Swiss Institute New York

The New Era Building is an 1893 Art Nouveau commercial loft building at 495 Broadway, between Spring Street and Broome Street, in the SoHo section of Manhattan in New York City.

The eight-story brick and masonry building has been described as a "gem" and a gorgeous example of Art Nouveau architecture. Eschewing the then-popular Beaux Arts style, this is one of the few and possibly the earliest Art Nouveau building in Manhattan still standing. Four squat rounded Doric columns seem to support five stories with three vertical rows of large windows separated by brickwork and iron ornamentation, culminating in three large arches at the sixth floor. This is topped with a two-story copper fronted mansard roof, now coated with verdigris, reminiscent of Parisian architecture. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m²) building is served by a freight elevator and two passenger elevators. Average floor size is 10,000 square feet (930 m²). The building goes through the block west of Broadway so that it also fronts on Mercer Street, which is parallel to Broadway.

Sources differ as to the architect, developer, and year of construction. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 1973 report on the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, says the building, at 495 Broadway, was designed by Alfred Zucker for Augustus D. Juilliard and was completed in 1893. Several other sources shown below say the building was designed by Buchman & Deisler for Jeremiah C. Lyons, who had previously developed real estate in other areas of Manhattan, and was completed in 1897. However, many of these same sources mistakenly show the address as 491 Broadway. The Landmarks Preservation Commission says 491 Broadway, the somewhat thinner 12-story building adjacent to the south of the New Era Building, is the 1897 Buchman & Deisler building.

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