Broadway, 1860 

Instantaneous Broadway view, 1860 

Traffic, pedestrians and American and Japanese flags displayed on buildings welcoming Japanese embassy officials during their June 1860 visit to New York City 

Broadway Tabernacle, Congregational churches, 1860 

Buildings, traffic, National Bank Note Company building on the right of Broadway. Bank of the Republic Building appears to be draped in mourning bands, likely after the death of President Abraham Lincoln, 1865 

Business establishments on Broadway, including the New York Hotel building and "Gurney's Gallery", Jeremiah Gurney's photographic studio (left side of image), 1869 

Broadway from Liberty Street, 1896 

Broadway with the Trinity spire in the background, between 1860 and 1870 

Broadway & Trinity Church, 1890 

Beggar Peddler - Woman holding a small child and a box of Wrigley's Spearmint gum, in front of a building on Broadway in New York City; pedestrians on sidewalk in background, 1909 

New York City Aqueduct excavation site on Broadway, 1910-1915 

New York City Aqueduct excavation site on Broadway, 1910-1915 

New York City Aqueduct excavation site on Broadway, 1910-1915 

Corner of Broadway Street with many people walking about, October 1952 

Sign for Broadway Central Hotel and advertisement for Gotham Equipment Corp, December 1952_LOC 

Sign for Commercial State Bank and "Hot Knishes" food cart at intersection of Spring Street and Broadway. Looking South on Broadway, November 1953 

Broadway fashions. For spring and summer 1866, published by E. Butterick, 192 Broadway, NY 

Policeman escorting two women across Broadway, 1870 

1969 - Trump International Hotel & Towers   When Donald Trump bought the Old Headquarters for Gulf and Western, he wanted to transform the original 45 story office building into a hotel and apartment building. This required his architects, Philip Johnson and Costysis Kandilis to add an additional 7 floors (for a total of 52) and reclad the original beige stone and glass building with black glass. At the base Trump placed a stainless steel globe which was purported to be inspired by the Unisphere at the former world's fair in Queens.

2002 - aaa test  DESCRIPTION This is where you tell us about the site. Describe what it is and why it’s important. If there are multiple dates associated with the site, you can explain what happened during each period. You just check off the description checkbox for the date and the field will pop down so that you can tell more fully what happened. A lot of people will be reading your description on their phones so it will be helpful to make it as concise as you can.

2009 - Times Square Visitors Center  In Times Square, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, it is a challenge to create places for visitor services and information. The Visitors Center gives new life to the retired Embassy movie theater, located at 47th Street & Broadway, directly opposite the new ruby-red stepped TKTS booth. Part museum and part zeitgeist happening, with healthy dollops of theatricality and sleek sophistication, this re-purposed space straddles the 20th and 21st centuries to reflect the continuity and vitality of the world’s crossroads.

1999 - US Armed Forces Recruiting Station  The U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square signs over 1,000 applicants every year. It has been on this spot since 1946, and was granted indefinite free use of the land it is on in 1950. The current building, which was constructed in 1999, resembles a three-dimensional U.S. flag. The US Department of Defense commissioned ARO to replace their busiest recruiting station, a 500 SF structure located in the heart of Times Square. The challenge was to create a symbol of service that would not be dwarfed in a sea of commerce. ARO designed a carefully detailed stainless-steel building with an American flag of colored fluorescent lights (now replaced with LED lights) illuminating each long facade. The building has become an icon. In 2006, the Municipal Art Society of New York City designated it one of 30 buildings erected in the past 30 years worthy of landmark status.

2014 - Renovation of Times Square  The Times Square project is a permanent pedestrian precinct with a goal of making it a destination for visitors, comfortable for daily workers, convenient for theater-goers and an asset to retails. The landscape will create a surface that marks the historic alignment of Broadway, blurs the traditional sidewalk/road boundaries and affords the maximum flexibility of uses.

1848 - Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace  Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site is a recreated brownstone at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. It is a replica of the birthplace and childhood home of 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

1897 - ABC Carpet  ABC Carpet & Home Co. Inc.’s eight-story building in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, with nearly eight acres of selling space, is the largest rug and carpet store in the world, attracting about a million visitors each year. The company’s array of products include not only carpets and rugs but also antiques, furniture, textiles, gifts and accessories, and bed and bath items. ABC Carpet & Home traces its beginning to 1897, when Sam Weinrib, an Austrian immigrant, loaded a cart with used carpeting and linoleum and pushed it through Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

1915 - Astor Building  Built by John Jacob Astor, Astor House was constructed between 1832 and 1836 in order to provide comfortable living accommodations for New York’s elite. Designed by renowned architect Isaiah Rogers, the it consisted of an unprecedented 309 bedrooms and 17 “bathing rooms”. Servants rooms were upstairs under the cornice. It had gaslights. It was considered to be New York's finest lodging. By 1852 James Bogardus had added a glass and cast iron 'rotunda' to the dining room in the courtyard. It was filled with luminaries of the day. Lincoln even stayed there on his way to his inauguration in 1861. The hotel stood for 80 years, until 1914 when the south half was demolished to create the Astor Office Building.

1931 - 1 Wall Street  One Wall Street (originally the Irving Trust Company Building, then the Bank of New York Building after 1988, and now known as the BNY Mellon Building since 2007), is a bank headquarters building which remains one of the finest Art-Deco-style skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is 654 feet (199 m) tall and consists of two sections. The original 50-story building with a 36-story annex to the south. The facade, made of limestone, contains slight inwardly-curved bays with fluting to resemble curtains. On the lower stories are narrow windows with mullions, as well as ornate entrances. The massing of 1 Wall Street incorporates numerous small setbacks, and the top of the original building consists of a freestanding tower. The corners of the original building consist of chamfers, while the top of the tower has fluted windowless bays. The facade of the annex is designed in a style evocative of the original structure. Inside is an ornate main lobby with colored mosaics. The building replaced three previous structures, including the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, once the world's tallest building.

1917 - Cunard Building  This nautically-detailed building was used as a booking hall for Cunard's ocean liners.

2007 - Bowling Green Station Canopy  The new entrance to the Bowling Green Station 4 and 5 subway lines protects riders, and the escalator, from snow, rain and wind. Sited between the landmarked Customs House and historic Bowling Green Park, the new station canopy is a dramatic, transparent, curved steel and glass structure sensitive to its historic surroundings. Five stainless steel ribs project over the entrance, supporting a segmented glass roof and side wall panels. A granite base encloses the entrance stair and escalator and supports the canopy. The project involved close coordination with multiple public agencies and community organizations.

1786 - 2nd Presidential Mansion  Alexander Macomb was an Irish-born American merchant and land speculator. He built the four-story city house on the west side of Broadway in 1786–1788. Macomb leased it to the French Minister Plenipotentiary, the Comte de Moustier, who occupied it until his return to Paris in early 1790. 'It was one of a block of three houses erected in 1787 and was four stories and an attic high, with a width of fifty-six feet. From the rear of the main rooms glass doors opened onto a balcony giving an uninterrupted view of the Hudson River. On entering, one found a large hall with a continuous flight of stairs to the top of the house. On each side of the hall were spacious, high-ceilinged rooms, used for the levees and dinners and always referred to by Washington as "public rooms."'

2011 - Test Site by Neetable  Urban Archive is a technology nonprofit that promotes historical research and discovery. OUR MISSION Our mission is to extend the reach of cultural organizations by providing them with collaborative tools to share local history. We strive to: Promote access to collections by creating a centralized resource for educators, academics, and amateurs alike. Encourage the study of local history by situating historical photography in context. Facilitate interaction with historical collections via engaging mobile features. Extend the reach of cultural institutions by introducing young and diverse audiences to historical content. Extend collections beyond museum walls, encouraging engagement with the city itself.

1862 - A.T. Stewart Iron Palace  Stewart's "true" department store, referred to as the "Iron Palace", was built. This six-story building, with its cast-iron front, glass dome skylight and grand emporium, employed up to 2,000 people. The immense structure occupied a major portion of a city block near Grace Church, from Broadway and Ninth Street to Tenth Street and Astor Place. The establishment's nineteen departments included silks, dress goods, carpets, and toys. By 1877 it had expanded to thirty departments, carrying a wide variety of items. As noted by The New York Times, "a man may fit up his house there down to the bedding, carpets and upholstery."

1846 - A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Store  AT Stewart opened his first dry goods store with a $10,000 inheritance from his Irish grandfather. Stewart turned out to be a natural salesman. The store became known for good prices and customer service. Stewart became a millionaire after the Panic of 1837 when he was able to buy the inventory of other merchants who had financial reverses. By the mid 1840's the store was so successful that Stewart needed to expand. He assembled Broadway which became the first Department Store and the first building in New York clad in Tuckahoe Marble, from which it got its nickname. Over the next few years there were several 'modular' additions until it became the largest retail store in the world. Innovations included a women’s department where women could try on imported clothes, a fur department, large glass windows where people could see the merchandise, and mail order which he started in 1868. The store began on the corner of Broadway and Reade, and gradually expanded down Broadway and across Chambers Streets, with additions in 1850-51 and 1851–52, both designed by Trench & Snook, and 1872, designed by Frederick Schmidt.

1907 - Houdini upside down hanging trick  Houdini Begins Performing Upside-Down Straitjacket Escapes. One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane.

1842 - Barnum's American Museum  In 1842, PT Barnum opened a combination zoo, museum, and freak show; attractions included Tom Thumb and Siamese Twins Cheng and Eng. At its peak, 15,000 visitors came daily, or 38 million total visitors. The site at Ann Street was then used for a new building for the New York Herald newspaper.

1783 - Evacuation Day  November 25 marks the day in 1783 when the British Army departed from New York City on Manhattan Island, after the end of the American Revolutionary War. In their wake, General George Washington triumphantly led the Continental Army from his headquarters north of the city across the Harlem River, and south through Manhattan to the Battery at its southern tip.

1776 - George III Statue toppled  The July 9, 1776 reading of the Declaration of Independence in "the Fields," or City Hall Park by George Washington, incited a lively demonstration of support. A crowd proceeded down Broadway to Bowling Green Park and toppled the gilded equestrian statue of George III. The finials/ornaments at the top of the fence posts were also cut off. According to folklore, the statue was chopped up and shipped to a Connecticut foundry under the direction of Oliver Wolcott to be made into 42,088 patriot bullets at 20 bullets per pound (2,104.4 pounds). The statue's head was to have been paraded about town on pike-staffs but was recovered by Loyalists and sent to England. The King George III statue had been commissioned in 1766, along with a statue of William Pitt, from the prominent London sculptor Joseph Wilton, as a celebration of victory after the Seven Years' War. With the rapid deterioration of relations with Britain after 1770, the statue became a magnet for the Bowling Green protests. In 1773, the city passed an anti-graffiti and anti-desecration law to counter vandalism against the monument, and a protective cast-iron fence was built along the perimeter of the park; the fence is still extant, making it the city's oldest fence. The William Pitt Statue was toppled by the British in retaliation for the destruction of King George III's statue.

1733 - Leased for 1 pepper corn a year  A ‘manicured lawn bowling court’ created by the Common Council and funded by Peter Jay, John Chambers and Peter Bayard was the 1st park in New York, landmarked in 1970. The land had been under city control since 1686, but in 1733, the Common Council leased a portion of the parade grounds to three prominent neighboring landlords - John Chambers, Peter Bayard, and Peter Jay, for one peppercorn a year, who were tasked with maintaining and improving the land for the - upon their promise to create a park that would be for the "Recreation and delight of the Inhabitants of the City" and add to its "Beauty and Ornament"; the improvements were to include a "bowling green" with "walks therein". The surrounding streets were not paved with cobblestones until 1744. In 1819, the park underwent a private transition similar to today's Gramercy Park, where wealthy residents bordering Bowling Green could plant trees and accept responsibility for the park in exchange for exclusive access to the park grounds. This was changed by the mid-1800s and the public was again able to use the park. The park has changed greatly over the years and through multiple renovations, but one piece of original iron fencing from 1771 remains at the southwest corner of the park and was designated a New York landmark in 1964.

1924 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, New York City  The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, the world's largest parade, is presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The parade started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade). The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, passing through some of the most iconic New York landmarks, squares and buildings, finally ending outside Macy's Herald Square, and takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day.

1614 - Wickquasgeck Trail  The trail that the First Peoples of Manhattan, the Lenape Indians used to travel north-south on the island. The Europeans renamed this path "Broadway".

1823 - First Gas Line in NYC  Started in March 1823, the newly incorporated New York Gas Light Co. became the first company to get the deal to make and lay cast-iron pipes, as well as supply the gas for the lighting, down Broadway—from Grand Street to Battery. The project was completed in 1825, making Broadway the first street to be lit completely with gas. The Company was awarded a second deal in expanding the gas line system the year after the first project’s completion. This second project added 2,400 posts between the East and Hudson Rivers on the southern part of the Island. 7 years later the Manhattan Gas Light Company made the same improvements to the northern part of the Island.

1658 - Broadway widened and paved  Portions of Broadway were once a part of a primary route of the Lenape people in Pre-Dutch New York. The Dutch had decided that that Lenape trail which ran the length of Manhattan, or present-day Broadway, would be called the Heere Wegh. The first regional ground transportation that was built out of Nieuw Amsterdam was a "wagon-road" that linked to Nieuw Haarlem (Harlem). It was built in 1658 to encourage the development of that town, by order of Petrus Stuyvesant, who saw that Nieuw Haarlem could provide an important measure of defense for Nieuw Amsterdam. As it was clearly destined to be the most prominent lane on the island when the Dutch widened the path they referred to it as the Gentlemen's Street, or the High Street, or simply the Highway. The English, of course, called it Broadway.

2016 - Evacuation Day Plaza  The renaming of a portion of Bowling Green, a street in Lower Manhattan to Evacuation Day Plaza was proposed by Arthur R. Piccolo, the chairman of the Bowling Green Association, and James S. Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Society. The proposal was initially turned down by the New York City Council in 2016 because the council's rules for street renaming specify that a renamed street must commemorate a person, an organization, or a cultural work. However, with the support of Councilwoman Margaret Chin, and after supporters of the renaming pointed to streets and plazas named after "Do the Right Thing Way", "Diversity Plaza", "Hip Hop Boulevard", and "Ragamuffin Way", the council reversed its decision and approved the renaming of the street on February 5, 2016.

1773 - Bowling Green Park Fence  In 1773, the city passed an anti-graffiti and anti-desecration law to counter vandalism against the monument, and a protective cast-iron fence was built along the perimeter of the park; the fence is still extant, making it the city's oldest fence. This fence is an example of pre-Revolutionary War ironworks.

1951 - The Automated Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle  Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Wanted to Create a Giant Conveyor Belt to Carry People Between Grand Central and Times Square hoping to transport 60,000 New Yorkers daily a third faster than the subway thanks to a continuous loop. In 1954 the New York Board of Transportation allocated $3.8 million to construct the conveyor belt system on the existing shuttle tracks. From its offices in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear spent a year testing its design, even making sure it could accommodate women in heels, shoppers with their arms full, and handicapped persons. It was cancelled less than a year later due to high cost.

1870 - Elevated pneumatic road proposed in New York City  Dr. Rufus Henry Gilbert received a charter for his plan but could not attract enough investors and the financial panic of 1873 ended his plan which was : to place along the street, at distances from fifty to one hundred feet, compound Gothic iron arches, which shall span the street from curb to curb, at such an elevation as shall not interfere with the ordinary uses of the street. On these arches, a double line of atmospheric tubes, eight or nine feet in diameter, are to be secured. Through the tubes, supported as described, cars, carrying passengers, are to be propelled by atmospheric power. There is also provision in the same set of arches for two or more sets of tubes for the transportation of mails and packages. The stations will be situated at distances of about one mile apart along the line, and will be provided with pneumatic elevators to raise passengers to and from the place of transit with perfect safety, thus obviating the necessity of going up and down stairs for transit.

1733 - Bowling Green  Bowling Green is New York City’s oldest park. According to tradition, this spot served as the council ground for Native American tribes and was the site of the legendary sale of Manhattan to Peter Minuit in 1626. It was first designated as a park in 1733, when it was offered for rent at the cost of one peppercorn per year. By the late 18th century, Bowling Green marked the center of New York’s most fashionable residential area, surrounded by rows of Federal-style townhouses. Since December 1989 the statue of Charging Bull (1987-89) has been on display at the north end of the park. Its sculptor, Arturo DiModica, says the three-and-a-half-ton bronze figure represents "the strength, power and hope of the American people for the future." It has also been linked to the prosperity enjoyed by Wall Street in the past decade.

2008 - TKTS Booth and the Redevelopment of Father Duffy Square  The new TKTS booth and the redevelopment of Father Duffy Square create a new center for Times Square, one of the world's most popular and iconic destinations. The project began in 1999 with a design competition to re-design the popular TKTS booth. While the competition brief simply requested designs for a small scale architectural structure to replace the existing ticket booth, Australian firm Choi Ropiha reframed the problem as one requiring a broader urban design response to invigorate and provide a center for Times Square, and won the competition. In 2001, Perkins Eastman was brought on board to evaluate the Choi Ropiha scheme, and developed several approaches and from those a final design which, while informed and inspired by the original concept, used a distinctly 21st Century set of approaches: glass would now be employed as the TKTS Booth's sole structural component for the steps and the TKTS Booth itself would be free standing within the glass enclosure. Cutting-edge technology was integrated throughout the lighting and mechanical systems as well. LED arrays beneath the steps create buoyant luminescence underfoot. Five geothermal wells circulate a water/glycol mix 450 feet below Broadway and back again through heat exchangers that cool the interior in summer, warm it in winter and keep the staircase ice free. Completing the transformation of Father Duffy Square was the work of William Fellows (now with PKSB), who transformed the public space of the square to allow for increased pedestrian traffic and more prominence for Father Duffy's commanding statue.

2001 - Artemis, Acrobats, Divas, and Dancers  This series of 22 brilliantly colored glass mosaic panels lines the walls of the station and bows to Lincoln Center's opera, ballet, and classical music halls - and the vibrant, artistic character of the Upper West Side neighborhood. Spero conveys this through the use of iconic images of women both real and mythical, from such varied sources as archaeology, architecture, mythology and the contemporary world. In Artemis, Acrobats, Divas, and Dancers, the central icon of opera, the Diva, is repeated in various forms that lead and follow riders through the station, giving the illusion of movement and change. Elsewhere, Spero represents scenes from the subway and the city outside, the architectural backgrounds enlivened by musicians performing and athletes running, signaling you are in a creative and energetic place, the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

2002 - Times Square Mural by Roy Lichtenstein  Times Square Mural captures the spirit of the subway, its linear movement and dynamic energy. With a nod to both the past and the future- its central image is a futuristic bullet shaped car zipping through an underground station. And not just any station, this is Times Square, in the heart of New York City. Lichtenstein was born in New York in 1923 and spent his last years here. Times Square Mural reflects his career, with references to, and variations on, his earlier works. Lichtenstein also freely appropriated and incorporated images from the works of other artists and designers in his work. For instance, the hooded figure at the right of the mural is from the old Buck Rogers comic strips and the iconic 42 image is from a series of drawings of the architectural detail of the subway. It is a signature work that honors its creator and the place in which it is located.

2001 - New York in Transit (Times Square Mural)  Jacob Lawrence's final work of public art dominates the Times Square subway's mezzanine, depicting the people and pastimes of New York in rich and shimmering tones. This is a MTA Arts for Transit project. The installation of "New York In Transit", a glass mosaic mural designed by Mr. Lawrence for the Times Square subway station, coincides with the Whitney Museum of American Arts opening of the most extensive retrospective of his work ever presented. His dramatic Times Square mosaic pays tribute to the diversity and strength of New York City its neighborhoods, cultural life, recreational pleasures, love of sports and, of course, its subway system.

2008 - Revelers (Times Square Mural)  Jane Dickson celebrates the ball drop that takes place in Times Square every New Year's Eve, and the "revelers" who come from far and near to see it - with this colorful and spirited glass mosaic. This is an MTA Arts for Transit project. With the 2008 installation of her mosaic cycle Revelers in the Times Square 42nd Street Subway Station, her work has become an important aspect of the place itself.

2005 - 35 Times (Times Square Mural)  This public art project for the Times Square subway station consists of 35 ceramic tiles over 800 feet, installed among the glass blocks in a station passageway. Buonagurio used fashion, performance, and street art as his three touchstones when conceiving the piece. An MTA Arts for Transit Project. Glazed ceramic panels installed in the transfer corridor between the 1/2/3 station and the Shuttle. The commission was received in 1992 and the first phase of the work finally installed 2004-2005.

1895 - James Gordon Bennett Memorial (Bell Ringers Memorial)  The inscription on the sculpture reads: "A memorial to James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872) Founder of the New York Herald in 1835 and to his son James Gordon Bennett (1841-1918) through whose vision and enterprise The New York Herald became one of the World's Great Newspapers"

1892 - Horace Greeley Statue  This statue is one of two New York public statues that commemorate Horace Greeley. Greeley was a successful newspaper publisher as well as a strong social and political activist. He loudly supported labor unions and the abolition of slavery. His opinions towards Manifest Destiny were obvious in his famous quote, "Go West young man, go West." Both the New York Typographical Union and the Brooklyn Typographical Union commissioned the statue in 1892. Defeated as the Presidential Candidate for the Liberal Republican Party in 1872, he was a longtime abolitionist, founder and editor of the New York Tribune

Madison Square Fountain  Circular in plain Granite base, 6 flower pots incorporated into fence design

1876 - William H. Seward  This imposing bronze statue of statesman William Seward (1801–1872) was created by the artist Randolph Rogers (1825–1892). The sculpture was dedicated in 1876, and Seward is said to be the first New Yorker to be honored with a monument in the city. The sculpture, placed on a diagonal facing the intersection of Broadway and 23rd Street at the southwest corner of Madison Square Park, was dedicated on September 27, 1876. Numerous dignitaries, including future president Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) and General Winfield S. Hancock (1824–1886) attended the proceedings, which were reported to be “fittingly done” without extravagant pageantry, but told “the story of [Seward’s] life, of the perils he encountered and the triumphs he achieved.” In 1995, the sculpture was conserved.

2002 - Memories of Twenty Third Street (23rd St Subway Mural)  From the 1880s through the 1920s, 23rd Street was a major vaudeville, entertainment, and cultural district, and ‘Ladies Mile,’ the fashion and department store haven of the time, was located nearby,” states the MTA’s Arts for Transit website. Once a center of culture, fashion, and entertainment, the Flatiron area was once bustling with actresses, dancers, and people of all backgrounds. Keith Godard thought about the 23rd St. area's history with these small mosaics depicting hats he thought celebrities passing through the area might have worn. It pays homage to all the regular patrons of this very neighborhood in the 20th century. It tells a story of times long gone and the people who lived it. There are 120 hats in all 60 aligned along each side of the platform, mounted at each person's height.

1856 - Union Square Timeline Medallion 11  George Washington Statue, sculpture Henry Kirke Brown, assisted by John Quincy Adams Ward, July 4, 1856.

1854 - Union Square Timeline Medallion 10  The Academy of Music, built in 1854 and the third Tammany Hall, 1868 on 14th Street east of Union Square

1850 - Union Square Timeline Medallion 9  Looking South over Union Square in the 1850's

1852 - Union Square Timeline Medallion 8  The SouthEast corner of Union Square in 1852

2002 - Union Square Timeline  'Union Square was named for the union of Bowerie Lane and Bloomingdale Road which is now Broadway.' The timeline is presented in a series of 22 panels showing the development and major events of the area. The first panel is a composition of three maps showing the native American Settlements, the Ratzer map of 1776 and the Commissioners Plan.

2013 - Broadway 1000 Steps: City as Living Laboratory  The City as Living Laboratory project, BROADWAY: 1000 Steps (B/CaLL) is to be activated at up to 20 sites along the length of Broadway. The goal is to foster public understanding of the natural systems and infrastructure that supports life in the city. Through exploration of the Broadway corridor, viewers will become aware that nature is everywhere and in action at all times, that the city is an urban ecosystem, that innumerable numbers of small decisions over time have shaped the environment we inhabit today and that our decisions today (behavioral choices) will impact the future of all of nature.

1776 - Montgomery Monument  Leading the charge of the Battle of Quebec, Major General Richard Montgomery died under British fire in 1775. In order to drum up public support for the revolutionary war effort, Benjamin Franklin convinced the Continental Congress to commission the monument, to build support for separation from Britain. Benjamin Franklin championed the monument from its design to its installation, in spite of the intervening war and paltry coffers. On Jan 25th, 1776 Ben Franklin was given 300 pounds sterling to oversee its creation commissioning the French royal sculptor, Jean-Jacques Caffieri It was also Franklin who scouted the Versailles sculptor Jean-Jacques Caffieri. After Caffieri completed the sculpture in 1777, Franklin had the chutzpa to show it off in Paris while the war still raged. One year from declaring independence and the young nation was already commemorating its own. For the remainder of the war the monument was stowed away in North Carolina. By 1787, it found its way to front of St. Paul’s and Pierre L’Enfant, the so-to-be planner of Washington D.C., oversaw the installation. Montgomery is buried beneath the monument. This was the first piece of commissioned public artwork by the new country.

1804 - Alexander Hamilton Grave  Hamilton's tomb is in the graveyard of Trinity Church at Wall Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Hamilton continued his legal and business activities in New York City, and was active in ending the legality of the international slave trade. Vice President Burr ran for governor of New York State in 1804, and Hamilton campaigned against him as unworthy. Taking offense, Burr challenged him to a duel on July 11, 1804, in which Burr shot and mortally wounded Hamilton, who died the following day.

1836 - John Watts Statue and Grave  John Watts was both a merchant and a politician. Noted for his philanthropy, he helped establish a free clinic and orphanage. The work portrays Watts in his judicial robes, thus emphasizing his political achievements instead of his social accomplishments.

2037 - Fearless Girl  The Fearless Girl, created by artist Kristen Visbal, was put in place by the asset management company State Street Global Advisors on March 7, the eve of International Women's Day. The statue was meant to advertise a new initiative by State Street, calling for more Wall Street firms to have women in leadership. She was met with instant and nearly unanimous acclaim, before some critics questioned why a company with just 5 women on their 26-person leadership team was calling for greater gender equality from other Wall Street companies. While public officials like Mayor Bill de Blasio and public advocate Tish James have applauded the statue, others have labeled her as little more than creative advertising from a giant asset management company.

1989 - Charging Bull  In the wake of the stock market crash of 1987, Arturo Di Modica installed his 7 ton in the middle of the night in front of the NYSE as a 'Christmas Gift to the People of NY'. After leaving it at the foot of a Christmas tree in front of the Stock Exchange, the 7,000-pound sculpture was discovered and sculpture was promptly impounded into storage in Queens. Two days later the artist convinced the Parks Department to have it reinstalled at the bottom of Broadway in Bowling Green. It was released after public outcry and the intervention of Henry Stern, then Parks Commissioner, and was temporarily relocated to its current location two blocks away from the Stock Exchange. Sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull, this sculpture represents aggression, financial optimism, and prosperity. The sculptor Arturo Di Modica spent two years and $325,000 of his own money creating it.

2017 - Pissing Pug  Alex Gardega defiantly placed his sculpture of a dog, lifting its leg to pee, next to Fearless Girl - the bronze pony-tailed defiant girl, erected for International Women's Day in March, staring down the iconic Charging Bull on Wall Street. She had quickly became a symbol of feminism and resistance. He only spent a couple of hours constructing the statue, intentionally making the statue “very raw” out of paper mache, clay and faux bronze.

1770 - Statue of King George III erected  On August 21, 1770, the British government erected a 4,000-pound (1,800 kg) gilded lead equestrian statue of King George III in Bowling Green; the King was dressed in Roman garb in the style of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. The statue had been commissioned in 1766, along with a statue of William Pitt, from the prominent London sculptor Joseph Wilton, as a celebration of victory after the Seven Years' War.

1955 - Emma Lazarus Memorial  This bronze plaque, dedicated in 1955, is a memorial to the poet and patriot Emma Lazarus, who famously penned the sonnet "The New Colossus" that is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land. Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of exiles, from her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

1955 - Peter Caesar Alberti Marker 

Time Sculpture at Lincoln Center  Four clocks are set in three vertical faces of an oblique trianguloid form on a trianguloid base.
Inscription on the front of base at right: "TIME SCULPTURE AT LINCOLN CENTER / BY PHILIP JOHNSON 1998 / GIFT OF YAFFE & GEDALIO GRINBERG" Inscription on each clock face: "MOVADO"

2005 - The Onset of Winter (Times Square Mural)  When Jack Beal was commissioned by the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to create a set of murals for the Times Square subway station as part of the Arts for Transit initiative, his plan was to depict a modern interpretation of the Greek myth about Persephone, queen of the underworld. It took 10 years for the first of those murals, The Return of Spring, to be fabricated, transported, installed, and unveiled. That formal presentation took place on September 14, 2001, just three days after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. At the time, New Yorkers hailed the 7'-x-20' glass-tile image as a symbol of their faith in the future because it showed Persephone emerging from the darkness into the light, turning winter into spring, and restoring life where there was death. The overwhelmingly positive response to that first mural persuaded city officials to fund the companion mural, The Onset of Winter, which was installed on a facing wall in May 2005. In this update of the ancient story, Persephone fulfills her agreement to return to the underworld, thus signaling the start of the autumn and winter seasons. She "twists in agony at the top of the stairs, knowing that she must go but wishing that she could stay," explains the artist. "The event is being filmed with a group of spectators, who certainly would have materialized." Beal posed friends, relatives, and his dog Scoo2er as participants in the mythological story, just as he did in the first mural. With the help of artist Dean Hartung, Beal captured the appearance of his models in an oil painting made to the scale of the intended mosaic. He then shipped the canvas to the Travisanutto Workshop, in Spilimbergo, Italy, and expert craftsmen translated the painted image into one made from small glass tiles. As the mural progressed, scanned photographs were sent to Beal via e-mail so he could recommend adjustments. He then traveled to Italy to approve the completed mural. The mural was fabricated in several sections—each weighing approximately 200 pounds—that were transported to New York and installed on the wall as a seamless image. Steve Miotto, of Miotto Mosaics in New York City, supervised the entire project and worked with New York City employees to frame the mural with white tiles and illuminate it with overhead spotlights. Source: M. Stephen Doherty, American Artist.

1806 - Horatio Gates Plaque  A retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga (1777) – a matter of contemporary and historical controversy – and was blamed for the defeat at the Battle of Camden in 1780. Gates has been described as "one of the Revolution's most controversial military figures" because of his role in the Conway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replace General George Washington; the battle at Saratoga; and his actions during and after his defeat at Camden.

1814 - Angelica Schuyler Church Grave  An American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. Schuyler is also buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery close to her sister and brother-in-law.