Interest in Tin Pan Alley Soars, Buildings' Fate Is Still Uncertain
Ever since last month’s article about Tin Pan Alley broke the news about the threats to these buildings, we’ve been contacted from people across the country wanting to help save these them. “American popular standards are among the most treasured contributions America has made to the world. Tin Pan Alley is the invaluable physical reminder of that contribution. It is the embodiment of an important part of our musical legacy, and it should be saved, ” writes one person. “By saving Tin Pan Alley you are also saving a crucial piece of racial and ethnic immigrant/migrant culture in the U.S. I am a scholar writing a book on African Americans in Tin Pan Alley. Where can my readers go to imagine what once was? And what will they see when they get there? High-rises? Condos? How depressing to leave no trace of this rich history.” , writes another. And finally; “”Salzburg has Mozart, we have Tin Pan Alley. America’s music was defined in these buildings. We’re a young country and often throw out our history – The heritage of Tin Pan Alley is something that inspires me daily.”
The buildings unfortunately are still potentially under threat; we are unable to confirm whether or not 47-55 West 28th Street are still on the market. HDC is in the process of putting together a verifiable history of the site and has been aided by a wide group of historians, tenants and experts who have been very generous with their knowledge. Did you know that Zero Mostel lived on the block and kept a painting studio there? That an early resident was the family whom “Jones Street” in Greenwich Village was named after (but not “Great Jones Street”)? Visit http://hdc.org/blog/2008/11/14/a-brief-ish-history-of-tin-pan-alley/ for more information and get involved and help us save Tin Pan Alley by signing the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TPAlley/petition.html
Good post, I like your writing style! I’ve added http://hdc.org/blog/ to my feed reader, and will be reading your posts from now on. Just a quick question – did you design your header image yourself, or have it done professionally? If you had it done by a professional, who was it?
The header image is from our files – it’s an old aerial shoot of Manhattan.