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Hess's Old Teeny Tiny Message To City
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 1, 2010
Modified Apr 9, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 1, 2010
Modified Apr 9, 2015
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Today ScoutingNY retells the old story of a (once-private) tiny piece of land in front of the Village Cigars store (located at 110 7th Ave S). In case you haven't seen it for yourself, the mosaic triangle in the sidewalk out front states: “Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated For Public Purposes.”
Back in 1910 when the area was being widened by the city, buildings were razed, including David Hess's 5-story Voorhis building. By 1914, Hess only had this small piece of triangle-shaped land left, which the city hoped he would donate as part of the sidewalk, but he refused and had this mosaic created instead. In 1938 he sold the triangle to the cigar store for 1000 bucks (around $2/per inch), but they never touched his message. You can read more here.
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David Hess
hess triangle
mosaic
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village cigars
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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