St. Nicholas Hotel (surviving section)

523 Broadway | SoHo | built 1854

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. 1854

    The St. Nicholas Hotel complex is in full use by March 1854; only 521-523 Broadway remains of its north wing

    The St. Nicholas north wing at 521-527 Broadway was begun in 1853, and the whole 1,000-bed hotel was in use by March 1854. The landmarks survey says only part of that wing still stands, five stories high and faced in stone. The windows of No. 523 have lost their ornament, while a stone entablature still ties the two remaining buildings together.

    “…the northern wing (No. 521-527 Broadway) were begun in 1853, and the whole complex was in use by March 1854. All the windows of No. 523 have been shaved of their ornament.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1864

    November 25

    Confederate saboteurs try to set the St. Nicholas Hotel on fire

    On the evening of November 25, 1864, Confederate agents tried to burn New York by setting fires in more than a dozen major hotels, the St. Nicholas among them. The plot failed: the fires were lit in locked rooms and mostly died for lack of oxygen, and the plotters were more concerned with their own escape than with spreading the flames.

    “The St. Nicholas was one of more than a dozen of the finest New York hotels that were infested by them with a purpose to set them afire.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1884

    March 31

    The St. Nicholas Hotel's furnishings are auctioned before demolition begins

    After the city's hotel trade moved uptown, the New York Times predicted in March 1884 that the St. Nicholas would close at the end of April. The contents were auctioned on March 31 at bargain prices: six nine-foot mirrors went for $39 each, three huge brass chandeliers for $40 each, and chairs once used by Jenny Lind and several presidents for $1.50 apiece. Demolition began on May 1.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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