{"id":279,"date":"2009-06-23T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2009-06-23T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikevarley.com\/?p=279"},"modified":"2009-06-23T21:02:04","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T05:02:04","slug":"new-york-cheat-sheet-greenwich-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"New York Cheat Sheet: Greenwich Village"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a new, regular series of entries called “New York Cheat Sheet.”\u00a0 Once a week I’ll highlight a different neighborhood in New York City, with history, architecture, points of interest and more.\u00a0 We’ll start with Greenwich Village.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy.<\/div>\n
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Greenwich\/West Village <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n

Settled by the Dutch as a tobacco farm and known as “Bossen Bouwerie” (Farm in the Woods), the name was later changed by landowner and English commander Sir Peter Warren in 1664 to its present title.\u00a0 Originally an “uptown” village from the main lower settlement, city dwellers fled there in the 1790’s to escape disease.\u00a0 Its streets buck the New York grid as it was separately established from the city.\u00a0 The first half of the 1800’s it was known as the “American Ward” for its many native-born residents, but as commerce went further uptown, it was left behind and immigrants filled the void.<\/div>\n
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Greenwich’s heyday began in the early 1900’s.\u00a0 It became an avant-garde hangout due to cheap rent, structural charms, and the indifference of the immigrant population.\u00a0 Artistic movements with origins in Greenwich include “the little theatre movement” (Eugene O’Neill, Bette Davis), Abstract Expressionism (Jackson Pollack, Willem De Kooning), the Beat Generation (Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Willem Burroughs), and folk revival (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon & Garfunkel).\u00a0 Other famous residents included Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas, Edgar Allen Poe, Sherwood Anderson, Hart Crane, O. Henry, Winslow Homer, and Henry James.<\/div>\n
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Its artistic prime has passed it by, and now is primarily known for it’s nightlife, Washington Square Park and the home of NYU, the largest private university in the country.<\/div>\n
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Architecturally, it\u00a0still feels like a colonial village, especially in the West Village.\u00a0 Here you will find the finest examples of Federalist, Greek Revival, and Italianate brownstones the country has to offer.\u00a0 Much of the neighborhood is an historic district of New York City.<\/div>\n
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10 Points of Interest<\/strong><\/div>\n

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1.\u00a0 Washington Square Park<\/span><\/strong><\/a> – Originally marshland, then a Potter’s field, then an execution site.\u00a0 The “Hanging Elm,” said to be the oldest tree in the city, stands in the NW corner of the park.\u00a0 Unofficial campus of NYC, now a spot for art, street performers, and the occasional drug dealer.<\/div>\n
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2.\u00a0 The park is home to Washington Memorial Arch<\/strong><\/span><\/a> (architect, Stanford White), a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Washington’s inauguration as president.\u00a0 First built of wood, it was so popular that another marble model was built by public subscription.\u00a0 Seventh Avenue used to run through it until the park was closed off to street traffic in the 1964.\u00a0 Its flanking statues depict a war time and peace time Washington.<\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0 “The Row,”<\/span><\/strong><\/a> on the north side of the park represents what some consider the finest Greek Revival houses in America.\u00a0 Built for the social elite in the 1830’s.<\/div>\n
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4.\u00a0 Site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, 29 Washington Place, on the east side of the park.\u00a0 In 1911, the upper stories of the Asch factory set fire.\u00a0 No sprinklers were installed and fire exits were locked to prevent unscheduled breaks.\u00a0 146 factory girls died, all immigrants, most by jumping the ten stories to their death.\u00a0 A tragic but landmark event in the history of labor reform.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Macdougal Street<\/strong><\/span> – Considered the heart of modern day Greenwich Village.\u00a0 Sites include the Cafe Wha?<\/a><\/strong>, which hosted the likes of Dylan, Hendrix and Joplin, The Provincetown Playhous<\/strong>e<\/a>, the springboard for Eugene O’Neill, and the Minetta Tavern<\/a><\/strong>, named after Minetta Brook which still flows beneath the streets.\u00a0 The Tavern was a speakeasy during Prohibition, and in 1922 its basement housed the birth of the publication The Reader’s Digest.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Sheridan Square<\/strong><\/span> – sometimes referred to as “The Times Square of Greenwich Village.”\u00a0 Many streets converge here, and it can be difficult as a driver or even a pedestrian to understand what’s going.\u00a0 The Statue of General Sheridan<\/a><\/strong> stands in Christopher\/Sheridan Square Park.\u00a0 Also located there, the George Segal sculpture work Gay Liberation<\/a>.
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\n7.\u00a0 The area around the intersection of Grove and Bedford street<\/strong><\/span> provides the truest example of old village architecture.<\/p>\n

–102 Bedford Street, known as “Twin Peaks”<\/a><\/strong> is a fairy tale looking house designed as an inspiration to local artists.<\/div>\n

—17 Grove Street<\/a>,<\/strong> Built in 1822, the most complete wood frame house in Greenwich.\u00a0 It sticks out surrounded by so much stone.<\/p>\n

—4-10 Grove Street<\/a><\/strong>, considered the most authentic examples of Federal architecture in America.<\/p>\n

—Grove Court<\/strong>,<\/a> an amazing row of old laborer houses, shady and secluded.\u00a0 You wouldn’t believe something like this exists in New York.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 St. Luke-in-the-Fields<\/strong><\/span><\/a> – erected in the 1820’s, first presided over by omnipresent NY figure Clement Clark Moore of “Twas the Night Before Christmas…” fame.\u00a0 The church was rebuilt in the early 1980’s via public donation after a devastating fire.\u00a0 Federal-style houses blend seamlessly with the structure.\u00a0 Has a wonderful public garden.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Stonewall Inn<\/strong><\/span><\/a> – 53 Christopher Street, sight of a turning point in gay rights in 1969.\u00a0 The bar did not have a liquor license and police routinely raided the scene.\u00a0 Typically, patrons of the bar submitted to quiet arrest for fear of publicity, but on June 28th of that year they rebelled, prompting several days of riots.\u00a0 The event is commemorated with Gay Pride parades in many cities at the end of June.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Jefferson Market Library<\/strong><\/span><\/a> – Victorian Gothic architecture at its most flamboyant.\u00a0 Standing at 425 Sixth Av, designed by Central Park co-architect Calvert Vaux and Fredrick Clarke Withers.\u00a0 Stands on the site of a prominent 19th century produce market, now a library specializing in city and Greenwich Village history.\u00a0 Rated the country’s fifth most beautiful building…in 1855.<\/p>\n\t\t

\r\n\t\t\tThis is a new, regular series of entries called “New York Cheat Sheet.”\u00a0 Once a week I’ll highlight a different neighborhood in New York City, with history, architecture, points of interest and more.\u00a0 We’ll start with Greenwich Village.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy. Greenwich\/West Village Settled by the Dutch as a tobacco farm and known as […]<\/span><\/a>\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t\r\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a new, regular series of entries called “New York Cheat Sheet.”\u00a0 Once a week I’ll highlight a different neighborhood in New York City, with history, architecture, points of interest and more.\u00a0 We’ll start with Greenwich Village.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy. Greenwich\/West Village Settled by the Dutch as a tobacco farm and known as […]<\/p>\n\t\t

\r\n\t\t\tThis is a new, regular series of entries called “New York Cheat Sheet.”\u00a0 Once a week I’ll highlight a different neighborhood in New York City, with history, architecture, points of interest and more.\u00a0 We’ll start with Greenwich Village.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy. Greenwich\/West Village Settled by the Dutch as a tobacco farm and known as […]<\/span><\/a>\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t\r\n\t\t","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44],"tags":[45,169],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikevarley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}