Blog Posts by Subject: Greenwich Village

At Jefferson Market Library, we are looking for eight contestants for an all-day fashion design extravaganza.

Jefferson Market Library is looking for volunteers to loan us small, personal objects that tell a story.

August 2, 1945: The high temperature in New York City was 84 degrees, and the second World War was drawing to a close. Where were Greenwich Villagers going to wile away the hot evening hours? Why, Little Shrimp, The Golden Eagle, and Dick the Oyster Man, of course!

Picture it: The year is 1933, and you need a new coat! Chances are, you'd be headed to Hearn's. This department store, located on 14th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues from 1879 until 1955, was a New York shopping mecca.

After Claude's Harriet is nothing if not offensive. So, is it wrong to kind of want to hang out with her, if only for a few hours? That question and more, in this week's discussion questions!

Jefferson Market Library was alive with the energy of storytelling last Thursday, March 13th as storytellers and interviewers for the Greenwich Village Oral History Project took over the library. It was an evening of Memory Circles, or recorded group oral histories, in which participants talked with each other about their shared recollections on particular Greenwich Village themes.

“Greenwich Village is so steeped in history, there are literally a bazillion stories of this, the most famous neighborhood in the world. Coming together in this tiny spec of real estate, people bounced off each other to become the cultural center of the country and the world. I could have written 6 books on this topic,” said Strausbaugh in his opening remarks at Jefferson Market Library.

On Thursday, January 16 a group of storytellers, interviewers and library staff gathered at Jefferson Market Library to celebrate the launch of Your Village, Your Story: Greenwich Village Oral History Project. On Thursday's kick-off event, the room was full of energy and with 30 oral histories collected already, there was plenty to celebrate!

On Thursday, November 14, twelve volunteer interviewers sat in a circle in the first floor auditorium at Jefferson Market Library having a dynamic conversation about the nature of memory, open interview questions, and the history of Greenwich Village. This was the first of several volunteer interviewer orientations for Your Village, Your Story: Greenwich Village Oral History Project.

"Why are you interested in this project?" I asked everyone in attendance as an introductory question. Some people were there because 

Dangers of the 'foodopoly'... secrets of the original West Village... how Manhattan became capital of the world... a survey of time in love, war, crime, art, money and media... the spectrum of

Fall is a wonderful time to be in New York City. Take advantage of the cooler climate by exploring all NYC has to offer! Saturday September 15, the Ottendorfer Library will proudly present the New York City Explorers. This wonderful duo will give a brief 30 minute lecture at the library before bringing you on a walking tour of historic Astor Place.

Ever wonder who this Astor fellow was and why his name is everywhere in New York? Astor parlayed his fur-trading fortune 

Sherwood Anderson is special to Hudson Park because I believe, I hope, that he used the branch. After all, he lived right across the street at 12 St. Luke's Place.

Of course, like many Village 

Kenneth Fearing was a major poet of the Great Depression and the founding editor of the Partisan Review.

He lived at 311 W. 11th Street and his birthday is July 28.

You can find a selection of his poems at the

Raymond Chandler did not spend very much time in the Village but he did check into the residential hotel, The Grosvenor, 35 Fifth Avenue, in the spring of 1955 and stayed for a short while.

He also wrote this in a 1954 letter to Hamish Hamilton about imagined neglected authors:

...And there was Aaron Klopstein. Who ever 

Hart Crane lived for a time at 45 Grove Street (he more famously had an apartment with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge) and his birthday is July 21.

Crane was a poet in the Rimbaud fashion. His life was restless, chaotic and short.

It may have been a good life for producing poetry, but it was a terrible life to 

Clement Clark Moore is credited with writing one of the most famous poems in the world, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," also known as "A Visit from St. Nickolas."

This poem was first published anonymously in 1823, and was not attributed to Clement Moore until it was included in an 1844 anthology of Moore's poems. Moore wrote it for his children and at their insistence he included it in this edition. Moore, however, was generally more serious minded than this poem and apparently wanted to distance himself from it. He certainly didn't need the 

Mary McCarthy is eminently quotable, so I'll let her speak for herself. June 21 is her birthday and she lived at 16 Gay Street.

The American, if he has a spark of national feeling, will be humiliated by the very prospect of a foreigner's visit to Congress — 

Mark Van Doren edited and published An Anthology of World Poetry in 1929. Amazingly, this enabled him to buy the house at 393 Bleecker Street. Van Doren was a poet himself and a playwright and a greatly admired professor at Columbia 

William Styron, like many Greenwich Village writers, came from somewhere else, in this case North Carolina.

June 11 is his birthday and he spent his early writing career living at 45 Greenwich Avenue.

Here are two quotes from Sophie's