Almost all the structures appearing in this array of New York images still exist, perhaps owing to the fact that nearly half of them are officially landmarked.

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Buildings depicted range from Trinity Church (1839) and The Dakota (1884) to the Chrysler Building (1930).

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Monuments like Grant’s Tomb (1897), the Maine Memorial at Columbus Circle (1913)
and the Washington Square Arch (1895) have been renewed in face and spirit. The Statue of Liberty had a most public face-lift for her hundredth birthday in 1986.

Other survivors are the Merchant’s Exchange (1842), which morphed into a bank and, just recently, into a luxury hotel, and the Federal Hall (1842 also) on Wall Street. This beautiful structure was a Customs House and is now a museum.

There is an extraordinary group of the best of the Beaux Arts Classic Eclectic style, all built in the two decades flanking 1900, that are full of life. They include the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Fifth Avenue facade (1902-Richard Morris Hunt); The National Museum of the American Indian (former U.S. Customs House 1907- Cass Gilbert); Grand Central Terminal (1913 Warren and Wetmore); The New York Public Library (1911 Carrere andHastings); and The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of N.Y. (1899 -James Brown Lord).

The last gasp of the popular Roman Eclectic style can be seen in the triumphal arch used in the Central Park West facade of The American Museum of Natural History (John Russell Pope). It was completed in 1936 and is constructively shown in modern Piranesi-style in an etching by Hugh Botts from that same year.

Buildings shown of the next decade include the Metropolitan Life Tower (1909- Stanford White) - looking very much like the campanile of St. Marks in Venice; and the adaptation of Gothic style in the iconic Woolworth Building (1913- Cass Gilbert).

Other landmarked survivors include the incredibly rich skyscrapers of the 1920's and 1930's, including the NY Telephone Building (1927-Mc Kenzie Voorhees & Gmelin); the Chrysler Building (1930 -William Van Alen); the Empire State Building (1931- Shreve Lamb & Harmon); and The Waldorf Astoria (1931 Schultze & Weaver).

 

The oldest structure shown is Fort Jay (1809) on Governor’s Island; its arched brownstone entryway surmounted by sculpture leads to a pentagonal fort. 

Idiosyncratic structures included are the West 72nd Street subway kiosk (1904-Heinz and La Farge); the Spa in Central Park; and the Queensboro Bridge (1908 Gustav Lindenthal).