Celebrating #Landmarks60 Part III

The New York City Landmarks Law was signed into law on April 19, 1965 by Mayor Robert Wagner. Since then, about 38,000 NYC properties have been protected under the law.

To mark that occasion, we created a StoryMap showing a timeline of all landmark designations in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, from 1965 to 2025. Many of the landmarks that were designated in 2015 and before were highlighted as part of our celebration of Landmarks50, the 50th anniversary of the law in 2015.

But much has changed in the ten years since then — twenty-five individual landmarks and one historic district have been designated in our neighborhoods, nearly all of which Village Preservation proposed for landmark designation and fought to protect. Today, we explore some more of these recently-designated landmarks:

The Broadway Corridor Seven

The buildings described below are four of the seven properties along the Broadway corridor designated on June 11, 2019 in response to our efforts to protect the area South of Union Square. They all have rich architectural and cultural history. However, as we have noted, many of these seven buildings selected for landmarking were never really threatened with demolition, unlike many other buildings within the area for which we’ve sought landmarks protections. They were all built prior to the zoning laws that would have limited their size and are overbuilt for current zoning regulations. Read about the first three of seven here.

The Roosevelt Building

Designed by architect Stephen D. Hatch  for James A. Roosevelt and Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, 841 Broadway was built in 1893-94 in a transitional Romanesque Revival/Renaissance Revival style. According to the LPC’s designation report for the building, it is one of the many high-rise commercial buildings built in the area south of Union Square during the late 19th century using innovative new technology such as elevators, electricity, and hybrid steel-iron framing. It exhibits some exquisite terra cotta on both the East 13th Street and Broadway facades. 

It was home to the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, one of the first American film studios, famous for its early advances in filmmaking technology. Brick piers supporting a track were installed on the building roof, allowing Biograph’s early film cameras to follow the sun and optimize natural light for filming. The company also developed the Biograph projector while here, allowing the film industry to shift from solitary viewers to a group audience. This projector was the beginning of the commercial motion-picture industry.

Read more about 841 Broadway here.

840 Broadway

Designed in the Renaissance Revival style for Henry Corn, this 12-story commercial building was constructed in 1899-1901 for garment industry tenants. Its architect, the German-born Robert Maynicke, was also responsible for the Guggenheimer Building, the New York Times and Havemeyer Buildings, and the New York Produce and Cotton Exchanges.

Maynicke used various types of classical ornament on upper stories, which have elaborate terra-cotta details that draw from Greek, Roman, Renaissance, and Baroque sources. Several garment factories and showrooms were located here throughout the first half of the 20th century. Later, the World Antiques Center was located here. In 1970, 840 Broadway was converted to “Burnham House,” a cooperative apartment building

Read more about 840 Broadway here.

836 Broadway

Prominent New York City architect Stephen Decatur Hatch designed this building in 1876 on the site of James J. and Cornelia Roosevelt’s town home following their deaths in 1875 and 1876. James, a well-respected judge and Congressman, was also the great-uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt. Hatch’s design for 836 Broadway took full advantage of the L-shaped lot which wraps around to a frontage on East 13th Street. Both facades are clad in ornamented cast-iron, with the East 13th Street facade less ornanate than the Broadway one and both featuring mansard roofs.

No. 836’s first tenant was Mitchell, Vance & Co. which manufactured light fixtures, clocks and ornamental metal. Their foundry was in nearby Chelsea, and No. 836 served as their showroom and office space. Other tenants would follow including garment related companies, as these would became prevelant in the area during the early 20th century.

Read more about 836 Broadway here.

830 Broadway

This mid-block beauty was built in 1897-98 on the east side of Broadway between East 12th and 13th Streets. According to the designation report, 830 Broadway is an elaborately detailed 11-story Renaissance Revival-style store-and-loft building designed by Cleverdon & Putzel, which (like those listed above) represents the large-scale commercial development that transformed Broadway south of Union Square at the end of the 19th century.

Through the mid 20th century, the building was home to a number of small manufacturing and wholesale businesses. Artists began using the building as live/work lofts in the 1970s, and it became a residential coop in the 1980s.

Read more about 830 Broadway here.

Learn more about the area South of Union Square and our efforts to preserve it here, and urge the city to landmark and protect its special history here.

Twenty-five new individual landmarks and one historic district might seem like a lot, but landmarking has slowed dramatically in our city in recent years — especially in our neighborhoods. Read our report analyzing all New York City landmark designations from 1965 to the present here , and go here to urge the City to once again vigorously take up landmark designations. You can also and learn about all of our advocacy campaign work here.

Explore our map highlighting the first 60 years of landmarking.