Saturday we took a walking tour of "The Village". The East Village is (on the east, of course) and is still kinda "gritty" (in our opinion,) but according to the real estate info, it is rapidly becoming "gentrified". Which means I guess the 800 sf tenement apartments sell for $800K or more.
Greenwich Village is between the East and West Village. ($2 mill + for apartments in this area) The Village is known for being a place where artists, writers, revolutionaries, and everything cool happened. When you walk thru today, you see a variation of restaurants, dives, and shops.
When you hear the history you find: Abby Hoffman lived along St. Marks Place. Andy Warhol owned the "Electric Circus" where Lou Reed and others performed. Then we walked by where Buddy Holly lived, and where Barbara Streisand first performed. Next door is Jimi Hendrix's studio where tons of famous bands recorded their albums. It is really "unreal" how much stuff happened on these streets. This neighborhood has truly been a gathering space for "revolutionaries" and the "counter culture" and "artists of all kind" not just recently... but from the early 50's.
We also toured Cooper Union. This is a college that is FREE. They get money from their endowments, and from rental income they receive from property owned in upper East side. Abe Lincoln spoke in the auditorium here and the podium he used is still in use and on stage. More recently, Obama gathered supporters here when he spoke during his campaign for Presidency. This is a "happening place" not only in the past but today as well.
