1871-1877 Broadway

by Tom Miller

On November 11, 1905, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that construction was about to commence on the four-story garage building the Island Realty Company would be erecting at the southwest corner of Broadway and 62nd Street.  Designed by Jay H. Morgan, the construction costs were projected at $150,000 (about $5.4 million in 2024).

Completed in 1906, Morgan’s stucco-covered structure was a medley of styles. Overall, it was Arts & Crafts and exhibited elements of the Secession movement, while swags and wreaths, more expected in Beaux Arts-style buildings of a generation earlier, filled the triangular pediments above the fourth-floor openings. A solid parapet with raised, scalloped corners took the place of a cornice.

Sitting on what was known as Automobile Row, the building was initially leased to the Welch Motor Car Company of New York, a manufacturer of luxury automobiles.  An advertisement in June of that year offered a “five passenger touring car” for $4,000 and a “luxurious detachable limousine” at $5,000.  (The cost of the latter would translate to $175,000 today).  The advertisement said,

In its aristocratic appearance and simplicity of construction, its absolute noiselessness and freedom from vibration, its enormous power and lightning speed, its perfect safety and dependability, the Welch is the superior of any car at any price.

At the end of World War I, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was instrumental in a push to ship goods by truck rather than rail.  

The building served as both the showroom and the maintenance garage of the Welch Motor Car Company until 1909 when The White Car Company moved in.  Its residency would be short-lived.  In 1911, the Cloud-Marts Company occupied the building.  It was the sales and service agent for the Selden Motor Vehicle Company.  Beginning in 1912, the firm shared part of the building with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. of New York.

On December 1, 1915, Motor World reported that Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. “is planning to take another floor in the building at 1871 Broadway, thus the entire building will be occupied by the company.  Interior alterations will make room for increased business.” 

At the end of World War I, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was instrumental in a push to ship goods by truck rather than rail.  On August 17, 1919, the New-York Tribune noted, “the interests of truck operators and shippers are watched over by a branch of the nation-wide organization of the Firestone Ship-by-Truck Bureau.” 

That branch office was in the Broadway building, and the following year, the National Ship by Truck-Good Roads Week Committee was headquartered here.  The climax of the committee’s work was a truck parade on May 17, 1920.  According to the New-York Tribune, “Four miles of motor trucks—more than four hundred of them—rumbled down Broadway last night from 168th street to Madison Square.  Every manner of truck, camion and lorry participated in the parade, which was by way of introducing short haul cargoes by motor trucks instead of the overburdened steam carriers.”

An announcement by the Bassick-Alemite Service Corporation in the New York Evening Post on May 5, 1923, was titled, “Now in our New Home 1871 Broadway.”  It noted, “Our new and enlarged quarters make it possible to offer the motoring public and Alemite Dealers much better service than we ever could before.”  A renovation had already begun at the time.  Completed in 1924, it resulted in two ground-level spaces.  The rusticated ground floor piers of the southern side, occupied by Bassick-Alemite, were covered by flat stone slabs.  The northern space was leased to the Van Alstyne Motor Corporation, which was the selling agent for the pricey Hupmobile Eight automobile.

In 1953, the building became home to Cofield Motors, Inc.  It was headed by Thomas Cofield, a master of marketing.  On November 21 that year, for instance, The New York Age reported that he had donated a 1953 Buick Super Special to Mrs. Kathleen Alexander.  It was in honor of her “outstanding service” to the Great Hood Memorial AME Zion Church.  And a week later, on November 28, The New York Age began an article saying, “Glamour in cars and glamour in fashions staged and directed by two of New York’s outstanding ladies of fashion, Mesdames Rosette Reifer and Hazel Sharper, will be presented on Saturday night, Dec. 12, at Thomas Cofields Showrooms, 1877 Broadway, Manhattan.”

…somehow, the building escaped immediate demolition. 

The Cofield showroom was also known for its customized, one-of-a-kind vehicles.  On February 26, 1955, The New York Age said, “Things are humming around Cofield Motors, 1877 Broadway.  The energetic, little fellow, Tom Cofield, hardly had time to give us the low down.”  A secretary made time, showing the journalist a Cadillac with a handcrafted aluminum chassis built by Ghia of Italy.  The article said, “There are only two of these cars.  One was obtained for a General Motors official for $14,000 and the one now in Cofield’s showroom was built for $10,000.”  There were also two Ferraris and a Maserati racer in the showroom at the time.

On August 20, 1964, The New York Times reported that the building had been sold to Lex-Pare Properties, Inc.  “The buyer plans to improve the property,” said the article.  “The building adjoins the corner at Broadway and 61st Street, on which the American Bible Society plans to erect a new headquarters.”  But somehow, the building escaped immediate demolition.  In 1966, the floors above the ground garage were renovated into offices.  Then, in the late 1980s, the building was demolished to make way for a 24-floor apartment building.

Tom Miller is a social historian and blogger at daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com