Fortunately, some of these buildings have survived and are being adapted for use in the 21st century.

The Alliance for Downtown New York describes nine historic buildings of architectural distinction in its recently released report, "Everything Old is New Again: Conversions of Historic Properties in Lower Manhattan."

"Ever since the tragic destruction of Penn Station 52 years ago, New Yorkers have been learning the value of protecting our great architectural heritage," says the report.

Temple Court at 5 Beekman St. (New York Public Library)

The oldest building described by the Alliance is Temple Court and Annex at 5 Beekman St. It was erected between 1881 and 1883 by Eugene Kelly, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland in 1806 and who emigrated to New York City at the age of 24. He detoured to California during the Gold Rush, returning to New York City with a fortune.

According to the Alliance, 5 Beekman "is considered to be the first high-rise building in New York." The building's 10-story, skylit atrium was its most dramatic feature.

For decades, the building was empty, glimpsed occasionally in haunting photographs that showed its magnificent interior crumbling to dust. But now GB Lodging and its affiliate GFI Development Company, are converting the structure into a hotel, restaurants, roof terraces and event spaces scheduled to open late in 2015.

On the other side of City Hall Park at 233 Broadway is another aspirational tower erected by a self made,  wealthy man. Frank Woolworth, the five-and-dime king, set out to construct the tallest building in the world - and he did. It opened on April 24, 1913. It was so grand that it was soon dubbed the "Cathedral of Commerce."

The lobby of the Woolworth Building. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Woolworth spared no expense on the lobby. Visitors were no doubt awe-struck as they gazed at the golden mosaics on the ceiling and perhaps amused by the droll statuary that depicted the tycoon himself counting his money with other sculptural renditions of his architect, Cass Gilbert, his engineer, Gunvald Aus and others who contributed to the building - each with the tools of his trade.

The top 30 floors of the Woolworth Building are now being converted into 35 residential units, with sales set to open in the second quarter of 2014.

The other buildings considered by the Alliance in its report are Pier A (1884), now being converted

The Battery Maritime Building will have a boutique hotel on top. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

into restaurants, bars and a visitors' center; the Corbin Building (1889), which will have stores and serve as an entrance to the Fulton Transit hub; the Battery Maritime Building (1909), that will have a 61-room boutique hotel on top; the massive and impressive building at 195 Broadway (1916) that once served as AT&T headquarters and which now houses Internet and media companies; the Cunard Building (1921) at 25 Broadway, once a ticketing office for the Cunard Line and now being converted into a catering hall; 1 Wall St. (1931), built for Irving Trust with a lobby glowing with fiery red and gold mosaics and now likely to be converted into apartments; and the City Services Building (1932), whose Art Deco rooftop is straight out of a Superman comic book. The building was sold to American International Group (AIG) in 1976 and more recently, to Rose Associates, which is converting it into luxury rental apartments, due to go on the market in the fall of 2014.

"Since 1995, nearly 14,000 units in 110 buildings have been turned into residential spaces," says the Alliance's report on adaptive reuse of Downtown's historic buildings.

An entrance to the Art Deco building at 70 Pine St, built for City Services and now being converted into apartments. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

At the southern end of Manhattan, where 17th-century Dutch settlers once farmed to sustain their little colony, The Battery Conservancy opened a one-acre farm on April 11, 2011. Now it is robust enough to provide vegetables, flowers and herbs for a weekly harvest.

For the first time this year, New York City residents are invited to sign up to harvest crops from the farm every Thursday, from July 3 to Oct. 31, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Quantities and guidelines for picking will await participants when they arrive at the farm.

According to the "Pick Your Own Harvest" prospectus, one week in August might include one pint of cherry tomatoes, half a pound of lettuce, four zucchini, two eggplants, one bunch of beets, one bunch of scallions and a bunch of basil.

"Since this is the first year of Pick Your Own Harvest, we aren't sure how long it will take for the spots to fill up, but we expect them to fill pretty quickly," she said. "We also anticipate that participants will only need about half an hour to harvest their veggies, but the two-hour time frame allows some flexibility in arrival time. However, we do require participants to be here no later than 5:30 to harvest."