Storefront signage is a ubiquitous feature on New York City streets. Today, signs can barely seem worth noticing, the well-known fonts and logos blending into the scenery. But when the streets of New York were lined with mom and pop shops, the design of signs (through fonts, images, and use of space) often allowed these individual stores to stand out. The diversity of signage is especially eye-catching in historical photographs.

In the closing decades of the 19th century, New York underwent a profound physical and cultural transformation. Fueled by the wealth of the exploding financial and manufacturing sectors, the city rapidly evolved into a world-class metropolis. The bold ambitions of civic and business leaders, architects, and engineers of the era manifested in landmarks such as the vast Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the stately U.S. Custom House, the towering Municipal Building, and the original terminus of New York City’s first official subway line—the ornate City Hall stop. The sweeping interior spaces common to all of these structures, and hundreds of others, depended upon a venerable Mediterranean building technology adapted to contemporary American construction: arched tile ceilings—or vaults—that were not only self-supporting but could also bear the weight of floors or roofs above them. These vaults were designed and built by a single New York firm, founded by Spanish immigrant Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908) and later headed by his son Rafael Jr. (1872-1950). The Guastavinos’ patented system for building domes and vaults involved multiple layers of thin ceramic tiles bonded with quick-drying mortar. The resulting structures were not only exceptionally strong, but also lightweight, easy to build, and inherently beautiful, thanks to intricate patterns of exposed tile that formed finished, decorative surfaces. Guastavino vaults figured prominently in more than 1,000 projects across the nation, including 200 in Manhattan alone. During its 73-year history, the Guastavino Company helped build some of the most impressive interior spaces in America—veritable palaces for the people. This list based on MCNY's exhibition Palaces for the People, contains many of Guastavino's masterpieces in the five boroughs, both those that remain and those that have been lost to the wrecking ball.

For much of New York's history, its Easter Parade was one of the most important parts of the Easter holiday. Starting in the 1880s, it quickly became one of the social events of the season.

Grace Church ca. 1893 Completed in 1846, Grace Church in New York is one of the earliest examples of Gothic revival architecture in New York City. Designed by James Renwick, Jr. at the age of twenty three, the building and its campus hold three celebrated distinctions: New York City Landmark, National Register of Historic Places, and National Historic Landmark. Grace Church remains an active Episcopal congregation, with worship throughout the week and abundant opportunities for service and fellowship. Its landmark buildings feature designs by Renwick, a renovation and extension by Heins & La Farge, decoration by Tiffany, windows by Clayton & Bell, along with many other celebrated artisans. The Bicentennial Organ, Opus 65, one of the finest instruments in the city, was completed in September 2013 by Taylor & Boody of Staunton, VA. It's comprised of 97 ranks and over five thousand pipes. Throughout the last decade, Grace Church has undergone significant interior restoration, including the Te Deum window rising above the altar and chancel at the front of the church. In the summer of 2017, the entire expanse of the high ceiling was restored to its original condition. Taken together, this important work will ensure that Grace Church lives on as a Greenwich Village landmark for generations to come.

"Taken from above and across Broadway of Grace Church in the snow at 11th Street with adjacent courtyard and parish house," 1902.

Fleischmann’s Vienna Model Bakery, Broadway and 10th Street, 1898. Sometime after 1876, Louis Fleischmann built his bakery on Broadway, in the shadow on James Renwick’s Grace Church (left). The bakery, which sold a popular “new dough” style of bread made with yeast, also operated a restaurant and rented storefront space to other vendors. Beyond baking technique, Louis Fleischmann’s influence endures in an evocative turn of phrase: the bread line. Noticing the indigent New Yorkers who gathered near the bakery, Fleischmann instituted a practice whereby the bakery would give away its unsold loaves at the close of business. When hungry men lined up for their daily loaves, the phrase was born. Fleischmann’s Broadway bakery remained open until 1908, when the property was razed, having been acquired by Grace Church. Today, the Fleischmann name lives on in a brand of baker’s yeast available in supermarkets.

Grace Church at night, ca. 1975. Grace Church was first organized in 1805, and they built a church at Broadway and Rector Street three years later. The parish moved uptown in 1843. They commissioned 24-year-old James Renwick Jr.—in his first major work—to design their new edifice. The cornerstone of the French Gothic Revival masterpiece was laid in 1843, and the church was consecrated in 1846. The stone of the church was Sing Sing marble (cut by inmates of the infamous prison). At the time of completion, the steeple was built of plain wood (a cost saving measure). They also used plaster and lath (and not cut stone) for some of the interiors—it was quite the scandal! Over the next few decades, through the generous support of various congregants, most notably philanthropist Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, the church complex was expanded. The new features included a beautiful stained glass East Window (1878), a small chapel next to the church (1879), and a stone spire (1883). Additions and updates continued into the early 20th century. In the second half of the 19th century, the church was one of New York's most fashionable. Minister and author Matthew Hale Smith wrote in 1869 that, "To be married or buried within its walls has been ever considered the height of felicity." Pews within the society church were traditionally rented at a premium, though this practice was abolished in the 1960s. According to the Municipal Art Society, it is "one of the few buildings in New York that closes a vista." Visible from far south on Broadway and prominent at its location where Broadway begins its path northwestward, the church is one of the most significant examples of Gothic Revival architecture in America. It underwent a multi-million dollar rehabilitation project in the mid-1990s which focused on the restoration of crumbling marble exterior and the stained glass windows.

James Renwick’s Gothic Revival Grace Church sits prominently at the bend of Broadway. Built in 1846, the building has all the accolades – it is a United States National Historic Landmark, New York City Landmark, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was one of the young (23 years old!) architect’s first projects. Renwick’s most well-known building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, is among his many other notable works which include St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue in New York and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, DC. Now back to the Grace Church – while the building itself has not undergone any major renovations, Grace Church School (which sits just to the east of the church) received a major subterranean addition ten years ago, affecting the land that the church sits on. At the southwest corner of the lawn in the image you see here, there is a hidden underground gymnasium two stories below, with additional staff offices and facilities for students!

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.

Completed in 1846, Grace Church in New York is one of the earliest examples of Gothic revival architecture in New York City.

An important early work of renowned Gothic Revival architect James Renwick, Jr., Grace Church (built 1843 - 1846), at Broadway at East 10th Street, is one of the most significant examples of this style in America.

Grace Church, ca. 1875. One of the few buildings in New York that closes a vista, this church has a spire that may be seen from far down lower Broadway. Architecturally, it is one of the monuments of the Gothic Revival, complete with rectory and parish house. Although private pews were recently abolished, it was once the most popular church with New York society, and its pews, reigned over by the famous Sexton Brown, sold at a premium.