Hess Triangle Defied Eminent Domain

In the early 1910s, New York City used eminent domain to demolish the five-story Voorhis apartment building owned by a Philadelphia landlord named David Hess, along with 252 other buildings, to widen Seventh Avenue and expand the IRT subway. By 1913, the family had exhausted its legal challenges, but Hess's heirs discovered that the seizure had missed a 500-square-inch triangle at Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street. When the city asked them to donate it, they refused and installed a mosaic on July 27, 1922, declaring that the property had never been dedicated for public purposes. The estate sold the Hess Triangle to the neighboring cigar shop for $100 in 1938, but later owners preserved the plaque.

Previous Fact Next Fact