"Tin Pan Alley" faces wrecking ball; Residents and others try to save it

New Yorkers trying to save historic Tin Pan Alley

A group of New Yorkers is fighting to save Tin Pan Alley, the half-dozen row houses where iconic American songs were born.

The four-story, 19th-century buildings on Manhattan's West 28th Street were home to publishers of some of the catchiest American tunes and lyrics — from "God Bless America" and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" to "Give My Regards to Broadway."

The music of Irving Berlin, Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, George M. Cohan and other greats was born on Tin Pan Alley.

The buildings were put up for sale earlier this fall for $44 million, with plans to replace them with a high-rise. The construction plan fell through amid the turmoil in the economy, but the possibility of losing the historic block hastened efforts to push for landmark status for Tin Pan Alley.

Full article here.

Tin Pan Alley tenant Leland Bobbe stands on a scaffolding next to a crumbling window frame outside his second-floor apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood in New York