This is an amazing short film shot in 1960 about a typical Sunday in Greenwich Village. It was narrated by Jean Shepherd, an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep. Most people know him for the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated and co-scripted, based on his own semi-autobiographical stories.
According to WikiPedia, “Shepherd began his broadcast radio career on WSAI in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1948. From 1951 to 1953 he had a late-night broadcast onKYW in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after which he returned to Cincinnati for a show on WLW. After a stint on television (see below), he returned to radio. “Shep,” as he was known, settled in at WOR radio New York City, New York on an overnight slot in 1956, where he delighted his fans[3] by telling stories, reading poetry (especially the works of Robert W. Service), and organizing comedic listener stunts. The most famous[4] of the last involved creating a hoax about a non-existent book, I, Libertine, by the equally non-existent 18th century author “Frederick R. Ewing”, in 1956. During a discussion on how easy it was to manipulate the best seller lists, which at that time were based not only on sales but demand, Shepherd suggested that his listeners visit bookstores and ask for a copy of I, Libertine which led to booksellers attempting to purchase the book from their distributors. Fans of the show eventually took it further, planting references to the book and author so widely that demand for the book led to it being listed on The New York Times Best Seller list. Shepherd, Theodore Sturgeon and Betty Ballantine later wrote the actual book, with a cover painted by illustrator Frank Kelly Freas, published by Ballantine Books.[5] Among his close friends in the late 1950s were Shel Silverstein and Herb Gardner. With them and actress Lois Nettleton, Shepherd performed in the revue he created, Look, Charlie. Later he was married to Nettleton for about six years.”
In the short film, it’s amazing to recognize so many corners, buildings and parks around the Village. Not that much has really changed.
A History of Greenwich Village in 1960 With Jean Shepherd
West 8th Street Fading Into The Past
West 8th Street in Greenwich Village was once a hub for bohemia in New York City; the Whitney Museum was first established there on a building between Fifth Avenue and MacDougal Street, and the strip became known for its book dealers and fashion boutiques. Now, however, a walk down West 8th Street shows a neighborhood that has seen better days.
A recent NYU study singled out West 8th Street, which currently features such exciting locations as a 99-cents store and a Domino’s Pizza, as an economic “soft area” where “development of new businesses can be encouraged.” Even NYU’s opponents have acknowledged this much: in a statement to A/N Blog, Andrew Berman, the president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, admitted that the block “had seen better days.” He also pointed out that a lot of those buildings were protected from development due to their placement in an historic district; under those guidelines, any demolition or alterations of an existing building would have to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Committee.
The mention of West 8th Street in the NYU-commissioned study has led some to become suspicious that the strip was potentially part of NYU’s controversial expansion plans. NYU spokesperson John Beckman denied such insinuations, stating that the study was conducted independently and that the mention of the street “should be of no indication that NYU would be directly involved with its development.”
Remembering Suze Rotolo – A West Village Icon
Last month, artist and political activist Suze Rotolo passed away after a battle with lung cancer. She was 67 years old. Rotolo was an accomplished writer and radical thinker in her time, but she is probably best remembered for her influence on one of the Village’s most iconic artists and for her appearance on one of popular music’s landmark albums.
Susan Rotolo was born and raised in Queens, New York, but she moved to Greenwich Village in the early 60s, when she began working for various activist organizations. In 1961, she went to an all-day folk concert at Manhattan’s Riverside Church, where she met a young musician who called himself Bob Dylan.
During their relationship, Rotolo exposed Dylan to her own interest in political causes, namely civil rights and anti-nuclear proliferation. Dylan also credited her with exposing him to various poets and writers, such as Arthur Rimbaud, whose work heavily influenced Dylan’s.
Rotolo became a part of music history on a winter day in 1963, when photographer Don Hunstein photographed her and Dylan walking down West 4th Street in the fresh-fallen snow. That photograph became the cover of Dylan’s record The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, the record that put Dylan into the national consciousness and earned him the label “Spokesman of a Generation.”
Rotolo’s influence can be felt on the record itself; many music critics and scholars attribute Dylan’s love songs on the record to his relationship with Rotolo, and Dylan himself admitted to Rotolo’s influence on his more political songs.
Rotolo’s relationship with Dylan ended in 1964, just as his music career began to take off. In 1967, she married Enzo Bartoccioli, an Italian-born film editor. She continued to work as an artist and illustrator in New York, where she taught at the Parsons School of Design.
In her later life, she became a first-hand resource for historical accounts of the art and folk music scene in the Village. She participated in various documentaries and panel discussions about the time period, and, in 2008, she published a memoir on the subject called A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties.
The Village has lost one of its most important figures, an important connection to a time long past that shook the world. Suze will be missed.
Jane Street Triangle Scheduled for Renovations
Jane Street
The Jane Street Garden is located on the southwest corner of Jane Street and Eighth Ave. in the West Village. Its history dates back to the late 1960’s. Prior to that, the lot was improved with three Greek Revival buildings with residential units facing Jane St. and retail storefronts along Eighth Ave. However, the buildings fell into disrepair in the 60’s, suffered a suspicious fire, were taken to by local squatters, and were eventually demolished. The Jane Street Block Association organized a drive to purchase greeneries for the street and a wire fence was installed around the now empty lot on the corner.
In 1975 a developer attempted to build at the site after acquiring a plot at auction, but the plan was rejected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) who has authority over the historic district. The city took over the triangle and rented it to the Jane St. Block Association for use as a garden. Street fairs were utilized to raise money to pay the lease payments which amounted to $6,000 – $10,000 per year. Later, the West Village Committee was able to negotiate a 25 year lease for the space with the city for only $40 per year.
The Department of Transportation has just unveiled their planned renovation of the traffic triangle across the street from the garden. They intend to extend the sidewalk, add benches, new plants and trees, and permanently adopt part of West 4th Street that is already being used as pedestrian space. The DOT’s plan can be found here. The site, which as we mentioned is located in the historic district, must have its makeover plans approved by the LPC. More information regarding that process can be found at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s landmark application webpage that we previously shared with our readers.
113 Jane Street – From Surly Seamen to Budget Travelers and Nightlife Denizens
113 Jane Street historic photo
Jane Street’s long history in Greenwich Village has evolved over time. Historians believe that its name was derived from a cow path that at one time lead to the Jayne Farm which grew tobacco in the area. Today, at the most western point of Jane Street lays a storied building with a somewhat sordid history at 113 Jane. The current Georgian style, red brick building designed by architect William Alciphron Boring was built in 1908 for the American Seaman’s Friend Society, a then eighty year old organization who “sought to bring civilizing influences to bear on the tens of thousands of sailors passing through the port of New York.” The six-story building functioned as a seaman’s hostel with 156 rooms for sailors plus more for officers, engineers, cooks, and stewards. The rank of the men while at sea came ashore with them and determined which rooms they could rent or which amusement rooms they could frequent. Seaman paid $.25 per night while others paid $.50. No alcohol was allowed on the premises and Christian proselytizing of the rough set was common.
NY Times Announces Sinking of Titanic
When the Titanic infamously sank on April, 15 1912, many survivors of the tragedy found their way to New York. Ironically, the luxurious Titanic had been designed to compete with the Lusitania and Mauretania operated by rival company Cunard Line. When the R.M.S. titanic sank in the frigid waters of the Atlantic, the Cunard Line’s Carpathia rescued the survivors and returned many of them to the operator’s pier on the Hudson River across from 113 Jane. More than 100 of the survivors gathered there one night for a memorial service at which “a mighty, roaring chorus” could be heard singing “Nearer, My God, to Thee” according to the New York Times. Many of them were sailors, now destitute after losing their jobs aboard the Titanic, and New Yorkers left clothes and money for them at the building.
The building was converted to other uses in 1931, but many sailors remained in the cramped living quarters. In 1933, the NYPD was dispatched to deal with the surly bunch who hurled chairs and books at staff members attempting to keep order. The American Seaman’s Friend Society sold the building to the YMCA in 1944 and it was converted to the Jane West Hotel in 1951. The hotel, which was never substantively remodeled from the tiny 49 square foot rooms that housed sailors along narrow corridors with bathrooms at the end, was eventually used as single room occupancy (SRO) residences by some of New York City’s down and out. The operation later changed its name to the Hotel Riverview.
By 2009, long-term residents paid $200 per month for their meager West Village abode while transients passing through paid $99 per night. This is where Sean MacPherson, Eric Goode, and their partners came in. They envisioned pod like rooms that would appeal to young travelers with the $99 per night price tag in a city where modest accommodations regularly top $250 per night. They had already built the Bowery Hotel and renovated the Maritime Hotel, at 16th and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea – both of which had become nightlife destinations. In order to bring their vision to fruition, over 150 residents, many of whom where drunks, degenerates, and drug addicts, would need to be relocated. Most would not leave voluntarily and they were protected by housing laws that made it difficult to evict them. But the construction began, many of the SRO residents departed, and 113 Jane was on its way to transforming into the The Jane, the modern hotel the developers envisioned.
Jane Ballroom
Today, The Jane offers its small rooms to travelers looking to experience NYC on the cheap or who are interested in the building’s interesting history. Rooms are decked out with polished wood, flat-screen TVs, WiFi and iPod docking stations. According to Trip Advisor, 77% of these travelers enjoy their stay. Those that don’t, complain about the small facilities, shared bathrooms, and noise from the bar downstairs. That bar, the Jane Ballroom, was created from an auditorium left over from the buildings early days and designed with period décor. It had more recently been used as The Jane Street Theater which was notable for launching such shows as Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The venue became the cocktail den du jour when the Beatrice Inn involuntarily closed its doors in 2009. But the party was short-lived as it lead to an epic battle between the hotel’s owners and the nearby townhouse owners that makeup the Jane Street Block Association. The bar closed, then opened, then closed again but eventually emerged with a much toned down atmosphere in the lounge.
The Jane Hotel, 113 Jane Street at West Street, (212) 924-6700 or http://www.thejanenyc.com
