Discover New York’s Hidden Gems with Jesse Richards

Jesse Richards new book, Unknown New York: An Artist Uncovers the City’s Hidden Treasures, published this fall, dives into lesser-known NYC spots, even surprising long-time residents. His goal is to “evolve their perception of New York.” It features over 100 hidden treasures and includes four do-it-yourself walking tours alongside his research.

With his guidebook in hand, we set out to see the city through fresh eyes. Our tour started at Cooper Square, home of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where Richards highlighted its famous Great Hall. Located in the basement of the Founders Building, this historic venue with 865 fixed seats, rows of columns, a large stage, and three screens at one point hosted Abraham Lincoln’s pivotal 1860 address on federal control over slavery, solidifying his presidential candidacy.

Richards added that the tradition has since continued with many great figures having also spoken there, from Mark Twain to Barack Obama.

Richards’s love for exploration began well before his tours. Growing up hiking the Appalachian Trail in the suburbs of Hamilton, NJ, he moved to NYC in 2003 and shifted to urban discovery. For 17 years, he’s led Central Park Sketching Meetups and volunteered with Big Apple Greeter, showing tourists the city’s authentic side. My own experience with him offered more insights in two hours than in three years of living here.

Richards took us a block farther north to Astor Place, named after John Jacob Astor, a New York real estate mogul and once the richest man in the world [prior to his death on board the Titanic.] Astor transformed the street, previously named Art Street, into a luxury district, filled with mansions. Richards pointed out the last remaining Astor mansion, located right above The Blue Man Group [which unfortunately will be closing in Feb.] Originally named LaGrange Terrace after Marquis de Lafayette’s French estate, this building, adorned with once-pristine white neoclassical columns—now dark gray—housed notable figures like the Vanderbilts, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe. It was designated a historic register landmark in 1976.

Now, Astor Place is most famous for its art piece, “The Cube,” as most call it, or its more proper name, the “Alamo,” a monumental 15-foot steel sculpture that spins on an axis, that was reconstructed only last year. Richards shared the story of a YouTube mockumentary that fooled viewers into believing an artist lived inside the structure.

As we strolled up Lafayette at East Eighth Street, Richards pointed to the NYC HQ of Meta (the parent company of Facebook). In a past life as a product manager, Richards interviewed for a job here but remarked, “It wasn’t for me.” Before solidifying his passion for art, he also worked as an HTML web designer. The office, located in the Wanamaker Building, which spans an entire block, has expanded from 185,000 to 800,000 square feet with open layouts, exposed ceilings, and coveted roof access, now positioned above a newly opened Wegmans grocery.

At Broadway and 10th St., we passed the Gothic Revival-style Grace Church, now mostly covered in scaffolding. Richards shared the dark history of NYC’s scaffolding laws, explaining, “a young girl was killed by a loose piece that fell off a building.” That was in 1979, when 17-year-old Grace Gold, a Barnard College freshman, died after masonry fell on her at Broadway and 115th Street.

Moving on from Grace Church, we admired the surrounding buildings as Richards shared his philosophy on urban architecture. He stressed that a structure’s purpose matters more than its appearance. “It needs to be a mix of commercial, housing, and public space,” he said, emphasizing the efficient use of New York’s limited space. Citing Whole Foods as an example, he pointed out how some stores occupy entire city blocks while offering little to the public beyond a grocery store.

Farther north on Broadway and East 13th St., we stopped at the Roosevelt Building—a blend of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles. I recalled its illustration in Unknown New York showing two bas relief mermaids capturing its charm. A rusticated stone base rises to Roman brick, with copper accents turned green with age and terracotta devils and monsters. “In 1856, a six-year-old Teddy Roosevelt watched Lincoln’s funeral procession from its window as it passed down Broadway,” Richards noted, adding a touch of history to its grandeur.

Richards’s illustrations in Unknown New York showcase his digital watercolors, most of which he creates on an iPad. Some begin as black-and-white sketches, later enhanced with digital or traditional watercolor. His illustration of the Italianate Garden, for instance, started in black and white, but vivid color brings the purple wisteria on the wrought-iron arbor to life. His attention to detail reflects both his artistic skill and his deep historical knowledge, woven into his storytelling.

As we moved to Union Square, Richards directed our attention to Metronome, an expansive 98-by-200-foot art piece covering the side of One Union Square South. Its centerpiece—a volcanic caldera surrounded by gold in a dandelion-like shape—features a steam-spewing vent (active once a day), a five-foot-long metronome hand, and a real human hand modeled after George Washington’s statue across 14th Street in Union Square. The piece is “hideously bizarre,” Richards remarked. On the building to the left, four stories up and 80 feet across, orange-tinted numbers of the Climate Clock tick down Earth’s remaining carbon budget.

Richards then shared Union Square’s historical significance for workers, including the first Labor Day Parade in 1882. Statues of Washington, Lafayette, Lincoln, and Gandhi reflect the area’s labor legacy. He pointed out Dead Man’s Curve in the park’s southwest corner—a notoriously steep trolley turn from pre-subway days, known for its crashes and injuries.

Around the park, Richards showed us the Decker Building on the west side, between East 17th and 16th Sts, once home to Andy Warhol’s studio, The Factory. At the park’s northeast corner, he pointed out Tammany Hall, a historic symbol of New York’s famed political machine.

We continued down East 9th Street’s “Block Beautiful,” where architect Frederick Sterner, in the early 1900s, sparked a trend by transforming somber brownstones into stylish residences with light colors, wide shutters, jockey statues, stucco facades, and colorful tiles.

We concluded the tour at Gramercy Park, a private garden accessible only with a key. As we stood outside the gates, forlorn with jealousy, we stared at the statue of Edwin Booth. Here, Richards shared my favorite story of the evening. In the mid-1800s, Booth, a renowned actor, saved a young man from falling onto train tracks in Jersey City. That young man was Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln—though Booth only realized this later, after receiving a thank-you letter from the President. Just months after, Booth’s brother, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated President Lincoln. In a moment of sorrow, Edwin wrote a letter “To the People of the United States” consisting of three paragraphs where he admits to being “prostrated to the very earth by this dreadful event.” That letter, Richards noted, is on display today across the street from Gramercy Park at the Player’s Club, which Edwin founded in 1888.

As we wrapped up the tour, it became clear that Jesse Richards isn’t just revealing unknown parts of New York; he’s reimagining the way we experience the city. His passion for exploration invites both tourists and residents to see beyond the surface, uncovering the hidden layers of history, art, and human connection that define the city. Through Unknown New York, he shows readers how to see the city in a new light. In a place as dynamic as New York, Richards reminds us that there’s always more to discover—if you’re willing to look.