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Tin Pan Alley
 From Irving Berlin to Scott
Joplin, Fats Waller to Cole Porter, the composers and lyricists
of Tin Pan Alley wrote the songs that defined American popular culture
from the late-1880s to the mid-1950s. Beginning as early as 1885,
music publishers flocked to this singular block, on West 28th Street
between 5th & 6th Avenues in Manhattan, to set up shop.
A number of the structures that housed these creative agencies
still remain: the row houses at 45, 47, 49, 51, 53 and 55 West 28th
Street. Yet despite their undeniable significance, these five properties
sit unprotected and vulnerable to development and real estate pressures.
Now
Loopnet lists the properties as up for sale – for
a whopping $44,000,000.00. The broker’s pitch? “5 contiguous
mixed-use [properties] to be demo’ed, yielding over 111,000
sf of Prime Chelsea property.
This is no way to treat American cultural history. The preservation
of these five row houses is long overdue and now it’s up to
the Landmarks Commission to preserve these important structures
for generations to come.
How you can help:
Help save Tin Pan Alley by signing this
petition to urge for it's preservation!
More Information:
Tin
Pan Alley's Sad Tune - City's Musical Heritage Under $eige, New
York Post, Oct. 9, 2008
Original
Tin Pan Alley Put Up for Sale in New York City, CBS News, Oct. 9.
2008
Also, visit our colleagues at Lost
City, who broke the news of the possible sale and started
this whole thing rolling.
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