Overview

During the Colonial and early Federal periods, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the area now traversed by 14th Street was farmland owned by the Stuyvesants and the Van Burens, among others (Figure 1). In the early-nineteenth century, the farmland of these early settlers became incorporated into the growing city grid, and row houses and mansions replaced open land and antiquated farm structures. The Commissioner’s Plan of 1811 positioned 14th Street in such a way that it was the southern most street to run straight from the East River to the Hudson River. Furthermore, 14th Street became the longest among the cross-town streets laid out in this plan.

On the eastern waterfront edge of this area, small commercial centers formed around dry docks used for ship building. On the Hudson River waterfront, coal, stone and lumber yards existed as early as the 1840s. The small centers on the two waterfronts were the only form of commerce in the area at this time, and stood in contrast to the residential character of the remainder of 14th street. By the 1830s, a locus of residential activity, called Union Square, had formed in the center of the street at the junction of two of the north-south arteries: Bloomingdale Road (later Broadway) and the Bowery (later Fourth Avenue). This area was easily accessed by horse-drawn rail cars on Broadway that began operation in 1832. The residences along the street were joined by churches and other upper-class residential necessities.

The open area at the junction, which had formerly been a potter’s field, was transformed into a public park in 1839. In the 1860s the park became so popular that several well-established businesses located along its perimeter, converting some of the existing row houses into commercial spaces, with ground floor storefronts. Along with the high-end retail stores several theaters and musicales appeared on Union Square. Theatres became an important presence on 14th Street, creating a major theatre district that existed until 1910. By the 1870s, Union Square and the surrounding area had become more commercial than residential in character, and consequently the affluent residents who had lived in the row houses of what had been a quiet residential neighborhood moved uptown, presumably to find quieter, more fashionable residences (Figure 2). The small-scale retail stores were soon joined by larger department stores that moved to the area by building their own architecturally distinct multi-story facilities that dwarfed the previously low-scale neighborhood.

Following the departure of the affluent residents from 14th Street, the growth of the street did not plateau, but rather it continued, taking on a new flavor. The ‘new’ character of 14th Street was a reflection of the changing nature of much of New York at the time that resulted from the influx of western European immigrants and later southeastern European immigrants. In the central section of 14th Street, the row houses that were vacated by the affluent were converted into boarding houses for working class residents. The high-end retail stores of the mid-nineteenth century left the area, following their wealthier clientele uptown, and were replaced by lowend retail stores that better fit the needs of the shoppers who frequented them. In 1881, an elevated rail line was constructed to better serve the growing commercial hub that existed between Sixth Avenue and Union Square, making the area more accessible to people from all over the city.

Industry also found a home in the central section of 14th Street and took on a specialized form known as the singlebay loft building. This unusual building type, identifiable by a single bay of large upper-story windows needed for the admission of light to the workers within, adapted its manufacturing use to the narrow city lot. Industry, in a larger, more conventional fashion, also blossomed on the waterfronts. The new immigrant population flooded the eastern and western extremes of 14th Street, providing a work force for the new manufacturing centers of the two waterfronts. By the 1870s, the Hudson River waterfront had transformed from an area of raw goods to an area used for light manufacturing and the distribution of meat, produce, and liquor. This area further blossomed in 1870 when the Ninth Avenue elevated train opened with a stop on 14th Street. The East River waterfront, which had been used primarily for dry docks in the early- to mid-nineteenth century, was now primarily occupied by coal yards, gas tanks, city sanitation facilities, and manufacturing buildings. Adjacent to both industrial waterfronts, tenements were built to house the growing number of German, Irish, Italian, and Spanish immigrants who flooded the area between 1860 and 1910 (Figure 3). Institutions, including most notably, houses of worship, accompanied the tenements, matching their diverse ethnicities. Places for mass entertainment such as theaters for vaudeville and movie houses for motion pictures also peaked during this period.

14th Street as a commercial and industrial axis was productive and successful in many ways in its peak (1860-1910). However, its success was not without some disruption. Workers formed unions to more effectively deal with poor working conditions, and built union centers to establish their presence on the street. Laborers dissatisfied with conditions gathered in Union Square to demonstrate and the nation’s first Labor Day parade was held there in 1882. Industry on 14th Street lasted up until the 1930s on the East River waterfront,1 and continues until today on the Hudson River waterfront. On the East River waterfront, the laborers and industry moved away, favoring locations that lay outside of Manhattan that were made accessible as inter-borough transportation improved in the 1920s. On the Hudson River waterfront, industry suffered a decline, despite the addition of an elevated industrial rail, the High Line, in 1934. However, unlike the East River waterfront, the Hudson River waterfront managed to maintain a stronghold of activity in the Gansevoort meatpacking district.

Development on 14th Street was relatively stagnant between 1930 and 1950. Interest in developing the street came about after World War II, mainly in two forms. Firstly, as a result of government sponsored urban renewal effort, the east end of 14th Street was condemned, razed, and redeveloped as the large-scale “tower-in-the-park” housing project, Stuyvesant Town (Figure 4). Secondly, as a result of the sale of several large land holdings, by the VanBuren’s and others in the late 1950s, 14th Street became the site of the development of large apartment buildings for the upper middle class. The low-end retail stores, movie theatres, and other residential necessities that had been associated with the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century commercial boom of Union Square remained a defining characteristic on the street until the mid-1980s when a Business Improvement District (BID) was formed on 14th Street. By the mid 1980s, 14th Street had developed a bad reputation as an unsafe neighborhood, home to drug addicts and the homeless. Symbolically, the BID showed the city’s renewed interest in 14th Street and revitalized the street by encouraging economic growth and improving the physical fabric. In 1974, the Green Market, a produce market, opened on Union Square and similarly gave the square a facelift in both the minds of outsiders and the lives of 14th Street residents. In 1984, Union Square Park also underwent the first of a threephase improvement, physically making the park an even more attractive asset to the street.

Over the past twenty years, 14th Street has experienced a revival in interest and activity. The Parks Department has followed through on the 1984 Union Square Park plan and is currently completing the third phase of improvements to the park. The Greenmarket has continued to flourish as has commerce around the square. In addition, improvements to the High Line and the Hudson River Park promise further attention to the street. Institutions and developers alike have recognized this renaissance and have effectively capitalized on the action by building large-scale apartment and dormitory buildings (Figure 5). The meatpacking district is now part of the Gansevoort Historic District and several industrial buildings have been converted to high-end retail and commercial uses. The eastern end of 14th Street has seen the least amount of change despite the upsurge of activity along the rest of the street in the last twenty years. The blocks between First Avenue and the river remain much the way they were following the development of Stuyvensant Town.

The overview of the history of 14th Street and Union Square is in no way an exhaustive history. Rather, it touches on the defining moments of the formation and growth of the street. In depth thematic histories of 14th street are also provided and aid in creating the more exacting and comprehensive history necessary for a full understanding of the street.