The gates and some of the artwork, including two of the friezes were salvaged from the building and have been installed in the lobby of a hotel. The majority of the rest of the building was lost. Where the mansion used to be is now a department store, Bergdorf Goodman.
When thinking about how history continues to live, it is important to think about the importance that buildings will have, historically, in the future. Even when it was first made, the Vanderbilt mansion was iconic and one of a kind, which was the goal of Alva when she designed it. It was the largest mansion ever built in New York City, which makes sense because the growing population didn't allow much space for one family to have a home with 130 rooms. This building demonstrated the difference between the 'winners' and 'losers' of capitalism in a very eloquent way, especially compared with some of the examples of how other people were living during this time.
This image, Tenement Life in New York by W. St John Harper depicts the life of people living in tenements in 1881, only a year before the illustrious Vanderbilt Mansion on 5th Avenue was built. This was multiple families living in one room, which is more than 130x less space than one family, the Vanderbilts, were occupying. So, in some ways, the destruction of a symbol of opulence for opulence's sake is a good thing, because it makes more coveted New York real estate available for productive space and the improvement of human life overall.
https://untappedcities.com/2012/02/01/remnants-of-the-vanderbilt-mansion-in-new-york-city/
https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A4773
http://oldphotoarchive.com/stories/the-lost-mansions-of-new-york-city-7-photos
http://www.maggieblanck.com/NewYork/Life.html
I really like the contrast you provide between the Vanderbilt mansion and tenement life. It really illustrates the wide gap between the wealthy and the poor in the Gilded Age (the pictures especially). The money could have been more equally spread to give the people living in the tenements better quality housing, but is instead spent by the rich to fulfill their opulent lifestyle choices. I think it would'be been interesting to know why the mansion was demolished and when it was taken down when it was.
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