5 Bank Street. Willa Sibert Cather (December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life.
Waverly Inn at 16 Bank Street opened in 1920. Lovely ambience but a bit expensive for what you get.
The Judson Memorial Church at 239 Thompson Street on the south side of Washington Square Park, New York City was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White 1892. It is a composite of Byzantine, Lombardo-Romanesque or Renaissance Italianate. The building materials are terracotta and brick. The stained glass by John La Farge are amazing.
In 1890 the preacher Edward Judson initiated construction of Judson Church as a memorial to his father Adoniram Judson, the first American Protestant foreign missionary. It was backed by John D. Rockefeller and other prominent Northern Baptists. Judson Memorial Church’s location was intended to unite the immigrants of the tenements to the south of the square with the wealthy upper classes. However, the established rich were not keen on rubbing shoulders with the immigrant poor and attendance declined.
From the 1950’s on the forward thinking ministers of the church helped foster the arts and racial and gay rights. One event I found interesting was Lenny Bruce’s memorial service on August 12, 1966. It was attended by Allen Garfield, The Fugs, Paul Krassner, C Sharp, Alan Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, to name a few. Lenny Bruce was famous for his comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. He was convicted in 1964 of obscenity and posthumously pardoned.
Created for Norm’s Thursday Doors March 30, 2017
A strange plant in a flower shop on Bleeker Street, Greenwich Village, NYC.
Greenwich Village has alleys that remind me of the many old alleys in London. I love exploring these hidden pathways when I find them. They are found in the older parts of many cities. Some were used as passage ways to stables in the rear of houses; and some for rear access to service doors. The word alley is from Middle English from Old French allee meaning to walking passage.
Charles Lane, with its Belgian Block paving, is named for Charles Christopher Amos, who owned the estate where Charles Street and Lane are 10th Street used to be called Amos Street). Charles Lane.
The lane may mark the northern boundary of Newgate State Prison, which stood from 1797 until 1828 when it moved upstate and became Sing Sing.
The author Thomas Pynchon, who wrote “Gravity’s Rainbow”, lived on Charles Lane.
On its West Street end, Charles Lane currently runs between the twin towers of Richard Meier’s glass-faced Perry Street condominiums.
Read about other interesting Greenwich Village alleys at forgotten New York.
Created for Norm’s Thursday Doors March 16, 2017
This door is by a tiny delectable pastry shop, Aux Merveilleux de Fred. I love the lamps.
For Norm’s Thursday Doors January 19, 2017
Wishing all my friends and family a lovely holiday season. Created from an old photo taken in October 2011 outside my apartment building.
My favorite little door on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village is this one because it reminds me of “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett:
Two other 4th Street Doors:
Washington Square Hotel was the Hotel Earle in 1902. It is a small eight-story residential hotel in New York’s fashionable Greenwich Village:
A charming private alley in Greenwich Village, New York City.
For Norm’s Thursday Doors on November 17, 2016.
The Jefferson Market Library at 425 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, NY 10011 has an interesting history. My husband Marc covers it well in his Marc’s Village Walks.
I love the old sign on the building across from Jefferson Market. It has an old phone number that uses a name with numbers, Algonquin4-1817, instead of 5 numbers. Ours used to be Oregon, OR5-0138, the same number that his mother had since 1945.
The charming Jefferson Market Garden by the Library open on weekends..
Aged look created in Lightroom, On1 and Photoshop.
@BHEventSpace #BHPortDev
Fire insurance marks were metal plaques marked with the emblem of the insurance company which were affixed to the front of insured buildings as a guide to the insurance company’s fire brigade. These identification marks were used in the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the days before municipal fire services were formed.
Subscribers paid firefighting companies in advance for fire protection and in exchange would receive a fire mark to attach to their building. The payments for the fire marks supported the firefighting companies. Volunteer fire departments were also common in the United States, and some fire insurers contributed money to these departments and awarded bonuses to the first fire engine arriving at the scene of a fire.
Firefighting used to be a private for-profit industry. In the 1800’sin cities like New York and Baltimore, there were private “clubs” or “gangs” who were in charge of putting out fires. The infamous Boss Tweed started his illustrious political career at a volunteer fire company. The first club at the scene got money from the insurance company and sometimes loot. So, they had an incentive to get there fast. They also had an incentive to sabotage competition. They also often ended up getting in fights over territory and many times buildings would burn down before the issue was resolved.
These historic c. 1850 buildings on Washington Place, between 6th and 7th Avenues, have fire insurance marks.
For Norm’s Thursday Doors 6/2/2016.
Fire Mark at 108 Washigton Place, NYC 5/29/2016
These two c. 1899 buildings (stable and studio) are on West 4th Street on the other side of the fire marked buildings.
Fine Art Flower and Landscape Photography
Journey Begins..!!!
Sharing unique images that I have captured from around the world. All images are copyrighted by Ravi Patel.
