The 69th Regiment Armory has stood at 68 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan’s Rose Hill neighborhood since it opened on October 13, 1906. Designed by the firm Hunt & Hunt in the Beaux-Arts style, it was built as the home of the “Fighting 69th,” the storied New York Army National Guard regiment with roots tracing back to the mid-19th century, and it broke from the medieval-fortress look of earlier city armories.
Beyond its military role, the armory’s vast drill hall has doubled as one of New York’s most adaptable public arenas. Its barrel-vaulted roof, cited at around 126 feet high, covers a drill shed roughly 200 feet long by 170 feet wide, giving organizers a clear-span space rare in early 20th-century Manhattan and perfectly suited to everything from sporting events to large public exhibitions.
- New York Knicks played here 1946–1960. See every Knicks arena →
Stats at a Glance
- Team(s): New York Knicks (occasional home games, 1946-1960)
- Location: 68 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York
- Opened: October 13, 1906
- Architect: Hunt & Hunt
- Capacity: Several thousand, varying by event configuration
- Notable fact: Site of the 1913 Armory Show, America’s first major modern art exhibition
From Drill Hall to Sports Arena
On nights when Madison Square Garden was booked, the New York Knicks played home games inside the armory’s drill hall between 1946 and 1960, part of the NBA’s earliest era in the city. The same open floor hosted boxing cards, track and field meets, tennis matches, and even a televised roller derby circuit in the late 1940s, making the armory one of Manhattan’s go-to indoor venues long before purpose-built arenas dominated the sports calendar.
That flexibility has carried into the present day. The building, still known informally as the Lexington Avenue Armory, continues to host concerts, esports competitions, fashion shows, and community events, with its floor reconfigured between general admission space, grandstands, and VIP seating depending on the production.
A Landmark That Shaped American Art
The armory’s most consequential moment arrived in 1913, when it hosted the International Exhibition of Modern Art, remembered today simply as the Armory Show. Over roughly a month, the exhibition displayed about 1,300 paintings, sculptures, and decorative works, introducing American audiences to European modernism and drawing more than 100,000 visitors.
That legacy, combined with its military history, earned the armory New York City landmark status in 1983, a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1996.
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69th Regiment Armory FAQs
Is the 69th Regiment Armory still standing?
Yes. The building at 68 Lexington Avenue remains in active use as a National Guard armory and multipurpose event venue.
Did an NBA team ever play home games there?
Yes, the New York Knicks used the armory’s drill hall for home games between 1946 and 1960 when Madison Square Garden wasn’t available.
Why is the armory historically significant?
It hosted the 1913 Armory Show, the first major exhibition of modern art in the United States, and is designated a National Historic Landmark.
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Photo: ajay_suresh / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.