Montessori School of Manhattan Beach St
53 Beach Street | also 55 Beach Street | Tribeca | built 1885
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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.
- 1839
A girls' day school moves into 55 Beach Street, once home to the Rev. Dr. Barry's academy
In the early 1800s the house at 55 Beach Street was home to the principal of Rev. Dr. Barry's Academy, who took in one or two boarders to educate. In 1839 the Day School for Young Ladies moved in from 11 Varick Street; the house was described as the fourth from St. John's Park. This entry describes an earlier building on the site.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1857
55 Beach Street is rented to young men in 1857 and called a valuable brick house in 1864
In 1857 the house was turned to residential rental, and a New York Daily Herald advertisement offered it to any young man with good references for $450 a term. By 1864 the New York Times called it a valuable three-story and attic brick house, before its sale and later renovation. This entry describes an earlier building on the site.
“In 1857, it was converted into a residential space, rented to "any young man, with good reference," for $450 a term…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1885
Developer Joseph Naylor commissions architect Oscar S. Teale to replace two older buildings with a brick warehouse
Joseph Naylor, who founded a contracting and real estate firm, commissioned the warehouse in 1885 on the corner of Beach and Collister Streets, replacing two early-nineteenth-century buildings. Teale's functional design uses brick piers shaped as buttresses to divide the facades into bays, with round arches and granite keystones. Naylor also built 405 Greenwich Street in 1886.
“…commissioned in 1885 by Joseph Naylor, founder of a building contracting and real estate firm; Naylor also erected on this block the store and loft building at 405 Greenwich Street…”
- 1902
Five hundred workers at Genna & Co., headquartered here, go on strike over daily work slips
By 1889 the building was listed as the headquarters of Genna & Co. In 1902 about 500 of its employees walked out, joining 3,000 workers at the American Can Company. They were protesting a rule that made them fill in slips detailing the work they did each day.
“…the headquarters of Genna & Co, which received notoriety upon the 1902 strike of 500 of its employees (joining 3,000 employees of the American Can Company)…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1919
Independent Warehouses Inc. buys the building in a $3 million purchase of twelve Mercantile Warehouse Company buildings
In 1919 Independent Warehouses Inc. acquired twelve warehouses from the Mercantile Warehouse Company, 53-55 Beach Street among them. The deal came to more than $3,000,000, which one estimate puts near $57 million in 2025 dollars.
“53–55 Beach Street was one of twelve warehouses acquired in 1919 from the Mercantile Warehouse Company by the Independent Warehouses Inc, totaling over $3,000,000…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1925
The Loring Lane Company stores wood and willow ware here for two decades
The Loring Lane Company used the warehouse to sell and store wood and willow ware from the mid-1920s through the 1940s. The Appliance Packing and Warehousing Corporation occupied it from the 1960s into the 1980s. A late-1980s renovation removed fireproof shutters on Collister Street and filled the base's arched openings with glass block.
“From the mid-1920s through the 1940s the Loring Lane Company used the building for wood and willow ware sales and storage.”
- 2017
The Montessori School of Manhattan occupies the converted warehouse until 2017, and WeWork until 2024
In recent decades the warehouse has been converted to office space. The Montessori School of Manhattan was its tenant until 2017, and the coworking company WeWork took over and stayed until 2024.
“…it was converted from warehouse use to office space and was home to the Montessori School of Manhattan until 2017, and WeWork until 2024…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2026
The building appears in the opening scene of Ryan Murphy's Love Story, about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette
In 2026 the building served as the setting for the opening scene of Love Story, a television series from producer Ryan Murphy. The show dramatizes how John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy met and married.
“53–55 Beach Street was the location of the opening scene of Love Story, the critically acclaimed television series produced by Ryan Murphy…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 53–55 Beach StreetWikipedia
Nearby
- 57 Beach Street1 entry
- 401 Greenwich Street3 entries
- 49 Beach Street2 entries
- 3 Collister Street2 entries
- 405 Greenwich Street2 entries
- 11 Hubert Street3 entries