Oltarsh Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, apartment building

3-story mercantile building that opened as the Major Theatre in 1927, seating 599 patrons, plus retail space and lofts. The red brick and stone building and theater were both named for builder David Oltarsh, who was a major in the Army Corps of Engineers. By 1947, the theater was known as the Giglio-Major Theater, reflecting its proximity to Little Italy. By 1971, it was the Canal Cinema Theater. Today it is a flea market-style retail space called the Mall of the Great Wall, formerly Pearl River Market. The Canal Street facade is seven bays long, with a large round-arch framed in stone and filled by latticework above the easternmost bay. A stone medallion decorates the facade on either side of the arch, with a peaked pediment on top that has urns at the corners. A stone coping caps the entire roof line. Sleepy's mattresses is housed on the 2nd floor, and a UFC Gym on the 3rd floor, with the ground floor occupied by a Verizon wireless store, a gift shop, Sean's Diamond & Jewelry, a Bank of America branch, and Propel Footwear, as well as an entrance to the Canal Street subway station on the Broadway side.