Historic Tin Pan Alley is up for sale

NEW YORK (AP) - October 9, 2008 Five buildings on West 28th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea district are being offered as a group for $44 million. A listing on real estate Web site Loopnet recommends that the buildings be torn down and a high-rise take their place.

Preservationists and tenants aren't happy.

Says Historic Districts Council Executive Director Simeon Bankoff: "These buildings are incredibly significant to the development of New York City. They helped launch the careers of songwriters and musicians who are still popular today."

Tin Pan Alley housed a concentration of music publishers and songwriters from the 1890s to the 1950s.