Reformers and philanthropists in New York generated many projects aimed at helping the poor by underwriting the cost of food. One of the most famous was inspired by the widespread unemployment in the city during the Great Depression. In the fall of 1930 Joseph Sicker, chairman of the International Apple Shippers’ Association, had the idea of putting unemployed New Yorkers to work selling apples on the street. A fund supported in part by produce suppliers helped the plan get started, and a surplus of Washington State apples made it possible to sell boxes of the fruit cheaply. The apple vendor on the streets of New York became a lasting image of the Depression. The image, however, lasted longer than the apple selling. Although an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 of the unemployed sold apples, they were out of business in less than a year. Overcrowding at busy street corners led to police intervention, sales were banned in many high-traffic locations, and apple cores littered the streets. Finally, even the supply of cheap apples ran out. When the price per box went from $1.75 to $2.25, the vendors saw their profits shrink, and the plan collapsed.

The Cunard Building, also known as the Standard & Poors Building, was designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris with the firm of Carrère & Hastings in a consulting role and constructed in 1920-1921. The 22-story neo-Renaissance style office tower was originally occupied by a number of steamship companies including Anchor Line and the Cunard Line. The exterior sculpture on the building, which features nautical iconography related to its principle tenant, was designed by Rochette and Parzini, a New York-based modeling, sculpting, and stone carving company. Cunard and the White Star Line company (of Titanic infamy) merged in 1934 and assisted in the Allied movements during the Second World War. The line sold the building in the 1960s when they moved from passenger service to cargo service, as airplanes replaced ocean travel. Later tenants of the building included USPS who leased space in the massive Grand Hall (the former Cunard ticketing lobby) and Standard and Poor's Corporation, a financial services firm. Today the building is still home to the S\&P and the Grand Hall is operated as an event space by Cipriani's.

DePeyster Statue at the northern end of Bowling Green, July 23, 1936. Abraham De Peyster was mayor of New York City from 1691 to 1694, governor of New York State between 1700 and 1701 and a city comptroller, alderman and judge, as well. Born in New Amsterdam to a wealthy Dutch family, he was a successful politician, public figure, and land owner. In 1699 he donated a plot of land which a city hall, later the original Federal Hall, would be constructed. In the late 19th century, a descendant of New York's 20th mayor, commissioned a bronze statue. Created by sculptor George Edwin Bissell, the statue of De Peyster, in an uncommon pose (seated not on a horse, but a chair), was intended for a place in Battery Park. In 1895, the New York Times, among others, suggested that Battery Park was not the appropriate location, being already too full of "park statuary." Despite other objections, the statue was finally realized in Bowling Green the next year (as seen in this photograph). Supposedly the De Peyster descendant who commissioned the statue had issues with city officials (or the newspapers, depending on the story) and, in his annoyance, offered the statue to a school in Pennsylvania. He did end up donating a statue to Franklin & Marshall College, a place with no tangible connection to either the original nor the late 19th century De Peyster. The historical record is not entirely clear as to if the original New York statue was sent to the school and replaced or if the Pennsylvania cast is the copy. The two version have different footwear. The Pennsylvania statue has also had issues with maintaining a permanent location. The New York statue stood (or sat, really) in Bowling Green until 1972 when it was removed during a major renovation. Next he sat on a new pedestal in Hanover Square until 2004, when he was removed for the creation of the British Memorial Garden, honoring the British victims of September 11th. After being stuck in storage for a decade the statue was installed in Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square in 2014. The rededication ceremony was attended by descendants, ten generations removed.

29 Broadway Architect: Sloan & Robertson Completed: 1931 In 1930, the slender Art Deco tower of 29 Broadway replaced one of New York's early skeleton-framed office buildings, the 12-story Columbia Building of 1890. Sloan & Robertson, architects of the Chanin and Graybar buildings near Grand Central Terminal, created a dramatic Art Deco skyscraper. The bold horizontal black and white banding on the tower, the elaborately sculpted entrance, and marble-clad vestibule give the building a distinctive presence on Broadway. Also striking is the lobby with its gray marble walls and silver metal ornament. The narrow and oddly-shaped site has only 29-foot frontage on Broadway, although it extends back 184 feet, and has a 90-foot frontage on Trinity Place.

Cunard Building ARCHITECT: Benjamin Wistar Morris; Carrere & Hastings (consulting) DATE: 1917-21 STYLE: Neo-Renaissance The Cunard Building has a pivotal location within the fabric of the city, its street walls maintaining the masonry “canyons” of lower Manhattan and its limestone facade commanding a significant presence at the juncture of Bowling Green and Broadway. Morris’s design received much critical acclaim for its arrangement of subtle setbacks and ample, well-located open courts, which addressed the natural light and ventilation demands made by the zoning resolution. This interior consists of a five-bay entrance lobby, and a narrow passageway. It is modeled on ancient Roman and Renaissance Italian prototypes. The decoration, made of polychrome stucco, painted murals, and metalwork, expresses the adventure of travel over the open sea through the depiction of mythical and historical figures associated with the sea, as well as imaginary and real sea creatures. This interior and the exterior of the building have a neo-Renaissance character.

The Great Depression changed the everyday fabric of New Yorkers' lives and the composition of the city. These images, from the collections of our partners, bring the depression and its trials to life.

A walking tours through Lower Manhattan's skyscraper canyons and more than a century of high-rise construction. This walk focuses on the buildings around Broadway. This story is adapted from an exhibition at the Skycraper Museum. The original version can be seen here.