See also: Greenwich

Greenwich Village , or simply The Village as call it the majority of the New Yorkeans, is a primarily residential district, located in the south-west of the Borough of Manhattan in New York.

Localization

The Village is surrounded by Broadway in the east, the river Hudson in the west, Houston Street in the south, and the 14th street in north. The districts which surround it are East Village in the east, SoHo in the south, and Chelsea in north. East Village, which was formerly known under the name Bowery or Lower East Side, is from time to time mentioned like belonging to Greenwich Village. He is however regarded as a nearby district.

The name of the places in New York change, because of the influence of the property developers, the local authorities, or quite simply because a name is not appropriate any more for its inhabitants. A name changes only in the condition that the residents of the city adopt it collectively, which takes years when, by an abstract process, the majority of the people start to refer to the sector by its new name. A new recent name which took root is DUMBO, which refers to Hell' S Kitchen. On the other hand, " Clinton" accepted forever by the majority of the inhabitants. In the same way, the residents of New York seldom refer to the Sixth Avenue like Avenue off the Americas. A new name of district can be discussed, as can the being the perception of its limits. The village of Greenwich was better known under the name of Washington Square at the 19th century.

The plan of the city

Greenwich Village was a rural small village in the past (from where its name) before being included by New York. So the provision of its streets does not coincide with the major part of the cadrastal map in the shape of grid of Manhattan (established according to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811). Greenwich Village was authorized to maintain the model of its street layout when the plan was applied, which has like effect a provision which slices with the ordered structure of other parts of the city. Several streets are narrow and one finds turns in the place of crossroads with right angles. Moreover, unlike the major part of Manhattan, the streets of the Village rather bear names than of the numbers. There exist well some numbered streets but classification always does not conform to the model of the remainder of the city and it does not continue in the close districts. For example, the 4th Western street joined the 12th Western street in the north of the district.

History

Origins

Greenwich Village is located on an old marshy zone. At the 16th century, the Amerindian called it Sapokanikan (“field of tobacco”). The first Colon S Dutch cleared the site towards 1630 and transformed it into pasture, before naming it Noortwyck. When the English made the conquest of New Amsterdam in 1664, Greenwich Village, then simple hamlet, had developed separately and with more than three kilometers of Manhattan, which was already larger and knew a rapid growth. The hamlet became officially a village in 1712 and its first reference as “a Grin' wich” in the files of the city goes back to 1713. In 1822, a epidemic of Yellow fever fell down on New York and pushed the residents to be settled in Greenwich Village, where the air was healthier. After that, much decided to remain there.

The Bohemian one

Greenwich Village is known in the world like one of the bastions of the artistic culture and a mode life Bohème. The district is famous for its picturesque, its artists and his alternative culture. Because of the progressists attitudes of its residents, the Village traditionally was the central point of new political movements, artistic or cultural. This tradition of enclave avant-gardist and alternative culture goes back to the beginning of the 20th century and is based at the time on the development of small printing works, of art galleries and a experimental Théâtre.

After the Second world war, Greenwich was attended by the painters of the abstract Expressionnisme. In 1947, the Living room Theater is founded and becomes one of the principal scenes of the theater of avant-garde. The Village Voice , a newspaper of investigation, is founded in 1955.

During the golden age of the culture gipsy, Greenwich Village became famous for its eccentric characters, such as Joe Gould (described later by Joseph Mitchell), the poet Maxwell Bodenheim (1893 - 1954), who was the author of a work entitled Nu on roller skates , before dying assassinated by the lover of its wife. As well as its greats initiated by Eugene O' Neill. The political spirit of rebellion was fed by the journalist activist John Reed, Communiste of the first hour, was died in 1920, and was buried with the the Kremlin with Moscow. In a more original register still, one will be able to also quote Marcel Duchamp, Franco-American artist with the anarchistic tendencies and his friends who released in the sky of the balloons top of the arch of Washington Square, thus proclaiming the foundation of the “Republic independent of Greenwich Village”.

The Village became still important for the scene of Bohemian during the years 1950, when the Beat Generation focused its energy there, and often New Yorkean creations directly influenced the movement Folk rock'n'roll of San Francisco, and this in the two directions.

The dozen other cultural and popular icons made their beginnings in the nightclub Village, the theater, and coffeehouse scene, scene of a coffee during the Années 1950, 60, and the beginning of the 70. Greenwich Village of years 1950 and 60 was in the center of the book of Jane Jacobs The Death and Life off Great American Cities , where it defended it as well as the similar communities, at the same time as it criticized the policy of urban renovation of its time.

Gay movement

These last years, the Village maintained its role of center protestor defying the American Culture in the broad sense. For example, its role in the Liberation movement merry. In 1969, the riots of Stonewall in Christopher Street mark the beginning of the gay liberation movement with the the United States. The oldest bookstore specialized in the gay publications and Lesbian S, the Oscar Wilde Bookstore , was created in Greenwich Village in 1967. Thus, the term of “Village” becomes soon a generic term associated with the gay movement (one speaks in gay English of “villages” to indicate districts where live homosexual communities). The group Disco The Village People began there. It is in one of the hotels of Greenwich that Sid Vicious was found died. In years 1980 of other gay artists invest the district to develop their art, in particular Nelson Sullivan which practices the Video art and, by this skew, the Autoportrait. See also the category of English Wikipédia: .

Nowadays

Nowadays, local artists and historians deplore the disappearance of the Bohemian culture of the district, because mainly of the explosion of the prices of the real estate. The artists moved for a long time with Williamsburg in the district of Brooklyn, with Long Island, and in the New Jersey. Nevertheless, the residents of Greenwich Village always have a strong identity Community and are proud single history and fame of their district. Its lifestyle, fact of freedom and unconcern, its single and different character is felt so much strongly by its residents that numbers of them would not live nowhere elsewhere. It is thus sometimes known as ironically that they are unable to locate New York precisely, separately in a fuzzy way: " apart from the city (the Village ), some share towards the North of the 14th rue."

Universities

Greenwich Village accommodates the principal campus of the New York University (NYU), The New School, the Yeshiva University and the Benjamin NR. Cardozo School off Law. Cooper Union is located in a district close at the East to the Village .

Sport and green areas

The historical park Washington Square Park is in the middle of the district. The Village has of them several others, smaller, among which Father Fagan, Minetta Triangle, Petrosino Square, Little Red Square, and Time Landscape. It also counts urban playing fields, with Desalvio, Minetta, Thompson Street, Bleecker Street, Downing Street, Mercer Street and William Passannante Ballfield. Most famous of them is " The Cage" , whose official name is " West 4th Street Courts". Being located at the end of the subway station of West 4th Street coming from the 6th Avenue which serves the lines ABC, the ground is easily accessible to the players from Basket-ball and American Handball coming from any New York. " The Cage" became one of the most important sites of tournament of amateurs of basketball of street, the Streetball.

Spectacles

The Village also has animated artistic life. It has many experimental theaters indeed known as Off- Broadway and of avant-garde known as Off-Off-Broadway . As example, the collective of contemporary artists Blue Man Group, which in particular turned of the Publicité S for IBM elected residence with the Astor Place Theater. The club of Jazz Village Vanguard accommodates some of the great names of the discipline regular way. The clubs of comedy develop the Village as well, including The Boston and Comedy Cellar, where many comic the American stand-up made their beginnings.

Halloween

Each year, the October 31st, Greenwich Village accommodates the New York' S Village Halloween Parade, an ad hoc spectacle which stretch themselves on more than one kilometer and where disguised people, mimes, Drag queen S mix, exhibitionist, drunkards, drug addicts, puppets, and of animals. The event, largest of the United States on the celebration of Halloween, attracts two million spectators coming from all the area. Crowd magic and full with spirit includes a whole world hétéroclyte, energy of the more small children, vêtus of made house or bought costumes, to the adults, avoided disguises and of make-up more refined. Their clever design, fruit of the work of professional artists or amateurs, take several months, even all the year.

Press

Several publications have offices in the Village , most notable is the newspaper of the weekend The Village Voice .

Testimony

Sullivan Street was the address of the godfather Vincent Gigante, of the Famille Genovese. Resident of long time, little before dying in a federal Prison, it entrusted to a comrade of cell that " Greenwich Village is the best place of the USA " , " Greenwich Village is the greatest place in the U.S."

Witness of the spirit of freedom which floated in the district at the time of the Prohibition, Chumley' S, to the 86 Bedford street, invites the nostalgic ones on the trace of the Speakeasy S. His decoration is of time, no sign external thus does not indicate the presence of the bar, discretion obliges. The establishment is even equipped with a secret exit by the back which gives on Barrow Street. This made it possible to the customers to quickly leave the places and in any discretion in the event of police raid.

Universe of fiction

• Between 1994 - 2004, the Sitcom of NBC Friends has as a decoration the Village , although that is filmed and produced with Burbank in California. The scenes external of the building where the apartment of Monica is located is really located between Grove Street and Bedford Street, in the west of Greenwich Village.

• the characters of the sitcom Aline & Cathy of CBS divided an old building of style " brownstone" in Greenwich Village in the majority of the episodes of the medium of the Years 1980.

• the character Doctor Strange of Marvel Comics comes from the Village .

• the film 30 years if not nothing with Jennifer Garner speaks about a girl carrying out the wish for her birthday to be older (it is about a modern version of Big ). The film includes a scene where the main character wants to find a boy of his past. When she asks her secretary where the boy currently saw, this one answers him " The Village" , making confused the main character, who always preserves his behavior and thoughts of a 13 year old girl in a body of adult. The secretary is obliged to clarify by adding " … Greenwich… Village."

• Kinky Friedman resided in the Village which it uses in its novels.

• RUEHL No 925 invented its concept by basing on a German tanner which establishes its shop in Greenwich Village, with the address n°925.

See too

Random links:

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