New York, New York City Historic Landmarks Preservation Center Cultural Medallions Historical Markers
The medallion series is to "create a sense of pride in history and of place among New Yorkers and visitors, to document significant individuals, and notable occurrences related to the City's cultural, economic, political, and social history."
On Tilden Avenue at East 53rd Street, on the left when traveling west on Tilden Avenue.
The first African-American major league baseball player lived here from 1947 to 1949. As an infielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was voted Rookie of the Year (1947) and Most Valuable Player (1949), won the National League Batting Title (1949) and . . . — — Map (db m239506) HM
On East 2nd Street east of Avenue A, on the right when traveling west.
Internationally acclaimed poet and
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
lived here from August 1958 to March 1961.
His signal poem Howl (1956) helped launch
The Beat Generation.
Kaddish (1961), a . . . — — Map (db m105140) HM
On Avenue B north of East 9th Street, on the right when traveling north.
Harry Hopkins, one of the most influential non-elected officials in American history, became a Settlement House worker in 1912 at Christodora, where his exposure to the struggles of new immigrants helped shape his thinking about social reform. . . . — — Map (db m145733) HM
On West 108th Street west of Broadway, on the right when traveling west.
The conductor and composer, lived here from 1904 to 1924. During that time, he organized the Victor Herbert Orchestra, wrote the operettas "Naughty Marietta" and "Sweethearts," advocated the Copyright Law of 1909, and helped to found ASCAP. — — Map (db m98482) HM
In more than 10,000 drawings, Hirschfeld chronicled the celebrity culture of the century. A self-described "characterist," his linear calligraphic work of performers, on stage and screen, appeared in virtually every publication, including a 75 year . . . — — Map (db m98591) HM
On West 113th Street near Frederick Douglass Boulevard, on the left when traveling west.
The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926, collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic.
Famous for daring escapes, no restraints-ropes, chains, straitjackets, bank vaults, or jail cells-could hold . . . — — Map (db m98457) HM
On West 131st Street east of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, on the left when traveling east.
The "King of Ragtime" composer and pianist, whose works include the classic rags, "The Entertainer" and "Maple Leaf Rag," and the opera, Treemonisha, lived here in 1917. — — Map (db m105123) HM
On West 16th Street at 7th Avenue, on the left when traveling east on West 16th Street.
David Dubinsky, one of the most influential labor leaders in the United
States, was president of the International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union (ILGWU), from 1932 to 1966. Escaping Czarist imprisonment for his
youthful political activities, he . . . — — Map (db m127139) HM
On Fifth Avenue near East 101st Street, on the left when traveling south.
In 1939, after the contralto was refused the use of Constitution Hall by the D.A.R. because of her race, she sang at the Lincoln Memorial for an audience of 75,000. The first African American to perform at The White House (1936), and to be a . . . — — Map (db m98589) HM
On Fifth Avenue at East 108th Street, on the left when traveling south on Fifth Avenue.
Odetta, born Odetta Holmes, was an influential artist/activist of the civil rights generation. During her 60-year career, she influenced numerous performers, including Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin. Her signature song was . . . — — Map (db m105133) HM
On West 23rd Street just west of Fifth Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
This was the childhood home of Edith Jones Wharton, one of America's most important authors at a time when 23rd street marked the northern boundary of fashionable New York. Here in her father's extensive library, young Edith Jones discovered the . . . — — Map (db m49147) HM
On East 19th Street east of Broadway, on the right when traveling west.
Journalist who said "Go West, young man!" lived here when he was editor and publisher of the New York Tribune. An outspoken progressive reformer, he championed Western expansion and rights for women and young people. — — Map (db m98663) HM
On Lexington Avenue at East 23rd Street on Lexington Avenue.
A center of commerce by the 1840's, NYC attracted a growing immigrant population. Townsend Harris, President of the Board of Education, saw the need for publicly-supported higher education. In 1849, his vision was fulfilled when The Free Academy . . . — — Map (db m116838) HM
On East 19th Street west of 3rd Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
Lincoln Kirstein is widely recognized as one of the founders of the American ballet tradition. With George Balanchine, he created the School of American Ballet in 1934, and served as its President until 1989. Beginning in 1935, he attempted to . . . — — Map (db m98577) HM
On East 11th Street east of Fifth Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
The landscape gardener lived here from 1872 to 1913. Her 192 commissions include the East Garden (1913) of The White House, and the grounds of Dumbarton Oaks (1922-41), also in Washington, D.C. The niece of the celebrated writer, Edith Wharton, she . . . — — Map (db m98662) HM
On Fifth Avenue at W. 8th Street, on the right when traveling south on Fifth Avenue.
Born in The Bronx to Russian immigrants, Bella Abzug was a graduate of Hunter College (1942) and Columbia Law School (1947). A labor and civil rights lawyer, much of her work was pro bono defense for victims of injustice. A cofounder of Women Strike . . . — — Map (db m101595) HM
A revolutionary composer, Ives was also a traditional insurance executive. His innovative music builds on American popular and folk tunes, and expands the use of rhythm and tonality. His avant-garde works include Concord, Mass., 1840-1860, . . . — — Map (db m55757) HM
On East 10th Street east of Fifth Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
The novelist, playwright, and diarist lived here from 1931-1942, where she wrote Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel, Angels on Toast, and A Time to Be Born. Born in Ohio, she wrote perceptive novels set in small Midwestern towns, . . . — — Map (db m98685) HM
On Washington Square North near University Place, on the left when traveling east.
A printmaker, illustrator, and prominent watercolorist, Hopper is renowned for his oil paintings, whose focus on everyday life explores the visualization of human isolation, regret and boredom. His most famous painting, Nighthawks (1942), . . . — — Map (db m148744) HM
On Fifth Avenue at W. 8th Street, on the right when traveling south on Fifth Avenue.
Edward I. Koch
December 12, 1924 — February 1, 2013
2 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Edward Irving Koch, Mayor of New York City from 1978 through 1989, was born in The Bronx to immigrant parents. During his three terms in office, he executed . . . — — Map (db m101597) HM
On University Place south of East 12th Street, on the right when traveling south.
While living here in 1957-59, the poet, critic, and curator wrote a monograph about Jackson Pollock. His poems dealt with urban themes in an expressionist style analogous to Pollock's action paintings. — — Map (db m145847) HM
On East 9th Street, on the left when traveling west.
The dynamic founder and impresario of the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater began offering free performances of Shakespeare in Central Park in 1954. In 1967 he created The Public Theater, the most important not-for-profit theater in the . . . — — Map (db m141303) HM
On Waverly Place east of 6th Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry
May 19, 1930 – January 2, 1965
112 Waverly Place, Manhattan
The first African-American woman to write a play performed on Broadway, Lorraine Hansberry is best known for A Raisin in the Sun (1959), about . . . — — Map (db m124838) HM
On East 9th Street at University Place, on the left when traveling east on East 9th Street.
The playwright, librettist and screenwriter, whose career spanned six decades, lived and worker here from 1996 until his death in 2020. At the age of 18, he moved to New York City (from Corpus Christi, Texas, where he grew up) to attend Columbia . . . — — Map (db m224680) HM
On Washington Place east of 6th Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
Willa Cather 1873-1947
Richard Wright 1908-1960
Willa Cather, author of
My Antonia, wrote her first novel,
Alexander's Bridge, here in 1912.
Richard Wright, author of Native Son,
wrote his autobiography, . . . — — Map (db m106296) HM
On West 47th Street west of 9th Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
The magazine editor, who said "if you can't be funny, be interesting", lived here when he founded The New Yorker in 1925. At his 1923 "housewarming" were Dorothy Parker, Harpo Marx, and George Gershwin. — — Map (db m110876) HM
The Pop artist best known for his silkscreens of cultural icons, including Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Chairman Mao, and Campbell's Soup cans, lived here from 1974 to 1987. The founder of Interview magazine and producer of underground films such . . . — — Map (db m98636) HM
On East 64th Street at Madison Avenue, on the right when traveling east on East 64th Street.
The lawyer and former New York governor lived here from 1917 to 1921, after losing the 1916 presidential elections to Woodrow Wilson. Hughes served as U.S. Secretary of State during the Harding Administration (1921-23) and the Coolidge . . . — — Map (db m98645) HM
The first lady of The United States (1933 - 1945), as a political activist known for her unwavering support for human rights, lived here from 1959 to 1962. As a delegate to The United Nations (1946 - 1952), she chaired the commission that drafted . . . — — Map (db m152503) HM
On East 72nd Street near Third Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Grapes of Wrath (1939) was a prolific writer who showed great compassion for the ordinary person caught up in political and economic circumstances beyond his or her control. Often called The Bard of . . . — — Map (db m155436) HM
On East 72nd Street east of Lexington Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
The leadership of John V. Lindsay, 103rd Mayor of New York City (1966-1973), kept this city calm during a time of social unrest, when other cities were beset with riots, by walking though troubled streets, adopting a policy of police restraint, and . . . — — Map (db m98597) HM
On Central Park West at West 65th Street, on the right when traveling south on Central Park West.
The widely-read novelist, short story writer, and playwright, best known for the novel Giant (1952), lived here from 1923 to 1929. Ferbers fiction is distinguished by larger-than-life stories, strong female characters, and distinctive . . . — — Map (db m110281) HM
On East 48th Street west of Second Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
The journalist, known as "the intrepid girl reporter" lived here from 1941 to 1957. Her book, I Saw Hitler and column "On the Record," were influential in calling for American intervention in World War II. — — Map (db m126310) HM
On West 57th Street at 7th Avenue on West 57th Street.
World-renowned composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein was an American musical icon of the 20th century. He turned millions of viewers into music lovers through his televised Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, establishing him . . . — — Map (db m110804) HM
On West 114th Street west of Broadway, on the right when traveling east.
The director and producer of silent and sound epic films lived here from 1906 to 1913. He directed the first Hollywood feature motion picture, The Squaw Man (1913). Known for his multimillion-dollar spectacles, he produced 70 films including . . . — — Map (db m98483) HM
On West 112th Street at Broadway, on the right when traveling west on West 112th Street.
The influential educator and philosopher rejected education by rote in favor of "learning by doing," which develops the critical thinking skills Dewey believed were essential for participation in a democratic society. He lived here from 1913 to . . . — — Map (db m98473) HM
The son of Cuban immigrants, Oscar Hijuelos lived here from 1951 to 1971, where he first began to write and play guitar and piano. Literature and music would be his life-long passions. A student at Bronx Community College, Manhattan Community . . . — — Map (db m98468) HM
On East 35th Street west of Lexington Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Best known for his creation, the "Gibson Girl," who appeared in songs, operettas, clothing lines, hairstyles, even wallpaper designs Charles Dana Gibson is generally credited for popularizing the ideal of feminine beauty in the late nineteenth and . . . — — Map (db m203844) HM
On East 36th Street east of Park Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
October 11, 1884 - November 7, 1962
125 East 36th Street, Manhattan
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived here, in their "14-foot mansion, . . . — — Map (db m198699) HM
On East 35th Street just east of Park Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Jessica Tandy
June 7, 1909 - September 11, 1994
Hume Cronyn
July 18, 1911 - June 15, 2003
British-born actress Jessica Tandy and Canadian-born actor Hume Cronyn, one of Broadway's leading husband-wife acting teams, met in 1940 . . . — — Map (db m203846) HM
On Park Avenue, on the right when traveling north.
A pioneering critic who made architecture part of the public discourse, Ada Louise Huxtable was the first full-time architect critic on any American newspaper when named to that position at The New York Times in 1963. In 1970, she was awarded the . . . — — Map (db m98593) HM
On East 81st Street, on the right when traveling west.
Jerome Robbins
October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998
117 East 81st Street, Manhattan
Internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and director Jerome Robbins lived and worked here from 1967 to 1998. Many of the more than 60 ballets he . . . — — Map (db m127192) HM
On West End Avenue at West 93rd Street, on the left when traveling north on West End Avenue.
Born on the Lower East Side, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, abstract expressionist Barnett Newman was one of the foremost color field painters of the mid-twentieth century. His rejection of expressive brushstrokes, in favor of . . . — — Map (db m98475) HM
On West 75th Street at Riverside Drive, on the right when traveling west on West 75th Street.
George Gershwin
1898 - 1937
Ira Gershwin
1896 - 1983
The composer, and the lyricist, lived here between 1929–33, the years they wrote Broadway show Girl Crazy and, their political satires, Of Thee I Sing, and Let . . . — — Map (db m98477) HM
On West 88th Street east of Riverside Drive, on the left when traveling east.
"The Sultan of Swat" led the New York Yankees to seven pennants between 1920 and 1934. Ruth hit 714 career home runs, a record until 1974. He lived here for several years, beginning in 1929, and then moved to 173 Riverside Drive. — — Map (db m98467) HM
On West 79th Street west of Columbus Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
Philip Roth was among the greatest American writers of any generation. He published thirty-one books of fiction, memoir, and essays. More than half were worked on here-his studio, then his residence-from 1988 until his death. He received numerous . . . — — Map (db m198551) HM
On Bedford Street at Commerce Street on Bedford Street.
The irreverent poet, who wrote “my candle burns at both ends” lived here in 1923-24 at the time she wrote the “Ballad of the Harp-Weaver,” for which she won a Pulitzer Prize. — — Map (db m57187) HM
On Charles Street east of Bleecker Street, on the left when traveling east.
The poet and author, one of the "Lost Generation" of writers, lived here while supporting himself as an advertising writer. Crane's poems "White Buildings" and "The Bridge" gave harmonious expression to the chaos of urban life. — — Map (db m98712) HM
On Bethune Street near Washington Street, on the left when traveling west.
Merce Cunningham, the acclaimed dancer and visionary choreographer, was among the first tenants of Westbeth, moving in shortly after it opened as a living and working space for artists in 1970. From then, until his death in 2009, Cunningham taught, . . . — — Map (db m133246) HM
On Charles Street east of Bleecker Street, on the left when traveling east.
The first U.S. writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature (1930), novelist and short story writer, Sinclair Lewis, born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, was a graduate of Yale University; his earliest published work was in the Yale Literary . . . — — Map (db m98714) HM
On Charles Street east of Bleecker Street, on the right when traveling east.
Woodrow Wilson "Woody” Guthrie, composer of This Land Is Your Land,
is considered a 'father' of American folk music. Known as "The Dust
Bowl Balladeer,” he was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, and spent years
traveling throughout the . . . — — Map (db m125772) HM
On Corbett Road just east of 221st Street, on the left when traveling west.
The heavyweight boxing champion of the world in the 1890s lived here from 1903 to 1933, while pursuing a vaudeville and movie career. His good manners and dapper clothes earned him the nickname "Gentleman Jim". — — Map (db m193327) HM
