West & Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village was a real village once, a cluster of farms and country houses north of the city, where New Yorkers fled to escape the yellow fever epidemics of the early 1800s. That is why its streets ignore the Manhattan grid and wander at odd angles, so that West 4th Street even crosses West 10th Street. In the 20th century, the Village became the home of America’s bohemians: writers, painters, folk singers, jazz musicians and activists. The modern gay rights movement was born here in 1969. Today its brownstones are among the most expensive homes in the city, but the jazz clubs, cafés and pizzerias are still going strong. This walk takes you from Stonewall through the crooked streets of the West Village to Washington Square.