History and architecture
Dominating the intersection of Broadway and West 29th Street, the Gilsey House Hotel is one of the city’s most imposing Second Empire cast-iron buildings. Designed by Stephen Decatur Hatch for Peter Gilsey, the hotel was built between 1869 and 1871 at the beginning of a period in New York's history that transformed Broadway between Madison and Herald Squares into the heart of a glittering entertainment district.
Just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War when Madison Sauare was an exclusive residential quarter, most hotels, restaurants, theaters and stores of any distinction were still below Houston Street. However, with the end of the War and the recovery of the economy from the general depression that followed it, the relentless northward growth of the city resumed and a number of fashionable hotels opened near Madison Square along Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The Albemarle, the St. James, the Victoria, the Grand, and the Gilsey House all located in the area and each attempted to exceed the other in opulence and luxury.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.