In its history, New York City has seen its fair share of accidents, disasters, and catastrophes. Some have been man-made, while others were the work of Mother Nature. These events have, over time, altered and shaped the city and its citizens.

18-24 West 11th Street, 1971. This 1971 image captures a very specific time frame in the history of the particular block. Just one year earlier a Greek Revival townhouse (18 West 11th Street) constructed in 1845 stood next to the home with the set back on the fourth floor. By the end of the 1970s, a severe angle-fronted brick home would take its place. But just before noon on March 6, 1970, a bomb being constructed in the basement of the house exploded prematurely. The bomb makers were members of a radical left group, the Weather Underground. Three Weathermen were killed and the building was reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble. The lot remained empty until 1978 when architect Hugh Hardy (who had for a short time owned the empty property) convinced the new owners—and the Landmarks Preservation Commission—to allow him to rebuilt the home with a sharply angled, modern facade.