The Museum of the City of New York was founded in 1923 by Henry Collins Brown, a Scottish-born writer with a vision for a populist approach to the city. The Museum was originally housed in Gracie Mansion, the future residence of the Mayor of New York. The City offered land on Fifth Avenue between 103rd-104th Streets and construction for Joseph H. Freedlander’s Georgian Colonial-Revival building started in 1929 and was completed in 1932.

Freedlander’s red brick museum was not his only contribution to New York City history: he’s also known for designing the city’s first-ever traffic signals.