Greenwich Village

With a long history dating back to the English conquest of the Dutch settlements on Manhattan Island, Greenwich Village has an identity all its own. Bounded by the Hudson River on the west side and Broadway on the east side, Greenwich Village developed separate and apart from other parts of the Lower West Side of Manhattan. The Village, as it is often referred to, is anchored by Washington Square Park and was once called simply Washington Square.

As one of the oldest neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan, the street layout does not follow a rigid north, south, east, and west grid pattern. Like the quirky street layout reflects the nonconformity that Greenwich Village has represents. Over the years, Greenwich Village was transformed from a Sixteenth Century tobacco plantation to a Twentieth Century home for artists, writers, poets, intellectuals, and other members of the avant-garde. . During the Nineteenth Century, the building styles in the Village consisted on low-rise row houses, many of which still stand today. This is in stark contrast to other areas of Lower Manhattan and Uptown, which saw the construction of high rise buildings.

Like other large cities on the East Coast, New York was home to an incredibly diverse population. From all over Europe, immigrants to large cities like New York and Boston congregated in close-knit neighborhoods. Greenwich Village was different and became a melting pot of Germans, Italians and Irish. The Washington Square area eventually became home to New York University, which served to fuel progressive and radical political movements during the early 1900s. The Village developed into an ethnically diverse area where housing prices were lower than in other more affluent parts of Manhattan.

Greenwich Village gradually became home to an equally diverse collection of businesses, from bookbinderies to butcher shops. As more artists began to call the Village home, more art galleries and institutes sprang up.

The Beat Goes On

As the unofficial home of what came to be called Little Bohemia, Greenwich Village was the birthplace of the Beat Movement that started in the late 1940s. Post-war political activism helped to fuel the growth of Greenwich Village. Coffee houses and art studios along streets like Bleecker and MacDougal became hangouts for folk singers, songwriters and political activists.

Like many neighbors on Manhattan Island, efforts towards urban renewal and gentrification took hold. Gentrification is the process of rebuilding older neighborhoods, sometimes at the expense of lower income residents. Increases in rents and housing prices make it difficult for residents to remain in the neighborhood. Beginning in the 1950s, many of the buildings constructed during the 19th Century were torn down. Local residents began to push for preservation of historic buildings and many building were spared from the wrecking ball.