The Empire Savings Bank Building at 231 West 125th Street (between FDB/8th and ACP/7th) was a fixture on Harlem's main street for many decades and it would eventually succumb to a newer bank's arrival. The lower photo is the Banco Popular building that took over the original lot but we always wondered why the current day bank wouldn't just use the original structure. Those old bank buildings were built to last and had amazing solid marble interiors. The older image was probably taken around 1920 (click to enlarge) but we haven't seen many photos of this location past the 1940's. Does anyone know when the original bank building met its demise? Arc
hival image courtesy of NYPL. Current photo by Ulysses
The Empire Savings Bank Building at 231 West 125th Street (between FDB/8th and ACP/7th) was a fixture on Harlem's main street for many decades and it would eventually succumb to a newer bank's arrival. The lower photo is the Banco Popular building that took over the original lot but we always wondered why the current day bank wouldn't just use the original structure. Those old bank buildings were built to last and had amazing solid marble interiors. The older image was probably taken around 1920 (click to enlarge) but we haven't seen many photos of this location past the 1940's. Does anyone know when the original bank building met its demise? Archival image courtesy of NYPL. Current photo by Ulysses
So depressing. I am sure many of the empty lots in Harlem had grand structures like this in the past.
ReplyDeleteWhat is devastating is even today, churches and other organizations refuse to sell to preserve these building and they are rotting right before our eyes (i.e. Hamilton Terrace Church of Nazareth).
Anon, agreed. I wonder how much our public policy (i.e., tax-exempt treatment for churches and for such properties) contributes to this behavior by removing economic incentives that might otherwise lead them to sell...
ReplyDeleteBanco Popular aquired American Savings Bank in 1992, that refaced the property.
ReplyDeleteThis is a story about an old building, currently a church:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/3721/the-full-story
Empire Savings Bank was still functioning under that name at that original location as of 1974--here's a link to an an from that period in New York Magazine.
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=G-kCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%22empire+savings+bank%22+%22125th+street%22&source=bl&ots=rXSFcMMecv&sig=In9zvorvUcoS5KxMKCETJHsbqpI&hl=en&ei=Tko7TN_nNMGtON2b3NkK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22empire%20savings%20bank%22%20%22125th%20street%22&f=false
Jonathan Gill
author of Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History From Dutch Village To Capital Of Black America (Grove/Atlantic 2011)
The old bank had a truly grand façade, with the massive arched doorway it is evocative of the Arc de Triomphe of Paris.
ReplyDelete