Manhattan Savings Institution Building

644 Broadway | also 71 Bleecker Street | NoHo | built 1891

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1878

   October 27

   Seven thieves empty the Manhattan Savings Institution's vault in an earlier building on the site

   On the morning of Sunday, October 27, 1878, seven men burst into the apartment of janitor Louis Werckle above the bank's earlier building at Broadway and Bleecker Street, and bound him, his wife and his mother-in-law. Four went down to the bank while three guarded the hostages, and about three hours later the gang left with millions in securities. Almost all of it was non-negotiable, and burglar Johnny Dobbs was arrested when he tried to cash it, which led police to the rest of the gang.

   Source: Village Preservation

2. 1891

   Stephen D. Hatch's bank-and-loft building rises with beavers and Native American faces in its stonework

   The Manhattan Savings Institution moved to temporary offices in 1889 while its old building was razed, and Stephen D. Hatch's replacement was finished in 1891 at a cost of $325,000. He mixed Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles and topped the corner with a copper-clad tower. Instead of European gods and allegories, the keystones and cornices carry beavers, ears of corn and Native American faces.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1895

   November 6

   A fire in a factory across the street damages the supposedly fireproof new bank building

   On November 6, 1895, a blaze that began in an old factory across the street, at Bleecker Street and Broadway, spread to the Manhattan Savings Institution building. The bank's owners had promoted it as fireproof, and the Real Estate Record and Guide wrote that the damage raised public doubts about fireproof construction. The journal did not blame the architect, saying he had guarded against fires starting inside the building.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1986

   Loft apartments in the former bank appear in Hannah and Her Sisters and Ghostbusters

   After the building's conversion to loft apartments in 1981, two per floor above a ground-floor restaurant, its units served as film sets. One apartment was the setting for the catering scene in Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen's film of 1986. Another was reportedly the home of Bill Murray's character, Dr. Peter Venkman, in Ghostbusters.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• The Banner Building648 Broadway | 4 entries
• 650 Broadway3 entries
• 640 Broadway4 entries
• 652 Broadway2 entries
• 645 Broadway1 entry
• 643 Broadway1 entry

All 222 buildings with stories in NoHo