In 2017 GVSHP successfully fought to save the 1866 cast-iron loft buildings at 827-831 Broadway from the wrecking ball. In addition to their beautiful architecture and rich 19th-century history, starting in the late 1950s these buildings have been home to an unparalleled succession of artists and art world figures, including Willem and Elaine de Kooning.
 
Artists Paula deLuccia Poons and her husband Larry Poons have lived in this building since 1977, and have witnessed decades of history and change both inside and outside its walls. Paula, who has been intimately involved with the fight to save her building, generously conducted an oral history with GVSHP about her and her husband’s life there, the many artists and musicians they encountered, and the changing nature of the Village around them over the past forty years.