Protecting the South Village

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South Village Blog Posts

Landmark Applications: Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District South Village Historic District Greenwich Village Extension II 116 Sullivan Street House 100-110 Bleecker Street Silver Towers (University Village) 129 MacDougal Street

Urge city officials: Don’t Rezone SoHo & NoHo To Suit Developers and Universities

What is the South Village?

Save the South Village Video Project


Take a Virtual Tour of the Historic South Village


Information on Individual South Village Initiatives:
186 Spring Street
233-237 Bleecker Street
Circle in the Square Theater
Fire Patrol #2 at 84 West 3rd Street
Provincetown Playhouse & Apartments
San Remo Caf� Historic Plaque
Tunnel Garage

More about: Hudson Square

Photos from the Center for Migration Studies Collection of Village Preservation Historic Image Archive  Video of LPC Designation Vote Video of GVSHP LPC testimony re: Sullivan Thompson Historic District Photos of the Proposed Sullivan Thompson/South Village Phase III Historic District Photos from GVSHP’s presentation of its South Village rezoning plan at the CB2 Land Use Committee hearing 02/12/14 Video of the South Village Historic District Celebration 12/17/13 South Village Historic District Celebration PowerPoint presentation 12/17/13 Map of the South Village Historic District, designated 12/17/13 Photos from the City Council hearing on Hudson Square rezoning 02/12/13 Save the South Village Video Project 10/08/12 Demolished, Destroyed or Altered Historic Buildings in the South Village Since Proposal for Historic District Designation Submitted in 2006 10/04/12 South Village Named One of NY State’s “Seven to Save”: Photos & Video 03/21/12 Map of affected sites in the unprotected South Village Nearby proposed rezonings increase development pressure on the South Village Video and images from the Rally to Save the South Village 04/10/11 Images of South Village Buildings Landmarked, Not Yet Landmarked, or Lost/Altered, as of June 2010 Celebrating the South Village Phase One victory 06/24/10 Images of Lost or Compromised Buildings in the South Village 2009 Map of Progress on Proposed South Village Historic District Actor John Leguizamo on GVSHP and its work in the South Village Map of Significant Sites in the Italian-American South Village South Village on YouTube South Village Presentation 03/24/07		Support for the South Village Landmarking Proposal		REPORT: Federal Houses Landmarked or Listed on the State & National Registers of Historic Places, 1999-2016 South Village Oral Histories Information about GVSHP’s proposed South Village rezoning plan 02/12/14 LPC Designation Report for South Village Historic District 12/17/13 LPC Map of South Village Historic District 12/17/13 South Village State & National Register Historic District Report 12/01/13 South Village State & National Register Photographs and Maps 12/01/2013 Description of Proposed South Village Historic District from the LPC 05/20/13 LPC map of proposed South Village Historic District 05/20/13 Overview of architectural styles included in LPC’s proposed South Village Historic District 05/20/13 Preservation League of NY State letter to Speaker Quinn 02/21/13 LPC Designation Report for South Village Phase I/Greenwich Village Extension II 06/22/10 South Village Historic District Proposal and Report by Andrew Dolkart “The Italians of the South Village” report by Mary Elizabeth Brown Save SoHo-NoHo Coalition Letter to City Officials 3/5/19 Letter to City Officials for Honorary Street Renaming for Cecere Way on MacDougal Street 11/28/17 Sullivan-Thompson Historic District LPC Designation Report LPC Press Release on Designation of Sullivan-Thompson Historic District GVSHP Testimony to LPC re: Sullivan Thompson Historic District Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's Testimony to LPC re: Sullivan Thompson Historic District GVSHP Progress Map on Proposed South Village Historic District IFC BSA Variance 57 Sullivan Street LPC Fact Sheet 57 Sullivan Street LPC Research File Zoning Variance Application for 51-57 Carmine Street 08/19/15 Council Member Corey Johnson urges the City Planning Commission to move ahead with rezoning plan proposed by GVSHP 06/13/14 Letter from Councilmember-Elect Corey Johnson urging landmarking of the remainder of the South Village 12/13/13 Letter to LPC urging landmarking of the remainder of the South Village 10/17/13 GVSHP’s testimony in support of the South Village Historic District 06/25/13 Letter from LPC to GVSHP About Inclusion of Three South Village Sites in Proposed Historic District 05/06/13 Follow-up letter to LPC about expansion of South Village Historic District Boundaries 04/19/13 Letter to LPC from six elected officials urging expansion of proposed South Village Historic District boundaries 04/17/13 Letter to LPC about proposed boundaries of new South Village Historic District 04/10/13 Letter from LPC Chair re: Consideration of Proposed South Village Historic District 03/19/13 Letter to LPC Chair Tierney about South Village landmarking commitments 03/15/13 City Council Announcement re: Hudson Sq. Rezoning and South Village Agreements 03/13/13 Ad to Speaker Quinn from GVSHP and two dozen others in The Villager 02/28/13 Assembly Member Deborah Glick’s testimony at Hudson Square rezoning City Council hearing 02/12/13 GVSHP testimony at Hudson Square rezoning City Council hearing 02/12/13 Letter to Speaker Quinn urging that Hudson Square rezoning includes protections for South Village 02/06/13 Greenwich Village Block Associations & SoHo Alliance join in urging Speaker Quinn to vote down Hudson Square rezoning if not accompanied by South Village landmarking 02/04/13 GVSHP testimony to the City Planning Commission 11/28/12 Letter of support from State Senator Bill Perkins 11/28/12 Letter to Borough President Stringer urging changes to Hudson Square rezoning application 11/08/12 Community Board 2 Resolution on rezoning 10/25/12 Details of plans for 180 6th Avenue 10/25/12 Letters to Speaker Quinn, LPC Chair Tierney & City Planning Chair Burden about new development threats to the integrity of the South Village 10/01/12 GVSHP letter to LPC urging designation of South Village following ‘Seven to Save’ listing 03/26/12 The Preservation League of NY State’s announcement of the addition of the South Village to Seven to Save list of endangered places for 2012-13 03/12/12 GVSHP letter about proposed Hudson Square Rezoning’s effect on South Village 10/18/11 Letter to LPC about the possible sale of the Children’s Aid Society’s Coltoff Center and South Village landmarking 12/01/10 Letter to LPC urging prompt designation of remaining 2/3 of South Village 09/07/10 Letter to DOB Commissioner about 178 Bleecker Street 01/10/10 Dept. of Buildings intent to revoke approvals letter for 178 Bleecker Street 01/07/10 GVSHP testimony on proposed Sullivan St. rezoning 01/06/10 Historic Information on Each Individual Building in Proposed South Village Historic District Historic South Village Preservation Project Advisory Board Determination of Eligibility for listing on State and National Register of Historic Places

At the end of 2006, GVSHP submitted a proposal to the City for landmark designation of the South Village, the largely unprotected area south of Washington Square Park and West 4th Street, and officially launched our Historic South Village Preservation Project. It is a proposed 235-building extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District which, if enacted, would be the largest expansion of landmark protections in Greenwich Village since 1969.

After four years of exhaustive research on this 40-block area, GVSHP commissioned a report by renowned architectural historian Andrew Dolkart on the history and architecture of the South Village, supporting our argument for landmark protections for the area. The report and proposal document the South Village’s unique historic significance as an archetypal immigrant community and as a crucial stepping-stone for Italians in America; as a laboratory of working-class architecture and an intact vestige of turn-of-the-last century New York; as the site of important cultural innovations and events; and as an important location in the history of New York’s African-American and lesbian and gay communities.

Believe it or not, GVSHP’s proposed South Village Historic District would, if designated, be the first such district in New York City to honor immigrant history and architecture. In fact, streets like Bleecker, Carmine, MacDougal and Sullivan, whose colorful buildings and lively shops and cafes many consider the heart of the Village, were likely excluded from the original Greenwich Village Historic District in 1969 because at the time tenements and working-class architecture were perceived by many as unworthy of historic preservation. With this proposal, we seek to change that perception, not only for the South Village, but beyond.

GVSHP formed an advisory board made up of local institutions, block associations, community leaders, property owners, merchants, architectural historians, and scholars of Italian-American history to help guide and support this project. In addition to the landmark proposal, GVSHP is also undertaking educational programming to document and showcase the incredible and compelling history of this too-long-overlooked area.

In 2010, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the first third of our proposed South Village Historic District, However, GVSHP also remains extremely concerned about the slow pace of the city’s movement, allowing numerous historic buildings and sites to be demolished or altered, and the lack of commitment to a timeframe for considering the entire district.


GVSHP’s South Village landmark report was funded by Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts. Funding for educational programming and research on the South Village was funded in part by the J.M. Kaplan Fund, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember Alan Gerson, State Senator Tom Duane, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.