"Radio was a novelty. Most people were intimidated by it. You know, the idea of information coming through the air, through the ether, was something that was one step away from Black Magic. Within a few years people regarded it as the greatest thing since flushed toilets."
— Bill Schneck, son of Harry L. Schneck who started the first radio store on Cortlandt St in 1921

Radio Row, Cortlandt Street, Lower Manhattan, New York, c.1960s ©Antique Radio Classified

This was the most unique street. I played classical music; some of the others played jazz; some of the others played different. It was a conglomeration you heard as you walked along the street. It was really an experience.
—Irving Simon remembering Radio Row

“When the port of New York authority first announced the proposed construction of World Trade Center, the brochure quoted from Walt Whitman, 'High growth of iron, splendidly uprising toward clear skies.' To the Port Authority, the construction of the World Trade Center might have meant growth. But to many of the 300 small businessmen in the 13 blocks to be cleared for the center it meant disaster.”
— Channel 2 News Archival news report from the 1960s

Cortland/Greenwich ca. 1955 courtesy Antique Radio Classified

Legal Documents

» In 1965 the Port of New York Authority sent an acquisition notice to the occupents of Radio Row

» In the fall 1966 the Supreme Court of the United States heard petitioners with a claim against the Port of New York Authority

» A map of the contested land was issued

» The Port Authority won the case and the occupents of Radio Row recieved eviction notices


Radio Broadcast

Produced by Ben Shapiro and Joe Richman / Radio Diaries
Assistant Producer Elinoar Astrinsky
Special thanks to Jonathan Kern, John Terry/Antique Radio Classified, Andy Lanset, Frank Yonkers, Picture Projects, Ed Schneck, Morton Brody, WCBS Reports (CBS/BBC Archives), Fox Movietone Newsreel, and Benjamin Singleton from the University of South Carolina News Film Archive.