Hidden History South of Union Square

The neighborhood bounded by Fifth and Third Avenues, 14th and 9th Streets is a special corner of New York City. It’s where Greenwich Village meets the East Village; where commerce meets residential life; where over the years, activism, artistry, and business collided and combined. It’s also the hole between the landmark protections which cover most of Greenwich Village and the zoning protections which cover most of the East Village, and the recent arrival of “Silicon Alley” is threatening to destroy two hundred years of incredible history. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the fascinating history of this often overlooked neighborhood, recently ruled eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places and named one of “Seven to Save” — the seven most important endangered historic sites in New York State — by the Preservation League of NYS. We’ll explore not only it’s rich, multi-layered history, but the dangers it faces and the efforts to preserve it.