Against the Grid: How Greenwich Village Outsmarted Manhattan’s Street Map
New York City loves a grid. There’s something comforting about knowing that 42nd Street follows 41st, and 7th Avenue is one block west of 6th. It’s math you can walk. A whole city, flattened and ordered like graph paper, carved from island rock and optimized for real estate speculation and delivery logistics. But not everyone […]
Between the Bricks: The History of Cherry Lane Theatre and Edna St. Vincent Millay
The brickwork of Greenwich Village has always been a canvas—painted with smoke, protest, and verse. In the quiet folds of Commerce Street stands a building that has outlived speakeasies, rent strikes, and revolutions of thought. The Cherry Lane Theatre, an unassuming chapel of the avant-garde, began its life in the 19th century not as a […]
The Real Story Behind the “Friends” Building in Greenwich Village
At the corner of Bedford and Grove Streets in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village stands a five-story brick building that, for millions of people around the world, generates special memories. Though it’s often simply called the “Friends building,” it never housed Monica, Rachel, Joey, or Chandler—at least not in reality. Its image, featured in the establishing shots […]
Alexander Hamilton’s Final Hours
Epic Walking Tours’ Historic Village Walking Tour stops at two locations with direct ties to Alexander Hamilton. The information in this story is sourced from New York newspapers from 1804 and the New-York Historical Society, New York’s first museum, which was founded the same year Hamilton died. Alexander Hamilton, oil on canvass by John Trumbull, […]
The Public Execution at Washington Square Park
The Epic Walking Tours Greenwich Village Variety Walking Tour visits Washington Square Park. The historical content in this article was retrieved from New York newspaper articles from 1819 and digital archives from the New York Public Library. Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, New York, was not always filled with musicians, artists, bird feeders, chess […]
The Curious Origins of Street Names in Greenwich Village, NYC
Greenwich Village, affectionately known simply as “The Village,” is one of New York City’s most beloved neighborhoods—famed for its bohemian history, jazz clubs, literary legacy, and cobblestone charm. Unlike much of Manhattan’s rigid grid, the Village’s streets twist and turn unpredictably, echoing its early days as a pastoral hamlet. But beyond its quirks of geography […]
The United States Animal Rights Movement Begins in Greenwich Village
The Epic Walking Tours Greenwich Village Historic Walking Tour includes a stop at Washington Square Park and the surrounding Village neighborhood, where Henry Bergh launched the animal rights movement in the United States. The content in this article was retrieved from New York newspapers, interviews, and speeches from 1860-1872. “To plant, or revive, the principle […]
Why No Revolutionary War-Era Houses Remain in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, today a vibrant hub of art, culture, and historic architecture, offers a romantic glimpse into New York City’s past. Yet, despite its age and prominence, it holds no surviving houses from the American Revolutionary War era (1775–1783). The absence often surprises visitors expecting colonial remnants nestled among the cobblestone streets. In reality, the […]
An Interview With NYCLASS Executive Director Edita Birnkrant
The Epic Walking Tours Greenwich Village Historical Tour stops at Washington Square Park, where ASPCA founder Henry Bergh installed the park’s first fountain, which was built to provide water for horses. Bergh also lived and worked in the Village. This article contains excerpts from a March 1, 2024, interview with NYCLASS Executive Director Edita Birnkrant. […]
Greenwich Village in the American Revolutionary War: A Refuge, Battleground, and Military Outpost
During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Greenwich Village—now a bohemian and cultural hub in Lower Manhattan—was a far different place. In the late 18th century, it was a semi-rural suburb on the edge of New York City, known for its open land, country estates, and fresh air. But its peaceful reputation was upended by the […]
The History of Greenwich Village’s Cafe Wha?
The Epic Walking Tours Greenwich Village Variety Walking Tour includes stops at Cafe Wha? and the Bitter End, and the former locations of the Gaslight Cafe and the Village Gate. The historical content in this article was retrieved from New York newspaper articles, interviews, and recordings of live performances from 1958-1996. In the 1960s, an […]
An Interview With Cafe Wha Musical Operations Director Hap Pardo
Epic Walking Tours Greenwich Village Variety Tour stops at Cafe Wha?. This article contains excerpts from a February 21, 2024, interview with Cafe Wha? Director of Musical Operations Hap Pardo. Epic Walking Tour’s Greenwich Village Variety Tour visits Cafe Wha?. If you were giving people a tour of CafeWha?, what would you want them to […]
Edith Wharton and the Gilded Age in New York City
The Epic Walking Tours Village Variety Walking Tour includes stops at the former Gilded Age homes of Edith Wharton and Cornelius and Eleanor Vanderbilt in Greenwich Village. Wharton’s most famous novel, The Age of Innocence, was published in 1921 by D. Appleton & Co. on 1 Bond St. in the Village. The exteriors of these […]