NYC Municipal Archives
Ask An Archivist - The Answers
NYC Municipal Archives
Ask An Archivist, Celebrating American Archives ...
Cynthia Brenwall
A Few of Our Favorite Things
Pauline Toole
Coffee
Lauren Gilbert
The World Fashion Center New York Never Built

Ask An Archivist - The Answers

October 14th was Ask An Archivist Day, and our staff answered many queries. Here are some of the most interesting exchanges.

Question 1: Do the Municipal Archives still hold the original Dutch minutes for that session, or only later translations? 

Answer (Rossy): Yes, we hold the original Dutch records, and you can view them in our digital collections’ portal!

MSS0040_1_1_01: The first ordinance Director General Petrus Stuyvesant issued a week after his May 1647 arrival was a law prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Page 1 of the Ordinances of New Amsterdam, 1647-1661. Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, NYC Municipal Archives.

Question 2: Do the Municipal Archives hold anything on the 1838 Halls of Justice, the Tombs, built over the filled-in Collect Pond? 

Answer (Michael): We have a glass lantern slide of the Tombs from the DeGregario collection. You can see how it got its name; it really looks like an Egyptian temple or tomb. The name stuck through all the later iterations even though they did not look like a tomb.

MSS0001_01_51: The Tombs [before 1897], DeGregario Lantern Slide collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

(Amy): We do not have any building plans for the first iteration of “the Tombs,” only plans for the 1941 Manhattan New York City Criminal Courts Building and City Prison, a later prison building also often referred to as “the Tombs.”

REC0074_0167_001_0033: New Criminal Courts Building and City Prison, Fifth Floor Plan, ca. 1941. Manhattan Building Plans collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

(Michael): The four buildings, known as “The Tombs” were: 

  • 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention 

  • 1902–1941, City Prison 

  • 1941–2023, Manhattan House of Detention (Manhattan Detention Complex South Tower after 1983) 

  • 1990–2023, Manhattan Detention Complex North Tower 

We also have photos of the 2nd one, which was demoed in 1941. 

MSS0041_0056: “The Tombs” and “the Bridge of Sighs,” ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Question 3: How are the NYC Municipal Library & Archives’ digital collections curated, created, and maintained? 

Answer (Matt): I can answer the creation part. We have a really wide range of materials, from books and volumes, to oversize maps, to photographs and A/V materials. This means that we employ different digitization methods for varied objects. Many of our collections, especially the most fragile ones, are photographed with overhead digital cameras specially made for this purpose. These cameras cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and allow us to maintain the highest archival standards. For other items, we have other purpose-built devices, such as oversize scanners for maps and drawings, a microfilm scanner, a book scanner, and various setups for digitizing A/V. Archival digitization is often delicate and time-consuming, and requires a lot of troubleshooting, as well as training and experience with different materials, equipment, and software. And that’s just the capture part. After that, we do extensive quality control, and handling the digital files is a whole other matter.

Conservation and digital programs staff moving the mounted Greensward Plan into position.

Question 4: Would your archives have records of police arrests and case files of murders? I am researching two murders, one in Manhattan in 1904 and one in the Bronx in 1907. The police records and court case files would be something I would like to research further, but not sure these files would exist, but if they do exist, where would I be able to access them? 

Answer (Katie): Our court records are very extensive, with the most extensive being for Manhattan. It would help to know what court, if any, the accused, appeared before. Historical newspapers could help with that. We have a variety of court indexes available on microfilm in our Manhattan reading room. We have indictment indexes for Manhattan available digitally here: https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/SO_80f4fdbf-d52f-4f01-ad57-02afcb64b032/ 

We do not have similar indexes for the other boroughs though. I would recommend emailing us with the details you have about the cases.

REC0059_010_1907-1908_A-K: New York County District Attorney record of cases,1907-1908, A-K. NYC Municipal Archives. 

(Rossy): We have magistrate court dockets for Manhattan and Bronx in this time period. If a Grand Jury voted to indict, we may also have indictment records for the Manhattan case. We do not have any Bronx District Attorney cases for these years. We also recommend checking the mayoral departmental correspondence with the courts as an additional resource since notable investigations are often mentioned there. 

Question 5: For families tracing Italian immigrant grandparents in Manhattan around 1900–1920, what's the best place to start in your collections? And any tips for when a surname shows up spelled three different ways by three different clerks? 

Answer (Ken): I have found the geographic birth index to be useful when searching families that have multiple name spellings. The trick is to know the family’s address—from census, or other vital records.

Births Reported in the City of New York, 1901-1903. NYC Municipal Archives.

(Sylvia): Italiangen.org is a good resource.  Also stevemorse.org allows for searching that includes first and last names that “start with” or “contain” delimiters. NYC Open Data is also a great way to search broadly on variations of names because you can download a specific data set (vital type/year) download spreadsheets of the indexed digitized records, and search name variations. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/browse?q=historical+vital+records&required=&sortBy=relevance&page=1&pageSize=20 

(Marcia): Before they start in our collections, they need to confirm that they were in Manhattan at the assumed time. To do that, check immigration records, the 1900 census is great, the 1915 NY State Census. Also, NY City Directories (NYPL.org). Then check germangenealogygroup.com (free) which allows you to search the GLOBAL SEARCH to search all databases. Then they can search for the vital records on the Historical Vital Records app online. 

Question 6: What’s one collection you wish more New Yorkers knew existed? 

Answer (Katie): I’d like to say the NYPD Intelligence records even though it’s very popular. Handschu in particular.

This is the finding aid: https://a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov/repositories/2/resources/82 

And an online exhibit from years ago: https://www.archives.nyc/unlikely-historians-1

Anniversary demonstration for Attica, September 13, 1972. Handschu Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Ask An Archivist, Celebrating American Archives Month

October is American Archives Month, and October 14th is Ask An Archivist Day, promoted by the Society of American Archivists.  https://www2.archivists.org/initiatives/askanarchivist-day

Archivists employed by the Department of Records & Information Services perform a variety of tasks. They appraise New York City government records for historical or other significance; they transfer records designated as archival from the creating agency to the Municipal Archives; they catalog and describe the records; and they store them in appropriate conditions to ensure permanent preservation. All toward the goal of providing public access. The archivists regularly publish finding aids and collection guides and digitize selected materials to further facilitate access. Today, there are more than 11.3 million historical photographs, documents, maps, films, audio files, etc. digitized and available on the Archives’ Digital Collections site and through the Historical Vital Records Project. Most recently, the Archives processed and made available records of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. 

DORIS archivists have seen a lot, and on Ask An Archivist Day the public is invited to send questions to our social media accounts (@nycrecords on Facebook and X, @nycarchives on Instagram), which the archivists will try to answer. 

Also, save the date for Wednesday, October 21, when NYC Department of Records will celebrate Archives Week with a full day of programming at the historic Hall of Records! 

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/reflecting-on-nyc-history-a-community-forum-4859061/ 

Join us in person at 11am to learn about Neighborhood Stories, a unique storytelling initiative that gathers and permanently preserves oral history-style interviews with New York City residents, connecting local history with the records of City government maintained in the collections of the Municipal Archives and Library. Learn how the project began, how to get involved, and how your story can help preserve New York City history for future generations.

At 1:00 pm, our Lunch & Learn series brings a Zoom conversation with author Hugh Ryan and archivist Riah Lee Kinsey. The speakers will discuss their experiences conducting archival research at a range of institutions, with a particular focus on their work at the Municipal Archives and Library. 

At 3:00 pm we have an in-person cross-departmental panel discussion with DORIS staff on how AI is affecting Municipal Archives services.

At 6:00 pm is the opening of “Change Preservation” a new exhibit located in the first-floor alcove of 31 Chambers Street. Curated by architects Wes Hiatt and Violette de la Selle, the exhibition brings together the material of Changing Change, a research project shown in two chapters at Citygroup in 2024 and 2025 on how buildings in Manhattan's Lower East Side and Chinatown endure through constant alteration. 

And finally, at 7:00 pm our day’s events conclude with a live taping of Person Place Thing, with Randy Cohen and DORIS Commissioner Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. 

Space is limited for these events please sign up in advance.

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/reflecting-on-nyc-history-a-community-forum-4859061/ 

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

Today’s For the Record kicks off a new series we are calling “These are a Few of Our Favorite Things.” The staff at the Department of Records has the lucky task of working directly with the historic materials held in the country’s largest archive, and every now and then they come upon a real gem. Usually, they snap a picture on their phone, maybe share with a colleague or two and then the image lingers in the cloud with all their other quick pics. “Our Favorite Things” aims to end that and share some of these little treasures with you. We hope to highlight some of our lesser-known collections and share the passion and dedication that our archivists and records professionals have as they work to preserve the history of New York City.

For our inaugural post, Cynthia Brenwall finds hidden art and messages where you might never imagine them to be.

We hope you enjoy!

Cynthia Brenwall: Unexpected Art and Hidden Messages in the Municipal Archives

During my tenure in the Municipal Archives, I have had the opportunity to see and work with, literally, thousands of bits of New York City history—the vast majority of piqued my interest in some way or another. I have worked with everything from vital records, architectural plans and the original drawings for the creation of Central Park, to seventeenth-century Dutch records, letters sent to mayors and giant ledgers from the Alms House. 

My favorite thing is to find a hidden bit of art or a secret message. It happens more often than one would expect! 

Department of Buildings Architectural Records 

This collection contains building plans that show evidence of frequent handling over the years. On two of the plans for construction of the American Express Building at 65 Broadway, created by the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker in 1916, a clever workman used their artistic talents to draw tiny hands as pointers. Are they just doodles or are they directing a plan-user to something important? 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

In another instance, I found a message on the plans for grillage work on a building located at the corner of Mercer Street and Washington Place dating from 1903. On the back of the drawing by the architect Henri Fouchaux reverse, a small message reads “There are Very cold-hearted people in the world,” indeed. 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks Architectural Plans 

My first assignment at the Municipal Archives was to help conserve the Central Park plan collection. These include three of my favorite little works of art. On a plan for the ornamental iron work on the ceiling the Terrace Arcade, a small detail has been transformed into toothy-grinned smiley face, or perhaps it is the man in the moon!  

This detail of the ornamental ironwork on the ceiling of the Terrace Arcade includes the later addition of a mischievous grin from the left side of the plan. Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

On a plan for a large fountain to be located on the Mall, architect Jacob Wrey Mould went so far as to draw the rings of the tree that would be used in the wooden supports for the structure.  

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

It was Mould again who designed the ornamental bird cages that once lined the northern part of the Mall. In this little rendering he shows the curb and base of the cages that can still be found in the park today. The note states that there is to be a “small curb to keep toes off the hedge,” to which he replies “Yes! Decidedly.” 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Brooklyn Street Opening Maps 

This small collection of 84 maps documents the opening of new streets in Brooklyn from the 1830s through the 1870s. They often detail property ownership, lay out parts of the street grid for the towns of Brooklyn, and occasionally include lovely bits of artistic embellishment. 

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Dr. Prennell’s “beautiful farm” in the town of New Utrecht shows a new church, a horse-drawn carriage and a steamboat for trips to New York. And finally, one of my absolute favorite things is the small pen and ink drawing of a dog on the back of a map showing the 44 lots that made up Mt. Prospect in the 8th Ward of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Coffee

Today is National Coffee Day so we are reposting this blog from 2019. Enjoy.

Brochure for Colombian coffee, ca. 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New York City runs on coffee, a fact that all of the java-toting subway riders prove every day.  That’s not a new custom.

The opening of a 1940s article on coffee written by Parker Tyler for the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) Feeding the City touted the City’s reliance on coffee. “Every citizen of New York knows that the smell of morning coffee sets him up for a day of honest effort and things accomplished.”

Coffee was imported, chiefly from Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and El Salvador. Facts assembled by FWP staff writers show that imports of coffee grew from 66,666 bags weighing 132 pounds apiece in 1800 to 15,259,693 such bags in 1939—over 2 billion pounds of coffee! It was estimated that New Yorkers consumed 1,000 cups of coffee annually, half of it at breakfast, or nearly three cups daily. In 1939, the average price per pound of Colombian coffee was around 23 cents a pound in New York City.

Brochure for El Salvador coffee, ca. 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

According to the FWP, coffee consumption began early in New York: “The Dutch in New York stopped drinking beer for breakfast and changed to coffee about 1668. They added honey and cinnamon to the beverage. A pound of coffee cost eighteen shillings, nine pence. As in London, coffee houses sprang up, the Kings Arms and the Merchants’ being two of the best known.”

Unloading cargo of Brazilian coffee at Gowanus Bay pier, Brooklyn, ca. 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The largest coffee processing plant in the world opened across the Hudson in Hoboken NJ in October, 1939. More than 400 workers handled the production of Maxwell House Coffee and Sanka, bringing 50 years of experience to provide the “good to the last drop” brand of coffee to households around the country. The particular blend was created in the 1880s for the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, TN. Its sister brand—Sanka—was described as, “The Immigrant that Brightened Millions of Lives.” Created in 1928 for the New York market, it initially was a luxury item retailing at $1 per pound. By 1939 the price had dropped, providing relief for people who wanted to both sleep and drink their coffee.

Maxwell House Coffee canning factory, ca. 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

A news article from 1940 reported that the Quartermaster Depot based at the Brooklyn Army Terminal was planning to purchase 40 million pounds of coffee annually, up from 10 million pounds. And, that would only fulfill half of the Army’s needs. This is the first indication of possible difficulty ahead for coffee consumers.

The FWP wrote about substitute foods in July 1941 stating that the rationing procedures adopted in England provided a clue to the foods likely to be scarce in the United States. These foods included tea, but not coffee. “Moreover, what England may be deprived of in the present emergency is not necessarily a guide to what we may be in America, as for example, coffee, which is not rationed there, chiefly the British, as a people are not great coffee drinkers.”

Early in November, 1942 Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia tackled the topic of coffee rationing on his radio program, with the goal of explaining why coffee was facing restrictions. He acknowledged that coffee was ample but mostly in South America and the Caribbean. “The supply is plentiful, but the rub is shipping it. We are losing ships and besides that we require all the ships that we have for carrying supplies, ammunition, and troops to various parts of the world where we are fighting for our very existence.”

A&P warehouse loading cases of coffee, ca. 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

He went on to chide New Yorkers. “Please don’t be silly about this and start chiseling and buying more coffee than you need. A great many people have done that and that just isn’t nice, it isn’t patriotic and it shouldn’t be done… Let’s take the rationing in stride, be sensible in the making of coffee, let’s not be wasteful, and I’m sure there will be no hardship.”

On November 29, 1942, the Office of Price Administration (OPA), which was responsible for setting prices and rationing food and other items to ensure there were sufficient supplies for the armed forces, announced the coffee rations. Basically permissible purchases were cut in half from 20 pounds to ten pounds annually.

During the rationing period, people who wished to stretch their coffee allotments pursued a few strategies including re-using coffee grounds and supplementing with another substance. One of the chief supplements was chicory roots that were roasted, ground and blended with the coffee.  Some people used acorns. Others just consumed less.

Men being fed coffee and bread at Tom Noonan's Mission (Rescue Society) in Chinatown, ca. 1940. Photo by Treistman, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor LaGuardia suggested: “I wouldn’t throw the grounds away if anyone in the family is accustomed to having coffee for their midday or evening meal, just adding a sprinkle on the top of the old grounds will make a very good cup of coffee for the evening.”

WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

He also suggested changes to the method of making coffee. “Perhaps we will have to put our percolator away for the duration and use coffee just as people of my generation used to. I strongly recommend the brewing of coffee. Just take a spoonful to a cup, that’s pretty strong, and then brew it. Let it come to a boil for a very short time, then set it aside and let it settle and also strain the coffee in serving it.”

Apparently he received some pushback because in his November 29, 1942 radio address he told the audience to “take the recipe I gave you and stick it away someplace because we’ll need it before long. We’ll have to go back to the old style method of cooking coffee as our mothers did and not be silly about this whole thing. There’s enough coffee to go round if we use it wisely.”

Recently New York was rated the Number One coffee city in the country with more coffee shops here per capita than elsewhere in the country. And apparently NYC residents consume seven times as much coffee as other people. What would we do in a coffee shortage? Let’s hope we don’t find out.

The World Fashion Center New York Never Built

The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1, 1944. NYC Municipal Library.

The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1, 1944. NYC Municipal Library.

As NYC Fashion Week wraps up, we are taking a look back at earlier visions for the city’s fashion future, as preserved in the collections of the Municipal Library. During World War II, the garment industry remained New York City’s single largest employer, supporting 223,156 wage earners, and the city was the undisputed national leader in apparel manufacturing. With an eye toward the postwar economy, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the Mayor’s Committee for World Fashion Center. In 1944, the committee’s chairman, Grover A. Whalen, a prominent New York official who had served as Police Commissioner and president of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, submitted a report to the mayor titled The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1.

The report confidently declared that “In the creation of fashion, as well as in the production of fashion merchandise, New York City stands supreme.” It proposed the creation of a World Fashion Center that would serve as a “focal point for the design, display, and marketing of apparel and allied merchandise.” The ambitious project was intended to strengthen New York’s position in the national apparel industry, stabilize the city’s garment trades, and prevent further erosion of its market share at a time when apparel manufacturing was expanding in cities across the country.

Sketch of proposed center. The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1, 1944. NYC Municipal Library

The committee acknowledged that after the war “the world will undoubtedly turn again to Paris for much of the design of the luxury apparel,” but argued that America’s opportunity lay “in the direction of mass production design.” New York, in other words, could maintain its leadership by combining its existing strengths in design, manufacturing, and marketing with the enormous potential of the American mass market.

Map from Study for Site 9. The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1, 1944. NYC Municipal Library.

Ten sites in and around the Garment District were considered for the proposed center, and the report included detailed estimates of the costs associated with each. Depending on the site, the total expenditure was projected to range from approximately $88.7 million to $126.8 million, a staggering investment for the period.

Sketch showing rooftop helicopter terminal. The World Fashion Center: New York City’s Post War Business Project No. 1, 1944. NYC Municipal Library.

The proposed complex would have been much more than a collection of fashion showrooms. In addition to the main fashion center, the plans called for a large convention center, a new home for the Metropolitan Opera, a school of industrial arts, and a helicopter terminal. Many of these functions would eventually find homes elsewhere in the city. The New York Coliseum opened in 1956, later replaced by the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in 1986, while the Metropolitan Opera moved to Lincoln Center in 1966.

A Stitch in Time, 1957. NYC Municipal Library.

Though nothing came of the wartime World Fashion Center proposal, the idea did not disappear. More than a decade later, in 1955, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. revived the Mayor’s Committee for World Fashion Center, again placing Grover Whalen at its helm. In 1957, the committee released a new plan, A Stitch in Time. Fittingly, as this was a report created by and for the fashion industry, it was a stylish and carefully designed volume, complete with the distinctive visual character of the 1950s.

A Stitch in Time, 1957. NYC Municipal Library.

The circumstances, however, had changed since 1944. While still supporting over 300,000 workers in apparel manufacturing, New York’s so-called “needle trades” had continued to lose ground to other American cities, while worsening traffic congestion had made the Garment District increasingly difficult to navigate. A Stitch in Time proposed a modernized, scaled down, $100 million complex encompassing showrooms, offices, and advanced underground loading and trucking facilities. The development would have been centered around the intersection of Broadway and Avenue of the Americas and connected to the proposed Midtown elevated expressway, a highway project that itself was never built.

A Stitch in Time, 1957. NYC Municipal Library.

The proposed center was conceived as a self-contained environment for the fashion industry. Its plaza level would include restaurants, club rooms, airline offices, beauty parlors, and other amenities for industry executives and buyers visiting from out of town. One floor above, an 1,800-seat theater would provide a venue for fashion shows and other performances.

A Stitch in Time, 1957. NYC Municipal Library.

The report remained optimistic about the underlying strength of the American apparel market, and singled out Puerto Rico as a vital supplier of labor for the garment industry, which had always depended on immigrants. Given the country’s growing population, it argued, there “could be no question about the growth of the apparel industry in the nation as a whole.” The question was whether New York would capture that growth or continue to stagnate and lose business to competing regional centers. The city’s dwindling supply of manufacturing space and increasingly severe traffic congestion on streets “originally laid down to accommodate pushcarts, carriages and horses” were identified as major threats to its future as a fashion capital.

A Stitch in Time, 1957. NYC Municipal Library.

Once again, however, the ambitious plans appear to have stalled. The problems confronting the Garment District did not disappear, and traffic conditions continued to deteriorate. By 1967, the city’s response had become considerably more modest. Mayor John V. Lindsay announced a plan to ease congestion by coordinating the work schedules of major utilities and city agencies. Consolidated Edison, New York Telephone, and the Department of Sanitation would “revise their work schedules in the district in such a way as to reduce to a minimum the impact of the work on midday traffic.” A grand World Fashion Center had given way, at least temporarily, to efforts to make the existing district function more efficiently.

Manhattan Garment Center Urban Goods Movement Study, 1976. NYC Municipal Library.

These same traffic concerns prompted the Manhattan Garment Center Urban Goods Movement Study, first published in 1976 as a multi-phased project of the NYC Transportation Administration to assess and propose solutions to congestion, delays, environmental impacts, and economic decline in the garment district.

The city continued to search for ways to preserve the garment industry. In the early 1970s, amid rising crime and the continued departure of apparel manufacturers, Lindsay created the New York City Office of Apparel Industry Planning and Development. The office was charged with supporting and revitalizing the local fashion manufacturing sector, with particular attention to security, cleanliness, and infrastructure in the Garment District.

A 1974 analysis by the Office of Apparel Industry Planning and Development illustrates both the continued importance of apparel manufacturing and the scale of the transformation already underway. Although manufacturing in New York City as a whole was in steep decline, apparel manufacturing still employed 202,012 people and accounted for 26.7 percent of all manufacturing jobs in the city. The office itself was short-lived; in 1976, it was abolished and its functions absorbed into the Mayor’s Midtown Action Office.

By the 1980s, the city was also increasingly attempting to promote garment manufacturing by protecting the physical space that remained for it. In 1987, New York created the Special Garment Center District, an effort to preserve loft space for apparel manufacturers who were increasingly competing with commercial offices and other businesses in a rapidly changing and gentrifying Midtown.

Concerns over personal safety as well as the preservation of dedicated manufacturing space persisted into the early 1990s, as recorded in the annual and quarterly reports of the short-lived Garment Center Enforcement Project, a specialized task force dedicated to policing compliance in the areas of zoning, health, and safety.

In retrospect, one of the most significant forces behind the garment industry’s decline was something the mid-century World Fashion Center plans largely failed to anticipate, namely the globalization and overseas outsourcing of apparel manufacturing. The city’s planners understood that New York faced competition from other American manufacturing centers, but the eventual scale of international competition was even more consequential. Manufacturing jobs continued to move overseas through the late 20th century and into the 21st, dramatically reducing the role of production within New York’s fashion economy.

There have nevertheless been periodic efforts to rebuild the city’s manufacturing base. Among them was Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2017 “Made in NY” initiative. which sought to support local manufacturing alongside the city’s broader fashion and entertainment industries.

The history of the proposed World Fashion Center is therefore more than the story of two unrealized development schemes. It illustrates a recurring dilemma in New York’s economic history: how to preserve an established industry as the conditions that made it successful begin to disappear. In the 1940s and 1950s, city officials and industry leaders believed that better facilities, improved infrastructure, and closer integration of design, manufacturing, and marketing could secure New York’s position as a world fashion capital. Later efforts shifted toward managing congestion, improving the Garment District, protecting manufacturing space, and eventually encouraging the remaining manufacturers to remain.

The World Fashion Center was never built, but the underlying aim of ensuring that New York City remained a place where fashion was manufactured continued in various forms. That vision proved increasingly difficult to sustain as manufacturing moved first to other parts of the United States and then overseas.

Today, the fashion industry remains a major part of New York’s economy, employing approximately 180,000 people and accounting for about 6 percent of the city’s workforce. But manufacturing now represents only a small part of that ecosystem, which is concentrated primarily on design, wholesale, and retail. The unrealized World Fashion Center thus stands as a fascinating artifact of an earlier moment, when New York still imagined that its dominance in fashion could continue to extend from the designer’s sketchbook all the way to the factory floor.

This blog originally appeared in the monthly newsletter, Municipal Library Notes, which has been published since 1913. Sign up here to receive it by email.

The Policy of the Club: Ralph Bunche, the U.S. Open and Anti-Discrimination Laws

This guest post uses archival documents in the Municipal Archives and Library collections. Readers are advised that as with all U.S. history, there are references to race and its direct relationship to institutional choices. Please note that quotes in this post contain outdated language, e,g. use of the term “Negro.” These instances have been retained and referenced in their original form to maintain historical accuracy and context.

December 1950: Ralph Bunche, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in resolving global conflicts including the 1949 Middle East peace accord.

July 1959: United Nations Under-Secretary-General Bunche inquires about membership in the Westside Tennis Club so his son, Ralph Jr., can continue lessons from the Club’s tennis pro. The Club president, Wilfred Burglund dismisses the possibility because “the policy of the club was to exclude Negroes and Jews.”