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ID: 14
Name: 134-136 Grand Street
Address: 134-136 Grand Street, northeast corner Crosby Street (aka 29 Crosby Street)
Block and Lot: Block: 473 Lot: 51
Neighborhood: SoHo
Date: 1869 (NB 940-1869)
Architect:
Original Use: Commercial
Original Owner: Charles C. Hastings
Foundry: unknown
Style: French Second Empire
Other Information: Two full cast-iron facades. In June 1865 the Trustees of Masonic Hall Asylum Fund purchased this site from the Grand Street Presbyterian Church. In 1866, the property is taxed for the first time. New York masons planned an asylum as early as the 1860s, but an asylum in Utica did not open until the 1890s. The fund leased the building to Hastings. Space in the building was rented to multiple businesses. William Field & Son also designed the cast-iron fronts at 39-41 East 13th Street (see) and 104-106 West 14th Street (see). The building has been altered over the years. In 1874, all woodwork of vertical portions of mansard with the exception of window frames removed and replaced with fireproof material. The mansard roof was stripped of detail, including elaborate dormers, bull’s-eye windows, urns and finials c. 1960s. The mansard was partially restored with faux slate shingles c. 2004.
Sources: Gayle, 138-139; tax records; Christopher Gray, "Streetscapes/134-40 Grand Street: A Large Cast-Iron Remnant of SoHo's Artist Days," New York Times 4 January 2004, sec. 11, 5.
Status Update: Designated as part of the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District Extension, June 2010 (click to see designation report)
 
NY Metro Victorian Society of America