The Downtown Pop Underground

Brill Building

1619 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

40.761060

-73.984740

0
Catholic Worker

36 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003

40.724140

-73.990090

1
CBS Building

51 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019

40.761140

-73.978740

2
Greenwich Village Peace Center

133 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012

40.730970

-74.000720

3
New York Rocker Offices

166 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

40.740710

-73.990600

4
Scepter Records

254 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019

40.764350

-73.983780

5
The Realist Office

225 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012

40.721990

-73.996860

6
Videofreex's loft

94 Prince St, New York, NY 10012

40.724550

-73.998810

7
Village Voice (original location)

22 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011

40.734890

-73.999840

8
Village Voice (second location)

61 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014

40.733780

-74.002470

9
Young Lord's Headquarters

256 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009

40.721750

-73.980990

10

Brill Building

1619 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

The music industry was concentrated around the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway, which was packed with songwriters who pitched their musical products to hit-seeking record labels.

Catholic Worker

36 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003

A social justice newspaper founded by activist Dorothy Day, the Catholic Worker building (which also housed a soup kitchen) was located near the future site of CBGB.

CBS Building

51 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019

Known as “Black Rock,” the CBS Building was the quintessential example of top-down corporate management, from the programming that broadcast to America down to room temperature of the air conditioning that was centrally-controlled.

Greenwich Village Peace Center

133 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012

The Greenwich Village Peace Center was cofounded by poet and activist Grace Paley, who renovated an old storefront on West Third Street, between Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue, with the help of Ed Sanders and others.

New York Rocker Offices

166 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

After the New York Rocker began publishing in 1976, founder Alan Betrock began operating out of a tiny windowless office at 155 Fifth Avenue, near the Flatiron building.

Scepter Records

254 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019

Not only was Scepter Records ground zero for the girl-group explosion, the first album by The Velvet Underground was recorded in 1966 at the record company’s studio located in a midtown office building.

The Realist Office

225 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012

The office of Paul Krassner’s The Realist was located in the same office building as Mad magazine, whose art director John Francis Putnam wrote a regular column for The Realist titled “Modest Proposals.”

Videofreex's loft

94 Prince St, New York, NY 10012

After CBS hired the Videofreex to produce a pilot for an experimental television show, Subject to Change, they rented a SoHo loft above Fanelli’s and the Paula Cooper Gallery where they built a video production studio.

Village Voice (original location)

22 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011

The Village Voice was founded in 1955 by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, and its offices were located at 22 Greenwich Avenue until moving to Sheridan Square in 1960—where it stayed throughout that decade.

Village Voice (second location)

61 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014

The Village Voice spent the 1960s at 61 Christopher Street, in triangular corner building adjoining Sheridan Square that also housed the Stonewall Inn.

Young Lord's Headquarters

256 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009

The radical Young Lords Organization announced itself to the world on July 26, 1969 at Tompkins Square Park, though its headquarters were located further south on East Third Street, very close to Slugs’ and the Old Reliable.