Survivors

Donald Greenhaus is a photographer who has been on Greene Street since the ’60s. He has shot pictures of the street every day for the last 39 years to capture its changing face. His is a story of survival that most artists would envy.

But the survival has come at a price. He spent $100,000 and 12 years in court fighting an eviction notice from his landlord. It paid off in the end, as he managed to get a rent-stabilized lifetime lease, with the ruling that the landlord could not sell his loft to anyone other than him.

Losers

Not everyone has had the luck and will to fight as long and hard. Due to rising rents, artists like Joe Catuccio have been pushed out of SoHo. Catuccio gave up after fighting eviction for 13 years. His landlord won the court case and sold his basement to a real-estate company. Catuccio moved to Brooklyn in 1997.

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Donald Greenhaus

"I used to pay $250 a month for a 3,000-square-foot basement in '71," says Catuccio. "Now the rent is a scary $10,000. How can any artist afford it? It's a capitalist, rapacious world now."
--Joe Catuccio

History of Greene Street

During the Civil War, Greene Street was home to hospitals for morphine addicts. Subsequently, the street became a notorious red-light district.

Greene Street's next incarnation was as a garment district, quickly followed by a diverse industrial area.

In the ’70s and ’80s, the street morphed into a vibrant artist community.

Architecture

The street is home to the SoHo historical cast-iron district. It is renowned for its cast-iron facades used as decorative fronts.