Saturday, January 31, 2009

greenwich village

Today was spent recovering from last night/catching up on sleep and then becoming my own tour guide in Greenwich Village.  Last night 15 of us went to a party in SoHo and got home around 3:30 AM.  

In Greenwich, Stephanie and I saw the following:

Thomas Paine's House
     More accurately, the location where Paine's house used to be.  Marie's Crisis, a piano bar, now occupies the spot.  For those of you who haven't brushed up on your US history, Thomas Paine was one of the early American patriots and wrote "Common Sense," a piece that helped inspire the American Revolution.  Next door is Arthur's Tavern which has been in existence since the 1930s and has seen the likes of many jazz and blues artists including Charlie Parker.  

John Wilkes Booth's House
     This is the house where Booth planned Lincoln's assassination.  It's now a laundry mat.  

Wood House
     On the corner of Bedford and Grove is a rare wooden house (wooden houses were banned in 1866 due to fire hazards) that was built in 1822.

Civil War Brothel
     Behind the wooden house is a gabled home that used to serve as a brothel during the Civil War.

"Friends" Apartment Building
     To the left of the wooden house is an apartment building that served as the exterior of the "Friends" (show) apartment building.

Grove Court
     On Grove Street is Grove Court, a private park-like setting that is now prized for it's tranquility. 

Church of St. Luke in the Fields
     This is the third oldest church in New York (built in 1821) and Clement Clarke Moore, one of its founders, was the author of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

66, 65 & 64 Morton St.
     The house at 66 Morton St. was used for the movie Working Girl and Harrison Ford used to live here.  John Belushi was living at 64 Morton St. when he died in 1982.  Across the street is where the alleged Communist spies, the Rosenbergs, lived at 65 Morton.

The Narrowest Home in NYC
     On Bedford Street is the narrowest home in New York City - 75 1/2 Bedford St.  It is less than 10 feet wide and used to serve as the driveway/carriageway of the home next door.  Pulitzer Prize winner Edna S. Vincent Millay lived here.  The house next door, 77 Bedford, is the oldest house in Greenwich Village (built in 1799).

Washington Irving's House
     On Commerce St. is the house where Washington Irving, the author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, used to live.  

Chumley's
     We couldn't see Chumley's because the chimney collapsed in April 2007 and it is still being renovated, but we walked by where the entrance would have been.  This was a famed speakeasy during the Prohibition and was the hangout for the likes of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Faulkner, Dylan Thomas, and many others.  

Goodfellas/Bleecker's Corner
     This is a quaint little three story brick building built in 1802.

Magnolia Bakery
     This is the bakery that was featured in "Sex and the City" where Carrie and Miranda always enjoyed the bakery's famous cupcakes.  Even today at about 6 PM, tons of people were lined outside to get something at the bakery.  

Milk & Cookies
     This is another bakery in Greenwich that is perhaps the "up and coming" bakery to rivel Magnolia.  Stephanie and I had delicious cookies and some hot chocolate to warm up.

The White Horse Tavern
     Another famous literary bar, frequented by Norman Mailer, Kerouac, Anais Nin, Jim Morrison, and Dylan Thomas.  This is one of the oldest pubs in NYC, dating back to the 1880s.  

Waverly Place
   The Witches of?

The Village Vanguard
     This is an old-school jazz club that's been around since 1935.  Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk have played and recorded albums here.

St. Vincent's Hospital
     This is the hospital famed for caring for the survivors of the Titanic.

66 Perry Street
     The exterior of this building is supposed to be where Carrie lived in "Sex and the City."

74 Charles Street
     Woody Gutherie lived here.


We didn't actually finish our tour because it got to dark and cold, but we'll start up again near Christopher Park that was home to the gay rights movement in '69.  Tomorrow we're going to see the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown and then touring around.