photograph by Anthony Bellov
In May 1817, James Van Zandt advertised for sale two mares and a "gig, with a leather top and a good set of harnesses." He directed potential buyers to see him at 332 Bowery-road. Van Zandt was most likely a long-term resident in the district, because Bowery Road had been officially renamed The Bowery four years earlier.
James Van Zandt possibly leased the property. It was owned by David S. Jones in 1824 when the latter sold it to John Perrine. It appears that Perrine simultaneously purchased the lot next door at 330 Bowery. Within three years, Perrine had erected a three-and-a-half story, Federal style house and shop at 332 Bowery. Its peaked roof would have been pierced with one or two dormers.
The Perrine family originally moved into 330 Bowery and leased No. 332. In 1830 the Thompson family occupied the upper portion while Samuel Clark, a trunk maker, was in the shop.
John Perrine moved his family into 332 Bowery as early as 1836. He operated his butcher shop in the ground floor space, while his two sons, George E. and Robert P., ran a brokerage business at 129 Bowery. The brothers' venture ended by 1845. That year George was working in his father's butcher shop and Robert had moved to Brooklyn.
In 1848, William H. Ho0ple purchased the property. He leased the commercial space to R. Cook & Son for its umbrella store, and the upper portion to Sarah Shumway, who operated a boarding house. Murville Shumway, possibly a brother, also lived here. Sarah's initial tenants were William H. and Joseph W. Cook, proprietors of the umbrella shop; and Charles S. and Elizabeth A. Burrell. Charles was a carpenter and Elizabeth made bonnets.
The shop of R. Cook & Son was supplanted in 1853 by the Wright & Bailey carpet store. The fact that the location was still far north of the established shopping district was reflected in a slightly ungrammatical Wright & Bailey advertisement in April that year.
Up-Town vs. Down-Town--Two great dissideratums [sic] in the purchase of any article is Price and Quality, and those in pursuit of Carpeting will find no place where they will be better pleased with both than at Wright & Bailey's, No. 332 Bowery, near Bond-st. Their stock is varied and excellent, and from their low rents they are enabled to deal more liberal with their customers than down-town establishments.
The shop changed hands again in 1857. Michael A. Egan moved his dry goods store, The Linen Hall, in that year and quickly faced problems. On June 2, the New-York Tribune reported that a fire in Egan & Co. had started at 9:30 the previous night, "a consequence of some light goods in the show-window coming in contact with a lighted gas-burner." The article mentioned, "The building, owned by W. H. Hoople, was damaged to the amount of $100."
Three days later, Egan advertised what today would be called a fire sale. The title read, "Great Sale of wet goods--$67,000 worth of dry goods damaged by fire, selling at The Linen Hall, No. 332 Bowery." One wonders if Egan was exaggerating in his ad. The figure he cited would translate to $2.5 million in 2026.
Not long after moving into 332 Bowery, Michael A. Egan realized that someone was systematically stealing his inventory. At one point, he confided about the thefts to Thomas R. Finley, a trusted clerk who had been with him for about a year. The New York Times said on October 3, 1857 that Egan "consulted with him on the best plan for detecting the culprit." Finley fingered a clerk and the porter and the two were fired. But the shrinkage continued. The New York Times said, "at length suspicion fell on Finley."
Police arrested Finley in the shop on October 2. "When arrested Finley had concealed in his pockets and about his person several articles, valued at $15," said The New York Times. When police searched his rooms on Allen Street, they discovered, "$2,000 worth of crape shawls, embroideries, laces, silks, linens and other costly goods." Finley was charged with sealing $2,915 in goods from his employer--about $111,000 today.
Around 1859, Hoople enlarged the building. He raised the attic to a full fourth floor and added an extension to the rear. Modern, Italianate-style cast metal lintels were placed over the openings and a corbeled cornice installed. Most likely, an up-to-date cast iron storefront was included in the renovations.
The cornice introduced a neo-Grec touch to the renovations. photograph by Anthony Bellov
The store space became home to B. T. Hardy's, a dry goods emporium operated by Benjamin T. Hardy. He, too, suffered thievery. On June 7, 1861, The New York Times began an article saying, "Yesterday morning, Mr. B. F. Hardy, dry goods dealer, at No. 332 Bowery, discovered that his store had been broken into on Wednesday night and robbed of $2,000 worth of silks and laces."
While modern day detectives resort to forensics like fingerprints and surveillance cameras, mid-19th century investigators relied greatly on instinct. The article said, "From the manner in which the burglary had been effected, the Detectives felt confident that the delinquents were David Bartlett and John Watson, both noted rogues." Officers Farley and Eustace barged into the rooms occupied by the the pair in a Thompson Street boarding house. They discovered Bartlett and Watson with another man, John Williams, "engaged in overhauling, assorting and preparing for sale...the entire proceeds of the burglary."
The New-York Dispatch, December 17, 1865 (copyright expired)
In the meantime, Sarah Shumway's tenants continued to be working class. Living here at the time of the burglary were Hugh Graham and Theron Rykert, both carpenters. Both would remain through 1863.
On January 22, 1869, Murville Shumway died in the house at the age of 67. His funeral was held here two days later. Sarah Shumway continued to lease the upper portion of the building until about 1870.
William Hoople next leased the building to German-born Henry N. Markert. He and his family lived upstairs and Henry's bakery occupied the ground floor. (In 1876, Markert changed the description of his business from baker to "candy.") Living with the Markerts were four servants and a boarder Julius Willing, who was a clerk. Willing would live here from 1870 through 1880. A second boarder, Charles W. See (sometimes spelled Sy) moved in around 1876. Like, Willing, he was a clerk and would remain through 1880.
By the late 1880s, The Bowery had changed. German beer gardens and music halls lined the thoroughfare and "bawdy houses" were crammed with “degraded women” and drunkards. The ground floor of 332 Bowery became Charles T. Krauss's saloon around 1888. By then, the third and fourth floors had been converted to Krauss's "office." His application for the renewal of the excise (i.e., liquor) license on March 11, 1890 described:
The premises No. 332 Bowery, now occupied as offices, excepting the second floor of the building, at a yearly rent of $720 and on the same conditions as the present lease; Mr. Charles T. Krauss, lessor.
The annual rent would translate to about $2,000 per month today.
The saloon changed hands rather rapidly. In 1896, Joseph A. and S. W. Weiss operated it as a "concert garden," called The Auditorium. The partners touted their operation as "high class vaudeville."
New York Journal, November 24, 1896 (copyright expired)
Although the ads described The Auditorium as being family friendly, reformers and police were not so sure. On December 15, 1896, The New York Times reported that Ignatz Leppel, Henry Montberger and Samuel Margules had been arrested for the unlicensed sale of cigars and soda. "They are waiters employed by Joseph A. Weiss, who keeps a concert garden at 332 Bowery."
Another waiter, Sam Aronson, was arrested for a much more serious offense the following year. He and a confederate, Joseph Winthall, attempted to blackmail wealthy stockbroker S. Duncan Leverich, whose wife had recently died. They sent a letter on April 14, 1897 that intimated that Leverich had murdered his wife. It said that the sender had evidence that Mrs. Leverich had died "by foul play." It demanded cash for the information and was signed, "From your friend, D. Corrock, No. 332 Bowery, saloon, city."
After the third letter arrived, Leverich went to police. He was given marked bills and Leverich met with Aronson and his comrade. The two were quickly arrested.
If The Auditorium was, indeed, family friendly, that would change in August 1897 when John H. McGurk purchased the building. The Irish-born saloonkeeper ran the notorious McGurk's Saloon at 295 Bowery, also known as Suicide Hall. He paid the equivalent of $1.2 million in todays money for 332 Bowery.
After being repeatedly arrested, John McGurk jumped bail in 1902 and fled to California with his wife and daughter, reportedly taking along half a million in cash. Two years earlier, he had sold 332 Bowery to Michael J. Adrian for $28,000. The two men who could not possibly have been more different. In reporting the transaction, the Record & Guide said on June 2, 1900, "Mr. Adrian is president of the German Exchange Bank, but buys [the property] for his own account. The building will undergo extensive alterations."
The German Exchange Bank sat next door, at 330 Bowery (aka 54 Bond Street). Adrian's restoring the saloon space to a respectable business would be beneficial to his bank's reputation and certainly would make his female customers more comfortable in doing business in the bank. Within weeks of the purchase, Adrian hired architects J. Bockell & Son to renovate 332 Bowery with a new storefront. The building became home to three makers of "caps and cloth hats"--S. Kraviz & Son, Einhorn & Waldman, and H. Meyerowitz.
In 1941, George M. Adrian, presumably Michael J. Adrian's son, was listed as the owner of 332 Bowery. The family continued to possess the property until 1963, when it was sold to Seymour Finkelstein.
A glass store occupied the ground floor in 1940. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Steve's Deli occupied the ground floor in the mid-1980s. By the turn of the century, the ever-changing Bowery saw the rise of modern apartment and store buildings. The environment was reflected in the opening of Thai restaurant Godunk in 2025, described by The New York Times food critic Florence Fabricant on December 2 that year, "a room done in beige tile and burgundy leather."
Cast iron piers survive on the sides of the much-altered storefront. The brick above has been painted, but overall the upper floors look much as they did around 1859 when William Hoople made his significant renovations.
many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post
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