
Free; reservations required.


My Greenwich Village and the Italian-American Community
An Evening with Carol Bonomo Albright

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Explore the history of the Italian-American immigrants below Washington Square through the eyes of author Carol Bonomo Albright as she discusses her recently released memoir and the South Village community of her childhood. Albright will talk about the sense of place experienced in ‘her’ Village through its mom and pop stores and through her school, where the nuns encouraged ballroom dancing. She’ll also discuss some of its colorful people and what made the area feel like a village, rather than a big city, and about her experience with the Italian reactions to the ‘food reformers.’

Copies of My Greenwich Village and the Italian-American Community will be available for purchase.



2009



Shop Local and Support the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Thursday, December 10

Join GVSHP and some of the Village’s finest small businesses and
take advantage of special sales while you shop for the holidays!

Click here for information.

New York’s Unique & Unexpected Places
A Lecture with Judith Stonehill

Wednesday, December 9
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas (between W. 9th & W. 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.


The Immigrant, Radical & Notorious Women of Washington Square
An Illustrated Lecture with Joyce Gold

Thursday, December 3
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Third Street Music Settlement
235 East 11th Street (between 2nd Avenue & 3rd Avenue)
Free; reservations required.


Restoring Townhouses
A Lecture with Ingrid Abramovitch

Tuesday, November 17
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.

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5 Dutch Days Lecture: Manhattan’s Indians
A Lecture with Karen Kupperman
Thursday, November 12
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Wasserman Center for Career Development
133 East 13th Street, 2nd Floor
Free; reservations required

Indians in the settlement of Sapokanican located in what is now the West Village, in the rest of the five boroughs, and on Long Island shared a culture and all spoke related Algonquian languages. Despite this shared culture, the arrival of the Dutch in these areas profoundly transformed the native culture and economy, driving native groups away from the new European settlements.

Using reports from Europeans who ventured to this region in the early period and focusing on the culture of native populations in the area of what is now considered Manhattan, historian Karen Kupperman will discuss the relationships between Indian groups in the pre-contact period as well as the effect of the coming of Europeans and especially the impact of imported diseases and the opening of trade here. 

This event is part of 5 Dutch Days and is co-sponsored by the Native Peoples Forum.


Real Estate of Bohemia
A Lecture with Andrew Dolkart

Wednesday, November 4
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Grace Church School
86 Fourth Avenue (at 11th Street)
Free; reservations required.

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Preserving Small Business
A Roundtable Discussion

Tuesday, October 27
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Our Lady of Pompeii Church
Father Demo (Basement) Hall
240 Bleecker Street (between Carmine Street & Leroy Street)
Free; reservations required

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Westbeth: A Revolution in Artists’ Housing and Adaptive Re-Use
A Celebratory Lecture with Andrew Dolkart
Thursday, October 22 (Please note date & time change)
Doors open at 6:15 P.M.
Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street (between Washington Street & West Street)
Free; reservations required

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8th Street: Greenwich Village’s Once and Future Main Street
A Panel Discussion

Thursday, October 8
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
New York Studio School
8 West 8th Street (between 5th Avenue & MacDougal Street)
Free; reservations required

Part One of our Small Business Series.

Historically, Eighth Street has been the heart of Greenwich Village, connecting East to West and providing a place for shopping, socializing, and artistic expression. More recently, it has become more well-known for its pantheon of shoe stores than its rich history. This panel will look back on Eighth Street’s history, discuss its current condition, and explore the possibilities for the future of the street, including a revitalization of the businesses and a reinvention of the area to once again make it the Village’s Main Street.

Avis Berman (author of The Rebels of Eighth Street), architectural historian Tony Hiss, director of the Village Alliance BID Honi Klein, and the Broadway Panhandler’s Norman Kornbleuth will explore the possibilities of Eighth Street as the Village’s once and future Main Street.

This event is co-sponsored by the Village Alliance Business Improvement District.


Gangster City: The Criminal History of the Lower East Side
A Walking Tour with Eric Ferrara

Sunday, September 27
1:30 - 3:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free; reservations required.

Miss this event? Check out our "Gangster City" page for photos and gangster resources!

Trace the steps of such mob heavyweights as Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel who grew up and earned their criminal stripes on the streets of the Lower East Side. Visit the headquarters, residencies, social clubs, and shootout locations of the Jewish and Italian Mob who, along with the help of the Tammany Hall political machine, ruled New York City’s vice, labor and garment industries from this neighborhood 100 years ago.

The tour is led by Eric Ferrara, a fourth generation/native New Yorker Ferrara is executive director of the East Village History Project, and author of the guide book “Gangsters, Murderers & Weirdos of New York City’s Lower East Side” (History Press).

This event is co-sponsored by the East Village History Project.

On the Wall: Community Murals in the East Village
An Illustrated Talk with Janet Braun-Reinitz and Jane Weissman

Wednesday, September 23
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street (between Avenue A & Avenue B)
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

For decades, artists and neighborhood groups in the East Village and Lower East Side have worked together to create vibrant community murals. As much as murals beautify their surroundings, they address and often “protest” local and, sometimes, national concerns.

“Protest murals” are as much a declaration of affirmation as an act of opposition. This slide lecture examines how this duality is expressed in New York’s community murals and tracks the evolution of themes and aesthetic styles, always placing the murals in the larger social, historical, and political context.

This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program.

  This event is disabled accessible.


Benefit Brunch Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District

Sunday, September 13
Pravda Restaurant

Click here for details

Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York
An Illustrated Talk and Panel Discussion with James and Karla Murray
Wednesday, September 9
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:15 p.m.)
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street off of Washington Square South
Free; reservations required

In their book Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, author/photographers James and Karla Murray provide an intimate view of the mom-and-pop stores of New York’s neighborhoods including Greenwich Village. The Murrays will share interviews and photographs from their book, revealing how neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.

Following their talk, the Murrays will lead a panel discussion with local store owners from Greenwich Village, including the Ottomanelli Brothers of Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market, Peter Longo of Porto Rico Coffee, and Matt Umanov of Matt Umanov Guitars.

This event is co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.

  This event is accessible.



City Council Candidate Forums

Before the September 15 primaries, GVSHP and the Historic District Council’s League of Preservation Voters will be co-sponsoring a series of free and open forums for the candidates for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd City Council Council District seats. Please join us!

Your presence lets the candidates know that preservation and development issues are important to the residents of the neighborhoods they are seeking to represent. At the forums, candidates will be asked questions by the sponsoring organizations and from among questions submitted by audience members. Candidates will be given an opportunity to make statements regarding their positions and priorities on preservation and development in the districts they are seeking to represent.

Click on each date for details and district maps:

3 September: 2nd Council District

4 September: 1st Council District

8 September: 3rd Council District



The Villagers of Ellis Island
A Walking Tour of Ellis Island with Tom Bernardin

Sunday, August 16
Meet at 11:45 A.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation
$12/person for ferry fees.

Miss this event? Check out our "Villagers of Ellis Island" page for photos and an immigrant recipe!

Greenwich Village has often been celebrated for its rich immigrant past, including the South Village’s Italian community, the groups of French immigrants living on Bleecker Street in the nineteenth-century, and the Ukrainian heritage of the East Village. But how did these future Villagers enter our country? In many cases, they came through Ellis Island, the long-acknowledged immigration hub of the United States.

Join Tom Bernardin, former National Park Service Ellis Island ranger at pre-restoration Ellis Island and author/publisher of The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook as we explore Ellis Island and its connection to Greenwich Village immigrant groups. This program will provide an entire day’s jaunt out to Ellis Island, including a tour of the island exclusively for GVSHP followed by individual opportunities to explore the Island.

2009 Mayoral Candidate Breakfast Series

In a few short months, New Yorkers will decide whether to grant Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg a third term or give another candidate a chance to prove his mettle. The Mayor declined a recent invitation from our coalition to discuss his position on historic preservation and neighborhood planning issues.

Where do the other 2009 Mayoral Candidates stand? Ask them...over coffee and danish!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 (RSVP by July 27)
City Council Member TONY AVELLA
8:00 to 9:30 A.M.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (RSVP by August 10)
City Comptroller WILLIAM C. THOMPSON JR.
8:00 to 9:30 A.M.

The breakfast forums will be held at:
O’Neal’s Restaurant, 49 West 64th Street
(between Broadway and Central Park West)

Admission to each breakfast is only $5.


Reservations required. Sign up today! Please call (212) 496-8110 or email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. To reserve online, please visit http://hdc.org/mayoralbreakfasts.htm.

Come to hear what the candidates have to say about preservation in YOUR community before the September primary!

Co-sponsored by:
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, LANDMARK WEST!, Municipal Art Society, and The New York Landmarks Conservancy


2009 PRESERVATION PLATFORM
Preservation is Sustainability • Preservation is Neighborhoods •   Preservation is an Economic Catalyst  • Preservation is Historic Religious Properties • Preservation is an Effective Landmarks Commission

Click below to read the full Preservation Platform, adopted by over 100 civic organizations in all five boroughs (list in formation)
Platform & Endorsing Groups

The Village on Film Presents: Wait Until Dark
A GVSHP Film Series

Thursday, August 6
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd &3rd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.

Following our May screening of Next Stop, Greenwich Village, GVSHP presents Part Two of our Village on Film Series.

Come see Audrey Hepburn’s Oscar-nominated performance in Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark. Hepburn plays a recently-blinded woman who lives on St. Luke’s Place. After her husband agrees to carry a doll over the border for a stranger, Hepburn’s Susy Hendrix is then terrorized by three criminals (led by Alan Arkin as Roat) who believe that their large stash of stolen heroin is inside the doll. The search begins benignly but turns violent as Susy catches on to the thieves’ plot and forms a plan of her own to level the playing field.

This film screening will be held in GVSHP’s living room with popcorn and goodies provided! Space is limited.

An Evening at the Jefferson Market Garden
Featuring the cast of the Greenwich Village Follies

Tuesday, July 28
6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Garden
Enter on Greenwich Avenue at Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street
Free; reservations required.

Be treated to a summer evening in the beautiful Jefferson Market Garden and an exclusive concert featuring the cast of The Greenwich Village Follies. (GVSHP Members get a discount on admission to the play itself by typing in discount code “GVSHP” at check-out!)

The Follies is a high-spirited and deliciously raunchy new musical, offering an overview of the Village’s history in the form of an old-school musical revue. From Peter Stuyvesant to the Stonewall Girls, this new musical revue brings Greenwich Village’s storied 400-year history to life. This is history as you’ve never seen it portrayed.

Enjoy the beauty of the renowned Jefferson Market Garden, occupying 1/3 of an acre next to the Jefferson Market Library and tended by local Villagers, at this private evening for GVSHP friends. Refreshments will be provided.

Beyond the Beatniks: The Hidden History of St. Mark’s Place
A Walking Tour with Eric Ferrara

Sunday, July 12
1:00 - 2:30 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

St. Mark’s Place staked its claim as an epicenter of pioneering radical arts, activism, and counterculture in America over half a century ago — but there is much more than meets the eye. Before the beatniks, hippies, and punks (and way before the t-shirt and yogurt shops), St. Mark’s Place served as an important social and political hub for the ever changing immigrant groups populating the neighborhood over the last 150 years.

On this tour, we will peel back the layers of myths, legends, and misconceptions of St. Mark’s Place to reveal little known history about this fascinating street and time capsule of East Village/Lower East Side/New York City history.

Eric Ferrara is a fourth generation/native Lower East Sider, published author, licensed guide, and executive director of the East Village History Project and East Village Visitors Center. Ferrara offers years of unprecedented research along with personal anecdotes and oral history which make for a truly unique experience.

This event is co-sponsored by the East Village History Project/East Village Visitors Center.

From Beebo Brinker to the Daughters of Bilitis: Lesbian Life in Greenwich Village Before Stonewall
A Lecture with Marcia Gallo

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Le Poisson Rouge
Gallery Bar; cash bar, must be 21 or older to enter
158 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan St. & Thompson St.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Cover art from the first edition of <i>Beebo Brinker</i>. Copyright Ann Bannon.

Wildly popular fictional as well as real-life gay women made Greenwich Village the place to see-and-be-seen for lesbians in the mid- to late 1950s. But in addition to the nightclubs, restaurants, bookstores and theaters that welcomed them, the Village also provided a home base for now-legendary activists with the first lesbian rights group in the U.S., the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). Come join us in a discussion of how Greenwich Village influenced DOB — and the Daughters influenced Greenwich Village — before the famous Christopher Street gay liberation riots of 1969.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the LGBT Center, the NYU Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and Outhistory.org.

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Open Forum: The NYU 2031 Plan
What will it mean for our neighborhoods?


Monday, June 22, 2009
6:30 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Sq. South (at Thompson St.)
All welcome.

NYU is scheduled to finalize its 2031 Plan later this year ― a blueprint for growth over the next 22 years. The current plan has the university growing by up to 3.5 million square feet in our neighborhoods ― roughly DOUBLE their rate of growth over the last several decades.

Find out more about the plan ― what it means, how it will affect you, and what you can do to get involved.

For more information, visit here.

Sponsored by: Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Greenwich Village Block Associations, Washington Square/Lower 5th Ave. Community Association, Waverly Place Block Association, Bleecker Area Merchants’ and Residents’ Association, Washington Square Village Tenants’ Association, Greenwich Village Community Task Force, East 10th Street Block Association, Friends of NoHo, St. Ann’s Committee, Coalition to Save the East Village, 77 Bleecker Board, 88 Bleecker Board, 505 LaGuardia Pl. Board

List in formation.

The Stonewall National Historic Landmark: 1969, 1999, and Beyond
A Panel Discussion

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street (btw. 7th Ave. & Greenwich Ave.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

In 1999, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation co-sponsored the nomination of a Stonewall Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, which made it the first site ever associated with LGBT history to be so recognized by the federal government.

On the 10th Anniversary of the listing, this panel discussion will look back on this milestone and how it was achieved, and look ahead to further future possibilities for recognizing important facets of LGBT life and history in New York City. Featuring Stonewall author David Carter, artist and Stonewall Riots participant Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, architect Françoise Bollack, staff member of the Research Department at the Landmarks Preservation Commission Jay Shockley, and moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman.

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s 29 Annual Meeting and Presentation of the 19th Annual Village Awards
Monday, June 15, 2009
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
University Parish of St. Joseph
371 Sixth Avenue (between Waverly Pl. & Washington Pl.)
Free; reservations required by June 12
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

All are invited to hear a presentation about GVSHP’s activities for the past year and to honor the 2009 Village Awardee’s. Members will vote on the slate of Trustees nominated for GVSHP’s Board, including Nominating returning Trustees: Mary Ann Arisman, Arthur Levin, Jonathan Russo, Judith Stonehill, and Linda Yowell, and new Trustee Vals Osborne.

Awards Presentation by Calvin Trillin Honoring:
171-173 MacDougal Street Façade Renovation – Regina Kellerman Award
Carmine Street Guitars
The Children’s Aid Society – Philip Coltoff Center at Greenwich Village
Father Demo Square
Fedora Dorato
Joe’s Dairy
University Parish of St. Joseph
Women’s Prison Association

The Jefferson Market Library Presents:
Paula Uruburu, Author of American Eve

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
435 6th Avenue (at W. 10th St.)
Free.
RSVP to 212-243-4334

Join author Paula Uruburu as she talks about her recent book American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, The Birth of the “It” Girl and The Crime of the Century.

Evelyn Nesbit, known as the “Girl in the Red Velvet Swing,” was America’s first sex symbol. American Eve is the story of her meteoric rise to fame and her catastrophic fall from grace, embroiled in the media dubbed “crime of the century,” (the Stanford White murder trial was held at the Jefferson Market Courthouse!) a true-life story of desire and greed, and the birth of the American obsession with celebrity.

This event is co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

First Houses: A Monument of the Past, A Model for the Future
A Lecture with Warren Shaw

Thursday, June 11, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
6th Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street (between Ave. B & Ave. C)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35


Image Courtesy of the New York City Housing Authority

This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the very first publicly-sponsored housing for the poor: the landmarked First Houses housing development in the East Village. First Houses inaugurated the era of Urban Renewal—the decades when the United States saw the construction of more than one million units of subsidized housing.

Since the late 1960s it has been fashionable to deride urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure. But with real estate inflation squeezing more and more Americans; with such bastions of affordable housing as Stuyvesant Town going “up-market;” and with recent earthquakes in the financial and real estate markets, it’s time to re-appraise the legacy—and the value—of public housing and urban renewal.

Thomas Paine: Foundling Father
A Lecture with J. Ward Regan

Saturday, June 6, 2009
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas (at W. 10th St.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Thomas Paine's house on Bleecker Street

This event is part of the Paine Year 2009 commemorative activities.

Honoring sometime-Greenwich Village resident Thomas Paine, NYU Professor of History J. Ward Regan will explore Paine’s final days in Greenwich Village as well as his enduring importance and mystifying modern anonymity. Paine, born and raised in England, eventually became the voice of the American cause during the American Revolution when he wrote the words “These are the times that try men’s souls,” but died in poverty and obscurity in the Village in June 1809.

What brought Paine to Greenwich Village and what led to his obscurity towards the end of his life and since his death? Mr. Regan will recount the life and writings of Thomas Paine in the last quarter of the eighteenth century as well as address the paradox of how important Paine’s ideas and achievements were while at same time being wildly unrenowned.

This event is co-sponsored by the Thomas Paine Friends, Inc.

“Next Stop, Greenwich Village”
A Film Screening with Leonard Quart

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
6:15 - 9:00 P.M.
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd Ave. & 3rd Ave.)
Free; reservations required.

Paul Mazursky’s comedy Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) tells the story of Larry Lipinsky (Lenny Baker), who leaves Brooklyn and his overprotective mother (Shelly Winters) to pursue his dream of becoming a Hollywood star. He moves to Greenwich Village, where he hangs out with a group of eccentric and bohemian characters while waiting for his big break. It’s the Village of the fifties through the rear-view lens of the 1970s—where the young with artistic hopes or just yearnings for an alternate life migrated.

Held in GVSHP’s living room with popcorn and goodies provided, film historian and professor emeritus of cinema studies Leonard Quart will lead discussion of Next Stop, Greenwich Village after the screening.

The Ukrainian Dimension of the East Village
A Walking Tour with Terri Cook

Saturday, May 16, 2009
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free from GVSHP Members;
$10 all others.
Space is limited.
Reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

See colorful reminders of immigrant groups who passed through the East Village, and today’s Ukrainian community thriving among trendy shops, college dorms and preserved spiritual havens. Join Terri Cook, author of Sacred Havens: A Guide to Manhattan’s Spiritual Places, to explore the neighborhood, visit some havens and celebrate at the annual Ukrainian Festival.

Coinciding with St. George’s Ukrainian Festival, the tour will investigate the vibrant Ukrainian culture of the East Village before ending up at the Festival, which features delicious Ukrainain food, dance performances by Ukrainian dancers and Ukrainian artwork.

Digging Greenwich Village
A Lecture on Urban Archaeology with Diana di Zerega Wall

Thursday, May 14, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.

Archaeologists who excavate in and under modern cities face unique challenges, including the techniques that they use in excavations and the strictly-imposed time and location restraints that circumscribe their scholarly discoveries. Professor Diana di Zerega Wall, co-author of Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City and professor of anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center and City College, will explore some of these challenges and also discuss her own work excavating in the backyards of Greenwich Village and the snapshot-like images that her work has provided of middle-class domestic life in the 19th century city.

This event is co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Club and the Metropolitan Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association.

Image courtesy of the New York Archaeological Council.

Henry James’s New York
A Walking Tour with Joyce Gold

Sundays, April 5, April 26 & May 10, 2009
1:30 - 3:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free for GVSHP Members; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
$10 all others

Join Joyce Gold as she explores the New York City of Henry James and other literary notables in honor of the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction’s Big Read of Washington Square. Greenwich Village is renowned for its high concentration of novelists, poets, playwrights, and writers of detective fiction, short stories, and muckraking exposés. This tour will examine how the vibrant literary community of New York evolved over time and remains one of the world’s most prolific centers of publishing and writing while focusing on New York, and the Village, as Henry James knew it in his time.

This event is co-sponsored by the Merchant’s House Museum.

Come to GVSHP’s 11th Annual Tour of Village Homes
Sunday, May 3, 2009

Click above for details and to purchase tickets

Safeguarding History and the Environment: Commonalities and Conflicts between Preservation and Sustainability
A Panel Discussion

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
Free for GVSHP & AIA Members; $20 all others
Reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Join moderator and preservation consultant Erica Avrami on this panel tackling the various conflicts and commonalities that exist between preserving buildings and making them sustainable. Explore the importance of both historic preservation and sustainability—and how they can work together—through in-depth discussion of both fields and case studies of East Village tenement buildings and the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn. 

Preservation and sustainability are both big issues, especially in the current economic environment, but the two movements have not always worked had in hand. This panel will seek to start the conversation about the common ground and differing perspectives of the two.

Featuring panelists Chris Benedict, a sustainability architect and Pratt Institute faculty member known for her work in adaptive reuse; Fiona Cousins, an expert on all aspects of sustainable design who has worked on both renovations and new builds; Scott Demel, an associate architect at Rogers Marvel Architects whose work has focused on restoration with a commitment to sustainable design; and Ned Kaufman, a heritage conservation specialist and founder of Place Matters, a nonprofit dedicated to discovering and protecting places that matter in New York’s diverse communities.

This event is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects Historic Buildings Committee.

In Their Own Words: A Salute to the Women of the Greenwich Village Preservation Movement
Thursday, April 2, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35


Part three of our Women’s History Month series.

GVSHP’s Oral History Project, conducted over 10 years and only now available to the public, features interviews with many of the most influential women of the preservation movement, including Margot Gayle, Verna Small, and Jane Jacobs. Hear fascinating selections from their oral histories shedding new light on their experiences and passion for preservation. Introduction by Susan De Vries, director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum and conductor of several of the interviews, and a keynote lecture on Jane Jacobs by Roberta Brandes Gratz, former award-winning journalist and author of The Living City: Thinking Small in a Big Way and Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown.

This event is co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project, the Historic Districts Council and the Neighborhood Preservation Center.

A Community Brainstorming Session with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to info@rememberthetrianglefire.org

Enjoy refreshments and entertainment while learning about the history of the fire and how you can help create a city-wide centennial to remember. The Triangle Fire Remembrance Coalition is a diverse group from all walks of life, sharing a common goal. We have joined together to honor the memory of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and to heighten awareness of the struggle for social justice that continues today.

Click here to see event flyer.




Shifting Images: Changing Perceptions of Italian Immigrant Women

A Lecture with Miriam Cohen
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Miss this event? Check out our "Shifting Images" page for ways to take action to save the South Village and more information on photographer Lewis Hine.


Part two of our Women's History Month series.

While the conventional wisdom regarding women and family from Mediterranean cultures has emphasized the patriarchal nature of the family, a generation of new scholarship on Italian women, work, family life and politics has complicated our understanding of gender roles in the Italian community. Focusing on Italian women in New York City, including the South Village, Miriam Cohen explores the changing perceptions and images of Italian-American immigrant women in the twentieth century.

This event is co-sponsored by the Italian American Museum.

Picture for this event courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Decorative Cast-Iron Work: History and Preservation
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Reservations required.
$5 for GVSHP & MCNY Members, seniors and students
$9 general admission
RSVP to 212-534-1672 ext. 3395 or online at www.mcny.org

Miss this event? Check out Andrew Jones' guide to identifying iron work in the Village.

In honor of the Museum’s new exhibition, Stoops of Manhattan—Railings & Shadows, join the artist, Andrew Berrien Jones, in a discussion of the stylistic history of cast-iron architectural decorations and the preservation issues they present, with Richard Pieper, Director of Preservation, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc.; Diana Waite, expert on the ornamental ironwork of Albany and Troy; and moderator Alex Herrera, Director, New York City Landmarks Conservancy.

Sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York. Co-sponsored by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America; and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.


Bohemian Melting Pot: The South Village
A Walking Tour with Andrew Berman
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Time and location given upon reservation.
$25 for all attendees
RSVP to hdc@hdc.org or (212) 614-9107

Visit this historic yet unprotected link to New York’s immigrant and bohemian past. Largely surrounded by designated historic districts, the South Village includes a vast array of tenements of nearly every style and type, prominent religious structures and social institutions.

Although some alterations have occurred, the neighborhood remains a vital link to New York’s immigrant past and to its artistic and countercultural avant garde from the 1890s to the 1960s. Hear about the current efforts to gain historic district status for the area and how the designation process works.

This event is sponsored by the Historic Districts Council.

The Bohemian Women of Greenwich Village & Harlem
A Lecture with Andrea Barnet
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required

Miss this event? Check out Andrea Barnet's list of Bohemian hang outs and see if you can help us identify what is there now!

Part one of our Women’s History Month series saluting the rich history of women in Greenwich Village.

They were the first women to eschew the social conventions expected of them (to be wives and mothers) and chose instead to live on their own terms, becoming poets, actresses, singers and artists, journalists, publishers, and benefactresses. Join historian and author Andrea Barnet as she explores the history of the women of bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem in the headlong, hopped-up decades of the 1910s and 1920s. These women embodied a fierce new feminine spirit, capturing the gleefully rebellious ethos of life as art form, and the air of lawless idealism that briefly took hold of the popular imagination in the early 20th century.

Purchase All-Night Party: The Bohemian Women of Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913-1930 at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com or Abe Books.

Sharing the Dirt on Container Gardening: Window Boxes to Rooftops
The 3rd installment of GVSHP’s Getting It Right: From Historic Properties To Urban Landscapes Series

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues
$20 GVSHP Members
$35 Non-Members

Download the event flyer here

An enlightening discussion series on Wednesday evenings sharing successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York’s historic neighborhoods, featuring prominent keynote speakers, and panels of leading experts, each followed by a wine and cheese reception.

This panel discussion will explore the variety of strategies to create and maintain a successful garden in an urban environment with practical advice from some of the best in the field. The evening’s program will include:

Keynote: Designing Roof & Terrace Gardens
Jeff Mendoza, President, J. Mendoza Gardens, Inc.

Panel Discussion: Realities & Aesthetics: Planting & Maintaining Container
  Gardens
Moderator: Sydney Milliken, Principal, Sydney Carvin Milliken,
  Landscape Design
Panelists: Randolph Barksdale, President, Barksdale Gardens
Win Knowlton, Principal, Baldwin Hill Gardens
Jeff Mendoza, President, J. Mendoza Gardens, Inc.

The ‘Getting It Right’ series is organized by GVSHP’s Broker Partnership and sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Jason Auerbach & Janet Younkman, Private Mortgage Bankers.

Super in the City: A Super/Novelist’s Reflections on a Greenwich Village Life
An Evening with Daphne Uviller

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas between W. 9th and W. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

For Part Two of our Women Authors of Greenwich Village mini-series, join Daphne Uviller, a third-generation Greenwich Villager, at the first public reading and discussion of her debut novel, Super in the City, a comic mystery based on her experiences as the super of her family's brownstone. The book is a love letter to the city, and Uviller is besotted. Publisher’s Weekly praised it as “...gleefully unpretentious... undoubtedly smarter and funnier than most other girls-in-the-city novels,” while Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love said, “One should not simply read Super in the City; one should gobble it up like candy — intelligent candy.”

Copies of Super in the City will be available for purchase courtesy of Mobile Libris.

The Professors’ Wives’ Club: The Fiction and Reality of NYU’s Development in Greenwich Village
An Evening with Joanne Rendell

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas between W. 9th and W. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Part one of our Women Authors of Greenwich Village mini-series. Joanne Rendell’s debut novel The Professors’ Wives’ Club tells the story of four women who take on a ruthless university dean who threatens to demolish a beloved faculty garden in the heart of Greenwich Village. Ms. Rendell will read from The Professors’ Wives’ Club and talk about her inspiration for this novel which tackles important issues about NYU's encroachment on the Village in a fictionalized way.

Copies of The Professors’ Wives’ Club will be available for purchase courtesy of the author.


The Vanishing City: A Town Hall Discussion

Sponsored by Dixon Place and TheManhattanProjects.com.
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP.

Saturday, January 24, 2009
8:00 P.M.
The New Dixon Place Theater
161 Chrystie Street (between Rivington St. and Delancey St.)
$15 general admission; $12 students/seniors
Reservations required
RSVP to www.dixonplace.org or (212) 219-0736 ext. 113

Development is radically changing the face of New York City. Long-time residents, small businesses and artists are being pushed out at a rapid rate. Vanishing NY asks: You can’t stop development, so how then do you preserve the things that make this city one of the most unique places in the world? “The Vanishing City” is a town hall discussion which attempts to answer that question, featuring “Twilight Becomes Night,” the acclaimed short film by Virginie-Alvine Perrette, a preview of the work-in-progress documentary, “Vanishing New York” by Jen Senko and Fiore DeRosa. Join moderator Michael Karp as he leads a panel discussion featuring GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, Good Jobs New York Director Bettina Damiani, New York State Assemblymember Deborah Glick and filmmakers Fiore DeRosa and Jen Senko.


“Railings and Shadows”
A Gallery Talk with Andrew Jones

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
George Billis Gallery
511 West 25th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues
GVSHP members only
Reservations required. If you are unsure of your membership status, email or call (212) 475-9585 ext. 32.

Miss this event? Check out Andrew Jones' guide to identifying iron work in the Village.

Join Greenwich Village artist Andrew Jones for a GVSHP members-only walk-through of “Railings & Shadows,” an exhibit of his paintings of cast iron railings of old New York stoops. Mr. Jones will discuss the historical evolution of cast iron designs for stoop railings from the 1830s through the 1840s. Mr. Jones will explain how his paintings illustrate many of the patterns of the period and how he interprets this unique subject matter as a painter. 

Refreshments will be served.  Space is limited.

If you are unable to attend the event, please drop by the exhibit at your convenience.  The show runs from January 2-31. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday 11-6.


101 Avenue A: Melting Pot to Hot Spot
A Panel Discussion Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
6:45-8:30 P.M.
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue between E. 9th and E. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required.

Miss this event? Check out our post-event resources, including Iris Rose's history of the Pyramid Club.

Few buildings embody the full zeitgeist of everything East Village as does 101 Avenue A.  Find out how the architecture and social history of this 130-year-old tenement inspired GVSHP to call for landmark status for the building, triggering an international story about what some called the first proposed “drag landmark.” 101 Avenue A was home to one of the most important German-American social halls in New York, the “Mayor of Avenue A,” and groundbreaking events in the history of labor organizing.  In later years it was the home of Warhol Superstar Nico and the Pyramid Club, where politically conscious drag performance art was born and many a downtown icon's career was launched. 

Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, the panel discussion will feature historic preservationist Melissa Baldock, immigrant scholar Peter Conolly-Smith, performance artist Iris Rose, and drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys, and will include a short film of Nelson Sullivan’s archival footage of the Pyramid Club in the 1980s.

This event is co-sponsored by Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick, the East Village Community Coalition, the East Village History Project, the Cooper Square Committee, and Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society.

Click here to see full flyer.



2008



1965: Preservation Round the World When New York Signed Its Law: A Lecture with Anthony Tung
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Grace Church School
84 Fourth Avenue
Free; reservations required.

Anthony M. Tung, author of Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis and former New York City Landmarks Preservation Commissioner, will present a talk that envisions the state of urban preservation on different continents at the moment when Mayor Robert F. Wagner signed the New York City Landmarks Preservation statute in 1965. With the process of civilization unfolding at varying speeds, igniting the upheaval of urban modernization, how did the heritage of London, Beijing, Mexico City, Rome, and Warsaw fare? Mr. Tung will show accompanying photographs to complement his lecture.

This event is co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council and Neighborhood Preservation Center.


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The Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore: A Slide Lecture with Shelley Seccombe
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
St. Luke's Church Dining Room
487 Hudson Street
Free. Reservations Required

Shelley Seccombe’s photographs show it like it was—a dilapidated waterfront where once-handsome structures collapsed and burned, commerce dwindled to a trickle, and Villagers adapted the empty spaces for recreation. Beginning in 1972 and continuing to the present, Shelley recorded the metamorphosis of this segment of the river into the current Hudson River Park. Ms. Seccombe collected photographs from this long-term series, shown at the South Street Seaport Museum in 2006, into the art book Lost Waterfront: the Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore. During this lecture, Ms. Seccombe will talk about her experience cataloging the changes that took place on Greenwich Village’s waterfront.

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Getting It Right: From Historic Properties to Urban Landscapes
Renovating Townhouse Interiors: The Guts of the House

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street
$20 GVSHP members; $35 all others

Visit vparchive.gvshp.org/gettingitright for series information and to purchase tickets.

The second annual series of evenings sharing period perspectives and successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York City’s historic neighborhoods. Panelist presentations will be followed by a question and answer period and a wine and cheese reception.

Keynote: Archaeology of the Interior & Engineering Fundamentals: Marie Ennis, PE

Panel Discussion: Expert Perspectives of Mechanicals, Lighting & Fireplaces: Michael Devonshire, Moderator; David Bowlby, Marie Ennis, and Vincent Plescia, Panelists.


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Foods of Greenwich Village: A Walking (and Eating!) Tour
Presented by Foods of New York for GVSHP

Sunday, November 2, 2008
11:30 A.M. - 2:30 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation
Space is limited. Advance payment required for reservation.
$25 GVSHP members; $40 All others

Explore the winding, tree-lined streets of the historic West Village on this cultural food tour. From family-owned cafés to old-fashioned specialty shops, we will discover a literary speakeasy from the roaring 20s, hidden gardens, and the narrowest house in New York City. During this tour you will taste a variety of food specialties that has secured Greenwich Village’s reputation as being one of the greatest culinary and cultural centers of the world. The price of the tour includes food tastings (enough for lunch), a bottle of water, and the Foods of New York Tours neighborhood guide. All food is tasted on the go—please wear comfortable shoes and clothing.


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Greenwich Village in the 1960s: An Evening with Susan Rotolo
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street
Free. Reservations Required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35

Susan Rotolo, author of the recently published book A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, will present an informal talk and reading about her experience coming of age during this seminal decade in American life. As a budding feminist and girlfriend of Bob Dylan during his rise to national fame, Susan's narrative gives a tremendous perspective to the folk music, bohemian, and youth culture of Greenwich Village of the 1960s.

Copies of A Freewheelin' Time will be available for purchase courtesy of St. Mark’s Bookshop.

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Getting It Right: From Historic Properties to Urban Landscapes
The Design and Renovation of Apartment Building Interiors
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street
$20 GVSHP members; $35 all others

Visit vparchive.gvshp.org/gettingitright or call for series information.

The second annual series of evenings sharing period perspectives and successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York City’s historic neighborhoods. Panelist presentations will be followed by a question and answer period and a wine and cheese reception. From Closed to Open Concept: Changing Ideas about Apartment Layouts: Dr. Elizabeth Cromley, Keynote. Renovating Apartment Interiors: From Period Aesthetics to Contemporary Design: Monty Mitchell, Moderator; Elizabeth Cromley, Oliver Freundlich, and Kaitsen Woo, Panelists.

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The Houses of Greenwich Village:
A Slide Lecture with Kevin Murphy

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free. Reservations required.

Kevin D. Murphy, Professor of Art History at CUNY’s Graduate Center, will present a talk about his recently published book, The Houses of Greenwich Village. Dating from the early nineteenth century to the turn of the twenty-first century, the houses featured in this book represent a range of historic styles and open windows onto the rich history of the neighborhood. Murphy’s talk will provide an overview of Village houses, and show how they represent the dynamic process of change in the neighborhood: its birth as a merchants’ residential enclave, its later identity as a center of bohemia—the subject of great nostalgia, and its current revival as a center for townhouse living. The author will sign copies of his book following the lecture.

Books will be available for sale courtesy of St. Mark’s Bookshop.

This event is co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Club.




The South Village: Birthplace of an American Immigrant Community
A panel discussion
Thursday, June 19, 2008
6:30 P.M-8:30 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Demo Hall
25 Carmine Street (enter on Bleecker)
Reservations required. 

First developing as a district of rowhouses for middle-class New Yorkers in the early 19th century, the South Village later became an archetypal New York immigrant neighborhood, embracing a vibrant Italian-American community.  Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, a discussion by panelists Mary Elizabeth Brown (Assistant Professor in the Social Science Division, Marymount College of Manhattan), Andrew Dolkart (Professor of Historic Preservation, Columbia University), and Jerry Krase (Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College), will examine the development of the South Village as an immigrant neighborhood and how the area’s rich history is still visible in its streetscape. 




2008 Annual Meeting and 18th Annual Village Awards

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Reception to follow
St. John’s Lutheran Church
83 Christopher Street, between 7th Avenue and Bleecker Street




Preserving Local Retail: Screening, Presentation & Discussion
Thursday, June 12, 2008
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Parish Hall, St. Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery
131 East 10th Street at Second Avenue

Please join us for a screening of Twilight Becomes Night, a short documentary set in New York City which explores the pivotal role of neighborhood stores in our lives and our communities.

After the screening, students at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment will present their study of the East Village conducted on behalf of the East Village Community Coalition and recommend strategies for retaining local businesses in the neighborhood. This will be followed by a discussion with film-maker Virginie-Alvine Perrette led by Vicki Weiner, Director of Planning & Preservation at the Pratt Center for Community Development.

This event is sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center in partnership with the East Village Community Coalition, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, Place Matters, Pratt Center for Community Development and the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning & the Environment.





Wine Tasting Fundraiser in Historic Devinne Press Building
Friday, May 30, 2008
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Astor Center, The Study
399 Lafayette Street (at East 4th Street)
Donation $75 per person
Please note limited space is available.


Join the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for an exciting and informative wine tasting at the innovative Astor Center in historic NoHo. The Center’s home in the landmarked 1886 DeVinne Press building has undergone an extensive interior and exterior renovation in recent years—a transformation that both preserved the building’s significant architectural elements while incorporating the most current green technology into the building’s fabric. The restored spaces were elegantly designed and supremely equipped as a kitchen, study, and gallery.

The tasting, offered in the Center’s state of the art study, will be led by Andy Fisher, President of Astor Wines/Astor Center. Taste a flight of fantastic French wines and come away with a solid understanding of the simple, straightforward principles of tasting wine and pairing it successfully with food. All funds raised support the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
GVSHP thanks Andy Fisher and the Astor Center for making this evening possible. Please visit www.astorcenternyc.com for more information about this class and Astor Center.

Astor Center is a hub of gastronomic culture whose mission is to facilitate exchange within our community of food enthusiasts: between farmers and eaters, winemakers and wine drinkers, chefs and butchers, writers and educators, novices and professionals. The Center offers seminars, tastings, pairings and hands-on culinary activities as well as private and corporate team-building and recreational events. Eat, drink, think!




Re-saving Greenwich Village: A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Museum of the City of New York
Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
6:30-8:00 P.M.
GVSHP or MCNY members $5; adults $9
Visit www.mcny.org to reserve your space


Long considered “saved,” Greenwich Village was one of the earliest and largest districts to achieve landmark status and is the place where tourists and locals flock to see historic old New York streets and buildings. But the Village also includes areas not covered by landmark designation. While new zoning is in place in some of them, there are projects proposed that threaten the Village’s character and scale. Andrew Berman (Executive Director, GVSHP); David Gruber (Chair, Institutions Committee Community Board 2), and Sean Sweeney (Director, SoHo Alliance) will discuss the old and new Village in a program moderated by Anthony Wood.
This program is co-sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York.




Italian-American Culture in the South Village: A walking tour with Emelise Aleandri
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Meet at Father Demo Square (Bleecker Street and 6th Avenue)
2:00 P.M.
GVSHP members $10; all others $15
Reservations required.


Join theater scholar and performer Emelise Aleandri for a walking tour of the South Village, a center for Greenwich Village’s art scene for generations. While exploring the area’s fascinating environment of converted rowhouses and tenements, the tour will highlight how Italian-American cultural heritage, including the rich Italian theatrical tradition, is vividly reflected in the neighborhood’s historic streetscape.




GVSHP 10th Annual House Tour and Benefit
Sunday, May 4th




The Caffe Cino: Greenwich Village’s Countercultural Landmark
A lecture and discussion with Christine Karatnytsky

Monday, April 28, 2008
Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia Street
6:30-8:00 P.M. Please arrive early
1-drink minimum ($7) per person
Reservations required
.

Opening without a license in 1958 at 31 Cornelia Street and run on less than a shoestring budget through the height of the turbulent 1960s, the fabled Caffe Cino was Off-Off Broadway’s first continuous theatre and fostered the evolution of a vibrant gay and alternative theatre movement. Christine Karatnytsky, Scripts Librarian in The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library, will discuss the history of The Cino and how it has been remembered as an integral part of Greenwich Village’s legacy to the arts.




Immigrant Stories on Bleecker Street
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A family activity day at the
Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
Sessions : 10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. or 1:00-3:00 P.M.
$10 per family. Advanced registration required
Visit www.aiany.org/calendar or call (212) 358-6133 to register


As part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Immigrant Heritage Week and in collaboration with the Center for Architecture Foundation, come celebrate the role immigrant communities have played in shaping the history and architecture of the South Village. Learn how to read buildings, create sketches of building facades, and discover the secret history of the South Village’s streets and structures.

This program is co-sponsored by the Center for Architecture Foundation.



Excavations and Village Space: A discussion with Timothy Lynch
Monday, April 7, 2008
Grace Church School, Tuttle Hall
86 4th Avenue
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Free
Reservations required


Owners of Greenwich Village houses have undertaken rooftop and rear-yard additions for years. More and more nowadays, they are also trying to create space by excavating underneath their buildings.

Timothy Lynch, PE, Chief Engineer for the New York City Department of Buildings’ newly created Excavation Unit, will talk about how these excavations can be safely engineered and how they affect nearby buildings.




Anthony C. Wood, author of Preserving New York:
Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks

Interviewed by Judith Stonehill

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required. Space is Limited.


Meticulously researched and expertly written, Anthony C. Wood’s Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks explores the origins of New York City’s nationally acclaimed landmarks law. Join GVSHP Trustee and past President Judith Stonehill as she and Mr. Wood discuss the decades of struggle that preceded the landmark law and the forces that shaped it.  As we examine the buildings that were lost and saved on the way to the law’s ultimate passage in 1965, we will discover how this legislation has helped ensure the preservation of remarkable New York City buildings.

Preserving New York will be available for purchase courtesy of the New York Preservation Archive Project.




The Wild Wild West Side
A tour of Manhattan along the Hudson  
Sunday, March 9, 2008
11:15 A.M (tours last between 1 1/2 and 3 hours)
Meeting place provided upon registration.
GVSHP and HDC members $15; all others $25.
Advanced registration is required.

Follow the leaders of the Greenwich Village Community Taskforce as they as they discuss the history and future of land-use on the Far West Village of Manhattan, from the Meatpacking District to Christopher Street. Though a number of blocks along the trail fall within designated historic districts, this community is still undergoing major changes including rezonings and major new construction.
This tour is co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council.




The Lost Waterfront Book Launch Party
Celebrating the release of:

Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore
A book of photographs by Shelley Seccombe
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street
5:00-8:00 P.M.
Free. Reservations required.


Join Friends of Hudson River Park and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation to celebrate the publication of Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore, a compilation of images of the decaying West Side piers between 1972 and 1982 taken by photographer Shelley Seccombe featuring an introduction by author Phillip Lopate and a foreward by Albert K. Butzel. View a special a one-day exhibition of Ms. Seccombe’s work while enjoying wine, cheese and other refreshments. Lost Waterfront will be available for purchase.
To pre-order copies of this book, co-published with Fordham University Press with layout design by Scott-Martin Kosofsky of the Philidor Company, contact Kate O’Brien-Nicholson at Bkaobrien@fordham.edu or 718-817-4782.

This lecture is being co-sponsored by the Friends of Hudson River Park.




Intimate Portraits: African Americans in the Antebellum South Village
A lecture with Gunja SenGupta

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required


Celebrate African-American History Month with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as we explore the Village’s often forgotten African-American heritage. Professor Gunja SenGupta of Brooklyn College will trace the history of black Greenwich Village from slavery to tentative freedom in 1827 and beyond. Drawing on rich visual and archival resources, Prof. SenGupta will offer us insight into the lives of African Americans who lived in the Village in the decades before the Civil War and will examine who they were, where they came from, how they interacted with their immigrant and migrant neighbors, and how their community adapted to an environment of heightened racism and economic instability.




Sharing the Dirt on City Gardening
The third installment of GVSHP’s Getting It Right: From Historic Properties To Urban Landscapes Series


February 20, 2008: Sharing the Dirt on City Gardening
November 14, 2007: The Many Facets of Facade Restoration
October 17, 2007: Planning the Project From Landmarks Application To Expert Choices

An enlightening discussion series on Wednesday evenings sharing successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York’s historic neighborhoods, featuring prominent keynote speakers, and panels of leading experts, each followed by a wine and cheese reception.

This panel discussion will explore the variety of strategies to create and maintain a successful garden in an urban environment with practical advice from some of the best in the field.



The Great Urban Paradigm Shift: Robert Moses, Jane Jacobs, and West Village Houses
A lecture with Warren Shaw
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Basement Hall
25 Carmine Street


The development of the West Village Houses has typified many of the diverse challenges facing preservationists in an ever-expanding city like New York. Warren Shaw, Asst. Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department will examine the creation of the West Village Houses as an outgrowth of the epochal battle between Robert Moses (the Urban Renewal Czar) and Jane Jacobs (the champion of traditional urbanism). Now a partially privatized co-op, the West Village Houses is an exceptional symbol of a community both shaped and challenged by evolving attitudes toward city planning, conservation, and Urban Renewal.

This program is being co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.




John Sloan’s Greenwich Village
A lecture with John Loughery
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required


One of the most celebrated American realist painters of the early 20th century, John Sloan captured the character and pace of Greenwich Village in a way few artists were able to match. In this illustrated lecture at the Jefferson Market Library (one of Sloan’s favorite Village subjects), teacher and biographer John Loughery examines Sloan’s diverse representations of the East, West, and South Villages. Placing Sloan’s work in the context of early 20th-century American urban painting, Mr. Loughery will also explore how underlying themes of romance and myth permeated Sloan’s work as well as that of other New York City painters.




2007



Tour and Class Audit of HB Studio

Choice of Tuesday, December 11 or Thursday December 13
120 Bank Street
7:00-8:00 P.M. Tour
8:00-10:00 P.M. Class Audit
Free for GVSHP Members
All Others $10


Established in 1945 by the renowned Viennese actor/director Herbert Berghof, the Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio provides professional theater training and practice for aspiring and accomplished actors of all ages. With course offerings in a full range of subjects essential to the stage, including acting, voice, musical theater, dance, movement, improvization, fencing, writing, and stage combat, the HB Studio is a fixture in the Village and New York City cultural realm that continues to thrive and evolve. Join us for a guided tour of the exceptional facilities and conclude the evening by auditing one of the studio’s courses. The Tuesday, December 11th session, Performing  Improvisational Comedy, will feature special improv tricks for advanced comedians. On Thursday, December 13th, The Practice of Acting will introduce acting techniques and allow new students to sharpen their craft.




First Houses: A Monument of the Past, A Model for the Future
A lecture and discussion with Warren Shaw
Thursday, December 6
Parish Hall, St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Free


Dedicated in 1935 as the first publicly sponsored housing complex for the poor, the East Village’s landmarked First Houses on Third Street and Avenue A helped inaugurate the era of urban renewal. While critics have derided urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure, recent phenomena such as staggering real estate inflation and the “up-marketing” of affordable housing such as Stuyvesant Town make it necessary to re-examine the legacy of public housing. In this recapitulation of his January 2007 lecture for GVSHP, Warren Shaw, Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department, will consider these questions as he traces the history of the First Houses and discusses their present-day implications.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.




A Village Christmas: A Walking Tour with Marilyn Stults
Saturday, December 1
2:00-4:00 P.M.
Meet in front of the Washington Square Arch at 2:00 P.M.


Usher in the holiday season with this unusual walking tour of Greenwich Village as the birthplace of many of the Christmas traditions we are familiar with today. While we enjoy picturesque historic streetscapes, guide Marilyn Stults will explore the Christmas lore that helped establish the Village as an American cultural treasure.

GVSHP would like to thank Marilyn Stults for donating all proceeds from this tour.




Our Little Italies: Past, Present, and Future
A lecture with Dr. Jerome Krase
Tuesday, October 23
Judson Memorial Church Meeting Hall
239 Thompson Street
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Free


In this illustrated talk, Prof. Jerry Krase of Brooklyn College discusses the transformation of “Little Italies” throughout the United States. Once vital and vibrant Italian American communities have seen the replacement of original houses and businesses with what some call “Ethnic Theme Parks.” Other areas have witnessed the complete destruction of the neighborhood. Prof. Krase explores the impact that these monumental changes continue to have on American cities, with special emphasis on New York City’s Little Italy and the South Village.

GVSHP would like to thank the J.M. Kaplan Fund for supporting this lecture.




Lecture with Author Irene Tichenor on the DeVinne Press Building
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street
Tuesday, September 25
6:30-8:00 P.M.

Free.
Known as “the Fortress” in its heyday, the massive brick and terra cotta building on the northeast corner of Lafayette and Fourth Streets was built in 1886 as a printing plant to serve the specific requirements of Theodore Low DeVinne, the most illustrious American printer of his generation. In this illustrated lecture, Dr. Irene Tichenor, author of No Art Without Craft: The Life of Theodore Low DeVinne, Printer, will discuss the merit of the building’s exterior design, how the interior was used by the DeVinne Press, and why DeVinne — and what took place inside this building — was important in the history of American printing.




Foods of the South Village and SoHo: A Walking (and Eating) Tour

Saturday, September 15; 12:15-3:30 P.M.
Meeting place announced upon reservation.
$25 GVSHP Members / $40 Non-Members
 
 
Come with us as we travel back in time through the central and southern Village and northern SoHo. From longstanding “mom and pop” eateries to old-fashioned specialty shops, we will journey through the rich history of an exceptional district once frequented by bohemians, artists, and immigrants who made this section of the city their first home in the United States. As we enjoy unique historic streetscapes and taste delicious food specialties, we will explore how, despite rising rents and gentrification, the flavor of this changing neighborhood has survived.

This event is presented by GVSHP and Foods of New York.




2007 Annual Meeting and Presentation of the 17th Annual Village Awards
Tuesday, June 19; 6:30 P.M.
The Cherry Lane Theatre
38 Commerce Street
Reception to follow


Join the Society as we mark and celebrate the accomplishments and major events of the past year and honor the people, places, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the legendary quality of life in Greenwich Village with our Annual Village Awards. This year’s awardees include:

Bowne & Co, Inc.
13th Street Repertory Company
Florence Prime Meat Market
Liz Christy Community Garden
Porto Rico Importing Co.
Kevin Shea
St. Mark’s Bookshop
West Village Dog Owner’s Group
81 Barrow Street restoration

This event is free and open to all who are interested in celebrating the awardees and learning more about the Society’s efforts to protect the special historic character of Greenwich Village, NoHo, and the East Village.



The Architecture of the South Village: A walking tour with Andrew Dolkart
Tuesday, June 12
6:00 P.M.
Free, but space is limited. Preference will be given to GVSHP members


Architectural historian and Columbia University professor Andrew Dolkart will lead a walking tour of the South Village, the 40-block area south of Washington Square Park that GVSHP has recently proposed for landmarking. This area, initially developed in the early 19th century with row houses, later became a neighborhood of immigrant tenements, long home to a vibrant Italian-American community. Based on Dolkart’s recently completed survey of the South Village, the tour will highlight the area’s converted row houses, tenements, theaters, and religious, social, and charitable institutions that vividly reflect the area’s history as a nineteenth and early twentieth century residential neighborhood.




The East Village: Culture and Counter Culture: A Walking Tour with Joyce Gold
Sunday, June 3
1:00 P.M.
$12 GVSHP members/seniors; $15 public

From Stuyvesant’s bouwerie to the Tompkins Square riot—an area rich in ethnic diversity.

Please visit www.nyctours.com for more information on Joyce Gold’s History Tours of New York.




The Imagery of Robert Otter: A Study of Greenwich Village in the 1960s gallery exhibit
The Caring Community
20 Washington Square North, Parlor
Friday, April 20-Friday, April 27
Opening April 18; 6:00-8:00 P.M.
Slide lecture April 19; 6:00 P.M.
Hours: Mon-Sat, 2:00-6:00 P.M.
Free and open to the public


Robert Otter was a commercial and freelance photographer whose pictures of Greenwich Village in the 1960s captured the unique spirit of the people and architecture of the neighborhood. The photos on display, selected and framed by his son Ned Otter, are on exhibit for the first time. As part of this gallery show, Mr. Otter will present a slide lecture which chronicles his father’s life and narrates the nostalgic images of the Village.

This exhibit is co-sponsored by The Caring Community.

GVSHP would like to thank Ned Otter for generously donating a portion of the proceeds of sales from the exhibit to our preservation work.



Left Bank New York, Artists Off Washington Square 1890s to 1920: A lecture with Virgina Budny
Tuesday, March 13
Donnell Library Auditorium
20 West 53rd Street
6:00-7:00 P.M.
Free


After training in Europe, some of America’s most famous painters and sculptors transformed stables and townhouses north of Washington Square into artists’ studios. There they created works of art and permanently changed the areas as they socialized. Prominent among them were Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Daniel Chester French, Gaston Lachaise, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. This lecture is based on Ms. Budny’s traveling exhibit of the same name.

Sponsored by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America




Restoring/Renovating Ironwork in a Historic District: A discussion with Robin Key and Richie Lodato
Wednesday, March 7
6:00-7:30 P.M.

Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue at 10th Street
Free.


Landscape architect Robin Key, winner of GVSHP’s 2006 Front Stoop Award, and ironworker Richie Lodato will talk about historic ironwork, why it deteriorates, and how to preserve it. Drawing on five of their projects in the Village and Chelsea, they will show before and after pictures of restorations, including workshop photos of the technical process.




In the Footsteps of Jane Jacobs
Thursday, March 1
6:30-8:00 P.M.
St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery Parish Hall
131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue
Free.


Over 45 years after she successfully combated Robert Moses and his plan to build a massive thoroughfare through Washington Square Park, Jane Jacobs’ legacy continues to inspire New Yorkers to preserve the character and quality of the city’s many neighborhoods. This panel will feature some of New York City’s most ambitious grassroots organizers as they discuss their current efforts in political activism and detail how community-driven campaigns have evolved since Jacobs first began her work.

Andrew Berman, executive director of GVSHP, will moderate this informal conversation between Reverend Billy and Savitri D. of the Church of Stop Shopping, Candace Carponter of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Yolanda Gonzalez of Nos Quedamos/We Stay, and Miquela Craytor of Sustainable South Bronx.
This event is organized by the Historic Districts Council.




First Houses—A Monument Of The Past—A Model For The Future?: A lecture and discussion with Warren Shaw
January 30, 2007
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
Free


The year 2006 marks the 70th anniversary of the very first publicly-sponsored housing for poor people—the landmark First Houses in the East Village which inaugurated the era of Urban Renewal. Since the late 1960s it has been fashionable to deride urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure. But with real estate inflation squeezing more and more Americans, and with such bastions of affordable housing as Stuyvesant Town going “up-market,” it is time to re-appraise the legacy—and the value—of public housing and urban renewal. Warren Shaw, Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department, will speak about the history of First Houses and its implications for today.




La Grange Terrace: A slide lecture with Thomas Gordon Smith
January 18
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Wollman Auditorium, Cooper Union
51 Astor Place
Free


La Grange Terrace, familiarly known as Colonnade Row, was one of the city’s most fashionable addresses, Lafayette Place, when it was built beginning in 1831. It was home to some of New York City’s most influential citizens, including the Astors and Vanderbilts. Originally nine Greek Revival houses with facades of giant order Corinthian columns, today only four houses remain, hinting dimly at their former grandeur. Thomas Gordon Smith, a classical architect who teaches at Notre Dame and practices widely, will speak about the social changes that prompted an expansion into the neighborhood and the new architectural and urbanistic expression which the Colonnade signaled.

Cosponsored by the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.






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