History

1968 was a turbulent year marked by riots, massive protests, and assassinations of notable political figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. But 50 years ago on June 3, 1968, an attempted assassination in New York City shook the downtown art world more deeply and personally than any of these other headline-grabbing events. Perhaps that was because it involved two quintessentially downtown figures — one a world-famous artist; the other, a struggling, mentally unbalanced aspiring writer/performer/self-proclaimed social propagandist, whose greatest claim to fame ended up being her attempt to kill the former, her one-time employer.
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History

Downtown’s historic glass sidewalks will be saved after Landmarks reverses rule changes

Vault lights in Soho, via WooJin Chung for 6sqft

June 1, 2018

Downtown’s historic glass sidewalks will be saved after Landmarks reverses rule changes

By NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

"Viva Vault Lights!" wrote the Historic Districts Council in response to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's decision to backpedal on its rules amendments, which called for "more oversight by LPC staff but less time for public review" in proposals for alterations to historic buildings. HDC's celebratory sentiment is in response to one of the now-moot stipulations that Soho and Tribeca's vault lights--historic, industrial-era sidewalks made from small circular glass bulbs--could be removed by building owners and replaced with modern sidewalks.
Find out about all the other victories

May 30, 2018

8 things you didn’t know about LGBT history in NYC

This Saturday, 6sqft is excited to sponsor "The Hunt: NYC LGBT Sites." Put on by our friends at Urban Archive and the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, the three-hour historic scavenger hunt will mark Pride Week by focusing on the history of the LGBT community in NYC. To give 6sqft readers an idea of what to expect, the Historic Sites Project has put together eight things you probably don't know about LGBT history in New York, from the four remaining lesbian bars in the city to the first LGBT activist organization.
All this and more history!

One week after the Brooklyn Bridge opened, a rumor of its collapse caused a fatal stampede

Drawing by a staff artist at Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper

May 30, 2018

One week after the Brooklyn Bridge opened, a rumor of its collapse caused a fatal stampede

On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge officially opened, with roughly 1,800 vehicles and over 150,000 people crossing what was then the only passageway between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Less than a week later, 12 people were killed and over 35 others injured in a violent stampede. On that fateful day, the bridge was brimming with people celebrating the Memorial Day holiday and checking out the new overpass, which was considered the longest bridge in the world at the time. A woman had tripped and fallen down the wooden stairs headed toward Manhattan, which caused another woman to scream. In a grand misinterpretation, a rumor was started that the bridge was about to collapse, sending the crowd into complete hysteria. Pedestrians ran to get off the bridge, stampeding their way to the entrance and pushing others to the ground.
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History

A mecca of African American history and culture, Central Harlem is designated a historic district

Photo via LPC

May 29, 2018

A mecca of African American history and culture, Central Harlem is designated a historic district

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday designated three blocks in Central Harlem as a historic district in recognition of the significant role African Americans played in social change in New York City and beyond during the 20th century. The Central Harlem District measures West 130-132nd Streets, the mid-blocks between Lenox and Seventh Avenues. LPC notes how Harlem residents used residential buildings to accommodate cultural, religious and political activities, starting with the Harlem Renaissance through the civil rights movement of the 1960s. "This collection of buildings is exactly why we designate historic districts: it's an architecturally distinctive and historically significant set of structures that together tell an essential piece of Central Harlem's story,” Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said. The commission also launched an interactive story map as a way to illustrate the unique influence of this district through photos, maps and video.
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May 24, 2018

INTERVIEW: Author Julia Van Haaften on delving into the life of photographer Berenice Abbott

By Emily Nonko

Photographer Berenice Abbott has long captured the imagination of New Yorkers. Her storied career began after fleeing Ohio for Greenwich Village in 1918 and included a stint in Paris taking portraits of 1920s heavyweights. But she is best known for her searing images of New York buildings and street life--her photograph "Nightview, New York," taken from an upper-floor window of the Empire State Building in 1932, remains one of the most recognized images of the city. Well known is her exchange with a male supervisor, who informed Abbott that "nice girls" don’t go to the Bowery. Her reply: "Buddy, I’m not a nice girl. I’m a photographer… I go anywhere." Despite Abbott's prolific career and fascinating life, there's never been a biography to capture it all. Until now, with Julia Van Haaften's work, "Berenice Abbott: A Life in Photography." Van Haaften is the founding curator of the New York Public Library’s photography collection. She also befriended Abbott, as the photographer approached 90, while curating a retrospective exhibition of her work in the late 1980s. (Abbott passed away in 1991 at the age of 93.) With 6sqft, Van Haaften shares what it was like translating Abbott's wide-ranging work and life into a biography, and the help she received from Abbott herself. From her favorite stories to her favorite photographs, Van Haaften shows why Abbott's work has remained such a powerful lens capturing New York City to this day.
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Reading between the lions: A history of the New York Public Library

Photo via Jeffrey Zeldman/Flickr

May 23, 2018

Reading between the lions: A history of the New York Public Library

By Lucie Levine

The New York Public Library first roared into existence on May 23, 1895, educating and inspiring countless millions, free of charge. The Library’s 92 locations include four research divisions and hold over 51 million items. Out of all these tomes, the greatest tale might be Library’s own history: Founded by immigrants and industrialists, it was equally admired by William Howard Taft and Vladimir Lenin; open to all, it has counted among its staff American Olympians and Soviet spies; dedicated to intellectual exploration and civic responsibility, it has made its map collection available to buried treasure hunters and Allied Commanders; evolving with the city itself, it has made branch locations out of a prison, a movie theater, and most recently, a chocolate factory. The history of the New York Public Library is as vital and various New York itself, so get ready to read between the lions.
The 123-year-old history of the NYPL

History

From casino to Malcolm X: The colorful history of Harlem’s Malcolm Shabazz Mosque

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 18, 2018

From casino to Malcolm X: The colorful history of Harlem’s Malcolm Shabazz Mosque

By Hannah Frishberg

At 102 West 116th Street in Harlem sits a mosque singularly incorporated into the cityscape. The building houses street-level commercial businesses and is topped by a large green dome, the structure in-between used as a Sunni Muslim mosque. While the property has seen much local history pass through it, it is not landmarked. Before becoming a religious structure, the lot used to contain the Lenox Casino, a space which was often rented for meetings by the Socialist Party and used as a theatrical performance venue for a number of then-renowned artists. Built in 1905 and designed by Lorenz F. J. Weiher, the Lenox Casino was raided in 1912 for showing "illegal films" in an escapade grippingly documented by the New York Times.
The structure has had many lives

History

Elizabeth Blackwell’s NYC: The historic sites where America’s first female doctor made her mark

An 1870 newspaper illustration of Elizabeth Blackwell giving an anatomy lecture alongside a corpse at the Woman’s Medical College of New York Infirmary. Courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

May 17, 2018

Elizabeth Blackwell’s NYC: The historic sites where America’s first female doctor made her mark

One of the most radical and influential women of the 19th century changed the course of public health history while living and working in Greenwich Village and the East Village. Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first female doctor, established cutting-edge care facilities and practices throughout these neighborhoods, the imprint of which can still be felt to this day in surviving institutions and buildings. In fact, one recently received a historic plaque to mark this ground-breaking but often overlooked piece of our history.
Take a tour of Elizabeth Blackwell's NYC

Behind the scenes at the United Palace, Washington Heights’ opulent ‘Wonder Theatre’

Earlier this year, 6sqft got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour at the Loew's Jersey City, one of the five opulent Loew’s Wonder Theatres built in 1929-30 around the NYC area. We've now gotten a tour of another, the United Palace in Washington Heights. Originally known as the Loew's 175th Street Theatre, the "Cambodian neo-Classical" landmark has served as a church and cultural center since it closed in 1969 and was purchased by televangelist Reverend Ike, who renamed it the Palace Cathedral. Today it's still owned by late Reverend's church but functions as a spiritual center and arts center. Thanks to Reverand Ike and his church's continued stewardship, Manhattan's fourth-largest theater remains virtually unchanged since architect Thomas W. Lamb completed it in 1930. 6sqft recently visited and saw everything from the insane ornamentation in the lobby to the former smoking lounge that recently caught the eye of Woody Allen. We also chatted with UPCA's executive director Mike Fitelson about why this space is truly one-of-a-kind.
Take the incredible digital tour

May 14, 2018

INTERVIEW: New York legend Jay Maisel dishes on 190 Bowery and his new photo archive

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Jay Maisel is best known for the incredibly expressive stories he tells through his beautiful photography. But in recent years, he's become perhaps just as well known for his New York City real estate story where he made the deal of the century when he sold his home, the Germania Bank Building at 190 Bowery. What he's not at all known for, though, are the stories he tells through the hundreds of thousands of memories that fill his home and studio. Maisel, who may appear gruff on the exterior (at 87 years-old, he still likes to shock), is actually incredibly kind and sentimental. He misses his home and all his toys that once filled the 35,000-square-foot building. Although he was initially intimidated by the size and upkeep costs of 190 Bowery, Maisel grew to love the home and raise his family there for 50 years. In 2015, he sold the building for $55 million and purchased a stately townhouse on Pacific Street in Cobble Hill for $15.5 million. (At the time, it was the most expensive townhouse sale in Brooklyn.) 6sqft sat down with Maisel and discussed his real estate coup, his move to Brooklyn (which is not “the city” in his view) and his most recent New York City photography series, entitled “Jaywalking.”
Hear from Jay and get an inside look at his life and work

52 years ago, Donald Trump’s father demolished Coney Island’s beloved Steeplechase Park

Steeplechase Park circa 1930-45, via Digital Commonwealth

May 14, 2018

52 years ago, Donald Trump’s father demolished Coney Island’s beloved Steeplechase Park

Steeplechase Park was the first of Coney Island's three original amusement parks (in addition to Luna Park and Dreamland) and its longest lasting, operating from 1897 to 1964. It had a Ferris Wheel modeled after that of Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition, a mechanical horse race course (from which the park got its name), scale models of world landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben, "Canals of Venice," the largest ballroom in the state, and the famous Parachute Jump, among other rides and attractions. After World War II, Coney Island's popularity began to fade, especially when Robert Moses made it his personal mission to replace the resort area's amusements with low-income, high-rise residential developments. But ultimately, it was Fred Trump, Donald's father, who sealed Steeplechase's fate, going so far as to throw a demolition party when he razed the site in 1966 before it could receive landmark status.
Get the full history this way

History

May 10, 2018

Inside the Ukrainian Institute of America, one of NYC’s best hidden architectural gems

Located on East 79th Street at the corner of Fifth Avenue and across from Central Park, sits one of New York City’s last turn-of-the-century, French-Gothic styled-structures. Designed by Gilded-Age architect Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert, the building was home to Isaac D. Fletcher and Harry F. Sinclair, giving it the fitting name of the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion. Now, the mansion is occupied by the Ukrainian Institute of America, a nonprofit organization that has promoted Ukrainian art, music and literature since 1948. Ahead, join 6sqft on a tour of the landmarked building and check out some of the unique features within this hidden-in-plain sight New York City architectural gem.
Take a tour

Going nuclear: The Manhattan Project in Manhattan

A 1939 photo of an atom-smasher (cyclotron) at Columbia University. Via Wiki Commons.

May 7, 2018

Going nuclear: The Manhattan Project in Manhattan

By Lucie Levine

Most people assume that “The Manhattan Project” is a clever codename, a misnomer for the famous test sites in New Mexico. But, with over 1,200 tons on uranium stashed on Staten Island, and a nuclear reactor whizzing away at Columbia University, the top-secret wartime program began in Manhattan, and fanned out across the island, from its southern tip to its northern reaches, from its dimmest docks to its brightest towers. Ultimately 5,000 people poured into New York to work on the project, so duck, cover and get ready for an atomic tale of scientists, soldiers, and spies.
Learn all about the Manhattan Project in Manhattan

History

Jane Jacobs’ NYC: The sites that inspired her work and preservation legacy

Washington Square Park via Wiki Commons; Jane Jacobs via Wiki Commons

May 4, 2018

Jane Jacobs’ NYC: The sites that inspired her work and preservation legacy

Jane Jacobs’ birthday on May 4 is marked throughout the world as an occasion to celebrate one’s own city -- its history, diversity, and continued vitality. “Jane’s Walks” are conducted across the country to encourage average citizens to appreciate and engage the complex and dazzling ecosystems which make up our cityscapes (Here in NYC, MAS is hosting 200+ free walks throughout the city from today through Sunday). But there’s no place better to appreciate all things Jane Jacobs than Greenwich Village, the neighborhood in which she lived and which so informed and inspired her writings and activism, in turn helping to save it from destruction.
Tour Jane Jacobs' NYC

How New Yorkers responded to the 1918 Flu Pandemic

A typist wearsing a guaze mask in 1918.Via the National Archives and Records Administration

May 2, 2018

How New Yorkers responded to the 1918 Flu Pandemic

By Cait Etherington

May 2018 marks the centennial of one of the world’s greatest health crisis in history—the 1918 flu pandemic. In the end, anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million people worldwide would die as a result of the pandemic. New York was by no means spared. During the flu pandemic, which stretched from late 1918 to early 1920, over 20,000 New Yorkers’ lives were lost. However, in many respects, the crisis also brought into relief what was already working with New York’s health system by 1918. Indeed, compared to many other U.S. cities, including Boston, New York suffered fewer losses and historians suggest that the health department’s quick response is largely to thank for the city’s relatively low number of deaths.
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History

How did a flock of Argentinian parrots land in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery?

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 2, 2018

How did a flock of Argentinian parrots land in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery?

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

It's usually the tours and events at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery that get people talking, but the national landmark has its own chatty group that's attracting a lot of attention. The group happens to be a flock of lime green parrots from Argentina, appropriately named “Monk Parrots” since they are hanging out in the cemetery despite Green-Wood's nonsectarian nature. But how did these loud and exotic birds get all the way from South America to Greenwood Heights?
It's not as crazy as you might think

History

May 1, 2018

NYC neighborhoods made for workers: The history of Queens’ Steinway Village and the Bronx Co-ops

By Cait Etherington

While immigration, urban planning, and the forces of gentrification are certainly key factors in how NYC's neighborhoods have been shaped, New Yorkers’ patterns of work, their unions, and in some instances, even their employers have also played a role in the development of several of the city’s established neighborhoods. To mark May Day, 6sqft decided to investigate two of the city neighborhoods that were quite literally made for workers—the Van Cortlandt Village area of the Bronx and the Steinway neighborhood in Astoria, Queens.
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History

Historic photos take you back to the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows

Aerial view of the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair; via NYPL

April 30, 2018

Historic photos take you back to the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows

On April 30, 1939, the New York World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. The fair, which spread across 1,200 acres, commemorated the 150th anniversary of George Washington's inauguration in Lower Manhattan, and had a central theme of "Building the World of Tomorrow." Construction of the fair began in 1936, which involved turning the Corona city dump and tidal swamp into the fairgrounds. After the land was cleared, hundreds of architects, designers, engineers and construction workers came together to transform the dump into the site for the World's Fair. The "Trylon", a 700-foot obelisk, and the "Perisphere," a 200-foot globe, stood in the center of the fairgrounds, soon becoming permanent symbols of the Fair. Many American corporations, including the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Borden Company and General Motors, participated, as a way to introduce fairgoers to new products. With close to 60 nations and 33 U.S. states participating, and its own subway line, the 1939 World's Fair remains one of the largest, and most iconic, international fairs in history. Ahead, check out some of the photos of the historic World's Fair, found in the New York Public Library's extensive collection.
Go back in time

History

April 27, 2018

The Urban Lens: How Stanley Kubrick’s early photography led to his iconic film career

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. This week’s installment comes courtesy of a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs.” Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Before he directed films like "A Clockwork Orange," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Dr. Strangelove" Stanley Kubrick worked as a staff photographer at LOOK magazine, where he developed a knack at storytelling through street photography. Kubrick "found inspiration in New York's characters and settings, sometimes glamorous, sometimes gritty," all of which is the subject of a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs,” tells the story of how a 17-year-old amateur photographer from the Bronx went on to become one of the most revered directors of the 20th century. The exhibit, on view from May 3rd through October, will display more than 120 photos taken between 1945 and 1950, during Kubrick's time at LOOK, and examine the connections between his photography and film work. Ahead, the exhibit curators share with 6sqft a sneak preview of the photographs and discuss their experience working on the show.
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Uncover secrets of the World’s Fair with free, monthly walking tours of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Photo via Wikimedia

April 25, 2018

Uncover secrets of the World’s Fair with free, monthly walking tours of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

For two six-month seasons in 1964, the World's Fair came to Queens, with exhibits featured from over 80 nations spread across 646 acres. The fair came at a time of mid-20th-century innovation and culture, at the height of the Space Age. It served as a moment of peace before the start of the Vietnam War, with its motto "Peace Through Understanding." And while many New Yorkers attended the historic event, or have heard stories recounted by parents and grandparents, it's hard to imagine what it was truly like to experience. Making it easier to understand what the World's Fair was really like, the city's parks department is offering free, monthly tours of the park, allowing visitors to hear the stories behind the Unisphere, the New York State Pavilion and many more landmarks.
Details here

April 20, 2018

Edward Hopper’s Greenwich Village: The real-life inspirations behind his paintings

There’s no lack of artists deeply associated with New York. But among the many painters who’ve been inspired by our city, perhaps none has had a more enduring and deeper relationship than Edward Hopper, particularly with Greenwich Village. Hopper lived and worked in Greenwich Village during nearly his entire adult life, and drew much inspiration from his surroundings. He rarely painted scenes exactly as they were, but focused on elements that conveyed a mood or a feeling. Hopper also liked to capture scenes which were anachronistic, even in the early 20th century. Fortunately due to the Village’s enduring passion for historic preservation, many, if not all, of the places which inspired Hopper nearly a century ago can still be seen today – or at least evidence of them.
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History

150 years ago, Delmonico’s became the first restaurant to serve women unaccompanied by men

Photo of Delmonico’s in 1903; photo via Wikimedia

April 18, 2018

150 years ago, Delmonico’s became the first restaurant to serve women unaccompanied by men