The two dormers were reduced in size in the second half of the 20th century.
Dr. Daniel Lake lived and operated his practice at 68 Prince Street as early as 1830. The three-and-a-half story house and store had been erected about three years earlier by Patrick Sherryd, one of four similar structures that filled the narrow, southern blockfront between Lafayette Place (later Lafayette Street) and Crosby Street. Faced in Flemish bond brick, its attic level was pierced with two dormers.
The shop at the ground floor was occupied by David Levi, a "spectacle maker," at the time. He remained until the spring of 1832 when an advertisement in The Evening Post offered the store for rent. It became home to Henry Dominick's grocery store. He and his family shared the upstairs portion of the house with John P. Butler, a coach maker whose factory was nearby at 78 Crosby Street.
Elizabeth Dominick, Henry's widowed mother, died here on the evening of February 5, 1837. Her funeral was held in the house two days later. The Dominick family left Prince Street shortly afterward, replaced by Dr. Jonas G. Hewett.
On October 4, 1837, an announcement in the New York Morning Herald said in part:
BONE SETTING--DOCTOR HEWETT, Bone Setter, informs the public, that such has been the increase of his practice in this city, he is now obliged to confine his operations to his own rooms, No. 68 Prince street, except in cases where patients are too lame to attend. Such he will continue to visit at their own homes.
The announcement explained that Hewett attended to "dislocations, fractures, sprains, hip diseases, white swellings, nervous, paralytic and rheumatic affections, contractions, curvature of the spine and other deformities, weakness of the limbs, &c."
By 1840, Hewett had taken an associate, Dr. J. Sweet, who listed his profession as "surgeon bonesetter." At the time, John P. Butler still lived in the upper floors.
In 1841, the ground floor space became home to the B. & J. Maguire saloon and the Maguire family moved into upstairs rooms. They shared the space with at least one other resident, Daniel Clark. That year, on June 1, Hugh Maguire, "son of the late Hugh Maguire," as reported by The Evening Post, died here and his funeral held in the parlor on June 4.
At around 10:30 on the night of December 16, 1845, Policeman Wright Case was walking his beat on Lafayette Place when, according to the New-York Tribune, he, "heard some person crying murder most lustily." Case ran to The Bowery and Third Avenue where he found Daniel Clark on the pavement with a severe cut over his eye. Clark explained to the officer that he had gone into a store to get a $5 bill changed, and was followed by a man who attempted to rob him. The would-be thief was disappointed, however. Scared away by Clark's cries, he escaped with only his victim's hat. The incident prompted the New York Morning Courier to decry, "It is not to be denied...that the city is infested by numerous ruffians, to whom the temptation of a few dollars would be too great to deter them from the commission of any act."
By 1850, John O'Connor, a bricklayer and mason, moved his family into the house. Around this time, Andre Vincent opened his "framegilding" operation in the former saloon space. The O'Connor family took in a surprising number of boarders, given the size of the house. Living with the O'Connors in 1853 were Antonine Chaplain, a "pianofortemaker;" Edward Coffee, a laborer; coachman William B. Coleman; and Peter Kerwin, a tailor.
The O'Connor family would remain at 68 Prince Street for years. In 1860, Michael O'Connor was working as a police officer, and in 1864 Mary C. O'Connor began teaching in the Primary Department of School No. 20 on Chrystie Street.
The population of 68 Prince Street had decreased by then. Living with the O'Connors in 1864 were John Brogan, an ostler (a handler of horses); and Mary and William Midgley.
The Midgleys were an enterprising couple. Mary ran a millinery and home furnishings shop on Broadway, and her husband was head of William Midgley & Co., artificial flowers, at 331 Canal Street. (No doubt William's wares found their way into Mary's creations.) The couple would reside here at least through 1872.
In 1867, the shop was home to one of the two Stigler & Vogt "segar" stores, owned by Charles Vogt and Rudolph Stigler. Along with cigars, it sold related items like pipes and tobacco. Apparently, Stigler or one of the clerks had a musical bent. On October 1, The New York Times reported that 19-year-old Johnson W. Mitchell had been arraigned on two charges of larceny. "On Saturday afternoon the premises No. 68 Prince-street were entered, and a guitar and a lot of pipes valued at $43, the property of Rudolph Stigler, were stolen."
An ad in the New York Herald on September 30, 1869 offered "neatly furnished rooms, for one or two gentlemen." The rent was $2 per week (just over $45 in 2025).
A public auction of all the furnishings was held in the house on February 18, 1874. Among the items were "black walnut, mahogany and cottage sets," wardrobes, and "lounges." Everything was sold, including the "stair carpets and oilcloths." Three years later, on July 12, 1877, the property was sold at a foreclosure auction to Peter Bayaud. Bayaud purchased the property as an investment. The store was leased to David Jais, who continued it as a cigar store.
Around 1882, Peter Bayaud moved to Paris. In February 1883, he leased the building to August Ernst to manage. The following month, Ernst hired builder J. Derr to make "front and interior alterations," according to the Record & Guide. The renovations, which cost the equivalent of $22,000 today, were in anticipation of the new ground floor tenant, J. Rubsam & Co., saloon owners.
The Jamm family lived above the saloon in 1894. There was a snowstorm that winter and on February 12 13-year-old George Jamm went out to shovel snow. As a horse-drawn street car passed by, the mischievous teen pulled a prank that he would regret. Riding on the platform of the car was 29-year-old Julius Downs, a bookkeeper. The young professional would have been dressed dapperly as he headed to work.
As the streetcar passed 68 Prince Street, Downs was smacked with a snowball. He jumped off the car and accused Jamm, who denied having pelted him. The Evening World reported, "Downs threw him down, took his shovel away, and struck the boy over the back with it." George Jamm had Downs arrested for assault.
Theodore L. Bayaud, presumably Peter's son, sold 68 Prince Street in February 1897 to Michael Lapp and Charles Haushalter for $13,500 (about $512,000 in today's money). Three months later, Charles Haushalter took over the operation of the saloon.
After Charles Haushalter's death in 1900, brewers F. & M. Schaefer & Co. signed the lease. Adam and Margaretha Lictenberger would run the saloon for Schaefer & Co. for years. The tavern would, of course, end in 1920 with the enactment of Prohibition.
An interesting tenant in the upper portion rented a room in 1921. The advertisement he placed in The New York Times on May 8 sounded too good to be real:
To Collectors or Dealers: Gentleman just arrived from Italy with 27 rare oil paintings--originals of great artists of 13th and 16th centuries from the Roman galleries of a princely family. On view by appointment only. For information apply Mr. O. Catalucci, 68 Prince St., N. Y. City.
In 1933, with just months before Prohibition was repealed, Charles Danzo leased the ground floor of 68 Prince Street. It would become home to Charlie's Tavern, a neighborhood watering hole for decades to come. He and his wife, the former Amelia Rizzo, and their ten children lived above the bar.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The Depression treated the Danzos much more kindly than the building's owner, who lost it in foreclosure to the bank. On January 5, 1938, The New York Times reported that the Metropolitan Savings Bank had sold "the three-story residence" to an investor.
With the country's entry into World War II, John Danzo left to fight in Europe. At the end of the conflict, Danzo was still stationed in war-worn Paris. On December 21, 1945, The Sun reported on the G.I.s who were trying to recreate something like an American Christmas. The long article said in part,
A 100-mile drive to find a Christmas tree was the odyssey of John Danzo, whose mother owns Charlie's Tavern at 68 Prince street, New York. His buddy, Homer Johnson, of Burkesville, Ky., thrice blitzed in England's air raids, has promised turkey for the party that John is organizing and he has collected eighty pounds of candy for the kids. Both men hope it will be their last Christmas away from home. Christmas in Paris has no lure for them. John, like hundreds of other absent fathers, wants to play Santa Claus for his own 3-year-old boy in New York.
With the Depression in the rear view mirror and World War II over, the Danzo family branched out. In 1947, they opened the Hotel Charles in Rockaway Beach--an "annex of Charlie's Cafe," as worded in an advertisement in the Wave of Long Island.
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image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Trouble came in September 1967, when undercover officers visited Charlie's Tavern on three separate instances. In a hearing on February 1, 1968, Officer James Restivo testified that on September 26 the previous year, he and John Danzo, after a "short conversation," looked over the horse racing section of a newspaper. Then Restivo filled out betting slips and gave them to Danzo along with the money for his bets. Similar testimonies followed from other police officers. Charlie's Tavern's liquor license was temporarily suspended for running a gambling operation.
By the mid-1980s, Charlie's Tavern was gone. Pasquale Ursitti, the widower of Grace Danzo, told The New York Times reporter Gregory Jaynes in January 1988, "They're all dead, Grace and her family. Five brothers and five sisters."
In 2001, the East Hampton restaurant Hampton Chutney Co. opened a branch at 68 Prince Street. Its South Indian cuisine drew patrons seeking dosa or uttapa at least through 2016.
Today there are two apartments in the upper floors. The footwear store Vivaia opened here in 2024.
photographs by the author
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