Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
In 1999, before High Line Park was a glimmer in the eye of preservationists (well, perhaps a small glimmer, as recounted in the new book chronicling its conversion from just another rusting, abandoned elevated rail line to the showpiece of the West Side) I took the Forgotten NY camera, which was then a point and [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Chelsea Greenwich Village Manhattan
Just as New York City’s street signs have evolved and changed over the years, so have its one-way signs, which have undergone a three-part metamorphosis in the years I have been observing their design. Each change has made the one-way sign, a vital element in traffic control, more and more visible for motor vehicles. It’s [...]
Greenwich Village usually conjures up visions of bearded, black-clad hipsters sipping coffee in jazz clubs, but it actually had a long history before the writers, revolutionaries and bohemians made it their enclave in the early 20th Century. The original Greenwich Village was a Canarsee Indian fishing village called Seppanikan (some accounts spell it Sapokanican), centered [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Street Necrology Tagged with: Greenwich Village Manhattan
The Fourth Avenue IND elevated station opened July 1, 1933, and has pretty much been allowed to decay ever since. In my opinion, the MTA doesn’t know what it has, since it combines classical and Art Deco styles in a seemingly effortless manner. Hopefully, the MTA will wake up soon and realize it has a [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: 4th Avenue Brooklyn elevated
At first glance, the brick building at 6th Avenue and 24th Street doesn’t appear to be all that unusual, other than the presence of the longtime strip joint Billy’s Topless on the bottom floor. But before going inside to ogle the girls, take a look at the two signs chiseled into the building on the corner, and [...]
Categorized in: Signs Tagged with: Madison Square Manhattan
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Street Necrology Tagged with: City Hall Financial District Manhattan Tribeca
This 1946 Hagstrom of the Wall Street area (boxed in gray) of Manhattan shows a large number of streets that have disappeared over the decades, many of which made it into the 1970s. The Sixties and Seventies were eras in which dozens of streets were eliminated to make way for developments like the World Trade [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Street Necrology Tagged with: City Hall Financial District Manhattan Tribeca
