Cortlandt Street (Manhattan)

Cortland Street is a street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. It has varied in length over time, but it currently runs east to west from Broadway, intersects Church Street, and terminates at Greenwich Street. It is one of the patchwork of old streets at the southern tip of Manhattan. The street was once the center of the small business district Radio Row. Its the location of subway stations for the 1, N, R & W lines.

Its named after the Van Cortlandt family, who first came to North America in the 1630s. Stephanus Van Cortlandt was the mayor of New York from 1600 to 1700.

The street has existed since before the American Revolution, according to maps from the New York Public Library collection. It was written as 'Courtlandt Street' in a map from 1795. On a map from 1695, it is not present, so it was laid sometime within the span of the next century.

In 1921, business owner and entrepreneur Harry L. Schneck opened City Radio on Cortlandt Street. It was a small business that sold radios and radio parts, which at that time was quite a novelty. Over the following decades, the area developed into a business district in its own right which became known as Radio Row.

In 1966, the Radio Row district was demolished and its streets were de-mapped to make way for the construction of the World Trade Center. Cortlandt Street, which until then ran to West Street, was cut back several hundred yards to Church Street, making it only one block long. In 1968, both the Singer Building and the City Investing Building were deconstructed to make way for the monolithic One Liberty Plaza, a full block 54-story office tower. 22 Cortlandt Street was built directly across from it and both projects were overseen by the Emery Roth & Sons architecture firm.

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