P. Ryan Packing Box Building

109 Reade Street | Tribeca | built 1885

Open on the map5 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1833

    The Ray family buys the Federal-style house that stood at 109 Reade Street

    The Ray family bought a Federal-style house of two and a half stories on the 109 Reade Street lot in 1833, when the block was lined with similar homes. The family's estate still owned the lot in 1922, when the New-York Tribune reported its sale as the first since 1833. By then the house had long been replaced by the present building of 1885. This was an earlier building on the site.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1885

    Berger & Baylies design a neo-Grec red brick loft building at 109 Reade Street

    The Richard Ray estate hired Berger & Baylies, the architects chosen by a neighbor at 111 Reade, to build a nearly identical structure. Finished in 1885 slightly ahead of its twin, it has red brick above a cast iron storefront, projecting side pilasters, segmentally arched windows and stone trim. Patrick Ryan's packing box business moved in as a tenant.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1895

    Packing-box maker Patrick Ryan admits paying police "tariffs" at the Lexow Committee hearings

    In 1894 the State Senate set up the Lexow Committee to investigate New York police corruption. Patrick Ryan was called to testify in 1895 and was reluctant, but he conceded that canceled checks of $100 each, marked "police money," covered payments to avoid fines for blocking the sidewalk while loading freight. Each check equals more than $3,300 in 2022 dollars.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1917

    May

    The Crescent Talking Machine Co. moves all its New York operations into 109 Reade Street

    Crescent had leased two floors for storage in 1915, a year after it was founded to make phonographs and records. In 1917 it leased the whole building, and The Talking Machine World reported on May 15 that sales, offices, repairs and the factory were under one roof. An advertisement claimed its machine played every maker's records. The company closed around 1922.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 2010

    The owner and tenant of a basement condo at 109 Reade are sued over its use as a rented party space

    The basement space was bought in 2006 for $1 million. In 2010 its owner and his tenant were sued for converting it into an "extreme party" venue with a stripper pole, swings and a slide, which was rented as the Playful Tribeca Loft for $400 a night, according to The Post. The upper floors had become one residential loft each in 1989.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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