New York Songlines: Washington Place

South:

Sheridan Square

Can be distinguished from nearby Christopher Park by the fact that it does not have a statue of Gen. Phil Sheridan in it. Instead, it has the Sheridan Square Viewing Garden, planted in 1982 by local volunteers to replace an unsightly traffic island.

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1 Sheridan Square (corner): In the basement of this 1903 warehouse is the Axis Company, an innovative off-Broadway theater group. The space was from 1967-95 the home of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Earlier it was Cafe Society, a left-wing, integrated club backed by Benny Goodman; performers like Lena Horne and Billie Holiday (who famously sang "Strange Fruit" here) played for the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul Robeson and Lillian Hellman. It closed in 1950.

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10 Sheridan Square: This was the site of the Pirate’s Den, a nautical bar opened in 1917; though the building that housed it was torn down in 1928, a facsimile was featured in 1944 Carmen Miranda film Greenwich Village.

133 Washington Place: This was at one point the location of Romany Marie’s tea room; she read tea leaves and palms for Village Bohemians.

111: St Joseph School (K-8)

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88 (corner): A 14-unit condo was built on this site in 2005, at an address where "ashcan" painter John French Sloan lived. This was also the location of the Fronton, a speakeasy from 1923-26 that was popular with New York Mayor Jimmy Walker and poet Edna St. Vincent. The proprietors, Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns, moved uptown and founded the "21" Club.

82: Two famous novelists have lived in this building: Willa Cather from 1908 until 1912, and Richard Wright in 1945.

80: Bandleader John Philip Sousa owned a home here.

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85: The Stoned Crow

75: Was the address of Marte's, a speakeasy where poet e.e. cummings and his wife Elaine usually ate dinner.

Washington Square Park

Originally a marsh surrounding Minetta Brook, in the early years of New York this area was used as a graveyard for slaves and yellow fever victims, a dueling ground and a place of execution. Near the northwest corner can be found the Hanging Elm, perhaps the oldest tree in Manhattan. The Marquis de Lafayette is said to have witnessed the festive hanging of 20 highwaymen here in 1824. In 1826 it was designated the Wahington Military Parade Grounds, which soon was transformed into a public park.

Washington Square was at one point the center of New York society, later becoming the unofficial quadrangle of NYU. In 1961 it was the site of protests over a police crackdown on folksinging, and in 1963, a plan to extend Fifth Avenue through the park was defeated. The present landscaping of the park dates to 1971.

Holley Statue

Alexander Lyman Holley was an engineer who perfected the Bessemer steel process, launching the U.S. steel industry. His statue was placed here by a coalition of engineering societies.

Washington Square Arch

Designed by Stanford White, it was put up in 1892 to replace a temporary plaster arch erected in 1889 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Washington's inauguration. Members of the bohemian Liberal Club, including artists Marcel Duchamp and John Sloan, climbed on top of the arch in 1917 to proclaim the Independent Republic of Greenwich Village.

See a 360 Degree Panorama of Washington Square.

Garibaldi Statue

Giuseppe Garibaldi, a guerrilla fighter, is the hero of Italian reunification. While in exile, he lived briefly in New York City, first on Irving Place and then on Staten Island.

South:

18 (corner): NYU Bookstore

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27: This was the address of the birthplace of novelist Henry James, born April 15, 1843. He lived here only the first six months of his life.

Asch Building

23 (corner): This building was the location of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. On May 25, 1911, fire broke out in this "fireproof" building; because the fire exits had been locked, 146 workers--mostly young immigrant women--were killed. The owners of the factory settled claims against for $75 a life, but outrage over the deaths sparked a wave of union organizing and political reform.

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14 (corner): Edward Koch moved into a one-bedroom, $479.49-a-month rent-controlled apartment on the 12th floor here in 1965, and continued living here after being elected mayor (despite having the use of Gracie Mansion). After losing the Democratic Primary to David Dinkins in 1989, he moved to 2 Fifth Avenue.

10: "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt died here on January 4, 1877, at the time the richest man in the United States; his townhouse was here, as well as his stables and a small racetrack.

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