112 Prince Street (Haas mural building)

112 Prince Street | also 114 Prince Street, 113E Greene Street | SoHo | built 1890

Open on the map5 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

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

  1. 1889

    Fur dealers L. Sachs & Brothers move into their new cast-iron loft, then sell it within eight months

    Richard Berger designed this six-story neo-Grec loft for the fur importers L. Sachs & Brothers, who were settled in by August 1889. Slim columns frame the windows on every floor, and a sunburst tops the parapet. The firm sold the building in March 1890 for $127,500 but stayed on as a tenant, and cloak makers and twine and netting firms filled the other floors over the next decades.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1970

    Artists fill the top floors in SoHo's loft boom, with Maya Lin among the tenants

    As artists flocked to SoHo's cheap, light-filled lofts in the 1970s, the upper floors of this former factory were leased as living and studio spaces. Among the artists listed is Maya Lin, who went on to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. Galleries and shops opened at street level around them.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1975

    April

    Richard Haas finishes a painted replica of the cast-iron facade on the blank side wall

    With a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Richard Haas painted a trompe l'oeil copy of the building's front on the bare brick wall facing Greene Street, finishing it in April 1975. Two real windows are woven into the design, and he added playful touches: a window air conditioner sticking out and two cats peering from an open sash.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2009

    A shoe company's plan for the next-door lot threatens the mural, and a one-story compromise follows

    In 2009 Camper Shoes announced plans for a headquarters on the empty lot beside the mural. Because the wall was a significant feature of a building in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, the Landmarks Preservation Commission had a say, and public opinion strongly favored saving the painting. The outcome was a compromise: a one-story building went up instead of a five-story one.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 2023

    A restoration of the Haas mural begins, with a new dog and cat added to its windows

    Restoration of the mural, painted in 1975, began in October 2023, with completion expected that November. Funding came from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Silverweed Foundation, the Agnes Fund and other private donors, after developer David Walentas gave an initial gift. The original shows a sleeping cat in one window, and the restored version adds a dog and a cat that live in the building.

    Source: 6sqft

Further reading

Nearby

All 736 buildings with stories in SoHo