"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Where & When: S2 Game 5

Well now, how about another round of Where & When? We’ve had a pretty good week with some interesting challenges, and I certainly would like to keep that run going.  So everyone grab their root beer mugs and their cream soda flutes and follow me:

Where & When S2 Game 5Plenty of clues in this one and definitely a set year this photo was taken.  So what I’d like for you to find out are the names and locations of the low building in the foreground and the tall building in the background as well as the name of the general area, plus the evident year this photo was taken.  As usual, a cold mug of root beer to the first person to give us all the answers and how they determined them, and a tall glass of cream for the rest of us.  I’ll be checking in throughout.  I think this is a pretty easy one, so no bonus today unless you come up with something really interesting about something in the pic or some event that occurred in the general region at that time.

Have fun and don’t peek at the credits!

Photo credit: Wired New York

13 comments

1 Alex Belth   ~  Nov 7, 2014 8:56 am

Man, what a gorgeous shot.

2 Ben   ~  Nov 7, 2014 9:29 am

Quick search for the name on top of the tall building gets the location. Figured it was Broadway and some major crossing, 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd or 57th... One of them was right.

But the year.... Didn't someone say about a recent picture not being blurry and so it wouldn't be before a certain kind of technology was developed... can't recall.

And I wanna know what that big wooden wheel is in front of Ruperts Brews...

3 kenboyer made me cry   ~  Nov 7, 2014 9:43 am

It is a nice shot, and a demonstration of what's been lost in NY
The area is Herald Square.
The low building was the NY Herald building designed by Stanford White. The sign on the building states it was coming down. It was demolished in 1921.
The tall building is the Pennsylvania Hotel?

Not a lot of time available this morning, I will check back later.

4 Jim in Chicago   ~  Nov 7, 2014 9:56 am

To add to what's already been noted -- the tall building in the background was the Hotel McAlpin, built 1912 -- now the Herald Towers.

You can see the old 6th avenue el too.

What a building the NY Herald was -- modelled on a Verona palazzo in the Venetian style.

5 rbj   ~  Nov 7, 2014 10:10 am

Marbridge building in the middle. 1328 Broadway (Manhattan) between 34th and 35th Streets (from wikipedia). Background building is the Hotel McAlpin, which opened Dec. 29, 1912. Trolleys and blurred moving vehicles, so it's closer to that date. No wires either.

6 RIYank   ~  Nov 7, 2014 3:19 pm

I don't think the Herald Building was demolished in 1921. This headline in the Tribune announced the demolition, in 1921, but the building got a reprieve, and the front half was around until 1940.

That means it's not at all clear when the picture was taken just from the announcement that the building was slated for demolition. Hmmm. The cars look later than 1921, but not much later. Surely the 1920s. I say it's 1925.

7 rbj   ~  Nov 7, 2014 4:35 pm

wikipedia (yes, proceed with caution) says the first part of the demolition happened in 1924. So it's either 1923 or 1924.

8 Chyll Will   ~  Nov 7, 2014 6:15 pm

Hmm, more controversy it seems. The location is definitely correct, but the year is speculative, even with the resource I used (says 1927, but could be much earlier with other info). I think we'll have to call this a draw.

However, because of this discussion I did some snooping around and came across this post from Daytonian in Manhattan, a great essay on the inspiration, creation, demolition and legacy of the New York Herald Building. Certainly worth your time to read.

9 weeping for brunnhilde   ~  Nov 7, 2014 6:40 pm

It is a gorgeous, gorgeous photo.

10 RIYank   ~  Nov 7, 2014 11:01 pm

Hm, very interesting.

Well, 1923 cars are hard to distinguish from 1927 cars. But I will say that none of the cars in the picture looks like a model from before 1920 -- those tended to have noticeably less bulk, less metal. So I'd be surprised if it's a 1921 photo. You'd think there would be some cars more than a year old in the picture.

There's nothing very revealing that I can see about the quality of the photo itself. It's obviously a long exposure -- very long by today's standards. But you'll find slow film for shots like this right up until WWII, so that's not helpful.

There's a woman in the picture with a dress just showing her knees. I have absolutely no idea if that's helpful -- maybe someone who knows something about fashion can draw a conclusion?

11 thelarmis   ~  Nov 7, 2014 11:19 pm

Looks like there's a giant bass drum across the street!

12 RIYank   ~  Nov 8, 2014 7:11 am

Can you make out the vintage?

13 Chyll Will   ~  Nov 8, 2014 7:13 am

It's comin' right for us!!!

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