Ghosts of New York: NYC's Saddest Architectural Losses

The New York Herald Building, located on 34th Street on the corner of where 6th Avenue and Broadway meet, was once the headquarters of the New York Herald newspaper (later the New York Herald-Tribune). It was this building which gave this area the name of "Herald Square." Based on the Palazzo del Lonsiglio in Verona, Italy, it was a beautiful structure with a very ornate Italian Renaissance design and had a large statue of Minerva, as well as a bell above the entrance that was rung frequently. The roof was lined with twenty four bronze owls, each fitted with eyes that glowed and blinked. In 1921, the building was demolished and its sculpture and bell moved to the park that now sits in the square. Bland architecture housing office and retail space has replaced it.

^ The low white structure to the right and the brown skyscraper behind it is what replaced the Herald Building

New York City is a city of skyscrapers, but before tall buildings were the norm, its streets used to be home to the types of grandiose mansions and estates we've come to associate with European aristocracy. Flaunting their immense wealth, many of New York's rich and famous wasted no time getting massive, elaborate chateaus and castles built for themselves and their immediate family members. One such example were the Vanderbilts, descendants of the self-made millionare, "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, a transportation magnate. Not to be outdone by the lavish homes of other rich families, his grandson (Cornelius Vannderbilt II) set out to build the most lavish one yet. When it was completed, it turned heads-- the NY Times excitedly called it the finest private residence in America.

After Vanderbilt died, his wife held onto the property for another twenty years or so before selling it. It was then demolished in 1927 by its new owners and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman department store.

^ Bergdorf Goodman, which replaced the Cornelius II Vanderbilt Mansion

The former headquarters of the New York Times newspaper hasn't been demolished, but has been modified beyond recognition ever since it acquired new owners in the early 1960s (Allied Chemical). It is little more now than a sign tower, slathered in huge electronic billboards from head to toe. Ironically, even though much of its original character has been destroyed over the years, the building hasn't lost its prominence. The site of the annual New Year's Eve ball dropping ceremony, it is an umistakeable part of the Times Square landscape.

^ The newly revamped One Times Square