We mourn a lot of buildings that have been removed from the much beloved Penn Station to the deservedly unloved demise of Alfred Mullett's City Hall Post Office and of course the East Wing.

Mullett's Monstrosity - 1869 - Since 1845, the city's main post office was located in the Middle Dutch Church on Nassau Street, a dark 18th-century building that by the 1860s was stretched past its capacity. After a design competition Alfred P. Mullett was selected to design the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse.Feeling the proposed design was too expensive, Mullett took over the project, which nonetheless cost $8.5 million. This coup may have influenced opinions on his final product. The iron framing was clad with a pale granite quarried in Dix Island, Knox County, Maine.

Pennsylvania Station - 1910 - The building enabled direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Its above ground head house and train shed were considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the great architectural works of New York City. Underground, the station contained 11 platforms serving 21 tracks, in approximately the same layout as the current Penn Station, which has had various intervening modifications. The original building was one of the first stations to include separate waiting rooms for arriving and departing passengers, and when built, these were among the city's largest public spaces.
The exterior of Penn Station was marked by colonnades of Roman unfluted columns based on the Classical Greek-style Doric order. These columns, in turn, were modeled after landmarks such as the Acropolis of Athens. The rest of the facade was modeled on St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, as well as the Bank of England headquarters. The colonnades embodied the sophisticated integration of multiple functions and the circulation of people and goods. The colonnades had a strong horizontal orientation, interrupted only by the lunette windows and the roof of the waiting room. The ornamentation was intentionally simple, with emphasis being placed on the "unity and simplicity" of different parts of the design. The roof was made of Monel alloy, an Inco product.

Government House - 1790 - After Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783, the site of Fort George was viewed as the "social center of New York", prime real estate for grand residences. On July 13, 1789, the New York State legislature passed a resolution that the site of Fort George should be used to build a "proper House ... for the residence and accommodation of the President of the United States."A Georgian-style mansion at the foot of Broadway, south of Bowling Green, on the site previously occupied by Fort George in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1790 by the state of New York, it was intended to be the executive mansion for President George Washington, but he never occupied it. Before it was completed, the federal government moved temporarily to Philadelphia; then permanently to Washington, D.C.It then became the state governor`s residence and was used by George Clinton and John Jay. Later it was leased to John Avery and was known as the Elysian Boarding House. 

Fort Amsterdam - 1625 - A fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently the Province of New York from 1625 or 1626. It was the nucleus of the settlement in the area that became New Amsterdam and eventually New York City. It marked the official founding of New York City. The fort was designed by Kryn Fredericksen, chief engineer of the New Netherland colony. Fort Amsterdam was designed to be a state-of-the-art diamond-shaped fort, built of stone and bristling with cannon. The designer warned against building it in haste. However, in 1625, the town was in desperate need of houses, so a much simpler fort was planned. It would be roughly a square of four simple brick walls, mounded over with dirt.To build the fort, Peter Minuit needed laborers, and in 1626 he got just what he needed. The Dutch West India Company sent the first African “bondsmen” to New Amsterdam. Some of their names described their origins: Antony Congo, Paulo d’Angola, Pieter San Tomé, Anthony the Portuguese, Jan Fort Orange. Many of the men had been captured from Spanish or Portuguese ships. They were experienced seamen who already understood some European languages, religions, and laws.For 10 years the men worked to build the fort. They dug up tree stumps, hauled dirt, mounded it up over the fort walls, and battered it down firmly. Finally, the Africans covered the earthen walls of the fort with sod. But as soon as it was finished, the fort began to crumble. The settlers didn’t usually fence their animals, so goats, sheep, and cattle strayed onto the weedy slopes to graze. Pigs went there to dig or rout in the dirt walls. In the words of one settler, the fort soon looked “like a molehill or a tottering wall.” But the Africans were busy elsewhere. They had to dig ditches, clear land, plant and harvest crops, build houses, roads, and bridges, and load the Company’s ships with thousands of pelts of beaver, mink, otter, and wildcat.

The Hippodrome Theatre - 1905 - The Hippodrome Theatre also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of 5,300, with a 100x200ft (30x61m) stage. The theatre had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a rising glass water tank.The Hippodrome was built by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park at Coney Island, with the backing of Harry S. Black's U.S. Realty, a dominant real estate and construction company of the time, and was acquired by The Shubert Organization in 1909. In 1933, it was re-opened as the New York Hippodrome cinema, and became the stage for Billy Rose's Jumbo in 1935. Acts which appeared at the Hippodrome included numerous circuses, musical revues, Harry Houdini's disappearing elephant, vaudeville, silent movies such as Neptune's Daughter (1914) and Better Times (1922) and 1930s cinema.[7]

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (Original Hotel) - 1893 - The original two hotels were built by feuding relatives (John Jacob and William Waldorf Astor on the site of their aunt Caroline Schemerhhorn Astor's home. It was the first hotel to offer a bathroom for every room and electricity it was located too far uptown when it was built. Astor hired George Boldt from the Bellevue Stratford to run the hotel. He hosted a benefit concert for St Mary`s Hospital for Children on its opening day which was a favorite charity that earned $4.5 million in 1st year. The hotel hosted multiple society events. In 1899 There was a meal costing $250/ person unheard of at the time Carnegie, NBC`s first radio broadcast was here on Nov 15, 1926. Chop Suey invented here for a dinner honoring the Chinese Ambassador in 1896. The combined hotel was moved to its current site enticed by a $10 million offer from NY Central to build a new building at 51st St. When it opened, Herbert Hoover announced it on radio from the white house. It was the tallest hotel in the world/ largest 2200 rooms – offered a radio in every roomThe Waldorf-Astoria has a legacy of famous residents: U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Nikola Tesla, Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, General Farley (who lived there about 30 years) and Marilyn Monroe. Charitable events continued including the April in Paris Ball. There were also major political events. Track 61 of Grand Central Terminal was built in the 30`s to help Franklin Roosevelt keep his polio diagnosis from the public with his own train car which could accommodate a limosine – Entry can be seen as 101 – 121 Lexington Avenue. Then building has been under renovation for the past few years and is slated to open as condominiums in 2020.Built in 1893 and expanded in 1897, the Waldorf–Astoria was razed in 1929 to make way for construction of the Empire State Building. Connected by the 300 metres (980 ft) long corridor, known as "Peacock Alley" after the merger in 1897, the hotel had 1,300 bedrooms, making it the largest hotel in the world at the time. It was designed specifically to cater to the needs of socially prominent "wealthy upper crust" of New York and distinguished foreign visitors to the city. It was the first hotel to offer electricity and private bathrooms throughout.

The Savoy Hotel (Original) - 1892 - The original Savoy Hotel at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street opened in June 1892, more or less in answer to the neighboring Plaza Hotel opened in 1890. The original 12-story Savoy was designed by architect Ralph S. Townsend, for landowners including New York Supreme Court Justice P. Henry Dugro. The old Savoy continued to compete with the Plaza in lavish surroundings and expansions into the 1920s. Its furnishings were liquidated in 1925.

The Rotunda, City Hall Park - 1818 - A building that stood in City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan, New York City, from 1818 to 1870.The Rotunda was built at the initiative of American artist John Vanderlyn to display panoramic paintings. According to historians Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Vanderlyn was motivated by the refusal of the city's cultural elite to include paintings such as his nude Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos in public exhibitions on the grounds that it was an affront to public decency. Backed by John Jacob Astor and other wealthy New Yorkers, he built The Rotunda. Widely regarded as the city's first art museum, it operated on a commercial footing.The building was designed on the model of The Pantheon in Rome. It was fifty-six feet in diameter, crowned with a thirty-foot dome.The Rotunda opened in 1818 to display Vanderlyn's Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, a cyclorama now on display in a purpose-built, circular room in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City. In the painting, to the right of the Latona Fountain, Vanderlyn painted himself pointing towards Czar Alexander I of Russia and King Frederick William III of Prussia.In time its use changed to housing government agencies, and the building was altered accordingly.

Bridewell Prison - 1768 - The Bridewell was a municipal prison built in 1768 on the site now occupied by City Hall Park in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Designed by Theophilus Hardenbrook, the building was notorious for its harsh conditions; it had bars, but no windows.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Bridewell is a common English noun referred both to a gaol in which prisoners were held, or a workhouse to which they were confined. The term was used for a number of jails in the Thirteen Colonies. Construction on the New York City Bridewell began in 1768, although the building was not completed until after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Even though it was incomplete, the British used the jail to house prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War. Bridewell Prison opened in 1775. It stood until it was replaced by The Tombs in 1838; some of the dressed stone blocks from the Bridewell were used to construct The Tombs.Designed by Theophilus Hardenbrook, the building was notorious for its harsh conditions; it had bars, but no windows.

Rhinelander's Sugar House - 1763 - The sugar house on the corner of Rose (now William) Street and Duane Street in Lower Manhattan was a five-story brick warehouse. Built in 1763 by William Rhinelander, the structure originally stored molasses and sugar next to his own residence.

Van Cortlandt's Sugar House - 1755 - The sugar house on the northwest corner of the yard of Trinity Church in Manhattan was built by John Van Cortlandt and partner George Petterson around 1755. Van Cortlandt took sole proprietorship after their partnership was dissolved two years later.

Livingston's Sugar House - 1754 - The sugar house on Crown (now Liberty) Street in Manhattan was a six-story stone building that had been built in 1754 by the Livingston family as a refinery with very low floors.

Latting Tower - 1853 - The 315-foot iron-braced wood tower was erected for the 1853 New York World's Fair. Steam elevators accessed three observation platforms, affording panoramic views. Despite its popularity, the tower failed to pay off its debts and burned down in 1856.Latting Observatory near 6th. Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Street, New Yorkm Wiliam Naugle, Seiber & Shearman Robertson, 1853, Adapted from Wikimedia Commons:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Latting_Observatory.png

Leroy Place & DePau Row - 1830 - In the 1830s, Bleecker Street became a prestigious address in New York City, with developments like Leroy Place and DePau Row. Leroy Place, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis for Isaac G. Pearson, a wealthy merchant and builder, was a row of identical, attached, Federal-style townhouses with continuous front yards. They were built from granite, attracting wealthy residents like the Clintons and Beekmans. DePau Row, built by Francis DePau, featured six unified houses with the city's first ornamental iron verandah, home to figures like A.T. Stewart. The houses had cast-iron communal balconies tied together, called “English Terrace Row”. Isaac Pearson petitioned the City to rename the block after the prominent international trader, Jacob LeRoy (Jacob LeRoy’s inventor of the Jell-O's grandfather.)

New York Cotton Exchange - 1870 - Its first permanent headquarters was 1 Hanover Square (later known as India House) in New York City. The NYCE moved to 1 Hanover Square on May 4, 1872.

New York Produce Exchange - 1884 - A commodities exchange headquartered in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It served a network of produce and commodities dealers across the United States. Founded in 1861 as the New York Commercial Association, it was originally headquartered at Whitehall Street in a building owned by the New York Produce Exchange Company. The Association was renamed the New York Produce Exchange in 1868 and took over the original building in 1872.

Singer Building - 1897 - Incorporating Beaux-Arts and French Second Empire architectural styles, the structure included a 10-story original building, a 14-story annex, and a 27-story tower rising from a 14-story base. When completed in 1908, the 41-story building stood at 612 feet and was briefly the tallest building in the world.

World Trade Center (WTC) - 1970 - The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed during the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.