Greenwich Village, Wanamaker Place Between Broadway and Fourth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 …… click to enlarge

There are times late at night, perhaps after one or two glasses of wine, when I realize that I've put off posting because I can't decide which way to go with it. This short block will get one post only because it hardly deserves even one, photographically speaking, so anything I want to say, must be said tonight. Should I talk about why it's called Wanamaker Place and the Wanamaker Department store which replaced the A.T. Stewart Shop and in turn was replaced by the Stewart House, or should I talk about where are we anyhow, since Greenwich Village ends at Broadway and the East Village starts at Fourth Avenue, or should I talk about this soul-killing white brick apartment house (the Stewart House), especially since I'm reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, which is really smart and a delight to read.

I'm going to talk about where are we anyhow. Noho ends at Astor Place/8th Street. Between 8th and 14th Streets, there are 4 forlorn blocks belonging to no one. Only four because 11th Street avoids the whole issue by jumping that block. You do have your maps handy, don't you? Wikipedia has avoided the issue by ignoring it, i.e., they say that Greenwich Village is bounded by the East Village and yet ends at Broadway, and vice versa, if you follow.

I finally found a source that looked very official, but isn't, that called the boundary between the villages Fourth Avenue. I'm going with that and therefore, we are in Greenwich Village. Although it doesn't look like it. But even less like the East Village.

See map.