14 Maiden Lane

Building in Manhattan, New York Diamond Exchange 14 Maiden Lane, RERBG v.53 p.801.jpg 1894 rendering from Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide Manhattan Location in Manhattan yes 40.70930 -74.00937 region:US-NY dms inline,title 14 Maiden Lane Residential (formerly offices) 14 Maiden Lane New York United States 1893 1894 $275,000 120 ft Wall-braced cage Steel, iron and brick 10 1 Gilbert A. Schellenger Boehm & Coon http://skyscraper.org/tenandtaller Ten and Taller The Skyscraper Museum 2016 23 October 2016 31 October 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161031213130/http://skyscraper.org/tenandtaller/ dead 14 Maiden Lane, or the Diamond Exchange, is an early example of a New York skyscraper in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan. Completed in 1894, it is still standing. History At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the area around Maiden Lane and John Street became home to a number of early skyscrapers built speculatively to house businesses attracted to the booming financial district, which was expanding north.https://books.google.com/books?id=qyE3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA255 Fulton Street Transit Center, New York, New York, Section 4(f) Evaluation: Environmental Impact Statement Federal Transit Administration 2004 255–256 Maiden Lane was already established as the center of the city's jewelry district as early as 1795, and the area near Broadway was a busy shopping district.Jewelry The Encyclopedia of New York City Yale University Press 24 October 2016 Zapata, Janet Kenneth T. Jackson Lisa Keller Nancy Flood 2010 2 3159–3161 https://books.google.com/books?id=lI5ERUmHf3YC&pg=PT3159 9780300182576 In 1892, Manhattan real-estate developers Abraham Boehm and Lewis Coon announced that they had acquired the property at 14 Maiden Lane and intended to demolish the existing structure, replacing it with a ten-story tower specifically intended for the diamond trade.http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1892-11-17/ed-1/seq-1.pdf To Build a Diamond Exchange The World 17 November 1892 24 October 2016 1 At the time, the planned building would be among the tallest in the city, as elevators and new building techniques permitted ever higher construction and the city's rapid growth created an insatiable real-estate market. Design and construction Boehm and Coon hired prolific New York City architect Gilbert A. Schellenger to design the building for the specific requirements of diamond merchants and jewelers.http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_013&page=ldpd_7031148_013_00000837 The Diamond Exchange Building No. 14 Maiden Lane Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide 19 May 1894 53 1366 801 The building was of fireproof construction, with a cast-iron and steel frame, and hollow-brick floor arches. The frame and floors were made unusually strong in order to accommodate the heavy safes required by the trade, large windows provided ample daylight, augmented by gas and electric lights, and the facade was ornately decorated. Constrained by the narrow 23.5 foot lot, Schellenger emphasized the building's slenderness with three slim brick colonnettes flanking the large bay windows on the building's face.http://hdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/HDCAutumn-2004.pdf John Street/Maiden Lane: A Brief History District Lines Autumn 2004 18 2 10 The tall, narrow building towered over the older, neighboring structures. Cast-iron and steel construction were both relatively new techniques, and construction of the Diamond Exchange suffered a major setback in October 1893 when a powerful windstorm caused the incomplete cage to shift about 10 in from plumb.http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_014&page=ldpd_7031148_014_00000033&no=9 Amending the Findings of a Board of Survey on an Unsafe Building Case Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide 54 1374 5–6 7 July 1894 2016-10-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20161103215533/http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_014&page=ldpd_7031148_014_00000033&no=9 2016-11-03 dead https://books.google.com/books?id=7-YlRB7J-ZkC&pg=PA64 Historical Building Construction: Design, Materials, and Technology W.W. Norton and Company Friedman, Donald 2010 61–65 9780393732689 The problem was eventually traced back to oversized holes in splices on the cast-iron columns. Each new story added to the cage permitted additional movement, and the force of the wind was sufficient to cause the whole structure to tilt.http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/07/10/102464757.html?pageNumber=3 Suit over a Maiden Lane Building New York Times 10 July 1895 24 October 2016 3 To resolve the problem, the builders were forced to install "knee braces" at the ceiling line of each story, converting the original unbraced cage to a braced design. In 1904 the same flaw led to the collapse of the eleven-story Darlington Hotel, also in New York, which killed 25 construction workers. Construction was completed in 1894 and the building was occupied by jewelers and diamond dealers. One year after it was completed, the developers sold the building for $375,000 (it had cost approximately $275,000 to build).http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_016&page=ldpd_7031148_016_00000076&no=8 Gossip of the Week Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide 56 1426 40 13 July 1895 2016-10-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20161027123133/http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_016&page=ldpd_7031148_016_00000076&no=8 2016-10-27 dead The ground floor, decorated in polished granite, was leased to retail tenants; in 1915 it became home to Tessaro's, a dealer in rare books.http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_056&page=ldpd_7031148_056_00000900&no=15 Leases Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide 96 2484 696 23 October 1915 2016-10-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20161027123230/http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/rerecord/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_056&page=ldpd_7031148_056_00000900&no=15 2016-10-27 dead Fate While many early skyscrapers have been demolished or dwarfed by modern neighbors, the Diamond Exchange, 2022 y, still stands above the adjacent buildings. In 1920, the buildings to the east were destroyed in a fire which killed several people.https://books.google.com/books?id=qf0bAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA128 Fatal Fire in Maiden Lane The Jewelers' Circular 79 2 128 21 January 1920 The buildings to the west were demolished in 2015 to make way for a planned hotel.http://therealdeal.com/2015/04/03/fidi-residents-fight-wls-light-up-hotel-idea/ FiDi residents fight W&L's light-up hotel idea The Real Deal 3 April 2015 24 October 2016 2024 Maiden Lane 8-12 remains an empty lot. By 2001 the building had been converted to residential use with one large apartment on each floor. In January 2022, it was sold for $9.5 million and the remaining tenants, mostly artists, were evicted.https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/landlord-evicts-entire-building-of-manhattan-artists/ Landlord evicts entire building of longtime Manhattan artists Hannah Frishberg 19 May 2022 The New York Post 19 May 2022 References Category:Office buildings completed in 1894 Category:Financial District, Manhattan Category:1894 establishments in New York (state) Category:Residential buildings in Manhattan