The famous Greenwich Village, West Village, or otherwise in short the Village - in the eighteenth century was a separate village, hence the current name.
Greenwich Village also includes Christopher Street and the pub "Stonewall Inn", ie land on which erupted in 1969, so-called Stonewall riots - riots that gave rise to the gay liberation movement (Gay Liberation Movement). The name "The Village" will soon become the common name of gay neighbourhoods in other cities (hence took its name the gay band The Village People).
One of the phenomena of modern New York City is the creation of recreational areas in place of useless and decayed constructions of the former business activities.
An example is a many kilometres long park along the Hudson River, which was created, in place of the old port docks. It became a wonderful area for cyclists, runners, joggers and other individual sports enthusiasts.
At the foot of Greenwich Village's Christopher Street, as a part of Hudson River Park - on the Hudson River waterfront of Manhattan, there is theChristopher Street Pier.
This well-maintained pier has a grass surface, many benches and a massive canopy at the end. Each spring, Pier 45 hosts a festival featuring music, arts and crafts, field games and special activities for kids; that’s just one of the many special events that take place on the pier throughout the year. On most days, however, New Yorkers head to the park to lounge on the turf or walk along the water while taking in the picturesque view.
It used to be a working part of the New York waterfront, the Pier had physically decayed by the 1980s and had developed a vibrant gay social scene for "cruising". Since the renovations and opening of the Hudson River Park it has kept its role as a gathering place for gay youth from New York City.
