The New Era Building is an 1893

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

commercial loft building at 495

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, between

Spring Street Spring Street may refer to: * Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA * Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA * Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia * Spring Street, Singapore * Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website Subway and trolle ...

and

Broome Street Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...

, in the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

section of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Architecture

The eight-story brick and masonry building has been described as a "gem" and a "gorgeous example" of

architecture. Eschewing the then-popular Beaux Arts style, this is one of the few and possibly the earliest Art Nouveau building in Manhattan still standing. Four squat rounded

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns seem to support five stories with three vertical rows of large windows separated by brickwork and iron ornamentation, culminating in three large arches at the sixth floor. This is topped with a two-story copper fronted

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. Th ...

, now coated with

verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ...

, reminiscent of Parisian architecture. The building is served by a freight elevator and two passenger elevators. Average floor size is .Metro Manhattan Office Space
accessed July 22, 2011 The building goes through the block west of Broadway so that it also fronts on Mercer Street, which is parallel to Broadway. Sources differ as to the architect, developer, and year of construction. The

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

, in its 1973 report on the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, says the building, at 495 Broadway, was designed by

Alfred Zucker Alfred J. R. E. Zucker (January 23, 1852 – August 2, 1913)
Guillermo ...

for

Augustus D. Juilliard Augustus D. Juilliard (April 19, 1836 – April 25, 1919) was an American businessman and philanthropist, born at sea as his parents were immigrating to the United States from France. Making a successful career in New York City, he bequeathed ...

and was completed in 1893. Several other sources shown below say the building was designed by Buchman & Deisler for Jeremiah C. Lyons, who had previously developed real estate in other areas of Manhattan, and was completed in 1897. However, many of these same sources mistakenly show the address as 491 Broadway. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission says 491 Broadway, the somewhat thinner 12-story building adjacent to the south of the New Era Building, is the 1897 Buchman & Deisler building.

History

Although its lofts were originally intended for the New Era Printing Company, the building was soon occupied by an office of the

Butler Brothers Butler Brothers was a retailer and wholesale supplier based in Chicago. It was founded in 1877 as a mail-order company by Charles Hamblet Butler, George H. Butler and Edward Burgess Butler. History In the 1920s, Butler Brothers moved into retai ...

company, an early mail-order business that had 100,000 customers at the time they moved in. Later, in 1927, they began franchising the

Ben Franklin Stores Ben Franklin is a chain of five and dime and arts and crafts stores found primarily in small towns throughout the United States, currently owned by Promotions Unlimited of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. They are organized using a franchise system, ...

. At the time this building opened, fashionable retail businesses were already moving further uptown. Soon the area was home to businesses such as manufacturers and waste paper dealers. On December 29, 1927, a fire in the building caused a million dollars worth of damage. It burned for two hours before being noticed and causing the partial collapse of eight floors toward the rear, or Mercer Street side, of the building. The fire began among some crates in the company's basement shipping room. The collapse was caused when three unprotected hollow cast iron support columns in diameter buckled because of excessive heat, bringing down the eight stories above. Fire-resistant insulation might have prevented the collapse."Killing Fires High in the Air"
''Popular Science Monthly'', December 1928, p. 50 As of 2011, tenants included a clothing retailer, fashion consultants, a publisher, a golf and fitness club, a retail drug store, and the Swiss Institute. The

Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St Marks Pl, the corner of Second Avenue and St Marks Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhatt ...

occupied the third floor loft from 1994 until 2011.History and Mission
The Swiss Institute, accessed July 25, 2011 In September 2011 the institute moved to 18 Wooster Street, nearby.

References

External links

at New York Architecture

May 12, 2008 article about the Swiss Institute, at www.swissinfo.ch {{Broadway (Manhattan) Commercial buildings in Manhattan SoHo, Manhattan Building and structure fires in New York City Art Nouveau architecture in New York City Commercial buildings completed in 1893 Burned buildings and structures in the United States Art Nouveau commercial buildings Broadway (Manhattan) 1927 fires in the United States 1893 establishments in New York (state) Buildings with mansard roofs Building collapses in the United States Building collapses caused by fire