Maps and Notes    2013




Downtown Crossings
Brooklyn Streets and Lots
Lower East Side and Chinatown
West to Jersey City




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Brooklyn Streets and Lots


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Dental Optical, Fulton Mall I
Brooklyn, July 31, 1999

Looking northeast from the corner of Jay and Fulton Streets, Downtown:

At top right, Chase Bank (1993) 4 MetroTech Center. At top left, the Verizon Building, formerly the New York Telephone Company (1931) 7 MetroTech Center. The Verizon building was sold in 2005 for $74 million to a developer who plans to convert it to a mixed-use residential/commercial property and restore its art deco exterior designed by architect Ralph Walker. The 27-story building is well suited for conversion with its upper outdoor terraces and lower sublevels that reach 45 feet below the street. To the immediate left (west) of the Verizon Building in this view today, is the new 51-story luxury high-rise apartment called the Brooklyner (2010) located at 111 Lawrence Street. It is currently the tallest building in Brooklyn, exceeding the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower (1927) by less than 5 feet.
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Furniture King, Fulton Mall II
Brooklyn, June 30, 2000

Looking northeast from Fulton Street between Bridge and Duffield Streets, Downtown:

Furniture King at 523 Fulton Mall has since been replaced by Brooklyn U.S.A Ladies Mens-Kids, a store for urban apparel and accessories. The larger national furniture chain Raymour & Flanigan has leased the second floor of neighboring 490 Fulton Mall with occupancy scheduled for winter 2013. Raymour & Flanigan will be the largest furniture retailer in downtown Brooklyn.
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Dental Podiatrist Fashion, Fulton Mall III
Brooklyn, June 16, 2012

Looking northeast from the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street, Downtown.
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YOU, Fulton Mall IV
Brooklyn, June 15, 2012

Looking east from Albee Square, intersection of Bond and Fulton Streets, Downtown:

At top center, DKLB BKLY Fort Greene Rentals (2009) at 80 Dekalb Avenue. The 36-story high-rise is considered a "green" building and has been granted a Silver LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design). The wall mural and lyric on the side of 547 Fulton Mall (center) was painted by graffiti artist Steve Powers in 2011. Tony's Pizza and RD CPT Shoe Store are on street level (not shown).
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FULTON EYES, Fulton Mall V
Brooklyn, June 14, 2012

Looking north from the corner of Duffield and Fulton Streets, Downtown:

The former location for the optical shop is now a GameStop store.
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It Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time, Fulton Mall Panorama
Brooklyn, June 8, 2012

Looking southwest from the corner of Duffield and Willoughby Streets, Downtown:

From the Willoughby Windows Project (2009), graffiti writing by FAUST. When the 2008 recession sidelined the plans for Willoughby Street developers to demolish and rebuild, the shops and businesses remained empty because they had already lost their leases or were evicted. In 2009, the ATA (Ad Hoc Art) and the MetroTech BID (Business Improvement District) in cooperation with Avalon Bay and United American Land, sponsored 17 artists to turn 12 storefronts on Willoughby Street into gallery spaces for their art. The public exhibition was planned for six months, but has been ongoing for over three years.

Fulton Mall is the section of Fulton Street between Adams Street and Flatbush Avenue flanked by major subway exchanges that was commercially recast as a two-way pedestrian street-mall in the mid 1980s. Widened sidewalks provide space for crowded shoppers to move, while the two-way street in the middle of the mall is off limits. Only buses, delivery trucks and emergency vehicles are permitted to drive through the mall on Fulton Street. Today Fulton Mall is experiencing the same trend seen in suburban malls and towns where big name brands and national chains are replacing local and regional businesses that can no longer compete. The aim of the new retailers and the dealing landowners is to provide for the upscale movement of the neighborhood where luxury high-rises, banks and educational institutions are causing the economic and life-style demographics to change from low-income to middle-income and higher. In the early 1990s President George Bugliarello of Polytechnic University proposed the MetroTech as a science and technology research and development center for the city. The condition set forth by the city to approve the MetroTech required that two financial institutions be brought in to support the center. That is how Forest City Enterprises and Chase Bank came to downtown Brooklyn.







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Erasmus Hall, Goshen Temple, Flatbush I
Brooklyn, July 20, 1999

Looking west from Woods Place between Church Avenue and Erasmus Street, East Flatbush:

At center, the eastern exterior of Goshen Temple of Seventhday Adventist Church. The congregation has occupied this site since 1986 and is currently building a new temple here at a cost of $4 million. At top, the rear tower of Erasmus Hall High School (1904). Originally it was Erasmus Hall Academy (1787, not shown); the clapboard sided landmark still stands in vacant disrepair in the central courtyard of the greater high school campus. The later Collegiate Gothic campus (rooftop shown here) designed by Charles B.J. Snyder, experienced a similar fate to that of his Morris High School in the Bronx. (see: Uptown Heights, The Bronx at Harlem River, Morris High School II). Due to poor academic achievement, the oversized campus was closed in 1994 and restructured into five separate high schools offering studies in career exploration, hospitality and tourism, community development, science, technology and research.
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Sears Roebuck and Company, Flatbush II
Brooklyn, July 22, 1999

Looking east from the corner of East 23rd Street and Beverly Road, Flatbush:

The Sears Roebuck and Company building (1932) was the second retail outlet built for Sears in Brooklyn. The first outlet (1925) was located near Ebbets Field and was later demolished in 1960 along with the stadium. In 2012, the Sears building on Beverley Road was granted landmark status.
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Loew's Kings Showcase, El Camino Verdadero, Flatbush III
Brooklyn, August 9, 1999

Looking southwest from the corner of Tilden Avenue and East 22nd Street, Flatbush:

At bottom, the Jesus El Camino Verdadero Iglesia Pentecostal Church has an upper level today that obscures the top view of Loew's Kings Showcase Theater (1929) from this spot.
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Loew's Kings Showcase Façade, Flatbush IV
Brooklyn, June 10, 2012

Looking east from Flatbush Avenue between Tilden Avenue and the intersection of Duryea Place and Beverly Road, Flatbush:

One of the six remaining movie palaces built in the New York area from 1920-30 including: Loew's Canal Street Theater (see: Lower East Side and Chinatown, Loew's Canal Street Theater); Loew's Paradise Theater, Grand Concourse Boulevard, Fordham, Bronx, reopened in 2005, but was severely damaged by fire in 2012; Loew's Pitkin Theater, Pitkin Avenue, Brownsville, Brooklyn, under renovation for a charter school and retail space since 2010; Loew's 175th Street, Broadway, Washington Heights, Manhattan, now the United Palace Theater and Church; and Loew's Jersey Theater, Journal Square, Jersey City (see: West to Jersey City, Journal Square, Composite I). The Flatbush Loew's King Showcase is currently under renovation by the City of New York for a performing art space in partnership with the ACE Theatrical Group of Houston. On target with a budget of $70 million, the theater is scheduled to reopen in 2014.



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Maimonides Medical Center
Brooklyn, October 11, 1999

Looking north from Fort Hamilton Parkway between 49th and 50th Streets, Borough Park:

Originally founded as the New Utrecht Dispensary in 1911, the facility merged with Israel Zion Hospital in 1920 and later with Beth Moses Hospital in 1947 when it took its current name. At top from left to right, the Kronish Pavilion (1970), Abraham Gellman Pavillion (1937) and the Aron Pavilion (circa 1997). At bottom right, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Emergency Center (1997).



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Cobble Hill Composite, Downtown I
Brooklyn, June 26, 2000 (left)
Brooklyn, June 28, 2000 (right)

Looking east and then northeast from the roof of the Municipal Parking Garage on Court Street between State Street and Atlantic Avenue, Downtown:

The parking garage was demolished in 2003 and replaced by CourtHouse Apartments (2006), a new luxury rental developed by Two Trees Management Company LLC. In I left, the dome of Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral (1916) and the steeple of Schermerhorn Saint Evangelical Church, originally the Deutche Evangelische Kirche (1845) are at center. In I left (upper right) and I right (center), the original headquarters of the Elks Lodge (1925) designed by Mckim, Mead & White was refitted for the Board of Education in 1940. In 2007, the Board of Education was converted once again to luxury condominiums with a glassed-in upper level. The developer for this project was also Two Trees Management Company LLC.



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Bedford/Atlantic LIRR, Crown Heights I
Brooklyn, July 13, 1999

Looking west from the elevated platform at Norstrand Avenue Station on Atlantic Avenue, Crown Heights:

At center, an eastbound LIRR train emerging from the tunnel at Bedford Avenue approaching the elevated track above Atlantic Avenue that continues underground again at Dewey Place. Background center, the Bedford Atlantic Homeless Shelter, originally the 23rd Regiment Armory (1895). As a men's shelter and assessment center the armory can accommodate up to 350 people today with beds and daily meals. In its early days, the vast interior drill hall and storage facilities for equipment and munitions were offset with stately quarters and dining rooms for military personnel. Of particular note was the 1900 era Council Room with its elaborate furnishings and 24-foot high fireplace.



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Culver Viaduct, 9th Street View, Gowanus Canal I
Brooklyn, July 25, 1999

Looking northwest from the corner of 9th Street and 2nd Avenue, Gowanus.
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Smith and 9th Streets Station, Gowanus Canal II
Brooklyn, July 26, 1999

Looking east from Smith Street between Garret and West 9th Streets, Carroll Gardens.
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Ninth Street Bridge, Gowanus Canal III
Brooklyn, June 24, 2012

Looking northeast from the parking lot below 9th Street at the edge of the canal, Gowanus.
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Kentile Floors Sign, Gowanus Canal IV
Brooklyn, July 26, 1999

Looking east from 9th Street between 2nd Avenue and the canal, Gowanus:

The Culver Viaduct and the Smith–9th Streets station I, II and III were built in 1932-33 by the New York City Transit Authority to span the Gowanus Canal and maintain a level grade for the Culver Line between Carroll Gardens and Gowanus. At a height of 87.5 feet the elevated station is the tallest in New York. The massive steel structure with cement veneer II, is being rebuilt III, at a cost of $32 million under MTA contract as the Culver Viaduct Rehabilitation Project with Hardesty & Hanover LLP as consulting engineers. After a decade of planning and delayed starts, the three-year construction project is scheduled for completion in fall 2013.

The Kentile Floors sign IV was erected in 1949 on top of its new factory at 99 9th Street in Gowanus, and remains intact over the same roof today of Regal Home Collections, a contracting company. Kentile closed its doors in bankruptcy around 1992 due to lawsuits from employees and contractors over asbestos related health problems caused by manufacturing and installing their tiles. Asbestos continues to be found in the waters and along the banks of the Gowanus Canal today.







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Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord
Brooklyn, June 19,1999

Looking east from 11th Street between Bedford and Driggs Avenues, Greenpoint:

At top left, the dome of the Russian Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (1916-21). At bottom, the vacant lot and former property of the Brooklyn Union Paint Company is now under construction for the new 95 Bedford Avenue Apartments complex. The giant structure will occupy one square block bordering McCarren Park with 8 floors, 262 units and a circular drive entrance. Residents nicknamed the unfinished site "Hot Karl Beach," after the architect Karl Fischer, and in reference to the big open pit that took on water and was stagnant for two years after the 2008 recession hit.



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South Williamsburg I
Brooklyn, June 4, 1998

Looking east from Whipple Street between Throop and Harrison Avenues, South Williamsburg:

At top center, All Saints Catholic Church (1894) founded in 1867 by German immigrants followed by early 20th century Italian and today's Hispanic immigrants. At top right, Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center (1977), one of the first hospitals in New York to utilize a modular design for flexible expansion with a system of alternating service mezzanines between patient floors. The mezzanines are designed to isolate mechanical structures from medical facilities with easy access.
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South Williamsburg II
Brooklyn, June 9, 1998

Looking northwest from South 6th Street between Wythe Avenue and Berry Street, South Williamsburg:

House at center, 71 South 6th Street. In 2010, an apartment building with a general store was built in the open lot to the right. At top, the Brooklyn entrance ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge (1903) was rebuilt as part of the ongoing bridge reconstruction project begun in 1991. (see: Brooklyn Streets and Lots, Barrier Fence Rail, BQE Connector)
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South/North Williamsburg Composite
Brooklyn, June 5, 1998 (left)
Brooklyn, June 26, 1999 (right)

Looking northeast (left) from the island intersection of Lee Avenue and Williamsburg Street between Rodney and Keap Streets, South Williamsburg. Looking north (right) from South 5th Street between Hooper and Keap Streets, North Williamsburg.



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Boerum Hill, Downtown II
Brooklyn, July 28, 1999

Looking north inside the playground of Philip Livingston School, PS 261, between Hoyt and Smith Streets, Boerum Hill:

In the background from left to right, the Court Chambers Building (1927), Brooklyn Men's House of Detention (1950) and the Central Court Building (1932). The Court Chambers, also known as the Chamber of Commerce was converted to condominiums in 1981. The new Brooklyn Law School on State Street (2005) obscures this view of the pre-war skyscraper today. The Men's House of Detention, also known as the Atlantic House was closed in 2003 for repairs and expansion, but reopened unchanged in 2010 to the surprise of nearby residents who protested its reopening with concerns about neighborhood safety and lack of parking. The Central Court Building houses the Criminal and Supreme Courts and has an underground tunnel connected to the Men's House of Detention. PS 261 built a new Pre-School (2006) in the playground that obscures this view today of the brownstones on Pacific Street, (center). The person jumping rope is Andrew L. Cruz, a Brooklyn resident.



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Roberto Clemente Public School 19, North Williamsburg I (left)
Brooklyn, June 9, 1998

Looking south inside the playground of PS 19, from Rodney to Keap Streets between South 2nd and 3rd Streets, North Williamsburg.

Bais Ruchel School for Girls of United Talmudic Academy, South Williamsburg III (right)
Brooklyn, June 1, 1998

Looking east inside the schoolyard from Heyward to Lynch Streets between Harrison and Marcy Avenues, South Williamsburg.
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Henry D. Woodworth Public School 17, North Williamsburg II
Brooklyn, July 8, 1999

Looking northeast from the Greenstreets Triangle at Ascenzi Square, intersection of North 4th and Roebling Streets with Metropolitan Avenue, North Williamsburg:

The longstanding battle over the decline of PS 19 I, ended with the Department of Education's decision to close the school in 2012, citing its performance as one of the worst in New York. Reports indicate that the school lost four to six teachers a year since 2008 and enrollment dropped 70% over the last decade to just 350 students. At the same time PS 17 II, is undergoing a $10 million exterior renovation to repair water damage and remove toxic mold while its 386 students are in attendance. This plan has been deemed a health hazard by parents and teachers and many students have decided to stay home until the renovation is complete. The Bais Ruchel School III, together with the Bnos Yakov School at the same location today, has an all girl enrollment of 1,229 with an average teacher student ratio of 1:9. These are examples of current differences between public and private schools in North and South Williamsburg divided by Hispanic and Hasidic Jewish populations.



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Schoolyard Composite, Crown Heights II
Brooklyn, July 13, 1999

Looking southeast inside the playground at Elijah G. Stroud School, PS 316, from Park Place to Sterling Place between Classon Avenue and the intersection of Washington and Grand Avenues, Crown Heights:

In background left, the staff residency for the Jewish Hospital and Medical Center of Brooklyn. In background right, two steeples of the Church of Saint Teresa of Avila (1874). At center, Elijah G. Stroud School (1966).

Elijah Stroud was a police officer who was murdered at point-blank range in 1972 while witnessing a robbery when he was off duty. Two suspects were convicted in the murder after five trials, but in the end the convictions were overturned due to a deadlocked jury.

From the NYPD Angels memorial site, Faithful until Death:

http://www.nypdangels.com/cop/cop.php?id=161

Name: Stroud, Elijah

Rank: Ptl.
Shield #: 4204
Command: 080 Pct.
Cause of Death: Shot - Robbery
Date of Death: 1972-03-18

Patrolman Stroud was the 3rd New York City police officer to die in the line of duty in 1972. A former Fort Green resident and regular at Irving's Meat Market on Putnam Avenue in Brooklyn, Ptl. Stroud was off duty, doing his usual Saturday night shopping for the family on March 18. While in the butcher shop along with several other customers, Ptl. Stroud suddenly realized he was in the midst of a hold-up when he saw a gunman with an employee behind the counter moving toward the register. Immediately, he drew his revolver and took cover, crouching on the opposite side of the end of the counter. His back was partially turned to the door. When he identified himself, shots rang out from the doorway. A second unnoticed gunman had opened fire on the officer. Ptl. Stroud whirled around and got off two shots before he was hit in the head by a ricocheting bullet. He was slumped over, supported by the counter and possibly already dead when the gunman near the register ran up, reached over the counter and shot Ptl. Stroud in the head again, at point-blank range. Shocked by the wanton slaying, the shop's owner attempted to subdue the killer behind the counter. At this, the gunman by the door ran over and pistol-whipped the owner to the ground. The two murderers fled, without money.

Both suspects were later captured in Plainfield, New Jersey by a patrolman who recognized the suspect's car from a bulletin that had been posted. Both suspects were members of the Black Liberation Army.

Patrolman Stroud was 49 years old and had 19 years on the force. He is survived by his wife and 3 children.



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Barrier Fence Rail, BQE Connector
Brooklyn, June 10, 1998

Looking southeast from the intersection of Marcy Avenue and Borinquen Place, between South 2nd and South 3rd Streets, under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway connector ramp (1950) to the Williamsburg Bridge (1903), North/South border Williamsburg:

As part of the 15-year, $1 billion project started in 1991 to reconstruct the Williamsburg Bridge, the deteriorating viaduct of the BQE connector ramp was replaced in 2001 at a cost of $47 million. The 1,200 foot long steel structure was slowly dismantled and then rapidly rebuilt with precast concrete segmental blocks produced by the American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI), a non-profit organization that works with designers, contractors and suppliers to promote new technologies for segmental bridges. The success of the connector ramp project has impacted the research and design efforts of The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) as they continue to implement other reconstruction projects on the BQE in Brooklyn, like the rebuilding of the Kosciuszko Bridge between Brooklyn and Queens and the double-decker cantilevered section in Brooklyn Heights.



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Lower East Side and Chinatown


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Rivington Street Synagogue
Manhattan, July 19, 2006

Looking north from Rivington Street between Eldridge and Allen Streets, LES:

The synagogue at 58-60 Rivington Street, originally Congregation Adath Jeshurun of Jassy (1903), was commissioned by Romanian Jewish immigrants from the Hungarian born architect Emery Roth. The Romanian congregation later gave way to an older Polish organization founded in 1886 that became the First Warsaw Congregation. Since 1973, the building has been privately owned and mostly occupied by artists.



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Loew's Canal Street Theater
Manhattan, April 30, 2006

Looking northeast from the intersection of Division Street with Canal Street, between Ludlow and Essex Streets, LES/Chinatown border:

One of the six remaining movie palaces built in the New York area from 1920-30 including - Loew's Kings Showcase (see: Brooklyn Streets and Lots, Loew's Kings Showcase, Flatbush III & IV); Loew's Paradise Theater, Grand Concourse Boulevard, Fordham, Bronx, reopened in 2005, but was severely damaged by fire in 2012; Loew's Pitkin Theater, Pitkin Avenue, Brownsville, Brooklyn, under renovation for a charter school and retail space since 2010; Loew's 175th Street, Broadway, Washington Heights, Manhattan, now the United Palace Theater and Church; and Loew's Jersey Theater, Journal Square, Jersey City (see: West to Jersey City, Journal Square, Composite I). The first floor lobby of the Loew's Canal Street has been used for retail (currently an electronics shop) since the theater closed in 1960. In 2010, the theater's terra-cotta façade was deemed a landmark and a $150,000 feasibility study was put into motion by the Committee to Revitalize and Enrich the Arts and Tomorrow's Economy (CREATE) to evaluate the theater's potential for a future performing arts center.



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Viva Puerto Rico Libre, Master Inc, Delancey Street I
Manhattan, April 22, 1998

Looking north from Schiff Mall on Delancey Street between Forsyth and Eldridge Streets, LES.
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Shops at Williamsburg Bridge, Delancey Street II
Manhattan, April 27, 1998 (left)
Manhattan, May 15, 2006 (right)

Looking northwest from the corner of Delancey and Suffolk Streets, LES.
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Beckenstein, Baby Ruth, Bunnies, Delancey Street III
Manhattan, April 21, 1998

Looking northwest from Schiff Mall on Delancey Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets, LES.
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Viva Puerto Rico Libre, Construction Site, Delancey Street IV
Manhattan, June 16, 2006

Looking northeast from the corner of Delancey and Forsyth Streets, LES.
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Fine and Klein, Cohen's Optical, Delancey Street V
Manhattan, April 27, 1998

Looking southeast from Allen Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets, LES:

Schiff Mall is an island of small trees and shrubs dividing Delancey Street between Sara D. Roosevelt Park and the Williamsburg Bridge. It is named after Jacob H. Schiff of German Jewish descent; the late 19th century banker and philanthropist who helped Lillian Wald and Mary Brewster found the Henry Street Settlement in 1895. The settlement was a shelter that provided food and medical care to the immigrant poor of the Lower East Side regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. The mall was landscaped in the mid 1990s as a Greenstreets barrier between east and westbound traffic on Delancey Street and to create a park drive approach to the Williamsburg Bridge, which was still in the early phase of its long-term reconstruction. Seen from all sides as an environmental benefit to street life, the greening of Schiff Mall was also an ironic gesture to the history of Delancey Street and the Lower East Side, land of immigrants; because the mall and its surrounding streets were once farmlands belonging to James DeLancey, the prerevolutionary loyalist to the British Crown and acting Colonial Governor of the Province of New York.

At the corner of Delancey and Forsyth Streets is a wall mural facing an open parking lot I left, and a construction site IV center. The painting titled "Work, Education and Struggle: Seeds for Progressive Change" (1975) is a Puerto Rican workers mural by artist Alan Okada, sponsored by Cityarts Workshop Incorporated. In 2006, the parking lot became the construction site for 38 Delancey Street – a 16-story, 55-unit luxury condominium designed by Harry H. Hong for Yang Tze River Realty Corporation. During construction the rising north side of the apartment building made contact with the exterior of neighboring 146 Forsyth Street and thus completely covered the wall mural. The mural will therefore remain hidden indefinitely, but not destroyed.



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Streit's Matzos Factory
Manhattan, April 24, 1998

Looking east from the playground at Marta Valle Model High School on Rivington Street between Norfolk and Suffolk Streets, LES:

Streit's Matzos (background) was founded by Aron Streit in 1916 on Pitt Street and later moved to Rivington Street in 1925.



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Eldridge Street Synagogue
Manhattan, May 23, 2006

Looking northwest from Division Street between Pike and Forsyth Streets, LES:

The Eldridge Street Synagogue (1887) was the first synagogue built in the United States by Eastern European Jews. While in desperate need of repair a century later, it was designated a landmark, which helped the Eldridge Street Project sustain what turned out to be a 20 year restoration at a cost of $20 million. The main sanctuary with its stained glass windows and 70-foot high vaulted ceiling was closed off for at least 25 years while a dwindling orthodox congregation worshipped on the lower level in the Beth Midrash (a small room designed as a library used mainly for religious study). In 2007, the synagogue reopened to the public as a museum as well as a house of worship.



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Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, Still Life (left)
Manhattan, April 27, 1998

Looking northwest at 107 Suffolk Street between Rivington and Delancey Streets, LES:

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center (CSV) was founded in the name of the Puerto Rican poet after he died in 1993. The building, which already housed the Solidaridad Humana (an education and human services program) plus the Teatro La Tea (a Latino performing arts theater) was originally another elementary school (PS 160) designed by Charles B. J. Snyder in 1898 (see: Uptown Heights, The Bronx at Harlem River, Morris High School II). The CSV's role then and now, is to support the work of its Lower East Side artists in residence, of which one-third are Hispanic or Latino.

Crawford Norman Jewelry, Store Front I (right)
Manhattan, July 25, 2006

Looking southeast at 105 Canal Street from the corner of Forsyth Street, Chinatown:

Jewelry businesses have changed hands at this address since 1914. Crawford Jewelry and Watch Company closed its doors in 2012.



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Larnel Trophies, Economy Candy, Store Front II
Manhattan, April 22, 1998

Looking south at 105 Rivington Street between Ludlow and Essex Streets, LES:

Larnel Trophies became Annie O. Boutique in 2005, a sidewalk gift shop for the new Hotel on Rivington next door. Across the street is Economy Candy, owned and operated by the Cohen family since 1937.



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…And save!
Manhattan, April 24, 1998

Looking north from the corner of Delancey and Attorney Streets by the Williamsburg Bridge ramp, LES.



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Billboard Frame View, Sara D. Roosevelt Park I
Manhattan, January 4, 2006

Looking east from the corner of Canal and Forsyth Streets, Chinatown.
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L^R Batter's Box Inverted, African Burial Ground, Sara D. Roosevelt Park II
Manhattan, April 21, 1998

Looking south inside Sara D. Roosevelt Park, between Forsyth and Christie Streets from Stanton to Rivington Streets, LES:

The 7.8-acre piece of land running parallel to the Bowery between Houston and Canal Streets was acquired by the city in 1929 to widen Chrystie and Forsyth Streets, to accommodate new housing and to expedite traffic going to and from the Williamsburg Bridge (1903). The narrow strip, dating back to the land holdings of James DeLancey, was intended in 1929 to be a garden landscape interspersed among low-income housing projects. The projects were never built, but the garden idea took hold and became a park dedicated to Sara D. Roosevelt in 1934, one year after her son FDR was elected president.

At top-center with billboard scaffolding overhead I, the Witty Brothers Building at 50-52 Eldridge Street was the clothing factory for Witty Suits and exclusive menswear by David Witty founded in 1888. At left I, the side entrance to IS 131, Dr. Sun Yat Sen School (1983) was built in honor of the Chinese revolutionary and founding President of the Republic of China beginning in 1912.

In the northern half of Sara D. Roosevelt Park between Stanton and Rivington Streets II, is the former site of an African burial ground dating back to 1795. It was established one year after the African burial ground at City Hall was closed. By 1853, the second site was overcrowded and deteriorated, which led to its closure and the eventual exhumation of the human remains. The nearby M'Finda Kalunga Garden (not shown) was started the same year IS 131 Dr. Sun Yat Sen School was built, as a land memorial to the African burial ground. M'Finda Kalunga, from the Kikongo language of the Kongo, means "Garden at the Edge of the Other Side of the World".



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Lobster Signs
Manhattan, August 11, 2006

Looking east on Madison Street between Catherine and Market Streets, Chinatown.



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Canal Street East, Composite
Manhattan, August 8, 2006 (left)
Manhattan, August 10, 2006 (right)

Looking east from the intersection of Canal Street and Bowery, then northwest from the Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade, Chinatown:

The Mahayana Buddhist Temple Composite left (center), originally the Rosemary Theater at 133 Canal Street, was one of six theaters that comprised the late 20th century Chinatown Movie Circuit in New York. By 2000 all of them were closed, including the Pagoda, Sun Sing, Jade, Essex, and Music Palace, but not all of them were destroyed. In 1997, the Rosemary interior was rebuilt as a Buddhist Temple complete with a 16-foot gilded Buddha.

The larger Beaux-Arts Citizens Savings Bank Composite right (center) was built in 1924 to replace the small building that housed the bank at 58 Bowery since 1862. The low profile of the new dome was compensated for by the bank's overall structural height of 110 feet, in order to exceed the nearby Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade (1915) in size, but not in grandeur. The self-conscious design challenge to have a commercial building compliment a civic structure in a plaza was thoughtfully played out by the respective architects, Clarence W. Brazer and Carrère and Hastings. The sculpted figures surrounding the clock on the cornice below the dome – two Behives, an Eagle, a Native American and a Sailor, are the creations of artist Charles Keck's inspiration taken from the bank's official seal. The height of the cornice figures was deliberately placed in view of the passing Third Avenue El that connected the City Hall and South Ferry lines at nearby Chatham Square. In 1955 the Third Avenue El was dismantled. The bank later became the Manhattan Savings Bank (1942), the Republic Bank for Savings (1990) and finally an HSBC branch in 1999. Most recently the bank was granted landmark status in 2011.



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Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church
Manhattan, July 27, 2006

Looking south from the Manhattan Bridge bike path near the corner of Canal and Forsyth Streets, Chinatown:

Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church (1892) was founded by Greek immigrants between 1926 and 1932. Prior to that it was the synagogue for two Eastern European Jewish congregations, Kol Israel Anshe Poland and Mishkan Israel Anshei Suwalk. Historically, Saint Barbara has been the Patron Saint of soldiers and firemen. Since the destruction of nearby Saint Nicholas Church, buried under the fiery rubble of the collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 (see: Lower East Side and Chinatown, Civic Center East, Post 9/11 Composite), Saint Barbara's is the only remaining Greek Orthodox Church in Lower Manhattan. On the far right is the west tower of the Manhattan Bridge (1901-12).



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Williamsburg Bridge, Composite
Brooklyn and Manhattan, April 3, 2010

Looking southeast and then north from the Circle Line Cruise, at the Williamsburg Bridge (1896-1903) with Brooklyn background (left) and Manhattan background (right), East River:

The Domino Sugar Refinery Composite left (left side) was built in 1856, forty-seven years before the bridge. In 1882 it burned to the ground and was rebuilt entirely of brick. It was nearly destroyed again in 1917 by an accidental explosion that occurred during a time of excessive sugar production for America's allies in World War I. At its later height, the sugar factory employed 4,000 workers and safely produced up to 3 million pounds of sugar a day. Eventually the sugar refining industry experienced a decline due to the popular rise of fructose, corn and artificial sweeteners, forcing Domino to downsize and close the Williamsburg plant in 2004. The 11.5-acre building site with famous neon logo was successfully landmarked in 2007.

The "New Domino" is a plan put forth by the current owners Refinery LLC, to convert the factory buildings into mixed use residential and retail space. The Community Preservation Corporation stipulates that 666 of the proposed 2,220 living units must be designated as low-income apartments. The estimated cost of the conversion is $2 billion with a completion date projected for 2021. The "Save Domino" movement is opposed to the developer's plan and prefers a public art and culture alternative for 60,000 square feet of gallery space plus housing. In 2010, the "Save Domino" movement was defeated by the City Planning Commission's vote to support the "New Domino" plan, which was then approved by the City Council in 2011. Final plans call for a staggered footprint of new buildings with green roofs and a 4-acre waterfront park. The Uruguayan born architect Rafael Viñoly has been selected to design the new complex.



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Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade, Confucius Plaza I
Manhattan, July 25, 2006

Looking south from the corner of Chrystie and Canal Streets, Chinatown:

In 1904, Mayor George B. McClellan fired Bridge Commissioner and engineer Gustav Lindenthal from the Manhattan Bridge project because he was taking too long to finish the Queensboro Bridge (1901-09) and was unable to avert the effects of a steel strike that caused much of the delay. The newly appointed Bridge Commissioner George E. Best, hired engineer Leon S. Moissieff to replace Lindenthal and finish the Manhattan Bridge, which was actually designed by Henry Hornbostel. In the end, it took just as long to complete both bridges and few critics were impressed with the bland simplicity of the Manhattan Bridge. Too many commissioners and engineers failed to deliver a bridge as romantic and gothic as the nearby Brooklyn Bridge (1883); and so the idea for a European style neo-classical entrance for the Manhattan Bridge was conceived in the spirit of the City Beautiful Movement to compensate for what lacked. It took another six years and the eviction of 1,000 families to complete the Manhattan Bridge Arch and Colonnade (1915) I bottom, designed by Carrère & Hastings with sculptural reliefs by C. A. Echer, C. C. Rumsey and Carl Augustus Heber, whose "Spirit of Commerce" and "Spirit of Industry" I center, were inspired by the model Audrey Marie Munson. (see: Lower East Side and Chinatown, Municipal Building Vertical, Civic Fame). It is often cited that the resemblance of the Manhattan Bridge Arch to Porte Saint Denis in Paris, and the Colonnade to that of Saint Peter's in Rome, are proof enough of the architects' influences. But, the eclectic design of an elliptical plaza with sculptures and a singular arch had already existed at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza for about fifty years. The Manhattan Bridge lines up exactly with Grand Army Plaza via Flatbush Avenue, which was Carrère & Hastings' intent.
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Tower, Track and Field, Confucius Plaza II
Manhattan, August 10, 2006

Looking southwest inside Sara D. Roosevelt Park in line with Hester Street between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets, Chinatown.
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TA TUNG Monument, Confucius Plaza III
Manhattan, August 8, 2006

Looking east from Chatham Square, intersection of Bowery with Division, Catherine and Doyers Streets, Chinatown:

Confucius Plaza Apartments (1975) I, II, is a 44-story cooperative residence with 762 units located in Chatham Square. It was the first public-funded housing project built for Chinese Americans in New York. The cost was $38.3 million. At the entrance to the building is a monument with a 15-foot bronze statue of Confucius the great Chinese philosopher and teacher, by the sculptor Liu Shih. The monument was gifted in 1976 by the Chinese Benevolent Association to commemorate the United States bicentennial. On the base of the monument III, the words of a Confucius proverb are carved from the marble in Chinese and English and filled in with gold leaf:

CONFUCIUS

THE CHAPTER OF GREAT HARMONY (TATUNG)
BY CONFUCIUS (551-479 B C)

When the Great Principle prevails the world is a Common-
wealth in which rulers are selected according to their wis-
dom and ability. Mutual confidence is promoted and good
neighbourliness cultivated. Hence men do not regard as pa-
rents only their own parents nor do they treat as
children only their own children. Provision is secured for the aged
till death employment for the able bodied and the means of
growing up for the young. Helpless widows and widowers
orphans and the lonely as well as the sick and the disabled
are well cared for. Men have their respective occupations
and women their homes. They do not like to see wealth lying
idle yet they do not keep it for their own gratification.
They despise indolence yet they do not use their energies
for their own benefit. In this way selfish schemings are
repressed and robbers thieves and other lawless men no
longer exist and there is no need for people to shut their
outer doors. This is the Great Harmony (TA TUNG).




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Chatham Green Cooperative, Pre 9/11 Composite
Manhattan, April 13, 1998 UL
Manhattan, April 14, 1998 UR
Manhattan, April 16, 1998 LL
Manhattan, April 13, 1998 LR

Alternating views, looking west UL and LR, north UR and northeast LL at Chatham Green Cooperative with Civic Center background, from Madison Street between Oliver and Pearl Streets and their intersections with Saint James Place, near Chatham Square, Chinatown:

Chatham Green Cooperative (1962) is a long undulating S shape high-rise, set back among trees in the triangle formed by Saint James Place, Park Row and Pearl Street. It has 21 floors with approximately 20 units on each. There are no public corridors and each apartment has a balcony plus exposures in two directions. It is the largest and most spacious apartment complex in Chinatown built for middleclass residents. The architectural setting that surrounds and includes the Cooperative is an example of urban planning where the coexistence of civic and private buildings dominates. The United States Courthouse (1933-36) LL left, and the United States Court House Annex (1994) LL top, and UL top again, are just a few blocks to the west of Chatham Green. The Court House Annex was renamed after Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 2000. The Municipal Building (1907-14), the Woolworth Building (1910-13), the Transportation Building (1927) and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (1972-73) are all several blocks to the west of Chatham Green LR background. The oldest building among the tenements and shops to the east of Chatham Green is Saint James Church (1836) UL right of center (rooftop). The architect is unknown, but the Greek revival ornamentation is attributed to Minard Lafever. The church was landmarked in 1966 and restored 20 years later in celebration of its 150th anniversary.



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Civic Center East, Post 9/11 Composite
Manhattan, August 4, 2006

Looking west and then northwest from the corner of Oliver Street and Saint James Place, Chatham Square, Chinatown:

Buildings shown from left to right across the composite - Chatham Green (1962), Transportation Building (1927), top of Woolworth Building (1910-13), Municipal Building (1907-14), edge detail of Chatham Green again, Municipal Building again, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Court House (1994), Chatham Towers (1965), and edge detail of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building (1963-69).

Buildings missing across the composite - Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (built 1972-73, destroyed 2001).

Beginning in 1966, it took 21 years to build the entire World Trade Center complex. Sixty workers died before construction was complete in 1987. On February 26, 1993 the lower levels of the North Tower were severely damaged by a truck bomb planted in the basement garage by Ramzi Yousef and a team of conspiring terrorists. The blast penetrated five sublevels of the structure killing six people and injuring 1,000. Repairs were extensive and the incident prompted the implementation of new fire prevention measures and more sophisticated security systems. The Twin Towers were struck again on September 11, 2001 when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked two jet planes and flew them directly into the towers causing their complete collapse and the confirmed deaths of 2,977 people. The question of how best to rebuild the World Trade Center is still a subject of debate; yet the many modes of construction have been ongoing since Ground Zero was cleared of debris and human remains. The 9/11 Memorial "Reflecting Absence," designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, was opened in 2011 on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack. The new Freedom Tower, already renamed One World Trade Center, is expected to open in 2014. Upon completion it will be the third tallest building in the world with a pinnacle height of 1,776 feet, coinciding with the founding year of American Independence (see: Lower Manhattan and the Harbor, Riding Staten Island Ferry, Guy V. Molinari, Harbor Skyline II).



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Municipal Building Vertical, Civic Fame
Manhattan, January 1, 1991

Looking east from the roof of 261 Broadway between Warren and Chambers Streets, Civic Center:

The Manhattan Municipal Building (1907-14) right, was built to house the large and expanding number of city agencies created after the consolidation of New York's five boroughs into one New York City in 1898. Adjacent buildings include the Surrogate's Court, formerly Hall of Records (1907) bottom center; the United States Courthouse (1933-36) tower at left; and the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, now City of New York Office Building (1908-12) bottom left.

The gilded statue of "Civic Fame" (1913) by Adolph Alexander Weinman stands 25 feet tall on top of the Municipal Building and faces northwest looking diagonally over the roof of the Surrogate's Court Building. Its alignment is askew of any street or façade including Chambers Street, which bisects the entrance of the Municipal Building perpendicularly. Some critics feel that Civic Fame should have been oriented southwest toward City Hall (1802-12) in the direction of the Statue of Liberty (1886). Weinman used a technique in construction similar to that used for the Statue of Liberty, with sheets of copper molded from a plaster model assembled over and around a metal frame with a hollow core. In 1936, Civic Fame's left arm broke off and fell through a skylight on the roof of the Municipal Building. The mural crown with its five turrets, one for each borough of the city, went flying with it. The arm and crown were reattached, but the repair was never satisfactory until the entire statue was removed 55 years later during the façade renovation shown here. The statue was restored and returned to the top of the Municipal Building by helicopter on Columbus Day 1991.

Weinman's model for Civic Fame was Audrey Marie Munson. Already known in New York art circles prior to Civic Fame, Miss Munson's reputation was catapulted nationally when Alexander Stirling Calder debuted her as his model of choice for "Star Maiden" (1913) at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in San Francisco. Munson also modeled for Attilio Piccirilli's "Duty and Sacrifice" (1914) in the Fireman's Memorial at Riverside Drive and West 100th Street; Daniel Chester French's "Mourning Victory" (1915) in the replica of the Melvin Brothers Civil War Memorial from Concord Massachusetts at the Metropolitan Museum; Augustus Lukeman's "Memory" (1913) in honor of Ida and Isador Straus who perished on the Titanic, in Straus Park at Broadway and West 106th Street; Karl Bitter's "Pomona, Goddess of Abundance" (1915) atop the Pulitzer Fountain at Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza, 5th Avenue and East 59th Street; Carl Augustus Heber's "Spirit of Commerce" and "Spirit of Industry" (1915) on the Manhattan Bridge Arch among many other public and private works found in New York. Munson was also the first woman to reveal her full nudity for the Hollywood silent screen as a star in such films as "Inspiration" (1915) and "Purity" (1916). Munson lived long enough to witness the restoration of her statue on the Municipal Building, but she died in 1996 at the age of 105 after many years of a psychiatric illness that followed the early end of her career. She was known to New Yorkers as "Miss Manhattan."



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West to Jersey City


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YALE Truck, Hell's Kitchen I
Manhattan, March 30, 1998

Looking east from the corner of West 40th Street and 12th Avenue (West Side Highway), Midtown West:

The YALE Truck was a trompe l'oeil advertisement installation. It belonged to the Yale Express System trucking company, which occupied the building right below the structure until the mid-1970s when the company went bankrupt. The full-scale truck replica was mounted on the roof, aligned in height and set back the width of a sidewalk from the Elevated West Side Highway. The raised highway was a columned viaduct built in sections from West 72nd Street to the Battery between 1929 and 1951. To southbound traffic, especially at night, the illuminated YALE Truck appeared to be merging onto the northbound lanes. Commuters and local drivers were accustomed to this as a kind of cultural landmark at West 40th Street, but transient drivers were surprised and sometimes shocked to see the truck so close at highway level. Not all drivers were aware that trucks were actually not permitted on the elevated highway. The structure was not strong enough to support their weight and the curves were too sharp for them to maneuver at highway speeds. But in 1973, the Department of Transportation was caught off guard when a dump truck carrying 30 tons of asphalt for road repairs broke through the elevated highway and caused a 60-foot section of the viaduct to collapse between Gansevoort and West 12th Streets. By 1989 the 38 plus years old viaduct was completely removed due to structural weakness, but the YALE Truck remained in its place until 2007 when the Javits Convention Center (1986) took over the property and tore down the building with the truck.



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METROPOLITAN Lumber and Hardware, Hell's Kitchen II
Manhattan, August 6, 1997

Looking southeast from West 45th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, Midtown West.
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Lincoln Tunnel, Hell's Kitchen Composite
Manhattan, April 11, 1998 (left)
Manhattan, March 31, 1998 (right)

Looking northeast from West 39th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, Midtown West.
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Croatian Roman Catholic Church, Hell's Kitchen III
Manhattan, July 10, 2011

Looking north from 10th Avenue between West 39th and 40th Streets, Midtown West.
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HRVATSKI CENTAR, Hell's Kitchen IV
Manhattan, July 10, 2011

Looking northeast from West 40th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, Midtown West:

The three tubes of the Lincoln Tunnel (1937-57) took almost as long to build as the eight sections of the Elevated Westside Highway (1929-51). Their paths crisscrossed at West 40th street where the YALE Truck stood, but they did not connect by system of ramps like bridges and highways normally do. The tunnel emerged two blocks east of the elevated highway causing a detour along side streets for drivers wishing to get onto the elevated.

Both structures were originally given different names. The highway was first called the Miller Elevated Highway after Julius Miller, Manhattan Borough President (1922-30). As an earlier New York State Senator, Miller was largely responsible for the construction of the Park Avenue Viaduct (1919) that crosses Pershing Square at East 42 Street and continues around Grand Central Station (1903) counterclockwise. Immediately north of the station, the viaduct transitions to street level and passes through the base of the New York Central Building, now the Helmsley Building (1929) using two arched tunnels.

The Lincoln Tunnel was originally called the Midtown Vehicular Tunnel, but that name was relinquished a few years after construction started. Changing two words in the name allowed it to be used for the Queens-Midtown Tunnel (1940) instead. In recognition of the newly inspired George Washington Bridge (1931, addition 1962) it was felt that another presidential name of equal status was a more appropriate way to honor a structure that crossed the Hudson River even if you couldn't see it. And so, none other than the name of Abraham Lincoln would do. The official name of the tunnel omits the President's first name. This is also the case with the first Washington Bridge (1889) that crosses the Harlem River between Manhattan and the Bronx (see: Uptown Heights, Highbridge and the Ship Canal, Highbridge View I, II, III).

Manhattan's Midtown West, which is not an official district name, is notorious for name changes beyond the scope of its highways and tunnels. "Hell's Kitchen," refers to the 19th century era of gangs, crime and corruption, when the West Side teemed with immigrants living in hostile conditions surrounded by slaughterhouses, gas utilities and rail yards later on. In 1959, the city tried to change the name of the area from Hell's Kitchen to Clinton, after DeWitt Clinton, Senator, Mayor and later Governor of New York (1817-22). The governor's name worked well for the park that also shares it at West 52nd Street (DeWitt Clinton Park, 1906), but in general, his name did not stick with the neighborhood any better than the other names invested in it by realtors, such as "TunJav" or "Mid-West".

Real estate in the form of high-rise gentrification has been the city's policy for upgrades in neighborhoods west of Times Square. In alternating views I (background left), all of II, Composite and III, the rise of new construction has been ongoing against the backdrop of other familiar buildings and landmarks, such as the Minskoff Theatre Building (1973), Paramount Plaza (1970), AXA Equitable Center (1986), the Milford Plaza Hotel (1928) and McGraw Hill (1930). Further west and closer to the Lincoln Tunnel are the new residential towers starting with Manhattan Plaza (1977), followed by Riverbank West (1987), the Strand (1988), New Gotham (1998) and the Victory (2002). Most recently in 2012 a plan was approved by the School Construction Authority and Mayor Bloomberg to rebuild the former New York Public Library Annex at 521 West 43rd Street II (bottom center) into a new facility for Beacon High School, which is currently located uptown on West 61st Street.

The oldest building in the vicinity is the Croatian Roman Catholic Church (1902) on West 41st Street Composite right (lower right) and III (center). It was designed by George H. Streeton, who specialized in serving Catholic clients, as did Patrick Charles Keely before him (see: Harlem, the East River and Queens, Queensboro at Midtown, Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Hunters Point IV). The Croatian church was first occupied by Saint Raphael's Parish, which was founded by Irish immigrants in 1886. In 1974, Saint Raphael's Parish merged with the Croatian Roman Catholic Parish of Saints Cyril and Methodius, which was founded in 1913. An addition to the rear of the church was built for the Croatian Cultural Center IV and dedicated to Saint Nikola Tavelic, a 14th century Catholic missionary and the first saint of Croatia.



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USS Intrepid, Joe DiMaggio Highway I (left)
Manhattan, April 4, 2010

Looking east from Hudson River Pier 84 on West 44th Street and 12th Avenue, Midtown West:

The World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (1943) was decommissioned in 1974 and reassigned as the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum at Pier 86 in 1982. Its distinguished battle history, NASA service and success as a tourist attraction earned it status as a National Historic Landmark in 1986; the same year that the Javits Convention Center opened a few blocks away.

Javits Convention Center, Joe DiMaggio Highway II (right)
Manhattan, March 16, 1998

Looking northeast from 12th Avenue between West 34th and 35th Streets, Midtown West.
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Javits Convention Center, Joe DiMaggio Highway III
Manhattan, March 16, 1998

Looking northwest from the corner of West 34th Street and 11th Avenue, Midtown West:

The early 20th century infrastructure developments of the West Side were not necessarily seen as progressive architecture to all New Yorkers, because they dealt with transportation issues (some underground) more than commerce or culture. The area west of Times Square remained visibly underdeveloped for most of the century because of this. The one structure that could have anchored the others and steered the area clear from blight was Penn Station (1910). But the magnificent McKim Mead & White design had problems. It did not connect with a northbound tunnel on the West Side for upstate service like it did for New Jersey and points south. Nor did it include a rail yard to store trains during off-peak hours for the Long Island Railroad, which forced the LIRR to return its empty cars directly to their Hunters Point depot after commuter runs. And there was no subway connecting Penn Station to Times Square or Wall Street for nearly a decade. When the IRT Flushing Line was finally extended to Times Square at Eighth Avenue in 1928, the rest of Midtown West, forty-eight square blocks to the river, was simply overlooked. The city was focused instead on getting the Elevated West Side Highway and the Lincoln Tunnel projects underway. Both systems were destined to congest the area with thru traffic, mostly cars; but the tunnel eventually made traffic worse by bringing trucks to the midtown grid and buses to Times Square.

In short order, the building of Port Authority Bus Terminal (1950), the destruction of Penn Station (1963) and its replacement with Madison Square Garden IV (1968), did more damage to the West Side by isolating it and preventing further development toward the river. In the 1960s, it was hoped that the new Madison Square Garden might be joined by a convention center, but the New York Coliseum (1956) at nearby Columbus Circle already filled that role, even if it did so inadequately. It quickly proved to be too small for big events and could not expand on its location. It was eventually torn down in 2000 to make way for the Time Warner Center (2003).

The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (1986) II and III, came into focus after several other plans had failed and the city finally pulled itself out from 1970s threats of bankruptcy. Donald Trump promoted the development of a West Side convention center because he held options on nearby properties acquired from Penn Central Transportation Company before they collapsed and gave way to Amtrak and Conrail. The remote location chosen for the Javits Center between 11th and 12th Avenues allowed for future expansion of the modular glass box design by Richard Rogers and James Ingo Freed. Senator Javits died in 1986, and so the convention center was named in his honor.

Along with the Javits Center (1986) came the West Side Rail Yard (1987) located between 10th and 12th Avenues from West 30th to 33rd Streets. The rail yard solved the train storage issues that had hindered service on the LIRR. A West Side tunnel was built for Amtrak's Empire Service from Penn Station instead of relying on commuter routes departing from Grand Central Station (1903). The rail yard was also designed with add-on capabilities so that platforms could be raised on columns between the tracks for future development of its air rights; which is exactly what all the debate about the West Side has been since 1990.

In the late 1990s, Mayor Giuliani hired a consulting firm at a cost of $600,000 to do a feasibility study on areas of the city that might best be used for a new baseball stadium that would keep the Yankees from leaving New York. The study came out in support of a West Side plan to build over the rail yard at a projected cost of at least $800 million. That did not compare with the actual cost of building the new Yankee Stadium (2009) in the Bronx, which didn't even relocate, but came with a price tag of $1.5 billion. While campaigning for a second term as mayor, Giuliani managed to push legislature through to change the official name of the West Side Highway to the Joe DiMaggio Highway, hoping to honor the Yankee baseball giant with an affirmation for "the house that DiMaggio might have built". Giuliani lost his bid for the baseball stadium because it was linked in the public's mind to the failure of the Javits Center, which was due in part to the lack of subway service west of Eighth Avenue. Giuliani was reelected in 1998 and Joe DiMaggio died in 1999. The highway without its stadium is still named after DiMaggio.

Mayor Bloomberg's 2002 proposal for a West Side Stadium over the rail yard, also known as the New York Sports and Convention Center, included a plan to extend the #7 Subway all the way to the Javits Center at 11th Avenue and West 34th Street. The stadium was intended for football as a new home for the Jets and a future venue for the Super Bowl. It was also planned to convert to Olympic use in New York's bid to host the 2012 summer games. At a projected cost of $2.2 billion it was unreasonable for the city to invest in a midtown business venture of such magnitude so soon after lower Manhattan was devastated by 9/11 and still trying to figure out how to rebuild at ground zero.

In 2010, the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project was passed by way of a 2009 rezoning act allowing for mixed-use development over the rail yards. The new proposal includes 16 skyscrapers for office space and housing, a school, hotels, retail stores and a 20-acre outdoor public space that will connect to the elevated High Line (1934, rebuilt as a park since 2009). All this will be in addition to major expansions of the Javits Center and the #7 Subway with two new stops at West 41st Street and 10th Avenue, then West 34th Street and 11th Avenue. The architecture firm for the new Hudson Yards Project is Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, and the developer is Related Companies, who also developed the Time Warner Center (2003).



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Pier 84-86, I
Manhattan, July 14, 2011

Looking southeast from Hudson River Pier 84 on West 44th Street and 12th Avenue, Midtown West.
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Pier 84-86, II
Manhattan, July 16, 2011

Looking north from the pedestrian footbridge crossing 12th Avenue between West 45th and 46th Streets, Midtown West:

The Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China I (center) was remodeled in 2002 from the original Sheraton Hotel (1959) designed by Morris Lapidus, who was famous for his Miami Beach Fontainebleau (1954) and Eden Roc (1956) hotels. The Sheraton was built to serve the transatlantic passengers arriving by ocean liner to the West Side. Its success lasted about a decade until its doors closed in 1970, when the ocean liner industry experienced its inevitable downturn due to the expedience of overseas jet travel. The residential towers surrounding the Chinese Consulate from left to right are Riverbank West (1987), Atelier Condos (2007), Silver Towers (2009) and One River Place (2000).

The cruise ship Norwegian Jewel II, was christened in Miami in 2005 by her godmother Melania Knauss-Trump (married to Donald Trump the same year) and brought to service at Pier 86 in New York, just three blocks north of the Chinese Consulate and across the street. The full service ship entertains its niche of weekend and weeklong travelers to Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. She has a capacity of 2,376 passengers and 1,100 crew. In 2012, the Norwegian Jewel swapped assignments with the smaller Norwegian Star and was repositioned in Seattle for trips to Alaska. In 2013, she will reposition again in Miami, then New York and finally in New Orleans. The future plan of the Norwegian Cruise Line for New York is to replace the Jewel with the newer Breakaway. The Breakaway's godmothers will be the Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall.



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Pier 66A, Panorama
Manhattan and Hudson County, July 17, 2011
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Pier 66A, I
Manhattan and Hudson County, July 16, 2011

Looking north Panorama, and northwest I, from Hudson River Park Pier 64 on West 24th Street and 12th Avenue, Chelsea:

Pier 66A, formerly Pier 163, is a refurbished maritime barge that was originally used as a car float (circa 1920s) by the Lehigh Valley Railroad to transport freight cars between New Jersey and Manhattan. Only passenger trains used the rail tunnel to cross the Hudson River at that time. Later, when trucking replaced rail freight in New York City; the barge was used as a floating pier for small ships and tugboats until it deteriorated from lack of upkeep. It was recently rebuilt along with several previously condemned piers as a development of the new Hudson River Park that stretches from West 59th Street to the Battery. The new park offers paths for bicyclists and pedestrians along the river and recreational areas on the piers. As an entertainment attraction, the Lightship Frying Pan (1929) I (right), was brought to Pier 66A along with the Fireboat John J. Harvey (1930) Panorama right and I (left), when the barge reopened as an outdoor bar and grill a few years ago. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused $10 million of damage to Hudson River Park and the piers.



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Starrett-Lehigh Building, Composite
Manhattan, March 27, 1998 UL
Manhattan, March 29, 1998 UR
Manhattan,     July 11, 2011 LL
Manhattan,  August 4, 1997 LR

Alternating views, looking northwest UL (reversed) and east UR, LL, LR at the Starrett-Lehigh Building (1931) from four locations - (UL) 11th Avenue and West 25th Street; (UR) Pier 163, now Pier 66A, at 12th Avenue and West 26th Street; (LL) Hudson River Park Pier at 12th Avenue and West 24th Street; (LR) Hudson River shoreline between West 24th and 26th Streets, Chelsea:

Prior to 1931, the Lehigh Valley Railroad had an open-air freight yard between 11th and 12th Avenues from West 25th to 26th Streets. It was directly across the West Side Highway from the piers where the car floats came in from New Jersey. Rail tracks crisscrossed the lower highway and the freight cars moved directly into the freight yard for redistribution onto small trucks. The yard had no terminal structure; it lacked sufficient drive-in space for trucks, and freight cars could not be stored after unloading. The freight yard was dangerously overcrowded, but the transport business was thriving due to the recent opening of the Holland Tunnel (1927) at the west end of Canal Street. The tunnel allowed trucks of up to three axles, to pass through day and night. It must have seemed misdirected at the time to send freight cars across the Hudson by barge from Union City, only to have their contents repacked and trucked right back to Jersey City; but there were simply more trucks coming through New York from points east along the coast than there were trucks originating in New Jersey. The trucks went in all directions away from Manhattan once they crossed the river.

William A. Starrett, the entrepreneur behind the Empire State Building (1931) Composite LL (background right), understood the need to streamline the shipping industry as New York City entered its depression-era surge in midtown construction. At age 55 and ailing, he brokered a deal with Lehigh Valley Railroad to lease the air rights over its freight yard and build an interconnected multi-level rail terminal and trucking warehouse on top of it. The Starrett-Lehigh Building (1931) Composite, was no sooner built than the untimely death of its visionary planner. Mr. Starrett died in 1932. The Lehigh Valley Railroad took the opportunity to purchase the building outright from the Starrett estate and continued to float freight barges across the river to its new terminal on the ground level. Business was good in the short-term, but Lehigh Valley did not recognize the long-term transition that was underway in shipping, from rails and trucks, to just trucks in the urban areas. The George Washington Bridge (1931, addition 1962) opened up interstate trucking that practically bypassed Manhattan stops. The construction of the Lincoln Tunnel (1937-57) allowed for even larger trucks than the Holland Tunnel. And the 1938 Public Works Administration tax support for public roads and highways made trucking safer and more reliable in New York and surrounding states. Due to the loss of business and revenue, Lehigh Valley shut down operations at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in 1944 and gradually pulled its tracks out from the lower level by 1966. The building remained successful as a trucking and redistribution warehouse for several years and easily adapted to retail and commercial loft space as its tenants' needs changed. Helmsley-Spear leased the building in the 1970s and purchased it shortly thereafter. The property continued to change hands for large sums of money after receiving landmark status in 1986.

The original design for the Starrett–Lehigh was less impressive than the revised one that was actually built. The architects Russell and Walter Cory with Yasuo Matsui wanted to build a long flat rectangular building of 15 floors that could accommodate interior ramps for trucks. The engineers Purdy & Henderson determined that the bedrock beneath the freight yard on the western side of the lot was not firm enough to support 15 floors plus trucks and ramps. Only 9 floors were considered a safe limit and the additional 11 floors of the middle section in their revised plan had to be set back one third of the total length of the building to stand firm. The set back at this distance brought more natural light into the center of the building, a key factor considering the preference for direct natural light versus artificial light for long working hours in a warehouse. The size of the building made it too costly to illuminate the floors with electric light during the daytime. Every corner on every floor was stylishly rounded with window frames to maximize the building's exposure to daylight. The building was also equipped with 30-foot long elevators that served every floor on the eastern side, capable of lifting rail cars and trucks full of freight. The bottom 2 floors were open steel framed for maximum movement of rail cars entering on the west side. The upper floors were cantilevered concrete slabs supported by rows of massive columns 35 feet tall. Frank Lloyd Wright used a similar design for weight lift and radial distribution in his Johnson Wax Headquarters (1936-39) in Racine, Wisconsin, where he proved that the columns could also be stylishly tapered at their bases without sacrificing strength.

The Starrett-Lehigh has approximately 2.2 million square feet of floor space throughout. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the new owner Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR and member of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, reported that his company had to pump out 2.5 million gallons of Hudson River water from the lower level of the building. Despite the interior design innovations that gave the Starrett-Lehigh its unique exterior and won its place in the International Exhibition of Modern Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, its one square block footprint at the edge of the river is a liability today, because it is sitting in the middle of the newly tested floodplain of Manhattan's Midtown West.

The other buildings around the Starrett-Lehigh in Composite are: Bulwark Mini-Storage UL (center); The City of New York Department of Sanitation Manhattan Borough Repair Shop UL (lower right corner), LL (middle), and LR (bottom); and US Postal Service Manhattan Vehicle Maintenance Facility LL (bottom right corner).







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Journal Square, Composite I
Hudson County, June 1, 2000 (left)
Hudson County, May 29, 2000 (right)

Looking southeast and then south from two parking garages. Left - from the Central Parking System Garage located at the junction of Magnolia and Pavonia Avenues. Right - from the Kinney System Parking Garage located at 2 Journal Square Plaza, Jersey City:

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) trains arrive from lower Manhattan at the sublevel dugout of the Journal Square Transportation Center (1912, rebuilt 1972) under the Hudson County Boulevard Bridge (1924-26) Composite I left. The dugout, known as the Bergen Hill Cut, predates the Hudson River Tubes for the PATH trains. It is an excavated right-of-way that cuts through the Bergen Neck peninsula (peak elevation 260 feet) at grade level for all trains running between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers.

The PATH's predecessor, Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M), used the Downtown Hudson Tubes (1909) for their New Jersey/Manhattan commutes to Hudson Terminal (1909). Hudson Terminal was located in lower Manhattan at 30 and 50 Church Street, adjacent to the future World Trade Center site in two nearly identical buildings that were highly engineered. The two buildings were only 22 floors plus 3 sublevels each, but their footprints were rather large for the narrow downtown streets. Their combined floor space was greater than any other building in the City Hall area except for the Municipal Building (1907-14), which was still under construction at the time. (see: Lower East Side and Chinatown, Municipal Building Vertical, Civic Fame).

H&M commuter service thrived for two decades forcing the river ferries out of business. However, the Holland Tunnel (1927) soon became a threat to H&M by opening the commute to the automobile with round-the-clock accessibility to and from Manhattan. In time, the Lincoln Tunnel (1937-57) and the George Washington Bridge (1931, addition 1962) allowed more cars and buses to traverse the Hudson River, especially during the auto industry's postwar boom years. Eventually H&M suffered the economic loss from reduced ridership and went into bankruptcy during the 1950s. Several years later the state governments of New York and New Jersey negotiated a settlement to save the rail line by convincing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) to take it over. The Port Authority was reluctant to do so, but it took the opportunity to leverage the two-state proposal by agreeing to take over H&M only if the PANYNJ could build its new World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The PANYNJ bought out H&M in 1962 and began work on the World Trade Center in 1966. The Hudson Terminal was torn down and replaced with the first WTC PATH station in 1971.

Journal Square was built in the 1920s as a business and entertainment district that surrounded the original Summit Avenue Station (1912) for the H&M Railroad. The square was named after the Jersey Journal, which was founded in 1867 and later sold to Advance Publications in 1945, owner of several other New Jersey papers. The Summit Avenue Station became the Journal Square Transportation Center (1972) and the hub for the PATH train and the New Jersey Transit bus system. On top of the Transportation Center is a 10-story office tower Composite I left.

The Loew's Jersey Theater Composite I right, was saved and restored in 2003 by volunteer workers from the Friends of the Loew's Inc. The project was funded in part by the New Jersey Historic Trust and is still ongoing with grant money exceeding $2.5 million. The theater is one of six remaining movie palaces built in the New York area from 1920-30 including: Loew's Canal Street Theater (see: Lower East Side and Chinatown, Loew's Canal Street Theater); Loew's Paradise Theater, Grand Concourse Boulevard, Fordham, Bronx, reopened in 2005, but was severely damaged by fire in 2012; Loew's Pitkin Theater, Pitkin Avenue, Brownsville, Brooklyn, under renovation for a charter school and retail space since 2010; Loew's 175th Street, Broadway, Washington Heights, Manhattan, now the United Palace Theater and Church; and Loew's Kings Showcase, Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, Brooklyn (see: Brooklyn Streets and Lots, Loew's Kings Showcase, El Camino Verdadero, Flatbush III and Loew's Kings Showcase Façade, Flatbush IV).



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Journal Square, Composite II
Hudson County, June 2, 2000 (left)
Hudson County, May 29, 2000 (right)

Looking north from Magnolia Avenue between Baldwin Avenue and East Street, then east from the intersection of Pavonia, Summit and Central Avenues, Jersey City:

The Hudson County Administration Building (1965) Composite II left, and right (left edge), and the Hudson County Courthouse (1906-10) Composite II right, are both located on Newark Avenue one block southeast of the Five Corners intersection. The old courthouse was closed and set for demolition circa 1972 when the Journal Square Transportation Center was being rebuilt, but a preservation campaign intervened to save the modern renaissance design from destruction. It reopened in 1985 with its granite, bronze and copper details restored. It was renamed the William Brennan Courthouse in 1997 after the Supreme Court Justice who served from 1956-90. Saint Joseph's Home for the Blind Composite II left (right edge) was founded in 1899 and its new facility is under construction here. The view of the Hudson County Administration Building from here today is completely obstructed by the new Home for the Blind.



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SWO, JC
Hudson County, June 20, 2009

Looking southwest from the corner of Central and Hoboken Avenues at the Swaminarayan
Mandir of Jersey City (1966), SWO (Swaminarayan World Organization) 417-419 Hoboken Avenue, Jersey City:

Little India occupies two blocks on Newark Avenue between Tonnele Avenue and JFK Boulevard and is expanding. The Indian population in this neighborhood is over 13,000. The SWO Mandir is located to the east, closer to Five Corners. It is one of at least five Hindu Temples in Jersey City. It was built one year after the Hudson County Administration Building (1965), background left.



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The Provident
Hudson County, June 16, 2009

Looking east from Bergen Avenue between Highland Avenue and Vroom Street, Jersey City:

The Provident Savings Bank was founded in 1839 and is New Jersey's oldest bank. In 2011, the Provident announced that it would move its headquarters from the old 8-story building on Bergen Street to the new waterfront financial center in downtown Jersey City. Hudson County seeks to purchase the building with $10.5 million for office space and a new home for the Hudson County Improvement Authority (HCIA). The Improvement Authority is responsible for maintaining standards in solid waste management and improving recycling efforts in Hudson County.



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McGinley Square, Composite
Hudson County, May 26, 2000 (left)
Hudson County, May 30, 2000 (right)

Looking southeast from Montgomery Street between Summit and Jordan Avenues, then north from Summit Avenue between Montgomery Street and Maiden Lane, Jersey City:

The McGinley Square intersection is just two blocks northeast of the Jersey City Armory (1934) Composite right (background). It is named for Monsignor Roger A. McGinley, born of Irish Catholic immigrants, who dedicated his senior years to the building of Saint Aedan's Church (1931, not shown) just north of the square.

The architectural chronology of the McGinley Square neighborhood in the 1930's was relatively consistent with the development of other neighborhoods that had armories. Depending on national events, defense needs and the economy, armories were often built near churches and hospitals. During wartime and postwar, there were direct connections between hospital care and veterans' needs that were administered by the military from armory posts. The Jersey City Armory (1934) Composite right (background), was built with depression-era WPA funds between the years of Saint Aedan's Church (1931) and the Jersey City Medical Center campus (1936) Composite left (background). It replaced the Fourth Regiment Armory that had burned down around ten years before. Two decades after the new Armory was built, when neighborhood demographics changed again, the Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church (1954) Composite left (lower left), was built across the street from the Armory and next door to the Medical Center. Like other armories that have been updated and converted to homeless shelters and community sports complexes, the interior of the Jersey City Armory was refurbished with a new track and basketball court in 2009. It has also been used as a temporary film studio.

The Jersey City Medical Center campus (1936) Composite left (background), was built with WPA funds acquired by "Jersey Boss" Mayor Frank Hague. In 1931, near the middle of his 33-year mayoral tenure, he built the 23-story art deco surgical unit known as the Orpheum. After the addition of several other buildings, President Roosevelt dedicated the campus to Dr. Berthold S. Pollack, a leading tuberculosis specialist. In the 1950s the hospital prospered along with its medical school, but by 1988 the landmarked art deco complex ran into financial trouble and downsized its facilities by converting one of its ten buildings to a senior assisted living residence. Further decline and the need to modernize led the hospital to restructure as a private non-profit organization. In 2004, the hospital left the older complex and relocated at Grand Street and Jersey Avenue in a new state-of-the-art facility, operated by Liberty Health.

In 2005, the developer Metrovest Equities bought the old art deco buildings and began the biggest residential conversion of landmarked property in the country. The new Beacon Luxury Apartment Community continues its development today with significant restorations of the art deco facades and interior spaces. Some of the luxury amenities and conveniences include an indoor pool and spa, retail shops, gourmet market and rooftop bar and restaurant. An independent movie theater and an art gallery are also planned. In name keeping with the 1931 Orpheum surgical unit, the $350 million project has thus far converted three buildings that have been thematically renamed after other famous theaters - the Rialto, the Capital and the Mercury.

In 2011, the City Planning Division presented the McGinley Square East Redevelopment Plan to the Municipal Council. In response to the improvements cited by the new Beacon Community, the McGinley Square Plan calls for the resurgence of the neighborhood as a village center for commerce, entertainment, housing and education with improved public transportation. The success of the plan depends largely on the cooperation and financial stability of nearby Saint Peter's College (founded 1872), which stands to benefit from the $600 million proposal that includes new dormitories and local services for its expanding campus and student population. After conflicts over the use of eminent domain were resolved and construction was slated to begin in August 2012, Saint Peter's College pulled out of contract negotiations with the developer, Trinity Acquisition & Development, citing undisclosed financial issues as the reason.



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Texas Dogs, Newark Avenue I
Hudson County, June 10, 2000

Looking east from Newark Avenue between Tonnelle Avenue and Senate Place at Starr's Steaks Frys Burgers, Jersey City:

In 2009, the painter Alan Walker made a time-lapse video of his painting in progress of the neon sign at Starr's. The music titled "Soundtrack," was performed by Buzz Factory's Chrome Ineptitude. The video can be seen at http://vimeo.com/5598505.



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Dairy Queen, Dunkin' Donuts, Newark Avenue II
Hudson County, June 10, 2000 (left)
Hudson County, May 31, 2009 (right)

Looking south from Broadway between Corbin and Van Wagenen Avenues, Jersey City:

Elementary School PS 23 (1919) II left and right (background), is located on the western edge of Little India and was recently renamed Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School 23. In winter 2010, the Jersey City Board of Education reported that the school was infested with bed bugs, but was unwilling to fumigate the premises while the school was in active session. Remedial action was delayed until the school was unoccupied in the summer.



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Mary's House
Hudson County, June 6, 2009

Looking west at 437 and 439 Hoboken Avenue between Summit Avenue and Cook Street, Jersey City.



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St. John's Clock Tower, JFK Boulevard I (left)
Hudson County, June 1, 2009

Looking southeast from Berkeley Place between Tonnele and Liberty Avenues, at the Clock Tower of Saint John the Baptiste Roman Catholic Church (1892), Jersey City. The Clock Tower stands 200 feet high as the tallest and most visible landmark in Journal Square. On either side of it are two apartment buildings - 10 Huron Avenue (1960) left, and 730 Newark Avenue (circa 1970) right.

PARK PARK, PA (right)
Hudson County, June 6, 2009

Looking northwest from the corner of Cook Street and Hoboken Avenue, Jersey City:

From left to right, the dome and two steeples belong to the Swaminarayan Mandir of Jersey City (1966) and Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church (1906) respectively. At lower right is the old Corte & Company building (circa 1900), a former sausage manufacturer. The residential high-rise at 627 Summit Avenue (1972) is in the background, right.

Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1884 by German immigrants. The congregation occupied the Second Congregation Church until they built their own church on the same street, which became Saint Paul's Avenue near today's PATH tracks. In 1905, the congregation sold its property to the Erie Railroad Company (ERIE), which wanted to increase its presence on the Bergen Hill Cut in anticipation of the construction of the Downtown Hudson Tubes (1909). The current Saint Paul's Church (1906) PA (center) was built one year after the sale to ERIE with the original church bell restored and installed in the new building. The steeple clock was added to the bell tower in 1912.



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PATH Tracks, Newark Avenue Composite
Hudson County, June 6, 2009 (left)
Hudson County, June 17, 2009 (right)

Alternating views, northwest (left) and east (right) of the PATH pedestrian footbridge at Newark Avenue between Van Wagenen and Tonnelle Avenues, Jersey City:

The PATH tracks run parallel to Newark Avenue through the Bergen Hill Cut in the Marion Section. Crossing the tracks in Composite left and right, is the cage enclosed pedestrian footbridge. On Tuesday March 23, 2010, The Jersey Journal ran a story about an assault on the footbridge the previous Saturday:



A Jersey City man was found stripped and bleeding from his head on the pedestrian bridge spanning the PATH tracks in the Marion Section Saturday, officials said.

Police responded to the bridge at the foot of Newark Avenue at 7:49 a.m. and found the 41-year-old Newark Avenue man, reports said.

The victim's belongings were strewn at the footbridge and his pants and bag were found on the tracks below, reports said.

The victim was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center by ambulance.

When interviewed by police at the hospital, the victim said he thought he was hit over the head but could not provide further information, reports said.

Anyone with information about the assault is asked to call the Jersey City police tip line at (201) 547-JAIL.


Jersey City Mayor and former Judge Jerramiah T. Healy, has expressed the need for a Marion PATH station that would replace the footbridge and bring commuter service to this otherwise isolated area. The Marion Section was an important railroad junction for manufacturers and warehouses at the beginning of the 20th century. It has only recently become a focus for residential development as Little India continues to encroach upon it. The local school is the Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School 23 (see: West to Jersey City, Dairy Queen, Dunkin' Donuts, Newark Avenue II). In Composite left (center) is the warehouse for Moishe's Moving and Storage Systems. In Composite right (center) is Starr's Bar (see: West to Jersey City, Texas Dogs, Newark Avenue I). In Composite right (upper right) is Saint John's Clock Tower and three high-rise apartments from left to right - Grandview Terrace at 3060 JFK Boulevard, 225 Saint Paul's Avenue and 10 Huron Avenue.



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St. John's Clock Tower, The Stanley, JFK Boulevard II
Hudson County, June 7, 2009

Looking north from the corner of Pavonia Avenue and JFK Boulevard, Jersey City:

Mayor Frank Hague officiated over the opening of The Stanley Theater (1928) as Journal Square's first major entertainment venue. The Loew's Jersey Theater (1929) opened the following year at the opposite end of Journal Square (see: West to Jersey City, Journal Square, Composite I). The two theaters competed for audiences near and far, but they were united in the rivalry "between the squares," that of Journal Square and Times Square. The Stanley shared the limelight with the other Loew's Theaters for nearly four decades. In the early 1970s these elegant theaters saw the beginning of their decline after attempts to convert them into multiplexes failed to save them. The Stanley remained a singular venue but it was taken over by Radio-Keith Orpheum Pictures (RKO) and became a typical 42nd Street style grindhouse. As the Stanley continued to decline socially, its magnificent interior hall fell into disrepair. It closed in 1978 for five years until the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society purchased it and restored it as an assembly hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses II (right).

JFK Boulevard II (left) was originally called Hudson Boulevard. It was renamed for President Kennedy after his assassination in 1963. There was additional honor for Jersey City residents in memorializing the President, because his last campaign speech before the 1960 election was delivered in Journal Square. In 2011, JFK Boulevard was ranked the most dangerous road in Jersey City, due to the twelve fatalities that occurred there between 2007 and 2011.

The Clock Tower of Saint John the Baptiste Roman Catholic Church (1892) is four blocks to the north II (center).



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Jersey City Cemetery
Hudson County, June 7, 2009

Looking north from inside the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery at 435 Newark Avenue, Jersey City:

The Jersey City Cemetery dates back to 1829 with continuous activity through 1916. Prior to being a burial ground, the land was the site of an ammunitions bunker for the War of 1812. The district name of Harsimus, meaning Crow's Marsh, comes from the Native American Lenape Tribe. It refers here to the downtown floodplain that surrounds the Harsimus Cove on the Hudson.

The Harsimus Stem Embankment (circa 1902) was a massive stone structure built 27 feet above the ground to support freight rails along Sixth Street. It started just below the cemetery on Bergen Hill and ended at the rail yards of Harsimus Cove. The embankment was used by the Pennsylvania Railroad to transport freight over the floodplain down to the river. The freight was then loaded onto car floats and tugged over to Manhattan's West Side (see: West to Jersey City, Pier 66A, Panorama and West to Jersey City, Pier 66A, I). Like the High Line in Manhattan, the Harsimus Stem Embankment was abandoned when rail shipping conceded to trucking. It was left intact, but unprotected, and has grown over with vines, weeds and accumulated debris. In the late 1990s, the Embankment Preservation Coalition began its campaign to transform the existing embankment into a natural habitat park and greenway with tree lined paths and lighted walkways for bicyclists and pedestrians. In 2004, the Jersey City Municipal Council passed an ordinance approving the recommendations of the Preservation Coalition.

The north side of the cemetery butts up against a row of apartment buildings on Waldo Avenue (background center) and the William L. Dickinson High School (1906) sits on Bergen Hill (upper right). Volunteer crews have gradually restored the cemetery since 2008.



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Lincoln Limo
Hudson County, June 7, 2009

Looking south on Baldwin Avenue between Pavonia and Newark Avenues, Jersey City. The apartment building at center is 510 Pavonia Avenue. Saint Joseph's Elementary School (founded 1857) is on the right. The limousine is from 1970.