A Katz History Lesson: The Flatiron District
The Flatiron District — bounded by Union Square, Chelsea and Gramercy Park is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan owing its name to an iconic New York City building.
The Flatiron Building — originally named the Fuller Building — was built in 1902 by the Chicago architecture firm D.H. Burnham and Company. Reaching 22-stories into the sky, the building was one of the tallest in the city at the time.
It famously rests on a triangular block formed by the intersections of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 22nd Street. In many ways, the wedge-shaped building jutting uptown symbolized the city’s steady expansion and surge northward. Its moniker stems from the triangular form. However, that name didn’t become synonymous with the neighborhood until the 1980s.
So, what was the neighborhood known for before that? Many things.
The land that constitutes today’s Flatiron District was less than ideal back in the 1600 and 1700s. Like much of lower Manhattan, it was quite swampy. Early on, it was designated as public land and utilized by hunters, parades, carnivals and even — for a spell of time — a place to bury unnamed corpses.
By the 1860s the neighborhood began to change from parkland to upscale. In 1859, the Fifth Avenue Hotel was built and quickly became a hot spot for famous New Yorkers and visitors. Among the many influential people who passed through were Boss Tweed, Jay Gould, Commodore Vanderbilt, Mark Twain and United States presidents Ulysses Grant and Chester Arthur. Over the next several decades, lavish hotels and residences, as well as fine dining establishments, began to sprout all around the neighborhood.
This period of grandeur lasted until about World War I. Around this time, much of the wealth in the city began to migrate uptown and closer to Fifth Avenue. With less residential and tourist action, the neighborhood reinvented itself over several years into a commercial center. Along with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, whose 50-story building overshadowed the Flatiron Building in 1909, the New York Life Insurance Company set up shop in the area.
In addition, many clothing and toy manufacturers opened, too. In fact, so many toy manufacturers became drawn to the area that for a period it was known as the Toy District. This was largely due to the International Toy Center (which replaced the Fifth Avenue Hotel) and the annual American International Toy Fair that took place from 1903 to 1945. By the mid-1950s photography studios, printers, and other associated artist businesses opened as a result of the cheap rents.
Although the Flatiron building stood for much of this period, the name “Flatiron District” didn’t really stick until another 30 years. In the 1980s, the neighborhood had changed once again to become more residential. Real estate agents found the “Flatiron District” an appealing name to rebrand the area for potential buyers and renters.
Today, the area is an amalgamation of businesses, residences and restaurants. Madison Square Park is filled with tourists and residents alike, particularly during the lunch hours. The park is also a popular staging area for pop-up food courts and art installations.
Currently, we are at work on a loft renovation on East 22nd Street, in a building completed only a few years after the Flatiron Building. It was originally constructed as a manufacturing building, with over sized windows and exterior stone and cast-iron details that speak to the neighborhood’s previous history. Like the neighborhood itself, the building has changed quite a bit in the last century and is now a sought after residential co-op. Our renovation work will retain and restore the loft’s existing character and add a variety of modern conveniences including an upgraded HVAC system, enhanced lighting and a new full bathroom.
