A mysterious triangular mosaic is set in the sidewalk in front of Village Cigars in the West Village at 110 Seventh Avenue South at Christopher Street. It reads: “Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated for Public Purpose.”
This tiny piece of land is the result of a dispute between a former owner, the David Hess estate, of Philadelphia and NYC. Hess owned the Voorhis apartment building at that corner, which had been condemned to build a subway line. The estate refused to surrender a remaining triangle, 500 square inches, the smallest piece of private property in the city. In 1938, they sold the plot to Village Cigars for $1,000. Cracked and worn, it remains a testimony to one small triumph over the city of New York…
We have a similar story in Vancouver. I must get a photo of the “thin building”.
you mean only that small spot? haha..interesting !
an interesting find!
What a great story!
This blog has given me the motivation to get to the bottom of this story – and many other NYC curiosities. We do a lot of research on many of these postings. Glad you all appreciate it.
Brian
great history and story – almost sounds like an emminent domain type of situation but not really – great battle for the small people.
That is so interesting! I really enjoyed reading this!
Cheers,
Jenny
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