63 Nassau Street is a landmark building on Nassau Street (Manhattan) in lower Manhattan, New York City. Constructed in 1859, the building has one of the earliest Cast-iron facades in New York City. The building is attributed to New York architect James Bogardus who pioneered the use of this material. It is an extremely rare extant example of the work of Bogardus, one of only five known Bogardus buildings in the U.S.
Until the early 20th century Maiden Lane was the center of the jewelry district and many of its tenants were jewelers and watchmakers. [1]
The 5-story, 3-bay Italianate style cast-iron front facade was originally composed (the ground story was first altered in 1919) of superimposed arcades, with a 2-story arcade capped by an intermediate modillioned foliate cornice, surmounted by a 3-story arcade. The arcades are formed by elongated fluted Corinthian columns (most of the capitals’ leaves are now missing); rope moldings, which also surround the spandrel panels; molded arches with faceted keystones and molded paneled reveals; and foliate spandrels. Between the second and third floors the building features a series of wreath-encircled portraits of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin cast, like the rest of the facade, in iron.[2] The two portraits of Washington are missing from the facade as of 2008.[1] Similar portraits once appeared on two other Bogardus buildings, the Baltimore Sun building in Baltimore, Maryland, and the New York building of Harper & Brothers. Both of those buildings have been torn down.[2]
The facade is terminated by a widely-projecting, modillioned foliate cornice supported by a corbel table. Windows were originally two-over-two double-hung wood sash. These were replaced by wood casement windows with transoms prior to 1928 on the upper three stories, and by single-pane windows on the second story during the 1980s. The northern storefront consists of a deeply recessed entrance with glass door and transom,flanking show windows set above recessed bases, and a mosaic tile floor. A metallic signage band extends partially into the second story. The southern metal-and-glass storefront is non-historic, with a fixed awning. [3]