125-564: The Cornelia Street Cafe was a restaurant and bar at 29 Cornelia Street in New York City's Greenwich Village , opened in July 1977. The cafe closed at the end of 2018 because of rising rents from the gentrification of the West Village, ending on its holiday closed day of New Year's Day 2019. The cafe had been voted one of the best places to listen to jazz music in the world. In the 21st century,
250-497: A Historic District established by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission . The District's convoluted borders run no farther south than 4th Street or St. Luke's Place, and no farther east than Washington Square East or University Place. Redevelopment in that area is severely restricted, and developers must preserve the main façade and aesthetics of the buildings during renovation. Most of
375-404: A buffer zone to Native Americans outside the settlement. In 1643, a group of "half-freed" slaves and elders such as Domingo Anthony, Manuel Trumpeter and Catalina Anthony, received land grants to build and maintain farms in the areas containing and surrounding Washington Square Park. The families who received the land were no longer slaves, but had to give a portion of the profits they received from
500-753: A division of The New School, and the School's Graduate School expanded in the 2000s, with the renovated, award-winning design of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at 66 Fifth Avenue on 13th Street. The Cooper Union is located in Greenwich Village, at Astor Place , near St. Mark's Place on the border of the East Village . Pratt Institute established its latest Manhattan campus in an adaptively reused Brunner & Tryon -designed loft building on 14th Street, east of Seventh Avenue. The university campus building expansion
625-655: A frame house capacious enough to hold sittings of the New York General Assembly when smallpox rendered the city dangerous in 1739 and subsequent years; on one occasion in 1746, the house of Mordecai Gomez was used. Warren's house, which survived until the Civil War era , overlooked the North River from a bluff; its site on the block bounded by Perry and Charles Streets, Bleecker and West 4th Streets, can still be recognized by its mid-19th century rowhouses inserted into
750-469: A gravestone dated to 1803 were uncovered 10 feet (3.0 m) below ground level. The first fountain next to the arch was completed in 1852 and replaced in 1872. In 1851, it was described as having "a very large circular basin, with a central jet and several side jets." A story on the completion of the fountain appeared in the first edition of the New-York Daily Times , which would eventually become
875-632: A group of 22 houses sharing a common back garden, built in the Greek Revival style and later renovated with Colonial Revival façades. In 1969, the LPC designated the Greenwich Village Historic District – which remained the city's largest for four decades – despite preservationists' advocacy for the entire neighborhood to be designated an historic district. Advocates continued to pursue their goal of additional designation, spurred in particular by
1000-403: A hygienic measure. A legend in many tourist guides says that the large elm at the northwest corner of the park, Hangman's Elm , was the old hanging tree. However, research indicates the tree was on the side of the former Minetta Creek that was the back garden of a private house. Records of only one public hanging at the potter's field exist. Two eyewitnesses to the recorded hanging differed on
1125-447: A more permanent home at 52 West 8th Street. The school remained active until 1958, when Hofmann retired from teaching. On January 8, 1947, stevedore Andy Hintz was fatally shot by hitmen John M. Dunn , Andrew Sheridan , and Danny Gentile in front of his apartment. Before he died on January 29, he told his wife that "Johnny Dunn shot me." The three gunmen were immediately arrested. Sheridan and Dunn were executed. The Village hosted
1250-518: A neighborhood still retaining many houses of the 1830–37 boom. From 1797 until 1829, the bucolic village of Greenwich was the location of New York State's first penitentiary , Newgate Prison, on the Hudson River at what is now West 10th Street , near the Christopher Street pier. The building was designed by Joseph-François Mangin , who would later co-design New York City Hall . Although
1375-660: A part of the Village ethos. Shortly after the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was established in 1965, it acted to protect parts of Greenwich Village, designating the small Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District in 1966, which contains the city's largest concentration of row houses in the Federal style, as well as a significant concentration of Greek Revival houses, and the even smaller MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District in 1967,
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#17330856391661500-699: A plurality (42%) are between the ages of 25–44, while 24% are between 45 and 64, and 15% are 65 or older. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 9% and 10%, respectively. As of 2017, the median household income in Community Districts 1 and 2 (including the Financial District and Tribeca ) was $ 144,878, though the median income in Greenwich Village individually was $ 119,728. In 2018, an estimated 9% of Greenwich Village and SoHo residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. Rent burden, or
1625-403: A redevelopment of the park, a skating rink and bandshell would have been reconstructed. Later that year, a committee was organized to appoint a landscape architect for a $ 800,000 renovation of Washington Square Park. The city studied a plan to add a fence around Washington Square Park in 1973. Four pedestrians were killed in a car crash at the park in 1992, prompting NYU to suggest closing
1750-487: A resolution to re-appropriate an old potter's field into a military parade ground," and the city bought the land west of Minetta Creek, the square was laid out and leveled, and it was turned into the Washington Military Parade Ground. Military parade grounds were public spaces specified by the city where volunteer militia companies responsible for the nation's defense would train. The streets surrounding
1875-567: A wading pool. In 1952, Moses finalized plans to extend 5th Avenue through the park. He intended to eventually push it through the neighborhood south of the park, as part of an urban renewal project. Area residents, including Eleanor Roosevelt , opposed the plans. The urbanist Jane Jacobs became an activist and is credited with stopping the Moses plan and closing Washington Square Park to all auto traffic, but Jacobs, in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities , praised another local advocate in
2000-482: Is an art school formed in the mid-1960s in the Village. Officially opened September 23, 1964, the school is still active, at 8 W. 8th Street, the site of the original Whitney Museum of American Art . Greenwich Village was home to a safe house used by the radical anti-war movement known as the Weather Underground . On March 6, 1970, their safehouse was destroyed when an explosive device they were constructing
2125-429: Is another sub-neighborhood of Greenwich Village that is bordered on its west by the Hudson River and on its east by Hudson Street . Into the early 20th century, Greenwich Village was distinguished from the upper-class neighborhood of Washington Square—based on the major landmark of Washington Square Park or Empire Ward in the 19th century. Encyclopædia Britannica ' s 1956 article on "New York (City)" states (under
2250-551: Is more organic than the planned grid pattern of the 19th century grid plan (based on the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 ). Greenwich Village was allowed to keep the 18th century street pattern of what is now called the West Village: areas that were already built up when the plan was implemented, west of what is now Greenwich Avenue and Sixth Avenue , resulted in a neighborhood whose streets are dramatically different, in layout, from
2375-696: Is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). The park is an open space, dominated by the Washington Square Arch at the northern gateway to the park, with a tradition of celebrating nonconformity. The park's fountain area has long been one of the city's popular spots, and many of the local buildings have at one time served as homes and studios for artists. Many buildings have been built by New York University , while others have been converted from their former uses into academic and residential buildings. Located at
2500-538: Is patrolled by the 6th Precinct of the New York City Police Department . Greenwich Village has undergone extensive gentrification and commercialization; the four ZIP Codes that constitute the Village – 10011, 10012, 10003, and 10014 – were all ranked among the ten most expensive in the United States by median housing prices in 2014, according to Forbes , with residential property sale prices in
2625-681: Is the Isaacs-Hendricks House, at 77 Bedford Street (built 1799, much altered and enlarged 1836, third story 1928). When the Church of St. Luke in the Fields was founded in 1820, it stood in fields south of the road (now Christopher Street) that led from Greenwich Lane (now Greenwich Avenue ) down to a landing on the North River. In 1822, a yellow fever epidemic in New York encouraged residents to flee to
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#17330856391662750-457: The New York Times . The statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi was unveiled in 1888. In 1918, two statues of George Washington were added to the north side. Robert Moses became the parks commissioner in 1934. He embarked on a crusade to fully redesign the park, and local activists began an opposing fight that lasted three decades. In 1934, Robert Moses had the fountain renovated to also serve as
2875-611: The Village Vanguard and the Blue Note are still presenting some of the biggest names in jazz on a regular basis. Other music clubs include The Bitter End , and Lion's Den . The Village has its own orchestra aptly named the Greenwich Village Orchestra . Comedy clubs dot the Village as well, including Comedy Cellar , where many American stand-up comedians got their start. Several publications have offices in
3000-453: The Caffe Cino at 31 Cornelia Street, operated by the eccentric Joe Cino , who early on took a liking to actors and playwrights and agreed to let them stage plays there without bothering to read the plays first, or to even find out much about the content. Also integral to the rise of Off-Off-Broadway were Ellen Stewart at La MaMa , originally located at 321 E. 9th Street, and Al Carmines at
3125-565: The Common Council of New York purchased the fields to the east of the Minetta (which were not yet within city limits) for a new potter's field , or public burial ground. It was used mainly for burying unknown or indigent people when they died. But when New York (which did not include this area yet) went through yellow fever epidemics in the early 19th century, most of those who died from yellow fever were also buried here, safely away from town, as
3250-561: The East Village to the east, SoHo and Hudson Square to the south, and Chelsea and Union Square to the north. The East Village was formerly considered part of the Lower East Side and has never been considered a part of Greenwich Village. The western part of Greenwich Village is known as the West Village ; the dividing line of its eastern border is debated but commonly cited as Seventh Avenue or Sixth Avenue . The Far West Village
3375-496: The East Village - Haight Ashbury hippie scene of the next decade. The Village (and surrounding New York City) would later play central roles in the writings of, among others, Maya Angelou , James Baldwin , William S. Burroughs , Truman Capote , Allen Ginsberg , Jack Kerouac , Rod McKuen , Marianne Moore , and Dylan Thomas , who collapsed at the Chelsea Hotel , and died at St. Vincents Hospital at 170 West 12th Street, in
3500-531: The Film Forum . The Salvation Army 's former American headquarters at 120–130 West 14th Street is in the northern portion of Greenwich Village. Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a 9.75-acre (3.95 ha) public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan , New York City. It is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. The park
3625-535: The Grey Art Gallery bordering Washington Square Park, at 100 Washington Square East. The Grey Art Gallery is notable for its museum-quality exhibitions of contemporary art. The Village has a bustling performing arts scene. It is home to many Off Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theaters; for instance, Blue Man Group has taken up residence in the Astor Place Theater. The Village Gate (until 1992),
3750-738: The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor was inaugurated at the Stonewall Inn; and on June 28, 2024, the Stonewall National Monument Visitors Center opened, as the first official national visitors center dedicated to the LGBTQ+ experience to open anywhere in the world. Numerous politicians and celebrities participated in the inauguration ceremonies, and the New York City Subway 's Christopher Street–Sheridan Square station
3875-555: The New York City Council 's 3rd district. In the 16th century, Lenape referred to its farthest northwest corner, by the cove on the Hudson River at present-day Gansevoort Street, as Sapokanikan ("tobacco field"). The land was cleared and turned into pasture by the Dutch and their enslaved Africans, who named their settlement Noortwyck (also spelled Noortw ij ck , "North district", equivalent to 'North wich /Northwick'). In
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4000-646: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on the basis of its status in LGBTQ history, and on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall National Monument was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the LGBTQ-rights movement. Greenwich Village contains the world's oldest gay and lesbian bookstore, Oscar Wilde Bookshop , founded in 1967, while The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center – best known as simply "The Center" – has occupied
4125-694: The Provincetown Players converted the structure into a theatre they christened the Cherry Lane Playhouse, which opened on March 24, 1924, with the play The Man Who Ate the Popomack . During the 1940s The Living Theatre , Theatre of the Absurd , and the Downtown Theater movement all took root there, and it developed a reputation as a showcase for aspiring playwrights and emerging voices. In one of
4250-525: The Velvet Underground . The Greenwich Village of the 1950s and 1960s was at the center of Jane Jacobs 's book The Death and Life of Great American Cities , which defended it and similar communities, while criticizing common urban renewal policies of the time. Founded by New York-based artist Mercedes Matter and her students, the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
4375-505: The West Bronx (the current site of Bronx Community College ), to Greenwich Village with many buildings around Gould Plaza on West 4th Street. In 1976 Yeshiva University established the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in the northern part of Greenwich Village. In the 1980s Hebrew Union College was built in Greenwich Village. The New School , with its Parsons The New School for Design ,
4500-485: The 1630s, Governor Wouter van Twiller farmed tobacco on 200 acres (0.81 km ) here at his "Farm in the Woods". The English conquered the Dutch settlement of New Netherland in 1664, and Greenwich Village developed as a hamlet separate from the larger New York City to the south on land that would eventually become the Financial District . In 1644, the eleven Dutch African settlers in the area were granted half freedoms after
4625-467: The 19th century, the district of Washington Square was considered separate from Greenwich Village. In 1825, the Commercial Advertiser was writing that "Greenwich is no longer a country village. Such has been the growth of our city that the building of one block more will connect the two places" of Greenwich and New York. By 1850, the city had developed entirely around Greenwich Village such that
4750-553: The Centennial Parade of Washington's Inauguration. The temporary plaster and wood arch was so popular that in 1892, a permanent Tuckahoe marble arch, designed by the New York architect Stanford White , was erected, standing 77 feet (23 m) and modeled after the Arc de Triomphe , built in Paris in 1806. During the excavations for the eastern part of the arch, human remains, a coffin, and
4875-546: The City of New York's right to transfer three plots of Department of Transportation-owned land to the university for constructing staging, which plaintiffs claimed required the consent of the state legislature. Ultimately, the Appellate Division of New York's Supreme Court ruled in the university's favor after a lower court blocked the expansion plan; however, so far, the university has only begun construction on 181 Mercer Street ,
5000-608: The Cornelia Street Cafe was a restaurant and nightclub, showcasing musicians, poets, writers, and artists. In 1998, the cafe was one of the restaurants recognized by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation with a Village Award presented to "Cornelia Street Restaurants". In December 1977, the then-fledgling cafe hosted the first meeting of the Songwriters Exchange, a weekly gathering in which
5125-635: The Folklore Center—who had been trying to get permits for the folksingers—and about 500 musicians and supporters gathered in the park and sang songs without a permit, then held a procession from the park through the arch at Fifth Avenue, and marched to the Judson Memorial Church on the other side of the park. At about the time the musicians and friends reached the church, the New York City Police Department Riot Squad
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5250-507: The Greenwich Village Community Planning Board, a local resident and mother of four sons, started a public outcry for the park in 1952 when a large, modern apartment building was constructed on the northwest corner of Washington Square North and Fifth Avenue. When then-Manhattan borough president Hulan E. Jack suggested an elevated pedestrian walkway over a four-lane road through the park, Ms. Hayes initiated "Save
5375-703: The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, including the former Bell Telephone Labs Complex (1861–1933), now Westbeth Artists' Housing , designated in 2011; the Silver Towers/University Village Complex (1967), designed by I.M. Pei and including the Picasso sculpture Portrait of Sylvette , designated in 2008; and three early 19th-century federal houses at 127, 129 and 131 MacDougal Street. Several contextual rezonings were enacted in Greenwich Village in recent years to limit
5500-615: The Judson Poets' Theater, located at Judson Memorial Church on the south side of Washington Square Park . The Village had a cutting-edge cabaret and music scene. The Village Gate , the Village Vanguard , and the Blue Note (since 1981) regularly hosted some of the biggest names in jazz . Greenwich Village also played a major role in the development of the folk music scene of the 1960s. Music clubs included Gerde's Folk City , The Bitter End , Cafe Au Go Go , Cafe Wha? , The Gaslight Cafe and The Bottom Line . Three of
5625-550: The Square!", a seven-year battle to keep automobiles out of the quiet area. Though several different proposals were given for a roadway in the park, Hayes and her followers rejected them all. Seeking to "best serve the needs of children and adults of this family community," Hayes in turn presented her own proposal: 1.75 acres (700 m ) of roadway would be converted to parkland, a paved area would be created for emergency access only, and all other vehicles would be permanently banned from
5750-534: The Village after drinking at the White Horse Tavern on November 5, 1953. Off-Off-Broadway began in Greenwich Village in 1958 as a reaction to Off Broadway , and a "complete rejection of commercial theatre". Among the first venues for what would soon be called "Off-Off-Broadway" (a term supposedly coined by critic Jerry Tallmer of the Village Voice ) were coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, in particular,
5875-524: The Village and have fought to preserve its architectural and historic integrity. In the 1960s, Margot Gayle led a group of citizens to preserve the Jefferson Market Courthouse (later reused as Jefferson Market Library), while other citizen groups fought to keep traffic out of Washington Square Park, and Jane Jacobs , using the Village as an example of a vibrant urban community, advocated to keep it that way. Since then, preservation has been
6000-775: The Village's nightclub, theater, and coffeehouse scene during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Many artists garnered critical acclaim, some before and some after, performed in the Village. This list includes Eric Andersen , Joan Baez , Jackson Browne , the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem , Richie Havens , Jimi Hendrix , Janis Ian , the Kingston Trio , the Lovin' Spoonful , Bette Midler , Liza Minnelli , Joni Mitchell , Maria Muldaur , Laura Nyro , Phil Ochs , Tom Paxton , Peter, Paul, and Mary , Carly Simon , Simon & Garfunkel , Nina Simone , Barbra Streisand , James Taylor , and
6125-691: The Village's songwriters could present their new songs – and only new songs – to their peers. Two years later the cafe sponsored Cornelia Street: The Songwriters Exchange , an LP of eight Village singer-songwriters; released by Stash Records, the LP was named "Album Of The Month" by Stereo Review in December 1979, and was later re-released as a CD. It has the first known recordings of several prominent Village artists, including Cliff Eberhardt, David Massengill, Rod MacDonald , Martha Hogan, Michael Fracasso, Brian Rose, Eliot Simon and Lucy Kaplansky (as Simon & Kaplansky), and
6250-540: The Village, most notably the monthly magazines American Heritage and Fortune and formerly also the citywide newsweekly the Village Voice . The National Audubon Society , having relocated its national headquarters from a mansion in Carnegie Hill to a restored and very green , former industrial building in NoHo , relocated to smaller but even greener LEED certified building at 225 Varick Street, on Houston Street near
6375-399: The Village. As one press critic put it in 2013, "For decades, New York University has waged architectural war on Greenwich Village." In recent years, the university has clashed most prominently with community groups such as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation over the construction of new NYU academic buildings and residence halls. During the design of Furman Hall in 2000,
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#17330856391666500-708: The Weavers , who also in Christmas 1949, played at the Village Vanguard . The annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade , initiated in 1974 by Greenwich Village puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee , is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major Halloween nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million in-person spectators, and a worldwide television audience of over 100 million. The parade has its roots in New York's queer community. Greenwich Village again became important to
6625-417: The West Village neighborhood typically exceeding US$ 2,100/sq ft ($ 23,000/m ) in 2017. The neighborhood is bordered by Broadway to the east, the North River (part of the Hudson River ) to the west, Houston Street to the south, and 14th Street to the north. It is roughly centered on Washington Square Park and New York University . Adjacent to Greenwich Village are the neighborhoods of NoHo and
6750-421: The bohemian scene during the 1950s, when the Beat Generation focused its energies there. Fleeing from what they saw as oppressive social conformity, a loose collection of writers, poets, artists, and students (later known as the Beats ) and the Beatniks , moved to Greenwich Village, and to North Beach in San Francisco , in many ways creating the U.S. East Coast and West Coast predecessors, respectively, to
6875-474: The building housed the first architectural school in the United States. Soon after its completion in 1857, the building helped to make Greenwich Village central to the arts in New York City, drawing artists from all over the country to work, exhibit, and sell their art. In its initial years Winslow Homer took a studio there, as did Edward Lamson Henry , and many of the artists of the Hudson River School , including Frederic Church and Albert Bierstadt . From
7000-403: The buildings of Greenwich Village are mid-rise apartments, 19th century row houses, and the occasional one-family walk-up, a sharp contrast to the high-rise landscape in Midtown and Downtown Manhattan . Politically, Greenwich Village is in New York's 10th congressional district . It is also in the New York State Senate 's 25th district, the New York State Assembly 's 66th district, and
7125-433: The community, especially considering that the Parks Department orchestrated the naming without consulting the City Council. In December 2007, NYC Parks began construction on a project to redesign and refurbish Washington Square Park, which at the time was projected to cost $ 16 million. Changes to the park included moving the fountain off center to improve its visual alignment with the arch when viewed from above, replacing
7250-399: The early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn , 53 Christopher Street . Considered together, the demonstrations are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States . On June 23, 2015, the Stonewall Inn was the first landmark in New York City to be recognized by
7375-422: The eastern half of the park was reopened to the public, leaving only the park's southwest corner under construction. In mid-August 2012, the new granite benches heated up to 125 °F (52 °C) in the sun, seemingly vindicating community members who had charged that the renovations were primarily to discourage public use of the park. The entire renovation was completed in 2014 for $ 30.6 million. In July 2020,
7500-403: The environmental review of the renovation project were heard in 2007 by the New York County Supreme Court, then dismissed. Upon the completion of phase one of the park's renovation on May 22, 2009, the Coalition for a Better Washington Square Park, a private organization, began raising money to "hire off-duty cops and maintenance workers to patrol the park" by the summer of 2010. On June 2, 2011,
7625-577: The fact that the bohemian days of Greenwich Village are long gone, because of the extraordinarily high housing costs in the neighborhood. The artists fled to other New York City neighborhoods including SoHo , Tribeca , Dumbo , Williamsburg , and Long Island City . Nevertheless, residents of Greenwich Village still possess a strong community identity and are proud of their neighborhood's unique history and fame, and its well-known liberal live-and-let-live attitudes. Historically, local residents and preservation groups have been concerned about development in
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#17330856391667750-408: The fight against park traffic, Shirley Hayes: "Hayes and the Washington Square Park Committee advocated eliminating the existing road, that is, closing the park to all automobile traffic – but at the same time, not widening the perimeter roads either. In short, they proposed closing off a roadbed without compensating for it." Hayes, former chairman of the Washington Square Park Committee and member of
7875-432: The first Black legal protest in America. All received parcels of land in what is now Greenwich Village, in an area that became known as the Land of the Blacks . The earliest known reference to the village's name as "Greenwich" dates back to 1696, in the will of Yellis Mandeville of Greenwich; however, the village was not mentioned in the city records until 1713. Sir Peter Warren began accumulating land in 1731 and built
8000-442: The first building in the planned 1.5-million-square-foot (140,000 m ) expansion southwards. For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Greenwich Village as part of the West Village neighborhood tabulation area. According to the 2010 United States Census , the population of West Village was 66,880, a change of −1,603 (−2.4%) from the 68,483 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 583.47 acres (236.12 ha),
8125-435: The foot of Fifth Avenue , the park is bordered by Washington Square North (known as Waverly Place east and west of the park), Washington Square East (known as University Place north of the park), Washington Square South (known as West 4th Street east and west of the park), and Washington Square West (known as MacDougal Street north and south of the park). While the park contains many flower beds and trees, little of
8250-423: The former Food & Maritime Trades High School at 208 West 13th Street since 1984. In 2006, the Village was the scene of an assault involving seven lesbians and a straight man that sparked appreciable media attention, with strong statements defending both sides of the case. On June 20, 2023, the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Washington Square North was officially renamed Edie Windsor and Thea Speyer Way at
8375-446: The founding of "The Independent Republic of Greenwich Village" on January 24, 1917). In 1924, the Cherry Lane Theatre was established. Located at 38 Commerce Street, it is New York City's oldest continuously running Off-Broadway theater. A landmark in Greenwich Village's cultural landscape, it was built as a farm silo in 1817, and also served as a tobacco warehouse and box factory before Edna St. Vincent Millay and other members of
8500-437: The fountain or fountain plaza area, pending further review of the plans by the local community board, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission , and the Art Commission, stating that NYC Parks had intentionally misrepresented the project in a scheme to secure its approval. The ruling was reversed on appeal. Another lawsuit challenging the art commission's approval of the plan was dismissed. Two more lawsuits questioning
8625-472: The four members of the Mamas & the Papas met there. Guitarist and folk singer Dave Van Ronk lived there for many years. Village resident and cultural icon Bob Dylan by the mid-60s had become one of the world's foremost popular songwriters, and often developments in Greenwich Village would influence the simultaneously occurring folk rock movement in San Francisco and elsewhere, and vice versa. Dozens of other cultural and popular icons got their start in
8750-401: The frequent release of prisoners, sometimes as many as 50 a day. Since the prison was north of the New York City boundary at the time, being sentenced to Newgate became known as being "sent up the river". This term became popularized once prisoners started being sentenced to Sing Sing Prison , in the town of Ossining upstream of New York City. The oldest house remaining in Greenwich Village
8875-434: The golden age of bohemianism , Greenwich Village became famous for such eccentrics as Joe Gould (profiled at length by Joseph Mitchell ) and Maxwell Bodenheim , dancer Isadora Duncan , writer William Faulkner , and playwright Eugene O'Neill . Political rebellion also made its home here, whether serious ( John Reed ) or frivolous ( Marcel Duchamp and friends set off balloons from atop Washington Square Arch , proclaiming
9000-478: The groups to avoid future appeals, which included reducing the building to 9 stories and restoring the facades of two historic houses located on the site, the Judson House and a red-brick town house where Edgar Allan Poe once lived, which NYU reconstructed as they appeared in the 19th century. Another dispute arose during the construction of the 26-story Founders Hall, a residence hall planned to be constructed on
9125-419: The healthier air of Greenwich Village, and afterwards many stayed. The future site of Washington Square was a potter's field from 1797 to 1823 when up to 20,000 of New York's poor were buried here, and still remain. The handsome Greek revival rowhouses on the north side of Washington Square were built about 1832, establishing the fashion of Washington Square and lower Fifth Avenue for decades to come. Well into
9250-421: The increased pace of development in the 1990s. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the architectural and cultural character and heritage of the neighborhood, successfully proposed new districts and individual landmarks to the LPC. Those include: The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated as landmarks several individual sites proposed by
9375-549: The insurrectionist forces in Italy's struggle for unification; and Alexander Lyman Holley , a talented engineer who helped start the American steel industry after the invention of the Bessemer process for mass-producing steel. The New York City Police Department operates security cameras in the park. The area has a low crime rate in the "safest big city in the United States." The land
9500-411: The intention of its first warden, Quaker prison reformer Thomas Eddy , was to provide a rational and humanitarian place for retribution and rehabilitation, the prison soon became an overcrowded and pestilent place, subject to frequent riots by the prisoners which damaged the buildings and killed some inmates. By 1821, the prison, designed for 432 inmates, held 817 instead, a number made possible only by
9625-565: The land to the Dutch West India Company and pay annual land fees. Their children would be born as slaves, rather than free. The area became the core of an early African American community in New York, then called the Land of the Blacks and later "Little Africa". Among those who owned parcels in what is now Washington Square Park was Paulo D'Angola. It remained farmland until April 1797, when
9750-575: The late 19th century until the present, the Hotel Albert has served as a cultural icon of Greenwich Village. Opened during the 1880s and originally located at 11th Street and University Place, called the Hotel St. Stephan and then, after 1902, called the Hotel Albert while under the ownership of William Ryder, it served as a meeting place, restaurant and dwelling for several important artists and writers from
9875-415: The late 19th century well into the 20th century. After 1902, the owner's brother Albert Pinkham Ryder lived and painted there. Some other noted guests who lived there include: Augustus St. Gaudens , Robert Louis Stevenson , Mark Twain , Hart Crane , Walt Whitman , Anaïs Nin , Thomas Wolfe , Robert Lowell , Horton Foote , Salvador Dalí , Philip Guston , Jackson Pollock , and Andy Warhol . During
10000-431: The location of the gallows. One said it had been put up at a spot where the fountain was prior to 2007 park redesign. Others placed the gallows closer to where the arch is now. However, the cemetery was closed in 1825. To this day, the remains of more than 20,000 bodies rest under Washington Square. Excavations have found tombstones under the park dating as far back as 1799. In 1826, Alderman Abraham Valentine "introduced
10125-538: The many Manhattan properties that Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and her husband owned, Gertrude Whitney established the Whitney Studio Club at 8 West 8th Street in 1914, as a facility where young artists could exhibit their works. By the 1930s it had evolved into her greatest legacy, the Whitney Museum of American Art , on the site of today's New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture . The Whitney
10250-517: The modern LGBTQ movement , and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat Generation and counterculture of the 1960s . Greenwich Village contains Washington Square Park , as well as two of New York City's private colleges, New York University (NYU) and The New School . In later years it has been associated with hipsters . Greenwich Village is part of Manhattan Community District 2 , and
10375-601: The most famous courts, is "The Cage", officially known as the West Fourth Street Courts . Sitting atop the West Fourth Street–Washington Square station at Sixth Avenue, the courts are used by basketball and American handball players from across the city. The Cage has become one of the most important tournament sites for the citywide " Streetball " amateur basketball tournament. Since 1975, New York University's art collection has been housed at
10500-763: The nation's first racially integrated nightclub , when Café Society was opened in 1938 at 1 Sheridan Square by Barney Josephson . Café Society showcased African American talent and was intended to be an American version of the political cabarets that Josephson had seen in Europe before World War I . Notable performers there included: Pearl Bailey , Count Basie , Nat King Cole , John Coltrane , Miles Davis , Ella Fitzgerald , Coleman Hawkins , Billie Holiday , Lena Horne , Burl Ives , Lead Belly , Anita O'Day , Charlie Parker , Les Paul and Mary Ford , Paul Robeson , Kay Starr , Art Tatum , Sarah Vaughan , Dinah Washington , Josh White , Teddy Wilson , Lester Young , and
10625-403: The neighborhood had a population density of 114.6/acre (73,300/sq mi; 28,300/km ). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 80.9% (54,100) White , 2% (1,353) African American , 0.1% (50) Native American , 8.2% (5,453) Asian , 0% (20) Pacific Islander , 0.4% (236) from other races , and 2.4% (1,614) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 6.1% (4,054) of
10750-417: The new ruling that was to come in on May 8, 2013, would involve entertainers. This could mean that performers could be fined $ 250 for the first offense and up to $ 1,000 for further violations. The 2010 rule on which the 2013 ruling was based stated that artists could not sell within 50 feet of a monument or five feet from any bench or fence. Some holiday traditions in the park date back to 1924. Each December,
10875-509: The north side of Houston Street and around Bleecker Street and Carmine Street. Many of them being immigrants from Naples and Sicily . Up until the late 2000s, the village was home to one of the largest Italian speaking communities in the United States. Greenwich Village includes several collegiate institutions. Since the 1830s, New York University (NYU) has had a campus there. In 1973 NYU moved from its campus in University Heights in
11000-401: The northwest lawn was reopened after a yearlong restoration which included new grass and sod for the over 39,000 square feet of green space. Funding for the $ 170,000 project was provided by Ray Dalio 's Dalio Philanthropies. Washington Square has long been a hub for politics and culture in New York City. The first neighborhood organization established in New York City was created in support of
11125-472: The older street grid. When Sixth and Seventh Avenues were extended in the early 20th century, they were built diagonally to the existing street plan, and many older, smaller streets had to be demolished. Unlike the streets of most of Manhattan above Houston Street, streets in the Village are typically named, not numbered. While some of the formerly named streets (including Factory, Herring and Amity Streets) are now numbered, they still do not always conform to
11250-464: The ordered structure of the newer parts of Manhattan. Many of the neighborhood's streets are narrow and some curve at odd angles. This is generally regarded as adding to both the historic character and charm of the neighborhood. In addition, as the meandering Greenwich Street used to be on the Hudson River shoreline, much of the neighborhood west of Greenwich Street is on landfill, but still follows
11375-407: The park demanding women's suffrage in 1915. In 1888, Robert Louis Stevenson , visiting the U.S. to seek medical help for his battle with consumption , talked to Mark Twain in the park. In the years before and after World War I , the park was a center for many American artists, writers, and activists, including the photographer André Kertész , who photographed the square during winter. Later,
11500-481: The park is home to an annual tree-lighting ceremony as well as a Christmas Eve sing-along with carolers and festive music. Also, the Washington Square Music Festival, which began in 1953, has brought chamber music concerts to park-goers every summer. In 1834, New York University decided to use prison labor to dress the stone for a new building, across from the park, as prison labor from Sing Sing
11625-575: The park is used for plantings due to the paving. The two prominent features are the Washington Square Arch and the Tisch Fountain. It includes children's play areas, trees and gardens, paths to stroll on, a chess and scrabble playing area, park benches, picnic tables, commemorative statuary and two dog runs. Those commemorated by statues and monuments include George Washington ; Italian patriot and soldier Giuseppe Garibaldi , commander of
11750-558: The park to commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , which had killed 146 workers the year before. Many of the women wore fitted tucked-front blouses like those manufactured by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. This clothing style became the working woman's uniform and a symbol of female independence, reflecting the alliance of labor and suffrage movements. Over 25,000 people marched up Fifth Avenue from
11875-487: The park today. Hayes's papers are archived at the New-York Historical Society . Following the end of World War II , folksingers had been congregating on warm Sunday afternoons at the fountain in the center of the park. Tension and conflicts began to develop between the bohemian element and the remaining working-class residents of the neighborhood. The city government began showing an increasing hostility to
12000-478: The park was a gathering area for the Beat generation , folk, and hippie movements in the 1950s and 1960s; in 1958, musician Buddy Holly , a nearby resident of Greenwich Village , spent time in the park both listening to people play and helping guitarists with musical chords. Singers Bob Dylan and Joan Baez lived in the neighbouring eponymous hotel and her lyrics in " Diamonds & Rust " state "Now you're smiling out
12125-502: The park. For over 100 years, the Washington Square Association has been helping to support and better the park and the surrounding neighborhood. The presence of street performers has been one of the defining characteristics of Washington Square Park. For many years, people visiting the park have mingled with the buskers, performers, musicians, and poets. Because of a change in policy on a 2010 rule that involved artists,
12250-537: The park. This plan received widespread support, including that of then-Congressman John Lindsay , as well as Washington Square Park West resident Eleanor Roosevelt. After a public hearing in 1958, a "ribbon tying" ceremony was held to mark the inception of a trial period in which the park would be free of vehicular traffic. In August 1959, the efforts of Ms. Hayes and her allies paid off; from that time forward Washington Square Park has been completely closed to traffic. A plaque commemorating her tireless crusade can be seen in
12375-425: The percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 38% in Greenwich Village and SoHo, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51%, respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Greenwich Village and SoHo are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying . Throughout the 1930s, many Italian-Americans starting leaving Little Italy and moved on
12500-674: The perimeter fence with a taller fence, and flattening and shrinking the central plaza, the park's politically contested gathering space. The plan also called for felling dozens of mature trees and installing ornamental water plumes in the fountain. A spectrum of opponents had charged the mayor variously with privatizing the park and with social engineering park use, as part of a broader web of speculation schemes threatening nearby South Village and East Village communities and architecture. Five lawsuits were filed to challenge NYC Parks' renovation plans. In July 2006, New York County Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman enjoined any renovation work on
12625-425: The population. Greenwich Village is home to a significant concentration of same-sex couples. The entirety of Community District 2, which comprises Greenwich Village and SoHo, had 91,638 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 85.8 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are adults:
12750-402: The section of University Place along the eastern side of the park. The proposal was highly controversial among local residents. NYC Parks first considered renovating the park in 2004, though the proposal was controversial. In 2005, the iconic fountain in the center of the park was officially named the Tisch Fountain following a $ 2.5 million donation. This change was met with some backlash from
12875-405: The site of St. Ann's Church at 120 East Twelfth Street. Amidst protests of the demolition of the church, the university decided to maintain and restore the facade and steeple of the building, parts of which were deteriorating or missing, and it now stands freely directly in front of the 12th Street entrance of the building. Further controversy also arose over the height of the building, as well as how
13000-533: The site of which is adjacent to the Judson Memorial Church , community groups sued the university, claiming the construction of a 13-story tower on the site would "loom behind the campanile of [the church]" and "mar the historic silhouette of Greenwich Village as viewed from Washington Square Park". Despite a justice in State Supreme Court dismissing the case, the university agreed to a settlement with
13125-537: The size and height of allowable new development in the neighborhood, and to encourage the preservation of existing buildings. The following were proposed by the GVSHP and passed by the City Planning Commission : New York University and Greenwich Village preservationists have frequently become embroiled in conflicts between the university's campus expansion efforts and the preservation of the scale and character of
13250-469: The south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village also contains several subsections, including the West Village west of Seventh Avenue and the Meatpacking District in the northwest corner of Greenwich Village. Its name comes from Groenwijck , Dutch for "Green District". In the 20th century, Greenwich Village was known as an artists' haven, the bohemian capital, the cradle of
13375-427: The square became one of the city's most desirable residential areas in the 1830s. The protected row of Greek Revival style houses on the north side of the park remains from that time. In 1849 and 1850, the parade ground was reworked into the first park on the site. More paths were added and a new fence was built around it. In 1871, it came under the control of the newly formed New York City Department of Parks , and it
13500-530: The state level by New York Governor Kathy Hochul , in honor of the Greenwich Village plaintiffs who prevailed at the United States Supreme Court in 2013, in finding the Defense of Marriage Act , which had limited the definition of marriage as being valid strictly between one man and one woman, to be unconstitutional . Since the end of the 20th century, many artists and local historians have mourned
13625-458: The subheading "Greenwich Village") that the southern border of the Village is Spring Street , reflecting an earlier understanding. Today, Spring Street overlaps with the modern, newer SoHo neighborhood designation, while the modern Encyclopædia Britannica cites the southern border as Houston Street. As Greenwich Village was once a rural, isolated hamlet to the north of the 17th century European settlement on Manhattan Island , its street layout
13750-535: The two were no longer considered separate. Greenwich Village historically was known as an important landmark on the map of American bohemian culture in the early and mid-20th century. The neighborhood was known for its colorful, artistic residents and the alternative culture they propagated. Due in part to the progressive attitudes of many of its residents, the Village was a focal point of new movements and ideas, whether political, artistic, or cultural. This tradition as an enclave of avant-garde and alternative culture
13875-401: The university would integrate the church's facade into the building's uses; however, in 2006, NYU began construction and the new dorm was completed in December 2008. In recent years, the most conflict has arisen over the proposed NYU 2031 plan, which the university released in 2010 as its plan for long-term growth, both within and outside of Greenwich Village. This included a court battle over
14000-455: The use of public facilities by the public and, in 1947, began requiring permits before public performances could be given in any city park. In the spring of 1961, the new parks commissioner Newbold Morris refused a permit to the folksingers for their Sunday afternoon gatherings, because "the folksingers have been bringing too many undesirable [ beatnik ] elements into the park." On April 9, 1961, folk music pioneer Izzy Young , owner of
14125-405: The usual grid pattern when they enter the neighborhood. For example, West 4th Street runs east–west across most of Manhattan, but runs north–south in Greenwich Village, causing it to intersect with West 10th, 11th, and 12th Streets before ending at West 13th Street. A large section of Greenwich Village, made up of more than 50 northern and western blocks in the area up to 14th Street, is part of
14250-476: The window of that crummy hotel over Washington Square." On September 27, 2007, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama held a rally at Washington Square; 20,000 people registered for the event, and the crowds overflowed past security gates set up as a cordon. The New York Times described the rally "as one of the largest campaign events of the year." Washington Square Park has appeared in many popular films and television shows, including Barefoot in
14375-411: Was Tom Intondi's second recorded work. 40°43′53″N 74°00′09″W / 40.731348°N 74.002391°W / 40.731348; -74.002391 Cornelia Street (Greenwich Village) Greenwich Village , or simply the Village , is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to
14500-420: Was accidentally detonated, killing three of their members ( Ted Gold , Terry Robbins , and Diana Oughton ). The Village has been a center for movements that challenged the wider American culture, most notably its seminal role in sparking the gay liberation movement. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in
14625-697: Was cheaper than hiring local stonemasons. This, the stonecutters of the city said, was taking the bread out of their mouths. They held a rally in Washington Square Park, and then held the first labor march in the city. That turned into a riot, and the 27th New York regiment was called out to quell the stonecutters. The regiment camped in Washington Square for four days and nights until the excitement subsided. New York University continued their use of prison labor. On Labor Day September 2, 1912, approximately 20,000 workers (including 5,000 women) marched to
14750-465: Was established during the 19th century and continued into the 20th century, when small presses, art galleries, and experimental theater thrived. In 1969, enraged members of the gay community, in search for equality, started the Stonewall riots . The Stonewall Inn was later recognized as a National Historic Landmark for having been the location where the gay rights movement originated. On June 27, 2019,
14875-777: Was followed by a gentrification process in the 1980s. There are numerous historic buildings in the neighborhood including Emma Lazarus 's former residence on West 10th Street and Edward Hopper 's former studio (now the NYU Silver School of Social Work). The historic Washington Square Park is the center and heart of the neighborhood. Additionally, the Village has several other, smaller parks: Christopher, Father Fagan, Little Red Square, Minetta Triangle, Petrosino Square, and Time Landscape. There are also city playgrounds, including DeSalvio Playground , Minetta, Thompson Street , Bleecker Street, Downing Street, Mercer Street , Cpl. John A. Seravelli, and William Passannante Ballfield. One of
15000-670: Was founded in 1931, as an answer to the Museum of Modern Art , founded 1928, and its collection of mostly European modernism and its neglect of American Art . Gertrude Whitney decided to put the time and money into the museum after the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art turned down her offer to contribute her twenty-five-year collection of modern art works. In 1936, the renowned Abstract Expressionist artist and teacher Hans Hofmann moved his art school from East 57th Street to 52 West 9th Street. In 1938, Hofmann moved again to
15125-437: Was modified in 1961. Part of the old loop was closed and replaced with turf, and a set of stanchions were installed around the remaining parts of the loop. In 1962, Manhattan borough president Edward R. Dudley announced plans to close off two vehicular roadways in Washington Square Park that were used by emergency vehicles, as well as the bus turnaround loop. This move would add 1.33 acres (0.54 ha) of parkland. As part of
15250-452: Was once divided by a narrow marshy valley through which Minetta Creek (or Brook) ran. In the early 17th century, a Native American village known as Sapohanikan or "Tobacco Field" was nearby. By the mid-17th century, the land on each side of the Minetta was used as farm land by the Dutch. The Dutch gave the land, then outside the city limits (Wall Street) to Angolan residents of the colony, intending for their plots and settlement to serve as
15375-484: Was redesigned again, with curving rather than straight secondary paths. In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington 's inauguration as president of the United States , a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected over Fifth Avenue just north of the park. Freemasons from St. John's Lodge No. 1 lead a procession through the arch with the George Washington Inaugural Bible for
15500-526: Was renamed the Christopher Street–Stonewall station on the same day. The Tenth Street Studio Building was situated at 51 West 10th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues . The building was commissioned by James Boorman Johnston and designed by Richard Morris Hunt . Its innovative design soon represented a national architectural prototype, and featured a domed central gallery, from which interconnected rooms radiated. Hunt's studio within
15625-415: Was sent into the park, attacked civilians with billy clubs , and arrested 10 people. The incident made the front pages of newspapers as far away as Washington, DC. The New York Mirror initially reported it as a "Beatnik Riot", but retracted the headline in the next edition, although tensions remained for a while. The bus-turnaround loop at the northern end of the park, surrounding Washington Square Arch,
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