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Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

1895 establishments in New York (state)1991 establishments in New York CityFlatiron DistrictLibrary and information science stubsNew York City stubs
New York Public Library branches in ManhattanUse mdy dates from July 2024
Andrew Heiskell NYPL 40 W20 jeh
Andrew Heiskell NYPL 40 W20 jeh

The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, also known as the Heiskell Library and formerly as the Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and the New York Free Circulating Library for the Blind is a branch of New York Public Library (NYPL) on West 20th Street in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. It provides reading materials in a format accessible to those unable to read print due to blindness, low vision, or other visual impairments. The current location in the Flatiron District opened in 1991, and may be the first US library to have braille and other accessible materials available to the public. The library was established as the New York Free Circulating Library for the Blind by Richard Randall Ferry in 1895 and it expanded in its remit through legislation and partnerships with both the Library of Congress and NYPL. The branch's prior location, which opened in 1953, was in SoHo on Sixth Avenue near Spring Street, which had previously held NYPL maintenance operations. An expansion and move was approved and funded in 1988 following years of advocacy. Upon opening on 20th Street, the library's collection of more than 515,000 volumes was primarily circulated via mail order due to the space limitations of the branch's prior location, with more than two thousand moving per day. The library, which is named for former NYPL Chair Andrew Heiskell, occupies six floors of an early 20th century building. It is also part of the Library of Congress' branches dedicated to those with physical or other disabilities. As of 2019, it held about 14,000 braille titles, believed to be among the largest such collection in the United States and its circulation was 500,000 volumes annually.

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Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library
West 20th Street, New York Manhattan

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N 40.7405 ° E -73.9934 °
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Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

West 20th Street 40
10011 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
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New York Public Library

call(212)2065400

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nypl.org

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Andrew Heiskell NYPL 40 W20 jeh
Andrew Heiskell NYPL 40 W20 jeh
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O'Neill Building
O'Neill Building

The O'Neill Building is a landmarked former department store, located at 655-671 Sixth Avenue between West 20th and 21st Streets in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building was originally Hugh O'Neill's Dry Goods Store, and was designed by Mortimer C. Merritt in the neo-Grec style. It was built to four stories in two stages between 1887 and 1890, to allow the existing O'Neill store to continue operating during construction, with the addition of a fifth floor in 1895, created by raising the pediment. The gilded corner domes of this cast-iron-fronted building were restored c.2000.On the death of Hugh O'Neill in 1902, his heirs were unable to continue running the business, which was sold and merged in 1907 with the Adams Dry Goods Store immediately to the north at 675 Sixth Avenue. The combined business did not succeed and, like all the department stores in the Ladies' Mile, was gone by the advent of World War I. The building was converted to manufacturing lofts, and then back into offices around 1969. As of 2014, the building is owned by ElAd Properties, and was converted into condominiums in 2005. On Christmas Day 2012 the building suffered a partial collapse of its facade and was evacuated.The O'Neill Building is part of the Ladies' Mile Historic District, which was created by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1989. In its designation report, the Commission wrote "Because of its architecture and history, the Hugh O'Neill Building is one of the department store buildings which give the Ladies Mile Historic District its special character."