18 East 16th Street

Union Square | built 1907

Open on the map3 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. 1859

    An earlier brick house and long skylit shed on this lot are used by the Allemania Club

    The lot began as part of Thomas Burling's farm, which was subdivided into city lots in 1833. A four-story brick house stood at the front of the deep lot by 1853, and between 1859 and 1868 a long one-story brick shed with skylights was built behind it. These two earlier buildings, which preceded today's loft building, together housed the Allemania Club.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1892

    The lot's earlier buildings hold Mechanics Hall, a free drawing school and an apprentices' library in turn

    After the Allemania Club, the earlier buildings on this lot had a string of different occupants. The report lists Mechanics Hall in 1879, a Free Drawing School in 1882 and The Apprentices Library in 1892. By 1897 the occupant is listed as the General Society Merchants of New York, before the lot was redeveloped in 1906-07.

    “…in 1879 the occupant was the Mechanics Hall, in 1882 it was the Free Drawing School, in 1892 it was The Apprentices Library…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1907

    Benjamin W. Levitan designs a seven-story loft building for the Union Square Realty Company

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    Benjamin W. Levitan, an architect trained in the Beaux-Arts manner, designed this thirty-seven-foot-wide building in 1906-07 for the Union Square Realty Company. Cloak and suit manufacturers took most of it at first. In later years the upper lofts became offices, and a stainless-steel storefront was installed in 1952.

    “…designed by the Beaux-Arts trained architect Benjamin W. Levitan and built in 1906-07 for the Union Square Realty Company…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 28 buildings with stories in Union Square