As The Century Progressed

That’s the intersection of Broome Street and Broadway, looking west. Again, we’ve got multiple eras in a small area. The little building with the white facade on Broadway, just above the white van, is a commercial structure from 1860, the tall building wrapped around it, with facades on both Broadway and Broome was built in 1897, the building to the north (right) of that (with the green mansard) is from 1892, and the gray palazzo on the far right is from 1857.

It might seem like there are only two eras here – mid 1800s and late 1800s – but that view doesn’t take into account the building technology. The building on the corner is physically similar to commercial buildings in Manhattan from 1810 onwards. It’s design is backwards looking. On the other hand, the building on the right, the Haughwout Building, has entirely cast-iron street facades and is such a perfect example of that mid-1800s peek-at-the-future technology that it was among the first buildings protected when the Landmarks Commission was created. Similarly, the tall building has a full steel frame and the green-mansarded building does not. Two corners of an intersection, four eras of building technology.