Edward Ridley & Sons Department Store Buildings. Credit: Christopher D. Brazee (2012).
Lower East Side department store, closed since 1901, approved for designation after adjacent property removed from consideration. On December 6, 2012, the New York City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to approve the designation of the former Edward Ridley & Sons Department Store Buildings. They voted to approve the designation after its Council’s Subcommittee on Landmark’s, Public Siting & Maritime Uses hearing on December 4, 2012. Located at 315-317 Grand Street and 319-321 Grand Street, the buildings had been designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on September 11, 2012.
Ridley & Sons was established in 1848 by Edward Ridley, and grew to become the largest department store on the Lower East Side. The adjoining properties at 315-317 and 319-321 Grand Streets were commissioned by Edward Ridley’s sons in 1886 as part of the store’s expansion. The classical revival-style structures were designed by architect Paul F. Schoen. Schoen used a combination of brick, stone, and cast iron facades. 319-321 Grand Street’s rounded corner, where Grand and Orchard Streets meet, served as a major entrance and was intended to increase the store’s visibility from trolley cars traveling west from the Grand Street-Williamsburg ferry. By 1889, the store employed about 2,500 people, including many women, local residents and recent immigrants. The store closed in 1901 due to failing sales. In the early 1930’s, Allen Street was expanded and the building next to 315-317 Grand Street was demolished making it the new corner building. A new west wall was erected with tan brickwork in the Art Deco style by architect John N. Linn.
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Map of East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Credit: LPC
Six buildings along First Avenue that connected two sections of proposed district were removed because they lacked significance. On October 9, 2012, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to create the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The district, divided into two sections, includes approximately 325 buildings primarily along Second Avenue and its side streets between St. Marks Place and East 2nd Street. A smaller section of buildings are located along East 6th and East 7th Streets between Avenue A and First Avenue. The area was developed in the early half of the 19th century and was home to waves of immigrant groups. Realtors christened the neighborhood “Village East” (and later the East Village) in an attempt to attract middle class residents following the removal in 1955 of the elevated Third Avenue line. Tenements dominate the area, reflecting a variety of architectural styles, including Italianate, Neo-Grec, and Queen Anne. According to Landmarks staff, almost all the buildings in the district were built prior to the Depression of the 1930s.
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Map of East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Credit: LPC.
Support and opposition to landmarking reiterated at City Council level. On January 31, 2013, the City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to approve the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District in Manhattan. The district includes approximately 325 buildings, and is composed of two distinct sections on each side of First Avenue. On October 9, 2012, Landmarks approved the designation after modifying the boundaries of the proposal initially presented to the Commission. Landmarks found the area significant for its pre-Depression residential architecture and its social history as a home to successive waves of immigrant communities, as well as an epicenter of bohemian life. At Landmarks’ June 26, 2012 public hearing, the vast majority of speakers testified in support of designation, though some local religious institutions opposed, including the Catholic Worker, the St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church, and St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.
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