The Hess triangle is a triangular tile
mosaic set in a sidewalk in
New York City's
West Village neighborhood at the corner of
Seventh Avenue and
Christopher Street. The plaque reads "Property of the Hess Estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes."[1] The plaque is an
isosceles triangle, with a 25+1⁄2-inch (65 cm) base and 27+1⁄2-inch (70 cm) legs (sides).[1]
The plaque is the result of a dispute between the city government and the estate of David Hess, a landlord from Philadelphia who owned the Voorhis, a five-story apartment building.[2] In the early 1910s, the city claimed
eminent domain to acquire and demolish 253 buildings in the area in order to widen Seventh Avenue and expand the
IRT subway.[1][3][4] By 1913, the Hess family had exhausted all legal options.[4] However, according to Ross Duff Wyttock writing in the Hartford Courant in 1928, Hess's heirs discovered that when the city seized the Voorhis the survey had missed a small corner of Plot 55 and they set up a notice of possession.[1] The city asked the family to donate the diminutive property to the public, but they chose to
hold out and installed the present, defiant mosaic on July 27, 1922.[5][6]
In 1938 the property, reported to be the smallest plot in New York City, was sold to the adjacent Village Cigars store (United Cigars at that time) for US$100 (equivalent to $2,165 in 2023).[7] Later,
Yeshiva University came to own the property, including the Hess Triangle, and in October 1995[8] it was sold by Yeshiva to 70 Christopher Realty Corporation.[9] Subsequent owners have left the plaque intact.[4][10] The triangle and Village Cigars shop behind it were placed on sale in 2021.[11][12]
^"Deed, Sec. 2, Block No. 591, Lot 54". New York City Department of Finance, Office of the City Register. October 18, 1995. p. Reel 2256, Page 0368. Retrieved June 1, 2020.