H. Richter's Sons Building

627 Broadway | also 196 Mercer Street, 194 Mercer Street | NoHo | built 1895

Open on the map4 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. 1895

    H. Richter's Sons, once an employer of Harry Houdini, builds a ten-story loft at 627-629 Broadway

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    In 1894 the neckwear makers H. Richter's Sons tore down the buildings at 627 and 629 Broadway and hired Louis Korn to design a modern loft and store building. Finished in 1895, it rose ten stories of limestone and tan brick, enriched with terra cotta and running through to Mercer Street. In 1889 the firm, then at 502-504 Broadway, had hired Ehrich Weiss, later Harry Houdini, as an assistant lining cutter.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1912

    March 26

    A fire from 623 Broadway guts the tenth story of the Richter building

    On March 26, 1912, a blaze that started at 623 Broadway spread to No. 625 and reached the Richter building. Insurance Engineering magazine blamed inadequate protection of the light-shaft windows at 627-629, which could not withstand the heat, and reported the tenth story completely gutted. After repairs, the Commercial Shirt Company returned to the top floor it rented.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1959

    Swimwear manufacturer Fay Fischel buys 627-629 Broadway

    Fay Fischel, a swimwear manufacturer who started her company with her husband in 1937, bought the building in 1959. About thirty years on, the swimwear factory was gone, but the Fischels still held the building, and the floors once crowded with garment workers and sewing machines had become modern offices.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2008

    New York University takes space in the Richter building, with classrooms above a ground-floor store

    New York University took space in the 1895 loft building in 2008. A renovation completed in 2009 gave the ground floor a store that shares space with the school's lobby, while classrooms, conference rooms and offices fill the upper floors.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

All 222 buildings with stories in NoHo