Manhattan Articles
The Past & Present Of
Greenwich Village In
New York City
Greenwich Village is a small section of Manhattan
south of 14th
Street and west of Broadway. The streets in the Village are
named as opposed to being numbered as they are in most parts of
Manhattan. Though it was once a mecca of Bohemian and
alternative culture, very few Bohemians could afford to live
here today. Now, Greenwich Village has traded its edge for
sophistication. Many celebrities and personalities now call The
Village home; among them Liv Tyler, Jon Stewart, Uma Thurman,
Julianne Moore, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Also, Greenwich
Village hosts some of the nation's top universities-
University's and Cooper Union's main campuses are located in
The Village.
Modern Greenwich Village is located on former marshland. 16th
century Native Americans called it Sapokanikan (Tobacco Field);
Dutch settlers called it "New Amsterdam." In the 1630s, English
settlers conquered the New Amsterdam settlement, and Greenwich
Village began to exist as a hamlet completely separate from the
rest Manhattan/New York City. In 1713, Greenwich Village was
officially referred to as Grin'wich in Common Council records.
A yellow fever outbreak in the early 1820s forced many
Manhattan residents to abandon their homes and seek the
healthier air in Greenwich Village; thus, The Village became
densely populated. The Village has always been at the forefront
of new movements in art, politics, or culture, but many believe
it reached its creative peak in the middle of the 20th century.
The entirety of Greenwich Village is a bohemian culture
landmark. The neighborhood is known for its various
incarnations of alternative and avant-garde art and culture.
Eugene O'Neill, a celebrated American playwright, was a regular
in Greenwich Village in the 1910s. In the 1950s, a group of
artists that would eventually come to be known as the Beat
Generation found a haven in Greenwich Village; The Village
figures heavily in the works of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac,
William S. Borroughs, and Dylan Thomas. Additional, many
legendary musical acts of the 1960s can trace their roots to
Greenwich Village, such as The Mamas and the Papas, Peter Paul,
and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Nina Simone, and Joan Baez.
Though Greenwich Village may no longer be a conglomerate of
starving artists, it is still a leader in progressive, liberal
attitude. The Village Voice, an arts-oriented tabloid newspaper
focusing on events in and around Greenwich Village was the first
and best of its kind, though a recent buyout has left the paper
inconsistent at best. The alternative underground newspaper is
available via subscription to non-Village residents. The
Village Voice kept Greenwich Village "on the map" after the
disintegration of the Beat Generation and heralded the
Village's love affair with anything and everything alternative
or avant-garde. The world's oldest gay and lesbian bookstore,
Oscar Wilde Bookshop, is located in Greenwich Village and was
founded in 1967. Every year, the Village hosts New York's
Village Halloween Parade-- a mile-long cavalcade of drunks,
misfits, drag queens, exhibitionists, and "regular" costumed
individuals. The Parade is the largest Halloween event in the
United States and draws an audience of about two million
spectators.
About The Author: Johnny Moon is a contributer to the New
York
City travel guide blog at
http://www.NewYorkH