List of demolished buildings and structures in New York City

This is a list of demolished buildings and structures in New York City.

The New York City urban area comprises the largest contiguous urban development in the United States, and has a long history of continuous architectural developments and rebuilding. Core to New York City's identity (even by American standards) is constant reinvention, demographic shifts, and architectural redevelopment:

“You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.” — Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York (2003)^[1]

Much of the early colonial, Dutch, and pre-industrial NYC heritage was lost in fires, gradual disrepair due to being constructed from wood, or during the implementation of the grid system and Central Park (see Seneca Village).^[2][3] However, it is often colloquially remarked in NYC urbanism circles that more architectural heritage was destroyed in the urban renewal movements of the mid-19th century than when the visigoths sacked Rome. Black and minority neighborhoods were destroyed en masse for Robert Moses' highways and suburban arterials to permit white, suburban workers to get to drive to work more easily.^[4][5] Until the historic preservation movement led by activists such as Ada Huxtable began, following the demolition of Penn Station, few recognised the value of historic buildings in the modern city, and developers destroyed buildings at scale.^[6] In addition to the noteworthy buildings included on this list, countless Gilded Age mansions were destroyed for high-rise apartment buildings (e.g., Schwab House), particularly south of 59th street^[7] (surviving exceptions include the Cooper Hewitt, The Frick, Harry F. Sinclair house, Neue Gallerie, and a few other Museum Mile museums), the only remaining evidence of New Amsterdam is streets layout and naming^[8], and countless historic buildings in the South Bronx were destroyed in the 1970s through arson and deliberate insurance fraud.^[9]

Despite the historic preservation movement and widely documented negative effects on neighborhoods and city culture that resulted from Moses' destructive redevelopments, gentrification, and demolitions for skyrises, widespread destruction of historic buildings to create new buildings remains part of NYC's culture, allowing constant reinvention and redevelopment, particularly for office towers and billionaire luxury housing investments.^[10][11]