Greenwich Village

Stonewall National Monument Dedicated In NYC

June 28, 2016 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and White House Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett joined federal, state and local officials and LGBT leaders to participate in a public dedication ceremony to commemorate the designation of Stonewall National Monument in New York City.

President Obama designated Christopher Park in Greenwich Village as Stonewall National Monument using his authority under the Antiquities Act. The monument’s boundary also encompasses the Stonewall Inn, a seminal location in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) history, as well as the surrounding streets and sidewalks integral to the Stonewall Uprising. [Read more…] about Stonewall National Monument Dedicated In NYC

NYC Exhibit: New York Portraits, 1700-1860

February 23, 2016 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Museum of the City of New York is presenting a new exhibit, “Picturing Prestige: New York Portraits, 1700-1860,” an ensemble of iconic New Yorkers presented through portraits, which were commissioned as status symbols and painted by the very best artists a young nation had to offer. [Read more…] about NYC Exhibit: New York Portraits, 1700-1860

African American Stage Performer Ella Madison

February 1, 2016 by David Fiske 1 Comment

Ella Madison was born in 1854 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her parents were John and Caroline Robinson. Her sister, Caroline Victoria (usually called Victoria) was married to Solomon Northup‘s son, Alonzo. (Alonzo and his family later moved to Weedsport in Cayuga County). It was reported that Ella, while a teenager, had relocated to New York City, and marched in a parade in 1869 that commemorated the passage of the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship rights to former slaves. Her mother died that year, while visiting her daughter, Caroline, in Washington County, New York. [Read more…] about African American Stage Performer Ella Madison

Stonewall Inn Named Historic Landmark

June 30, 2015 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On June 23, 2015 the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously to designate the Stonewall Inn an Individual Historic Landmark. The site is the location of the Stonewall riots of June 1969, an event that helped spark the current LGBTQ Pride Movement.

The building is already protected as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District and its significance derives entirely from its historical, social and cultural importance, rather than architectural, marking it a unique designation for the LPC. [Read more…] about Stonewall Inn Named Historic Landmark

New York’s Long History of Peace Activism

June 24, 2015 by Lawrence Wittner 2 Comments

As a scholarly specialist on the American peace movement, I am sometimes telephoned for background information by journalists writing articles about current demonstrations against war or against nuclear weapons. Almost invariably, they have no idea that the American peace movement has a rich history. Or, if they realize that it does have such a history, they have no idea that that history goes back further than the Vietnam War. This is a very big and unfortunate gap in their knowledge. [Read more…] about New York’s Long History of Peace Activism

45 Years After Stonewall: Gay Pride Rockland

June 10, 2014 by Bill Batson Leave a Comment

Over 1,000 people gathered for the first Gay Pride event in Nyack in 1999. As if to prove the positive force that this public affirmation of sexual identity can have, a Village of Nyack Trustee named John Shields, who would later serve four terms as Mayor, publicly came out of the closet that day.

In the late 1990s, if you lived in Nyack and wanted to attend one of the major Gay Pride celebrations that are held around the country each June, you had to travel to Manhattan. Phyllis B. Frank, Associate Executive Director of VCS, Inc. enjoyed the annual pride pilgrimage to the city, but thought aloud to others that “even if we had just a group walking behind one sign, we needed to do something for Gay Pride here in Rockland.” [Read more…] about 45 Years After Stonewall: Gay Pride Rockland

The NY Real Estate Board’s 50-Year War on Landmarks

August 1, 2013 by Simeon Bankoff 1 Comment

You may have noticed that the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) have been making some noise lately about how much of Lower Manhattan has landmark protection. This is really no surprise to anyone who has been paying any attention for the past 50 years – Lower Manhattan includes some of New York City’s oldest concentrations of historic architecture and strong communities who have invested a lot of time, energy and money in maintaining, protecting and revitalizing them.

What’s strange is that the folks at REBNY think this is a bad thing: “We think the city’s future is tied to growth. We think we need to generate new housing, generate new jobs, that generates new tax dollars. If we start landmarking more and more of the city, we are landmarking away the city’s future economic growth” REBNY President Steven Spinola recently told NY1. [Read more…] about The NY Real Estate Board’s 50-Year War on Landmarks

Broadcast Marks 100th Anniversary of Triangle Factory Fire

January 12, 2011 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On March 25th, 1911, a deadly fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York’s Greenwich Village. The blaze ripped through the congested loft as petrified workers — mostly young immigrant women — desperately tried to make their way downstairs. One door was blocked by fire and the other had been locked by the factory owners to prevent theft.

Some workers managed to cram onto the elevator while others ran down an inadequate fire escape which soon pulled away from the masonry and sent them to their deaths. Hundreds of horrified onlookers arrived just in time to see young men and women jumping from the windows, framed by flames. By the time the fire burned itself out, 146 people were dead. All but 23 of the dead were women and nearly half were teenagers.

The harrowing story of an event that changed labor laws forever, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Triangle Fire is directed and produced by Jamila Wignot (Walt Whitman, The Rehnquist Revolution) and will premiere on Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:00 PM (check local listings.)

The Row House Reborn:Architecture and Neighborhoods in NYC, 1908-1929

January 30, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York City Historic Districts Council is co-sponsoring a lecture on row houses at the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue) on Monday, February 8 at 6:30 pm.

In the decades just before and after World War I, a group of architects, homeowners, and developers pioneered innovative and affordable housing alternatives. They converted the deteriorated and bleak row houses of old New York neighborhoods into modern and stylish dwellings.

Join Andrew S. Dolkart, author of The Row House Reborn: Architecture and Neighborhoods in New York City, 1908–1929, as he traces this aesthetic movement from its inception in 1908 to a wave of projects for the wealthy on the East Side to the faux artists’ studios for young professionals in Greenwich Village.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

$6 tickets when you mention the Historic Districts Council!
*A two dollar surcharge applies for unreserved, walk-in participants.

To reserve your discounted ticket, please call 212.534.1672, ext. 3395 or e-mail programs@mcny.org and mention HDC.