A Stroll Through Greenwich Village

Whenever I stroll through the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan I often see historical markers on many of the buildings or interesting architectural details that make me stop to take a photograph. Later I'll do research to see if I can find something interesting about the building. I took many of the following photos in November, but haven't had a chance to blog about them until now. Here are few fascinating buildings I saw during this walk:

This building is C.O. Biglow, located at 414 6th Ave.  Founded in 1838, it is the oldest apothecary-pharmacy in the U.S.  It has earned an iconic status for its unparalleled selection of hard-to-find cosmetics and homeopathic remedies, including Bigelow's own brand of affordable, smartly-packaged soaps, toners, and essential oils—many made from historic recipes. They also have an online catalog. (All photos will enlarge when clicked on once, and then again when they open on a new page.)

Next, we see The Cherry Lane Theatre, located at 38 Commerce Street. As you can read on the historical plaque on the top of this photo collage, this threatre has an illustrious history as New York's oldest, continuously running Off-Broadway theatre. Playhouse productions featured an equally illustrious group of actors and directors, including John Malkovich, Barbra Streisand, Geraldine Fitzgerald, James Earl Jones, Tony Curtis, Ruby Dee, Gene Hackman, Bea Arthur (making her stage debut), Burl Ives, Bob Dylan, Kevin Bacon, Kim Stanley, Frank Langella, Tyne Daly, John Epperson, Nancy Marchand, Robert Loggia, Dennis Quaid, Joan Cusack, among others. I saw the play Nunsense here, years ago with friends, and the 25 anniversary revival of this hilarious production is scheduled for this summer.

Gay Street extends from Christopher Street one block south to Waverly Place, between and roughly parallel to Sixth and Seventh Aves. It was named after an early landowner from the late 1700's. This charming, slightly bent street began as a street lined with horse stables for the wealthy. It then became low class housing for their servants. By the turn of the 20th century it developed into a mini-haven for artists and writers.  Gay Street was the setting for Ruth McKenney's novel "My Sister Eileen," and the film "Carlito's Way."  The address 12 Gay Street, the building with the blue shutters seen in the bottom middle of the photo collage above, was originally built in 1827 and was formerly a speakeasy called Pirate's Den.  The property was later converted into a three-story residence for former New York City Mayor, Jimmy Walker. Later, it was home to puppeteer Frank Paris, designer of the original Howdy Doody marionette.  It is also reportedly haunted.

The plaque above describes the Greek Revival homes in the adjacent photo. Many examples of  preserved "old New York" can be found in Greenwich Village.

This beautiful edifice on 95 Bedford Street, marks the former home of J. Goebal & Co., a factory that produced crucibles--containers for holding molten glass--founded in 1865. Notice the three glasses in the edifice design.

Built in 1831, the Northern Dispensary is the only building in New York City with one side on two streets, Christopher and Grove Steets, and two sides on one street, Waverly Place.  The property was used as a clinic to provide medical care to the “worthy poor.” Poet Edgar Allen Poe was treated here for an illness in 1837. Sadly, this remarkable building has been unoccupied for about 15 years when real estate investor William Gottlieb purchased it. He passed away in 1999 and his heirs have declined to do anything with the building. You can read more about this building on this link.

Ye Waverly Inn located at 16 Bank Street at Waverly Place, has been a landmark in New York’s Greenwich Village since the 1920’s. In 2006, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter bought and refurbished the restaurant, and made it into one of the most sought after places to dine in New York City, although the food critic at New York Magazine does not give it high ratings in his review. Of course it helps that the restaurant has its own blog on the Vanity Fair Magazine web site to keep the hype going, and although reservations are currently handled only via a private number, it is reportedly full every night. According to the New York Times: "On any given evening the restaurant plays host to some combination of billionaires, movie stars, intellectuals and fashion designers, with a rock icon or sports legend thrown in."

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this interesting graffiti on a red door!

 

Greenwich Village is a fascinating place to visit, always full of new discoveries. Be sure to take the time to do your own stroll around if you ever visit New York. If you'd like to see more I have quite a few more posts about this area of Manhattan in my blog's Greenwich Village labels and also my East Village labels.

Linking to Mosaic Monday on Mary's blog My Little Red House and My World Tuesday hosted by Klaus, and the My World team. Thanks to all for hosting such nice events for us to join every week!