List of demolished buildings and structures in New York City

This is a list of demolished buildings and structures in New York City.

The New York City urban area comprises the largest contiguous urban development in the United States, and has a long history of continuous architectural developments and rebuilding. Core to New York City's identity (even by American standards) is constant reinvention, demographic shifts, and architectural redevelopment: “You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.”

— Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York (2003)Much of the early colonial, Dutch, and pre-industrial NYC heritage was lost in fires, gradual disrepair due to being constructed from wood, or during the implementation of the grid system and Central Park (see Seneca Village). However, it is often colloquially remarked in NYC urbanism circles that more architectural heritage was destroyed in the urban renewal movements of the mid-19th century than when the visigoths sacked Rome.

Black and minority neighborhoods were destroyed en masse for Robert Moses' later highways and suburban arterials to permit white, suburban workers to get to drive to work more easily. Until the historic preservation movement led by activists such as Ada Huxtable began, following the demolition of Penn Station, few recognised the value of historic buildings in the modern city, and developers destroyed buildings at scale. In addition to the noteworthy buildings included on this list, countless Gilded Age mansions were destroyed for high-rise apartment buildings (e.g., Schwab House), particularly south of 59th street (surviving exceptions include the Cooper Hewitt, The Frick, Harry F. Sinclair house, Neue Gallerie, and a few other Museum Mile museums), the only remaining evidence of New Amsterdam is streets layout and naming. Countless historic buildings in the South Bronx were destroyed in the 1970s through arson and insurance fraud.

Despite the historic preservation movement and widely documented negative effects on neighborhoods and city culture that resulted from Moses' destructive redevelopments, gentrification, and demolitions for skyrises, widespread destruction of older buildings for the construction of new buildings remains part of NYC's culture, allowing constant reinvention and redevelopment, particularly for office towers and billionaire luxury housing investments.

Banks, financial buildings

+ Brooklyn Savings Bank 1894 1964 old New York Cotton Exchange 1885 1922 Merchants & Manufacturers Exchange Building 1911 no data available Deutsche Bank Building 1973 2011 Severely damaged in September 11 attacks, eventually demolished as a result. Gallatin Bank Building 1887 1929 Hanover Bank Building 1903 1931 New York Produce Exchange 1884 1958 Old New York Produce Exchange 1861 c. 1880

Churches Christian churches

Synagogues

+ Temple Emanu-El (I) 56 Chrystie Street. before 1847 1854 (?) It used to function as a Baptist church. Temple Emanu-El (II) 12th Street before 1854 1866 (?) It used to function as a Baptist church. Temple Emanu-El (III) 1868 1927 Not confuse with the new Temple Emanu-El (built in 1930). Temple Beth-El 1891 1947 Synagogue in E63d Street 1873 before 1911

Forts

+ Fort Gansevoort 1812 1854 Fort Lafayette 1822 1960

Hospitals

+ St. John's Guild Seaside Hospital 1879 1951 for mothers and children Parkchester General Hospital 1941 1978 U.S. Army General Hospital No. 1 1917 1919 Doctors Hospital 1929 2005 Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic early 1900s 1990s Rockefeller War Demonstration Hospital 1917 1919 Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers 1849 2010

Hotels

Industrial buildings

+ 5 Pointz 1892 2014

Mansions

+ C. Ledyard Blair House 1914 1927 Canterbury Hall 19th century 1861 Cornelius Vanderbilt II House 1883 1926 Elbridge Gerry Mansion 1897 1929 George Blumenthal House 1916 c. 1946 George J. Gould House 1906 c. 1963 Government House 1790 1815 Henry Phipps House no data available after 1930 Isaac Stern House before 1910 1949 Jacob Ruppert Sr. House no data available 1925 James Speyer House no data available 1947 Jay Gould House 19th century 1906 Jerome Mansion 1865 1967 Jordan L. Mott House 1880 1936 Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont House 1909 1951 Mrs. William B. Astor House 1896 1926 Ogden Mills House 1887 late 1930s Samuel Osgood House 1770 1856 Charles M. Schwab House 1906 1948 Sherwood Studio Building 1880 1960 Vanderbilt Triple Palace18821947 William A. Clark House 1911 1927 William C. Whitney House 1880s 1942 William K. Vanderbilt House 1882 1927 William Salomon House 1906 1924 William Ziegler House 1921 after 2008 Richmond Hill

Museums, exhibition space, libraries

+ New York Crystal Palace 1853 1858 Barnum's American Museum 1841 1868 Grand Central Palace 1911 1964 Lenox Library 1877 1912

Office buildings, tenement houses, skyscrapers

+ Thomas Jefferson Association Building 1890 1960 Liggett Building 1922 2016 old (I) Trinity Court Building 1879 1926 Not to be confused with what still stands today Trinity Court Building (III). old (II) Trinity Court Building 1927 2015 Not to be confused with what still stands today Trinity Court Building (III). Number One Wall Street 1880s/1890s (?) 1928 Columbia Building 1890 1930 Transit Building 1902 no data available Wolfe Building 1895 1974 German American Insurance Building 1908 no data available Union Trust Building 1897 no data available Commercial Cable Company Building 1897 1954 Washington Building 1885 no data available Washington Life Building 1898 1969 old building in 99 Church Street 1871 c. 1950 99 Church Street 1950 2008 Union Carbide & Carbon Building 1913 2001 Vanderbilt Avenue Building 1913 2016 Blair Building 1903 1955 City Investing Building 1908 1968 Equitable Life Building 1868 1912 Gillender Building 1897 1910 Harding Building 1910 1927 Kaskel and Kaskel Building 1902 2017 Kemble Building 1886 1949 Manhattan Life Insurance Building 1894 1964 Mills Building 1882 1925 New York Coliseum 1956 2000 New York World Building 1890 1955 New York Tribune Building 1875 1966 Parker Building 1900 1908 Prudence Building 1923 2016 Rogers Peet Building 1863 1898 Singer Building 1908 1969 St. Paul Building 1898 1958 Studebaker Building 1902 2004 Tenth Street Studio Building 1857 1956 Tower Building 1889 1913 Union Carbide Building 1960 2021 Western Union Telegraph Building 1892 1912 World Trade Center 1973 2001 Destroyed in September 11 attacks. 5 World Trade Center 1970 2001 Severely damaged in September 11 attacks, torn down soon after. Fiterman Hall 1959 2009 Damaged by World Trade Center 7, torn down in 2009.

Operas

+ Academy of Music 1854 1926 Astor Opera House 1847 1890 Grand Opera House 1868 1960 Harlem Opera House 1889 1959 Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street) 1883 1967

Prisons

+ Jefferson Market Prison 1877 1927 The Tombs (I) 1838 1902 Ludlow Street Jail 1862 1927 The Tombs (II) 1902 1941

Railway stations

+ Pelham Bay Naval Training Station 1917 1919 Chambers Street Ferry Terminal 1856 1962 Cortlandt Street Ferry Depot no data available no data available Hudson Terminal 1909 1972 Liberty Street Ferry Terminal 1865 1970s 26th Street terminal 1857 1869 Grand Central Depot 1871 c. 1903 Pennsylvania Station 1910 1963

Shopping malls

+ Hylan Plaza 1966 2017 Astor Market 1915 1917 Frederick Douglass Book Center 1942 1968 Gunther Building (Fifth Avenue) 1909 1943

Stadiums, sport buildings

+ Louis Armstrong Stadium (1978–2016) 1978 2016 Shea Stadium 1964 2009 Yankee Stadium (1923) 1922 2010 St. George Cricket Grounds 1886 after 1889 Madison Square Garden (I) 1879 1890 Madison Square Garden (II) 1890 1926 Madison Square Garden (III) 1925 1969 Polo Grounds18901963Lewisohn Stadium

Theatres

+ 39th Street Theatre 1910 1925 44th Street Theatre 1912 1945 American Music Hall 1888 1932 Apollo Theatre 1920 1996 Adelphi Theatre 1928 1970 Anthony Street Theatre 1812 1821 Astor Theatre 1906 1982 Bijou Theatre 1878 1915 Bowery Theatre 1845 1929 Broadway Theatre 1888 1925 Capitol Theatre 1919 1968 Casino Theatre 1882 1930 Center Theatre 1932 1954 Century Theatre 1906 1932 Chatham Garden Theatre 1824 1832 Chatham Theatre 1839 1862 Comedy Theatre 1909 1942 Daly's 63rd Street Theatre 1914 1957 Daly's Theatre 1867 1920 Fifth Avenue Theatre 1868 1939 Fourteenth Street Theatre 1866 1938 Fulton Theatre 1911 1982 Garden Theatre 1890 1925 Garrick Theatre 1890 1932 Grand Opera House 1868 1960 Grand Theatre 1903 1930 Herald Square Theatre 1883 1915 Hippotheatron 1864 1872 John Street Theatre 1767 1798 Knickerbocker Theatre 1893 1930 Lafayette Theatre 1912 2013 Lyceum Theatre 1885 1902 Madison Square Theatre 1865 1908 Manhattan Theatre 1875 1909 Maxine Elliott's Theatre 1908 1960 Miner's Bowery Theatre 1878 1929 National Theater 1912 1959 New Century Theatre 1921 1962 New Theatre Comique 1839 1884 New York Hippodrome 1905 1939 New York Vauxhall Gardens 1767 1859 Niblo's Garden 1823 1895 Old Broadway Theatre 1847 1859 Park Theatre (Brooklyn) 1863 1908 Park Theatre (Manhattan) 1798 1848 Playhouse Theatre 1911 1969 Roxy Theatre 1927 1960 Theatre Comique 1862 1881 Theatre on Nassau Street 1732 1765 Vanderbilt Theatre 1918 1954 Wallack's Theatre 1850 1901 Winter Garden Theatre 1850 1867 Ziegfeld Theatre 1927 1966

Villages

+ New Brighton Village Hall 1871 2004 Alexander Macomb House 1788 1940

Other buildings

+ 42nd Street Airlines Terminal 1941 1978 Central Park Casino 1862 1936Federal Hall17031812 Pearl Street Station before 1882 1890 The Rotunda 1818 1870 Tontine Coffee House 1793 1905 old New York City Criminal Courts Building 1893 1941 City Hall Post Office and Courthouse

Other structures

+ Dewey Arch 1899 1900 Latting Observatory 1853 1856 Lincoln Arcade 1903 1960 Macombs Dam c. 1814 c. 1858 Putnam Bridge 1881 1958

References

Literature Nathan Silver: Lost New York, Rare Book Cellar, 1967, First Edition; Third Printing,

Related pages List of tallest voluntarily demolished buildings Architecture of New York City Early skyscrapers

Other links https://www.bygonely.com/new-york-city-demolished-buildings-landmarks/ curbed.com

https://www.businessinsider.com/demolished-new-york-buildings-2014-9 https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63413/15-new-york-citys-lost-landmarks https://hu.pinterest.com/gerrygouy/demolished-new-york/ http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2015/06/10/20-historic-buildings-that-were-demolished/