Photos: The Past Lives of Buildings

The Past Lives of Buildings- a listener photo project from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show

Christopher Gray has been digging up dirt on the history of New York's buildings for 20 years in his "Streetscapes" column in the New York Times. Every building has a story: some have glorious pasts, others notorious heydays, and others a history of neglect.

Tune in to The Leonard Lopate Show on Thursday, March 22nd to hear Christopher Gray fill us in on the most intriguing buildings our listeners submitted.
View all photo submissions on Flickr (requires a free flickr.com account)

Help Christopher Grey!
Gray has unanswered questions--often about New York's most prominent buildings. Shed some light on some of these questions that have him stumped: send him an email at Streetscapes@NYTimes.com or comment right on the picture on Flickr:

1. What were Edward Clark's plans for the back of the Dakota? View photo
2. Why were streets like 34th (at center) made especially wide in 1811, but the others made narrow? View photo
3. Were American servants oppressed, or did they really have the upper hand? View photo
4. How did taste change so dramatically--from the neo-Georgian in the 1920s to the white brick of the 1960s, and then, suddenly, back again? View photo
5. How did we give away 2/3s of the roadbed to a tiny, privileged minority? View photo



For more from The Leonard Lopate Show visit the show page