McIntyre Building is one of New York’s quirky oddities. For starters, people can’t agree on its architectural style, because architect Robert H. Robertson mixed several styles in the design. People don’t always agree on the building’s name – it was built by Ewen McIntyre, but the lobby mosaic spells it “Mac Intyre” – and the typo is how many refer to 874 Broadway. The owner was a druggist, but he never used the building – the ground floor was occupied by a now-defunct bank.
Over the years, occupants sometimes blurred the lines. In the ’60s, people started to live in the building – though it didn’t have a residential occupancy permit. A seventh-floor nightclub, Cobra Club, operated illegally in the ’70s. The club’s trademark snakes reportedly escaped the glass terrariums from time to time, and live snakes were reported on the loose for years after. It’s currently a co-op – and one that’s spent big bucks to preserve the McIntyre Building’s unique style. The residents even paid to restore century-old wooden windows rather than replace them with modern metal sashes.
McIntyre Building Vital Statistics
- Location: 874 Broadway at E 18th Street
- Year completed: 1892
- Architect: Robert H. Robertson
- Floors: 11
- Style: Romanesque Revival
- New York City Landmark: 1989 (Ladies Mile Historic District)
McIntyre Building Recommended Reading
- Wikipedia entry (Robert H. Robertson)
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report (p. 66)
- The New York Times Streetscapes: 1892 McIntyre Building; Shake, Rattle and Roll: Restoring Vintage Windows (April 9, 2000)
- Daytonian in Manhattan blog
- City Realty review
- Gargoyles of New York blog
- Look Up, New York blog (April 3, 2011)
- Untapped Cities blog
- Curbed New York blog Refreshed and Restored 874 Broadway Gets An A+ (May 26, 2009)