Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance & Theater (New York City, New York)
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
New York City, New York /
Broadway, 892
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
World / United States / New York
theatre
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8-story Renaissance-revival residential building with cinema complex, completed in 1898. Designed by John B. Snook & Sons as a store-and-loft building, it is faced with grey iron-spot Roman brick and trimmed with terra-cotta and stone. The building has an arched entryway on Broadway.
Piers divide the Broadway facade into six bays and the 19th Street facade into twelve bays; cornices above the 1st, 3rd, and 7th floors create a 1-2-4-1 story grouping. On the Broadway facade much of the ground floor has been altered, with modern infill and a marquee for a movie theater. The 4th bay still retains its original arched entrance portal framed by Ionic columns and entablature and featuring garlanded spandrel panels and a marblized sign.
On the 2nd & 3rd floors the piers are articulated as partially fluted giant Corinthian pilasters with stone bases and terra-cotta capitals. Smaller brick piers with rounded corners divide the bays into two window openings. On the 4th through 7th floors the piers are again faced with pilasters which extend unbroken for four floors and are enriched with fluting at the 4th and 7th floors . The articulation of the window bays is identical with that of the lower floors. On the 8th floor the piers are embellished with bands of guilloche molding with a central oval boss. The moldings appear to be terra-cotta, colored to match the prominent galvanized iron crowning cornice which has been treated to look like oxidized copper. On the 19th Street side, the eastern bays have loading docks and service entrances. The upper floors are identical to the Broadway facade's design.
The building's earliest tenants were typical of the district and included McGibbon & Company, Linens and Upholstery, on the first two floors; and dealers in millinery goods, lace curtains, oriental rugs, and a corsets on the upper floors. In the 1920s through the 1940s most of the tenants were clothing manufacturers. In 1976, the Feld Ballet became the first performing arts organization to rent space in the building, taking the eighth floor which was converted to a modern studio complex. Two years later director/choreographer Michael Bennett purchased the building and began alterations to create 890 Studios, two and a half floors of rehearsal studios, considered among the finest in the city. American Ballet Theater signed a ten-year lease for the second and third floors in 1980. By 1986, when Bennett became ill and suddenly placed 890 Broadway on the market, the entire building was devoted to the arts.
With the prospect of a sale to a developer who intended to convert it to office space, Lawrence A. Wien, a lawyer and real estate investor, placed a $1 million dollar deposit on the building allowing ABT, Feld Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater time to raise sufficient capital to purchase the building, which was named the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance and Theater in 1988.
In 1989, Loews opened a movie theater in the first floor and basement of the building. The theater complex was designed by Jerome Rubin Architects. Loews merged with AMC in 2005.
Piers divide the Broadway facade into six bays and the 19th Street facade into twelve bays; cornices above the 1st, 3rd, and 7th floors create a 1-2-4-1 story grouping. On the Broadway facade much of the ground floor has been altered, with modern infill and a marquee for a movie theater. The 4th bay still retains its original arched entrance portal framed by Ionic columns and entablature and featuring garlanded spandrel panels and a marblized sign.
On the 2nd & 3rd floors the piers are articulated as partially fluted giant Corinthian pilasters with stone bases and terra-cotta capitals. Smaller brick piers with rounded corners divide the bays into two window openings. On the 4th through 7th floors the piers are again faced with pilasters which extend unbroken for four floors and are enriched with fluting at the 4th and 7th floors . The articulation of the window bays is identical with that of the lower floors. On the 8th floor the piers are embellished with bands of guilloche molding with a central oval boss. The moldings appear to be terra-cotta, colored to match the prominent galvanized iron crowning cornice which has been treated to look like oxidized copper. On the 19th Street side, the eastern bays have loading docks and service entrances. The upper floors are identical to the Broadway facade's design.
The building's earliest tenants were typical of the district and included McGibbon & Company, Linens and Upholstery, on the first two floors; and dealers in millinery goods, lace curtains, oriental rugs, and a corsets on the upper floors. In the 1920s through the 1940s most of the tenants were clothing manufacturers. In 1976, the Feld Ballet became the first performing arts organization to rent space in the building, taking the eighth floor which was converted to a modern studio complex. Two years later director/choreographer Michael Bennett purchased the building and began alterations to create 890 Studios, two and a half floors of rehearsal studios, considered among the finest in the city. American Ballet Theater signed a ten-year lease for the second and third floors in 1980. By 1986, when Bennett became ill and suddenly placed 890 Broadway on the market, the entire building was devoted to the arts.
With the prospect of a sale to a developer who intended to convert it to office space, Lawrence A. Wien, a lawyer and real estate investor, placed a $1 million dollar deposit on the building allowing ABT, Feld Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater time to raise sufficient capital to purchase the building, which was named the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance and Theater in 1988.
In 1989, Loews opened a movie theater in the first floor and basement of the building. The theater complex was designed by Jerome Rubin Architects. Loews merged with AMC in 2005.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°44'18"N 73°59'22"W
- Atlantic Stage 2 1.3 km
- Arenson Prop Center 1.9 km
- New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ 15 km
- Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts 51 km
- Destinta Theaters 87 km
- Open Air Theatre at W. C. S. P. 88 km
- Penn's Peak 144 km
- Boardwalk Hall 159 km
- Hotel du Pont/DuPont Building 172 km
- The Playhouse on Rodney Square 172 km
- Greenwich Village 1.2 km
- Midtown (Manhattan, NY) 1.3 km
- Chelsea 1.3 km
- East Village 1.5 km
- Lower (Downtown) Manhattan 2 km
- Manhattan 5 km
- Hudson County, New Jersey 7.1 km
- Brooklyn 11 km
- Queens 14 km
- The Palisades 25 km