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Louis Abolafia

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Louis Abolafia was an artist, social activist, and folk figure. His candidacy for president of the United States under the Nudist Party on the hippie Love Ticket at various times in the 1960s and onward was a form of political theater or performance art . He ran against Richard Nixon in 1968 as the naked hippie love candidate with the slogan: "What Have I Got to Hide?" Abolafia previously had run in 1967 under the Cosmic Love Party, also then with the slogan "What Have I Got to Hide?"

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99-600: The son of a New York City florist, Abolafia was part of the Greenwich Village art scene in the 1960s. In this capacity, he organized love-ins and happenings that combined music, poetry and audience participation, inspiring the New York press to crown him "The Love King". He was a long-time resident of the Lower East Side , and he sheltered wayward youths and other transients in his storefront studio in

198-727: A "descendant of the Abolafias —writers of the Kabbala ". Louis Abolafia died of a drug overdose in 1995 in California, aged 54. This biographical article about a United States activist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 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

297-515: 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

396-775: 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

495-677: 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

594-656: 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

693-447: 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

792-532: 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

891-633: 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,

990-716: 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

1089-683: A tide navigation for vessels of eighty tons to Albany and Troy , one hundred and sixty miles above New York . This peculiarity distinguishes the North River from all the other bays and rivers of the United States. The tide in no other ascends higher than the granite ridge or comes within thirty miles of the Blue Ridge or eastern chain of mountains. In the North River it breaks through the Blue Ridge at West Point and ascends above

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1188-491: 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

1287-429: 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

1386-564: 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

1485-495: 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

1584-630: Is that the North River and East River were so named for the direction of travel they permitted once having entered the Upper New York Bay . At various times, North River has referred to: The river's history is strongly connected to the shipping industry in the Port of New York and New Jersey , which shifted primarily to Port Newark in the mid-20th century due to the construction of the Holland Tunnel and other river crossings and

1683-594: 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

1782-635: 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

1881-459: 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

1980-510: 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

2079-503: 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

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2178-451: The East Village . He published a pornographic and countercultural newspaper, Abolafia's Luv , and had several art exhibitions from 1967 to 1970. He befriended a number of notable 1960s artists, including musician Bob Dylan , artist Yayoi Kusama , Beat poet Allen Ginsberg , Andy Warhol (and Factory hangers-on), Canadian socialite Margaret Trudeau , and Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī , a senior disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ,

2277-529: The Film Forum . The Salvation Army 's former American headquarters at 120–130 West 14th Street is in the northern portion of Greenwich Village. North River (Hudson River) North River ( Dutch : Noort Rivier ) is an alternative name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City and northeastern New Jersey in the United States. In

2376-552: 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),

2475-549: The Hudson River Park which stretches from 59th Street to the Battery . The park, a joint project between New York City and New York State commenced in 1998, consists of several non-contiguous parcels of land and piers totaling 125 acres (0.51 km ), plus another 400 acres (1.6 km ) of the river itself. Several piers were rebuilt for adaptive re-use as part of the park project, with approximately 70% of

2574-745: The Hudson Waterfront in New Jersey, the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway runs for about 18 miles. In Manhattan, the Hudson River Park runs from Battery Park to 59th Street . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's current charts call the lower river the "Hudson", and the United States Geological Survey lists "North River" as an alternative name of the Hudson River without qualifying it as any particular portion of

2673-784: 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

2772-568: 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

2871-667: 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

2970-729: 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

3069-543: 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

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3168-516: 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 ,

3267-568: The bohemian capital, the cradle of 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

3366-489: 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

3465-476: 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

3564-558: 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 ,

3663-735: 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

3762-475: The Hudson shore of Manhattan were formerly used for shipping and berthing ocean-going ships. In shipping notices, they were designated as, for example, "Pier 14, North River". As with the river, the name "North River piers" has largely been supplanted by "Hudson River piers", or just by a pier and number, e.g., "Pier 54". Pier 40 is located at Houston Street, and the numbering of the piers to the north correspond to

3861-621: 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

3960-549: 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,

4059-535: 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

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4158-793: 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

4257-551: 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

4356-399: 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,

4455-726: 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

4554-478: 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

4653-531: The advent of containerization . Throughout this multi-century history, the name for the lower portion of the river has remained interchangeable with both North River and Hudson River used to describe it. In 1808, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin issued a report of proposed locations for transportation and communication internal improvements of national importance. The North River figured prominently among his proposals as

4752-579: The best route toward western and northern lands; similar routes were chosen for the Erie Canal and other early canals built by the New York state . Gallatin noted the following in reference to the North and Hudson Rivers , writing: What is called the North River is a narrow and long bay, which in its northwardly course from the harbor of New York breaks through or turns all the mountains, affording

4851-421: 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

4950-474: 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

5049-403: 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

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5148-400: The early 17th century, the entire watercourse was named the North River (Dutch: Noort Rivier") by the Dutch colonial empire ; by the early 18th century, the term fell out of general use for most of the river's 300+ mile course. The name remains in limited use among local mariners and others and on some nautical charts and maps. The term is also used to describe infrastructure on and under

5247-399: 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

5346-422: The eastern termination of the Catskill or great western chain. A few miles above Troy, and the head of the tide, the Hudson from the north and the Mohawk from the west unite their waters and form the North River. The Hudson in its course upwards approaches the waters of Lake Champlain , and the Mohawk those of Lake Ontario . In 1909, two tunnels were under construction: one was called the North River Tunnels ,

5445-577: 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

5544-432: 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

5643-442: 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),

5742-423: 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

5841-401: The founder of the Hare Krishna movement. Abolafia inspired the creation of the Exotic Erotic Ball in 1979 in San Francisco, held annually for more than three decades until it was canceled in 2010. In press materials for the first Ball, which was held as a campaign fundraiser for Abolafia, he was said to have coined the phrase " Make love, not war ", though the attribution is disputed. He was

5940-446: 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

6039-472: 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

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6138-401: 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

6237-434: 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

6336-423: 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

6435-419: 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

6534-421: 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

6633-411: 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

6732-415: 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

6831-415: 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

6930-406: The location of the North River piers, was labeled "North River", with the label "Hudson River" used above Midtown Manhattan . On a 2000 map of "Northern Approaches to New York City" included in Hagstrom's New York [State] Road Map , the entire river adjacent to Manhattan was labeled "Hudson River (North River)" with the river further north at Tappan Zee labeled the "Hudson River". Piers along

7029-421: 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

7128-496: The mid 20th century was home to expansive facilities operated by competing railroads. Most are now gone, allowing for public access to the waterfront at piers , parks , promenades and marinas along the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway . New ferry slips and terminals exclusively for pedestrian use have been built. The last crossing to be built was the south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1957, but in 1962, another deck

7227-612: 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

7326-767: 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

7425-428: The nearest numbered street plus 40 – thus, for example, North River Pier 86 is at West 46th Street. Most of the piers that once existed in lower Manhattan fell into disuse or were destroyed in the last half of the 20th century. The remaining piers are Pier A at the Battery and piers ranging from Pier 25 at North Moore Street to Pier 99 at 59th Street . Many of these piers and the waterfront between them are part of

7524-403: 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

7623-517: 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

7722-495: The north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to 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,

7821-472: 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

7920-410: 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

8019-751: The other, the Hudson Tubes . That year the Hudson–Fulton Celebration was held, commemorating Henry Hudson , the first European to record navigating the river, and Robert Fulton , the first man to use a paddle steamer in America, named the North River Steamboat , to sail up it, leading to controversy over what the waterway should be called. Much of the shoreline previously used for maritime, rail, and industrial activities has given way to recreational promenades and piers. On

8118-425: 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

8217-534: The planned work complete by 2011. Prior to the opening of the North River Tunnels and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad tubes in the early 1900s, passengers and freight were required to cross the river for travel to points east. This led to an extensive network of intermodal terminals , railyards , ferry slips , docks , barges , and carfloats . The west shore of the river from the mid 19th to

8316-425: 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:

8415-535: The river, including the North River piers, North River Tunnels , and Riverbank State Park . The origin of the name North River is generally attributed to the Dutch. In describing the major rivers in the New Netherland colony, they called the present-day Hudson River the "North River", the present-day Connecticut River the "Fresh River", and the Delaware River the "South River". Another theory

8514-457: The river. Hagstrom Maps , formerly the leading mapmaker in the New York metropolitan area and known for occasional quirky and anachronistic names, features, and artifacts on their maps, has labeled all or part of the Hudson adjacent to Manhattan as "North River" on several of its products. For instance, on a 1997 Hagstrom Map of Manhattan , the stretch of river between Hudson County, New Jersey , and Lower Manhattan , roughly corresponding to

8613-405: 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

8712-552: 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

8811-551: 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

8910-546: 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

9009-458: 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

9108-535: 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

9207-457: 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

9306-405: 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

9405-420: 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

9504-470: 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,

9603-785: 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

9702-686: 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

9801-526: 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

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