Aaron Burr After the Duel: The Collapse of a Founding Father
Epic Walking Tours visits the “Aaron Burr House 1802” in Greenwich Village. On the misty morning of July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr, the sitting Vice President of the United States, fatally shot former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel on the cliffs of Weehawken, New Jersey. The encounter was the culmination of years of […]
Jane Jacobs vs. The Machine: A Village Story
The Woman on Hudson Street In the early 1950s, Greenwich Village was a tangle of irregular streets, mom-and-pop shops, and rickety brownstones. Children played stoop ball and grocers chatted with customers who had lived above their stores for decades. One of those customers was Jane Jacobs, a freelance writer living at 555 Hudson Street with […]
The Original Sound of the Village: The Lenape and the Forgotten Ground
Before the clang of subway brakes and the applause of Broadway shows, before Washington Square Park grew its iconic arch—there was a different rhythm beneath Manhattan. It was the sound of water trickling through reeds, of breezes lifting from the Hudson and brushing through tall hickories and chestnut trees. This was the land of the […]
Washington’s Footsteps in Greenwich Village
In the spring of 1789, New York City was full of ceremony, dust, and hope. The American Revolution was won, the Constitution ratified, and the country’s first president—General George Washington—was on his way to be inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York’s Financial District. Though the seat of government was temporary, placed in Manhattan until […]
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the Titanic, and the Heart of Greenwich Village
Epic Walking Tours’ Village Variety Walking Tour visits Getrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s art studio and MacDougal Alley. When the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, the disaster sent shockwaves through the highest ranks of New York society. The ship carried some of the wealthiest and most influential people of the era—John Jacob […]
Live from the Village: The Legendary Stage of The Bitter End
Epic Walking Tours’ Greenwich Village Variety Tour explores The Bitter End and other legendary venues where groundbreaking musicians and comedians first took the stage, launching careers that would shape popular culture worldwide. On a narrow stretch of Bleecker Street in the heart of Greenwich Village sits a low-slung, brick-fronted club with a faded wooden sign: […]
The Hidden Legacy of the Land of the Blacks in Early New York
Long before New York became a city of neon skylines and global influence, it was a rough-hewn Dutch settlement called New Amsterdam. Among its most surprising and powerful histories is the story of a community of free and semi-free Black settlers who made their lives just north of the colonial center—on land that now includes […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]