Some are widely celebrated—Radio City Music Hall, the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station—and others virtually unknown, all warrant preservation. This book is the first to present great landmarked interiors of New York in all their intricate detail, in a visual celebration of space that captures the rich heritage of the city. In the fifty years since it was established in 1965, the New York City Landmarks Law has preserved for generations to come a remarkable number of significant buildings that represent New York City’s cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history. Not only do the exterior facades of these buildings fall within the law’s purview, but, since 1973, many of their stunning interiors as well. This book tells the colorful stories of 47 interior landmarks from the oldest to the youngest—from the grand Italianate and infamous Tweed Courthouse, the centerpiece of the largest corruption case in New York history, and the glamorous Art Deco Rainbow Room, constructed shortly after the repeal of the Prohibition—to the modernist 1967 Ford Foundation Building, whose garden-filled atrium exemplified sustainable design well before the concept became fashionable, and was hailed as “one of the most romantic environments ever devised by corporate man.” Located throughout the five boroughs, the interior landmarks include banks, theaters, office building lobbies, restaurants, libraries, and more—spaces in which New Yorkers have worked, learned, governed, been entertained, and interacted with their communities for decades. Readers will learn about their original construction and style, their exceptional design features, materials, and architectural details—then of the challenges to preserving them—whether they were unanimously accepted or hotly contested in legal battles—the restorations or re-imaginings that took place, and the preservationists, philanthropists, politicians, and designers who made it possible. Combining strong visuals and thorough research, this valuable reference work will fascinate all readers with an interest in the city’s history.

The official guide to New York's must-see buildings profiles a host of new landmarks and includes 80 two-color, easy-to-read maps, and more than 200 photographs. This new edition will make every visitor feel like a native--and turn every native into a wide-eyed tourist. Includes a Foreword by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Why Old Places Matter is the only book that explores the reasons that old places matter to people. Although people often feel very deeply about the old places of their lives, they don’t have the words to express why. This book brings these ideas together in evocative language and with illustrative images for a broad audience. The book reveals the fundamentally important yet under-recognized role old places play in our lives. While many people feel a deep-seated connection to old places -- from those who love old houses, to the millions of tourists who are drawn to historic cities, to the pilgrims who flock to ancient sites throughout the world -- few can articulate why. The book explores these deep attachments people have with old places –the feelings of belonging, continuity, stability, identity and memory, as well as the more traditional reasons that old places have been deemed by society to be important, such as history, national identity, and architecture. This book will be appealing to anyone who has ever loved an old place. But more importantly, it will be an useful resource to articulate why old places are meaningful to people and their communities. This book will help people understand that the feeling many have for old places is supported by a wide variety of fields, and that the continued existence of these old places is good. It will give people the words and phrases to understand and express why old places matter.

As the definitive resource on the architectural history of New York City, The Landmarks of New York, Fifth Edition documents and illustrates the 1,276 individual landmarks and 102 historic districts that have been accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission since its establishment in 1965. Arranged chronologically, by date of construction, the book offers a sequential overview of the city's architectural history and richness, presenting a broad range of styles and building types: colonial farmhouses, Gilded Age mansions, churches, schools, libraries, museums, and the great twentieth-century skyscrapers that are recognized throughout the world. That so many of these structures have endured is due, in large measure, to the efforts of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Since the establishment of the commission, New York City has become the leader of the preservation movement in the United States, with more buildings and districts designated and protected than in any other city. Included here are such iconic structures as Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall, as well as those that may be less well known but are of significant historical and architectural value: the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, the oldest structure in New York City; the Bowne House in Queens, the birthplace of American religious freedom; the Watchtower in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem; the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx; and Sailors Snug Harbor on Staten Island. In addition to completely updated maps and descriptions of each landmark and historic district included in the previous editions, the fifth edition adds 183 new individual landmarks and 39 new historic district maps.

This opulent volume, by the author and photographer of the acclaimed Historic Houses of Philadelphia, will serve as a guide through the architectural and religious traditions of Philadelphia, complete with maps, telephone numbers, and web sites.

Historic preservation is an issue of growing importance and public commitment. Federal and state mechanisms have been established to identify and support historic buildings/sites, while local governments have been active in supporting and protecting historic resources. Communities across the country have established designation programs whereby individual buildings or districts of historical-architectural significance are accorded landmark status. Designation activity has been accompanied by growing interest in other local incentives/disincentives to the support of historic buildings. In this regard, the property tax is viewed as either a possible powerful drawback to or a catalyst of preservation. This study examines the relationship between historic preservation and the property tax, focusing on the question of how designated buildings should be assessed for real taxation purposes. Listokin focuses on New York City in considering the effects of historic status on property value and in evaluating assessment practices. But this book's findings are transferrable to other communities because the base conditions are similar. Many other cities have designation programs modeled on New York City's. In addition, New York's property-tax system and administrative processes resemble those found in communities across the nation. To enhance the transferability of this study's findings, Listokin refers to the national experience and literature, typically on a side-by-side basis with the New York City counterpart.