Past Programs
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
 Indicates availability of photos of the event.
 Indicates availability of audio of the event.
 Indicates availability of a transcript of the event.
 Indicates bonus material for the event/topic.
2010
Church of the Ascension Tour
with Leo Blackman
Wednesday, August 11
6:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Church of the Ascension
12 West 11th Street (off Fifth Avenue)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
Join preservation architect Leo Blackman on an insider’s tour of the renovation of the Church of the Ascension. The current building is one of the earliest churches designed by Richard Upjoin, who also designed Trinity Church downtown. In the 1880s, the interior of the church was remodeled by McKim, Mead, and White featuring stained glass windows designed by John LaFarge and sculpture by Louis St. Gaudens.
Today, PRESERV has undertaken a stunning restoration of the historic interior of the church. Mr. Blackman will lead guests on a tour of the interior focusing on the specific challenges of the project and showing visitors the work occurring throughout the interior. Since the church remains closed to the public for the duration of the restoration, this tour provides a unique opportunity to see the restoration process within this historic space.
The East Village’s Marble Cemeteries
A Tour of the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery
Sunday, July 25
1:00 - 3:00 P.M.
Starting at the New York Marble Cemetery
42 1/2 Second Avenue (between 2nd and 3rd Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
 Join GVSHP for an afternoon celebrating the East Village’s two marble cemeteries, the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery. Enjoy this rare opportunity to see both cemeteries on the same day and learn more about their pasts. Both cemeteries will provide garden talks about their respective and distinct histories while allowing visitors time to ask questions, explore, and just enjoy these traditionally private spaces.
Both cemeteries were founded in the early 1830s as non-sectarian cemeteries devoted to family plots and remained extremely popular places of internment throughout the nineteenth century. Both the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City Marble Cemetery were individually landmarked in 1969.
Returning Steam to the Hudson
A Tour of the Lilac
Sunday, July 18
2 P.M.
North side of Pier 40
Houston Street and the Hudson River
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
Visit the historic lighthouse tender Lilac and return to the age of steam. The only historic steamship in New York, Lilac is being restored at Pier 40 by the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project. Built in 1933 for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, the ship became part of the Coast Guard fleet in 1939, supplying lighthouses and maintaining buoys until her retirement in 1972.
Founding board members and volunteers will be on hand to share the history of the ship. Norman Brouwer, the ship’s curator, will present an illustrated lecture on the ship’s past. Brouwer is a maritime historian and former curator of ship restoration at South Street Seaport Museum.
Please note that this tour will take place on board the ship. Access to many spaces on board involves steep stairs or ladders and narrow passages. Attendees must be able to navigate these spaces.
Esopus Space Presents: A Pyramid Club Panel Discussion
Wednesday, June 30
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Esopus Space
64 West Third Street, #210
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to space@esopusfoundation.org or (212) 473-0919
In conjunction with the exhibition “Clayton Patterson: Pyramid Portraits,” Esopus Space presents a panel discussion about the groundbreaking drag scene at New York City’s legendary Pyramid Club in the 1980s. The Pyramid, which Patterson describes as “a crystallization of the Lower East Side,” provided a diverse, intensely creative environment in which performers like Lypsinka, John Kelly, and RuPaul were able to first hone their craft.
Panelists include photographer and community activist Clayton Patterson, performance historians Joe E. Jeffreys and Iris Rose, experimental performance legend Agosto Machado, and Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which is seeking landmark designation for the Pyramid Club’s building at 101 Avenue A.
This event is co-sponsored by GVSHP. Space is limited.
The Queer Past of Greenwich Village
A Lecture with Daniel Hurewitz
Tuesday, June 29
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place (between
West 3rd & Bleecker Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Join history professor Daniel Hurewitz, author of Stepping Out: Nine Walks Through New York City’s Gay & Lesbian Past, for an exploration of the rich gay and lesbian history of Greenwich Village. Hurewitz’s talk will invite us to think about the Village’s central and fascinating role in the history of lesbian and gay culture and politics. Along the way, he will be narrating the history of places like Heterodoxy, The Slide, and the Snake Pit, and offering tales of celebrated artists like James Baldwin, Paul Cadmus, and Berenice Abbott.
This event is co-sponsored by Outhistory.org.
Celebrate the South Village Victory!
Thursday, June 24
6:30 P.M.
St. Anthony of Padua Church
154 Sullivan Street (at Houston Street)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 34
 Landmark designation of the first third of our proposed South Village Historic District was big news, and the culmination of many years of very hard work by many people.
But the hard work is far from over, as two-thirds of our proposed South Village Historic District has not been landmarked, or is even yet under formal consideration for landmarking by the city. And we are committed to preserving the entire South Village.
So please join us for a celebration of all we have accomplished in landmarking the first third of the proposed South Village Historic District, and to strategize and organize around all we still need to do to get protections for the remainder of the neighborhood.
The Fall of the House of Twain
A Lecture with Craig Fehrman
Tuesday, June 22
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
 One hundred years ago this spring, Mark Twain died in his Connecticut home. But while most readers associate Twain with that state—or, more often, with his home state of Missouri—Twain was in many ways a New York man. In fact, he lived and worked in New York City throughout his life, and, for the first time, Craig Fehrman will reveal the story behind Twain’s Fifth Avenue home and the 1950s crusade to save it.
The so-called Twain House, designed in 1840 by James Renwick, Jr., was both a literary and an architectural landmark. Fehrman will describe the last-minute race to save the House, show a rich array of contemporary photographs, and share what he learned from interviewing perhaps the last living figure from this historical episode: 99-year-old British film director Ronald Neame. Come and learn about Twain’s New York past—and about yet another part of the Village’s preservation legacy.
Attendees are encouraged to enjoy an evening at the Salmagundi Art Club. The Club’s bar and restaurant, typically closed to the public, will be open to all attendees before and after the lecture.
Julius’ Sip-In
An Evening with Dick Leitsch
Tuesday, June 15
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
On April 21, 1966, members of New York’s Mattachine Society, a group of homosexual activists, entered Julius’ on West 10th Street, identified themselves as gay, and asked to be served. They were denied service and thus sparked an era of LGBT activism that would culminate with the Stonewall Riots.
Join Dick Leitsch, former president of the Mattachine Society and partipant in the Sip-In, as he discusses the history and lasting importance of the Julius Sip-In.
This event is co-sponsored by the LGBT Center.
Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum
A Lecture with Edward T. O'Donnell
Wednesday, June 9
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
 More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904 when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River. A panicked and untrained crew, coupled with rotten life preservers and inaccessible life boats, turned a small storage room fire into a human tragedy of immense proportions. News of the horror made headlines around the world and elicited an enormous outpouring of sympathy and donations. Later, as evidence of negligence and corruption on the part of the steamer's owners mounted, sympathy turned to outrage and demands for justice that were never fully met. Perhaps most astonishing, it took New Yorkers only a few decades to forget the tragedy.
Join historian Edward T. O’Donnell as he discusses the burning of the steamboat General Slocum, the deadliest day in New York City history before 9-11.
Copies of Ship Ablaze will be available for purchase courtesy of Mobile Libris.
30th Annual Meeting & 20th Annual Village Awards
Monday, June 7, 2010
6:30-8:30 PM
Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66th West 12th Street
Reception to follow
The Forbes Galleries, 60 Fifth Avenue
Free. Space is limited. Reservations must be made by June 4 to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 x 34.
Click here for photos and for more information on 2010’s awardees.
A Night at the (Gangster) Museum
Featuring Eric Ferrara
Wednesday, May 26
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The Museum of the American Gangster
80 St. Mark's Place (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
Explore the history of vice and crime in America at the new Museum of the American Gangster (MOAG).
Start with an exclusive tour of MOAG's permanent exhibit: an introduction to alcohol trafficking in the United States. Go behind the scenes of what was once an infamous speakeasy – including excursions through the basement, where $2 million and various prohibition era artifacts were uncovered in secret rooms discovered during renovations.
Following the tour will be a lecture in the historic Theatre 80 on the history of vice and crime in New York City by MOAG co-founder Eric Ferrara. From black market trading between the Dutch and Native Americans to the organization of the Jewish and Italian mob, explore the role that crime has played in shaping the character, culture, and politics of the City.
Greening the Village: The High Line
Tuesday, May 25th
From 6-8 P.M.
Tours: On the High Line Park
Reception: Max Protetch Gallery
$25 GVSHP Members
$30 Non-GVSHP Members
Reservations required
Click here for more information
Join us for a unique opportunity to learn more about the fascinating history, transformative design and dynamic art program of the High Line, New York’s newest, most popular landmark destination, through small group tours led by Friends of the High Line senior staff. Wine and cheese reception at the Max Protetch Gallery following the tours.
31 Bond Street: Fact, Fiction, and Digging into the Past
A Lecture with Ellen Horan
Thursday, May 20
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Ottendorfer Branch Library
135 Second Avenue (above St. Mark's Place)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
History in Asphalt: The Street Patterns of Greenwich Village
A Lecture with Joyce Gold
Thursday, May 13
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
Manhattan historian Joyce Gold will present an illustrated talk about Greenwich Village and the forces that shaped its pattern of streets.
Village streets can bring even seasoned New Yorkers to their knees. Streets bend, diagonals come out of nowhere, roads stop for no good reason, and thoroughfares change direction. Such intersections as Waverly Place & Waverly Place, and W 4th Street & W 10th Street do little to help.
There are good reasons behind the confusion, but it takes some digging to uncover them. Joyce Gold will explain how topography, natural boundaries, Indian paths, and estate ownership carved the first convoluted pattern of roads. And she will also show the strange result of the city’s insisting upon connecting areas north and south of the Village.
 The Spring and Fall of Eve Adams
An Evening with Barbara Kahn
Thursday, April 29, 2010
7:15 P.M.
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (at East 10th Street)
$12; reservations required.
Playwright/director Barbara Kahn will share some of the fascinating NYC facts she has discovered while researching The Spring and Fall of Eve Adams as well as her earlier historical plays set in NYC. She will discuss the unique resources in NYC available to both professional and amateur historians and writers.
Followed by a performance of the play and a Q&A with Kahn.
This event is presented by the Theater for the New City.
The Past, Present & Future of East 4th Street:
Downtown Theater Row
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
6:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Tours start at 5 & 7 P.M.
64 East 4th Street
Ground floor theater.
Free; reservations required.
Straddling Vaudeville venues on Bowery and Yiddish Theatre on 2nd Avenue, E. 4th has been a home for the arts since before Broadway was Broadway. Over time East 4th Street became an incubator for avant-garde work and cultivated artists ranging from Sam Shepard and Harvey Fierstein to Lisa Kron and Blue Man Group. Today East 4th Street remains a downtown destination for emerging theater and dance, while developing the first official cultural district in Manhattan.
Join us for a tour, lecture & conversation with Fourth Arts Block and Lower East Side History Project about what was, what is, and what will be happening on East 4th Street.
This event is presented jointly by Fourth Arts Block, GVSHP, and the Lower East Side History Project.
Helping Italians Settle in the South Village: The Role of Our Lady of Pompeii Parish
An Evening with Mary Elizabeth Brown
Wendesday, April 21, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii
Father Demo (Basement) Hall
240 Bleecker Street
SOLD OUT.
Women Movers and Shakers of the East Village
A Walking Tour with Andrea Coyle
Sunday, April 18, 2010
SOLD OUT.
From breaking new ground in music, art, literature, fashion and medicine, to advancements in working conditions and women's rights, the women of the Lower East Side played an invaluable role in shaping politics and culture in America and around the globe.
The Lower East Side/East Village is the birthplace of the Women's Suffrage movement, Planned Parenthood, Visiting Nurse Services, Children's Aid Society, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Catholic Worker, Mother Earth magazine, experimental Off-Broadway theater, and so many more institutions and movements spearheaded by these pioneering women.
This event is co-sponsored by the Lower East Side History Project.
Jazz in the Village: Roots & Branches
A Lecture with Dan Morgenstern
Thursday, April 8, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Please note the new venue for this event:
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street
 Greenwich Village was (and still is) amajor arena for jazz in New York, from the l920s on. Dan Morgenstern, who first frequented the neighborhood in the late ‘40s and can still be found at the Village Vanguard and other venues today, will dip into this rich history with facts and anecdotes, accompanied by photos and ephemera from the archives of the Institute of Jazz Studies.
Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary
A Lecture with Alice Sparberg Alexiou
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT.
Part Three of GVSHP’s celebration of Women’s History Month.
 Jane Jacobs is most often portrayed as the woman who, through her brilliant grass-roots organizing during the 1950s and 60s, single-handedly saved her beloved Greenwich Village from being bulldozed by Robert Moses. But this characterization is a vast oversimplification.
In this lecture, Alice Sparberg Alexiou, author of the first biography of Jacobs, will discuss Jacobs’ complex legacy. Alexiou will focus on Jacobs’ ideas, and, most importantly, how brilliantly she conveyed them in writing, most notably in her most famous work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her ideas eventually entered our collective consciousness, forever influencing the way we look at cities, neighborhoods, and individual buildings.
The Remember the Triangle Fire Coaltion presents:
Celebrate the 99th Annivesary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Thursday, March 25, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Church
55 Washington Square South (corner of Thompson Street)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@rememberthetrianglefire.org
MC Annie Lanzillotto and her band Fiasco will guide a sneak peek of exciting new performance works and other news on what's in store for the Triangle Fire Centennial in 2011! Including:
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
A Lecture with Hasia Diner
Monday, March 22, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street
Free; reservations required.
SOLD OUT
Part Two of GVSHP's celebration of Women's History Month.
In March 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which would go down in infamy as the largest workplace disaster in New York City history. But the fire would also inspire profound changes to the way factory workers were treated. Join Professor Hasia Diner in remembering this tragedy on the 99th Anniversity of the fire.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire still holds the dubious distinction of the having been the worst industrial accident in American history. In what ways did the fire change America? How did the fire leave a lasting legacy? This talk will describe both what happened on that day in 1911 and what happened subsequent to the tragedy.
Architect Talks: A New Series from GVSHP
Focus on 13th Street
New construction within the various designated historic districts in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo must go through a rigorous public hearing and review process. This affords the public the opportunity to speak to and hear from architects about their thoughts on appropriate design for their neighborhoods, with the Landmarks Preservation Commission charged with making the final call on “appropriateness.” However, when new construction takes place outside of designated historic districts, typically there is no public hearing or review process for the design, and little or no dialogue with the public about it. Though these buildings may have just as profound an aesthetic effect upon their surroundings, decisions about materials, design, and context are generally made solely by the architect and client, based upon practical considerations and their own perspective.
In this new series of Architects Talks, GVSHP invites the architects of several new buildings in our neighborhoods with interesting responses to their contexts and design challenges to engage in a post-facto talk about their design choices and processes. The first series focuses on 13th Street, where a series of new designs play with the traditional and the modern, relating to and standing out from their surroundings.
425 East 13th Street
with John Cetra
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street (btw. Avenue A & Avenue B)
Free; reservations required.
CetraRuddy’s new design combines warm, earth-toned terra cotta with large expanses of glass and metal. Surrounded by the East Village’s traditional tenements, how does this mid-rise apartment building relate to its context while declaring its newness?
The Talented Miss Highsmith
A Lecture with Joan Schenkar
Thursday, March 4, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off of 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
Transitions: Little Africa and Greenwich Village, 1870-1920
A Lecture with Gerald McFarland
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street (off Washington Square South)
Free; reservations required.
“To be Young, Gifted, and Black”: Lorraine Hansberry
A Lecture with Michele Mitchell
Thursday, February 18, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Free; reservations required.
The Village on Film
A GVSHP Film Series Presents: Pollock
Please note that due to the inclement weather this screening has been cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday, February 17, 2010.
RESCHEDULED: Wednesday, February 17, 2010
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
$8; reservations required.
Part Three of our ongoing Village on Film Series featuring film historian and professor Lenny Quart.
“Pollock,” directed by and starring Ed Harris, tells the story of the life and career of painter Jackon Pollock (played by Harris). The film focuses on Pollock’s early days as an artist in New York City and then his retreat, with his wife (Marcia Gay Harden), to the Hamptons, where he discovered the style which would make him famous. Also starring Jennifer Connelly.
Gather in GVSHP’s living room for a viewing of this Jackson Pollock biopic. Mr. Quart will lead discussion of the film after the screening. Space is limited and refreshments will be served.
39 East 13th Street
with Philip Wu
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
(between Bleecker and West 3rd Streets)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or 212-475-9585 ext. 35
Phillip Wu carefully restored the elegant cast-iron facade of this building, and then added a modern twist -- three additional floors in transparent and translucent materials with colored lighting, drawing inspiration from but clearly contrasting with the 19th century body below. Part restoration part new construction, the project updates one of the Village’s few surviving cast iron edifices.
This event is co-sponsored by the AIA Center for Architecture.
Architect Talks: 3 West 13th Street
with Avi Oster
Thursday, January 21, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Kellen Auditorium
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Parsons The New School for Design
66 Fifth Avenue (at 13th Street)
Free; reservations required.
My Greenwich Village and the Italian-American Community
An Evening with Carol Bonomo Albright
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Hudson Park Branch Library
66 Leroy Street (off 7th Avenue South)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Explore the history of the Italian-American immigrants below Washington Square through the eyes of author Carol Bonomo Albright as she discusses her recently released memoir and the South Village community of her childhood. Albright will talk about the sense of place experienced in ‘her’ Village through its mom and pop stores and through her school, where the nuns encouraged ballroom dancing. She’ll also discuss some of its colorful people and what made the area feel like a village, rather than a big city, and about her experience with the Italian reactions to the ‘food reformers.’
Copies of My Greenwich Village and the Italian-American Community will be available for purchase.
2009
Shop Local and Support the Greenwich Village Society
for Historic Preservation
Thursday, December 10
Join GVSHP and some of the Village’s finest small businesses and
take advantage of special sales while you shop for the holidays!
Click here for information.
New York’s Unique & Unexpected Places
A Lecture with Judith Stonehill
Wednesday, December 9
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Jefferson Market Library 
425 Avenue of the Americas (between W. 9th & W. 10th Streets)
Free; reservations required.
The Immigrant, Radical & Notorious Women of Washington Square
An Illustrated Lecture with Joyce Gold
Thursday, December 3
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Third Street Music Settlement
235 East 11th Street (between 2nd Avenue & 3rd Avenue)
Free; reservations required.
Restoring Townhouses
A Lecture with Ingrid Abramovitch
Tuesday, November 17
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.
5 Dutch Days Lecture: Manhattan’s Indians
A Lecture with Karen Kupperman
Thursday, November 12
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Wasserman Center for Career Development
133 East 13th Street, 2nd Floor
Free; reservations required
 Indians in the settlement of Sapokanican located in what is now the West Village, in the rest of the five boroughs, and on Long Island shared a culture and all spoke related Algonquian languages. Despite this shared culture, the arrival of the Dutch in these areas profoundly transformed the native culture and economy, driving native groups away from the new European settlements.
Using reports from Europeans who ventured to this region in the early period and focusing on the culture of native populations in the area of what is now considered Manhattan, historian Karen Kupperman will discuss the relationships between Indian groups in the pre-contact period as well as the effect of the coming of Europeans and especially the impact of imported diseases and the opening of trade here.
This event is part of 5 Dutch Days and is co-sponsored by the Native Peoples Forum.
Real Estate of Bohemia
A Lecture with Andrew Dolkart
Wednesday, November 4
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Grace Church School
86 Fourth Avenue (at 11th Street)
Free; reservations required.
Preserving Small Business
A Roundtable Discussion
Tuesday, October 27
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Our Lady of Pompeii Church
Father Demo (Basement) Hall
240 Bleecker Street (between Carmine Street & Leroy Street)
Free; reservations required
Westbeth: A Revolution in Artists’ Housing and Adaptive Re-Use
A Celebratory Lecture with Andrew Dolkart
Thursday, October 22 (Please note date & time change)
Doors open at 6:15 P.M.
Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street (between Washington Street & West Street)
Free; reservations required
8th Street: Greenwich Village’s Once and Future Main Street
A Panel Discussion
Thursday, October 8
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
New York Studio School
8 West 8th Street (between 5th Avenue & MacDougal Street)
Free; reservations required
Part One of our Small Business Series.
Historically, Eighth Street has been the heart of Greenwich Village, connecting East to West and providing a place for shopping, socializing, and artistic expression. More recently, it has become more well-known for its pantheon of shoe stores than its rich history. This panel will look back on Eighth Street’s history, discuss its current condition, and explore the possibilities for the future of the street, including a revitalization of the businesses and a reinvention of the area to once again make it the Village’s Main Street.
Avis Berman (author of The Rebels of Eighth Street), architectural historian Tony Hiss, director of the Village Alliance BID Honi Klein, and the Broadway Panhandler’s Norman Kornbleuth will explore the possibilities of Eighth Street as the Village’s once and future Main Street.
This event is co-sponsored by the Village Alliance Business Improvement District.
Gangster City: The Criminal History of the Lower East Side
A Walking Tour with Eric Ferrara
Sunday, September 27
1:30 - 3:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free; reservations required.
Miss this event? Check out our "Gangster City" page for photos and gangster resources!
 Trace the steps of such mob heavyweights as Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel who grew up and earned their criminal stripes on the streets of the Lower East Side. Visit the headquarters, residencies, social clubs, and shootout locations of the Jewish and Italian Mob who, along with the help of the Tammany Hall political machine, ruled New York City’s vice, labor and garment industries from this neighborhood 100 years ago.
The tour is led by Eric Ferrara, a fourth generation/native New Yorker Ferrara is executive director of the East Village History Project, and author of the guide book “Gangsters, Murderers & Weirdos of New York City’s Lower East Side” (History Press).
This event is co-sponsored by the East Village History Project.
On the Wall: Community Murals in the East Village
An Illustrated Talk with Janet Braun-Reinitz and Jane Weissman
Wednesday, September 23
6:30 - 8:00 P.M. (Doors open at 6:15 P.M.)
Tompkins Square Branch Library
331 East 10th Street (between Avenue A & Avenue B)
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
For decades, artists and neighborhood groups in the East Village and Lower East Side have worked together to create vibrant community murals. As much as murals beautify their surroundings, they address and often “protest” local and, sometimes, national concerns.
“Protest murals” are as much a declaration of affirmation as an act of opposition. This slide lecture examines how this duality is expressed in New York’s community murals and tracks the evolution of themes and aesthetic styles, always placing the murals in the larger social, historical, and political context.
This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program.
This event is disabled accessible.
Benefit Brunch Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District
Sunday, September 13
Pravda Restaurant
Click here for details
Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York
An Illustrated Talk and Panel Discussion with James and Karla Murray
Wednesday, September 9
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:15 p.m.)
Judson Memorial Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street off of Washington Square South
Free; reservations required
In their book Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, author/photographers James and Karla Murray provide an intimate view of the mom-and-pop stores of New York’s neighborhoods including Greenwich Village. The Murrays will share interviews and photographs from their book, revealing how neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.
Following their talk, the Murrays will lead a panel discussion with local store owners from Greenwich Village, including the Ottomanelli Brothers of Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market, Peter Longo of Porto Rico Coffee, and Matt Umanov of Matt Umanov Guitars.
This event is co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.
This event is accessible.
City Council Candidate Forums
Before the September 15 primaries, GVSHP and the Historic District Council’s League of Preservation Voters will be co-sponsoring a series of free and open forums for the candidates for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd  City Council Council District seats. Please join us!
Your presence lets the candidates know that preservation and development issues are important to the residents of the neighborhoods they are seeking to represent. At the forums, candidates will be asked questions by the sponsoring organizations and from among questions submitted by audience members. Candidates will be given an opportunity to make statements regarding their positions and priorities on preservation and development in the districts they are seeking to represent.
Click on each date for details and district maps:
3 September: 2nd Council District
4 September: 1st Council District
8 September: 3rd Council District
The Villagers of Ellis Island
A Walking Tour of Ellis Island with Tom Bernardin
Sunday, August 16
Meet at 11:45 A.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation
$12/person for ferry fees.
Miss this event? Check out our "Villagers of Ellis Island" page for photos and an immigrant recipe!
Greenwich Village has often been celebrated for its rich immigrant past, including the South Village’s Italian community, the groups of French immigrants living on Bleecker Street in the nineteenth-century, and the Ukrainian heritage of the East Village. But how did these future Villagers enter our country? In many cases, they came through Ellis Island, the long-acknowledged immigration hub of the United States.
Join Tom Bernardin, former National Park Service Ellis Island ranger at pre-restoration Ellis Island and author/publisher of The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook as we explore Ellis Island and its connection to Greenwich Village immigrant groups. This program will provide an entire day’s jaunt out to Ellis Island, including a tour of the island exclusively for GVSHP followed by individual opportunities to explore the Island.
2009 Mayoral Candidate Breakfast Series
In a few short months, New Yorkers will decide whether to grant Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg a third term or give another candidate a chance to prove his mettle. The Mayor declined a recent invitation from our coalition to discuss his position on historic preservation and neighborhood planning issues.
Where do the other 2009 Mayoral Candidates stand? Ask them...over coffee and danish!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 (RSVP by July 27)
City Council Member TONY AVELLA
8:00 to 9:30 A.M.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (RSVP by August 10)
City Comptroller WILLIAM C. THOMPSON JR.
8:00 to 9:30 A.M.
The breakfast forums will be held at:
O’Neal’s Restaurant, 49 West 64th Street
(between Broadway and Central Park West)
Admission to each breakfast is only $5.
Reservations required. Sign up today! Please call (212) 496-8110 or email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. To reserve online, please visit http://hdc.org/mayoralbreakfasts.htm.
Come to hear what the candidates have to say about preservation in YOUR community before the September primary!
Co-sponsored by:
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, LANDMARK WEST!, Municipal Art Society, and The New York Landmarks Conservancy
2009 PRESERVATION PLATFORM
Preservation is Sustainability • Preservation is Neighborhoods • Preservation is an Economic Catalyst • Preservation is Historic Religious Properties • Preservation is an Effective Landmarks Commission
Click below to read the full Preservation Platform, adopted by over 100 civic organizations in all five boroughs (list in formation)
Platform & Endorsing Groups
The Village on Film Presents: Wait Until Dark
A GVSHP Film Series
Thursday, August 6
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd &3rd Avenues)
Free; reservations required.
Following our May screening of Next Stop, Greenwich Village, GVSHP presents Part Two of our Village on Film Series.
Come see Audrey Hepburn’s Oscar-nominated performance in Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark. Hepburn plays a recently-blinded woman who lives on St. Luke’s Place. After her husband agrees to carry a doll over the border for a stranger, Hepburn’s Susy Hendrix is then terrorized by three criminals (led by Alan Arkin as Roat) who believe that their large stash of stolen heroin is inside the doll. The search begins benignly but turns violent as Susy catches on to the thieves’ plot and forms a plan of her own to level the playing field.
This film screening will be held in GVSHP’s living room with popcorn and goodies provided! Space is limited.
An Evening at the Jefferson Market Garden
Featuring the cast of the Greenwich Village Follies
Tuesday, July 28
6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Garden
Enter on Greenwich Avenue at Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street
Free; reservations required.
Be treated to a summer evening in the beautiful Jefferson Market Garden and an exclusive concert featuring the cast of The Greenwich Village Follies.
(GVSHP Members get a discount on admission to the play itself by typing in discount code “GVSHP” at check-out!)
The Follies is a high-spirited and deliciously raunchy new musical, offering an overview of the Village’s history in the form of an old-school musical revue. From Peter Stuyvesant to the Stonewall Girls, this new musical revue brings Greenwich Village’s storied 400-year history to life. This is history as you’ve never seen it portrayed.
Enjoy the beauty of the renowned Jefferson Market Garden, occupying 1/3 of an acre next to the Jefferson Market Library and tended by local Villagers, at this private evening for GVSHP friends. Refreshments will be provided.
Beyond the Beatniks: The Hidden History of St. Mark’s Place
A Walking Tour with Eric Ferrara
Sunday, July 12
1:00 - 2:30 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
St. Mark’s Place staked its claim as an epicenter of pioneering radical arts, activism, and counterculture in America over half a century ago — but there is much more than meets the eye. Before the beatniks, hippies, and punks (and way before the t-shirt and yogurt shops), St. Mark’s Place served as an important social and political hub for the ever changing immigrant groups populating the neighborhood over the last 150 years.
On this tour, we will peel back the layers of myths, legends, and misconceptions of St. Mark’s Place to reveal little known history about this fascinating street and time capsule of East Village/Lower East Side/New York City history.
Eric Ferrara is a fourth generation/native Lower East Sider, published author, licensed guide, and executive director of the East Village History Project and East Village Visitors Center. Ferrara offers years of unprecedented research along with personal anecdotes and oral history which make for a truly unique experience.
This event is co-sponsored by the East Village History Project/East Village Visitors Center.
From Beebo Brinker to the Daughters of Bilitis: Lesbian Life in Greenwich Village Before Stonewall
A Lecture with Marcia Gallo
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Le Poisson Rouge
Gallery Bar; cash bar, must be 21 or older to enter
158 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan St. & Thompson St.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Wildly popular fictional as well as real-life gay women made Greenwich Village the place to see-and-be-seen for lesbians in the mid- to late 1950s. But in addition to the nightclubs, restaurants, bookstores and theaters that welcomed them, the Village also provided a home base for now-legendary activists with the first lesbian rights group in the U.S., the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). Come join us in a discussion of how Greenwich Village influenced DOB — and the Daughters influenced Greenwich Village — before the famous Christopher Street gay liberation riots of 1969. This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the LGBT Center, the NYU Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and Outhistory.org.
 Open Forum: The NYU 2031 Plan
What will it mean for our neighborhoods?
Monday, June 22, 2009
6:30 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Sq. South (at Thompson St.)
All welcome.
NYU is scheduled to finalize its 2031 Plan later this year ― a blueprint for growth over the next 22 years. The current plan has the university growing by up to 3.5 million square feet in our neighborhoods ― roughly DOUBLE their rate of growth over the last several decades.
Find out more about the plan ― what it means, how it will affect you, and what you can do to get involved.
For more information, visit here.
Sponsored by: Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Greenwich Village Block Associations, Washington Square/Lower 5th Ave. Community Association, Waverly Place Block Association, Bleecker Area Merchants’ and Residents’ Association, Washington Square Village Tenants’ Association, Greenwich Village Community Task Force, East 10th Street Block Association, Friends of NoHo, St. Ann’s Committee, Coalition to Save the East Village, 77 Bleecker Board, 88 Bleecker Board, 505 LaGuardia Pl. Board
List in formation.
The Stonewall National Historic Landmark: 1969, 1999, and Beyond
A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street (btw. 7th Ave. & Greenwich Ave.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
In 1999, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation co-sponsored the nomination of a Stonewall Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, which made it the first site ever associated with LGBT history to be so recognized by the federal government.
On the 10th Anniversary of the listing, this panel discussion will look back on this milestone and how it was achieved, and look ahead to further future possibilities for recognizing important facets of LGBT life and history in New York City. Featuring Stonewall author David Carter, artist and Stonewall Riots participant Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, architect Françoise Bollack, staff member of the Research Department at the Landmarks Preservation Commission Jay Shockley, and moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman.
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s 29 Annual Meeting and Presentation of the 19th Annual Village Awards
Monday, June 15, 2009
6:30 - 9:00 P.M.
University Parish of St. Joseph
371 Sixth Avenue (between Waverly Pl. & Washington Pl.)
Free; reservations required by June 12
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
All are invited to hear a presentation about GVSHP’s activities for the past year and to honor the 2009 Village Awardee’s. Members will vote on the slate of Trustees nominated for GVSHP’s Board, including Nominating returning Trustees: Mary Ann Arisman, Arthur Levin, Jonathan Russo, Judith Stonehill, and Linda Yowell, and new Trustee Vals Osborne.
Awards Presentation by Calvin Trillin Honoring:
171-173 MacDougal Street Façade Renovation – Regina Kellerman Award
Carmine Street Guitars
The Children’s Aid Society – Philip Coltoff Center at Greenwich Village
Father Demo Square
Fedora Dorato
Joe’s Dairy
University Parish of St. Joseph
Women’s Prison Association
 The Jefferson Market Library Presents:
Paula Uruburu, Author of American Eve
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
435 6th Avenue (at W. 10th St.)
Free.
RSVP to 212-243-4334
Join author Paula Uruburu as she talks about her recent book American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, The Birth of the “It” Girl and The Crime of the Century.
Evelyn Nesbit, known as the “Girl in the Red Velvet Swing,” was America’s first sex symbol. American Eve is the story of her meteoric rise to fame and her catastrophic fall from grace, embroiled in the media dubbed “crime of the century,” (the Stanford White murder trial was held at the Jefferson Market Courthouse!) a true-life story of desire and greed, and the birth of the American obsession with celebrity.
This event is co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
First Houses: A Monument of the Past, A Model for the Future
A Lecture with Warren Shaw
Thursday, June 11, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
6th Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street
(between Ave. B & Ave. C)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Image Courtesy of the New York City Housing Authority
This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the very first publicly-sponsored housing for the poor: the landmarked First Houses housing development in the East Village. First Houses inaugurated the era of Urban Renewal—the decades when the United States saw the construction of more than one million units of subsidized housing.
Since the late 1960s it has been fashionable to deride urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure. But with real estate inflation squeezing more and more Americans; with such bastions of affordable housing as Stuyvesant Town going “up-market;” and with recent earthquakes in the financial and real estate markets, it’s time to re-appraise the legacy—and the value—of public housing and urban renewal.
Thomas Paine: Foundling Father
A Lecture with J. Ward Regan
Saturday, June 6, 2009
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas (at W. 10th St.)
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
This event is part of the Paine Year 2009 commemorative activities.
Honoring sometime-Greenwich Village resident Thomas Paine, NYU Professor of History J. Ward Regan will explore Paine’s final days in Greenwich Village as well as his enduring importance and mystifying modern anonymity. Paine, born and raised in England, eventually became the voice of the American cause during the American Revolution when he wrote the words “These are the times that try men’s souls,” but died in poverty and obscurity in the Village in June 1809.
What brought Paine to Greenwich Village and what led to his obscurity towards the end of his life and since his death? Mr. Regan will recount the life and writings of Thomas Paine in the last quarter of the eighteenth century as well as address the paradox of how important Paine’s ideas and achievements were while at same time being wildly unrenowned.
This event is co-sponsored by the Thomas Paine Friends, Inc.
“Next Stop, Greenwich Village”
A Film Screening with Leonard Quart
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
6:15 - 9:00 P.M.
232 East 11th Street (between 2nd Ave. & 3rd Ave.)
Free; reservations required.
Paul Mazursky’s comedy Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) tells the story of Larry Lipinsky (Lenny Baker), who leaves Brooklyn and his overprotective mother (Shelly Winters) to pursue his dream of becoming a Hollywood star. He moves to Greenwich Village, where he hangs out with a group of eccentric and bohemian characters while waiting for his big break. It’s the Village of the fifties through the rear-view lens of the 1970s—where the young with artistic hopes or just yearnings for an alternate life migrated.
Held in GVSHP’s living room with popcorn and goodies provided, film historian and professor emeritus of cinema studies Leonard Quart will lead discussion of Next Stop, Greenwich Village after the screening.
The Ukrainian Dimension of the East Village
A Walking Tour with Terri Cook
Saturday, May 16, 2009
2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free from GVSHP Members;
$10 all others.
Space is limited.
Reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
See colorful reminders of immigrant groups who passed through the East Village, and today’s Ukrainian community thriving among trendy shops, college dorms and preserved spiritual havens. Join Terri Cook, author of Sacred Havens: A Guide to Manhattan’s Spiritual Places, to explore the neighborhood, visit some havens and celebrate at the annual Ukrainian Festival.
Coinciding with St. George’s Ukrainian Festival, the tour will investigate the vibrant Ukrainian culture of the East Village before ending up at the Festival, which features delicious Ukrainain food, dance performances by Ukrainian dancers and Ukrainian artwork.
Digging Greenwich Village
A Lecture on Urban Archaeology with Diana di Zerega Wall
Thursday, May 14, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free; reservations required.
Archaeologists who excavate in and under modern cities face unique challenges, including the techniques that they use in excavations and the strictly-imposed time and location restraints that circumscribe their scholarly discoveries. Professor Diana di Zerega Wall, co-author of Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City and professor of anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center and City College, will explore some of these challenges and also discuss her own work excavating in the backyards of Greenwich Village and the snapshot-like images that her work has provided of middle-class domestic life in the 19th century city.
This event is co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Club and the Metropolitan Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association.
Image courtesy of the New York Archaeological Council.
Henry James’s New York
A Walking Tour with Joyce Gold
Sundays, April 5, April 26 & May 10, 2009
1:30 - 3:00 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation.
Free for GVSHP Members; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
$10 all others
Join Joyce Gold as she explores the New York City of Henry James and other literary notables in honor of the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction’s Big Read of Washington Square. Greenwich Village is renowned for its high concentration of novelists, poets, playwrights, and writers of detective fiction, short stories, and muckraking exposés. This tour will examine how the vibrant literary community of New York evolved over time and remains one of the world’s most prolific centers of publishing and writing while focusing on New York, and the Village, as Henry James knew it in his time.
This event is co-sponsored by the Merchant’s House Museum.
Come to GVSHP’s 11th Annual Tour of Village Homes
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Click above for details and to purchase tickets
Safeguarding History and the Environment: Commonalities and Conflicts between Preservation and Sustainability
A Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
AIA Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
Free for GVSHP & AIA Members; $20 all others
Reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Join moderator and preservation consultant Erica Avrami on this panel tackling the various conflicts and commonalities that exist between preserving buildings and making them sustainable. Explore the importance of both historic preservation and sustainability—and how they can work together—through in-depth discussion of both fields and case studies of East Village tenement buildings and the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn.
Preservation and sustainability are both big issues, especially in the current economic environment, but the two movements have not always worked had in hand. This panel will seek to start the conversation about the common ground and differing perspectives of the two.
Featuring panelists Chris Benedict, a sustainability architect and Pratt Institute faculty member known for her work in adaptive reuse; Fiona Cousins, an expert on all aspects of sustainable design who has worked on both renovations and new builds; Scott Demel, an associate architect at Rogers Marvel Architects whose work has focused on restoration with a commitment to sustainable design; and Ned Kaufman, a heritage conservation specialist and founder of Place Matters, a nonprofit dedicated to discovering and protecting places that matter in New York’s diverse communities.
This event is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects Historic Buildings Committee.
In Their Own Words: A Salute to the Women of the Greenwich Village Preservation Movement
Thursday, April 2, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Part three of our Women’s History Month series.
GVSHP’s Oral History Project, conducted over 10 years and only now available to the public, features interviews with many of the most influential women of the preservation movement, including Margot Gayle, Verna Small, and Jane Jacobs. Hear fascinating selections from their oral histories shedding new light on their experiences and passion for preservation. Introduction by Susan De Vries, director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum and conductor of several of the interviews, and a keynote lecture on Jane Jacobs by Roberta Brandes Gratz, former award-winning journalist and author of The Living City: Thinking Small in a Big Way and Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown.
This event is co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project, the Historic Districts Council and the Neighborhood Preservation Center.
A Community Brainstorming Session with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to info@rememberthetrianglefire.org
Enjoy refreshments and entertainment while learning about the history of the fire and how you can help create a city-wide centennial to remember. The Triangle Fire Remembrance Coalition is a diverse group from all walks of life, sharing a common goal. We have joined together to honor the memory of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and to heighten awareness of the struggle for social justice that continues today.
Click here to see event flyer.
Shifting Images: Changing Perceptions of Italian Immigrant Women
A Lecture with Miriam Cohen
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required.
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Miss this event? Check out our "Shifting Images" page for ways to take action to save the South Village and more information on photographer Lewis Hine.
Part two of our Women's History Month series.
While the conventional wisdom regarding women and family from Mediterranean cultures has emphasized the patriarchal nature of the family, a generation of new scholarship on Italian women, work, family life and politics has complicated our understanding of gender roles in the Italian community. Focusing on Italian women in New York City, including the South Village, Miriam Cohen explores the changing perceptions and images of Italian-American immigrant women in the twentieth century.
This event is co-sponsored by the Italian American Museum.
Picture for this event courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Decorative Cast-Iron Work: History and Preservation
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
6:30 P.M.
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Reservations required.
$5 for GVSHP & MCNY Members, seniors and students
$9 general admission
RSVP to 212-534-1672 ext. 3395 or online at www.mcny.org
Miss this event? Check out Andrew Jones' guide to identifying iron work in the Village.
In honor of the Museum’s new exhibition, Stoops of Manhattan—Railings & Shadows, join the artist, Andrew Berrien Jones, in a discussion of the stylistic history of cast-iron architectural decorations and the preservation issues they present, with Richard Pieper, Director of Preservation, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc.; Diana Waite, expert on the ornamental ironwork of Albany and Troy; and moderator Alex Herrera, Director, New York City Landmarks Conservancy.
Sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York. Co-sponsored by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America; and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Bohemian Melting Pot: The South Village
A Walking Tour with Andrew Berman
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Time and location given upon reservation.
$25 for all attendees
RSVP to hdc@hdc.org or (212) 614-9107
Visit this historic yet unprotected link to New York’s immigrant and bohemian past. Largely surrounded by designated historic districts, the South Village includes a vast array of tenements of nearly every style and type, prominent religious structures and social institutions.
Although some alterations have occurred, the neighborhood remains a vital link to New York’s immigrant past and to its artistic and countercultural avant garde from the 1890s to the 1960s. Hear about the current efforts to gain historic district status for the area and how the designation process works.
This event is sponsored by the Historic Districts Council.
The Bohemian Women of Greenwich Village & Harlem
A Lecture with Andrea Barnet
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Judson Memorial Hall
239 Thompson Street between W. 4th and W. 3rd Streets
Free; reservations required
Miss this event? Check out Andrea Barnet's list of Bohemian hang outs and see if you can help us identify what is there now!
Part one of our Women’s History Month series saluting the rich history of women in Greenwich Village. 
They were the first women to eschew the social conventions expected of them (to be wives and mothers) and chose instead to live on their own terms, becoming poets, actresses, singers and artists, journalists, publishers, and benefactresses. Join historian and author Andrea Barnet as she explores the history of the women of bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem in the headlong, hopped-up decades of the 1910s and 1920s. These women embodied a fierce new feminine spirit, capturing the gleefully rebellious ethos of life as art form, and the air of lawless idealism that briefly took hold of the popular imagination in the early 20th century.
Purchase All-Night Party: The Bohemian Women of Greenwich Village and Harlem, 1913-1930 at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com or Abe Books.
Sharing the Dirt on Container Gardening: Window Boxes to Rooftops
The 3rd installment of GVSHP’s Getting It Right: From Historic Properties To Urban Landscapes Series
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues
$20 GVSHP Members
$35 Non-Members
Download the event flyer here
An enlightening discussion series on Wednesday evenings sharing successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York’s historic neighborhoods, featuring prominent keynote speakers, and panels of leading experts, each followed by a wine and cheese reception.
This panel discussion will explore the variety of strategies to create and maintain a successful garden in an urban environment with practical advice from some of the best in the field. The evening’s program will include:
Keynote: Designing Roof & Terrace Gardens
Jeff Mendoza, President, J. Mendoza Gardens, Inc.
Panel Discussion: Realities & Aesthetics: Planting & Maintaining Container
Gardens
Moderator: Sydney Milliken, Principal, Sydney Carvin Milliken,
Landscape Design
Panelists: Randolph Barksdale, President, Barksdale Gardens
Win Knowlton, Principal, Baldwin Hill Gardens
Jeff Mendoza, President, J. Mendoza Gardens, Inc.
The ‘Getting It Right’ series is organized by GVSHP’s Broker Partnership and sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Jason Auerbach & Janet Younkman, Private Mortgage Bankers.
Super in the City: A Super/Novelist’s Reflections on a Greenwich Village
Life
An Evening with
Daphne Uviller
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas between W. 9th and W. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
For Part Two of our Women Authors of Greenwich Village mini-series, join
Daphne Uviller, a third-generation Greenwich Villager, at the first public reading
and discussion of her debut novel, Super in the City, a comic mystery based
on her experiences as the super of her family's brownstone. The book is a
love letter to the city, and Uviller is besotted. Publisher’s Weekly praised
it as “...gleefully unpretentious... undoubtedly smarter and funnier than
most other girls-in-the-city novels,” while Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love said, “One should not simply read Super in the City; one
should gobble it up like candy — intelligent candy.”
Copies of Super in the City will be available for purchase courtesy of
Mobile Libris.
The Professors’ Wives’ Club: The Fiction and Reality of NYU’s Development in Greenwich Village
An Evening with
Joanne Rendell
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas between W. 9th and W. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35 Part one of our Women Authors of Greenwich Village mini-series. Joanne
Rendell’s debut novel The Professors’ Wives’ Club tells the story of four
women who take on a ruthless university dean who threatens to demolish a
beloved faculty garden in the heart of Greenwich Village. Ms. Rendell will
read from The Professors’ Wives’ Club and talk about her inspiration for
this novel which tackles important issues about NYU's encroachment on the
Village in a fictionalized way.
Copies of The Professors’ Wives’ Club will be available for purchase
courtesy of the author.
The Vanishing City: A Town Hall Discussion
Sponsored by Dixon Place and TheManhattanProjects.com.
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
8:00 P.M.
The New Dixon Place Theater
161 Chrystie Street (between Rivington St. and Delancey St.)
$15 general admission; $12 students/seniors
Reservations required
RSVP to www.dixonplace.org or (212) 219-0736 ext. 113
Development is radically changing the face of New York City. Long-time residents, small businesses and artists are being pushed out at a rapid rate. Vanishing NY asks: You can’t stop development, so how then do you preserve the things that make this city one of the most unique places in the world? “The Vanishing City” is a town hall discussion which attempts to answer that question, featuring “Twilight Becomes Night,” the acclaimed short film by Virginie-Alvine Perrette, a preview of the work-in-progress documentary, “Vanishing New York” by Jen Senko and Fiore DeRosa. Join moderator Michael Karp as he leads a panel discussion featuring GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, Good Jobs New York Director Bettina Damiani, New York State Assemblymember Deborah Glick and filmmakers Fiore DeRosa and Jen Senko.
“Railings and Shadows”
A Gallery Talk with
Andrew Jones
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
6:00-8:00 P.M.
George Billis Gallery
511 West 25th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues
GVSHP members only
Reservations required. If you are unsure of your membership status, email or call (212) 475-9585 ext. 32.
Miss this event? Check out Andrew Jones' guide to identifying iron work in the Village.
Join Greenwich Village artist Andrew Jones for a GVSHP members-only
walk-through of “Railings & Shadows,” an exhibit of his paintings of cast
iron railings of old New York stoops. Mr. Jones will discuss the
historical evolution of cast iron designs for stoop railings from the 1830s
through the 1840s. Mr. Jones will explain how his paintings illustrate
many of the patterns of the period and how he interprets this unique subject
matter as a painter.
Refreshments will be served. Space is limited.
If you are unable to attend the event, please drop by the exhibit at your
convenience. The show runs from January 2-31. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday 11-6.
101 Avenue A: Melting Pot to Hot Spot
A Panel Discussion Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
6:45-8:30 P.M.
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue between E. 9th and E. 10th Streets
Free; reservations required.
Miss this event? Check out our post-event resources, including Iris Rose's history of the Pyramid Club.
Few
buildings embody the full zeitgeist of everything East Village as does 101 Avenue A. Find out how the architecture and social history of
this 130-year-old tenement inspired GVSHP to call for landmark status
for the building, triggering an international story about what some called the first
proposed “drag landmark.” 101 Avenue A was home to one of the most
important German-American social halls in New York, the “Mayor of
Avenue A,” and groundbreaking events in the history of labor
organizing. In later years it was the home of Warhol Superstar Nico
and the Pyramid Club, where politically conscious drag performance art
was born and many a downtown icon's career was launched.
Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, the panel discussion will feature historic preservationist Melissa Baldock, immigrant scholar Peter Conolly-Smith, performance artist Iris Rose, and drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys, and will include a short film of Nelson Sullivan’s archival footage of the Pyramid Club in the 1980s.
This event is co-sponsored by Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick, the East Village Community Coalition, the East Village History Project, the Cooper Square Committee, and Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society.
Click here to see full flyer.
2008
1965: Preservation Round the World When New York Signed Its Law: A Lecture with Anthony Tung
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Grace Church School
84 Fourth Avenue
Free; reservations required.
Anthony M. Tung, author of Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis and former New York City Landmarks Preservation Commissioner, will present a talk that envisions the state of urban preservation on different continents at the moment when Mayor Robert F. Wagner signed the New York City Landmarks Preservation statute in 1965. With the process of civilization unfolding at varying speeds, igniting the upheaval of urban modernization, how did the heritage of London, Beijing, Mexico City, Rome, and Warsaw fare? Mr. Tung will show accompanying photographs to complement his lecture.
This event is co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council and Neighborhood Preservation Center.
The Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore: A Slide Lecture with Shelley Seccombe
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
St. Luke's Church Dining Room
487 Hudson Street
Free. Reservations Required
Shelley Seccombe’s photographs show it like it was—a dilapidated waterfront where once-handsome structures collapsed and burned, commerce dwindled to a trickle, and Villagers adapted the empty spaces for recreation. Beginning in 1972 and continuing to the present, Shelley recorded the metamorphosis of this segment of the river into the current Hudson River Park. Ms. Seccombe collected photographs from this long-term series, shown at the South Street Seaport Museum in 2006, into the art book Lost Waterfront: the Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore. During this lecture, Ms. Seccombe will talk about her experience cataloging the changes that took place on Greenwich Village’s waterfront.
Getting It Right: From Historic Properties to Urban Landscapes
Renovating Townhouse Interiors: The Guts of the House
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street
$20 GVSHP members; $35 all others
Visit www.gvshp.org/gettingitright for series information and to purchase tickets.
The second annual series of evenings sharing period perspectives and successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York City’s historic neighborhoods. Panelist presentations will be followed by a question and answer period and a wine and cheese reception.
Keynote: Archaeology of the Interior & Engineering Fundamentals: Marie Ennis, PE
Panel Discussion: Expert Perspectives of Mechanicals, Lighting & Fireplaces: Michael Devonshire, Moderator; David Bowlby, Marie Ennis, and Vincent Plescia, Panelists.
Foods of Greenwich Village: A Walking (and Eating!) Tour
Presented by Foods of New York for GVSHP
Sunday, November 2, 2008
11:30 A.M. - 2:30 P.M.
Meeting place given upon reservation
Space is limited. Advance payment required for reservation.
$25 GVSHP members; $40 All others
Explore the winding, tree-lined streets of the historic West Village on this cultural food tour. From family-owned cafés to old-fashioned specialty shops, we will discover a literary speakeasy from the roaring 20s, hidden gardens, and the narrowest house in New York City. During this tour you will taste a variety of food specialties that has secured Greenwich Village’s reputation as being one of the greatest culinary and cultural centers of the world. The price of the tour includes food tastings (enough for lunch), a bottle of water, and the Foods of New York Tours neighborhood guide. All food is tasted on the go—please wear comfortable shoes and clothing.
Greenwich Village in the 1960s: An Evening with Susan Rotolo
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street
Free. Reservations Required
RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or (212) 475-9585 ext. 35
Susan Rotolo, author of the recently published book A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, will present an informal talk and reading about her experience coming of age during this seminal decade in American life. As a budding feminist and girlfriend of Bob Dylan during his rise to national fame, Susan's narrative gives a tremendous perspective to the folk music, bohemian, and youth culture of Greenwich Village of the 1960s.
Copies of A Freewheelin' Time will be available for purchase courtesy of St. Mark’s Bookshop.
Getting It Right: From Historic Properties to Urban Landscapes
The Design and Renovation of Apartment Building Interiors Wednesday, October 15, 2008
6:00-8:00 P.M.
First Presbyterian Church, Parlor
12 West 12th Street
$20 GVSHP members; $35 all others
Visit www.gvshp.org/gettingitright or call for series information.
The second annual series of evenings sharing period perspectives and successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York City’s historic neighborhoods. Panelist presentations will be followed by a question and answer period and a wine and cheese reception. From Closed to Open Concept: Changing Ideas about Apartment Layouts: Dr. Elizabeth Cromley, Keynote. Renovating Apartment Interiors: From Period Aesthetics to Contemporary Design: Monty Mitchell, Moderator; Elizabeth Cromley, Oliver Freundlich, and Kaitsen Woo, Panelists.
The Houses of Greenwich Village:
A Slide Lecture with Kevin Murphy
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Salmagundi Club
47 Fifth Avenue
Free. Reservations required.
Kevin D. Murphy, Professor of Art History at CUNY’s Graduate Center, will present a talk about his recently published book, The Houses of Greenwich Village. Dating from the early nineteenth century to the turn of the twenty-first century, the houses featured in this book represent a range of historic styles and open windows onto the rich history of the neighborhood. Murphy’s talk will provide an overview of Village houses, and show how they represent the dynamic process of change in the neighborhood: its birth as a merchants’ residential enclave, its later identity as a center of bohemia—the subject of great nostalgia, and its current revival as a center for townhouse living. The author will sign copies of his book following the lecture.
Books will be available for sale courtesy of St. Mark’s Bookshop.
This event is co-sponsored by the Salmagundi Club.
The South Village: Birthplace of an American Immigrant Community
A panel discussion
Thursday, June 19, 2008
6:30 P.M-8:30 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Demo Hall
25 Carmine Street (enter on Bleecker)
Reservations required.
First developing as a district of rowhouses for middle-class New Yorkers in the early 19th century, the South Village later became an archetypal New York immigrant neighborhood, embracing a vibrant Italian-American community. Moderated by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, a discussion by panelists Mary Elizabeth Brown (Assistant Professor in the Social Science Division, Marymount College of Manhattan), Andrew Dolkart (Professor of Historic Preservation, Columbia University), and Jerry Krase (Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College), will examine the development of the South Village as an immigrant neighborhood and how the area’s rich history is still visible in its streetscape.
2008 Annual Meeting and 18th Annual Village Awards
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Reception to follow
St. John’s Lutheran Church
83 Christopher Street, between 7th Avenue and Bleecker Street
Preserving Local Retail: Screening, Presentation & Discussion
Thursday, June 12, 2008
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Parish Hall, St. Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery
131 East 10th Street at Second Avenue
Please join us for a screening of Twilight Becomes Night, a short documentary set in New York City which explores the pivotal role of neighborhood stores in our lives and our communities.
After the screening, students at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment will present their study of the East Village conducted on behalf of the East Village Community Coalition and recommend strategies for retaining local businesses in the neighborhood. This will be followed by a discussion with film-maker Virginie-Alvine Perrette led by Vicki Weiner, Director of Planning & Preservation at the Pratt Center for Community Development.
This event is sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center in partnership with the East Village Community Coalition, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, Place Matters, Pratt Center for Community Development and the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning & the Environment.
Wine Tasting Fundraiser in Historic Devinne Press Building
Friday, May 30, 2008
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Astor Center, The Study
399 Lafayette Street (at East 4th Street)
Donation $75 per person
Please note limited space is available.
Join the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for an exciting and informative wine tasting at the innovative Astor Center in historic NoHo. The Center’s home in the landmarked 1886 DeVinne Press building has undergone an extensive interior and exterior renovation in recent years—a transformation that both preserved the building’s significant architectural elements while incorporating the most current green technology into the building’s fabric. The restored spaces were elegantly designed and supremely equipped as a kitchen, study, and gallery.
The tasting, offered in the Center’s state of the art study, will be led by Andy Fisher, President of Astor Wines/Astor Center. Taste a flight of fantastic French wines and come away with a solid understanding of the simple, straightforward principles of tasting wine and pairing it successfully with food. All funds raised support the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
GVSHP thanks Andy Fisher and the Astor Center for making this evening possible. Please visit www.astorcenternyc.com for more information about this class and Astor Center.
Astor Center is a hub of gastronomic culture whose mission is to facilitate exchange within our community of food enthusiasts: between farmers and eaters, winemakers and wine drinkers, chefs and butchers, writers and educators, novices and professionals. The Center offers seminars, tastings, pairings and hands-on culinary activities as well as private and corporate team-building and recreational events. Eat, drink, think!
Re-saving Greenwich Village: A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Museum of the City of New York
Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
6:30-8:00 P.M.
GVSHP or MCNY members $5; adults $9
Visit www.mcny.org to reserve your space
Long considered “saved,” Greenwich Village was one of the earliest and largest districts to achieve landmark status and is the place where tourists and locals flock to see historic old New York streets and buildings. But the Village also includes areas not covered by landmark designation. While new zoning is in place in some of them, there are projects proposed that threaten the Village’s character and scale. Andrew Berman (Executive Director, GVSHP); David Gruber (Chair, Institutions Committee Community Board 2), and Sean Sweeney (Director, SoHo Alliance) will discuss the old and new Village in a program moderated by Anthony Wood.
This program is co-sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York.
Italian-American Culture in the South Village: A walking tour with Emelise Aleandri
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Meet at Father Demo Square (Bleecker Street and 6th Avenue)
2:00 P.M.
GVSHP members $10; all others $15
Reservations required.
Join theater scholar and performer Emelise Aleandri for a walking tour of the South Village, a center for Greenwich Village’s art scene for generations. While exploring the area’s fascinating environment of converted rowhouses and tenements, the tour will highlight how Italian-American cultural heritage, including the rich Italian theatrical tradition, is vividly reflected in the neighborhood’s historic streetscape.
GVSHP 10th Annual House Tour and Benefit
Sunday, May 4th
The Caffe Cino: Greenwich Village’s Countercultural Landmark
A lecture and discussion with Christine Karatnytsky
Monday, April 28, 2008
Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia Street
6:30-8:00 P.M. Please arrive early
1-drink minimum ($7) per person
Reservations required.
Opening without a license in 1958 at 31 Cornelia Street and run on less than a shoestring budget through the height of the turbulent 1960s, the fabled Caffe Cino was Off-Off Broadway’s first continuous theatre and fostered the evolution of a vibrant gay and alternative theatre movement. Christine Karatnytsky, Scripts Librarian in The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library, will discuss the history of The Cino and how it has been remembered as an integral part of Greenwich Village’s legacy to the arts.
Immigrant Stories on Bleecker Street
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A family activity day at the
Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
Sessions : 10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. or 1:00-3:00 P.M.
$10 per family. Advanced registration required
Visit www.aiany.org/calendar or call (212) 358-6133 to register
As part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Immigrant Heritage Week and in collaboration with the Center for Architecture Foundation, come celebrate the role immigrant communities have played in shaping the history and architecture of the South Village. Learn how to read buildings, create sketches of building facades, and discover the secret history of the South Village’s streets and structures.
This program is co-sponsored by the Center for Architecture Foundation.
Excavations and Village Space: A discussion with Timothy Lynch
Monday, April 7, 2008
Grace Church School, Tuttle Hall
86 4th Avenue
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Free
Reservations required
Owners of Greenwich Village houses have undertaken rooftop and rear-yard additions for years. More and more nowadays, they are also trying to create space by excavating underneath their buildings.
Timothy Lynch, PE, Chief Engineer for the New York City Department of Buildings’ newly created Excavation Unit, will talk about how these excavations can be safely engineered and how they affect nearby buildings.
Anthony C. Wood, author of Preserving New York:
Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks
Interviewed by Judith Stonehill
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required. Space is Limited.
Meticulously researched and expertly written, Anthony C. Wood’s Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks explores the origins of New York City’s nationally acclaimed landmarks law. Join GVSHP Trustee and past President Judith Stonehill as she and Mr. Wood discuss the decades of struggle that preceded the landmark law and the forces that shaped it. As we examine the buildings that were lost and saved on the way to the law’s ultimate passage in 1965, we will discover how this legislation has helped ensure the preservation of remarkable New York City buildings.
Preserving New York will be available for purchase courtesy of the New York Preservation Archive Project.
The Wild Wild West Side
A tour of Manhattan along the Hudson
Sunday, March 9, 2008
11:15 A.M (tours last between 1 1/2 and 3 hours)
Meeting place provided upon registration.
GVSHP and HDC members $15; all others $25.
Advanced registration is required.
Follow the leaders of the Greenwich Village Community Taskforce as they as they discuss the history and future of land-use on the Far West Village of Manhattan, from the Meatpacking District to Christopher Street. Though a number of blocks along the trail fall within designated historic districts, this community is still undergoing major changes including rezonings and major new construction.
This tour is co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council.
The Lost Waterfront Book Launch Party
Celebrating the release of:
Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore
A book of photographs by Shelley Seccombe
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street
5:00-8:00 P.M.
Free. Reservations required.
Join Friends of Hudson River Park and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation to celebrate the publication of Lost Waterfront: The Decline and Rebirth of Manhattan’s Western Shore, a compilation of images of the decaying West Side piers between 1972 and 1982 taken by photographer Shelley Seccombe featuring an introduction by author Phillip Lopate and a foreward by Albert K. Butzel. View a special a one-day exhibition of Ms. Seccombe’s work while enjoying wine, cheese and other refreshments. Lost Waterfront will be available for purchase.
To pre-order copies of this book, co-published with Fordham University Press with layout design by Scott-Martin Kosofsky of the Philidor Company, contact Kate O’Brien-Nicholson at Bkaobrien@fordham.edu or 718-817-4782.
This lecture is being co-sponsored by the Friends of Hudson River Park.
Intimate Portraits: African Americans in the Antebellum South Village
A lecture with Gunja SenGupta
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required
Celebrate African-American History Month with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as we explore the Village’s often forgotten African-American heritage. Professor Gunja SenGupta of Brooklyn College will trace the history of black Greenwich Village from slavery to tentative freedom in 1827 and beyond. Drawing on rich visual and archival resources, Prof. SenGupta will offer us insight into the lives of African Americans who lived in the Village in the decades before the Civil War and will examine who they were, where they came from, how they interacted with their immigrant and migrant neighbors, and how their community adapted to an environment of heightened racism and economic instability.
Sharing the Dirt on City Gardening
The third installment of GVSHP’s Getting It Right: From Historic Properties To Urban Landscapes Series
February 20, 2008: Sharing the Dirt on City Gardening
November 14, 2007: The Many Facets of Facade Restoration
October 17, 2007: Planning the Project From Landmarks Application To Expert Choices
An enlightening discussion series on Wednesday evenings sharing successful strategies for renovation, restoration, and gardening in New York’s historic neighborhoods, featuring prominent keynote speakers, and panels of leading experts, each followed by a wine and cheese reception.
This panel discussion will explore the variety of strategies to create and maintain a successful garden in an urban environment with practical advice from some of the best in the field.
The Great Urban Paradigm Shift: Robert Moses, Jane Jacobs, and West Village Houses
A lecture with Warren Shaw
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Basement Hall
25 Carmine Street
The development of the West Village Houses has typified many of the diverse challenges facing preservationists in an ever-expanding city like New York. Warren Shaw, Asst. Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department will examine the creation of the West Village Houses as an outgrowth of the epochal battle between Robert Moses (the Urban Renewal Czar) and Jane Jacobs (the champion of traditional urbanism). Now a partially privatized co-op, the West Village Houses is an exceptional symbol of a community both shaped and challenged by evolving attitudes toward city planning, conservation, and Urban Renewal.
This program is being co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.
John Sloan’s Greenwich Village
A lecture with John Loughery
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 Avenue of the Americas
Free, reservations required
One of the most celebrated American realist painters of the early 20th century, John Sloan captured the character and pace of Greenwich Village in a way few artists were able to match. In this illustrated lecture at the Jefferson Market Library (one of Sloan’s favorite Village subjects), teacher and biographer John Loughery examines Sloan’s diverse representations of the East, West, and South Villages. Placing Sloan’s work in the context of early 20th-century American urban painting, Mr. Loughery will also explore how underlying themes of romance and myth permeated Sloan’s work as well as that of other New York City painters.
2007
Tour and Class Audit of HB Studio
Choice of Tuesday, December 11 or Thursday December 13
120 Bank Street
7:00-8:00 P.M. Tour
8:00-10:00 P.M. Class Audit
Free for GVSHP Members
All Others $10
Established in 1945 by the renowned Viennese actor/director Herbert Berghof, the Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio provides professional theater training and practice for aspiring and accomplished actors of all ages. With course offerings in a full range of subjects essential to the stage, including acting, voice, musical theater, dance, movement, improvization, fencing, writing, and stage combat, the HB Studio is a fixture in the Village and New York City cultural realm that continues to thrive and evolve. Join us for a guided tour of the exceptional facilities and conclude the evening by auditing one of the studio’s courses. The Tuesday, December 11th session, Performing Improvisational Comedy, will feature special improv tricks for advanced comedians. On Thursday, December 13th, The Practice of Acting will introduce acting techniques and allow new students to sharpen their craft.
First Houses: A Monument of the Past, A Model for the Future
A lecture and discussion with Warren Shaw
Thursday, December 6
Parish Hall, St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street
6:30-8:30 P.M.
Free
Dedicated in 1935 as the first publicly sponsored housing complex for the poor, the East Village’s landmarked First Houses on Third Street and Avenue A helped inaugurate the era of urban renewal. While critics have derided urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure, recent phenomena such as staggering real estate inflation and the “up-marketing” of affordable housing such as Stuyvesant Town make it necessary to re-examine the legacy of public housing. In this recapitulation of his January 2007 lecture for GVSHP, Warren Shaw, Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department, will consider these questions as he traces the history of the First Houses and discusses their present-day implications.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Preservation Center.
A Village Christmas: A Walking Tour with Marilyn Stults
Saturday, December 1
2:00-4:00 P.M.
Meet in front of the Washington Square Arch at 2:00 P.M.
Usher in the holiday season with this unusual walking tour of Greenwich Village as the birthplace of many of the Christmas traditions we are familiar with today. While we enjoy picturesque historic streetscapes, guide Marilyn Stults will explore the Christmas lore that helped establish the Village as an American cultural treasure.
GVSHP would like to thank Marilyn Stults for donating all proceeds from this tour.
Our Little Italies: Past, Present, and Future
A lecture with Dr. Jerome Krase
Tuesday, October 23
Judson Memorial Church Meeting Hall
239 Thompson Street
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Free
In this illustrated talk, Prof. Jerry Krase of Brooklyn College discusses the transformation of “Little Italies” throughout the United States. Once vital and vibrant Italian American communities have seen the replacement of original houses and businesses with what some call “Ethnic Theme Parks.” Other areas have witnessed the complete destruction of the neighborhood. Prof. Krase explores the impact that these monumental changes continue to have on American cities, with special emphasis on New York City’s Little Italy and the South Village.
GVSHP would like to thank the J.M. Kaplan Fund for supporting this lecture.
Lecture with Author Irene Tichenor on the DeVinne Press Building
Third Street Music School
235 East 11th Street
Tuesday, September 25
6:30-8:00 P.M.
Free.
Known as “the Fortress” in its heyday, the massive brick and terra cotta building on the northeast corner of Lafayette and Fourth Streets was built in 1886 as a printing plant to serve the specific requirements of Theodore Low DeVinne, the most illustrious American printer of his generation. In this illustrated lecture, Dr. Irene Tichenor, author of No Art Without Craft: The Life of Theodore Low DeVinne, Printer, will discuss the merit of the building’s exterior design, how the interior was used by the DeVinne Press, and why DeVinne — and what took place inside this building — was important in the history of American printing.
Foods of the South Village and SoHo: A Walking (and Eating) Tour
Saturday, September 15; 12:15-3:30 P.M.
Meeting place announced upon reservation.
$25 GVSHP Members / $40 Non-Members
Come with us as we travel back in time through the central and southern Village and northern SoHo. From longstanding “mom and pop” eateries to old-fashioned specialty shops, we will journey through the rich history of an exceptional district once frequented by bohemians, artists, and immigrants who made this section of the city their first home in the United States. As we enjoy unique historic streetscapes and taste delicious food specialties, we will explore how, despite rising rents and gentrification, the flavor of this changing neighborhood has survived.
This event is presented by GVSHP and Foods of New York.
2007 Annual Meeting and Presentation of the 17th Annual Village Awards
Tuesday, June 19; 6:30 P.M.
The Cherry Lane Theatre
38 Commerce Street
Reception to follow
Join the Society as we mark and celebrate the accomplishments and major events of the past year and honor the people, places, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the legendary quality of life in Greenwich Village with our Annual Village Awards. This year’s awardees include:
Bowne & Co, Inc.
13th Street Repertory Company
Florence Prime Meat Market
Liz Christy Community Garden
Porto Rico Importing Co.
Kevin Shea
St. Mark’s Bookshop
West Village Dog Owner’s Group
81 Barrow Street restoration
This event is free and open to all who are interested in celebrating the awardees and learning more about the Society’s efforts to protect the special historic character of Greenwich Village, NoHo, and the East Village.
The Architecture of the South Village: A walking tour with Andrew Dolkart
Tuesday, June 12
6:00 P.M.
Free, but space is limited. Preference will be given to GVSHP members
Architectural historian and Columbia University professor Andrew Dolkart will lead a walking tour of the South Village, the 40-block area south of Washington Square Park that GVSHP has recently proposed for landmarking. This area, initially developed in the early 19th century with row houses, later became a neighborhood of immigrant tenements, long home to a vibrant Italian-American community. Based on Dolkart’s recently completed survey of the South Village, the tour will highlight the area’s converted row houses, tenements, theaters, and religious, social, and charitable institutions that vividly reflect the area’s history as a nineteenth and early twentieth century residential neighborhood.
The East Village: Culture and Counter Culture: A Walking Tour with Joyce Gold
Sunday, June 3
1:00 P.M.
$12 GVSHP members/seniors; $15 public
From Stuyvesant’s bouwerie to the Tompkins Square riot—an area rich in ethnic diversity.
Please visit www.nyctours.com for more information on Joyce Gold’s History Tours of New York.
The Imagery of Robert Otter: A Study of Greenwich Village in the 1960s gallery exhibit
The Caring Community
20 Washington Square North, Parlor
Friday, April 20-Friday, April 27
Opening April 18; 6:00-8:00 P.M.
Slide lecture April 19; 6:00 P.M.
Hours: Mon-Sat, 2:00-6:00 P.M.
Free and open to the public
Robert Otter was a commercial and freelance photographer whose pictures of Greenwich Village in the 1960s captured the unique spirit of the people and architecture of the neighborhood. The photos on display, selected and framed by his son Ned Otter, are on exhibit for the first time. As part of this gallery show, Mr. Otter will present a slide lecture which chronicles his father’s life and narrates the nostalgic images of the Village.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by The Caring Community.
GVSHP would like to thank Ned Otter for generously donating a portion of the proceeds of sales from the exhibit to our preservation work.
Left Bank New York, Artists Off Washington Square 1890s to 1920: A lecture with Virgina Budny
Tuesday, March 13
Donnell Library Auditorium
20 West 53rd Street
6:00-7:00 P.M.
Free
After training in Europe, some of America’s most famous painters and sculptors transformed stables and townhouses north of Washington Square into artists’ studios. There they created works of art and permanently changed the areas as they socialized. Prominent among them were Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Daniel Chester French, Gaston Lachaise, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. This lecture is based on Ms. Budny’s traveling exhibit of the same name.
Sponsored by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America
Restoring/Renovating Ironwork in a Historic District: A discussion with Robin Key and Richie Lodato
Wednesday, March 7
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue at 10th Street
Free.
Landscape architect Robin Key, winner of GVSHP’s 2006 Front Stoop Award, and ironworker Richie Lodato will talk about historic ironwork, why it deteriorates, and how to preserve it. Drawing on five of their projects in the Village and Chelsea, they will show before and after pictures of restorations, including workshop photos of the technical process.
In the Footsteps of Jane Jacobs
Thursday, March 1
6:30-8:00 P.M.
St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery Parish Hall
131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue
Free.
Over 45 years after she successfully combated Robert Moses and his plan to build a massive thoroughfare through Washington Square Park, Jane Jacobs’ legacy continues to inspire New Yorkers to preserve the character and quality of the city’s many neighborhoods. This panel will feature some of New York City’s most ambitious grassroots organizers as they discuss their current efforts in political activism and detail how community-driven campaigns have evolved since Jacobs first began her work.
Andrew Berman, executive director of GVSHP, will moderate this informal conversation between Reverend Billy and Savitri D. of the Church of Stop Shopping, Candace Carponter of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Yolanda Gonzalez of Nos Quedamos/We Stay, and Miquela Craytor of Sustainable South Bronx.
This event is organized by the Historic Districts Council.
First Houses—A Monument Of The Past—A Model For The Future?: A lecture and discussion with Warren Shaw
January 30, 2007
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
Free
The year 2006 marks the 70th anniversary of the very first publicly-sponsored housing for poor people—the landmark First Houses in the East Village which inaugurated the era of Urban Renewal. Since the late 1960s it has been fashionable to deride urban renewal as an aesthetic and sociological failure. But with real estate inflation squeezing more and more Americans, and with such bastions of affordable housing as Stuyvesant Town going “up-market,” it is time to re-appraise the legacy—and the value—of public housing and urban renewal. Warren Shaw, Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Real Estate Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department, will speak about the history of First Houses and its implications for today.
La Grange Terrace: A slide lecture with Thomas Gordon Smith
January 18
6:00-7:30 P.M.
Wollman Auditorium, Cooper Union
51 Astor Place
Free
La Grange Terrace, familiarly known as Colonnade Row, was one of the city’s most fashionable addresses, Lafayette Place, when it was built beginning in 1831. It was home to some of New York City’s most influential citizens, including the Astors and Vanderbilts. Originally nine Greek Revival houses with facades of giant order Corinthian columns, today only four houses remain, hinting dimly at their former grandeur. Thomas Gordon Smith, a classical architect who teaches at Notre Dame and practices widely, will speak about the social changes that prompted an expansion into the neighborhood and the new architectural and urbanistic expression which the Colonnade signaled.
Cosponsored by the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
2006
The Flamboyant and the Bohemian: Greenwich Village and How it Became Famous: A walking tour with Joyce Gold
Saturday, December 2
1:00-3:00 P.M.
$12 GVSHP members and seniors 65+ $15 all others
Hundreds of years of history have left their mark on the streets and sights of Greenwich Village, if you know where to look. Joyce Gold certainly does: she is an expert on the area and author of From Trout Stream to Bohemia: A Walking Guide to Greenwich Village History. She will introduce walkers to the defining characteristics of this neighborhood, showing how the distinct neighborhoods of the Village came to be—the trendy East Village, the exclusive Washington Square area, and the more artistic West Village—and why landmarking and preservation controversies go on to this day. Highlights include architectural styles of the 19th century, coffee houses of the Beat Generation, and stories about such luminaries as Stanford White, Margaret Sanger, and Ed Koch.
For more information about this and other Joyce Gold history tours, visit: http://www.nyctours.com.
The Dutch in New Amsterdam: A lecture by Jaap Jacobs
Sunday, November 19
2:00-4:00 P.M.
St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery Parish Hall
131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue
Free and open to the public
Historian Jaap Jacobs’ research is at the forefront of new scholarship about early Dutch settlement in New Amsterdam, including areas of the present-day East and West Village. Mr. Jacobs, who holds a Ph.D. from Leiden University and is currently a visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, will speak about the Dutch colonial experience and offer thoughts about how the archival resources he used in the original Dutch language and viewpoint offer a new perspective on the topic.
Cosponsored by St. Mark’s Historic Landmark Fund and the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York as part of Five Dutch Days Five Boroughs.
The Photography of Robert Otter:
A Slide Lecture by Ned Otter
Wednesday, October 18
6:30-8:00 P.M.
The Jefferson Market Library Auditorium
425 Avenue of the Americas at 10th Street
Free and open to the public.
Robert Otter (1926-1986) was a commercial and freelance photographer who took pictures of Greenwich Village between 1960 and 1967. His photography conveys the richness of Village life in the 1960s and also the moment intime depicted in each street scene. His son Ned recently unearthed his late father’s work and, believing that the greatest desire of all artists is to share their art with the public, made it available for street sales and online. In this lecture, Ned will speak about how his father’s photography affected his family, how it is connected to the history of Greenwich Village, and relate his own journey discovering his father’s work. He will also show several photographs and tell the stories behind them.
Unframed photographs will be available for sale at the end of the evening at a discount from the online price.
See www.robertotter.com for images available in this collection.
Architectural Digest’s “Architecture Days:”
Greenwich Village, Preservation of an Historic Neighborhood
October 14th, 2006
2-4 P.M.
$25 per person; $21.50 for GVSHP members.
Greenwich Village, one of New York City’s first and largest historic districts, is also one of New York City’s most desirable neighborhoods. However, desirability increases development pressure, and much of this historic neighborhood still lies outside of the designated historic district, which prevents demolition and regulates new development. Little progress was made on this front from the time of the 1969 historic district designation, and much of the unprotected but historic waterfront edge of Greenwich Village seemed destined for wholesale demolition and redevelopment. That is until the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) led several successful drives to extend landmarking protections to some of the most immediately threatened parts of the neighborhood.
This walking tour, led by GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, will visit the sites of early and recent preservation battles in the Village, with particular focus on the neighborhood’s newest historic districts.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Balthazar Restaurant cordially invite you to a Gala Benefit Dinner
Honoring the Life and Work of Jane Jacobs
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Balthazar Restaurant, 80 Spring Street
The dinner, which will benefit the preservation work of the Society, will salute the life and work of Jane Jacobs, an early GVSHP advisor and pioneering urban planner and preservationist. Author, humorist, and Village resident Calvin Trillin, and New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger will speak about Jane Jacobs’ legacy and impact on New York today.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
invites you to a Far West Village Celebration!
Please join us as we celebrate our incredible victories preserving our neighborhood, and all those who worked so hard to make it possible. All are welcome to this free event. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments to be served.
At the Stephan Weiss Studios
711 Greenwich Street, at Charles Street
Wednesday, July 26, 6-8 P.M.
Please RSVP acceptances only by Friday, July 21
Special thanks to the Stephan Weiss Studios for hosting this event.
Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration
Wednesday, June 28th at 5 P.M.
Rain or shine
Washington Square Park,
in front of Washington Square Arch
(site of Jane Jacobs’ first victory over Robert Moses)
The program will include speakers from the fields of urbanism, journalism, environmentalism, economics, publishing, civic activism, the arts, and local business on Jane Jacobs’ impact and legacy.
.
Sponsored by the Center for the Living City
at Purchase College, founded in collaboration
with Jane Jacobs
Roberta Brandes Gratz, Co-founder
Co-Sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Hosted by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s Annual Meeting and
Presentation of the 16th Annual Village Awards
Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 6:30 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
Reception to follow
Join the Society as we mark and celebrate the accomplishments and major events of the past year and honor the people, places, and organizations that make a significant contribution to the legendary quality of life in Greenwich Village with our Annual Village Awards. This year’s awardees will include:
Cherry Lane Theatre
Café Loup
Miriam Lee
Aphrodisia Herb Shoppe
Jane Street Garden
The White Horse Tavern
Greenwich Village Singers
Front Stoop Award: 64 Jane Street
This event is free and open to all who are interested in celebrating the awardees and learning more about the Society’s efforts to protect the special historic character of Greenwich Village, Noho, and the East Village.
The Lost Waterfront and Beyond: Photographs of Shelley Seccombe
Opening Reception, Tuesday, June 20, 6-8 P.M.
Westbeth Gallery: 55 Bethune at Washington Street
Free to all. No reservations required.
Exhibit runs from June 17-July 9
Gallery hours: Tues-Sun 12-6 P.M.
Selected from three decades of documentary photographs of the Hudson River waterfront, over 100 images in black and white and color fill the gallery. While commercial traffic of tugs and barges declined, while pier sheds burned and the elevated highway was demolished, New Yorkers flocked to these empty spaces on the docks. Their impromptu performances were caught on film by Shelley Seccombe, a Westbeth photographer, who continues shooting pictures in the new Hudson River Park. Her photographs capture the beauty and energy of the West Village as the ruins are replaced by lawns, gardens and playgrounds for young and old.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by GVSHP and Friends of Hudson River Park.
Sunday, April 23 & Saturday, May 20, 2-4 P.M.
Walking Tour:
Italian Churches of the South Village with Terri Cook
Free, but space is limited.
Reservations on a first-come basis.
See the Italian-American history of the South Village revealed in some of the sacred spaces which served as anchors in this immigrant neighborhood. We will visit the interiors of St. Anthony of Padua, New York’s oldest Italian-American church built in 1886; Our Lady of Pompeii, which started in a private home on Waverly Place in 1892; and St. Joseph’s, the Village’s first Roman Catholic Church, organized in 1829. Terri Cook, author of Sacred Havens: A Guide to Manhattan’s Spiritual Places, will lead the tour.
Eighth Annual House Tour and Benefit
May 7, 2006
Each year, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation offers a rare opportunity to view some of the most extraordinary homes in the Village. This year’s tour focuses exclusively on mid-19th century houses in the Central Village, all with remarkable gardens. Highlights include an impeccably renovated 1834 house with a dramatic rooftop studio recently featured in the New York Times, a restored 1855 Italianate house with a remarkable Venetian glass and mother-of-pearl mosaic vaulted ceiling, and a home with a private garden adapted from the former close of St. John’s church adorned with an altar from a deconsecrated sanctuary.
Thursday, April 27, 6-8 P.M.
How Fires Changed New York City Architecture:
The Struggle over New York City Building Standards
Center for Architecture
536 La Guardia Place, Main Hall
$10 for GVSHP and AIA Members
$15 all others
Space is limited.
Don Cannon, professor of history at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City and editor of Heritage of Flames: the Illustrated History of Early American Firefighting, will talk about some of the building disasters which led to the development of standards for fire prevention, constuction safety, and public health in New York City. Monty Mitchell, AIA, co-chair of the Existing Buildings Committee of the Mayor’s Task Force for the adoption of a Model Building Code will lead a subsequent discussion on archaic building types and adaptive reuse of single family houses and tenement apartments. Bill Neeley, assistant director of preservation
at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, will discuss preservation issues in historic buildings and
development of a model code for New York City.
Italian Women of the South Village, 1900-1950:
A lecture by historian Miriam Cohen
Tuesday, March 14th at 6:00 P.M.
Father Demo Hall (Our Lady of Pompeii Church)
25 Carmine Street (corner of Bleecker Street)
Free to all, but space is limited.
Reservations Required.
From the late 1800s to the end of World War I, thousands of Italian immigrants settled in the South Village section of Greenwich Village, south of Washington Square Park. These immigrants and their children transformed this neighborhood, bringing the customs and traditions of their homeland and shaping their own culture and community in a new land. The immigrants of the South Village formed one of the most distinctive communities in New York, leaving an indelible mark on the neighborhood still apparent today.
Miriam Cohen, Evalyn Clark Professor of History at Vassar College and author of Workshop to Office: Two Generations of Italian Women in New York City, will speak on the immigrant experience of Italian women and their families in this neighborhood, shedding light upon theirhome, school, and work lives, as well as the unique communities they formed.
This lecture is part of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s ongoing educational series about the history and culture of the South Village. Funding for this program is provided by the J.M. Kaplan Fund; Councilspeaker Christine Quinn, Councilmember Alan Gerson, and Councilmember Margarita Lopez; State Senator Tom Duane; Assemblymember Deborah Glick; the NYU Community Fund; and our members.
A Valentine for You from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Readings of Millay Love Poems
Tuesday, February 14, 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Courthouse Library
10th Street and 6th Avenue
Admission is free: first come-first served
Actors Sloane Shelton and Frances Sternhagen, joined by newcomer Amanda Ronconi, will read from the love poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the famous Greenwich Village poet and playwright.
Presented by The Friends of the Millay Society at Steepletop and Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and New York University.
2005
The Poetry of E.E. Cummings:
Readings by Mort Kroos, actor
December 7, 6:00 P.M.
La Lanterna di Vittorio, 129 MacDougal Street
One drink minimum, full menu available
Reservations required
One of America’s most gifted poets, e.e. cummings was a Greenwich Village resident from the 1920’s until his death in 1962. His poetry is known for his use of unusual typography, slang, dialect and the rhythms of jazz, but he also painted and wrote essays, satire, character sketches and a novel. Mort Kroos, a member of Actors’ Equity, has staged poetry readings—including those of cummings—performed in numerous plays, and is a principal in the company Dada New York. He will be joined by a companion reader. We will meet in the atmospheric cafe and bar of one of Greenwich Village’s iconic buildings, an 1829 Federal house designated an individual city landmark in June 2004 together with its neighbors, 127 and 131 MacDougal Street.
7th Street: Film screening with an introduction
by creator and director, Josh Pais
November 16th, 6:00 – 8:00 P.M.
St. George Ukrainian Church
33 East 7th Street
Free to all. Reservations Required.
Part documentary, part autobiographical sketch, first time filmmaker Josh Pais’s 7th Street (2003) is a bittersweet exploration of the tight-knit community that lived on the street between Avenues C and D in the East Village from the 1960’s to the present. The film introduces an eclectic assortment of struggling artists, ethnic families, and hustlers from Pais’s childhood through interviews and explores how subsequent deterioration and then gentrification made dramatic changes to Pais’s neighborhood in recent years.
The Ghosts of Greenwich Village: An Enlighteningly Creepy Walking Tour with Marilyn Stults.
Sunday, October 30 at 2:00 P.M.
Tour approximately 2 hours
$10 GVSHP members; $15 All others
Space is limited. Reservations Required.
Celebrate Halloween with some of the finest ghosts you’ll ever meet. Visit the haunts of departed New Yorkers like Aaron Burr, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Clement Clarke Moore and Dylan Thomas, along with haunted taverns, restaurants, houses, and even a haunted church. Stroll down narrow and mysterious Charles Lane, learn the Village’s connection to the Titanic disaster, and walk the block where you just might meet the ghost of Alexander Hamilton. The tour ends at a historic Greenwich Village tavern.
Repeated By Popular Demand
Edward Hopper: New York Artist
Lecture, including tours of the artist’s studio, and book signing with author Avis Berman
Monday, October 10th, 6:00 P.M.
NYU School of Social Work, Room 112
1 Washington Square North at Waverly Place (enter on University Place)
$10 GVSHP members, $15 all others
Reservations Required.
One of America’s most compelling artists, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) lived and worked in Greenwich Village from 1913 until his death and made New York, especially the Village, the subject of seven decades of work. Author and art historian Avis Berman is offering a slide lecture based on her new book, Edward Hopper’s New York. Her presentation will focus on Greenwich Village locales and compare Hopper’s representations with those of other contemporary artists, including Bernice Abbott, John Sloan, and William Glackens. Before and after the lecture, there will be self-guided tours of Hopper’s own studio, where he created nearly every work of art shown. Book signing to follow.
The Streetcars of Greenwich Village
with George Haikalis
Thursday, October 6, 6:30 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street
Free to all. Reservations Required.
From 1832 to 1946, streetcars carried Greenwich Village residents through their own neighborhood and the City beyond. From the first horse-drawn cars, to cable-drawn rail lines, to the electric–powered trolleys at the turn of the century, streetcars were an integral part of Village life for over one hundred years. George Haikalis, president of the Village Crosstown Trolley Coalition and civil engineer and transportation planner, will survey, with the help of some historic images, the history of streetcars in the Village. Topics will include the development of small businesses in the Village along streetcar routes, the cable car, and the importance of the 8th Street cross-town line.
Art exhibit to benefit the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Brownstone and Iron – Views of the Village
An exhibition of paintings by Andrew Jones at Elliot Smith Contemporary Art
Opening Reception: September 22, 6-8 P.M.
Show runs from September 14 to October 12
327 West 11th Street, between Greenwich and Washington Streets
GVSHP invites you to the opening reception of Brownstone and Iron – Views of the Village, oil paintings by Village resident Andrew Jones. In these works, Jones offers his interpretation of the brownstone stoops, rhythmic ironwork, and classical entryways of his historic West Village neighborhood. These works express the beauty of the built environment as it is bathed by light and altered by perspective.
50% of the proceeds from the sale of works during the opening reception will be donated to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation gratefully acknowledges the work and generosity of Andrew Jones and the Elliot Smith Contemporary Art gallery for making this event possible.
John Sloan in Greenwich Village: An Illustrated Lecture by Delaware Art Museum Curator
Heather Campbell Coyle
Wednesday, September 21, 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library at 10th Street and 6th Ave.
Free to all.
Heather Campbell Coyle, curator at the Delaware Museum of Art, will give an illustrated lecture on Greenwich Village painter and resident John Sloan. Ms. Coyle is curator of the major traveling show John Sloan’s New York, which is scheduled for exhibition at the National Academy of Design in New York City. With an introduction by author and art historian Avis Berman.
This event is organized by the Friends of Millay Society at Steepletop as part of their Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Greenwich Village lecture series.
Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, New York Council for the Humanities, and New York University.
Art Show Benefiting the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation: The Far West Village: What We’re Trying to Save
Westbeth Gallery, 57 Bethune St. at Washington St.
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 4, from 6-8 P.M.
Exhibit runs: August 4 through August 21
Hours: Thursday through Sunday from 1-6 P.M.
The show consists of several dozen past and contemporary paintings, watercolors, photographs, and more of the Far West Village. Residents of the Far West Village and preservationists are currently fighting to save this endangered waterfront area. The works are largely created by local artists and residents of the area. 25% of the proceeds from the sale of works in the show will be donated to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which is fighting to preserve the area through landmark and zoning protections.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation gratefully acknowledges the work and generosity of the Westbeth Gallery and the Westbeth Artists Residents Council for making this event possible.
A Private Evening in July at the Jefferson Market Complex
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 6:00 to 7:30 P.M.
Garden, Greenwich Avenue between Christopher & West 10th Streets
Library, 10th Street and Sixth Avenue
Rain date July 20
GVSHP members and their guests are invited to an evening in the beautiful Jefferson Market Garden followed by tours of the extraordinary Jefferson Market Library. In the garden, the music of classical guitarist Eric Oxendine will accompany your stroll and an art installation by Diana Carulli will enrich your visit. In the lobby of the library, branch librarian Frank Collerius will speak about the history of the building before starting you off on a self-guided tour.
Garden party hours are 6:00 to 7:30
Refreshments will be served
Library tours meet at 7:00 and 7:30
2005 Annual Meeting and 15th Annual Village Awards
Wednesday, June 22, 6:30 P.M.
The Village Community School, 272 West 10th Street
GVSHP is pleased to present its 15th Annual Village Awards to honor people, places, and organizations that contribute to the special quality of life in Greenwich Village, Noho, and the East Village. This year Village Awards will go to:
Abingdon Square Park Restoration
Biography Bookshop
Knickerbocker Bar & Grill
The Municipal Archives
Ottendorfer Branch Library Restoration
Visiting Neighbors
Keith Crandell, In Memoriam
The awards presentation will be emceed by James Stewart Polshek and will be held at the auditorium of the Village Community, one of last year’s awardees.
Modest Landmarks: The Federal Period Rowhouses of Manhattan
Wednesday June 8, 2005, 6:00 P.M.
Bank Street Theater, 155 Bank Street
$5 per panel, free to Friends of HDC and GVSHP members
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Historic Districts Council.
In 1995 preservationist Susan De Vries and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation began what was supposed to be a summer survey project to identify some of the remaining, unprotected Federal period rowhouses of Lower Manhattan. Ten years later the work continues. Join Ms. De Vries as she discusses the surprising finds, interesting challenges and continuing process to document and preserve these simple, yet fascinating buildings.
Slide Lecture: The Man Who Invented Fifth Avenue with Author Luther Harris
Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 6 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library, 6th Avenue & 10th Street
Admission is free.
Historian Luther Harris, author of the esteemed “Around Washington Square, An Illustrated History of Greenwich Village,” (2003) is offering an enticing slide lecture called, “Thomas Edward Davis: The Man Who Invented Fifth Avenue.” This is a classic New York story of pluck and luck. Its protagonist is a visionary developer who turned a modest initial investment into an amazing coup and the shrewdest real-estate play in the city’s history—and that’s saying a lot.
GVSHP’s Benefit and Tour of Village Homes
‘Look Homeward’
Sunday, May 1
Tour 1:30-5:00 P.M., Reception 5:00-7:00 P.M.
Each year, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation offers a rare opportunity to view noteworthy homes in the Village. This year’s tour will take guests through charming and magnificent homes and residences, along Commerce, Jane, and Downing Streets, among others. This extraordinary array of residences range from meticulously restored early 19th century houses, to bold adaptations of turn-of-the-century commercial structures, to dramatic and elegant contemporary spaces.
Edward Hopper in His Own Studio
with Author Avis Berman
Wednesday, April 20, 2005, 6:00 P.M.
Edward Hopper Studio, 4th Floor, NYU School of Social Work,
1 Washington Square North at Waverly Place (enter on University Place)
$10 for GVSHP members, $15 for non-members
One of America’s most compelling artists, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) lived and worked in Greenwich Village from 1913 until his death and made New York, especially the Village, the subject of seven decades of work. Author and art historian Avis Berman is offering a slide lecture based on her new book, “Edward Hopper’s New York.” Her presentation will focus on Greenwich Village locales and compare Hopper’s representations with those of other contemporary artists, including Bernice Abbott, John Sloan and William Glackens. The lecture will take place in Hopper’s own studio, where he created nearly every work of art shown. Book signing to follow the lecture.
Tour of Pratt Institute’s New Manhattan Campus Building with Kevin Tassey
Tuesday, March 29, 6:00 P.M.
144 West 14th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues
Admission is free.
Pratt Institute, one of the nation’s leading art schools, moved its Manhattan campus in 2002 to an 1896 neo-classical building on West 14th Street. For years covered in layers of soot and grime, one might have hardly noticed this grand edifice, which now sparkles with vibrant and newly restored ornamentation thanks to Pratt?s award-winning renovation. But the transformation was not limited to the exterior; Pratt fully renovated and restored the interior to provide students with cutting-edge equipment and up-to-the-minute facilities. Come see a successful blending of the old and the new, and one of the Village’s newest and most encouraging adaptive re-uses, on a tour which will be led by building manager Kevin Tassey.
Insider’s Tour of Joseph Papp’s Public Theater with Alison Harper, Giorgio Cavaglieri, and Dan Dalrymple
Monday, February 28, 6:00 p.m.
425 Lafayette Street, just south of Astor Place
Admission is free.
GVSHP is proud to offer a rare chance to explore a great piece of preservation architecture with the people who made it happen. Alison Harper, Director of Special Services for the Public from 1967 – when it first occupied this space – until 2004, will take us behind the scenes, backstage and into the skeleton of a remarkable building. Alison will be joined by Giorgio Cavaglieri, one of New York’s most revered preservation architects who converted the building for use as a theater, as well as by Dan Dalrymple, who wrote a monograph about the Public Theater. Built with a bequest by John Jacob Astor as New York’s first public library, the building was actually constructed in three separate sections by three different architects over a period of more than 30 years, but was done in such a unified way that it looks like one building. It fell into disuse and was unoccupied in 1965 when the late Joseph Papp, a theatrical impresario, persuaded the city to buy it.
Lecture & Slide Show: The Greenwich Village Waterfront with Andrew Berman
Thursday February 24, 6:20 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
The Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place at Bleecker Street, Hines Gallery
$10 AIA members; $15 non-members
As the center of NYC’s Hudson River waterfront, the Greenwich Village waterfront contains some incredible vestiges of New York’s maritime and industrial past. From Lower Manhattan’s last wood frame house to one of New York’s first concrete buildings, from the City’s largest collection of surviving sailors’ hotels to its grandest collection of monumental Romanesque warehouses, the area’s historic fabric is varied, vibrant, and full of surprises. It is also home to some of the city’s first, and most successful, adaptive re-uses of industrial and other architecture. Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, will speak about the area’s history and architecture, as well as current efforts to see it preserved through landmarking and zoning measures.
Unsung Urbanist: Robert C. Weinberg New Yorker Behind the Scenes
Thursday, January 20, 2005 at 6:00 P.M.
The Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
Admission is free.
Robert C. Weinberg (1902-1974), an almost forgotten but influential behind-the-scenes player in numerous NYC planning, preservation, and civic issues, especially in Greenwich Village, is the subject of the New York Preservation Archive Project’s program by Kress Fellow Rudie Hurwitz. To New York civic history buffs, Weinberg will be most familiar for his appearance in Robert Caro’s The Power Broker. Caro recounts the tale of Weinberg clashing with Robert Moses over the damage the Henry Hudson Bridge would do to the neighborhoods of Inwood and Riverdale. His importance, however, is much greater than this noted skirmish with Caro. While Ms. Hurwitz will focus on Weinberg’s efforts to preserve the character of Greenwich Village as well as the creation of his seminal work published in 1958, Planning and Community Appearance, Weinberg also weighed in and cast his vote on everything from handicapped parking at the Delacorte Theater to the site of the United Nations complex; from the demolition of Pennsylvania Station to the salvation of Grand Central Station to the creation of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The program is made possible through the support of the Vinmont Foundation
2004
Visiting the Past: Literature and the Preservation Movement in Late Nineteenth-Century America
Wednesday, December 15, 6:00 P.M.
Jefferson Market Regional Library, 6th Avenue at West 10th Street
Admission is free.
Henry James’s writings about the Village show how he imagined the Village would be remembered in the future. Professor Joshua Kotzin’s presentation also examines the fictions of Sarah Orne Jewett and Charles Chestnutt in relation to the emergence of the open-air museum, the period room, and the historic house museum—a rich exposition of 19th century expectations.
The public program is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities Speakers in the Humanities program.
Reflections on Book Row and its Cultural Landscape: A Talk by Marvin Mondlin, Author of Book Row America
Tuesday, November 16, 6:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Preservation Center at 232 East 11th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues) Admission is free.
Fourth Avenue’s Book Row was long an emblem of the Village’s voracious appetite for and conspicuous output of the printed word. While this special center has almost disappeared from the landscape, it has not from the minds of many long-time Village residents and New Yorkers. More than familiar anecdotes from this special district, Marvin Mondlin draws from his time-honored experience at the Strand Book Store and as owner of Amory Books (West 12th and West 4th Streets) to reveal a view of the Village’s cultural landscape from the 1940s to the end of the century. Among the people and places woven into the informal talk are Edna St. Vincent Millay and the Minneta Tavern. Books will be available for purchase.
Special Halloween Walking Tour: Macabre Greenwich Village with Joyce Gold
Sunday, October 31, 1:00 P.M.
$10 for GVSHP members; $12 for non-members
Celebrate this Halloween with Manhattan historian Joyce Gold as she presents her annual 2 1⁄2 -hour 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 10,000 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.
Rare and Historic Greenwich Village Maps: An Exclusive Showing at the New York Public Library
Wednesday, October 13, 6:00 P.M.
The New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
Explore Greenwich Village history through maps. The Map Division of The New York Public Library holds more than 400,000 maps, including outstanding maps of New York City from the 1600s to the present. Division Chief Alice Hudson and her staff have carefully selected a few dozen maps sure to be of special interest to GVSHP members. See the farms of Greenwich Village of the 18th century, and the gradual emergence of the Village’s unique and world famous meandering street grid in the 19th century. Learn how familiar sites were described in maps one hundred years older or more, what occupied the site of your home in the 18th century, and gain a new familiarity with the many forces that shaped this extraordinary neighborhood.
Picturing New York, The Paintings of Peter Ruta
Exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York
Co-Sponsored by GVSHP
May 26 - October 11
MCNY, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street Exhibition open to all
Museum hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Peter Ruta has been painting for nearly 60 years. This exhibition examines the paintings and gouaches Ruta has made of the City since 1970, when he moved to Westbeth, the artists’ community in the West Village. The paintings document the evolution of the area’s built environment, its waterfront, and the relics of the neighborhood’s industrial past. They focus on two primary views: the Lower Manhattan skyline seen from his roof, and the West Village waterfront seen from his studio windows. A third group of works includes panoramic paintings made from Ruta’s temporary studio on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center in 2000 and 2001. The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Kaplen Foundation.
Row House Romp: A Walking Tour for Children and Families
For children 7 - 12 years old.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Saturday, October 2, 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
$15/parent and child for GVSHP members; $20 for non-members. Space limited to 15 children.
Join architectural educator Jane Cowan for a special GVSHP walking tour for children and parents, as we hit the streets of Greenwich Village in search of its row house riches. While we explore, we will conduct an architectural scavenger hunt, and find elements such as dormers, bays, lintels, cornices, and stoops. Along the way, we will consider the answers to questions such as: “How did Greenwich Village get its name?,” “What does the name Bowery tell us about early Greenwich Village?” After the tour, we will return to the Neighborhood Preservation Center where children will create a small model of a Greenwich Village row house that doubles as a piggy bank. Materials provided.
Lecture, Film, and Discussion: Eugene O’Neill and the Provincetown Players with Arthur and Barbara Gelb
Provincetown Playhouse, 133 MacDougal Street
Wednesday, September 22, 6:00 P.M.
Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Millay Society at Steepletop, New York Council for The Humanities, & NYU
Free to all
As part of the series “Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Greenwich Village,” Arthur and Barbara Gelb, authors of the definitive biography of playwright Eugene O’Neill, will discuss Eugene O’Neill and the Provincetown Players. The program will include a showing of the award-winning 20-minute documentary film Monte Cristo and Eugene O’Neill. Mr. Gelb is former Managing Editor of The New York Times, and Mrs. Gelb is author of So Short a Time, a biography of John Reed and Louise Bryant, both notable Village characters.
Walking Tour: The Historic Greenwich Village Waterfront with Regina Kellerman
Tuesday, September 14, 6:00 P.M.
Co-sponsored by Friends of Hudson River Park
$5 for GVSHP and FoHRP members; $8 for non-members
Led by Regina Kellerman, historian and author of The Architecture of the Greenwich Village Waterfront, this early evening tour will explore both the well-known and little-known history of Greenwich Village’s western edge. This unique area is currently under intense development pressure, threatening to erase stunning artifacts of its history. Learn how this section of the Hudson waterfront developed to become the center of the most dynamic working waterfront in the 19th century world.
Walking Tour: Gay Greenwich Village
Saturday, June 19, 1:00 P.M.
$10 members; $15 non-members
In honor of lesbian and gay pride month, Arthur Marks will highlight the crucial role Greenwich Village played in the gay rights movement, and the history of the gay community in the Village. Sites covered will include the site of 1969’s Stonewall Riot, the site of the Ridiculous Theatrical Co., Christopher Street, the site of A Different Light bookstore, and the world’s first gay bookstore, the Oscar Wilde bookstore, among others. The tour will end at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center on West 13th Street.
2004 Annual Meeting and 14th Annual Village Awards
Tuesday, June 15th, 6:00 P.M.
The Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place
On Tuesday, June 15th, GVSHP will present its 14th Annual Village Awards to people, businesses, and organizations that contribute to the special quality of life in Greenwich Village. Receiving a Village Award this year will be:
Raffetto’s
The Washington Square Arch Restoration
Bowery Theaters: the Bouwerie Lane Theater, the Amato Opera, CBGB/OMFUG, the Bowery Ballroom, and the Bowery Poetry Club & Cafe
Angelo Bruno
The Villager Newspaper
St. Mark’s Historic Landmark Fund
The Village Community School Addition
The awards presentation will be emceed by Ray Sokolov, and will allow a glimpse at the NY Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ impressive new home.
Opening Reception, Picturing New York, The Paintings of Peter Ruta
Wednesday, June 2, 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
MCNY, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street open to GVSHP and MCNY members only
Peter Ruta has been painting for nearly 60 years. This exhibition examines the paintings and gouaches Ruta has made of the city since 1970, when he moved to Westbeth, the artists’ community in the West Village. The paintings document the evolution of the area’s built environment, its waterfront, and the relics of the neighborhood’s industrial past. They focus on two primary views: the Lower Manhattan skyline seen from his roof, and the West Village waterfront seen from his studio windows. A third group of works includes panoramic paintings made from Ruta’s temporary studio on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center in 2000 and 2001. The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Kaplen Foundation.
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Greenwich Village (1917-1925)
Film screening, poetry reading, and discussion with Sloane Shelton
Presented by the Friends of the Millay Society at Steepletop
Wednesday, May 26th, 6:00 P.M.
The Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue (at 10th Street)
Free to all, reservations required (priority given to GVSHP members)
Edna St. Vincent Millay continues to be one of the most enduring and intriguing figures of the Greenwich Village literary renaissance. Actress, Villager, and personal friend of Norma Millay, Sloane Shelton will provide new insight into Millay’s life and legacy, discussing the making of Edna St. Vincent Millay at Steepletop, a 20-minute documentary film she produced, and reading selections from Millay’s poetry.
Rally on the Steps of City Hall to
Save the Far West Village from Overdevelopment
Sunday, May 23, 2:00 P.M.
On the steps of City Hall
All are welcome; no reservations necessary
Following GVSHP’s hugely successful Town Hall in March and Rally and March in April, we will be holding a press conference on the steps of City Hall to urge the City to protect the Far West Village from ever-increasing overdevelopment. The event is part of GVSHP’s ongoing campaign to get the City to implement zoning and landmarking measures to protect the character of this unique and vulnerable neighborhood.
Walking Tour: Literary Greenwich Village
Saturday, May 15, 1:00 P.M.
$10 members; $15 non-members
Join historian and raconteur Arthur Marks for a look at the rich literary history of Greenwich Village. The tour will be based largely upon sites outlined in Caleb Carr’s critically acclaimed The Alienist, and will also touch upon the work and lives of such Village literary figures as E. L. Doctorow, James Fennimore Cooper, Edith Wharton, and Oscar Wilde, among others.
GVSHP Benefit and Tour of Village Homes, Hidden From View
Sunday, May 2
Tour 1:30-5:00 P.M., Reception 5:00-7:00 P.M.
Sunday, April 18, 1:00 P.M.
Demonstration and Rally to Save the Far West Village from Overdevelopment
Meet at Charles Lane and West Street
A Two-Part Series: The Labor Movement in Greenwich Village
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
Lecture and Book Signing with David Von Drehle
Wednesday, March 24, 7:00 P.M.
Co-Sponsored by New York University
Silver Building, 33 Washington Pl., Rm. 714.
ID required for entry
Reservations required (priority given to GVSHP members)
On March 25, 1911, as workers were getting ready to leave for the day, a fire broke out in the Triangle shirtwaist factory on Washington Place in Greenwich Village. Within minutes, the fire spread to consume the building’s upper three stories. 146 people perished in the fire—123 of who were women. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York City’s history. Author and Washington Post journalist David Von Drehle’s Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is both a chronicle of the Triangle shirtwaist fire and a vibrant portrait of an entire age. It follows the waves of Jewish and Italian immigration in the early years of the century, filling its slums and supplying its garment factories with cheap, mostly female labor. It portrays the work conditions that led to a massive waist-workers strike in which an unlikely coalition of socialists, socialites and suffragettes took on bosses, police, and magistrates. Mr. Von Drehle shows how popular revulsion at the Triangle catastrophe led to an unprecedented alliance between idealistic labor reformers and the supremely pragmatic politicians of the Tammany machine. A book signing will follow the lecture.
Artisans and Builders of 19th Century New York: Stonecutters’ Riot
Lecture with Daniel Walkowitz
Presented by the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York
Tuesday, April 6, 6:00 P.M.
The General Society Library, 20 West 44th St. (btw. 5th & 6th); $10 for GVSHP members, $15 for non-members, $5 for students. Reservations strongly recommended
In the 1830s, conflict between traditional craftsmen and prison labor from Sing Sing spilled onto the streets around Washington Square, reflecting changing work relations in urban industry and the beginning of new forms of labor organization in the city. Join Professor Daniel Walkowitz for an exploration of this pivotal and transformative moment in New York’s labor and social history.
Town Hall Meeting: Preserving the Endangered Far West Village and the Greenwich Village Waterfront
Wednesday, March 10, 7:00 P.M.
75 Morton Street, 1st Floor. No reservations required
Following the successful effort to preserve the Gansevoort Market neighborhood, GVSHP will be hosting a community-wide organizing, information-sharing, and strategizing meeting focused on securing protection for the endangered western edge of Greenwich Village, which lies beyond our currently designated historic districts. Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Community Task Force, the Federation to Preserve the Greenwich Village Waterfront, and Community Board #2.
Forgotten Renwick
Lecture with Bannon McHenry
Presented by the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York
Tuesday, February 17, 6:00 P.M.
The General Society Library, 20 West 44th St. (btw. 5th & 6th); $10 for GVSHP members, $15 for non-members, $5 for students. Reservations strongly recommended, please pay at the door
James Renwick is revered as the architect of such iconic buildings as Grace Church in Greenwich Village (one of the most important early examples of Gothic Revival architecture in America) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He was also, however, a great innovator in the use of modern materials and cutting-edge engineering. Through a lecture and slide show, Ms. McHenry will provide rare insight into this influential 19th century architect’s work, from his residential buildings in Yorkville to his institutional developments on Roosevelt Island.
Around Washington Square
Discussion & Book Signing with Luther S. Harris
January 28, 6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Ave. (at 10th St.)
Free to all, reservations required
Neighborhood historian and preservationist Luther S. Harris has spent twenty years researching the real story of New York’s social and cultural hub for his new book Around Washington Square, which Ed Koch has praised as “superbly written,” and NY Times columnist Christopher Gray called “a key work in the history of New York City.” Learn the true story of Washington Square — its unknown heroes and influence. Mr. Harris will introduce the father of Washington Square, Philip Hone; explain the Square’s critical role in the rise of Fifth Avenue; offer a new name for the “Hangman’s Elm;” give the unofficial reason for the erection of the Arch; and describe the full-blown culture and counter-culture of antebellum New York. A book signing will follow the lecture and slide presentation.
2003
Restoration of Louis Sullivan’s Historic Bayard Condict Building
Presentation and Q & A with Stephen Gottlieb of Wank Adams Slavin Associates/WASA
December 4, 6:30 P.M.
Third Street Music School, 235 East 11th Street
Reservations required for all; free for members, $5 for non-members
Join architect Stephen Gottlieb for a fascinating presentation and Q & A about the recent award-winning restoration of Louis Sullivan’s beautiful and historic Bayard Condict Building on Bleecker Street. The Bayard Condict Building is the only building in New York designed by Sullivan, who was Frank Lloyd Wright’s mentor and is considered the father of skyscraper architecture. Wank Adams Slavin Associates/WASA, under the direction of Mr. Gottlieb, designed the unusual restoration method for the all-terra cotta street facade by removing, repairing, and re-installing 1,300 of the 7,000 pieces of terracotta, instead of the usual method of replacing damaged blocks with copies. The Bayard Condict building remains one of the Village’s and NYC’s proudest architectural treasures, and the presentation promises intimate insights into one of our most unique and awe-inspiring landmarks.
The Making of “The Ballad of Greenwich Village”
Discussion and Q&A with director/filmmaker Karen Kramer
November 5, 6:30 P.M.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Avenue (at 10th St.)
Free to all, but reservations required
Documentary filmmaker and Village resident Karen Kramer will show a short excerpt from her nearly completed film about the history of Greenwich Village, entitled The Ballad of Greenwich Village. Ms. Kramer will discuss the process of making this film (which has been in the works for 10 years), personalities she interviewed for it, including Edward Albee, Norman Mailer, Maya Angelou, Tim Robbins, Richie Havens, and Peter, Paul & Mary, the challenge of capturing the spirit of America’s most transcendent neighborhood on film, and the struggle to raise funds to pay for it. The program will be an opportunity to find out more about the filmmaking process, and how you can help the filmmaker with her grassroots effort to raise the funds to tell the story of Greenwich Village on film.
The German East Village and the General Slocum Disaster
Walking tour with Joyce Gold
Co-Sponsored with Joyce Gold History Tours of New York
October 5, 1:00 P.M.
$9 members; $12 non-members
Manhattan historian Joyce Gold presents a walk through the old Little German neighborhood of the East Village. The tour will explore the General Slocum Disaster, which was responsible for the greatest loss of lives in New York prior to September 11th, 2001. Ms. Gold will also discuss the neighborhood’s transformation into Kleindeutschland in the 19th century; the life and institutions of the German population; the General Slocum Disaster’s effects on the city and the neighborhood; as well as current signs of the neighborhood’s German past.
Gansevoort Market: An Insider’s Walking Tour with Lynne Funk
Co-Sponsored with the Museum of the City of New York
October 4th, 1:00 P.M.
$10 members; $12 non-members (of GVSHP or MCNY)
Take an insider’s tour of the Gansevoort Market area with Architect Lynne Funk. This mixed-use neighborhood was just designated New York City’s 81st historic district and the first new historic district in the Village since 1969. Gansevoort Market documents the evolution of Manhattan’s industrial West Side, from a busy port to a market and transportation center. Buildings highlighted are the 1903 Colliers Magazine Printing Plant, the Antebellum Herring Safe and Lock Company, and the Cunard Pier head house arch, where the Titanic survivors returned aboard the Carpathia in 1912.
“Fear is Joy Paralyzed:” A Walking Tour of Greenwich Village with Timothy “Speed” Levitch
September 21, 1:00 P.M.
$5 members; $10 non-members
Join author, philosopher and noted personality Timothy “Speed” Levitch for a walking tour of Greenwich Village sure to be like no other you’ve taken before. Named for the chapter in his recently published book “Speedology: Speed On New York On Speed,” Levitch’s highly subjective ramble through the Village will be “as spiritual and poetic as it is factual.” After years as a tour guide in the rough and tumble world of the New York tour bus industry, Speed gained notoriety for mixing performance art and truth-seeking with his tours, and became the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary The Cruise in 1998, as well as appearing in other films such as Richard Linklater’s Waking Life and Scotland, PA, usually playing himself. Speed’s tour will begin looking up Fifth Avenue through the Washington Square Arch and include Washington Square Park and environs, MacDougal Alley, the Shearith Israel cemetery, and ends at the White Horse Tavern, where Speed will welcome all to join him for food and drink.
Greenwich Village in the Jazz Era
Walking Tour with Justin Ferate
September 14, 1:00 P.M.
$10 members; $15 non-members
Join noted tour leader and raconteur Justin Ferate and discover the legendary histories of the “Jazz Era” of Greenwich Village. In the 1920s and 1930s, the irreverent community of Greenwich Village was often considered the social and cultural epicenter of the United States. Residents of the renegade “Independent Republic of Bohemia” defied the past and defined America’s future. Social activists, radical writers, and counter-culture artists paved the way towards the future. Careers of new playwrights would rise ascendant in Village theatres. Café Society, often called “The wrong place for the right people,” introduced unknown singers, such as Billie Holiday and Lena Horne, transforming the world of music. Tourists came to “party with the natives” at “goofy clubs” such as the Pirate’s Den, with its colorful waiters in full pirate regalia. Greenwich Village boasted of New York City’s first Modern Art museum. Around the corner, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney created first museum dedicated to (horrors!) Modern American Art. Join us to tour the spots key to the flamboyant characters of this colorful era.
Ear*Inn*Virons: History of the Landmark James Brown House
Discussion, house tour, and book signing with Andy Coe, author of Ear*Inn*Virons and Rip Hayman, homesteader
August 13, 6:30 P.M.
The Ear Inn, 326 Spring Street
Free for members; $8 for non-members.
Reservations: GVSHP members will be given first priority for limited spaces plus one guest until July 31st.
Dwarfed by industrial buildings and new residential towers, the little brick and wood frame James Brown House is the spiritual hub of Manhattan’s Hudson neighborhood. The building’s present incarnation as home of the popular Ear Inn pub is only the latest in a long and fascinating history of one of NYC’s oldest buildings and first landmarks, which once housed one of NY’s most prominent freed black slaves. A discussion with Andy Coe, author of Ear*Inn*Virons and Rip Hayman, homesteader since 1973, will focus on the history of the house and neighborhood. The house tour will provide a unique opportunity to view the original 1817 interior; the upper floors are not usually open to the public. Andy Coe will be available to sign copies of his book, The Ear*Inn*Virons, which details the colorful history and folklore of the house. Due to proposed development in the area, the house may be closed to the public by the end of the year. Space for this event is limited, so please reserve a spot early!
Fiorello LaGuardia’s Greenwich Village
Walking Tour With Arthur Marks
July 19th, 1:00 P.M.
Reservations are required. Call 212-475-9585 x39 to RSVP and for meeting place
$10 members; $15 non-members
Historian Arthur Marks will take us on a tour of the area south of Washington Square Park, which, at the turn of the 19th and into the 20th century was home to many recent Italian-American immigrants. We’ll see the birth site of New York City’s first Italian-American mayor and South Village resident Fiorello LaGuardia, and learn about the Italian-American presence in the neighborhood. The tour will cover the magnificent Sullivan Garden Apartments and continue on to St. Luke’s Place, home of former mayor Jimmy Walker. The tour will finish at the corner of Hudson and St. Luke’s Place, the site of the Anglers and Writers restaurant.
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Annual Meeting and 2003 Village Awards
June 23, 6:00 P.M.
New School University Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street
Modernism in Greenwich Village
Lecture with John Kriskiewicz
May 28th, 6:30 P.M.
Free to All. Reservations required.
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue
John Kriskiewicz of the Modern Architecture Working Group will take us through the unique contributions Greenwich Village made to the modern movements in architecture. While renowned throughout the world for its carefully preserved 19th and early 20th century architecture, Greenwich Village was (and is) home to several modern masterpieces, and more than a few notable practioners of the modern movement, wielding influence far beyond the neighborhood’s borders. See how urban renewal, institutional development, and apartment house design transformed the Village, and how the Village in turn transformed the world.
The Beats on the Lower East Side
Walking Tour with David Carter and Bill Morgan
May 17, 1:00 P.M.
$12 for members; $15 for non-members
Reservations required
The Beats were an association of poets, novelists and musicians who, starting in the 1940s, sought a new way to see the world. Their quest for this new vision laid the groundwork for the cultural and artistic innovations of the 1960s. From early in their careers, the Beats lived and worked on the Lower East Side, and this tour will take you to the key locations associated with them. The tour will be led by two colleagues of Allen Ginsberg, Bill Morgan, Ginsberg’s archivist and editor of Deliberate Prose, a collection Ginsberg’s essays, and David Carter, editor of Spontaneous Mind, Ginsberg’s interviews.
GVSHP Annual House Tour and Benefit
May 5
Astor Place: 17th Century Country to 21st Century City
Walking Tour with Arthur Marks
April 19, 1:00 P.M.
$12 for members; $15 for non-members
Reservations required
Starting at St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, the oldest church site in New York City, the tour will explore the Renwick Triangle, James Fennimore Cooper’s home, and St. Mark’s Place. We will view Cooper Square, the Joseph Papp Public Theater, La Grange Terrace, the Old Merchant’s House, Grace Church, and the sites of the Yiddish Theater.
It Happened on Washington Square
Lecture with Emily Folpe
April 2, 6:30 P.M.
Free to all
Reservations required
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Avenue
Washington Square has been a vital public space for two centuries. Farmed by New Amsterdam’s freed blacks, the site served as a potter’s field after the Revolutionary War, then a parade ground and finally a park built under Boss Tweed. The talk, Illustrated with archival prints and photographs, will trace the evolution of the site and the development of its architecture, focusing on the Square’s colorful social history and its longstanding identification as a place of celebration, protest and civic activism.
The Immigrant, Radical, and Notorious Women of Washington Square
Walking Tour with Joyce Gold
March 29, 1:00 P.M.
$10 for GVSHP members; $12 for non-members Reservations required
Historian Joyce Gold will present a walking tour through Washington Square, with an emphasis on the women who have lived there. Washington Square has been the home of many of the political, creative, and intellectual movements in New York’s history, not least in part to its consistently amazing female population. Perhaps in no other six blocks on earth have so many notable women lived and achieved for the last 150 years.
Throughout the years, it has seen an unparalleled variety of women—working class, gentry, radical, literary, academic, theatrical, convict, and immigrant. Eleanor Roosevelt, Edith Wharton, Louisa May Alcott, Lila Acheson Wallace, Paulette Goddard, Emily Roebling, Bella Abzug, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Ida Tarbell, Emily Post all shared this famed New York neighborhood.
Cooper Square (Kin-tay-koy-ying) at the Crossroads of History, a Native American View
Lecture and book signing with Evan Pritchard
March 4, 7:00 P.M.
Free to all. Reservations required
The 3rd Street Music School Settlement Auditorium, 235 East 11th Street
Evan Pritchard, author of the recently published Native New Yorkers, The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, will take us on a journey through the history of Cooper Square/Astor Place and the surrounding Village/East Village/NoHo crossroads through Native American eyes, and demonstrate how its story traces the story of America. What happened to the Algonquin citizens of Lenape Hoking who used to meet and hear oratory at this very crossroads is a remarkable tale. Using archaeology, linguistics, and oral and written histories, this talk will link the legacy of the Lenape with New York’s development as a city, and with situations we are faced with today. Lecture will be followed by question and answers and a book signing.
2002
Lights, Camera, Greenwich Village
Walking Tour with Arthur Marks
November 2, 1:00 P.M.
$12 for members; $15 for non-members
“You Ought to be in Pictures,” and you will, on this tour of film sites in Greenwich. Village. You’ll learn why Manhattan is known as “Hollywood on the Hudson,” and why so many movie notables have chosen to make so many movies in Greenwich Village. You’ll see the sites of many cinematic scenes and learn how they were created. Join architectural historian and raconteur Arthur Marks for the sites, and the insights.
Gansevoort Market: An Insider’s Walking Tour
Walking tour with Lynn Funk
October 26, 1:00 P.M.
Co-sponsored with the Museum of the City of New York
Architect Lynn Funk will lead this insider’s tour of the Gansevoort Market Neighborhood highlighting the evolution of industry in Manhattan’s West Village, from a busy port to a surface transportation hub. Some of the buildings highlighted in the tour are the 1903 Colliers Magazine printing plant, the antebellum Herring Safe & Lock Co., and the pier house where Titanic survivors came into port. Included in the tour will be several neighborhood art and craft studios.
The Exhilarating Proximity of Artists, Writers, Bohemians, and Blithe Spirits in Greenwich Village
Book Reading and Slide Show with Judith Stonehill
October 24, 7:00 P.M.
Free to all
The Pen and Brush Club, 16 East 10th Street
Join Judith Stonehill, past president of GVSHP and author of the new book Greenwich Village: A Guide to America’s Legendary Left Bank, as she reads selections from and expands on the stories in her book about the Village’s extraordinary heritage of artists, writers, and rebels during the century between the 1850s and the 1950s. An accompanying slide show offers the chance to view rare photographs of Greenwich Village’s creative past.
Walt Whitman’s Greenwich Village
Walking Tour with Arthur Marks
October 5, 1:00 P.M.
$12 for members, $15 for non-members
Walt Whitman, the great poet of 19th Century America, lived in Brooklyn during the first part of his life, but spent much time in Manhattan in the years before the Civil War. This tour follows the same path Whitman often took as he traversed the city. The tour will start at the site of Pfaff’s Oyster House, once a literary haunt, and meander thought Greenwich Village, one of the neighborhoods Whitman visited. Architectural historian and raconteur Arthur Marks leads this literary tour.
The Stonewall Riots
Book Reading with David Carter
September 24, 7:00 P.M.
Free to all
The Gay Community Center, 208 West 13th Street
Author David Carter will give the first public reading from Stonewall, his history of the Stonewall Riots, to be published next year by St. Martin’s Press. The book is the result of ten years of research, during which Carter researched archives from San Francisco to Amsterdam, interviewed witnesses, and cross-checked era documents. A question and answer period will follow the book reading.
Lost & Found Monuments by White, Hunt, Renwick, and Upjohn
Walking Tour with David Garrard Lowe
May 25, 1:00 P.M.
Join Beaux Arts Alliance President David Garrard Lowe as we discover Greenwich Village’s significant contributions by major architects.
After the Kimmel Center: A Panel Discussion and Forum on Neighborhood Planning and Preservation
April 30th
Workshop: IMAGINE NY
April 13, 1:00 P.M.
GVSHP, 232 East 11th Street
GVSHP and the Neighborhood Preservation Center will be conducting a workshop as part of the IMAGINE NY Program. IMAGINE NY looks at how our city has changed and should change as a result of September 11th. Workshops will be held throughout New York that weekend for participants to envision the future of the World Trade Center site and our city following this terrible disaster. The “visions” produced by these workshops will be sent to the officials in charge of the post-September 11th rebuilding effort.
GVSHP wants to ensure that a preservation ethic is part of the vision for a post-September 11th New York. Rebuilding can and should include preserving parts of our city with unique character and history, and not simply involve across the board large-scale new development.
GVSHP’s IMAGINE NY workshop will be held at 232 East 11th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Spaces are limited, so please call GVSHP at (212) 475-9585 to reserve a spot. For more information on IMAGINE NY workshops, go to www.imaginenewyork.org, or call (212) 750-3972.
|
|
GVSHP hosts a wide variety of public programs throughout the year.
RSVP INFORMATION
To register for a free event, please call (212) 475-9585 ext. 35 or email.
|
|
