5. Marcel Duchamp, Dashiell Hammett: 28 West 10th Street

French surrealist artist and writer Marcel Duchamp who is attributed with creating the readymade “Fountain” from a urinal, lived at this address in the late 1950s so he could be close to the Marshall Chess Club at 23 West 10th Street. Duchamp had a passion for the board game and even stopped creating art to focus on chess.  

Famous detective novelist Dashiell Hammett also lived at this address from 1947 to 1952 after serving in World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While he resided at this house, he became interested in leftist politics. His support for the leftist Civil Rights Congress would cause him to get blacklisted during America’s era of McCarthyism.

Hammett also lived at the Kenmore Hall Hotel on West 23rd street. Since Hammett was constantly out of money, his friend and fellow author Nathaniel West, who worked as one of the hotel’s clerks, let Hammett stay at the hotel for free.