History and architecture
Prominently situated on a comer site, the 287 Broadway Building is notable for its combination of the Italianate and French Second Empire styles as executed in cast iron, and one of the few surviving examples in New York City. Erected in 1871-72 for the estate of Stephen Storm, a prominent wholesale grocer and tobacco merchant, this bank and office building was designed by John B. Snook, one of the most prominent New York architects of the time.
The prestige of the builcting was indicated both by the mansard roof and an early Otis passenger elevator. The cast-iron facades on both Broadway and Reade Street feature large round-arched windows separated by Ionic columns at the second story and by Corinthian above, each story crowned by a cornice. The high mansard roof, topped by lacy iron cresting, retains its original slate shingles and is pierced by dormers with segmental pediments and round-arched windows. This building graphically illustrates the transformation of lower Broadway in the 19th century from a residential boulevard into the city's commercial center.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.