14 Gay Street, the Inspiration for WONDERFUL TOWN, to be Demolished
The process of the demolition, which began before Thanksgiving, has been protested.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Dec. 22, 2022
The New York Times has reported that 14 Gay Street in Greenwich Village is being demolished. The house was once the home of Ruth McKenney, who wrote My Sister Eileen," a 1938 collection of stories that provided the inspiration for the 1953 musical Wonderful Town.
Read the full story HERE.
14 Gay Street, is one of six early 19th-century buildings on Gay and Christopher Streets that were owned for decades by Celeste Martin. Martin passed away in 2018 at the age of 94. With no will and no close relatives, the city took over her holdings, selling her building and the five others for around $9 million. The houses were sold to a buyer who flipped them last April to Lionel Nazarian, a developer, for around $12 million. As Nazarian has done foundation work that has destabilized the buildings, the city ordered its demolition. The demolition began before Thanksgiving.
Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, who organized a protest against the demolition in November, shared that more than a dozen buildings like 14 Gay Street have come down.
Read the full story HERE.
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