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Building plans

Swanky Restaurants, Luxury Hotels, & Radical Theater: A Review of the Immigrant Communities of New York

Beginning in 2018, For the Record posted articles about the Municipal Archives ongoing project to preserve and inventory the Manhattan Building Plan collection. In the most recent post last year, Project Archivist Amy Stecher provided a Building Plan Update. This week, conservator Elsie Karlak contributes a narrative of her three months on the project:

Everybody gets confused sometimes. REC0074_0418_043: Front elevation, 293 Broome Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

I was lucky enough to join colleagues as we continued to process plans for buildings located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The first home for many immigrants to the United States, this neighborhood experienced rapid growth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as evidenced by the large volume of “new building” (NB) applications submitted to the Department of Buildings to construct multi-family dwellings, usually described as tenements. Likewise, requests for permits to add plumbing, fire escapes, and other alterations illustrated the ongoing work necessary to make tenements safer for their residents.

I also discovered plans for many other aspects of city life such as entertainment venues, community service organizations, schools, and places of worship. The plans chart the ebb and flow of the neighborhood, as immigrant communities moved out and others moved in, and as city officials created parks and public housing.

Here are some highlights of what I discovered along the way. 

Entertainment:

Block 416, Lot 20

This plan shows a swanky restaurant called Jack Silverman’s Old Romanian with space for 500 diners, dancing, and an orchestra. The Crystal Lounge wound around the curved bar.

REC0074_0416_020: Jack Silverman’s Old Romanian, 169-171-173 Allen Street. First floor plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

169-171-173 Allen Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 416, Lot 8

A short-lived radical theater, the plan depicts a classic black box theater, with seating around a central stage. The “People’s Drama” appears to be most famous for a run of a play, Nat Turner a highly fictionalized dramatization of the uprising led by the enslaved Nat Turner in 1831.

REC0074_0416_008: The People’s Drama, 210 Eldridge Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

210 Eldridge Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

 Block 427, Lot 27

This theater was one of many ventures by the Minsky brothers, famous for staging burlesque shows. Designed by theatre architect Thomas Lamb, it became the home for Yiddish productions and burlesque shows. The NB plans show the orchestra seating area and the curtain line that would hide backstage.

REC0074_0427_027_01: Minsky Theatre, Houston and Chrystie Streets. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

111-117 East Houston Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 420, Lot 39

A luxury hotel in the heart of the Lower East Side? I was confused when I came across plans for a twelve-story building, seemingly out of place amongst the walk-up tenements I had been cataloging. The Libby Hotel and Baths, built in 1924 for a staggering $1.3 million, was the passion project of Max Bernstein. Unfortunately, the venture was short-lived. The property was foreclosed and the hotel was demolished in 1934. The City took the property via eminent domain, along with seven blocks along Houston and Canal Streets to build the Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

REC0074_0420_039_01: The Libby Hotel and Baths, 12 Story Hotel and Baths to be erected at the NE corner of Delancey and Chrystie Street, Chrystie Street Elevation. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0420_039_02: Plan of Sub-Cellar, The Libby Hotel and Baths. This plan show the maze of electricity that powered the Russian and Turkish baths. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Community Spaces:

Blocks 418 Lot 1

Sara D. Roosevelt Park is named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mother, the first Presidential mother to be alive for her son’s inauguration since George Washington took office in 1789. One of the first projects completed by Robert Moses after his appointment as Parks Commissioner by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1934, the plans include wading pools, playgrounds, “comfort stations” (bathrooms), and landscaping. My favorite plans show a diagrammatic view of the park benches, and the textures used for different stones in the paving and landscaping.

REC0074_0418_001_01: Chrystie - Forsythe Park Plots [Sara D. Roosevelt Park], Detail of Foot Bath, Plot Plan of Building C, Park Benches, Curb Enclosures for Vines. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0418_001_02: Chrystie - Forsythe Park Plots [Sara D. Roosevelt Park], Canal to Houston Street, construction plan of plot between Grand and Broome Streets, Block 5, building C. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0418_001_03: Chrystie Forsythe Park Plots [Sara D. Roosevelt Park], Construction details of Foot Bath, Ramp Steps & Scum Gutter of Wading Pools. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 415, Lot 18

The University Settlement House was the first settlement house in the U.S. Created by reformers during the Progressive Era of the early 1900s, settlement houses served poor immigrant communities. The plans show the organization’s library, lecture hall, and nursery.

REC0074_0415_018_01: University Settlement House, Plan of 2nd Floor. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0415_018_02: University Settlement House, 3rd Floor Plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 415, Lot 20

Designed by McKim, Mead and White, the Rivington Street branch of the New York Public Library branch was built in 1904 with funding from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The plans show both a custodian apartment and roof garden on the top floor which must have been a nice place to get fresh air and relax while reading. Together with the University Settlement House next door, this block became a hub for community services. The building survived only a few decades before becoming home to a church. It was later converted to condos. 

REC0074_0415_020_03: Front Elevation, Rivington Street Branch of New York Public Library. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0415_020_06: First Floor Plan, Rivington Street Branch of New York Public Library. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0415_020_02: Janitors Floor Plan, Alternate Scheme with Roof Garden, Rivington Street Branch of New York Public Library. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0415_020_01: Alternate Scheme Showing Roof Garden, Rivington Street Branch of New York Public Library. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New York Public Library, 61 Rivington Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Synagogues:

Block 414, Lot 27

One of many synagogues of the Lower East Side, Kehila Kedosha Janinae is unique as the only Romaniote rite synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. Romaniote refers to a specific tradition of Greek-speaking Judaism. The plans show front facade details, including a Star of David in stained glass, as well as the main floor space, with pews for men, and a mezzanine level for women. The building is a New York City Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

REC0074_0414_027_01: Front elevation of 280 Broome Street (Kehila Kedosha Janinae). Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0414_027_02: Plan of 1st Floor of 280 Broome Street (Kehila Kedosha Janinae). Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0414_027_03: Plan of mezzanine balcony, 280 Broome Street (Kehila Kedosha Janinae). Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

280 Broome Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 419, Lot 49

Designed by J. Cleaveland Cady this synagogue is located at the corner of Delancey and Forsyth Streets. Cady also designed the American Museum of Natural History. The plans, dated 1889, show alterations to convert the building into a synagogue for a group of Jewish immigrants from the same town in Lithuania. The plans show the beautiful building facade, including large stained-glass windows and a dome, and the intricate Torah ark at the front of the congregation.

REC0074_0419_049_01: Front Elevation, 126 and 128 Forsyth Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0419_049_02: Cross section of Torah ark, 126 and 128 Forsyth Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0419_049_03: Front Elevation on Delancey Street at Forsyth Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

126 and 128 Forsyth Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Housing:

Block 426, Lot 6

The Bowery was known for its “flophouses,” or places where you could rent a small cubicle by the night. In just one block, the Sunshine Hotel, Bowery Mission, and Salvation Army Hotel all provided this kind of housing. Plans for the Salvation Army Hotel show small rooms packed together to maximize the number of available beds (64-67 per floor, with nine floors of rooms). This type of housing later became known as Single Room Occupancy.

REC0074_0426_006_02: Plan of 2nd to 7th Floors. Alteration to Premises 2231/2 to 225 Bowery for The Salvation Army, 120 West 14th Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0426_006_03: Plan of Cellar and 1st Floor. Alteration to Premises 2231/2 to 225 Bowery for The Salvation Army, 120 West 14th Street. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

225 Bowery, Salvation Army, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 430, Lot 10

The First Houses take their name from the fact that they were the first public housing development built in New York (and the United States) by Mayor LaGuardia’s newly created New York City Housing Authority. The property was assembled through a combination of eminent domain and donations by prominent New Yorkers. To keep costs low, builders reused materials from the demolished tenements. While plain in appearance, the First Houses reflect the perceived benefits of open air and large courtyards. The plans show the squat rectangular buildings at elevation, a common floor plan showing four apartments, and the city run health center in one of the first-floor storefronts. Each apartment was spacious and full of amenities especially compared to the cramped tenements they replaced. Every room had a window, and each apartment had separate bathrooms and kitchens, fireproofing, electricity, and radio connectivity. More than 3,000 families applied for just 120 apartments, underscoring the enormous demand for public housing. 

REC0074_0430_010_01: First Houses, East Elevation, Revisions. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0430_010_04: First Houses, Storefront for Department of Health. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0430_010_05: First Houses, Typical Floor Plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

 Blocks 430, 431, and 432, Lot 1

The Village View Houses, originally called the FDR Houses, had their groundbreaking ceremony in 1964, on the 25th anniversary of the First Houses, showing how far public housing had come, all while sharing the same block of New York. Built as co-op apartments under the State-sponsored Mitchell-Lama program there are seven buildings with 1,236 units. Plans include a font used on signs throughout the buildings, a common layout for a floor, with ten apartments, and a site plan showing the three blocks the buildings were spread across.

REC0074_0430,431,432_001_03: Franklin D. Roosevelt Houses, Layout for Lettering and Field Office. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0430,431,432_001_05: Franklin D. Roosevelt Houses, General Site Plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0430,431,432_001_02: Franklin D. Roosevelt Houses, Typical Floor Plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

REC0074_0430,431,432_001_04: Franklin D. Roosevelt Houses, Letters & Numerals for Building Entrances. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Manhattan Building Plans Processing Project Update

In 1977, the Municipal Archives accessioned more than 100,000 plans and 1,200 cubic feet of permit folders from the Manhattan Borough Office of the Department of Buildings. Dating from 1866 through the 1970s, the records document structures on 958 blocks in lower Manhattan, from the Battery to 34th Street. The plans comprise sections, elevations, floor plans, and details, as well as engineering and structural diagrams. The corresponding permit folders include official Building Department forms, specifications and correspondence for new building, plumbing, elevator, and other applications.

New Building Application, 28-30 Avenue A. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

City archivists re-housed the permit folders, eventually completing the task in the early 2000s. The plans, however, remained in their original unorganized condition until 2018 when the New York State Library awarded a grant to the Archives to begin necessary preservation and cataloging activities. The State Library has continued to support the project with additional funding. For the Record tracked project progress, beginning with The Manhattan Building Plans Project when it launched in 2018, and most recently The Manhattan Building Plans Project Update in August 2024.

Beginning in 2018, the State Library funding supported processing plans for buildings in the Tribeca, SoHo, and Greenwich Village neighborhoods. In 2023, archivists began working on building plans for the Lower East Side and East Village. The buildings in those neighborhoods encompass many types of uses—residential, manufacturing, and retail—and include townhouses, rowhouses, tenements, apartments, stores, factories, warehouses, hotels, theaters, boardinghouses, churches, synagogues, schools, stables, and garages.

Elevation and stoop details for synagogue at 242 East 7th Street, 1908. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With funding from the State in 2025, archivists processed 6,032 plans and rehoused them 94 containers. They performed repairs on 1,498 items so they can be safely handled by patrons. This week, For the Record looks at the work completed this past year with illustrations of some of the interesting “finds” identified in the collection. 

The Department of Buildings practice of requiring plans to be filed when issuing permits to build new buildings coincided with a period of intense immigration to the United States by Eastern European Jews who settled in the Lower East Side; consequently, the collection is particularly rich in drawings reflecting those immigrant communities.

242 East 7th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The collection also provides generous examples of buildings that accommodate all features of city-life, such as hotels, stores, garages, stables, and restaurants. 

Lovely 1883 elevation of 28-30 Avenue A, showing the building as a clothing store and also a 1912 cross-section drawing of the same building (which eventually became a bar and theater and by 1940 a ) with chandelier and cornice and coving details. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

28-30 Avenue A, cross-section. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

28-30 Avenue A, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, front elevation. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Public baths were a unique feature of Lower East Side life. 

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, cross section. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building Application, 538/540 East 11th Street. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, first floor plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths, also known as the East 11th Street Baths, are one example. One of the first public baths built by the city, architect Arnold William Brunner filed plans in 1903. The baths remained open until 1958. The building has been landmarked. Front elevation showing separate men’s and women’s entrances, a cross-section drawing, and a drawing of the showers and baths on the first floor.

538/540 East 11th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

538/540 East 11th Street, ca. 1985. 1980s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1903 McKim, Mead and White submitted plans for construction of the Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, also a landmarked building.

Front elevation, Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Third Floor Plan, showing the reading room and adjacent caretaker’s apartment (with added notes and figures hand-written in pencil), Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building Application, 331/333 East 10th Street. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Plans identified in the collection this past year have served as illustrations in recent For the Record articles. Happy Birthday Calvert Vaux featured plans submitted to the Buildings Department by Central Park architect Calvert Vaux. The story of the rushed construction of the Empire State Building, including plans of the iconic structure from the collection, is recounted in Race to the Top. 

Look for future updates as archivists continue processing this unique collection.  

Manhattan Building Plans – Project Update

In 2018, with support from the New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Program, the Municipal Archives commenced a project to preserve and re-house approximately 100,000 architectural drawings and reproductions of buildings in lower Manhattan. Dating from 1866 through the 1970s, the plans comprise sections, elevations, floor plans, and details, as well as engineering and structural diagrams of buildings on 958 blocks in Manhattan from the Battery to 34th Street.  

In the first year, project archivists cataloged and re-housed 11,882 plans for 977 buildings in the Tribeca and SoHo neighborhoods. With continued State Library support in 2021/22, the Archives preserved more than 18,000 plans for buildings in the Greenwich Village neighborhood. 

For the Record has described project progress in several articles. Re-discovering the Old Pennsylvania Station highlighted original plans of the iconic building found in the collection. The Curious Case of the Lighting of the Williamsburg Bridge told the story of an experiment to power lighting for school buildings via a trash incinerator. Stables and Auction Marts: Building Plans with Horses detailed the significance of horses in 19th and early 20th century New York City. And Loew's Canal Street Theater featured the plans for the ornate Loew’s Theater on Canal Street.

26 Ridge Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Project archivists recently completed preservation and re-housing 11,350 plans for buildings in the Lower East Side and East Village with support from the State Library.  This week, For the Record explores some of the interesting “finds” identified over the course of the project.

The Lower East Side and East Village have long been recognized as iconic neighborhoods to which millions of Americans can trace their roots. Their streetscapes have served as a backdrop for countless books, films and stories that chronicle the experience of generations of newcomers to the United States from around the world.

Plans preserved over the course of the project illustrate how these communities developed with examples of buildings of all types necessary for a thriving neighborhood. They include every style of residential building—from simple “tenements,” and more modern apartment buildings, to elegant single-family townhouses. Plans of retail establishments, banks, hotels, houses of worship, entertainment venues, bathhouses, factories, warehouses, boardinghouses, stables, garages—are also evident in abundance.

The Department of Buildings practice of requiring plans to be filed when issuing permits to build new buildings or to alter existing structures began in the late 1880s. This coincided with a period of intense immigration to the United States by Eastern European Jews who settled in the Lower East Side neighborhood; consequently, the collection is particularly rich in drawings reflecting those immigrant communities. 

Religious institutions: 

242 East 7th Street, cross section. Gross & Kleinberger, architects. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

242 East 7th Street, auditorium and balcony plans. Gross & Kleinberger, architects. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

242 East 7th Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 376 Lot 13 

Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarin (Great House of Study of the People of Hungary), designed by the firm of Gross & Kleinberger, this synagogue was built in 1908 at 242 East 7th Street, after the congregation had grown too large for its previous site. The second image shows seating in the auditorium and balcony. 

172 Norfolk Street, plan for Russian and Turkish baths. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 355 Lot 4 

Hand-drawn plan for another Hungarian synagogue located at 172 Norfolk Street; this alteration drawing from 1893 shows the building had Turkish and Russian baths, and dressing rooms on the lower floors. 

26 Ridge Street. front elevation. Frederick Ebeling, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 341 Lot 38   

A synagogue built in 1906, architect Frederick Ebeling, owned by Congregation Thebat Achim, and located at 26 Ridge Street; the front elevation plan shows an onion dome and a Star of David lunette.  

Housing: 

58-62 Hester Street, Longitudinal Section, Tenement House for Cortlandt Bishop, Esq. Ernest Flagg, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

58-62 Hester Street, Ground Floor, Tenemant House for Cortlandt Bishop, Esq. Ernest Flagg, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 15  

1901 new build drawings for a “Model Tenement” by architect Ernest Flagg, located at 58-62 Hester Street; a longitudinal drawing featuring the building’s central staircase and a detail of the ground floor showing that although each apartment had its own “W.C,” showers and baths were shared spaces. 

128 Broome Street, elevation. Michael Bernstein, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Some of the architectural flourishes were never built or were gone by the 1940s.

128 Broome Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 337, Lot 1 

An apartment building at 128 Broome Street at the corner with Pitt Street; built in 1899 by architect Michael Bernstein, the façade has lovely detail work. 

88 Ridge Street, Front Elevation, East Side of Ridge Street. Charles B. Meyers, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 343 Lot 43 

80-82, 84-86, 88 Ridge Street; three adjacent 6-story brick tenements with stores on the ground floors and a shared tin roof and façade; built in 1892, architect Charles B. Meyers.

Architects Bernstein and Meyers are ubiquitous names in the Buildings Plans Collection, as they were prolific during the tenement housing boom.

Services and businesses: 

New Closet Building at Grammar School No. 4, 203 Rivington Street, 1894. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 343 Lot 50 

“New Closet Building” for Grammar School No. 4 from 1894, located at 203 Rivington Street. The drawing shows the old water closet facilities on the left and the much larger expansion facility, in the center a necessary alteration to keep up with the burgeoning population. Also notable are the separate “yards” for girls and boys. 

101 Broome Street, coal bunker. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 336 Lot 43 

More people meant a greater need for fuel. This is an interesting drawing of the interior of a concrete coal bunker featuring track and hopper; located at 101 Broome Street, built in 1907. 

Bank of Max Kobre, elevation. Benjamin W. Levitan, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

41 Canal Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 33 

The Bank of Max Kobre, built in 1911, located at 41 Canal Street, was one of many privately owned “immigrant” banks that held deposits, made loans, and brokered steamship tickets to the community. The 1940 Tax Photograph shows it had become a funeral home, the Zion Memorial Chapel.

81-81 ½ Bowery, elevation. Samuel Sass, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

81-81 ½ Bowery, interior balcony and staircase. Samuel Sass, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 303 Lot 9 

Delicate 1909 alteration plans by architect Samuel Sass, showing signage and interior staircase for Shulman’s Clothing Store located at 81-81 ½ Bowery. 

Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Williamsburg Bridge, view showing fish market, south entrance [Delancey] and Pitt Street. February 20, 1925. Photograph by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

 Block 337 Lot 9 

1924 plan showing signage and zinc-lined wood tank for the Wenig Live Fish Company, located at 36 Pitt Street. A building that was photographed by Eugene de Salignac in 1925.

19 Ludlow Street, plan for a “Rockwell Matzoth Oven.” Max Muller Architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 24 

Colorful drawing for a “Rockwell Matzoth Oven” to be installed at 19 Ludlow Street in 1923; architect Max Muller’s name is seen on many plans for buildings on the Lower East Side.

Manhattan Buildings Plans Update—the Financial and Seaport Districts

It is October, which means it’s Archtober, New York City’s Architecture and Design Month. Archtober is an annual celebration of architecture and design that takes place throughout the month. Organized by the Center for Architecture, in collaboration with over 100 partners and sponsors, the festival offers events ranging from daily building tours and lectures by design experts, to architecture-themed competitions and parties.

Department of Buildings - Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, 1866-1977

The Western Union Telegraph Company Building, 60 Hudson Street, Perspective of Hudson & Thomas Streets, May 29, 1928. New Building application 278 of 1928. Architects: Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker. Department of Buildings - Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 144, Lot 33-56. NYC Municipal Archives.

For the researcher investigating the built environment of New York City, material contained within the Municipal Archives is a gold mine. Recent blogs have described three of these resources, the Assessed Valuation Real Estate Ledgers, the Manhattan Department of Buildings docket books, and the Manhattan building plan collection, part 1, and part 2.

This week’s subject is another series from the Department of Buildings Record Group (025)—the application permit folders, a.k.a. the block and lot folders. The series is a subset of the Department of Buildings Manhattan Building Plan Collection, 1866-1977 (REC 074).

Totaling approximately 1,230 cubic feet, the permit folders provide essential and detailed construction and alteration information for almost every building in lower Manhattan from the Battery to 34th Street. In addition, a wide range of historical subjects can be explored using these records including the effect of planning, zoning and technology on building design, the role of real estate development as a gauge of national economic trends, and the evolution of architectural practice, particularly during the period of professionalization in the latter part of the 19th century.

Established in 1862, the Department of Buildings (DOB) “had full power, in passing upon any question relative to the mode, manner of construction or materials to be used in the erection, alteration or repair of any building in the City of New York.” All DOB personnel were required to be architects, masons, or house carpenters. Then, beginning in 1866, New York City law required that an application, including plans, be submitted to the DOB for approval before a building could be constructed or altered.

The provenance of the collection in the Municipal Archives dates to the 1970s when the DOB began microfilming the application files and plans as a space-saving measure. They intended to dispose of the original materials after microfilming. The project began with records of buildings in lower Manhattan, proceeding northward to approximately 34th Street when it was discovered that the microfilm copies were illegible. The DOB abandoned the project and the original records were transferred to the Municipal Archives for permanent preservation and access. 

NB Application 34 of 1890, page 1, for a “Nurse Building” to be appended to the Society of the New York Hospital at 6 West 16th Street. Architect: R. Maynicke for George B. Post. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 817, Lot 29. NYC Municipal Archives.

NB Application 34 of 1890, page 2, for a “Nurse Building” to be appended to the Society of the New York Hospital at 6 West 16th Street. Architect: R. Maynicke for George B. Post. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 817, Lot 29. NYC Municipal Archives.

Most applications are accompanied by a site plan showing the building’s location. Site plan for the “Nurse Building” at 6 West 16th Street. NB Application 34 of 1890. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 817, Lot 29. NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building (NB) Applications

In theory, there should be an NB application for every building constructed after 1866. Unfortunately, prior to the mid-1960s, DOB policy was to dispose of the files of buildings that were demolished. The result is that the Municipal Archives collection generally comprises only records of buildings extant as of the mid-to-late 1970s.

The NB application provides the most complete and detailed information about a structure. The form includes location (street address and block and lot numbers); the owner, architect and/or contractors; dimensions and description of the site; dimensions of the proposed building; estimated cost; the type of building (loft, dwelling factory, tenement, office, etc.); and details of its construction such as materials to be used for the foundation, upper walls, roof and interior. Every NB application was assigned a number, beginning with number one for the first application filed on or after January 1, up to as many as 3,000 or more by December 31, each year.

Specifications form, front NB application 222 of 1919, the Cunard Building, 25 Broadway. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 13, Lot 27. NYC Municipal Archives.

Specifications form, reverse, NB application 222 of 1919, the Cunard Building, 25 Broadway. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 13, Lot 27. NYC Municipal Archives.

As buildings incorporated new technologies such as elevators and steel-frame construction, the approval process became more rigorous, requiring more extensive information about the proposed structure. Permit folders for larger buildings often contain voluminous back-and-forth correspondence between the DOB examiners and the owners and architects. If any part of an NB application was disapproved the owner or architect was obliged to file an “Amendment” form stating what changes would be made to the application so that the building would comply with building codes.   

Amendment to NB Application 44 of 1925, filed November 23, 1926 for the building at 35 Wall Street. Each point on the amendment explains how the architects were modifying their plans to meet DOB objections. (Note point no. 4. “The height of the Wall Street front has been altered to meet the requirements of the Building Zone Resolution—Article 3, Section 8. All setbacks have been clearly noted on elevations and setback plan.)” Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 26, Lot 1. NYC Municipal Archives.

Correspondence from the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works in the Office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan, to the Department of Buildings regarding NB application 222 of 1919 (the Cunard Building at 25 Broadway), and possible disruption to sewers and sidewalks, August 21, 1919.  Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 24, Lot 27. NYC Municipal Archives.

Correspondence from the Zoning Committee to the Department of Buildings regarding the height of the Cunard Building, 25 Broadway, NB application 222 of 1919.  Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 24, Lot 27. NYC Municipal Archives.

When the DOB approved a NB application, they issued a permit and construction could begin. Periodically during construction, inspections would be made by DOB personnel and their reports would also be included in the application file.

Other Applications

After a building was completed and the final inspection report submitted, any subsequent work on the building would require a separate Alteration (ALT) application. As building technology became more complex, the DOB began to require separate applications for elevator and dumbwaiter installations, plumbing and drainage work, certificates of occupancy and electric signs. The permit files also contain numerous Building Notice (BN) applications pertaining to relatively minor alterations. The DOB also mandated a “Demolition” application to raze buildings. The permit files generally do not include documents related to building violations.

DOB building permit folder, Block 551, Lot 21, 26 West 8th Street. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The DOB organized all applications and related correspondence into folders according to the block and lot where the building was situated. After 1898, each block in Manhattan was assigned a number, beginning with number 1 at the Battery, and each lot within the block was also assigned a number. The original block and lot filing scheme has been maintained by the Municipal Archives for the block and lot permit collection. An inventory of the permit folder collection is available in the new online Municipal Archives Collection Guides.  

The Municipal Archives has also maintained the original permit folders, whenever possible. The folder lists the application paperwork contained within and serves as a table of contents. If paperwork related to an application listed on the folder is missing, it is possible to trace at least basic information about the action using the DOB docket books as described in a recent blog Manhattan Department of Buildings docket books.

American Exchange Irving Trust Company, to the DOB, December 28, 1928, regarding application to the Board of Standards and Appeals. NB application 419 of 1928. Irving Trust Company Building at One Wall Street. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 23, Lot 7. NYC Municipal Archives.

Application for Variation from the Requirements of the Building Zone Resolution filed by the American Exchange Irving Trust Company, for One Wall Street, NB application 419 of 1928. Department of Buildings —Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 23, Lot 7. NYC Municipal Archives. (N.B. The variance was approved.)

Building bulk calculation diagram submitted with Application for Variation from the Requirements of the Building Zone Resolution filed by the American Exchange Irving Trust Company, for One Wall Street, NB application 419 of 1928. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 23, Lot 7. NYC Municipal Archives.

The collection provides detailed data about specific buildings and enables the researcher to explore broader topics. For example, one theme of interest to architectural historians is the impact of New York’s 1916 zoning ordinance. The regulation had been imposed partly in response to construction of the massive Equitable Building on lower Broadway, but more generally to reduce the growing density of the built environment. It is usually argued that the law was responsible for the setback style of New York skyscrapers constructed throughout the 1920s. In an examination of the NB applications for several skyscraper buildings erected before the Depression, such as the Irving Trust tower at 1 Wall Street, it was found that very often the original NB application was disapproved, in part because the building plans violated some part of the 1916 zoning ordinance. In response, however, the architects did not revise their plans, but instead appealed to the City for a variance and invariably received permission to proceed with their original plans.

Application to convert a stable to a sculptors studio, ALT 531 of 1903, no. 26 West 8th Street / 5 McDougall Alley. Department of Buildings—Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 551, Lot 21. NYC Municipal Archives.

The permit folder collection also provides ample opportunity for researchers to study the long tradition of adaptive re-use of buildings in lower Manhattan. Although many of the buildings in these neighborhoods pre-date establishment of the DOB, the collection is rich with applications submitted for later alterations, as architects, homeowners, and developers converted older structures into “modern” dwellings by removing stoops and covering facades with light-colored stucco, mosaic tile, and shutters. 

Correspondence from architect Cass Gilbert to DOB, September 22, 1905. NB application 1376 of 1905, 90 West Street Building. Manhattan Block and Lot Collection, Block 56, Lot 4. NYC Municipal Archives.

The permit folders, along with the associated building plans, contain documentation for the study of individual architects, as well as architecture as a profession. Scholars will find an abundance of unique materials that detail the professionalization of the field, especially during the latter half of the 19th century.

Together with the Assessed Valuation of Real Estate ledgers, the several Department of Buildings series—docket books, architectural plans, and the permit folders, provide an unparalleled opportunity for detailed research on the built environment. Few other cities in the nation possess a body of documents whose scope and completeness can compare with these New York City records. 

Building Histories, The Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital and the Rivington Street Bath

In last week’s blog, Amy Stecher adapted her “Lunch and Learn” presentation about the Manhattan Building Plan collection project. This week, co-presenter Alexandra Hilton highlights two architecturally significant buildings documented in the collection – the Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital and the Rivington Street Bath. Future blogs will feature the plans of other unique buildings that have been identified in the processing project.

Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital

Psychopathic Building, Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, architects’ rendering, 1927. Department of Public Charities and Hospitals Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital, as it was called at the time, was built in 1931 by Charles B. Meyers in the Italian Renaissance style. The building is still standing alongside the East River on First Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets, occupying an entire city block. When constructed, it joined the growing Bellevue hospital complex, and was intended to match the existing buildings, which were designed by architects McKim, Mead & White – same color brick, embellished with granite base course, limestone and terra cotta trimmings. By then, McKim, Mead & White was barely active; Meyers had just designed the Tammany Hall building and was a favorite of then-Mayor Jimmy Walker.

Manhattan Block 958. Bromley Atlas, 1955. New York Public Library.

Prior to its construction, Bellevue’s mental-health facilities were part of the main hospital and included an 1879 “pavilion for the insane,” and an alcoholic ward was added in 1892. Dr. Menas Gregory, a well-known psychiatrist who spent his career working in Bellevue’s psychiatric division, is credited with the idea for a psychiatric building after a trip to inspect similar institutions in Europe – a “Temple of Mental Health,” as he called it. Wanting to create a very clean and stately environment for the new hospital was right on brand for Dr. Gregory. In his position, he had already changed the terminology – preferring “psychopathic” to the word “insane,” thinking this would help make the patients seem curable. He had also removed the iron bars from the old pavilion’s windows and had lessened the use of narcotics and physical restraints on the patients. Dr. Gregory was seen as a good guy in the field, at a time when most medical professionals were largely ignorant about mental illness.

Psychopathic Hospital, Department of Hospitals, Charles B. Meyers, elevation, 1929, blueprint. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Before the hospital was built, The New York Times said it would be “one of the finest hospitals in the world for the treatment of mental disorders” and “thoroughly modern” at a cost of $3,000,000. (Unsurprisingly, by the time it was finished, the cost would be $4,300,000 ($66,000,000 today). It was designed as a single building with three separate units: 1) 10-stories to house administrative services, doctors’ offices, labs and a library; 2) 8-stories, for mild cases; 3) 8-stories, for more advanced cases. There were facilities for recreation and occupational therapy; physio-, electro- and hydro-therapy; an out-patient clinic; teaching facilities for medical students, and a special research clinic for the study and treatment of delinquency, crime and behavior problems, in collaboration with the Department of Correction, Criminal Courts and Probation Bureau.

Bellevue Hospital complex with new psychopathic building at right, October 31, 1934. Borough President Manhattan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Rooms were designed to house either one, two or three patients at a time. In a Mental Hygiene Bulletin, it was written that “special consideration has been given in the plans to incorporate within the building the appearance and aspect of home or normal living conditions with simple decorations and color tones believed to have the most soothing effect upon the patient.” One hundred of the six hundred beds were dedicated for the study and treatment of children, under the supervision of the Department of Education. 

Completing the building was nothing short of dramatic and filled with accusations of corruption and mismanagement. Its lavish exterior juxtaposed against the great depression couldn’t have been more tone deaf to the city’s residents. When ground was broken on June 18, 1930, it was thought the building would be completed at the end of 1931. Almost a year later, in February 1931, the cornerstone was just being laid. Delays were plentiful. It reportedly took a year to choose the architect and another year to draw the plans, and then, according to the Acting Commissioner of Hospitals, “after the contractor had collected all the funds he could get, he left for Europe.” 

Psychopathic Hospital, Department of Hospitals, Charles B. Meyers, first floor plan, 1929, blueprint. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital, Manhattan Block 958, Lot 1, 1940. Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The hospital partially opened in May 1933 with the 600-bed facility only ready for 375 patients. A formal dedication occurred later that year in November, where tribute was paid to Dr. Gregory for his vision. Dr. Gregory resigned from his post in 1934, amid an investigation of his division by the Commissioner of Hospitals, Dr. S. S. Goldwater. This formed a spectacular tit-for-tat-type relationship between Dr. Gregory and Dr. Goldwater, which The New York Times covered extensively. Dr. Gregory died in 1941.

Over the years, the building went from temple of health to a scary place you didn’t want to go, and was the subject of many films, novels and exposes. The hospital saw many celebrity patients. Norman Mailer was sent there after stabbing his wife in a drunken rage. William Burroughs after he chopped off his own finger to impress someone. Eugene O’Neill had several stays in the alcoholic ward. Sylvia Plath came after a nervous breakdown. And infamous criminals like George Metesky the “Mad Bomber,” and John Lennon’s assassin, Mark David Chapman, were briefly committed to the hospital. 

In 1984, the city began transitioning the building into a homeless shelter and intake center, but much of it was left empty. Around 2008, a proposal to turn the building into a hotel surfaced. To developers, the building was naturally suited to such a use, given the H-shaped layout with long hallways and small rooms.

Rivington Baths

The Rivington Street Bath House at 326 Rivington Street, later renamed the Baruch Bath House, was the first in the city to be built with public funds. The ground-breaking for the bathhouse took place in December 1897; it opened on March 23, 1901. 

Public Bath Building, Rivington Street, Cady, Berg & See, South Elevation, 1897, ink on linen. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Architects Cady, Berg & See designed the large, neoclassical building. They had become the go-to designers for municipal bath houses after the success of the People’s Bath, a public bath that had been privately funded by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (the AICP). The People’s Bath opened in 1891 at 9 Centre Market Place, near Broome Street, on the block where the old Police Headquarters building still stands. The architects and Dr. Simon Baruch, regarded as the “father of the public bath movement in the United States,” were keen on German design and their widespread use of showers – which, at the time, were referred to as rain baths or ring showers because of the circular shower head, designed to keep hair dry. The Germans were using showers for mass bathing situations, such as in military barracks. Showers were cheaper to build, easier to keep clean, used less water and could get people in and out faster, and became the staple of bathhouses.

Dr. Simon Baruch, who the Rivington Street Bathhouse was eventually named after, emigrated from Germany to South Carolina when he was a teenager. He studied medicine and joined the Civil War as a surgeon on the confederate side. Captured at the Battle of Gettysburg, he was held as a prisoner of war for the duration of the conflict. He made his way to New York City in 1881, served as a physician on the Lower East Side, and achieved prominence in the New York medical field.

Manhattan Block 324, 1891, Bromley Atlas, New York Public Library

Dr. Baruch began advocating for public bathhouses in 1889. He was big on hydrotherapy, at the time a new concept in the United States, and this guided many of his endeavors. Municipal officials weren’t as sold on this concept that poor sanitation would equal poor physical health, but Baruch was tireless in promoting the utility of water and importance of a public bath system. For some reason, he was in the minority – even though in 1894, only 306 out of 255,000 tenements in New York City had bathtubs. “The people won’t bathe,” said then-Mayor Hugh Grant. But by 1895, Baruch finally convinced the State Legislature to pass a law that mandated cities with a population greater than 50,000 to establish and maintain free bath facilities.

Logistics around the new bath law and facilitation of public bathhouses caused some lag. One of the hiccups concerned their locations. Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side, then a predominantly German and Irish neighborhood, had been chosen as the location for the first bath. The residents couldn’t have been less thrilled by this prospect.  They did not want to be living in the community thought to be so poor that they needed a public bath. Essentially, they said it should go to the newer Jewish and Italian immigrant communities, located further south. And they did not want the bathhouse to take away from their already too-little park space. Their opposition was heard; Tompkins Square was no longer a contender. There was also a question of whether public baths even had to be located in parks; the mayor and his committee on public baths thought it did; Baruch said they did not. Somehow, they came over to Baruch’s side and the spot on Rivington Street, already owned by the city, was chosen.

Public Bath Building, Rivington Street, Cady, Berg & See, First floor plan; showers and waiting area for men and women, 1897, ink on linen. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Public Bath Building, Rivington Street, Cady, Berg & See, Longitudinal section, baths on upper floors, 1897, ink on linen.  Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. 

The style of the Rivington Street Bathhouse influenced the style of subsequently built baths in the city. William Paul Gerhard, author of Modern Baths and Bath Houses (1908), said that the exterior of a people’s bath – or public bath – should be easily recognizable so it would be easily found. But he also warned that it shouldn’t be so lavish that the poor wouldn’t want to come. The Rivington Street bath design wasn’t exactly modest and met criticism for its extravagance and cost—eventually totaling more than $95,000 ($2,995,000 in today’s dollars). Of course, after its immediate success, the AICP recommended that another 16 bathhouses be built to the same specifications, saying it was actually more economical to build (cost less per shower compartment) and to maintain for the long haul. They aimed for the ancient Roman public bath-look with classical pilasters, columns, arches and cornices, constructed with hefty materials like brick, terra cotta, stone marble and copper, and with ornamental iron work. Whatever its appearance, the bathing experience was pretty much the same throughout the city’s bathhouses. 

Public Bath Building, Rivington Street, Cady, Berg & See, Plumbing plan, 1897, ink on linen. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Public Bath Building, Rivington Street, Cady, Berg & See, Longitudinal section, 1897, ink on linen. Manhattan Building Plan Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

At Rivington Street, the three-and-a-half story building was divided into two spaces for a dedicated men’s and women’s area, each with a waiting room. The men’s area was about 2/3 of the building with 45 rain baths, or, showers; the women had 22. A handful of bathtubs were on the upper floors. Each bath cubicle was divided into two parts – a dressing area and a shower, separated by a curtain. When a patron entered the bathhouse, they were given a number, and then they would wait for their number to be called for the next available cubicle. They usually had 20 minutes to undress, bathe and redress – Rivington had the capacity to accommodate 3,000 bathers per day on this timetable. Attendants controlled the water temperature, which ranged between 73 to 105 degrees F, and the duration of the shower – I’m sure it will come to no surprise to learn that the attendants soon began running a scheme, where patrons could sneak them five cents for a limitless bath time. Eventually they got caught and were fired. Pools were later added to the complex in 1917.

Rivington Street Bath, Manhattan Block 324, Lot 36, 1940 Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Rivington Street Bath, Manhattan Block 324, Lot 36, 1940 Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1939, Bernard Baruch, Dr. Baruch’s son, donated the land around the bathhouse to the city, and jurisdiction of the building went to the Parks Department. They renovated the bathhouse as a recreation center and added Baruch Playground. In the 1950s, the New York City Housing Authority built Baruch Houses, Manhattan’s largest public housing complex adjacent to the bathhouse. By 1975, the city’s fiscal crisis forced the facility to close, and has pretty much sat unused