The expansive Wallach Brothers clothing store occupied 265-267 Broadway in the post-World War I years. The building was owned by the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. On September 20, 1937, Wallach's moved into the Paragon Building at Broadway and Murray Street. The move was necessary because the Corn Exchange Bank had taken over the lease for 265-267 Broadway as a branch office and was remodeling it. Founded in 1853, The Corn Exchange Bank now had multiple branches throughout the city.
The architectural firm of Fellheimer & Wagner was commissioned to remodel the architecturally outdated structure. The architects' streamlined Art Moderne design included glass blocks over the entrances and in the vast second floor openings. They were flanked by deep-set piercings, stacked in a diamond pattern. Stylized Chicago-style windows gave interest to the upper three floors. A striking Art Moderne-style flagpole base drew the eye upward and balanced what would otherwise have been a bottom-heavy design.
This photograph was taken by Wurts Bros. in 1937, shortly after the bank opened here. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
On October 24, 1937, The New York Times tepidly remarked on the renovations, saying only that "a glass front on the five-story building housing the Corn Exchange Bank at 265 Broadway" had been installed.
In 1954 the bank merged with Chemical Bank, becoming the Chemical Corn Bank. Interior renovations were done in 1957. The bank was renamed again in 1959, now the Chemical Bank Trust Company.
That year the TelePrompTer Corporation opened an account. The firm was responsible for broadcasting the Ingemar Johansson-Floyd Patterson heavyweight title prize fight in June. Two months later, Johansson's promoter, Bill Rosensohn, questioned the firm's accounting. On August 8, 1959, attorney Edwin Schweig announced, "all the accounting records were in order, and that there was about $460,000 now in an account at the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank at 265 Broadway--money from the sale of radio, motion picture and theatre-TV rights to the June fight." The balance would translate to about $5 million in 2026.
The Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York finally sold the property to Chemical Bank in 1976.
A rash of bank robberies ushered in the new year of 1980. There were 17 robberies the first week, including four on January 7. The following day Newsday said, "Three banks in Manhattan were robbed of several thousand dollars within 34 minutes yesterday morning, and a pair of armed robbers held up a fourth bank in the Bronx, police said." Among them was the Chemical Bank at 267 Broadway. Newsday reported that it "was held up at 11:02 AM by an armed man who got 'a few thousand dollars,' police said."
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Two years later, on February 7, 1982, The New York Times began an article saying, "To the New York City detectives who concentrate on trying to catch bank robbers, they have become known simply as 'the Women.'" Since December 28, a three-member female gang had knocked off 11 banks in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The article said, "In their most recent robbery, last Thursday, two of the women held up a Chemical Bank branch at 265 Broadway, near Chambers Street, and got away with $1,500."
At the time, bank tellers interacted with their depositors face-to-face. NYPD Lieutenant Joseph R. Nekola urged banks to install "bandit barriers"--shields of bulletproof Plexiglas. The shields became more and more familiar to the banking public until today they are ubiquitous.
At the turn of the century, an HSBC Bank occupied the building. Despite updated precautions, the branch was targeted by an unarmed robber on April 22, 2003, who made away with $41,000 in cash. It was one of 170 bank robberies that year so far. The following day, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg "harshly criticized some banks for failing to provide better security," reported The New York Times. He told reporters that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly "is meeting with them today to read the riot act. It's unconscionable what's going on." He added, "Word is also out that some banks don't care, that you pass a note to get the money and you can get away with it."
The suspect in the HSBC Bank robbery, 37-year-old Bryant Brown, was arrested. He was suspected in "a series of bank robberies scattered across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx," reported The Times. Police said, "his method was to pass a note to a teller in each of the banks demanding money."
In 2011, HSBC Bank announced it would sell 195 branches. Among those was 265 Broadway. In 2017 real estate developer Roe Corporation announced a 45-story, mixed-use on the site. The project did not move forward in the spring of 2026, The Rabsky Group purchased the building for $30 million. On May 18, 2026, Tribeca Citizen reported that a "mixed-use condo using 51,730 square feet of zoning floor area," would replace the bank building.
With no protection from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the fate of one of downtown Manhattan's most eye-catching Art Moderne structures seems sealed.
photographs by the author
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