Tin Pan Alley - New York City history with Romancing Manhattan Tours

TIN PAN ALLEY IS SYNONYMOUS with the golden age of American songwriting, when New York was the world’s epicenter of composing, lyric writing, and sheet music publishing. But less known is that Tin Pan Alley was an actual place, a small section of West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, located right off Broadway where all the variety and vaudeville theaters were and right in the middle of the 2 popular entertainment districts of the time: Madison Square just a couple of blocks to the south and east and Herald Square a few blocks north. The perfect location. Tin Pan Alley is also known for giving unprecedented opportunities to songwriters of color and of Eastern European Jewish descent. The country’s first African-American owned and operated music publishing businesses had offices here. Today the history of this small street that gave birth to the modern music industry, and where some of America’s most beloved songs were written, has been mostly forgotten. Preservationists have been working to have the block protected under landmark status for years. On December 10th, 2019, five buildings on West 28th Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway were designated as “culturally and historically significant” by the NYC Landmarks Commission. As the birthplace of American popular music, this block possesses the kind of national significance not often encountered. These buildings are a tangible piece of our country’s heritage, and by preserving them, we will ensure they will continue to be there to educate generations to come.