Minecraft Project: Postwar Lower Manhattan

[IhateUSsteel]

Small update yet big update: I don’t have much to report on that is on new land, but I recently changed the year to 1959. The changes are as follows:

• Chase Manhattan under construction on the site of the Mutual LIfe Building(1884) and Queen Insurance Building(1897)

• New York Stock Exchange Annex on the site of the Postal Building(1897), it’s annex(1905), and the Blair Building(1902)

• 2 Broadway on the site of the New York Produce Exchange(1884) and another tenement

• Trinity School Building at 100 Trinity Place replacing tenements

• Brooklyn Bridge ramps on the site of the World Building(1890) and N. William Street

• 45 Wall Street on the site of the US Bank Building(1889) and Atlantic Building(1901)

• 4 story brutalist rooftop addition to the Guaranty Trust Co. at 140 Broadway(1912)

The Stock Exchange, though brutal, was the first major modern skyscraper in downtown. I find it interesting, as in my project it stands side by side with the Knickerbocker Trust Building and Manhattan Life Building, which only happened for a few years(its completion in 1957 to the others’ demolition in 1963).

Here is Chase under construction. I have yet to do the base part (too damn confusing as the basement levels and bulldozed ground is still exposed at this point) but it looks pretty great and adds a lot to the map.

Though the World Building being demolished was a loss, the lack of it does have a few perks: it brings light to the north side of the Tribune Building and gives the Black Building some exposure, it provides some open space and detail with the ramps (still incomplete) as well as adding an open plaza space with unique views of the Woolworth, Tribune and Municipal Buildings, as well as the old Bridge neighborhood (this existence also lasted a very short time, from the plaza’s opening in 1959 to the demolition of half the neighborhood in 1963)

2 Broadway is another change. I hate to see the massive Produce Exchange go but I would love to see how the modern tower interacted with its environment. Like lots of other early modern towers downtown, this also didn’t last very long: half the block to the south was razed in 1961 for an Emery Roth wedding cake tower, and the South St area was attacked by renewal in 1966.

The building isn’t complete yet, but it is rising slowly with its original 1959 checkered facade.

Another change I thought I’d bring up is 140 Broadway. The 1912 building was originally about 9 stories with a peaked mansard roof, but as it turns out a renovation in 1953-1956 destroyed the upper stories and added a new 4 story brutal cap that does nothing to benefit the rest of the building architecturally. So, here is the tumor.

This reminds me quite of the savagery that happened to the Manhattan Life Building in 1940. The upper stories and crown were demolished and replaced with a similar looking brutalist heap that destroyed the building’s recognizeability and dignity.

The one thing I hate about 1959 however is the site east of St. Paul’s Chapel. What once was the precious site of the St. Paul Building and the National Park Bank was reduced to a hole in the ground from the early autumn months of 1958 to the spring of 1959. The hole offers some good views, but a soulless pit is a soulless pit.

I’ve added other things prior to the change, and there is still a lot I have yet to post about or explain, though I will try to do that eventually. I will also post in the event that the crimes committed (demolishing the St. Paul Building, Cable Building, World Building etc) get to my head and I revert back to 1953.

I will end this post off with a nice nighttime picture of the National Bank of Commerce and Syndicate Buildings at night with their new operable lights.

Until next time.

[IhateUSsteel]

It’s been a while so I thought I’d post another update.

2 Things to note:
1: I ended up changing the year back to 1953, again, as much as I enjoy the later years, the map seems dull without the more graceful structures that the 1950s sacrificed and with the boxes instead.
2: I haven’t added any new buildings over the past few weeks, though I have made progress in different ways and areas.

I’ve been adding block layouts on the east side of the island, slowly spreading up towards the Brooklyn Bridge. The layouts added so far allow me to add 5 new art deco towers, as well as reincorporate and rebuild the old New York Steam Plant.

I’ve also rebuilt a few older buildings recently that had to be demolished either for redesigning layouts or because I hated the design. Regardless, all of the remasters turned out far better than the original. The most recent ones include:

• The John Wolfe Building, 80 Maiden Lane, 1895-1974
  

  

• The Bishop Building, 2 Liberty Street, 1901-1990 (also including the annex at 72 William Street, built in 1951-2)
  

  

• The Royal Bank of Canada Building, 70 William Street, 1903-1989
  

  

• The Queen Insurance Building, 69 William Street, 1897-1955
  

  

There are still 3 buildings I plan to demolish and rebuild soon however:

• The Home Insurance Building, 59 Maiden Lane, 1921-1969(?)
• The Central Hanover Building, 70 Broadway, 1894-1963
• 60 Wall Street, 1905-1976

On the subject of rebuilding, I’d like to show pictures of buildings I have demolished and rebuilt, though never shared photos of.

• New York Tribune Building, 1874-1967
  

  

• Commercial Cable Building, 1897-1955
  

  

• 100 Gold Street, 1921-1967
  

  

• St. Paul Building, 1897-1959
  

  

• American Exchange National Bank Building, 1901-1964
  

  

• Guaranty Trust Building, 1912/1916-1964
  

  

Mutual Life Insurance Building, 1884/1888/1892/1901-1956

That’s all for now, I’ll post more soon. I’ll end off with the pictures of the buildings at night with the new lighting methods: The Hudson Terminal and World Buildings are the latest to carry this distinction. Cheers.

[the726]

Those night shots of the city are lovely. Great work!

[ManhattanManofMC]

Thank God you’re keeping it at 1953! I was reading the earlier update regarding the change to 59 and my heart dropped because believe it or not, I’m SO excited for the 3rd Avenue El which was demolished JUST AFTER 53, and the Chatham Square Area (which I hope you’re still adding) with it’s great views of the Municipal building, and 40 Wall, 70 pine, 20X, it’ll be one of the more old timey additions to the city! It’s BookishAlarm11 btw, from Xbox

[robermat]

Because of its a prominent location I would love to see the St. Paul Building rebuilt more than any other building in the city.

Not because it’s the best but because its location has such and impact on the streetscape.

[IhateUSsteel]

Lol I forgot about the 3rd Avenue El when I did it, but I’m glad I kept it at 53. It will be a great addition.

I also love the St. Paul Building. It’s dull in ways, but it adds positively to the surroundings from every angle.
(Here’s a rare picture showing some of it in color c. 1958, not long before it disappeared)

I also love 214 Broadway next door. Damn this building was great.

On the subject of the 3rd Avenue El, I know that the City Hall stretch was closed/demolished in 1953-4, but does anyone know what became of the lower ends by 1953? I know there were stations at Hanover Square, Franklin Square, South Ferry, etc. that closed in late 1950, but I have no idea when exactly they were all demolished.

If the lower stretch was gone by 1953, I’ll really be disappointed. The Coenties Slip S-Curve would be a fantastic touch.

[ManhattanManofMC]

Actually there’s a vid on YouTube of an ENTIRE ride down the 3rd Ave El which might be of particular interest to you and what was down by that last stretch of track

[IhateUSsteel]

Interestingly I see no traces of the southern end by 1951/2.

So Chatham Square closed in 1955, City Hall in 1953, and Franklin/Hanover/S Ferry in late 1950. I take it that the stretch running from Chatham Square to South Ferry was demolished in early 1951.
Sucks, I wanted to see the 60 Wall Tower next to the old track.

The City Hall station closed the last day of 1953, so that would still exist, and everything north of Chatham Square would, fortunately.

Hm, 1950 was an interesting year…

[ManhattanManofMC]

Well, it’ll still be nice to have the El at all, because it’ll nicely complement the old tenement like buildings in Chatham square, (and perhaps you can add some little secrets down there😊) I also think it’ll create nice views, like the classic photographs of Lower Manhattan underneath the Brooklyn bridge. Not to mention that you’ll still have a good 4 or 5 blocks of track (at the least) because Chatham Square I believe extends down south of the Brooklyn Bridge

[ManhattanManofMC]

One other thing, (just an idea)… I understand you’re going for full accuracy regarding the absence/presence of buildings/structures per year, HOWEVER, you may want to consider just ignoring what was demolished after 53 JUST for this one exception, (the El) because it’s not like it’ll feel any older/younger than 53, plus, it’ll make the whole area look better, just a thought🤷‍♂️

[IhateUSsteel]

I talked to a few others and they agreed with the idea I brought up, so the year may be changed to 1950.

Changes include:

• The original Fulton Market Building, demolished in 1950
• The stretch of the 3rd Ave Elevated, running from Chatham to South Ferry
• Annexes to 2 Liberty Street and 130 William Street will be under construction
• Mutual Life Building at Nassau and Liberty will be occupied with lights on
  And much more I can’t get into detail on.

I’ll see how this goes

[ManhattanManofMC]

It’ll be nice to see some under construction buildings, for in the 50s they usually didn’t have tons and tons of scaffolding on the skyscrapers under construction, like you do nowadays like with the Woolworth Building🤦‍♂️

[IhateUSsteel]

There is one negative I found that this year change will bring: 99 Church Street opened in late 1951.

According to the NY Times, demolition started in March 1950 on 11 tenements on the site. I’d assume it probably took at least 2-4 months to demolish them, and 12-16 months of construction.
(Shown under construction here, circa 1950 or 1951)

I don’t know how I’ll make the site appear if I do the change, but if I’ll probably put more thought into it once I’m done with the Home Insurance Building and other things.

This is the last building I have to rebuild from this area before I start spreading out and adding to the map again. It was originally built in an L shape, but then gained additions on Maiden Lane and on the corner, and later had more additions leading up to its demolition with others for Home Insurance Plaza. Decent photos of this are hard to come by.

[IhateUSsteel]

I figured I’d make another update.

I recently rebuilt the Home Insurance Building back after demolishing and rebuilding it. It is technically 4 buildings in one, counting the slightly varying annexes built around the original 1910 building. It was demolished in 1966 when the new building opened.

I also added the Grace Building at 7 Hanover Square, where the massive postmodern brute brick building is now. It was demolished in 1974.

The middle of the lot will eventually hold a gas station and a parking lot.

Also, 80 John Street was finished. I was also going to add the Woodbridge Building next door also, but something else caught my attention.

I recently decided that the Woolworth Building must come down. Its design was dated, it was too short for my liking, and could use some better designs than the bland shaft it was.

It was completely demolished, and a new one is rising out of the ground. Currently it is at the top of the “podium” portion, and it will continue to rise.

I also lit up the 60 Wall Street tower like the other buildings nearby. Being it is my tallest building, it took a damn long time to light up (4 hours) but was worth the treat.

I’ll post more when I add something new, or at least when I finish Woolworth. Cheers.

[IhateUSsteel]

After about a day and a half of work the new Woolworth Building is completed. I love it.

It retains the lobby and base of the previous building but is a complete demolition/rebuild.

Some shaders shots: (There are elevators, offices and interiors added inside the building, though I haven’t used the yellow lights to make it glow at night yet)

90 West might get a similar remaster later on.

My main focus now may be to add on to the run down tenement filled area west of City Hall. I also would like to add interior to certain buildings, such as the Broadway Savings Bank across the street.

[TK2000]

Amazing job on Woolworth!

[ManhattanManofMC]

Happy 2 year anniversary man!!!

[IhateUSsteel]

Thanks again. My 1000th building is almost done (90 west) and though I need a new computer and I hate using my phone, I’ll try to push out some pictures soon.

[IhateUSsteel]

Another update:

Rather than posting the photos of 90 West Street, I’d rather show it as it blends with the rest of the cityscape as the windows 10 render distance shows. The current render distance I have is 68 chunks/1088M, though I could probably increase it (with the consequence of lag). Enjoy 1953 as it is, whole.

From above the Whitehall Buildings, you can see the World Building

Corner of West Street and Warren Street, with the Singer and Bank of Manhattan Buildings finally visible

From the Municipal Building. You can see how far skyscrapers have come, with the Tribune Building (365 feet) and World Building (309 feet), and the Bank of Manhattan Building (927 feet) in the background

Radio Row with the tallest towers in the back

Over the Hudson

Woolworth in focus

If you’ve seen Berenice Abbott’s Financial District Rooftops photo, this should look familiar

Singer Building and Broadway from the future Battery

Over Broadway

The Washington Market

World Building

Looking down Park Row, showing the St. Paul’s Chapel, and the St Paul, Park Row, Potter, Times, Tribune and World Buildings

The Inverse

Whitehall Buildings and the crown jewels

Looking down the West Side Highway

Looking north over the city

East from the Hudson River

These two do not need captions

Woolworth Building from the Municipal Building

Looking north from State Street showing the Produce Exchange dwarfed by much higher skyscrapers

Looking towards Singer and Woolworth: The building with the rooftop garden is 4 Albany Street

A general dawn skyline view of 1953

The downtown skyline seen from the Black Building’s roof (demolished 1962)

Nassau Street

View from the Woolworth Building’s observatory looking south

The big 3

An almost-full view of the city from the east

I’d like to close off with this photo, It shows every building downtown that had been tallest by this point. It includes the Tribune, World, Manhattan Life, Park Row, Singer, Woolworth and Bank of Manhattan Buildings.

This is all I’ll be posting for now. If I make another remarkable addition, I’ll post more, mainly with the god-tier render distance on. School is just days away for me however, so I figured I’d just go out with a bang.

Until next time.

[ManhattanManofMC]

One of the nighttime ones I thought was real life at first glance! Nice work brotha!