John Jacob Astor, né Ashdor, was the richest man in the United States for a time in the early 1800s. He was originally a dealer of musical instruments as a young…
Noho
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March 2019 marks Forgotten New York’s 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, I’ve re-scanned about 150 key images from the early days of FNY from 35MM prints. In the early…
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In deep and dark November I took a walk straight up Mulberry Street for its entire length, which I had never previously done. It skirts the west edge of Chinatown and cleaves…
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The Manhattan Savings Institution was first chartered in 1850 and the bank survived under that name for a surprisingly long time, until 1942. Then it became the Manhattan Savings Bank after some…
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Today, New York City’s Bishop Crook posts feature just one model: they are all knockoffs of the Type 24 Bishop Crook — one of a number of Bishop Crook designs…
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Jones Alley, looking south from Bond Street According to Gil Tauber of oldstreets, in 1806 a laneway called at first Cross Lane was laid out beginning at Bleecker opposite Mott. It…
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Passing by #330 Bowery on the NW corner of Bond a short time ago, I was marveling at the new paint job. I hadn’t seen something so purely white in…
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At #354 Bowery between East 3rd and 4th, a road that somehow resists all efforts of local developers to tame it despite the construction of numerous high-rise glass-walled apartment buildings…
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Suffused into the NoHo street grid is a narrow, semiprivate lane called Jones Alley. It makes two L-shaped turns as it makes its way through. Beginning at a dead end…
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I have my reasons for calling 350 5th Avenue The King of All Buildings. #1 is, I really think it is, and #2, there’s the original Empire State Building, at…
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A “Giraffe” street vent is shown here at Bleecker, Mulberry and Lafayette Streets. NYC street vents come in all shapes and functions — see more about them on this FNY…
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Continued from PART 1 Continuing my trip from Straus Square on the Lower East Side to Midtown’s Penn Station… WAYFARING MAP: Seward Park to Penn Station 222 Bowery just…