In the old photograph, a lonely farmhouse sits on a rocky hill, shaded by tall trees. The scene looks like rural Maine. On the modern street, apartment buildings tower above trucks and cars passing a busy corner where an AMC Loews multiplex faces an overpriced hamburger joint and a Coach store.
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How Manhattan's Grid Grew
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Manhattan's Master Plan
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They are both the same spot. Not so long ago, all things considered, the intersection of Broadway and 84th Street didn't exist; the area was farmland. "The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011," now at the Museum of the City of New York, unearths that 1879 picture of the Brennan Farm among other historic gems. The show celebrates the anniversary of what remains not just a landmark in urban history but in many ways the defining feature of the city.