New York's cheeky symbol of defiance

New York's cheeky symbol of defiance Olivier Guiberteau When the City of New York declared eminent domain over a stretch of Greenwich Village, one family dug its heels in and fought back. Olivier Guiberteau The Hess Triangle, a symbol of New York City’s defiant nature, can be found outside a cigar shop in Greenwich Village Greenwich Village has always been a little different: “progressive, forward-thinking and dynamic,” as Berman describes it. Olivier Guiberteau In the early 20th Century, the City of New York enacted an eminent domain order to extend Seventh Avenue into Greenwich Village Angered by what they considered bureaucratic overreach, the Hess family dug its heels in and refused to sell. Olivier Guiberteau The Hess Family refused to donate the small piece of land that remained of their plot, instead insisting it never be used for public purposes However, an article published in The Philadelphia Evening Ledger on 29 July 1922 contradicts this, reporting that the previous year the City of New York had called upon the Hess Estate to pay the accumulated property taxes on the remaining portion of the lot.