The group within the pediment over the New York Stock Exchange is entitled “Integrity Protecting the Works of Man,” which makes it fair to assume that the central female figure in the sculpture is Integrity herself. She is tasked with “Protecting the Works of Man”—with Industry on one side and Agriculture on the other. The…
Rocking Chair Riots of 1901 in Madison Square Park
New York City has seen its fair share of civil unrest. One of them, however unlikely, was caused by rocking chairs and took place in Madison Square Park. The upscale Madison Square Park neighborhood, located in front of the posh Fifth Avenue Hotel, teamed with elegantly dressed and well heeled elites. One day in 1901,…
Trinity Church — on Wall Street since 17th century
The present day Trinity Church—a glorious Neo-Gothic edifice—is the third church built on the same exact spot. The original Trinity Church, built in 1698, was the first Anglican Church in the city. His majesty King William III granted Trinity a royal charter at the cost of 1 peppercorn a year, allowing it to function as…
From Colonial City Hall to National Memorial—Federal Hall’s Journey through History
The present-day Federal Hall building—an imposing Greek Revival structure located at 26 Wall Street—now stands as a national memorial. It was built in the mid-19th century as a customs house on the same spot that was previously occupied by two consecutive structures: the colonial city hall, followed by America’s first capitol building. The first building…
Federal Hall—over 300 years of American History
Imagine visiting the locations where America’s freedom of the press was born, the slogan that started American revolution—”no taxation without representation”—was declared, the Bill of Rights was penned, and George Washington took the oath of office to become the first president of the United States. But you don’t have to visit different places: all of…
Texas Guinan: New York’s most famous hostess and her Club Intime
“Hello, Suckers!” – this is the way you would have been greeted if you entered the club in its heyday in the 1920s. The greeting would have been delivered by the infamous Texas Guinan. Texas Guinan came from Texas (thus, the nickname) to take New York by storm. Starting as a simple showgirl she worked…
Frank Lloyd Wright at The Plaza
While working on his last major project—the Guggenheim—Frank Lloyd Wright stayed at the Plaza. His impressive 4,000-square-foot corner suite there was his home from 1954 to 1959, the last six years of his life. The architect had been traveling to New York for business and pleasure for decades but was not shy in expressing his…
Saks Fifth Avenue: “a Guarantee of High Style”
The original Saks Fifth Avenue was not located on Fifth Avenue—and for that reason was not called “Saks Fifth Avenue.” Saks & Company opened its first department store in New York in 1902 at Sixth Avenue and 34th Street, calling it Saks & Co. Another retail giant, Gimbel’s, was located in the same area across…
Saks Fifth Avenue: the Story of Yeti and Snowflakes
The story of Yeti, the abominable snowman, gripped the world when the creature was reportedly spotted by various Himalayan expeditions in the 1920s. The seemingly indisputable evidence of its existence was produced on an expedition to Mount Everest in the 1950s in the form of a photograph of a giant footprint. But the elusive creature was…
Books About New York
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of NYC Series), Edwin G. Burrows, Mike Wallace The Island at the Center of the World, Russell Shorto Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, Michelle Nevius, James Nevius Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New…
Dakota—the Most Famous Apartment Building in New York City
The venerable Dakota is one of the first luxury apartment buildings in New York and certainly the most famous. Designed to resemble a Renaissance chateaux and styled as a fortress surrounded by a moat, the Dakota has a romantic feel and an air of the unattainable. Built in 1884, it was the first building to…
The Municipal Building – a Beaux-Arts Skyscraper
In 1898, when Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx were consolidated into the 5 million-strong metropolis of Greater New York , the old City Hall proved no longer sufficient to house city government. The Municipal Building was subsequently erected to fulfill this need and still stands as one of the largest government office…
