The circa-1912 building underwent a gut renovation in 2021 and became a broadcast production facility, which has been in business at the address in recent years. However, only the other day did a business sign finally appear above the front entrance for NMP Stages. (Read more about them here.)
Before becoming an outpost of NMP Stages, the building had been on redevelopment/demolition watch in previous years.
Let's revisit that!
Longtime owners Elsa and Dunnie Lai unveiled plans several years ago — amid neighborhood opposition — to enlarge and convert the property into a 38-unit residential building with a 12-story addition atop the existing bank structure.
What could have been!
Before these development plans, a string of clubs and concepts came and went here (Element, the Bank, etc.). The space also served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s.
Here are some pics from the NYPL Digital Gallery..... the first photo isn't dated (the Provident Loan Society building is on the right, mostly cut off) ...
How did people manage without painted lines and plastic sticks to tell them where to drive/ride/walk? Scary. I like things better now—it’s more like a grade 3 classroom out there. They should have people giving out gold stars to those who obey the rules.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very cool space, wondering why no nightclub was ever able to achieve success here....
ReplyDeleteThink the BANK was there a while …
DeleteWasn't it Chaos back in the 90s?
DeleteThe average driver probably isn't much smarter than your average third-grader, but, unlike your average third-grader, they can (and do) kill people easily.
ReplyDeleteFond 90's memories of seeing shows at The Bank!
ReplyDelete“ready to clog the sidewalk with Amazon packages for locals killing off the area haberdashers ...”
ReplyDelete😂
I also love the fact that the building next to it is still standing.
ReplyDeleteto March 7, 9:20 AM
ReplyDeleteAnd a nun with a yardstick thwacking those who don't.
Very informative post that unfortunately includes one of my pet grammar peeves. "Circa" means around or about or approximately. This building was not built "circa" 1912; it was built in 1912. I know it sounds fancier to say "circa," but it's wrong.
ReplyDeleteUnless the building was built in only one year, the circa is correct. Pedant
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I started thinking about "Make a Circuit With Me" by the Polecats from 1982. (Circa + Circuit = Random.) The band was part of the UK rockabilly revival in the early 1980s, and a good request to make of the Key Food playlist. (Stacie!)
ReplyDelete"Unless the building was built in only one year, the circa is correct."
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not. It would then be correct to say that construction began in 1912 (although all evidence suggests it ended the same year). Circa is for dates you can't pinpoint, not for spans of time.