Art lives here

Walk along Washington Street in the West Village and you'll be struck by the beautiful old brownstone buildings nestled amongst some of the coolest coffee shops and little restaurants in the City.  It becomes very clear that this part of the West Village is a real residential neighbourhood - the traffic is quieter, the sidewalks are less congested, and everything seems more calm somehow.

But it wasn't always like this.

Westbeth Inner Courtyard
Image credit here

At the corner of Washington and Bethune Streets, you see a maze of 13 buildings that occupy an entire city block.  From the 1860s, this was the headquarters of Bell Laboratories, the largest industrial facility in the world.  They were responsible for innovations like televisions (black & white and colour), radar, vacuum tubes, and they also masterminded the first broadcast of a baseball game. But did you know they also hosted the headquarters of part of The Manhattan Project during WW2?  Atomic bomb research, you guys!  Serious stuff happened here.  No wonder NYC has preserved the building as a landmark and added it to the US National Reigster of Historic Places.

When Bell Laboratories relocated to New Jersey in the 1960s the buildings were renovated to become self-contained loft apartments.  At the time, the Greenwich Village/West Village neighbourhood was a haven for artists and musicians, so when the building was transformed (and federally-subsidized) into the Westbeth Artists Community, and they advertised affordable housing, tenants came running.  Before long, Westbeth became the world's largest artist residence and home to a creative community of visual, literary, and performing artists from across the country.

Forget about trying to get an apartment in the building these days, because the housing waiting list closed in 2007 (bummer).  Nevertheless the artists in residence are still producing some beautiful work that the building cleverly displays in its corridors and on its walls. 

I would also recommend you visit the Westbeth Gallery, the building's dedicated exhibition space.  The Gallery is a non-profit site that showcases the talent of its resident artists but also hosts independently-curated exhibitions.  The Gallery is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 1-6pm and admission is free.  

From now until 29 November, the Gallery is exhibiting the work of the Bowery Gallery Founding Members.  The Bowery Gallery was born on Halloween 1969, as a gallery of artists for artists.  The founding members argued that they didn't need to exhibit their work in fancy galleries or be represented by big-ticket agents with lots of money. The figured if the art was worthwhile, it would find its way to an audience.  It is a group exhibition featuring the work of 19 artists from the late 1960s to the present day.  I loved the mixed media, and the bright colours and diversity of the artwork in this exhibition - it was great to explore watercolours, sculpture, drawings, and oils all in one space.  You'll see the link to my photo album at the bottom of this page.

And if you're in the neighbourhood this coming Saturday (15 November), you must visit the Flea Market in the basement for their $5 bag & box sale.  For a $5 donation, you can take an empty box or garbage bag and fill it up with all manner of goods that the artists and their families have donated.  You'll find clothes, books, shoes, furniture, homewares - only jewellery and fine art are exempt from the bargains.  Get there early to avoid disappointment!  All proceeds go towards the upkeep of the Westbeth Housing Community and surrounding public areas.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

Village people

A little while ago, I went on a Netflix binge right back to Season 1 of “Law and Order”.  It became immediately obvious to me that New York City was (and really remains) as much a character on the show as "the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders" [dun dun].  And over the course of the show, you really get to see how NYC neighbourhoods have changed over the years. 

Consider Greenwich Village.  On Season 1 of "Law and Order", Greenwich Village was junkie central and the source of many a troubling 911 call.  But it wasn't always that way.

Back in the early 1500s, Native Americans knew “The Village” as Sapokanikan, meaning ‘tobacco field’.  When the Dutch settlers cleared 200 acres of land there in 1630, they renamed it Noortwyck, or ‘Farm in the Wood’, and their tobacco crops flourished.  The English conquered the settlement in 1664 and annexed the area as the little village of Grin’wich. 

Newgate Prison, circa 1800
Photo credit: Examiner.com

Law & order really came to the area from 1797 when “The Village” was the site of blustery Newgate Prison, New York's first penitentiary.  But by 1829, Newgate couldn't accommodate all of New York's criminal element, so the much larger Sing Sing Prison was constructed further up the Hudson Valley.  Greenwich Village calmed once more.

Residents moved back into the neighbourhood, and over time they opened art galleries, local theatres, and churches, creating the eclectic and eccentric community vibe of the 1950s-60s.   

Modern day Greenwich Village has an energetic community spirit, and regularly promotes public events and exhibitions for visitors and locals alike.  It is a lively and accessible residential area with a bohemian feel: a mix of mid-rise apartments, historical shops, iconic architecture, trendy bars & restaurants, and many celebrity residents. 

A little bit of Paris in New York, but watch where you step

Before Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) had her deep-breathing moment at Katz’s Deli, she endured an exasperating, confusing, and at times illuminating drive from Chicago to New York with Harry Burns (Billy Crystal).  Upon arrival in the Big Apple, Sally dropped Harry off at Washington Square Park, a 9.75-acre public space in Greenwich Village. 

But did you know that this hugely-popular park was once Dutch farmland?  At least it was, up until April 1797 when the Common Council of NewYork purchased the fields to the east and combined the spaces to create a public burial ground, primarily to inter unknown or indigent people. 

When New York went through yellow fever epidemics in the early 1800s, most of the dead were also buried there because it was (back then) far enough away from  the main city population to be considered a hygienic option.  The public cemetery was closed in 1825, but it is estimated that more than 20,000 bodies were laid to rest there –never to be moved.  

In 1826, the land was levelled to become Washington Military Parade Ground, where volunteer militia would train.  By the 1830s, urban sprawl saw the area around the Parade Ground becoming popular for housing developments so by 1850, the Parade Ground was re-worked into a public park to cater to the new residents moving around it. 

In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration, a plaster and wood memorial arch was erected at the northern end of the public park.  The temporary structure proved so popular with residents and visitors alike, that local architect Stanford White (and his excellent mustache) designed a permanent, marble replacement that stands 77 feet tall.   White's New York monument was inspired by the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

But did you know that during the excavations for the marble arch, construction workers unearthed human remains, a coffin, and a gravestone dated 1803?  Given how many deceased New Yorkers are getting their eternal rest under the Square, it’s amazing they didn’t find more.

Been spending most our lives, living in a book lover's paradise

In 1927, New Yorker Ben Bass invested $300 of his own money, plus some from a friend, to open a small bookstore on Fourth Avenue in Greenwich Village. 

Bass named his store “The Strand”, after the London street popular with writers and book publishers of the time.  The unassuming store joined forty-seven others that spanned the six city blocks known as “Book Row” and within a very short time, it had become a haven for local authors, readers, and book-sellers alike. 

 

Ben’s son Fred joined the business when he returned home from WW2 and in 1957, The Strand moved to larger premises around the corner on Broadway and 12^th Street.  A few years later, Ben’s daughter Nancy also joined the team as co-manager. 

If you approach The Strand today, you’ll see carts on the footpath that contain bargain books for $1 and upwards.  Step inside however, and you’ll find an incredible 18 miles of shelving containing over 2.5 million books and book-related merchandise.  And for a true piece of history, you can even rent the store’s Rare Book Room for private events, an historic space where leather-bound classics and many first editions line the walls. 

Whether you’re a bibliophile yourself, or you just know someone who is, one visit to The Strand will cater to all your literary tastes and temptations.

That haunting feeling

People have reported seeing ghosts in New York City for hundreds of years.

The cemetery of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mulberry Street is said to be haunted by Pierre Toussaint, a former slave from Haiti who became an in-demand hairdresser to NYC's socialites in the 19th Century, not to mention a generous philanthropist.    Toussaint was actually the first non-religious person to be buried beneath the crypt in the Cathedral, a site normally reserved for members of the clergy.

On opening nights, Radio City Music Hall's builder (and Rockettes founder), Roxy Rothafel, has been spotted parading through the Radio City lobby with a glamorous woman on his arm.  

At the historic New Amsterdam Theatre just off Times Square, the ghost of silent film and stage star Olive Thomas has been seen in the dressing room, in full Follies chorus girl regalia.  It is said that in her hands she still clutches her husband's bottle of syphilis medication that she drank to kill herself.  

Just under the Brooklyn Bridge is the Bridge Café, a former brothel turned dining establishment where patrons have reported seeing the ghosts of burly pirates who frequented the bar when it first opened in 1847. 

The ghost of John Lennon is said to lurk around the gates of The Dakota apartment building off Central Park, where he was murdered in 1980 (and where "Rosemary's Baby" was also filmed - double the dose of eerie!).  

But the prize for the creepiest ghostly site must go to the dramatically-named "House of Death" inGreenwich Village.  This beautiful brownstone was constructed in the early 19th Century and over the years, twenty-two people (including Mark Twain) have died there, in all manner of circumstances.  By all accounts, none of their souls have ever left.  Bwahahaha!

A ghoulish parade

Ghouls, ghosts and goblins converge on Greenwich Village on 31 October for the annual Village Halloween Parade - which celebrated its 40th birthday in 2012! 

The Parade frequently attracts up to 50,000 giant puppets, musicians, dancers, and costumed marchers – with thousands more revellers lining the streets to watch the action. 

Anyone can participate – the only rule is that you must be in costume in order to march.  Although the event is pitched as a ‘family friendly’ affair, it is rare that any costumes or puppets are banned – so partial nudity and adult themes should be expected (these are New York streets, after all). 

The Village Halloween Parade is the largest of its kind in the US and in 2013, the event honoured the first responders who helped the City get back on its feet after Superstorm Sandy, which cancelled the parade the year before. 

And first to celebrate the Parade’s return to Greenwich Village were its traditional leaders, the dancing skeletons, first introduced to the line-up in 2001, a month after the 9/11 attacks.  As the Parade Director explained at the time, the dancing skeletons “know better than anyone what they have lost, and so they dance this one night of the year to celebrate life” - and the city still follows suit.