88 Franklin Street

also 86 Franklin Street | Tribeca | built 1883

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1881

    April 23

    Isaac Howe and William Draper commission J. Morgan Slade to design a $55,000 cast-iron store

    Isaac W. Howe and William P. Draper, who lived in Nahant, Massachusetts, assembled the lots at 86 and 88 Franklin Street. In April 1881 the Real Estate Record reported their plan for a six-story store designed by J. M. Slade, to cost $55,000. Finished in 1883, the 50-foot-wide cast-iron building mixes Second Empire arches with neo-Grec lines and Queen Anne touches such as slim columns.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1881

    September 7

    Carpenter Thomas H. Close falls from the sixth floor of the unfinished building and dies

    Construction at 88 Franklin Street turned fatal on September 7, 1881, when Thomas H. Close, a 46-year-old carpenter, fell from the sixth floor of the new building into the cellar. The New York Times reported on September 8 that he was killed instantly.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1893

    January 16

    Express driver Theodore Vogler knocks down a package thief and is jailed

    On January 16, 1893, Theodore Vogler, owner of Vogler's Brooklyn and New York Express, was making a delivery here when a man snatched a parcel from his wagon. Vogler chased him, and when the thief turned on him, he struck him down. The man was unconscious with bleeding from the mouth and ears. Vogler turned himself in at the Leonard Street station and was held in the Tombs pending the victim's condition.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1903

    August 9

    A view into a washroom starts a 'merry washroom war' between neighboring firms

    Neustadter Brothers, in the rear of 86-88 Franklin Street, had windows looking into the washroom of A. Shrimpton & Co. on Church Street. Neustadter's manager complained to the Factory Inspection Bureau, and Shrimpton put up a screen, then added a sign, a lithograph, and finally a notice promising new attractions. The New York Times covered the feud on August 9, 1903.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1978

    Islene Pinder Balinese American Dance Theater opens in the building

    As Tribeca's lofts turned from textile work to arts and housing, the Islene Pinder Balinese American Dance Theater opened at 86-88 Franklin Street in 1978. The New York Times described its work on June 11, 1983 as drawing on both Balinese tradition and modern dance. A 2001 renovation later left one apartment on each upper floor.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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All 564 buildings with stories in Tribeca