St. Mark's Church in the Bowery
This weekend, the New York Landmarks Conservancy is again organizing the state-wide Sacred Sites Open House Weekend. This free event offers a unique opportunity to explore the interiors of more than 30 historic religious sites in New York City and 70 sites throughout New York State – and two right here in our neighborhoods!
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Henry Collins Brown, Valentine's City of New York Guidebook (New York: Valentine's Manual, Inc, 1920)
Recently, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express announced 40 preservation projects in the running for grants through their annual Partners in Preservation program. This program seeks to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation, and this year it’s focusing on preservation in New York City. From April 26 through May 21, 2012, local residents and people across the country are encouraged to vote for their favorite of 40 historic places throughout the five boroughs of New York City to receive preservation funding. While we encourage you to take a look at all the projects being considered this year, we here at Off The Grid wanted to spotlight the three projects within our neighborhoods. Today we’re looking at the Portico of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery.
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NYU’s massive, out-of-scale plan to construct 2 million square feet of new buildings within the Washington Square Village and Silver Towers superblocks is touted by the University as being desperately needed to accommodate its growth. NYU President John Sexton in particular called out the need for more faculty housing.
We have to call this in to question given what we uncovered about an alarmingly large number of vacant apartments and units lost to apartment combinations at Washington Square Village in our report, Disappearing Before Our Eyes.
2012 Village Award Winners will be presented at GVSHP's Annual Meeting on June 7th
On Thursday, June 7th, eight Village businesses, people, and institutions will be presented a Village Award by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.We received hundreds of nominations, and the winners are ….
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The Tompkins Square Library
Since it opened in 1904, the Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library has served as an important community resource.
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Recently, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express announced 40 preservation projects in the running for grants through their annual Partners in Preservation program. This program seeks to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation, and this year it’s focusing on preservation in New York City. From April 26 through May 21, 2012, local residents and people across the country are encouraged to vote for their favorite of 40 historic places throughout the five boroughs of New York City to receive preservation funding. While we encourage you to take a look at all the projects being considered this year, we here at Off The Grid wanted to spotlight the three projects within our neighborhoods. Today we’re looking at the Jefferson Market Library.
L: Historic view in 1963, courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Gallery; R: Today
We had a beautiful day for our 14th annual house tour benefit on Sunday, May 6th! The sun was shining and hundreds of people came out to visit six wonderful Village homes at their own pace. The self-guided tour also included a bonus site: the former studio of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney at the New York Studio School at 8 West 8th Street, which also served as our ticket pick-up location. The tour is GVSHP’s biggest fundraiser of the year and Sunday was a great success!
The past mixed with the present as visitors were able to see firsthand how today’s families live in and care for these historic homes. We thought we’d share some of the highlights with you here at Off the Grid.
Andrew Berman, GVSHP's Executive Director, hands out house tour tickets at the New York Studio School on Sunday, May 6th.
Sheryl Woodruff, GVSHP's Senior Director of Operations, shows GVSHP volunteer Ted Mineau a map of the house tour.
1895, photograph by Adolph Wittemann (courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York Digital Archives)
On this day in 1895 (that’s 117 years ago if you’re counting), Washington Square Arch was dedicated. The above image shows what the arch looked like that year. Designed by Stanford White of McKim, Meade & White, the arch has become one of the most prominent symbols of Greenwich Village. Off the Grid went into detail about the history of the arch in a post a few months ago.
To celebrate the history of this renowned monument, we thought we’d share a few historic photos from the GVSHP archives.
Last week the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express announced that Duo Multicultural Arts Center (DMAC) was one of the 40 sites in New York City selected to compete for grants for preservation projects for the Partners in Preservation program. We are so excited that Duo is one of three sites selected in the Village along with St. Marks Church-in- the Bowery and the Jefferson Market Library. Earlier this week we posted about the sites and today we take a look at the interior of the Duo Multicultural Arts Center at 64 East 4th Street and see where those grant funds may be used.
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It’s not too late to purchase tickets for our Spring House Tour Benefit, taking place this Sunday, May 6th from 1:00 to 5:30 P.M. Your ticket will give you exclusive access to view six remarkable private homes in Greenwich Village, plus the former studio of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney on 8th Street at your own pace throughout the afternoon.
Those who support us at the Sponsor level and above will be invited to a special cocktail reception after the tour at a stunning private residence.
Click here to purchase your tickets now!
The House Tour Benefit is held to raise funds in support of GVSHP’s work to educate about and advocate for the distinctive character and irreplaceable architecture of our neighborhoods.
If you would like to purchase tickets on the day of the tour, you can do so at our ticket pick-up site at the New York Studio School at 8 West 8th Street beginning at 12:30 P.M. Tickets purchased on the day of the House Tour will be priced at a higher rate than advance tickets.
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What NYU Doesn’t Want You to Know About Faculty Housing at Washington Square Village:
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