This stereoview of West Street demonstrates the importance of this shoreline street.
West Street, adjacent to the Hudson River with its piers and ferry terminals, was a vital cog to Manhattan’s commerce. Continue reading
Election Night At Crossroads Of The World
In keeping with the tradition Times Square was jammed until traffic was halted, as crowds watched election returns. Photo shows part of the crowd at Times Square, election night. Photo: Acme 11/6/1934
For entertainment in 1934 you could go to the Loew’s State Theater and see Mae West in Belle of the Nineties.
Or on the night of November 6 you could entertain yourself by standing in the street. Continue reading
When the Park Row Building was completed in 1899, the 31 story office building was the highest in New York and the world at 382 feet. Less than seven years later it was no longer the tallest, with the Singer Building soaring 211 feet higher than the Park Row.
Today the Park Row Building, converted to residences, is not even among the 100 tallest buildings in New York. And the Singer Building was demolished over 55 years ago.
The constant desire by developers to top one another has continued and accelerated in the past dozen years.
The skyline is being overtaken by mostly nondescript glass boxes dwarfing other buildings and eclipsing many of the classic New York skyscrapers.
As of 2022 the ten tallest buildings in New York are:
Rank Name Height Stories Year Completed Address
1 One World Trade Center 1,776 94 2014 285 Fulton Street
2 Central Park Tower 1,550 99 2021 225 West 57th Street
3 111 West 57th Street 1,428 85 2022 111 West 57th Street
4 One Vanderbilt 1,401 73 2020 1 Vanderbilt Avenue
5 432 Park Avenue 1,397 85 2015 432 Park Avenue
6 30 Hudson Yards 1,270 103 2019 500 West 33rd Street
7 Empire State Building 1,250 102 1931 350 Fifth Avenue
8 Bank of America Tower 1,200 55 2009 1101 Sixth Avenue
9 3 World Trade Center 1,079 69 2018 175 Greenwich Street
10 The Brooklyn Tower 1,073 73 2022 9 DeKalb Avenue (Brooklyn)
Recently looking at the 1939 World Almanac there was a list of the tallest buildings in New York.
All heights listed are the Almanac’s figures which may differ from modern estimates.
1. The Empire State Building is located on the site of the original Continue reading
From a stereoview circa 1880 we are looking north towards the City Hall main Post Office at the apex of Broadway (left) and Park Row (right). Continue reading
Worker at furniture factory, Arthurdale, West Virginia 1937 photo: Ben Shahn via Library of Congress
As the Covid-19 debacle made clear to Americans we are now dependent upon foreign countries for many of the things necessary to conduct our daily lives.”Supply-chain” issues have been one of the main reasons given to explain the shortages of thousands of products. Continue reading
This stereoview photograph taken for the H.C. White Company shows one of the many ferryboats that transported passengers across the Hudson and East Rivers.
We are looking east along the Hudson River towards the lower Manhattan skyline. A few notable buildings can be seen beyond the piers and terminals. Continue reading
Since 1822 five generations of William Simpson’s ran one of New York’s oldest and most respected pawn shops. The final namesake to run Simpsons Pawnbrokers at 91 Park Row, William Rooe Simpson sold out to his partners in 1937, ending the continuous line of William Simpson’s to own and operate the hockshop. William Rooe Simpson died in 1957 and his son William David Simpson never went into the family pawn business. He became a doctor settling in Shelby, North Carolina.
When William David Simpson died at the age of 64 in 1988 he had this witty epitaph placed on his marker at Sunset cemetery in Shelby.
His wife Barbara “Bobbi” Taylor Simpson however Continue reading
Children playing on a roof in New York City April 28, 1910 from the series Living On (A) Skyscraper photo George G. Bain Collection Library of Congress (LOC)
In the early twentieth century the roofs of New York would offer a respite from hot days in New York. While roofs could be dangerous, the streets were full of peril with horses, trolleys and filth.
The news organization headed by George G. Bain sent its photographers up to the roofs to see life from this perspective. Continue reading
July 4, 1860 regatta at The Battery. photo: Anthony
In 1860 a year before the nation was split into two warring factions, New Yorkers celebrated the 84th anniversary of Independence Day in glorious fashion.
The day proliferated with excursions, theatricals, balloon ascensions, salutes, military parades, fireworks and – a regatta.
Regatta derives from Venetian, meaning a contention for mastery or contest. The New York regatta held on July 4 was a series of rowed and sailed boat races held near Castle Clinton at The Battery in New York bay.
All of the photographs seen here were taken by the firm of E. & H.T. Anthony as stereoviews. Continue reading
Broadway and 62nd Street – The Colonial Vaudeville Theater is on the left, 1913
Broadway means New York City. Sure there are other Broadway’s in the United States, but none have the same clout that New York’s Broadway does. It is the longest street in Manhattan and one of the oldest. What the Dutch called De Heere Straat and later De Heere Wegh, became Great George Street under English rule. The street was paved in 1707, but only from Bowling Green to Trinity Church at Wall Street. After the Revolution, New York’s citizens began renaming streets and Great George Street became Broadway.
Here are some postcard views of Broadway dating from 1895 – 1915 Continue reading
