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OLD TRIBECA
A selection of historical articles from The Tribeca Trib, by Oliver E. Allen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Big Shot of Centre Street |
When a friend showed me the accompanying picture, which he found on eBay, he asked if I could tell what it depicted. He had bought it because it was entitled “Reade Street- 7/8/1901” and he lives on Reade. But the scene did not seem to show any part of the street that either of us could identify. Then he located a possible clue. Viewing the picture through a magnifying glass, he had detected the words “Centre Street” on one of the buildings on the right. |
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Tribeca's Literary Bastion |
One of the most venerable institutions in our city is the New York Society Library, which is still going strong after more than 250 years. Founded Downtown in 1754 by a group of prominent citizens, it has counted among its eminent users George Washington, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. Through the years it has occupied a number of sites in Manhattan, and one of its way stations was in Tribeca. |
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Tribeca's Secret Subway |
Although New York recently celebrated the 100th birthday of its subway system, the subway we know today was not actually the city’s first. An experimental underground line was built a full 30 years before 1904 by an inventor and magazine editor named Alfred Ely Beach, who accomplished the feat here in Tribeca—underneath Broadway across from City Hall. What’s more, he did it on the sly. |
About Oliver E. Allen
A former editor and writer for Life magazine and Time-Life Books, Oliver E. Allen is the author of more than a dozen books, including "New York, New York," a comprehensive history of the city, and "The Tiger," a history of Tammany Hall. He lives in Tribeca and in 1999 was appointed Community Historian for Lower Manhattan.
Allen's historical articles on Tribeca have appeared in The Tribeca Trib since 1994. |
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