It’s that time of year again! You know… the one where love is on everybody’s mind. Some people love it, others just love to hate it, and some chose not to acknowledge it either way. But no matter your take on love—er, Valentine’s Day—one thing is for sure: no matter the time of the season, this little Greenwich Village hotel LOVES being in Greenwich Village, as well as all of the unique and cool history the area holds.
Our neighborhood has gained the reputation of being a creative epicenter to some of the most inspiring and talented people this world has seen (some may say we have the 1960s to thank for that) and (here’s that word again) we LOVE being able to be a part of it.
The people who have been, and currently are, part of our neighborhood have all had a hand in shaping it into what it is today. To celebrate all of this love we have for our little slice of the City, we’ve listed three of the very greatest rock ‘n’ roll couples who lived in Greenwich Village and called it home between the late 1950s and early 1970s. Take a look.
Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo
161 W Fourth Street
It was in 1961 that Dylan moved into his first New York City apartment at 161 W Fourth Street. His girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo, moved into the quaint 2- bedroom space with him. Though Suze was only with Dylan until 1964, Dylan acknowledges her as someone who had a fantastic influence on his music and art from the time. It’s even been said that their breakup was the inspiration for some of Dylan’s great love songs.
In Dylan’s book, Chronicles, Volume One, he described his meeting of Rotolo as, “Cupid’s arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart and the weight of it dragged me overboard… Meeting her was like stepping into the tales of 1001 Arabian Nights.” Suze is on the cover with Dylan on his album ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’. The photograph was taken a couple blocks from their apartment.
Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago
11 Fifth Avenue
The young rock ‘n’ roll legend and his brand new wife moved into the Brevoort Apartments at 11 Fifth Avenue in 1958. Maria says Buddy Holly proposed to her on their first date—love at first sight, eh? Buddy had become more and more interested in the New York City music scene and apparently chose this Greenwich Village location in order to be closer to it.
It was also in this apartment that Buddy recorded what is known as the “Apartment Tapes,” which included songs like “Crying, Waiting, Hoping,” and “Peggy Sue Gets Married”. Holly and Maria Elena enjoyed going out, listening, and discovering new music at clubs in the area à la The Village Vanguard and Blue Note.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
105 Bank Street
It may have been short-lived, but John Lennon of the Beatles and his partner Yoko Ono moved into 105 Bank Street after living at the St. Regis Hotel. John has been quoted in Rolling Stone as saying, “I should have been born in the Village! That’s where I belong!”, so it comes as no surprise that this is where the couple decided to first call home before moving to The Dakota on the Upper West Side. It was during their residence in Greenwich Village that the iconic couple released their album ‘Some Time in New York City’.
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