The culture of NYU and Greenwich Village are nearly interchangeable. They impact one another with the constantly fluctuating demographics of both communities; thus, the cultures within the communities are reflected via the events, places, and people within a community. One cannot mention the culture of Greenwich Village without mentioning the culture of NYU. One contributes to the other and the culture that is created as a result of this is a vibrant one that is distinct from all other neighborhoods.
Cqptured by Destany Batista at the 2016 Pride Parade
It is no surprise that the village’s history concerning LGBT rights remains deeply embedded into the culture of Greenwich Village. Each year the Pride Parade takes place in Manhattan and ends in Greenwich Village outside of the Stone Wall Inn, where the Gay Rights Movement began in the United States.
The village continues to be a community in which people can feel free to express themselves. It underwent the Bohemian Era, in which artists flocked to the neighborhood as a safe place to practice the arts. This legacy continues and is only contributed to by the NYU students. The students at NYU are dedicated to living out the legacy the formers residents of Greenwich Village gave the community.
A caption from a video from NYU Steinhardt’s Youtube Channel says it all. “Within this cosmopolitan environment, NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Art and Art Professions creates a home for visual artists who work side by side with acclaimed performers, scientists, theorists, and philosophers to explore the frontiers of creative practice.” Watch the video below on how NYU students contribute to the atmosphere of Greenwich Village’s art scene.
Essentially, Greenwich Village is known as a village of expression. Whether it be through an expression of sexual orientation, art, or anything else, the village is a place to feel accepted and be one’s self. This was heavily implied in the interviews that were conducted.
In addition, Professor Scott Barton of both NYU and Queens College addressed the changing food cultures within the village as a result of the changing NYU demographics. According to Professor Barton, the food trucks in Greenwich Village are direct results of the changing ethnicities within the college.
