380 Broadway
also 70 White Street, 12 Cortlandt Alley | Civic Center | built 1860
Open on the map4 entries
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.
- 1859
Bankers Samuel D. Babcock and Matthew Morgan build a marble-fronted store at Broadway and White Street
The five-story Italianate building at the northeast corner of Broadway and White Street went up in 1859-60 for the bankers Samuel D. Babcock and Matthew Morgan. The Landmarks Preservation Commission describes Babcock as part of the syndicate that developed Riverdale in the Bronx, president of the International Bell Telephone Company, and a leader of the Chamber of Commerce and of low-cost housing efforts. He built several other properties in Tribeca.
“The building was constructed in 1859-60 for bankers Samuel D. Babcock and Matthew Morgan.”
- 1859
Eleven masonry dwellings are cleared to make room for 380 Broadway and its neighbor
Before the 1859-60 building rose, the site and the adjoining lot were occupied by eleven masonry dwellings. The Landmarks Preservation Commission says this building and its neighbor replaced them, so these houses were earlier buildings on the site.
“The present building, together with the building on the adjoining lot, replaced eleven masonry dwellings.”
- 1880
Part of 380 Broadway collapses in 1880 and the building is cut back to about 31 feet
The building first stretched about 71 feet along Broadway. In 1880 its northern section collapsed, and a new north wall was built roughly 31 feet from the White Street front, leaving the shorter building seen today. The lost portion was later replaced by the separate building at 384-386 Broadway.
- 1902
Globe Wernicke sells filing appliances and elastic bookcases from 380 Broadway from 1902 to 1917
The Cincinnati office-furniture maker Globe Wernicke Company kept salesrooms in the building from 1902 to 1917, advertising filing appliances, elastic bookcases, cabinets and desks. The Library Bureau, another maker of office furniture and filing devices, was a tenant in the 1920s. Earlier occupants included an umbrella factory and a dry goods business in the 1880s.
“The Globe Wernicke Company of Cincinnati, which had its salesrooms in the building from 1902 to 1917…”
Nearby
- 384 Broadway2 entries
- 388 Broadway2 entries
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