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Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Architectural Walking Tours

Discover hidden-in-plain-sight history and decode the streetscapes of Manhattan on our multi-faceted walking tours where history and architecture meld. Manhattan Unlocked answers the question every New Yorker has asked, "why is this building next to that building, and that building next to this building?" We take that question to its logical conclusion and let the built environment--the city itself--tell its own story, and it's an incredible story to tell! In addition to the million-and-one things to be seen in the built environment today, Manhattan Unlocked takes ancient geography and long gone transit systems into account to explain the city's growth and development. In fact, New York City only makes sense from a holistic view of history.

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Manhattan Unlocked began as a blog over a decade ago to decode and make sense of the streetwalls of the city. New York City is an architectural complex and constellation of neighborhoods that stretches almost 5 miles from the Battery to Central Park through island's core. Yet, what looks like a jumble of buildings on almost any given blockfront (we realized long ago) couldn't be random. There had to be a logic to the blocks and patterns to the neighborhoods. Neighborhoods, comprising cast iron buildings or skyscrapers, had to be part of an overarching narrative. There had to be a way that Tribeca, Museum Mile, SoHo and the Garment District were all part of the same story.

We soon realized that in the search for the single-story, "unified theory," behind New York's instantly recognizable, enigmatic built environment, we needed to hit the pavement so to speak. Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Architectural Walking Tours was born. The blog has been on hiatus, but we hope to begin updating again soon, and with a new look!

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    • Midtown east, Grand Central, Rockefeller Center

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    • Astor Place, NoHo, SoHo, Chinatown, Foley Square

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    Foley Square, Chinatown and The Lower East Side

  • Explore the Ruins of a Forgotten City in the Middle of Manhattan
    • (starts May 29, 2024)

    Madison Square, Nomad, the Flatiron District, Chelsea

In the meantime, the old blog for "testing the waters" remains below.

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

298 Grand Street, Then and Now

Just a quick fun post. Going through the Museum of the City of New York’s archives I found this 1932 picture of 298 Grand Street.  The Federal-style home below was already 100 years old at the time (they'd stopped building dormer windows around 1840).  By 1932, this was in the heart of the Jewish Lower East side, and textiles were the major industry—it looks like Haddad’s is selling Linens, Curtains, Bed Sets, Silk Underwear. 

Most single family homes lasted just a few decades before becoming multiple family dwellings and/or businesses, such was the vortex-like growth of Manhattan’s population.

You can see the tracks of the Second Avenue railroad in the street.  Horse-drawn cars ran south on Allen Street, west along Grand Street (below), and turned north up Second Avenue.

MNY80077 1932 298 Grand StiMuseum of the City of New York

And here it is today in the middle of Chinatown.  All three buildings are still there, slightly modified.

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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    That's awesome! Crazy how much a neighborhood can change. Maybe a post on the origin and growth of Chinatown is in order?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Robert AmellFebruary 3, 2011 at 9:18 PM

    Absolutely! I'm trying to figure out how to approach the whole area. Thanks for your comment!

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  3. Laura Goggin PhotographyFebruary 22, 2011 at 1:44 PM

    Cool find!

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  4. JillFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:01 PM

    Phenomenal. I just can never get enough of then and now photos, it's like an addiction.

    ReplyDelete
  5. gabrielFebruary 23, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    Beautiful! Missing NYC.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RandyFebruary 23, 2011 at 4:33 PM

    Great photos! According to the link below, the tracks may have extended on Grand St. all the way to the East River where they met the Grand St. Ferry:

    "The tracks had been part of The Forty-Second Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad, a 19th century horse-drawn streetcar line which began operations in 1862, extending from the 42nd Street Ferry on the Hudson River to the Grand Street Ferry on the East River."
    http://home2.nyc.gov/html/nycha////html/resources/work_begins.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  7. RandyFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    More research turns up additional streetcars that ran on Grand St, including one that went from City Hall to Brooklyn (over the Williamsburg Bridge). It ran on Bowery, Grand St, Essex St, and Delancey St. It was called the "Post Office Line." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_lines_in_Manhattan

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  8. Robert AmellFebruary 23, 2011 at 7:50 PM

    Thanks for the complete picture, Randy! I had looked up that part of Grand Street in The Historical Atlas of New York City, Eric Homberger (1st ed. p. 99), to see what he had to say about the area. If you look at the map on that page, from 1865, he has the Second Avenue railroad running down 1st, across Grand, and up 2nd. It was obviously part of a much more extensive system. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Air Cargo ServicesNovember 12, 2011 at 12:42 AM

    After a passage of time, everything gets change. As you have shown both the pictures of Grand Street, there is a lot of difference between both. Really very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousAugust 4, 2018 at 6:52 PM

    Anyone know where I can find a photo of a milliner (hat maker /seller) working on The Grand around the 1840s?

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