The Big Apple: 1912

What a great snapshot(!) in time... this single image captures the progression of the tallest buildings in Manhattan from 1894 to 1912:
Manhattan Life Insurance Building, 1894(black baroque topped building in front of Bankers Trust pyramid - after 1904 expansion.) Twin domed Park Row Building, 1899 (just to the right of the Singer tower.) Singer Tower, 1908 (lantern topped building with flag.) Metropolitan Life tower, 1909 (in the distance, through the haze.) Finally, the Woolworth Building, 1913 (under construction.)

With trains on either side of the building, rooms in the Hotel Grutli would have had good, good, good, good vibrations.

This view would soon be transformed by the construction of the new Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, between Pine and Cedar Streets. The old Equitable Building burned down in a spectacular fire on January 9, 1912; the Chicago architecture firm of Graham, Burnham & Co. designed its replacement, which was built between 1913 and 1915. Although it was hardly the tallest skyscraper in downtown Manhattan, the new Equitable was one of the bulkiest, and it was heavily criticized for blocking out the sun from the downtown streets. Shortly after it was completed, New York adopted the Zoning Ordinance of 1916, which placed limits on the height and bulk of tall buildings; this law promoted the "setback" massing that characterizes so many NYC buildings built after 1920.

The two Tracks shown at the bottom photo are the 6th Avenue (on the right) and the 9th Avenue(on the left) Elevated Lines where they have just diverged from a common track above Battery place and the South Ferry terminal. The 9th Avenue El is also seen further uptown in the photo.

The photo also shows the NYC Municipal building under construction and way uptown, the Metropolitan Life building, shown in many images here.

hold more people than the 25,000 from my town.

I didn't know there was an elevated train on Trinity Place as well as Greenwich Street. Off in the distance is the Met Life Building, with no competition, and at the right the grand old Municipal Building is nearing completiion.

Many buildings in this photo are still going strong. Woolworth, Bankers Trust, 2 Rector St., 111 Broadway and, of course, Trinity Church.