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New York's Greenwich Village in the '60s: The Photos

A neighborhood and era of political and cultural revolution.

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Greenwich Village in the 1960s was the hub of revival in art, music, politics, literature, and ideas. This was the time and place of Bob Dylan, of Allen Ginsberg, of Andy Warhol, of The Velvet Underground, of protests against the Vietnam War, and the Stonewall Riots. These are the photos that tell the story of the era.

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Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward having lunch and reading the New York Times in their Greenwich Village house on January 2, 1960.

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Beatniks at City Hall protesting against the closing of Greenwich Village coffee houses on June 1, 1960.

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A man strides along a sidewalk past a graffiti-covered brick wall.

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Young men and women smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, and play chess in a coffeehouse.

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Group of Greenwich Villagers arrive at City Hall in a Loconick to protest the building of luxury apartments in the Village to the city planning commissioner. They wanted emergency zoning to save the Village. The Loconick was reportedly decorated by Salvador Dali.

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South African singer Miriam Makeba performs at The Bitter End in 1961.

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Writer S.J. Perelman in his Greenwich Village office on October 1, 1960.

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Street scene of a young woman walking with an acoustic guitar, as an old man sits by a telephone booth on April 25, 1961

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Bob Dylan performs at The Bitter End in 1961.

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Festive residents of Greenwich Village make their way to night court to act as character witnesses for some accused rioters on April 9, 1961. They ride in a small convertible with the top down, so their instrument cases will fit.

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Gaslight Poetry Cafe, 116 McDougal St. on January 11, 1961

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Peter Yarrow, Mary Travers, and Noel 'Paul' Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary pose for alternative shots for the cover of their first eponymously titled album at The Bitter End in 1962.

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A performance of expressionist theatre known as "Happening," in which a man in a paint-splattered suit plays dead while two other men examine his teeth and hair.

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Actress Anne Bancroft wrinkles up with glee as she phones relatives with the news from her home after winning the Academy Award for the Best Actress for her performance in The Miracle Worker.

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Muhammad Al reads one of his literary offerings during a contest at the Bitter End, from which he emerged victorious.

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The junction of MacDougal Street and Minetta Lane, August 2, 1963.

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View through a window of patrons inside an unidentified cafe in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, April 1963.

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American painter and printmaker Edward Hopper sitting for a portrait in his studio near Washington Square, 1963.

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Folk singers Simon And Garfunkel perform at The Bitter End on October 20, 1964.

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Paintings on display in Washington Square in October 1964. Artists traditionally exhibited their work on the area's streets in spring and autumn.

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