In addition to New York's Vanishing Streetscapes, in which new construction replaces old buildings and small businesses in a manner that doesn't reproduce the urban diversity of the original street, New York is also losing buildings that are of great historic importance and heritage to the city. What's more, these buildings are not being replaced by new buildings of equal architectural significance. Generally, they are replaced by taller buildings with standard glass and plastic facades that could be found in any large city anywhere in the world.
One of the main building types that the city has lost is theaters. It's understandable that people don't go to the theater nearly as much as they used to, but many of these buildings are centrally located in neighborhoods and are of high architectural quality. The two examples below are from Jackson Heights, Queens (left) and Flushing, Queens (right). Both of the below theaters could have been adaptively reused and even expanded upon, possibly being turned into 21st century community centers, flexible commercial or co-working space, or any number of interesting uses. Sadly though, instead these buildings were torn down and replaced by more generic glass buildings that do not make the viewer think of New York or tell anything about their site's history.
5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens was replaced by luxury high-rise condominiums. The "graffiti Mecca" was known internationally as a symbol of New York culture and resilience. Yet even international fame couldn't save it from demolition.
