Million Dollar Corner

1313 Broadway | also 101 West 34th Street | Garment District | built 1930

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. 1900

    Robert H. Smith buys the corner for $375,000 to keep Macy's from owning the whole block

    Robert H. Smith bought the corner building in 1900 for $375,000, after Macy's had announced plans to start building on the block in 1901. The aim was to stop Macy's from becoming the world's largest store, and Smith is widely supposed to have acted for Siegel-Cooper, which in 1896 had put up on Sixth Avenue what it believed to be the world's largest store. Macy's took no notice of the ploy and built around the building.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1911

    December 6

    The corner building sells for a record $1 million and earns its nickname

    According to 6sqft, Henry Siegel of Siegel-Cooper tore down the original corner structure and put up the five-story building that stands at 34th Street and Broadway today. On December 6, 1911, it sold for $1 million, then a record price, and it has been called the Million Dollar Corner ever since.

    Source: 6sqft

  3. 1963

    A billboard goes up on the corner in 1963, and Macy's later claims it bars rival retailers forever

    In its 2021 lawsuit, Macy's said it had advertised on the billboard since the sign was built in 1963. Macy's says the agreement bars the billboard's owners forever from selling space to any other establishment that sells at retail. The billboard is attached to a building beside Macy's flagship store that is owned by a unit of Kaufman Realty.

    Source: abc17news.com

  4. 2021

    September

    Macy's sues to keep an Amazon ad off the billboard beside its flagship

    In late September 2021 Macy's went to court after learning that Kaufman Realty planned to rent the 2,200-square-foot billboard to a prominent online retailer, which Macy's took to be Amazon. Its contract was due to expire at the end of August, and it had offered to renew. Macy's said the damage to its goodwill and brand from an Amazon ad would be impossible to calculate, noting that the billboard appears in TV coverage of its Thanksgiving Day Parade.

    Source: abc17news.com

  5. 2026

    July

    Macy's giant shopping-bag sign comes down, showing the 100-year-old corner building

    In late July 2026 the red-and-white shopping-bag billboard proclaiming Macy's the world's largest store was taken down after about 60 years in several versions. It exposed the five-story building, one of the city's best-known real estate holdouts, to the 240,000 people who pass the corner daily. The Department of Buildings had issued a removal permit on June 12.

    Source: 6sqft

Further reading

Nearby

All 10 buildings with stories in Garment District