149 Duane Street

 apartment building  Add category

5-story residential building completed in 1858 as a store-and-loft building. Occupants of the building have included a drug company, wool brokers, and many businesses associated with the shoe industry. The building remained commercial at the ground level with offices and storage above into the 1990s, when the upper floors were converted to residential use. Both facades are clad in red brick, with brownstone window sills and lintels. Three of the bays on the western (West Broadway) elevation have been bricked-in, and some areas are spotted with star-shaped steel tie-through bars. A narrow metal fire escape runs down the center of the Duane Street side, and both facades are topped by a bracketed wooden roof cornice. The ground floor is occupied by Balloon Saloon balloon and party store.