The Notorious Picus Hotel - 504 Canal Street

 

In 1818, the year that work began to cover the eight-foot-wide canal that drained the Lispenard Meadows, John Y. Smith began construction of a duel-purpose building at the southwest corner of Greenwich Street and what would soon become Canal Street.  Smith leased the oddly-shaped plot from Alexander L. Stewart and his wife, Sarah (who was the daughter of Leonard Lispenard).  He produced a striking, Federal style house and store at what would become 480 Greenwich Street.

Smith used the plot next door as a side yard to his home and hair starch business.  Finally, in 1841 Robert Stewart, an heir of Alexander Stewart, erected a four-story house-and-store on the vacant lot.  Completed in  1842, the substantial granite storefront of 237 Canal Street (renumbered 504 in 1860) sat below three stories of red brick.  Consistent with the Greek Revival style, the attic floor was substantially shorter than the lower floors, yet the steep peaked roof was a holdover from the earlier Federal style.

Operated as a boarding or tenement house, the upper floors were populated by blue collar tenants.  One, seemingly a teenager, sought work in 1848, her advertisement reading:

A Protestant girl wants a situation as chambermaid or seamstress, or take care of children.  The best of city reference given.  Can be seen for 2 days at 237 Canal street, one door from Greenwich.

The shop was home to the collar store of Irish-born William Kelly by 1850.  He and his 24-year-old wife Margaret lived upstairs.  Two teenaged boys, William Gillian and Patrick Ball, lived in the building and listed their professions as "apprentice," suggesting they worked for Kelly.  The extended Hoffmire family took several rooms.  Fifty-year-old clerk William Hoffmire and his wife Maria had eight children--two adults, William Jr., who was a machinist, and Charles, who was a silversmith, and three younger boys and three girls.  Completing the tenant list were 30-year-old boilermaker James O'Neil and his 21-year-old wife Mary; and George Green, a 21-year-old trunkmaker.

If William Kelly's apprentices had indeed boarded with him and his wife in 1850, the couple had rethought the idea by 1854.  That year Kelly placed an advertisement in the New York Herald that read, "Wanted--Two young men to learn a trade, and board with their parents.  Apply at the Collar Factory, 237 Canal street."

Kelly moved his operation to 487 Greenwich Street in 1856.  The store was converted by John Martin to a saloon.  It survived until the first year of the Civil War.  On July 23, 1861, three months after the first shot was fired, an advertisement appeared in the New York Herald:

For Sale--Very cheap, the lease, stock and fixtures of a good liquor store; well located near ferries and several lines of steamships, doing a good business; lease of whole house if required.  Sold in consequence of the owner going to sea.  Apply to 504 Canal street. 

The former saloon became a Union Army recruiting office.  On March 3, 1863 the Enrollment Act of 1863 was enacted.  It required that every male citizen between 20 and 45 years of age enroll for the draft.  The legislation provided a loophole for the wealthy in that exemptions could be purchased for $300--about $12,000 in 2023--or draftees could pay for a substitute.  An advertisement in the New York Sun read:

U. S. RECRUITING OFFICE, 504 CANAL st.  One door from Greenwich.  $500 to $1,000 for volunteers and substitutes for the army and navy; a few boys 18 years of age will be taken.  Substitutes furnished at short notice.  All business transacted with promptness and dispatch.

At the end of the war, the ground floor became home to John Borman's "segars" business.  Among the tenants upstairs was Henry Depping, a "segarmaker," who most likely worked for Borman.  Also rooming in the building in 1864 were James Burns, a clerk; and Daniel Hogan, an engineer.  (The term "engineer" referred to both a bridge, road, and machinery designer, as today, or to a person who maintained machinery.  Hogan was most likely the latter.)

Daniel Hogan found himself before a judge on July 12, 1865.  Miles Gragin, who lived in Pennsylvania, came to New York to liquidate some property.  He apparently got a bit drunk the night before and had fallen asleep "on a stoop in Canal-street," as reported by The New York Times.  When he woke, he realized that his four deeds, which he valued at $15,000, were gone.  Suddenly Daniel Hogan appeared and "told him that if he would pay him a certain sum, he would get him all his papers," said the article.  After Cragin gave him $2, Hogan went into 504 Canal Street and returned with one of the deeds.

Cragin found a policeman and had him arrested.  Hogan explained to the judge that he saw a boy take a package from Cragin's pocket, pursued him, and retrieved the single deed.  He was held for trial.  Whether or not Cragin ever got his other three deeds back is unclear.

Other tenants were similarly suspicious.  Luke D. Broughton listed his occupation in city directories in 1868 as physician.  However, an ad in the New York Herald that year read, "Astrology--Dr. and Mrs. Broughton can be consulted in astrology and medicine at 504 Canal street."

By 1870 the ground floor had been returned to a saloon, run by Peter Krieg.  Both it and the upper floors were taken over by Louis Picus in 1872, kicking off a notorious chapter in the life of 504 Canal Street.  The nefarious activities at the address started almost immediately.

On May 2, 1872, The Evening Telegram reported, "On Monday afternoon, a man named John Keller, was removed in a senseless condition from No. 504 Canal street, to St. Mary's Hospital, Hoboken, where he expired on Monday afternoon."  Keller had suffered several obvious wounds and internal injuries.  The coroner visited 504 Canal Street, "but none of the inmates would consent to give the slightest information concerning deceased," said the article.  And so subpoenas were issued.

Picus's wife Bertha explained under oath that Keller, who had lived there for six months, went to bed around 7:00 that night.  He repeatedly fell out of bed, she insisted.  She and Louis tied him to the bed, but he "burst the cords and again fell to the floor," so they took him to the New Jersey hospital.  (She offered no reason as to why they did not opt for a local facility.)  Other tenants were questioned, but finally the case was dropped for lack of evidence.

In 1874 William Bohner worked for Picus and lived in the house.  On June 9, the New York Herald reported, "A supposed incendiary fire occurred yesterday at No. 504 Canal street.  William Bohner was arrested on suspicion by Fire Marshal Sheldon."  Further investigation revealed the motive.  The New-York Tribune reported that Bohner had recently been fired, "and in revenge he attempted to set fire to the premises, building a small conflagration in his bed for the purpose."

Picus became well-known to law enforcement for his organized scheme of fleecing immigrants.  Perfect targets were a young couple from Lebanon, Syria who arrived in New York in November 1882.  Six months later, according to 22-year-old Wardy Tanoos, James Rosedale "told her her child would be taken away from her, and she would be imprisoned a year for begging, but if she would give him $100 he could get her out of the trouble."  He said he would purchase steamer tickets to get them safely out of the city.  (This additional service would cost another $50.)  The New York Times reported on April 19, 1883, "he took them to a hotel at No. 504 Canal street, where their expenses had to be paid."  Those expenses were mounting.  Rosedale charged them $112 for the steerage tickets.  Eventually, he took $560 from the naïve couple--nearly $17,000 in 2023 terms.

On April 18, Thomas G. Roebuck went to the pier to see friends off.  The New York Times reported he "saw a man pushing several men and women on board, while the latter seemed to protesting and refused to go."  They were the Tanoos family, who had realized the City of Richmond was headed to Liverpool.  Happily for them, police interfered and Rosedale was arrested.

Five months later, Frederick Rufenacht, who arrived in New York on his way to Europe, became a victim.  On September 9, the Syracuse Herald reported, "He was met at the boat landing by a runner for Louis Picus, keeper of an immigrant boarding house at No. 504 Canal street, who induced Rufenacht to go with him to the boarding house."  There, the runner sold him a ticket to Switzerland.  Rufenacht had $100 in American currency left, "and with this bought of the runner a sight draft on 'The Anglo-American Bank' of Basil, Switzerland, for 500 francs," said the article.  

When Rufenacht disembarked in Europe, he discovered there was no such bank.  Furious, he boarded a ship back to New York and went straight to the Mayor's office.  The slippery Louis Picus managed to wriggle out of the charges, however.  The Syracuse Herald reported, "Marshall McDermott sent for Picus who admitted that the runner was in his employ, but said that be had left New York and he did not know where he had gone.  Picus asserted that he knew nothing whatever about the draft and argued that he would not be held responsible for it.  The case was not settled."

Louis Picus placed a very strange help-wanted ad in the New York World on May 14, 1889.  "Boy--wanted, a very black boy, from 8 to 10 years, 504 Canal st."

Typical of the Picuses' victims was R. J. Gordon, who arrived in New York from Boston on April 14, 1892.  He was here on business with The Lone Star Cotton Picking Machine Company.  While he was looking in a tobacco shop window, a man struck up a conversation.  The new friend visited Gordon at his hotel the following morning and, as reported by The New York Times, "the man said something about '$3,000 worth of good stuff.'  The two drove in a cab to Picus's Hotel, a squalid hostelry at 504 Canal Street.  Here Gordon registered as 'John Brown, Custer City,' and took a room."  (The "good stuff" was known as "green goods," or counterfeit money.)

Gordon soon realized he had made a serious mistake.  A second man came in the room and asked Gordon to write a note "to a third party who would 'bring the stuff over presently on receipt of the dispatch.'"  He did so, but, "Then he got a little frightened at his surroundings, the more so because Friend No. 2 had locked the door and pocketed the key."  Gordon said he wanted a drink of water and promised to return in a minute.  His captor "reluctantly" let him out or the room.  Gordon attempted to flee but was intercepted by Bertha Picus.  The New York Times reported, "The woman grabbed his satchel and umbrella," but Picus escaped and ran directly to the 5th Precinct station house.  

It appears that Picus was paying protection money to the police.  Officers were sent to investigate and "found no green-goods men, and the woman said she had never seen him before."  Captain Stephenson turned the tables on Gordon, who was now accused of attempting to buy counterfeit money.  He was directed to return to 504 Canal Street and pay Bertha Picus the day's rent before he could retrieve his umbrella and satchel.

The Picuses and their henchman would continue to victimize immigrants and tourists for years.  But, despite their apparent paying off of police, the Raines Law enacted in 1896, affected their saloon business.   The New York World explained on March 27, "Under it not one of the nearly 500 restaurants in this city which now hold licenses permitting them to serve drinks to their patrons with their meals, but not over bars, will be permitted to so serve on Sundays."  

Whether the Raines Law had anything to do with the Picuses closing the saloon and ending their lease is impossible to know.  But a year later, in 1897, the Stewart family sold the property to Samuel Weil.  

At the time, Dr. George A. Hayunga ran a drugstore in the corner building next door.  Before 1902 he and his wife Margaret moved into 504 Canal Street, along with Hayunga's brother, his uncle, a cousin, and a live-in servant.  Margaret was highly involved in the business and by 1906 held her own retail druggist license.  

Hayunga's uncle, (who had the confusingly similar name of Dr. George E. Hayunga) was apparently also involved in the drugstore.  He had served as a surgeon in the Unites States Navy during the Civil War, and had practiced medicine ever since. 

On March 6, 1907, George E. Hayunga died "at the residence of his nephew," as reported by the New-York Tribune.  The physician was 67 years old.

George A. Hayunga continued to run the drugstore next door and practice medicine from 504 Canal Street.  On March 24, 1911, The New York Times reported, "The first steps were taken last night...for the erection of a Lutheran hospital and dispensary."  A constitution for the Society of the Lutheran Hospital of the city of New York was adopted and George Hayunga was elected its president.

When the process of acquiring land dragged on, Hayunga took matters into his own hands.  The 1914 New York Charities Directory listed the Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan at 502 Canal Street, and described the facility as being "for care and relief of ill and indigent poor of the Borough of Manhattan, without regard to race, creed or color.  Accommodates about 100 daily." 

By then, Samuel Weil had owned that building since 1908.  He  had purchased 506 Canal Street in 1907, and finally added to his holdings on September 12, 1919 by buying 508 Canal Street.  Real estate operators most likely expected that Weil would erect a modern commercial building on the site, but surprisingly that never happened.

The row as it appeared in 1931.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

Although the venerable structures survived, they suffered neglect throughout the 20th century.  The group was owned by V. Ponte & Sons, a New Jersey-based carting business in the last decade of the century.  Legal troubles caused the family to change course in 1997.  On April 2 that year, Newsday reported, "The business and its owners, Angelo Ponte, 72, and his son, Vincent J. Ponte, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on Jan. 28...As part of the plea agreement, the Pontes agreed to stay out of the carting business forever."  

The family's failure to maintain the Canal Street properties was strikingly evident when, on April 1, 1997, the 18-by-20-foot rear wall of 504 Canal Street collapsed.  Newsday reported, "The Buildings Department had issued a permit to repair the non-bearing wall in 1994, but the work was never done."  Once again, although the end of the line for the vintage structure seemed unavoidable, the significant damage was repaired.

Surviving against all odds, the building forms part of an astonishing row, giving us a glimpse into commercial New York City in the early part of the 19th century.

photographs by the author

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John G. Rohr's 1826 506 Canal Street

 

The proposal of the Board of Trinity Episcopal Church to develop an area along Hudson Street north of the city in 1802 was met with skepticism and derision.  What would become St. John's Park was at the time a reed-filled bog, overrun with mosquitoes and snakes.  But the Church forged on and the problem of the "sluggish stream" that fed the swampy, marshy Lispenard Meadows was soon dealt with.  

In 1809 excavation for an eight-foot-wide drainage canal was begun.  It was completed in 1811 and covered over in 1819, creating an especially broad, 100-foot-wide roadway.  With the marsh gone, development along Canal Street followed.  Among those taking advantage of the new opportunity was the German-born merchant tailor John G. Rohr, who erected several properties on both sides of the thoroughfare.

In 1826 he completed five similar brick-faced homes on the south side of Canal Street, just west of Greenwich Street.  The eastern-most was 239 Canal Street (renumbered 506 in 1860).  It exhibited expected elements of the Federal style--Flemish bond brickwork and paneled brownstone lintels, for instance.  But what made its design stand out was the ground floor store front.  Considered by architectural historians to be (almost assuredly) original, its series of brownstone arches frame two shop windows and two entrances--one to the store and the other to the residential space upstairs.  The multi-paned windows and elegant paneled pilasters gave the storefront a Dickensonian feel.

While his family lived at 243 Canal Street (later 510), Rohr opened his tailoring establishment in the ground floor here.  An advertisement in the New York Morning Courier in 1828 read:

Clothing Emporium, 239 Canal-street  —The subscriber has a Clothing Store at the above place where clothing of every description is made to order, at the shortest notice, and where he offers for sale fine and superfine blue, black, mixed, drab and olive Broadcloths and Cassimeres. Also, a great variety of the richest patterns of Valencia, and black figured Silk Vest Patterns, well worthy the attention of merchant tailors. N. B. Also, just received, a variety of first quality of English Mole Skins, or Fustians, for sale as above at very low prices.  - John G. Rohr

For some reason, Rohr removed his tailoring business in 1829, and leased the building to John Y. Smith, a starch and hair powder manufacturer, who had built and occupied the structure steps away at 235 Greenwich Street.  He transferred title of that property to Alonzo Alwyn Alvord and moved his family and business to the Rohr building.  In October 1829, he exhibited his wares at the American Institute's fair in Masonic Hall.  He was awarded a Discretionary Premium for the "best Starch and Hair Powder."

Smith's leasing of 239 Canal Street was most likely always intended to be temporary.  In 1830 John G. Rohr not only re-opened his tailoring business on the ground floor, but moved his family into the upper portion of the building.  Conditions within the house must have been snug.  Rohr and his wife Rebecca had four adult children, Rebecca, George (who worked in his father's tailoring business), John B., and Hannah.  They all lived here along with their own families.  (Rebecca and her husband Baltus Segee, who was a saddler, had two children; and there were five other grandchildren ranging from 6 to 15 years of age).  Additionally, a 35-year-old Irish servant, Catherine Brickham lived in the house.

By 1849, the Rohr population upstairs had thinned to the point that Elizabeth Mountford and her two adult sons Daniel and Peter took rooms.  The brothers opened what was originally called P. & D. Mountford, a stationary and book store, in the former Rohr tailor shop.

Among the Rohrs still living here were Rebecca and Boltis Segee and their children, and John B. Rohr and his family.  On September 6, 1850, John left the house and walked to Chambers Street.  When he got there he realized he had lost his firearm.  His ad in the New-York Daily Tribune four days later offered:

$10 Reward--Or $5 that will lead to the recovery of a double barrel gun lost on Friday morning Sept. 6, in going from 239 Canal-st. through  Washington to Chambers-st. inclosed [sic] in a leather covering with the owner's name partly erased on the guard.  The finder will receive the above reward by leaving it with the subscriber, at 239 Canal-st.     John B. Rohr

It was a valued weapon, and Rohr's reward would equal about $385 in 2023.

In 1840 the first mass produced Valentine cards were introduced in America and the public soon embraced the tradition.  They were embellished with real lace and satin ribbons.  The Mountfort brothers took advantage of the fad.  On February 9, 1851 they advertised:

                                                    VALENTINES AT 239 CANAL ST.

 The Proprietors beg leave to state to their numerous friends and patrons, that they have the best selected stock of Valentines ever offered to the American public, got up, not by travelling in the old countries, but by the best connoisseurs in that line of business in this or any other country.  They will also deliver them promptly, when requested so to do.  Remember the place.        MOUNTFORD & BROTHER, 239 Canal St., near Clinton Market.

In 1853 Rohr sold 239 Canal Street to Carsten Sierck.  He continued leasing part of the upper portion to Boltis and Rebecca Rohr Segee.  His other upstairs tenant was Richard H. Daily, who listed his profession as "agent."  The former bookstore became a ticket office for the Hudson River Railroad.

The last of the Rohr family had left 239 Canal Street in 1857 when Charles Schnibbe ran the upper floors as a boarding house.  Among his residents that year was shoemaker John Mebs.  By 1859 James Scott had taken over the shop for his "iron furniture" store.  (Cast iron settees, tables and chairs were popular not only for gardens and lawns, but for conservatories.)

The upper portion of the house continued to be operated as a boarding house for decades and, expectedly, it saw a variety of boarders come and go.  Living here in 1867 were Ellen and Patrick Gray, who worked at the nearby Clinton Market--she as a "huckster" (a seller of small goods) and he as a provisions merchant.  Also in the house that year were Henry J. Hollmann who was in the liquor business on Centre Street; and Joseph Schoenberger, who ran a saloon.  (The two may have worked together.)

Tragedy visited 506 Canal Street in 1873.  Living here at the time was Anna Creemer, the widow of John Creemer, who worked as a baker; and Henry and Margaret E. A. C. Wellbrook.  The Wellbrooks welcomed a daughter, Adelaide M. on December 5, 1872.  The infant died six months later, on May 24, 1873.  Her funeral was held here two days later.

After having owned the property for half a century, the Sierck family sold 506 Canal Street in 1907 to Samuel Weil, who already owned 504.  (In 1909 he would buy the former John Y. Smith building on the corner.)

The occupants of 506 Canal Street were working class in the first half of the 20th century, like Joseph Souza who worked as a water tender aboard the steamship Auditor.  On September 11, 1920, he got into a confrontation in a restaurant in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, near the waterfront.  The Brooklyn Standard Union reported, "Frank White...alleges Souza threw two cups at him, one of which inflicted a deep cut in his head."  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Souza was arrested for felonious assault and released on bail.  But, nearly a year later, on August 26, the newspaper reported that Joseph Souza, "who skipped $500 bail," had been rearrested.  Not only had he been arrested again, but it was by the same detective, Thomas Croak, who had arrested him the previous year.  This time he was held without bail.

Through some miraculous happenstance, the unique storefront of 506 Canal Street was not disfigured or replaced.  In 1990 the Ponte family of Ponte Equities owned 502, 504 and 506 Canal Street.  In almost every case when real estate firms accumulate abutting properties, a redevelopment is in the near future.  But each of the venerable structures was preserved.

Today there are two apartments per floor above the storefront at 506 Canal Street.  It survives as a wondrous anachronism within the bustling Holland Tunnel district.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

photographs by the author

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the 1855 Marble-fronted 357 and 359 Canal Street

 

The enterprising and self-promoting William Banta ran his hat store from the three-story converted house at the northwest corner of Canal and Wooster Streets in the first years of the 1850's.  An advertisement in April 1852 read in part, "Ever on the alert, introducing to the public taste articles in the line of his avocation--Banta, the Hatter, No. 106 Canal street, has just received, direct from Europe, several cases of Straw Hat and Caps for infants, boys and Misses."  

Next door in the similar house at 108 Canal Street, Asher Rosenblatt ran his fancy goods store.  Before long the two men conspired to replace the vintage structures with modern matching loft and store buildings.

They hired architect W. T. Beers to design the replacement buildings.  Completed in late 1855, the identical Second Empire style buildings were faced in gleaming white marble--appropriate for the upscale shopping thoroughfare--above the cast iron storefronts.  The openings wore molded segmental lintels. Other than the second floor windows, which sat upon decorative panels, the sills perched upon delicate brackets.   The wooden frames created paired arched windows within each opening.

Banta's opening ad was published in the New York Herald on March 18, 1856:

Wm. Banta will Open To-day his Selection of straw goods; whatever taste and perseverance could do, to produce a superior article and a variety of styles, he has accomplished.  His exertions, no doubt, will be rewarded by a liberal patronage, at 106 Canal street, corner of Wooster street.

Banta offered a wide array of merchandise, including, according to his Trow's Directory listing, "the best qualities of gentlemen's silk, beaver, and felt hats, a full assortment of cloth, velvet, silk, and linen caps, and a very large and desirable stock of straw goods, ladies' furs, beaver, bonnets, &c. &c."

His rental advertisement for the upper floors read:

To Let--The light and commodious 2nd, 3d and 4th floor of the new, marble front, building 106 Canal st., corner of Wooster st, well adapted for salesrooms, offices or some light manufacturing business...Inquire at Banta's Hat Store.

Somewhat confusingly today, in the 19th century the "first floor," or "first loft," was what today we would call the second floor.  The ground floor was referred to as the "store."  His ad was answered by T. R. Hammond & Wilkinson, "flowers," and by James M. Speer, dealer in trunks.  (It is probable that Hammond & Wilkinson's business was in artificial flowers, used in women's millinery, rather than fresh flowers.)

Asher Rosenblatt's rental advertisement was similar.  It read, "To Let--In the White Marble Building, 108 Canal street, the first and second floors, well adapted for business purposes...Inquire of A. Rosenblatt, same building, in the store."

While Asher Rosenblatt operated his fancy goods store at street level, a relative, Samson Rosenblatt moved his embroidery store in to an upper floor.  The other spaces were occupied in 1856 by Catherine Miller's mantilla shop, and Alex Muir's fringe business.

Mantillas were an important part of a fashionable women's wardrobe in the pre-Civil War years and Catherine Miller's business was apparently brisk.  On January 19, 1857 she advertised, "Mantilla makers wanted, immediately--First rate hands can have steady employment by applying at 108 Canal street (369 new number), over Rosenblatt's fancy store, near Wooster street."

The head portion of this delicate 1856 cape-like mantilla has been folded back, its silk ribbons trailing down the back.

As the ad pointed out, in 1856 Canal Street had been renumbered, giving the buildings their new addresses of 357 and 359 Canal Street.

Catherine Miller left in 1860, replaced by Marcus H. Lichtenstein's ribbon business.  In his opening sale ad on July 16, he cautioned:

Ladies don't lose the last chance at M. H. Lichtenstein's, No. 359 Canal-st., corner of Wooster-st., upstairs.  You will not soon again have such a good chance to get the finest styles and best qualities of Ribbons and Dress Trimmings at such wonderful low prices as surpass belief, less than one-quarter their original cost.

Samson Rosenblatt had also left that year, moving to 338 Broadway.  His space was taken by Myer A. Rosenblatt, presumably a relative, who listed himself merely as "merchant."   Alex Muir had died, but his widow, Margaret, continued the fringe business in his place.  The stalwart woman would take in a partner, Mary Sage, by 1863, and renaming the business Muir & Sage.

Toward the end of 1860 Asher Rosenblatt decided to retire.  He initiated a months-long promotion--what today we would call a going-out-of-business sale--in December.  His ad said he "is now offering until the 1st of February, his entire stock of Embroideries, Lace Goods, &c., at much less than they can be bought elsewhere, inconsequence of retiring from all mercantile pursuits then."

As Asher Rosenblatt had done, it appears that William Banta leased space in his building in 1861 to a relative.  On December 11 that year The New York Times reported, "Anna Taylor, aged 20 years, native of New-York, was tried and convicted of grand larceny, in stealing two fur capes from Jacob Banta, of No. 357 Canal-street."

In the years just after the Civil War William Banta had just two large tenants.  Aaron and Leopold Buxbaum's linen firm, L. Buxbaum & Co., shared the upper floors with Isaac and Moses Buxbaum (no doubt relatives), who dealt in skirts under the firm name M. & I. Buxbaum.

Asher Rosenblatt retained possession of 359 Canal Street, leasing the store space to J. Connor in the late 1860's.  Early on the morning of September 20, 1870, a police officer found four bags of lace goods in the hallway of a building around the corner at 17 Wooster Street.  The New York Times reported, "Sergt. Pickett and other officers made an investigation and found that the premises No. 359 Canal-street, occupied by Mr. J. Connor, importer of lace goods, had been entered from the rear and $1,500 worth of goods stolen."  It was a significant heist, worth more than $30,000 today.

Connor was notified "of the affair" and he rushed to the Prince Street Police Station.  There he identified all the goods as being his.  "No trace of the thieves was discovered," said the article.

After having operated from the location for three decades, William Banta's hat store closed in 1878.  His marble building became the candy store and factory of Haggitiris & Co., run by brothers John G. and Pananos Haggitiris.  The firm remained at least through 1886, after which it became the cigar factory of Esperanza & Co.    That enterprise failed in 1891.

In 1893, 395 Canal Street was sold at auction "to close the estate of Asher Rosenblatt."  By now the fashionable shopping district had moved uptown.  That was reflected in the changing tenant list.  Although Samuel H. Blair remained in the building through 1901 making handkerchiefs and drapery trimmings, the Manhattan Show Case Company and Morgan S. Roper's "showcases and window glass" business were evidence of change.

Next door, a moving company, Kelley's Staten Island and New York Express, operated from what had been William Banta's hat store.

Richmond County Advance, June 6, 1891 (copyright expired)

Canal Street, once New York's most fashionable shopping thoroughfare, had become industrial following World War I.  By 1923 another moving firm, the Yonkers Standard Express Company, operated from 357 and the Lepper Auto Service Company was at 359.  During the Depression years the Brown Chemical Company was upstairs in 359 Canal Street.  On June 19, 1936 the Daily News reported, "Fire feeding on inflammable stock swept the fourth-floor laboratories of the Brown Chemical Company, 359 Canal st., near Wooster St., early yesterday afternoon.  Firemen confined the blaze to the laboratories."

Dorman Machine Tool Works occupied the store next door.  But another change was happening in the neighborhood.  Artists were discovering that the cheap lofts made spacious and affordable studios.  In the 1940's artist Romare Bearden established his art studio here.  Born in 1912 in Charlotte, North Caroline, he grew up in Manhattan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from New York University in 1935.  Writing in The New York Times on October 2, 2002, Stephen Kinzer noted, "Although Bearden had a studio at 357 Canal Street in Manhattan when the Abstract Expressionist movement was flowering a few blocks north, he did not join it."

Bearden went on to have shows at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and to receive the National Medal of Arts from President Ronald Reagan.

The third quarter of the century saw this area of Canal Street become what was unofficially known as the plastics district.  In the 1970's Amplest Inc. occupied the ground floor of 359 Canal Street.  The New York Times tipped off those preparing to move on January 5, 1977 that it was a good place to buy Bubble Wrap.

Artists continued to find living-working space (unofficially) in the upper floors.  In 1971 Italian-born artist Vita Giorgi was living in 359 when she participated in the "Ten Downtown" show.  The event had been established in 1968 when ten artists opened up their lofts in or near Soho and exhibited their works for three weekends in April.  Those artists chose another 10 for the next years' exhibition, and so on.

The original arched frames survive on the third floor of 359 Canal Street.

The two buildings are easily overlooked today.  Their marble been seriously eroded by 20th century acid rain and pollution.  Yet with a little imagination, one can imagine when stylishly-dressed ladies shopped here for lace mantillas and fashionable bonnets.

photographs by the author

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Charles C. Haight's 1878 275 Canal Street

On October 19, 1870 millionaire Henry E. Pellew purchased the empty "gore lot" at No. 275 Canal Street from Jonathan Edwards.  It would be eight years before he developed the plot, hiring the 37-year old architect Charles Coolidge Haight to design a loft and store building in 1878.  

Pellew was a highly respected and influential businessman.  On February 12, as Haight was working on the plans for his new building, Pellew was a pallbearer at the funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the father of the future President of the United States.

Completed within the year, No. 275 Canal Street exhibited strong elements of the Romanesque Revival style to which Haight repeatedly returned over the next decades.  It was most evident in the arched openings of the fourth and fifth floors.  The Queen Anne style made its appearance in dog tooth brickwork panels between the second and third floors and the fanciful pierced cornice designs flanked by stone gablets.

Stone capitals adorn the pilasters and clustered columns of the fourth and fifth floors.  The stone eyebrows of the fourth floor are mimicked in black brick at the fifth.  The Queen Anne style cornice is extraordinary.

The building became home to Eastman, Bigelow & Dayton, "silk and fancy drygoods" merchants.   The firm had begun as Eastman, Sheldon & Townsend in 1845; but after Sheldon was lost at sea on a return voyage from Europe in 1855, the Alden B. Bigelow and Milton P. Dayton joined Albert L. Eastman to form the new organization.

The New-York Sketch Book and Merchant's Guide noted that the firm's "chief feature" was ladies' dress trimmings.  "Their assortment of these goods is always large, and of the newest styles" it said, adding "Their stock also comprises a complete assortment of Taffetas and Satin Ribbons, Bonnet Ribbons, Kid Gloves, Embroideries, &c., &c."

The firm had been in its new home only about a year when valuable silk velvet ribbon disappeared.  The stolen goods were valued at more than $700--or about $18,500 in today's money.  A break in the case came around October 15, 1879 when a customer informed the firm that "quantities of black ribbon, known as 'the Black Friar' brand in the original packages as imported, and bearing the trade-mark of the firm, were being offered for sale at a much lower rate," according to The New York Times.

The ribbon was tracked down to the shop of merchant tailor I. M. Witkoski. and an elaborate plot was discovered.  The goods were initially stolen by a janitor, who sold them to a mattress maker, John Gurney.  Gurney then resold the goods to Benjamin M. Wilkoski, the brother of the the shop's owner.

In court Wilkoski freely admitted he had purchased the ribbon and was reselling it; but said he had no way of knowing the goods were stolen.  He testified that "he had taken them from a man for whom he had made several suits of clothes, in payment for the clothing."  Judge Gildersleeve was unmoved and on November 17 sentenced the tailor to three years in State Prison.

The 1890's saw Casse, Lackey & Co., makers of window shades (renamed Pinney, Casse & Lackey in 1892); the Leopold Ascher Co., makers of paint and shaving brushes; and William Harvey, manufacturers of canes and umbrella handles, in the building.

The Beta Theta Pi magazine, October 1893 (copyright expired)

William Harvey's factory employed 8 men, 18 women, 14 girls under 21 years old and 4 girls under 16 in 1893.  They worked long hours--59 hours during the week and 9 on Saturday.  The firm reorganized around 1898 when it became the Harvey & Watts Co.

In June 1899 Henry Pellew commissioned architects Horenburger & Straub to make structural improvements to No. 275, including new iron girders.

Of the 31 employees in Leopold Ascher's brush factory in 1902, only five were men.  One of them was John Barkey, who lived in Brooklyn and walked to and from work over the Brooklyn Bridge.  Barkey was one of thousands of workers who used the pedestrian crossing, creating what was known as the "Brooklyn Bridge crush" at rush hours.

On the evening of October 21, 1902 Barkey became caught up in what the New York Press described as a "fighting, impatient crowd."  As a streetcar passed, Barkey was forced against it by the mass of pedestrians.  The article explained that "as the car was in motion he could stay on his feet no longer and fell under the car.  As soon as he came in contact with a wheel that tore off his toes, he dragged himself under the feet of the passing throng."

Barkey screamed in pain until Patrolman J. Flood "rescued the man from under the heels of the crowd."  He was taken to the Hudson Street Hospital where his toes were amputated.

In 1902 Pinney, Casse & Lackey Company merged with the Columbia Shade Cloth Company, located next door at No. 273 Canal Street.  The Charles E. Matthews office furniture company took its place in No. 275.

Batten's Wedge magazine, February 1906 (copyright expired)

Charles E. Matthews remained in the space at least through 1913.  The 1920's saw the Reliance Lighting Fixture Corp., manufacturers of electric light fixtures under the brand name Relifco; and the Allied Fruit & Extract Co., makers of food items like maraschino cherries, in the building.

Sixty-three years after their father had purchased the property Marion and Charles E. Pellew sold No. 275 Canal Street to the Myr-Mil Holding Company in November 1933.  The new owners made alterations which did away with factory space.  Completed in 1935, the changes resulted in a store and showroom on the ground floor and additional showrooms on the upper floors.

Among the tenants in the 1940's was the Royal Sundries Corp., which sold novelties like the Marvo Cigarette Roller.  An advertisement in The Billboard on October 6, 1945 touted its "metal sides" and offered the item "in quantities" for 5 cents each.

In 1961 a drug store operated from the ground floor.  On February 20 that year the Long Island Star-Journal entitled a front page article "3-Alarmer Snarls Traffic" and reported "The fire which broke out shortly after 5 A. M. in a five-story commercial building at 275 Canal street soon raged through three floors of the structure."

While damaging the interior, the blaze left Charles C. Haight's striking facade intact.  The building was renovated again in 2020 to create office space above the ground floor store.

photographs by the author

The John R. Murray House - 375 Canal Street

In 1823, four years after the drainage channel that gave Canal Street is name was covered over, merchant John R. Murray began construction of his fine brick-faced home at No. 124 Canal Street at the corner of West Broadway.  Completed the following year, it almost assuredly featured dormers and a peaked roof.  Murray had bad timing.  The Financial Panic of 1825 which started with the near collapse of the Bank of England was likely responsible for Murray's ruin.  A meeting of the creditors of "John R. Murray, insolvent debtor" was held on May 30, 1825.

Murray nonetheless retained ownership of the property; leasing it.  By the 1840's the ground floor had been converted to a shop, home to the dry goods store of James Cropsey.  In an advertisement entitled "Silks and Shawls" on January 20, 1853, he touted his "very extensive stock of Rich Dress Silks, comprising the most splendid Brocades in all colors," the "splendid and costly qualities of shawls," and a long list of "blankets, linens, sheetings," and other dry goods items.

On August 29, 1856 Cropsey placed an announcement in the New-York Daily Tribune "to inform the Ladies that he has Removed to his new store, No. 481 Broadway."  The Canal Street shop was taken over by Robert F. Smith, who was also in the dry goods business.  

Well-heeled female shoppers were not expected to wrestle with bundles and stores like Smith's provided errand boys to deliver packages.  Edward F. Downey worked for Smith in 1858 when he attempted to augment his salary by stealing small goods.  Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong potential buyer.

The New York Mourning Courier reported that Officer Baldwin of the 8th Precinct was in street clothes when Downey approached him.  "The boy, it appears, met the officer in citizen's dress and wanted to sell him some hose for 23 cents.  The officer bought them and asked him if he had anymore.  The boy answered he had not, but he could get plenty.  Mr. Baldwin then arrested him and the boy confessed."

In 1859 false teeth dealers Durkin & Young operated from the building, possibly on an upper floor.  The partners would remain for years.  In 1865 they advertised "A full set of teeth inserted for $8 and $10."

At the time the ground floor still housed an apparel store, now run by Richard Green.  Unusual for the times, he catered to both men and women.  An advertisement in December 1866 offered "silk undergarments for Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children."  Another ad that month touted custom shirts and and "an endless variety of winter gloves."

The following year a help wanted ad in The New York Herald announced "Clerk Wanted--At Richard Green's Hosiery store; must have a knowledge of the business and good recommendations."  By now Canal Street had been renumbered, giving the structure the new address of No. 375.  

A major change came in 1870 when Dennis Lyons, "liquor dealer," raised the attic to a full floor in the form of a stately mansard roof with dormers.  Architects Hubert & Pirsson edged the roof with lacy ironwork--the height of fencing--worthy of the finest homes of the period.  "Liquor dealer" almost undoubtedly translated to saloon owner, indicating that the former dry goods and apparel store was now a tavern.

One of the upstairs tenants may have patronized Lyons's saloon on June 25, 1876.  The following day the Evening Telegram reported "While Patrick A. Ryng, of 375 Canal street, who was rather under the influence of drink, was going through Grand street yesterday, he was met by Michael Fallon, who took him into a hallway and robbed him of $25."  It was a substantial amount, worth more than $600 today.  But Fallon was quickly apprehended and held in The Tombs on $1,000 bail.

James Mahoney was leasing not only the saloon, but the entire building in December 1882 when it was declared an unsafe structure.  Mahoney hired architect F. W. Klemt to do the equivalent of $12,700 today in repairs.  He renewed his lease annually at least through 1885.

Builder John F. Dour owned the property in December 1919 when he hired L. E. Denslow to design alterations for what the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide now termed a "four-story brick tenement."  The renovations included a new store front and may well have been connected the coming store of Irving Glassberg.  Irving's Men's Wear store became a fixture on the corner for more than 40 years.

Irving's store windows were packed with merchandise in this 1938 photograph.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

In 1973 No. 375 Canal Street was deservedly included in the Landmark Preservation Commission's SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District.   Two decades later that organization was more than displeased with the building's owner.  It told reporters on January 30, 1992 that "375 Canal Street has more landmark violations than any building in the city."  The commission's attorney's announced suits seeking penalties of $5,000 for each of the 15 violations and $1,000 for each day of noncompliance.

The owners, 60 Equities Associates, began renovations to comply under the leadership of architect Thomas Savino.  Two years later only the ground floor had been completed; but the shop--a pornographic video store--now had a tasteful, compliant storefront.   Eventually the upper floors would be converted to apartments.

The brick facade at some point was painted the color of Alfredo sauce; yet through it all the striking cast iron cresting along the roof has survived intact, giving the building its unique personality.

photographs by the author