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Crosstown Crawl: Exploring West 14 Street

Let's go west! Explore 14th Street, one of Manhattan's most vital and vibrant arteries. This time, we'll be starting at 5th Avenue and heading towards the Hudson River. Among the highlights: an armory, a bowling alley, and a gorgeous old theater that is no more.

By

New-York Historical Society

1

25 West 14th Street

25 West 14th Street

You can spy a dentist office, a piano store, a hair dresser, and the 6th Avenue Elevated station in the distance in this 1902 image looking west from 5th Avenue.

2

3-9 West 14th Street

3-9 West 14th Street

A similar photo of West 14th Street taken just months later, you can see the tree at the center has been pruned almost beyond recognition.

3

14th Street Station, Sixth Avenue El

14th Street Station, Sixth Avenue El

Here's the view southeast over the elevated line at 14th Street—you can spy Jefferson Market library in the distance on the right. Incidentally, Urban Outfitters is currently the center building’s ground-floor tenant.

4

14th Street Station, Sixth Avenue El

14th Street Station, Sixth Avenue El

The 6th Avenue El as it was being demolished in 1939. The landmarked Con Ed Building and its “Tower of Light,” at 4 Irving Place is visible in the distance.

5

210 West 14th Street

210 West 14th Street

Pedestrians walk by the Pentecostal Nazarene Mission Church near 7th Avenue on Oct. 6, 1916.

6

14th Street Theatre

14th Street Theatre

The 14th Street Theatre was opened in 1866 as the Theatre Francais and went through multiple incarnations—including a movie theater—before it was demolished in 1938.

7

9th Regiment Armory

9th Regiment Armory

Made of rough-cut granite, the Medieval castle-like Armory was built in the 1890s and demolished in 1969 because it sat on “valuable property.”

8

248 West 14th Street

248 West 14th Street

A 14th Street bowling alley captured in 1916.

9

75 Ninth Avenue

75 Ninth Avenue

The 9th Avenue El station at 14th Street; it ceased operation in June 1940 and was demolished shortly after these photos were taken. This intersection is now the unofficial eastern border of the Meatpacking District.

10

14th Street Station, Ninth Avenue El

14th Street Station, Ninth Avenue El

Another view of the 9th Avenue El station in 1940.

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