247 Elizabeth Street

Nolita | built 1910

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. 1889

    October

    De Lemos & Cordes file plans for two Renaissance Revival tenements at 247-251 Elizabeth Street

    In October 1889 the architects De Lemos & Cordes, later known for the Siegel-Cooper Department Store, filed plans for two matching five-story store-and-tenement buildings. The southern one carried the numbers 247-249 and the northern one 251. They were faced in red brick above cast-iron storefronts, with terra cotta cornices, and each cost $18,000. There were two apartments per floor and two stores at street level, in an area then called the Italian community.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1900

    January 16

    A kitchen fire at the Banco Italiano brings neighbors rushing to the banker's window

    At the turn of the century the ground floor held the Banco Italiano, a private bank run by Dominico Bonomolo, who lived in the back with his family and a green parrot. On January 16, 1900, a kerosene accident set the kitchen partition ablaze. Bonomolo was overcome by smoke while bagging the cash, and passersby swept money from the smashed window, yet none was lost. The Times reported the parrot was the only casualty.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1947

    A renovation adds new storefronts and four apartments per floor as Chinese families replace Italians

    A renovation completed in 1947 gave the buildings new storefronts and four apartments per floor. In the second half of the 20th century the Italian community was supplanted by Chinese immigrants, and the Wong family lived at 247 Elizabeth Street by 1973. The upper floors keep much of their original look, while the ground floor has been heavily altered.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 41 buildings with stories in Nolita