169 Mercer Street

SoHo | built 1896

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. 1891

    March 19

    The Old Homestead social club on the lot hosts a euchre tournament for the Weazel cups

    In 1891 the two-story building that stood here before the present warehouse was a social club called the Old Homestead. The Evening World announced a team euchre tournament there for the Weazel cups, billed as the city's team championship. Two men made up each team, and the first round was set for Thursday evening, March 19. The club soon had to move, after the lot was sold at auction in 1893.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1896

    June 1

    A seven-story warehouse designed by John Prague for Adam Tucker is completed

    Adam Tucker began the building on August 26, 1895, and it was completed on June 1, 1896. John Prague was the architect. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's SoHo-Cast Iron district survey describes a seven-story warehouse with a two-bay facade of iron, brick and limestone.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1980

    Janelle Reiring and Helene Winer found the Metro Pictures gallery at 169 Mercer Street

    Janelle Reiring, who came from the Leo Castelli Gallery, and Helene Winer, who came from Artists Space, founded Metro Pictures here in 1980. Its inaugural exhibitions featured Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo and Richard Prince, among others. The gallery moved to 150 Greene Street in 1983 and to Chelsea in 1997.

    Source: metropictures.com

  4. 1993

    Floors above the gallery become artists' live-work lofts, with a city certification rule

    After Metro Pictures left, the TERN gallery held the ground floor by 1987. In 1993 the upper floors were turned into combined living and work space for artists, a single huge apartment on each floor. The Department of Buildings required that every unit have an occupant certified as an artist by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1999

    Radio Hula, a Hawaiian-themed shop that also organizes hula dancing, takes the ground floor

    By 1999 the street-level space held Radio Hula, a Hawaii-themed shop. It sold tropical clothing and other island goods, and it also ran hula dancing for men and women. The shop followed a run of art galleries in the building, from Metro Pictures in the early 1980s to TERN by 1987.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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