In 1829, the old landing was commemorated with the shortest street in the West Village, the block-long Weehawken Street. Today, Christopher Street ends just a few steps down from Weehawken at West Street, looking out over Pier 40 on the Hudson River.

Walking down Christopher Street, one is immediately struck by the unique architecture of buildings like The Northern Dispensary. It is the only building in Manhattan with one side touching two streets (Christopher and Grove) and two sides touching one (Waverly Place).

The city handed the site over to the titular Northern Dispensary organization when the building was built, under the stipulation that it be used as a clinic for the poor not able to afford a stay in hospital. And that's how it was operated, serving tens of thousands of the area's sick — most famously Edgar Allan Poe — up until 1920, when outpatient services began supplanting walk-ins and overnighters. As the city expanded, bigger, better hospitals opened around town, and the Dispensary became used solely as a community dental clinic.

The Dispensary shuttered its doors to the public in the 1980s, but neighborhood residents still comment on the eerie scent of clove that sometimes wafts from its barred windows.

Heading toward the river, one's senses are awakened as the flavorful aromas of McNulty's Coffee and Tea spill out onto the street. Since 1895, McNulty's has been a Christopher Street staple, supplying a wide selection of specialty coffees and teas from around the world.

Little has changed inside the shop since opening. Antique roasters line the walls. Large sacks of beans lay stacked beside chests of fresh leaves. McNulty's presence conjures images from Christopher Street's merchant past: a time when vibrant markets lined the street all the way down to the river docks.

On the corner of Greenwich Street sits 139 Christopher Street, once occupied by the now-shuttered adult video store, Harmony Video. The building has a long history of mob ties, known as a meeting and organizing spot during the Prohibition Era.

Most famously, the 139 Christopher site is known as the planning location for the "Dog Day Afternoon" bank robberies in Brooklyn. It serves as a reminder of organized crime's influence in shaping the surrounding West Village neighborhood.

Back at number 53 Christopher Street sits Stonewall Inn, site of the "Stonewall Riots," and symbolic home of the US Gay Liberation Movement.

In the 1960s, Stonewall was owned by the mob, operating with no official liquor license as a "private club." Inside were two rooms. A front room was outfitted with a bar, dance floor and jukebox. Behind the bar was a dimly lit back room — a favorite hangout.

There was no running water behind the bar, no fire exits. Toilets overran constantly. Glasses were run through tubs of still water and immediately reused at the bar. While not known for prostitution, drug sales and other "cash transactions" did take place between the two smoky rooms. Yet, it was the only bar for gays in New York City where dancing was allowed, and that was enough to make Stonewall popular.

On June 28, 1969, NYPD and Alcoholic Beverage Control Board agents had entered Stonewall Inn, allegedly looking for violations of the alcohol control laws. The night was supposed to be a routine raid. Tensions escalated. Instead of quietly slipping away into the night, hustlers, drag queens, students, and other patrons fought back.

Urban myth contends people were especially sensitive that night because of Judy Garland's recent death.

The police were forced to retreat back inside the bar. Someone uprooted a parking meter and used it to barricade the door, trapping the police inside. Handfuls of pennies were tossed, a reference to the mob's police payoffs. Rioters continued to wreck the place as the police called in reinforcements. The crowd grew as local residents of the Village joined in. Someone set a fire. More people came. For six days, people rioted and demonstrated.

The riots are commerated in Christopher Park with the installation of George Segal's "Gay Liberation"
(Created in 1980. Installed on June 23, 1992).

One year after the Riots, the local community gathered outside Stonewall to remember and celebrate. Thousands marched from Christopher Street up 6th Avenue, pouring into the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. People lined the streets. Others joined the march. It was the first Gay Pride March in NYC.

Soon, others held events, with Christopher Street Day now celebrated in over 30 countries around the world. Every year during the last weekend of June, people return to Stonewall to remember the day that people stood up against oppression, and fought back.