New York City was the seat of government for only the brief period between March 1789 and July 1790. Still, there is a long history of presidential interactions in the city: from presidents growing up here, to dying and being buried here, and visiting the city for social, financial, and political activities.

Often overlooked, doors are perhaps the most important feature of a building. They are the means by which we escape the often crowded and chaotic streets of the city. Every building has one (well, maybe except for the Raymond Street Jail which was accidentally constructed in 1836 sans front door), but some outfit this largely utilitarian feature with more panache than others. This collection highlights some the city's loveliest historic doorways, from the simple but classic columns of early 19th century Federal rowhouses to the gloriously geometric brickwork of Art Deco apartment houses, and everything in-between.

New York City abounds with tales of ghosts, and with each retelling, we breathe new life into these stories. In the grand Halloween tradition, join us as we venture into the most haunted sites of our city.

Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, honorary chairman of their tour, greeted 1936's champion "Maccabee" soccer team visiting from British mandate Palestine, here to play against the city's own All-Star team and American Soccer League team, as a fundraiser providing relief for Polish Jews, recently under siege by anti-Semitic riots.

In celebration of the Municipal Art Society's 125th Anniversary, we've compiled a list of landmarks older than MAS.

New York City is full of Revolution-related history and sites, but you need to know where to look. We’ve compiled 5 key places to visit and discover the American Revolution history that’s all around us. Check out these sites below in a family-friendly tour. As you make your way around town, be sure to take recreations and pictures and tag us on Twitter or Instagram at @nyhistory.

Built in 1765 by British military officer Roger Morris, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is the oldest house in Manhattan. During the Revolutionary War, the house was used as a headquarters by officers from both sides. The mansion was confiscated from Morris, a Loyalist, at the end of the Revolution and later converted to a tavern, the Calumet House. In 1810, the French merchant Stephen Jumel purchased the home, adding a Federal style entrance. Following Jumel’s death, his wife Eliza remarried to Vice President Aaron Burr, in a ceremony held in the front parlor. The City of New York purchased the house in 1903, converting it to a house museum.

The beginnings of the community now known as Audubon Park date back to 1841, when John James Audubon purchased fourteen acres and built a large mansion along the Hudson River shortly after publishing his famous work, Birds of America. Audubon named his farm, a pastoral landscape of woods, wildlife and rocky outcroppings, “Minnie’s Land” in honor of his wife. After bringing back plant and animal specimens from his 1843 expedition to the American West, Audubon lived on this secluded estate until his death in 1851. Facing financial hardship, Audubon’s family sold the land in small portions through the 1850s and 1860s. As early as 1854, the name Audubon Park was used for an enclave of ten large homes located on the former estate. Into the 1890s, Audubon Park retained a distinct identity from that of the rest of Washington Heights, remaining relatively secluded even as improvements in the street system and the introduction of cable cars and the Ninth Avenue elevated railroad brought residential development to its borders. In 1892, the city extended its fire limits up to West 165th Street, prohibiting new wood frame construction. The first masonry structures to appear within Audubon Park were a row of 12 three-story rowhouses constructed in 1896-98 on West 158th Street. When the Interborough Rapid Transit subway line along Broadway arrived at West 157th Street in 1904, Audubon Park was ripe for explosive growth. In 1905, the first apartment buildings in the area were built just outside Audubon Park’s boundaries at 609 West 158th Street and 3750 Broadway. However, most development occurred after the Grinnell family, which had controlled most of the former Audubon estate since the 1880s, sold its holdings to a syndicate of developers in 1908. Within a year, nine apartment buildings replaced most of the area’s winding roads and wood frame villas. From 1905 to 1932, 19 apartment houses were constructed in what is now the Audubon Park Historic District. Elegantly designed in a variety of styles and equipped with modern amenities, these buildings were marketed for upper middle-class tenants. Anchoring this neighborhood was Audubon Terrace, a unique complex of educational and cultural institutions whose construction began in 1904 and included the Church of Our Lady of Esperanza and the Hispanic Society of America. The influence of Audubon Terrace on the surrounding neighborhood is reflected in the names of some of its apartment buildings, including the Cortez, Goya, Hispania and Velazquez. Audubon Park has served as the site of significant preservation battles throughout its history. Efforts to create a park out of the remaining undeveloped portions of the Audubon estate and to save the John James Audubon house as a museum were scuttled by the construction of a viaduct carrying Riverside Drive from 151st Street to 161st Street in 1928. With the imminent development of new apartment buildings, a local community group successfully moved the house, but it was eventually demolished despite these efforts. Fortunately, success stories can be found in the designation of the Audubon Terrace and Audubon Park Historic Districts in 1979 and 2009, respectively. Today, a group of residents working with the Riverside Oval Association is advocating for the protection of the aforementioned 12 rowhouses on West 158th Street, constructed in 1896-98.

The earliest development of Madam Stephen Jumel’s property (at present-day St. Nicholas Avenue and 160th Street) was undertaken in 1882 by members of her family who were anxious to derive some income from her land-rich estate. By 1880 the old carriage drive from Kingsbridge Highway had been graded, widened, paved and renamed St. Nicholas Avenue in honor of the patron saint of the Netherlands. In 1882 architect Gilbert Robinson Jr. designed a row of wooden houses meant to be rented to working-class Irish immigrants. These structures, which seem so charming to us today, were quite commonplace in the poor sections of northern Manhattan at the end of the nineteenth century. Considered to be just a step above tenement houses, such small frame dwellings were discouraged in lower Manhattan by both the higher valuation of property and a more stringent enforcement of fire codes. Over the years, the owners of these houses fell victim to promises of maintenance-free living offered by high-pressure brick-face and stucco, asphalt, and aluminum-siding contractors. In 1979, through an almost unprecedented program, the Landmarks Preservation Commission used federal funds to restore the houses to their original appearance. This ambitious project was carried out by Polonia Restoration.

Constructivism is an art movement and philosophy that originated in Russia in 1915. The style uses architectural line drawings as symbols of protest against the government. Using these images, think about what it means to apply these abstract ideas to NYC buildings to make your own Constructivist art. This story was created for Christina Rinker's art class at Knowledge & Power Preparatory Academy.

Morris-Jumel Mansion, entrance detail, ca. 1970.

The Historic House Trust’s main effort is the preservation and maintenance of 23 historic house sites located throughout the five boroughs of New York City. To highlight the Trust's work, we're showcasing each house!

Between 1954 and 1957, the Municipal Art Society surveyed historic buildings in all five boroughs to create a database of potential landmarks to preserve. Local residents and MAS staff compiled individual sheets devoted to about 200 buildings. Each sheet outlined the building’s date, location, and style and provided a description and a small photograph. This is the list of Manhattan buildings.

We delve deep into the ghost stories, murder plots, and haunted location lists to bring you the most thorough collection of New York City's spookiest spots! Check out the historic photographs of the city's most haunted sites, from Psycho-esque mansions to abandoned lunatic asylums. How many have you visited? Proceed at your own risk!💀💀💀

This Presidents Day, we wanted to take a look back at some of the most iconic places that the nation's executives have occupied in New York over the years. Here is a list of a few of our favorites!

Manhattan's oldest surviving house, the 1765 Morris-Jumel Mansion, is today located at West 160th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. Perched upon Mount Morris, Harlem Heights' highest elevation, the house is now set within a ten-acre city park and is flanked by Victorian row houses and apartment buildings of a later date. Originally, it dominated the open countryside, occupying some 130 acres between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers. Mary Phillipse Morris and Colonel Roger Morris moved into the mansion the year after it was completed in 1765. Public agitation against the English Crown soon forced Loyalist Morris, a member of the King's Council that governed New York, to flee to England with his family. In 1776, General George Washington established his headquarters there; after American forces evacuated Manhattan, Hessian soldiers fighting for England made it their camp. In 1779, the property was confiscated by the State of New York. It served for some years as an inn. The most imposing of houses built by English colonists in Harlem, the Morris Mansion also is among the earliest examples in the United States of a temple-fronted house with a giant order of columns. During the nineteenth century, the mansion was wrongly regarded as a rare example of southern architecture in the North. In fact, both the antebellum plantation house and the Morris Mansion were inspired by work of sixteenth-century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, popularized and modified by British architects. In April 1810, French-born wine merchant Stephen Jumel and his wife, Eliza Bowen Jumel, purchased the mansion and the surrounding thirty-six acres. Along with many of his compatriots, Jumel had fled the Haitian revolution and settled in New York City. The Jumels renovated the mansion, generally preserving its interior. New additions included the front door, with a fanlight and leaded-glass sidelights inset with stained glass, a pioneering innovation. Madam Jumel died in 1865, leaving Harlem's finest house as a monument not only to its previous inhabitants but also to the entire eventful past and transforming fortunes of the area. Her heirs soon began a protracted fight over her estate that ended with a marathon auction. The house came into the possession of her great-nephew. In 1903, the City of New York purchased the property. The following year, it opened as a house museum, now administered by Morris-Jumel Mansion, Inc