When old buildings were new

I found an interesting digital collection of maps at the N.Y. Public Library. I have always been fascinated by maps, and to a lesser degree, aerial photographs and urban architecture. As I was browsing, I came across a collection titled "Classic Six:" New York City Apartment Building Living, 1880s-1910s.

Here are two adjacent buildings on the same block, the west side of Broadway between 136th & 137th Streets. The buildings went up in 1907, with rents from $480 (probably for the first floor behind the storefronts) to $1,500 (probably the two front corner apartments).

Leslie Court, 137th & Broadway.

The Saxonia, 136th & Broadway.

Here is an aerial view of the two buildings as they stand today. You can clearly make out the plan of the Leslie Court building in the photograph.

Technorati tags: Manhattan, Harlem, architecture, apartments