The Decker Building (also the Union Building) is a commercial building located at 33 Union Square West in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The structure was completed in 1892 for the Decker Brothers

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

company, and designed by

John H. Edelmann John H. Edelmann (1852–1900) was a socialist-anarchist who worked as an architect in the office of Alfred Zucker, a successful commercial architect of the 1880s and 1890s in New York City. As an architect, Edelmann's sole surviving monument i ...

. From 1968 to 1973, it served as the location of the artist

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's studio,

The Factory The Factory was Andy Warhol's studio in New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities and Warhol's supersta ...

. The Decker Building was designated a

New York City landmark 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 1988, and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2003.

Description

The building is only 33 feet (11 m) wide and 138 feet (42 m) deep on a lot that goes back 150 feet (46 m). It has a right of way to 16th Street from the rear of the building. The style of the building mixes influences from Venice and Islamic traditions. There are numerous terra cotta details on the façade which remain today. There was a minaret on the roof which disappeared before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The building was valued at $285,000 in 1913, after which it was traded to settle debts.

History

The structure was built in 1892 for the Decker Brothers

company according to designs by the radical anarchist architect

, working out of the offices of

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

. It replaced the earlier Decker Building on the same lot, designed by

Leopold Eidlitz Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, New York City) was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as "Iranistan" (1848), P. T. Bar ...

and built in 1869. On November 25, 1950, 27 year old Abraham Yeager was killed when a one-ton piece of cornice from the Decker Building collapsed onto the sidewalk where Yeager was walking.

Warhol years

In 1967, artist

had to move his

Factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with t ...

from East 47th Street due to the building being torn down. Union Square at the time was hardly an upscale neighborhood, but

Paul Morrissey Paul Morrissey (born February 23, 1938) is an American film director, best known for his association with Andy Warhol. He was also director of the first film in which a transgender actress, Holly Woodlawn, starred as a girlfriend of the main cha ...

had found the loft, in this building, and Warhol agreed to move there. Morrissey by then had met Jed Johnson and hired him to help out with the refinishing of the space. It was around this time, or just prior, that Morrissey introduced him to Warhol. On June 3, 1968,

Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminism, radical feminist known for the ''SCUM Manifesto'', which she self-published in 1967, and for her attempt to murder artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas had ...

visited the Factory, looking for Warhol, who she felt was taking control of her screenplay away from her. She waited until Warhol returned around 4 pm. Within a few minutes, she shot Warhol three times, seriously wounding him, as well as shooting art critic and curator

Mario Amaya Mario Amaya (October 6, 1933 – June 29, 1986) was an American art critic, museum director and magazine editor, and (1972–1976) director of the New York Cultural Center and (1976–1979) the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. He ...

. Solanas turned herself in to the police a few hours later. Around 1970, Warhol built a video camera system and taped his visitors and documented the activities around the studio. In 1973, Warhol moved the Factory to 860 Broadway, a short distance away. As part of packing up, he began to create the Warhol Time Capsules.

Refurbishment

The building was completely refurbished into apartments by Joseph Pell Lombardi in 1995. In 2015, Dylan's Candy Bar opened a ground-floor storefront in the building, which closed some time after 2019.NY Daily News, "New York's sweets mogul Dylan Lauren opening a Dylan's Candy Bar in Union Square", August 30, 2015
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References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Andy Warhol Chelsea, Manhattan Commercial buildings completed in 1892 New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Union Square, Manhattan

Description

History

Warhol years

Refurbishment

See also

References