It was the birthplace of the 60s counter-culture movement, the former neighbourhood of Bob Dylan and more recently Julia Roberts, and the cradle of the LGBT movement – welcome to Greenwich Village!
It’s not a great first impression to rock up late for a tour, but navigating New York City’s extensive subway system can be pretty challenging at times. Well that was my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
But thoughts of my tardiness recede into the back recesses of my mind not long after meeting my group and tour guide, Renee, and beginning my two-hour free tour (with a tip expected at the end, of course) around Greenwich Village, a neighbourhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
But this isn’t just any old neighbourhood.
This three-block pocket of NYC has either been the home or favourite hang-out place for legends of recent history, including Robert De Niro, Jimi Hendrix, Edgar Allan Poe, and Hemingway. And then there are the Village’s more recent inhabitants, which include Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman, Matthew Broderick, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Greenwich Village has also been featured in tons of movies and TV shows, including Friends, Big Daddy, and I Am Legend. The Huxstabul House from The Cosby Show was also actually filmed here.
Pictured: The Friends apartment complex
True, these days an apartment (and even a room in an apartment) here will set you back a pretty penny; on average around $3500 USD a month.
But back in the day, this part of Manhattan was one of the least desirable places to live, which also made it one of the cheapest, attracting artistic types big on inspiration but little on funds who made the area one of the most vibrant and creative in NYC, if not the world.
For example, Bob Dylan once rented an apartment here for $19 a month. These days, that kind of money would buy you just a meal in Greenwich Village…
Pictured: Cafe Wha?
And then there’s the whole Beat movement that started from here, which inspired a generation into social/political change in the 60s. Indeed, it was from these three small blocks in Lower Manhattan that inspired countless social movements, including workers and gay rights, and to drive this point home, our guide takes us to the famous The Stonewall Inn – these days a simple gay club, but back in the day the site of the 1969 riots that launched the gay rights movement.
Venturing further into the shady tree-lined streets of the Village led by our fearless guide, we’re taken past the famous Friends apartment complex before visiting a local swimming pool that Robert De Niro used to break into after dark and swim in as a kid. Mr De Niro loved that pool so much that he ended up buying a place just across the street from it when he made it big in Hollywood.
However, he ended up putting it on the market a few years, and it recently got sold.
Pictured: De Niro’s former home
Walking through the back streets, we pass a bar that Bob Dylan used to regularly perform in, before turning onto Macdougal Street: home of the Comedy Cellar (where comedians such as Louis C.K., Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle frequently pop in for an impromptu set) and the historic Cafe Wha? – which is where Jimi Hendrix was first discovered.
Finishing the walking tour, we’re taken to Washington Square Park, where our guide tells of its more macabre past as the site of public hangings and its use as a mass grave. Apparently this is one of the most haunted public spaces in NYC.
Pictured: Washington Square Park
But wanting to end the tour on a more positive light, Renee points to the local children and families who retreat to the leafy park for some respite from the madness of the Big Apple. And who knows, perhaps there’s another Bob Dylan or De Niro in the works climbing those monkey bars? Anything is possible in Greenwich Village.
