Just south of the Flatiron building, on East Nineteenth Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, sits the Arnold Constable Company building. It has one of the largest and most impressive mansards in the city. I can't think of another that is this palatial. It also looks to be two high-ceiling-ed stories tall. I'm impressed in ways I can't explain.
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Arnold Constable & Co. building, Broadway facade, April 2013. Photo: Anne Kumer |
It looked (and looks) something like this:
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The Arnold Constable & Co. building showing the Fifth Avenue facade looking east, 1877. Image: archiseek |
In 1914, the NYT reported another move uptown to an undisclosed location. That location turned out to be the corner of West 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, directly across from the main NYPL building (built in 1911), near Bryant Park, and just one block south of this. The company traded in its cast iron and mansard glory for a much less decorative structure. French Second Empire be damned.
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After the move to West 40th and Fifth Avenue, 1915. Image: MCNY |
This location is now the home of the NYPL Mid-Manhattan branch, but might not be for too long, though this could delay the progress some. The Mansard-ed up Broadway building is still home to a large retailer though: ABC Carpet & Home.
Other Sources:
Ladies' Mile Historic District designation report
Hendrickson, Robert. The Grand Emporiums, p. 154-155
The Arnold Constable & Company Buildings is the best!
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