Abroad in New York

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Imagine it is 1900. You are a New Yorker doing your holiday shopping. Sixth Avenue beckons.


In the shadow of the el, between 18th and 23rd streets, stood seven of the largest department stores in the city. Remarkably, six of the seven buildings still stand, forming an imposing streetscape.


The biggest of the stores was Siegel Cooper, which opened in 1896 on the east side between 18th and 19th.This was the largest retail establishment in New York in the 1890s.Designed by the department-store specialists De Lemos & Cordes, the building is an elaborate Beaux-Arts confection. If it or the others on the avenue may appear awkward or ungainly in any way, you must bear in mind that these buildings’ designs had to take account of the elevated train, which visually bisected facades that had to “read” both from the sidewalk and from the elevated platform.


To sense Siegel Cooper’s size, go into Bed, Bath & Beyond at the 19th Street corner. This store goes on seemingly forever. Then note that this store occupies but one half of one floor of Siegel Cooper, which went out of business in 1914 – the victim, perhaps, of too great a physical investment in what too soon became an unfashionable neighborhood.


Across the avenue stands the former B. Altman & Co., which opened in the 1870s and in 1906 made a successful uptown transition. The building now contains the Container Store. On the next block north is the former Simpson Crawford Simpson. This was an elegant women’s store, though the large building is dull.The firm opened on the site in 1879, built the present building in 1900, and went under in 1915.


Between 20th and 21st stands an 1887 cast-iron building that once housed Hugh O’Neill’s Store. Next north, between 21st and 22nd, Barnes & Noble occupies the elegant old Adams Dry Goods Store, built in 1900 and also designed by De Lemos & Cordes. (In 1902 they designed Macy’s at Herald Square.) Adams served the carriage trade, O’Neill’s served hoi polloi. In the avenue’s waning days, the two establishments merged, then went under in 1915.


At the southwest corner of 23rd stands a sprightly 1880s cast-iron edifice that housed Ehrich Brothers, a discounter that lasted until 1911. Across the avenue stood McCreery’s, which with Altman’s proved the only one of these stores to make a successful uptown move, in this case to 34th between Fifth and Sixth in 1895. (That store later became Ohrbach’s, founded by an employee of Ehrich Brothers.)


Around World War I, the retail center moved uptown, and these buildings, converted to manufacturing and warehousing, took on a ghostly aspect that they retained for six or seven decades. In the 1990s, big retail returned to these buildings, which were suited to the “big box” stores that had begun to invade the city. Reasons abound for thinking such stores ill-suited to the central city. That said, Sixth Avenue once again hums at holiday time as it did a century ago.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use