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Astor Place Theatre434 Lafayette St, New York, NY 1000340.729410-73.9923700
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Bastiano's Cellar Studio1 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 1001440.729610-73.9932601
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Bigelow Drugs414 6th Ave, New York, NY 1001140.733870-73.9990302
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Bleecker Street Cinema144 Bleecker St, New York, NY 1001240.728080-73.9993403
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Broadway Central Hotel673 Broadway, New York, NY40.727900-73.9952904
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Café Bizarre106 W 3rd St, New York, NY 1001240.730160-73.9995905
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Café Rafio165 Bleecker St, New York, NY 1001240.728810-74.0000306
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Cafe Wha?115 Macdougal St, New York, NY 1001240.730080-74.0005507
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Caffe Cino31 Cornelia St, New York, NY 1001440.731410-74.0025608
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Cherry Lane Theatre38 Commerce St, New York, NY 1001440.731250-74.0053109
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Cinemabilia10 Cornelia St, New York, NY 1001440.731570-74.00168010
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Circle in the Square159 Bleecker St, New York, NY 1001240.728690-73.99986011
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Coda Gallery89 E 10th St, New York, NY 1000340.730940-73.98960012
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Eighth Street Bookshop17 W 8th St, New York, NY 1001140.732880-73.99731013
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Electric Lady Studio52 W 8th St, New York, NY 1001140.733040-73.99895014
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Gaslight116 Macdougal St, New York, NY 1001240.729690-74.00047015
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Gerde's Folk City11 West 4th Street, New York, NY 1001440.732930-74.00223016
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Greenwich Village Peace Center133 W 3rd St, New York, NY 1001240.730970-74.00072017
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Johnny Dodd and Michael Smith's apartment5 Cornelia St, New York, NY 1001440.731800-74.00151018
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Judson Gallery239 Thompson St, New York, NY 1001240.729970-73.99852019
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Judson Memorial Church55 Washington Square S, New York, NY 1001240.730220-73.99844020
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Mercer Arts Center240 Mercer St, New York, NY 1001240.727900-73.99549021
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Mona's Royal Roost28 Cornelia St, New York, NY 1001440.731170-74.00233022
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New School for Social Research66 W 12th St, New York, NY 1001140.735470-73.99717023
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New York Poets Theatre84 E 10th St, New York, NY 1000340.730860-73.98993024
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Paperbook Gallery399 6th Ave, New York, NY 1001440.733490-74.00001025
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Project of Living Artists729 Broadway, New York, NY 1000340.729860-73.99338026
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Reno Sweeney126 W 13th St, New York, NY 1001140.737050-73.99866027
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San Remo93 Macdougal St, New York, NY 1001240.729410-74.00116028
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St. Vincent's Hospital170 W 12th St, New York, NY 1001140.736880-74.00025029
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The Living Theatre / John Cage and Merce Cunningham's studio530 6th Ave, New York, NY 1001140.737440-73.99644030
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The Loft (original location)647 Broadway, New York, NY 1001240.726820-73.99592031
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The Public Theater425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 1000340.729030-73.99182032
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Trude Heller's418 6th Ave, New York, NY 1001140.734010-73.99902033
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Village Gate185 Thompson St, New York, NY 1001240.728100-73.99998034
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Village Oldies170 Bleecker St, New York, NY 1001240.728690-74.00066035
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Village Vanguard178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 1001440.736040-74.00172036
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Village Voice (original location)22 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 1001140.734890-73.99984037
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Washington Square ParkNew York, NY 1001240.730820-73.99733038
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Why Not Café120 Macdougal St, New York, NY 1001240.729790-74.00036039
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Women's House of Detention6th Ave & Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 1001140.733640-73.99954040
Astor Place Theatre
434 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003
In 1965, Jonas Mekas rented space for the Filmmakers Cinematheque to produce multimedia shows and film screenings at the Astor Place Theatre, where the Fugs also regularly performed; it was also where the first production of Tom Eyen’s Women Behind Bars was staged in 1975.
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Bastiano's Cellar Studio
1 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10014
The first production of the Jackie Curtis-penned Glamor, Glory and Gold, directed by Ron Link, was performed at Bastiano’s Cellar Studio in Greenwich Village.
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Bigelow Drugs
414 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Bigelow Drugs on Sixth Avenue, between West Eighth and Ninth Streets, was another community hub that sold everything from magazines and medicine to fountain soda drinks.
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Bleecker Street Cinema
144 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
A regular haunt of the Harris family, mother Ann Harris used to take her children (including the soon-to-be Hibiscus) to see Busby Berkeley films at Bleecker Street Cinema.
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Broadway Central Hotel
673 Broadway, New York, NY
The Broadway Central Hotel (which housed Art Bar in its basement) was attached to the neighboring Mercer Art Center, which was condemned after the hotel collapsed on August 3, 1973.
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Café Bizarre
106 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012
Café Bizarre was one of the first coffeehouses to cash in on the folk and beatnik boom, and in 1965 it was where Ed Sanders, Andy Warhol, and others discovered the Velvet Underground.
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Café Rafio
165 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
In the heart of Greenwich Village, Café Rafio was surrounded by other neighborhood staples such as Café Au Bizarre, Circle in the Square, Village Gate, and the Gaslight, among many others.
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Cafe Wha?
115 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012
Opening its doors in 1959, Cafe Wha? was among the first wave of coffeehouses that populated MacDougal Street—hosting musicians and comedians such as Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce, and Joan Rivers.
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Caffe Cino
31 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014
Arguably the first Off-Off-Broadway theater venue, Caffe Cino was located on Cornelia—a quiet one-block-long street that terminates to the north at West Fourth Street that hosted many an experimental theater production and performance.
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Cherry Lane Theatre
38 Commerce St, New York, NY 10014
Off-Broadway shifted American theater from its midtown Manhattan roots after venues such as Cherry Lane Theatre drew audiences further downtown.
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Cinemabilia
10 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014
Located at 10 West 13th Street, this vintage movie poster and bookstore Cinemabilia employed Television manager Terry Ork, as well as Richard Hell and Kristian Hoffman of the Mumps.
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Circle in the Square
159 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
The Circle in the Square, along with Cherry Lane Theatre, helped spearhead the Off-Broadway theater movement.
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Coda Gallery
89 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003
The Coda Gallery, a little gallery on 89 East Tenth Street, staged Ronald Tavel’s one-acts The Life of Juanita Castro and Shower after the playwright founded the Play-House of the Ridiculous with John Vaccaro.
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Eighth Street Bookshop
17 W 8th St, New York, NY 10011
The Eighth Street Bookshop in Greenwich Village was frequented by Ed Sanders, Susan Sontag, and Philip Roth, and was where the young poet Andrei Codrescu worked when he moved downtown in 1967.
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Electric Lady Studio
52 W 8th St, New York, NY 10011
Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios, on West Eighth Street, was where Patti Smith recorded her debut DIY single and Horses, her debut album released by the major label, Arista.
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Gaslight
116 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012
Located on MacDougal Street, the Gaslight was a coffeehouse that was a haven for Beat writers and which hosted the likes of Bob Dylan and the Holy Modal Rounders in the early 1960s.
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Gerde's Folk City
11 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10014
Gerde's Folk City was one of the many coffeehouses around MacDougal Street that hosted hootenannies.
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Greenwich Village Peace Center
133 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012
The Greenwich Village Peace Center was cofounded by poet and activist Grace Paley, who renovated an old storefront on West Third Street, between Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue, with the help of Ed Sanders and others.
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Johnny Dodd and Michael Smith's apartment
5 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014
Located at 5 Cornelia Street, Johnny Dodd and Michael Smith's apartment was down the road from Caffe Cino and is most notable as the site where dancer Freddie Herko committed suicide by jumping out their window.
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Judson Gallery
239 Thompson St, New York, NY 10012
In 1959, the Judson Gallery was founded in the church’s basement at 239 Thompson Street, which displayed work by Pop and conceptual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Yoko Ono, Claes Oldenburg, and Red Grooms—and was home to several Happenings.
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Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012
Judson Memorial Church, on the south side of Washington Square, mixed radical art, politics, and performance by hosting experimental music composer and theorist John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham, painter Robert Rauschenberg, and so many others.
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Mercer Arts Center
240 Mercer St, New York, NY 10012
Before the Mercer Arts Center collapsed in 1973, it was where underground theater, glam rock, video art, and performance art briefly intersected in the early 1970s—planting the seeds of what would become known as “punk.”
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Mona's Royal Roost
28 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014
Mona’s Royal Roost was a quintessentially quaint Greenwich Village cocktail bar run by two older women located across the street from Caffe Cino, where the Cino crowd would sometimes sneak away for a drink between shows.
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New School for Social Research
66 W 12th St, New York, NY 10011
The New School for Social Research was the site where Allan Kaprow, Dick Higgins, and Al Hansen attended John Cage’s influential, consciousness-raising class in 1958, which laid the groundwork for Happenings and other experimental performance forms.
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New York Poets Theatre
84 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003
New York Poets Theatre was founded by dancers James Waring and Freddie Herko, along with poets LeRoi Jones, Diane di Prima, and her then-husband, Alan Marlowe—based in the Bowery Theatre on East Tenth Street, near Third Avenue.
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Paperbook Gallery
399 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014
Another jewel in the downtown’s literary crown was the Paperbook Gallery, on Sixth Avenue around the corner from the Eighth Street Bookshop, which stayed open until midnight—a practice that encouraged people to socialize.
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Project of Living Artists
729 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
The Project of Living Artists, where Suicide’s Alan Vega worked in the late 1960s, was a collaborative space funded for a short time by the New York State Council on the Arts.
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Reno Sweeney
126 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
Reno Sweeney was an intimate cabaret located at 126 West Thirteenth Street in Greenwich Village, where Holly Woodlawn and many other downtown acts performed.
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San Remo
93 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012
The San Remo was another regular stop on the downtown circuit—a traditional village tavern on MacDougal Street and Bleecker with pressed-tin ceilings and wooden walls.
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St. Vincent's Hospital
170 W 12th St, New York, NY 10011
This Greenwich Village hospital served the local community for over 160 years before permanently closing in 2010; Joe Cino spent his last hours there after stabbing himself to death in 1967, and three decades later it treated hundreds of HIV patients during the height of the AIDS crisis.
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The Living Theatre / John Cage and Merce Cunningham's studio
530 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
The Living Theatre was housed in an old four-story department store building on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fourteenth Street; John Cage and Merce Cunningham rented a studio on the third floor of the Living Theatre, which accelerated the cross-fertilization of scenes.
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The Loft (original location)
647 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
The Loft was founded in 1970 by an Italian man named David Mancuso, who ran it out of his living space (an actual loft) in order to circumvent city regulations, governing clubs, and bars; originally located at 647 Broadway in Greenwich Village, it was a short walk from Mercer Arts Center and CBGB.
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The Public Theater
425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003
Joseph Papp’s Public Theater hosted the first production of Hair in 1967, one of many adventurous shows presented by the theater over the years.
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Trude Heller's
418 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Joshua Light Show founder Joshua White designed lighting at Trude Heller’s and other discothèques in the mid-1960s, where he began to develop techniques that he refined at the Fillmore East.
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Village Gate
185 Thompson St, New York, NY 10012
The Village Gate, a popular venue where jazz artists like Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Cannonball Adderley played, also employed Theatre Genesis’s Ralph Cook and Sam Shepard.
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Village Oldies
170 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
Village Oldies, which sold vintage 45 rpm records, was opened in 1967 by two men known as Broadway Al and Bleecker Bob (who later opened Bleecker Bob’s record store); Patti Smith met record store clerk Lenny Kaye at Village Oldies, which began a fruitful musical collaboration that lasted five decades.
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Village Vanguard
178 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014
Future CBGB owner Hilly Kristal was the manager of the famed jazz club the Village Vanguard in the 1950s before opening Hilly’s on East Thirteenth Street, where he booked folk and blues acts throughout the 1960s.
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Village Voice (original location)
22 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
The Village Voice was founded in 1955 by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, and its offices were located at 22 Greenwich Avenue until moving to Sheridan Square in 1960—where it stayed throughout that decade.
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Washington Square Park
New York, NY 10012
Washington Square Park was a central gathering spot for New York’s folk and Beat scenes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the area surrounding the park was filled with coffeehouses, particularly on MacDougal Street.
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Why Not Café
120 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012
The Why Not Café, located across the street from the more famous Café Wha?, was a typical tourist trap coffeehouse of that era—where future Max’s Kansas City booker Peter Crowley worked in the 1960s, luring in customers off the street.
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Women's House of Detention
6th Ave & Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
New York’s Women’s House of Detention was located in Greenwich Village, where people on the street could hear inmates calling out from the prison’s windows.
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