CHIC PARTY DECORATIONS

Civic Center, Manhattan

Prominently situated on a comer site, the 287 Broadway Building is notable for its combination of the' ltalianate and French Second Empire styles as executed in cast iron, and one of the few surviving examples in New York City. Erected in 1871-72 for the estate of Stephen Storm, a prominent grocer ac'1d tobacco merchant, this bank and office

The building was designed. by John B. Snook, one of the most prominent New York architects of the time. The prestige of the builcting was indicated both by the :ma.nsard roof and an early otis passenger elevator. The cast-iron facades on both Broadway and Reade Street feature large round-arched windows sepa.rated by Ionic columns at the second story and by corinthian above, each story crowned by a cornice. The high mansard roof, topped by lacy iron cresting, retains its original slate shingles and is pierced by dormers with segmental pediments and round-arched wWows. 'Ihis building graphically illustrates the transformation of lower Broadway in the 19th century fram a residential bou.levard into the city's commercial center

The architectural treabnent of cast-iron facades went through several distinct phases before the material finally fell from favor towards the end of the century. 6 Early in its 19th-century commercial use cast iron was adopted by the architectural profession and began to reflect the Italianate style prevalent among commercial buildings .in the 1850s. A series of cast-iron "palazzill were prcduced, often painted white to imitate marble. In New York these included the cary Building (King & KellLnl1, 1856-57) at 105-107 Chambers street, and the Haughwout store (John Gaynor, 1856) at 488 Broadway, roth designated. New York city I..andrnarks. These buildings, as well as the majority of Italianate cast-iron buildings in New York, were used for mercantile purposes.

In the late 1860s and early 1870s, cast-iron buildings began to be executed in the recently imported French Second Empire Style, with its most obvious feature the Ir6nsard roof. In addition to mercantile buildings, like the Lord & Taylor store (James H. Giles, 1869) at 901 Broadway, a designated New York City landmark, it also appeared in other prestigious buildings like hotels (the Gilsey House, 1200 Broadway, Stephen Decatur Hatch, 1869-71, a designated Ne'iil York City Landmark), insurance company buildings (New York Life, 346 Broadway, 1870, Griffith Thomas, demolished ), and office buildings such as 287 Broadway.

The New Building application for 287 Broadway was filed in March of 1871, with James B. Snook as architect and the Estate of Stephen stonn as owner. construction began two months later. Snook's design as filed was for an ltalianate four-story building with a basement, with two cast-iron facades and brick side walls tenninating in a flat tin roof. The ironwork was by Jackson Burnett & Co. The application stated that the building was to be used for banking rooms and offices. 7 Shortly after, an a:me.ndment to the application changed the roof to mansard and added an otis elevator; both features enhanced the prestige of the building for its intended use.8

The plans for the building indicate an areaway on Broadway and Reade Street, with steps down from the street level to a side entrance, as well as steps to the Ir6in entrance on Broadway. 9 To the north of the stoop on the basement level (now the first story), the Broadway facade featured paired doors with single transoms capped by flattened arches. These arches continue on the Reade Street facade. Early tenants included the Union and Pacific Railroad Company (later the Union Pacific Railroad), and office supply concerns.

Jackson, Burnet & Co., manufacturer of the ironwork for 287 Broadway, began as the G.R. Jackson Company, listed in 1840 as manufacturers of iron fasteners with a factory at 201 centre street. The finn later changed its name to George R. Jackson, Burrlet & Co. and opened a factory at 337 East 13th Street and Avenue c, manufacturing II iron buildings, wrought and castiron railings...roofsI and iron stairs." By the early 1870s the firm became the Excelsior Iron Works under the management of Jackson, B.lrnet & Co. It maintained the original factory at 201 Centre Street as a branch office. By the 1880s the finn name was changed to the Atlantic Iron Works under the management of Burnet & Co. Examples of iron-fronted buildings by the Atlantic Iron Works include 268 canal street (1886, lansing C. Holden) and 485 Broome street (1872, Elisha sniffen) in the Soho-cast Iron Historic District. By 1890 the firm was no longer in business.

This six-story Italianate/Second Empire building, located on the southwest corner of Broadway and Reade streets, extends twenty-five and 1/2 feet along Broadway and ninety-six feet along Reade Street. Faced in cast iron, the building is crowned by a mansard roof with slate shingles, pierced by dormer windows and

Detail of iron fence in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana