The Dakota

Truly one of New York City's most revered addresses, The Dakota apartment building has long been a place where New York's well-to-do live.

While it's an architectural gem in its own right, the apartment building is best known as the place where former Beatle John Lennon was gunned down in December 1980. Lennon fans still visit the site regularly and place objects there in homage to the singer/songwriter.

Some History

The Dakota was built between the years 1880 and 1884. Situated at 72nd Street and Central Park West, the

The Dakota

apartment complex is believed to have been given its name because the upper west side of Manhattan seemed, at that time, as remote as the Dakota Territory.

Edward Clarke, developer of the Dakota building, was one of the first to introduce a new concept of living for the rich in New York City: instead of living in a home with servants, the potential tenants would share the building and rent full-serviced flats instead.
Even though New York's high society was sceptical at first towards the new concept of living and the remote location, the Dakota soon started attracting tenants. Only twenty years later the Upper West Side had become a fashionable area with the Dakota building as one of its most prominent addresses.

Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island was once known for its prisons and asylums, but it is now regarded as a fashionable place to live, situated in the middle of the East River, right between Manhattan and Queens.

Its History

Originally called Minnahanock by the Native Americans who resided there, the piece of land now known as

Cherry Walk

Roosevelt Island had a number of other names as well, including Hogs' Island (1637-1685), Blackwell's Island (1686-1921) - after the Blackwell Farmhouse, and Welfare Island (1921-1973) - for the hospitals and asylums that were established here.

Park Slope Historic District

Park Slope is a historic district with beautiful rowhouses and mansions. The area started to developed during the second half of the 19th century thanks to the improved access to nearby Manhattan.

Development of Park Slope

The Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn began to develop after ferry service connected the Brooklyn Terminal and South Brooklyn to thriving Manhattan in 1814. By 1850, the area was burgeoning thanks to the foresight of local developer and entrepreneur, Edwin Clarke Litchfield, 

who bought large parcels of land in the area and sold it to residential developers. Soon, the farmland so abundant in the area was gone and the neighborhood became an early suburb of Manhattan. The completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn, accelerated the urbanization of the area.

Williamsburgh Savings Bank

A familiar sight in the Brooklyn skyline, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank (now known as One Hanson Place) was the tallest building in Brooklyn until the construction of The Brooklyner in 2009.

About "The Willie"

The building often referred to as "the Willie" was built between the years 1927 and 1929, completed just before the onset of the Great Depression. 

This wonderful Art Deco edifice was built by the architectural firm Halsey, McCormack and Helmer, and at 512 feet (156m) in height, immediately received acclaim as the tallest building in Brooklyn. As a matter of fact, for many years, it was the tallest building "between Manhattan and Paris".

The ground floor banking room was magnificent, boasting 63-foot-high (19m) vaulted ceilings and incredible 40-foot-high windows that let in the sunlight. At 112-feet-long and 73-feet-deep (34x22m), decorated with mosaics and plenty of Italian Marble, the grand banking room has long been considered one of New York's finest interiors.