American Thread Building

The American Thread Building is a historic building located at 260 West Broadway on the corner of Beach Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The eleven story building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by architect William B. Tubby, and built in 1896. It was originally known as the Wool Exchange Building, and owned by the Wool Warehouse Company; however the Wool Company did not succeed and the building was acquired by the American Thread Company in 1907. In 1979, a group of young artists made a stand against real estate developer Harry B. Macklowe. He emptied a 93% occupied building of its rent-paying tenants, with the help of the J51 tax abatement offered by then NYC mayor Ed Koch. It was a lost battle in the New York City courts and the building was renovated and converted into live/work lofts in 1981. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 2005. In 2007, a renovation of one of the units uncovered an early work by artist Keith Haring.


American Thread Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


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Location	260 W. Broadway, Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates	40°43′14″N 74°0′22″W / 40.72056°N 74.00611°W / 40.72056; -74.00611
Built	1896
Architect	William B. Tubby
Architectural style	Renaissance
NRHP reference No.	04001532^[1]
Added to NRHP	January 20, 2005

The American Thread Building is a historic building located at 260 West Broadway on the corner of Beach Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The eleven story building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by architect William B. Tubby, and built in 1896. It was originally known as the Wool Exchange Building, and owned by the Wool Warehouse Company; however the Wool Company did not succeed and the building was acquired by the American Thread Company in 1907.^[2]

In 1979, a group of young artists made a stand against real estate developer Harry B. Macklowe. He emptied a 93% occupied building of its rent-paying tenants, with the help of the J51 tax abatement offered by then NYC mayor Ed Koch.^{[citation needed]} It was a lost battle in the New York City courts and the building was renovated and converted into live/work lofts in 1981.^[3]^[4]

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 2005.

In 2007, a renovation of one of the units uncovered an early work by artist Keith Haring.^[5]

References

[edit]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "260 West Broadway" on the American Thread Company website
^ "American Thread Building New York, New York" Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
^ Kathy Howe (July 2004). National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP American Thread Building. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 10, 2025. (Downloading may be slow.)
^ Hope, Bradley (December 20, 2007). "A Forgotten Haring Is Found by Contractors". The Sun.

External links

[edit]

Media related to American Thread Building at Wikimedia Commons

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