On March 12, 1651, Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of the Dutch West India Company, purchased Bouwerie (Dutch for ‘farm’) #1 and part of Bouwerie #2 in what is today’s East Village and the area South of Union Square. While these landholdings only remained farmland for a fraction of their existence, the area between present-day 5th and 20th Streets, from Fourth Avenue to the East River, would nevertheless remain in the Stuyvesant family for many generations. Though the land eventually traded hands to new owners, the Stuyvesant family imprint can still be seen on the neighborhood today in a number of ways. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

This building was constructed in the Greek Revival Style in 1844-45 as a private residence by Peter Stuyvesant, a direct descendant of the last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam. It later became the home and studio of famed Dutch-American abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning. In the 1940s, Selma Hortense Burke lived and worked. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.

This five-story loft building with modern cladding was designed by architect Isidore Fried in 1906. It housed several influential galleries which were part of the 10th Street Galleries of the 1950s.

In spite of massive waves of commercial construction, tenement building, and later hotel and apartment building construction which swept through this neighborhood, the area retains dozens of rowhouses from its early stages of development, dating from the early 1830s to the early 1850s. They range from modest to grand, most in the Greek Revival or Italianate style. Reflecting the vast forces of change which swept through the area, none remained single family houses, taking on new lives housing commerce, unions, theaters, art galleries, and multiple tenants. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

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.

This area was home to several sites connected to significant developments in African American history, including civil rights leaders and organizations, musicians, and writers. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

The "New York School," a groundbreaking group of writers and artists who collaborated across disciplines, was rooted in the neighborhood south of Union Square in the mid-20th century. This loosely defined but transformative collective is credited with shifting the center of the art world from Paris to New York.

Many notable organizations, leaders, and events in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements were located or took place here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.