A TALE OF THREE VILLAGES
Once we left Penn Station, we took train #1. This train operates between Manhattan and the Bronx. Next, we stopped at Houston Street and our journey began there. We walked by the White Horse Tavern and we learned that back in the 50's, this house was the place for people to get drunk. For instance, one interesting fact was that Dylan Thomas (poet) over drink and fell into a coma and died (BG p143). Another historical place we pass by was Christopher Park. This park is a landmark for the gay community. In the 50's gays and lesbians were not accepted by society; They were burned or hanged on trees as a rejection to homosexuality. The Stonewall Inn is located at 53 Christopher St. This place was important back in the 60's when the gay and lesbians struggled for their liberation. Furthermore, in this place a riot between the police and gays began. The gays resisted to be arrested and fought with the police. Since then, gay parades started in different parts of the world to celebrate their triumph (BG p 130). We also walked by The Northern Dispensary. This building is a triangular building that is left from the Federal period. It was built in 1831. This is where medical care was offered to the poor. (BG 130). Next, we walked through Gay Street and learned that the name of this street is completely unrelated to the gay population.
Jefferson Market Library and Garden is another interesting building that we passed by. The architectural design of this building exemplifies the Victorian Gothic style. The library is currently open to the public and has books about the history of Greenwich Village (BG p 146).
Washington Square Park is a beautiful park that I loved. Very unique and charming!!! When I looked at the Washington Arch I felt like I was in Paris. According to the Blue Guide the arch exemplifies the Arch of Triomphe in Paris (BG p 131). We also learned that back in the 80's this park was a place to get drugs and prostitutes. Today this park is a place to enjoy rest and have fun. Surrounding the park there are many houses that belong to NYU. Actually, the first building was completed in 1837, it is located on the east of the park and its style is a Gothic Revival (BG p 131). Continuing our way we passed by La Latterna de Vittorio. This was the first Lesbian place opened in the 1900s.
Bleecker Street: This street was named after a wealthy man that owed many pieces of land. In the 50s this street was a place for the Italian immigrants. There are different interesting houses here in this street; Most of these places were houses for prostitution, and drugs (BG p 139). Many tourists loved to visit these places.
Merchant's House Museum is a very unique museum because here they exhibit original stuff. The building, the windows, door, wall, paint, furnish and everything in this museum is original. The building is done in a Greek revival style that belonged to the Tredwell Family. Mr. Tredwell was a wealthy hardware merchant. He was married to Eliza. They had 8 children. All 8 children survived until they were grown-ups, which was very rare at that time. The first thing the tour guide showed us was the family room. The family room is located in the basement of the building. This room was not as luxurious as the parlor rooms. It was mainly because this room was private and kept only to spend time with the family. The next room we saw was the kitchen. The kitchen was for the maids to cook. One interesting thing about the kitchen was the three bells that were hanging on the wall. The tour guide told us that each bell had a different sound and went to all the rooms of the house, so when the bells rang the maids knew to which room they had to respond. Apparently, the maids at that time remained working in the same house for 10 years. Their pay was very low ($4/mo.), but at least they had a place to live. They didn't have to worry about health insurance because their masters paid their health expenses. Next, we saw the parlor room. This room had two sections front and rear. The front part was for receiving the guests and the back was a dining room. The parlor room had mirrors basically in every wall of the room. The tour guide told us that the mirrors were mainly for light reflection, which made the rooms brighter. Next, we saw the bedrooms. The bedroom of the wife had two beds. One bed for her and the second was for the newborn and also for any child that got sick. The bedroom of the husband had only one bed. The tour guide told us that Mr. Tredwell died in his bedroom, and he was mourned by his wife for two years. Lastly, we saw the maid's bedroom. This room had two small beds. The Tredwell Family lived in this building for almost 100 years (BG p 158). Overall, I loved this museum. It gave me an insight of the life of wealthy families in the 1900s. Then, we had our break for lunch.
Saint Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church: This church is one of the oldest churches in Manhattan and it was completed and opened in 1799 (BG p 166). Then we continued on our long walk to the museum of the Reclaimed Urban Space. For this tour we had two very interesting tour guides. They took us to see the community gardens. We stopped at 9th Street to observe the community garden. In this garden, the tour guide showed us a willow tree that was planted by a famous person in 1977. I thought it was really interesting! Next we walked to see another community garden. Similarly, this garden was established in 1978. We learned that the community gardens are established by residents who have a sense of community. In the community gardens, people usually own a plot and grow their own crops. It was really interesting to know that these people don't allow pesticides in their crops They also have big barrels to collect water from the rain which I think it's a very smart thing to do. In other words, they save money and go organic. Good for them!! Something that also caught my attention was the art that was on the top of the gates. There were different structures or instruments made out of recycled materials (cans, lids). The tour guides also showed the squat buildings and gave their point of view about building squatting. The squatters are people who arbitrarily enter and live in abandoned properties. The city authorities have been trying to evict these people, claiming that the squatters are illegal trespassers. According to one of the tour guides, the squatters have had some success in legalizing some building, and some cases are still being processed in the courts. Some of the activists that the tour guide mentioned were Garcia, Perez and Rivas. They were activists in culture space and fought for some buildings to be landmarked so that these could not be knocked down. Then, we went to Tompkins Square Park. In this park the tour guide gave a long "lecture" about the history of the riots that occurred in this park. Mostly poor people lived in this area. This park was named after one of the New York governors, Daniel Tompkins. Throughout history in this park have occurred different riots. The first riot happened in 1874 and it was due to financial depression. The second riot occurred because poor/homeless people used to sleep in the park; The city authorities did not want homeless people sleeping overnight in the park so therefore a riot between residents and the police began in this park. Later on, Robert Moses redesigned the park to decrease crowds (BG p 176-168); Overall, I thought that the tour guide Bill was very intelligent and had written history in his brain like a recorder. He definitely wants a safe community. Lastly, we went back to have a tour inside the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space. This museum was small and did not have much to exhibit!!! On the way back to take the subway, we stopped at Saint Bridget Church. This church is a charitable place that serves food to approximately 120 homeless people every day. It is nice to know that there are many people who are focused on helping the neediest ones!!!
Jefferson Market Library and Garden is another interesting building that we passed by. The architectural design of this building exemplifies the Victorian Gothic style. The library is currently open to the public and has books about the history of Greenwich Village (BG p 146).
Washington Square Park is a beautiful park that I loved. Very unique and charming!!! When I looked at the Washington Arch I felt like I was in Paris. According to the Blue Guide the arch exemplifies the Arch of Triomphe in Paris (BG p 131). We also learned that back in the 80's this park was a place to get drugs and prostitutes. Today this park is a place to enjoy rest and have fun. Surrounding the park there are many houses that belong to NYU. Actually, the first building was completed in 1837, it is located on the east of the park and its style is a Gothic Revival (BG p 131). Continuing our way we passed by La Latterna de Vittorio. This was the first Lesbian place opened in the 1900s.
Bleecker Street: This street was named after a wealthy man that owed many pieces of land. In the 50s this street was a place for the Italian immigrants. There are different interesting houses here in this street; Most of these places were houses for prostitution, and drugs (BG p 139). Many tourists loved to visit these places.
Merchant's House Museum is a very unique museum because here they exhibit original stuff. The building, the windows, door, wall, paint, furnish and everything in this museum is original. The building is done in a Greek revival style that belonged to the Tredwell Family. Mr. Tredwell was a wealthy hardware merchant. He was married to Eliza. They had 8 children. All 8 children survived until they were grown-ups, which was very rare at that time. The first thing the tour guide showed us was the family room. The family room is located in the basement of the building. This room was not as luxurious as the parlor rooms. It was mainly because this room was private and kept only to spend time with the family. The next room we saw was the kitchen. The kitchen was for the maids to cook. One interesting thing about the kitchen was the three bells that were hanging on the wall. The tour guide told us that each bell had a different sound and went to all the rooms of the house, so when the bells rang the maids knew to which room they had to respond. Apparently, the maids at that time remained working in the same house for 10 years. Their pay was very low ($4/mo.), but at least they had a place to live. They didn't have to worry about health insurance because their masters paid their health expenses. Next, we saw the parlor room. This room had two sections front and rear. The front part was for receiving the guests and the back was a dining room. The parlor room had mirrors basically in every wall of the room. The tour guide told us that the mirrors were mainly for light reflection, which made the rooms brighter. Next, we saw the bedrooms. The bedroom of the wife had two beds. One bed for her and the second was for the newborn and also for any child that got sick. The bedroom of the husband had only one bed. The tour guide told us that Mr. Tredwell died in his bedroom, and he was mourned by his wife for two years. Lastly, we saw the maid's bedroom. This room had two small beds. The Tredwell Family lived in this building for almost 100 years (BG p 158). Overall, I loved this museum. It gave me an insight of the life of wealthy families in the 1900s. Then, we had our break for lunch.
Saint Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church: This church is one of the oldest churches in Manhattan and it was completed and opened in 1799 (BG p 166). Then we continued on our long walk to the museum of the Reclaimed Urban Space. For this tour we had two very interesting tour guides. They took us to see the community gardens. We stopped at 9th Street to observe the community garden. In this garden, the tour guide showed us a willow tree that was planted by a famous person in 1977. I thought it was really interesting! Next we walked to see another community garden. Similarly, this garden was established in 1978. We learned that the community gardens are established by residents who have a sense of community. In the community gardens, people usually own a plot and grow their own crops. It was really interesting to know that these people don't allow pesticides in their crops They also have big barrels to collect water from the rain which I think it's a very smart thing to do. In other words, they save money and go organic. Good for them!! Something that also caught my attention was the art that was on the top of the gates. There were different structures or instruments made out of recycled materials (cans, lids). The tour guides also showed the squat buildings and gave their point of view about building squatting. The squatters are people who arbitrarily enter and live in abandoned properties. The city authorities have been trying to evict these people, claiming that the squatters are illegal trespassers. According to one of the tour guides, the squatters have had some success in legalizing some building, and some cases are still being processed in the courts. Some of the activists that the tour guide mentioned were Garcia, Perez and Rivas. They were activists in culture space and fought for some buildings to be landmarked so that these could not be knocked down. Then, we went to Tompkins Square Park. In this park the tour guide gave a long "lecture" about the history of the riots that occurred in this park. Mostly poor people lived in this area. This park was named after one of the New York governors, Daniel Tompkins. Throughout history in this park have occurred different riots. The first riot happened in 1874 and it was due to financial depression. The second riot occurred because poor/homeless people used to sleep in the park; The city authorities did not want homeless people sleeping overnight in the park so therefore a riot between residents and the police began in this park. Later on, Robert Moses redesigned the park to decrease crowds (BG p 176-168); Overall, I thought that the tour guide Bill was very intelligent and had written history in his brain like a recorder. He definitely wants a safe community. Lastly, we went back to have a tour inside the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space. This museum was small and did not have much to exhibit!!! On the way back to take the subway, we stopped at Saint Bridget Church. This church is a charitable place that serves food to approximately 120 homeless people every day. It is nice to know that there are many people who are focused on helping the neediest ones!!!