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[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
New York, 1912. "Washington Market Centennial. With outside sheds removed by President McAneny. Also new window fronts affording light and air for interiors and the sidewalk restored to the public." View full size. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection.
George McAneny was the President of the Borough of Manhattan from 1909-1913 and then of the Board of Aldermen for New York, including a stint as acting mayor.
He is often referred to as the "father of zoning" which makes sense given the caption of the photo.
He ordered up something quite nice.
You can tell the camera was a tilt-plane one from the fact that all of the building’s vertical lines — as well as all of the other buildings’, too — are all straight up and down.
Here’s an 1893 photo of the Washington Market that gives the location as Washington & West Streets, between Vesey & Fulton Streets, which puts it in the former World Trade Center site.
They don't make markets like this any more, the window fronts are great! Who is McAneny?
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