Cable Building (New York City)
| Cable Building | |
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The Cable Building from the southwest (2010)
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| Location | 611 Broadway, New York, New York |
| Coordinates | 40°43′33″N 73°59′49″W / 40.72583°N 73.99694°WCoordinates: 40°43′33″N 73°59′49″W / 40.72583°N 73.99694°W |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | Stanford White; McKim, Mead & White |
| Architectural style(s) | Beaux-Arts |
| Designated | June 29, 1999 |
| Part of | NoHo Historic District |
 Location of Cable Building in New York City
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The Cable Building is located at 611 Broadway at the northwest corner with Houston Street in NoHo and Greenwich Village, in Manhattan, New York City. Since it spans a block, the Cable Building also has addresses of 2-18 West Houston Street and 178-188 Mercer Street.
The Cable Building was built in 1892-1894. It is a steel and iron frame structure with brick, stone, and terra-cotta facing. It has a limestone base with a two-story arcade featuring show windows graced by iron spandrels and elegant keystones. It also has a prominent copper cornice with lions' faces, egg and dart moldings, and surmounting acanthus. It is believed to be the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White's first use of a complete steel frame in a commercial building.
In an article published on May 7, 1892 under the heading of "The Beginning of the Transformation of Broadway", the publication of record for New York real estate, the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, reported, "At the northwest corner of Houston Street the Broadway Cable Railroad Company (Broadway & Seventh Avenue Railroad Company) is constructing its big power station and business building from the plans of McKim, Mead & White. The contracts for this work above the foundations are still to be set."
When it was completed, the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide enthused that the new Cable Building is "conspicuous among the modern buildings that are fast imparting a new and grander appearance to Broadway....its architecture expresses distinctly the highest achievement of the art in this country at this time...The exterior of this magnificent structure is a product of American genius adapted to the needs of American commercial interests and is influenced by the Italian Renaissance in its style and proportions." The publication further remarked that, with this example, "no excuse remains for building cheaply or meanly on any New York City property." The article noted that the Metropolitan Traction Company occupied the top two floors of the building and had the other six 20,000 square foot floors for lease, which it thought would be especially appealing to those businesses who had their natural centre in the wholesale dry goods district.
The Real Estate Record and Builders Guide gave special notice to the western entrance, saying: "Surmounting the charming and inviting entranceway is a round ornamental opening, making the centre to a group of two strongly modeled figures, which from their appearance and position are strongly suggestive in many ways of the Great Seal of the Empire State. These figures are 11 feet in height and are worthy of especial notice." Above this entrance are two flanking draped female figures, which were created by the distinguished Scottish-American sculptor J. Massey Rhind the oval window had a large clock in it as shown in photos from ca 1920. Like the architect Stanford White, Rhind was a leader in the "American Renaissance" movement. However, such a prominent sculptural piece on a commercial structure like the Cable Building eas considered very unusual. The figure on the right holds a sword her in hand, the handle of which was broken off ca 1920s, it remained missing for decades until it was replaced incorrectly with a flame torch to match the figure on the left.
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