2008 Woodie Awards
19th-century world trade center relic to be demolished
Associated Press
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
NEW YORK (AP) - Historians are trying to save a lower Manhattan building that is "a rare surviving relic" of New York's 19th-century world trade center but is due to be demolished to make way for a new hotel.
The Greek Revival warehouse is in a neighborhood that was part of "the process that made New York into America's great city," says historian Paul E. Johnson.
The red-brick warehouse on Pearl Street, near the South Street Seaport Historic District, was erected in 1831, one of the buildings that made up the original world trade center in lower Manhattan, long before the 110-story twin towers that opened in 1970. Wholesalers on Pearl Street, which has been around since Manhattan's Dutch colonial days, specialized in dry goods shipped to storekeepers all over the country.
New York "became like a funnel through which the wealth of the Western world would now have to pass," according to a television documentary by Ric Burns called "The Town and The City."
Narrow lanes like Pearl Street "were transformed into the first district in the world devoted exclusively to commerce."
Alan Solomon, an amateur historian helping spearhead the effort to preserve the warehouse, said Saturday that he believes demolition could start as early as this week.
A demolition application for the site was filed with the city Department of Buildings on Oct. 16 by a wrecking company, but the city hasn't issued a permit yet, said department spokeswoman Robin Brooks.
The old warehouse was recently purchased by a Manhattan developer, The Lam Group. Representatives didn't respond to a call seeking comment Saturday.
The Greek Revival warehouse is in a neighborhood that was part of "the process that made New York into America's great city," says historian Paul E. Johnson.
The red-brick warehouse on Pearl Street, near the South Street Seaport Historic District, was erected in 1831, one of the buildings that made up the original world trade center in lower Manhattan, long before the 110-story twin towers that opened in 1970. Wholesalers on Pearl Street, which has been around since Manhattan's Dutch colonial days, specialized in dry goods shipped to storekeepers all over the country.
New York "became like a funnel through which the wealth of the Western world would now have to pass," according to a television documentary by Ric Burns called "The Town and The City."
Narrow lanes like Pearl Street "were transformed into the first district in the world devoted exclusively to commerce."
Alan Solomon, an amateur historian helping spearhead the effort to preserve the warehouse, said Saturday that he believes demolition could start as early as this week.
A demolition application for the site was filed with the city Department of Buildings on Oct. 16 by a wrecking company, but the city hasn't issued a permit yet, said department spokeswoman Robin Brooks.
The old warehouse was recently purchased by a Manhattan developer, The Lam Group. Representatives didn't respond to a call seeking comment Saturday.
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