Famous Residents of Greenwich Village

Writers

Edgar Allan Poe lived at 85 West 3rd Street in 1845, the year of “The Raven”; NYU demolished the house in 2001 and rebuilt a facsimile facade on Furman Hall. Mark Twain lived at 14 West 10th Street in 1900–01. Henry James was born at 21 Washington Place in 1843. Edith Wharton and Willa Cather lived in the Village; E. E. Cummings lived on Patchin Place; Djuna Barnes was a resident too. Edna St. Vincent Millay lived at 75½ Bedford Street in 1923–24. Dylan Thomas, a guest at the Chelsea Hotel, drank at the White Horse Tavern. Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and James Baldwin belong to the Village’s later literary years, and Jane Jacobs, author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” (1961), lived at 555 Hudson Street.

Artists

Edward Hopper lived and worked at 3 Washington Square North from 1913 until 1967. Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring all belong to the Village’s art history; the music walk starts by a Keith Haring statue at Astor Place. Margaret Mead and the cartoonist William Steig also lived at 75½ Bedford, the narrowest house in Manhattan; the narrowest house page has its measurements.

Musicians

Bob Dylan arrived in January 1961, played Cafe Wha? soon after, and took his first New York apartment at 161 West 4th Street; the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (1963) was shot on nearby Jones Street. Joan Baez lived nearby at the same time. Jimi Hendrix played Cafe Wha? in 1966 as Jimmy James, and Electric Lady Studios was built for him at 52 West 8th Street, opening in August 1970, weeks before his death on 18 September 1970. Simon & Garfunkel, Dave Van Ronk and Bette Midler are part of the same story. John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived at 105 Bank Street from 1971 to 1973.

Residents in the ghost stories

The ghost walk passes the former home of Emma Lazarus and 14 West 10th Street, Twain’s address, which the ghost-tour trade calls “the house of death”; the claim of 22 spirits is legend, not record. At 12 Gay Street the walk tells the legend of a former mayor’s ghost.

Present-day residents

Well-known actors and broadcasters live in the Village today. Their homes are private, and this site does not publish their addresses. The houses on this page are historic addresses of people from the past, and the ones still standing are private homes too, seen from the pavement.

Walks that tell these stories

The history walk starts from the Edgar Allan Poe house and the Washington Square Hotel; Andrew (UK) mentioned Conor’s detailed knowledge of history, literature, culture and music. The music walk covers where Dylan and Hendrix launched their careers, John and Yoko’s first New York apartment and the tavern where Dylan Thomas drank his last, in groups of up to 6.

Frequently asked questions