Manhattan Avenue Historic District

This historic district is located in the Manhattan Valley section of the Upper West Side, along Manhattan Avenue between West 104th Street and 106th Street. During the late nineteenth century, residential development swelled on the Upper West Side due to the attractiveness of the area and the extension of transportation routes northward. Accordingly, a number of prominent architects, including C.P.H. Gilbert and Joseph M. Dunn, designed many of the row houses in this neighborhood. A majority of the structures in the district were erected in the Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles.

The increase in residential development in the area created a need for institutional buildings; therefore the former General Memorial Hospital for Cancer and the Allied Diseases, known today as the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was constructed in 1884-1886. This designated landmark has two additions that are located in the historic district: an X-ray laboratory on West 105th Street and the nurses' residence and research laboratory located on West 106th Street. The X-ray building was constructed in the neo-Gothic style in 1916-1917. Built in 1926-1927, the nurses' residence features the French Renaissance style. In 1961, the residence was used as a hotel, and today it is used as a youth hostel. The X-ray laboratory was converted to apartments in 1957. ©2014