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Greenwich Village is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern) Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Broadway on the east, the Hudson River on the west, Houston Street on the south, and 14th Street on the north. The neighborhoods surrounding it are East Village to the east, SoHo to the south, and Chelsea to the north.1 History
The neighborhood was originally a separate village, hence the name, first attested in 1712. In 1822, a yellow fever epidemic in New York encouraged residents to flee to the more healthful air of Greenwich Village, and afterwards many stayed. The district was better known as " Washington Square" in the 19th century.
Greenwich Village has long been known as a bastion of artistic and bohemian culture, an image which has roots in the late 19th century, but which became especially prevalent after World War I.
During the golden age of bohemia Greenwich Village became famous for eccentrics such as Joe Gould (profiled at length by Joseph MitchellJoseph Mitchell ( July 27, 1908 May 24, 1996) was a American writer who wrote for The New Yorker''. He is known for his carefully written portraits of eccentrics and people on the fringes of society, especially in and around New York City. Mitchell was bo) and Maxwell BodenheimMaxwell Bodenheim ( 1893 1954) was the author of Naked on Roller Skates''. He sold his poems on the streets and was murdered as part of a bizarre love triangle involving his wife and a sociopathic drifter. Bodenheim, Maxwell Bodenheim, Maxwell., as well as greats on the order of Eugene O'NeillEugene (Gladstone) O'Neill ( October 16, 1888 November 27, 1953) was an American playwright best known for explorations into the darker aspects of the human condition. Frequently, his plays show people on the outer edges of society or begin in a situation. Political rebellion also made its home here, whether serious ( John ReedJohn "Jack" Silas Reed ( 1887 1920), journalist and activist, famous for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution called Ten Days that Shook the World''. He was the husband of the writer and feminist Louise Bryant and was the subject of a 1981 m) or frivolous ( Marcel DuchampMarcel Duchamp ( July 28, 1887 October 2, 1968) was a French/American artist. Armory Show viewing Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 Born Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp in Blainville-Crevon Seine-Maritime in the Haute-Normandie Region of France, he came from and friends set off balloons from atop Washington Square arch and declared the Village independent).
In the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. the Beat Generation drifted through, the coffeeshop folk singing scene moving to the area in its wake. Bob DylanBob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman May 24, 1941, Duluth, Minnesota, USA) is widely regarded as America's greatest popular songwriter. Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams are among the few songwriters similarly revered for t was one of the most famous members of this group of artists.
Greenwich Village contains Christopher Street and the Stonewall Inn, site of the Stonewall riots in 1969, that signalled the beginning of the gay liberation movement. The world's oldest gay and lesbian bookstore, Oscar Wilde Bookshop, founded in 1967, is also found here. The name "the Village" soon became the generic term for a city's gay neighbourhood (see gay village and The Village People).
