Blog Posts by Subject: Greenwich Village

John Cheever lived at 61 Jane Street when The New Republic published his first short story. His birthday is May 27.

Here are some words from 

Joseph Brodsky was a Russian poet, born in Leningrad, who became the American Poet Laureate in 1991. He lived at 44 Morton Street and his birthday is May 24.

Like Dylan Thomas, Brodsky wrote a birthday poem. His is called May 24, 1980, and was published in

Lorraine Hansberry lived at 337 Bleecker Street. Her birthday is May 19.

A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. Here are some quotes:

A Raisin in the Sun (1959)

I look 

Katherine Anne Porter's 1962 Ship of Fools was the best selling novel of the year and assured her financial security. She is generally more admired for her shorter works, however, such as Pale Horse, Pale Rider and her collections of short stories.

She lived at

I read Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities years before I moved to New York, back when I wrote for community newspapers in my home state of Delaware. Jacobs wrote sensibly, without pretense. She observed things closely, and drew logical conclusions. She obviously cared about her subject passionately, but her arguments were not emotional. They 

May Sarton lived a little bit out of Hudson Park's area at 42 E. 11th Street, but still, close enough. She was a poet, novelist and memoirist. May 3rd is her birthday.

She is credited with saying "the deeper you go, the more universal you 

Henry James wrote one of the quintessential New York novels, Washington Square. He lived in Greenwich Village at 21 Washington Place. So on April 15, celebrate something other than paying your taxes. Celebrate Henry James's birthday!

Read one 

Gregory Corso was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. His family lived near Bleecker and MacDougal streets at the time of his birth.

His birthday is March 26.

His famous poem "Marriage" can 

Edward Albee's birthday is March 12. He resided at 238 West Fourth Street (near Tenth Street) in New York City.

In September, Hudson Park Library's Book Discussion Group read

So many remarkable writers lived in New York City at 61 Washington Square South and the adjoining homes that the structures became known as Genius Row. Frank Norris, a writer mostly associated with San Francisco, lived here for a time (as did Willa Cather, 

William Dean Howells was known as the "The Dean of American Letters." He died in 1920. I wonder who would have that title now?

Howells lived at 1 Washington Square in New York City and was born March 1, 1837.

In a letter to 

The house is for sale again, apparently — One of the most famous in Greenwich Village, 75 1/2 Bedford Street, otherwise known as the skinniest house in New York.

Formerly, it was the home of

Amy Lowell was a poet who lived for a time at 61 Washington Square in New York City. February 9 is her birthday.

Here is a short selection from her work:

Life is a stream On which we strew Petal by petal the flower of our heart.

"Petals," from

Henry Roth was living at 61 Morton Street in New York City while writing his classic novel of the immigrant experience, Call It Sleep, published in 1934. His birthday is February 8.

After

Sinclair Lewis, like many writers who lived in the Village, came from elsewhere — from Sauk Centre, Minnesota, in fact, whose citizens did not care at all for how they were depicted in his phenomenally popular novel Main Street.

Lewis lived for a time at

William S. Burroughs was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 5, 1914, but became involved with the Beats in the Village in the 1940s. He lived at 69 Bedford Street in New York City.

Here are some quotes from his best-known novel Naked 

Thomas Paine was born 275 years ago on January 29. He died in 1809 at 59 Grove Street in New York City, where a plaque marks his passing.

Paine’s writings, especially Common Sense, helped the American cause in the Revolution, and John Adams credited him with a crucial role in the winning of that war.

Paine was not shy in 

Edith Wharton is 150 years old on January 24, 2012, still alive in her consistently popular novels. She lived at 7 Washington Square North in Greenwich Village, as well as other locations in New York City.

Celebrate her birthday by reading (or re-reading) one of her novels and taking a 

A cemetery used to take up residence in the block bordered by Leroy, Clarkson, and Hudson streets. Jam-packed with stones, approximately 10,000 people took up their final resting place on this block. James J Walker Park now fills this space, and a single stone honoring firefighters who died in the line of duty over 150 years