As early as 1837 John Odell, “tavern keeper,” operated from
the ground floor of the small hotel on the corner of the Bowery and Rivington
Street. The tavern and hotel, under various owners and managers, endured as the Bowery neighborhood changed into the center of the German
community by the 1850s.
The Germans established their own churches, newspapers, social
clubs and businesses. The New Amsterdam
Savings Bank was organized in 1869 to serve the German-speaking community. The names
of bank’s officers reflected the personality of the neighborhood: Theobald
Frohwein was President, John Riegelmann Vice President, John Guth was Treasurer
and Jacob Rosenhain Secretary.
Within only two years the bank was successful enough to plan
its own headquarters. The old
hotel property at No. 215 Bowery was obtained and on July 27, 1872 the Real
Estate Record and Guide reported German-born architect Charles Kinkel had filed
plans for a “four-story Ohio stone, first-class store” for the New Amsterdam
Savings Bank. Another German immigrant,
Joseph Schaeffler, received the contract to construct the building.
The completed structure was, in fact, five stories. Kinkel faced the Bowery elevation with stone,
which wrapped around the Rivington Street side for two bays before giving way
to red brick. The stone-faced Renaissance Revival design appeared again in the
eastern-most two bays. Kinkel’s dignified
design included Renaissance-inspired pediments within the stone portion; and trendier
lintels with incised designs of the Eastlake Movement on the Rivington Street
side. An especially attractive pressed
metal cornice crowned it all.
The New Amsterdam Savings Bank’s construction project could
not have come at a worse time. A year
earlier the German Empire stopped minting silver coins; a decision that lowered
the value of silver, much of which was mined in the United States. A chain of domino-effect events resulted in
the Financial Panic of 1873, one of the worst and longest-lasting financial
depressions in U.S. history.
On September 23, 1873 The New York Herald tried to calm
readers, many of whom were already participating in runs on banks. A headline read “RELIEF. Calm and Order Returning to Wall Street.” The article reported on the condition of
every Manhattan bank, and included “The New Amsterdam Bank, Bowery and Rivington
street, went on as usual, without any particular draw upon the deposits or
especial lodgments by customers. The
officers were ready for an emergency had it arisen”
While the bank struggled on, helped by the unusual patience
and trust of its depositors, the upper floors of No. 215 Bowery were leased as
offices and lodge rooms. In July 1874 the
Arcturus Lodge, No. 274 of the Freemasons moved in. Other tenants were Solomon Hertz, insurance
agent; attorney Francis H. Rodenburg; and oddly enough, Charles A. Milner “artist.” Unlike the other tenants who lived nearby
(Hertz lived on East 4th, and Rodenburg on Ludlow Street) Millner’s
home was far uptown, at No. 550 East 82nd Street.
While depositors clung to their faith in the bank, the New
Amsterdam Savings Bank was faltering. On
September 30, 1876 The New York Herald noted “To the casual observer the New
Amsterdam Savings Bank, at No. 215 Bowery, wore its wonted appearance yesterday. When the information that an injunction to
suspend business had been served on the bank it was expected that a ‘run’ would
be the result. Nothing of the kind
occurred, however, and yesterday the vicinity of the bank was as quiet as
usual.”
Instead, the cashier, Mr. Weber, told a reporter that “the
depositors had perfect confidence in the announcement made by the President
that the bank was capable of paying 100 cents on the dollar, and that the
injunction and receiver had been applied for in the best interests of the depositors.”
The bank remained open until 3:00 that afternoon, as
always. But it never reopened.
The same year that the New Amsterdam Savings Bank was
incorporated, 1869, another German-language bank had been organized: The Germania
Bank of the City of New York. The Germania Bank was faring much better than
its competitor—so much better that when the receiver of the New Amsterdam
Savings Bank put the Bowery property on the market in February 1878 the
Germania Bank purchased it for $42,800.
As The Germania Bank set up operations in the new space, the
upper floors continued to be leased to businesses and lodges. In 1879 the Free and Accepted Masons of the
State of New York published a list of “Lodges working in the German Tongue.” Among them were the Germania Lodge and the
Goethe Lodge at No. 215 Bowery. By 1887
two lodges of the Odd Fellows were listed here—the Knickerbocker Lodge and the
Empire Lodge.
In 1886 German-born architect William Graul had his offices
in the building. He was still here when
he partnered with William C. Frohne in 1892 to form Graul & Frohne.
By now the Financial Panic had passed and The Germania Bank
was performing well. In 1888 Illustrated
New York: The Metropolis of To-Day reported the bank's cash capital at $200,000, with
a surplus of more than $300,000; “a fact that proves the soundness of its
present condition.”
Along the Rivington Street side, behind the banking rooms,
were stores. In 1891 Morris Marks ran
his hardware store in one of them. In
October that year the bank advertised vacancies in other ground floor spaces: “Stores with Two Rooms—Suitable for any
business; plate glass fronts; cheap rent.”
Although the Bowery was declining in the last decade of the
19th century, No. 215 continued to house respectable tenants. Henry C. Botty’s law offices were here in
1895 when the New-York Tribune described him saying he “was born December 27,
1854 of German parentage...He perfected his law studies at Columbia Law School,
being graduated in May 1875, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1876, soon
after becoming of age. Mr. Botty has
ever since been engaged in the general practice of the law and has a large
clientage, especially on the East Side and among the Germans.” Henry Botty was appointed a judge of the City
Court by Governor Morton on July 30, 1895.
In February 1898 ground was broken
for the Germania Bank’s new $200,000 headquarters at Bowery and Spring Street. Later that year, as the new building was
being constructed, President Edward C. Schaefer commented on the changing Bowery
and his continued confidence in it.
On December 28 The New York Times
reported “He remarked that there was a much greater volume of banking business
done in the Bowery than many people imagined, and that thoroughfare was not
altogether given up to dime museums and beer saloons and cheap dance
halls. There were a good many
manufacturers, and also large business houses there.”
What Schaefer did not mention was
the change in demographics of the Bowery.
A druggist across the street from No 215 Bowery commented in January
1907, “First it was American, then Irish, then German, and now it is Jewish.”
The change was reflected in the
tenants list in the former Germania Bank building and by 1915 the influx of
Italians was also visible. That year
Gutman &Co., tailors, was here, operated by Samuel Gutman, Abraham
Lipshitz, Isidore Gutman, Louis Rosen, and David Wisch. Another tailor shop was Gambino &
Realmuto, owned by Guiseppe Gambino and Frank Realmuto. And Robert D. Costello operated his New York
Barber College here that same year. The
barber school would remain at the address at least through 1919.
In 1937, during the last years of
the Great Depression, Manufacturers Trust Corporation opened a branch in the
building. At the time the Bowery was
suffering its darkest years, earning it the nickname Skid Row.
 |
| In October 1939 a pharmacy operated in front store of No. 215 Bowery (far right). The second floor had already been altered. The elevated train still runs down the middle of the Bowery. from the collection of the New York Public Library |
Improvement finally, and slowly,
came in the last quarter of the century when the area became the Restaurant Supply
District. In 1977 artist Todd Stone had
his studio and showroom in the building.
And in 1985 a conversion resulted in just two massive apartments per
floor (a decade later the second floor apartments were united as a single
residential unit).
Although the lower two floors have
been altered beyond recognition, Charles Kinkel’s handsome bank and office
building survives beautifully intact on the upper floors.
photographs by the author
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