Places connect us to the past, host community and cultural traditions, and keep local environments distinctive. City Lore and the Municipal Art Society founded the Place Matters project in 1998 to identify, promote, and protect such places in New York City.

Place of the Month

Columbus Park, spring 2012

Columbus Park

Bounded by Mulberry, Baxter, Worth and Bayard Streets and located at the western edge of Manhattan’s Chinatown, Columbus Park occupies the site of one of 19th century-New York’s most infamous slums. In 1855 it was near the center of the Five Points neighborhood -- widely considered the toughest place to live in antebellum New York City.

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Columbus Park

Places that Matter

Place Matters ESRI Map

Place Matters ESRI Map

Click on the map above to see the many wonderful sites included on the The Census of Places That Matter, a grassroots survey of places in the five boroughs that the public finds important. The Census was created to help broaden the ways that preservation is understood and practiced in New York City. The Census offers an alternative approach to identifying, celebrating and preserving places that matter to the people and communities who love them.

News

Design by John Wong

2011 Place Matters Awards

Thank you to everyone who made the Third Annual Place Matters Awards such a success! We had a fantastic time and hope you did too. If you weren't able to join us on October 26, you can still watch our  YouTube video of the 2011 Lower Manhattan honorees.  

 

 

 

 

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News & Events

Your Place Moments

photo by Martha Cooper

Hindu Temple Society of North America, from Dr. Uma Mysorekar

Spiritual hunger is fulfilled right here in this place. The rituals and chants made here literally enrich the walls with spirituality, creating virbations which devotees can feel."

Letters, Lyrics and Lamentations

 

"Columbus Park"

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Hindu Temple Society of North America