Manhattan Unlocked

welcome

The blog explores the city’s dynamic and layered past through its buildings, and uses geography and transit to make sense of how New York City on the Island of Manhattan was created.

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Georgian • Federal • Greek Revival • Beaux Arts • Art Deco • Modern • Brick • Cast Iron • Steel Frame • Skyscraper • Omnibus • Horsecar • Elevated Train • Subway • Brooklyn Bridge • Grand Central • Penn Station • City Hall • SoHo • Madison Square • Collect Pond • Bowery • Murray Hill • Shop • Store • Department Store • Tenement • Mansion • Brownstone • Flat • Boardinghouse • Hotel • Apartment Building • Variety • Vaudeville • Theater • Opera House • Countinghouse • Loft • Factory • Office • Warehouse • Bank • Upper Class • Middle Class • Working Class • White Collar • Blue Collar •  Commercial Culture • Commercial Business 

MANHATTAN UNLOCKED 2025

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Decode the city: The vortex and the palimpsest (3 posts)

3. Decode the Block & the City

Beyond "reading" the facade elevation (or side) of a building as a palimpsest, how does [...]

2. The Building-as-Palimpsest

Following on the post: The Vortex and the Palimpsest: Seeing the City through Time and [...]

1. The Vortex and the Palimpsest: the City through Time and Space

It helps to think about the city using analogy and metaphor for how it developed [...]

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The 30,000 ft view of New york's built environment (6 posts)

6. Six Principles for Building Manhattan

This is the last in the relaunch series of posts that lay out in broad [...]

5. City Hall: Epicenter

Beginning in the 1850s, the finest shops, theaters and hotels were relocating up Broadway to [...]

A view of the city skyline from across the water.
4. How Business Overran the “City” II: Manhattan’s Two-Part Skyline

Manhattan's downtown cluster of skyscrapers rose in the early 20th century, notably in the Art [...]

3. How Business Overran the “City” I

This is part I of how business districts repeatedly overran both the “city,” and the [...]

2. How the “City” Came From Madison Square

Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House, Fifth Avenue’s historic shopping blocks, Times Square and Herald Square [...]

A view of the city from across the street.
1. The “City” that Moved Uptown

The "city" that moved uptown on the Island of Manhattan is a combination of today's [...]

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manhattan unlocked: 2010-2011 posts

A group of old trunks and tables on display.
How "Hell’s Kitchen" Got its Name (I think)

No neighborhood’s name wallows in more obscurity than “Hell’s Kitchen.” A veritable Thunderdome of the [...]

A painting of the city of ancient rome.
42nd Street to the Battery: 1855

The last post showed the city from 63rd Street to the Battery by putting together two pictures [...]

A painting of new york city in the 1 8 0 0 s.
The Big Picture of New York in the 1850s (Literally)

Old landscape drawings and panoramas of the city can be mesmerizing, in addition to being [...]

A map of the city with green dots showing where to go.
In and Around the Bowery Theatre

This post builds on The Bowery & Chatham Square, heading up a few blocks to [...]

A street view of a car parked on the side of a road.
Pawn Stars, Carlo Gambino & SGS Associates

Just a quick, fun post. I was watching Pawn Stars and a guy walked in [...]

A vintage photo of people riding in carts down the street
The Bowery & Chatham Square, Then and Now

While preparing Part II of  The Story Behind the Lower East Side, I came across some [...]

A map of the city with green lines showing where to go.
The Story Behind the Lower East Side

This look at the Lower East Side will be done over three posts. This first [...]

A group of people standing outside of an old building.
Manhattan on the Nile

This is a small tribute to the brave and amazing people of Tahrir Square. To [...]

A black and white photo of an old town.
298 Grand Street, Then and Now

Just a quick post. Going through the Museum of the City of New York’s archives [...]

A street view of people walking on the sidewalk.
The Haymarket, Broadway & NoMad—and a Long Forgotten Street!

There’s a strange part of town that’s in the middle of everywhere. In the 1990s [...]

A statue of liberty is shown in pastel colors.
The Inspiration for the Statue of Liberty

There’s a difference between what inspires a statue to come into creation and what a statue represents, and [...]

A map of the coast and mountains with numbers on it.
Morningside Heights: History is in the Lay of the Land

And the bend in the road is still visible today! This is 114th Street and [...]

A city street with buildings lit up at night.
New Year’s Eve in Times Square

My first New Year’s Eve in Times Square, no commentary along the way.  Only to [...]

A satellite image of the city of new york.
Why the West Side is Different

The west side and the east side are frequently sized up against each other, and [...]

A large building with many lights on the outside.
The Holiday Spirit Around Town

…and a few special links.   Trump Tower, 721 Fifth Avenue.  Rockefeller Center Midtown Lobby Trees [...]

A drawing of the church of the holy communion in new york.
The Limelight: an Unholy Evolution

As happens, while doing research on one project I stumbled on something so remarkable I [...]

A view of the water from the shore.
Inwood Park Walk (pt. 2) & the Columbia “C” Explained

Here’s the rest of Monday’s walk through Inwood Park, Manhattan’s last vestige of primeval forest.  [...]

A view of the river and bridge from across the water.
Inwood Park & Robert Frost

The Tuft of Flowers, by Robert Frost, came to life today at the start of [...]

A black and white picture of the seal of new york city.
Decoding the Seals of the City of New York

A study of the current and past seals of New York City is an excellent [...]

WTC progress

  Just a quick post and a few pictures to show the progress at the [...]

Harriet Tubman in Harlem: Not a Typical Outdoor Sculpture

There’s somewhere around 200 works of outdoor sculpture in Manhattan.  Works in human form come in two [...]

Ghost of the Broadway Central Hotel

My first post is a simple interesting one. I had just read Alone Together: A History [...]

A view of the top of one world trade center.
WTC Progress 2

No commentary. An afternoon walk around the World Trade Center and the things I encountered, [...]