Jack Kerouac

December 7, 2017

The Urban Lens: From Bob Dylan to Jack Kerouac, see rare photos of the Village’s Beat Generation

Perhaps no single photographer could be said to have captured the energy, the cultural ferment, the reverberating social change emanating from New York City in the second half of the 20th century as vividly as Fred W. McDarrah. McDarrah got his start covering the downtown beat of the Village Voice in the 1950s and '60s, as that publication was defining a newly-emerged breed of independent journalism. McDarrah penetrated the lofts and coffeehouses of Lower Manhattan to shed light upon a new movement known as "The Beats" and went on to capture on film the New York artists, activists, politicians, and poets who changed the way everyone else thought and lived. Through the generosity of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah and the McDarrah family, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation was fortunate enough to add to its digital archive a dozen of the most epochal of Fred McDarrah’s images of downtown icons, including Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Jane Jacobs, and Allen Ginsberg. And just in time for the holidays, you can purchase your own copy (with all proceeds benefitting GVSHP!).
Learn the story behind all the photos
January 11, 2017

Rent a triplex in the townhouse where Jack Kerouac wrote ‘On the Road’ for $12.5K a month

The loft-like, rustic-modern interiors in this renovated triplex could be straight out of a hip Brooklyn brownstone–except they can be found on a serene Seminary block amid the galleries and condos of prime West Chelsea. But the townhouse at 454 West 20th Street has some cool cred beyond its on-trend finishes: Original hipster Jack Kerouac reportedly composed his seminal novel "On the Road" in 1951 while in residence here.
Find out more, take the tour