This magic lantern slide emphasizes Broadway’s position as a canyon of skyscrapers.
Today many of these older skyscrapers lining Broadway Continue reading
There is nothing extraordinary happening as we look north up Sixth Avenue from 31st Street.
There’s lots of horse manure in the street and there’s some construction and workers beneath the Sixth Avenue El. The bar on the corner has western saloon style doors and advertises Triple X German Liquors on its sign. A high pressure fire hydrant is on the corner, a sight rarely seen today as the city removed most of them almost three decades ago . The tallest building on the left between 32nd and 33rd Streets is Gimbels Department Store.
As much as we’d like to put an exact date on the photo we cannot. It is uncredited and labeled 1911. There is one intriguing clue however. It’s blurry but if you look at the roof of the building on the left you can see a billboard ad for Eva Tanguay (1878-1947) appearing at The Colonial Theatre. Continue reading
The McComb Mansion At Broadway New York’s Finest Home in 1790 & The Residence Of President George Washington
Currently what does $250 million buy for you in New York City? The asking price is not for an entire block, apartment complex, building or townhouse.
It is the price for the most expensive home in the city; a 17,565 square foot seven bedroom penthouse apartment at Central Park Tower 217 West 57th Street.
In an 1889 Harper’s Weekly article, Scott Thompson delved into the early days of Manhattan real estate. In 1790 most of the homes, the farms and Continue reading
This stereoview shows lower Manhattan looking north from Chambers Street, circa 1903. The main boulevard on the right is Centre 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
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
Graf Zeppelin’s Sister – Los Angeles Joins In Great Reception For Dr. Eckener
New York – Photo shows : The dirigible Los Angeles, older sister of the Graf Zeppelin, flying above the Woolworth Building during the reception for Dr. Hugo Eckener commander of the Graf. Photo: Underwood & Underwood August 30, 1929.
A victory in the Texas Charleston contest four years ago gave Ginger Rogers the necessary stimulus for a stage career. Since her arrival on Broadway last season, after playing in vaudeville throughout the country, this talented young woman has won all sorts of honors in musical comedy and motion pictures.
She now has aspirations to be a radio star. When the inaugural Mardi Gras program is presented from WABC over the Columbia Broadcasting System on Tuesday (May 13) at 9 P.M. (E.D.S.T.) Miss Rogers will be the guest artist. One of the songs she will introduce is “I Wish I Could Be Sing A Love Song” from a new picture, “A Sap From Syracuse”, in which she plays opposite Jack Oakie. Photo: Columbia Broadcast System / NEA May 6, 1930.
92 years ago tonight listeners tuning into the radio could hear 18-year-old Ginger Rogers sing this song.
She was born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16, 1911 in Independence, MO. Ginger got her nickname Continue reading
This December 26, 1907 cover of Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly magazine shows what the scene would be like on New Year’s Eve 1908.
How “the merry crowds in New York welcome the new year” has not changed all that much in 114 years.
