“The Village” as it is more commonly known is a largely residential and fairly wealthy part of Manhattan, lower West Side to be precise. It has its history of artistic roots. It dates back to before the grid system of New York encroached; it was effectively a separate village and developed more naturally that the uniform structure which is typical of Manhattan, and indeed many American cities.
It retains winding streets, and names rather than numbers to identify those streets. An area of apartments, not the real high rise buildings of other parts of Manhattan, the Village dates back to the early 18th Century. As an artistic haven, it also became known as an area where new ideas flourished an area of galleries and theatre.
The Hotel Albert which was built in 188o remains a focal point in the Village to this day. Many famous names from literature and the arts frequented the Hotel; Robert Louise Stevenson, Mark Twain, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol to name just a few.
The Cherry Lane Theatre has been open for nearly 90 years in the Village and together with a few other theatres provides the means for aspiring playwrights to produce their works, long before they could manage to interest Broadway. The off Broadway scene was the one which seemed to have the closest link to Broadway itself with some of the shows actually moving on to Broadway. The Greenwich Village scene was locally known as off off Broadway.
Greenwich’s status for innovation and enlightenment also came to the fore with the first racially integrated night club in the USA; Café Society opened in 1938. Nat King Cole, Paul Robeson, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald are just a few of the stars who played there.
The bohemian nature of Greenwich Village continued Post Second World War as a reaction to social conformity. Many writers and poets made for the Village, a prelude to the days of the hippie; Dylan Thomas, Truman Capote and James Baldwin where just a few of the residents. Musicians such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Nina Simone followed.
The Village was an enlightened place with far less prejudice than in many other parts of the USA at that time. However the character of the Village was to change with the enormous increases in housing in such a prime location. Many famous entertainers of all kinds still have homes in Greenwich Village but they are amongst the wealthiest in society so cost is not an important factor.
There is a determination that the Village will retain its history, and its architecture. It still plays host to several cultural events, it is just that its residents have changed a little with the cost of housing. Its Halloween Parade at the end of October attracts two million people annually and it continues to be a district that the film industry has used since the days of the thrillers, Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock and the Audrey Hepburn Wait until Dark.
The Village is that little bit different than most of the neighbourhoods of New York and well worth going to see.
Written by Steven, a travel writer and blogger for Nycvacationrentalsonline.com, a market leader in vacation rental apartments in Brooklyn.
