Old buildings of NYC
According to the 2008 Census housing survey, 85 percent of New Yorkers live in buildings erected before 1970, compared with 42 percent of Americans generally. More remarkably, 39 percent of New Yorkers live in buildings predating 1930 and 17 percent in buildings predating 1920. Luckily for New Yorkers with a taste for past lives, many of these dwellings function as palimpsests of the city's history.
REAL ESTATE
Message From a Stranger
By CONSTANCE ROSENBLUM
Published: April 8, 2011
In New York City buildings, many of which were built before 1930, evidence of earlier tenants lurks in unexpected corners.