South:
Bridging the street here is a disused elevated railroad that was used to transport
freight along the Westside waterfront, replacing the street-level tracks at 10th and 11th avenues that earned those roads the nickname "Death Avenue." Built in 1929 at a cost of $150 million
(more than $2 billion in today's dollars), it originally
stretched from 35th Street to St. John's Park Terminal,
now the Holland Tunnel rotary.
Partially torn down in
1960 and abandoned in 1980, it now stretches from Gansevoort almost
to 34th--mostly running mid-block, so built to avoid
dominating an avenue with an
elevated platform. In its abandonment, the High Line
became something of a natural wonder, overgrown with
weeds and even trees, accessible only to those who risked
trespassing on CSX Railroad property.
In 2009 it was
opened to the public as New York City's newest park; it truly
transforms its neighborhood and hence the city, though
it lost some of the World Without Us quality that
was its original appeal.
Chelsea Market
Former Nabisco bakeries (where Oreos
were invented in 1912) is now a
gourmet mall; features independent establishments
like Fat Witch brownies, the Green Table
organic wine bar, Hugh McMahon the Pumpkin Man,
Amy's Bread, Manhattan Fruit Exchange,
Buonitalia and much more.
Major League Baseball Productions is also based here; the studios of NY1,
New York's local cable news channel,
relocated here in 2002.
The tricky conversion from aging factory to
stylish mall was handled by Jeff Vandeberg.
448: Was Neptune Brewing Company,
1990s microbrewery.
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North:
The High Line Park
Runs along the western end of this block.
453: Was the home of the Atlantic Theater Company
Acting School, founded in 1983 on the principles of Practical Aesthetics
developed by playwright David Mamet and
actor William H. Macy, founders of the Atlantic
Theater Company. It
moved to the Port Authority Building up the street in 2006 when developers wanted to take down this building.
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South:
Port Authority Building
300 (block): This block-filling building,
originally known as the Union Inland Terminal No. 1,
was built by the Port Authority in 1932 to relieve
congestion by consolidating and redistributing truck
shipments. When built, it may have had more cubic
space than any building in the world--later surpassed
by the Pentagon. To make the project self-supporting,
the upper floors were designed to be rented out to
private businesses, which set a legal precedent for
public entities engaging in commercial transactions.
It also served as the headquarters for the Port
Authority until they were moved to the World Trade
Center.
The Atlantic Theater Company
Acting School is based here, founded in 1983 on the principles of Practical Aesthetics
developed by playwright David Mamet and
actor William H. Macy, founders of the Atlantic
Theater Company. The school
moved here from down the street in 2006.
The
Deutsch, Inc. ad agency has its headquarters here.
308: Symbolist painter
Albert Pinkham Ryder lived at this address from
1908-15.
304: This was the address of the Mike
Hammer Detective Agency in the 1957 TV show.
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North:
363 (corner): Built in 1966 for the
National Maritime Union, featuring porthole-like
windows and a sloping setback. Later home to
the scandal-ridden Covenant House runaway shelter. Now a
nautical-themed hotel, which includes the
acclaimed Japanese restaurant
Matsuri and the popular La Bottega.
357: XL, notable gay bar
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South:
Corner: Mary Ann's, Mexican mini-chain
244: Maroons, Jamaican cooking.
The Maroons were Africans in Jamaica
who had escaped from slavery.
242: Was Purple Passion, fetish clothing
now on 20th Street.
200 (corner): An orange brick building c. 1930,
part of developer Henry Mandel's
Chelsea Corners project that aimed
to create a white-collar neighborhood along 7th Avenue;
hampered by the Depression, only four of a planned
17 buildings were completed.
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North:
245: Riazor, Spanish
201 (corner): Another Chelsea Corners building
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South:
160 (corner): Jensen Lewis
was Thomasville Home Furnishings
144-148: Italianate rowhouses built 1858.
126: French Evangelical Church was founded in 1848.
New York House and School of Industry
120: Was the headquarters of an organization that
taught needletrades (and later typing) to needy women.
In 1955, it was sold to the Friends of Hebrew Culture.
Now the Young Adults Institute, a home for people with
cognitive disabilities. This 1878 building is
considered the
first Queen Anne-style structure in the city.
114: Critic
Edmund Wilson lived here (1919-21) after getting out of the Army. During
his stay here he was a lover of Edna St. Vincent Millay and managing editor of Vanity Fair.
This was also the home of
Alexander Trachtenberg, an American Communist
who was indicted for publishing subversive books
and pamphlets; his defense committee included the likes
of Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois. Apparently this
block was something of a Red neighborhood
in the 1940s and '50s.
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North:
Loehmann's
Corner (101 7th Ave): Bronx-based discounter's Chelsea outlet.
Used to be
Barney's, legendary clothing
store noted for outre window displays;
now on Madison Avenue. The building was
part of Henry Mandel's Chelsea Corners project.
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South:
Corner (570 6th Ave): Blue Valley Deli & Grocery
30: This imposing edifice was completed in 1882, on the site of an earlier St. Francis Xavier's built in 1850.
Founded by Father John Larkin, a Jesuit, and named for the Jesuit saint. Father John Corridan, the
mob-fighting priest who inspired the film On the Waterfront, was associated with this church.
Xavier High School, attached to the church,
used to also be a four-year college.
Archconservative Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia
graduated first in the Class of 1953 here.
William Cullen Bryant house
24:
William Cullen Bryant, poet and editor of the New York Post,
lived here from 1867 until his death in 1878. Bryant was instrumental in
creating Central Park. Later was the home of Margaret Anderson and jane heap, editors of The
Little Review, the magazine that first published James Joyce's Ulysses, in installments from 1918-20.
Another contributor, Hart Crane, briefly lived upstairs in this building.
16: The Chelsea Lane apartments are on the former
site of New York Hospital.
4: Pure Cells New York, "cosmetic technology"
Corner (108 5th Ave):
Paul Smith, British fashion, has
"best guy shopping," according to Time Out
New York. They mean rich guys.
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North:
Corner (574 6th Ave): Hollywood Diner
55: The Common Ground II, Native American art
41: Joni Mitchell wrote "Chelsea Morning" here--the Clintons named their
daughter after the song.
17-23: These c. 1845 Greek Revival row houses
are NYC landmarks.
No. 17 was Margaret Sanger's Birth Control
Clinical Research Bureau.
15: The
Center for Jewish History has
in its collection the original hand-written
copy of Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus"
("Give me your tired, your poor...").
Formerly the Helen Keller Institute was here.
5-9: More landmarked row houses from the 1840s.
In 1972, No. 5 was Beautiful Boys Unlimited, a gay
brothel that advertised, "We promise you if you come
once, you'll come again."
3: Young Israel
Corner: Emporio Armani
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South:
Corner: Coach handbag outlet
10: Chat 'N Chew; faux diner
16: Sidney Hillman Health Center was designed by R.H. Robertson in 1890 as the YWCA's
Margaret Louisa Home, paid for by Cornelius Vanderbilt's eldest daughter.
Sidney Hillman was president
of the garment workers' union (1914-46), a founder of the CIO and an important political ally of FDR.
Upstairs is the
New York City Free Clinic, run by NYU.
18: Sound by Singer; high-end audio. In 1872, this was the address of the
Allemania Club. The Apprentices' Library,
run by the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, moved here in 1878.
20: University Market Place
30: World Room, Coffee Shop annex
Corner (29 Union Square West): Union Square Coffee
Shop, retro fashion model hangout. Popular with the
Sex and the City group.
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North:
Corner (85 5th Ave): Anthropologie, women's fashions; was B. Shackman Favors & Novelties. On site of the home (1886-88) of
Levi Parson Morton, a congressmember and governor who became vice president under Benjamin Harrison.
9-11: The 1896 building that houses Steak Frites is described by the AIA Guide as
"terra cotta candy cane."
21: Union Square Cafe, the most
popular restaurant in New York, according to Zagat.
Corner (31 Union Square West): Blue Water Grill,
noted seafood, is also featured on Sex and the City.
The building was Bank of the
Manhattan Company; later a Parsons School of Design dorm. On
September 15, 1984, Michael Stewart was beaten to death in front of
this building by the NYPD for the crime of writing with magic marker
on a subway wall. The cops were all acquitted.
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Union Square Park
Union Square was not named for the North or for labor, but for
the fact that Broadway here meets and briefly converges with the Bowery
(now 4th Avenue), once Broadway's rival as NYC's main street. In the
city plan of 1811, Broadway was supposed to be eliminated north of
14th Street, permanently uniting it with Fourth Avenue. Fortunately,
NYC was unable to raise money to reroute Broadway, saving Manhattan
above Downtown from complete predictability.
Union Square has a rich political history: 250,000 gathered to
support Union during Civil War (1861), largest crowd ever assembled
in North America up to that point. Here was the first U.S. labor day
parade (September 5, 1882); Emma Goldman's arrest for telling unemployed to steal
bread (1893); funeral march for Triangle Shirtwaist Fire victims
(1911); protests against Sacco & Vanzetti's execution (1927) and
the Rosenbergs' (1953). After the destruction of the World Trade
Center, Union Square became the site of an impromptu memorial and
peace vigil.
Independence Flagstaff
The flagpole in the center of the square, erected in 1926 with a base by Anthony de Francisi and a quote from Jefferson.
Statue of Lafayette
By Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty; he made this statue to remind New York of
Franco-American friendship as part of his campaign to raise money for Liberty's pedestal. It seems like it ought
to be facing the park rather than Fourth Avenue.
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Luna Park
An outdoor restaurant that serves the cell-phone set during summer months.
Statue of Lincoln
Created in 1868 by Henry Kirke Brown, who also worked on the statue of Washington at
the south end of the park.
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South:
Corner: Zen Palate; styley vegetarian.
A friend got a serious nut-allergy reaction when eating
here once, and they tried to make us pay for his
(mostly uneaten) meal.
108: Oasis Day Spa; Italian Wine Merchants. Cool Dr. Moreau-like faces on
the building.
116: Candela; romantic, candle-lit
Japanese/Italian
Corner (33 Irving): Building with The Cottage, pleasant Chinese restaurant, also houses
The Nation, the leftish political magazine.
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North:
103: in the 1950s and '60s, was the
Carl Fischer Musical Instrument Co.
105: Was the address of Crown Coat Fronts,
a textile firm that in 1967 brought a
case to the U.S. Supreme Court
that involved the statute of limitations on government
contract disputes.
Corner: This foreboding city government building is on the site of the Westminster Hotel,
where in 1876 the Westminster Kennel Club
was formed. The club's Westminster Show has been held
continuously since 1877.
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South:
Corner (34 Irving): Marburger Surgical
128: Painter Winslow
Homer lived here in 1859.
136: Building from 1850.
142: Gramercy Spire, apartment tower with faux Chinese lettering
Corner (162 3rd Ave): Natural Green Market; health-food store
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North:
Washington Irving High School
Corner: Built in 1911-13 as the Girls' Technical High School,
its students have included actors Claudette Colbert
and Whoopi Goldberg. The interior is worth checking out.
135: Sleepy Hollow Preschool is housed in the high school.
145 (corner): Washington Irving House; ugly white-brick apartments
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North:
Corner: Joe Junior; old-school hamburger joint
205-207: Formerly St George Memorial House; an 1886 gift from
financier J.P. Morgan to the church. Now apartments.
209: Pierce House, St George’s parish house, described by the AIA Guide as
"a late medieval Germanic tower."
Corner: This Episcopal church, built from 1846-56, is an official
NYC landmark for its notable Early Romanesque Revival architecture. Once
one of the wealthiest congregations in the country, with J.P. Morgan as
a notable parishioner. Harry Burleigh, a soloist in the choir here for 52 years,
helped win academic respect for African-American music
through his friendship with Antonin Dvorak. Kay Leiland
Strong is married here in the novel The Group.
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Stuyvesant Square
For some reason, this park isn't the vibrant public space that its cousins--Union Square,
Tompkins Square, Washington Square--are. Part of the reason may be that the park is
bisected by Second Avenue.
The west side of the park features a statue of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch
governor of New Amsterdam and a major landowner--a descendant of his gave the city
the land for this park. The statue has a view of the Friends Meetinghouse, which
is ironic considering Stuyvesant's hostility to Quakers.
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Stuyvesant Square
The east side of the park features a statue of composer Antonin Dvorak, which was placed
here after his nearby house on 17th Street was torn down.
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South:
Corner: Was the New York Infirmary, a 1950 modernist statement by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
that has not aged well. Now the Bernstein Pavilion of Beth Israel Hospital.
High School for Health Professions; formerly Stuyvesant High School
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North:
Beth Israel Medical Center
The university hospital for the Manhattan campus of the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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Stuyvesant Town
Built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as affordable housing for World War II vets; now
being converted to luxury condos. Built on the site of the notorious Gashouse District, where fumes from chemical plants
kept out all but the poorest immigrants. Terrorized by the Gashouse Gang.
East of 1st Avenue between 16th and 15th streets was the approximate site of the mansion of Petrus Stuyvesant, a
descendant of the Dutch colonial governor, who developed much of the area around Stuyvesant Square.
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