The Macy's 100-Year Holdout

I knew New York real estate was cut throat but this is a particularly amusing example of it. This article from Ephemeral New York - "Hidden by billboards for over 100 years, the tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view" - tells the story of Macy's department stores back in 1901 moving to 14th Street in New York and getting restricted from buying the entire block by one building... a building that was sold to a direct Macy's competitor out from under them. Rough!

The twists don't stop there because the competitor eventually lost ownership of the building and the new owner leased it to Macy's, who promptly wrapped the entire building in billboards for themselves. It's been under wraps for 100 years and is just now emerging. It's probably a safe bet that they'll cover it up again soon enough. It's like the NYC version of cicada's - emerging only once every 100 years!

via Heather