New York Songlines: Howard Street

Mercer | Broadway | Lafayette | Centre
It's claimed that Howard Street was named for Henry Howard, who headed New York City's volunteer fire department from 1857-60. Forgotten New York, however, points out that the street seems to have been named Howard by 1820.








S <===     MERCER STREET     ===> N

South:

Arnold Constable Building

Citibank branch at the Arnold, Constable Building by epicharmus, on Flickr

Corner (307-311 Canal): This was home to Arnold Constable, one of New York's most prestigious stores, founded by Aaron Arnold near this site in 1825; son-in-law James Constable became a partner in 1837. This building dates to 1857. It offered "Everything From Cradle to Grave"; Mary Todd Lincoln was a frequent customer. Southern sympathizers urged a boycott because of its abolitionist sympathies. The store moved uptown to Ladies Mile in 1869.

Corner (427 Broadway): An 1870 cast-iron building by Thomas Jackson in the Venetian Renaissance style. Home to Chill on Broadway clothes, NARAL Pro-Choice New York.

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North:

54 (corner):

50-52: Built in 1861 for weapons maker Adam Spies, it soon became the New York State Soldiers Depot, a Civil War-era facility for soldiers on leave. The ironwork was fabricated by the J. L. Jackson Bros. foundry.













Corner: The plaza houses what was a neo-Georgian bank building that dates to 1967. All the trees here--badly needed in this neighborhood--were recently cut down by the tree-hating owner.


S <===     BROADWAY     ===> N

South:

Corner (428 Broadway): OMG, local clothing chain with good prices on jeans

35: Opening Ceremony, "epitome of all that is hip about New York City fashion"-- Club Planet Crosby Street by Northcountry Boy, on Flickr




29: An 1888 cast-iron building by Renwick & Sands, James Renwick's architectural firm. Houses Tibet Carpets.

27: Ted Muehling, jewelry designer. The cast-iron building dates to 1868.

25: Dunderdon Workshop, utilitarian fashion from Sweden

21: Happy Bride

19: E. Vogel, custom-made boots

Holiday Inn Manhattan Downtown

Corner (138 Lafayette): There's not many hotels in the Chinatown area, and this is probably the biggest. The building has some character. Includes H2 Cards, Ten Ren's Tea and Gemworks.

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North:

Corner (434 Broadway): Address of Barnum's Hotel, aka the Howard House, where Margaret and Kate Fox held seances in 1850 that popularized spiritualism in America. Years later Margaret confessed that she produced the spirits' ''rapping'' by cracking her joints.

34: An 1869 building co-designed by James Renwick Jr., architect of St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Smithsonian castle

32: Putnam Rolling Ladder

30: Jil Sander, minimalist boutique




CROSBY ST         ===> N

crosby street, NYC Chinatown by maxxum, on Flickr







22: Lucky Bakery

Corner (140 Lafayette): Was Maria's Bakery, Chinese pastries


S <===     LAFAYETTE STREET     ===> N

South:



3: Jobee, one of New York's few Taiwanese restaurants DSC_0024 by j.e.s.1981VA, on Flickr

Corner (239 Canal): This building with a red pagoda roof and a facade decorated with dragons and phoenixes, was the Golden Pacific National Bank, which opened here in 1983 and went under two years later, taking $17 million in local deposits with it.

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North:


S <===     CENTRE STREET     ===> N









What am I missing on Howard Street? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

New York Songlines Home.

Sources for the Songlines.

Forgotten New York on Howard Street

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