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8th Street and St. Mark's Place

Template:Attached KML/8th Street / St. Mark's Place (Manhattan)
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8th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from Sixth Avenue to Third Avenue, and also from Avenue B to Avenue D; its addresses switch from West to East as it crosses Fifth Avenue. Between Third Avenue and Avenue A, it is named St. Mark's Place, after the nearby St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 10th Street at Second Avenue.

St. Mark's Place is considered a main cultural street for the East Village. Vehicular traffic runs east along both one-way streets. St. Mark's Place features a wide variety of retailers. Venerable institutions lining St. Mark's Place have included Gem Spa and the St. Mark's Hotel. There are several open-front markets that sell sunglasses, clothing, and jewelry. In her 400-year history of St. Mark's Place (St. Marks Is Dead), Ada Calhoun called the street "like superglue for fragmented identities" and wrote that "the street is not for people who have chosen their lives ... [it] is for the wanderer, the undecided, the lonely, and the promiscuous."[3]

History

Early years

Wouter van Twiller, colonial governor of New Amsterdam, once owned a tobacco farm near 8th and MacDougal Streets. Such farms were located around the area until the 1830s.[4] Nearby, a Native American trail crossed the island via the rights-of-way of Greenwich Avenue, Astor Place, and Stuyvesant Street.[4]

The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 defined the street grid for much of Manhattan. According to the plan, 8th Street was to run from Greenwich Lane (now Greenwich Avenue) in the west to First Avenue on the east.[5][6] The area west of Greenwich Lane was already developed as Greenwich Village, while the area east of First Avenue was reserved for a wholesale food market.

The plan was amended many times as the grid took shape and public spaces were added or eliminated. The marketplace proposal was scrapped in 1824, allowing 8th Street to continue eastward to the river.[7] On the west side, Sixth Avenue was extended and Greenwich Lane shortened, shifting the boundary of 8th Street, ever so slightly, to Sixth Avenue and allowing Mercer, Greene, Wooster and MacDougal Streets to continue northward to 8th.[8][9]

19th century

After the Commissioners' Plan was laid out, property along the street's right of way quickly developed. By 1835, the New York University opened its first building, the Silver Center, along Eighth Street near the Washington Square Park. Row houses were also built on Eighth Street. The street ran between the Jefferson Market, built in 1832 at the west end, and the Tompkins Market, built in 1836, at the east end. These were factors in the street's commercialization in later years.[4]

Eighth Street was supposed to extend to a market place at Avenue C, but since that idea never came to fruition. Capitalizing on the high-class status of Bond, Bleecker, Great Jones, and Lafayette Streets in NoHo, developer Thomas E. Davis developed the east end of the street and renamed it "St. Mark's Place" in 1835.[10] Davis built up St. Mark's Place between Third and Second Avenues between 1831 and 1832. Although the original plan was for Federal homes, only three such houses remained in 2014.[10]

Meanwhile, Eighth Street became home to a literary scene. At Astor Place and Eighth Street, the Astor Opera House was built by wealthy men and opened in 1847.[11] Publisher Evert Augustus Duyckinck founded a private library at his 50 East Eighth Street home. Ann Lynch started a famous literary salon at 116 Waverly Place and relocated to 37 West Eighth Street in 1848.[4] Around this time and up until the 1890s, Eighth Street was co-named Clinton Place in memory of politician DeWitt Clinton, whose widow lived along nearby University Place.[4]

In the 1850s, Eighth Street housed an educational scene as well. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a then-free institution for art, architecture and engineering education, was opened in 1858. The Century Club, an arts and letters association, relocated to 46 East Eighth Street around that time; the Bible House of the American Bible Society, was nearby. In addition, the Brevoort Hotel, as well as a marble mansion built by John Taylor Johnston, were erected at Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street.[4]

At the same time, German immigrants moved into the area around Tompkins Square Park. The area around St. Mark's Place was nicknamed Kleindeutschland, or "Little Germany", because of a huge influx of German immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s. Many of the homes turned into boarding houses, as the area had 50,000 residents but not a lot of real estate. Tenement housing was also built on St. Mark's Place.[10]

By the 1870s, apartments replaced stables and houses along the stretch of Eighth Street west of MacDougal Street. The elevated Third and Sixth Avenue Lines were also built during that time, with stops along the former at Ninth Street and along the latter at Eighth Street.[4][10]

Wanamaker Annex

At the southwest corner of Broadway and Eighth Street, the street's first commercial building was built. By the 1890s, buildings on the stretch from Bowery to Fifth Avenue were used for trade.[4] In 1904, the Wanamaker's Department Store opened at the former A.T. Stewart store along Broadway between 9th and 10th Streets, with an annex built at Eighth Street.[4]

20th century

In the early 1900s, Little Germany was shrinking. At the same time, Jews, Hungarians, Poles, Ukrainians, and Russians from Eastern Europe started moving in. In 1916, Slovenian community and Franciscans established the Slovenian Church of St. Cyril, which still operates.[12] At this point, St. Mark's Place was considered a part of the Lower East Side.[10]

On the western stretch of Eighth Street, an art scene was growing. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Daniel Chester French, and other artists moved in the stables at MacDougal Alley at this time. By 1916, a studio complex for artists replaced most of these stables, making the areas around Eighth Street popular for bohemians. Whitney, a patron for other American painters, combined four houses on West Eighth Street houses into the Whitney Museum in 1931.[4]

The 1927 construction of the skyscraper at One Fifth Avenue, as well as the Eighth Street Playhouse movie theater, helped influence development on the Sixth Avenue end of the street, where construction of the IND Eighth Avenue Line had required destruction of many buildings there.[4] On an adjoining block, the Women's House of Detention was built in Jefferson Market complex in 1929–1932 and existed through the 1970s.[4]

In the 1930s, after Prohibition ended, West Eighth Street became an entertainment area. Around that time, the New York School movement for abstract expressionist painters was centered around Eighth Street, with many such painters moving to Eighth Street.[4]

After World War II, property along 8th Street was converted to apartment houses. The Rhinelander Estate, one of the major landowners on Eighth Street, erected a building between Washington Square North, Fifth Avenue, West Eighth Street, and the Whitney Museum site. Sailor's Snug Harbor, the other major land owner, demolished the blocks from Fifth Avenue to Broadway on the north side of Eighth and Ninth Streets, including the popular Brevoort Hotel. It replaced these blocks mainly with low-rise apartment buildings and stores, as well as two high-rises.[4] Around this time, West Eighth Street was also becoming the location of neighborhood commerce.[4]

After the elevated train lines were demolished in the 1940s and 1950s, the real estate industry tried to entice residents to the St. Mark's Place area, describing the neighborhood as "East Village". This area became home to an underground scene, and as it was far from public transportation, it became rundown. A 1965 Newsweek article described the East Village by telling readers to "head east from Greenwich Village, and when it starts to look squalid, around the Bowery and Third Avenue, you know you're there."[10]

In the 1960s, Macdougal and West Eighth Streets, as well as St. Mark's Place, became a popular area for hippies.[10] A women's clothing store, a pharmacy, and bookstores were replaced by fast food restaurants and other shops, directed toward the area's tourism base.[4] By 1968, St, Mark's Place became a stopping point for tour buses, which formerly skipped the area.[10]

In 1977, St. Marks Place became the epicenter of punk rock, when Manic Panic opened its doors on July 7, 1977 (7/7/77).[13] The shop quickly attracted musicians from Cyndi Lauper to the Ramones.[14]

In 1980, hot dog company Nathan's Famous moved into the location of a former bookstore on Eighth Street, to the anger of some Greenwich Village residents. However, other establishments, such as the B. Dalton bookstore, clothing stores, and shoe stores, started to attract tourists to the area.[4] By the 1990s, the areas around both Eighth Street and St. Mark's Place were becoming rapidly gentrified, with new buildings and establishments being developed along both streets.[10] The Village Alliance Business Improvement District was formed in 1993 to care for the area around Eighth Street.[4]

Notable buildings and sites

The original location of the Whitney Museum, three converted townhouses at 8–12 West 8th Street

8th Street

East

West

The German-American Shooting Society clubhouse at#12
Arlington Hall at#19–23, c.1892

St. Mark's Place

Rent Is Too Damn High Party car parked on St Mark's Place, where founder Jimmy McMillan lived until 2015[42]

Public transportation

In popular culture

Gem Spa was the "corner store" for locals for nearly a century before closing due to financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cherries, an adult store on St. Mark's Place whose signage was part of Saturday Night Live's opening montage. The store closed in late 2011.

St. Mark's Place appears in a variety of works in popular culture. Notable examples include:

Music

Television

Film

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Google (September 1, 2015). "8th Street (west of Tompkins Square Park)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Google (September 1, 2015). "8th Street (east of Tompkins Square Park)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Calhoun, Ada (2015). St. Marks Is Dead (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Co. p. 275. ISBN 978-0393240382.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harris, Luther. "Eighth Street History". villagealliance.org. Archived from the original on May 31, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  5. ^ Morris, Gouverneur; DeWitt, Simeon; Rutherfurd, John (March 22, 1811). "Remarks of the Commissioners". Letter to. Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Streets extend westwardly to Greenwich Lane... The Market Place already mentioned is bounded northwardly by Tenth Street, southwardly by Seventh Street, eastwardly by the East River, and westwardly by the First Avenue.
  6. ^ Bridges, William (1811). Map of the city of New York and island of Manhattan, as laid out by the commissioners appointed by the legislature, April 3d, 1807 (Map).
  7. ^ Stokes, I.N. Phelps (1918). The Iconography of Manhattan Island 1498–1909. Vol. 3. New York: Robert H. Dodd. p. 959. OCLC 831811649. Market Place ... reduced in size 1815; ceases to be a market place 1824; no longer reserved for public uses, except streets and avenues to be cut through same.
  8. ^ Stokes, I.N. Phelps (1926). The Iconography of Manhattan Island 1498–1909. Vol. 5. New York: Robert H. Dodd. p. 1676. OCLC 831811649. [March 18, 1828:] The legislature provides for the extension of Mercer, Greene, Wooster, McDougal, and Lewis Sts. northward to 8th St.
  9. ^ Stokes 1926, pp. 1646: "[Feb. 14, 1825:] The common council passes a resolution ... to close that part of Art St. and Greenwich Lane lying between Broadway and Sixth Ave."
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nevius, James (September 4, 2014). "The Strange History of the East Village's Most Famous Street". Curbed NY. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  11. ^ Ireland, Joseph Norton (1867). Records of the New York Stage: from 1750 to 1860. Vol. 2. T. H. Morrell. p. 515. ISBN 9781404733398.
  12. ^ Surk, Barbara (September 28, 1997). ""NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST VILLAGE; Slovenian Church Endures"". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  13. ^ Lubitz, Rachel (April 10, 2018). "How two sisters went from founding America's first punk store to creating Manic Panic". Mic.
  14. ^ Andito (July 6, 2012). "Manic Panic – 35 Years of Making Our Lives More Colorful". Village Preservation Blog.
  15. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  16. ^ a b White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  17. ^ What to See in New York. John Wanamaker, New York. 1912. pp. 22, 31. Retrieved April 27, 2013. The Wanamaker business occupies two buildings—the fine old structure erected by A. T. Stewart, with its eight floors, and the new Wanamaker Building, occupying the entire block south of the Stewart Building, with sixteen floors. Combined area of the two buildings, about 32 acres. Two large tunnels under and a double-deck bridge over Ninth Street connect the two buildings.
  18. ^ Durniak, Drew (December 7, 2011). "East 9th Street Then and now". The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 27, 2013. By 1955, Wanamaker's sold its northern store property between East 9th and 10th Streets. Before the planned demolition of the building, a fire broke out in 1956 and gutted the structure. In its place was built a huge white-brick-clad residential building called Stewart House in 1960.
  19. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  20. ^ "Clinton Hall" on Forgotten New York
  21. ^ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.. 54
  22. ^ a b c d New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "St, Mark's Place: Lot by Lot History"[permanent dead link] on the Lower East Side History Project website
  24. ^ Calhoun (2016), p.xiv
  25. ^ a b "Hamilton Holly House" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 14, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  26. ^ Van Meter, William (May 9, 2013). "The Shop That Punk Built". The New York Times.
  27. ^ "Modern School Collection, Manuscript Collection 1055, Special Collections and University Archives". Rutgers University Libraries. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  28. ^ a b c "8th Street" on New York Songlines. Accessed:2011-02-21
  29. ^ Grieve. "St. Mark's is deader: St. Mark's Comics is closing after 36 years" EV Grieve (January 29, 2019).
  30. ^ McLauchlin, Jim (March 26, 2019). "BUSINESS 3X3: MITCH CUTLER (FORMERLY) AT ST. MARK'S COMICS". Blogs.villagevoice.com. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  31. ^ "St. Mark's Comics to Reopen in Brooklyn's Industry City".
  32. ^ a b White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
  33. ^ Kleinfield, N. R. (November 22, 1992). "On the Street of Dreams". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013.
  34. ^ Bay, Cody (June 25, 2010). "Cinemode: Klute". On This Day in Fashion. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
  35. ^ "19–25 St. Mark's Place" Archived November 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine on the Lower East Side History Project website
  36. ^ Dodero, Camille (March 25, 2008). "CBGB St. Mark's Shop Closing at the End of June". Blogs.villagevoice.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  37. ^ Philips, Binky (November 10, 2010). "Tales From a New York Record Store". HuffPost.
  38. ^ Grieve. "The last record store on St. Mark's Place is closing," EV Grieve (September 21, 2015).
  39. ^ "St. Mark's Hospital". nycago.org.
  40. ^ a b c Lauckner, Sally (October 19, 2010). "A Literary Tour of the East Village". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2011 – via The Local East Village weblog of The New York Times.
  41. ^ a b "77 St. Mark's Place"[permanent dead link] on the Lower East Side History Project website. Accessed:2011-02-21
  42. ^ Marzulli, John (January 29, 2015). "Rent is Too Damn High party leader Jimmy McMillan's lawsuit over eviction gets nixed". New York Daily News.
  43. ^ "Welcome". Theatre 80. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  44. ^ "Museum of the American Gangster 80 St Marks PL NY, NY 10003 (212)228-5736 | An exploration into Organized Crime in America". Museumoftheamericangangster.org. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  45. ^ Hess, Hans (1961). Lyonel Feininger. New York: Abrams. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  46. ^ "Info" Archived June 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine on the UNDER St. Marks website. Accessed:2011-02-21
  47. ^ Arino, Lisha (October 2, 2014). "Yaffa Cafe Closes After 31 Years on St. Marks Place". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on January 31, 2019.
  48. ^ Staff (2006). Notable Addresses. MobileReferences. ISBN 9781605010281. Retrieved November 7, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  49. ^ NDS. "School History". Notre Dame School website. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  50. ^ "About GJA" Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine on the George Jackson Academy website
  51. ^ A Short History of Sin-e Archived March 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed December 21, 2006
  52. ^ "Start me up: Waiting on a Friend opens on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place".
  53. ^ "EV Grieve: The Wild Son shapes up on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place".
  54. ^ Berger, Joseph (July 31, 2005). "The Pizza Is Still Old World, Only Now the Old World Is Tibet". The New York Times. For New Yorkers, this was the nectar of a Jewish neighborhood, and Gem Spa was the drink's sacred temple, certified as such by magazines and travel writers.
  55. ^ Berkon, Ben. "Gem Spa: Classic egg creams in New York". NewYork.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010.
  56. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (April 22, 2013). "Mad Men Recap: The Electric Circus". Vulture.
  57. ^ Ross, Alex (April 21, 2013). "The Rest is Noise: Electric Circus, Electric Ear". The New Yorker.
  58. ^ Moker, Molly (May 21, 2014). "Tour the Top 25 'Sex and the City' Locations". Fodors.
  59. ^ Inguanzo, Ozzy (November 2021). Ghostbusters: Afterlife: The Art and Making of the Movie. London: Titan Books. p. 126. ISBN 9781789096521.

Bibliography

External links