3. The Tammany Hall Headquarters Was Situated Here

Tammany-Hall_Union-Square_NYC_Untapped-Cities-01-Bryan-GarciaThis New York Film Academy building used to be the Tammany Hall headquarters 

Unbeknownst to many, you can still see the presence of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine once led by the corrupt Boss Tweed, at 100 East 17th street in Union Square. Though it is now occupied by the New York Film Academy, the building is an official New York City Landmark that still has the Tammany Society seal and sculptural reliefs of Chief Tammany and Christopher Columbus.

Commissioned in 1927, the political machine already began to lose power by the time it was completed in 1929 due to corruption scandals. The organization continued to meet here at “The Hall” until 1943, when Local 91 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union bought the building. Both the Union Square Theater and the New York Film Academy moved in almost 50 years later.

With its inscription “1786 THE SOCIETY OF TAMMANY OR COLUMBIAN ORDER 1928” and the Tammany Hall motto “Freedom Our Rock,” it is the the 17th street exterior that shows blatant signs of Tammany Hall’s presence. Read more about it here.