from the English Wikipedia, via Tour NYC the Epicgenius way
Did you know …
- that the New York State Agricultural Society annually recognizes farms that have been owned and operated by one family for a hundred years?
- that Pier 40, a sports facility in New York City's Hudson River Park, was formerly a cargo terminal?
- that the construction of Rockefeller Center (pictured) was the largest private development project ever undertaken for its time?
- that an excavation for 75 Wall Street (pictured) revealed an old crock linked with a leader of the Tammany Hall political machine?
- that Exchange Place in New York City still survives largely as it existed in 1660?
- that the Summit Hotel (pictured), once described by its own architect as the "most hated hotel in New York", was protected as a New York City landmark in 2005?
- that New York City would not allow a forest in the Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Center?
- that contractors spent 5,500 man-hours on drawings for the design of the TWA Flight Center (pictured)?
- that New York City's 407-acre (165 ha) Shirley Chisholm State Park, named after the first black Congresswoman in the U.S., was created on a landfill?
- that the Times Square Theater (pictured), proposed for redevelopment since 1990, remained empty three decades later?
- that the colored facade panels of 2 Park Avenue (pictured) were inspired by the texture of fabric?
- that an extension of New York City's Q27 bus route was discontinued because it was losing $120 a day?
- that a Forever 21 store at 1540 Broadway was expected to attract more daily visitors than the Statue of Liberty?
- that the Engineers' Club Building (pictured) and Engineering Societies' Building in New York City were described in the mid-20th century as "the engineering crossroads of the world"?
- that to make the Belasco Theatre comfortable for performers, David Belasco banned spitting onto the floor?
- that according to one account, planners put a dome above the United Nations General Assembly Building (interior pictured) so the UN headquarters could be funded more quickly?
- that in the 1980s, New York City's St. Regis Hotel (pictured) was said to have hosted every U.S. president since its opening?
- that Brooklyn's 13th, 14th, and 23rd Regiment Armories, all built significantly over budget, were later converted to homeless shelters?
- that the offices of the Chanin Organization in New York City's Chanin Building contained "America's finest bathroom" and a set of ornate bronze gates?
- that the New York City neighborhood of Spring Creek was once known as the place where "the city came to an end"?
- that after residents near Sunswick Creek broke down its tide gates in 1916, the New York City health commissioner claimed that they "prefer to live like hogs"?
- that the Bennett Building, once one of New York's most prominent buildings, is probably the world's tallest building with a cast-iron facade?
- that the Sherwood Studio Building was characterized in 1892 as New York City's "uptown headquarters of Art", with many of its tenants having studied art together?
- that horse carcasses, and trash from three of New York City's boroughs, were once processed at Barren Island, Brooklyn?
- that the New York City Subway stations at 9th, 25th, 59th, and Union Streets, as well as Prospect Avenue, were opened with a competition between two trains heading to Coney Island?
- that New York City's Hudson Terminal, once billed as the world's largest office building by floor area, was demolished as part of an agreement to develop the World Trade Center?
- that the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company went out of business less than a decade after completing its headquarters building?
- that Black Rock (pictured) is mostly concrete?
- that tenants of the Bowling Green Offices Building in New York City have included the owners of the RMS Titanic, and the Erie Railroad?
- that Low is higher than its surroundings?
- that the 48-story Uris Building went into foreclosure just two and a half years after it was completed?
- that a bust of Edward Snowden was erected next to a New York City monument to American Revolutionary War prisoners?
- that the lobby of the Royalton Hotel was once compared to an ocean liner?
- that after the Rockaway Boardwalk (pictured) was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy, a radio ad campaign using the Ramones song "Rockaway Beach" was aired to draw visitors to the adjacent beach?
- that in the 2000s, New York City's Benjamin Hotel offered a pillow menu and hired a sleep concierge?
- that Queens Botanical Garden in New York City was built on top of landfill atop a creek?
- that a Steinway piano showroom at 111 West 57th Street (pictured) in New York City was expanded by 2,850 percent to become one of the tallest buildings in the United States?
- that Charles Scribner's Sons occupied its Fifth Avenue building, designed by Ernest Flagg, for 19 years before moving to another Fifth Avenue building, also designed by Flagg?
- that the W New York Union Square building and the Everett Building form an "imposing terminus" to New York City's Park Avenue South?
- that a wine closet at 15 Central Park West (pictured) originally cost up to $80,000, while a storage bin cost $35,000?