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History of Tribeca Buildings
Nosy Neighbor: What’s going on at 27 Park Place / 111 Church / 24 Murray?
C. wrote: “Just curious if you know anything about what’s going on with the building at 24 Murray Street. I always thought the fire seemed vaguely suspicious (given the potential for $$$ in redeveloping as a high-priced condo building like so many other spots around the neighborhood) and wondered if it has taken this long to do something because it was under investigation.”
I have taken a picture of that building once a month for two years, with the intention to see what’s cooking, and C.’s note happen to coincide with some action spotted inside. The building that takes up the entire block front of Church from Murray to Park Place was gutted by a fire in September 2017 and has stood empty ever since. The fire was deemed accidental by the Fire Marshal — it started in the ductwork of the restaurant Pho King.
DOB filings show that the the construction is just that — a renovation — refreshing since I expected it to be torn down and become another hole in the ground for half a decade like 65 West Broadway. (ACRIS shows the building changed hands in 2003, with a number of $2.5 million associated with it — I can’t imagine that was the price of the building.)
27 Park Place aka 111 Church aka 24 Murray’s storefronts used to house several restaurants and the kind of stores (bodegas, a shoe shine place) that the neighborhood seems to be losing. It’s safe to say that’s not what will take their place.
As a sidebar, the DOB docs show the building at the intersection of Church and “Jay Kriegel Way” — named for the city power broker who first started as counsel to Mayor Lindsay and who died in December 2019.
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I talked to one of the workmen and he said they were tearing the building down.
Ghastly to think of losing yet another gorgeous and irreplaceable 19th century museum piece.
This YIMBY article says it’s a refurbishment with an ETA of Feb 2022. If you look at the rendering and permit into on the construction fence sign, it shows the updates. These include new retail frontage with a uniform design, signage above the two double doorways along the long western elevation, new windows, and metal railings running along the edges of the roof that likely indicate usable rooftop space. There is a rendering in the article.
https://newyorkyimby.com/2021/01/renovation-work-underway-at-27-park-place-in-tribeca-manhattan.html
I live across the street, watched it burn, and now I’m hoping against hope that somehow, somehow, somehow, this lovely old pre-Civil War relic can be spared the cynical destruction that seems to be the norm nowadays, as Tribeca trashes the very structures that make it such a prized neighborhood and prop up those much-vaunted real estate prices we hear about.
Is there any way this lovely old piece of our history could be spared the wrecking ball? Must we decimate everything lovely and old and historic that surrounds us?
As I note in the post, the DOB filings show just a refurbishment. RENOVATION OF EXISTING 5 STORY BUILDING TO INCLUDE PARTITIONS, STAIRS. Of course I imagine plans could change as they renovate. You can scroll through the permits here.
I used to work across the street and the landlord was a piece of you know what because one of the best delis around was there (Downtown Deli) for almost 25 years and one day the landlord walked in, on a Friday at 1:00 p.m. and told the owners (who worked very hard and were so nice – we became friends) that they had to clear out – now! In the middle of lunch time. The deli stayed in business during the 2008 financial crisis and even 9/11. The city did NOTHING to help them and meanwhile, you saw many employees from different agencies go there for lunch and they catered many of the luncheons of city agencies.
I also live across the street and although that’s sad for him, it is great for the neighborhood that we are finally getting rid of all these little delis and retails with horrible facades, that create a lot of mess and dirt. Much better just to have just one tenant on the ground floor of these buildings that keeps the area clean and tied up (e,g., see CVS or 38 Warren)