Manhattan Unlocked
welcome
The blog explores virtually all aspects of the built environment of New York City on Manhattan Island
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Manhattan unlocked: the history of new york city on the island of manhattan
Croton Water, the Famine Irish, New York’s Inflection Point and the Creation of New York City
The graph above shows Manhattan’s population growth over 120 years between 1790 and 1910, from [...]
The Lost History of Upper Pearl Street
Pearl street derives its name from the shell middens left by Manhattan's original Lenape inhabitants [...]
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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)
The 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 [...]
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 [...]
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
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 [...]
42nd Street to the Battery: 1855
The last post showed the city from 63rd Street to the Battery by putting together two pictures [...]
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 [...]
In and Around the Bowery Theatre
This post builds on The Bowery & Chatham Square, heading up a few blocks to [...]
Pawn Stars, Carlo Gambino & SGS Associates
Just a quick, fun post. I was watching Pawn Stars and a guy walked in [...]
The Bowery & Chatham Square, Then and Now
While preparing Part II of The Story Behind the Lower East Side, I came across some [...]
The Story Behind the Lower East Side
This look at the Lower East Side will be done over three posts. This first [...]
Manhattan on the Nile
This is a small tribute to the brave and amazing people of Tahrir Square. To [...]
298 Grand Street, Then and Now
Just a quick post. Going through the Museum of the City of New York’s archives [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
New Year’s Eve in Times Square
My first New Year’s Eve in Times Square, no commentary along the way. Only to [...]
Why the West Side is Different
The west side and the east side are frequently sized up against each other, and [...]
The Holiday Spirit Around Town
…and a few special links. Trump Tower, 721 Fifth Avenue. Rockefeller Center Midtown Lobby Trees [...]
The Limelight: an Unholy Evolution
As happens, while doing research on one project I stumbled on something so remarkable I [...]
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. [...]
Inwood Park & Robert Frost
The Tuft of Flowers, by Robert Frost, came to life today at the start of [...]
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 [...]
WTC Progress 2
No commentary. An afternoon walk around the World Trade Center and the things I encountered, [...]