There are no more insider tips for New York? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! You have to see this little piece of Big Apple: the Hess triangle.
The inconspicuous mosaic tile marks the smallest private property in the city. In the West Village on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street, she was let into the sidewalk. Most people overlook them – who walks the streets of New York looking at the ground?
The inscription tells the story of the little sight: “Property of the Hess Estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes” (Property of the Hess estate, which was never released for public use).
The story behind it is bizarre: In 1910, the City of New York made plans to extend and widen Seventh Avenue. A new subway line was to be built to connect the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village and what is now Tribeca. A good plan – with a catch: in order to implement the plans, the city had to buy up private property or, if necessary, expropriate.
A total of 300 lots were expropriated in Greenwich Village, including a five-story apartment building owned by David Hess. He was horrified, took the city to court, lost the trial in 1914 – and his property. But not the whole property …
For surveying and legal reasons, a triangular 0.3 square meter piece of land remained in his possession. There was Mr. Hess now: with a tiny remnant of his once large property.
Hess was pissed off. Every passerby should know that this little piece of land is not public land. In 1922 he installed the mosaic, the Hess triangle, which he later donated to the general public.
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