87 5th Avenue

Union Square | built 1902

Open on the map3 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. 1852

    September 18

    Two wealthy bachelors, Edwin Penfold and Thomas Faile, buy the lot and build the house at 87 Fifth Avenue

    On September 18, 1852, Edwin Penfold and Thomas H. Faile paid $10,000 for the vacant lot and put up No. 87 Fifth Avenue. Both were wealthy bachelors, and the writer William S. Pelletreau noted that they made their homes there for the rest of their lives, in a style of elegant leisure. The house stood on the site of today's loft building.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1896

    January 18

    Robert G. Remsen, a founder of the Patriarchs society, dies at his home at 87 Fifth Avenue

    Robert George Remsen, from an old Dutch family, died at his home at 87 Fifth Avenue on January 18, 1896, aged 74, after several days of illness from erysipelas. He was one of four founders of the Patriarchs society in 1872, later became president of the Saint Nicholas Society, and served as a governor of the Union Club. His house stood on the site of today's loft building.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1911

    A branch of Chicago's Marshall Field & Co. is listed in Robert Maynicke's loft building

    Robert Maynicke designed this eleven-story building for Henry Corn in 1901. By 1911 a branch of the Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co. was listed as a tenant. The neckwear merchants Spiegel & Strauss were listed in 1915 and 1920, and as novelties merchants in 1925, among cloak, suit and lace dealers. The shadow of a Spiegel & Strauss sign remains on the facade between the seventh and eighth stories.

    “Tenants included a branch of the prominent Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., listed in 1911. Spiegel & Strauss, neckware merchants, were listed as tenants in 1915 and 1920.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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