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.

A surprising number of innovative housing developments from the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be found here, including several ‘French Flats’ and model tenements. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

"The Lancaster", a five-story building was constructed in 1887 in a combination of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Noted architect James Renwick designed the building along with his partners Aspinwall & Russell, and it is an innovative example of the French Flat middle-class apartment building. Lyric poet Barbara Young is among the building’s prominent residents. Go back and click on the tours the building is featured in for additional information and history.

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.

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.

Several notable musicians and music venues found a home in this area, from jazz to punk, blues to folk. Listen to a playlist featuring a selection of songs by some of the amazing artists connected to this neighborhood. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.

James Renwick (November 1, 1818 — June 23, 1895) was one of the most influential, accomplished, and skilled American architects of the 19th century. Largely self-taught, he lived and worked most of his life in this area, where his family had deep roots (they were relatives of the landowning Brevoorts). One of his first commissions, Grace Church, is considered among the first to introduce the Gothic Revival style to America, and is still considered one of the style’s greatest examples. While Renwick earned high profile commissions across the country — including St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. — nowhere is his work more represented than in this area south of Union Square, where he designed no fewer than six buildings within a block of the intersection of Broadway and 11th Street, and designed dozens more nearby, including the still-extant ‘Renwick Row’ and ‘Renwick Triangle.’ Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of these and other historic buildings south of Union Square.