When it opened on May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building was the tallest building on the planet, the clear winner of the Skyscraper Race of the 1930s. At 102 stories tall, the building was so high it even proved to be a hazard.

This specimen is a section of material from the Empire State Building, which was dislodged during an accidental plane crash in 1945. Despite the day’s turmoil, the building reopened within 48 hours and underwent full repairs in just a few months. The Empire State Building’s rigid steel frame and limestone-granite skin spared it from greater damage and mortalities.

The material comes from a section of continuous stainless steel mullion that framed the windows of the magnificent Empire State Building.

Across the 21 bridges that connect Manhattan to the world, none is so beloved as the Brooklyn Bridge, a triumph of engineering that stands the test of time a century and a half later. With over 1,500 feet at its central span, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1883, the culmination of years of grueling work that nearly halted the project.

This specimen is a piece of original suspension cable from the Brooklyn Bridge, replaced in 1988 during refurbishment efforts. Along with thousands of other suspension cables, this specimen supported the massive weight of the Brooklyn Bridge from when it first opened to its removal over 100 years later. It measures between 0.75-1cm in length.

Dubbed "The Cathedral of Baseball" and "The House that Ruth Built" or simply "The Stadium," Yankee Stadium was the home to New York's baseball team for 85 years, witnessing some of the most incredible moments in the history of the sport.

This specimen is a piece of brick material from the original 1923 Yankee Stadium. It was retrieved during the stadium's demolition in 2008, making way for the new Yankee Stadium that hosts the team today.

This magnificent theater which first hosted the Metropolitan Opera was a product of Gilded Age clashes between old and new-money New Yorkers. In 1883, after the Academy of Music denied any attempts by industrialists to join their ranks, the excluded families decided to fund their own rival company.

This specimen is a piece of brick material from the original Metropolitan Opera House. It was retrieved during the house's demolition in 1967, making way for the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.