The Banner Building

648 Broadway | NoHo | built 1892

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. 1890

    The seven-story St. Charles Hotel is sold and demolished for a loft building

    The seven-story St. Charles Hotel had long stood at 648 Broadway, just north of Bond Street, and belonged to the Jones family. In October 1890 the Real Estate Record and Guide reported that it had sold for $200,000. Demolition began on February 16, 1891, to make way for a new store-and-loft building.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1892

    Commission merchant Peter Banner builds and names the Banner Building

    Read more

    Peter Banner, a former San Francisco clothing merchant turned commission merchant and real-estate investor, hired Cleverdon & Putzel to design an eight-story building with two elevators, steam heat and electric light. Completed in 1892, it was named for him, and he moved his own offices in as apparel manufacturers filled the floors. In 1898 architect Robert T. Lyons added two more stories, and Banner owned the building until 1916.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1909

    Two glove dealers on one floor are charged with a burglary-insurance swindle

    After twelve burglaries were reported in the building in 1909, detectives found a check stub made out to a known professional burglar in the premises of tenant Henry B. Loewenstein, who said $7,000 in gloves had been stolen. Rather than question him, they tracked his movements and learned he was friendly with Sol Solomon, another tenant doing business on that floor, so they began shadowing Solomon as well. Solomon was arrested after sending a load of gloves to a Lafayette Street saloon, and both men were charged with a burglary-insurance swindle.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1981

    The Jazz Forum and the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard share the building

    By the early 1980s artists were living quietly in the upper floors, and the building hosted the nightclub Isaiah's in 1980 and the Jazz Forum in 1981, which presented acts such as tap choreographer Gail Conrad. The all-volunteer Gay and Lesbian Switchboard, founded in 1972, also operated upstairs. A 1990 New York Times article reported that its operators answered 30,000 questions a year.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

All 222 buildings with stories in NoHo