Village Preservation - Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation

On this day in 2016, Village Preservation files an emergency petition to landmark 827-31 Broadway, a pair of 1866 cast iron lofts that in the 20th century served as home to an unprecedented constellation of artistic visionariess, including Willem de Kooning and Sol Olitsky, among many others. Based upon our research and campaign, the buildings were landmarked a year and a half later, saved from the planned demolition and replacement with a 300 ft tall tech office tower.

Read more about how we did it and the building’s amazing history: https://www.villagepreservation.org/campaign/827-831-broadway/

Early voting for State Assembly and Senate races begins today, continuing through next Sunday, June 21, with Primary Election Day June 23.

We distributed extensive questionnaires on preservation, development, affordability, and small businessesss issues to all candidates for local assembly and senate races, and nearly all responded. See what they had to say, and see who did and didn’t respond.

Educate yourself and vote!

https://www.villagepreservation.org/campaign-update/early-voting-in-primaries-begins-saturday-june-13-read-our-candidate-questionnaires/

Before Stonewall, there was Randy Wicker. From pioneering radio and television appearances to organizing some of the nation’s first public gay rights demonstrations, Wicker helped lay the groundwork for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. With the help of our Civil Rights and Social Justice map, we’re exploring his legacy: https://www.villagepreservation.org/2026/06/12/randy-wickers-village-mapping-a-legacy/

Join us Tuesday night at 6pm for this special free virtual program combining, activism, history, and preservation.

Greenwich Village and the East Village are widely known centers of LGBTQ+ history, with critical sites like the Stonewall Inn recognized and protected by NYC landmark designation. But there’s an incredibly rich and oft-forgotten LGBTQ+ history in our neighborhoods that remains largely unrecognized and unprotected, in the crossroads where Greenwich Village meets the East Village, which we call “South of Union Square.”

There you will find the homes and workplaces of some of the most prominent LGBTQ+ artists, musicians, photographers, and writers of the 20th century; some of the most impactful and influential early LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations; early cross-pollination between Black and LGBTQ+ civil rights movements and cultural expression; the city’s earliest le***an bars; and centers of drag and transgender activism and entertainment..

Join Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman as he reveals this incredibly rich, hidden-in-plain-sight history, and discusses how Village Preservation is seeking recognition and landmark protections for these critical sites.

Registration + info: https://www.villagepreservation.org/event/still-unprotected-the-unrecognized-lgbtq-landmarks-of-greenwich-village-and-the-east-village/

Before the Nobel Prize, before the Pulitzer, before Saul Bellow became one of America’s defining literary voices, he lived at 17 Minetta Street while working on *The Adventures of Augie March*.

We look at Bellow’s Village chapter as a story of becoming: a writer, a crooked little street, and a neighborhood shaped by art, history, displacement, and reinvention.

Read more: https://www.villagepreservation.org/2026/06/11/the-village-before-saul-bellow-became-saul-bellow/

We're thrilled to announce our June 2026 Business of the Month: Classic Arepas at 31 W 8th Street (btw 5th and 6th Ave.)

Owner Andrea Blanco grew up eating arepas in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where they're eaten at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between. She brought that tradition with her to New York, and now she's sharing it with the Village.

An arepa is a thick, golden cornmeal disc, crispy outside, soft inside, stuffed with fillings like black beans, white cheese and sweet plantain, or shredded chicken and avocado. Stop by and taste a little piece of home.

Read more: https://www.villagepreservation.org/2026/06/10/business-of-the-month-classic-arepas-31-west-8th-street/

Missed our recent program “From Minuets to Militia: Manhattan’s Country Estates in the Revolution”? The recording is now available!
Join historian and author Tom Miller as he explores the grand country estates that once dotted Manhattan and how the American Revolution transformed them from centers of elegant social life into sites of military occupation, political intrigue, and wartime upheaval. Discover fascinating stories of Loyalists and Patriots, seized mansions, a traitor executed in a garden, and the remarkable individuals who lived through these turbulent years. The program was presented as part of Village Preservation’s Revolutionary Village initiative, commemorating 250 years of American history and the extraordinary role our neighborhoods have played in it.

Watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRNQtdKq7vU

From the nation's first public housing development to the winding streets of Greenwich Village, today we take a look at a few sites that make our neighborhoods so special: https://www.villagepreservation.org/2026/06/09/my-favorite-things-greenwich-village-the-east-village-noho/

It’s tomorrow night at 6pm!!!!

The “Oscars of the Village,” a celebration of some of our neighborhood’s greatest leaders, small businesses, non-profits, and places making a difference, as well as a look back on a year of struggle, sharing, and accomplishment.

And it’s all in the amazing historic surroundings of The Cooper Union’s Great Hall, with emcee Penny Arcade!

Free and open to the public, but you must register to guarantee a seat.

See you there for the celebration: https://www.villagepreservation.org/campaign-update/2026-village-awards-and-annual-meeting-this-wednesday-june-10-at-6pm-join-us-to-celebrate/

Where are they now? 35 years after our first Village Awards, many of our first awardees are thriving and continuing to serve the neighborhood, including Jefferson Market Garden Three Lives & Company Bookstore, and more. Today, we’re looking back at our inaugural six winners and checking in on where they are today. Read more, and join us Wednesday as we celebrate our newest awardees! https://www.villagepreservation.org/2026/06/08/the-first-village-awardees-where-are-they-now/