Village Preservation Annual Meeting and Village Awards
Each year, Village Preservation honors neighborhood institutions at the Annual Meeting and Village Awards. This fun event highlights and celebrates the invaluable people, place, and organizations who make our neighborhoods some of the most interesting and exceptional in the city. The night also includes a review of the Society’s activities and accomplishments over the last year, and a reception follow. All are welcome! Please invite friends, family, and neighbors to join.
This year, we need this kind of gathering more than ever. We can’t all be in one place to do it, but we can come together for a virtual, apart but together celebration to mark all we have been through and accomplished together over the past year and to honor those who give so much to our communities. |
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OUR 2020 VILLAGE AWARDEES ARE:
* Village Apothecary * Chess Forum *
* Cinema Village * Ray's Candy Store *
* Idlewild Books * Detective Jaime Hernandez *
* George Cominskie * M&D Shapiro True Value Hardware *
* Thompson Alchemists *
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 Village Apothecary, 346 Bleecker Street — Serving the community for 36 years, this local pharmacy plays a more critical role now than ever. During the AIDS epidemic, Village Apothecary distinguished itself with herculean efforts to care for and support a local community ravaged by the disease. In the years since they have earned a reputation for their personal touch and high level of community and customer service that no chain can provide, and a dedication to serving those most in need, including seniors and the homebound. They continue to go above and beyond to provide an essential service for which there is an especially great need today.
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Chess Forum, 219 Thompson Street — Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, Chess Forum is the last remaining piece of the once-thriving “chess district” south of Washington Square. Known and beloved by chess masters across the globe and casual players alike, Chess Forum lets you come in and play chess with a beginner or expert, and has an unrivaled assortment of products connected to chess and other games. The store is the life passion of owner Imad Khachchan, who believes chess is the great equalizer of people from all walks of life, creating a common language that cuts across boundaries.
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 Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street — Opened in 1963 in the shell of a turn-of-the-century fire station, Cinema Village is the oldest continuously operated cinema in Greenwich Village and one of the oldest continuously operated art cinemas in New York City. Owned and operated since the 1980s by Nick Nicolau, who immigrated here from Cyprus at age 12, and his family, the theater has focused on limited engagements of highly alternative first-run programming and vintage classics.
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R ay's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A — Founded in 1974 by Ray Alvarez, who can still be seen every evening working the night shift at the store, Ray's Candy Store is considered by many the heart of the East Village. Its egg creams, soft serve ice cream, beignets and Belgian fries are legendary, but Ray’s is best known for its atmosphere and sense of community. Ray (real name Asghar Ghahraman) was born in 1933 and fled the Iranian Navy to come to the U.S. in 1964. His alias hid his undocumented status, though he was granted amnesty in the early 1980s and became a citizen in 2011.
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 Idlewild Books, 170 7th Avenue South — One of a small number of surviving and thriving bookstores in our neighborhoods, this unique establishment is loved (and frequented) by local residents and non-residents alike. Located in a small space on the corner of Perry Street, Idlewild has nevertheless made a name for itself with an impressive selection of travel books and language classes. Local resident/owner David Del Vecchio worked for ten years at the United Nations as a press officer, traveling to conflict zones in Asia, Africa and South America. His vision for Idlewild has always been the creation of a “community,” not just a business.
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Det ective Jaime Hernandez — 9th Precinct Community Affairs Detective Jaime Hernandez has served the East Village for over 25 years, and has been a true liaison between the precinct and the community. Hernandez has received consistent high praise from community leaders, advocates, and neighborhood residents from all walks of life alike for his ability to build bridges and navigate the challenging world of community policing, forging a strong relationship between the police and the local community.
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Regina Kellerman Award: George Cominskie —  George served on the Westbeth Artists Residents Council for twenty-one years, seventeen of them as its president. An active volunteer and fundraiser for God’s Love We Deliver, AIDS Ride, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, George also helped lead Westbeth and its residents through the incredibly difficult recovery from Sandy, when the lower floors of the complex containing residents' artworks were flooded and many apartments evacuated for long periods of time. George is currently running the Emergency Response Committee at Westbeth to help residents of the affordable housing artists complex, many of whom are elderly, cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 M & D Shapiro True Value Hardware, 7 Great Jones Street — Founded in 1935, this NoHo institution embodies the inspiring New York story of hard-working immigrants achieving their dream of owning the business that had employed them for years. Threatened with competition from chain stores and the squeeze of the ever more frenzied local real estate market, after several moves locally M & D found a new home and has prospered providing the personal service and specialized products others cannot offer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have continued to provide essential services and products to neighbors while taking care to protect the health and safety of their employees and patrons.
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 Thompson Alchemists, 132 Thompson Street — Over the past 27 years, owners Gary and Jolie Alony have built a loyal community around their family-run pharmacy and health and beauty supply store. In addition to providing personal service, the Alonys make many of their own products on site. Perhaps even more notably, Thompson Alchemists hosts the twice-monthly “Medicine Show” of live musical performances in the shop, reminiscent of the Village hootnannies of the past. After 9-11 they were one of the few operating pharmacies below Houston Street, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue their tradition of critical service during the most challenging of times.
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Use the links below to watch past award ceremonies, see pictures, and see more information on past years' Village Awards.
Past Village Award Winners (also available in alphabetical order):
2019: Christopher Park Alliance, The Source Unltd Print & Copy Shop, The Brant Foundation and Gluckman Tang Architects,
Tea & Sympathy, The Bitter End, Hettie Jones, The Estate of Fred W. McDarrah- Regina Kellerman Award.
2018: Anthology Film Archives, The Comedy Cellar, Greenwich Locksmiths, Ralph Lee, Theater for the New City, Bea Arthur Residence— Regina Kellerman Award.
2017: The Public Theater; B & H Dairy; GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side); Dinosaur Hill; Patisserie Claude; Frank Collarius; Restoration of 30 7th Avenue - Lenox Health Greenwich Village/AIDS Memorial/St. Vincent's Triangle Park—Regina Kellerman Award.
2016: East Village Meat Market; Jaffe Art Theater Interior Restoration; Smalls Jazz Club; Julius' Bar; Steve Cannon; The Strand Bookstore; Save Gansevoort—Regina Kellerman Award.
2015: Barbara Shaum; Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks; David Rothenberg; The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation; 201 East 12th Street Renovation; James & Karla Murray—Regina Kellerman Award.
2014: 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.
2013: Avignone Chemists; Block Drug Store; New York University Faculty Against the Sexton Plan; Jeremiah Shea;Sir Winston Churchill Square; Bowery Alliance of Neighbors—Regina Kellerman Award.
2012: 6th Street and Avenue B Garden; Marilyn Appleberg; Arturo’s Restaurant; Foods of New York Tours; Little Red School House/Elisabeth Irwin High School; Lower East Side History Project; City Council Member Rosie Mendez; Bleecker Street Sitting Area Renovation—Regina Kellerman Award.
2011: Annisa Restaurant; Fourth Arts Block; Bob Holman; Judson Memorial Church; Le Poisson Rouge; McNulty’s Tea & Coffee Co.; P.E. Guerin; Restoration of the Nave of the
Church of the Ascension—Regina Kellerman Award.
2010: Albert Bennett; Caffe Reggio; Lucy Cecere; the High Line; Theatre 80; Veselka; Westbeth Artists' Housing—Regina Kellerman Award.
2009: 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; 171-173 MacDougal Street Façade Renovation—Regina Kellerman Award
2008: Faicco’s Pork Store; Grey Dog’s Coffee; Rocco’s; Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church; Morton Street Triangle; Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop; The Salmagundi Club—Regina Kellerman Award.
2007: 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.
2006: Aphrodisia Herb Shoppe; Café Loup; Cherry Lane Theatre; Front Stoop Award: 64 Jane Street; Greenwich Village Singers; Jane Street Garden; Miriam Lee; The White Horse Tavern.
2005: Abingdon Square Park Restoration; Biography Bookshop; Keith Crandell (presented in memoriam); Knickerbocker Bar & Grill; The Municipal Archives; Ottendorfer Branch Library Restoration; Visiting Neighbors.
2004: Bowery Theaters: the Amato Opera, the Bouwerie Lane Theater, the Bowery Ballroom, the Bowery Poetry Club & Café, CBGB/OMFUG; Angelo Bruno; Raffetto’s; St. Mark’s Historic Landmark Fund; the Village Community School Addition; The Villager Newspaper; The Washington Square Arch Restoration.
2003: Bayard Condict Building Restoration; Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Association; City Council Member Christine Quinn and State Senator Tom Duane; Merchants House Museum; Restoration of 121 Charles Street; Restoration of 859-877 Washington Street; Second Avenue Deli; Wisteria Award; Your Neighborhood Office.
2002: C.O. Bigelow Pharmacy; Classic Stage Company; Doris Diether; Elephant & Castle; Front Stoop Award: 19 West 10th Street; Myers of Keswick; Pratt Institute; Third Street Music School Settlement; Washington Square Hotel.
2001: Merce Cunningham; Friends of the High Line; Front Stoop Award: 24 West 10th Street; Gus’s Place; Marquet Patisserie; Minetta Parks; Nikos Smoke & Magazine Shop; Pen & Brush Incorporated; Streetscape Award: Charles Lane.
2000: Dr. Rick’s Village Flute & Sax Shop; Leroy Ellis; Joe Jr.’s; Murray’s Cheese; New York Studio School; The Garden of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields; Tartine.
1999: 34 Commerce Street; Barry Benepe; Corner Bistro; Greenwich House; Hudson Triangle Garden; Squad 18 Fire Station; Tootsie’s.
1998: 749 Washington Street; Bill Bowser; Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life; Cornelia Street Restaurants; Industria Superstudio; King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center; Lewis L. & Loretta Brendan Glucksman Ireland House; New York University’s Historic House Restorations; O. Ottomanelli & Son’s Prime Meat Market; West Ninth Street Block Association; West Village Nursery School.
1997: 71 Jane Street; The Caring Community; Charterhouse Antiques; Chez Brigitte; Church of the Ascension; Greenwich Village Girls Basketball League; Mrs. Brooke Astor and The Vincent Astor Foundation; Zito’s Bakery.
1996: El Faro Restaurant; Grace Episcopal Church Restoration; Uta Hagen and HB Studios; Hudson River Pedestrian & Bike Path; Rita Lee, Retiring District Manager of CB2; Matt Umanov Guitars; Sixth Precinct Quality of Life Squad; Statue of Fiorello LaGuardia; Village Vanguard.
1995: 68 Morton Street; Be Seated; Garber’s Hardware; Jefferson Market Library Restoration; LaGuardia Corner Gardens; “Mad About You;” Verna Small; Village Alliance
1994: #25 W. 10th Street; Cooper Union Forum of Public Programs; Film Forum; Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center; LiLac Chocolates; Terry Miller; The Pink Teacup.
1993: Bagel Restaurant; Broadway Windows; Goodfella’s Pizza; Grace Opportunity Project; Greenwich Village Little League & Soccer Club; Jackson Square Park;
St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery Church; Dr. Joyce Wallace.
1992: Church of St. Luke’s-in-the-Fields; Sheridan Square Viewing Garden; Village Community School Fence; Richard Walker; Washington Square Music Festival; West Village Committee Newsletter.
1991: Anglers & Writers Café; Paul Egita; First Presbyterian Church Restoration; Jefferson Market Garden; Mercer-Houston Dog Run; Florent Morellet and Restaurant Florent; Three Lives Bookstore.
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GVSHP hosts a wide variety of public programs throughout the year.
RSVP INFORMATION
To register for a free event, please call (212) 475-9585 ext. 35 or email.
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