Things to See in Greenwich Village

The fourteen, east to west

1. Washington Square Arch. Tuckahoe marble, 77 feet, by Stanford White, 1892; a wooden arch stood there first in 1889 for the centennial of Washington’s inauguration.
2. Washington Square Park. 9.75 acres at the foot of Fifth Avenue, a potter’s field from 1797 to 1825, now the Tisch Fountain, the chess tables and the statue of Garibaldi.
3. The Hangman’s Elm. The English elm in the north-west corner, estimated at over 300 years old; the hangings attached to it are legend.
4. Washington Mews. A cobbled lane of former stables and carriage houses, now NYU, open in daytime.
5. The Brown Building. 23–29 Washington Place, where the Triangle fire of 25 March 1911 killed 146 people; a National Historic Landmark.
6. Church of the Ascension. Fifth Avenue at West 10th Street, 1841, with an altar mural by John La Farge.
7. Caffe Reggio. 119 MacDougal Street, open since 1927, with a 1902 espresso machine on display.
8. Cafe Wha? 115 MacDougal Street, the basement club where Dylan played in 1961 and Hendrix in 1966; still open.
9. Jefferson Market Library. Sixth Avenue at West 10th Street: an 1877 Victorian Gothic courthouse, a public library since 1967.
10. The Stonewall Inn. 53 Christopher Street, site of the 1969 uprising and part of the Stonewall National Monument, with a free visitor center at 51.
11. Grove Court. Six brick row houses of 1854 behind a gate between 10 and 12 Grove Street; private.
12. 75½ Bedford Street. The narrowest house in Manhattan, 9 ft 6 in wide, next to the Isaacs-Hendricks House of 1799.
13. Cherry Lane Theatre. 38 Commerce Street, the city’s oldest continuously running Off-Broadway theatre, founded 1924.
14. White Horse Tavern. 567 Hudson Street, open since 1880, the bar of Dylan Thomas, Kerouac and Mailer.

Also on the map

Chumley’s, the 1920s speakeasy at 86 Bedford Street, reopened as a restaurant in 2016. Gay Street curves for one block between Christopher Street and Waverly Place. The Village Vanguard has played jazz at 178 Seventh Avenue South since 1935. Electric Lady Studios, built for Jimi Hendrix, opened at 52 West 8th Street in August 1970. The screen addresses, from 90 Bedford to St Luke’s Place, are on the film locations page.

Which walks pass which sights

The history walk covers the park, the Brown Building, MacDougal Street and the Stonewall Inn. The ghost walk takes the Hangman’s Elm, the Brown Building, the Church of the Ascension, Jefferson Market, Gay Street, the Stonewall Inn and Chumley’s after dark. The food walk passes Washington Mews and 90 Bedford; the music walk ends at the White Horse Tavern. The full pages on Washington Square Park and the Stonewall Inn go deeper, and the self-guided walk links the fourteen into one route.

Sights with a legend attached

Some stops carry stories that are not records. The hangings at the Hangman’s Elm are legend, the 22 spirits of 14 West 10th Street come from the ghost-tour trade, and the ghost of a former mayor at 12 Gay Street is told as legend too. Chumley’s is one origin story for “86” as slang, among others.

Frequently asked questions