Peter Schjeldahl’s New York: A Guide to Artists of the East Village

Prominent art critic and writer Peter Schjeldahl called Manhattan’s East Village home for most of his life. On this walking tour, we’ll scout out the haunts of artists and poets that Schjeldahl (pronounced shell-doll) personally knew, and hear about their connections to his writing. You’ll also get a sense of the neighborhood where he lived and worked from the 1960s until his death in 2022.

This hour-long tour starts on the northeast corner of Washington Square Park, across from the stately townhouse where American painter Edward Hopper lived. You’ll pass by the home and studio of Willem de Kooning, prominent Abstract Expressionist painter, while you hear passages from Schjeldahl’s essays about his work.

As we walk in Schjeldahl’s footsteps, we’ll pass by the long-time residence of poet W. H. Auden, the home and studio of painter Joan Mitchell, and the fifth-floor walk-up apartment where Schjeldahl himself lived for almost half a century. The tour ends at Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant where Schjeldahl liked to have lunch with friends after walking around the neighborhood.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

• Find out how artists and bohemians began moving eastward after the Third Avenue El was demolished in 1955, creating the neighborhood known as “the booming East Village”
• Grab a drink at any number of independent breweries or artisanal coffee shops
• Hear some gossip about painter Joan Mitchell’s temper and ideas
• Pass what once was part of the Lenape Trail before it became a row of stables and, today, the private gated street called Washington Mews
• Walk along East 10th Street to see Tompkins Square Park
• See the home of Frank O’Hara while you hear excerpts from Schjeldahl’s 1966 obituary of the poet, and some of his other writing for The Village Voice

Whether it’s your first time in New York City, or you’re a long-time resident like me who wants to learn about its more recent, perhaps lesser-known history, let me introduce you to this historic neighborhood. All the while, we’ll explore the life and work of one of its more prominent former residents, the American writer Peter Schjeldahl.

There are plenty of cafés and restaurants (including some enjoyed by Schjeldahl himself) along the route for a quick – or lengthy – stop.