Clark Building

332 Canal Street | also 39 Lispenard Street, 39B Lispenard Street, 326 Canal Street | Tribeca | built 1910

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1883

    Restaurateur John J. Clark builds a six-story loft with his oyster and chop house below

    John J. Clark, who ran restaurants with his brother Joseph, including an oyster bar on Fulton Street, hired architect Jobst Hoffmann to design a six-story Queen Anne loft building on Canal Street running through to Lispenard Street. Clark put his own Oyster & Chop House on the ground floor, serving a quick business lunch from 11 to 2 and dinner from 5 to 8. The upper floors were leased to manufacturers.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1884

    Charlotte Plock runs lace and infants' cloak maker Plock & Hoffstadt with 100 to 150 workers

    The upper floors were leased to Plock & Hoffstadt, makers of lace, muslin and embroidery caps and infants' cloaks, which moved here from 359 Canal Street. Its principal was Charlotte Plock, a woman at the head of a large firm at a time when that was unusual. New York's Great Industries described her in 1884 as an experienced businesswoman, with partner William Hoffstadt handling the books. The firm employed 100 to 150 people.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1891

    August 13

    Freedman Brothers' cloak workers walk out and a dispute lasts until 1897

    Freedman Brothers, cloak manufacturers who by 1888 occupied the whole building, employed about 150 workers. In August 1891 a union of cloak cutters and operators charged that the firm paid lower wages than rivals and took deductions from pay. When union representatives came to meet the owner on August 13, he threw them out and his entire workforce followed. The firm and the union did not reach a final agreement until May 27, 1897.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1923

    December 5

    Prohibition agents raid a paper-cutting firm's top-floor alcohol operation

    After a fire in 1920 and a sale, the building was bought in 1921 by the Cross Siclare Special Paper Cutting Company. In 1923 Cross Siclare and his brother Nathan took over the top floor for a side business. An undercover agent, John Kerrigan, arranged to buy alcohol from Cross Siclare and came back with raiders, who seized fifteen stills and $50,000 worth of alcohol. Both brothers and a shipping clerk were arrested.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1978

    The City Dump discount store opens where the Oyster & Chop House had been

    By the mid-twentieth century the shops along this stretch of Canal Street held hardware and plastics dealers. The City Dump opened in 1978 in the space that John J. Clark's restaurant had occupied nearly a century earlier. It sold new goods at bargain prices, including tools, hair dryers, woks and camping gear, and was a shopping destination for more than a decade.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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