This address if the former location of Gowan's Antiquarian Bookstore, a store dealing in "Historical Americana". The proprietor was William Gowan, and the shop would often be visited by writers living in the area. Edgar Allan Poe was known to shop here while he was living at a boarding house in the neighborhood.

Herman Melville probably exchanged greetings with Poe here; they were acquainted through a mutual editor. Melville once purchased a copy of Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy here that his father had once owned.

He stated: "I bought this book more than four years ago at Gowen’s Store in New York. Today, Allan in looking at it, first detected the above pencil signature [A. Melvill] of my father’s; who, – as it now appears – must have had the book, with many others, sold at auction, at least twenty-five years ago. – Strange!"

Gowans, a Scotland-born American, might well be considered America's earliest complete bookman- he not only sold books to walk-in customers but issued at least one catalog a year between 1842 and 1870.

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On April 6, 1844, Edgar Allan Poe arrived in New York City with his wife, Virginia, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Poe had left a successful post as the editor of the magazine Graham’s Magazine in Philadelphia, and was in New York City without a residence or income. His goal was to escape periodicals of "a nambypamby character" and establish his own magazine.

The family settled in a boarding house at the corner of Cedar and Greenwich Streets. Of the location, Poe said:

"The house is old and looks buggy. . . The landlady a nice, chatty old soul—gave us the back room on the third floor—night & day attendance—for 7$—the cheapest board I ever knew, taking into the consideration the central situation and the living...

Today, the corner is home to O'Hara's Restaurant and Pub.

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The Poe family- Edgar Allan, wife Virginia, and mother-in-law Maria Clemm- moved into this simple, unassuming cabin in May of 1846. At that time, Fordham was a rural community and the cabin was situated on two acres of vacant land.

Judging by the correspondence that Poe sent, the family thoroughly enjoyed the small cabin. Poe became drinking and gambling buddies with the faculty of nearby St. John's College (now Fordham University). Poe wrote his poems "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume" here, and the story "Landor's Cottage" was undoubtedly shaped by his time there.

Virginia Poe suffered from tuberculosis, and died in the cottage on January 30, 1847. Maria Clemm moved out of the cabin after Edgar died in Baltimore in 1849.

The cottage was sold at auction in 1889 for $775 to William Fearing Gill, who became Poe's first American biographer.

The cabin changed hands several times until the Poe Cottage was moved to Poe Park the corner of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. The cottage was placed on the NRHP on August 19, 1980. Tours are available for the cottage.

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Louis C.K. shot the stand-up interludes for his tv show Louie at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. If you want to eat like he does in the show's opening, you can stuff your face with a slice at Ben's Pizzeria around the corner on 3rd Street and MacDougal.

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The Dakota also served for the sweeping exterior shots of the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby. In the film, the building is called "The Bramford" and has a troubled past associated with the occult, baby murders, and witchcraft.

The Dakota building was well known for its show business inhabitants. Director Roman Polanski initially thought the interiors to be to new and clean to be appropriate for the film, but that became a moot point once the building owners refused to allow interior shooting.

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