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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

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

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

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.

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 City, John 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:

•   Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater
•   Ars Nova
•   New Ohio Theatre
•   Cherry Lane Theatre
•   HERE

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



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 Karbiener, Brad 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 Guide, Ten 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
Wednesday, May 15, 6:00pm ­
92 Grove Street (Waverly & Washington Places)



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

The NEW New York: Fighting Anti-Asian Discrimination in 19th Century Greenwich Village
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



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
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.

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)
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