Greenwich House

Greenwich House was founded on Thanksgiving Day 1902 by city planner and social worker Mary K. Simkhovitch in a building at 26 Jones Street in Manhattan's West Village.

Early supporters who joined her on opening day included social reformers Jacob Riis, Felix Adler, and Carl Shurz.

[4] Thanks to a gift from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Greenwich House was able to hire architects Delano and Aldrich to design its current Federalist building at 27 Barrow Street.

[1] In the late 1980s Greenwich House played a central role in the AIDS crisis in the West Village neighborhood, one of the city's largest gay communities.

[8] Greenwich House's main building was built between 1916 and 1917, funded by board members including Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and Anna Woershoffer.

The two Music School homes were combined on the interior and now comprise the 100 seat Renee Weiler Concert Hall as well as sound proof practice rooms.

After months of negotiations, including elected officials and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, weighing in, the church agreed to a new revised lease allowing the center to remain.

About 40 faculty members provide group and individual instruction for a variety of instruments, including piano, strings, guitar, harp, percussion, woodwinds, brass and Suzuki Violin.

Notable performers who have passed through the concert hall include Meredith Monk, Hilary Hahn, John Cage, David Amram, Tim Berne and Ruth Laredo.

Notable alumni include Bobby Lopez, the Tony, Grammy, Emmy and Academy Award-winning composer for the movie Frozen,[15] Avenue Q and Book of Mormon, as well as Erika Nickrenz of the Eroica Trio.

When the Children's Aid Society moved away from the West Village in 2011, Greenwich House assumed responsibility for its After-School and Summer Arts Camp programs.

CSP helps children heal from their trauma of abuse through supportive therapy and by teaching them the life-skills required to become self-reliant and lead productive lives.