Hidden New York

Manhattan

34 lesser-known places in Manhattan, with history, curiosities, a map and tours nearby.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

34 places

Entrance of the Bayard-Condict Building on Bleecker Street in NoHo, Manhattan

Tunnel, bridge & industry

Bayard-Condict Building

Bayard-Condict Building · Sullivan’s only NYC skyscraper, with winged angels

Cast-iron facade of the Bennett Building in the Financial District, lit by the sun

Bennett Building

Bennett Building · the biggest cast-iron facade in the world

Interior of the Beth Hamedrash Hagodol synagogue on the Lower East Side before the fire

Cemetery & worship

Beth Hamedrash Hagodol

Beth Hamedrash Hagodol · a lost Gothic synagogue on Norfolk Street

Blackwell Island Light, the small octagonal stone lighthouse on Roosevelt Island

Island, fort & lighthouse

Blackwell Island Light

Blackwell Island Light · a Gothic stone beacon in the East River

Castle Williams, the round red sandstone fort on Governors Island

Island, fort & lighthouse

Castle Williams

Castle Williams · round 1811 fort and former military prison

The Dyckman House farmhouse on its small hillock beside Broadway in Inwood, Manhattan

Dyckman House

Dyckman House · Manhattan’s oldest remaining farmhouse

Front of the Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan

Cemetery & worshipFilmed here

Eldridge Street Synagogue

Eldridge Street Synagogue · a sealed sanctuary reborn

Exterior of the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital buildings on Island 3

Ruins & abandoned

Ellis Island Hospital

Ellis Island Hospital · the abandoned medical side of Ellis Island

The High Bridge crossing the Harlem River between Manhattan and the Bronx

Tunnel, bridge & industry

High Bridge

High Bridge · the city’s oldest bridge, now a walkway

The Hispanic Society of America building on Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights

Hispanic Society of America

Hispanic Society · Goya, Velázquez and Sorolla uptown

The grassy slope and stone walls of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City

Tunnel, bridge & industry

Irish Hunger Memorial

Irish Hunger Memorial · an Irish hillside with a real cottage

The James Watson House at 7 State Street, now part of the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton

James Watson House

James Watson House · a 1793 mansion facing Battery Park

The Little Red Lighthouse in Fort Washington Park on the Hudson River

Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Jeffrey’s Hook Light (Little Red Lighthouse)

Little Red Lighthouse · Hudson River beacon under the bridge

The bridge of the fireboat John J. Harvey

Island, fort & lighthouse

John J. Harvey

John J. Harvey · the 1931 fireboat that answered the call on 9/11

Exterior facade of the Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue during the Greek Jewish Festival in 2025

Cemetery & worship

Kehila Kedosha Janina

Kehila Kedosha Janina · the only Romaniote synagogue in the Americas

Brick facade of the Merchant’s House Museum on East Fourth Street in Manhattan

Merchant’s House Museum

Merchant’s House Museum · NoHo home with its original interior

Mill Rock, a small island in the East River between Manhattan and Queens

Island, fort & lighthouse

Mill Rock

Mill Rock · a tiny island joined by a huge blast

Minton’s Playhouse, the Harlem jazz club on West 118th Street

Tunnel, bridge & industry

Minton’s Playhouse

Minton’s Playhouse · the Harlem club where bebop took shape

The Morris–Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights seen from the southwest, with its double-height portico

Historic houseFilmed here

Morris–Jumel Mansion

Morris–Jumel Mansion · Washington’s 1776 headquarters

The former New York Cancer Hospital at 455 Central Park West with its round towers

Ruins & abandoned

New York Cancer Hospital

New York Cancer Hospital · a French château built as a hospital

Entrance to the New York City Marble Cemetery on East 2nd Street

Cemetery & worship

New York City Marble Cemetery

NYC Marble Cemetery · 258 marble vaults behind a wall

Marble statue of a kouros, a standing nude youth, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tunnel, bridge & industry

New York Kouros

New York Kouros · an Athenian grave statue at the Met

Entrance to the New York Marble Cemetery in Manhattan’s East Village

Cemetery & worship

New York Marble Cemetery

New York Marble Cemetery · a hidden 1830 graveyard of marble vaults

A New Jersey Transit and Amtrak train on the Northeast Corridor entering the Hudson Palisades near the tunnel portals

Tunnel, bridge & industry

North River Tunnels

North River Tunnels · rail tubes under the Hudson to Penn Station

Tudor-style houses of Pomander Walk on the Upper West Side of Manhattan

Pomander Walk

Pomander Walk · a storybook lane tucked into the Upper West Side

Roosevelt Island in the East River beneath the Queensboro Bridge

Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island · from prison island to a car-light city neighborhood

Gothic Revival entrance front of the Smallpox Hospital ruin on Roosevelt Island

Ruins & abandoned

Smallpox Hospital

Smallpox Hospital · Gothic ruin at the tip of Roosevelt Island

Sniffen Court, the small brick mews off East 36th Street in Murray Hill, Manhattan

Sniffen Court Historic District

Sniffen Court · a tiny 1860s carriage-house mews in Manhattan

St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery in the East Village, photographed in 2025

Cemetery & worship

St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery

St. Mark’s Church · Peter Stuyvesant’s vault and poets’ stage

Row houses by Stanford White on the north side of West 139th Street in Striver’s Row, photographed in 2014

St. Nicholas Historic District (Striver’s Row)

Striver’s Row · Gilded Age row houses and a Harlem milestone

Historic view of the New York City Asylum for the Insane (women’s building) on Blackwell’s Island

The Octagon

The Octagon · last remnant of a historic asylum, on Roosevelt Island

Old gravestones in the Trinity Church burial ground in Manhattan

Cemetery & worship

Trinity Church Cemetery

Trinity Church Cemetery · Hamilton’s grave beside Wall Street

U Thant Island in the East River seen from the west, with its lighted beacon

Island, fort & lighthouse

U Thant Island

U Thant Island · Manhattan’s smallest island, off limits to visitors

A corner of an artist’s apartment at Westbeth in Greenwich Village

Westbeth Artists Community

Westbeth · former Bell Labs turned artists’ housing