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South of Union Square
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70 Fifth Avenue

Posts & Stories(17)

LGBTQ History Tour image

LGBTQ History Tour
Walk

Several key individuals, organizations, and meeting spaces connected to LGBTQ history were located here, including the headquarters of the country's first national LGBTQ rights organization, and prominent writers, artists, musicians, and performers. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Architecture Tour image

Architecture Tour
Walk

The area south of Union Square contains a stunning array of residential and commercial architecture from the 19th through the early 20th century. There is a particularly rich array of late 19th and early 20th-century factory/loft/warehouse architecture, in every style from Italianate to Gothic and Romanesque Revival, Neo-classical, Queen Anne, Victorian, and Byzantine. Work by some of America’s greatest architects, including James Renwick Jr., Henry J. Hardenbergh, Emery Roth, Griffith Thomas, Napoleon LeBrun, Harvey Wiley Corbett, David, and John Jardine, George B. Post, Carrere and Hastings, John Kellum, and Charles Rentz, among others, can be found here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Political Figures Tour image

Political Figures Tour
Walk

A vast array of people who made a mark in the field of politics had connections to this area, including many notable "firsts" to run for or win office. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Designated Individual NYC Landmarks South of Union Square image

Designated Individual NYC Landmarks South of Union Square
Walk

72 Fifth Avenue image

72 Fifth Avenue
Post

This stunning 1893 Romanesque Revival style office building was designed by Cleverdon & Putzel as the headquarters of Appleton & Co. publishers, one of the largest and most prestigious in the country. \#leftistandlabor
68 Fifth Avenue image

68 Fifth Avenue
Post

This Greek Revival rowhouse was constructed c. 1838-40 by John H. Cornell, believed to be a high-ranking officer at the Mechanic’s Banking Association on Wall Street. It became the residence of N.H. Wolfe, owner of the oldest flour and grain company in New York. A celebrated World War II entertainment venue for GIs was also located here. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.
Publishing Tour image

Publishing Tour
Walk

Many of the most prominent publishers in America and the world were located here, producing some of the most significant works of literature of the last two hundred years. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
70 Fifth Avenue image

70 Fifth Avenue
Post

This striking 12-story Beaux Arts style office building was constructed in 1912 for publisher George Plimpton. It housed an extraordinary array of civil rights and social justice organizations, philanthropic groups, publishers, and non-governmental organizations. This includes the headquarters of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations, the publishers of the first magazines for an African-American audience and for African-American children, and what would become the American Civil Liberties Union, among many other entities. The building was designated as a New York City Landmark in 2021. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.
Rowhouse Tour image

Rowhouse Tour
Walk

In spite of massive waves of commercial construction, tenement building, and later hotel and apartment building construction which swept through this neighborhood, the area retains dozens of rowhouses from its early stages of development, dating from the early 1830s to the early 1850s. They range from modest to grand, most in the Greek Revival or Italianate style. Reflecting the vast forces of change which swept through the area, none remained single family houses, taking on new lives housing commerce, unions, theaters, art galleries, and multiple tenants. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Leftist and Labor Tour image

Leftist and Labor Tour
Walk

This area was a mecca for leftist and labor organizing, with many of the most significant figures and organizations of the 19th and 20th centuries located here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Philanthropy Tour image

Philanthropy Tour
Walk

Some of New York's most prominent and impactful philanthropists, and philanthropic organizations, were located here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Writers and Authors Tour image

Writers and Authors Tour
Walk

An extraordinary array of significant writers and authors lived or worked here, and great works of literature were produced here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Film Tour image

Film Tour
Walk

The area is home to a number of significant sites to the history of film, including a large number of current and former movie houses, film producers, and organizations which shaped the course of film history in the United States. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
African American History Tour image

African American History Tour
Walk

This area was home to several sites connected to significant developments in African American history, including civil rights leaders and organizations, musicians, and writers. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Civil Rights and Social Justice Tour image

Civil Rights and Social Justice Tour
Walk

An extraordinary confluence of organizations and people connected to African American, LGBTQ, Women's, and other civil rights struggles were located here, including some of the most significant in each of these movements. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Women's History Tour image

Women's History Tour
Walk

Many notable organizations, leaders, and events in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements were located or took place here. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
Jewish History Tour image

Jewish History Tour
Walk

This area contains a number of sites connected to significant people or developments in New York's Jewish history. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.
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