I Love Greenwich Village

Black text and a black illustration of an arch and  a red illustration of a heart

Known to local New Yorkers as “the Village”, Greenwich Village is one of the most expensive neighborhoods to live in in the entire United States. Early references referring to the area as Greenwich date back to the 1600s. The area encompassing Washington Square served as a potter’s field for New York’s poor. Over 20,000 people are still buried there. The evolution to the Greenwich Village as an architecturally fashionable district came in the early 1800s with the building of Greek revival row houses along the north side of Washington square. The Washington Square Arch was built in 1892 in celebration of the centennial year of George Washington’s inauguration as president. The north face has two sculptures which were added in 1918; George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, Accompanied by Fame and Valor (1914–16) by Hermon A. MacNeil, and George Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice (1917–18) by A. Stirling Calder. Many artists, dancers, writers, and musicians made the Village their home branding the area as a Bohemian capital. One of the Village’s most popular events is the annual nighttime Halloween Parade.