New York Songlines: 47th Street

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Corner (620 12th Ave): Millar Elevator Industries

533: Sullivan Street Bakery

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This was the northwest corner of the Eden Farm, which stretched to what is now 44th Street and 7th Avenue. John Jacob Astor bought the land in 1803 for $25,000; his son William Backhouse Astor developed it with brownstones in 1860, leaving this area with better housing stock than the surrounding tenements of Hell's Kitchen. Several of the brownstones on this block retain their original stoops.

412: Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant moved to this townhouse in 1922, followed by Alexander Woolcott. Ross and Grant launched the New Yorker here in 1925. Feuds and divorce led to all three moving out by 1928.

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451: This brownstone was the last home of the photographer Weegee, who died in 1968.

425: Fountain House, pioneering mental health rehabilitation center founded in 1948.

415: Media critic Seth Ackerman used to live here.

409: Calvary Christian Church

401 (corner): Barrage, popular gay bar that boasts "wall-to-wall models"--most of them laminated. In the Angela, a 19th Century apartment building.

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304: Forty Seventh Street Theater, featuring the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre

Corner (767 8th Ave): New Acropolis Coffee

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349: Wanaque, described in 1984 as "a run-down rooming house." Named for a town in New Jersey's Ramapo Mountains.

Actors Temple

339: More formally known as Congregation Ezrath Israel--meaning "the One Who Assists Israel"--this synogogue was founded in 1917 as the West Side Hebrew Relief Association. It became a spiritual home for Jews working on Broadway, including Sophie Tucker, Jack Benny, Edgar G. Robinson, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters and "several of the Three Stooges."

315: Holy Family Church

Corner (771 8th Ave): Was B. Smith's, soul-food showcase for the "black Martha Stewart," opened 1987; in 2000, became Jack Rose, bar named for a 19th Century gangster--a leading venue for swing dancing. Since 2004, it's one of those places for tourists who want to eat someplace they could eat at at home.

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Corner (760 8th Ave): From 2011 until 2020, this was the location of the famous Copacabana nightclub, which was the setting and namesake of a 1947 Groucho Marx/Carmen Miranda movie, and a 1978 Barry Manilow song. It's featured in several films, including Goodfellas, where it was accurately portrayed as a Mob hangout; the club was launched with Frank Costello as a silent partner, and was run for many years by Joe Gallo.

This was the fourth location of the club, moving here from 34th Street. The opening act here was salsa star Willie Colon. The Copa is now located on 51st Street.

268: China Club

266: The Mean Fiddler, Irish sports bar. Was Stella's, one of the last places to see go-go boys in Times Square. Downstairs is The Woo Woo, a punk-themed bar that includes a sex shop for old school Times Square flavor.

Brooks Atkinson Theater

256-262: A Herbert J. Krapp design in the "modern Spanish" style for the Chanin Organization, completed in 1926; the ornamentation is by Roman Meltzer, formerly architect to Czar Nicholas II. Originally named for the 19th Century actor Richard Mansfield, it was renamed in 1960 for the theater critic.

250: Pierre au Tunnel, pre-theater French

Hotel Edison

228: The 9th floor of this historic hotel was home to George Burns and Gracie Allen after the marriage in 1927; their friend Jack Benny also lived here, on the 4th floor. Ring Lardner lived in Room 1935 for part of 1933. Moss Hart lived in a tower apartment in 1931 after his Once in a Lifetime was a Broadway hit.

The hotel is featured in the films The Godfather and Bullets Over Broadway. The cafe here is noted for its Magic Table, where professional magicians gather to mystify one another.

W New York-Times Square

Corner (1567 Broadway): This luxury hotel opened in 2001 featuring "almost hallucinatory public spaces" (Access NYC). Includes the Whiskey bar and the restaurant Blue Fin. Planet Hollywood had threatened to build a hotel here.

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Biltmore Theatre

261-265: Another Chanin house completed in 1926; the interior is by Krapp. Barefoot in the Park and Hair had long runs here.

Barrymore Theatre

243-251: A 1928 Krapp design, noted for its "wondrous ironmongery" supporting the marquee. It was named for Ethel Barrymore, the Shuberts' star performer, who appeared in four shows here in its first four years. Marlon Brando played here in A Streetcar Named Desire, Fred Astaire in The Gay Divorce, Sydney Poitier in Raisin in the Sun; it was also the venue for Clare Boothe's The Women.

Morgan Stanley

1585 (block): The post-modern facade of this building features rolling financial quotes. In 1914, this block became the site of The Strand, the first Times Square theater designed specifically for movies.

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Duffy Square

At the north end of this triangular traffic island is the TKTS booth, offering half-priced tickets to selected plays on the day of the show. The old canvas-and-pipe structure was quite attractive, but it's been replaced by a more Blade Runnerish form whose roof is a red staircase-to-nowhere with a great view of Times Square.

Standing in front of the staircase is a statue of the square's namesake, Father Francis P. Duffy, who after serving as chaplain to the "Fighting 69th" Division in World War I helped to clean up Hell's Kitchen. He was also Broadway's spiritual advisor, which is why he can be found here, backed by a Celtic cross.

Also here is George M. Cohan, forever giving his regards to Broadway.

In 1909, a 50-foot statue of Purity was erected here. It lasted two months.

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Ramada Renaissance

Block (1580 Broadway): This wedge-shaped building, put up in 1989, is most famous for its signage--Coca-Cola has had a sign here since 1936 (though it's temporarily absent). The site has a storied history: In the 1920s it was the Palais Royale, with the Moulin Rouge in the basement; then from 1936 to 1940 it was the Cotton Club's post-Harlem home, featuring stars like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. From 1942 to 1969, it was the Latin Quarter nightclub--run by Lou Walters, Barbara Walters' father.

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The Palace

Corner (1568 Broadway): Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square Hotel, built in 1991 as the Embassy Suites to a Fox & Fowle design, envelopes the old Palace Theater, built in 1913 by Kirchoff & Rose. In its heyday it was every vaudevillian's dream to play the Palace; among those who made it were W.C. Fields, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope and the Marx Brothers. Citizen Kane had its world premiere here May 1, 1944, when the Palace was converted to a cinema; after it returned to live theater, Judy Garland had a smash 19-week run here in 1951. Subsequently it's seen the openings of such plays as Sweet Charity, La Cage aux Folles, The Will Rogers Follies, Beauty and the Beast and Aida. The casting scene in All That Jazz was filmed here.

Before the Palace was built, there was a brownstone here where the Barrymore kids--Lionel, Ethel and John--lived in 1889.

150: Langans Bar & Restaurant

146: Dervish Turkish

132: The Hotel Rio resembled the now-demolished Hotel Coolidge.

114: United States Trust Company Headquarters, an octagonal 1990 building by Fox & Fowle.

106: Was Rex Hotel

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165: Pig and Whistle

155: Was the Americana Hotel, where comedian Lenny Bruce lived when he was in New York City. Biographer Albert Goldman described it as "one of the most bizarre hotels in the world: a combination whorehouse, opium den and lunatic asylum."

145: Evergreen Coffee Shop

135: Was Flanders Hotel

133: Dish of Salt restaurant

131: Was the Coolidge Hotel, popular with entertainers for its proximity to The Palace. Gracie Allen lived here in 1921 when she was dating George Burns; her roommate, Mary Kelly, was seeing George's friend Jack Benny, who also lived at the Coolidge.

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The Diamond District

This block ranks with Antwerp, Belgium and Ramat Gan, Israel, as one of the major diamond trading centers in the world. Originally located on Maiden Lane and dominated by Orthodox Jews, the district is said to employ 35,000 thousand people at 2,600 jewelry-related businesses, but that may be declining due to industry changes--the number of gemcutters on the street has dropped from 3,000 to 300 in recent years. A view of the street in its heyday can be seen in Marathon Man.

74: The owner of Roman Jewelers was convicted of laundering Colombian drug money; in 2005, his son was shot in an apparent murder-for-hire.

66: Rose Reiter Jewelry was founded in 1958; Norman Landsberg goes back to 1948; Nagin Jewelry dates to the 1920s.

62: New York magazine recommends Diamond Co., a wholesaler located upstairs at this address.

The back entrance to the Wentworth Hotel is a shortcut to 46th Street.

50: Midtown Jewelers

46: The old space of Taam-Tov.

36: Diamond Center of America

34: Fifth Avenue Jewelers Exchange

30: Radio City Synagogue is a place of worship for the District's many observant Jews.

26: Kim's Jewelry served as a fence for a gang of jewel thieves robbing suburban malls.

20: Jewelry Center Building

10: New York Jewelry Center includes AA Pearls & Gems Co

4: National Jewelry Exchange; features the Diamond Dairy of New York, a kosher restaurant.

2: International Jewelers Exchange

Corner (578 5th Avenue): Jewelers on Fifth-- dealers who cater to the carriage trade

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Corner (1200 6th Avenue): The Diamond Offering

73: Dyckman's Jewelry Exchange

69: Diamond City

67: Was the original location of 47th Street Photo, opened in 1965--now an Internet-based operation

55: World's Largest Jewelry Exchange may (or may not) be an exaggeration, but it's the largest on the block, with some 115 dealers.

41: Was Gotham Book Mart, which advertised "Wise Men Fish Here" for 58 years. The store's clerks have included Allen Ginsberg, Tennessee Williams and Leroi Jones. Upstairs is the new space (formerly occupied by Diamond Garden, Chinese) of Taam-Tov, well-regarded Uzbek kosher restaurant.

37: Here was the first exchange to open on the north side of the block.

27: Plaza Arcade. There's a shortcut through this building to 48th Street.

23: Agosta Watch Co.

15: Firenze Jewels, since 1937. The owner was chair of the 47th Street Business Improvement District for 16 years.

1 (corner): The Diamond Dealers Club, located here, is the governing body of the Diamond District; disputes between dealers are settled here rather than in civil court. This building is also home to the Gemological Institute of America, which established the "four Cs" system for grading diamonds. In 2005 the GIA was involved in a scandal in which employs were bribed to falsely upgrade diamond evaluations.

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Corner (575 5th Ave): This 1985 Emery Roth & Sons design absorbed the former Korvette's, originally W & J Sloane.

2: L'Ecole ("The School"), apartment building put up in 1977 on the site of the Central Commercial School Annex

12: The Chapin School was founded here in 1901 by Maria Bowen Chapin, who formerly was primary classes director for the Brearley School.

22: Hale & Hearty Soups, local mini-chain

Corner (380 Park Ave): This was the original site of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which gave us the word "ritzy" and the song "Putting on the Ritz" (not to mention Ritz crackers). It opened in 1910, designed by Charles Wetmore and financed by real estate scion Robert Walton Goelet. Featured Castle House, the dance school run by Vernon and Irene Castle. This was the site of lush coming-out parties for "Poor Little Rich Girl" Barbara Hutton, in 1930, and Brenda Frazier, "Glamour Girl No. 1," in 1938. The hotel was torn down in 1957; there's a recent incarnation on Central Park South.

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7: Kuruma Zushi, hard-to-find sushi spot

11: Katsuhama, much more affordable sushi

Mercantile Library of New York

17: Founded in 1820 to provide books for self-improvement-minded clerks, this library was once the fourth-largest in the country. It moved in 1932 to this building designed by Henry Otis Chapman.

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Block (383 Park Ave): Bear Stearns World Headquarters are housed in this 44-floor, octagonal Skidmore, Owings & Merrill tower, completed in 2001.

S <===   VANDERBILT AVE

Block (250 Park Ave): The Postum Building, named for the cereal company, is a 1925 Cross & Cross design whose smallish block (truncated by Vanderbilt Avenue) has saved it from demolition and replacement with a gigantic glass structure--so it gives some idea of the "Terminal City" which once surrounded Grand Central. Now houses the Marine Midland Trust Co.

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Union Carbide Building

Block (270 Park): Fifty-three stories of grey glass and matte-black steel, a 1960 Skidmore Owings & Merrill building, originally built for Union Carbide, redone in 1983 by the same architects. The elevators start on the second floor because the building is built over a railroad yard. It now houses the world headquarters of JPMorgan Chase, the banking giant.

Here used to be the Marguery Hotel, noted for its "quiet garden" and "famous food" in a 1936 hotel guide. The Marguery in turn was said to be on the site of The Benedick, a fictional "bachelor's flat" in Edith Wharton's House of Mirth where Lawrence Selden has tea with Lily Bart.

Corner: J. Seward Johnson's Taxi (1983) hails a cab here.

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Block (245 Park Ave): The 1967 American Brands Building is by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, better known for designing the Empire State Building. It houses the Bear Stearns investment bank.

Corner (480 Lexington): This was the site of the Grand Central Palace, which hosted in April 1917 the First Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. Dadaist art critic Arthur Cravan was arrested there for shouting obscenities and undressing during a lecture. Later it served as New York City's main induction center for World War II draftees. The present building dates to the 1960s and is the headquarters of the financial firm Bear Sterns.

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Block (277 Park Ave): This building houses the investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the Continental Grain Company and Penthouse magazine.

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Corner (501 Lexington): The management of the Roger Smith Hotel does not seem to know who Roger Smith was.

155 (corner): Buchanan Apartments, a 1928 apartment building on the site of the 19th Century Buchanan farm. It was home to 1930s socialites like William Iselin, Eva Drexel Dahlgren and Frederick Havemeyer.

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240: Dag Hammarskjold Tower, 1982 condo building named for the U.N. secretary-general from 1953 until his death in 1961 while on a peace mission to the Congo. His statue can be seen on the building's corner. Actress Rita Moreno has lived in this building.

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205: The site of the Biltmore Garage, immortalized in the musical Guys and Dolls as the location of Nathan Detroit's permanent floating crap game.

231: This address was the site of Andy Warhol's first Factory, opened in 1963. It was noted for its silver-painted, aluminum-covered walls. Warhol's films Kiss, Haircut and Eat were filmed here; the "50 Most Beautiful People" party was thrown here in 1965, attracting guests like Judy Garland, Allen Ginsberg and Tennessee Williams.

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Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

A park that stretches the length of the block, it was acquired in 1948 and named for Dag Hammarskjold, the two-term U.N. secretary general, in 1961, the year he died in a plane crash while on a peace mission to the Congo. It has been the site of many demonstrations. It includes the Katharine Hepburn Garden.

The southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 47th Street was the site of St. Boniface's Catholic Church. The church was connected to the bizarre 1913 murder/dismemberment of Anna Aumuller; Father Hans Schmidt, an assistant here, confessed to the crime, saying St. Elizabeth had told him to do it. It turned out that Schmidt was actually a counterfeiter posing as a priest, and that Aumuller, his lover, had died after a botched abortion. Schmidt had hoped to be declared insane, but he was sent to the chair at Sing Sing in 1916.

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301 (corner): Embassy House, 1960s white-brick apartment building.

315: The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family, known as the United Nations Parish. The church was founded in 1924 to serve what was then an Italian immigrant community, and was originally housed in a converted brewery stable; the present Modernist building, designed by George J. Sole, dates to 1965. Pope Paul VI visited the church that same year; it was his first visit to a church in the Western Hemisphere. Pope John Paul II blessed this church in 1979 after delivering a human rights message to the UN.

333: Japan House, a cultural center built 1971 and designed by Junzo Yoshimura and George Shimamoto.

345: United Engineering Center, a 1961 building by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Trump World Tower

Corner (845 1st Ave): This 72-story building, completed in 2001, is the tallest residential building in the world. It closely resembles the monoliths from 2001, but is far less likely to advance human evolution.