history
These days, it’s doubtful you’ll run into any masked New Yorker who won’t agree they aren’t looking forward to the moment when things go back to normal and standing six feet apart becomes a socially distant memory. But, it’s good to remember that this virus has not been the first our city has experienced. In fact, Washington Square Park used to be a potter’s field before it became manicured into the beautiful and versatile playground that we know today. Before Manhattan had access to consistently clean water, outbreaks such as cholera and yellow fever spread quickly almost 200 years ago. And – just as now during COVID – the rich left. It’s a NYC tradition!
wrtten by Seraphina Mallon-Breiman
Served remotely or scantily by subway and bus, the Far West Village has remained, except for Christopher Street, a sort of backwater, without Greenwich Village’s tour buses, walking tours and weekend hordes. But the Far West cherishes its peculiar surprises: A clapboard cottage moved to its own lawn at Greenwich and Charles Streets, dwarfed by buildings that, at nine or 10 stories, are tall for the area.
The Amos Farm, a nursery plot and garden store on Hudson at 10th Street that still carries the name of an original farm in the area. A sunbathing pier at the foot of Morton Street that is moorage for ”the Greenwich Village Navy” – two Board of Education training ships.A defunct elevated railroad spur that appears to run right through three of the newest conversions on West Street
THE FAR WEST VILLAGE
By LAURIE JOHNSTON
get your shirts