94-100 Lafayette Street Building (Avildsen Building)
91 Walker Street | also 96 Lafayette Street, 100 Lafayette Street | Civic Center | built 1908
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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.
- 1907
Howells & Stokes file plans for a hardware warehouse for Russell & Erwin
In 1907 the firm of Howells & Stokes filed plans for 94-98 Lafayette Street (also numbered 91 Walker Street) for Helen Hartley Jenkins, the property's owner. Its tenant was the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company of New Britain, Connecticut, which needed a New York base for storing and selling hardware. Five older buildings were cleared for the six-story structure, estimated at $125,000, and a permit amendment specified that no floors above the ground story would be used for manufacturing.
- 1911
The Stanley Works moves into 100 Lafayette Street from Chambers Street
In 1909 Howells & Stokes designed a similar eight-story neighbor at 100 Lafayette Street, also for Helen Hartley Jenkins, with an estimated cost of $60,000. Its first tenant was the Stanley Works, the Connecticut lock and hardware maker, which moved in 1911 from offices and storage at 79 Chambers Street. Stanley hired Carrere & Hastings for interior changes in 1920 and stayed until 1952. The two hardware firms thus sat side by side on this corner for decades.
- 1953
Avildsen Tools & Machines wins approval to join the two buildings into one
Republic Drill and Tool Company had taken space in 94-98 Lafayette by 1946 and became Avildsen Tools and Machine Inc. by 1949. When Stanley left 100 Lafayette in 1952, Avildsen moved in as well. After several attempts to get Department of Buildings approval for openings between the two buildings, Avildsen won approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals in 1953. A 1956 certificate of occupancy lists offices, a laboratory, shipping, and factory and storage floors.
- 1982
Avildsen goes out of business and garment makers take over the building
Avildsen kept operating in the combined building until 1982, when the company closed. The space was then leased to a mix of manufacturers, mostly garment makers, until 1999. That year the building was bought by 100 Lafayette LLC, which began converting it to offices.
- 2001
The Landmarks Commission designates the only known store-and-loft by Howells & Stokes
On December 18, 2001 the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building at Lafayette and Walker Streets. The prominent firm Howells & Stokes designed it in tan brick with limestone and terra-cotta details and minimal neo-Classical ornament. Metal window frames and spandrels from the original construction are still in place, along with most of the ground-floor showrooms. The Commission called it the firm's only known store-and-loft building and an unusual example of the commercial style in New York.
Nearby
- 87 Walker Street5 entries
- 85 Walker Street5 entries
- 88 White Street4 entries
- 83 Walker Street1 entry
- 81 Walker Street2 entries
- 79 Walker Street5 entries