390 West Broadway

SoHo | built 1839

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. 1839

    James Kearney builds a house at 390 West Broadway when the street was still called Laurens Street

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    Around 1839 James Kearney built a house on this lot, when the street was Laurens Street and the Eighth Ward was filling up with homes. In 1870 the street was widened and renamed South Fifth Avenue for the elevated railway, which required partial or complete demolition of buildings on its west side. Parts of the brick front are in Flemish bond, which suggests the original facade was kept, moved back, or rebuilt at the new line.

    “…initial construction circa 1839 when a house was constructed on the site by James Kearney during a period of great residential growth in the Eighth Ward…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1914

    B. Oshrin and Bros., photographic-mount makers, work at 390 West Broadway and own it until 1979

    Goldman Bros., cloak manufacturers, were here in 1883, and by 1914 B. Oshrin and Bros. made photographic mounts in the building, which the firm owned until 1979. The Central Store Fixture Co. occupied it from 1920 to 1934, and the Universal Press was listed in 1946. Later occupants included a housewares firm in 1980, a children's sporting goods store in 1989 and the digital imaging firm Liquid Image in 1997, with apartments on the upper floors.

    “B. Oshrin and Bros., photographic mounts (1914), who owned the building until 1979…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1934

    A serious fire forces the top floor and parapet of 390 West Broadway to be rebuilt in 1934

    By 1873 the former house had been converted to a factory. In 1934 a serious fire damaged the top of the building, and owner B. Oshrin had architect Murray Klein replace the front wall of the top floor. The stepped brick parapet today shows the date 1895 in its center panel.

    “A further alteration to the facade took place in 1934, when the fifth floor and parapet were rebuilt after a serious fire.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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