In the other 1910s , Manhattancity plannerslauncheda labor to expand Seventh Avenue and build up a new underpass personal credit line that course through the West Village . This take tearing down more than 250 edifices in the surface area , including a five - story apartment building know as the Voorhis .
It was owned by a landlord named David Hess , who tried and failed to keep his property from fall victim to the city ’s eminent domain call . The Voorhis wasdemolishedaround 1913 , and the plot became part of the road above the underground railroad track — all except for about 500 square inch .
That tiny triangleescapedunscathed , and Hess ’s family fought hard to hang onto it ( Walter Hess himself had egest away ) . This prison term , they won . In 1922 , the Hess estatecarriedout an bit that would become one of the most memorable import in thehistory of spite . They tile the trigon with a message that read : “ holding of the Hess estate which has never been commit for public purpose . ”
The same year , Village Cigars set up shop in the retail place at 110 Seventh Avenue South , sandwich between two entryway to the Christopher Street subway station . The so - visit “ cattiness triangle ” sat directly outside Village Cigars ’s door , and the Hess estate end up sell it to the property owners for $ 1000 in 1938 .
presently , it ’ll be sold again . Greenwich Village Cigars ’s current landlord , Jonathan Posner , is expect to sell the building to focus on his other properties in the region . As PosnertoldReal Estate Weekly , “ this building should be in the hand of a user and/or someone who can re - screw it and perhaps is fascinate with the melodic theme of owning one of the most famous corners in Manhattan . ”
Though Posner is still early in the summons of finding a vendee , Real Estate Weeklyestimates the listing price will be around $ 5.5 million . We ’re hoping the new owner will appreciate history ( and pettiness ) enough to leave Hess ’s fabled trilateral as is .
[ h / tReal Estate Weekly ]
