640 Broadway

also 68 Bleecker Street, 64 Bleecker Street, 172 Crosby Street | NoHo | built 2016

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1895

    November 5

    A fire, later ruled arson, destroys the Empire State Bank building

    A blaze destroys the six-story building at Broadway and Bleecker Street, whose ground floor houses the Empire State Bank, with losses estimated at $1 million. By the end of the month investigators label the fire arson. The bank's finances were already shaky, and it applies to dissolve in February 1896.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1897

    DeLemos & Cordes rebuild the site as a nine-story loft building

    Owner Benjamin Lichtenstein hires the firm DeLemos & Cordes to replace the burned building, and construction starts before the end of 1895. The nine-story loft, finished in 1897, has a buff-brick facade with neo-classical touches. It is named The Empire State Building in honor of its long-time bank tenant.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1919

    May 20

    A fire traps two people on the top floor and firefighters haul them up to the roof

    A fire breaks out on the top floor of the loft building, and a businessman and his secretary climb onto a ledge to escape the smoke. Firefighters lower ropes from the roof and pull both to safety, while a police officer and a lieutenant carry other victims out. The building had already survived fires in 1905, at the Crescent Trimmed Hat Company, and in 1909, at the Kolovitz Millinery Company.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2007

    The loft building is converted into residential apartments

    The upper floors of 640 Broadway are converted into live-work apartments, two to three per floor. Winhaven Group buys the building in 2012 for $32.5 million, and a Swatch store occupies the ground level.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 222 buildings with stories in NoHo