B-284_173+E+Broadway

Block 284

Landmarks

[|NYC LPC Designation Report - The Forward Building]



Description:** 10-story brick structure in a Flemish bond. Decorative terra cotta, limestone, & marble. Converted to condominiums in 1999. NYC Landmark (see below). Current Use:** Mixed Residential & Commercial Structure:** ??? []
 * __Forward Building__
 * Block and Lot:** Block – 284 Lot – 7503
 * NB #:** NB 778-10 NEW BUILDING 00/00/1910
 * Year Built:** 1912
 * Address / Location:** 173 East Broadway
 * Original Use:
 * Lot Size:** 5,217 sq ft (52.17' x 100')
 * Number of Buildings on Lot:** 1
 * Building Size / Gross Floor Area:** 45,000 sq ft (estimated)
 * Stories:** 10
 * Units:** 33 (29 residential)
 * Estimated Cost:** UNK
 * Extension? Size/Stories:** UNK
 * Façade Materials:** brick
 * Foundation Material:
 * Owner / Address:**
 * Architect / Address:** George A. Boehm (restoration - Alfred Wen)
 * Landmark?:** YES

//AIA Guide to New York City//, p. 90-91 "Once the citadel of Yiddish thought and culture. Lettering in polychrome terra cotta on the roof parapet still reads FORWARD despite the relocation of New York's (and America's) foremost Yiddish-language newspaper to Harper & Row's old space at 49 East 33rd Street. The building's 12 stories housed not only the editorial offices of the newspaper but also the main headquarters of a distinguished social organization, the Arbiter Ring (Workmen's Circle), which relocated with the //Foreward//, and those of many other Jewish social and benevolent organizations (//landsmanshaftn//) and burial societies."

//Guide to NYC Landmarks, 4th Edition//, p. 48 - Forward Building, 1912 (Landmark designation 1986) - Architect: George Boehm "This prominent 11-story Classical Revival building, erected on the LES as the home of the //Jewish Daily Forward//, the most significant Yiddish-language newspaper published in America, symbolizes the importance of the publication to the local Eastern European Jewish community. The //Forward// was a socialist paper that fought for the Jewish masses and was closely allied with Jewish labor and social improvement organizations, notably the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union and the Wormen's Circle (which had offices in the building). The political leanings of the //Forward// are evident in the building's ornamentation, which includes a series of flaming torches (symbols of the socialist vanguard) as well as low-relief portraits of such socialist leaders as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on the frieze above the entrance."