New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

South Street Seaport

Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Restoration Completed

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Restored Titanic Memorial Lighthouse at South Street Seaport Museum, 2026The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, erected at the corner of Fulton and Water Street, is a memorial dedicated to honor RMS Titanic’s passengers, officers, and crew who perished when the ship sank after collision with an iceberg on April 14, 1912.

It was originally erected on the roof of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), 240 feet above sea level, at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip (now Vietnam Veterans Plaza), on April 15, 1913. [Read more…] about Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Restoration Completed

4th of July in New York City: Recent History and 2023 Plans

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july 4th in new york cityFrom the end of the Revolution until the 1960s, Fourth of July celebrations in the city of New York were a major annual events. (You can read about that history here.)

During the 1970s, the most important July 4th event in New York City became the previously established Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. The highly publicized event proved to be a huge success, but lacked historical context or political meaning. [Read more…] about 4th of July in New York City: Recent History and 2023 Plans

Controversy Over Development At New York’s Seaport Historic District

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South Street and Brooklyn Bridge (c. 1900)On January 5th, 2021, the City of New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission held a virtual public hearing at which more than a hundred people testified about Howard Hughes Corporation’s proposal to build a 47-story residential building at 250 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, at the heart of the South Street Seaport Historic District.

Fights over the appropriateness of tall buildings in Historic Districts are not unusual in the City of New York, but this one is uniquely centered on the purposes of historic preservation and the role cultural institutions play in helping to build and sustain communities, and themselves. [Read more…] about Controversy Over Development At New York’s Seaport Historic District

South St Seaport Among America’s Endangered Places

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South Street Seaport in the 1970sThe South Street Seaport has been named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places according the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since 1988, the National Trust has used this campaign to raise awareness about the threats facing some of the nation’s greatest treasures.

The South Street Seaport is a designated NYC Historic District and is considered the first World Trade Center, as it was NYC’s birth place of commerce. [Read more…] about South St Seaport Among America’s Endangered Places

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