List of demolished buildings and structures in New York City

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The 486 ft (148 m) tall neo-Romanesque City Investing Building is one of many buildings that can no longer be seen in New York today. It was built between 1906–1908 and was demolished in 1968.

This is a list of demolished buildings and structures in New York City. Over time, countless buildings have been built in what is now New York City. Some of them still stand today and can be viewed – however, many buildings have since been demolished. The reason for the demolition was often a lack of space; a larger building could fit. Many times the condition of the building was no longer adequate. The cost of building renovation is high, and demolition may have been easier.

Sometimes its style was outdated. However, opinions may change. Artistic standards of the time of construction, of demolition, of today, and of tomorrow may all disagree. Thus, many consider it detrimental to demolish buildings that were built to high artistic standards of their own time.

Accurate records of demolished buildings were not always preserved, so this list is presumably fragmentary.

Banks, financial buildings[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Brooklyn Savings Bank 1894 1964
old New York Cotton Exchange[1] 1885 1922
Merchants & Manufacturers Exchange Building[2] 1911 no data available
Deutsche Bank Building 1973 2011 Severely damaged in September 11 attacks, eventually demolished as a result.
[1] Gallatin Bank Building 1887 1929
[2] Hanover Bank Building 1903 1931
New York Produce Exchange 1884 1958
Old New York Produce Exchange[3] 1861 c. 1880

Churches[edit]

Christian churches[edit]

Synagogues[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
[3] Temple Emanu-El (I)[4] before 1847 1854 (?) It used to function as a Baptist church.
[4] Temple Emanu-El (II)[4] before 1854 1866 (?) It used to function as a Baptist church.
Temple Emanu-El (III) 1868 1927 Not confuse with the new Temple Emanu-El (built in 1930).
Temple Beth-El 1891 1947
Synagogue in E63d Street 1873 before 1911

Forts[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Fort Gansevoort 1812 1854
Fort Lafayette 1822 1960

Hospitals[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
St. John's Guild Seaside Hospital 1879 1951 for mothers and children
Parkchester General Hospital 1941 1978
U.S. Army General Hospital No. 1 1917 1919
[5] Doctors Hospital 1929 2005
[6] Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic early 1900s 1990s
Rockefeller War Demonstration Hospital 1917 1919
Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers 1849 2010

Hotels[edit]

Industrial buildings[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
5 Pointz 1892 2014

Mansions[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
C. Ledyard Blair House 1914 1927
Canterbury Hall 19th century 1861
Cornelius Vanderbilt II House 1883 1926
Elbridge Gerry Mansion 1897 1929
George Blumenthal House 1916 c. 1946
George J. Gould House 1906 c. 1963
Government House 1790 1815
Henry Phipps House no data available after 1930
Isaac Stern House before 1910 1949
Jacob Ruppert Sr. House no data available 1925
James Speyer House no data available 1947
Jay Gould House 19th century 1906
Jerome Mansion 1865 1967
Jordan L. Mott House 1880 1936
Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont House 1909 1951
Mrs. William B. Astor House 1896 1926
Ogden Mills House 1887 late 1930s
Samuel Osgood House 1770 1856
Charles M. Schwab House 1906 1948
Sherwood Studio Building 1880 1960
Vanderbilt Triple Palace 1882 1947
William A. Clark House 1911 1927
William C. Whitney House 1880s no data available
William K. Vanderbilt House 1882 1927
William Salomon House 1906 1924
William Ziegler House 1921 after 2008
Richmond Hill

Museums, exhibition space, libraries[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
New York Crystal Palace 1853 1858
Barnum's American Museum 1841 1868
Grand Central Palace 1911 1964
Lenox Library 1877 1912

Office buildings, tenement houses, skyscrapers[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Thomas Jefferson Association Building 1890 1960
Liggett Building[5] 1922 2016
old (I) Trinity Court Building 1879 1926 Not to be confused with what still stands today Trinity Court Building (III).
old (II) Trinity Court Building[6] 1927 2015 Not to be confused with what still stands today Trinity Court Building (III).
Number One Wall Street[7] 1880s/1890s (?) 1928
Columbia Building[8] 1890 1930
Transit Building[9] 1902 no data available
Wolfe Building[10] 1895 1974
German American Insurance Building[11] 1908 no data available
Union Trust Building[12] 1897 no data available
Commercial Cable Company Building[13] 1897 1954
Washington Building[14] 1885 no data available
Washington Life Building[15] 1898 1969
old building in 99 Church Street 1871 c. 1950
99 Church Street[16] 1950 2008
425 Park Avenue[17] 1954 2016
Union Carbide & Carbon Building[18] 1913 2001
Vanderbilt Avenue Building[19] 1913 2016
Blair Building 1903 1955
City Investing Building 1908 1968
Equitable Life Building 1868 1912
Gillender Building 1897 1910
Harding Building 1910 1927
Kaskel and Kaskel Building 1902 2017
Kemble Building 1886 1949
Manhattan Life Insurance Building 1894 1964
Mills Building 1882 1925
New York Coliseum 1956 2000
New York World Building 1890 1955
New York Tribune Building 1875 1966
Parker Building 1900 1908
Prudence Building 1923 2016
Rogers Peet Building 1863 1898
Singer Building 1908 1969
St. Paul Building 1898 1958
Studebaker Building 1902 2004
Tenth Street Studio Building 1857 1956
Tower Building 1889 1913
Union Carbide Building 1960 2021
Western Union Telegraph Building 1892 1912
World Trade Center 1973 2001 Destroyed in 9/11 attacks.
5 World Trade Center 1970 2001 Severely damaged in 9/11 attacks, torn down soon after.

Operas[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Academy of Music 1854 1926
Astor Opera House 1847 1890
Grand Opera House 1868 1960
Harlem Opera House 1889 1959
Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street) 1883 1967

Prisons[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Jefferson Market Prison 1877 1927
The Tombs (I) 1838 1902
Ludlow Street Jail 1862 1927
The Tombs (II) 1902 1941

Railway stations[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Pelham Bay Naval Training Station 1917 1919
Chambers Street Ferry Terminal 1856 1858
Cortlandt Street Ferry Depot no data available no data available
Hudson Terminal 1909 1972
Liberty Street Ferry Terminal 1865 1970s
26th Street terminal 1857 1869
Grand Central Depot 1871 c. 1903
Pennsylvania Station 1910 1963

Shopping malls[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Hylan Plaza 1966 2017
Astor Market 1915 1917
Frederick Douglass Book Center 1942 1968
Gunther Building (Fifth Avenue) 1909 1943

Stadiums, sport buildings[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Louis Armstrong Stadium (1978–2016) 1978 2016
Shea Stadium 1964 2009
Yankee Stadium (1923) 1922 2010
St. George Cricket Grounds 1886 after 1889
Madison Square Garden (I) 1879 1890
Madison Square Garden (II) 1890 1926
Madison Square Garden (III) 1925 1969
Polo Grounds 1890 1963
Lewisohn Stadium

Theatres[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
39th Street Theatre 1910 1925
44th Street Theatre 1912 1945
American Music Hall 1888 1932
Apollo Theatre 1920 1996
Adelphi Theatre 1928 1970
Anthony Street Theatre 1812 1821
Astor Theatre 1906 1982
Bijou Theatre 1878 1915
Bowery Theatre 1845 1929
Broadway Theatre 1888 1925
Capitol Theatre 1919 1968
Casino Theatre 1882 1930
Center Theatre 1932 1954
Century Theatre 1906 1932
Chatham Garden Theatre 1824 1832
Chatham Theatre 1839 1862
Comedy Theatre 1909 1942
Daly's 63rd Street Theatre 1914 1957
Daly's Theatre 1867 1920
Fifth Avenue Theatre 1868 1939
Fourteenth Street Theatre 1866 1938
Fulton Theatre 1911 1982
Garden Theatre 1890 1925
Garrick Theatre 1890 1932
Grand Opera House 1868 1960
Grand Theatre 1903 1930
Herald Square Theatre 1883 1915
Hippotheatron 1864 1872
John Street Theatre 1767 1798
Knickerbocker Theatre 1893 1930
Lafayette Theatre 1912 2013
Lyceum Theatre 1885 1902
Madison Square Theatre 1865 1908
Manhattan Theatre 1875 1909
Maxine Elliott's Theatre 1908 1960
Miner's Bowery Theatre 1878 1929
National Theater 1912 1959
New Century Theatre 1921 1962
New Theatre Comique 1839 1884
New York Hippodrome 1905 1939
New York Vauxhall Gardens 1767 1859
Niblo's Garden 1823 1895
Old Broadway Theatre 1847 1859
Park Theatre (Brooklyn) 1863 1908
Park Theatre (Manhattan) 1798 1848
Playhouse Theatre 1911 1969
Roxy Theatre 1927 1960
Theatre Comique 1862 1881
Theatre on Nassau Street 1732 1765
Vanderbilt Theatre 1918 1954
Wallack's Theatre 1850 1901
Winter Garden Theatre 1850 1867
Ziegfeld Theatre 1927 1966

Villages[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
New Brighton Village Hall 1871 2004
Alexander Macomb House 1788 1940

Other buildings[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
42nd Street Airlines Terminal 1941 1978
Central Park Casino 1862 1936
Federal Hall 1703 1812
Pearl Street Station before 1882 1890
The Rotunda 1818 1870
Tontine Coffee House 1793 1905
old New York City Criminal Courts Building 1893 1941
City Hall Post Office and Courthouse

Other structures[edit]

Image
Name
Date built
Date of demolition
Comment
Dewey Arch 1899 1900
Latting Observatory 1853 1856
Lincoln Arcade 1903 1960
Macombs Dam c. 1814 c. 1858
Putnam Bridge 1881 1958

References[edit]

  1. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Cotton Exchange".
  2. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Merchants & Manufacturers Exchange Building".
  3. ^ "New York Architecture Images- New York Produce Exchange".
  4. ^ a b "Congregation Emanu-El - New York City".
  5. ^ "Liggett Building, New York City | 114365". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Trinity Court Building formerly known as American Bank Note Building".
  7. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Number One Wall Street".
  8. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Columbia Building".
  9. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Transit Building".
  10. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Wolfe Building".
  11. ^ "New York Architecture Images- German American Insurance Building".
  12. ^ "New York Architecture Images- Union Trust Building".
  13. ^ "Commercial Cable Building - the Skyscraper Center".
  14. ^ "New York Architecture Images- WASHINGTON BUILDING".
  15. ^ "Washington Life Building - the Skyscraper Center".
  16. ^ "99 Church Street, New York City | 149066". Emporis. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  17. ^ "425 Park Avenue, New York City | 115199". Emporis. Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  18. ^ "Union Carbide & Carbon Building, New York City | 102469". Emporis. 2001-01-21. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  19. ^ "Vanderbilt Avenue Building, New York City | 116385". Emporis. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-02.

Literature[edit]

  • Nathan Silver: Lost New York, Rare Book Cellar, 1967, First Edition; Third Printing, ISBN 9780517167038
  • Kathrens, Michael C. (2005). Great Houses of New York, 1880-1930. New York: Acanthus Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-926494-34-3.

Related pages[edit]

Other links[edit]