A Case Study of the Exchange of Real Property at the Intersection of Broadway and Ann Street, New York City
Case Study is an accounting. Art is often described as an intangible asset, its value subjective, so it seems reasonable to take a closer look at some tangible assets in order to understand this process of valuation. Real estate, for example, as opposed to art’s land of the unreal.
In May of 2001 artist I recreated P.T. Barnum’s 1860s era Brick Man advertising stunt by circulating a set of bricks around a city intersection. Performing at the original site of the event, what was once Barnum's American Museum at Broadway and Ann Street in Lower Manhattan, I worked to concretely demonstrate the economic principles of exchange and circulation.
Then, in Case Study, I grounded this temporary performance by doing detailed deed research on the exchange of real estate at each of the four corners of the intersection, tracing these exchanges back to the 1600s. Complete documentation is available below.
Case Study was exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art as part of the AIM 22 Exhibition (Artist-in-the-Marketplace), 2002.
[Image] "The corner of Broadway and Ann Street, circa 1865, looking north from a window in P.T. Barnum's American Museum. The park in view is the tip of City Hall Park." Photo courtesy New York Public Library.
Documentation of the Exchanges of Real Property at the Four Corners of Broadway and Ann Street
The most notable missing document is still the "$24 bill of sale for the island of Manhattan" from the 1620s. This document probably never existed. What is available, however, is evidence of multiple conflicting ideas about the nature of property, documentation of military conquest, the economic power of Trinity Church and its trustees, the seizure of English loyalist property by the newly-founded American revolutionary government, mogul John Jacob Astor’s deed, Barnum’s lease, dowry releases, the transfer of property to insurance companies after a fire and the growing expansion of the value of each of the properties.
(click the photos below for details on the deeds)
Corner One: Block 89, Lot 12. 222 Broadway, Manhattan. Formerly the site of P.T. Barnum's American Museum. (37 Exchanges)
Corner Two: Block 122, Lot 1. City Hall Park, Manhattan. (8 Exchanges)
Corner Three: Block 88, Lot 1. Astor House Building, 217 Broadway, Manhattan. (16 Exchanges)
Corner Four: Block 87, Lot 1. Saint Paul’s Chapel, Manhattan. (5 Exchanges)
Some Thoughts about Case Study
"[D]uring the last fifty years of the life of John Jacob Astor, his property had been augmented and increased in value by the aggregate intelligence, industry, enterprise, and commerce of New York, fully to the amount of one-half its value. The farms and lots of ground which he bought forty, twenty, and ten and five years ago, have all increased in value entirely by the industry of the citizens of New York. Of course, it is plain as that two and two make four, that the half of his immense estate, in its actual value, has accrued to him by the industry of the community."
New York Herald, 1849
Quoted from John Jacob Astor: Landlord of New York, Smith, Arthur D. Howden (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1929) pp.90-91.
What is remarkable about the details unearthed in Case Study is that it appears that the objective cash value of property is the product of the labor of entire communities over time, mixed with the contributions of individuals, measured subjectively and then transformed by a wholly social process. The very nature of this process makes it impossible to tease out, in a single art project like this one, the exact contributions of different sources to the valuation of a particular property. However, Case Study hints at a number of propositions, the first of which is the following: real estate is, in part, community created value, owned privately.
Click here to go to a pdf of the full essay on Case Study.
Click here to go to a pdf of Some Discussions of Various Property Rights Structures in What is Currently Known as New York City
"Sharon Paz examining materials at the AIM 22 Exhibition at the Bronx Museum of the Arts," 2002.
"Map of the four corners at Broadway and Ann Street."
"The Conveyances for Block 122 Lot 1, City Hall Park."
"Conveyance from 1694 for the property that would become Barnum's Museum."
"Examining the Conveyances for Block 88 Lot 1."
"March 13, 1832; First paragraph of the document recording the transfer of the deed for the northwest corner of the intersection at Broadway and Ann Street from Trinity Church to John Jacob Astor for the sum of $33,000."
"Sharon Paz examining materials at the AIM 22 Exhibition at the Bronx Museum of the Arts," 2002.
"Bricks, counter and ID from the original Brick Man performance displayed at the Bronx Museum of the Arts," 2002.
"The Great Brick Advertisement: Barnum's Brick Man draws a crowd, circa 1860," from P.T.Barnum's book Dollars and Sense; or How to Get On. The Whole Secret in a Nutshell, 1890.
"The corner of Broadway and Ann Street, circa 1865, looking north from a window in P.T. Barnum's American Museum. The park in view is the tip of City Hall Park." Photo courtesy New York Public Library.
"The corner of Broadway and Ann Street, circa 1890, looking south towards St. Paul's Chapel. Astor House is to the right." Photo courtesy New York Public Library.
"Print of Barnum's American Museum."
"The corner of Broadway and Ann Street looking south along Broadway. Astor House is to the right. Barnum's Museum to the left." Print by Currier.
"The corner of Broadway and Ann Street looking towards St. Paul's Chapel. Notice that the scene represents the corner before Astor House was built in the early 1830s."
Acknowledgements
A Case Study of the Exchange of Real Property at the Intersection of Broadway and Ann Street, New York City is the product of years’ worth of work and research and would not have been possible with out the help of many different individuals and institutions. My warmest regards go out to Jackie Battenfield, director of the Artist-in-the-Marketplace program, and to all the participants in this year’s AIM program. It has been a pleasure to work and learn with you all. Thanks also go to Lydia Yee and Edwin Ramoran, curators at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, for creating such a coherent exhibition. Sue McGuire, Noah Loesberg and Rochard Fleming were instrumental during installation as was Hope Ginsburg. Christopher Quirk has been a friend, advocate and frequent advisor in this and other projects and I warmly acknowledge his help and look forward to future discussions on a multitude of unexpected topics.
In addition I would like to acknowledge all those individuals and institutions who helped me with my research including the staffs at the New York City Registrar of Deeds Office, the New York City Municipal Archives and the New York Public Library - especially the folks at the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy and Matthew Allen Knutzen in the Map Division.
The original May 31, 2001 Brick Man performance was funded in part by an Independent Project Grant from Artists Space. Photographer Nick Katz took wonderful large format photos, photographer Joe Tabacca took a great set of slides and Roberto Guerra shot fantastic video footage of which I have yet to make appropriate use. Their help was immense.