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The main campus for NYU is found in Greenwich Village, centered around Washington Square Park.
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-sectarian all-male institution near City Hall based on a curriculum focused on a secular education. The university moved in 1833 and has maintained its main campus in Greenwich Village surrounding Washington Square Park. Since then, the university has added an engineering school in Brooklyn's MetroTech Center and graduate schools throughout Manhattan. NYU is one of the largest private universities in the United States by enrollment, with a total of 61,890 enrolled students in 2023, and is one of the nation's most heavily applied–to universities with over 120,000 applications each year.
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The park and its famous triumphal arch celebrating the country's first president (in the middle of the park's north side) are in the heart of the Village. Though in the middle of an affluent neighborhood, the park attracts a hodgepodge of people. During the warmer months of the school term, the park is a favorite hangout for students from nearby NYU. Part of the charm of the park is the view of the buildings across the street. All these buildings are now owned by NYU, and though there was some controversial construction in the early 2010s, most of the stately 19th-century dwellings pictured in the classic movie The Heiress (based on Henry James' novel, Washington Square) are still there for you to enjoy looking at. Also notable is the fountain, which is a focus of activity, especially in hotter months.
Cinema Village specializes in showing documentaries, independent and foreign films. Often the films there will not be playing anywhere else in the country and Q&As with directors are common at opening weekends.
Just down the street from Film Forum, the Angelika plays new independent and foreign films, many of which are screened in no American city but New York. The cafe upstairs is something of a hotspot as well.
Even if you haven't heard of these basketball courts, you've probably seen them in TV commercials and movies, as "The Cage" (referring to the small, chain-link fence enclosed court) is the site of many intense, very physical pick-up games and informal "streetball" tournament matches. It's not a place to play unless you really know what you're getting into, but it's worth watching if you're interested in a more intense, physical form of basketball.
Also has a lineup of famous jazz and blues performers. It feels a little more like a bar (with people talking during the show) and a little less like a venue that's only about the music.
An art house theater showing independent films and documentaries. It is owned by the IFC network (an extension of AMC), so a lot of premiers and television broadcasts take place here.