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South of Union Square
Place
53 East 11th Street

Posts & Stories(8)

LGBTQ History Tour image

LGBTQ History Tour
Walk

Several key individuals, organizations, and meeting spaces connected to LGBTQ history were located here, including the headquarters of the country's first national LGBTQ rights organization, and prominent writers, artists, musicians, and performers. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
55 East 11th Street image

55 East 11th Street
Post

This twelve-story structure was constructed as manufacturing lofts in 1908 by renowned architect Schwartz & Gross for the Brevoort Construction Co. Several Trotskyite organizations were located here, and the weekly organ of the Workers Party of the U.S., the New Militant, was published at this site. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.
Publishing Tour image

Publishing Tour
Walk

Many of the most prominent publishers in America and the world were located here, producing some of the most significant works of literature of the last two hundred years. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Artists Tour image

Artists Tour
Walk

An incredible array of sites in the area are connected to the great artists and art movements of the last century and a half. In the mid-20th century, this area was ground zero for the New York School of artists, who shifted the center of the art world from Paris to New York. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Grove Press Tour image

Grove Press Tour
Walk

Grove Press, called “the era’s most explosive and influential publishing house” and “the most innovative publisher of the postwar era,” produced incredibly important pieces of 20th century literature while working aggressively and effectively to transform American culture in relation to issues of censorship, sexuality, race, and class. Founded in 1947 on Grove Street in the West Village, Grove Press fully rose to prominence after it was purchased by Barney Rossett in 1951. Over the next decades, an astonishing five extant buildings in the area south of Union Square were home to the Press, its literary magazine the Evergreen Review, and the Press’ Evergreen Theater. A sixth building in the area, 61 Fourth Avenue, served as Rosset’s home from at least 1981 until Rosset’s passing in 2012. For a time, Grove Press’ offices were also located here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Film Tour image

Film Tour
Walk

The area is home to a number of significant sites to the history of film, including a large number of current and former movie houses, film producers, and organizations which shaped the course of film history in the United States. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
53 East 11th Street image

53 East 11th Street
Post

This originally two-story building was constructed c. 1880 for T.F. Sturges, and expanded to the current three stories in 1894. Around 1967, the influential publishing house Grove Press opened an office here, where it began operating the Evergreen Theatre for films and live productions. It now houses the New York Baha’i Center. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.
Theater Tour image

Theater Tour
Walk

This area was a center of theater and home to many experimental and innovative theaters, large and small, several of which still survive to this day. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
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